The Heaven-Slaying Sword - Chapter 25

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Order

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◈ The Heaven-Slaying Sword ◈

Chapter 25: Chapter Four - Anhui (6)

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“Don’t try anything. If you don’t have it, where in the world could the family seal have disappeared to?!”

“I truly don’t know. The Family Head left me no word of any...”

“Rubbish!”

The old man’s roar rang through the room.

The delicate-looking woman stood with her back straight, meeting his fury head-on.

“What reason would I have to lie?”

“Plenty! You lowborn wretch caught the Family Head’s eye by chance and took that place. Now that the Family Head is gone, you must think Zhang Family Estate is in the palm of your hand! You think that without that seal, it will all be yours! Did you think I wouldn’t know?!”

The woman’s shoulders flinched.

Her tightly clenched fists showed how deeply his words had struck her.

Still, she did not cower.

As though this were the only thing she could do, she stared straight at the old man and continued.

“...I don’t know.”

“You wench...!”

The old man ground his teeth.

He steadied his breathing as if trying to quell his anger, then curled his lips into a sinister smile.

“...Fine. Let’s see how long you hold out.”

He rose from his seat.

Contempt and hatred filled his eyes as he looked at her.

Clicking his tongue, he left the room.

Thud.

Once the door slammed shut, the woman finally relaxed and let out a breath.

Every word had pierced her like a dagger, tearing at her heart. She had nowhere to turn, and it was almost more than she could bear, but she did not fall.

‘It’s all right. I’m used to it.’

She was used to such treatment.

She had prepared herself for this from the day she entered Zhang Family Estate as a lowborn woman.

Swallowing back the sob that threatened to escape, she raised her head.

At that moment.

“Ah... You mustn’t cry. I can’t simply overlook a woman’s tears.”

An unfamiliar voice filled the room.

The woman hurriedly looked up.

Before her stood a young man with a weasel-like face, smiling.

Confusion crossed her face.

“W-who... Guards...!”

“Shh.”

The man, Jegal San, raised an index finger to his lips.

Then he took an old letter from his robes.

“I came to deliver a letter. Your younger brother sent it.”

The woman froze.

Her eyes widened at his words.

“Your brother cannot write, it seems. So I wrote down what he told me. Don’t worry about the handwriting. Read it.”

He was suspicious.

The woman believed there was a high chance that everything he said was a lie.

Yet she blankly accepted the letter he held out to her.

Perhaps she was simply desperate enough to cling to even a rotten rope.

“Your brother asked me to find out whether his elder sister was well, but...”

From the instant she unfolded the letter, Jegal San could see her catch her breath.

There was no doubt that sorrow filled her trembling, tear-filled eyes.

“...It seems you haven’t been well.”

“...”

The woman bit down hard on her lip as she read.

That he was fine, so she should not worry too much.

That she must be deeply saddened by losing her husband, but that he hoped she would overcome it.

That he was sorry he could not come see her.

The worried sincerity of her only blood relative seeped into her heart, even written in another person’s hand.

“...It really is my brother. He’s telling lies no one would believe.”

“Hmm?”

“I suppose he hasn’t been doing well. The letters I used to send him every month have stopped reaching him.”

Jegal San fell silent at her self-mocking words.

The man he had met had truly looked wretched.

His silence was answer enough.

Clutching the letter so tightly that it crumpled, the woman lifted her head.

“Thank you for bringing word of my brother. If it is not too presumptuous, may I ask one more favor?”

“...What is it?”

“Please tell my brother that I am doing well. And these valuables...”

The woman opened a wooden chest and held out a jade ring along with several gold ornaments.

“...Will you take these to my brother? I beg you.”

“Hmm... Why don’t you leave yourself?”

“You must have overheard my conversation with the Elder. And you must have seen it as you entered. I am confined here.”

Jegal San nodded.

‘A common enough story.’

A lowborn woman becoming the principal wife and suffering her family’s oppression.

A widow having her position threatened.

Living a life no different from imprisonment.

Such things could happen anywhere.

Jegal San’s gaze lowered to her stomach.

Her belly was slightly rounded, subtle enough that one would not notice without looking closely.

‘She isn’t alone.’

She truly was a woman with something to protect.

“Seeing how you moved without a sound, you must possess formidable martial arts?”

“Well, leaving that aside, why trust me with these? What if I take them and run?”

“Why would someone dressed in such expensive clothes need to do something like that?”

The woman’s eyes turned toward Jegal San’s clothing.

Jegal San smacked his lips and scratched the back of his head.

“I should have changed clothes before coming.”

“I know it is an unreasonable request, but...”

“It’s fine.”

Jegal San gave a faint smile.

“I came in here because I would have felt uneasy leaving things as they were. I will gladly help.”

“Ah, thank...!”

“On one condition.”

Jegal San bent down until his eyes met hers.

Then he asked,

“Think it over until this evening. Ask yourself whether remaining here truly serves the child.”

The woman’s eyes filled with confusion.

Jegal San smiled awkwardly.

‘It’s meddling.’

He knew that, but he could not help saying it.

Women like her always reminded him of someone.

“If I were your child, I don’t think I would want to see my mother suffering persecution for my sake.”

“What do you mean...?”

“I’ll give you time to think. About four hours. I’ll return at sunset.”

With that, Jegal San vanished.

The woman remained alone in the room, turning his words over in her mind.

* * *

“San.”

Through the haze, Jegal San heard a voice and raised his head.

Before him stood the inner residence of the Noble Clan where he had spent his childhood.

Past the well-tended trees and the pond stood a woman Jegal San would miss for the rest of his life.

“San!”

“Mother...”

It was his mother, whom he could never see again.

She had narrow eyes and a foxlike face.

Yet unlike her appearance, she had been a woman of unbending integrity and a kind heart.

Stomping toward him as though furious, she grabbed his ear and pulled hard.

The instant his ear was tugged, Jegal San rose onto his toes. Even so, their difference in height remained the same, and he realized he was in the body of a child.

‘It’s a dream.’

His mother in the dream shouted at the top of her lungs.

“How many times have I told you to stop going into the privy?!”

The veins standing out on her forehead showed just how furious she was.

Yet even with that angry expression, Jegal San felt laughter burst out of him the moment he saw her.

“You’re laughing?! You’re laughing?!”

“Ghk! M-Mother!”

It was a remarkably vivid dream.

He could not feel pain, yet his mouth screamed on its own, making it feel real.

“Why do you keep digging around in that damned privy every single day?!”

Jegal San knew exactly which memory this was.

It was from when he was six and deeply absorbed in Tales of Martial Heroes.

He had been moved beyond measure by the scene where the Benevolent Hero, the protagonist of Chapter Four, fled assassins from an unorthodox sect by burying himself in a privy. It had been one of those days when he drove his mother to distraction.

“I-I’m sorry...”

“You ought to know you were wrong! No, you should not have done it in the first place!”

Jegal San kept apologizing, but he also laughed.

‘Ah.’

He had returned to a moment of overwhelming happiness.

It was the kind of return that made him not want to wake up, even though he knew it was a dream.

With tears in his eyes, Jegal San smiled at his mother.

A woman of low birth who had become the mistress of the Jegal family.

A woman who had always carried herself with pride.

...And a woman who had remained warm until the day poison took her life.

“I can’t live because of you! Do you know what the elders call you whenever they see you? Privy Prince. Privy Prince!”

The voice of the mother he had loved so dearly burrowed into his ears.

She released his ear, pressed a hand to her forehead, and sighed as she bent forward.

“San, listen. Do I need to burn every last copy of that Tales of Martial Heroes nonsense before you come to your senses?”

“I’m sorry...”

“Chivalrous heroes are fine. They’re good, but why obsess over privies when there are so many wonderful scenes? What are they called, Sword Heroes? Couldn’t you like something like that?”

“Sword Heroes aren’t coo...”

“I’ll pinch that mouth of yours!”

Jegal San’s mother pinched his lips tightly.

His lips jutted out like a duck’s bill, making her let out a laugh as she shook her head.

“Good grief, forget it. What can I even say to you?”

It was always like this.

She would become furious and scold him harshly, but after exchanging a few words, her anger would melt away and she would end up smiling.

Jegal San loved that so much that he smiled with her.

“Mother.”

“What?!”

“Thank you.”

His mother furrowed her brow.

Her face showed the worry that he was about to say something else strange.

Remembering what a troublemaker he had been as a child, Jegal San chuckled and continued.

“Come see me sometimes.”

It was too sweet a dream.

That was why it was a dream he could not lose himself in.

She belonged to the past, and what she truly wanted was for him to move forward.

‘Become someone you can be proud of.’

She had been the sort of person who asked that of him until her final moment.

“I truly...”

Jegal San held the words in his mouth.

He chewed them into little pieces, gathered them carefully, then spoke them aloud.

“...I truly love you.”

The scenery blurred.

* * *

Jegal San opened his eyes atop the roof of the inner residence.

Blinking a few times, he gave a soft laugh and collected the jade stones he had scattered around him.

For an instant, the surroundings blurred before becoming clear again.

‘Hmm...’

A deep smile rested on his lips.

He was happy to have seen the face he missed, and he savored the lingering feeling.

The sky had already turned reddish.

Realizing that the four hours he had promised were nearly over, Jegal San rose.

‘Shall I go?’

It was time to hear her answer.

* * *

“Have you made up your mind?”

The woman looked at the man before her.

He wore a bright smile as he waited for her answer.

Suspicious. Utterly suspicious.

Even so, she could not hide the hope she had begun to place in him.

“...May I ask just one question?”

“Go ahead.”

“Why are you helping me this much?”

With a hardened expression, the woman met Jegal San’s eyes.

Her features remained delicate, but her gaze shone with resolve.

“Do I need a reason?”

“I do.”

The woman clenched the fist resting on her lap.

“I do not have much with which to repay you. Though I hold the position of mistress of Zhang Family Estate, there is not much that I truly possess. Whether I remain here and endure alone, or escape as you say, there is nothing for you to gain, Great Hero.”

“I know.”

“Then please answer me. Why do you wish to help even knowing that?”

The question was her last remaining thread of reason.

It was the smallest defense she could muster to protect the child in her womb.

Following him without knowing his intentions, driven only by her desire to lean on someone, would be placing her child’s safety at risk.

Jegal San looked at her quietly.

He studied her tense face for a long moment. Only then did he grin and answer.

“I’m just doing it.”

“...Pardon?”

“I’m doing it because I simply want to.”

The woman’s face went blank.

Finding that sight rather amusing, Jegal San continued.