Chapter 5 (3)
Chapter 5 (3)
"They must be around here!"
"Search!"
"!!"
"!!"
The voices of the pursuers drawing near snapped me back to my senses.
"I know a place to hide. Get up!"
"W-wait?"
"I'm not trying to hurt you. Trust me."
I whispered urgently and shoved Im Ha-yeon through the back door of a private house I'd prepared as an escape route.
Damn it! I can hear footsteps! No time to cover my tracks!
Can't be helped! Time to improvise!
I quickly moved back to my guard post and struck a pose, acting as if nothing had happened.
Tap-tap! Tap!
Not long after, several warriors in matching uniforms appeared at my location.
"Hey, you there!"
"Who the hell are you to pop out of nowhere and talk down to me? Are all thieves like that these days?"
I drew my sword, putting on an expression of utter bewilderment.
"Thieves?! We are warriors of the Jeongmumae!"
"Well, you certainly don't dress like thieves. So?"
"Was there someone in black clothing here?"
"There was."
"Where are they! The one we were chasing is a member of the Demonic Cult!"
The expressions of the Jeongmumae warriors changed instantly at my answer.
Demonic Cult? Then is Im Ha-yeon also a member of the Demonic Cult?
Various pieces of information and speculations ran wild in my mind, but on the outside, I still played dumb and shrugged.
"Someone fell over there and then escaped through this path."
"This way?"
They frowned at the direction I pointed.
Understandably so, since that direction was the alley right next to me.
"I was hired to stop thieves from entering through this back door, not to guard this entire road. Whether someone passes through here or not has nothing to do with me, right?"
"Tch! This is why those without roots are...!"
"Move quickly! We don't have time to waste!"
They scurried in the direction I pointed, looking around to find someone.
"There! Catch them!"
Just then, someone in black clothing ran past down the road, and upon spotting them, they ignored me and quickly moved off.
I waited a bit longer just in case, and once I confirmed that all signs of presence had vanished, I headed to the back door of the private house used as an escape route.
"What a bunch of funny bastards. Getting called rootless just because I ignored them... ugh!?"
The moment I opened the door, a hand reached out from inside, grabbed my collar, and pulled me in.
What kind of strength is this!
By the time I came to my senses, Im Ha-yeon, who had grabbed my collar and thrown me to the ground, was poised to drive her fingernails into my throat.
"Do members of the Demonic Cult repay a favor by stabbing their savior in the neck?"
"What are you up to?"
Unlike before, she spoke with an expression and voice devoid of any composure.
"What do you mean, what am I up to?"
"You heard from those guys that I'm a member of the Demonic Cult. So why did you help me?"
"Hmm. I thought you were smart, but you're more of a fool than I thought."
"What?"
If you wanted to kill me, you would have done it already.
She just wants to distinguish between friend and foe right now.
So, I need to confirm that I'm her ally.
"I told you when we first met. Being a man and saving a beauty..."
"Why would I need a reason? I just save them."
"You remember well. And you're acting like this even though you know that?"
"Even though I'm from the Demonic Cult?"
"So? Is there a problem?"
"......"
Im Ha-yeon's eyes were initially filled with bewilderment, but soon she let go of her killing intent and withdrew the hand she was about to stab me with.
"Ha. Hahaha... You really are a man who... ugh...!"
She must have believed my sincerity, as she put away her hostility.
Her expression twisted as she felt the pain in her side.
"Wait. I'll apply some medicine right now."
"Wait, ordinary wound medicine won't work on this injury..."
"Don't worry. I made this in preparation for when I get seriously injured."
I had made an ointment by mixing herbs I'd gathered while wandering around Chang'an with those I'd collected while traveling with Hong Seol-rin.
"Ugh...! Kkuh...!"
Every time my hand moved, a painful groan burst from her lips.
I applied it as gently as possible, but touching a wound like this would naturally elicit painful groans.
I wrapped her waist with a clean cloth, finishing the initial hemostasis and treatment.
"...Thank you."
"Don't mention it. Isn't it a man's natural duty to help a beauty?"
"But... this is the first time I've been treated like this."
What? With looks like yours?
I figured out how to approach this.
This girl, she's never been treated kindly as a woman!
"Is the Demonic Cult a place where only blind idiots can join?"
I ended up blurting out my true feelings without realizing it.
"Pfft... ugh...! You really are funny with your words, aren't you?"
Good. She's looking at me with even more favorable eyes than before.
But if I try to rush things here, it'll just look like I'm pitying her.
Women are emotional creatures; they like it when you take their side without asking for anything in return when they're in trouble.
If I say 'I treated you, so let's have sex! Let's mate!', she'll probably glare at me with cold, dead eyes, right?
"Well, I don't know what your circumstances are, but just rest."
"What is this place? Your house?"
"No. An emergency escape route."
"Escape?"
I explained to Im Ha-yeon what I had felt.
From my deduction about the artificial rumors to how I killed a man who murdered his wife in a domestic dispute to turn this place into an emergency escape route.
"......"
Listening to my explanation, she wore a serious expression for a moment.
Well, starting from the artificial rumors, to be precise.
There must be something that differs from what she knows, or something she suspects.
"If I disappear, they'll suspect this area. I'm going back to guard duty, so rest here in the meantime. I'll come back later."
"Okay. Once again, thank you."
Even in Pungun Murim, the Demonic Cult is a place that worships power.
On top of that, martial artists detest the Demonic Cult.
So, this must be her first time receiving such kindness, right?
If I play this advantage well... hehe.
But if I leave like this, it's a bit lacking, so maybe I should plant a flag.
"If you're grateful, I'd like you to give me something in return."
"In return?"
I could see a slightly scornful look in Im Ha-yeon's eyes, as if to say, 'I knew it'.
As expected, just knocking her down because the opportunity arose wasn't the answer.
Instead, I grabbed her chin and kissed her in one go.
If I miss the timing on this, it's perfect for causing trouble.
"Mmph!?"
I hugged her upper body so she couldn't run away and kissed her.
Hmm~ As expected of a woman who knows how to take care of herself, she even smells nice inside her mouth.
I mobilized all the techniques I possessed to entwine my tongue with hers as pleasantly as possible.
She tried to resist by using force at first, but taking advantage of the fact that she couldn't use her strength due to her side injury, I enjoyed the kiss to my heart's content.
But I shouldn't take things further here.
I was satisfied with this and pulled away.
"Uh...?"
She clearly looked flustered when I pulled away, as if she had expected me to go further.
"This is the reward I wanted. Now, get some rest."
"......"
I headed back to my guard post, savoring the refreshing sensation of her lips and tongue.
Good, she didn't resist my kiss.
If she truly hated it, there would have been plenty of ways to resist.
At the very least, it means she has that much affection for me thanks to this help.
Now all that's left is to wait until this mission ends.
"......"
Im Ha-yeon, having had her lips stolen by Jincheon, froze slightly without realizing it.
To be honest, she had been feeling a slight sense of disillusionment toward men.
The people of the Central Plains loathed her as a witch because of her hair and skin color, and the members of the Demonic Cult saw her only as a tool to satisfy their lust.
Jincheon did not covet her body, even though he could have had it at any time.
'When was it? The last time I felt such kindness.'
Before joining the Demonic Cult, she was chased as an ominous witch, and after joining, she had never felt anyone's kindness because of the atmosphere that worshiped power.
Even in the Demonic Cult, which values power, the power of clans exists; there had been absolutely no one who treated her with kind intentions, as she only had talent but no clan.
Therefore, she was experiencing someone's selfless kindness for the first time in her life.
At first, when he asked for a reward, she was disappointed, thinking Jincheon was just like other men, aiming for her body.
However, Jincheon's behavior of only kissing her and not taking things further was tantamount to selfless kindness, so Im Ha-yeon felt as if the common sense she had known until now was collapsing.
'Ah... my head is spinning...'
It wasn't because of the wound, but because of Jincheon's actions.
Why on earth did he help her, a member of the Demonic Cult?
Why did he only covet her lips?
What does he want from her?
'One thing is clear: he is definitely not some naive, goody-two-shoes righteous faction member.'
He sensed that the rumors about the great thief Golden Bug were artificial, and as an emergency escape route, he killed a man who had murdered his wife in a domestic dispute to use this house.
If he were a righteous faction member, he would have caught the guy and reported him to the authorities; he would never have handled it in this way.
'And the artificial rumors... The righteous faction that prepared an ambush by tracking the Demonic Cult's information in reverse... The appearance of the Heavenly Demon Divine Sword that suddenly disappeared in the battle 20 years ago. Something is strange. It feels like... something... is holding both the righteous faction and the Demonic Cult in the palm of its hand and manipulating them.'
If others heard this, they would laugh and ask what kind of nonsense she's spouting.
Maybe one of the two, but a third party playing with both the righteous faction and the Demonic Cult?
In the worst case, they would probably think she's mentally unstable.
Hwan-yo is a person who hits the right answer based on intuition, not the type to catch a small piece of information and deduce things.
However, since her intuition was rarely wrong, she followed her gut and sensed that this situation was unusual.
"Hoo..."
It's noisy outside due to the sudden commotion, but it's unreasonable for martial artists who aren't even government officials to search private houses.
Therefore, Im Ha-yeon took care not to be seen and began to rest.
It was partly because she had used too much internal energy, but,
'Sword Empress, that damn bitch! She holds me back at every turn!'
Im Ha-yeon had almost no record of winning against the Sword Empress so far.
Even the few victories she had were non-existent, except for times when they pushed with numbers and forced the righteous faction members to retreat temporarily.
And even that wasn't a 1:1 match, but merely forcing the Sword Empress to retreat in a battle where she was 1 and they were many.
'I really hate her! Even though she's younger than me!'
That haughty and arrogant expression.
Those eyes that look down on her as if she were insignificant.
Even her martial arts, which are stronger than her own.
Everything from one to ten, I don't like any of it.
The long sword wound on her side was also a scar created while blocking a sword strike imbued with sword qi that she had unleashed right before escaping.
Because she held a grudge against the one who had only brought her defeat, this wound inflicted by her was even more painful.
'This humiliation... I will definitely pay it back!'
This vow would later be fulfilled in an unexpected way, but that is a story for the distant future.
"......"
I stood guard until the requested time, received the certificate from the merchant, and headed straight to the Ronin Association meeting place to exchange it for 1 silver coin.
They say the Ronin Association records and manages the success or failure of missions themselves.
'I need to go to Ha-yeon quickly.'
A flag to become lovers with Im Ha-yeon has been set.
But there's no reason for me to be here with these sweaty bastards, is there?
However, the conversation of the ronin gathered in groups made me stay in the 'men's bath' smell a little longer.
"Suddenly, something whizzed past in front of my eyes. I wondered what it was, but since the Jeongmumae warriors were looking for someone in black clothing, claiming they were looking for a Demonic Cult member, I told them."
"Oh, you too? I did the same."
"You guys were lucky. To be fine even after seeing a Demonic Cult member. But the truly lucky ones are those who didn't encounter them at all, like me."
Some ronin encountered Demonic Cult members and informed the Jeongmumae warriors, but the vast majority of other ronin did not encounter the Demonic Cult.
'Could it be?'
At first glance, it just looks like a series of coincidences.
But to me, who had been suspicious like a conspiracy theorist from the beginning, even this situation looked like a conspiracy.
Combining this with the information I heard from Ha-yeon, the following answer emerged.
The righteous faction had anticipated the Demonic Cult's attack and moved the Sword Empress. But if any more experts or many warriors were to move, the Demonic Cult would notice, right?
'Now, if I were the head of the Jeongmumae, what would I do? No matter how perfect the attack is, there's always a chance the Demonic Cult members will escape. In that case... Ah!'
The rumors of the Golden Bug!
They deliberately spread rumors of the Golden Bug to make shops or wealthy people affiliated with or influenced by the Jeongmumae hire ronin.
In other words, they hired the ronin as guards.
Now I finally know the reason for that merchant's indifferent expression.
'Look at these bastards?'
What if a Demonic Cult member had attacked?
Would the Jeongmumae bastards compensate the ronin who were attacked?
They would naturally play dumb and brush it off.
'As expected, just because they are the righteous faction doesn't mean they are fair and square.'
Even though the ronin acted as guards, they naturally spread rumors about the Golden Bug.
They used the ronin because if they reinforced with that many warriors, the Demonic Cult would notice.
I don't know whose head this came from, but they're pretty good.
If I hadn't known the information Ha-yeon heard and saw, I would have gone on forever without knowing.
Confirming that there was a dangerous brain in the Jeongmumae, and vowing to be careful of their schemes if I ever become an enemy of the Jeongmumae in the future, I headed to the private house where Ha-yeon, who was recovering, was.
As expected, the scent of a woman makes me feel so lively.
Plus, she's a woman who knows how to take care of herself, so she smells good too.
If all Demonic Cult members were as easy to talk to as Ha-yeon, should I just defect to the Demonic Cult?