WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 162: I’m Truly Sorry
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* * *
Moon Cheon-yeop swallowed hard.
He had done whatever it took to become the power behind the WIM Guild, ruining the lives of musicians he disliked or finding rivals’ weaknesses and bringing them down.
But that had only ever been an extension of business.
He had never involved himself in truly dangerous crimes.
Compared to what crime could gain him, he had far too much to lose if he got caught.
That was why he could not hide his tension now.
“I brought what we agreed on.”
“Do you want to die?”
“W-What?”
“If you don’t want to die, don’t say anything unnecessary. Just hand over what you brought and leave.”
“...!”
Moon Cheon-yeop gritted his teeth.
As the power behind the WIM Guild, he had looked down on countless others, but he had never been looked down upon. The humiliation was hard to bear.
Still, he did not dare get angry.
As a high-level player, he could tell.
This was no mere threat, and he needed to endure it for now.
So he handed over the briefcase he had brought.
Then he abruptly stood.
“I kept my end of the agreement. Make sure you handle the job properly!”
Tata, the woman whose thick coat and scarf covered all but her eyes, gave no answer.
She only looked at him with cold eyes.
Moon Cheon-yeop flinched under that gaze, then forced himself to look confident as he left the bar.
‘Damn it. You’re just the lackey of some insane criminals. Do you even know who I am?’
The moment he exited the bar, Moon Cheon-yeop fled the alley as though running for his life.
All the while, he cursed Tata internally for daring to humiliate him.
‘Just wait. If you don’t handle this properly, I’ll make sure you bitch don’t die peacefully either...!’
Thud!
“Urgh?!”
It happened in an instant.
An empty bottle rolled beneath his feet as he hurried along.
In his rush, he failed to watch where he was going, stepped on it, fell backward, and struck the back of his head.
Of course, Moon Cheon-yeop was a high-level player.
The impact from a simple fall would not have taken long to recover from, but...
Crunch!
“Guh?!”
A flowerpot fell from somewhere above and struck him square in the face, knocking Moon Cheon-yeop unconscious.
Around the time two figures approached his collapsed body, blood still streamed from his nose.
“Hmm, what do you think? He passed out pretty naturally, right?”
“...
There is nothing natural about it.”
“Don’t sweat the little things. Everyone falls backward and breaks their nose at least once in life.”
Rimon crouched down.
Then he began searching through Moon Cheon-yeop’s clothes.
Ainsha watched the scene expressionlessly before speaking in a low voice.
“I did not know Lee was a robber.”
“Hm? What kind of nonsense is that?”
“If Lee is not a robber, I would like to know why he knocked someone unconscious and is searching through his clothes.”
“Why else? For the investigation.”
“Lee has no investigative authority. I have never heard of an investigation being conducted this way.”
“What choice do I have? We went through all that trouble to tail him, but we didn’t learn much. We have to find a clue somehow.”
Rimon grumbled.
He had thought Tata meeting Moon Cheon-yeop might give him some lead, so he had even used his Sword Master senses to listen in.
But the two had barely exchanged any words before parting ways, so he had learned almost nothing.
What else was he supposed to do?
Of course, the fact that the target was Moon Cheon-yeop was also why Rimon did not feel particularly bad about it.
“Hm? This is...”
Perhaps his efforts had paid off.
While thoroughly searching Moon Cheon-yeop, Rimon finally found the clue he wanted in his wallet.
A calling card hidden in a gouge on the inside of it.
The moment he saw it, Rimon’s face hardened.
Ainsha tilted her head at him.
“I would like to know whether it is surprising for this man to possess a card for an adult establishment.”
“...Do you think this is a card for an adult establishment?”
“It only has a phone number. Nine out of ten such cards belong to suspicious establishments.”
“A suspicious establishment... Yes. That isn’t wrong.”
Ainsha proudly shared knowledge she had heard from Tata with her expressionless face.
That innocent manner alone told Rimon that she knew nothing about this calling card.
Which only made the situation more complicated.
With a headache coming on, Rimon stared at the simple card, black as night and dotted with only a few stars.
“There’s no place more suspicious than the Liberation Brigade.”
* * *
The Liberation Brigade committed every kind of crime without hesitation, but surprisingly, it rarely operated openly.
It was, after all, a criminal organization.
The moment it entered the public eye, it would inevitably be hunted down.
So the Liberation Brigade burrowed deeper into the shadows. Rather than acting as a group, its members often committed crimes individually.
Even so, its notoriety was great.
Though it did not step into the spotlight, it supported all kinds of criminal activities behind the scenes.
Sometimes it accepted criminal commissions.
Sometimes it connected accomplices.
Sometimes it arranged hideouts.
As long as they paid an appropriate fee, the Liberation Brigade spared no support, which made criminals all the more loyal to it.
In a sense, it was not much different from any Player or guild.
The fatal difference was that all its activities and roles revolved around illegal crime.
And one of the methods it commonly used to provide those services was the calling card.
Impossible to trace, each with a number made separately for its recipient, it was an access card for the Liberation Brigade’s criminal services.
[...So, are you saying that Moon Cheon-yeop was a member of the Liberation Brigade?]
“No. If he were truly a Brigade member, he would not have kept the card so carelessly. He probably picked up one they had scattered as bait somewhere.”
[Bait?]
“They sometimes hand those cards to bastards they want to make into prospective clients or recruits.”
[I see... So this is how the Liberation Brigade operates these days.]
Li Qing-yu quietly murmured as though she had learned something important.
Then, as if something had suddenly occurred to her, she added,
[Then Park Hyeon-gun, who used to be with the Infinity Guild, might also have been connected to the Liberation Brigade through one of those cards.]
“Who knows? The Liberation Brigade has more than one or two methods.”
Rimon shook his head.
Because it had all kinds of criminal Players, some of the Liberation Brigade’s methods were beyond imagination.
There were even people who claimed they had contacted the Liberation Brigade in dreams, or that a bird had spoken to them.
In that sense, the fact that it had used a calling card so openly also meant it was bait of little enough importance that it did not matter whether it was discovered.
“The problem isn’t that bastard Moon Cheon-yeop.”
[...You mean Tata.]
“Yeah.”
Moon Cheon-yeop was a kite with its string cut.
He was merely a high-level player who had lost both his connection to Midas and his power within WIM.
Rimon had nearly killed Moon Cheon-yeop even when he was still at the height of his power. There was no reason to worry now that Moon Cheon-yeop had a connection to the Liberation Brigade.
But Tata was different.
“The White Dragon Princess foresaw a future where I kill her nanny, and that nanny met a guy connected to the Liberation Brigade. Do you think that’s a coincidence?”
[Well, if it were another clan, it might be. But...]
“There are no coincidences in anything the White Dragon Clan does.”
[More accurately, even coincidences cease to be coincidences.]
Li Qing-yu sighed.
Rimon clicked his tongue in agreement.
He had expected things to get troublesome the moment prophecy became involved, but this went beyond troublesome.
Li Qing-yu, who also sensed how difficult the situation had become, calmly asked a question.
Not Rimon, but the expressionless girl silently standing beside him.
[What do you think, Ainsha?]
“I would like to know what the question means.”
[Can you guess why or for what purpose your nanny met a Liberation Brigade lackey?]
“No.”
[Do you have any precognitive vision that could serve as a clue?]
“No.”
The answer sounded not merely blunt, but almost insincere.
But Li Qing-yu knew it was Ainsha’s honest truth, so she was not disappointed.
She merely asked one final question.
[Then do you think it is possible that Tata is a member of the Liberation Brigade or has joined hands with them?]
“That is impossible.”
“You have no idea what she might be doing, but you can say that for certain?”
“Of course. I am certain. I stake my name on it.”
Ainsha’s face remained expressionless.
But unlike before, her manner was firm as she continued bluntly.
“Tata is not merely a nanny.”
The youngest Elder of the White Dragon Clan.
A close aide who had served three generations of Princesses.
Ainsha’s only family, who had taught and supported her since childhood.
A woman with abilities unrivaled even within the clan, who controlled even the Council of Elders while remaining in the position of nanny and attendant.
Ainsha insisted that Tata would never join hands with the Liberation Brigade.
Rimon frowned.
“...Wait, does that mean this Tata is basically your clan’s number two? No, from what I hear, she seems to hold more real power than you.”
“Of course. Tata is the wisest in our clan. Therefore, the clan follows Tata’s judgment.”
“What about your judgment as the Princess?”
“That is not important.”
Tata was wiser than Ainsha, so it was better to follow her judgment.
Watching Ainsha state that expressionlessly, Rimon’s expression grew even more grave.
“Princess, did you know?”
[I knew she was the power behind the White Dragon Clan.]
“This is beyond being the power behind it. She’s practically someone I ought to learn from.”
[Um... Certainly, the Sword Duke and Tata have much in common positionally.]
As the close aide or prince consort of a Princess, Rimon and Tata both held power with wholehearted support.
The difference was that Rimon received support from Li Qing-yu, while Tata seemed to hold Ainsha in her grip.
That was why Rimon frowned.
He knew from experience how dangerous it was when an aide like that developed ulterior motives.
Including how easily they could be tempted.
“A number two who can treat the number one like a puppet is always plagued by temptation.”
[That cannot be. Sword Duke, you know that a Princess’s authority in the Seven Dragons Society is absolute.]
“Doesn’t look that way when I see you. Besides, if the Liberation Brigade managed to get its hands into the Ten Great Guilds, we cannot guarantee the Seven Dragons Society is safe either.”
[That is...]
Li Qing-yu trailed off awkwardly.
Even though she had brought her clan to ruin, until recently her position within it had been at its lowest. She had nothing to say in response.
Even if she was certain that could not be the case.
Ainsha was the one who objected instead.
“This is speculation. It is a false accusation. I object.”
“You mean you will trust your nanny to the end?”
“Of course I will.”
“Really? Then call her.”
“...?”
“Tell your nanny to come here. We’ll meet her in person and hear what she has to say.”
“Very well.”
Perhaps she was truly confident.
Ainsha nodded and immediately called Tata.
[Princess? You are still on your date. What is the matter?]
“Tata, something has happened. Please come immediately.”
[...Right now?]
“That is correct.”
[...]
“Tata?”
Normally, Tata would have immediately answered, “Tata will be there at once!”
As Ainsha wondered why that confident reply did not come, a voice rang through the air.
[It would have been nice if you had quietly enjoyed your date. You have caused unnecessary trouble.]
“...Tata?”
[Princess.]
It was not Tata’s usual bold, unrestrained voice, but one that was cold and flat.
At that voice, which sounded both so familiar and so unfamiliar, Ainsha blankly blinked.
Then Tata quietly declared,
[I am terribly sorry, but it seems Tata will have to betray the Princess from now on.]
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