WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Haruto
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Martial Alliance Rulebook Archives ◈
Chapter 21: Rules Manual Writing Practice (1)
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‘A scheme to kill with a borrowed knife.’
That was a dangerous thought, whether the target I had intended to kill was Muun or Commissioner Baek.
If I had tried to get rid of Commissioner Baek, I would have been committing treason by daring to kill one of the emperor's direct subordinates. Even if I had intended to use Commissioner Baek to deal with Muun, I would have been guilty of disrespecting the emperor for mobilizing the Embroidered Uniform Guard for personal reasons.
“I merely presented Commissioner Baek with a reasonable inference based on an obvious question.”
Soul-Piercing Demon Hand had suddenly awakened to a claw technique he had never used before and caused a bloody massacre as a demonic practitioner.
Muun had been an ordinary woman with no connection to martial arts. She had even risen from the dead before causing a bloody massacre.
Did those two not seem connected somehow?
If the demonic arts learned by Soul-Piercing Demon Hand and Muun shared the same root, then the one who had created and spread them was the true...
“So you must have expected how Commissioner Baek would react when you told him that.”
“I merely told a father who had lost his daughter how to settle the old grudge binding him through legitimate means. It was far better than taking it out on some lowly official of the Martial Alliance.”
Peng Juhyeok kept making strange insinuations, so I shook my head. My conscience was clear.
“Huh. I wonder whether that head and tongue of yours are the real Anomalies.”
Laughing off my senior's unfair assessment, I returned to the Martial Alliance headquarters.
“Wow, I missed this place.”
I never thought I would say that. Back when I worked for the White Sword Squad, the Martial Alliance had seemed like an exploitative company that paid little and worked its people hard.
But over the past few days, I had investigated traces of Anomalies, met an Embroidered Uniform Guard commissioner who had lost his mind, and pushed my brain to its limits.
After being in such a strange situation, I understood.
The White Sword Squad was still a place where relatively normal people gathered. Wandering martial artists might be crude and uneducated, but those who came all the way to the White Sword Squad because they did not want to get stabbed by someone else had enough social sense to compromise with others.
‘The stronger martial artists become, the bigger their egos seem to grow. Just because their cultivation is high, they do whatever insane thing they please...’
Since saying anything bad about the Embroidered Uniform Guard aloud might get me arrested, I scolded Commissioner Baek only in my head and headed for the Ceremonial Affairs Department with a sigh.
I had returned from an assignment, so I should report in first.
“You!”
Before I could even enter the Ceremonial Affairs Department building, the White-Robed Miracle Physician was waiting for us.
“Huh? White-Robed Miracle Physician, sir?”
“What took you two so long?”
I had sent word through a Martial Alliance branch, then been detained by the Embroidered Uniform Guard right afterward. We were three or four days later than expected.
I gestured at Peng Juhyeok behind me. Wasn't this the sort of thing one's senior was supposed to explain?
“Ah. That crazy old Embroidered Uniform Guard bastard...”
I hurriedly covered Peng Juhyeok's mouth. This man was a little crazy too.
“We had a minor issue with the Embroidered Uniform Guard.”
After barely stopping the tirade that would have made the Embroidered Uniform Guard pitch a fit if it reached their ears, I explained the situation in more restrained language.
The White-Robed Miracle Physician reacted at once.
“Those blood-crazed sword-wielding bastards?”
“Seriously, please.”
* * *
In the Anomaly Records Office's central room, I gave the White-Robed Miracle Physician my account of what had happened.
“...Once I persuaded him from the size of the wounds that Soul-Piercing Demon Hand could not have been responsible, his attitude changed in an instant and his vigor faded. I feared he might fall into demonic deviation, so I told him something else.”
“Hm? What did you tell him?”
“First, I pointed out that Soul-Piercing Demon Hand's claw technique differed completely from the martial arts he had used before. Then I explained that Muun, who was suspected to be behind the massacre, had never practiced martial arts as an ordinary woman, yet suddenly acquired demonic arts...”
The White-Robed Miracle Physician's expression hardened after hearing my full explanation.
It was even more frightening than if he had admired it and said, “What a perfect scheme to kill with a borrowed knife!”
That Eccentric Physician was actually this tense.
“Hm. He is a commissioner within the Embroidered Uniform Guard, so... he should be fine.”
“What?”
“Your inference is correct. There is certainly a strange existence that goes around spreading demonic arts. We call it the Heavenly Demon.”
The Heavenly Demon. It was a name commonly heard in martial arts novels.
The title of the leader of the Demonic Cult. The one standing at the pinnacle of a hierarchy born from the absolute law that might makes right.
But...
‘Something is strange. I have never heard a name like the Demonic Cult here.’
The martial world I knew was divided between the Black Lotus Society and the Martial Alliance. I had never heard of a Demonic Cult that stood equal to, or above, either of them.
So my question took a form closer to religious scripture than a martial arts novel.
“Do you mean Mara from Buddhism?”
The Sixth Heavenly Demon King, said to stir desire in people's hearts. The actions of this being that went around spreading demonic arts resembled Mara Papiyas from old tales.
“Hm, we did borrow the title of the demon king spoken of in Buddhism. But it is an existence that cannot be explained by that alone.”
“What do you mean, it cannot be explained?”
“Would a demon king from myth practice martial arts?”
The White-Robed Miracle Physician explained the martial prowess possessed by this Heavenly Demon. It could imbue raindrops with evil intent, turning anyone struck by them into a demonic practitioner.
“What is that?”
“In theory, I believe it is a form of Power Transmission Across Bodies.”
Power Transmission Across Bodies was a method in which a master gave their accumulated internal energy to a disciple.
Normally, the one giving it up lost most of the cultivation they had built. Even if the recipient took every possible measure, they could not fully absorb the internal energy, making it an inefficient method.
It was the sort of great art attempted only with the full support of an entire sect, for a truly exceptional treasured disciple, and only when an elder who had completed Golden Basin Handwashing and no longer had ties to the martial world stepped forward.
“And it did that with raindrops?”
“There should be a book somewhere on the shelves over there that records the Human Gu Incident of Cheongyeong Town. We found it hard to believe as well, but yes. There was nothing noteworthy at the time apart from the rain.”
A bloody battle had engulfed the entire village, and one demonic practitioner had emerged at its end. That was the brief explanation the White-Robed Miracle Physician gave. A Martial Alliance combat squad had been wiped out, and the incident had only ended when a Wudang Sect elder stepped in.
“It truly is a strange existence. We do not know where it comes from or where it goes. We can only assume that it appears wherever and whenever it wishes.”
As the progenitor of demonic arts, it did call the Heavenly Demon of the Demonic Cult to mind.
Yet the fact that it appeared and vanished without establishing or ruling a cult also made it resemble Mara from myth.
After taking a few deep breaths, I asked, “Is it a Heavenly-grade Anomaly?”
“Yes.”
The White-Robed Miracle Physician briefly explained the three grades of Heaven, Earth, and Human.
Human Ghost, a human as grotesque as a ghost.
Earthly Change, an upheaval that shook the land.
Heavenly Disaster, a calamity sent down by the sky.
“How did Brother Peng survive after encountering something like that?”
“Hm?”
At my words, the White-Robed Miracle Physician tilted his head. The intent behind the troubled look as he rubbed his chin was obvious.
‘That is strange. As far as I know, that fool has never met the Heavenly Demon.’
Then, at some point, the White-Robed Miracle Physician nodded.
“Ah. That happened. The thing that reckless fool encountered was not the Heavenly Demon.”
“What?”
“There is another Anomaly farther beyond Hainan. It is not something we can deal with right now, so put it out of your mind.”
The White-Robed Miracle Physician added one ominous remark.
‘Though, is it really right to call that thing an existence?’
Once again, I missed the White Sword Squad.
“First, please tell me what I should do next. Shouldn't I write a rulebook based on the information I investigated?”
“Hm? No, you cannot write a rulebook with this.”
“What?”
The question escaped me at once. I had carefully recorded every detail I had seen and heard while trying to keep myself together in that chilling, terrifying, strangely satisfying atmosphere.
“You did not face the culprit directly.”
...Now that I thought about it, I had never directly faced the source of the Azurewater Village tragedy.
“As you said, there is a high chance that Muun, the woman who rose from the grave, is the culprit. But even if Muun truly is the culprit, we cannot know whether her current appearance is the same as it was in life.”
It meant that the infusion of demonic arts might have transformed her body as well.
“And we cannot simply reuse Soul-Piercing Demon Hand's rulebook.”
“Because the point at which each demonic practitioner's perception becomes twisted will differ. If we follow the response guidelines written in Soul-Piercing Demon Hand's rulebook, Muun may instead reveal murderous intent.”
The White-Robed Miracle Physician nodded. Many people had learned similar types of demonic arts, and their rulebooks were similar in their response guidelines for those martial arts.
Advice such as, “This martial art tends to target the Baihui acupoint, so protect your head,” would likely be broadly effective.
But the rules concerning each demonic practitioner's personal disposition differed.
Suppose there were two demonic practitioners, A and B, whose skin had rotted blue all over from the side effects of demonic arts.
When meeting A, one could only escape safely by pretending not to notice and treating them normally.
When meeting B, one could only survive by actively showing sympathy for their appearance.
In the end, unless one faced the Anomaly itself directly, it was difficult to establish clear response guidelines.
“...Organizing experience into rules is not easy either.”
The White-Robed Miracle Physician nodded and spoke.
“But there is no need to worry. A rulebook writing practice course has already been prepared for new Records Officers like you. Go see Jade Scale.”
“I just got back from an assignment.”
“Not now. Go when you come to work tomorrow. Rest today. Those insane Embroidered Uniform Guard bastards, trusting only in the emperor...”
I pretended not to hear the rest of the White-Robed Miracle Physician's words.
‘If either the Eastern Depot or the Embroidered Uniform Guard had planted listeners in the Anomaly Records Office, the office might be shut down for insulting the imperial family within a day.’
Footnotes:
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