A Brother's Sacrifice
As I frantically sprinted toward the main building where Dokgo Seok's secret training ground was located, a familiar voice called down from above.
"Chilbok!"
"Miss Rin!"
It was a reunion of truly dramatic timing. The moment she spotted me, Dokgo Rin leapt from the rooftop and grabbed my face with both hands.
"Are you hurt anywhere? Any pain?"
"I'm fine. I'm more worried about Gyeong-a than myself."
When I showed her Gyeong-a on my back, Dokgo Rin flinched in surprise.
"She was hit by an arrow?"
"Yes. Fortunately, it seems to have missed her lungs and heart."
"Then let's move her somewhere safe first and treat her."
"Right. That was the plan anyway."
After exchanging those words, Dokgo Rin naturally joined our group. But while we were talking, the assassin who had been chasing us finally caught up and boldly revealed himself.
"You bastard! I'll make sure you don't die peacefully!"
He must have developed a grudge because I killed his comrade.
"Hmm. How amusing."
But now Dokgo Rin, who would one day reach the level of the Ten Great Masters, stood at my side. When the assassin openly directed killing intent toward me, she muttered those words and drew the two daggers from her waist.
They were short, angular, and crude-looking blades, reminiscent of Chinese cleavers. These were Dokgo Rin's signature weapons, the Huichae Hwaldo. No matter how I looked at them, they didn't seem like weapons a noble clan's daughter should wield, but I knew how she used them.
Whoosh!
She threw them. The assassin hurriedly deflected the blades that cut through the air, but his eyes widened in shock when he saw the daggers change trajectory midair as if they were alive.
"What! Is this sword control through qi?!"
"There's still one more."
As if that wasn't the end of it, Dokgo Rin hurled the remaining dagger in her hand toward the man.
"Kuh!"
He managed to deflect it again, barely, but now he had to face twice as many blades. He held on for a moment, but eventually revealed an opening. The assassin died a gruesome death with his throat slashed.
"Pathetic."
The two daggers returned to Dokgo Rin's hands as if rewinding. In truth, she had simply attached strings to the hilts and controlled them remotely, but the assassin never realized it until the very end.
"Let's go, Chilbok. I know a good place to hide."
With an indifferent expression, she flicked the blood from her blades and spoke to me.
"Yes, Miss."
I nodded and silently followed behind her.
The secret training ground of the Dokgo Clan. Its existence was first mentioned in the very beginning of the original novel. When Wiji Cheon led his forces to attack the clan, Dokgo Jin was killed and the family faced annihilation. The only reason Dokgo Rin survived was thanks to this hidden training ground beneath the main building.
Its original purpose was to allow the clan heads to secretly pass down the clan's hereditary martial art, the Nine Palace Matchless Sword Art, to their children without the techniques or their counters leaking outside the family. So it wasn't strange that Dokgo Rin knew of its existence.
As we headed toward the main building to hide in the secret training ground, we encountered Dokgo Seok at the entrance, his entire body covered in blood.
"Rin! You're safe!"
Dokgo Seok approached with a relieved expression. But when Dokgo Rin noticed his right sleeve hanging loosely, she asked in a startled voice.
"Brother? What happened to you…?"
"Ah, this? I was running around looking for you and ran into the ones attacking the clan."
Dokgo Seok tried to scratch the back of his head in embarrassment, then awkwardly lowered his arm as he remembered it had been cut off.
"It's just a scratch. No need to worry too much about it."
As he approached, Dokgo Seok belatedly noticed Gyeong-a on my back and rushed over in shock.
"Gyeong-a!"
He demanded of me, "What the hell happened?!"
"She was hit in the back by an arrow the assassins shot. The wound isn't deep, but if we leave it, she'll die from blood loss."
"Kuh! I shouldn't have told her to stay one more day!"
After muttering that with a frustrated look, Dokgo Seok shook his head and pressed the inverted scale on the neck of the dragon statue standing at the main building's entrance. With a heavy rumble, the statue slid aside, revealing a staircase leading underground.
"If you go down here, you'll find the clan's secret training ground. Hide inside until this is all over."
Dokgo Rin asked urgently, "What about you, Brother?"
"I'm going back to the ancestral shrine. Father, Mother, and Brother are still there."
"Don't go back. Just hide here with us. Father will take care of the remaining bandits."
When Dokgo Rin grabbed him, Dokgo Seok gave a bitter smile.
"You worrying about me? The sun really will rise in the west tomorrow."
"Is this the time for jokes? You could die if you go there!"
"But the ancestral shrine has our parents, our brother, and all the clan's people. I can't abandon them and run away alone."
"Then I'll go with you and fight too!"
As Dokgo Rin moved as if she would draw her blades at any moment, Dokgo Seok gently stroked her head and spoke in a calm voice.
"You know it too. If we go there now, we'll all die."
He took an old book from his robes and placed it in Dokgo Rin's arms.
"This is probably what they're after. From now on, you have to protect it, Rin."
"If it's that important, you protect it yourself!"
"I want to, but the situation won't allow it."
With another bitter smile, Dokgo Seok looked at me standing beside her.
"Chilbok, protect our Rin in my place."
"…Yes."
"Rin, make sure you eat well, brush your teeth before bed, and don't trust any men except Chilbok. They're all wolves."
"…I understand."
"Tell Gyeong-a I'm sorry I couldn't attend the wedding. This is a gift for her, so please give it to her."
Dokgo Seok handed a jeweled necklace to the tearful Dokgo Rin.
"With this… I think I have no more regrets. Ah, right. Before I go, let me give you a few warnings."
Dokgo Seok looked at us and spoke.
"First, don't seek revenge."
"Second, don't try to find out who your enemies are."
"Third, living an ordinary life is best."
If you follow these, you'll have no trouble living your life. With a gentle smile, he closed the secret passage door and said,
"Rin, I'm sorry I couldn't play with you much when you were little. I wanted to be a good brother, but in the end, I couldn't."
With a sorrowful expression, he added,
"Forgive this worthless brother of yours."
Thud!
The moment the secret training ground's door fully closed, Dokgo Rin burst into tears she had been holding back. She remembered how coldly she had treated Dokgo Seok over the past two years. If only she had known this would happen, she would have been kinder. But it was too late for regret now.
"Are… you all right, Miss?"
Chilbok spoke to her awkwardly, but she didn't want him to see her crying face.
"Leave me alone for a bit."
After handing Chilbok the golden wound medicine to treat Gyeong-a, she curled up in a corner of the secret training ground.
This time was supposed to be different.
Before regressing, she had believed Wiji Cheon was the root of all her misfortunes. So she killed him first, thinking everything was over, and let her guard down. That carelessness had come back to bite her painfully.
No matter how much I struggle, the fate of the clan's annihilation can't be changed?
In her previous life, she had thought it was all Wiji Cheon's doing. But if it wasn't him, then who was attacking the Dokgo Clan, and why?
Then Dokgo Rin remembered that Wiji Cheon had a ten-year gap in his past.
During that time, did he join some organization? Was that why he grew so strong so quickly?
If that organization was behind this attack, then Wiji Cheon was likely their collaborator or spy. Otherwise, as the Murim Alliance Leader, he wouldn't have taken the risk of appearing here in person.
There weren't many forces capable of raising such experts and treating them like limbs in the current situation.
If she had to guess…
Could it be related to the Demonic Cult?
It was a plausible theory. Demonic arts could make someone strong in a short time, and it wouldn't be strange for them to be desperate to plant spies in the Murim Alliance.
While lost in thought, Dokgo Rin's eyes fell on the book Dokgo Seok had given her.
Come to think of it, he said they were after this book.
Nine Heavens Mysterious Sword. A martial art she had never heard of before. Hoping it might contain some clue, she opened the book and found a note tucked between the pages.
When she unfolded it, she saw writing in Dokgo Seok's handwriting. The content was truly shocking.
Beware the Imperial Court.
It was a message implying that the imperial court was behind everything.