Chapter 138
Chapter 138
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 138
Chapter Title: Hazily, Suddenly (8)
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The sun hung high in the midday sky today, marking exactly one month since I'd arrived in the past.
"No, hic, I'm not saying I won't pay. I'll pay later, okay? You know what credit is?"
"Hah, but last time you didn't settle up either."
"That's why... ugh, here it comes. I'm saying I'll pay it all at once. Don't you understand?"
A man red-faced and hiccuping from booze since midday was throwing a tantrum in the inn.
"Goddamn bullshit..."
He shook his body staggeringly.
Stumbling so precariously that he could topple over any moment, the man threatened the martial artists around him as he headed for the door.
"Um, excuse me..."
The clerk could only stand there with a woeful expression, not daring to speak up against a martial artist.
The few martial artists seated in the inn remained silent at the spectacle.
For starters, the heavily intoxicated man was from a family with some backing.
I'd been watching quietly when I casually kicked the drunkard's back.
"Ugh, ack!"
The drunkard lost his balance and sprawled out disgracefully. He groped the ground and hauled himself up.
"Ah, fuck! Who the hell are you? Do you know who I am?"
I lifted the brim of my hat to show my face.
"Who are you? Which family?"
"-Gah."
I lightly stomped on his back and recited the man's details.
"Horse Chestnut. Third son of Seok Yeon. Name's Seok Cheong. You've got more than a few complaints filed against you. Don't you think it's about time you got hauled in?"
"...Wh-who are you?"
"Heard you have quite the reputation as a scumbag."
In the old days, someone with power might've gotten him off the hook. Not anymore.
The Heavenly Demon's authority pierced the heavens, so people kept themselves in check, sticking to their proud families.
The corrupt ones had long been rooted out and punished in advance. We were in the midst of learning just how far an absolute monarch's power could extend.
"N-no way... Little Heavenly Demon?"
I flashed him a bright smile at his sobering question.
Yeah, that's right.
"H-heh?!"
His face drained to a sickly pale in an instant.
I pulled a few silver coins from my pouch and tossed them to the inn's clerk.
"Uh... Little Heavenly Demon, what's this?"
"Use this to cover his bill for now. Leave handling him to me."
"I-I can't accept that. You're not even the one involved."
Ignoring the protesting clerk, I dragged the fuming drunkard away by the collar.
He belatedly started apologizing in a whimpering voice, but it didn't seem all that sincere.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Baekdo, you hear about that?"
"Huh?"
"That big brother from before. They say he's the Little Heavenly Demon now. Apparently, he's succeeding his father."
Baekdo doubted her ears at Hwangdo's sudden remark.
"What?"
-Plop.
Baekdo dropped the rag she was holding.
"What do you mean? Then what about Cheondo?"
"No idea."
Little Heavenly Demon. His name was Dowon, right?
Baekdo felt her heart sink.
She had firmly believed that no one but Cheondo would succeed the Heavenly Demon.
As someone who personally admired Cheondo, this was shocking news.
"It's weird, right? There's already a successor, so why pick another?"
"Dunno. But if Cheondo doesn't become Heavenly Demon, she can hang out with us more, so isn't that good? You liked that guy too, Baekdo. Said he was super cool."
"That's different!"
The public spar with Hong Yeon.
Baekdo knew full well how strong Hong Yeon was.
She had thought the man who wrested a brutal victory from such a powerhouse was incredibly cool.
But Baekdo liked Cheondo more than that man.
Extremely so—to the point that compared to Cheondo, he was no better than a cockroach.
"Wouldn't it be okay if that big brother became Heavenly Demon? Cheondo's always pushing herself too hard anyway."
I don't like it.
Baekdo puffed out her cheeks sullenly.
"All the sisters like that guy too. He's handsome. And more than anything, he's turning Dowon into a really great place right now."
"So you think it's better if he becomes Heavenly Demon instead of Cheondo?"
"Wouldn't it be tough for Cheondo to shoulder that burden?"
Hwangdo laid out her honest feelings to Baekdo with a bitter expression.
Cheondo, Baekdo, Hwangdo.
The three sisters had shared their emotions longer than anyone and understood each other better than anyone.
Dowon hadn't been established for long.
The wars had ended, but things were still precarious.
They still needed a leader, and there had to be someone to succeed the Heavenly Demon.
There were three talented ones, but Cheondo had stepped up as the representative sacrifice.
She hid her identity, worked as an errand boy in an inn, and trained all day long.
Cheondo was living that hellish routine in place of Baekdo and Hwangdo.
...All because she had been born just a little earlier.
"You know, Baekdo."
Cheondo was scared of blood.
As a child, even when scratched by a hyena, she worried about the beast instead, her heart so soft.
She always yielded to the strong-willed Baekdo.
And for her youngest sister Hwangdo, she spent her life only giving in.
Because she was the eldest.
Hwangdo had said it out of worry for such a Cheondo, but Baekdo felt differently.
"Annoying."
"Baekdo?"
"You know how hard Cheondo's been working. After all that effort, just because that guy showed up, she can't succeed Father? It's infuriating."
She wanted to ask her father directly.
Was he really stripping Cheondo of her succession?
Of course, their father wouldn't answer such a question.
"...Father from the old days wouldn't have done this."
Baekdo trembled with clenched fists, her voice thick with resentment.
The father of old.
Just ten years ago, the Heavenly Demon had shown a gentle face only to his daughters.
Smiling when they picked flowers for him. Carrying them on his back when they asked.
That kind of person.
But now, he was like a sharply honed sword.
A demon who wouldn't hesitate at anything for his goals.
-Rustle!
"Baekdo? Where are you going?"
Baekdo gritted her teeth and stormed out of the room.
"To see that guy."
Hwangdo chased after her belatedly, but Baekdo had already vanished from sight.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ On my way back from fieldwork, I handled a few rowdy drunks.
I bought some dumplings nearby to make a quick meal.
Steaming hot, stuffed full.
I pinched both sides and pulled them apart, and meaty filling burst out.
-Rustle.
Then, the sound of grass being stepped on behind me.
I felt a blatant stare boring into the back of my head.
I shoved half a dumpling in my mouth and turned around.
"How long you gonna hide there?"
-Swish.
Like a stray cat reacting to my voice, a little kid emerged.
Did she know she couldn't fully hide in those bushes? Her snow-white hair stuck out like cat ears.
'Didn't she hate me?'
As I approached the bushes, the girl's face came into view—she'd been huddling silently inside.
Sure enough, Baekdo.
The little one who'd been tailing me these past few days.
I parted the bushes with my hand, revealing Baekdo's face.
For some reason, she had a sullen, tight-lipped expression.
"What are you doing here?"
"None of your business."
"You're following me, and it's none of my business? Want a dumpling?"
"No."
My hand offering the dumpling got slapped away.
What was the reason for tailing me all this time?
Her tone was more arrogant than usual—no, this was Baekdo's honest way of speaking.
An adult talking down to me? Coming from Baekdo, it was just cute.
I rubbed my stung hand and lowered my gaze to meet hers as she glared.
"You planning to succeed our father?"
"Hm?"
The sudden question was beyond anything I'd imagined.
"What're you talking about?"
"I mean, are you gonna become Heavenly Demon?"
In my current position, I couldn't say no, and factually, I was.
But why was she asking?
"Wanna sit and talk?"
"Say it here."
"Sounds like it'll take a while. How about over dumplings and a drink?"
I pointed to a nearby inn. Baekdo shook her head vehemently, but when I headed inside anyway, she followed as if her resolve wavered.
We sat in a quiet corner and ordered. A full plate of dumplings arrived.
Baekdo gripped her water cup with both hands, took a sip, sighed, and glared at me again.
Her eyes held clear hostility.
Maybe feed her dumplings first.
"You—"
"Eat this, then I'll talk."
Interrupting her, her eyes turned to contempt.
But she stuffed a dumpling in her mouth as I said, and soon her face softened like dumpling dough.
"Want another?"
"Don't treat me like a kid... Gulp, cough, cough."
Oh no, she choked.
I poured water into her frantically thumping chest's cup.
-Gulp, gulp.
Looking at her like this, it felt like we were just out eating.
"Phew."
After drinking and catching her breath, Baekdo finally returned to her purpose and glared again.
"Get down from there. Little Heavenly Demon... Don't succeed Father."
Out of nowhere.
"Why?"
"That position belongs to Cheondo."
Aha.
She'd come because she was worried Cheondo wouldn't succeed the Heavenly Demon.
I grinned at Baekdo.
"Wh-why are you smiling like that?"
"Nothing, just cute."
"Don't say annoying crap! Do you know how hard Cheondo's worked to succeed Father?"
I didn't know, but I could guess.
That person was ridiculously diligent, forcing herself through even things she didn't want to do.
"A guy like you can't succeed our father."
"A guy like me?"
Baekdo pointed at me.
I thought I'd been working hard enough. But this picky little one really hated me.
Even here, we couldn't mix. Was it innate?
Our DNA wired to clash.
-Nom.
Even while cursing me, she'd gotten a taste and snatched another dumpling.
These were exactly to my taste. Matching my palate meant striking Baekdo's too.
I set down my cup and crossed my arms.
"So, you're telling me to quit the succession? Is that necessary?"
"Yes."
She scowled at my words.
"Does Cheondo seem like someone who couldn't beat a guy like me?"
"She can win! She can... but you're older right now."
"What does age matter? Cheondo will handle it fine."
As Baekdo feared, Dowon's atmosphere was leaning that way.
Rumors spread that I, not the unproven Cheondo, was the talent to succeed the Heavenly Demon.
Baekdo knew enough about Cheondo to confront me now.
"Then I'll tell just you. Don't tell Cheondo."
No need to complicate things. I let it slip.
"Me?"
"Anyway, I have no intention of succeeding."
Baekdo's eyes widened.
Spreading rumors could disrupt my work, but Baekdo might find me repulsive yet wouldn't cross the line.
"Why, why?"
"I just need to train."
Once my tasks were done, I'd train like mad.
That'd be it.
Then back to the present.
"Then why become Little Heavenly Demon?"
"Various reasons. But I won't block Cheondo's path. My current work's almost done anyway, so it'll be just training from here."
"Can I believe you?"
I nodded.
Baekdo from this time didn't seem overly suspicious; she studied my face and said it.
"...Or else you'll die."
Baekdo seemed convinced.
Still, it looked like I needed to have a serious talk with Cheondo.