WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME NOVELS
Translator/Editor: Chen
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Former Supreme ◈
Chapter 99: Villains Don't Take Walks (2)
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Baek Socheon arrived at the first location written on the note Cheon Geuk had left him.
It was where the Iron Cavalry Corps' stables were located.
Pajeong must have begun moving before Baek Socheon asked Cheon Geuk to watch him, so this was unlikely to have been the first place he visited.
Baek Socheon slowly looked around.
'What had he been doing here?'
Putting himself in Pajeong's shoes, Baek Socheon walked around the area.
'It's not as if he was trying to do something to the horses.'
Just in case, he checked the feed. He examined not only the horses in the stable but also those being trained. Yet nothing seemed out of place.
The martial artist managing the stables cautiously asked him,
"Is there something you need?"
The man treated Baek Socheon with utmost respect. Favor toward Baek Socheon had been steadily growing lately, and yesterday's duel had earned him the man's admiration as well.
"Did anything unusual happen here yesterday or today? Anything different from normal?"
After thinking for a moment, the man shook his head.
"No, sir."
"I see."
"May I ask what this is about?"
"It's nothing, so don't concern yourself with it."
Baek Socheon left him and headed for the second location.
The second place Pajeong had strolled through was where the Murim Alliance's warehouse buildings stood.
'Why did he come here?'
According to the note Cheon Geuk left behind, he had walked around here for roughly one gak before returning.
Baek Socheon found the person in charge.
"Ah!"
The martial artist's eyes widened when he recognized Baek Socheon.
"Unit Commander Baek!"
He was so surprised and overwhelmed that he forgot to greet him, standing there blankly instead. He was even more excited than the stable manager had been.
"I have something to ask."
"Ah, please ask!"
"What is stored in these warehouses?"
Baek Socheon wondered whether the Alliance's important supplies might be kept here.
"This is where we store the martial artists' clothes and daily necessities."
"What about food or weapons?"
"No, sir. Food and weapons are kept in the northern warehouses."
"Is that so?"
Compared to the northern warehouses, this was a relatively unimportant place. Even the northern warehouses only held food and weapons to be issued to martial artists.
'Neither the stables nor this place is important to the Alliance.'
He considered what the first and second locations had in common, but nothing came to mind.
"I understand. Keep up the good work."
"Your duel was incredible! I didn't see it myself, but I heard all about how you won. Congratulations!"
"Thank you."
After smiling at him, Baek Socheon headed to the next place.
The third location was the White Dragon Corps building in the outer grounds.
'It's been a while since I was here.'
Even after returning, he had not had any reason to visit the White Dragon Corps.
He looked around, but found nothing particularly suspicious. The stables, the warehouses, and the White Dragon Corps building. The three locations had no apparent connection.
Just as he was about to leave for the final location, someone spoke behind him.
"It's been a while."
He turned to find a woman standing there.
Baek Socheon smiled at her. It was Gain, the Deputy Commander of the White Dragon Corps. Before his demotion, she was the woman he had met from time to time to spend the night with.
"Have you been well?"
"Yeah."
Seeing her again after so long made Baek Socheon genuinely happy.
"Why are you here?"
No matter how hard she tried to hide it, he could sense her anticipation. He felt sorry for her, but he couldn't lie.
"I have something to investigate."
"Ah."
"I should have come to see you sooner. I'm sorry."
"No. When you returned as the Sage Heaven Corps Unit Commander, I should have come to you first..."
When Baek Socheon had been demoted and then returned as the Sage Heaven Corps Unit Commander, she had considered visiting him countless times, but ultimately never did. She didn't have the confidence to face him.
Baek Socheon had not completely forgotten about her either, but he had not sought her out. He believed she had the first right to decide what their relationship would become.
Now that his relationship with Cheon Geuk had begun, he would have to end things with Gain.
"Oh, I watched your duel."
"You did?"
"We were assigned to guard the area around the duel platform. You fought amazingly well even without internal energy. Why didn't you tell me you were that skilled? If I'd known, maybe I would've held on to you."
She deliberately acted materialistic. There was a reason for it. The moment she saw Baek Socheon, she knew.
"You found someone you like, didn't you?"
Baek Socheon was slightly taken aback. There was no way she could know about Cheon Geuk.
"Why do you think that?"
"I can tell just by looking at you."
She could tell by instinct. It was a woman's intuition, something only a woman who liked Baek Socheon could sense.
His reaction confirmed that her intuition was right.
"I'm curious. I gave you up because I was too afraid to have you. What kind of brave woman is she?"
"There was someone like that. A woman without fear."
He answered calmly, but Gain could tell. Baek Socheon's feelings for that woman ran very deep.
This time, Baek Socheon asked her.
"What about you?"
"I found someone new too."
"That's good."
"Thank you. I'll see you again."
"Take care."
Baek Socheon slowly left.
Gain remained where she was for a while, watching Baek Socheon walk away.
'Live well!'
She felt that she could finally be at ease around him.
Smiling, Gain looked up at the sky.
'I should start looking around for a decent man too.'
The final location was a garden in the outer grounds.
It was winter, and the garden was desolate.
Baek Socheon had visited every place Pajeong went, but the four locations had nothing in common. Nor were they places where the Blood Cult could uncover anything.
That made it even more suspicious.
If the places Pajeong had visited under the guise of taking a walk had been important locations in the Murim Alliance, it might have meant nothing.
But why come to a desolate place like this? Had he simply wandered here wherever his feet took him? That couldn't be it. Since Myeol Jiryun had come with another agenda, this behavior surely had a purpose.
Baek Socheon sat down on a flat stone in front of the garden. He picked up a fallen branch and wrote down the names of the places he had visited earlier.
He wondered if there might be some connection among the words.
No matter how he arranged them, though, there was none.
'Then what is it? They aren't places with important roles, nor are they strategic positions.'
At that moment, something flashed through Baek Socheon's mind.
'...Positions? Could it be?'
Baek Socheon sprang to his feet and ran off.
* * *
Zhuge Hyeon was in the Strategic Command Center.
The Alliance as a whole was in high spirits, but the strategists in the Strategic Command Center were on alert. The Black Heaven Alliance and the Murim Alliance were in completely opposite moods. No one knew what provocation the Black Heaven Alliance might attempt while it had the chance.
Reports were arriving constantly from the spies planted in the Black Heaven Alliance. Fortunately, there were still no signs of large-scale troop movements.
Zhuge Hyeon looked at the Martial World Ranking Record.
When he saw Yeom Hwasin's name at the top, he recalled the conversation he and Ak Sogun had shared while drinking alone together the previous night.
"Yeom Hwasin was certainly stronger than me."
"Could you feel it?"
"I felt it clearly. As you know, when two people are close in skill, it isn't easy to gauge the other's martial arts. But when I saw him, I knew for certain. He was one step above me. Perhaps even more than that."
"Then it must be true that Yeom Hwasin has attained the Indestructible Vajra Body."
"Not only that, he seemed to have gained enlightenment in martial arts in the process."
"The battle ahead won't be easy."
At least for now, the Martial World Ranking Record could be considered almost entirely accurate.
Zhuge Hyeon then walked to the troop deployment map.
Based on the actual terrain of the Central Plains, it had hundreds of flags planted across it. Yeom Hwasin's flag had returned to the Black Heaven Alliance's territory, while Myeolsaeng's flag stood in the lands beyond the borders.
From the box beneath the troop deployment map, where the flags were gathered, Zhuge Hyeon found one flag.
'It's time to put it back up.'
It was a vivid red flag with a gold border.
Zhuge Hyeon placed Baek Socheon's flag at the Murim Alliance headquarters on the troop deployment map.
The other strategists watched, deeply moved. They thought he had restored the flag because of the duel competition, but Zhuge Hyeon had done it because Baek Socheon had regained his former strength.
The outcome of the coming fight against the Black Heaven Alliance now rested on Baek Socheon.
What if the Black Heaven Alliance Leader kept the promise of one year?
Baek Socheon would grow stronger again.
But the man might break that promise. He had made it in the Murim Alliance, before the eyes of the orthodox faction.
Had he made the promise before the unorthodox faction, he would surely try to keep it. Yet he might not regard this promise so seriously.
Just then, Baek Socheon came to the Strategic Command Center.
"Strategist."
"What brings you here?"
"I have a favor to ask."
"Speak."
"Do you have a map of the headquarters' outer compound? One that accurately marks the locations of the buildings."
"Of course."
"Please show it to me."
Zhuge Hyeon called Sima Iljung.
"Bring the Alliance's strategic map."
"Yes."
Sima Iljung hurried off to retrieve it.
Zhuge Hyeon asked Baek Socheon with a tense expression,
"What is this about?"
"It concerns Myeol Jiryun. I investigated because the actions of the person who came with her seemed suspicious, and something has been bothering me."
At that moment, Sima Iljung brought the map. It was a strategic map that marked the locations of buildings, guard posts, and even ambush positions.
Baek Socheon stared at it for a moment, then his eyes gleamed.
'Could it be?'
As he hurried out, Baek Socheon said, "There's something I need to confirm. I'll explain in detail when I return."
* * *
Pajeong walked through the southeastern part of the outer grounds.
A tall watchtower stood there.
He strolled around as if taking a walk. He looked around at various places, then sat down for a while and gazed up at the watchtower. He looked like a traveler visiting the Murim Alliance for the first time and sightseeing.
The martial artists on the watchtower did not stop him. There was no reason to prevent an escort martial artist from the Blood Cult from looking around the outer compound.
After remaining there for some time, Pajeong returned to his lodgings.
Once he disappeared, someone revealed himself on the roof of a building some distance away.
It was Baek Socheon, hidden with a concealment technique. Pajeong's senses were too sharp for him to observe from close by. He had watched from afar, but the important thing was that Baek Socheon had come here in advance and waited. He had expected Pajeong to visit this place.
Watching the direction Pajeong had gone, Baek Socheon spat coldly, "Those bastards!"
Baek Socheon returned to the Strategic Command Center.
"What happened?"
At Zhuge Hyeon's urgent question, Baek Socheon explained how he had watched Pajeong.
"I did receive reports that he liked strolling through the outer compound."
"That wasn't a stroll."
"It wasn't?"
"I went there in advance and waited where he would come."
"How did you know?"
"Do you have any go stones?"
"I do."
Naturally, a place full of people who used their heads had go stones.
"These are the places Pajeong visited earlier."
Go stones were placed in sequence at the four locations Cheon Geuk had monitored.
The stables were to the east, the warehouses to the south, and the White Dragon Corps building to the west. The garden he visited last was to the northeast.
"He must have already gone to the north before Cheon Geuk began watching him."
If that was true, Pajeong had visited the four cardinal directions, east, west, south, and north, then marked the northeast.
"Do you know where I waited a little while ago?"
Zhuge Hyeon placed a go stone between east and south. That was where the watchtower stood.
"That's right."
The intervals between the go stones almost matched perfectly. It looked as though he was trying to draw a circle without the slightest deviation...
When Zhuge Hyeon saw the building at its center, he was horrified.
"Good heavens!"
At the center stood the Alliance Leader's Hall.
Footnotes:
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