Chapter 281
Chapter 281
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 281
>Chapter Title: The Plunderer Yaksha
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The ghost, its throat strangled, rasped a response to Kang Seol's recent words with a choking sound.
“Kek... Yaksha... you're looking for the Yaksha?”
“Yeah, where is that bastard?”
“If... if you let go of this, I might feel like talking.”
“......”
Kang Seol slightly loosened his grip.
Just that much made breathing easier for the ghost, which then spoke.
“What are you? How do you know about the Yaksha?”
“That's not for you to wonder about. Where's the Yaksha?”
“Heh... there's no fool like you. Looking for the Yaksha means you're walking to your own death?”
“Same to you.”
The ghost rolled its eyeballs around before slowly starting to spill the story.
“No one knows where the Yaksha is.”
“Why?”
“Because the Yaksha broke through the barrier. Wherever it goes becomes the path. No one can tell where it's headed.”
“Broke through the barrier... you mean...”
The ghost glanced at the burning monsters and grinned.
“Yeah, a huge hole was torn between the ghost realm and the present world. And the name of that hole is...”
Clank...
A sword began to slide out from the ghost's scabbard.
“Yak... sha...”
Splash-!
As Kang Seol swiftly swung his hand blade horizontally, the ghost's head floated up amid a spray of blood.
His expression darkened.
‘Where the hell are you... Yaksha.’
Kang Seol scowled and surveyed the demons and ghosts swarming the area.
Even the flames from the matchlock couldn't kill them all.
Kang Seol shoved the ominous thought far away and began systematically eliminating the culprits behind this mess.
Splash-!
Crunch-!
With Kang Seol and Chiu stepping up, the valley—already a scene of hell—grew even more gruesome.
Kiiiiii!
Thud-!
Whish!
Kwaaaaaaaa!
Viran, who had come along, and the scouts who had aided in the pursuit refrained from fighting, instead marking the ghosts and demons fleeing from Kang Seol. For Songjo to be completely free of threats, every evil here had to be eradicated.
When Kang Seol and Chiu finally severed the neck of the last marked ghost after sweeping the valley, it was the fifth day since they had exited Songjo via the sewers.
* * *
“Over here! Please look over here!”
“Lady Seolhong! And Sir Kang Seol! Just a word for our child!”
“Sir Chiu! Sir Chiu!”
Swoosh...
Chiu slightly pulled back the cloth over the inn window, revealing a massive crowd gathered outside.
“They've been like that for two days already.”
“Leave them be, Chiu.”
“But... ugh, being cooped up inside is so frustrating.”
Songjo had quickly returned to daily life shortly after Seolhong's dispatch. It was all possible because Kang Seol and Chiu had driven out the ghosts and demons.
-The fragrance of dragon transformation is for all the people.
Chiu's words left to the soldiers had spread among the city's citizens, though no one knew who started it.
As a result, Seolhong and Chiu were revered like saints who had appeared in chaotic Kan, bolstered by the citizens' imaginations and hopes on top of their actual feats.
This confinement in the inn brought inconveniences, but it came with benefits too.
[Special stat: Attractive Being confirmed.]
[Special stat: Charm unlocked.]
[Related title: Attractive Being deleted; Charm value increased by 30.]
[Special stat: Attractive Being confirmed.]
[Special stat: Charm unlocked.]
[Related title: Attractive Being deleted; Charm value increased by 30.]
Kang Seol had unlocked a new stat.
Now he could even check Charm on equipment.
[Special stat: Charm]
- A special power that affects intelligent lifeforms. It draws favor from strangers and love from the familiar. The higher the value, the greater the chance of captivating others.
‘Charm's a decent stat... as long as it's not overdone.’
Among basic stats, Kang Seol found mental strength the most ambiguous, but Charm at least matched it in utility.
Moderate Charm could turn tough adventures easy by leveraging goodwill.
But excessive Charm could lead to dangerous situations—like a duchess urging you to flee with her, or a woman you've never met seeking revenge for a breakup.
‘Keeping it moderate isn't bad.’
Unlocking Charm through this event was a gain. Seolhong and Kang Seol's actions had injected vitality into Kan's stalled large-scale chaos.
Thanks to that, her name had even spread to distant regions.
Anyway, Songjo would now steadily return to normalcy.
“When does the central army withdraw?”
“Nothing set yet, but probably after city restoration, they'll deploy elsewhere.”
Citizens outside still shouted at the top of their lungs.
“Lady Seolhong is the one who will become the dragon!”
“Have mercy on the common folk!”
Haa...
Seolhong sighed.
She turned to Kang Seol and said.
“They say we're the only ones who completed the dispatch mission in this area... What do you want for our next destination?”
“Hmm...”
“We could retreat to the rear and wait for things to calm down.”
At that, Seolhong and Kang Seol looked at each other and smiled.
“As if.”
“Yeah, the situation's not that leisurely.”
Knock knock...
A maid rapped on the door.
“Who is it?”
“Um... a messenger has arrived.”
“Messenger? From whom?”
“That's...”
She could hear the maid arguing with the messenger outside.
Then, moments later, the messenger spoke directly from beyond the door.
“Ahem... I'll say it myself. I am...”
* * *
A hulking man yawned as he spoke.
“Yawwwn-! Lady Shin-yo, I'll go check up top then. Should see better from there.”
“Do as you like.”
“Yes...”
The hulking man was Jang Du.
The woman left alone was Shin-yo.
No, "left alone" wasn't quite right.
As she walked a bit, a group appeared: the central army's encampment.
Giant soldiers were used only for transport; here were just infantry and cavalry.
With ghosts revealed as the culprits, the giants' vulnerability was exposed, so they were relegated to transport.
“It's devastating...”
The camp was filled with wounded soldiers.
Healers worked desperately, but severed limbs didn't reattach by miracle.
“It's over...”
“Everything's done for... the rest are probably all dead too...”
People shrouded in gloom.
City citizens received rations here too.
They stayed outside the city, not in it.
The reason the camp was on the outskirts was simple.
Invaders had seized the city.
How incompetent must one be to lose the entire city to ghosts?
Shin-yo approached a man with worry etched on his face.
“Brother.”
“...Shin-yo, you came. Where's Jang Du?”
“Scouting the area.”
“I see... you must have had a hard journey.”
“Damhong wasn't serious, so we came as fast as possible. But...”
“...Does it look dire to you too?”
Shin-yo nodded.
Tae-yul was always confident, afraid of nothing.
He wasn't one to despair after losing a city, but the fact he had lost it at all was suspicious.
‘What on earth happened...’
Shin-yo changed the subject.
“Can't reclaim the city with remaining forces?”
“...Probably not.”
“Then why not retreat? Even if you abandon the city, regroup and...”
“It's not that we won't retreat— we can't.”
“...Pardon?”
Shin-yo had assumed Tae-yul was being stubborn, fearing failure so avoiding retreat.
But his words shattered that.
“Giseom itself isn't the priority.”
Giseom was the seized city's name.
“Then...”
“Empire citizens were left behind in Giseom, unable to escape. Survivors testify: when the assault began, they hid in underground burrows. No signs they were discovered until evacuation.”
“That can't be... even if alive then, by now...”
“Should we assume that? For what?”
“......”
“It's not for the citizens—it's my greed.”
Shin-yo shut her mouth.
That was her nature.
She understood Tae-yul but couldn't empathize. That's why people called her cold.
Fit to manage a nation, but prickly to rule it. So she suppressed such flaws.
Conversely, Tae-yul bulldozed straight ahead. It bred resentment when opposed, but he accepted it as natural.
A man who advanced bloodied.
Shin-yo thought he resembled someone.
“Shin-yo.”
“Yes.”
“Gok-bi and Jin-ryeo infiltrated Giseom.”
“...To check the burrows?”
“Yeah. The citizens who hid there...”
Tae-yul squeezed his eyes shut.
“They're still alive.”
“......”
Shin-yo clenched her fists.
Knowing this, retreat was impossible.
-Examine all the people.
They had to act as Dragon Emperor Hongcheon said.
“...That's fortunate. And Gok-bi and Jin-ryeo?”
“No word yet.”
“Oh no...”
“If nothing by sunset, we'll go find them.”
* * *
Tadadot!
“Huff... huff... monster!”
“Jin-ryeo... it's there... didn't even see it.”
“Shut up, Gok-bi. We're... huff... running now.”
Paaat-!
Jin-ryeo leaped over a stream.
Even with no presence behind, she fled from something.
“Huff... huff... weird... today huff... fortune-teller said great luck.”
“Hehe... what're you saying?”
Jin-ryeo carried Gok-bi on her back.
Gok-bi was gravely wounded.
Blood oozed relentlessly from the red hole.
“I get fortunes from Kunna every morning. Said great luck today! Never had luck like this! Why...”
The most dangerous mission, taken by the two.
Gok-bi out of loyalty, Jin-ryeo because only they could do it.
Using special abilities, they infiltrated, confirmed Giseom's underground burrows.
“Save us...”
“Please get us out...”
“My god...”
Seeing nearly a hundred survivors, Jin-ryeo and Gok-bi couldn't hide their despair.
Entry for two was possible; exit for hundreds, not.
Only way: retake the city.
They wrote a positive report on the grim news.
-Survivors confirmed.
Promising return, they tried to escape. If not meeting it then, they would have succeeded.
That would have been true great luck.
Pshuk...
- Huh?
Gok-bi was wounded in an instant.
How or with what—no one saw, as Gok-bi said.
Then, Jin-ryeo spent her all.
No, offered it.
To her true person Kunna.
‘Kunna! Blast us out!’
Kwaang-!
Jin-ryeo and Gok-bi sped away.
Gok-bi blacked out briefly.
Jin-ryeo carried her, running forward.
Didn't know where camp was.
Just: run to survive. That was the situation.
“...Leave me and go, Jin-ryeo.”
“Save your breath, it's killing me!”
“If you leave me, no one'll doubt your loyalty to Lord Tae-yul...”
“Tae-yul? Who cares! I'm here for the money!”
“Then leave me all the more... no need to fight it...”
“Hey! I have manners too!”
Jin-ryeo yelled in fury.
“I'm fighting not that monster—your death! Don't you dare die in front of me unluckily!”
“...Jin-ryeo.”
“Should've stayed north... came for no reason... Kan has money-making jobs... spend as earn huff... damn it...”
“Hehe... it's coming, Jin-ryeo.”
“I got no money! Block it!”
“...Got it.”
Hooo...
Gok-bi blew breath, cicada cries echoing everywhere.
Ziririr...
Ziriririr...
“Aaah! Ears hurt!”
“Quiet, it's masking sound.”
“Huff... huff...”
“Be quiet?”
“Not breathe too?”
[Gok-bi uses Voice Acting.]
[Creates sound from stored memories.]
From afar, Gok-bi's voice and another's rang.
“Fight for me, Gok-bi.”
“Honor of my life, Lord Tae-yul.”
Splash...
Sound sliced.
Gok-bi whispered to Jin-ryeo.
‘It sliced the sound. Still chasing.’
“......”
And one more thing.
‘Hear it? At this speed, carriage crosses in 10 seconds. One... two...’
Jin-ryeo's neck hairs stood.
‘Carriage? Carriage? Damn... why here of all places...’
Giseom's crisis spread continent-wide; who leisurely rides carriage nearby!
Choose.
Carriage folk allies? Or just slow on news?
‘What choice! Either dies to it!’
Other choice needed.
Jin-ryeo and Gok-bi die, or carriage folk.
Decision delayed till Gok-bi's ten-count.
Hwaaaak-!
Carriage entered view; killing intent from behind.
“Sorry!”
Jin-ryeo leaped over carriage.
Kwaaaaaaaaang-!
Monster collided with carriage.
Jin-ryeo kept moving till then.
Stopped by instinct? Momentum.
Seconds later, halted abruptly.
“Jin-ryeo? Hurry...”
“Huff... huff... Kunna's great luck was this.”
“...What?”
Turning, seeing black figure from carriage, Jin-ryeo wore an unreadable smile-or-cry.
“It was great luck!”
“That man... who... how...”
Kikikik...
Kikikikikik...
Black man gripped blood-red blade with both arms.
“Fingers! Those fingers!”
Grgrrrr...
Kang Seol, barely blocking horrific slash, trembled from shock, whispering to sword-wielder.
“You...”
Masked swordsman strained to slice Kang Seol.
“It's you.”
[Sudden Adventure 'Plunderer Yaksha' has occurred.]
[This adventure is extremely dangerous.]
……