Chapter 104
Chapter 104
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 104
Chapter Title: Plan
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"...Yeah. It's my fault. I knew full well what kind of person you are."
Yeo So-cheon let out a sigh as she sat in the chair with her arms crossed.
"So, can I lower my hands now...?"
"Are you even listening?!"
I flinched and shot both arms straight up.
Startled by her shout, I had flung them up high, but my skinny arms had already reached their limit.
They were shaking like they might drop any second.
"Eek..."
I gritted my teeth and furrowed my brow to hold on, but the limit was approaching fast.
"Haa... Fine. Just lower them."
"Heek... Hek..."
The moment she gave permission, I dropped my arms and collapsed onto the floor.
Looking down at me from above, her expression held a faint trace of contempt.
"Really... Why on earth would she pick someone like you..."
"Pardon...?"
"Never mind. Just talking to myself. Catch your breath first, you weak little lecher."
It seemed like an extra word had been tacked onto the "lecher" label, but I didn't have the energy to question it right now.
"Huuuuh..."
Once my breathing finally stabilized a bit,
"So, what did you want to talk about? If you dragged me through that nonsense for something trivial, you'd better be prepared."
She opened her mouth as if to say, get on with it.
"Well... Thanks to all the rumors about me spreading everywhere, I can't even step outside. But rumors have a way of fading when something bigger happens, right? They just vanish without a trace. So, I was thinking..."
"...You're saying you want to set off something huge in the Central Plains to bury it?"
"Yes. Exactly."
Yeo So-cheon furrowed her brow as she listened.
"I did try to suppress the rumors midway, but the attention on you is no joke. You think you can cover it with something even bigger? Got any ideas?"
"Wouldn't something like a super-famous ruin work? Like a fortuitous encounter left by some ancient master who died ages ago."
"Ha, that'd definitely draw a crowd, but it's not all upside. Those things attract all sorts of people, and where martial artists gather, fights are inevitable. If the rewards are tangible like in a ruin, it'll be even worse."
"Hm..."
I hadn't considered that.
It would create enough of a stir to bury my rumors, but it'd also mean rivers of blood. If luck was bad, it could spark new conflicts between sects or escalate old ones.
"...I didn't think of that."
"This is why I hate dealing with half-know-it-alls who only grasp one thing and miss the rest. They overlook the obvious and cause disasters. Can't even appreciate a favor— I save your sorry hide, and you waltz right over to that scheming saintess."
"...Wasn't there some personal bias in that last part?"
"You wouldn't get it. That woman's a liar who can't open her mouth without spewing falsehoods. If she ever talks to you, just ignore her. Don't fall for any weird temptations."
"Y-Yes... Got it..."
"Don't just brush it off—engrave it in your head."
"I know, I know. It was a joke anyway. I don't plan on spending my remaining days as a seed beast."
To be honest, if I compared the fantasy world's saintess to this world's heavenly gods and Yeo So-cheon, my heart leaned a bit more toward the saintess.
Not because she was some ultimate goody-two-shoes, but...
I should've suffered just enough in this world.
Life here had been way too harsh.
If I hadn't met my master, I was certain I wouldn't have survived this long.
The world was that brutal, and my power was that feeble.
And even the way to read heavenly secrets was something Master taught me.
...Thinking about it like this, it felt like I owed this side absolutely nothing?
I'd gotten plenty of solid help from the saintess via the shop window, but from Yeo So-cheon or the heavenly gods...
"Making arrogant thoughts again."
"Ow!"
Yeo So-cheon flicked my forehead.
"Reading thoughts is cheating...!"
"What are you on about? Your face gave it all away just now."
"...Tch."
I rubbed my stinging forehead and clicked my tongue.
"I've told you a million times: just being saved from that woman's clutches is a lifelong debt of gratitude. Remember that."
"Sheesh..."
"Anyway, back to the point. You want to bury the rumor with a bigger one, right? Spill whatever you've got planned first. I'll at least hear you out."
Lips pursed at her refusal to entertain more arguments, I explained my original plan.
"...I figured out the location of Shin Tu's secret annex, so I was going to leak that. Thought it'd spread for sure."
"...What did you just say?"
"...Leak the location so it'd spread for su—"
"Not that."
Her expression hardened into something almost stern.
It was a cold, rigid face, contrasting sharply with her usual expressive ones.
"...Shin Tu's annex?"
And when that name slipped from my lips again,
"...Why the hell does that bastard's name come up here?"
An immense wave of murderous intent poured from her body.
Yeo So-cheon had her arms crossed, eyes closed, tapping her arm with her fingers as she pondered.
That's when I suddenly remembered something I'd forgotten.
She was one of the people Shin Tu had stolen from.
...Have I been so squeezed dry lately that my memory's shot?
As I seriously wondered if this was any way to live, another question popped up.
But why hasn't Yeo So-cheon gone looking for her sword?
As far as I knew, she could read heavenly secrets too—which meant she could've divined Shin Tu's annex like I did.
From what the Sword Empress had told me and seeing her now, it wasn't wrong to say she cherished that sword dearly.
Which made the current situation even more baffling.
If she could read the heavens and find the sword, why sit idle until now and suddenly...?
My mind raced through guesses that formed and fizzled out, deepening the mystery,
"...Ha. This is interesting."
until Yeo So-cheon opened her eyes and spoke.
"I'd barely managed to forget, and now I hear that name again. Never saw it coming."
"Um... That is..."
"Fine. Let's go. Tell me the location, and I'll handle transport. We'll leave in a day or two, so prep anything you need ahead of time."
Stunned by her sudden agreement to head to the annex together, I spoke up.
"W-Wait, what I originally meant was just leaking the rumor, not us looting it ourselves!"
"No can do. If we leak it first, it'll be harder for me to get my sword. We spread the rumor after."
"...Didn't you just say spreading rumors like that would cause a massive fight...?"
"That annex was going to surface eventually anyway. Might as well use it while it happens."
I couldn't tell if she meant it or was just rationalizing.
"...Your face shows exactly what you're thinking again. Don't misunderstand. I have a plan."
"What plan...?"
I figured it'd be some flimsy excuse, but what followed was surprisingly solid.
"A plan to lure in half-dead corpses—the maggots that shouldn't exist in this world."
It was a metaphor I'd never heard, but I quickly realized it meant the Blood Cult—the vampires invading this world.
"I hate them so much that if they were alive, I'd tear them to shreds and scatter them across the earth... But I can't deny that damn Shin Tu was the greatest thief in the world— no, in all of murim history. The madman vanished with the cherished weapons of his comrades-in-arms right after the war ended."
Watching her gnash her teeth, I thought that guy must've been remarkable in his own ways.
"And that lunatic thief stole from righteous and evil alike, no discrimination. Among his haul was a sacred relic of the Blood Cult, swept away by the Heavenly Demon back then. Now, those maggots reviving with roots in the Blood Cult—what does that mean in another sense? Know what I'm getting at?"
"...What?"
"Shin Tu's annex is a place they absolutely can't ignore. It's where their sacred relic sleeps, and it'll draw countless martial artists. No way those maggots stay put. If we play it right, we could wipe them out in one fell swoop."
"Oh!!"
My eyes lit up at her words.
If things went as she said, we could eradicate the vampires in one go and avert this world's doom.
And before Master even finished her training.
"And if we slip in first, grab my sword and the Blood Cult relic before alerting the world? Then I can burn those world-devouring maggots with even greater power!"
She spread her arms wide, eyes gleaming with excitement.
"Woooow."
"...What's with the soulless applause?"
"Felt like the mood called for it, but apparently not?"
"..."
The mood soured at the end, but after parting ways with Yeo So-cheon amicably, I began preparations to set off again.
Hoping everything would go smoothly.