WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B

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Chapter 20: I’ll Think About It

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“That's unfortunate.”

“What is?”

“That I can't call you my husband.”

“...I told you not to call me that.”

“I could call you darling or oppa[1] instead.”

“Please, spare me.”

What was so amusing?

Looking at Li Qing-yu, who was beaming at him, Rimon thought she was quite a formidable princess in many ways.

Of course, he had known she was no ordinary princess from the moment she came looking to make him her live-in son-in-law and generously offered shares in Leviathan.

Even so, calling him her husband already and trying to nail their marriage down as a fact was something else.

It was enough to make him shake his head.

She acted like a sly fox, yet somehow she also looked strangely innocent.

Above all, there was one peculiar thing.

He could not read Li Qing-yu's thoughts.

Having lived so long, Rimon was reasonably confident in his ability to judge people.

Yet even he found Li Qing-yu difficult to gauge.

Given how skilled she was at proposals and negotiations that concealed all manner of intentions, she seemed like a deeply calculating strategist.

The problem was that the cheerful smile on her face and her oddly friendly attitude did not look like an act at all.

Why would she have any reason to be friendly with me?

This was only the second time Li Qing-yu and Rimon had met.

Their first meeting had been a few days ago, when she proposed marriage, so they were practically strangers.

Why was she so happy to see him?

He could not understand it at all.

Considering the old grudge between the Seven Dragons Society and Rimon, she had every reason to hate him, but not the slightest reason to like him.

Reasonably speaking, it made more sense to assume this was all an act...

“Sword Duke? Is something wrong?”

Rimon stared quietly at Li Qing-yu.

Then, seeing the girl look puzzled under his gaze, he muttered.

“...Who cares?”

“Pardon?”

“No, I just decided to stop thinking about it.”

“...???”

Li Qing-yu blinked blankly.

But Rimon no longer wondered whether it was an act or sincere.

It did not matter.

He had already sworn upon his sword.

As long as she did not turn her back on him, he would not abandon Li Qing-yu either.

That was enough for Rimon.

Whatever she was thinking, there was no need to care as long as she did not betray him. If she did, he would simply make her pay the price.

So Rimon gave up worrying about it.

Instead, he raised the glass of whiskey Youin had brought him and casually asked,

“More importantly, what are you going to do now?”

“What do you mean?”

“The bugs outside.”

Li Qing-yu's eyes widened.

She knew that the bugs he meant were not actual bugs.

“You knew?”

“They're practically broadcasting their presence. How could I not?”

If the “bugs” had heard that, they would have protested that it was absurd.

They were top-class Tracers.

Their stealth, specialized for tracking and infiltration, was not something even high-level Players could easily see through.

“I suppose you would know.”

“We noticed them too.”

But neither Li Qing-yu nor Youin doubted Rimon's words.

The Black Dragon Clan knew better than anyone how meaningless it was to try concealing one's presence from Rimon.

“Still, they seem to be hiding fairly well for government halfwits... Are they with the Infinite Monarch?”

“Yes. More precisely, I think there are also Tracers from other guilds mixed in, hired by the [Infinity] Guild.”

That too was something that would have horrified the “bugs.”

Li Qing-yu had not only seen through their presence, but had even identified the people stationed nearby.

Yet Rimon accepted that fact calmly.

They had staked out and watched the Leviathan Hotel.

It was almost surprising that only their identities had been exposed.

In the old days, they would have vanished without a trace before anyone could even identify them.

No, that would not be any different now, would it?

Rimon tilted his head.

Even if it had gone legitimate, the Seven Dragons Society was still the Seven Dragons Society.

Given the nature of the Leviathan Hotel in particular, leaving them alone was not something that would normally happen.

“Is it because of the Infinite Monarch? Is that why you know all this but have left them alone?”

“About half the reason.”

Li Qing-yu readily agreed.

The Seven Dragon Group might control the world's economy, but Monarchs were the absolute beings of this era.

Even they could not easily touch the Infinite Monarch's underlings merely because they were nearby.

“And the other half?”

“My future husband is here. It wouldn't do to cause something that reeks of bloodshed, would it?”

“...Oh, is that so.”

Rimon seriously considered whether he should thank her for being considerate or simply pretend he had not heard that.

In the end, he changed the subject.

“I thought you were leaving them alone because you were worried about the bastards farther back.”

“Pardon?”

“Hm?”

Li Qing-yu formed a question mark over her head at nearly the same moment Rimon tilted his head.

“What people farther back?”

“You seriously didn't know? Their group is waiting a little farther away.”

At Rimon's reluctant question, Li Qing-yu could not answer.

She only looked awkwardly at Youin.

But Youin was equally troubled by the unexpected information.

“At least within ten ri, about four kilometers, we found no trace of anyone else...”

“What? These days, you only keep watch that far out?”

“The times have changed. We can monitor farther through equipment, but with personnel, we only maintain a perimeter that far out.”

“Well, what a cushy world this has become.”

Rimon clicked his tongue.

It was not impossible to understand.

Now that the Seven Dragons Society had successfully gone legitimate, there was less need for vigilance.

Still, he had not expected even the Leviathan Hotel to become this lax.

Feeling the passage of time in an odd place, Rimon got to the heart of the matter.

“Then I guess you wouldn't know. They're about twelve kilometers away.”

“Thirty ri away?”

“Yeah. The Tracers are probably bait. Their main force is waiting, ready to act once you move to catch them and give them an excuse.”

“So that's what it is...”

Li Qing-yu finally looked as though she understood.

Youin, however, voiced the question that still remained.

“How did the Sword Duke know they were there?”

“I looked out the window and saw them.”

“...You saw them from here?”

“They're over there.”

Following the finger Rimon casually pointed out, Youin looked beyond the window.

Leviathan was a skyscraper hotel worthy of its reputation.

From this top floor, one could easily look down over dozens of kilometers.

For Youin, a master of psionics, confirming that people were ten kilometers away was not particularly difficult.

The problem was that having good eyesight and finding suspicious individuals were two different things.

“I do not see anything particularly suspicious...”

“That's probably because of the barrier.”

“A barrier?”

“It looks like they set something up to hide themselves. Focus on the spots where the presence feels off.”

“...”

Youin was speechless for a moment.

In other words, Rimon had sensed an irregularity in someone's presence from far away and found an ambush.

At a distance of twelve kilometers, no less, against people hiding behind a barrier who were almost certainly high-level Players from the Infinity Guild.

It was not something a human should be able to do.

...As expected of the Sword Duke.

Yet although Youin was astonished, he did not doubt Rimon's words.

He merely sighed, recalling how the Seven Dragons Society had struggled by every means possible in the past to catch a monster like this.

Youin was a martial artist from the old era.

Unlike the younger generation of today, who strangely looked down on Sword Masters, he knew what a Sword Master truly was.

“If the Sword Duke is right, we cannot let this go.”

“Why not just leave them? If I go out, it'll be taken care of anyway.”

“We cannot do that.”

“Why? Is your pride hurt?”

Rimon asked with a snort.

The Seven Dragons Society had always been an organization with pride that reached the heavens.

They were not the kind of people who would tolerate such an open provocation.

That was why Rimon was surprised by Li Qing-yu's answer.

“No. They may be targeting me.”

“What?”

“They've had people following me ever since I entered this country.”

“...They've been following you? Why?”

“Why do you think?”

Whether she truly did not know or found it difficult to say, Li Qing-yu only smiled and asked in return.

Rimon did not press her further.

He merely understood.

So that was why she was not concerned about my conflict with the Infinite Monarch.

Marrying him now meant making a Monarch her enemy.

No matter how much she needed Rimon's strength, it was something she should have reconsidered.

Yet it had seemed strange that Li Qing-yu had passed over that fact so calmly. If she had trouble with Lee Cheon-gi from the start, it made sense.

Whether Lee Cheon-gi was the culprit or it was someone behind him.

If they had followed her, a clash with the Infinite Monarch was inevitable anyway.

“What will you do if they really are watching this place because of you?”

“I'll have to take the necessary measures.”

“I'm asking what those measures are.”

Li Qing-yu did not directly answer Rimon's question, which he posed with an odd expression.

She simply spoke quietly.

“Youin.”

“The Dark Silence Squad and the Black Demon Squad can move immediately.”

“Have the Ink Dragon Squad stand by as well, if possible.”

“Will that be all right?”

“Our opponent is the Infinity Guild. Rather than handle this halfheartedly, it is better to be thorough and get an earful from the elders later, isn't it?”

“Indeed. You are right.”

Youin agreed with Li Qing-yu's smiling words with a serious expression.

Rimon, meanwhile, was dumbfounded.

“...Are you people planning to wage all-out war against the Infinite Monarch?”

“They crossed the line first.”

“Not that I'm trying to defend them, but they probably didn't even know there was a line.”

“Not knowing does not erase what they did, does it?”

“Well, that's true...”

Rimon scratched his cheek.

In truth, he had no intention of stopping them.

He could understand Li Qing-yu's sharp reaction.

Whether they had known it or not, Lee Cheon-gi had touched the Seven Dragons Society's one untouchable nerve. From the Seven Dragons Society's perspective, it was not something they could overlook.

“Even so, rushing in head-on is not a great idea these days. Your business will take a major hit right away.”

There was only one reason Rimon intervened.

He did not want a disturbance at the Leviathan Hotel.

He had just agreed to take shares in it. If the Infinite Monarch and the Black Dragon Clan started an all-out war here, there was no telling what would happen to their value.

“Do you have a better idea?”

“Not anything so grand.”

Rimon drained the whiskey he had been sipping in one gulp.

Setting down the empty glass, he continued calmly.

“I was thinking I should show them why people in the old days were so afraid of making a Sword Master their enemy.”

“Uh...”

“Hmm...”

At that moment, Li Qing-yu and Youin's expressions both became strange.

As though looking at a puppy rolling around atop a bomb, Li Qing-yu looked at Rimon with an exquisite mix of sympathy, unease, and pity before carefully speaking.

“...Sword Duke?”

“What?”

“You will show them some mercy, won't you?”

Hearing the sincere concern in her question, Rimon considered it for a moment.

Then he smiled coldly.

“I'll think about it.”

Unfortunately, it was not comforting in the slightest.

Footnotes:

[1] Oppa: Korean term a woman uses for an older male, often with romantic intimacy.

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