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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Vine
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“Who are you? You don’t seem like you belong to this sect.”
She was looking at me with a wary gaze, but she didn’t shout. It was because she also understood the existence of martial artists to a certain extent. Resistance from a normal person who hadn’t learned martial arts was meaningless. The moment she inhaled to scream, I would block her mouth, force her inside the room, and then try to talk to her again.
She was a woman who had been abused by the leader of the Hongryun Sect.
The learned helplessness she gained from martial artists was giving us a chance to talk.
“You’re the daughter of the Hongryun Sect’s leader. Right?”
She nodded. Even though she had food in front of her, her eyes were fixed on me. Sanyeo was in the shadows watching what I was doing, and the woman asked me again.
“…What do you want?”
“I heard that the leader of the Hongryun Sect is a beast, so I came here to pass judgment in place of the heavens.”
I pointed to the ax at my waist. The leader’s daughter looked at the weapon I showed her and then blinked and straightened her breathing. And then, she clutched her skirt with her fingers and said,
“…My father isn’t here. He went far away, and it’ll take him about a month to return. You came at the wrong time, so please leave.”
“I know.”
Confusion dawned on the woman’s face. Even if she didn’t open her mouth, the question ‘Then why?’ was likely lingering in her heart. I nodded and took a step closer. The woman was looking anxious as I got closer while staring directly at her.
I bowed before her. While sitting there, I looked up at her and said,
“Knowing that, I came here to make a deal with you.”
A deal I was proposing using the head of the Hongryun Sect.
A man had come saying he was going to pass judgment on the leader, who had cut her tendons and hadn’t treated her as a daughter.
The woman’s pupils trembled.
“…What do you want?”
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The atmosphere of the sect was boisterous. They were all just hyped up as if they didn’t even realize that a deal for the leader’s life was going to happen tonight. I sat down while slouching and said to the woman,
“You want your father to die, right?”
She didn’t respond. She was just narrowing her eyes and observing my movements. But the moment that she didn’t show any signs of refusal, even with the words I used related to parricide, it was no different than hearing her answer. I looked at the wall and continued talking.
“He’s bought the ill will of the merchants around here, and the villagers are all cursing the Hongryun Sect’s leader to die. And he’s also a man with a strange obsession with his daughter, so he cut your ankle tendons, crippling you. He’s truly a guy that deserves to die. Even if you said that you wanted to kill him, no one would blame you.”
When I said that and pointed to her ankle with a nod, the woman lowered the hem of her skirt to cover her ankle as if she had been caught off-guard. And then, she glared at me and said,
“…So?”
There was a ledger on the desk. All the taxes that had been collected from the village and all the money they had earned from swindling merchants were all being recorded by her. I inhaled the lingering scent of ink and said,
“I also want your father to die. And I’m going to swallow the Hongryun Sect.”
The woman was waiting for me to continue speaking. She was trying to act calm while keeping silent, but there was no way to stop her lips from trembling.
“To do that, I need your help. And… Helping me will be a pretty good thing for you too.”
The woman frowned and said,
“…Why me… Why would it be a good thing for me? Why should I trust you?”
“If you don’t help me and just continue to live like this, will any good days come to you?”
The woman closed her mouth. And then, she avoided my gaze and made an angry expression. Her pride didn’t allow her to say ‘Yes,’ but it was clear that her life wouldn’t get any better from now on. There were rumors on the outside that her father didn’t treat her like a human being, so in reality, how would he be treating her?
And how many more curses, how much more abuse would she face before she died?
“Even the neighborhood dogs are saying that the leader only sees his daughter as a servant who keeps the ledgers. Do you really have something you can rely on?”
Her face was distorted. She clutched her hair tightly with her fingers and gritted her teeth while lowering her head. After glaring at me for a while with her lips pouted out, she took a breath and said,
“…Even then, I’m not stupid enough to help a hooligan like you.”
I didn’t argue with her words. Instead, I started to talk about something else.
“The Hongryun Sect was not a sect that was created solely by the leader. It’s a sect that has a higher backing. Even if the leader dies, I can’t just take over the sect. I have to have a clear reason that even the higher-ups can’t object to.”
The woman was curled up, but she was listening carefully to my words. She was trying to avoid me and tilting her body away, but because she was still listening closely, she seemed to be a little closer to me than before. I extended my hand to her.
The woman pulled her body back as if she was a wild animal and held her breath. I didn’t chase her, and just said with my hand extended.
“You are that reason. As the leader’s daughter, the person who marries you can become the legitimate owner of the sect.”
The woman didn’t seem to understand my words. She was curled up and tilted her head, and then she blinked as she tried to understand what I meant. And then, she flushed red, leaned forward, and raised her voice.
“What…! Mmph…!”
I quickly rolled and rushed towards her. I blocked her mouth before she could properly scream and rolled into the room with her. The blankets and stacks of books reduced the sounds of us rolling on the floor, and the people outside were still caught up in the boisterous atmosphere.
“Who is the strongest in the martial world!”
“The Hongryun Sect! Hahahaha!”
The sounds of drinking echoed dimly like the sounds of birds.
The night air was chilly, and the smell of old paper filled the room.
The woman was squirming in my arms, but it was impossible for her to break free from my grasp. An ordinary woman would be able to kick and escape, but she couldn’t use her legs.
When I slightly gestured with my head, Sanyeo, who was outside, moved into the shadows and slowly closed the door.
The door was closing in front of her eyes.
After struggling for a few moments, she realized she was unable to resist and let the strength in her body go.
I held her in my arms like a doll, stroked her head once, and said in a low voice,
“If you don’t scream, I’ll remove my hand from your mouth. We still have something to talk about.”
She nodded. Her prominent chest was moving rapidly, but then she soon calmed down and started to slowly take breaths. When I released my hand, she took a breath and said in a low voice,
“…Marriage? What do you mean by that?”
“If I was just a thief who was after money, I could just threaten you with an ax to show me where the treasure is. If I had a grudge, then I would just set this sect on fire.”
I continued to speak.
“I need this sect’s building and influence. And you’re someone who understands the flow of money and who knows what kind of deals you’ve made so far by recording the sect’s ledgers. And no matter how the leader treats you, you’re the rightful and only heir to the sect.”
The woman was blinking her eyes. She understood the intention behind my words. I said,
“If you help me take over the sect, I’m saying that your life will be better than it is now. I promise that you will be able to leave behind the days where you were never treated properly and live as the mistress of the sect.”
And then, I grabbed her waist. When I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her close, the woman stiffened without realizing it. Like goats who faint when they receive a sudden shock, she couldn’t react to my sudden actions.
“I understand why you can’t trust me, but are you really going to continue to live like this?”
I pulled her close to my body and said in a low voice. The woman’s face turned red, and her hand was trying desperately to push me away. But that strength was so weak that it was negligible.
I asked,
“Do you really want nothing to happen?”
“Th, that…”
The woman could not answer.
Her pale skin because she hadn’t seen the sun, her black eyes that were glistening with moisture.
Her eyes were trembling, but I released my hand and moved away from her.
“Huh…”
The leader’s daughter looked surprised when I moved away. I brushed my hand and then opened the door while stepping back. I said while walking through the door,
“I’ll come back tomorrow night. Think about it carefully.”
She had no right to refuse.
I slowly walked out, but she didn’t show me a firm attitude.
Even with a single word ‘No’, she could have expressed her intention, but she was just keeping her mouth closed and looking down at her knees with a troubled face.
Just by that, it seemed like I knew what choice she would make.
“See you tomorrow.”
Of course, I didn’t hear her say goodbye.
