WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Episode 11: Dangerous Visit (1)
──────
Four days later.
In a dense forest not far from Yeonmok Sword Manor.
A man in a dark blue Taoist robe embroidered with a Yin-Yang symbol walked through the forest. A bamboo hat covered his head, and a book case filled with old books and tools was strapped to his back. He held a sword-finger seal in one hand and a talisman bearing the character for Pursuit in the other.
The man continuously recited a spell.
“Essence of Heaven, essence of Earth, essence of Sun and Moon. Heaven and Earth unite their essences, Sun and Moon unite their light, gods and ghosts unite their forms. Join your heart with mine, join my heart with yours, the heart of Heaven, ten thousand hearts...”
It was the Harmony Spell.
For two or three days, he had searched the area with the Summoning Harmony Method, a sorcery used to find someone whose whereabouts were unknown.
Normally, this sorcery would quickly locate the person.
But...
‘It’s being concealed.’
An immensely powerful and vicious presence was masking it.
This was neither a simple disappearance nor an ordinary killing.
The power of an aberration or sorcery had intervened.
‘Who could have done this?’
Sak was a Skill who could be considered the third-ranking figure in Ghost Shadow Pavilion.
Furthermore, Guyeo, one of the spirits and goblins, was her spirit familiar. Sak was capable of performing exorcism on even a Yellow Spirit-grade vengeful spirit alone.
He could not understand how she had met such a fate.
[What? That cannot be.]
[It is a letter sent by the First Madam of Yeonmok Sword Manor. Read it.]
The letter contained a protest that was practically a threat.
It stated that unless they handed over three thousand silver coins as a penalty and surrendered Sak, Ghost Shadow Pavilion would be wiped out.
If what the letter said was true, it was understandable why the First Madam was furious. But Sak would never have done such a thing.
[Something is certainly amiss. Find her and learn what happened.]
That was why he had searched day and night without rest.
He had to find her before Yeonmok Sword Manor made its move.
Just as he focused on his sorcery once more...
Flutter!
The Pursuit Talisman in his left hand shook violently.
‘She’s nearby.’
The man clasped the talisman in both hands and recited a spell.
“...Divine transgressions unite in virtue, evil spirits fill the heavens. Left Assistant, Right Assistant, clouds lie before clouds. Guard me from transgressive death. Now seal the four extending divine transgressions. Hurry, Hurry, Act According to the Law!”
The instant the incantation ended, the writing on the trembling talisman darkened. It rose into the air on its own and flew away.
Flap! Flap!
The man followed it.
Before long, the talisman veered downward.
Thick brush concealed the place, but beyond it lay a steep cliff.
One wrong step would easily lead to a fatal fall.
The man looked around, found a slope, and descended.
There, he found the talisman lying neatly on the ground.
But...
‘!?’
Something else caught his attention before the talisman did.
Scattered all around were fragments of flesh and dried bloodstains. It was impossible to recognize that they had once been human.
The man could not help but frown.
‘How could this have happened...?’
He had never expected an outcome like this.
He had considered the possibility that she had been attacked, but this was far worse than he had imagined.
The man swallowed dryly.
This could never have been caused by a mere Yellow Spirit-grade vengeful spirit.
‘What in the world happened here?’
This horrific scene alone told him nothing.
If the corpse had remained intact, he could have used ghost sorcery to learn more details. But in this state, the chances were low.
Still, he had no choice.
The man placed a hand on the ground at the center of the massacre and closed his eyes.
Then...
Clap! Clap!
He formed hand seals with his left hand.
‘All! Fight! Before!’
The Outer Binding Seal, the Outer Lion Seal, followed by the Treasure Vessel Seal.
They were hand seals from the Nine Syllable Revival Method.
“Three Seals Life Invocation Method. The Northern Emperor has granted me authority. Reveal all that was experienced. Hurry, Hurry, Act According to the Law.”
Flutter!
The bloodstained remnants on the ground began to tremble faintly.
Cold sweat formed on the man’s forehead.
When someone was killed by an aberration, even their soul and the corporeal soul remaining in their flesh were damaged. Drawing out those traces through sorcery was difficult.
“Reveal all that was experienced. Hurry, Hurry, Act According to the La... Urgh!”
The man’s head snapped back.
Then fleeting memories pierced his mind like a spinning lantern.
Whoosh!
[Myo Shin...]
[Cough, cough. I countered the Reversal of Malign Force that was sent.]
[Are you a Taoist occultist?]
[Phew. It’s quiet now.]
[How did you grab a spirit and goblin with your bare hand?]
[You said you could grant any wish, didn’t you?]
[...I may retreat for now, but before long...]
Shudder!
At that moment, his mind returned along with a chillingly sinister presence that ran down his spine.
The man muttered, his eyes trembling.
“Wh-what was that?”
The memories had cut off alongside the overwhelming terror Sak had felt at the end.
That portion could not be seen, as though something had sliced it away.
If she had felt such terror and fear before dying, he should have seen at least a fragment of her final moments. Yet there was nothing.
‘Strange.’
All beings feared death.
But the fear he had seen before the memories cut off was not the fear of death. It was the emotion of confronting something vastly terrifying.
‘What happened?’
His doubts only deepened.
The memories were all brief, passing moments, so he could not tell precisely what had taken place.
But there was one thing he learned from those fragments.
‘Mok GyeongUn...’
That person stood at the center of Sak’s death and this incident.
They were only fragments, but one memory remained particularly vivid.
‘...He grabbed a spirit and goblin with his bare hand?’
Even Taoist occultists found that difficult unless they met special conditions.
There were two possibilities.
Either this young master named Mok GyeongUn had been possessed by a Yellow Spirit, as they had suspected beforehand.
Or perhaps he had been born with spiritual talent.
If it was the latter, it was remarkable talent.
‘...He may be a born Taoist occultist.’
Such talent was not easily found.
Someone was considered talented if they could sense spiritual traces with even one of their five senses.
But touching a spirit and goblin, a literal mass of demonic aura, without meeting any conditions was an entirely different matter.
The man shook his head.
‘That is not what matters.’
First, he needed to meet this Mok GyeongUn and learn what had happened.
The man glanced into the air and muttered.
“Gujo. I have a feeling we must not lower our guard.”
With those words, he gestured for it to follow.
The eagle-shaped shadow cast upon the ground flapped its wings in response.
What was strange was that the eagle within the shadow had an unusual horn on its head.
* * *
Yeongran Pavilion was located in an alley at the southern end of the marketplace.
It was filled with lowly wastrels.
“Khahahaha!”
“Drink up. I’ll pay for everything today.”
“Let’s drink ourselves to death!”
Because of people like them, other customers did not even dare enter.
‘Phew.’
Go Chan, standing at the entrance, sighed as he watched them.
‘It is the only information organization nearby, at least.’
It was a rather low-grade establishment.
Among high, middle, and low, it barely qualified as low-rank.
One only had to look at the people gathered here to see how far beneath standard they were.
Still, he had come because he had received an order from Mok GyeongUn. He had decided to submit a request somewhere nearby, at least.
[Please ask if they know this mark.]
[What? How did you obtain this?]
[You do not need to know the details. Guard Go Chan only needs to submit a request to that information organization or whatever it is.]
[Understood.]
‘What could it be?’
The mark Mok GyeongUn had shown him was quite simple.
But he had never seen it before.
Perhaps it was because he had been retired for a long time. Yet if even he, a former assassin, did not know it, it might be nothing important.
‘Now, where is the person?’
The leader of this place should be here.
As it was such a low-grade establishment, there were no particular rules. They gathered information in exchange for money.
‘Ah, there.’
He had met Gwak a few times since settling here.
Go Chan let out another sigh and called out.
“Tower Master Gwak.”
At his call, Gwak, seated drunkenly in the middle of the inn, lazily turned to look without rising.
Gwak blinked, then seemed to recognize Go Chan and rose with a bright expression.
“Well, if it isn’t Guard Go Chan of Yeonmok Sword Manor.”
It had been a long time, but Gwak was still drowned in wine and women.
Even now, a woman who appeared to be a courtesan was tucked beneath Gwak’s arm. The sight disgusted Go Chan.
Go Chan shook his head.
“I have a request.”
“A request?”
“I will pay properly.”
“Understood. Come up to the office on the second floor.”
He did not like Gwak, but he had heard that the Tower Master had once belonged to a Hao clan faction.
The information network was therefore not so poor.
Not long after Go Chan entered the guest room first, heavy footsteps sounded in the second-floor corridor.
Gwak was large, so the footsteps always sounded that way.
‘Disqualified as an assassin.’
The fundamentals of an assassin were stealth and secrecy.
Of course, few possessed such qualities.
Then the guest room door opened and Tower Master Gwak entered.
“...What do you think you are doing?”
Go Chan raised an eyebrow.
Tower Master Gwak had entered with a woman tucked beneath an arm.
Judging by her hair pinned up, heavy makeup, and flowing clothing that revealed her cleavage, she appeared to be a courtesan.
Her face was exceptionally beautiful and drew the eye, but this was not the place for her.
“She is a new girl. Not bad, is she?”
“Did I not say that I had a request?”
“She belongs to our place, so it does not matter if she hears. If you have something to say, hurry and say it. I need to get back downstairs.”
‘...What a pathetic bastard.’
Killing intent welled up in Go Chan.
No matter how low-class this place was, it was truly beneath contempt.
If Gwak continued this way, there would be no reason to make the request.
“Send her out.”
“Ah, Guard Go. A man ought to appreciate the finer things in life...”
“If you continue like this, I will leave.”
“...”
That worked.
Tower Master Gwak fell silent, then said irritably to the courtesan.
“Go downstairs and wait obediently for this gentleman. If I find you in the arms of another lout, you will regret it.”
Gwak raised a hand to slap her rear.
Smack!
The courtesan caught Tower Master Gwak’s hand.
“What?”
“Phew. I can’t stand this anymore.”
The courtesan muttered irritably.
“You bitch!”
Astonished by her attitude, Tower Master Gwak tried to slap her face.
At that moment...
Thud!
The courtesan’s hand had already reached Tower Master Gwak’s ear.
The Tower Master staggered like a puppet with its strings cut.
“You!”
Startled by the sight, Go Chan hurriedly tried to draw his Short Sword. But something flew from the courtesan’s hand and pierced his acupoints.
Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!
They were extremely thin flying needles.
Once they pierced him, Go Chan could neither speak nor move.
It was as though he had suffered acupoint sealing.
Scrape!
The courtesan pulled out a chair by the table and pushed it behind the staggering Tower Master Gwak.
Gwak naturally ended up sitting in it.
Of course, with the eyes rolled back until only the whites showed, the Tower Master did not appear to be in good condition.
‘Th-this is...’
Go Chan could not conceal his bewilderment as he looked at the flying needles embedded in his chest.
As someone from the Flying Kill Gate, there was no way he would not recognize them.
‘Jade-Flame Flying Needles?’
They were the unique concealed weapons of the Flying Kill Flame Guest, leader of the Flying Kill Gate and one of the Four Great Assassins.
* * *
It was impossible for a mere courtesan to wield the Jade-Flame Flying Needles, the symbol of the Flying Kill Gate’s leader.
The current Flying Kill Flame Guest had reached sixty years of age.
He was older than the active generation, but his abilities were peerless. For over twenty years, he had firmly held his place as one of the Four Great Assassins.
Yet for his unique concealed weapons to be in this courtesan’s hands...
‘!!!’
Go Chan could not contain his surprise.
Only now did he think he knew her identity.
‘C-could it be?’
The Flying Kill Flame Guest had one granddaughter.
Her name was Ha Chae-rin.
After losing her entire family in an unexpected attack, she was his sole surviving blood relative.
The Flying Kill Flame Guest had poured everything into that last family member.
There was nothing wrong with that.
Everyone could understand it well enough.
The issue lay elsewhere.
‘...Is the Gate Leader in his right mind?’
Every assassin of the Flying Kill Gate had believed that the Flying Kill Flame Guest would never pass his position to that sole granddaughter.
The reason was that she was utterly unsuited to be an assassin.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that the foundation of an assassin was cool-headed reason.
But that granddaughter could not have been further from it.
She was a complete personality wreck.
Constant profanity that did not suit her pretty young face, an extreme aversion to filth, obsessive cleanliness, anger management issues...
Nothing about her suited an assassin.
‘Everyone opposed it.’
The last time he had seen her was four years ago.
It was before he retired. When the officers and every assassin of the Flying Kill Gate protested, the Flying Kill Flame Guest said he would set her straight and forcibly placed her in closed-door seclusion at Flying Kill Cave.
‘Impossible.’
Everyone was certain she could never change.
How could anyone tame such a fiery temperament and make her acquire an assassin’s cool-headedness?
So they forgot about her.
Four years had passed since his retirement. She was now nineteen, surely a fully grown woman.
‘Fully grown...’
He could tell just by looking at the magnificent chest her cleavage revealed.
She had certainly grown well.
With such an alluring face, almost anyone would easily fall for her.
Then she stretched out her hand toward the wall of the guest room.
Whoosh!
The flying needles embedded in the wall pulled free and attached themselves to the wrist ring around her wrist.
That confirmed that they were indeed the Flying Kill Flame Guest’s unique concealed weapons, the Jade-Flame Flying Needles.
The fact that she wielded them meant she had inherited the position of Gate Leader.
‘...Then she succeeded at Hundred Days, Hundred Killings?’
There was a rite of passage required to become the leader of the Flying Kill Gate, an assassin martial clan.
It was a test called Hundred Days, Hundred Killings.
The task was to complete one hundred designated requests within one hundred days. Anyone who accomplished it would be called one of the Four Great Assassins.
‘That is absurd.’
Considering her temperament, it was difficult to believe she had accomplished it.
Or had the former Gate Leader truly succeeded in raising her into a proper assassin?
Perhaps that was possible.
Come to think of it, it was strange enough that someone as obsessed with cleanliness as her was enduring the company of wastrels while serving drinks.
‘Was there hope for her after all?’
If so, he might come to respect the former Gate Leader.
After all, the man had somehow raised that personality wreck into one of the Four Great Assassins.
Then a quiet voice reached his ears.
“Oh my. Fuck.”
‘...!?’
Ha Chae-rin, disguised as a courtesan, wiped away a tiny drop of blood on her cheek.
Her gaze was icy with displeasure.
Seeing that brought back memories of her cursing as a child.
‘...Did she really change?’
Just as doubt began to rise, she approached him.
She pulled one of the flying needles from his chest.
Go Chan burst into coughing.
“Cough! Cough!”
It seemed she had pulled out the needle sealing his Mute Point.
Ha Chae-rin perched herself on the table, crossed her smooth exposed legs, and spoke.
“I never expected to see someone who retired like this, Uncle Go Chan. Or should I call you former low-rank assassin Number Eighty-Three?”
‘Damn it.’
It was undoubtedly Ha Chae-rin.
He thought she might have forgotten him after four years, but she remembered him despite their having met only a few times.
Go Chan spoke tensely.
“...It has been a long time, young lady.”
“Gate Leader.”
“What?”
“I am Gate Leader now.”
His suspicion had been correct.
She had become the current Gate Leader of the Flying Kill Gate.
Once that was confirmed, unease swept over Go Chan.
The reason was simple.
When a retired assassin met an assassin from their former organization, it almost always ended in death.
As he worried, Ha Chae-rin said,
“Perhaps retirement has made you unable to recognize a Gate Leader as a Gate Leader.”
“Th-that cannot be. Congratulations on becoming the new Gate Leader.”
“Fuck. You’re making me fish for it.”
“...”
Go Chan was speechless at the foul language spilling from her lips.
No matter how he looked at her, she was exactly as he remembered.
It had been the same before, but such vulgarity did not suit that pretty face at all.
Ha Chae-rin covered her mouth with a hand.
“Oh my, look at me. Perhaps I’m too comfortable because I met someone I know after so long. I should act demure, but I cursed without thinking.”
“P-please, be comfortable.”
“How could I? A lady should be refined.”
‘...’
What refinement was she talking about now?
Go Chan thought so inwardly, but kept his mouth shut.
Naturally, he did not dare say it aloud.
He became even more tense.
He had no idea what she might say next.
Then Ha Chae-rin parted her red lips.
“Anyone would think I came here to devour you. Grandfather must have thought fondly of you both, since he allowed you and Uncle Gam to retire. So relax.”
“...Is that truly so?”
Go Chan asked with wide eyes.
He had secretly worried that she had come for his life.
But judging by her words, it did not seem to be a major problem.
‘Ha...’
He felt relieved.
But then, something occurred to him.
If she had not come for him, why had the new Gate Leader appeared here personally and used the Jade-Flame Flying Needles on him?
As he wondered, Ha Chae-rin smiled.
“That works out well.”
“What?”
What worked out well?
“I heard the Mok Family’s eldest young master likes wine and women, so I planned to use him to enter and leave Yeonmok Sword Manor. But it seems I can enter with Guard Go Chan instead.”
‘!?’
Go Chan frowned, wondering what she meant.
Why did she want to enter Yeonmok Sword Manor with him?
“Wh-what do you mean? Why Yeonmok Sword Manor with me?”
At that question, Ha Chae-rin lightly raised Go Chan’s chin with her fingertips and spoke in a voice filled with killing intent.
“I intend to take the head of Yeonmok Sword Manor’s third young master.”
‘!!!!!!’
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
