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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Vine
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“I heard about the results of the competition. They say that you split your opponent’s head open like firewood in a death match.”
“It’s a bit exaggerated, but yeah.”
Sanyeo’s playful summary of the competition’s results, other than a slight exaggeration, was not much different from the truth. I was lying on the bed in the sect, looking up at Sanyeo, and beside me, Seon-go was peeling a peach. Her hands that were holding the knife were clumsy, as if she had never peeled a fruit before.
I stealthily said to Seon-go after seeing the fruit knife wildly moving in front of me like a clumsy sword dance,
“….I’ll just eat it whole.”
“No. I have to be the one to peel it for you. I, I have to take care of you when you come home injured, you know?”
But seeing her hand movements, it seemed like she would cut her finger off soon. I shook my head and said,
“You’ve never used a knife.”
“Ah, that’s true…. Just a moment.”
Seon-go agreed with my words and put the fruit knife down, before suddenly opening the door. After calling a servant who had been sweeping the yard, she said,
“Could you bring me the quan that I used to use when I was young?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
The servant dashed out. Seon-go was alternately looking at Sanyeo and me with a proud face. Seeing her haughty expression reminded me of a five-year-old child who was bragging about being able to do something.
“Here it is.”
The servant came back holding two quan that were the size of his palm. Although it resembled a ring, it was much smaller, and it was a shape where a handle had been attached to a round blade. The blade was gleaming, and there was not a speck of dust, as if it had been steadily maintained for a long time.
Sanyeo blinked and said,
“You used to train with this?”
“He had me train with it until I realized that I had no talent in martial arts. It was when I was young, so I’m not really good at using it in battle, but…”
Seon-go said that and then picked up the peach. And then, she began to peel it with the blade with practiced movements, turning the peach slowly. Because the blade was sharp, the skin was peeled off without a problem just by placing it against the blade. She raised the neatly peeled peach with a satisfied smile.
“How is it? Not bad, right?”
Sanyeo also seemed impressed at her peeling skills, she nodded and said,
“The blade is sharp. Did you maintain it?”
“He had someone regularly maintain it because he wanted to use it to teach children later. And then, I’ve also had people manage it from time to time. Anyway, Do-cheol, try it. I peeled it. Ah, open your mouth.
“Ah.”
The peach went into my mouth. The crisp texture was just right for eating. I nodded and smiled with satisfaction as I chewed, and Seon-go smiled and tossed the peach into the air before slicing it with the quan.
Sanyeo was looking at her actions with a smile as if she were watching an amusing performance before looking back at me and saying,
“Since you won the match, the Martial Alliance is now in a difficult spot. It’s hard for them to just remove you without cause when they are the ones advocating righteousness.”
I tilted my head and said,
“Still, they have many ways to kill me, right? Although I have to be careful, I’m not sure if the situation has changed that much.”
“They have many ways. They could ask the Tang Clan to make some poison, or they could coax martial artists from the Orthodox Sects to challenge you and say they are judging your evil deeds.”
“The latter seems annoying.”
The Hengsan Sect’s Kirin, or the Duel Assassin coming to challenge me at the door every day? Even if I was a battle maniac, that kind of future sounded horrible.
A life without being able to properly rest at home was no different from hell.
Sanyeo smiled at my blatant expression of worry and said,
“But that’s not a realistic method for them right now. Because you told me, right? That man named Yeong-yu of the Jegal Clan at the finals match had defended you.
“Yeah.”
If Yeong-yu hadn’t stepped in there, then there’s no telling what kind of things they would have forced onto me. But because he had publicly praised me as ‘a role model for other martial artists, who had not backed down to a warrior who was trying to kill him, and who had achieved a comeback’, the nonsense they were trying to say stopped there, and the competition could be finished.
“You’ve accomplished the task given by the Martial Alliance, who had been doubting your legitimacy. And then someone from the Jegal Clan acknowledged your duel to be a righteous one. How can the Martial Alliance try to pressure you anymore, or which martial artist from the Orthodox Sects would point fingers at you in such a situation? It’s not like you’re committing tyranny or raising taxes, either.”
Instead, I had reduced the taxes by half as soon as I had become the leader, and I had also purged or chased away the disciples who had only been wasting the sect’s money. Other than the fact that Master Gold Fortune hated me, there was no justification for the Martial Alliance to go against me.
Sanyeo said,
“The Martial Alliance is now in a difficult position. They lose face if they back down, but there’s no longer a reason for them to go against you. You’ve passed the inspection, and also proved your skills.”
“So I’m free now?”
Sanyeo shook her head and said,
“The Martial Alliance has two options left. To go all in and use assassins to get rid of you. Or to pretend as if they were just testing you.”
I frowned. Sanyeo saw my expression and added,
“You don’t have to worry about something like this. Even if they use assassins, they wouldn’t be able to touch me with assassins whose only skill is in taking care of second-rate martial artists.”
So, she was saying that the Martial Alliance would ultimately only have a single choice left. Either send assassins and then, after a few deaths, pretend as if they were testing me. Or just pretend as if they were testing me without using any assassins.
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“We need to send an assassin right away and kill him!”
The middle-aged man shouted at the elderly man with a heated face. But the elderly man was just stroking his beard and keeping a noble front. The middle-aged man didn’t like his expression.
That old man was the central figure of the shady dealings in this region and yet he was the one speaking about righteousness and cause. The middle-aged man was using a title of respect for the old man, but he believed he was slightly better than the old man, who didn’t bother to disguise his hypocrisy with honorifics.
The middle-aged man said again when the old man didn’t answer,
“Are we really going to let this bastard run amok like this? He’s going to bring chaos to this martial world!”
“With what cause would we go against him? He’s passed the inspection, and has also proven his skills in the martial arts competition. It’s not like he’s doing anything evil in this region. Moreover, that guy from the Jegal Clan defended him, and his exploits are now being spread all over the place. We’ve done enough.”
“If this goes on, what are we going to say to Master Gold Fortune? Our reputation is already…”
The elderly man’s eyes changed. A sharp glint flashed in his eyes that had been soft as if he had already been enlightened to the ways of the world.
“It is your reputation that will be tarnished, and not ours. The Martial Alliance’s position is just that we tested the leader of the Hongryun Sect, Do-cheol, since the suspicions brought forward by Master Gold Fortune were deemed valid. That’s it. We gave him a challenge, and he has passed.”
The middle-aged man’s face became red. He was the one who had been so enthusiastic about getting rid of him a while ago, even saying that he would contact the Tang Clan, and was now acting as if he had been the moderate one from the start.
The middle-aged man said,
“…Didn’t you agree to removing him? If you act like this now, it puts me in a difficult spot. How am I even going to face Master Gold Fortune?”
The elderly man shook his head at the middle-aged man’s words and said. Although his tone did not change, the pressure in his voice was spreading.
“You should have listened to me when I said we should take care of it quietly. This is what happens when you choose such a troublesome method because you wanted to save face for Master Gold Fortune. When you’re doing dirty deeds while seeking a cause, the results are bound to the cause as well, aren’t they? Because you made a big deal out of it, that sect leader caught the attention of the Jegal Clan. If we were to send an assassin and fail, then the situation will become even more complicated. Are you perhaps doing this because you’re afraid that you would lose face in front of the sect leader of the Mount Jongnam Sect, or your own son? I heard that your son respects Master Gold Fortune very much.
“That’s unrelated to this. I was just…”
The old man cut him off.
“Moreover, the leader of the Martial Alliance has asked us to not make a big deal out of this. It seems some kind of complicated issue has happened in the capital.”
“What happened in Beijing?”
“Something happened regarding the Hebei Peng Clan, but I don’t really know much about what’s happening outside. Still, I think it’s better to stop here rather than making the situation any worse.”
“Even so…”
“Is Master Gold Fortune your master or something?”
The middle-aged man closed his mouth at the old man’s words. In truth, he was no different from a dog being used by Master Gold Fortune, chained by the money he was receiving and the debt of gratitude he owed him from when he was younger, but his remaining pride didn’t allow him to admit it.
The middle-aged man frowned and said,
“…Understood.”
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Thanks vine!