WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 99: People Don’t Change
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“What are you talking about? You’re saying we should kill an enemy we finally captured without even questioning him!?”
It seemed the beady-eyed young man had not expected to be executed on the spot.
Even Weiling, who had been pinning his chest beneath her foot with a cold gaze, objected.
“I oppose it.”
“Right, comrade, you know what’s what!”
“Even if we are going to kill him, should we not torture him first?”
“Comrade?!”
The young man looked as shocked as a magical girl betrayed by the mascot she had trusted.
But just as no mascot would undo the contract, Weiling paid no heed to his reaction and continued.
“If you fear torture, confess obediently about your comrades and those behind you. Then I will at least cut the duration of your torture in half.”
“So torture is guaranteed even if I confess?!”
“If you wanted to die peacefully, you should not have provoked the Seven Dragons Society.”
Weiling looked down at him with icy eyes.
It was clear that this beady-eyed young man was one of those responsible for the tragedy at Black Dragon Construction.
And today, he had caused another massacre at Cheonhwa Department Store, one of the Black Dragon Clan’s subsidiaries.
That was a crime severe enough that he would not be allowed to die until he had endured at least a thousand of the Seven Dragons Society’s thirty-six thousand five hundred torture techniques.
[Hey. Don’t do that. Just kill him.]
The moment she heard Rimon’s words, Weiling frowned.
Had the lingering thrill of swinging her sword not remained, she would have thrown a fit just like Xue Rong.
“What kind of nonsense is that!?”
“What nonsense? If you care about human rights, isn’t that the obvious order?”
Perhaps because a peaceful death had suddenly come within reach, the young man was delighted.
Rimon, however, responded with an icy sneer.
[Human rights are for humans. Do you think I care about the human rights of a dog like you?]
“You’re not even treating me like a person now?!”
“Then why do you want him killed?”
Regardless of the young man’s shock, Weiling quietly asked why.
Rimon would not have ordered them to give the young man an easy death out of compassion.
[Because he’s suspicious.]
“What do you mean?”
[Isn’t it strange? This bastard slipped away as if possessed even from subsidiaries guarded by combat units, yet he got captured so easily while facing just you.]
“...You believe he allowed himself to be captured?”
[That’s my instinct.]
“That is absurd! What could he possibly gain by getting himself captured on purpose?”
Weiling’s expression turned grave, but Xue Rong flared up.
Unless his brain was made of tofu, the young man could not possibly be unaware that being captured by them meant the most miserable death imaginable.
Even a madman would not willingly let that happen.
Yet Rimon remained indifferent.
[He could gain plenty.]
“What?”
[He could become a prisoner to spread a plague, gather information about the enemy, or even win over a torture expert and create an inside spy.]
“That is pure speculation! By your logic, we should simply kill every prisoner!”
Xue Rong immediately retorted.
Before this beady-eyed young man was the enemy who had killed his subordinates, he was a culprit who had threatened the clan.
They could not kill him without extracting information.
If the culprit died now, Guardian would receive all the credit, while Xue Rong would be held accountable for failing to protect the clan’s subsidiary.
Perhaps because he had read Xue Rong’s thoughts, or perhaps because he could not be bothered to answer properly, Rimon replied listlessly.
[Not every prisoner. You just have to distinguish those who would do something like that from those who would not.]
“And how would you know which is which?!”
[Because I’m an expert in that field.]
“Hah. I had no idea the Sword Duke was so knowledgeable about such tricks.”
[Neither did I. I wasn’t an expert at first, but certain people used them so often that I became one before I knew it.]
“Where would you even find lunatics like that?”
[You people.]
Xue Rong froze.
Weiling asked in his place.
“Who do you mean by ‘us’?”
[Didn’t you know? Infiltrating as prisoners was a method the Seven Dragons Society, especially your Black Dragon Clan, used extremely well in the old days.]
“...”
Unfortunately, Weiling could not offer a single rebuttal.
Given that intrigue and schemes were the Black Dragon Clan’s nature, she knew they would have done such things.
In fact, being captured to use seduction or spread false information was part of the Black Dragon Clan’s elementary education curriculum.
“Th-That is different from this!”
[Is it?]
“Regardless, the only basis you have for killing him immediately is your instinct! We cannot risk losing important information for such a trivial reason!”
[Really? Then let me ask you one thing.]
“What?”
Rimon quietly asked Xue Rong, who struggled to argue back.
[I got the same impression when Weiling called me. Didn’t that bastard drag things out strangely?]
“What do you...?”
[For example, wasting time chatting pointlessly during a fight, or tormenting someone instead of killing them right away.]
“...”
Xue Rong flinched.
The young man had certainly talked an unusual amount.
He had even waited for Weiling to speak with Rimon over the phone. Overall, they had spent more time talking than fighting.
If that had been intentional...
[Well, maybe he’s just a crazy bastard who likes talking.]
As though anticipating Xue Rong’s objection, Rimon cut him off before quietly adding,
[But what if he isn’t? Why would he drag things out? It is not as if he blocked every connection to the outside world like he did at Black Dragon Construction.]
“You mean he did it deliberately, waiting for someone to come and capture him?”
“That cannot be!”
Xue Rong shouted desperately.
If that were true, then his desperate battle had been nothing more than the young man playing with him.
Yet Xue Rong’s flushed face and wavering eyes made it abundantly clear that he had been shaken by Rimon’s words.
“...For one last confirmation, are you certain we have no need to extract information from him?”
[Yes. If he prepared to be captured in the first place, he would have prepared countermeasures against torture too. Prepared information is worse than no information at all.]
“Then I understand.”
“What do you mean, you understand? Comrade! Comrade!”
Weiling made her decision.
Just as she tightened her grip on her sword, and the young man noticed what she intended to do and was about to scream...
“Would you wait just a moment, please?”
Weiling hesitated.
It was not merely because of the sudden interruption.
It was because of the middle-aged person with an upturned moustache who had appeared along with that voice.
“Family Head Wang!”
“...What brings you here?”
“What else could it be? I received word that the culprit had appeared, so I ran here as though my feet were on fire.”
Xue Rong’s ashen face brightened upon seeing Wang Gi-neung, the middle-aged person with the moustache.
Weiling, on the other hand, turned cold.
Xue Rong alone would have been one thing, but with Wang Gi-neung, head of the Shanghai Wang Family, here, it would be difficult to execute the beady-eyed young man on the spot by her own authority.
[Hey, Branch Head Wang. You made it.]
“Eh? Could that voice be the Sword Duke’s?”
[Don’t ask what you already know. There aren’t many people who would speak so casually to you besides me.]
“Oh dear, how rude of me. There could not possibly be anyone but the Sword Duke with such a deep and splendid voice.”
Perhaps as befitted the head of the Shanghai Wang Family, Wang Gi-neung did not forget to flatter even during the call.
Yet even as they rubbed their palms together, their eyes sharply assessed the situation.
“By any chance, did I disturb you, Sword Duke, by not realizing you were in the middle of a call?”
[No. This works out well.]
Although Wang Gi-neung’s interruption had stopped Weiling from killing the young man, Rimon did not mention that at all.
He merely continued calmly.
[I have a favor to ask of you, Branch Head Wang.]
“A favor for me?”
Wang Gi-neung looked uncertain, as though they could not imagine what Rimon might ask of them.
Rimon spoke casually.
[That dog over there. I want you to kill him immediately.]
“You want me to kill him?”
[Yes.]
“Why?”
[Because he is one of the culprits responsible for the tragedy at Black Dragon Construction. Revenge does not feel right unless you do it yourself.]
Only then did Weiling understand what Rimon had meant when he said this worked out well.
The Shanghai Wang Family was pursuing its enemy.
Even if the enemy had intruded first, the family might not appreciate someone else executing one of those enemies on the spot.
But if Wang Gi-neung took the young man’s life themself, that problem would disappear.
“I see... To entrust this task to me out of consideration, the Sword Duke truly is broad-minded.”
[Enough flattery. Do your job.]
“Yes, sir. Then, as you say, I will take him away and deal with him properly.”
As if it was something they had wanted themselves, Wang Gi-neung grinned and nodded.
[...]
[Branch Head Wang.]
Rimon’s icy voice rang through the air.
Weiling and Xue Rong suddenly felt a chill run down their spines.
[What kind of foolishness are you trying to pull?]
“What do you mean?”
[My request was for you to kill that dog immediately. Why are you talking about taking him away to deal with him?]
Rimon was clearly not here.
Yet an eerie pressure carried through his voice alone.
It was a murderous voice, enough to make an ordinary person faint just from hearing it.
But Wang Gi-neung did not so much as twitch an eyebrow.
He merely answered with a smile.
“How I kill my own enemy is up to me.”
[...]
[Are you saying you can afford to disregard me?]
“Oh dear! To say I am disregarding you is a little harsh. Sword Duke, you are the overall head of security for our clan, but you are not my lord.”
Rimon was still an outsider to the clan.
Until he was formally betrothed to Li Qing-yu, he had no authority to give Wang Gi-neung orders.
Rimon spoke quietly to Wang Gi-neung, who said so with a smile.
[You should know that I have already made a great concession just by giving you the chance to finish off that dog yourself.]
“I am grateful for that.”
[And yet you insist on taking more than I have conceded? After saying you would not forget my favor?]
“You were the one who told us not to think of it as a favor, since it was nothing worth calling one.”
Pointing out that Rimon had never expressly promised them a favor when he yielded the pursuit without demanding compensation, Wang Gi-neung added with a sly smile,
“Besides, I said I would not forget the favor. I never said I would repay it.”
At those words, Weiling unconsciously frowned.
Even Xue Rong, who had sided with Wang Gi-neung in his heart, was briefly at a loss for words.
No matter how poor their reputation, Wang Gi-neung was the head of a prestigious clan.
They were also a martial artist famed as a grandmaster-level expert.
It was far too shameless a thing for someone in that position to say.
Yet Rimon neither became angry nor appeared flustered.
He merely muttered lazily.
[Yes. That is exactly like the Black Dragon Clan.]
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