WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 65: A Shortcut
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“What a strange turn of events, isn’t it?”
“What do you mean?”
“The power of the Constellation I absorbed. I struggled with it for quite a while.”
After cutting down the Serpent That Joins the Ends, Rimon had been suffering from the fragments of starlight that had seeped into his body.
Being able to use a Constellation’s power was not a bad thing. But he could not control it as he pleased, and the intense sense of foreignness had caused him no small amount of discomfort.
“In the worst-case scenario, I was prepared to undergo closed-door training.”
Sword training was the only solution.
Even then, his progress had been so slow that it would have taken ten years at this rate.
“That would have been a problem...”
“Yes, it would have ruined our plan to take over the Seven Dragons Society.”
“No, if the Sword Duke entered seclusion, I’d be married only to be abandoned and left spending my nights alone.”
“That’s what you meant by a problem?!”
“There’s no greater problem for a bride about to be married.”
“Tch. In any case, we found a solution, didn’t we?”
“Yes, it truly is fortunate.”
As Rimon had been wrestling with that problem, an unexpected solution had appeared.
It was the Pitch-Black Violin he had obtained at the amusement park with Li Qing-yu.
More precisely, it was playing it.
“I never thought that cursed instrument would help dissolve the Constellation’s power.”
“My thoughts exactly.”
The moment the cursed violin’s power forced him to play it, moving its owner as it pleased, Rimon had felt it clearly.
The fragments of starlight embedded in his body, which had remained as immovable as rocks until then, had begun to melt away like lumps of salt in a downpour.
“It’s welcome that I can control the Constellation’s power a little now, but...”
“Is there something disappointing about it?”
Li Qing-yu tilted her head.
Rimon gave her an unenthusiastic look.
“It’s absurd that the Constellation power I can finally handle properly is only a disguise ability like this.”
“I think it’s too valuable to call it merely that. It’s an Art of Disguise comparable to the Hundred Faces Skin-Shedding Style.”
Li Qing-yu wore a strange expression.
The young man named Lee, whom Rimon used when taking lessons from Julia, was Rimon’s disguise.
It was a transformation ability he had gained by dissolving the fragments of starlight while playing the Pitch-Black Violin.
Perhaps because it came from fragments of a snake that had dealt in lies and deception, the disguise could do more than alter his appearance.
It could even interfere with perception itself.
A single mole on his face could make him seem like another person. Putting on a white coat could make him look like a doctor.
It was the ultimate Art of Disguise.
An actor could take on a thousand roles, while an assassin could infiltrate anywhere. It was a dreamlike ability.
Yet Rimon himself remained indifferent.
“It’s still just a disguise. I’m neither a clown nor an assassin, so what would I do with an ability like this?”
“For something so useless, you use it quite well when meeting Julia.”
“I had no choice. If she saw my real face, she’d probably run away before I could learn anything.”
The bluebird perched atop Rimon’s head giggled.
[And yet you still made two teachers run away on their first day. That shows how the Team Leader’s dignity can’t be hidden even by a false face...]
Smack!
[Ow! Why did you hit me?]
“Where do you get off interrupting adults while they’re talking?”
[I’m an adult too!]
“That was in your past life. Where does a little thing who hasn’t even lost her down yet get off pretending to be an adult?”
[Ugh! If my mental age is that of an adult, then I am one! Besides, I’m a bird! In just a few months, I’ll be grown up anyway!]
“Yes, yes. So go eat some more worms.”
As Yoo Na-gyeong flapped her wings and shrieked in protest while Rimon teased the bluebird, Li Qing-yu smiled.
“Anyway, it’s already been a week, and Julia is still here. I’m glad your lessons seem to be going better than before.”
“...”
[...]
“What is it?”
“No, well. The lessons are going well. Yes. They’re going very well.”
[Team Leader, at least try to sound convincing...]
“Bluebird, animals are supposed to eat. Here, have plenty of this.”
[Mmph! Mmmph!]
Rimon stuffed crackers into her beak, silencing her and murdering her to keep her quiet in one go.
Leaving Yoo Na-gyeong to flail, collapse with a flop, and twitch, Rimon casually asked the head-tilting Li Qing-yu:
“So why did you send for me? You wouldn’t have interrupted my training merely because you were curious whether my lessons were going well.”
“Ah, it’s because of the shortcut I mentioned before.”
“The shortcut you mentioned when you asked me to take charge of a subsidiary?”
“Yes. I only just finished preparing it.”
Rimon looked surprised by Li Qing-yu’s answer.
“That was fast. It shouldn’t have been so easy to arrange.”
“It wasn’t as difficult as I expected.”
“Really?”
“Yes. As it turns out, there are many cases similar to yours in this country, Sword Duke. So I used them as references.”
“As far as I know, I was the first person in this country to seize the president and take hostages.”
“Of course, I excluded that precedent.”
Li Qing-yu smiled sweetly and held out a small case.
Rimon accepted it, opened it, and made a peculiar expression at what he found inside.
“...Princess, what is this?”
“As you can see, it’s your business card, Sword Duke.”
“It says here that I’m the CEO of Guardian, a company exclusively responsible for security, guard services, and audits across all Leviathan subsidiaries.”
It was an elegant business card, made from a thin sheet of pure silver and plated with gold lettering.
Rimon looked dubious as he held the card, whose credentials were more valuable than the card itself. Li Qing-yu answered calmly.
“That’s the subsidiary you’ll be taking charge of from now on.”
“...You said you had used cases similar to mine as references?”
“It seems that when high-ranking officials in this country retire, they often become outside directors for major corporations or establish companies of their own and receive preferential treatment for former officials.”
“Princess, that isn’t preferential treatment for former officials. That’s a parachute appointment...”
“Are they different?”
“The difference is that two syllables become three.”[1]
Rimon gave up trying to explain the subtle difference in nuance between those two complicated near-synonyms.
Instead, he asked with a troubled look:
“Princess, I told you I’m busy training and don’t have time for this. So what am I supposed to do if you suddenly make me the head of a company with this much work?”
“It’s all right. Even if you don’t work, Sword Duke, no one will complain.”
“What does that mean?”
Rimon looked puzzled.
Anyone else might have tolerated it, but the Elders who had demanded that he take charge of a subsidiary and produce results would never stand by and watch him idle around.
Li Qing-yu gave him a meaningful smile.
“Sword Duke, do you know what it’s usually called when security, guard services, and audits are all handled in one place?”
“Excessive workload?”
“No. They call it putting a cat in charge of the fish shop.”
“...What?”
After blinking for a moment, Rimon realized what her words meant and asked with an incredulous expression:
“You want me to become the Dongchang Chief Eunuch?”[2]
“That’s a somewhat old-fashioned expression. These days, more people call it being a shadow power broker.”
“Either way, you’re telling me to become the real number one who holds and wields information under the ruler’s favor.”
“No, but the Elders and the others may see it that way.”
“Hm?”
Rimon frowned at Li Qing-yu’s answer.
He fell silent, tap, tap tapping the table with his finger before speaking.
“So, it’s intimidation?”
“If I had to compare it to something. No one in the clan would want the Sword Duke working diligently in an organization like that.”
“That’s only natural. It would be like putting a sword in the hands of a swordsman.”
The Dongchang that had ruled the martial world of old.
Cold War secret police and the FBI.
In every era, organizations that handled information, oversaw security, and held the authority to conduct audits had exercised overwhelming power.
And if Rimon was in charge of one?
To the Black Dragon Clan, he would look like a murderous fiend who had been granted a license to kill.
In reality, that murderous fiend might be too busy to leave his room. But those unaware of that fact would have no choice but to tremble.
“An audit organization is the sort of place where the more hostile it is, the more people hope it remains lazy.”
“Isn’t that why every tax office and prosecutor’s office eventually becomes corrupt?”
“Yes. The small difference is that we’re already corrupt from the beginning.”
“That doesn’t sound like a small difference.”
“It must be your imagination.”
Rimon watched Li Qing-yu smile innocently for a moment, then scratched the back of his head.
“I understand that it’s a position where the more I slack off, the better. But is that really all right? Even if I don’t work, people will surely talk eventually.”
The Elders were already itching to find fault with him.
They might be cautious for now, but once they learned Guardian was a hollow shell, they would surely pounce and tear it apart.
“Don’t worry. Even if the Sword Duke doesn’t work, Guardian will.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means I’ve already made every possible preparation.”
“...?”
Rimon looked puzzled.
Li Qing-yu smiled at him. Rather than offering a detailed explanation, she calmly said:
“Come in.”
It happened right then.
As though they had been waiting, someone opened the door, entered, and bowed respectfully to them.
“You called for me, Princess?”
“You know well what you must do from now on, correct?”
“Yes.”
Tall, with cropped hair.
A slender frame, semi-formal attire.
A neat face and cold eyes.
At first glance, the woman’s androgynous appearance made it difficult to tell whether she was a woman dressed as a man or simply a rather pretty man.
She turned her head slightly.
Then, looking at Rimon with ice-cold dark blue eyes, she bowed politely.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Weiling, appointed as the Sword Duke’s secretary as of today.”
“...A secretary?”
Rimon looked as though he had just heard nonsense.
Li Qing-yu spoke lightly to him.
“Since the Sword Duke is becoming the representative, at least nominally, I thought you should have one attendant.”
“I don’t need such a thing.”
“You should still accept one. A capable attendant is helpful in every respect.”
Rimon’s indifferent expression shifted as he heard the meaning behind Li Qing-yu’s words. He narrowed his eyes.
He looked back and forth between Li Qing-yu’s sweet smile and Weiling’s cold face before asking:
“What sort of help, for example?”
“Well, it depends on the situation. You could receive advice concerning work or have a few simple tasks handled in your stead.”
“...It sounds as though, depending on the situation, I could make her handle every task in the company.”
“Oh, I suppose that’s possible.”
Li Qing-yu looked surprised, as though that thought had never occurred to her.
Rimon let out a hollow laugh at her shameless act.
“So you’re telling me to hand all the work over to her, become a figurehead CEO, collect the results, and focus on my training?”
“You don’t have to see it so negatively. Appointing capable subordinates and making them work well is also the ability of a superior.”
“That’s nonsense incompetent superiors invented to steal their subordinates’ credit.”
Once again, Rimon was amazed by Li Qing-yu’s brazenness.
So that had been her intention all along?
No wonder she had so readily accepted the Elders’ demand that he run a subsidiary and produce results.
She had planned from the beginning to attach such a capable subordinate to him that even a monkey could produce results.
“Still, ordinary competence won’t be enough if we’re to produce results good enough that even the Elders can’t pick at them.”
“You don’t need to worry.”
Before Li Qing-yu could answer, Weiling spoke coldly.
Meeting Rimon’s eyes directly with a chilling gaze, she stated firmly:
“You won’t have to worry that I’ll lack the ability to perform my duties and cause you trouble.”
“Oh? Is that so?”
There was open hostility in her voice.
It was hostility so sharp and straightforward that it was almost refreshing. Rimon slowly raised the corner of his mouth.
Then he glanced at Li Qing-yu.
“You may trust her. Of everyone in our clan, Weiling is the person I trust and rely upon most.”
“Is it all right to give someone like that to me as my secretary?”
“It’s because this matter is that important.”
At that moment, obvious relief appeared on Weiling’s face.
Her expression was still cold, but she looked so visibly drained that the difference was unmistakable.
It lasted only a moment.
“Of course, if the Sword Duke doesn’t like her, I can replace her with someone else. What do you think?”
“...!”
Rimon saw Weiling’s face turn pale at once and snickered.
He could roughly understand why Li Qing-yu wanted to attach this hostile woman to him as a secretary.
But Rimon did not point it out.
He merely looked back at Weiling.
“May I call you Weiling?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Then I’ll hear your family name later.”
“I will never permit you to use my alias, not even later.”
“We’ll see.”
Weiling answered coldly, as though even having her name spoken displeased her.
Yet instead of becoming angry, Rimon chuckled as though he had found an entertaining toy.
Then, as though something had just occurred to him, he said:
“Ah, and ask me anytime you need advice. I may not know stealth techniques, but I can teach you a little about swordsmanship.”
Whether she liked him or not, she was his attendant now. He could do at least that much.
Rimon spoke as though it were only natural, then gave Weiling a mischievous look.
“Weiling of the Voidless Advancing Sword Style.”
“...”
The princess’s former bodyguard.
The woman who had been dismissed from that position and appointed as Rimon’s secretary, Chao Weiling, did not answer.
She merely glared at Rimon with eyes that seemed ready to stab him in the back at any moment.
Chao Weiling’s cold face.
Rimon Aspelder’s fierce smile.
As the bluebird choked on crackers, flailed, collapsed, and twitched, Li Qing-yu looked at the two people wearing entirely different expressions and smiled.
“I’m glad you seem to get along so well.”
Footnotes:
[1] The Korean terms for “preferential treatment for former officials” and “parachute appointment” have two and three syllables respectively, hence Rimon’s deliberately unhelpful distinction.
[2] Dongchang: A Ming imperial secret-police agency run by eunuch officials.
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