Chapter 708: Are You That Assassin from Back Then?
Chapter 708: Are You That Assassin from Back Then?
“Are you not afraid of death?”
Cha Yi-ran posed the same question to Geom Mu-geuk that the Unorthodox Path Alliance Leader had once asked her.
She asked because his earlier words—about waiting for her in hell—had felt strangely sincere.
Geom Mu-geuk shook his head.
“I am afraid.”
She had expected someone of his stature, the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult, to claim he feared nothing, least of all death. But Mu-geuk continued, his voice earnest.
“I’m a man plagued by worries. I’m the type to fret over every little thing in advance. How could a man like that not fear death? I fear my own end, and I fear the deaths of those around me even more. You asked earlier if I was a fool? I am. I know full well that the more connections I make, the more my anxieties grow, yet I keep adding to the list of people who simply must not die.”
As he stared intently at her, Cha Yi-ran asked, “Am I included in that list? Among those who must not die?”
To her surprise, Geom Mu-geuk nodded.
“What if that man looks at me later and says, ‘Hey, you’re supposed to be the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult, yet you couldn't even save a woman who liked me? What the hell were you doing?’ I’d be too ashamed to lift my head. I’d never be able to act superior in front of him again.”
It was such a simple, grounded reason that it actually resonated with her.
“There’s a certain loyalty among men. You have to protect your friend’s woman. Even if you are only a half-woman.”
Cha Yi-ran let out a hollow laugh at the term "half-woman." He was referring to the fact that her feelings for Ak Gun-hak were unrequited. Still, a half-woman?
“There’s a reason men in this Murim die young,” she remarked.
Despite her sharp words, Cha Yi-ran could feel it. The Young Cult Leader sitting beside her was not as simple as he pretended to be.
This time, it was Mu-geuk who asked a question.
“What are you thinking so deeply about?”
Gazing at the flowers in the garden, Cha Yi-ran replied, “I’m trying to decide if you’re a fool or a madman.”
Mu-geuk let out a hearty laugh. Perhaps it was because he had saved her life, but he could clearly feel her heart wavering.
“How much time do we have?”
“Time for what?”
“Until the assassination begins.”
The hit was scheduled for tomorrow. There were only a few hours left until midnight.
“Why do you ask?”
“If there’s time left, let’s have one last dinner together.”
“You’re definitely a madman.”
A breeze swept through, brushing past the two of them and the garden they were watching. The sunset carried by the wind bled into the flowerbeds, painting the blossoms in a new shade of beauty for the two onlookers.
Watching Mu-geuk admire the scene, Cha Yi-ran thought to herself.
Normally, it should have been the other way around. He should have been entranced by her face, not the flowers, hanging on her every word. And yet, she was the one being led along.
“Let’s go eat. It’s a request! They say people grant the wishes of the dying; can’t you grant the wish of the living? Besides, am I just anyone? I’m practically your savior. Do you think I wasn't scared of the Alliance Leader? And that’s not all. When you were drunk, vomiting and crawling around…”
She stood up abruptly, as if she couldn't bear to hear another word.
“Wait here while I change.”
*
Several sets of extravagant clothes hung in the wardrobe.
As Cha Yi-ran browsed through them, her gaze drifted to a corner of the closet. A set of black martial robes lay folded there. After a moment of hesitation, she picked up the robes.
“How long are you going to stay hidden?”
At her words, Hwa Do-myeong revealed himself from the shadows.
“Wouldn't that red palace dress on the left be better?”
Cha Yi-ran ignored him and snapped the wardrobe shut.
“Are you angry?”
“Angry? Why would I be? I’ve known you were a coward for a long time.”
“You’re definitely angry.”
“I’m going to change. Turn around.”
Hwa Do-myeong turned his back, and Cha Yi-ran began to change.
“The Alliance Leader wouldn't have killed you,” Hwa Do-myeong said. “The Unorthodox Path Alliance owes the Young Cult Leader a great deal. A man who weighs debts and grudges as clearly as he does wouldn't have killed you recklessly.”
Cha Yi-ran continued changing in silence.
“This plan was all calculated. So don’t misunderstand and think I abandoned you.”
“I didn't say anything.”
“But you’re angry right now!”
Yes, she was angry. But the reason for her anger wasn't Hwa Do-myeong. It wasn't because he hadn't stepped in to help.
The reason she was angry was...
Once she was fully dressed, she tucked the box containing the bead into her robes.
“I’m going.”
Then, Hwa Do-myeong spoke.
“Don’t go.”
He spoke to her without turning around.
“You’ll be persuaded by the Young Cult Leader. Just like Ak Gun-hak was.”
Cha Yi-ran did not answer.
Click.
The sound of the door opening echoed. By the time Hwa Do-myeong turned around, Cha Yi-ran had already left the room.
He didn't leave immediately. Because of his heavy makeup, the emotions flickering across his face were hard to discern, but they weren't regret or anger.
Fwip.
He sat down, propped his feet up on the table, and began to fan himself gently while watching the sunset fade outside the window.
*
While Cha Yi-ran was changing, Geom Mu-geuk waited for her.
It was then that someone approached him cautiously. 17th Gyo, having debated with herself a hundred times whether to approach or not, finally stepped forward.
“Young Cult Leader, I have a request.”
“Speak.”
When she had faced the Alliance Leader earlier, 17th Gyo had prepared herself for death. In that moment, she had felt only one regret. She regretted that she would die without being able to thank the Crescent-Moon Faceless Guest who had saved her. Surprisingly, he was the one who had come to mind.
That was why she had summoned this courage.
“Please deliver this dagger to the Faceless Guest with the crescent moon drawing, along with my thanks for saving my life. I felt that if I didn't say it today, I might never get the chance.”
17th Gyo respectfully offered a dagger. It was intended as a token of gratitude for the Faceless Guest.
Geom Mu-geuk immediately handed the dagger back to her. Startled, 17th Gyo quickly bowed her head and apologized.
“I have been impudent to such a noble person.”
Realizing her mistake, she felt a chill. She had essentially asked the Young Cult Leader to run an errand for her.
I must be out of my mind.
She had lost her senses for a moment. She had only thought about not missing this chance. The urgency of needing to get the message across before the Young Cult Leader left had led her to make such a grave mistake.
She had even approached him directly without getting permission from Cha Yi-ran. She would have no defense even if he decided to kill her on the spot.
Then, she heard Mu-geuk’s voice.
“Deliver it yourself later.”
When 17th Gyo looked up in surprise, Mu-geuk was smiling.
“Once this business is concluded, I will give you a chance to meet him in person. Give it to him and tell him yourself then.”
17th Gyo bowed her head in relief.
“Thank you, Young Cult Leader.”
She hurried away, her heart still racing. She felt a pang of regret, thinking she should have thanked him more properly. She was simply that flustered.
Soon after, Cha Yi-ran appeared. She had overheard their conversation as she approached.
“Are you really going to let them meet?”
“I am.”
Seeing her look of incomprehension, Mu-geuk explained his reasoning.
“When else in life would someone get to meet a Faceless Guest through the personal arrangement of the Young Cult Leader? And when would a Faceless Guest ever get to receive a thank-you from an assassin? With just a few words from me, I can give them an experience others wouldn't have in a lifetime. Why shouldn't I let them meet?”
Cha Yi-ran said nothing. It was a way of thinking and feeling that she simply didn't possess. She felt that if she had been in Mu-geuk’s position, the outcome would have depended entirely on her mood at that moment.
She might have been angry—How dare you ask me to deliver a message? Or she might have agreed and then forgotten. Yes, perhaps she might have delivered it if she felt particularly good.
But to arrange a meeting between the two? That was something that didn't exist in her world.
“And who knows how things will turn out? Those two might fall in love and elope in the middle of the night. Then, one day, I might run into them walking down the street, holding a child’s hand. Since they are my people and your people, when I wave to them, they won't commit suicide out of shame; they’ll smile.”
“...!”
That was something that didn't even exist in the dreams of her world. But knowing that he meant these words was exactly why dealing with Geom Mu-geuk was so difficult.
“That’s assuming we’re all still alive by then.”
“We will be. Us, and them. That’s why we keep striving.”
He wasn't just talking. The fact that the Smiling Demon had spared all the assassins of the Beauty Cult was part of that "striving" he mentioned.
“Dinner is on me today. Since you saved my life.”
“Make it something expensive. I’m craving meat, probably because I’m so tense!”
She walked ahead, and Mu-geuk followed.
“The clothes suit you well.”
Cha Yi-ran quickened her pace as she replied, “I just didn't have anything else to wear.”
*
The two of them had dinner together.
While they ate, they avoided serious topics. They talked about the weather and their favorite seasons. They debated over the dishes, arguing whether this place or another served a certain meal better.
Eventually, they finished their meal.
“I enjoyed that, thanks to you,” Mu-geuk said.
“I’m glad.”
It had been a long time since she’d had a proper meal. She couldn't even remember the last time she’d eaten and talked with someone without being on edge.
“Now then, have you changed your mind?”
Cha Yi-ran stared at Mu-geuk and asked back, “Did you lace the food with some medicine to change a person’s heart?”
“I did. The effects should be kicking in right about now.”
Cha Yi-ran gave a faint smile at Mu-geuk’s joke. The "medicine" was already working. Even at this moment, she was conflicted.
She had never imagined she would be agonizing over something like this. Betraying the organization? Because she was swayed by an enemy?
It wasn't that she was moved by Mu-geuk’s words. Words could be fabricated easily enough. The problem was that she was moved by the man named Geom Mu-geuk. By those clear, deep eyes that seemed to look right into her soul. By his sincerity from a different world.
And there was one more thing. Ak Gun-hak played a large part. If he was someone that magnificent man liked, then he must be someone extraordinary. That thought influenced her.
Come to think of it, in her relationship with Ak Gun-hak, the way she saw Mu-geuk and the way Mu-geuk saw her differed by only a single word.
Because he is someone he likes.
Because she is someone who likes him.
Cha Yi-ran asked with a calm gaze, “Do you know what it means for an assassin to abandon a contract?”
Mu-geuk knew better than anyone what it meant to her. After all, he had known her in a life where she had died as an assassin until the very end.
“What does it mean?”
“First, I’ll lose my reputation as an assassin. Though, since we aren't known to the world, there isn't much of a reputation to speak of.”
“You have the reputation you’ve built in your own heart,” Mu-geuk acknowledged.
“There are practical issues too. If I abandon the contract, I have to pay back double the commission. Since the commission for this job was astronomical, I’d have to spend everything I’ve earned in my entire life to pay it back.”
That wasn't the only problem.
“And then, they will try to kill me.”
Mu-geuk nodded. Yes, they wouldn't let her go easily. Just as they wouldn't let Ak Gun-hak go.
“On the other hand, what I gain is...” After a brief pause, she mimicked Ak Gun-hak’s voice. “‘Huh? Why are you saving me?’”
She laughed, finding her own imitation amusing. At that hollow laugh, Mu-geuk added one more thing.
“There is something else you gain instead.”
“What is it?”
“Me. I will be the one to tell him how hard you worked. Even if he leaves, I will remain.”
Cha Yi-ran stared at Mu-geuk in silence. True, in any sense, gaining the favor of the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult was undoubtedly valuable. But how long would this sentiment last?
“At first, you’ll look at me and smile, but the second time, the third time... every time you see me, you’ll think of me as a traitor. That woman betrayed them once; she’ll do it again.”
Mu-geuk answered honestly.
“I’m sorry to say, but we won't have many chances to see each other that often. I’m quite busy. We’ll just maintain a good relationship because we see each other only once in a long while. Perhaps some woman will come to you and say, ‘Are you that assassin from back then? Wake up, the Young Cult Leader has abandoned you.’”
For some reason, it felt like that would actually happen. But it didn't make her feel bad.
“You don’t need to abandon the contract,” Mu-geuk said, being as considerate as possible. “Just don’t forget your promise to me.”
It was the promise to accept his contract if the assassination failed. Cha Yi-ran slowly shook her head.
“If you thought I was a person with so little shame, you’ve misjudged me.”
Cha Yi-ran closed her eyes for a moment. How much time passed? She made up her mind.
“I knew a day would come when I would break with them. That’s why I always tried to keep my distance. I just didn't know it would be today.”
She made the decision that would change her life.
“I will abandon this contract.”
It wasn't a betrayal; it was an abandonment. It wasn't because she felt any special loyalty or gratitude toward them. She had dealt with them as an assassin, and she intended to take responsibility for that.
Mu-geuk’s face filled with joy as he looked at her.
“Thank you. I will make sure you never regret this choice.”
Now, Cha Yi-ran revealed everything honestly to Mu-geuk.
“My original mission was to kill the Unorthodox Path Alliance Leader at the celebratory banquet.”
Earlier, she had been paralyzed by the Alliance Leader’s aura. But that was when she was an exposed assassin; the situation would have been different if she stood before him as the woman who had just become the World’s Most Beautiful Woman.
“But when you appeared, a new mission was given.”
She took the box containing the bead from her robes.
“I was told to make sure you took this. However, there was a condition. It had to fall into your hands naturally, not as if we intended to give it to you. I gave you two chances to take it, but you didn't even lay a finger on it.”
On the night he was drunk, and on the day she was changing, Mu-geuk had shown no greed for the bead.
“I suppose I should return this to them as well.”
She slowly opened the box. The red light of the bead was transparent yet deep. Something was shimmering around the vein-like structures inside it.
Hummm!
The Secret Casket reacted even more violently than before.
It was at that moment.
Ssssh.
The bead inside the box slowly began to float into the air.