Chapter 27
Chapter 27
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 27
Chapter Title: Seol Yakbing
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‘What the hell am I supposed to do with this?'
Up until now, the ronin band had never once failed a single commission they’d accepted.
For them to fail over something as trivial as a small merchant escort?
Rumors would spread like wildfire through these narrow back alleys soon enough.
It wouldn’t be long before fools started picking fights, looking down on the ronin band.
‘No, that’s not the issue.’
It wasn’t about future annoyances.
This was a matter of pride.
As the greatest and largest ronin organization in the martial world, they could never fail a commission they’d taken.
Especially not because of some no-name young expert!
“That punk joined the escort caravan?”
“Yes?”
“I’m asking if that young expert joined the escort!”
“Y-Yes! A few from Third Squad are tailing him. Looks like they’re heading to Hefei together.”
“...Tch.”
Of all things, he had to join the escort caravan.
That meant a rematch with that young expert was inevitable.
‘How the hell do I deal with a guy who took down all of Third Squad without a single scratch?’
Cheon Kyung pondered for a moment but soon gave up.
Truth be told, there was no need to agonize over it.
If thirty wouldn’t do it, then fifty. If fifty failed, then a hundred.
“Move the entire ronin band.”
“...The entire ronin band, sir?”
Chun Yi, who had been standing silently, asked in surprise.
Cheon Kyung nodded irritably in response.
“There’s only one chance left anyway. Tomorrow, they’ll reach Hefei. That’s Tyrant Heaven Citadel territory—after that, we’re out of options.”
Chun Yi and the Third Squad members had no choice but to nod.
Their hearts naturally grew heavy.
Because of their failure, the ronin band now had to muster its full strength against a mere small escort.
Even if they avoided the stigma of a failed commission, they couldn’t escape the industry’s mockery.
Guilt was inevitable.
“What are you lot doing?”
“Yes?”
Cheon Kyung glared down at them with a crooked gaze.
Seeing them freeze without even answering his question properly, he barked an order.
“I said the entire ronin band is mobilizing! That means you worthless lot are moving too!”
“Yes!”
His shout echoed through the room, making Chun Yi and Third Squad leap to their feet.
“No weaklings here too injured to keep up, right?”
“None!”
“Good. Move out!”
At his curt command, Third Squad rushed out of the room.
Watching their backs, Cheon Kyung clicked his tongue briefly.
As he prepared to depart himself, he recalled what Third Squad had said about that young expert.
“Laid waste to all of Third Squad single-handedly...”
‘Could I do that?’
The answer came quickly. No.
Against regular squad members, maybe he could manage somehow.
But with Chun Yi in the mix? Different story.
Take down thirty ronins, be exhausted from it, and still drop Chun Yi without killing him?
He couldn’t even guess how much internal energy that would require.
“Some righteous sect young master playing vigilante, and we get caught up in it?”
Did those losers pushed around by Tyrant Heaven Citadel even have the spare capacity for that?
‘No way it’s one of Tyrant Heaven Citadel’s guys, right?’
The thought flashed through his mind, but he shook his head immediately.
Those gutless cowards wouldn’t play at being vigilantes.
“Not like they don’t have their hands full with Nangong Family stirring trouble already.”
And of all places, the commission target was heading to Hefei?
Cheon Kyung clicked his tongue as Nangong Family’s current situation came to mind.
“Flowers bloom for ten days, they say. Who’d have thought the mighty Nangong Family would end up like this.”
*
Inside our carriage, which had joined the Da-an Escort Agency’s caravan.
In addition to my master and Seol-i, who were already there, Miss Seol had boarded as well.
—I suggest we disguise ourselves to prepare for their attack. Have Miss Seol ride in our carriage, while the escorts guard the empty ones.
The escort leader had just readily accepted my proposal.
Thanks to that, I got to hear the full story of my master and Miss Seol’s connection from outside the carriage.
Surprisingly, Miss Seol was the son of someone my master called brother. In other words, she was engaged to someone like a nephew to my master.
And the destination of this escort? Hefei—specifically, the Nangong Family.
But that wasn’t all.
“What? That rascal Sunwoo became the head of the Nangong Family?”
“Yes. Recently, the previous head passed without an heir, so his younger brother, the great hero Nangong Sunwoo, succeeded him.”
From the conversation, it turned out Nangong Sunwoo—my master’s sworn younger brother—had recently become the head of the Nangong Family.
In other words, Miss Seol was the fiancée of the Nangong Family’s young master. She would become the lady of the house someday.
Whoa, things were lining up like this?
I wasn’t one for superstitions, but with everything falling into place so neatly, my mood lifted automatically.
I glanced at Hwa-ryeon sitting beside me and said,
“This is perfect. We’re going there with a tough request anyway—we can rack up some goodwill ahead of time.”
“...Yeah.”
But Hwa-ryeon didn’t seem pleased.
More precisely, she looked like something was bothering her.
I had a rough idea what, so I asked quietly in a low voice.
“It’s weird, right? The fiancée of the Nangong young master getting threatened with abduction during an escort.”
“...Yes. And why would the cherished daughter of the Seol Clan commission such a modest escort all the way to Hefei? Normally, she’d travel with her clan’s warriors.”
From what I’d heard, the Seol Clan was a fairly renowned and powerful martial house near Tianzhu Mountain.
For their daughter to travel to Hefei with such a ragtag escort? Suspicious as hell, no matter how you sliced it.
“But why head to Hefei? Surely she’s not going to hold a wedding with this little caravan.”
Right on cue, my master voiced the question on my mind.
Miss Seol, who had been chatting happily with him, stiffened slightly and fell silent.
We exchanged glances at her sudden change—forgetting her joy at seeing my master and clamming up.
Yeah, there was definitely something going on.
“Girl, what’s wrong...”
“Halt!”
Just as my master was about to press for details, the caravan up ahead stopped.
Looking up, the sunset had already dyed the sky red.
No sooner had the caravan halted than the escort leader hurried over from the front.
“We’ll camp here tonight. Is that alright?”
“...Yes, no problem.”
Looks like hearing Miss Seol’s story would have to wait.
We followed the caravan off the road to a fairly spacious clearing nearby and set up camp.
Rustle.
As we prepared the fire, something pinged on my senses.
I enhanced my vision, and there—far off, hiding and watching us—was a shadowy figure.
He’d ditched the uncomfortable leather outfit, but I recognized him instantly.
After all, it was the face I’d seen just this afternoon.
“We’ve got a tail.”
“Huh?”
“What’s that?”
My companions, helping with camp, turned at my words.
“One of those bandits we fought earlier today is surveilling us.”
“W-Where?”
“There. About a hundred paces into the woods.”
They stared at me like I was spouting nonsense.
“Don’t talk rubbish. In this darkness, you can see someone a hundred paces away?”
“Yeah, you could do it too once you get good at channeling your qi.”
Seol-i scolded me, so I teased her smugly, and she huffed and turned away with a pout.
Aw, she’s mad.
As I chuckled, Hwa-ryeon spoke in a grave tone.
“If they really have a tail on us...”
“Means they haven’t given up on Miss Seol yet. Anyone with a brain would bring more men next time.”
Hwa-ryeon looked exasperated at my casual tone.
“Then we can’t just sit here. We should grab that tail or—”
“Pointless. Even if we deal with him, they know we’re heading to Hefei. Worst case, they’ll ambush us along the route.”
The road the caravan and we were on led straight to Hefei.
Traveling it meant we were going to Hefei.
Hwa-ryeon fell silent at my words before proposing an alternative.
“Why not start moving again now and push faster...?”
“Then they’d move even quicker. Might end up in a midnight battle. Even I’d rather avoid that.”
“...So what’s your plan?”
Hwa-ryeon finally gave up and asked for my strategy.
But there wasn’t much of a strategy to share.
“Nothing special. Keep Miss Seol in our carriage to fool them, and I’ll handle whoever shows up.”
“...You sure that’s fine? You just said they’d bring more men.”
I shrugged at her worried expression.
“Don’t worry. Even if a hundred of those clowns show up, they’re no match for me.”