The Protagonist’s Daddy Long Legs – Chapter 51

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Wjin
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“How about surrendering now?”

The one who broke the silence was the one who had created it.

Perhaps because of that, the startled black-clad men hesitated.

They couldn’t be unaware of the significance of a strong person in such a fight.

Moreover, their opponent was Chaejin, who had overwhelmingly defeated Cha Jeokyo as if she were a plaything. Surrendering would be wise, but they ultimately chose to take up their weapons.

“Huh?”

“They must have judged that you used up a lot of your internal energy fighting Cha Jeokyo and are opting for a war of attrition. They think that if they can defeat you here, taking advantage of their numerical superiority, they can turn the situation around.”

“How foolish. They should have just run away instead. Not that I would have let them, of course.”

“Well, if they were capable of that kind of thinking, they wouldn’t have come in the first place. By the way, are you alright to fight more?”

“Of course.”

Click.

She slid her sword into its sheath and held out her fist.

She wasn’t particularly tired from taking down just Cha Jeokyo.

Still, the reason she was going to use the Chae Family Taichi was only one. To show it to Yu wol.

In fact, there was no training as good as actual combat, but seeing a properly executed martial art could also be educational, so she wanted him to see it, taking advantage of this opportunity.

“Hah.”

With a low shout, she grabbed the arm of a charging black-clad man, lightly twisted it, and then flung him away. And just as she was about to face the next opponent, Yuwol approached.

“I’ll help.”

She had wanted him to rest a bit because she felt bad that he had been hit a few times earlier.

Still, she liked that he was taking the initiative himself. Of course, seeing him get hit still pained her, but if she was with him, that wouldn’t happen.

Chaejin grinned and leaned her back against his, and he also leaned his back against hers. That sense of security made her heart race in an absurd way.

Before that feeling subsided, Chaejin glanced at Changju and said, “Could you please take care of Cook Yo?”

“Sure.”

Changju, taking Yohan with her, fell back and threw a talisman.

The five talismans created a small barrier. Earlier, she had been boasting that when she was in the army, she had survived in a place swarming with monsters with just a few talismans.

Of course, there was probably some exaggeration mixed in, but she thought they would be safe at least until this fight was over.

“Uwaaaah!!”

Even while thinking, her body moved.

As a sword thrust aimed at Yuwol, Chaejin casually stepped forward with her left foot. And, using her right foot as a pivot, she turned her body.

As the incoming blade grazed past her face, Yuwol, moving in sync with her strength, tapped the attacker’s wrist, causing the misdirected sword to stab into another black-clad man’s shoulder.

“Kuaaaak!”

Even with their backs against each other, she could see his movements.

Seeing him steadily growing as she taught him made her smile.

With her back against his, Chaejin grinned at him and simultaneously raised her outstretched leg towards three attackers.

She kicked away one’s fist, nudged the second attack with her elbow, and when Yuwol’s strength pushed her from the other side, she used the recoil to deflect a downward-swinging club.

Thud!!

The deflected club struck another man’s shoulder, and Chaejin unconsciously hummed.

“Ah.”

Suddenly, she remembered when she first learned martial arts.

Guided by the hand of Master Do, moving her limbs according to his teachings, feeling the energy of nature, and performing the Chae Family Taichi.

She might have fallen in love with martial arts from that moment.

But after becoming the senior disciple of the Moonwave Hall, she had forgotten the joy of martial arts.

In order to maintain her position as the senior disciple. To show her competence.

But to feel it again here. The Chae Family Taichi, which she had become so accustomed to, was so new and enjoyable.

She wanted him to know this joy too. That’s why Chaejin lowered her strength. Because she was much stronger than Yuwol.

Balance was important.

Just as harmony is achieved and the Great Ultimate is born by balancing yin and yang, if she acted alone, asserting her strength, it would only create chaos.

That’s why she lowered her strength. She, who had confidently conquered secret realms alone. For him.

The way they moved together, taking down the charging black-clad men, clearly resembled the dance of a man and a woman.

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Perhaps because the strangely joyful Chaejin was with him, it wasn’t difficult to defeat all the black-clad men who had swarmed them.

As Chaejin looked around at the black-clad men who were lying around, bruised and broken,

she said to Chamo, “Could you go to the Moonwave Hall? Explain the situation to my father.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“Are you sure you can go alone?”

“I also learned martial arts at the Moonwave Hall, so I can protect myself. And if I go a little further from here, it’s a main road, so there will be guards. Don’t worry.”

“Still, take this just in case.”

After receiving a talisman from Changju, she raised her thick arm as if to reassure them and ran out. It was impressive how she didn’t seem to care that she had just experienced the worst kind of disturbance that could happen in an inn.

As she left the inn, and Changju’s barrier was released, Yohan said in a voice full of awkwardness,

“…I’m sorry about this. This whole incident is because of me…”

“It’s not because of you, so don’t worry about it.”

What fault did Yohan have? It was the fault of those who tried to capture her and got beaten up.

“Will you have to go when the people from the Moonwave Hall come?”

“Probably? Since the disciplinary action for this incident will be decided at the Moonwave Hall meeting, I also have to attend…”

“Will you be okay?”

“Of course. What she did is a really serious offense. And since I’ve gone through all this, shouldn’t I get compensation? I’ll do my best to get a lot!” She winked and spoke cheerfully.

“Then when do you think the meeting of the Moonwave Hall will be held?”

“Since it’s an urgent matter… it will probably start as soon as Chamo brings people. I think they’ll probably do the investigation and questioning at the same time. Since Ryeon is here, they might even start the investigation as soon as Chamo enters the Moonwave Hall.”

“I see. Let’s get things cleaned up for now. Yohan. Even if you can’t use martial arts, you can at least tie them up, right?”

“Ah. Of course.”

Chaejin went to the inn’s storage room and brought out a thick rope.

As they tied up all the black-clad men with it and put them in one place, Yohan smiled wryly.

“You must be hungry after using so much strength. Shouldn’t we eat something? Can I use some ingredients…?”

She said leisurely and went into the kitchen.

Changju brought a bottle of alcohol, sat in a corner, and started sipping it. It was quiet, as if the earlier commotion was a lie.

I took out a cigarette case from my pocket, sat on the steps at the entrance of the inn, and put a cigarette in my mouth. Let’s see… where’s the flint lighter.

“Oh, no.”

The flint lighter that had fallen to the floor earlier during the fight was lying in a puddle of spilled soup.

When I picked it up, the end was broken, and the soup had seeped in, extinguishing the spark.

Fwoosh.

Suddenly, a flame appeared in front of me. It was Chaejin. She had created a flame using her internal energy, just like last time.

She had used the Moonlight Flash, performed the Chae Family Taichi in sync with me, and defeated most of the black-clad men, so she must have been tired.

“This much is nothing.”

With a lighthearted expression and a relaxed tone, Chaejin held out her finger. As I brought the end of the cigarette to the flame, a sizzle sound was heard, and the cigarette lit up.

A hazy smoke flowed out.

As I savored it and sat back down on the steps at the entrance, Chaejin naturally crouched down next to me. It was quiet. In a situation where a slight awkwardness remained, Chaejin quietly opened her mouth.

“…I’m sorry. Were you… disappointed?”

“Hmm?”

“…About this incident.”

Unlike her confident voice earlier, Chaejin’s voice was subdued.

The fact that a disciple of the Moonwave Hall, and a senior disciple at that, had committed such an atrocity must have been quite a blow to her. As she glanced at me, stealing looks, I shook my head.

“I wasn’t particularly disappointed. This incident was caused by Cha Jeokyo acting on her own. Is this the will of the Moonwave Hall?”

“Of course not.”

“Then it’s fine. I know that Miss Chae values righteousness and chivalry. I also know that Master Do will not let this incident go unaddressed. What is there to be disappointed about?”

I exhaled smoke. The hazy smoke spread around in the night air.

I casually turned my eyes, and I could see Chaejin’s gaze, with her head bowed, fixed on the cigarette case in my hand.

“Do you want to smoke again, after last time?”

I still remembered that time vividly. I smiled and held out the cigarette case, but she gently shook her head.

“No. It’s okay. Now I want to try something other than that.”

With a bright smile, Chaejin sat down next to me without saying anything else. It was quiet. But it wasn’t awkward like before.

Soon after, Yohan came out with two dishes in her hands.

As expected of a cook who had worked in the imperial palace, she was able to make such excellent dishes in such a short time, even with ordinary ingredients.

“This is delicious. Hmm. Can I keep eating this kind of food in the future?”

Changju said, sipping her alcohol and using Yohan’s dish as a snack.

Yohan smiled at her.

“Pay for it and come to the restaurant to eat. I’m a cook employed by the inn now.”

“Tch.”

“By the way, old woman. What kind of martial arts did you learn from the Emei Sect that Cha Jeokyo is so obsessed with you?”

At Changju’s question, Yohan made an awkward expression. And she glanced at me.

“It’s best not to pry into other people’s affairs until they reveal them themselves.”

“Hmm. Is that so.”

That was the end of it. Changju didn’t ask any more questions, and Yohan smiled wryly and ate her food.

They ate the food and sipped the alcohol. After a few rounds, when the food was finished and the alcohol was all gone,

Yohan muttered, “They’re taking longer than I thought, considering they’re from the Moonwave Hall.”

“It’s probably because they’re also conducting an investigation, as Miss Chae said. If they think the evidence might disappear, they’ll probably put more weight on investigating that side.”

At that moment, the entrance of the inn became noisy.

The four of us looked in that direction, and there stood a beautiful girl, slightly more mature-looking than Sayun, in attire similar to Chaejin’s, accompanied by white-clad warriors, the Moonlight Guard, the elite of the Moonwave Hall.

Chae Ryeon.

A girl with long, beautiful hair like the night sky, just like Chaejin. The other protagonist of Celestial Moonlight and Chaejin’s younger sister, she was frowning at the carnage that had taken place in the inn.

“I am Chae Ryeon, an inner disciple of the Moonwave Hall. I am the younger sister of Senior Disciple Chaejin, who is here.”

“I am Yuwol, the owner of the Seomhwa Inn.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. Let me get straight to the point. Upon receiving Chamo’s report, we immediately investigated Cha Jeokyo’s room and some of the Byeokroe members. And there, we found several pieces of evidence in addition to the plan to attack you all. There were also stories from other people that she had forced Yohan to join them against her will…”

“Is that so?”

They investigated quickly.

As I expressed my admiration, she explained in detail, even though I hadn’t asked.

As soon as they received Chamo’s report, Master Do himself, along with the elders and the Moonlight Guard members, thoroughly investigated Cha Jeokyo’s room in the Moonwave Hall, as well as the Byeokroe Sect located next to the Moonwave Hall.

In the process, they found some evidence that Cha Jeokyo had prepared the attack, the things she had done to corner Yohan, and reports of how she had used the Byeokroe members to pressure her.

They also captured someone who was trying to escape with some evidence and were currently investigating to find additional materials. At the same time, they captured and interrogated the Byeokroe members involved in the incident and obtained their testimonies as well.

Adding the testimonies that could be obtained by questioning the people here, Cha Jeokyo’s
would become clear, so there would be no problem, she said, bowing deeply.

“I apologize for causing you concern due to the actions of our Moonwave Hall. I have no words to express my regret. Our Moonwave Hall will take responsibility for all the damages caused by this incident.”

“Hmm.”

“Also, we will definitely provide proper compensation. So, could you please leave the aftermath of this incident to us?”

Both Changju and Yohan looked at me.

Were they leaving it up to me? I looked at Chae Ryeon and nodded.

“I trust that you will not play favorites. However, may I attend that meeting? After all, I am also a party involved in this matter.”

If it were the Chae Ryeon I knew, she wouldn’t try to cover this up.

No, Chae Ryeon was also quite annoyed by Cha Jeokyo and the Byeokroe, a subordinate faction of the Moonwave Hall, so she might even try to finish them off completely on this occasion.

And she would provide clean compensation and eliminate any potential future troubles. That’s why she smiled and nodded.

“That’s what I was hoping to ask of you. I would like to invite all of you as guests of the Moonwave Hall. Please do not decline.”

“I accept the invitation.”

“Thank you. I will not disappoint you.”

After greeting me, she turned around. At her gaze, the waiting Moonlight Guard members moved busily. Watching them, Chae Ryeon smiled and spoke to me, perhaps to change the heavy atmosphere.

“I heard that you are my sister’s employer.”

“That’s right.”

“I’m worried that my sister might be causing you trouble. How long will that employment last? Since my sister has been indebted to you during that time, I would like to repay you separately…”

“There’s no trouble. Rather, I am more indebted to her.”

“Oh, is that so?”

“And as for that matter… It will be until Miss Chae wants to, won’t it?”

After all, the contract was made at an absurdly cheap price.

Perhaps she would fight Hongryeon now that she had attained the enlightenment of dullness…

Maybe Chaejin would leave soon. If Chaejin left, I would have to revise my plans, so I decided to ask her this time.

“Miss Chae. How long do you plan to stay?”

Chaejin answered very seriously.

“Until… the innkeeper’s skills reach a level that I can acknowledge…?”

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