WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Satori
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Wanderer of the Martial World ◈
Chapter 8
──────
Beep-beep.
An unusual birdcall echoed through the mountain.
It was a signaling flute designed to imitate birdsong without provoking the Yo beasts.
“Follow me!”
The martial artist leading us left those words behind and hurried up the mountain.
Judging by his speed, he seemed to be using a lightness technique.
We watched blankly as he disappeared between the trees, then exchanged glances, gave slight nods, and slowly climbed the mountain.
Come to think of it, that was better for us.
If something happened right away, it was better to move on our own at a slower pace than to fight behind that arrogant second-rate martial artist and support him.
After climbing for some time, we spotted people gathered below a small hill.
Even though we had come slowly, some squads still had not arrived. Our assigned location must have been close from the beginning.
The martial artist assigned to us frowned and glared when he saw us approaching.
“Everyone, be quiet!”
Someone who appeared to be the Azure Balance Sword Squad’ team leader warned everyone in a hushed voice.
“Ho-seok, go down and bring the deputy commander and the Young Master.”
Then he quietly ordered another martial artist.
“What’s going on?”
Seeing that, Yi Pyeong casually asked a wandering martial artist he knew.
“There’s a basin below that hill. Looks like it’s a gersu den.”
“Oh, they found it already? What about Sanhwi?”
“They say they haven’t seen it. Well, it’s probably hiding in some cave.”
“Didn’t you hear the order to be quiet?”
The martial artist assigned to us had approached at some point and warned Yi Pyeong.
“Yes, yes.”
“And if you dawdle again, I’ll cut you down with my own sword.”
“Oh, yes.”
Yi Pyeong answered him in an oily tone.
To anyone who did not know him, it would have seemed as if his earlier stiff expression had been a lie.
But I knew.
That expression meant he was dying to screw someone over.
As if to prove it, Yi Pyeong came close enough to speak directly into my ear and said something dangerous.
“How should we do him in?”
“...I think we should trip him.”
“Nice. Let’s do that.”
I answered as quietly as possible, and Yi Pyeong grinned.
Considering the result we intended to bring about, it sounded like something a crazed murderer would say. But this world had always been like this.
Martial sects and clans were basically gangs, while wandering martial artists were thugs who rented out their blades for money.
Since even the authorities did not interfere with such people, the martial world within this society had become a place where cruelty ran rampant.
Chivalry?
There were plenty who spoke of chivalry, but no true chivalrous people.
Mercy, cooperation, and consideration only applied among close acquaintances.
And even that could not be trusted completely.
I was also someone who lived with one foot in the martial world. I was no different from them.
As I watched Yi Pyeong walk over to tell Jang Wi and Yi So-gang, I suddenly remembered the big man who had come to find me that night.
A petty dispute that could not even be called a grudge.
Because of that, he had come to kill me, and now he had vanished from this world without leaving anything behind.
That was the kind of world this was.
Before long, Wang Gang, deputy commander of the Azure Balance Sword Squad, and Young Master Gwak Ha-jun came up the mountain.
Unlike Wang Gang, who was properly armed, Gwak Ha-jun wore the same clothes as before.
His blue silk robe glittered in the sunlight.
It could draw the gersu’s attention if he was not careful, but that was none of my concern.
Since the Azure Balance Sword Squad had stepped forward, they would bear responsibility for Gwak Ha-jun’s safety.
“The Young Master and I will handle the Sanhwi. You three will support us. The rest of you, take your positions, surround the area from all sides, and wipe out the gersu.”
“Yes!”
Low but spirited answers rose up, and the martial artist assigned to us approached.
“Follow me.”
Perhaps he was still displeased that we had arrived late.
His attitude was colder than before.
We exchanged looks as we watched him.
The two unranked wandering martial artists who did not know our plan looked confused, while Jo Man-sik, who seemed to have roughly caught on, wore an amused smile.
Yi Pyeong had not told Jo Man-sik about the plan out of consideration for me, since I had only just met him.
We climbed the hill ahead while reducing our presence as much as possible. Below, in the basin, gersu were resting.
Wild dogs with hard scales. That was what the Yo beasts called gersu truly were.
Woof! Woof!
Perhaps they had caught the scent of humans on the wind. Several gersu barked, and the others looked around warily at the signal.
Beep-beep.
Signals sounded from every direction.
Then, on the ridge of the opposite hill, a short, middle-aged man stood up.
Clang!
His sword flashed, reflecting the sunlight.
“Everyone! Chaaaarge!”
“Waaaah!”
At the signal of Wang Gang, the Yeongheung Charging Sword, everyone rushed down the hill.
We followed the martial artist ahead of us while controlling our speed.
We could not move ahead of him.
An experienced martial artist would have made us take the lead, but fortunately, this man still lacked experience.
As though blinded by his desire to earn merit, he was racing downhill.
Then the front line collided with the gersu.
Bang!
The blunt weapons in their hands crashed down onto the gersu.
Crunch!
A gersu that nimbly dodged a weapon bit into a wandering martial artist’s neck.
“Aagh!”
“Die!”
The area instantly descended into chaos.
I swung my iron mace at the gersu in front of me.
Whoosh!
The gersu leaped backward to avoid the mace. I moved as though taking a step closer, and it responded by quickly lunging forward.
The gersu had pretended to retreat, then aimed its teeth where my ankle would have been if I had approached. I had pretended to approach and deceived it.
We had both used feints.
Bang!
Even though my mace struck scales, it sounded like a cannon blast.
Whine. Whine.
The gersu, hit squarely in the head, shook its head and staggered backward.
When I again pretended to approach, the pained gersu suddenly jumped at me with its teeth bared.
It was an intense battle of wits.
Though Yo beasts belonged to the lowest grade of yokai, there was a reason several third-grade wandering martial artists had to face one together.
It was not merely because of their tough scales and agile movements. Yo beasts were so skilled at killing people that they could be called intelligent.
Whoosh!
The gersu looked startled when I was not where I should have been. It twisted its body as much as it could in midair to avoid my mace.
But I had a second strike left.
Rather than the head of the mace that had already passed by, I used the end of the handle to jab at the gersu’s head.
Clang!
The blow felt more solid. Before the gersu that had fallen to the ground could get up, I struck its head again.
Clang! Clang! Crack.
After two consecutive blows, a different sound rang out as the gersu’s head caved in.
I quickly scanned my surroundings, pulled the dagger strapped to my thigh, made an opening in the gersu’s chest along the grain of its scales, inserted my fingers, and pulled out something hard the size of a bean.
Someone might wonder what foolishness I was doing in the middle of a battle, but wandering martial artists were such an unruly lot that I needed proof from the corpse.
Otherwise, there were often people who coveted gersu meat and claimed it was theirs.
Of course, now that I was Second Grade, I could simply beat up anyone who tried that. Still, habits formed when I had been unranked remained.
I slipped the bean-sized yodan into the pouch at my waist and looked around.
“Sanhwi!”
Someone shouted from the opposite side.
“Fall back!”
When I looked over, I saw Wang Gang and the Young Master swiftly descending the hill toward the Sanhwi.
More accurately, only Wang Gang charged in. The Young Master stood awkwardly one step behind him.
The Sanhwi had a face resembling that of a human, like a human-faced fish.
Other than its face, it looked like a gersu, but they said its scales and movements were tough enough that it took a first-rate martial artist to face it.
Or they could grind up a pile of second-rate martial artists.
Even from afar, the Sanhwi’s movements were extremely fast.
If I had not possessed inner energy, it would have been hard for me to keep up with that speed.
I glanced over Wang Gang and his subordinates fiercely clashing with the Sanhwi, as well as the Young Master standing behind them with a sword in hand, unable to decide what to do. Then I turned my gaze toward Yi Pyeong.
Yi Pyeong had apparently killed another gersu with the others. He was catching his breath while looking my way.
Then his eyes shifted slightly, indicating the arrogant martial artist.
The martial artist was frantically fighting a gersu.
Blood had soaked into several places on his martial outfit, as though proving his lack of experience.
As I approached him, Yi Pyeong approached as well.
Jang Wi and Yi So-gang, who had been told in advance, led our group toward another gersu.
“I’ll help you!”
Yi Pyeong shouted as he ran toward the martial artist.
The battle was in full swing, so no one was paying attention to us.
Whenever they had a moment to spare, they would be more likely to look toward Wang Gang fighting the Sanhwi.
“Oops!”
Yi Pyeong “accidentally” tripped over a rock.
“Argh!”
And Yi Pyeong’s foot “accidentally” caught the foot of the martial artist, who had stepped backward with his footwork.
Was it because he was still second-rate?
He staggered but did not fall.
At least, not until he “accidentally” collided with me as I ran past.
Thud!
“Ah!”
The martial artist, who had been about to fall, struck my shoulder, lost his balance, and fell to the ground.
It was the sort of misfortune that had always occurred in the middle of fierce battles.
And there was nothing strange about the gersu he had been facing rushing toward the defenseless martial artist.
Nor was there anything strange about the martial artist failing to resist in time and having half his neck bitten off.
“You bastard!”
Yi Pyeong shouted as though making sure everyone knew he was furious, then swung his iron cudgel at the gersu.
Whoosh! Thud!
The gersu avoided the club aimed at its body, so Yi Pyeong had no choice but to strike the martial artist in the stomach.
Clang!
Before Yi Pyeong swung his club, I had anticipated where the gersu would dodge and brought my iron mace down on its head.
Clang! Crack!
When the gersu did not retreat, I struck twice in quick succession and shattered its head.
It seemed it had already been injured during its battle with the martial artist.
“Ah, may you find peace in paradise.”
As I pulled the yodan from the gersu’s body and placed it in my pouch, Yi Pyeong pretended to mourn before the martial artist’s corpse.
When I glanced at his face, he looked thoroughly satisfied.
I snickered, rose to my feet, and checked my surroundings.
The battle against the gersu had not yet stopped.
In the meantime, I considered how many gersu I had killed today.
Two.
I had done more than enough for my share.
I decided that was enough and was about to join my group and pretend to fight half-heartedly.
“Who are you?!”
Wang Gang’s urgent voice rang across the battlefield.
There, Wang Gang was fighting a new yokai.
Something that looked like... yes, a werewolf.
More precisely, should I say it was a human-sized gersu that walked on two legs?
“What is that?”
Yi Pyeong asked as he watched it beside me.
“I don’t know.”
“Hey, So-gang. Do you know what that is?”
“It’s my first time seeing one.”
Even Yi So-gang, the most knowledgeable among us, did not know that yokai.
Three Azure Balance Sword Squad martial artists were holding back the Sanhwi, while the werewolf-like yokai fought Wang Gang.
It was roughly equal to Wang Gang, so it seemed to be monster-class, but I had no idea what it was.
“Let’s pull back a little first.”
Yi Pyeong spoke in a somewhat tense voice.
He was right.
When an unexpected variable appeared in battle, it was best to watch from farther back.
If you valued your life, that was.
“Azure Balance Sword Squad, support us here!”
“Yes!”
As the martial artists fighting the gersu pulled away toward Wang Gang, the battle became even more chaotic.
It was fortunate that they had reduced the gersu’s numbers considerably so far. Otherwise, the wandering martial artists would have died like dogs.
The wandering martial artists knew it, and their expressions hardened.
They, too, began to withdraw little by little.
Then it happened.
Jingle-jingle.
The sound of bells echoed through the basin.
At first listen, it sounded like an ordinary bell. But the chills crawling over my body insisted it was nothing ordinary.
“Th-that!”
Jang Wi pointed toward Wang Gang with a startled cry.
A cave near where Wang Gang stood.
Three bipedal yokai resembling gersu emerged from it.
The problem was that one of them had a face resembling a human... no, resembling a Sanhwi.
Then that yokai looked up at the sky and let out a monstrous cry.
“Rooooar!”
“Urgh!”
“Ugh!”
Those without inner qi covered their ears and staggered.
Even my inner energy churned in response.
Despite that, I could not take my eyes off the yokai.
The yokai moved.
No, I felt that it had moved.
Splurt!
Wang Gang’s head burst like a smashed watermelon.
“...Run!”
I quickly turned and ran toward the hill.
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
