Chapter 36
Chapter 36
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: The Siblings' Trap
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036
A group of people sat gathered in a dark room.
The expensive wool carpets adorning the walls and floor revealed just how wealthy the room's owner was. Sitting in the seat of honor opposite the door was none other than Hwikyeong.
Hwikyeong's horns had continued growing steadily over the past three weeks, now extending a full handspan. Hwikyeong had wanted to cut them off, but Sairan had stopped him, insisting she had to protect his life after seeing how profusely the blood flowed when he tried.
Hwikyeong lightly touched his somewhat unfamiliar horns, then scanned the even stranger faces in the room. Sairan, Gyochung, the goblin boss, the old miner from the Su family named Jeok, and even Yo, the fishmonger from the market.
Hwikyeong muttered without realizing it.
"...How did things end up like this?"
Sairan, sitting right beside him, heard the words.
"Hm? It might be good to review everything that's happened before we carry out the great task. We might have missed something."
"No, that's not what I meant..."
"First, two rumors spread within Autong Citadel. At the same time, Rakrak-nim, the chief of my tribe, ordered me to protect Hwikyeong."
'Hwikyeong.'
Hwikyeong felt like he'd heard his real name—something he'd never expected to hear in his lifetime—more times in these three weeks than ever before.
In the first week, attackers who came sniffing around called it out to confirm. In the second, those seeking alliances or pretending to while plotting betrayal uttered it. By the third, everyone around him acted as if they'd forgotten his fake name, Mangjeo.
Hwikyeong figured even the kids running around the neighborhood alleys probably knew his real name by now. It was just that the atmosphere inside Autong Citadel was too tense for such kids to be visible.
The market, which had never closed even in the height of the rainy season, had now been shut for a full week.
Secrets he'd guarded his whole life no longer mattered.
"We went straight to meet Gyochung upon arriving in Autong Citadel. We were attacked because of it, but in the end, it turned out well. We won over those attackers and gained even greater benefits."
At those words, one of the goblins in the corner silently bowed his head.
He was the leader of a band of goblin wanderers, unable to speak due to an injury on his neck. The goblins simply called him 'Boss,' so everyone else did too.
"At first, we thought the goblin band was attackers hired by the Gyo family on commission, but they weren't. The next day, the eldest, Hwidan, went missing. The Gyo and Sang families were suspiciously hush about Hwidan's disappearance, so when we snuck into his room..."
"We found spots where blood had splattered and been wiped clean."
"It was thanks to lizardmen having better noses than humans. The size of the blood pool made it impossible for him to have survived, so he was declared dead. But there was something that didn't add up. In Autong Citadel, where homes are built by carving into bedrock and clustered tightly together in this hot, rainy season, there aren't many good places to hide a body. If not for Hwikyeong's deduction, we wouldn't have found Hwidan's corpse in time."
Hwikyeong's deduction had been simple.
Hiding a body is easy. Bodies just get found because they stink and attract bugs. They stink and attract bugs because they rot. So preserve it without rotting.
"...And to preserve it without rotting, you salt it. Salting a whole human requires a jar that big, and the only place big enough to hold a jar like that without looking odd was outside the hunter's shack."
"I never imagined unnie would be the first to move."
"Hwijin was a hunter, wasn't she? I think it was instinct. Eliminating the most dangerous person."
"But she ended up losing to her little brother."
"Hwimin was a schemer. He doesn't miss an opportunity."
"Then how do you explain Hwimin losing to the youngest brother?"
"That's the 'hunter's trap,' Hwikyeong."
"Hunter's trap?"
Sairan nodded.
"It's a story Rakrak-nim told me. When Rakrak-nim was very young, he went hunting with one warrior as an errand boy. The warrior was full of confidence, boasting he'd catch a big wild boar that day. And luckily, they really found one. The warrior told Rakrak-nim not to make a sound no matter what, or it'd be his fault if the hunt failed, intimidating him. The warrior held his breath, concentrating for a single javelin throw to sever the boar's windpipe. Because of that, he didn't hear the faint rustle in the nearby bushes. Rakrak-nim tried to warn him but remembered the threat and stayed silent. Just as the warrior was about to throw, a saber-tooth tiger leaped from the bushes and bit his nape. The tiger glanced at Rakrak-nim once, snapped the warrior's neck, and left."
"Ah, so the moment you're hunting prey is the most dangerous?"
Sairan chose her words carefully.
"Well, simply put, yes... but don't get arrogant, don't hunt alone, seek help from companions if possible. It's also a warning to watch your back and neck since saber-tooth tigers target those. Reducing it to one phrase defeats the purpose of the long story."
Gyochung, who had been listening, sighed.
After Hwidan's body was found—and after realizing Hwikyeong was actually Hwiser's fourth child and a potential heir to become the next lord of Autong Citadel—Gyochung had bet all the material and human resources he could muster on Hwikyeong.
In truth, his nature was less merchant than gambler.
"I've heard enough of your lizardman tales. The important thing is how to catch Hwijun. The Sang family ultimately betrayed us and sided with him, so he's backed by two families now: Sang and To. The Su family, which supported Hwijin, is still silent."
"Back to the main point? Fine. My opinion is we don't need the Su family's support."
"There might be a big fight. Each family can muster as many soldiers as the lord permits. They have two families, we have one—it's disadvantageous."
"The fight isn't what's important anyway."
"We still have resources to spare. We might sway the Su family head."
"Didn't we meet the Su head? He's upright. Money won't move him."
"You lizardmen wouldn't get it, but those types are the ones who eat well behind the scenes."
Hwikyeong debated whether to intervene as the debate devolved into petty bickering.
It had been three weeks he could only call lucky.
He'd survived assassination attempts several times thanks to Sairan and received countless aids.
And it wasn't just Sairan.
People he'd thought always ignored and hated him had helped without asking for anything in return—even sacrificing themselves.
'Or maybe three cursed weeks.'
Hwikyeong remembered his three dead siblings well.
Eldest brother Hwidan had always pitied him.
He never approached due to the curse's fear, but helped secretly through others when Hwikyeong was in trouble.
'He probably thought I lacked the ability to enter the lordship race.'
Sister Hwijin was one of the few who didn't take Hwikyeong's curse seriously.
From childhood, she'd taken him to the forest for hunts and taught him skills.
'Though once we grew up, she got bored playing with her kid brother quick.'
Little brother Hwimin learned fast and loved hearing Hwikyeong's stories.
'Probably out of loneliness. But he got bored when I ran out of new tales.'
Upon reflection, none were exactly great siblings, leaving Hwikyeong conflicted—until he recalled the last one.
'Hwijun.'
Hwijun was unknowable.
His aura made approaching difficult, but fortunately, it wasn't just toward Hwikyeong. People called him introverted and weak, but Hwikyeong sensed he was hiding something.
He hadn't known what before, but these three weeks made it clear.
'Fangs. Too sharp and dangerous to reveal in normal life.'
Hwijun was a monster.
Hwikyeong thought Hwijun had anticipated this fight long ago.
Not just stockpiling power like Hwidan, but laying groundwork like go stones, predicting everyone's moves.
Hwijun never played half-hearted moves. Always the best, and before that skill, three siblings fell.
'Even hiring those goblin wanderers on day one to kill me was ultimately Hwijun.'
As Hwikyeong refocused on the room, Sairan and Gyochung's voices reached him.
"So what's the Black Scale tribe's scheme?"
"Nothing like that. More precisely, I don't know. My mission is protecting Hwikyeong."
As Hwikyeong thought to stop their quarrel, someone rushed into the room.
"News from outside the citadel."
It was a Gyo family errand boy.
"What is it?"
"Our scouts think they've spotted the lord."
The people in the dark room exchanged silent glances.
Both Hwikyeong and Hwijun had noticed their father, the lord, was away from the citadel. For the past two weeks, he'd been preoccupied with external matters, paying less attention to the succession fight. This time, it was so urgent he'd taken even the subordinates who relayed internal news.
And in that week, Hwidan's hidden death was revealed, followed by two more siblings' deaths.
The father's absence had accelerated the succession battle.
'And we don't know how he'll decide the heir upon return. Hwijun, with the advantage, will surely settle it before Father comes back.'
If only one child remained as heir candidate, Hwiser wouldn't need to deliberate.
Hwikyeong spoke.
"When do you think he'll arrive?"
"Our scouts use fast horses, but the lord isn't moving quickly, so probably tomorrow morning."
"Ah."
"And the scouts had a message for Hwikyeong-nim only..."
"Yes?"
The errand boy crossed the room to Hwikyeong.
As he brought a hand to his mouth signaling a whisper, Hwikyeong leaned in his ear.
Hot liquid splashed across Hwikyeong's face.
He turned to see Sairan stabbing the errand boy's chest with her blade.
"Eh?"
"He was drawing a knife."
Sairan pulled the knife from the boy's bosom; an iron blade clanged to the floor.
As the boy collapsed, a dagger was embedded in his back.
Everyone looked to the Boss, who nodded as if to say, what did you expect?
Sairan said to Gyochung.
"Gyo family?"
"Yeah. Otherwise, I'd have suspected first."
"There could be more bought Gyo people. We can't trust the Gyo anymore."
"But..."
As Gyochung tried to retort, screams erupted from outside.
Followed by the clash of metal on metal.
Sairan said.
"Not just bought off, then. Hwijun's serious."
"...We'll handle our family. You all escape. If we scatter different ways, they won't notice. Thought of where to go?"
"Yes."
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Sairan chose the sewers.
Without sewers, Autong Citadel—lacking drainage—would flood in the rain, but the ancient sewers made its existence possible.
Still, it wasn't an easy escape route.
The filth reached knee-height, and the paths were labyrinthine.
Especially in rainless times, bugs thriving on the waste swarmed the sewers.
Sairan had found this route alone but hoped never to use it.
She'd also worried Hwikyeong would hate the bugs, but surprisingly, he plunged into the sewer first without a fuss.
As they walked, flies and flying insects battered their faces.
"I'm used to bugs."
"Used... you say?"
Hwikyeong nodded.
"When I was younger than now. Don't remember well, but I went into the outhouse, and the wooden floor was rotten, I think. It broke, I fell through, right into a pile of shit. Probably down to the sewers."
"You fell then too?"
"Yeah. Miraculously unhurt. Pitch black in the sewers, no way to navigate. Full of filth. Thought I was done for..."
"Done for?"
"Weirdest thing: glowing clumps floating around. Followed the light, faintly saw the sewer outlines. But that alone wouldn't get me out. Curious, I chased and caught one—turns out, bugs. Glowing from their bellies."
Sairan, following and listening, blinked.
"Probably... fireflies."
"Fireflies?"
"And not the local kind."
"But they were real. Thanks to them, I escaped the sewers."
"Hm, maybe not the type I know. Or not fireflies."
But from Hwikyeong's description of the glowing bugs, Sairan thought they were fireflies.
'Strange. Fireflies shouldn't be here...'
Fortunately, they didn't need to traverse far.
The exit led underground to the Su family's hunter shack.
At the exit stairs, Sairan grabbed Hwikyeong's shoulder—he'd gone ahead.
"I'll go first from here."
"No sound, no light. No one's there."
"Just in case. If trouble, turn and run."
Hwikyeong, feeling no need for the squabbles of the past three weeks, nodded.
'Hwijun attacked now, meaning he's desperate too. Once out, chance to counterattack.'
After waiting, Hwikyeong decided to follow.
As he placed a foot on the stairs, fighting sounds echoed from above.
When Hwikyeong came to, he had drawn his sword and stepped to the next stair.
The fight was in full swing.
A moonless, cloudy night; everyone swung blades by faint outlines.
But the sole lizardman among humans was easy to spot.
Sairan said to the ascending Hwikyeong.
"Why on earth did you come up?"
Hwikyeong didn't answer.
Behind the fighting men stood a gaunt figure.
Hwijun.
"...Too late. That lizardman's as good as dead."
"What're you saying?"
"Shut up, Hwijun."
As Sairan turned to Hwijun, Hwikyeong saw a spear shaft pierce her back.