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Translator/Editor: Order

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◈ The Heaven-Slaying Sword ◈

Chapter 11: Chapter Two - First Foray into the Jianghu, and the Demoness (5)

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The top floor of Gyeonghwa Pavilion.

Hwa Seo looked at Mok Ri-won, who knelt before her.

He was a sight.

The blue silk clothes she had given him were half stripped off and smeared here and there with something that looked like seasoning. His hair stuck out in every direction, like a bird's nest.

There were even marks on the nape of his neck, as though someone had scratched him with their nails.

Was it absurd that, even in such a state, his pretty face made him seem pitiful before anything else?

With a throbbing headache, Hwa Seo let out a long sigh.

"Let's start with this. Why did you run away?"

"...That young lady tried to force herself on me."

"With your martial skill, you could have stopped her."

"How could I use martial arts against an ordinary person? Besides, she was dead drunk. I didn't think it would be right to lay my hands on her carelessly."

He watched her reaction cautiously, yet still said everything he wanted to say.

Hwa Seo found it utterly absurd, but continued.

"If you care so much about ordinary people, why didn't you let her have her way?"

"W-What are you saying?! How could I share affection with someone I don't even love? I'm not some scoundrel!"

Hwa Seo's mouth snapped shut.

'So it’s fine to fall for Seduction Arts?'

How could he happily look forward to falling victim to Seduction Arts, yet insist that sharing a bed with a woman who showed him affection was unacceptable? What sort of nonsense was that?

Hwa Seo had to work hard to swallow the question that sprang to mind.

"Fine. Let's go with that."

There was no point in saying more. Entertaining clients had never been the sort of work she wanted him for in the first place, and she did not want to stir up needless trouble.

Mok Ri-won flinched when Hwa Seo dropped the matter.

"I'm sorry... You trusted me with something, and I only caused you trouble."

"Forget it. It couldn't be helped."

"But the establishment must have suffered..."

"Of course not. Do you think a daughter of a prominent family would let rumors spread that she tried to force herself on a man at a pleasure house and was spurned? We needn't do anything. Her family will silence everyone first."

That was the main reason Hwa Seo was not worried about today's events.

The woman Mok Ri-won had been assigned to entertain was the daughter of a prominent family in Suyang County.

In other words, she was a commodity meant for the marriage market.

Prominent families never wanted needless blemishes attached to their merchandise, so Hwa Seo had nothing to worry about on that front.

"Still, saying it's all right doesn't mean I can let you go without any punishment."

"P-Punishment?"

"The pavilion itself is safe, but we have lost a major patron. Think about it. Would you want to return to the place where you were humiliated?"

Mok Ri-won's mouth fell open.

"Ah...!"

"That guest will be too embarrassed to come here again. Haa... She used to account for more than eighty percent of our daily sales whenever she visited."

Cold sweat streamed down Mok Ri-won's entire body.

Watching him, Hwa Seo knew her scheme had worked.

'The more debt he owes, the better.'

He was so innocent that using him was laughably easy.

"Now, are you prepared?"

"Uh, well..."

Hwa Seo smiled crookedly.

Mok Ri-won's pupils trembled as though an earthquake had struck.

Even as he thought disaster had befallen him, another thought came to Mok Ri-won.

'Ah, she's beautiful...!'

Even that crooked smile was beautiful beyond words.

* * *

She had frightened him with talk of punishment, but what Mok Ri-won actually had to do was not difficult for him at all.

"Will this do?"

"Yes, it will."

The top floor of Gyeonghwa Pavilion.

Mok Ri-won had changed out of the ruined silk clothes and back into the gray martial outfit he had originally worn.

Hwa Seo gave the now martial-looking Mok Ri-won a sidelong glance, then returned her attention to the book she had been reading.

"There are guards, but the more precautions we take, the better. Please remain at my side in case the Illyun Society has sought help from outside masters."

"But..."

"What is it?"

Mok Ri-won hesitated, turning the words over in his mind.

'This doesn't feel like punishment...'

Being told to remain at her side as a martial artist felt more like a reward than a punishment, which made him feel strangely guilty.

As Mok Ri-won wrestled with his conscience, Hwa Seo let out a heavy sigh at the sight of him struggling.

"Guarding me will not be easy."

"Hm?"

"People who cause trouble just to see me readily show up. If the Illyun Society has invited a master, they will hide that person among them and send them here. You will need to stay alert, since you must identify the master amid all that commotion."

"When you say people causing trouble..."

"There are many. Outsiders who come to see my face after hearing I am a demoness, market merchants, and even guests dissatisfied with the service at the pleasure house."

Mok Ri-won studied Hwa Seo's face again and muttered, "...I suppose that is true."

He had not been out in the martial world for long, but Mok Ri-won was certain she was a beauty one could not easily encounter anywhere.

After all, if people who made one's mind go blank just by looking at them were everywhere in the martial world, would the world not be filled with fools instead of chivalrous heroes?

The world Mok Ri-won knew had far more chivalrous heroes than fools, so by his own reasoning, Hwa Seo was undoubtedly beautiful.

"I understand."

Mok Ri-won nodded with a resolute expression.

Then he asked, "So, should I begin working now?"

"I clearly said to act when a troublesome guest arrives."

Mok Ri-won sat down demurely.

"I understand."

He looked at her with bright eyes, like an obedient puppy. Hwa Seo suddenly felt uneasy.

'...Will this be all right?'

Wouldn't it be better to train him further and send him out as an entertainer?

Regret began to creep in.

* * *

Three more days passed.

During that time, Mok Ri-won stayed at Hwa Seo's side every moment except when he slept or trained, watching her closely.

He reached one conclusion about her. Hwa Seo was such an admirable person that no one would find it strange to call her a truly great person.

'Lady Yeon-hwa truly has a kind heart!'

Her days were busy.

From late afternoon until just before dawn, she ran the pleasure house. She never stopped working before the servants had finished their duties.

She skimmed letters filled with all kinds of confusing writing, issued orders where needed, and even stepped in to handle difficult work herself because she worried her subordinates would struggle.

She only found time to eat amid her work, yet gave her employees generous meal breaks. Mok Ri-won could think of no words to describe her but “a truly great person.”

Admiration shone in his eyes.

Hwa Seo was in the middle of overseeing work when she felt his burning stare and turned to look at him.

"What is it?"

"I was thinking that Lady Yeon-hwa is truly an incredible person!"

"All of a sudden?"

Mok Ri-won kept talking after she asked with a frown.

Most of it was praise for her.

Did he have no shame at all? As Mok Ri-won smiled without a trace of embarrassment, Hwa Seo found herself feeling embarrassed instead.

She could not even think of it as flattery.

Over the past few days with him, she had realized that Mok Ri-won was incapable of lying.

"Stop...!"

When Hwa Seo said that with her face flushed red, Mok Ri-won finally fell silent.

Hwa Seo blew out several breaths, trying to cool herself down.

'What is with this man?!'

She wanted to curse him out properly, but it was not easy.

Of course, it was because of his face.

Everything he did was frustrating enough to make her burst, but his face was so handsome that the curses caught in her throat the moment she looked at him.

The last three days had taught Hwa Seo just how important a handsome face could be in calming one's temper.

"If you have nothing to do, meditate. Or read a book."

She said it because his stare made it hard for her to work.

Mok Ri-won let out an "Ah!" before asking, "May I read a book?"

"If there is nothing urgent, do whatever you want. Just remain at your post."

So he liked books too.

That was all Hwa Seo thought as she watched him.

The moment she gave permission, Mok Ri-won pulled a book from inside his robe.

"...Tales of Martial Heroes?"

"Oh! Do you know it too, miss?"

Hwa Seo nodded.

Tales of Martial Heroes was rather famous in the martial world.

"It is quite popular among the children of prominent families."

Of course, once they started growing up, they realized how fantastical the book was and began avoiding it.

She swallowed those unspoken words.

Mok Ri-won beamed at her response.

"Hm! I think it deserves every bit of its popularity! I've reread it for more than ten years now, and it moves me anew every time!"

"...That book?"

"It is the one and only book in my life!"

One and only book probably meant exactly what it sounded like.

Only then did Hwa Seo understand.

'They say someone who has read only one book is scarier than someone who has read none. There is not a false word in that old saying.'

In an instant, she understood where Mok Ri-won's ignorant and frustrating personality came from.

Hwa Seo shook her head as Mok Ri-won opened Tales of Martial Heroes and began devouring it.

'He is not the sort who will live long.'

He was so foolish that she began worrying he might die far from home somewhere.

Hwa Seo did not realize that she had begun to worry about his ignorance rather than mock it.

* * *

Two more days passed, and at last, it was time for Mok Ri-won to work.

"I said, bring out the pavilion proprietorrrr-!"

A drunkard's shout thundered through the entire five-story pavilion.

Hwa Seo raised her head.

"It seems what we have been waiting for has arrived."

"Should I go out?"

"Wait for now."

Hwa Seo closed the book she had been reading and rose from her seat.

Her close attendant So Hyang had appeared beside her without her noticing and was kneeling there.

"They have come in a group. Drunkards make up seventy percent, while market merchants have joined the confusion and make up the other thirty."

"They must take me for some street cur. Do they really think I will obediently comply if they do this?"

Hwa Seo had already seen through the Illyun Society's method.

First, double the protection fees, build resentment among the merchants, and turn that anger toward her to weaken her position.

Second, if she did not yield, use force to make her submit.

'As long as the family does not get involved.'

That was why she had endured until now.

She had to be a greedy pavilion proprietor of a pleasure house who knew no martial arts, the sort of petty evil one could find anywhere.

But that was over now.

She now had a sword she found quite satisfactory.

Hwa Seo turned her gaze to Mok Ri-won.

"Find the master. At most, the master they invited should have barely reached first-rate. You and several of my guards should be able to handle someone at that level."

Once the Illyun Society was eliminated, she could completely launder her identity.

That was all she had been thinking when Mok Ri-won opened the eyes he had kept gently closed.

"Peak."

Hwa Seo froze.

Her eyes widened.

"...What?"

Her question came out blankly.

Mok Ri-won gave off a chilling air she had never seen from him before and repeated himself.

"There is a peak martial artist down there."

Footnotes:

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