Chapter 66
Chapter 66
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 66
Chapter Title: Encounter
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"Yes, y-yes... Th-thank you, thank you so much."
The courtesan was still trembling violently, the shock of nearly being assaulted lingering deeply.
As the martial artist, who had briefly passed out from the young master's kick, struggled to his feet, she let out a startled cry and hid behind me.
"Urgh...!"
"Oh ho? You've got more grit than I expected."
The martial artist ground his teeth at the young master's sneering remark.
"You...! You think you'll get away with this? Aren't you afraid of the words embroidered on my robe?"
He jabbed a finger at the two characters—"Tyrant Heaven"—stitched onto his robe.
The young master narrowed his eyes at the stained, alcohol-soaked embroidery and soon let out a scoff.
"Who knows. It doesn't scare me much in that state. Besides, who in Tyrant Heaven Fortress would dare lay a hand on me?"
"What...?"
His arrogant claim that no one in Tyrant Heaven Fortress could touch him.
Not only the martial artist but even the onlookers looked stunned.
By that point, I was starting to get curious about this young master's true identity.
He was clearly from some important family, but which one let him boast so confidently that Tyrant Heaven Fortress couldn't touch him?
"Out of the way!"
Just then, one end of the hallway grew rowdy as a group of men approached.
From the aura prickling my senses, they seemed to be martial artists.
Sure enough, men dressed in the same style as the one who'd been soundly beaten by the young master appeared.
Reinforcements?
I reached for my sword hilt, thinking I'd have to step in after all, but the Tyrant Heaven Fortress martial artists caught sight of the young master and paled in terror, immediately prostrating themselves before him.
"Y-Young Fortress Lord!"
"...!"
And then they outright called the young master the Young Fortress Lord?
I stared at him with wide eyes.
There was only one person in Tyrant Heaven Fortress who could be called Young Fortress Lord by its martial artists.
The young master let out a short exclamation upon seeing my shocked gaze.
"Oh, right—we haven't properly introduced ourselves yet, have we, young hero?
The enemy who killed Hwaryeon's father, and son of the current Tyrant Heaven Fortress Lord.
"I'm Joo Ho-jeong, Young Fortress Lord of Tyrant Heaven Fortress. Nice to meet you?"
The man who was highly likely to become my enemy grinned at me.
*
"..."
So Ha, who had rushed over upon hearing the commotion, quietly stepped back upon seeing the two men who had resolved the situation in her stead.
The Flower Moon Pavilion Master approached her belatedly.
"Miss... Mun."
"It's a most unexpected turn of events, all things considered."
"Pardon?"
As the puzzled Pavilion Master tilted her head, the sharp sound of flesh striking flesh reached her ears.
-Slap! Slap! Smack!
"What...?"
Peering out curiously, the Pavilion Master beheld the sight of the young nobleman delivering slaps to the Tyrant Heaven Fortress martial artists.
"Gasp...!"
Thinking some madman had dared to provoke Tyrant Heaven Fortress, the Pavilion Master whirled her head toward him—only for her eyes to widen as if they might split open.
"Th-that's Joo Ho-jeong...! The Young Fortress Lord of Tyrant Heaven Fortress?"
Noticing the man's identity at once, she whispered lowly. So Ha nodded silently in response.
In the meantime, Ho-jeong's voice echoed through the brothel's interior.
"I was just visiting Hefei for some fun, enjoying a drink, when I witnessed the pathetic sight of a man wearing Tyrant Heaven Fortress robes attempting to rape a courtesan in his drunken stupor."
The Tyrant Heaven Fortress martial artists who had been slapped glared murderously toward one direction upon hearing his words.
At the end of their gazes was the martial artist who had failed to recognize their sky-like Young Fortress Lord and spouted insolence.
Realizing he was utterly screwed, the man's face drained of color. He collapsed, trembling like a leaf.
He looked every bit the picture of someone who had grasped his grim future and fallen into despair.
Whether the man despaired or not, Ho-jeong continued.
"As the Young Fortress Lord of Tyrant Heaven Fortress, how could I stand idly by at such a sight? I stepped in personally to punish the insolent wretch."
Punish? Didn't he just gleefully stomp on him?
A few onlookers' expressions turned awkward.
Of course, Ho-jeong paid it no mind.
"But punishing just this one won't suffice. The crime of failing to stop their comrade's outrage as fellow members falls on every Tyrant Heaven Fortress martial artist in Hefei. They must accept it willingly."
"..."
The faces of the martial artists clutching their stinging cheeks twisted unpleasantly.
And then came Ho-jeong's verdict.
"From this day forth, all Tyrant Heaven Fortress martial artists in Hefei are banned from entertainment activities."
Entertainment ban.
The Tyrant Heaven Fortress martial artists looked as if the sky had fallen.
Their sole pleasure amid nearly a year of tedious duty had just vanished due to one idiot's blunder.
Murderous intent gleamed in the eyes they turned on the culprit.
Exposed defenselessly to that killing intent, the fool's face began turning black and blue as if dying on the spot.
"...Looks like we won't need to resort to the final measure after all."
So Ha murmured softly as she watched it all unfold. The Pavilion Master nodded dazedly.
Who knew how the world worked? Out of nowhere, the Young Fortress Lord of Tyrant Heaven Fortress had appeared and resolved everything.
Snapping out of her daze, the Pavilion Master apologized to So Ha.
"I'm sorry. I made you come all this way for nothing..."
"It wasn't for nothing. Your issue seems resolved anyway, so I can get back to my own duties."
"Pardon? What...?"
So Ha whispered something into the ear of the cocking her head in confusion.
The Pavilion Master's face took on a strange expression upon hearing it.
"Pardon? Of course it's possible, but why...?"
Confused, she looked up again toward the Young Fortress Lord of Tyrant Heaven Fortress and the young man gazing at him with an odd look.
'The Young Fortress Lord aside, why that young man...?'
"Shall I leave it to you, then?"
"...Understood."
It was a hard-to-comprehend order, but the leader's command was absolute. The Pavilion Master nodded without further protest.
*
Whoa. So this is the power of authority?
I watched in awe from within as the young master brought despair to every Tyrant Heaven Fortress martial artist in Hefei with just a few words.
They'd probably take out their frustration on the cause of it all, their sole joy in a dull routine now gone.
It seemed a light punishment for a trash who tried to rape a woman by force, but with Tyrant Heaven Fortress's heir issuing the penalty, there was nothing more I could do.
No helping it. I'd have to be satisfied with preventing the horrific incident.
"Ah, right—we haven't gotten to your punishment yet."
...Huh?
I'd resigned myself to letting it go, but the young master said something unexpected and stepped before the attempted rapist.
"P-Punishment? But you just... clearly..."
"That was just me venting my irritation. For daring to tarnish Tyrant Heaven Fortress's authority, you need proper punishment."
The young master flashed a cold smile and ordered the other Tyrant Heaven Fortress martial artists.
"Cripple this one's dantian and expel him. As of today, he's no longer affiliated with Tyrant Heaven Fortress or a martial artist."
"...Y-Yes?!"
The unexpectedly harsh sentence left not only the attempted rapist but the other Tyrant Heaven Fortress martial artists aghast.
The offender himself forgot all decorum and clung to the young master's trouser leg.
"I-I'm sorry! Please, please spare my dantian...!"
Destroying the dantian meant rendering him unable to cultivate internal energy.
For a martial artist, that was as good as death.
No wonder the attempted rapist was in such a panic.
Huh. I'd pegged him as just a playboy imitating a wastrel, but he had a ruthless side.
I'd planned to just kick between his legs with full force and crush it.
"...Hm?"
It dawned on me that I'd been about to do something just as ruthless.
Death as a martial artist versus death as a man.
Which was the harsher punishment?
As I pondered that unanswerable question inwardly, the other Tyrant Heaven Fortress martial artists dragged away the one clutching the young master's trouser leg.
"Young Fortress Lord! Mercy, please—!"
Even as he was hauled off, the attempted rapist's pleas for mercy grew fainter until they vanished entirely.
"Hm, seems the situation's more or less wrapped up...?"
Scratching his head as he surveyed the now-quiet brothel, the young master, wearing a satisfied smile, muttered to himself.
"Oops, I seem to have ruined the mood. What to do..."
After a moment's thought, he called over a nearby errand boy.
And then he pulled out a gold ingot worth ten nyang from his bosom.
"As my apology, I'd like to buy a round of drinks for every guest here. Will this cover it?"
"Huh...!?"
The errand boy, likely seeing gold for the first time in his life, accepted it with trembling hands.
Cheers erupted throughout the brothel in response.
-Woooaaah-!
"As expected of Tyrant Heaven Fortress's Young Fortress Lord! The rumors are true—he's got a big heart!"
The guests' faces, which had been filled with wails moments ago, now brimmed only with joy at the promise of free drinks.
Bewildered by how one bottle of liquor had completely flipped the atmosphere, a middle-aged man in scholar's robes approached us.
"Young Fortress Lord."
The man bowed politely to the young master.
"The Flower Moon Pavilion Master? Must have been stressful dealing with those underlings. Consider this my apology—I've treated everyone generously. Please put in a good word with Flower Venerable."
Flower Venerable?
Who's that?
As I tilted my head, the Pavilion Master made an unexpected proposal.
"My thanks for your help, both of you. As a token of appreciation, may I treat you in a private room?"
"Pardon? No, I..."
I'd only come to fetch Jo Woon-chil.
I had no intention of accepting such hospitality and was about to politely decline when the young master slung an arm around my shoulders.
"Why hold back? Let's go together. It's rare to meet someone I click with, and it'd be a shame to part like this. Let's share a drink and build some camaraderie."
...We're probably the type to exchange blades, not words, though?
I couldn't say it outright and just stared in bewilderment, but the wealthy, high-status young master ignored my gaze entirely and dragged me along behind the Pavilion Master.