Chapter 25
Chapter 25
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: The Reason Rules Exist - 1
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My daily routine is pretty regular.
I wake up before sunrise, practice Five Animals Frolic, and then do my morning business.
Once that's done, I get crammed full of lessons from Chaejin, who's come down from the mountain, and spend the rest of the time working.
After lunch business wraps up, I clean the guest rooms, keep working, and then Chaejin shows up at my room like a drill sergeant for forced Subtle Taiji Fist cramming sessions.
By the time that's over, it's evening, so I do Five Animals Frolic again and handle the remaining work.
Pretty regular, right?
A small change has crept into that orderly life.
"Thank you so much, every time."
"No big deal."
After the Demonic Cult's raid not long ago, the Crimson Star Sect decided to patrol Island Flower Village for our sake.
Of course, they made sure it wouldn't interfere with their training, but for the village, it was far from a bad thing.
Having martial artists—ones friendly to the village, no less—patrolling greatly helped with public safety.
Naturally, the local government was thrilled enough to offer support funds.
I used that money, plus some of my own savings, to buy medicines. I wanted spiritual elixirs if possible, but those aren't exactly easy to come by.
So I stocked up steadily on things like golden sore salves or strange pills for internal injuries, and once I had a decent amount, I handed them out to the Crimson Star Sect disciples.
This was already the third time.
I shook my head at the cute gray-haired girl taking the medicine box.
Sayoon.
The reason I came to this world.
She was still awkward about receiving things from others, clutching the box tightly in her hands.
"Ah. Um, so. I heard Senior Sister Hyunwi helped you out yesterday?"
"Yeah."
"Any tricky parts?"
I'd suggested my inn's backyard as the gathering spot when the Crimson Star Sect disciples finished their patrols.
The reason was simple.
So I could give them some sweets when they came back.
Sure, part of it was for Sayoon, but all the other disciples liked her too.
So we're all one big happy family!!
A candy or two was hardly a loss.
Whether they knew my feelings or not, the Crimson Star Sect disciples never took anything for free.
In return, they offered to check my Five Animals Frolic practice, which naturally slotted into my routine.
Fine by me.
"The fire form was a bit tough."
I was getting Subtle Taiji Fist crammed into my head by Chaejin, so that was no issue.
But Five Animals Frolic was different. All I knew came from gallery chatter and a single manual—basically self-taught.
So the Crimson Star Sect disciples had plenty to correct in my form, and I was deeply grateful. Sayoon was one of them, too.
"Want to show me?"
Sayoon stepped right up beside me. As her deep violet eyes fixed on me, I extended my hand.
Five Animals Frolic is a martial art based on yin-yang and the five elements. Each form follows an elemental attribute, and the fire form was inevitably hard for me right now.
"Hm... I see the problem."
My extended hand dropped toward the ground, my body twisting to strike the air, and Sayoon nodded seriously.
"Why?"
"Your internal energy is lacking. In the fire form of Five Animals Frolic..."
As I stepped back, Sayoon took the exact same stance I'd used. Her right hand rose to support the heavens, her left pressing down toward the earth.
"It starts with heaven and earth in harmony."
She murmured softly, and her hands moved. The right hand that had seized the sky descended.
Signifying the sun bestowing fire upon the earth, faint flames flickered to life in her right palm.
It was subtle, but the energy of fire—one of the five elements—had manifested.
Yet the flame wasn't scorching; it was a gentle fire to nurture those on the earth.
"Hoo. Like this."
After completing the fire form once, Sayoon smiled brightly, and I clapped, offering her the prepared sweets.
Her face flushed as she glanced between the candy and me before bowing politely to accept it.
Seeing her so happy over a few coins' worth of candy filled me with pride.
Haha.
"No worries these days?"
"Worries..."
Sayoon chewed on the candy, closing her eyes for a moment. After hesitating a while, she spoke softly.
"Um. Innkeeper. What do uncles like?"
...Huh?
"Th-there's this uncle who's helped me a ton..."
She startled mid-sentence, then started trembling.
Like a drenched puppy, she looked terribly sorry and at a loss.
"Of course, you've helped me a lot too!!"
She flailed her limbs every which way, rambling incoherently.
She looked just like a startled puppy—so cute—but my superhuman patience kept my face straight.
After babbling for a good while, she finally hung her head, her face red enough to puff smoke.
I pieced together what she'd said and asked calmly.
"So, to sum up: There's this uncle who's helped you a lot, but you don't know what he'd like, so you can't give him anything?"
"Y-yes..."
That uncle's gotta be me.
Ah, pride swelling in my chest.
Kids... you watching?
Our Sayoon wants to do something nice for me...
Representing the 50 Million Sayoon Fans, I recalled the nonsense threads from old fan chats about what we'd want from her.
Ignoring the absurd ones like 'Sayoon's the woman who'd be my mom!' or 'I want Sayoon to cosign my loans!' and all that garbage...
Good lord.
'Just stay healthy and unhurt, please.' That's it?!
You greedy bastards...
"Well, with a hundred people, you've got a hundred tastes. I wouldn't know what he'd like."
"I see... Then what about you, innkeeper? Is there anything I can do for you?"
"Me?"
I smiled at Sayoon.
"Just stay healthy and unhurt."
At my words, her eyes widened round before she burst into a beaming smile.
I couldn't keep Sayoon long. She left with the next Crimson Star Sect disciple who arrived, and I returned to my room to finish up work.
-Knock knock.
"Master. The county magistrate is here."
Huh? The magistrate?
I hurried downstairs, where a burly official with a thick beard and a tigerish face—flanked by two sturdy guards—waited with his usual sour expression.
"What brings the magistrate all the way here?"
"Had some business to discuss with Innkeeper Yu."
"You could've just sent for me."
"You're busy with your own duties..."
"Not busier than you, with official business. Come on, let's go."
Moments later, some pricey dishes arrived inside.
"I'm not here just to eat, but. Ahem."
Oh man. I saw him licking his chops every time the food and drinks came out. Come on.
Mouth says no, but the body's honest!
"It's dinnertime anyway. You've been swamped with work—let me treat you at least."
"Ahem. Ahem. Feels like I'm mooching off you, innkeeper."
"Nonsense. Dig in."
Still, he's not a bad guy. He looks out for Island Flower Village and does his job properly.
Getting chummy with someone like him can only help.
Arms bend inward, after all—as long as he doesn't cross lines with crazy requests, being friends means all sorts of benefits.
After a few rounds of drinks and most of the dishes gone, he spoke up, face slightly flushed.
"About that incident recently. The Demonic Cult bastards showing up."
"Ah, yes."
"That was a mess. Right?"
"Sure was."
"And you, Innkeeper Yu, met the Demonic Cultists face-to-face. Heard you've gotten close with the Crimson Star Sect folks too."
"Y-yeah...?"
Why bring that up out of nowhere?
As I puzzled, the magistrate grinned.
"So, here's the thing. Mind if I ask you one favor, innkeeper?"
"Go ahead. If it's not too much, I'll do it."
"I need you to go inside the Crimson Star Sect and investigate for me."
His tone was dead serious, and I twitched an eyebrow. In the ensuing silence demanding explanation, he shrugged and took a swig.
"You know there was a Demonic Cultist who infiltrated the sect besides the one Falling Sun Sword caught?"
"I heard. Sword Saint handled it personally..."
"Orders came down for a thorough probe on that."
"Oh... Don't they usually send central investigators for this? Why no one from the capital?"
"They said they'll send someone after reviewing the report. Probably being cautious since it's the Crimson Star Sect."
From Sayoon's letter and what the visiting disciples said, the training hall area got totally wrecked.
And that training hall was where the Sword Saint lived—the sect's innermost sanctum.
Meaning outsiders couldn't just poke around there willy-nilly.
"Officials aren't supposed to tangle with martial artists, as the saying goes. And since they helped us, we can't force our way in..."
So, he's reaching out to me, who's on decent terms with the Crimson Star Sect?
"I know the Crimson Star Sect folks are good people. But they're still martial artists with their own rules. We can't shove government regs down their throats, right?"
He made it sound considerate, but his eyes held fear and wariness.
Fair enough. Even a famed righteous sect like Crimson Star—you don't just waltz into their turf.
Especially if they're the ones who helped you.
"But you're different, Innkeeper Yu. You're personally close to them, and I hear they rest at your inn after patrols these days."
"Hmmm..."
"Demonic Cult stuff is sensitive. If we don't handle this right, even if Crimson Star's righteous and all, the empire might restrict their privileges big time. Then even I can't do much."
Ah. That'd be bad.
"Got it. Leave it to me."
He looked satisfied.
"Good. I'll have someone bring the White Jade Plaque tomorrow."
The Demonic Cult was the empire's longtime foe, so they had countermeasures.
One was the White Jade Plaque.
An achievement of the Imperial Anti-Demonic Cult Bureau, it absorbs demonic energy to identify the technique.
They pinpoint the cultist, and if it's a high-level demonic art and the target's dead, they hit the cultist's origin based on prior intel.
Higher-level arts mean higher rank, so missing big shots means weaker defenses.
I nodded, recalling frequent events like this from Celestial Moon.
"Can't they just leave it to Crimson Star Sect then?"
"Tch. I considered it, but scanning demonic energy with the plaque takes more than once or twice. And we've got other stuff to do..."
It usually took a day to absorb, but failures happened, requiring repeats.
The gallery even had bad-luck contests for this—worst was 13 fails in a row, I think.
Anyway, the magistrate didn't want to risk offloading it on the sect.
Not bad for me.
I wanted to see inside Crimson Star Sect anyway.
It's a no-men zone, but other no-men areas in Celestial Moon weren't absolute—methods existed. Should be the same here.
Worst case, just ask nicely.
And I had a favor to ask him anyway. Perfect.
"Not just for this, but... I have an urgent request for you, Magistrate."
"Hahaha. You and I go way back. We're not strangers—anything you need, just say it."
"When I need it."
I fixed my gaze on him, eyes gleaming.
"Mobilize every government soldier you can. Don't worry, it's not endangering the empire."
He pondered long, then raised his cup.
Deal sealed.
One weapon secured against the Iron Blood Clan.