Chapter 197: After This Trip Ends...
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 197: After This Trip Ends...
Since Mr. Wang was looking at me with a bewildered expression, I decided I had no choice but to accept one more question. I only did it because I’m such a kind, innocent, and fragile soul; if he had been caught by a heartless, devilish brat like Grasha, he would have undoubtedly been tortured under the guise of "magic practice."
“Curious about the strongest in the West, are you? That’s a bit of a sensitive issue…”
I glanced at Amber as if asking if it was okay to tell him, but that girl—who supposedly had a university education—was just fiddling with her pommel, seemingly oblivious to the weight of the matter. No, wait. She was probably touching it because she understood the significance.
“Amber, don't kill Mr. Wang just because he asked a sensitive question.”
“Pardon?”
Since Gyu Cheol-hwa seemed ready to commit some atrocity befitting the subordinate of a Public Enemy of Murim, I stopped her first. Her acting like she truly didn't know what I was talking about with that innocent face was disgusting.
“Why do you keep touching your pommel?”
“It’s a habit from when I was in the Eastern Region…?”
“What kind of crazy bitch habitually touches her sword?”
“My mom did too, though?”
The words 'That’s because your mom’s a whore' almost slipped out. This damn, atrocious villain seemed to enjoy cutting me off mid-sentence.
“Can I tell him?”
“It shouldn't matter. We have Her Majesty the Empress, after all. Besides, the border between the West and the East isn't that easy to cross.”
It was a typical answer from a devilish thug raised in a malicious home country—one that treated the Gate as a mere border while sucking up foreign currency and luxury goods and selling off cheap technology and equipment in return.
“Well, it’s probably my maternal grandmother.”
“Excuse me?”
“My grandmother is likely the strongest.”
I thought of the elf who looked like a young widow, currently meditating in prison because she had committed such horrific war crimes, despite holding several "War Hero" titles.
Compared to my mom, she felt more like an older sister. Honestly, as long as she was pretty and capable of childbirth, I was the type of guy who’d say anything is "possible." The word "possible" naturally came to mind.
I might look like a madman, but since she’s the mother of our household "sow"—whom I often jokingly call the world's greatest beauty (and she really might be)—it was an unavoidable, instinctive matter for me as a male.
“...But there is the Demonic Dragon.”
“Who’s the Demonic Dragon?”
“The Chairwoman.”
To think she goes around in human form with a title like "Demonic Dragon." It was a tacky nickname befitting a low-IQ dragon who, at her age, still looks for her "Papa."
“My grandmother is probably stronger.”
“I see. A being on the level of the Demonic Dragon or higher…”
It felt like I’d leaked our neighborhood’s power levels, but then I remembered that the people Hindel hung out with—the Murim Alliance Leader and the Demonic Cult Leader—were said to be on par with her. I didn't need to worry much.
“Well, she claims they’re on equal footing, but my grandmother is definitely stronger.”
I shared this lightly, but Mr. Wang’s eyes were filled with disbelief. If he was going to react like that, he shouldn't have asked. He was making me feel restless for no reason.
“Amber, you really can’t kill him, okay?”
“I won’t! And you promised to call me Cheol-hwa while we’re in the East!”
Mr. Wang subtly increased the distance between himself and Amber.
“That name is so tacky. It’s as tacky as Marika’s nickname.”
“Wow, that’s actually so mean...! Apologize!”
“Sorry...”
Thinking about it, I did feel like I’d gone a bit too far.
“Just how strong are the Alliance Leader, the Cult Leader, or the Sado Alliance Leader that they’re trying to compare themselves to Hindel?”
“The Chairwoman is a top master in Murim, too. I heard they couldn't settle things even in a life-and-death match.”
I could understand thugs from a rootless background like Murim or Hindel running around with swords, but unlike the punks in this neighborhood, Hindel actually had a lot of work to do.
“What does she think her status is? If she’s not around, who’s going to manage the Empire’s colonial policies? I heard from my mom that she’s one of the most important figures in the Empire.”
“I think she wants to quit!”
“Tell her to negotiate well with the Empress. I heard a rumor that the Commie Dragon became a subordinate after losing to Her Majesty.”
“Ah, that’s not a rumor, it’s true. Though it’s more like they’re... friends? That’s a more accurate way to put it!”
I didn't know since when people started giving their "friends" work that was undesirable, annoying, important but low-profile, time-consuming, and incredibly stressful, but it was my kindness to play along with the words of a mafia brat who lived and died by his pride.
Anyway, it seemed these thugs were obsessed with the meaningless concept of "strength." Whether you're a master or whatever, I firmly believed that if you got hit by a satellite beam or a hunk of tungsten from the sky, you’d evaporate from this world the moment you reached your "peak"!
***
After parting ways with Mr. Wang, I walked around the market with Gyu Cheol-hwa, checking the prices of various goods.
I couldn't shake the feeling that everything was expensive overall, but considering the exchange rate, it seemed I could buy everything I wanted for an absurdly low price.
This must be why they restricted the items you could bring when coming to Murim. I heard Marika and Hindel had no restrictions. I didn't know what kind of brown-nosing they did to the Empress, but I couldn't help but fantasize for a moment that if I performed the Manko Dance beside them, she might give me permission too.
“Husband, did you enjoy your walk?”
“Yeah, it was great. Especially when Amber was acting like a punk, throwing silver coins around at the gambling den!”
“A gambling den...?”
“Young Master! You said that was a secret!”
Gyu Cheol-hwa let out a shriek and slammed into a dogeza.
“Give me! One minute! No, three minutes! Just three minutes! If you give me three minutes to explain, I can explain everything!”
It was a beautiful sight—seeing her do her absolute best to survive.
Marika let out a long sigh and looked at me. She seemed to be asking how she should handle this.
“Marika, give me one gold coin. I think I can win this time!”
“Aaaagh!!! Young Master!!!”
At the sight of Gyu Cheol-hwa screaming, Marika covered her mouth with one hand and burst into giggles.
“Don't tease her too much. Didn't she take you there because you were curious about something, Cheol-hwa?”
“Yes, yes... that’s right! I introduced him to an information broker and we were just walking through the market before coming here!”
The excuse was too long.
“So, I’m curious what interesting stories you heard from the market or the information broker. Cheol-hwa, you may go to your room.”
“...I, I want to stay too!”
Ambersteel gave off an aura of being unable to leave because she was terrified of what nonsense I might spout next. I considered teasing her more, but I wasn't a bad enough person to bully someone who had followed me around and protected me all day.
“The market prices are insane compared to the first village we visited, but through that, I got a sense of the local cost of living. The distribution system seems well-established, and the Empire—or whatever the currency is—seems to be keeping the price of gold stable by not flooding the market. There wasn't much to see in terms of science and technology. The only thing they use mana for is basically Strong Body Art.”
“You worked hard, Cheol-hwa.”
“It was really tough...”
At Marika’s consolation, Gyu Cheol-hwa nodded with a face that looked ready to cry. I couldn't understand why she was acting so weak when I was such a kind and easy person to serve, but considering she was a yakuza brat who sucked the marrow out of people, I guess it made sense.
“It’s a bit of a distance, but there’s a wide lake with waves. The view from the twelve-story pavilion is exquisite.”
“Are you asking me on a date?”
“Hehe, indeed. I am asking you on a date... but if you’re tired, we can just rest here together.”
“No, I’d love to. It’s a date with Marika, so there’s no way I’m missing it. But there has to be delicious food, okay?”
“The food is reliable.”
Marika, this alpha female, was making a move on me. Of course, as someone who appreciates strong women and possesses a distorted sexual appetite, I had no reason to refuse and nodded readily.
“Alright, I’ll look forward to your sense of style, Marika. But what about Amber?”
“Let Amber play at the gambling den. Let’s go just the two of us.”
“Boss! It wasn't a gambling den, I went to meet an information broker!”
Marika was teasing Ambersteel too.
“Gyu Cheol-hwa, you know you shouldn't take out private loans at the gambling den, right?”
“Young Master, why are you being like this too! I swear on my mother’s life, I didn't gamble!”
Gyu Cheol-hwa tried to make a "pinky swear" gesture again, extending her thumb and pinky.
“I told you, your mom really is a whore, so that doesn't work.”
“That’s why it’s so easy to swear on her!”
“Really? You’ve never done it even once?”
“Uh...? At a gambling den? Probably never. I do make small bets occasionally, though...”
The brat who just said she’d never gambled was already changing her story.
No one who makes those kinds of oaths is sane, but this crazy bitch was the real deal. Since her mom was a whore, she was a total bastard who lied whenever it suited her.
Well, since she didn't have parents, she technically was a bastard.
“And I heard something from the information broker. Those various forms and techniques in the Solar Divine Art... they said those are the martial arts of the Public Enemies of Murim. Did you know that, Marika?”
“The Chairwoman and I personally took the heads of those fellows, so of course I know. The originals had flaws, so the Chairwoman asked others to help revise them. They’re much better than the originals now.”
My concubine was proudly admitting that my martial arts belonged to demon heads.
“I don't know about the nature of the martial arts, but isn't there a matter of symbolism?”
“Husband, you don't live here anyway, and you’ll only visit occasionally, so there’s no need to worry. If you want to look at it that way, the martial arts of the Cult Leader and the Alliance Leader were also revised by cramming things in here and there, so that would be a bigger problem.”
“Pardon?”
I felt like I’d heard something I shouldn't have.
“I’d appreciate it if you pretended you didn't hear that. The Chairwoman told me not to tell you.”
“If it’s the Cult Leader, you mean the Heavenly Demon, and the Alliance Leader is the Murim Alliance Leader?”
Marika let out a long sigh.
I couldn't even begin to guess what that Commie Dragon had done to my martial arts. It sounded like she had "scrounged" other people's techniques and mixed all the good parts together, but it was terrifying just hearing those dangerous names involved.
“...So you’re saying I shouldn't use my martial arts recklessly in this neighborhood?”
“Unless you show it right in front of them, most people won't even recognize it, so don't worry. Well, if it comes down to it, you can just say the Chairwoman taught you.”
“What on earth did Hindel do here?”
“The Chairwoman was the first to cross over through the initial gate connected to Murim. She enjoyed herself alone for about three hundred years. I heard she was discovered by the Empress a hundred years ago.”
Thinking about a dragon over 3,000 years old, who had experienced all sorts of things in Murim, clinging to me and calling me "Papa" made me so terrified that my "third leg" went stiff.
As her "father," I suppose it’s my role to raise her well—not as a child, but as a female. Once this trip ends, maybe I should try hitting on her and begging her to just let me put the tip in.