WeTried Translations

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Editor: Abstract

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◈ Invincible Mumu

Chapter 38

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Ha Ryun (3)

[If you ever meet someone bearing a Jade Medallion with this design, you must, without fail, pledge your loyalty with your life.]

An order handed down by the valley master.
That order was as good as Heaven's own word.
Ha Ryun followed it without a moment's hesitation.

"Huh?"

Ha Ryun had suddenly dropped flat and slammed his forehead against the ground.
Mumu scratched his head, baffled by the sight.
Was this some kind of surrender, since brute force hadn't worked?

'What is this?'

Everyone around them looked just as puzzled.
Then Mo Il-hwa clicked her tongue and said,

"Mumu! Don't fall for it. He's just acting again."

If she'd said something like that a moment ago, it would have set Ha Ryun's blood boiling, but right now he felt nothing of the sort.
Every scrap of his attention had already turned to Mumu.

'Could it really be him?'

The valley master had said that whoever carried that Jade Medallion was the true head of the House of the Eight Villains.
And that this was the person all of them were bound to serve with unconditional loyalty.
It all made sense now.
If this really was the man, then such monstrous strength was hardly something to question. If he carried that bloodline, then someone as insignificant as himself had no right to judge him by ordinary standards.

'Finally... finally!'

He had lived for this moment alone.
His chest swelled until his heart pounded and trembled.

'Every bit of that hellish training, with my life on the line at every turn, was endured for this man alone. And I failed to recognize him.'

He hadn't seen the medallion, true, but he still hated himself for having opposed Mumu until now.
Just then Mumu stepped closer and asked,

"Are you acting?"

'!?'

At that question, Ha Ryun frowned where he lay prostrate.
He had performed the triple prostration, the gesture of absolute, unmistakable loyalty, precisely so it would be recognized. Why would the man say something like that?
If this was truly the one the valley master had spoken of, he should have understood at once.

"Rever..."

Just as he opened his mouth, Ha Ryun caught himself.
Swept up in his certainty, he had thrown himself into the triple prostration without thinking. But this was the middle of Changcheon Martial Academy, one of the sacred grounds of the force of justice, and the only members of the House of the Eight Villains present were himself and the unconscious Jo Mae-hui over there.

'Ah, he's doing this on purpose.'

That made sense.
For the sake of the great plan, every successor of the House of the Eight Villains kept their identity hidden, even from one another.
Even Master Heo, who oversaw the great plan, kept his face hidden from his own people.
There was no reason this man would be any exception.

'I need to play along.'

Believing that Mumu was concealing his identity, Ha Ryun decided to match his rhythm.
He crawled forward, gripped Mumu's leg, and spoke in a pleading voice.

"Young master Mumu. This lowly servant failed to recognize a true master. Please, show mercy and forgive me."

He said it loud enough for everyone to hear, then dropped his voice to a whisper only Mumu could catch.

"I've waited only for this day."
"Huh?"
"You may keep pretending not to know me. I apologize for having failed to recognize you until now."
"......"

Mumu's eyes narrowed.
He couldn't make heads or tails of what the man was saying.

'...What is he talking about?'

At Mumu's rather blank reaction, Ha Ryun bit down hard on his lip.

'Ah... he's still angry with me, then.'

He'd worried about this.
After all, how many times had he gone after the lord's life?
Even as a member of the House of the Eight Villains, it made sense the man's temper would be foul.
No, perhaps his loyalty itself was in doubt.

"Please set aside your doubts. If punishment is what you wish to give, I will accept it gladly. But please, grant me the chance to prove my loyalty."
"Prove your loyalty?"

Mumu raised an eyebrow.
Flustered, Ha Ryun slammed his forehead to the ground again and said,

"This lowly one misspoke."
"Um."

Watching him, Mumu felt genuinely confused.
What in the world was wrong with this kid?
Just then Jin-hyeok stepped closer, his voice full of suspicion.

"Hey. What kind of trick are you pulling?"
"Trick?"

At those words, Ha Ryun shot Jin-hyeok a sharp glare.
Then he thought better of it at once.

'Ah! The lord must be playing the role of this one's sworn brother right now.'

He couldn't be certain, but if that was so, then this man might also serve the lord.
Come to think of it, the odds were fairly high.
In that case, hostility was the wrong approach.
Ha Ryun wiped the glare from his face and put on a smile.

"You there. Yu Jin-hyeok, was it? I've clearly wronged the young master, but I never meant to pull any trick."
"Nonsense! You scattered powder in Mumu's room and lied about it besides. Senior Tang So-so told us everything, starting from the fact that you weren't even here."
"Ahem. That's right. I told them everything. You're seriously suspicious."

Tang So-so set both hands on her hips, lifted her chin, and spoke with obvious pride.
At the sight, something inside Ha Ryun began to boil.
The girl who hadn't even noticed him watching, being this insufferable.

'More than that, this brat is really...'

He needed to play along just enough to slip out of this situation.

'Wait... could it be he's not?'

Watching Jin-hyeok press the attack this hard, it almost seemed like this Jin-hyeok fellow had no idea who the lord really was.
Otherwise, how could he keep acting so hostile after Ha Ryun had performed a full triple prostration before the lord?

'Why would the lord keep someone like this around... ah!'

Ha Ryun's mouth curled up slightly as understanding dawned.
Of course. It was just like the lord.
He was thoroughly deceiving the whole world.
Who would ever suspect that a descendant of that bloodline, returned from exile, was the younger brother of someone who'd graduated Changcheon Martial Academy as Second Graduate, adopted son of a civil official, one of the sacred grounds of the force of justice?
A true stratagem of self-sacrifice.
As if he understood everything now, Ha Ryun looked at Mumu with something close to reverence.

'I really do have sharp instincts.'

To have grasped the lord's brilliant foresight this quickly.
He believed he himself was truly qualified to become the lord's right hand.

'Even if I fumbled the first step, I'm probably the very first person to have learned the lord's identity, or met him directly.'

After all, the lord had only just entered Changcheon Martial Academy through the entrance examination.
Even Master Heo didn't know his identity, which was exactly why he'd ordered Jo Mae-hui to test him and eliminate him if needed.

[If you ever meet him, you must earn his trust without fail. Prove that our Valley of White Death is the truest of the House of the Eight Villains' loyal servants.]

That was what the valley master had instructed him.
This was a stroke of luck.
Truly, an opportunity handed down from Heaven itself.

'I'm the only one who knows the lord.'

His mouth curled up on its own.
Given the chance to have this all to himself, there was no reason to pass it up.
Until now, the Heavenly Kill Valley or the Paralysis Blade Estate had always stood at the center.
But now, the Valley of White Death would prove itself the truest of loyal servants...

Thwack!

At that instant, Mumu's knife-hand struck down on the crown of Ha Ryun's head.
It looked like a light tap, but the Ki-Restraining Bracelet had been set to five.

'P... prove...'

He meant to finish the thought, but his skull rattled and Mumu split into two blurry images.
Through the ringing in his ears he heard Mumu's voice, sounding thoroughly done with him.

"This guy's completely messed up."

'!?'

Messed up?
Something felt off. The lord must have misunderstood.
He wanted to explain himself, but his consciousness kept slipping further away.
Jin-hyeok clicked his tongue and said,

"...You're right. He must have really hit his head. Better to just hand him over to the academy administration."

'W-wait, no. That's...'

Thud!

Ha Ryun lost consciousness completely.

* * *

Ha Ryun opened his eyes and looked around.

'Where is this?'

However he looked at it, this seemed to be a holding cell.
Damp air, a dim room, iron bars.
A single lamp lit the surroundings, and through the narrow window slit he could see a half moon.
Quite a bit of time seemed to have passed since he lost consciousness.
Ha Ryun bit down hard on his lip.

'Damn it.'

It seemed he'd fallen out of favor with his lord.
Then again, a retainer who kept coming after his master's life without even recognizing him, it would have been stranger if the anger cooled quickly.

'What do I do now?'

By the looks of it, this was a holding cell somewhere inside Changcheon Martial Academy.
Could the lord really have handed him and Jo Mae-hui over to these people?
No matter how angry he was, doing that risked exposing their true identities.

'Why would he...'

He was still turning this over when a voice came from behind him.

"I believe I told you to stand by."

At the voice from behind, Ha Ryun's eyes went wide with a tremor.

'M... Master Heo!'

Ha Ryun hurried to turn and prostrate himself, but,

"Don't look back."

The low warning stopped him cold.
Instead, without turning, he bowed low where he lay and offered his respects.
Master Heo spoke to him.

"If I hadn't stepped in before this fell into the other masters' hands, this incident alone would have been enough to threaten the entire great plan."
"F... forgive me."

Feeling the tremendous killing intent radiating from behind him, Ha Ryun swallowed hard.
The pressure alone was enough to make his flesh tremble.

"Why did you act without receiving any order?"
"Forgive me."
"Answer the question."
"I feared Jo Mae-hui might botch the task, so I meant only to keep watch..."
"Nonsense. You wanted the credit."
"......"

He had seen straight through his intentions.
There was nothing left to say in his defense.

"Thoroughly disappointing. I thought you might be of some use, clearing the Weha trial in such short time, but it turns out you're just a fool blinded by ambition, unable to tell up from down."

Ha Ryun ground his teeth.
Through no real fault of his own, this incident had tarnished the Valley of White Death's honor.
Right now, he was, without exaggeration, representing the Valley of White Death in this great plan.

Thud!

Ha Ryun struck his head against the ground and apologized.

"Forgive me."
"Under normal circumstances you'd have earned yourself a harsh punishment or your head for botching this, but we've lost one operative already, so consider yourself fortunate this is being let go."
"One operative..."
"The dead keep their mouths shut."

At those words, Ha Ryun's body trembled.
Nothing had been said outright, but he understood immediately what Master Heo meant.

'...Jo Mae-hui.'

She must have been killed to silence her.
It was the obvious move, in truth.
She'd used the Soul Captivation Art, a sorcery technique of the dark path, and been caught trying to kill someone besides.
There was no cleaning that up, not by any means.

"That girl will carry the whole of this on her shoulders, into her grave."

At those words, Ha Ryun inwardly shuddered.
She was practically the heir to the Demonic Joy Palace, and yet she'd been discarded this easily. Truly, a chilling kind of ruthlessness.
He himself could just as easily be thrown away, depending on how things went.

'I can't afford to let my guard down.'

His thoughts were spinning when Master Heo spoke again.

"As for you, arrangements have already been made. You are merely to..."

Thwack!

Master Heo flicked a finger, and a folded piece of paper shot forward and lodged itself in the floor of the cell in front of Ha Ryun.
A remarkable feat of finger-flicking mastery.

"At tomorrow's interrogation, recite exactly what's written there."

While Ha Ryun had been unconscious, Master Heo had already handled every detail.
He'd likely disposed of every piece of evidence as well.

"Once this incident is settled, do nothing further until you receive orders. If you disobey again, I will deal with you myself."
"Y-yes, I'll keep that in mind."

Shhk!

The moment he finished answering, the presence behind him vanished.
Sensing this, Ha Ryun turned his head slightly and glanced out past the bars.
Master Heo seemed to have left.
Confirmed of this, Ha Ryun collapsed flat against the floor and let out a ragged breath.

"Haa..."

His heart had pounded so hard he thought he might die.
He'd been fortunate to keep his life, but this incident seemed to have shattered Master Heo's trust in him completely.
Even if the great plan succeeded, one misstep and he might end up pushed to the sidelines, doing nothing but menial chores.

'Damn it all.'

There was only one path left now.
Master Heo was a lost cause from the start. Winning the lord's favor, no matter what, was the only answer.

'He still doesn't know, does he?'

Master Heo still seemed unaware that the man was the lord.
Ha Ryun weighed whether to tell him, but given the mood of the scolding, he hadn't dared open his mouth.
Still, he decided this was for the best.
He would win the lord's favor first, before Master Heo or anyone else caught on.

* * *

That night.
Around the Hour of the Boar's Second Half.
In the dormitory office of Northern Heaven Residence, dorm head Do Yang-woon and twelve male and female floor leaders had gathered.
They had assembled in the office for a meeting before the first roll call.
And among these floor leaders sat Mumu and Jin-hyeok.
That was because dorm head Do Yang-woon had offered the two of them positions as floor leaders.

'How did I end up here...'

Jin-hyeok couldn't hide his discomfort.
He'd already fallen out of favor with the floor leaders, aside from dorm head Do Yang-woon, thanks to Mumu, and he'd been trying his best to avoid friction with them.
And yet here was Mumu, saying it sounded fun and suggesting they both become floor leaders.
At first Jin-hyeok had meant to politely decline and tell him to go alone, but,

[Ahh, what a shame. Floor leaders get a monthly stipend, all sorts of support, and bonus points toward their grades...]
[I'll do it!]

The bonus points were far too tempting to turn down.
And that was how Jin-hyeok became a floor leader.

'Ahhh.'

But now that he'd actually come, the pressure weighed heavily.
The floor leaders weren't looking at the two of them with anything close to warmth.
Most floor leaders were second-year cadets, so it made sense they'd feel this way about a pair of mere freshmen sitting among them.
And on top of that, two floor leaders had already been injured by Mumu's hand.

'Ahhh... damn those grade points.'

He wondered if he should have just declined after all.
Unaware of Jin-hyeok's inner turmoil, dorm head Do Yang-woon looked thoroughly pleased with this year's lineup of floor leaders.

"Now then, before we begin today's roll call meeting, allow me to introduce someone. Some of you floor leaders who missed the dormitory assignment ceremony haven't met them yet, but joining us this term as new floor leaders are Master Mumu and Yu Jin-hyeok."

'Master Mumu?'

At this introduction, several floor leaders' faces creased with displeasure.
They were the third-year floor leaders who hadn't attended the dormitory assignment ceremony.

"Dorm head Do. That kid looks like a freshman. What do you mean, Master Mumu?"

Among the third-year floor leaders, Baek Seon-ui asked bluntly, clearly puzzled.
At this, Do Yang-woon let out a booming laugh and said,

"Ha ha ha ha. Senior. Starting today, all of Northern Heaven Residence's floor leaders, myself included as dorm head, are being reborn as disciples of the Muscle Training School."

'!?'

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