WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Haruto
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Martial Alliance Rulebook Archives ◈
Chapter 70: Cheongyeong Town (3)
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Fortunately, neither of them cared about manners.
Life-and-Death Gambler, whom Peng Juhyeok had called pitiful for someone her age, and Peng Juhyeok, whom I had called a crazy bastard.
The two looked at each other and burst into laughter before sending me voice transmissions.
[Watch yourself, Brother Yeok. That one's a real crazy bitch.]
[Be careful. You've never heard why the Mad Blade Fiend doesn't challenge the Transformation Realm, have you?]
The lunatics were warning each other to be careful. I struggled to keep my expression neutral as I spoke.
“Uh, Senior Life-and-Death Gambler... now that things have come to this, let me ask you frankly. Did the Black Lotus Society send anyone else?”
“That hurts. We made an agreement, yet all you want to discuss is business?”
Peng Juhyeok stepped between Life-and-Death Gambler and me.
“How could someone like Brother Yeok associate with a petty person like you? This friend is a talent worthy of the orthodox sects, with the bearing of a great person.”
“Ha ha. Dividing people into camps in this unfettered world is the way of the orthodox sects. You should know better than anyone how much ugliness lurks in the shadows beneath the walls you build.”
“...Ahem!”
I had thought so since the Peach-Stealing Grounds, but Life-and-Death Gambler was more eloquent than I expected. Contrary to the impression she gave as a lunatic, she enjoyed making coherent arguments and delivering methodical sarcasm.
In other words, she possessed a certain degree of intelligence...
‘Which also means she's a lunatic who uses that fine mind solely for life-threatening wagers!’
Good heavens. Why had the Anomaly Destruction Hall sent someone like that?
“As for your question, no.”
Life-and-Death Gambler briefly glanced at the Sima Clan procession before nodding.
“I'm the only one from the Anomaly Destruction Hall. I went to some trouble to stop Soso Soso's junior from coming.”
Soso Soso's junior?
I recalled the White Sword Squad member who had died on the road to Iron-Steel Mountain, as well as their smile while explaining their name.
“Lamp-Extinguishing Executioner...”
Life-and-Death Gambler tilted her head at the name, then went, “Ah,” and tapped her left palm with her right fist.
“That was the alias they used! They like Soso Soso, though they pretend otherwise, so they made their own epithet sound like that too. Myeong Myeong Myeong Myeong.”
She calmly explained the meaning of each Myeong.
The Myeong for engraving.
The Myeong for name.
The Myeong for darkness.
The Myeong for life.
“No. How can a person's epithet be Myeong Myeong Myeong Myeong? And to give oneself an epithet too, what utter nonsense...”
Watching Peng Juhyeok lecture someone about common sense was enough to give me cognitive dissonance. He himself lived far outside its bounds.
Using the meanings Life-and-Death Gambler had listed and the Lamp-Extinguishing Executioner's actions as guides, I interpreted the epithet.
“The afterlife... no, the underworld. A life bound for it, engraved into a name. Is that what it means?”
“Yes. It resembles Soso Soso, doesn't it?”
Life-and-Death Gambler gave a small smile and waved at me, this time with her left hand.
“Ah. My arm is firmly attached now, so don't worry.”
“...That's a relief.”
“We'll probably see each other over the next few days, so let's get along, all right?”
With that, Life-and-Death Gambler turned her back on us.
Just as I was about to relax and let the tension leave my body, she spoke again.
“Come to think of it.”
Life-and-Death Gambler looked back at me.
“I only just learned your surname, Young Hero Yeok.”
Ah.
Come to think of it, Mubeon had called me nothing but young hero at the Peach-Stealing Grounds and the True Empty Homeland.
Had she learned my name for the first time here? Or perhaps Myeong Myeong Myeong Myeong had already told her, and she was acting this way anyway.
“I'll hear the rest of your name in time.”
Adding, “Next time,” she waved once more and slipped into the rear of the Sima Clan procession with an elusive, flowing movement.
If I had not known beforehand and watched closely, I would not have noticed another person joining the group. Her lightness technique was that natural and swift.
“Good grief. This is serious. Has the Anomaly Destruction Hall lost its mind? Leaving a normal person like Human-Skin Chef behind and sending that old monster...”
I considered whether “normal person” suited the Human-Skin Chef's epithet, then shook my head. There was something far more important to discuss than picking at his words.
“Brother Peng.”
“Hmm?”
“It seems the Many-Eyed Court or the Infiltration Warfare Office sent someone. Since she stopped Myeong Myeong Myeong Myeong from coming, the Many-Eyed Court is less likely. As this is a gathering for strategists to compete in wits, the Infiltration Warfare Office would fit. Do you know anything about them?”
“...?”
* * *
Peng Juhyeok did not immediately grasp the situation.
“Listen carefully, Senior Peng. What did I ask?”
“Uh, whether the Black Lotus Society had sent anyone else, and didn't that old monster say there was no one else?”
“No. She said she was the only one sent by the Anomaly Destruction Hall, after looking toward the Sima Clan.”
Life-and-Death Gambler did not lie. Just as she had accepted my claim that I had brought treasure from the True Empty Homeland and risked her life fighting Maitreya.
It was likely a matter of the intent she had established as a martial artist, or a way to maximize the thrill of her wagers.
‘Perhaps those mean the same thing to her.’
Still, she had not told the whole truth. At the Peach-Stealing Grounds, when I had shown no greed for the heavenly peach, she said there was nothing to be done and gave up, only to force me into it anyway.
She did not lie, but when necessary, she did not hesitate to deceive by revealing only part of the truth.
Perhaps she considered that part of a gambler's contest. That was not what mattered.
“The Black Lotus Society and the Anomaly Destruction Hall are not the same. Even if she is the only one dispatched by the Anomaly Destruction Hall, the Black Lotus Society may have sent someone else.”
“Ah... I see!”
“She looked openly toward the Sima Clan, and like the Zhuge Clan on our side, they are a family renowned for strategy. Someone who holds a position in the Infiltration Warfare Office has likely come as a participant in the Discourse on Heaven and Earth.”
After thinking for a moment, I added an inference, though it was unlikely.
“Of those responsible for heavenly patterns, geography, and human harmony, the junior-most one handling human harmony is likely a member of the Infiltration Warfare Office.”
“No. Why is that?”
“Life-and-Death Gambler mentioned me when she said victory might be possible, didn't she? The only field where I could compete with another person in wisdom would be one connected to Anomalies. If someone were to challenge me to a battle of wits on such a subject, there is a high chance they are a member of the Infiltration Warfare Office.”
After hearing all this, Peng Juhyeok nodded with a solemn expression.
It was an uncharacteristic seriousness.
‘What is this? Is he going to tell me never to lose as a member of the Records Office?’
“Brother Yeok.”
“Yes.”
“This is too complicated for me to understand. Just tell me what needs to be done, and I'll follow.”
“...Brother Peng. I hesitate to ask, but doesn't that hurt your pride?”
“Pride rarely saves you from an Anomaly!”
Although there was no trace of an Anomaly around Cheongyeong Town at the moment, Peng Juhyeok seemed to place Life-and-Death Gambler on the same level as one.
“Not never, then?”
“Sometimes, a demonic practitioner gives you time to grow, saying, ‘I'll kill you myself if you keep standing firm.’ They do it to prove the superiority of demonic arts and the inferiority of other martial arts.”
“How did you survive the second time you met someone like that?”
“Hmm? I had the senior special physician lie in wait, then we took them down together.”
“...”
This was the fair and upright way of the orthodox sects?
* * *
“Life-and-Death Gambler, what have you been doing?”
Sima Gwa frowned as she questioned the monster with a cheerful smile.
“I scouted the enemy camp. I also confirmed the Anomaly Records Office newcomer's face and name.”
To be honest, Life-and-Death Gambler was still the sort of person Sima Gwa felt uneasy being around. Even among the eccentrics of the Anomaly Destruction Hall, Life-and-Death Gambler's moral character was exceptionally warped.
If not for the Society Leader, it would have been impossible to keep such a monster confined within the Anomaly Destruction Hall.
“What sort of person are they?”
“Well, they're quick to pick up on things. It's different from martial talent, but they have combat talent too. Still, they did not seem to have been involved in choosing Cheongyeong Town as the location for this gathering.”
“Why are you so certain?”
“The Mad Blade Fiend was with them.”
“That insane murderer...!”
Life-and-Death Gambler shook her head. Peng Juhyeok was not the sort to draw his sword the instant he saw someone from the unorthodox sects.
It took a great deal of thought for him to draw that sword.
The problem was that the entire process of thought took place inside his head. He did not listen to others' suggestions, so he would not even accept a wager.
“The Mad Blade Fiend hates demonic arts with a passion. If he knew of the Infiltration Warfare Office's plan, he would have stepped in long ago and set the village on fire. It really does seem like a coincidence.”
The Infiltration Warfare Office was devising a grand plan to interpret the powers of a Heavenly-grade Anomaly.
In that sense, Cheongyeong Town was a key location. It was where the Heavenly Demon, that great Anomaly, had wielded its power most directly.
For a long time, they had labored to reassemble the traces left in Cheongyeong Town into a complete martial art. Just as a sprout was finally about to emerge from the soil of that effort, the Discourse on Heaven and Earth had been set to take place in Cheongyeong Town. They had been wondering whether this was some form of warning from the Martial Alliance.
“I suppose Zhuge Byeok's side did not seem to know anything either.”
Sima Gwa sighed in relief, recalling the precious fool she had gotten her hands on.
“Then we will proceed as planned and use the Discourse on Heaven and Earth to unearth demonic arts. Life-and-Death Gambler, I ask you to provide protection.”
Footnotes:
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