WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 107: What Should I Do with This Bomb?
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Perhaps it was the killing intent in that voice.
Yoo Na-gyeong, perched atop Rimon’s head, went completely still and kept silent.
She knew that if she acted up around Rimon while he was in such a foul mood, a few forehead flicks would not be the end of it.
“I doubt the Wang Family head meant to disrespect you. Since the torture chamber is under my authority, he probably thought it had nothing to do with you.”
Perhaps Li Qing-yu did not know Rimon well.
Or perhaps her guts were made of something different.
Even with him openly displaying his displeasure, she answered calmly.
Rimon spoke coldly to her.
“If they weren’t disrespecting me, then they were disrespecting you.”
“Well...”
“And since you are my betrothed, looking down on you is no different from looking down on me.”
“Ah, yes.”
Perhaps she had not expected those words.
Li Qing-yu forgot whatever she had been about to say, her cheeks flushing pink.
Yoo Na-gyeong’s beak fell open as she watched.
Rimon, however, paid no attention to her reaction.
He merely frowned and asked bluntly.
“So? Did you decide to take that son of a bitch into the torture chamber?”
“I was just about to ask you that.”
“Ask who?”
“Of course, Sword Duke.”
“...You want me to tell you whether you should accept the Wang Family’s request and torture that bastard in your torture chamber?”
“Yes.”
Li Qing-yu kept nodding with a bright smile, as though asking what he wanted packed in his lunch.
After staring at her dubiously for a moment, Rimon, who had already forgotten he had been angry, asked with a suspicious look.
“Why are you asking me? It’s not like I run that ugly facility.”
“But you are responsible for Leviathan’s guards and security. And you were the one who told us that criminal was dangerous.”
“That is true, but...”
Rimon trailed off with an odd expression.
Li Qing-yu tilted her head.
“Is something bothering you?”
“It’s not that it bothers me. It’s just strange. I used to run around trying to save people being tortured by you lot, and now I’m deciding who gets tortured.”
Rimon scratched his cheek.
But Li Qing-yu remained composed.
“We do not torture innocent people recklessly as we did in the past.”
“Putting aside whether they’re innocent, don’t you think the problem starts when you accept a commission to torture someone?”
“It’s fine. Our torture chamber is an extraterritorial place.”
“I’m talking about morality, not the law.”
“Morality is something you only bring out when you need it.”
“...Ah. Is that so?”
Rimon clicked his tongue.
The Black Dragon Clan was a clan for whom schemes and conspiracies were second nature.
He had once again realized how absurd it was to discuss morality with Li Qing-yu, their princess.
“So, what should we do?”
Whether she understood how he felt or not, Li Qing-yu asked with her usual bright smile.
Rimon answered immediately.
“Refuse.”
“Is it because you dislike the Wang Family head’s attitude of forcibly taking that criminal away, then asking us to handle the torture?”
“That annoys me too, but there’s no reason to deliberately take on a dangerous bomb like that again.”
Li Qing-yu and Yoo Na-gyeong wore odd expressions at the same time.
Noticing the change through a Sword Master’s sensitive senses, Rimon narrowed his eyes.
“Why do you both look so suspicious?”
“No, it’s not suspicious exactly.”
[It’s just been a long time since I saw you consider someone that dangerous, Team Leader.]
Yoo Na-gyeong tilted her head.
Even while working for the PAB, Rimon had treated any high-level player as a joke.
He was the man who had even smashed the Infinite Monarch.
Yet he was so wary of Ryu Gang-cheol, who was only duke-class, even if he was a high-ranking Liberation Brigade officer. Ryu Gang-cheol had already lost both arms and was practically half crippled.
It felt very strange.
Rimon gave a quiet laugh as he looked at Yoo Na-gyeong.
“Na-gyeong, do you know this kind of bastard?”
[What kind?]
“The kind who says they want a debate, but insists that only they are right whenever they talk.”
[Of course. There are surprisingly a lot of them, aren’t there?]
“Right? Now add someone who starts swinging their fists the moment you refute them.”
[Hm. They wouldn’t be easy to get along with.]
“Now imagine they lose because they can’t even fight properly, but they smugly congratulate themselves for having perfect logic, claiming their opponent only used violence because they couldn’t win the argument.”
[...At that point, I wouldn’t even want to associate with them.]
“Exactly. That’s how I feel.”
[Ah-ha?]
Yoo Na-gyeong wore an expression that suggested she almost understood, but not quite.
As though elaborating for her, Li Qing-yu briefly summarized Rimon’s explanation.
“So you mean that fools are more exhausting to deal with than geniuses?”
“You never know what a fool will do. That goes double for a crazy fool.”
Whether they were Monarchs, absolute beings.
Whether they were Grand Dukes, said to be no different from kings.
Whether they were dukes with rare Skills.
They were all human, and humans died when struck by a sword. None of them could stand against him.
Was it not only natural to be more wary of a madman than a Monarch?
Yoo Na-gyeong’s beak fell open as Rimon said this.
[Wow, that was incredibly arrogant and irritating, but I can’t deny it because it’s true.]
“I am pretty amazing.”
[Blegh!]
As Yoo Na-gyeong gagged, Rimon flicked her forehead with a finger.
Then he turned to Li Qing-yu.
“Anyway, it would be best to refuse that bastard’s case without exception. Especially if they want to use the torture chamber.”
The torture chamber was a Leviathan facility.
In other words, torturing Ryu Gang-cheol meant bringing him to Leviathan.
To Rimon, who considered Ryu Gang-cheol a pile of shit that would cause trouble if touched, or perhaps a shit bomb, that was absolutely unacceptable.
“Refusing is indeed the wisest choice.”
“Why? Do you think differently?”
“No. Your will is my will.”
Rimon’s decision took priority over all else.
Her own opinion was unimportant.
Having answered calmly, Li Qing-yu took out a document with a slightly troubled expression.
“However, the situation has become a little difficult for us to refuse outright.”
Li Qing-yu held out an official document.
More precisely, Rimon recognized the familiar seal stamped on it and frowned.
“The Council of Elders?”
“Yes. It is an official request as well.”
“So even if you want to refuse, it’s become difficult.”
“If it concerns public business, the Elders can authorize use of the torture chamber. I could oppose it if I wished, but...”
Li Qing-yu sighed softly.
Rimon clicked his tongue as he watched that sight, which would make countless men’s hearts race.
“So we’d be giving those Elders, whom we finally suppressed by getting hold of their weakness, a good excuse?”
“If I oppose use of the torture chamber, the Elders will claim that I can no longer distinguish right from wrong because of you.”
They could not oppose him only because their weakness had been exposed.
Deep down, the Elders did not welcome Rimon marrying Li Qing-yu, or more precisely, the Black Dragon Clan losing its wealth and power in the process.
But if she ignored this request?
They would pounce like wolves spotting meat, claiming that Li Qing-yu had mixed personal feelings into public business because Wang Gi-neung had stabbed Rimon in the back.
“Tch. I should have killed all those Elder bastards long ago.”
“Then the Black Dragon Clan would have been in worse straits. In the past, they were of great help in sustaining the clan.”
“The fact that you have to add ‘in the past’ means they are not much help now that they have become an entrenched interest group.”
“Even so, if we dealt with them openly, the morale and loyalty of other clan members would fall. They might misunderstand and think that loyal service only means being cast aside when they are no longer useful.”
“Hm. That’s true.”
Yoo Na-gyeong made an odd expression.
She had been silently listening to the two of them, and something about it was bothering her.
[Um, Princess? Why does your reason for not dealing with your Elders come with the condition that it cannot be done openly?]
“Would you like to hear why?”
[...No. Now that I think about it, I think it would be better not to hear it.]
Yoo Na-gyeong cautiously looked away from Li Qing-yu’s smiling face.
She was not so oblivious that she failed to understand why, despite listing various reasons, Li Qing-yu had not once asked them not to lay a hand on the Elders.
As Yoo Na-gyeong swallowed dryly at the Seven Dragons Society’s ruthlessness once again, Rimon rubbed his chin.
“What should we do with this bomb...?”
“I wonder.”
Handing Ryu Gang-cheol over to the torture chamber felt unpleasant, but ignoring the Elders’ official document would create trouble later.
As the two considered a situation that was, in a sense, nearly impossible to advance or retreat from, Yoo Na-gyeong murmured softly.
[That is difficult. If it were a real bomb, you could just call in a high-level player with the right Skill and have them deal with it.]
“Hm?”
“Ah?”
Rimon and Li Qing-yu wore odd expressions at the same time.
Yoo Na-gyeong asked them awkwardly.
[Did I say something strange?]
“No, you did well. You just gave me a good idea.”
“That’s right. We were needlessly overthinking it.”
[...???]
Whether Yoo Na-gyeong made a blank face at their incomprehensible words or not, Rimon grinned.
Then he turned to Li Qing-yu with a meaningful look.
“Princess. Does the spy you bought in the Shanghai Wang Family hold a decent position?”
“They know even the confidential information.”
“Hm. Then there should be no problem.”
“The Wang Family head is cautious, so I cannot guarantee it. But if we also conduct outside surveillance, they will not fall for a counterintelligence scheme.”
“Is that so? Then let me know once you get the information.”
Li Qing-yu looked surprised.
“Are you going to handle it personally?”
“It’s better to make certain of things when you can.”
Li Qing-yu nodded once as she watched Rimon’s sinister smile.
Then, as though something had occurred to her, she asked.
“Then, while we are at it, how about preparing a second option as well?”
“You mean Na-gyeong’s backup plan?”
“Yes. There is no guarantee that the remaining bombs will not cause trouble afterward.”
“I do not mind. But will that be all right? There will be plenty of people making noise about it later if they learn you brought in an outsider.”
“Do I need to care about such things when I am betrothed to you?”
“I suppose not.”
Rimon let out a small laugh.
He could tell from the smile on her lips alone that she had already made thorough preparations before suggesting it.
“Fine. Then I will handle that side as well. I know someone who gets ahead of themself. Their skills are lacking, but they should be capable of guarding a house.”
“Yes. Please spend freely and do not worry about the money.”
The two spoke in a remarkably warm atmosphere, like lovers deciding where to go on a date.
Yoo Na-gyeong grumbled with a sulky expression as she watched them.
[You two lovebirds. It is nice that you get along, but could you explain it so this dumb bird can understand too?]
“Hehe. Calling us lovebirds when we are not even married yet is too generous an assessment.” [...]
“Don’t overthink it.”
Li Qing-yu smiled brightly and gave a thumbs-up.
Yoo Na-gyeong froze as she watched.
“You said it yourself. If it were a real bomb, you could call a high-level player with the right Skill and have them deal with it.”
[So what about that?]
“How do people normally deal with bombs when there is no high-level player around?”
[Well...?]
As though she had realized something, Yoo Na-gyeong’s beak fell open and she froze.
Rimon looked at her with a cold smile and continued quietly.
“If a man spent his life carving people up like toys, he must have prepared himself for the possibility that he would not be treated like a human either.”
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