WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Alyo

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◈ Memoir of a Regressor ◈

Chapter 3: Cleaning

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Jangnyeong County in the Jeok Nation was called a backwater by people of the martial world, but it was not a place so small as that.

Of course, it was still a backwater. There was no denying it. Even so, the region had considerable advantages.

To the north lay Suju County, which was highly developed through trade. To the east was Wi County, where maritime commerce flourished, while Sawol County lay to the west.

It was certainly an excellent place to do business.

Naturally, any clan with sense would establish a trading company.

The Yi Clan was no exception.

It was undeniably a martial clan, but there was no rule saying a martial clan could not run a trading company.

The Yi Clan operated several businesses besides its trading company. Thanks to Jangnyeong County's location, many merchants came into the county, along with the Hired Escorts and porters they hired.

Naturally, several inns were needed, and with martial artists about, blacksmiths were needed to repair weapons as well.

It went without saying that a place with such advantages would see cutthroat competition.

Jangnyeong County was home to three clans known as the [Three Great Clans of Jangnyeong].

The Yi Clan, the Jang Clan, and the Hyeokri Clan.

It was impossible to say with certainty which was foremost among them.

Then the youngest son, who had been sent to Sawol County, returned.

No one gathered in the Clan Head's Hall looked pleased. That was understandable.

They had all heard what had happened.

It began with Yi Do killing Pyeong Sam by stabbing him in the throat with a shard of plate at an inn in Sawol County, followed by him beheading a bandit on Myeongwolsan.

Everyone knew what Yi Do had been like until then, so they could not help but be shocked.

It was as though he had become a different person.

The door opened, and a man slowly walked in.

He was somewhat thin, with long hair tightly tied behind his back.

His body looked frail, but his eyes shone brighter than anyone else's in the room.

Everyone could feel it.

The youngest, Yi Do, had changed.

Yi Do raised his head and looked at the man seated in the place of honor.

Then a strange smile crossed his lips. He was far too different.

It made no sense.

Was that really Yi Do?

The man who had always trembled like an aspen before the Clan Head or at formal gatherings was acting like that now?

It felt like a dream.

Was he putting on an act?

They wanted to think so, but then Yi Do spoke.

"It's been a very long time, Father."

That alone convinced them.

Yi Do had never spoken in such a clear voice. He had always spoken in a barely audible mumble, yet now...

No words came out. Not even a sigh.

Yi Se-geuk, the Yi Clan's Clan Head, was no different.

"...Yes. It has been a long time."

Yi Do silently watched Yi Se-geuk before continuing.

"May I ask why you summoned me here?"

Come to think of it, there was no reason for everyone to gather like this.

He had only completed one trading trip.

If the entire household gathered every time a trading trip ended, nothing could be more inefficient.

This time, though, there was reason enough.

"I heard something strange. They say you killed the fellow who used to serve you with your own hands. What happened?"

Yi Se-geuk wanted the truth, and Yi Do could answer plainly.

"Pyeong Sam was not my servant."

"...Everyone knows that you and Pyeong Sam have been together since childhood. What are you talking about?"

"Yes, we were together since childhood, but he never served me. If anything, my brothers over there should explain that matter, not me."

Yi Se-geuk's gaze moved first to the broad man with short hair, then to the man whose hair was about as long as Yi Do's and whose body seemed even frailer.

The first was Yi Jeong, the eldest son, and the second was Yi Won, the second son.

Both men flinched beneath Yi Se-geuk's gaze.

Still, as the eldest, Yi Jeong stepped forward first.

"Youngest, what are you saying at a formal gathering like this?"

Yi Do looked at Yi Jeong with an odd smile. Yet there was something deeply unsettling in his eyes.

Yi Jeong forced himself to ignore it and continued.

"Now that I think about it, I saw Yi Won speaking quietly with your servant several times... I'm sorry, but I had nothing to do with this. Yi Won should be the one explaining himself."

Yi Won bristled at the accusation. His face red, he shouted.

"Brother! What are you talking about? You were the one conspiring with Pyeong Sam. If anything..."

"Enough!"

Yi Won, who had nearly let something slip, hurriedly covered his mouth at Yi Se-geuk's shout.

Yi Se-geuk glared at him, then let out a sigh.

He was no fool. He roughly understood what had happened.

His gaze returned to Yi Do, who spoke as if he had been waiting.

"Clan Head, may I say something?"

"...Go on."

"How could a bastard of a servant conspire with others before his master and spread information about him? As one of the Yi Clan by blood, I merely did what I had to do."

"...Is that so?"

"Yes. I also encountered bandits on the way back."

"I heard that as well. They say you beheaded their leader."

"It was the same as before. They were nothing but vermin who made their living as bandits. Would killing one or two of them change anything? Still, there was one rather interesting thing in what they said."

"...Interesting?"

"Yes. I'm not certain yet, but I'd like to investigate it. Our Yi Clan's trading company will have many occasions to pass through Myeongwolsan. Why not use this chance to mobilize the clan's martial artists and wipe out the bandits of Myeongwolsan?"

Yi Jeong and Yi Won swallowed at the same time.

They clearly understood what that bastard was saying.

If they wanted to prevent matters from growing worse, they had better handle it somehow, whether that meant slaughtering every last bandit or something else.

Yi Jeong and Yi Won looked at each other. Then Yi Do's voice reached their ears.

"The Yi Clan's standing in Jangnyeong County is certainly impressive. Several clans trust and follow us. If we do not eliminate those bandits, they will target other clans. If we step forward first and destroy them, all that honor will belong solely to our clan."

As if he had been waiting for that, Yi Jeong shouted.

"The youngest is right. Bandits have appeared again on Myeongwolsan, where they were completely wiped out in the past. This is not something we can simply overlook. Since our Yi Clan discovered them first, we should be the ones to eliminate them. But..."

Yi Jeong turned to Yi Do.

"The youngest has just returned from a trading trip. As the eldest, I cannot stand by and let him be mobilized for this. Leave it to me."

Yi Won stepped forward as well.

"I will go with my brother. Through this matter, we will make it clear that the Yi Clan is the foremost clan in Jangnyeong County."

The two were clearly competing for the position of Clan Head.

No Young Clan Head had yet been named, and this was an obvious chance to catch Yi Se-geuk's eye after he had kept postponing the decision.

That was one reason, but their clearer reason was to silence them.

The two had hired bandits to ruin Yi Do's trading trip. It meant that two sons of the Yi Clan had attacked their own clan just to pressure the youngest son. The instant word of it reached Yi Se-geuk's ears, something truly uncontrollable would happen.

While the two were consumed by such thoughts, Yi Se-geuk looked only at Yi Do. Yi Do did the same.

Of the two men staring at each other, Yi Se-geuk spoke first.

"You have changed greatly."

"I had to. The martial world is not a good place for the weak to live, is it?"

"That is true. This trading trip must have meant a great deal to you."

"It was a very good experience."

"Good. You have worked hard. You may go."

"Yes."

After the businesslike exchange ended, Yi Do left the Clan Head's Hall.

He headed straight for his residence in the main building.

Before even eight minutes had passed, he came back outside.

Yi Do's expression had hardened.

He grabbed a passing servant and asked, "Who was it?"

"...Pardon?"

"Who cleaned my room?"

Yi Do's expression was so murderous that the terrified servant had no choice but to answer honestly.

"This morning, Chief Steward Jeong cleaned Young Master's room with three servants."

Chief Steward Jeong.

He was Yi Won's man.

Having heard the answer he wanted, Yi Do started walking. He headed for Cheongwongak, where the General Stewards stayed.

The moment he arrived, he asked for Chief Steward Jeong.

Chief Steward Jeong had apparently been joking with the servants. The smile vanished from his face the moment he saw Yi Do, and his brow sharply furrowed. He approached Yi Do with an unpleasant expression.

"Why did you send for me?"

"I heard you cleaned my room today. Is that right?"

"Yes."

"Whose order were you following?"

"What order? Isn't it something we normally do? Your room had been empty for so long, so I cleaned it for your sake. Was that wrong? I truly can't see what I did wrong."

Yi Do's cold expression gradually relaxed.

An exceedingly gentle smile blossomed on his lips.

"I'm truly grateful that you cleaned it, but where did you put the box of medicinal pills in my room?"

The box of medicinal pills.

Yi Do clearly remembered it as well.

Before his regression, Yi Do had been attacked by bandits on Myeongwolsan and beaten mercilessly afterward. His body had been covered in bruises, and even his internal energy had been damaged. He returned to the clan in that state, was reprimanded by the Clan Head, and received treatment from physicians.

During that process, Yi Do told the physician that the box of medicinal pills he kept in his residence contained several elixir pills especially effective at treating wounds. The physician brought the box and treated him with them.

The future he knew had changed.

When he entered his room, only that box was gone.

Then Chief Steward Jeong gave him an absurd answer.

"Oh, that? I gave it to Young Master Yi Won."

"Why?"

"What do you mean, why? Honestly, instead of you taking them, isn't it only right to give them to Young Master Yi Won for the sake of the clan's future?"

The smile on Yi Do's lips deepened.

"Yi Won did not tell you to bring them to him?"

Chief Steward Jeong flinched, but it did not matter. With someone backing them, people naturally grew bold.

Seeing a mere rabbit rely on a mongrel behind it and dare snap at a tiger could only make one laugh.

"Did you not hear what happened at Myeongwolsan today?"

"Oh, I did. I heard you beheaded a bandit. Impressive. Still, it is unsettling when a person suddenly changes. Young Master, you are the youngest in this household. If there is something good, shouldn't the youngest yield it to his elder brother? Isn't that proper?"

Yi Do had not expected the way people looked at him to change overnight.

Such things had been commonplace in the past. This had not built up over a day or two. It was the result of more than a dozen years. Though he was called the youngest, he was no more than an illegitimate son with no one backing him.

Yi Jeong and Yi Won, who fought over the position of Clan Head, had thoroughly ostracized Yi Do from the clan.

The people serving them did the same.

They never treated him as someone of the clan's blood.

They looked at him as though he were a fool or mute. Not only the General Stewards but also the martial artists, even the porters, treated Yi Do like an idiot.

The Clan Head turned a blind eye. Yi Do was neither a martial arts genius nor someone with a powerful backer.

Yi Se-geuk had never cared in the first place.

It was only natural that Yi Do of his previous life had lived there, cowed and frightened. It was also why he had little affection left for the Yi Clan, and why he eventually left home after reaching his limit.

He had endured as much as he could in the past, but things were not the same as they had been then.

It was all in the past, and he had not wanted to drag up old grudges for revenge.

He wanted to give them a chance, at least once. That was why he had shown them a few things as a warning.

Yet they still did not understand.

Now, he could give them no more chances.

He simply could not.

"Chief Steward Jeong. Let me give you one last piece of advice."

"...Let's hear it."

"When you get to the afterlife, try to get your head straight."

For a moment, Chief Steward Jeong did not understand. Had he heard wrong?

It did not matter. Yi Do had never said it expecting him to understand.

Yi Do's fist swung.

Thwack!!

Chief Steward Jeong's head snapped back. He lost his balance. Struggling to turn his head, Chief Steward Jeong saw Yi Do's foot flying toward his solar plexus.

The next move came naturally.

Thwack!

Chief Steward Jeong crumpled to the floor after taking the kick to the solar plexus.

Yi Do rolled his neck, then climbed on top of him. He grabbed Chief Steward Jeong by the hair with his left hand and clenched his right fist.

Then he swung it without mercy.

Crack!

Chief Steward Jeong's scream was drowned out by the impact. It would likely remain drowned out.

Yi Do's fist kept swinging.

Thud, thud, crunch, crack, crack.

At some point, the impacts began to sound like someone striking tofu.

There was a reason for that.

Chief Steward Jeong's head had already become pulp.

It had not burst. It had been completely crushed, beyond recognition. Anyone could see that he was already dead.

Even so, Yi Do's fist did not stop. He kept swinging until Chief Steward Jeong's entire face had been pressed flat against the floor.

Until Chief Steward Jeong's face had completely seeped into the floor.

Only after striking him around twenty-five times did Yi Do finally stop.

The surroundings were silent.

He wiped the blood and bits of flesh from his fist onto Chief Steward Jeong's clothes, then rose to his feet.

Hoo.

He ordered the nearby servants, "Take him away and bury him on the hill out back."

No one answered.

Yi Do's murderous eyes swept over those around him.

"Answer."

Only then did the stunned servants come to their senses.

"Y-Yes... Yes!"

Footnotes:

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