WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Haruto

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◈ The Martial Alliance Rulebook Archives ◈

Chapter 44: Clinging to State Power (2)

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“The emperor” and “unable to escape,” huh.

Did that mean one could escape the Embroidered Uniform Guard, but not the emperor?

Or did it mean the emperor could not escape the Embroidered Uniform Guard?

The Lamp-Extinguishing Executioner left behind that cryptic remark and vanished. Commissioner Baek frowned as he retrieved his spear.

The spear lodged in the tree rumbled and shuddered, then shattered the tree as it flew back into its owner's hand.

It was remote object manipulation with tremendous control, though not much finesse.

"Hah. Are you all right?"

"Thank you, sir. You saved us from disaster."

I set my questions aside for the moment and immediately clasped my fists in salute, bowing at the waist. Anyone who saved me from a mad expert's antics was an elder and a benefactor.

Did some secret affair within the imperial palace matter right now? If I was curious, I could ask the special physician later.

Commissioner Baek clicked his tongue.

"That fellow was exceptionally wicked and vicious. It would have benefited the country if I had finished them off. My apologies."

"Not at all. You saved every member of the White Sword Squad."

[Jaksu, what are you doing?!]

[...?]

[A high-ranking official of the Embroidered Uniform Guard personally came to deal with a vicious criminal. Hurry up and bow. If a superior asks, 'Why is your back so straight?' life will become difficult for you afterward!]

After hearing me, Jaksu promptly clasped his fists and shouted, "We are deeply indebted to you!"

Those who lived without anyone to rely on, like wandering martial artists, naturally became quick at reading the situation. Once their former comrade and the Captain had paid their respects, everyone else began bowing on their own.

'Voice transmission is the best.'

What would have required me to fret alone and beg everyone to take a hint was resolved in a second.

Damn it, who knew being able to whisper privately would be this convenient? Had those First-rate bastards been keeping such a useful thing to themselves?

While I was marveling at the convenience of voice transmission, Commissioner Baek dismissed the greetings with a gesture and looked toward the site of his fierce battle with the Lamp-Extinguishing Executioner.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm examining the traces of their footwork. I may not be a martial scholar of the imperial palace, but I've had my share of experience on the battlefield."

I nodded and stepped back. It would not look good to intrude while an important person was absorbed in a hobby.

"Tell me how that person called the Lamp-Extinguishing Executioner appeared."

Since the important person had caught hold of me, I had no choice but to remain at his side.

"Well, they walked out from near that clearing with the scorched marks..."

* * *

Commissioner Baek asked exactly what movements the Lamp-Extinguishing Executioner had made and how they had approached. After carefully studying the route from Jaksu's ambush to their standoff, Commissioner Baek eventually shook his head.

"Tch. No, that isn't it."

"What do you mean?"

"I thought they might have learned the martial arts of those sly eunuchs. Insulting the Embroidered Uniform Guard first is their habit."

I was about to say, "Would the Eastern Depot dare speak of His Majesty in such a manner?" Then I realized Commissioner Baek had not explicitly called them the Eastern Depot.

"...Have martial arts from the palace leaked out?"

"Mm, quite a lot."

I had lowered my voice to a whisper, but Commissioner Baek spoke with an easy air.

"Shouldn't there be none at all?"

"Men who choose to have their manhood removed are rarely in their right minds. Every so often, no... rather often, they go mad and flee the palace."

That subtle correction made it easy to guess how many eunuchs suffering qi deviation he had seen.

"The Eastern Depot usually tracks and manages such people, but there are times when someone who has established a school of their own succeeds in escaping. Don't stories occasionally circulate through the martial world about the Eunuch Ghost, who hunts men's genitals? They mainly target children whose voices have yet to deepen."

For a moment, I nearly blurted out, "What the fuck kind of Anomaly is that?"

But the genital-hunting Eunuch Ghost Commissioner Baek described was not an Anomaly.

"They select talented children and pass down their martial arts. According to the martial scholars' analysis, since they cannot pass down the seed of their flesh, they try to spread their martial arts like seeds as a kind of compensation."

I stared into the distant sky. Even as I looked at the star-filled night, the absurdity of it all would not subside.

I could only force out one remark.

"...The martial world is truly complex and bizarre."

"Yes. Still, the fact that they had not learned the eunuchs' martial arts helps narrow the candidates. There are usually only two martial factions with the intelligence network needed to obtain news from within the imperial palace."

The Martial Alliance or the Black Lotus Society. Even the Beggars' Sect's mouths and the Hao Clan's ears found it difficult to reach the depths of the imperial palace.

Yet those two vast organizations, alliances made up of countless sects, had no choice but to listen closely to the imperial palace, the pinnacle of power in the Central Plains. Whether they wanted to or not, they worked through various means to gather intelligence from within.

Wasn't the special physician also serving as a bridge between the imperial palace and the Martial Alliance?

I considered it highly likely that the Black Lotus Society stood behind the Lamp-Extinguishing Executioner.

'If they truly were an operative within the Martial Alliance and were trying to kill one of the White Sword Squad members for some reason I didn't know...'

At the very least, they would not have acted in a situation where I was involved. If the Lamp-Extinguishing Executioner was a secret Martial Alliance spy even I did not know about, they would also know about the Anomaly Records Office.

Unlike an unsupported member of the White Sword Squad, a Records Officer was not a target one could kill without concern.

Even if they did not know about an item like the Heart-Succession Secret Book, the standing of the Records Office alone made that clear. The Director of the Records Office was an expert capable of suppressing even the influence of Shaolin.

The Lamp-Extinguishing Executioner seemed ignorant of these inner circumstances of the Martial Alliance. They were almost certainly an expert from the Black Lotus Society.

Seeing my expression, Commissioner Baek nodded.

"Hm. It seems you have an idea which of the two it is."

[They did not seem to know that I belonged to the Anomaly Records Office.]

I answered through voice transmission. If he had the political skill to rise to the rank of Commissioner in the Embroidered Uniform Guard, he would understand the entire situation from that single remark.

"So that was it."

As expected, Commissioner Baek nodded, then told me a few things about the Black Lotus Society's position.

"When people speak of the methods used by those of the black path to extract information, they almost always think of the Hao Clan."

"Oh, are there other methods?"

"It isn't wrong to say they chiefly use the Hao Clan. But the Hao Clan is an organization that straddles the orthodox and unorthodox sides rather than one clearly belonging to the unorthodox sects. Handling truly important information through them risks letting it leak to the other side."

That was why the Black Lotus Society operated a separate intelligence organization solely for its own use.

A chill ran down my spine as I looked at the old man casually revealing secrets of the martial world.

The principle of Noninterference Between Officials and Martial Artists existed, and the imperial court generally respected the martial world enough that it rarely intervened directly...

Even so, did that not mean the imperial court had its eyes on the secret movements of both great organizations that divided the martial world into orthodox and unorthodox sides?

I thought I understood why the special physician belonged to the Anomaly Records Office.

"It is called the Many-Eyed Court."

"A house with many eyes... A fitting name for those who run an intelligence organization."

"Your workplace likely knows the name as well. Ask about it when you return."

I bowed to Commissioner Baek. He was freely handing out valuable intelligence that would be difficult to obtain even after running oneself ragged. Bowing a little was no burden.

"By the way, sir, how is the pursuit of Muun going?"

"...Yes. That is also why I came directly to find you."

Even with the infamous and renowned Embroidered Uniform Guard continuing the pursuit, Muun, who had likely never learned anything like Stealth Art despite being a demonic practitioner, had little hope of escaping the encirclement.

Commissioner Baek had, in fact, encountered Muun several times. But...

"That was strange. Even when demonic practitioners have their sense of self devoured by demonic arts, they retain their reason. They kill people cruelly and viciously, yet they are efficient at the same time. Muun was different."

Commissioner Baek had exchanged blows with Muun and tried to pressure her with a few words. Just as I had told him, he wanted to learn something about whatever had taught her martial arts.

But instead of giving a proper answer, Muun had only let out strange cries closer to wails before fleeing.

"It was not like the incoherent words a madman blurts out without reason. Even a madman's ravings contain recognizable words, but Muun only growled like a beast. I wondered whether this was also the work of demonic arts, so I came to ask if you had heard of a similar phenomenon."

'Losing one's reason?'

Demonic arts did have side effects like that, but the Nine Yin White Bone Claw I knew did not cause one to lose oneself.

Nor did the Nine Yin White Bone Claw wielded by the Soul-Piercing Demon Hand in this world cause one to lose oneself. The Soul-Piercing Demon Hand was closer to a cunning villain than a crazed beast.

"Rather than demonic arts, it feels more like the spirit possession practiced by shamans. Perhaps the soul of a beast has possessed her."

There was nothing more I could determine for now. I replied that I would return to the Records Office and investigate.

Commissioner Baek readily nodded. He had already waited many years to take revenge on his enemy, so the addition of only a few more days would not shake his calm.

After thinking for a moment, I opened my mouth.

I had to tell him about the Heavenly Demon.

Footnotes:

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