WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Haruto
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◈ The Martial Alliance Rulebook Archives ◈
Chapter 55: The Records Officer's Cleanup (1)
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“Uh, why, why are you all acting like that?”
As the atmosphere around us grew strange, Iljik, the Steel-Severing Leg, began watching Murong Sung for his reaction. Murong Sung shook his head.
“I understand. It’s certainly good news. First, procure liquor and meat nearby, then hold a feast for everyone except those standing guard. We’ve dealt with Iron-Steel Mountain’s nuisance, so there should be a fitting reward.”
Steel-Severing Leg seemed to take Murong Sung’s silence as the concern of someone calculating the cost of the feast. Grinning broadly, Iljik thumped his chest.
“Leave it to me. I know some merchants. I’ll bring back quality goods at a low price!”
He departed with several carts and the Martial Alliance branch’s martial artists. Only those who had fought Paoxiao remained. We looked at one another, then gave bitter smiles.
“Young Master. It can’t be helped.”
The Captain of the guest retainers spoke first. Murong Sung nodded, met my eyes, and cupped his fist.
“Thank you, Research Officer Yeok. That this Murong survived last night, and that the subjugation succeeded, are entirely due to the Research Officer’s efforts.”
The retainers, including their Captain, bowed in turn. I waved them off. It was undeserved praise.
“Once I find out exactly what happened, I’ll let you know. Shall I send a letter to the Murong Clan?”
Murong Sung shook his head and gave me the location of a trading company. It was the same trading company that had led him to set out against Iron-Steel Stronghold.
It seemed more closely connected to Murong Sung than I had expected. Perhaps it was a card prepared for the Murong Clan’s succession dispute.
We did not discuss the previous night in any greater detail. Still, without anyone saying so, we came to a quiet agreement.
If the many corpses left by the subjugation of Iron-Steel Stronghold were abandoned at the foot of the mountain, they would become a breeding ground for disease. Someone had to deal with them.
Large-scale corpse disposal usually meant burial or cremation. Yet there was neither reason nor resources to raise burial mounds for bandits. Their bodies would be burned.
Iron-Headed Fire Axe and his two sworn younger brothers, however, would be cremated together.
It was the final payment for a request that had gone unfulfilled.
* * *
“Cheonmyeong.”
Jaksu waved. I started to wave back, then gritted my teeth at the pain in my shoulder.
“Are you all right?”
“Well, considering I was ambushed by a detachment led by a Peak realm master?”
We had agreed not to reveal Paoxiao’s existence publicly. As a result, the fierce battle fought by the pursuit party was said to have been against a detached force of Iron-Headed Fire Axe, which had attacked them from behind while they pursued Lamp-Extinguishing Executioner.
“That’s quite a bit of military merit. You’ll be able to boast about it at the Formation Array Research Department.”
“I’m not so sure...”
I trailed off. Murong Sung had loudly proclaimed that Iron-Steel Stronghold had been subjugated thanks to my plan. It was a significant accomplishment, one that would ordinarily earn a generous reward from the Martial Alliance.
The problem was that I belonged to the Anomaly Records Office.
The Anomaly Records Office’s working principle was, “As long as you make it back alive, that’s good enough.” Teaching Murong Sung and the retainers Paoxiao’s procedures would not be much of an issue.
But killing Paoxiao and failing to bring back even a single piece of evidence might become a problem.
“How about you? Even if you were only sweeping up bandits in the midst of an internal conflict, stray blades are dangerous.”
Jaksu shrugged.
“Most of the White Sword Squad handled rear support. The forces hired by the Murong Clan were enough to deal with that disorganized bunch after they lost their Stronghold Chief.”
He did not appear to have suffered any serious injuries.
“The person the branch sent as a supervisor was interesting, though.”
“Steel-Severing Leg?”
Jaksu nodded and sent a voice transmission.
[My master also began his Martial Alliance career in the White Sword Squad.]
That master who was said to have died at the Martial Alliance’s hands?
[Iljik served in the White Sword Squad with my master.]
Oh.
Jaksu gave a fierce smile. Before long, there would be a victory feast commemorating the subjugation of Iron-Steel Stronghold. Given Iljik’s nature, he would not be the sort to refuse drink and entertainment.
Unless his life felt threatened, like when he had struggled desperately to avoid being dragged into the punitive expedition against Lamp-Extinguishing Executioner, he would enjoy himself. Now that everything was over, he would drink without a care.
Murong Sung had ordered the minimum personnel standing guard to refrain from drinking, but Iljik, being an important branch official, would not be on guard duty.
Once Iljik was thoroughly drunk, Jaksu would question him.
“Right. Good luck.”
“I wish you luck too. Thanks to you, several White Sword Squad members survived.”
* * *
“Khehehe.”
Iljik laughed as he gulped down his drink.
Only a few days ago, he had thought he was truly going to die.
Murong Sung had politely phrased the question as, “Would you rather be dragged along to pursue a Transcendent Peak realm master who infiltrated the White Sword Squad, or quietly play watchdog and guard the camp?”
Iljik had pleaded with all his heart to be allowed to choose the latter. Thanks to that, he had escaped the sense of impending death that felt as though it were scraping out his brain.
He had intended to quietly guard the camp like a watchdog, but before long, scouts reported that a swarm of bandits was suddenly coming down from the mountain stronghold!
Had they realized their commander was gone and decided to wage an all-out battle?
Thinking this might finally be the end of his life, Iljik cursed Iron-Headed Fire Axe, cursed Murong Sung, and cursed that Yeok clansman who was supposedly his junior.
“Uwahahaha!”
Instead, he heard that Iron-Headed Fire Axe had been defeated, the mountain stronghold had split into two factions and fought each other, and the survivors were fleeing in defeat.
In a fight like this, there was no way to lose. Eager to earn military merit, and afraid of the Murong Clan’s young master scolding him harshly with, “We captured the enemy commander, so what were you doing?” Iljik joined the battle and swept away Iron-Steel Stronghold.
And now.
At last, he was raising a cup, enjoying the respect and happiness befitting a Peak realm master.
He could not enjoy himself too freely with Murong Sung seated in the place of honor, along with that Yeok clansman who seemed to wield influence in the main unit.
‘Still, how long has it been since I last had such a pleasant drinking party?’
And it was a feast where someone else was paying. Iljik raised the liquor he had bought for seventy percent of the original market price.
Unlike the Martial Alliance branch’s easy money, he could not pocket the entire profit from the price difference.
So he decided to embezzle only a little. To the lofty young master of the Murong Clan, he would report, “Hehe, I have such wide connections that I bought this liquor and meat at eighty percent of the market price,” then return about twenty percent of the money.
The ten percent left over would be entirely his. Thus was his happy world, where no one lost anything, complete.
Caught up in the joy of surviving and earning military merit, he naturally began to feel the urge to relieve himself. Iljik got up and headed for the temporary latrine.
As he came out after finishing his business,
“Hey.”
“W-who...?”
The face was familiar. A handsome young man with hair as red as flames, too refined-looking to suit a wandering martial artist.
“What? How can a junior from the White Sword Squad be so rude to a senior...”
At first, Iljik had meant to teach the rude youth a proper lesson. Then he promptly shut his mouth.
“Right. You were the one who said you were a White Sword Squad member, weren’t you?”
Flames rose from the youth’s hand. Iljik’s expression stiffened.
“You know a martial artist who uses the Blazing Sun Palm, don’t you?”
* * *
The special physician’s gaze moved over the chicken torso, its neck, wings, and legs torn away. Paoxiao had chewed up the main body of the three-headed chicken, so we had no choice but to recover the chicken remains used as its material.
After examining the severed neck from several angles, the special physician nodded.
“It was Many-Eyed Court’s work, all right. You did well.”
“What kind of Anomaly was that three-headed chicken?”
“It’s called a Three-Headed Six-Legged Fowl. They say eating its chicken heads restores vitality so greatly that you no longer need sleep, but...”
The effect of no longer needing sleep belonged to the original species recorded by the Anomaly Records Office. The Three-Headed Six-Legged Fowl that had appeared now, though, was a variant created through Black Lotus Society sorcery.
Its effects clearly applied to Anomalies rather than humans.
“It gathers Anomalies, and greatly strengthens any Anomaly that eats it. They’ve made something strange again. You did well.”
“Why hadn’t I heard about something that dangerous?”
“A few years ago, Jade Scale took down one of their executives, Soso Soso. They had not been active since then, so I thought their organization might have been consolidated after a high-ranking executive fell. I’m sorry.”
I nodded, saying it was fine. Something else troubled me more.
“That fake supervisor, Lamp-Extinguishing Executioner. The way his name plays around with words feels a little like Soso Soso.”
“That does seem likely. There’s a high chance he was a promising junior raised by Many-Eyed Court.”
“What kind of promising junior is a Transcendent Peak realm master? It hurts my dignity to have been beaten by a promising junior, so call him a reclusive master instead.”
The special physician gave a sly smile and gestured with his chin toward the notebook before me.
“I heard you faced a Paoxiao with a new ability that was not recorded in its rulebook.”
I nodded. Nowhere in Paoxiao’s rulebook did it say it could use Six Harmonies Voice Transmission.
“Then write down what you experienced, and how you fought and defeated it.”
I slowly recalled that night: the method of preventing Paoxiao’s impersonation beforehand by recording a countersign, the circular formation that covered one another’s blind spots, and the coordinated attack that had blinded the creature.
The first sentence I added to the rulebook began like this.
『4. If blood energy gathers around Paoxiao’s forelegs and its muscles swell, exercise particular caution. Its voice is no longer constrained by location.』
Watching my brushwork, the special physician softly said, “Congratulations.”
“It’s a new rule you discovered entirely with your own hands.”
Author’s Note
Around 6:40 PM on August 11, 2026: I confirmed that the characters for Three-Headed Six-Legged Fowl were not displaying properly on mobile devices.
The name combines Chang and Bu, each a rare character that names a bird. Chang is constructed from the component meaning “esteem” plus “bird,” while Bu is constructed from “give” plus “bird.” I have asked Novelpia about displaying Chinese characters alongside the text.
August 11, 2026
The written characters for Three-Headed Six-Legged Fowl used in Chapter 47 were corrected from an incorrect pair to the correct pair.
After checking the original text of the Classic of Mountains and Seas, the latter pair was confirmed to be correct.
Footnotes:
“Lamp-Extinguishing Executioner” and “Soso Soso” are both deliberately constructed aliases in Korean. The latter strings together characters meaning chatter, converse, vanish, and smile, while the former’s characters encode its killing rule.
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