Chapter 7
Chapter 7
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: The Missing Cha Jung-kyeong
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“Great Prince! The bastard’s vanished!”
“Are you sure he’s gone?”
Thud.
Yi Hwan set down his wine cup and furrowed his brow. Song Hoe continued.
“This was lying beyond the wall. No doubt about it—it’s his ring.”
Twitch.
Yi Hwan’s eyebrow arched faintly.
A ring didn’t just come off unless deliberately removed. And it made no sense for a fleeing man to take his off.
Clang!
Yi Hwan snatched up the sword leaning against the wall and stormed out of the room. He headed straight for the adjacent room, where the man with the unsettling gaze had been.
Song Hoe followed, hand on his sword hilt.
Boom!
They smashed through the door, but the room was empty.
Yi Hwan stepped into the hallway and leaped out through the window. Yet nowhere could he spot the man.
‘Did he have business with the guy from the start?’
Rage boiled up inside him.
The sole clue to finding the Sword King’s heir had slipped away.
Whoosh!
Song Hoe landed beside Yi Hwan.
“Do you think it was the doing of the ones he said he saw watching him?”
“For now, they’re the prime suspects.”
Song Hoe started to say more but flinched. He sensed the chilling aura emanating from Yi Hwan.
‘What’s this eerie energy…?’
“Go ask the waiter about them.”
“Understood.”
Song Hoe headed back toward the inn’s entrance.
Yi Hwan scanned the bustling streets, calming his gaze.
‘As he said, Zhao Kingdom men tracking a deserter? Or why else would they take him…?’
Moments later, Song Hoe came running back.
“They left the inn about an hour ago. But before that, a man in azure robes came looking for him and they went out first. Then he left alone after!”
An hour ago lined up exactly with when Cha Jung-kyeong had gone to the outhouse.
“It’s odd. If he’d been kidnapped, there’d have been a commotion.”
“Even so, he was a Black Tiger Squad member. No expert could subdue him silently alone. Which means the azure-robed man who came first likely helped.”
“Or maybe they used poison?”
“Could be.”
Yi Hwan nodded silently, deep in thought.
He couldn’t just abandon Cha Jung-kyeong like this. Failing to find him here would make tracking down the Sword King’s heir a pipe dream.
“How many troops handle security in this city?”
“About ten thousand, as far as I know.”
“Take me to their headquarters.”
“Understood.”
Yi Hwan followed Song Hoe north through the streets.
Soon, the government office on the city’s outskirts came into view.
Warriors blocked the way.
“Halt!”
“It’s the Great Prince! Open the gates at once!”
“Gasp!”
* * *
Early forties, perhaps?
A portly general with eyes as thin as threads stepped forward.
Yi Hwan sat and stared at him.
The general clasped his hands and bowed his head low.
“I greet the Great Prince!”
“Are you the one in charge?”
“Yes. But what brings you to summon this lowly officer at this late hour?”
“There are men I need pursued immediately.”
Yi Hwan described the man’s appearance and attire.
Then his gaze hardened. The general was barely listening.
Song Hoe let out a low shout first.
“How dare you zone out while the Great Prince speaks!”
“I’m listening. Pray continue, Great Prince.”
His insolence was beyond measure. Yi Hwan extended a hand to Song Hoe.
“Sword.”
“…!”
Song Hoe belatedly caught on and handed over his own sword.
Clang!
Yi Hwan placed it on the table and said indifferently.
“Recite back everything I’ve said so far.”
“…Pardon?”
“Not verbatim, but whatever you remember.”
“…!”
The general panicked inwardly.
‘Is this guy insane? The one who grovels even before lowly officers is acting like this in front of…?’
He’d heard about the Fourth Imperial Prince from contacts in the Southern Legion, so Yi Hwan’s arrival hadn’t fazed him.
“A black-robed man with shoulder-length black hair and a scabbard bearing a dragon emblem, right?”
Spot on.
A few words off, but the content matched what Yi Hwan had said.
Yet Yi Hwan’s reaction was different.
“There’s one more thing.”
‘One more? What? There wasn’t anything else noteworthy.’
As the general tilted his head, Yi Hwan flicked the sword hilt. The scabbard slid forward, slamming into the general’s chest.
Thud!
“Urk!”
The general let out a sharp grunt and doubled over like a shrimp.
Song Hoe’s eyes went wide.
‘What was the one more thing? There wasn’t any?’
He too remembered only the same details.
Yi Hwan’s icy voice continued.
“For a mere city security officer to insult a Great Prince of the imperial house.”
Shing.
Yi Hwan slowly drew Song Hoe’s sword. The blade’s chill frosted the room.
“Deputy General.”
“Yes, Great Prince.”
“What’s the harshest punishment for insulting a Great Prince of the imperial house?”
“Immediate execution.”
“Even for a general?”
“Anyone below the Four Expedition Generals.”
“…!”
Only then did the general grasp the gravity. He shot to his feet, dropped to his knees, and slammed his head on the floor.
Thud!
“Mercy! This officer’s indigestion prevented me from focusing on Your Highness’s words!”
His forehead split open, blood flowing. His hands trembled against the floor.
“Mobilize every soldier at once to hunt them down. Your punishment will depend on the results. Understood?”
“Yes, Great Prince!”
Blood streaming, the general bolted outside.
Yi Hwan returned the sword to Song Hoe.
Clang.
Song Hoe asked.
“Was there really one more thing? Even the officer didn’t seem to hear anything else.”
“There wasn’t.”
“…”
“He’s the type who won’t move without a beating, but I can’t just strike without cause. You dissatisfied?”
“Of course not. Well done.”
Yi Hwan sank deep into his chair.
“We’ll stay here tonight.”
* * *
Song Hoe stepped outside.
To fetch more wine for the night. As he walked, he chuckled to himself.
‘Should’ve cracked his skull ages ago.’
He still couldn’t fully adapt to Yi Hwan’s changes. Sometimes it felt strange.
But tonight was satisfying.
The general with powerful backing in the Southern Legion was notorious for his arrogance.
Seeing him grovel was pure catharsis.
‘Feels like a decade’s worth of heartburn just melted away.’
Song Hoe’s steps were unusually light.
* * *
The mountainous region north of the city.
A cave mouth yawned beneath sheer cliffs, faint light leaking from within.
Cha Jung-kyeong glanced between the man and the azure-robed figure, speaking weakly.
“I didn’t desert. I was simply captured by the Yeon Kingdom’s Great Prince during battle.”
“That’s not why we brought you.”
“So you’re not a deserter-hunting squad?”
The man shook his head, and Cha Jung-kyeong shifted his stance.
“Insolent! I serve the Yeon Kingdom’s Great Prince!”
“Didn’t you just say you were captured?”
“Captured, but… I’ve sworn to serve him! If it was ignorance, I’ll forgive you—release my pressure points now!”
He barked in feigned sternness, but the man’s gaze didn’t flicker.
The azure-robed man sighed deeply and addressed him.
“Maybe something happened to the Sword King’s clan, turning the descendants into idiots? This one seems completely dim. What if the technique he used wasn’t the Soul Separation Technique but some similar martial art?”
“Did you just say Soul Separation Technique?”
“Why not keep up the stern act to the end?”
“Answer me! Is that why you captured me?!”
The man’s eyes gleamed.
“That means… someone else besides us recognized the Soul Separation Technique?”
“The Yeon Kingdom’s Great Prince came to the battlefield to take me. That’s how I was captured. For the same reason as you.”
“What?”
The man’s expression changed sharply. The azure-robed man’s eyes widened in shock.
“How did he recognize the Soul Separation Technique?”
“If he knows it, he’s either one of ours or one of theirs. We deal with this one first, then find him.”
“Yes.”
Misinterpreting “deal with,” Cha Jung-kyeong cried out hastily.
“I’m not who you think! I just helped a wanderer in distress and learned one technique!”
“Learned it from a wanderer?”
“Here’s how it happened…”
Cha Jung-kyeong repeated verbatim what he’d told Yi Hwan.
When he finished, the man fell silent for a long while. The azure-robed man transmitted via inner force.
[We can’t scour all of Yeon Kingdom lands right now. Better to verify about the Fourth Imperial Prince first. His incompetence might’ve been a ploy to hide his identity. And if he’s one of theirs… we’ll have to kill him somehow.]
[If he is, prince or not, he dies.]
The man stared straight at Cha Jung-kyeong, who swallowed dryly without realizing.
The man’s gaze had turned chilling.
“Want to live?”
“I do.”
“Then help us a bit.”
* * *
“What’s that?”
The man and azure-robed figure halted outside the cave. Hundreds of torches floated like will-o’-the-wisps along the path to the entrance.
Not just there—other paths too.
“They must be searching for this one.”
“What do we do? If they’ve mobilized the army, they’ll have the whole city blanketed.”
“No matter.”
The man turned to Cha Jung-kyeong.
“Don’t forget what I said.”
“Got it.”
“Why the face?”
“Can’t grin like an idiot.”
“Go.”
Cha Jung-kyeong vanished into the darkness. The azure-robed man furrowed his brow.
“Can we trust him?”
“He’s not one to give up his life easily. He’ll help us to survive.”
“Yes.”
The man turned back.
The azure-robed man followed, asking.
“Where to?”
“We hole up in the mountains until it quiets down.”
“Should we just kill them all?”
“You serious?”
“…A joke.”
“Let’s go.”
“Yes.”