Chapter 202
Chapter 202
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 202
>Chapter Title: Search (2)
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The day after the gathering ended.
The eldest son of a fruit shop, who had been captivated by a beautiful woman and a young girl and attended the gathering. As usual, he and his father started business early in the morning.
The only thing different from usual was one thing.
“Such a mighty~ peace for me. Such a mighty~ peace for me.”
Without realizing it, he kept humming the addictive tune he had heard the night before.
“You’ve been singing that damn song since last night. Peace my ass. Keep this up, and our dinner table won’t be peaceful tonight, you fool.”
With no customers yet since opening, his father, in a foul mood, scolded him. The son pouted.
“Will pouting bring in business, Father? We need calm~ minds to do business right, so customers feel at ease. Try singing it yourself. It’ll soothe your soul. Such a mighty~ peace for me.”
“You rotten kid, did you really go to some weird place last night?”
As the father stared at his son like he was crazy, and the son ignored him and belted out the hymn joyfully, a passerby entered the fruit shop.
“What’s good today?”
Realizing a customer had arrived late, father and son flashed bright smiles in unison and shouted.
“Welcome!”
“Our fresh produce is top-notch, nothing lacking. Browse~ at your leisure and pick what you like.”
The female traveler chuckled softly at the pair, scanned the fruits, and pointed to some apples.
The fruit sellers quickly bagged the apples and handed them over. As she paid and took them, the woman said something peculiar.
“You went to last night’s gathering, didn’t you?”
At her words, a smile crept onto the son’s face.
“Ah! Did you go too, miss?”
“Yes. ‘Fighting evil~ doers’ stuck in my head more than the mighty peace one. It’s like, singing it just fills you with strength, right?”
She hummed softly, “Glo~ rious light, Maitreya Cul~ t,” and the son beamed, joining in on the chorus.
The woman smiled faintly at him and left the shop. The father stared at his son, looking possessed.
“What the hell is going on here?”
“Can’t you see? It’s all because peace has come to my heart, Father.”
With that, the son started humming again to himself, “Such a mighty~ peace for me.”
But the father, bothered by what had just happened, couldn’t bring himself to scold him.
Was it because of that song?
Afterward, customers steadily trickled in, and some even recognized it and sang along.
At the bizarre scene, the father found himself dazed, just watching his son’s antics.
Before he knew it, he was humming along.
“Such a mighty~ peace for me.”
* * *
Similar scenes to the fruit shop were unfolding all over the city.
Some people walking the streets or running shops kept humming strange, unidentified tunes.
The red-light district was no different—in fact, it was the worst.
“Glo~ rious light, Maitreya Cul~ t.”
“Such a mighty~ peace for me.”
With the Maitreya Cult taking over the red-light district on behalf of the Nancheon Society, all the brothels and pleasure houses under their control had been forced to attend the gathering.
Errand boys, courtesans, guards, managers—everyone had heard those hymns nonstop last night, and the melodies wouldn’t leave their heads.
Some courtesans even knew how to play instruments, making it even worse.
Ting~
“How about playing this part like this?”
“I’ll give you a melody—try playing it.”
They recreated the hymns on their instruments among themselves, and passing errand boys or guards sang along, turning the entire district into an endless chorus of hymns.
Amid the hymns echoing everywhere in the red-light district, in the top floor of the Crimson Pavilion on one side.
The old man who now managed the Crimson Pavilion and a few other brothels met with a middle-aged woman.
“You want to meet the Incarnations of Maitreya?”
At the woman’s request, the Crimson Pavilion master reacted with clear displeasure.
“I said I wish to see the new masters of the city.”
“Those are the Incarnations of Maitreya.”
“Then I wish to meet them.”
“They don’t come just because I call, or leave when I say go.”
Faced with the Pavilion master’s refusal, the middle-aged woman looked troubled and said.
“Even if you can’t summon them, don’t they visit you here often? Couldn’t you at least mention it casually next time?”
“Is someone so desperate really claiming they had to work alone last night, all sly-like?”
That was the main reason the Pavilion master was in a bad mood.
It wasn’t a lack of loyalty to the Maitreya Cult or any attempt to block her from meeting the Incarnations.
Last night, while the brothels and pleasure houses under the Maitreya Cult attended the gathering and closed, a few in the district had kept operating normally.
They hadn’t openly defied the Maitreya Cult.
They were places the Cult hadn’t bothered to take over in the first place.
They had paid tribute to the old Nancheon Society but belonged to a separate organization.
It was information already known from the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult’s Nanju branch and gathered while dismantling the Nancheon Society, so the Maitreya Cult had left them alone.
Unbound by the Cult, those places had monopolized the district’s customers last night.
“We couldn’t attend without an invitation. But we couldn’t just stop business for no reason, could we?”
The middle-aged woman, owner of the Red Flower Pavilion, said. The Pavilion master scoffed.
“Don’t play obvious games. You didn’t trust them yet, so you threw us to the wolves to see if we’d get butchered at the gathering. Now that we’re fine, you come begging for protection?”
Stung, she hesitated, sighed, and spoke gravely.
“Honestly, it sounded ridiculous, right? Just five parts out of ten revenue for protection? Paying courtesans wages and even forgiving debts? Did you believe that nonsense from the start?”
“......”
Under the Red Flower owner’s piercing gaze, as if reading his mind, the old man couldn’t easily lie and say yes.
Cautious to survive, he had seen it all over decades: offers too good to be true usually meant con artists.
But not anymore.
Nothing horrific had happened at the gathering, and they’d even paid for hauling carts and preparing night snacks.
“As you know, I have many to look after. I couldn’t act rashly. Think of the girls I’m responsible for—understand.”
“Hmph.”
The Pavilion master snorted unpleasantly, puffing pipe smoke. The Red Flower owner added.
“This isn’t empty talk. Last night, we’ll hand over half our earnings from operating alone.”
After pondering her words, the Pavilion master replied.
“I’ll pass your message to the Incarnations of Maitreya as is. They’ll decide, and I’ll let you know the outcome.”
True to his cautious nature, the Pavilion master didn’t get greedy.
While most brothels closed last night, the Red Flower Pavilion and a few others raked in huge profits.
Instead of pocketing half their earnings, he planned to report it faithfully to the Incarnations.
Having survived such a harsh world into old age, the Crimson Pavilion master had seen too many greedy souls die over petty cash.
* * *
As talk of the Maitreya Cult and hymns filled the markets, streets, and red-light district of Nanju.
Under a bridge where beggars gathered, angry shouts rang out.
“I’m truly disappointed, brothers!”
“What, you told us not to go there for this?”
Sweaty beggars, eyes blazing, vented fury at fellow beggars.
“W-We didn’t expect that...”
“Of course! We tried to grab extra for you guys too. We’re all family!”
The scolded beggars averted their eyes, at a loss.
“Hmph. It’s all that Red Beggar’s fault! Take it up with him!”
Amid the chaos, a young beggar in sect robes with three knots hurriedly threw his leader under the bus.
Finally, the beggars, eyes aflame, stormed toward Red Beggar hiding in the shack.
“Red Beggar bro!”
“Elder! This isn’t right!”
As they called for him outside, Red Beggar emerged, face red as his name, flushed with rage.
‘That rat beggar!’
Furious at his three-knot disciple for selling him out.
“Are you yelling at us now?”
“We could’ve eaten without begging, but who’s starving us? How dare you snap at us!”
Under the barrage, Red Beggar could only droop his face.
They weren’t Beggars’ Sect disciples like him—just ordinary Nanju beggars.
Today, while begging, they’d overheard what they shouldn’t have.
Last night, at the Maitreya Cult gathering, they’d given free night snacks to everyone who came.
Why hadn’t they gone?
Red Beggar and the sect disciples had warned them it was dangerous—stay away.
But from what they heard, it wasn’t dangerous; it was a great place handing out free food.
Naturally, suspicion bloomed among the regular beggars.
“Tell us, Elder Red Beggar! Did you do it on purpose? Afraid there wouldn’t be enough food, so you sect folks hogged it all?”
At the absurd misunderstanding, Red Beggar snapped his head up and bellowed, face crimson.
“Nonsense! I was protecting you! I even asked those bastards for more food—for your shares too. The stingy jerks wouldn’t give it!”
He glared at his sect brothers as if demanding they back him up.
Startled by his fierce gaze, the sect disciples chimed in hastily.
“Elder Red Beggar’s right.”
“Yes. They said it was only for attendees—come to the next one if you missed out.”
At that, the regular beggars’ eyes lit up.
“Next gathering?”
“There’s another one?”
“Eight days from now—no, yesterday was eight days, so seven days from now. Same place, same time.”
Hearing the sect disciples, the beggars glared at Red Beggar.
The eyes of those who missed free food gleamed with murder.
“You won’t block us this time, right, Elder Red Beggar?”
“Hmph. Well...”
Realizing he couldn’t stop the regular beggars from approaching the Maitreya Cult or whatever, Red Beggar sighed faintly and hung his head.
‘No way they schemed this far—to convert beggars too?’
As Red Beggar wondered if they’d plotted to turn beggars into followers.
“Oh, and if you want to join, learn the song.”
“Song?”
As the regular beggars calmed a bit, the sect disciples began teaching them the hymn.
The young sect disciples had already memorized it from the gathering.
“Sing after me. Such a mighty~ peace for me.”
“Such a mighty~ peace for me.”
Already distraught, and now hearing the Maitreya Cult hymn right beside him, Red Beggar looked up at the clear blue sky.
‘The whole world’s gone Maitreya Cult.’