The Incompetent Hero and the Return to Yeom Kingdom (6)

After the duel between Seollyun and Seollin ended, Seollin was declared the victor—and she exercised a victor's rights.

Dan Seollyun and every last one of his followers were locked in the Tang Clan's prison. To keep them from escaping, poison was used to evaporate their inner energy, and on top of that they were fully restrained with Martial Artist Restraint Cuffs—shackles designed to block a martial artist's flow of qi.

Seollin personally checked every step of the process, watching for any of Seollyun's hidden associates who might still be lurking about.

Watching from behind as Seollyun's martial artists were clapped in those cuffs, I thought:

Those cuffs… been a long time since I've seen those.

My first day in Yeom Kingdom.

When the Yeom army had restrained me and thrown me in a cell, those were the cuffs ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠they'd locked around my wrists.

Back then my body couldn't equip gear, so they had no effect at all—and even if they had, they weren't strong enough to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hold my raw strength, so they couldn't have restrained me properly anyway… but still.

…Huh? Come to think of it. The equip-restriction debuff is gone now, so if I put on debuff gear like this, the effects would apply as-is? That's kind of a bummer, then.

A blessing and a curse, I guess.

From now on I'd better carefully check before equipping any debuff items.

Anyway, once the Tang Clan situation had been roughly sorted out, the next thing Seollin did was search for traces of Seollyun's dealings with the Beastman Alliance.

Seollyun had received Beastman Alliance techniques—namely Divine Beast Transformation, similar to the Tang Clan's Blood Awakening, and the extreme poison Serpent Poison refined from Imugi blood—in exchange for handing over Tang Clan martial artists. Seollin was desperate to find those traces, if only for that reason.

"He was a meticulous man, so he definitely left ledgers."

"That little sister of yours I saw before… Seollan, you said she wasn't inside the Tang Clan?"

"Yeah…. There were signs she'd been living in her room until recently… and more than anything, this little guy was still here. So Seollan was probably handed over relatively recently."

A green snake slithered up Seollin's leg. Apparently it was Seollan's pet snake.

A normal person would have freaked out, but Seollin was used to it—she kept examining the ledgers without so much as a glance.

"Hmm…."

Sssaa?…

When I watched the pet snake carefully, it seemed to notice my gaze. The snake climbed all the way up to Seollin's shoulder, tilted its head, and looked at me.

During Seollin and Seollyun's fight, that snake had slipped past everyone's detection except mine, approached Seollin, and passed her something like a small bead.

That became the catalyst for Seollin's Imugi blood to transform into a dragon—and that was how she had been able to defeat Seollyun.

The Incomplete Yeouiju, huh…

The identity of the bead that had entered my eyes the moment the snake passed it to her.

Why had that snake been carrying something like that?

Since it was Seollan's pet snake, ultimately Seollan must have been the one who had the Incomplete Yeouiju item.

Just what kind of person was Seollan to have something like that?

When I'd seen her before, she'd just seemed like an ordinary rich family's daughter.

"Thinking about Seollan?"

"How'd you know?"

"It's written all over your face."

"Well… yeah."

When I nodded, Seollin paused her search of the ledgers and spoke.

"Seollan was a genius."

"A genius?"

"Yeah."

A genius, huh…

Seollin gently stroked the pet snake on her shoulder as she continued.

"Do you remember the last thing I said to Dan Seollyun?"

"That… Dan Seolpung never once intended to make you, Seollin, the young clan head?"

"Yeah. That was definitely true. Father never tried to make me clan head. If I had to rank it… I was third."

Third.

Which meant Dan Seollyun was second. And Dan Seollan was…

"That's right. Originally, Father's choice for young clan head was Seollan. My brother probably doesn't know."

"That's… surprising. Why? Does it have to do with that genius thing you mentioned?"

"Yeah. Seollan… can copy anything she sees exactly as it is. Kind of like… she was born with the Heavenly Martial Body innately? So she could copy every poison, hidden weapon technique, and footwork of the Tang Clan just by seeing them once."

Oh… that's no small feat.

So her demeanor back then had just been an act?

"Of course she can use Blood Awakening too. But… Seollan wasn't interested in that sort of thing. So she rejected Father's offer to become clan head. I only found out because Seollan told me. Otherwise I never would have known."

"Hmm…"

"Anyway… even though she was that kind of genius, all Seollan wanted was a leisurely… peaceful life without fighting. Looking back now… maybe the one who should have become a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠dragon wasn't me, but Seollan."

At Seollin's slightly drooping voice, I sighed and stroked her head.

Unlike usual, deer-like antlers caught against my hand.

"Either way, you became a dragon too, so you have the qualifications as well. So don't worry too much. And I'm sure we'll be able to find Seollan too."

"…Yeah."

Bang!

"Doryeong! Seollin!"

"?"

In the middle of that, Baekryeon suddenly burst through the door.

I'd left Baekryeon in charge of watching the Beastman Alliance personnel Lucy had brought along with Baekho—what was she doing here?

"People from the Yeom family have come looking. They say they're the Jaryong Unit."

"The Yeom family?"

Faster than I'd expected.

Or had they been waiting nearby all along?

"What will you do? Want to meet them?"

"I should. For now… I'm the one in charge of the Tang Clan."

"Alright, then let's go."

Following Baekryeon's lead, we headed to meet the Yeom family personnel who had come to the Tang Clan—the Jaryong Unit, said to be the Yeom family's combat force.

Come to think of it, thanks to Yang Jamun's help I'd been able to operate as part of the Jaryong Unit, but I'd never actually met any other Jaryong members besides myself. So I headed for the reception room with a fluttering heart.

"…"

"Whoa, they're real?"

"Th-that's rude to say…"

There were three people in total.

One taciturn man who seemed to be the leader, and two young girls.

The first thing they looked at wasn't Seollin, who had become the master of this place—but me.

"You're the one, right? The parachute Jaryong?"

"Y-your skills… I heard they're amazing…"

"But you look pretty scrawny."

"Th-that's rude… Captain Yang appointed him personally…"

Setting everything else aside, this one brat was seriously annoying. Same vibe as when I'd first met Makina.

"A pleasure to meet you. I am Jaryong member Yun Mugyeol."

"Leon. Also known as Jang Cheon-woo."

"I've heard of your exploits. And now you've dealt with yet another headache for the Yeom family."

"It was nothing. More importantly, shouldn't you be greeting someone else first?"

At my words, Mugyeol nodded.

"Indeed. My apologies. Please forgive the discourtesy. Current Tang Clan Head, Dan Seollin. Since you have not yet formally received the position of clan head, please overlook this informal greeting. My name is Yun Mugyeol. One of the Jaryong members."

"It's fine. I fully understand the current situation. You needn't worry about it."

"You two as well."

"We have ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to do it too?"

When the man quietly glared, the cheeky girl pouted her lips and said:

"Nahee."

"I-I'm Im Naok…"

"First, you may have anticipated this, but we of the Jaryong have been staying around Sichuan with other regular members, monitoring Sichuan's movements. Once word came out that the young clan head of Sichuan might be a traitor, we couldn't know what would happen once he became clan head."

That was true enough.

This fact had come from the Sichuan branch of Haoman… I didn't remember the name, but that guy and Dan Seolpung had said he was suspicious.

And indeed, this guy had betrayed them.

"As expected, all Yeom family personnel within Sichuan were purged, and Captain Jamun headed to Jo to deliver a message to you. At the same time, he gave word to the other Jaryong staying in Sichuan. If you tried to do something, not to interfere—just watch."

Hmm… Leaving everything else aside, Yang Jamun. I'd felt from our second meeting that he wasn't an ordinary person—but he was the captain of the Jaryong?

Well… that's why he could just hand over the Jaryong badge like that.

"And after you entered the Tang Clan, we discovered people hurriedly trying to send something out. So we subdued them and checked what they were trying to export. What they were trying to send out was…"

Click.

The door opened.

And the one who entered was a woman who closely resembled Seollin, yet carried a slightly different air.

No need to beat around the bush—it was Seollan.

"Seollan!"

"Unnie. It's been a while. So our Snakey made it safely to you."

Seollin, who had thought she might never meet her little sister again, ran over in a single stride and hugged Seollan tight.

Seollan smiled gently and patted Seollin's back in return.

After watching that for a moment, Mugyeol turned his gaze back to me and said:

"I'll report that the Tang Clan no longer needs to be a concern."

"Got it. Appreciate it."

"Once things here are settled, what will you do?"

"Obviously go up. To Cheonsan."

At my words, Mugyeol nodded.

"Ah, and I heard you captured a Beastman Alliance spy—is that true?"

"Yeah. Should be in the prison."

"Have you extracted sufficient information from him?"

"Dunno. Haven't checked yet."

When I shrugged, Mugyeol nodded as if understanding and spoke again.

"If it's alright, would it be fine for us to observe the spy's interrogation as well? It would be good to relay information about the Beastman Alliance quickly."

"Ah, just take him then."

"…Is that really alright?"

"Yeah. Probably… you've already gotten the info you need. Managing him here is a pain too. Just take him and handle it yourselves."

Lucy had probably already extracted whatever information she needed using her incubus powers.

I'd heard even heroes fell for mind manipulation and such. Should be fine.

"Then we'll see you at Cheonsan."