WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME NOVELS

Translator/Editor: Chen

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ The Former Supreme ◈

Chapter 84: Myeol Ji-ryun (2)

──────

The next day, Baek Socheon visited Myeol Jiryun's quarters around lunchtime.

She was already dressed to go out. Her outfit exposed her arms and legs, complementing her porcelain-white skin.

"Do we need to eat inside the Alliance for safety reasons?"

"Not necessarily."

"Then shall we eat outside?"

"All right."

She smiled brightly at Baek Socheon's agreement. It seemed she had wanted to dress nicely and eat out.

"Let's go. I'll escort you."

"Thank you."

Baek Socheon left the Murim Alliance with her. Myeol Jiryun must have told them not to interfere beforehand, because Rapsa and Pajeong followed them from a distance.

As Myeol Jiryun walked, she became engrossed in the goods sold by street vendors. At a glance, she looked like a young girl captivated by every novelty she saw.

The two entered a nearby inn and sat across from each other by a window overlooking the street.

"Is there anything you can't eat?"

"No, I eat everything."

"What do you like to eat?"

Myeol Jiryun looked at Baek Socheon with an odd light in her eyes.

"Hero Baek, you're very considerate. It's hard to find men this considerate in the lands beyond the borders."

"If you look carefully, I'm sure there are many good men there as well. Perhaps your position never allowed you to meet one."

"Maybe so."

She smiled brightly.

As they chatted, the waiter brought out the dishes they had ordered. After tasting them, she gave a thumbs-up.

"This is really delicious."

"Of all the inns near headquarters, this one has the best chef."

"Thank you for bringing me here. Whenever I eat Central Plains food, I'm reminded of how delicious it is."

"How many times have you visited the Central Plains?"

"This is my third time."

"Who did you come with before?"

"I came with my father."

"Yet he sent you alone this time."

She smiled at Baek Socheon's meaningful remark.

"I'm an adult now."

This time, she asked him a question.

"Forgive me, but may I ask you something too?"

"Of course. Go ahead."

"Why haven't you married yet, Hero Baek?"

There were probably many reasons, but Baek Socheon gave the most ordinary one.

"I suppose I never met anyone I was drawn to enough to marry."

"Are your standards high?"

"I don't know. To be honest, I never had time to date women. I was at war throughout the years that should have been called my youth."

"Ah, that's unfortunate."

The two resumed eating.

There were people watching them.

Cheon Geuk and the Guardian Assassin Stars were concealed nearby.

-Look at the way that woman moves her mouth. If she were alone, she'd be stuffing herself. Am I right?

-...Yes.

-Look, look! Did you see the way she gave him that little sidelong glance before lowering her eyes? She's laying it on thick. Did you see it?

-...Yes.

-Does she look younger than I do?

-Yes.

-What?

-...!

Western Star sent a voice transmission in place of the hesitant Eastern Star.

-You look far younger, Miss. And a hundred times prettier.

Cheon Geuk gave a snort of laughter.

-Whew, it was so hard to get you to say that. If I'd kept talking to Eastern Star, I would've had to badmouth that woman all day. Even then, he wouldn't have said it.

-Ah, forgive me.

Eastern Star had no idea what a woman wanted to hear.

-We need to find Eastern Star a woman first.

-I'm fine!

-I'm not fine!

Baek Socheon and Myeol Jiryun continued talking.

Myeol Jiryun spoke carefully.

"There was something I didn't tell the Alliance Leader yesterday."

"What is it?"

"A matchmaker came from the Black Heaven Alliance. The Black Heaven Alliance Leader's son wished to marry me."

For whatever reason, she honestly told Baek Socheon that the Black Heaven Alliance had sent a matchmaker.

"I'd heard many rumors about the Black Heaven Alliance Leader's son. Most of them were bad. So I told my father that I had no intention of marrying him and asked him to refuse."

Baek Socheon silently listened to her.

"My father was troubled. He said he needed a justification to refuse."

"Am I that justification?"

"I'm sorry. I thought that if it were Hero Baek, the Black Heaven Alliance wouldn't dare say anything."

"Why?"

"Because you are... the only man in the martial world who nearly killed the Black Heaven Alliance Leader."

"Did it not occur to you that the Black Heaven Alliance Leader would be even more enraged because of that?"

"No. Was I being shortsighted?"

He could not tell how much of what she said he should believe.

For the moment, he pretended to believe her. Since she had revealed one truth, he revealed one in return.

"Yeom Sawon of the Black Heaven Alliance is coming here."

She would find out eventually. Telling her now would make it seem as though he was repaying her honesty.

"What? He's coming here?"

Myeol Jiryun was startled. There was no reason she should have known that yet.

"Why?"

"Because of you. He's coming here to fight me over you."

"That's why I dislike the Black Heaven Alliance Leader's son. He was like this in the rumors too, deciding and acting as he pleased."

She lowered her head with a troubled expression.

"Hero Baek, I've put you in a difficult position because of me. I'm sorry."

If all this was an act, she was unquestionably a very skilled actress.

Was she really the Blood Cult Leader's daughter? She did have the expected gray eyes. If those eyes turned red when she was angry, it would confirm it for certain.

Baek Socheon said, "If you're finished, shall we return?"

"All right."

The two left the inn.

In front of it, Myeol Jiryun said goodbye.

"Since I'm already out, I'll look around a little before I go back."

"All right. I'll see you again."

After taking a few steps toward the marketplace, she turned back to Baek Socheon.

"Oh, is there someone you like?"

Baek Socheon answered flatly.

"That's a question you should have asked before sending a matchmaker, isn't it?"

"I suppose it is. Then, goodbye."

Myeol Jiryun disappeared into the crowd. Rapsa and Pajeong, who had been standing at a distance, began following her.

Baek Socheon was about to head back toward the Murim Alliance when he glanced at the inn's roof.

"Getting older has its benefits. You start seeing things you couldn't when you were young. Instead of a face or figure, you see other things first, such as the irresponsibility or carelessness of putting someone else in a difficult position because you don't want to be in one yourself. No matter how heavy the makeup or how pretty the clothes, that's what you see first. So you don't need to worry."

After saying that, Baek Socheon walked toward the Alliance.

Soon afterward, Cheon Geuk and the Guardian Assassin Stars released their concealment and appeared on the roof. Baek Socheon had noticed them hiding there and left those words for them.

Despite that long monologue, Cheon Geuk looked at the finger rather than the moon it pointed to.

"What? That means he didn't look at my face or figure!"

"I don't believe that was what he meant."

"What do you mean it wasn't?"

"Could that possibly be true? No man would dare do such a thing."

Cheon Geuk looked at Eastern Star.

"Then you'd sneak a look at my body too?"

"Gasp! N-No!"

Cheon Geuk smiled at Eastern Star's flustered reaction.

She was not smiling because she had succeeded in teasing him. It was because of what Baek Socheon had said. His words telling her not to worry made it feel as though all the gloom she had carried had vanished at once.

Yet with that relief came another concern.

She looked in the direction Myeol Jiryun had gone.

"Maybe it's because she cultivates wicked arts, but I don't have a good feeling about her."

"We felt the same."

"It's strange for an assassin to say this, but... we should protect him."

None of the four Guardian Assassin Stars found that strange. They intended to protect the Alliance Leader's love, not Baek Socheon.

* * *

That night, Myeol Jiryun stood by the window.

As the moonlight vanished behind the clouds, her gray eyes sank into the darkness as well.

"Baek Socheon was no pushover, just as the rumors said."

Rapsa, who had escorted her there, was in the room with her. Pajeong was guarding the door.

Rapsa sipped his tea. "An ordinary man couldn't have driven a sword into the Black Heaven Alliance Leader's chest."

"But a new variable has appeared."

"A variable?"

"Baek Socheon said Yeom Sawon is coming here."

"That Black Heaven Alliance wastrel?"

"Yes."

"Yeom Hwasin has made his move."

"That seems to be the case."

The wrinkles on Rapsa's face deepened.

"If Yeom Hwasin has moved, this place is dangerous. You must return."

"No!"

Her refusal was so firm that it cut off every further concern before it could be voiced.

Rapsa set down his teacup.

"My duty is to keep you safe, Miss. Do not forget that."

Myeol Jiryun turned toward Rapsa and smiled.

"Don't worry. I won't do anything dangerous."

"You had better not."

Myeol Jiryun looked outside again. The moon emerged from the clouds and shone on her. Under the bright moonlight, her eyes began to gleam mysteriously.

"I'm starting to like the Central Plains."

* * *

The next day, Wuhan began to stir.

An astonishing rumor had begun to spread. Baek Socheon and Yeom Sawon would fight a life-or-death duel over the Blood Cult Leader's daughter.

The Murim Alliance had kept this matter strictly confidential, so the rumor had come from the Black Heaven Alliance.

Judging by how quickly it had spread this far, Yeom Hwasin seemed to have spread it immediately after parting with Baek Socheon. It was blatant pressure, demanding that he accept the duel.

Thanks to that, everyone was talking about the matter.

"Who would have thought the Blood Cult Leader would want Baek Socheon as a son-in-law?"

"I was shocked too."

"Wouldn't this prevent a war?"

"That's right. If they join hands with the Blood Cult, the Black Heaven Alliance won't be able to run wild so freely."

"But the orthodox faction can't join hands with the Blood Cult."

"It's difficult. A very difficult matter."

Confirming that the rumor was more than just a rumor, Yeom Sawon arrived at the Murim Alliance. He truly had come to the Murim Alliance.

He, too, brought only two guards. One was Jan Baek, who had previously refused an order to kill Baek Socheon and Cheon Geuk. The other was Go Goeng, another member of the Eighteen Ghost Swords.

At a time when war was looming, Yeom Hwasin was truly a man no one could easily understand, sending his heir with only two guards.

The three confidently entered Cloud Dragon Hall behind the guide martial artist.

Baek Socheon, Zhuge Hyeon, On Byeokhwa, and Ak Sogun were waiting there once again.

"It has been a long time, Alliance Leader Ak."

Yeom Sawon had seen Ak Sogun before on the battlefield.

"Young Hero Yeom, it has been a long time."

"I'm too old to be called Young Hero now."

He was asking to be called Hero. He had only just outgrown the age of a Young Hero and was still far from deserving the title of Hero, but Ak Sogun addressed him as he wished.

"I see. We meet again now that you've become such a dignified Hero."

Yeom Sawon exchanged greetings with Zhuge Hyeon and On Byeokhwa as well, but he did not even look at Baek Socheon. He treated him as though he did not exist.

In fact, Yeom Sawon was easier to handle than Myeol Jiryun.

The one truly paying attention to Baek Socheon was Jan Baek.

He had been present when Baek Socheon killed five of the Eighteen Ghost Swords at once.

For that reason, his grudge against Baek Socheon ran deep, and his fear was just as great.

Their eyes met. Baek Socheon remembered him, and Jan Baek's gaze was fierce.

'I haven't forgotten what happened that day.'

Of course, Jan Baek could only show this anger because he believed Baek Socheon had lost his internal energy. Had he known Baek Socheon still possessed it, he would not have dared glare at him, much less meet his eyes.

Go Goeng, on the other hand, had newly filled one of those five empty positions and held no personal grudge against him.

Soon afterward, Myeol Jiryun and her two guards entered after hearing that Yeom Sawon had arrived.

Yeom Sawon's eyes widened the moment he saw Myeol Jiryun.

'Well, look at that. She's quite beautiful.'

Yeom Sawon had been with countless beautiful women because of his notorious womanizing, but he had never seen a beauty with such exotic features.

The moment he saw her, anger surged through him. Her beauty made that raw anger rise even more fiercely.

'Damn bitch! So you rejected me and chose Baek Socheon instead?'

Yeom Sawon asked her bluntly.

"Why did you refuse the matchmaker we sent?"

Footnotes:

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried