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◈ Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time ◈

Episode 157: Knight-Errant (4)

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The Zhongyang Association Leader's head struck the ground with a thud. The body remained upright for a moment, then lost its balance and collapsed as Jeong Yeon-shin sheathed his sword.

The Prefect's lips parted slightly. A streak of blood marked her cheek, blood that had sprayed from the Zhongyang Association Leader's neck.

Without sparing the corpse a glance, she only caressed the cheek bearing the trace of her husband.

"My husband..."

She murmured with a detached expression. From the moment a Black Uniform of Desolate Fortress had appeared, she seemed to have resigned herself.

That was why her expression had not changed since she first faced Jeong Yeon-shin.

She was no ignorant county magistrate from the countryside. An official of the Prefect's standing would always keep a close eye on Desolate Fortress.

She knew its status, power, and bearing well.

"Young Squad Leader, will you kill me as well?"

She asked.

Jeong Yeon-shin did not answer at once.

She was unlike the martial artists whose heads he had cut off so far. There was much he needed to learn.

Why had a Prefect aided plunderers? What nerve had she possessed to commit such acts so close to the Martial Alliance and Wudang Sect?

She had also entertained experts from the Heart Martial Union. What were they plotting by appearing for the Martial Alliance Assembly's grand founding ceremony?

"After I hear you out."

Huguang was as vast as a small kingdom.

A Prefect was one of only seventeen officials in Huguang, wielding authority over eight county magistrates.

Killing her rashly would be a burden for anyone. She might have connections within the imperial court.

Jeong Yeon-shin intended to settle his immediate questions first.

"Lead the way."

He led the group into the main hall, with the Prefect walking ahead.

* * *

"News of you reached every prefecture throughout Huguang."

The Prefect raised her teacup slightly as she spoke. Was she of mixed elven race blood?

Her fingers were unusually slender and smooth for her apparent age as they brushed the rim of the cup.

"When a new Squad Leader is appointed under the Divine Sword Squad, dispatches arrive simultaneously for all seventeen of us across this vast land of Huguang. They tell us your background and standing, and advise us to mind our conduct."

She had lost her spouse, yet showed no obvious change. Did entering officialdom turn people into monsters no less formidable than martial artists?

A Prefect. The Prefect.

Before the Song Dynasty, the position had been called Grand Administrator. It was a Correct Fourth Rank office.

Three ranks above more widely known posts like county magistrate and Surveillance Censor.

A Prefect commanded judicial commissioners, assistant prefects, and associate prefects, holding power beyond compare among ordinary people. There was a reason they were called great officials.

That was why the Prefect's words proved the standing of a Black Uniform of Desolate Fortress.

"Do you find it disagreeable?"

Jeong Yeon-shin asked quietly.

The Mount Hua Sect disciples behind him drew sharp breaths. Such language was unimaginable among ordinary people, yet the Prefect's expression remained calm.

Perhaps she fully accepted the status of a Squad Leader under the Divine Sword Squad. Or perhaps she was simply deeply calculating.

"Disagreeable? Such personal words are unfamiliar to me. Any official with a sound head would acknowledge the need for people like you."

The Prefect brought the cup to her lips. She took a sip of tea, then spoke again without much expression.

"The atrocities committed by lawless martial artists are difficult for government troops to stop. That is only natural. What productive work do those who live in the martial world do? While government troops help the common people plow fields, raise livestock, and build homes, martial artists train in methods of killing. They know nothing else and offer nothing to the country. Should they not at least be strong? Those martial artists, I mean."

She stared directly at Jeong Yeon-shin.

"That is why Desolate Fortress is needed. Your numbers may be few compared to the Central Plains, but the symbol of the world's foremost faction protecting the people's livelihood gives us firm support."

"It does not protect plunder and slaughter."

The boy answered in an even voice.

Yet those words came from a Black Uniform expert of Desolate Fortress. They could not help carrying unusual weight.

The three men guarding the Prefect reached for their weapons. They were among the few government troops who remained.

They looked ready to draw their blades against Jeong Yeon-shin at any moment. If the weak surrendered the initiative to the strong, it was over.

Still, none could hide their trembling hands. Jeong Yeon-shin had done nothing more than look at them.

"Stay still."

The boy spoke briefly. Perhaps they took it as an order. Their hands fell away from their weapons all at once.

The Record of the Dharma Light Wheel carried heavily in his voice. A bitter smile formed on the Prefect's lips.

"You're something beyond human. How can you be like this at that age?"

"Shut it. Was food so scarce? Why did you raid innocent villages?"

He asked without preamble. At the same time, the Prefect's smile vanished.

"I said I acknowledged the need for Desolate Fortress. That means I keenly understand the need for power capable of suppressing martial artists."

"Go on."

"...But government troops are weak, and even for an official in my position, inviting imperial experts was difficult. That is why Desolate Fortress exists. Yet you are busy watching over the entire Central Plains, so officials like us can only hope our region becomes the destination of one of your future missions. Compared to the whole world, are even Desolate Fortress's numbers not merely a handful?"

"..."

"I could not raise private soldiers on a Prefect's stipend. So I privately took a martial artist as my husband. Using tribute to feed and clothe martial artists would make me a criminal guilty of rebellion, so I treated a portion of the people under my rule as tribute. Sacrifice one to preserve ten. Rather than wait for Desolate Fortress's sword to arrive, I wished to punish the lawless myself, even if it meant feeding this Zhongyang Association."

"Isn't that rebellion as well?"

"The Censorate cannot be fooled when it audits tribute accounts. Ludicrously enough, it is easier to cover up an entire village vanishing. All sorts of riffraff throw the country into chaos while calling themselves martial artists. You must have seen countless atrocities on your way here from Xiangyang. As the famine spreads, martial artists do not restrain themselves from displaying their skills. The sight of lawless people without even identity tallies running wild without the slightest sense..."

For the first time, the Prefect showed her emotions clearly.

Blue veins stood out on the back of her clenched hand. Jeong Yeon-shin watched that sharp edge without expression, then spoke.

"Did the Martial Alliance and Wudang Sect tolerate your conduct?"

At once, the Mount Hua Sect disciples held their breath. It was an immensely important moment.

This reckless young Leader of Demon Wings might do anything to the orthodox sect alliance and the head of the Nine Sects, depending on the Prefect's answer.

The Prefect answered readily.

"Wudang Sect would not know of this. Those people like immortals rarely descend from their mountain. Like Shaolin, they receive more imperial support than any faction besides Desolate Fortress, so they only come down from time to time to eradicate the Demonic Sect."

"What about the Martial Alliance Assembly?"

"They did tolerate it. I govern Yunyang Prefecture, which borders Hanzhong in Shaanxi. 'We shall not needlessly interfere in the Prefect's affairs, so please help facilitate the exchange of supplies between Hanzhong and Yunyang.' Those were the words they sent."

"A message sent to a Prefect of your standing would not have been delivered verbally."

Hyeon Won-chang spoke with wide eyes.

Hyeon Won-chang had briefly used honorific speech out of respect for the Squad Leader, but the usual manner of speech had returned. The boy did not particularly care.

"Hand over the letter."

Jeong Yeon-shin demanded it. Without a word, the Prefect took a document sealed with string from the table.

Hyeon Won-chang accepted it on behalf of the young Squad Leader and tore the string open.

A sheet of paper lined with green silk unfolded before the experts of Desolate Fortress.

A curse burst from Hyeon Won-chang's mouth.

"The Zhuge Family Head's seal... Those damned bastards."

"The great families aren't orthodox sects. Aside from the Nine Sects, they're all powerful houses and hypocrites."

Languid Flame Dragon spoke lightly. Namgung Hwa-shin did not speak, seeming lost in thought.

Jeong Yeon-shin silently gestured with his chin. The letter, resealed in Hyeon Won-chang's hand, was passed to the new Leader of Demon Wings.

The boy accepted the document and slipped it inside his clothes. The bird he had received from the eunuch Myeong Yeo stirred once against his chest.

A blade capable of striking at the Martial Alliance Assembly's heart had fallen into the Leader of Demon Wings' hands. It could become the first step toward tremendous merit.

Jeong Yeon-shin spoke again without any sign of emotion.

"Last question. Tell me about the Heart Martial Union. Are they after the Martial Alliance?"

"The Heart Martial Union's forces are coming."

* * *

Jeong Yeon-shin kept the Prefect's words in only a corner of his mind.

It was enough to focus on the coming meeting with the Martial Alliance. There was no way to predict what variables might arise during the grand founding ceremony.

He decided to devote all his concentration to the Martial Alliance.

He needed to watch for a possible ambush. More importantly, he needed to improve the power of the Radiant Sword Flow, even amid the grand founding ceremony.

'Before an Alliance Leader called a peerless swordsman, it will be difficult to use fists and palms. I should reshape my sword art first.'

He freed the common people imprisoned in the manor's annex.

After hearing their consistent testimony that they had suffered terrible things while still alive, he beheaded the remaining government troops with the Prefect's acknowledgment.

They said even more common people had been massacred while resisting. Jeong Yeon-shin's group had also seen piles of corpses in the village they had visited earlier.

Only the most honored official in Yunyang Prefecture remained.

He made her kneel in the center of the Training Hall. Jeong Yeon-shin stood motionless, like an executioner about to sever a grave criminal's head.

"No matter what my cause may have been, I clearly admit that I committed a crime tantamount to rebellion. Since a Squad Leader of Desolate Fortress came in person, it is only right that I offer this head. That is how order is preserved in the world."

The Prefect spoke in an archaic manner. It seemed likely that she truly was of elven race descent.

Jeong Yeon-shin was not swayed by her detached attitude. He gripped the sword hilt with a hand that looked strong to anyone.

"Is it all right for him to do that?"

Yu Hyeon, standing to one side, asked no one in particular.

It was a reasonable question. A Prefect of her standing would have countless connections in the Forbidden City.

Even a Squad Leader of Desolate Fortress could not act so rashly.

Even the eunuch who had acknowledged Jeong Yeon-shin and handed him a spiritual beast would not have imagined him executing a Correct Fourth Rank official. At most, the eunuch might have expected him to deal with a Correct Seventh Rank county magistrate.

'I don't care.'

The Imperial Grandson's face came to the boy's mind, along with the words he had spoken.

"You may call me Senior Brother."

No matter what standing the Prefect held in the Forbidden City's political world, or whose hand might reach out because of their connection to her, could he not block it at least once?

It was even more so when he considered the Eastern Depot, where the eunuch Myeong Yeo served.

"Continue cutting down the wicked. You do not seem like one who will easily fall. The one who carries out the revenge of innocent weak people is a knight-errant. As a Squad Leader of Desolate Fortress, you will comfort hundreds and thousands of souls."

The Prefect spoke. Perhaps she harbored resentment toward martial artists.

Looking into her cold eyes again, he found no nobility in them. They were simply one face of the tragedy born of troubled times.

"Fine. Starting with you."

Jeong Yeon-shin did not overthink it. If there was someone to cut down, he cut them down.

Those who obstructed his path toward the World Tree fruit, the masses particularly offensive to his eyes, the Tyrant Sword Sect Master who had led to the destruction of Jeong Family Manor, and the countless orthodox sect experts who would test him at the Martial Alliance Assembly arriving tomorrow...

"As the Leader of Demon Wings, I declare this."

The boy slowly parted his lips.

"Since I set out into the martial world, you have been the most wicked."

With those words, sword light flashed from his fingertips.

Footnotes:

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