Never, Ever Show Off
Perhaps because of the sweltering heat, few people were out on the streets. But Lee Yeok soon noticed something strange.
Small clusters of two or three people were scattered here and there, prowling the area as if searching for a target. Only tiny beads of sweat dotted their foreheads — in this punishing heat wave, any ordinary person would have been drenched through.
They were, without a doubt, men trained in the martial arts. Through discipline, they were controlling their heart rates and suppressing their sweat.
Why are there so many martial artists in this dirt-poor little town...?
The warriors were tightening the noose around Lee Yeok from front and behind. Things were not looking good.
Ahn Eunchae was visible over that way, frantically tearing into a mandu she'd bought from a street stall, cheeks stuffed full.
Behind her, three men were quietly closing in, each with a hand tucked inside his sleeve. Weapons, no doubt, clutched in their fists.
The moment Lee Yeok opened his mouth to shout a warning to Ahn Eunchae, his eyes met one of the men's. He whipped his head away, but the man had apparently recognized his face.
"That's him! The one who killed our master!"
Ah, I had it wrong, Lee Yeok realized calmly.
They're not after Ahn Eunchae. They came to kill me.
At the same instant, he leapt down from the carriage and tore toward Ahn Eunchae at lightning speed.
"We run! Don't let them catch us!"
At the man's cry, countless attackers came pouring down from the back alleys and the rooftops.
Ahn Eunchae looked around in complete bewilderment, both cheeks bulging like a squirrel's from the mandu she'd stuffed in. Steam was still rising from the half-eaten one in her hand. At the sight of such blissful obliviousness, Lee Yeok muttered a curse and seized her by the arm.
"My mandu...!"
"You empty-headed girl! Right now you'd throw your own father away if you had to!"
Dragged along by Lee Yeok, who left the mandu lying in the dust and its owner weeping over it, Ahn Eunchae stumbled into a dead run.
The horde of assailants gave chase, each brandishing some vicious weapon or other.
"Kill him! He must pay for our master's blood!"
Amid all this, Lee Yeok chuckled to himself.
Loyal dogs, these. When I've got underlings of my own someday, I should recruit the devoted type.
Ahn Eunchae, arm clamped in his grip, was practically skimming across the ground. Only as they neared the edge of the village did she finally grasp what was happening.
"What is wrong with you? Those men aren't after me — they're after you!"
Lee Yeok's lips twisted into a smirk.
"When you live like I do, girl, you rack up enemies everywhere. If you're going to hire me, that's something you should have factored in from the start."
Ahn Eunchae felt revulsion rising in her. Just how shameless could one human being possibly be?
"You're proud to live like that?"
"Proud? No. But I'm not ashamed of it, either. Keep your nose out of my business if you want to reach Jinseong alive."
Ahn Eunchae's lips trembled, robbed of words.
This madman...!
And then, even if only in the privacy of her own heart, she was shocked to discover she had just hurled the crudest curse of her entire life.
After a long chase, they seemed to have shaken off every last attacker. Lee Yeok halted to catch his breath in ragged gasps.
"Persistent bastards, aren't they."
Ahn Eunchae rubbed her wrist, where the marks of his fingers were still plainly visible.
"Are we safe now? What in the world are you— KYAAH!"
Her words were cut short as Lee Yeok lunged at her. He wrapped her in his arms and rolled, and a flash of light blazed across the spot where the two of them had been standing a heartbeat before.
THUNK!
The flash — a thrown sword — split the air in a perfectly straight line and buried itself more than halfway into a tree stump some distance away. Neither its speed nor its force was anything ordinary.
From the direction the blade had come, a middle-aged man walked slowly out of the shadows. Streaks of gray flecked his long, carefully groomed beard.
"Pretty quick, aren't you. What a nuisance."
Lee Yeok bowed his head with a servile grin.
"Are you speaking to me, honored elder?"
The man's expression hardened at the attitude.
"Quite the nerve on you."
"Thank you for the compliment, elder."
"Don't play games with me, you little rat."
"A rat? Now that's going too far. I merely observed proper etiquette, and you insult me for it? Really, isn't that a bit unfair?"
"You dared kill your own client! You've been cast out of the Dark Shadow League itself — there's no one left to shelter you now."
"Ah, quite true, quite true. In that case, elder, you must be..."
"Do you know who I am?"
"Of course, of course. You're that... tomcat, aren't you? The one who specializes in hunting down rogue thieves who've gone and made trouble without any organization to answer to?"
A vein bulged and throbbed on the man's forehead.
"I serve the Divine Cat Corps. Meeting me is the greatest misfortune of your miserable life."
Lee Yeok flashed a grin.
"Are you so certain of that?"
Somewhere along the way, the sword meant for Lee Yeok's life had found its way into his hand. The Divine Cat warrior's face went white.
"No — when did you—"
FWOOM!
Lee Yeok vanished in an instant. The Divine Cat warrior stared, uncomprehending, at his own sword transfixing his chest. Fresh blood welled from his gaping mouth.
"Why must you all insist on showing off? You never throw a weapon around carelessly. Remember that in your next life, please."
The warrior's eyes bulged. He had spent his career hunting bandits, and speed was the one thing he'd always trusted in himself. Even for him, Lee Yeok's blurring quickness was beyond the realm of comprehension.
Until his very last breath, a single question echoed in his mind.
How — how can anyone be that fast...?
CRASH!
Before the Divine Cat warrior had even finished falling, Lee Yeok was already standing at Ahn Eunchae's side. She was still sprawled exactly where she'd collapsed moments ago, unable even to rise.
"Up you get, young lady. A grown woman lying about like that — honestly."
Ahn Eunchae flared up inside, but knowing it would do no good, she picked herself up and brushed the dirt from her clothes.
"That man just now was from a outfit called the Divine Cat Corps — masters at tracking people down. If I hadn't dealt with him here, he'd have followed us the whole way. Understand? I broke my professional ethics and killed a man, all for your safety!"
Ahn Eunchae said nothing. She prayed only that they would reach Jinseong as quickly as possible, so she would never have to deal with this lunatic again.
"Oh, and that carriage I was, regrettably, forced to abandon for your safety? I'll write it off for five hundred silver nyang. Make sure it's repaid in Jinseong."
You absolute piece of trash!
Ahn Eunchae, as always, screamed it only in her heart. This time, though, she wasn't even all that surprised at herself.
A few hours later, Lee Yeok came to an abrupt halt at the side of the main road.
Why is he stopping now? Ahn Eunchae felt a prickle of unease. It was far too conspicuous a spot.
"What is it? Don't tell me it's that Divine Cat Corps again—"
"This won't do at all."
Lee Yeok shot her a sharp look.
"You're too slow! At this pace, do you really think you'll make it to Jinseong on time? My grandmother could outrun you, and she's past eighty!"
Ahn Eunchae floundered.
"That's... I've never trained in the martial arts, so..."
Lee Yeok raised a hand and cut her off, pressing a finger to her lips. He seemed to be listening intently for something. A moment later, the thunder of hoofbeats reached Ahn Eunchae's ears as well.
"Don't tell me... you're planning to rob travelers on the road?"
"Hey now — do I look like a bandit or a brigand to you? Insult me one more time, client or no client, and I won't answer for what happens!"
Ahn Eunchae shut her mouth.
A colossal horse was thundering toward them from the distance, its mane and tail blazing red as fire. Lee Yeok darted in front of the galloping beast and waved his hands.
"Excuse me, good sir! I don't know where you're headed, but couldn't you carry us just as far as our paths happen to overlap? Walking all this way on foot is simply—"
BOOM!
The horse didn't so much as slow down. It slammed into Lee Yeok head-on and sent him flying a good few dozen paces, where he crashed to the ground in a tangle of limbs.