Monster (2)
"I have decided to change the plan."
Tang Yeong-hwan was cold-blooded enough to choose the Great Cause over family. Docheol was a great hero who could cleanly kill another's family under the pretext of the Great Cause. The two of them were a perfect match—a true Water-Fish Bond—and in a way, Docheol was more like a calamity summoned to annihilate the Tang Clan.
"Change the plan...?"
"Literally. I have decided to completely revise the escape plan."
But for the Poison Human, who had not been properly informed of the situation, each of Docheol's cold words only deepened her anxiety. He had taught her how to handle poison and given her hope of escape, but if Docheol were to abandon her here as well, the Poison Human would be forced to survive alone with no one to rely on.
Though she was past the age of adulthood, the Poison Human's world consisted of nothing but the mountain village of her childhood and the Tang Clan's basement.
"Th-then, I won't be able to get out?"
So the Poison Human asked again, her voice anxious. Sensing the sharp rise in her tone, Docheol answered in an even calmer, soothing voice.
"That won't happen. First, get out on your own and wait. Beyond this wall where I am, there is a cave; if you follow the cave up, it connects to a building. Wait in that building, and I will come for you after the work is done. If you're uneasy, we can arrange our own code."
*****
The expression of Embroidered Uniform Guard Commander Je Gang soured as he listened to the explanation. He could not understand why, while discussing a chivalrous deed, he felt such revulsion. Given the time they had spent together, to greet actions taken for the Great Cause with suspicion from the start—perhaps that was simply the nature of a man of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. His face flushed red as he asked me.
"You never ordered the Poison Human to kill? But the servants in the basement, and the old servant, all say the Poison Human killed those people. Are you saying all of them are lying?"
"Why does the Poison Human killing them mean I gave the order?"
Je Gang pressed me in an even harsher tone, the result of his unease at coming here in secret mixing with his fury toward me.
"That has been your specialty for a long time! Did you not also do the same this time, controlling the Poison Human from behind to slaughter the main force of the Tang Clan?! And you must be scheming to spirit away the Tang Clan's Poison Human, make her your secret weapon, and throw the World Under Heaven into chaos."
"Let's assume I did. Then tell me, Commander: what should I have done that would have been best?"
Je Gang closed his mouth. His eyes glared fiercely at me, but his lips could not find any words to retort. I leaned back in my chair and asked again.
"I discovered that they were developing a Poison Human, and through that, I also uncovered that a young lady was suffering underground. In this situation, what is the Great Cause? Is the Great Cause for me to scurry over to you, Commander, report the situation, ask permission, wait for the right moment, rescue the girl together, and deliver her to the Imperial Household? Or, because the Tang Clan is too dangerous to touch, is the Great Cause simply to kill the girl?"
Je Gang's face contorted. It flushed red enough to burst blood vessels, and then, as if confessing under torture, he forced each word out with immense effort.
"...Killing her is the Great Cause."
"That is not the Great Cause."
*****
"I want to help too."
"There is no need. The one assisting from the inside would not want that either. I also do not wish to have an awkward relationship with that person, so please wait quietly at the residence this time."
"And what if you die while I'm waiting, mister?"
Docheol gave no answer. Naturally, he had no intention of declining help. The Tang Clan was no easy place. If it were the kind of place where a peak master could just barge in on a whim and single-handedly slaughter everyone, someone would have already stepped up and crushed it.
"I won't die. Did I not teach you, young lady?"
But telling the Poison Human directly to kill people might instead stir up fear and revulsion in her. So, he had to do the opposite. Casually hint at a plan that anyone could see was heading into certain death, and imprint on her the fear of losing the 'mister' who had formed a bond with her all this time.
"...What if you get hurt? What do I do if you get hurt?"
"It's fine. I am confident in detoxification as well."
He let her imagine. The Poison Human's feeble imagination filled with the one person who had taught her, cared for her, and encouraged her from beyond the wall: the anxiety of losing that person and being left alone, the terror of having to survive outside by herself, and the thought that the plan might fail because she did not help.
All of that imagining ensnared her, drawing her deeper with a more desperate, meticulous logic.
"What if they use a powerful poison? If you could detoxify that kind of poison, you would have come into the room long ago. You can't detoxify that, can you?"
And when she pressed him again and again, he acted as if he was being beaten, his words trailing off as he took a breath.
"That is...."
It was like a tug-of-war where neither side exerted any strength, each feeling out the other's nerves. A strange tug-of-war, merely waiting for the other to pull so they could be dragged along. Docheol wanted her to pull, and she wanted Docheol to let himself be pulled.
"....I don't like that. They use poison too. S-so, I think, even though my martial arts are still unskilled, I'm actually the right person for this. This is an operation to get me out. You've done so much for me; it would be wrong for me to do nothing."
Then.
"And, even if I get away safely, if those people survive.... They'll just make more people like me someday. So, mister, if you're making a plan to destroy this family, please, include me too. Please."
If she insisted.
"...It can't be helped."
It truly couldn't be helped.
*****
"It is an unavoidable matter! Those who threaten the Imperial Household and the balance of the World Under Heaven must be eliminated without hesitation! As one loyal to the Imperial Household, how could there be a Greater Cause than this!"
"That is the Imperial Household's Great Cause? Being too scared to touch the Tang Clan, so you kill a girl the Tang Clan was abusing? And, to appear before the one who mustered his courage and slaughtered a band of traitors plotting treason, and demand that he reveal his sinister scheme—that is the Great Cause?"
Je Gang no longer answered. He stepped half a pace back and drew the weapon at his waist, speaking. Even as he drew his sword, his posture was disciplined, befitting a soldier.
"...What you are doing is a betrayal of the Zhuge Family, who have supported and trusted you all this time, and of our Embroidered Uniform Guard. Even if you try to toy with me using wordplay, the fact remains that you joined hands with the Hao Sect behind our backs, ultimately secured the Poison Human without informing us, and grew your own power. You are a dangerous element."
I laughed. I did not even draw my weapon. Seeing that I was not even preparing an attack, Je Gang scanned the surroundings with inexplicable unease in his eyes. I flaunted the axe at my waist, and instead, it was Je Gang who staggered backward as if overwhelmed by my presence.
"Your phrasing is wrong."
Je Gang adjusted his grip on his weapon, wary of his surroundings. He did not know what hidden card I might pull out.
"At a time like this, you should say that you are afraid of me."
At those words, Je Gang's eyes finally hardened with resolve and he lunged at me. As he poured his Internal Strength into his sword and powerfully thrust forward, I evaded the blade, grabbed his forearm, and pulled in the direction of his attack.
"Uugh!"
Je Gang wavered in his balance but then stomped hard on the ground, braced himself, and, gripping his sword with both hands, shifted the direction of his attack toward me.
"Die!"
It was heavy and destructive, befitting military swordsmanship, but its trajectory was simple. I relaxed my body against the honest, powerful force and instead slipped further inside his guard. As I pulled my axe out with one hand, Je Gang kicked me away and deliberately widened the distance.
In the brief interval, Je Gang adjusted his weapon without even blinking. His blunt demeanor remained unchanged, his eyes focused, unwilling to miss any of my movements.
"....Astonishing growth. You were not at this level when you returned to Shaanxi. What enlightenment did you possibly gain in Sichuan?"
"That is just how martial artists are. Regretting having picked a fight?"
"I can subdue you before you grow any further. I can only think this is fortunate."
He was a formidable martial artist. He was merely surprised by my growth; I had not landed a clean hit either. I let my axe hang down and spoke.
"More than that, I have one question."
Je Gang did not answer. But regardless of whether he answered or not, I pressed on with my question.
"If you kill me, what will you do about the Poison Human?"
Je Gang's expression grew uncomfortable as he furrowed his brow.
"....I will kill her. She will be a threat to the Imperial Household."
"The Princess is truly a pitiful person."
"...Do not speak of the Princess with that filthy mouth of yours!"
"What does it matter? If you die, Commander, no one will hear it anyway."
"Aaaaaah!"
First, I won the psychological battle.