Chapter 141
Chapter 141
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 141
Chapter Title: The Kidnapped Princess (1)
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Seeing Se-kyung rampaging like a madman, Yuri blamed himself.
‘…I was an idiot.’
How could he be this stupid?
Or maybe it was because they only met once every few months that he’d lost his touch?
‘There are other people you can trust, not that old geezer. And I went and believed every word he said.’
This was entirely his own fault.
Letting out a sigh, Yuri stepped forward.
Arin, Poppi, and Teresa, in contrast, took hurried steps back with a rustle.
“Come back safe.”
“Yuri, you got this! You can do it!”
“I’m hungry!”
The three of them retreated quickly, cheering him on ‘only’ with words.
Yuri approached Se-kyung with an awkward expression at their behavior.
Seeing him coming, Se-kyung went even more berserk.
“Yeah, you little shit, you showed up just in time. No wonder it felt off—you’re that bastard’s disciple?”
“Not his disciple.”
“What do you mean, not? Your moves are exactly like that damn bastard’s!”
“Apologize.”
“…What?”
“Saying that old geezer and I are the same. That’s a personal insult. Apologize to me right now.”
“…….”
For the first time, the rampaging Se-kyung fell silent.
He stared with a blank look, as if wondering, ‘What the hell kind of guy is this?’
Then, realizing he’d been caught up in Yuri’s pace, he snapped back to attention and pulled a small piece of paper from his pocket.
Waving the paper around, Se-kyung reignited his extinguished flames of fury.
“Childhood friend? Frieeeend! Who decided that? Did that damn bastard say we’re friends?”
Se-kyung’s face turned beet red, truly enraged.
Seeing the lecture application he’d written fluttering in Se-kyung’s hand, Yuri shrugged.
“Yeah, that damn old fart said so.”
“Damn it, calling us friends and all!”
“He said you even have a nickname—Kwangsul?”
“Freeloading booze barrel!”
“……?”
“That’s what the freezing bastard said while raiding my liquor stash! ‘Kwangsul,’ he called me, saying he enjoyed the free booze!”
“Hmm…….”
Se-kyung and Johan were indeed friends.
Just terrible ones.
And it was a one-sided torment, with Se-kyung on the receiving end.
‘Ha… Old man, how badly did you bully him for him to flip out like this over something from way back?’
And it was decades ago, no less.
‘Well, victims never forget, even if the perpetrator does.’
Maybe Se-kyung hadn’t always been crazy.
Maybe he’d just snapped from putting up with Johan’s bullying.
‘Could that be closer to the truth?’
As Yuri mulled over these pointless thoughts, a glint flashed in his eyes.
‘Wait a sec? So… these two don’t get along?’
Like, to the point of being mortal enemies?
Yuri’s lips curled up in an instant.
“Hey, Kwangsul old man.”
“What, Kwangsul old man? You worthless punk……!”
“Want to get revenge?”
Se-kyung, about to explode at the nickname, froze at the sudden proposal.
“…What?”
Yuri extended his hand toward the puzzled man, his face deadly serious.
If Se-kyung’s eyes had been gleaming with madness moments ago, now it was Yuri’s eyes that sparkled with insanity.
“Don’t you want to get bloody revenge on that damn old geezer?”
Sorry, old-timer.
You’ll have to die for my grand vision.
* * *
“Hmm… They’re surprisingly calm?”
“Yeah, I thought they’d start fighting like maniacs the second they met.”
“Hungry?”
Having put at least 100 meters between them and even hiding behind trees, the three peeked out to observe Yuri and Se-kyung.
They tilted their heads at the unexpectedly peaceful conversation.
Then they fell silent at the same time.
And muttered in unison again.
“…This is unsettling.”
“It’s unsettling, right?”
“Hungry…….”
From their experience, Yuri being quiet meant he was either plotting something devious.
Or he’d already caused trouble.
* * *
Was it because of Yuri’s eyes gleaming with madness?
Or the words ‘bloody revenge’?
Se-kyung surprisingly asked his question calmly.
“Revenge? What do you mean by that?”
“What else? Exactly what I said.”
“You… weren’t you Johan’s disciple? A disciple harming his master?”
“I said I’m not his disciple.”
“You serious?”
“Yeah. I’ve picked up a few things from the old man, but I’m not his disciple.”
“You trying to play word games with me? If that’s not a disciple, what is it!”
“Kwangsul old man, if I learn a few things from him, does that make me your disciple?”
“Ridiculous nonsense!”
“See? Not his disciple.”
“…….”
Se-kyung’s mouth snapped shut, momentarily speechless.
As Yuri said, simply exchanging teachings didn’t make one a disciple.
It depended on what was taught.
Se-kyung glared at him.
“You’ve learned Yunbo and Noeik, haven’t you? You’re saying that foul-tempered Johan taught those two ultimate arts—which are the entirety of the Redner family’s legacy—to someone who’s not even his disciple?”
“The entirety of the Redner family legacy is just two techniques?”
“Those two are the entirety!”
“Is that so?”
“That’s how it is!”
“Fine, let’s say that’s true.”
“Yeah, good thinking…….”
Se-kyung, nodding in satisfaction, suddenly twitched.
‘Why am I… passionately defending the Redner family like this?’
Was it his imagination, or was he getting strangely swept up the more they talked?
Se-kyung shook his head vigorously to clear his mind.
“You little shit, pulling tricks! Stop spouting bullshit!”
“Bullshit? Dismissing my sincerity like that. I’m a bit hurt.”
Yuri’s eyes narrowed as he shrugged.
“Looks like you’ve suffered a lot from Johan, old man.”
“A lot? You think it’s just ‘a lot’? Fragmented Sword? Great Challenger? The world’s been fooled by that mad bastard!”
“I agree. That’s what I think too. So I’m giving you a chance to pay him back… Aren’t you curious?”
“…….”
Se-kyung fell silent.
But noticing the shake in his eyes, Yuri stepped closer and whispered low.
“Johan drops by to see me sometimes.”
Se-kyung’s eyes widened slightly at the whisper.
“…Here in Yoram?”
“Yeah, comes and goes like it’s his own house. How else would I know about Kwangsul old man? It’s all stories that geezer told me when he visited.”
“Hmm…….”
A small groan escaped Se-kyung’s lips.
‘Well, that guy would…….’
Johan had been coming and going from the near-forbidden Gol tribe lands like his own home for decades.
A guy like that could treat Yoram like his backyard too.
Se-kyung had to admit that much.
The moment he nodded.
“There was a pitiful orphan boy named Yuri Holland, struggling to survive in that distant northern land…….”
Yuri’s moist voice flowed into his ears.
“The boy was living a fragile, unfortunate life on borrowed time, not knowing when illness would claim him.”
The moist voice grew frail and weak.
Matching it, sorrow filled Yuri’s eyes.
“One day, before the boy barely scraping by day to day… a nasty old man named Johan appeared. The geezer made him an offer. ‘I’ll cure your illness, so become my test subject!’ …he said.”
Yuri’s eyes grew so moist they seemed ready to spill tears.
And knowing this story was about Yuri himself, Se-kyung found himself drawn into the voice.
“The boy had no choice. He wanted to live so badly. So he ended up making a deal with that devilish old man. ‘I’ll be your test subject, so save me.’ And so… the horrific experiments began.”
Training like torture to build stamina.
Random beatings that flew at him whenever.
Personal attacks.
And that damn Bungbung.
That dog-like Bungbung.
Bungbung that came back to life even after being killed!
And so on.
Yuri embellished—quite generously—everything he’d endured.
By the end of his tale, Johan had become history’s greatest scum.
Having poured out this epic saga, Yuri gazed wistfully at the sky.
“Thanks to the countless experiments, the boy survived… but the problem was that the torture-like experiments twisted his personality. How could his mind stay sane after enduring such brutality?”
“Ahem, y-yeah, that makes sense.”
Se-kyung nodded, his face saying he understood completely.
If Johan’s personality was still as he knew it, the guy was capable of exactly that and worse.
With Yuri’s brilliant acting, his emotionally charged voice, and the detailed, heart-stirring backstory, Se-kyung couldn’t help but pity him.
Startled by his softening heart, Se-kyung snorted forcefully.
“Hmph… Hmph! S-so what? What do you want?”
“…You’ve always been the one getting hurt, so don’t you think it’s time to pay it back once?”
“……?”
“If I’m here, that old man will surely come again. Let’s wait for that and get our bloody revenge.”
“You mean kill Johan?”
“Nah, nothing that extreme. And even if we tried, do you think that geezer would die? We’d have to go all out just to leave a scratch.”
“Then what do you want?”
“My goal is to make this place an impregnable fortress no one can invade. A fortress where anyone who tries… even Johan Redner… won’t leave unscathed!”
“Tch, bloody revenge my ass—you just want to set traps in advance and mess with Johan.”
“Well, yeah, pretty much.”
Se-kyung nailed the core of Yuri’s long-winded grandiosity and mocked him, but Yuri didn’t deny it.
Instead, he smiled and asked.
“So, you hate the idea?”
Se-kyung responded with a faint smile of his own.
“Well… I don’t hate it.”
The last time he’d seen Johan was decades ago.
But the memories hadn’t faded.
He wanted revenge if possible.
But even if Johan’s skills were half the rumors, no amount of mechanisms would touch him.
That’s why Yuri’s offer tempted him.
‘Alone, I might not manage, but if this guy—who knows Redner family machi arts well—helps……?’
Seeing Se-kyung rolling his eyes in calculation, Yuri seized the moment and cut to the chase.
“So, Kwangsul old man, teach me the techniques you know.”
Se-kyung’s eyes narrowed.
“You bastard, so that was your real goal.”
“Hey, it’s a win-win. You get a chance to settle your old grudge, and I get to learn some techniques.”
“In the end, you’re getting revenge too, so I’m the only one losing out?”
“My revenge? I don’t have any grudge.”
“Ha? After all that, no grudge?”
“I did go through hell with Johan, but I survived in the end, didn’t I? That’s enough for me.”
As Yuri shrugged, Se-kyung probed further.
“So, you want to learn mechanism knowledge from me?”
Yuri’s eyes lit up at that.
His gaze showed thoughts racing.
Yuri quickly calculated and said slyly, provocatively.
“Hmm, I was going to learn just mechanism stuff… but even with the Walker name, they say your metallurgy skills aren’t up to par?”
“My… metallurgy skills aren’t up to par? Did that Johan bastard say that!”
“Yeah. So I was thinking of learning something you’re actually good at instead. Like… alchemy?”
No sooner had Yuri finished than Se-kyung snorted.
“Ha? You want me to teach you my trade secrets? In alchemy, no less?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re getting cocky.”
“…….”
“Fine, I’ll admit my metallurgy doesn’t live up to the Walker name. But even so……!”
Se-kyung glared at Yuri with cold eyes.
“It’s not something for a novice who’s never even held a hammer to judge. I guarantee you—spend your whole life trying, and you won’t master half of what I teach!”
Yuri replied instantly, as if he’d been waiting.
“Oh yeah? Then… wanna bet?”