A Martial Rookie's Outing Is Pure Orthodox Wuxia
Namgung Hyeong and his companions had finished their meal and were leisurely nursing their drinks.
"Um… I'm here…"
And right on cue, the final member of the Orthodox squad stepped into the inn.
Dark violet hair. Purple eyes. An intensely shy demeanor. Small stature. A cute face. A boyish voice.
Anyone looking would have sworn he was an adorable little boy—but he was a full-grown adult.
"Oh! Bernouilli! You're here! Did everything wrap up well?"
"Hehe…! Yes! That's everything we could gather here. We can move on to the next city now."
He answered bashfully.
His name: Bernouilli.
Full name: Dang Bernouilli Frighten.
A direct descendant of the Sichuan Tang Clan—also known as the Frighten family.
The Sichuan Tang Clan was a house of poison arts that had endured since the Terra era. Bernouilli himself was a master of poison techniques.
"Well done, Bernouilli."
"Heehee… It was nothing, Namgung-hyeong."
"Right. Now that everyone's gathered, we should head for our next destination. Wiseol—tell us the next city."
Their next destination. That place was—
"Indeed, Namgung-hyeong. The name of the next city we must reach is…"
Hyukryeon Wiseol manipulated his personal device as he continued.
"A place called AE City."
"That will likely be our most critical stop."
"Precisely, Namgung-hyeong. It's the city closest to Morlaren Canyon. We'll base ourselves there and dig up information on 'that.'"
"Yes. 'That.' The fated opportunity of Morlaren Canyon."
The fated opportunity of Morlaren Canyon.
That was why they had secretly come all the way out to this backwater planet.
"Everyone, take this to heart. We must not stand out. This is a covert mission!"
"Hmph. Don't worry. We're already dressed in cheap clothes and eating 'street food.' We've been keeping quiet so we won't draw suspicion. A perfect disguise."
"Hmm! Is that so! Well, it shouldn't be much of a problem, then!"
Namgung Hyeong and Carina seemed convinced they had adapted quite nicely to this rural planet.
Of course, Hyukryeon Wiseol—the sharpest among them and the only one with any real familiarity with the Unorthodox side—pressed a hand to his forehead.
Ugh… We're already standing out enormously…
And for good reason. Anyone could tell at a glance that they were Orthodox heirs.
Their complexions were fine, their features refined, their breeding unmistakable. The clothes they thought of as "cheap" were still the latest fashion, rarely seen in a place like this. And they still spoke with Orthodox diction.
Well, looking at the families of the members gathered here…
Namgung Rina Southpalace. Direct line of the Namgung Clan.
Hyukryeon Wiseol Kindlelink. Direct line of the Hyukryeon Clan.
Carina Normandy Rothschild. Collateral branch of the Rothschild Clan.
Dang Bernouilli Frighten. Direct line of the Sichuan Tang Clan.
Even the least powerful house among them—Hyukryeon Wiseol's Hyukryeon Clan—still ranked inside the top twenty Orthodox families. In a galaxy a hundred thousand light-years across, swarming with countless Orthodox houses, ranking near the top twenty made you an absolute titan. The number of planets the Hyukryeon Clan administered alone was staggering.
Carina was no less formidable. The Rothschild Clan ranked roughly in the top ten—a house that could contend for a seat among the Five Great Clans if any one of them ever fell.
And Dang Bernouilli? The Sichuan Tang Clan was one of the Five Great Clans outright. The prestige of the Five sat a full tier above even other renowned houses.
And then the crowning piece: Namgung Hyeong of the Namgung Clan. Nothing more needed saying.
A lineup like this would be treated as rare specimens even in a major Orthodox city.
For young masters and ladies of this caliber to go unnoticed on a backwater planet was nearly impossible.
And crucially, almost all of them had spent their entire lives on Terra or in great Orthodox cities and were visiting the countryside for the first time. The sole partial exception was Hyukryeon Wiseol, who had once been posted to an Unorthodox planet. That they were behaving this quietly and meekly already meant they were doing their absolute best.
Hyukryeon Wiseol turned his ear to the murmur of the inn.
He was searching for people whispering while looking their way.
Sure enough, several tables were talking about them.
"Those guys at that table over there. What the hell are they? Going to a fashion show?"
"Don't make eye contact, you idiot. They're obviously ridiculously high-ranking Orthodox heirs."
"So it wasn't a fashion show? What's the Orthodox doing all the way out here?"
"How would I know? Young masters on a trip, probably. The Orthodox do that kind of thing all the time."
Voices drifted over from another table as well.
"Unnie… those people… they're insanely good-looking…"
"Orthodox types. Don't stare too hard."
"Why would they come here? To a countryside place where even internet delivery barely works?"
"It's one of those martial world debuts. They send young masters and ladies out to the sticks to gain life experience."
"Where do you think they're from? Should we go talk to them?"
"Are you crazy? Pretend you didn't see them! What does the Unorthodox have to be proud of, walking up to the Orthodox? What if they're from the Namgung Clan?!"
Hyukryeon Wiseol folded his arms.
Hmm. Completely exposed.
But that was fine. It was going according to plan, if anything.
Everyone assumed they were either on a martial world debut or a pleasure trip. They were being read as Orthodox heirs out for a stroll.
It fit their mission perfectly: "Disguise a secret operation as a laughing, carefree outing of martial world rookies."
If they couldn't hide being Orthodox heirs anyway, better to let the sheer weight of their houses blind people to their real purpose.
So far, everything's going as planned.
Hyukryeon Wiseol relaxed.
Then, sipping his drink, he strained his ears for any other rumors. He quietly activated a martial technique that sharpened his hearing.
Unexpected information had a way of circulating in inns like this.
"Have you heard the rumor? About the princess of the North Sea Ice Palace."
"The girl carrying the future of the North Sea Ice Palace on her shoulders, right? They say she's a beauty."
"I hear she's entering the Dragon-Phoenix Tournament. Think we should place a bet?"
Sports touts two tables over.
"Have you heard? There's a cult showing up on this planet lately. They wear purple robes."
"Good heavens. The end times are upon us."
"Everyone be careful. It could be bad for the children's education."
A parents' circle by the window.
"Kekeke! Have you heard that one? They found a massive Arachne nest around here! Pure gold mine!"
"Holy shit! Is that true?! A large-scale nest of an endangered species! Do you know what those eggs are worth?!"
"How am I supposed to live with the jealousy! Kekeke!"
Mercenaries seated right behind Namgung Hyeong.
"…Have you heard that rumor. About a fated opportunity in Morlaren Canyon."
"Near the canyon cities, almost nobody hasn't heard it. They say an ancestor's legacy is floating around somewhere in the canyon."
"Right… classic 'hidden cave under the cliff holding an ancestor's opportunity' cliché. Some nameless, ridiculously powerful recluse buries ultra-rare secret manuals, elixirs, and treasures in some hard-to-find spot for future generations."
"Heh. And then, far in the future, someone stumbles onto that opportunity by chance, gains power, and rises to greatness—the purest orthodox wuxia cliché. Plenty of people will be after it."
"Naturally. Heh. As the rumor spreads, every kind of group is sending expedition teams into Morlaren Canyon! Especially in the last few days, once the rumor saturated the cities, the number of expedition teams has exploded! And what do you think that means?!"
"Kihihi! Escort contracts for expedition teams are going to skyrocket!!! High-paying short-term gigs, absolute honey!!!"
"No, you moron!!! We should be applying to those expedition teams ourselves and grabbing the opportunity!"
"Please. You're the moron. You think a fated opportunity is some neighborhood dog's name? You think it's that easy to get? Better take steady daily pay than join some hopeless expedition."
"You gutless bastard… Anyway, even escort work is going to get harder, you know? Competition's not just one or two people. Even as escorts, it's still a hunt for the opportunity—maybe some scraps will fall. Pretty soon mercenaries will be fighting each other over the jobs."
"Kikik. Let them fight. Good chance to settle the rankings."
"Hahaha! Exactly! Time to settle the score with the west-side boys!"
And at a distant table, another group of mercenaries. Hyukryeon Wiseol focused especially hard on their conversation.
…
A short while later, Hyukryeon Wiseol deactivated his hearing enhancement and sank into thought.
So the rumor is starting to spread…
It was moving faster than he'd expected, and that worried him.
Would it interfere with the mission?
As the de facto strategist of this Orthodox squad, his worries ran deep.
"Wiseol. Come to think of it—do you know this?"
And to the brooding Hyukryeon Wiseol, Namgung Hyeong struck up a conversation.
"Hmm? What is it, Namgung-hyeong?"
"The reason Arachne are so valuable isn't only because of their eggs. The false head that grows on the back of an Arachne brood mother, as it ages, gradually grows upward like a plant until it takes the complete shape of a human. And when it finishes growing, it becomes a form of astonishing beauty—traded at astronomical prices among collectors with suspiciously large fortunes."
"…How would Namgung-hyeong know that… Ah… Never mind. Namgung-hyeong knows everything."
Namgung Hyeong knew everything.
And yet the knowledge he shared was always so suspicious one couldn't help asking where it came from.
"That sort of thing is in an encyclopedia?"
"Haha! More precisely, I saw it in the Forbidden Book Wiki of the Namgung Clan archives!"
The Forbidden Book Wiki. An encyclopedia of knowledge too uselessly fascinating—and simultaneously too dangerous—to be left uncensored for the public.
Forbidden curiosity was always more entertaining.
Don't tell me he blows off the stress of elite education with that…?
Hyukryeon Wiseol thought as much.
Still—an encyclopedia was an encyclopedia. How was a person's hobby an encyclopedia?
He swallowed his admiration.
"Well then! Now that everyone's here—shall we set out! Let us go! To AE City!"
Namgung Hyeong declared with gusto. The Orthodox squad was on the move.