Chapter 262
Chapter 262
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 262
Chapter Title: Doll Play
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"Who's causing a ruckus in front of the shrine?!"
I looked up.
There stood a woman with her hair tied back, dressed in a white top and red skirt—the traditional attire of a Japanese shrine maiden. She glared down at us with fierce eyes.
I glanced down briefly. Upon closer inspection of the naginata embedded in the ground, I realized it wasn't the guan dao I knew. The blade was too narrow for a guan dao. It looked more like a Japanese sword attached to a spear shaft.
'A Japanese weapon... Naginata, right?'
We had learned about weapon types in the Hunter Department. Hunters primarily wielded cold weapons, after all.
White sword energy still clung to the blade. The woman who threw this was undoubtedly at least B-rank.
I withdrew my mana. The sparks crackling around my fist vanished.
"...Tch."
The thug clicked his tongue and dispelled his battle aura. The flames burning on his fist faded into smoke.
The surroundings buzzed with murmurs.
People had gathered to watch us before we knew it.
Thud.
The shrine maiden floating in the sky descended lightly.
I reflexively checked her face and figure. Her angular jaw gave her a somewhat masculine look, and her chest was around A-cup. Definitely not my type.
"Causing a disturbance here is forbidden."
With that, the shrine maiden pulled the naginata from the ground.
She glanced at me and Jin Se-young before turning to the thug. A sigh escaped her lips almost immediately.
"Haa. Nishinoka Ken. You again?"
"That bastard picked a fight with me first."
"Don't make me laugh. Do you even know how many incidents you've caused so far?"
"......"
"Today is the first day of the Wind Festival. An extremely important day. Your reckless actions could ruin the entire event."
"I didn't mean to. If that guy hadn't bumped my shoulder first...!"
The bastard pointed at me. I scowled and glared at him like I wanted to kill him.
"This fucker...!"
"Nishinoka!"
"...Urk."
The thug flinched at the shrine maiden's shout.
"This festival isn't just for Japanese people—foreigners have come too. Foreign media are filming as well! If you cause trouble, it's Japan that loses face!"
Feels like it's already lost.
I looked around. The crowd encircling us was murmuring. Plenty were filming us with their smartphones.
"......The incident has already happened. I can't just let you all go. Everyone, follow me."
That "everyone" included not just the thug and the gal, but me and Jin Se-young as well.
Jin Se-young, who didn't understand Japanese, looked at me curiously, wondering what the shrine maiden was saying.
"She says to follow her."
"...Why? No accident even happened."
I had raised my mana, but we hadn't fought. The shrine maiden had appeared before that.
"Who knows. Probably to fine us or something."
I wasn't sure either. In Korea, you'd pay at least 500,000 won and call it a day, but this was Japan, not Korea.
"That language... You're Korean?"
The shrine maiden asked me in Japanese.
"Yes."
"...Are you guests who received invitations by any chance?"
"Yes."
"...We're sorry. One of our guild members caused trouble. May I see the invitation?"
The shrine maiden took the invitation from Jin Se-young, checked it, then bowed to us again in apology before leading us toward the shrine.
The guild she mentioned was probably the Fūshin Guild.
Fūka Shrine belonged to the Fūshin Guild, one of Japan's top five guilds.
'That thug is from the Fūshin Guild?'
One of the top five guilds—the best in Japan. I hadn't expected a punk like that to be part of it.
'His parents must be executives in the Fūshin Guild.'
As we climbed the stairs, our eyes met the thug's. He grimaced and growled silently.
I flipped him off and mouthed:
Fuck you.
???
We didn't end up paying a fine; instead, we received a lecture from the shrine maiden. As guests, Jin Se-young and I got off with a scolding, but the thug and the gal faced actual punishment.
Apparently, they'd caused similar incidents before. They were placed on confinement duty—no leaving the shrine grounds.
The thug in particular was banned from even leaving his room during the Wind Festival.
"We're deeply sorry to the guests who came to Fūka Shrine. The Wind Festival is a highly important event that even the Japanese government pays close attention to. Please forgive us with your broad magnanimity."
"Oh, no. It was our fault. We shouldn't have fought even if they picked a fight..."
Jin Se-young waved her hands and spoke. Reading the mood, I offered a vague apology.
"Thank you for understanding."
The shrine maiden bowed and left the room.
Jin Se-young and I were finally alone.
I approached her. I planned to pounce before she could start nagging. Perfect timing with just the two of us.
But a knock at the door stopped me cold.
"Are you in? I'm Kahara Shigeru. I'd like to speak with the two of you."
I could see Jin Se-young's face stiffen.
I quietly asked her,
"What's wrong? Someone you know?"
"...The head priest of Fūka Shrine, and a member of Japan's House of Councillors."
A House of Councillors member meant a politician—a national assemblyman.
I understood why Jin Se-young's face had hardened. A foreign politician, especially Japanese, coming to see us felt uncomfortable.
Jin Se-young hesitated before giving me a look.
"...Please come in."
I said it in Japanese for her. Looked like I'd be stuck translating.
"Pardon the intrusion."
The door opened, and Kahara Shigeru entered. He wore a white traditional Japanese robe.
"What business does Mr. Kahara have with us?"
I translated Jin Se-young's words into Japanese.
"I've heard you're disciples of Yeongcheon-ryu. We originally invited the sect leader, Jin Woo-sung... but it seems he couldn't make it due to circumstances."
"Yes. We're here in place of our father at Fūka Shrine."
"Personally, I'm quite disappointed. I personally admire Jin Woo-sung. And I wanted to witness Yeongcheon-ryu's ultimate technique at least once..."
Shigeru muttered regretfully.
Yeongcheon-ryu's ultimate technique.
The pinnacle of Yeongcheon-ryu arts. In other words, its secret art.
I hadn't learned Yeongcheon-ryu's ultimate technique because I was too weak. Jin Se-young was learning one but hadn't mastered it fully.
"Fūka Shrine is incredibly beautiful in winter. Seeing the snow blanketing the shrine grounds purifies even my heart to white..."
We conversed with Shigeru for over 40 minutes. It wasn't about the main topic—just idle chatter. Situations in Korea and Japan, Fūka Shrine, the Wind Festival... He poured out answers to questions we hadn't even asked.
Just as we were mentally exhausted, he got to the point.
"The representative shrine maiden of Fūka Shrine must duel every day for the three days of the Wind Festival. Duels offered to the gods."
"Yes. I heard. The schedule shows it's at 8 p.m. today. I'm really looking forward to it."
"Indeed. It's the highlight of the Wind Festival. ...But a problem has arisen. The opponent for the second day's duel was gravely injured during a dungeon raid and is hospitalized."
Shigeru's eyes gleamed sharply.
"...That must be troubling. No other prepared opponents?"
"There were, but they were raiding the dungeon together and..."
"......"
"I know it's an impudent request. But there's no one else I can ask but you. For Fūka Shrine, for the tens of millions awaiting the Wind Festival—would you please be the opponent for the second day's duel?"
Jin Se-young fell silent in thought before responding.
"......We're not worthy to be duel opponents in many ways. Wouldn't it be better to find other hunters?"
"Finding other hunters is easy. But they lack legitimacy. You have Yeongcheon-ryu's legitimacy. The festival duels are offerings to the gods. We can't have those without roots as opponents."
Shigeru spoke firmly, no room for compromise.
"......"
Jin Se-young hesitated. She knew it too. We were trapped.
"Please, I beg you."
Shigeru bowed deeply toward us, pressing his head to the floor with hands flat on the ground.
He performed dogeza without hesitation. In Japan, dogeza carried immense weight—a massive humiliation. Especially for a politician like him.
I furrowed my brow. A politician doing dogeza? No way.
"......Understood. I'll be the opponent for the second day, so please lift your head."
Jin Se-young said with a displeased expression.
Shigeru straightened up quickly, as if he'd expected it.
"Thank you. If you need anything for the duel, let us know. I have preparations to make, so I'll take my leave. Ah, I'll inform the shrine maidens so you can stay at the shrine."
As he turned to leave briskly after saying his piece,
Rumble rumble rumble!
The ground shook. An earthquake. It lasted about two seconds before stopping.
"Just a light quake. It's common, so no need to worry."
After Shigeru left, only Jin Se-young and I remained in the room.
"Noona. This is basically a trap."
"......What could I do when he went as far as dogeza? Backing out now would make Yeongcheon-ryu a laughingstock."
Exactly.
If we'd refused, tomorrow—no, this afternoon—an article would hit: "Councillor Shigeru begged with dogeza for the Wind Festival, but Yeongcheon-ryu's Korean disciples refused out of fear of dueling."
Something like that. It would spread not just in Japan and Korea, but internationally.
"This is a fight that's come to us. As a Yeongcheon-ryu practitioner, I can't run."
Avoiding battle.
With Yeongcheon-ryu's name on the line, impossible.
"Even if we fight, what's the chance of winning?"
"......"
Jin Se-young fell silent.
She was a B-rank hunter preparing for the A-rank exam. Her opponent was an A-rank touted as S-rank material.
No chance of victory.
"That bastard's despicable."
In the end, Jin Se-young would lose the duel. It would be broadcast live nationwide in Japan and online internationally. Japan would pat themselves on the back, and Korea would trash Yeongcheon-ryu for losing to Japan. Obvious.
We'd become sacrificial pawns for the show.
"Still, I can't avoid a fight that's come to me. Even if I lose... I can't run."
I stared at Jin Se-young's resolute face before speaking.
"I'll do the duel. He didn't say you specifically. I'm Yeongcheon-ryu too."
Shigeru's mistake was overlooking me. He assumed Jin Se-young would step up during their conversation.
"No. I have to. Even in defeat, I need to show Yeongcheon-ryu's potential."
"Noona, think realistically. You're the dojo master of Yeongcheon Sword Hall. A Yeongcheon-ryu instructor. Me? Just a disciple. An E-rank hunter at that. If I go out and lose in one second, no one would bat an eye. Any sane person would pity me."
Jin Se-young thought quietly. No matter how she looked at it, she'd realize sending me was best for Yeongcheon-ryu.
"......You sure? The whole world might mock you."
"It's fine. I don't care."
I really didn't. It'd be forgotten in time, and later, when I'm strong, I can make everyone who mocked me pay.
'Actually works in my favor. Through this duel, I can get Amatsuka Koyori's blood or hair. Heh heh heh. The girl who beat me turns out to be my sex doll?! Heh heh heh heh.'
I could hardly wait for tomorrow.
"Yu-jin... Thank you."
"Noona, I'm Yeongcheon-ryu too. You don't have to shoulder it alone. Rely on me."
"......"
Jin Se-young's eyes moistened as she looked at me. I gripped her shoulders and slowly brought my face closer.
Realizing what I wanted, she closed her eyes.
Our lips met.
"Ha-ah... Haaang! Aaah!"
The room soon heated up with passionate moans.