Rumors
That had been far too easy.
I’d originally understood this quest to be the kind of thing where you could barely scrape through only after clearing the sixteen quests before it.
That was how brutal it was supposed to be. But even so, it was still supposed to be beatable.
Except the place I’d come into wasn’t a game, and the people I was fighting had eyes in their heads.
Instead of looking at my face and growing suspicious or wary, they actually seemed to let their guard down.
And then, because they’d relaxed, they couldn’t dodge my fist and went down in one hit.
That was the biggest difference. Carelessness. Having emotions.
Because of that, I’d been able to knock down the people standing in my way one by one with embarrassing ease.
Of course, even if they’d been on full alert and tried to block, they probably still couldn’t have stopped this fist.
That was how absurdly effective Iron Body Weight-Adding Force was.
On top of that, Golden Dragon Body was beginning to show exactly how broken it really was.
One of them saw his companion get blown away by a single punch, then hurriedly drew his sword and swung at me.
I was a little too slow to parry it, so I raised my arm to protect my head.
Clang!
And with a clear metallic ring, the sword slammed against my arm.
The guy froze after the swing, then looked at my arm—still perfectly fine, with only the sleeve of my martial robe slightly torn—and his face turned dumbfounded.
I kindly returned the favor with a punch, then gave him a few more gentle taps until he was definitely unconscious.
Hah. Looks like I’ve almost finished them off.
Now the head of the Tae Clan should be showing himself, right?
"Who the hell are you!!"
Then a voice thundered through the courtyard.
Turning toward it, I saw a man glaring at me with a vicious expression, sword in hand.
He was probably the Tae Clan head. He certainly looked the part.
But at best he was only at first-class level, so he didn’t seem all that frightening.
So I ran straight at him without hesitation.
I didn’t have any light-footwork or proper steps, so it probably just looked like I was charging in headlong.
Maybe that was why the clan head made a disgusted face, lifted his sword with proper form above his head, and brought it down in a clean slash toward me.
Clang!
Knowing exactly how effective Golden Dragon Body was, I had nothing to fear.
The blade didn’t break, but it was knocked violently aside, and the clan head’s torso was left wide open.
My fist, drawn back, shot forward and smashed into that exposed chest.
There was a loud thwack, along with the sound of ribs cracking, but surprisingly the clan head didn’t collapse. Instead, he grabbed my wrist with that huge hand of his.
"You insolent little bitch! Just because your fist stings a bit, you dare—"
But he never finished. I caught that arm and squeezed down hard.
"Aaaagh!"
He thrashed in pain and let go of my wrist, and I took the opportunity to twist half a turn and drive my elbow into his face.
With a wham, the clan head went flying. He hit the ground and didn’t move at all after that, so I figured he’d passed out.
Still. So first-class really doesn’t mean all that much, huh? Then again, how much of a difference could there really be between third-class and first-class?
Since I’d even beaten down the clan head, there shouldn’t be anyone left in the Tae Clan who could stop me now.
So I strode toward what looked like the inner compound and called out in a loud voice.
"Young Master Yang! I’m here to rescue you!"
Not long after that, a man and a woman emerged from one of the buildings inside the inner grounds.
The Tae Clan young lady and Young Master Yang.
Young Master Yang looked thoroughly confused, while the Tae Clan young lady ground her teeth and shouted at me in a venomous voice.
"Who do you think you are, daring to interfere in our relationship?"
Normally, this would be the point where the proper script would kick in, but I had no reason to answer something like that right now.
So I kept walking, and the frightened woman suddenly grabbed Young Master Yang from behind, pulled out a small dagger, and pressed it to his throat as she shouted,
"Don’t come any closer! I’ll kill him!"
To be honest, that made me flinch a little inside. If she really did kill him, things would get seriously bad.
It wasn’t just that I’d fail to get the elixir. I might end up being hunted by the Yang Clan from now on.
But I quickly steadied myself and kept advancing toward her.
That only made her panic further. Her arms shook, and she screamed,
"Don’t come! I said don’t come! S-stop right there!"
But I knew something for sure: that woman couldn’t hurt Young Master Yang.
I was certain of that after coming into the Tae Clan and doing a bit of fist-based persuasion.
Just beating people up like this already made my stomach turn. Killing someone?
Being spiteful in your heart and actually killing a person were two completely different things.
So when I walked up close enough to grab the arm holding the dagger, all she could do was tremble in place.
I yanked her aside, and she went tumbling weakly to the floor.
The dagger clattered down beside her. Even after falling, she glared at me with resentful eyes.
"Let’s go, Young Master Yang."
Young Master Yang seemed to have been deeply shocked by the woman’s dagger at his throat a moment ago.
He stared at her with a stunned face.
And in that expression, I could see disgust and betrayal clearly written all over it.
With that, I left the Tae Clan with Young Master Yang and put my veiled bamboo hat back on.
Then Young Master Yang made a slightly disappointed expression.
Wow. Even after something like that, he was still showing disappointment here?
Incredible. Just incredible.
When we returned to the Yang Clan, the steward was ecstatic to see Young Master Yang walking back under his own power.
If that woman hadn’t pulled a dagger and done something like that, I doubt Young Master Yang would have come so willingly.
He would’ve refused to the bitter end. Then I would’ve had to drag him back by force.
Anyway, Young Master Yang had ended up in a bit of a miserable state, but after seeing that look of disappointment earlier, I didn’t really feel sorry for him.
Whatever. It wasn’t my problem. I just needed my reward.
After the brief commotion died down, the steward met with me alone and handed over the elixir along with a pouch of silver coins.
"The clan head was most pleased. We had been worried that even if we brought him back, he might still run off again. But now he doesn’t seem to have any intention of leaving. So I added a little more for you."
"Thank you. May I get up now?"
"Of course. You’re free to go."
With that, I took the Yang Clan Soaring Youth Elixir and the pouch of silver and stood up.
"Ah, one more thing."
The steward looked at me and spoke quietly. His expression was quite serious.
"Please speak."
"Young lady... did you come from the North Sea Ice Palace?"
There it was again. Why did people keep asking me if I was from the North Sea Ice Palace?
"No. I have nothing to do with that place."
The steward studied me for a moment, then nodded and said,
"I see. There must be some circumstances. Very well. I shall relay it that way."
No, what exactly were you relaying? You clearly still didn’t understand anything at all.
So rather than suffering over it alone, I decided to ask directly.
"Could you tell me what this North Sea Ice Palace rumor is about?"
"...Didn’t you just say you had nothing to do with them?"
"Yes. I don’t. That’s why I’m asking."
"Hmm. Truthfully, I don’t know much myself... but there is a rumor."
"What kind of rumor?"
"That a woman from the North Sea Ice Palace is traveling through the Central Plains in search of something."
"Is that all?"
"That’s all I know."
"I understand. Thank you."
When I answered like that, the steward nodded again and again, wearing a face that seemed to say, Your secret is safe with me.
Ugh. This misunderstanding definitely wasn’t getting cleared up. What a headache.
Just as I was about to leave the room, the steward looked at me and said,
"If you need anything at all, however little help it may be, please speak freely. The Yang Clan will assist you, young lady."
He was definitely saying that because he thought I had something to do with the North Sea Ice Palace.
He was dead set on misunderstanding me. But even if I told him no, I had nothing to do with it, I doubted he’d hear a word of it.
So I just nodded and left.
Fine. I’d already gotten the elixir anyway, so I had no more business here.
After leaving the Yang Clan, I watched the sun beginning to set and wandered around looking for somewhere to stay the night.
Now that I had a decent pile of silver, I might as well find something to eat and a place to sleep. And besides, I still had to take this elixir.
So I found a fairly clean inn instead of some shabby roadside dump, paid the bill, and ate a light meal.
Greasy meat dishes. And huajuan, those fluffy rolled buns people sometimes call flower buns.
Maybe because I was so hungry, they went down deliciously.
They were a little oily, but with the huajuan beside them, there was no problem at all.
Not that I was picky about food to begin with.
After filling my stomach and returning to my room, I finally started to relax a little.
For one, I wasn’t going to be dragged off by some weird bastard and subjected to something horrible right away.
And I had a decent amount of silver now, plus I’d completed the quest safely and obtained the elixir.
Things like that helped settle my nerves. Probably taking this elixir would calm me down even more.
But before that, I took off the martial robe I’d been running around in all day so I could put on something more comfortable.
And once again, I was forced to confront the fact that my body really had become a woman’s.
Wow. Seriously. I’m losing my mind. This is really my body?
Even though it was my own body, I still had this strong feeling that if I touched it carelessly, something terrible would happen.
How should I put it... like it would be easy to fall? Like I’d feel something I absolutely shouldn’t be feeling as a man?
So I deliberately didn’t touch anything. I just changed clothes as fast as I could.
And then I decided not to put it off any longer and take the elixir now.
Better to swallow it quickly than let it sit around and cause some kind of trouble.
Still, I was a little worried.
If this had been the game, I’d have taken it and the effect would’ve kicked in immediately.
But my situation now wasn’t like that. Did that mean I’d have to sit in meditation for a long time after taking it?
That was the biggest issue. I didn’t know how to do that.
I’d heard that depending on the method, the amount of elixir you absorbed could change, too.
But it wasn’t like I could practice that separately.
The elixir was just too precious to waste on experimentation.
Whatever. Let’s just try it. If I take it, I’ll feel something, won’t I?
With that thought in mind, I opened the wooden case containing the Yang Clan Soaring Youth Elixir, popped the pill into my mouth, and swallowed.
The pill slid down my throat and disappeared. The Yang Clan Soaring Youth Elixir vanished somewhere inside me in an instant.
Huh? Is that it?
I didn’t feel anything at all. I hadn’t exactly expected fireworks, but the complete lack of any sensation was a little shocking.
Ah! Right—my skill window!
So I opened it and saw that True Origin Heart Technique now had two stars.
Ahh. So that’s how it worked. Taking the elixir immediately increased the proficiency of the heart technique.
Thank goodness. It wasn’t that difficult after all.
Then had something changed in my dantian?
Thinking that, I sat quietly and examined my body.