An Unwanted Assignment
"The Heavenly Martial Academy...?"
I narrowed my eyes, staring at her as if she had just muttered the foulest blasphemy imaginable.
"Where on earth is that?"
I had genuinely never heard of the place in my life.
"An academy established by the Righteous sects of the Murim," Ye Seon explained calmly. "They proposed the concept over a decade ago, but construction was only completed about five years back, from what I hear."
"The Righteous sects? Are you telling Hwado to throw himself into the martial world right now?!" Ye Rin cried out, looking appalled on my behalf.
"It's only temporary."
Hold on. It can't be temporary.
If you're going to kick me out, send me away for good! A temporary reassignment isn't a military discharge—it's just a business trip!
Wait, she's right. Fuck me, I'm literally being ordered on a business trip.
"Commander, do you even know what the word 'discharge' means?"
"Taking off your uniform is a discharge. What else would it be?"
My face rotted into sheer disgust at Ye Seon's shameless deflection.
If she were even a hair weaker than me, I would have drawn and quartered her on the spot. In a martial arts world, weakness was the ultimate sin.
Of course, that was neither here nor there. Regardless, I had zero reason to quietly accept this ridiculous proposal.
"Ah, for the record, you don't have the right of refusal," she added smoothly. "This is an imperial command."
"Goddammit."
Just when I thought there was no reason, she drops the ultimate trump card.
A soldier is a creature that will circumcise itself if commanded to drop its pants. And when that order comes from the Emperor herself? Morbid as the analogy might be, if she told me to castrate myself, I’d have no choice but to obey. On paper, at least. In reality, if she ever handed down an order like that, I’d gladly stake my life on kindling the flames of revolution.
"Why on earth is Her Imperial Majesty taking an interest in some martial academy? Did someone commit treason or something?"
"Yes."
"I knew it, there's no way that would ev— Wait, what the fuck?"
"Did you just swear at me?"
"Is that really what matters right now?!"
Not just me, but even Ye Rin and Wi Ji-ryeon widened their eyes in utter disbelief.
Treason? The martial world was actively harboring dreams of overthrowing the imperial court?
"Wait, if that's true, you shouldn't be sending me—you should be dispatching the imperial army to crush them immediately!"
"The current court lacks the leeway for that."
"Lacks the leeway? What are you talking about? The imperial court is practically overflowing with manpower—"
Then I remembered the unsettled atmosphere that had been hanging over the palace lately. Even Ye Seon, the Commander-in-Chief herself, was so strapped for time that she could barely manage a private meeting in the dead of night.
Still, brushing off an impending rebellion made no sense whatsoever.
"It is merely speculation," Ye Seon noted. "We have no concrete proof."
"Even so..."
"Above all... the imperial court currently finds itself in an unprecedentedly precarious state."
One seat among the Three Guardian Divine Generals who protected the imperial family still stood vacant. The Four Beyond-the-Border Palaces had shrunk to three.
In a wuxia world where a single supreme master was worth more than ten thousand foot soldiers, this balance of power was precarious at best.
"Conversely, the Murim is enjoying its greatest golden age in history," she continued. "To the point that one cannot easily determine who holds the upper hand between them and the throne."
"Was the Righteous faction's strength really that formidable?"
"Do you truly believe the Righteous faction alone could stand against the imperial court? I am naturally factoring in the other two factions as well."
Zhuge Liang, the Prime Minister of Shu, once declared that the most stable structure in the world takes the form of a three-legged cauldron.
The Righteous faction, the Unorthodox faction, and the Demonic Cult—collectively known as the Three Factions.
The triumvirate dividing the martial realm into thirds.
If they joined hands, it would indeed become a force that even the imperial throne could not take lightly.
"Still, those bastards hate each other even more than they hate the government. I find it hard to believe they'd ever unite."
"I thought so as well."
"Why are you putting that in the past tense? You're making me anxious."
"Are you familiar with the event known as the Gathering of the Ten Dragons?"
"Are you changing the subject? Yes, I know of it. Isn't it just a glorified talent show for the young rising stars of the Righteous sects?"
"It seems this Gathering of the Ten Dragons will be held jointly by all three factions this year."
"...All right, that is undeniably suspicious."
Factions that constantly hungered to rip one another's throats out were suddenly coming together to host a festival in sweet harmony? Nobody in this room was stupid enough to believe they had simply decided to make peace out of the kindness of their hearts.
A common enemy was the only thing that ever united fractured rivals, and the imperial court was the eternal nemesis of the Jianghu.
It took very little brainpower to deduce where their combined blades would point once forged together.
"Would they really go that far? The court doesn't interfere in the Jianghu as long as they obey the law."
"If they obeyed the law, why would they be martial artists in the first place?"
Fair point.
Devoting your life to martial arts and wandering the Jianghu basically meant you intended to act however the hell you pleased.
A genuinely law-abiding citizen would enlist in the military... Fuck, maybe I should have just become a wandering rogue instead.
"As I mentioned earlier, nothing is certain yet. It remains within the realm of speculation. That is why we need to dispatch someone to investigate."
"I understand all that. And I'm... somewhat convinced."
Now I understood why she wanted to send me to the Heavenly Martial Academy. To participate in a festival of rising talents, one had to blend in as a rising talent oneself.
"But why me, of all people? Isn't this usually the Eastern Depot's jurisdiction?"
"As I said, the court is overwhelmed right now. The Eastern Depot is no exception. The Brocade Guard is the only organization with any capacity to spare. And weighing all the conditions, I judged you to be the most suitable candidate."
Does that logic really track?
Besides, what did she mean by 'conditions'? My martial arts were hardly peerless within the Brocade Guard. If age was the criteria, there was still Ye Rin or Wi Ji-ryeon. If anything, being a man made me stand out like a sore thumb, which was an active disadvantage for an undercover infiltration mission.
Wait a second.
Come to think of it, she had made me act cute earlier.
Unless Ye Seon had truly awakened as a predatory middle-aged creep indulging her personal fetishes, that had to be one of those conditions.
A man, acting cute...
No way.
Don't tell me?
"Are you planning to use me in a honey trap?"
"...*Ahem*."
Instead of answering, Ye Seon subtly shifted her gaze away.
That silence spoke louder than any verbal confirmation ever could.
"Wow. Auntie, I really thought better of you..."
How could someone even conceive of using her best friend's son as bait for a honey trap? Was this the real reason I got drafted into the Brocade Guard in the first place?
"You misunderstand. You were conscripted into the Brocade Guard simply because you were qualified for the role."
So you're saying I have an innate aptitude for soldiering? Deeply offensive.
Truthfully, I didn't actually believe Ye Seon expected me to sell my body to dig up intel. It was likely a conclusion reached from one-dimensional bureaucratic logic: He's a man, so he's fit for this role.
"Still, won't I stand out way too much if I go?"
"Even so, no one will ever suspect you are an imperial soldier."
"Wow. That right there? You really hit the nail on the head."
I am Kira.
I am the Armored Titan.
I am a high school girl who finished her mandatory military service.
Even if I proclaimed it aloud to the world, everyone would just treat me like a raving lunatic. Who would ever believe it? In this gender-reversed world, I would have laughed in someone's face and sneered, where on earth would you find a freak like that?
Fuck.
Given the late hour, we agreed to hash out the details tomorrow and called it a night.
And the following morning...
A rumor had already spread like wildfire through the barracks that I was heading to the Heavenly Martial Academy.
"Our youngest is getting his first mission already?"
"A solo assignment, no less! I haven't even received a solo mission yet!"
"*Sob...* I wept at the thought of not hearing our youngest verbally abuse us for a while."
Good grief, the seniors are acting unhinged again today. Did they lose their minds and grow suicidal?
"Shut the hell up, you miserable bastards."
"Young Master... did your inner voice just slip out? I can't quite tell, sir."
Ignoring Mun Gyeong, I cornered Wi Ji-ryeon, the presumed epicenter of the rumor mill.
"Aaaagh! It wasn't me, you crazy bastard!"
"Oh, really?"
As I gave her shins an extra twist of the torture rods, Wi Ji-ryeon finally blurted out a confession naming the real culprit.
Astonishingly, the mastermind behind the leak was Ye Rin.
"Her? Why would she do that out of nowhere?"
"She threw an absolute tantrum, screaming that she wanted to go to the Heavenly Martial Academy with you!"
"And then?"
"What do you mean, 'and then'?! Her mother threw her straight into closed-door secluded cultivation!"
"No wonder I didn't see her around."
My assignment to the Heavenly Martial Academy was for undercover infiltration. Obviously, the fewer people involved, the better.
Ye Rin surely knew that, so why throw such an unreasonable fit?
Well, even without that, she wouldn't have been able to tag along anyway.
In the martial world, martial arts serve as an identification badge and a person's core signature. Just as blooming plum blossoms signified the Mount Hua Sect, a taiji emblem meant Wudang, and flickering lightning symbolized the Namgung Clan, one could readily deduce a practitioner's affiliation simply by watching them fight.
Ye Rin's martial arts were exceptionally conspicuous, so there was no chance she would ever be assigned an undercover job.
Having thought that far, I glanced over at Wi Ji-ryeon.
Her martial arts were fairly generic. If she unleashed them with full lethal intent she might get caught, but if she deliberately masked them, she could probably conceal her tracks even better than I could.
"Didn't you volunteer to help me out?"
"Huh? Why would I bother with that drag?"
"Look at this disloyal piece of trash."
"Aaaaargh! You wouldn't have volunteered either, you hypocrite!!"
She wasn't wrong, but that didn't make her attitude any less infuriating.
After giving Wi Ji-ryeon's legs one last gleeful wrench of the rods, I made my way toward Ye Seon's office, the place I had visited just last night.
Knock, knock.
Barely half a day had passed, yet the shattered wooden door was already completely restored.
She had probably drafted imperial carpenters in the middle of the night to fix it. A miracle made possible only by an era where the concept of standard working hours didn't exist.
"Aun—Commander-in-Chief. It's Yang Hwado."
I caught myself almost saying 'Auntie' and corrected it on the fly. No matter how close we were, calling her that at work in broad daylight felt inappropriate.
"—I am busy at present, so come back lat—"
"—Just tell him to enter."
My expression stiffened at the unfamiliar voice drifting from beyond the door.
Who dared to cut off the Commander-in-Chief—a Senior Second Rank official—and order her around in casual speech?
I could banter freely with her only because of our personal connections; most high-ranking dignitaries and ministers couldn't even meet Ye Seon's gaze.
Just how many people in this entire imperial palace possessed the standing to address her like that? In all likelihood, you could count them on one hand.
"Oh? So you must be the celebrated 'Flower of the Brocade Guard' the rumors speak of. I wondered just how remarkable you could be to cause such a stir... but you surpass the rumors."
The person who appeared as the door swung open was indeed one of those rare few.
Brilliant blonde hair and radiant golden eyes, gleaming like molten treasure.
Everything she wore was of such decadent luxury that even an untrained eye could tell a single garment cost more than a modest estate.
Above all, it was the gaze she directed at me.
It was the look of someone born into evaluating the worth of others—someone entitled by birthright to do so.
I knew who she was.
Long before I became a soldier, when I attended an imperial banquet holding my reincarnated mother's hand, I had caught sight of her from a distance.
One of the Emperor's three daughters.
The Second Princess.
King Gyeong, Ju Seo-yul.
What the hell is this royal highness doing here...?
Shoving my bewilderment aside, I reacted with the practiced composure of a seasoned professional.
"Indeed. I am that very prick."
"Have you finally lost your mind, Young Master?" Mun Gyeong gasped from behind me.
"Haha, what an amusing fellow. Come in and take a seat. I have much I wish to discuss with you."
As I sat down next to Ye Seon, who was watching me with an anxious expression, King Gyeong casually took the seat of honor and looked down at us.
Anyone walking in would have assumed this was her personal chamber.
The Commander-in-Chief wields power that even royalty can't easily dismiss, so why is she acting like this?
Should I ask her via Sound Transmission? I weighed the thought, then dropped it. Exchanging private transmissions in the presence of royalty was an act of lèse-majesté, regardless of content. Besides, if there was anything I needed to know, Ye Seon would have briefed me beforehand.
Apart from shooting me a worried glance, she took no further action. She meant to observe how this played out first.
"You seem surprised by this King's presence. Did the Commander-in-Chief not inform you?"
"Your Highness arrived entirely unannounced," Ye Seon replied stiffly.
"Haha, it seems the Commander-in-Chief's mood is quite sour. Forgive me. When I realized this was my golden chance to catch Imperial Mother's eye, I grew so feverish with excitement that I simply couldn't restrain myself."
A cryptic exchange passed between them.
Why were these two speaking in riddles only they understood right in front of me?
Hey! Explain it so I can understand, damn it!
Fortunately, noticing my bewilderment, Ye Seon spoke up with measured caution.
"Though this mission bears Her Imperial Majesty's seal, the one directing it will be King Gyeong."
"Pardon? Why?"
"Why, because this King is the one who orchestrated this entire situation."
Depending on who heard it, my blunt question could have sounded borderline insolent. Yet far from taking offense, King Gyeong answered with an almost boastful tone.
I cast a sidelong glance at Ye Seon, who gave a slight nod.
Since I was the operative carrying out the mission, she was telling me to address the Princess directly.
"Would it be permissible for me to request permission to verify whether it might cause offense to demand an answer regarding whether I may ask a question inquiring as to the precise meaning of what Your Highness meant by orchestrating the situation..."
"What an amusing man. You wrap it in endless layers of formality, but in short, you wish to know this King's true motives. It is hardly so complex. I merely caught wind of the Murim's subversive movements and relayed them to Imperial Mother."
"...Your Highness was the very first to confirm the signs of rebellion?"
My eyes narrowed at the unexpected explanation.
Someone watching might ask if I dared doubt the words of royalty... but frankly, doubting was the only sensible reaction.
After all, the imperial court possessed the Eastern Depot, the foremost intelligence organization in the world. As the personal eyes and ears of the Emperor, comparing them to civil information guilds like the Beggars' Sect or the Lower District Sect was an outright insult.
If it was information the Emperor didn't know, it meant King Gyeong had uncovered it faster than the Eastern Depot.
Was such a feat even possible?
"What an irreverent gaze. Surely you are not doubting this King's words?"
"I am, Your Highness."
"Haha! Had anyone else dared utter such words, I would have had them flogged to death on the spot. I shall overlook this insolence, taking it as a sign of your fervent loyalty toward Imperial Mother. To satisfy your curiosity: this King happens to have a great many friends. Unlike my elder sister who locks herself away in her quarters or my younger sister who is obsessed with martial arts, I am quite the social creature."
Why the sudden flex about her social network?
Was she threatening to turn me into *The-Entity-Formerly-Known-as-Yang-Hwado* through the power of her connections if I kept getting cheeky?
No, that wasn't quite the vibe.
"Are you saying you planted a mole... er, an undercover operative? But surely the Eastern Depot has done the same."
"The particulars remain a secret. I have never been fond of revealing all my cards, you see."
Only then did I understand why King Gyeong was sitting here.
Being granted full discretionary authority by the Emperor meant King Gyeong's words carried the weight of an imperial decree itself. At least when it came to this mission.
And the poor bastard tasked with executing it?
Me. Goddamn it.
"Your role will be of the utmost importance."
"Isn't this mission merely to confirm evidence of treason at most?"
"On the surface, yes."
"That sounds like Your Highness has a different objective in mind."
"Is there not a saying that crisis breeds opportunity? This King believes that opportunity is right now."
"What kind of opportunity might that be...?"
King Gyeong smiled with chilling meaning.
"Using this endeavor as a stepping stone, this King intends to aim for the seat above all others under the heavens."