WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Alyo

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◈ Memoir of a Regressor ◈

Chapter 10: Set It Ablaze

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The meeting ended.

Lady Sang called Yi Jeong over.

They wore the same expression.

Broad smiles.

They were genuinely happy.

“Mother! You finally did it.”

“Yes, I did.”

They were not simply talking about taking Cheonhwa Pavilion.

“Doesn't this mean Father has already decided to make me the Young Clan Head?”

“It does. No matter what Yi Do has done, taking it from him and giving it to you is not a decision he could make unless he had already resolved to name you the Young Clan Head.”

“Second Brother has been getting awfully uppity lately. I'm glad I won't have to see that anymore, Mother.”

“Now, now. You fool. Put anyone else aside, but you must treat your younger brother well. You know why.”

“...I do. But still... Isn't the Yun Clan subordinate to the Yi Clan? Once I have the Yi Clan, the Yun Clan and the trading company it runs will be ours anyway. Do I really need to treat him well?”

Lady Sang barely swallowed the sigh rising from deep in her chest.

What was she supposed to do with this thoughtless idiot?

“You fool. Becoming the head of a clan means taking responsibility for those who belong to it. Naturally, if you want them to follow you, you must treat them well. Then they will all look up to you and strive to earn your favor, even when you do nothing. That is how you should think. How can you already be thinking of getting rid of someone simply because they are an eyesore?”

Yi Jeong gave an embarrassed smile at the rebuke.

No matter what he heard, his smile never faded.

This was Cheonhwa Pavilion, of all places.

It had the finest courtesans in Jangnyeong County, and it was also a place Yi Jeong frequented.

Now he would become its master.

That meant every courtesan there would belong to him.

Lady Sang clicked her tongue.

“Do not get carried away.”

“Mother, I've come to my senses. I'm not the man I used to be.”

“Tch. Still, let me say this once more. Do not carelessly scatter your seed among lowborn women. If you're going to sow it, wait until it is with a daughter of a proper family. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Mother.”

Of course, that was all he said aloud. In Yi Jeong's mind, a decadent feast of wine and women had already spread before him.

* * *

I strode on without hesitation.

I didn’t think too deeply about it.

The whole process had been laid bare.

Lady Sang had sweet-talked Yi Se-geuk, and Yi Se-geuk had fallen for it. Yi Jeong was a moronic bastard who could only think of swallowing it up like an unexpected windfall. What more was there to know?

I had never let even one person who dared steal what was mine go unpunished.

I would make them pay the price.

Before that, there was something I needed to do first.

Everyone welcomed me as I entered Cheonhwa Pavilion.

“Our new proprietor has arrived.”

I felt a little sorry for Jo Hyeon, who was smiling brightly.

I gave a casual wave.

Everyone fell silent.

Without a word, I pulled out a chair and sat down.

I had already sorted out what I needed to say on my way here.

“Listen up.”

All eyes turned to me.

“This is our first meeting, but I regret having to say this.”

Questioning looks appeared around the room. I continued without pause.

“From today onward, Cheonhwa Pavilion is closed.”

“...What?”

“Jo Hyeon.”

“Y-Yes?”

“Bring the documents.”

With trembling hands, he handed me the stack of papers he had prepared beforehand.

I skimmed through them. They were the [Employment Contracts] I had told him to prepare.

“A great many of you owed Jeok Gae-san money. Some as little as one silver tael, others as much as several thousand.”

My gaze passed over the attendants and settled on the courtesans standing with their hands folded before them.

“Some of you were sold here.”

The mood grew somber. I had no intention of saying anything further.

Everyone had their own circumstances.

“These contracts contain every detail about you. Your hobbies, the money you owe, your names, your hometowns. There is so much that it would be difficult to list it all.”

“...”

“To me, these are nothing but scraps of paper. To you, they must be shackles.”

With my other hand, I snapped my fingers.

Flame blossomed over my fingertips. I touched it to the stack of documents.

Crackle.

The fire caught slowly, but it swelled in an instant.

Everyone's eyes widened.

Before long, every document had burned away.

“Now your shackles are gone.”

“Uh... Proprietor...?”

I casually asked the flustered Jo Hyeon, “Jeok Gae-san must have had a private safe. Did you find it?”

“...We did, but we couldn't find the key.”

“That doesn't matter. Bring it here.”

Jo Hyeon went upstairs with two attendants who had been standing in the back. They returned carrying a huge safe.

Thud.

It was clearly too heavy for even three sturdy men to carry with ease.

What had been stuffed inside?

I had a rough idea.

I walked over in silence.

Gathering my energy at the tip of my foot, I kicked.

KRAAANG-!!

The seam of the safe shattered.

Its contents lay exposed.

They gleamed brilliantly. That bastard Jeok Gae-san definitely hadn't lacked the money to repay what was owed. There were more than ten thousand silver taels in there at a glance.

“Jo Hyeon.”

“Yes.”

“How many people are there in total?”

“...Excluding you, Proprietor, there are forty-nine of us, including myself.”

Forty-nine.

That was manageable.

“Distribute it all.”

“...All of it?”

“Yes. I'm taking your jobs from you by force, so I should at least do that much. Isn't that right?”

“...That's true, but... Aren't you tempted?”

“I'm not. It should be enough for them to start a new life. Divide it among them according to who has worked here longest, who has done the hardest work, and who has contributed the most.”

“...Understood.”

“And was your name Hwang Jang-su?”

A middle-aged man standing silently among the others raised his head at my call.

He was a former imperial-court chef, the man responsible for every meal at Cheonhwa Pavilion.

His eyes were remarkably clear.

Like those of a martial artist.

“Yes. I am Hwang Jang-su.”

“Come with me for a moment.”

I jerked my chin toward the back.

I moved to a corner of Cheonhwa Pavilion with Hwang Jang-su, who wore a puzzled expression.

He asked, “Is there a reason you wished to speak with me privately?”

“Do you intend to keep cooking?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“...Because I want to cook.”

“I see. Then do you have no intention of returning to the martial world?”

Hwang Jang-su's brow twitched.

“...I do not understand what you mean.”

I snickered.

“Enough. You don't need to act in front of me.”

“...Act? What are you...”

“I said you don't need to act. Thousand-Faced Assassin, Hwang No-baek.”

It happened in an instant.

An overwhelming killing intent erupted from Hwang Jang-su, no, Hwang No-baek.

I didn't even blink.

Instead, Hwang No-baek looked flustered.

“...How did you know?”

“I have my ways.”

“...Is there something you want from me?”

“There is. If there are any useful people among those over there, take them with you.”

“Why are you ordering me around?”

I smiled.

“Because I'm still your employer.”

“...If you know my alias, then you must also know what realm I have reached.”

There was no way I couldn't know.

The alias Thousand-Faced Assassin had nearly faded away by now. Few knew it, but those who did feared it greatly.

Around twenty years ago, exactly seventy-six martial artists had died at the Thousand-Faced Assassin's hands.

All but six of those seventy-six were masters of the Four Qi-Cultivation Realms or higher.

By all accounts, the Thousand-Faced Assassin had reached at least Five Qis Return to Origin, perhaps even the Creation Realm, the first stage of the Four Realms of Heaven and Earth.

About ten years from now, the Righteous-Demonic War would break out. The Thousand-Faced Assassin would reappear in that war and attempt to kill the Martial Alliance’s Alliance Leader, only to fail.

As an aside, that Alliance Leader was Yeo Jung-cheon, the Heavenly Emperor, one of the Ten Greatest Masters Under Heaven who had killed me in the past.

I didn't know why he had attacked. I hadn't cared enough to learn that much.

Still, I knew exactly what he looked like.

I also knew that he had been a chef at Cheonhwa Pavilion in Jangnyeong County.

“I need to hear how you learned my identity.”

His presence turned vicious. My senses sharpened beneath the killing intent pouring over me.

Frowning, I took a step forward.

“This is your final warning.”

“...”

“Withdraw your killing intent.”

“And if I don't?”

The answer was simple.

“I'll kill you.”

“...You know my alias, yet you say you will kill me?”

“Why? Do you think I can't?”

“An ordinary martial artist in the Circulation Realm cannot reach a master of Five Qis Return to Origin. I am different from Jeong Rin, whom you killed here not long ago.”

“No, you're not.”

I extended my index finger and placed it against Hwang No-baek's chest.

“Whoever you are, if I decide to kill you, you will die.”

“...”

“I'll overlook the first time because your killing intent came from surprise. I'll overlook the second because you failed to grasp the situation. There will be no third time. Show killing intent toward me once more or get out of line again, and I'll tear out both your eyes and destroy your dantian right here. Do you understand?”

He stared at my index finger aimed at his heart, then slowly withdrew his killing intent.

“...You are a truly unusual person.”

“As long as you understand.”

I lowered my hand as well.

I meant every word I had just said.

There were many eyes watching, but no one here could recognize ‘it.’

To be clear, I could have killed Hwang No-baek with that index finger just then. I simply hadn't.

If I had, I would have needed to kill everyone here.

Perhaps he had sensed something. Hwang No-baek wore an odd expression as he asked me, “Why are you closing Cheonhwa Pavilion?”

“Do you need to know?”

“It would be good to know, but it seems you don't wish to tell me. Then I won't ask.”

For a moment, I looked at the people of Cheonhwa Pavilion, including Jo Hyeon.

Then I slowly opened my mouth.

“What I said earlier still stands. I'll give enough money to open an inn or tavern with plenty left over. If there are people among them you want to take, take them.”

“I do not understand. Why go this far? They are strangers to you, are they not? Yet you are giving them such a large sum.”

He meant the people of Cheonhwa Pavilion over there.

“Strangers or not, I'm taking their jobs. Shouldn't I give them proper compensation? Isn't that right?”

“...Most people would simply throw them out. If they owed debts, they would force them to come along just to collect. You are neither of those kinds of people, Young Master.”

I didn’t particularly want to explain.

“If they leave with that money, they may come to great harm.”

“No matter how they use it or whether they come to harm, they've been given a choice.”

“...”

“Very few people in this world are given the chance to make that choice. What choice they make and what result they face is up to them. Must I concern myself with even that?”

“...True enough. Being given the chance to become rich overnight is already more than enough.”

More importantly.

“What do you think of Jo Hyeon over there?”

“Do you mean the difference between how he looked when he was happy to have become Deputy Owner and how he looks now?”

I shook my head.

“I'm asking what you think of him as your disciple.”

“...He is not without talent, but if I take him as a disciple, beginning martial arts at such a late age will hold him back.”

“Do you intend to take him?”

“Well... His character is not bad. I had considered taking him with me.”

“Then that settles it. Take him.”

“...I truly do not understand you. Why do you care this much? You have barely known him.”

I turned and met Hwang No-baek's eyes.

“Does the length of time we've known each other matter?”

“Normally, it does.”

“No, not to me. What matters is whether someone has become one of my people. He showed loyalty and kept his promise. This time, it's my turn to keep mine. I gave him the Deputy Owner position, and I had planned to make him proprietor before long, but things went wrong. In that case, it is only right to compensate him accordingly. Am I wrong?”

“...Ordinary martial artists do not act as you do.”

“Because I'm not an ordinary martial artist. Take him with you. Train him until he can at least defend himself.”

Hwang No-baek seemed unable to understand the situation.

“But you have already burned all the employment contracts and closed Cheonhwa Pavilion. Am I still your employee?”

“So, what is your answer?”

Hwang No-baek gave a hollow laugh.

“Very well. I will take Jo Hyeon and a few of the courtesans and attendants over there. But you must give us a generous amount of money.”

“Do you intend to open a restaurant?”

“Yes.”

“Take as much as you want, then send everyone outside.”

“What will you do, Young Master?”

“I'm leaving now.”

I turned and walked away.

I could feel their blank stares on my back, but I didn't care.

After stepping outside Cheonhwa Pavilion, I clasped my hands behind my back.

It had grown dark, and the sun had completely set.

Before long, everyone from inside Cheonhwa Pavilion came out.

I asked Jo Hyeon, “Is everyone out?”

“Yes. The place is completely empty.”

“You did well.”

“...It was nothing.”

I looked at Cheonhwa Pavilion once more.

A five-story building.

Honestly, it was a shame.

Once I owned it completely, I had planned to bring my master here someday.

It seemed like it would make a perfect hideout.

That plan had fallen apart from the start.

Those who tried to take what was mine would pay the price.

So would those who had forced me to act this way.

I spoke calmly.

“Set it ablaze.”

“...What?”

All they would receive was ash.

“Don't make me say it twice. Set it on fire until not a trace remains.”

Rather than let them take it from me, I would destroy it.

Footnotes:

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