Chapter 10
Chapter 10
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: I'll Take Her
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"Please accept me as a member of the Heavenly Demon Cult, Eldest Senior Brother!"
"...What?"
The sharp-featured man at the head of the Heavenly Demon Cultists wore an utterly baffled expression.
He seemed to have been about to ask where this kid came from, but the words had died in his throat entirely.
'Up close, he looks even more like his portrait! Looks like I found the right place!'
Daddy's secret study contained the names and portraits of the Heavenly Demon Cult's internal organization leaders.
'The members of the Three Secret Squad, the cult's secret intelligence agency, typically hide their faces while operating, so even the members don't know who their leader is. Only the Heavenly Demon and the Young Cult Leader know.'
No, now it's three, including me?
Me, the excellent possessor who knew information others didn't.
That was the reason I could be so confident right now.
I puffed out my chest boldly, acting as if his bewildered reaction meant nothing to me, and spoke up.
"I can see the events that will unfold in the Heavenly Demon Cult from now on. So I want to devote myself to the cult using the ability I possess."
"Good grief, what an absurd little kid. Eldest Senior Brother, do you know her?"
At that moment, a Heavenly Demon Cultist standing right behind the Eldest Senior Brother burst into hearty laughter, as if he found me amusing.
"It's a face I've never seen before either."
The Eldest Senior Brother, watching me without backing down easily, pressed a hand to his forehead as if he had a headache.
"There's no village nearby—how did a little kid like her even get all the way here?"
"Maybe she's Sibi's little sister or something?"
Whether my presence had become a brief amusement amid their intense training, the Heavenly Demon Cultists forming the line began whispering among themselves about my identity.
'Hmph, not Sibi's little sister—I'm the Heavenly Demon's daughter!'
Basking in the stares of the Heavenly Demon Cultists, I noticed the man who had been standing behind the Eldest Senior Brother earlier looking at me with evident amusement.
"Eldest Senior Brother, isn't that kid totally cute? She reminds me of Jang-ryu and Chae-chae when they first joined the cult."
"How are we anything like her?"
"Exactly. Don't compare us to a scrawny little thing who looks like she can't even stomach porridge."
My cheeks burned at that. Two boys who appeared about my age, with identical faces and bright red hair, were glaring at me with narrowed eyes.
'Their hair really is red. Like gochujang. Gochujang is delicious, though...'
As I recalled gochujang dishes from my previous life, I unconsciously smacked my lips.
"Jang-ryu, didn't she just smack her lips looking at us?"
"What? That's creepy."
The twins stepped back a pace from me, looking vaguely unsettled.
I'd unintentionally scared the twin Heavenly Demon Cultists.
"Kid, this isn't some playground for weaklings like you who look like they'd collapse at a touch. If you want to live, you'd better turn around and go home now."
When I showed no sign of leaving, the man who had been watching me amusedly suddenly hardened his expression into something chilling and issued a warning.
'Funny. Who do you think would get scared? Look, the Eldest Senior Brother has no choice but to accept me.'
"I'm not here to play around idly. I've come to help the Heavenly Demon Cult."
"Helping us? Who do you think you're helping, you cute little brat?"
The man who had warned me scowled and shouted at my words.
'I'm not dealing with you—it's the Eldest Senior Brother I need to convince.'
I ignored him and continued addressing the Eldest Senior Brother.
"A few days ago, the Heavenly Demon Cult was attacked by mysterious assassins, right?"
"How do you...?"
'How do I know? Because I read it in the novel.'
The original novel mainly dealt with major and minor incidents between the Murim Alliance and the Heavenly Demon Cult, so I knew well what would happen to the cult going forward.
"Was there something like that?"
'As expected, the disciples don't know. They kept it secret from above to avoid alarming them.'
"Didn't I tell you? I have the ability to foresee events in the Heavenly Demon Cult. I saw that one in advance too."
"How are we supposed to believe that?"
"I even saw who sent those assassins. You still haven't uncovered the culprits, have you?"
The Eldest Senior Brother couldn't refute my words.
'Of course not—they never find out who was behind it in the novel either.'
"You really know who was behind that incident?"
"Yes!"
"Fine, let's hear it then. Who were they?"
"Eldest Senior Brother, you can't expect to get information for free just because I'm a naive little kid."
I smiled innocently and attempted to negotiate with him.
"You don't seem like such a naive kid after all. Alright, what is it you want?"
But instead of voicing my immediate demand, I pulled out one more card.
"I also know who the leader of the Three Secret Squad is."
At my words, the Eldest Senior Brother's eyes flickered with momentary unease.
"The Three Secret Squad? How dare a kid who might be a village stray or a spy even mention their leader's name?"
"Yeah! We don't even know!"
The gochujang-haired twins, Jang-ryu and Chae-chae, waved their hands dismissively as if it were absurd.
'That's why I came to the Eldest Senior Brother. The organization I decided to join in the Heavenly Demon Cult is the Three Secret Squad.'
I hadn't learned any martial arts yet or built up any internal energy. And I couldn't very well ask Daddy to teach me, since he was hiding that he was the Heavenly Demon from me.
But there was one thing I surpassed everyone else in this world with: information.
If I used the knowledge from the original novel wisely, operating in the Three Secret Squad would be no problem.
'It'll even be a big help to the Heavenly Demon Cult going forward.'
Why was I saying this in front of everyone? Because the man before me acted as the Eldest Senior Brother for new disciples by day, but his true identity was the leader of the Three Secret Squad, the Secret King.
"Eldest Senior Brother, I want to serve you as my captain."
"See? She can't answer because she doesn't know and is trying to dodge it."
'To the Heavenly Demon Cultists who don't know, it must look like I'm evading the answer.'
But one person definitely knew.
'That I know the Three Secret Squad leader is the Eldest Senior Brother. Namely... the Eldest Senior Brother himself.'
As I expected, the Eldest Senior Brother looked extremely shocked.
"Fine."
"Eldest Senior Brother! Are you really believing this kid's nonsense?"
Once he gave permission, the Heavenly Demon Cultists lined up behind erupted in murmurs.
"Quiet."
At his sharp command—perhaps tense from his identity being exposed—the Heavenly Demon Cultists fell deathly silent.
'Looks like they're starting to put some faith in my words now? Right on plan.'
"If what you say proves true, I'll grant what you want."
"The culprits behind the incident are the Tang Clan of Sichuan."
"What proof is there that the Tang Clan was behind it?"
"Sprinkle salt on the wounds of the corpses attacked by the assassins. The wound areas will turn purple."
"......"
"Blue Death Grass has potent toxicity that can spread through even a small wound and kill in moments. But when it touches salt, it turns purple. It's a poison herb that can't be detected otherwise, one that only the Tang Clan of Sichuan can cultivate."
"How does a kid like you know about a poison herb that only the Tang Clan is aware of?"
"I foresaw that too."
"What if you're a spy sent by the Tang Clan?"
"If I were a Tang Clan spy, I'd have named some other family as the culprits. No spy would confess outright unless they were an idiot."
He had no rebuttal to that.
And rightly so—who else but the Tang Clan of Sichuan could use a poison unknown even to the Heavenly Demon Cult? Even if someone else could, the Tang Clan's involvement couldn't be ruled out.
"If you can't believe me, just verify it yourselves."
'Once they do, they'll keep me around out of curiosity about my information source if nothing else.'
This was the plan I'd devised long ago.
"...We still can't verify the truth of your words yet, so go back for now. If what you said turns out to be fact, then we'll grant your request."
'What? Send me back just like this?'
The Eldest Senior Brother's reaction deviated from the natural instinct to keep someone with valuable information close.
I'd told him about the central organizations and even that the Tang Clan of Sichuan was behind it, yet he was just letting me go?
Normally, you'd want to keep someone like that nearby, right?
'Should I just flop down on the ground and refuse to leave?'
As I scrambled for a backup plan, it happened.
"Take the child in."
"We greet the Young Cult Leader!"
A boy emerged, parting the bowing line.
With black curly hair like ink and crimson eyes that seemed to draw you in just by looking, he appeared only five or six years older than me at most.
'He's so young, yet the Young Cult Leader?'
That wasn't the only surprising thing.
'That voice... it sounds familiar from somewhere.'
But I couldn't pinpoint where I'd heard it.
"Her identity isn't confirmed yet."
The Eldest Senior Brother tried to dissuade him, but for some reason, the Young Cult Leader's gaze stayed fixed on me.
'What's with that intense stare? Trying to intimidate me? If so, I won't back down!'
Determined not to lose, I met the Young Cult Leader's eyes without flinching.
"That's exactly why we should keep her here. Letting her go alive risks her leaking internal Heavenly Demon Cult information elsewhere."
His words, implying they wouldn't let me leave alive now that I knew their secrets, sent a chill down my spine.
'Was there a reason the Young Cult Leader was staring at me so obsessively?'
"True, but we still don't know if her claims are true, and we can't rule out her being a spy entirely, so it's risky to assign her anywhere hastily."
"I'll take her with me."
"Pardon?"
The Eldest Senior Brother looked considerably taken aback by the unexpected declaration.
"That way, it'll be easier to monitor her too. And if her words turn out false..."
For a moment, the Young Cult Leader's blood-red eyes gleamed coldly as they turned to me.
"Kill her."
Pardon? Me...?