Chapter 39
Chapter 39
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 39
Chapter Title: The First Assassination
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-Hoo-ya. My son. Run away. Live.
-And... please, do not walk the same path as your father.
The corpse of his fallen mother.
His father, drenched in blood, leaving his final words.
The boy, Yi Hu, opened his eyes.
"......"
A horrific past recreated in a nightmare.
Any other six-year-old would have burst into tears, and no one would have thought it strange.
But Yi Hu, as always, wore an expressionless face as he straightened his bedding.
"Awakening complete."
Yi Hu stepped out of the shabby, rundown guest room and headed downstairs. He reported his wakeup to the innkeeper, who was wiping down the tables with a rag.
"Sam Ho."
The innkeeper called Yi Hu "Sam Ho" with his own blank, emotionless face.
He held out a scrap of paper.
"Take it."
Yi Hu took the paper, read the written orders and precautions, then swallowed it.
"I will carry out the command."
With a curt reply, Yi Hu headed for the inn's door.
At that moment, the door opened, and guests entered.
"Innkeeper, you open for business?"
A smile instantly spread across the innkeeper's stiff face.
"Welcome! What can I get for you?"
Yi Hu glanced at his superior, who had begun his act, then stepped outside.
「Engage in soliciting customers near the target's residence. Note and report later any suspicious strangers who appear.」
Recalling the instructions on the paper, Yi Hu walked through the marketplace.
The mission target was the wealthy Yu Family Manor—one of the richest households in Gu-gang—even specifically, Manor Lord Yu Hyeong-sim.
Yi Hu didn't know why they were surveilling Yu Hyeong-sim. Or rather, he didn't want to know.
He wanted to turn a blind eye and not think about it.
But.
No one in the world can truly stop thinking just because they want to.
'......It must be for an assassination.'
The thought bubbled up unconsciously.
Yi Hu shuddered, his body convulsing with a chill.
The morning's nightmare replayed in his mind like rumination.
His father's dying wish: never walk the same path.
His breathing grew ragged, making it hard to even draw breath properly.
'No! I'm not trying to kill anyone. I'm just doing what I'm told to survive.'
His father, an assassin who broke the unwritten rule and fell in love.
He built a family and enjoyed a fleeting happiness, but it ended in ruin.
-Do not walk the same path as your father.
His father's last words burned into his mind like a branding iron.
Suddenly, Yi Hu thought that if he weren't cultivating the Emotionless Technique, he might have collapsed and sobbed right then.
'Born to an assassin father, fled from assassins, only to be kidnapped by an assassin sect and raised as one myself.'
Was there any other child in the world with such a twisted fate?
Probably not.
What was ridiculous was that even thinking this stirred no real emotion in him, not even a flicker of expression.
It was all because of the Emotionless Technique.
Emotionless Technique (無心功). Every assassin of the Nameless Bloodless School had to learn it—forced to, even. A core inner art that severed emotions to forge killers.
'Everything about me... is fading away.'
His parents' deaths had once shaken young Yi Hu to his core, like the heavens and earth flipping over.
But now, they barely registered.
He felt a pang of regret about that, but as he advanced in the Emotionless Technique, even that regret was dissolving.
'I have to stop cultivating the Emotionless Technique. To remain myself. But......'
He couldn't stop.
If his inner art progress was deemed too slow—classified as talentless—he'd be discarded.
'I don't want to die. I can't die. As my father wished, I'll survive no matter what.'
Cultivating it would erode his self.
Not cultivating meant discard—death.
It was far too cruel a choice for a child, but the Emotionless Technique even diluted the fear that followed such cruelty.
Maybe that was its one merit.
"Cheap and tasty inn over here!"
Shouting his solicitation with an uncharacteristically blank face, Yi Hu slowly shifted positions.
His destination was the Yu Family Manor, per the orders. He gauged the time by the sun's height.
'The manor lord should be coming out soon.'
Manor Lord Yu Hyeong-sim left the compound every day at the same time to inspect his businesses.
Sure enough, the Yu Family Manor's grand gates opened, revealing Yu Hyeong-sim with his attendants.
Yi Hu continued soliciting while carefully tailing Yu Hyeong-sim from behind.
'Same time, same route as usual. No anomalies.'
Tailing him into a business as a soliciting errand boy was impossible.
From here, another assassin disguised in a different role would take over.
Yi Hu turned back toward the inn—his base—to report.
After the report, he had to cultivate. To avoid being discarded.
That was when it happened.
"Oh dear, young master! Spare a coin!"
Yi Hu's eyes locked onto a beggar boy who had suddenly appeared.
「Note and report later any suspicious strangers who appear.」
An unfamiliar face. At least, not one of the local beggars around here.
A new beggar who drifted in from a neighboring village?
Yi Hu pondered briefly whether to classify the beggar before him as a report-worthy subject.
'He's too plump for a beggar. Could it be a disguise?'
As Yi Hu thought that,
A dumpling fell from a nearby street stall.
"Whoa! Auntie, a dumpling fell! Can I eat it?!"
The beggar boy lunged, shoving the dirt-covered dumpling into his mouth without brushing it off.
Watching that, Yi Hu revised his assessment.
'Definitely a beggar. No wonder he's plump—he'll eat anything.'
Yi Hu resumed his path.
He didn't notice the beggar boy grinning at him while chewing.
The next day.
As Yi Hu set out on his usual mission,
He spotted a beggar sprawled under the Yu Family Manor's wall.
A familiar face. Well, not that familiar.
Just the second time he'd seen him.
'This beggar already figured out the Yu Family Manor has the most generous handouts around?'
The Yu Family Manor was the wealthiest in the area.
They were major landowners, and their businesses were thriving.
Thus, they were also the most generous to beggars and the poor.
'Makes sense. Sharp instincts explain why he's so plump for a beggar.'
As Yi Hu thought that, the beggar spotted him, sprang up, and waved.
"Hey, it's the errand boy young master from yesterday! Got a coin for me today?!"
Yi Hu ignored the beggar boy approaching with overly friendly familiarity.
The beggar boy smacked his lips.
"Looks like you're short on cash. Next time then!"
The next day, and the day after.
The beggar boy lounged under the wall, waving and chattering whenever he saw Yi Hu.
"Young master... hmm, you look younger than me. Errand boy little bro, won't you spare a coin for this poor beggar big bro?"
"H-hey, errand boy bro! Today’s the day—spare a coin before you go!"
"Errand boy bro, it's been four days already. Not today either? Come on, just one coin!"
Around then, Yi Hu seriously debated reporting the beggar boy to his superiors.
But after much deliberation, he decided against it.
He'd observed and analyzed the boy from every angle over several encounters.
No matter how you looked at it, he was just a beggar.
'Reporting him just for being a sly talker would get me slapped silly.'
His superior, the innkeeper, had a heavy hand.
Yi Hu had taken beatings whenever something went wrong—always hard enough to split his lip.
No need to invite punishment without solid evidence of suspicion, he figured.
'Actually, I could use this beggar instead.'
Yi Hu recalled the latest orders.
「In addition to tailing Manor Lord Yu Hyeong-sim, solicit customers deliberately to build familiarity.」
「Build rapport with the Yu Family Manor's servants and inquire about items matching his collection.」
Like many with more money than they knew what to do with, Yu Hyeong-sim's hobby was collecting antiques.
A voracious collector, he even dealt in black markets.
This order brought Yi Hu a sliver of relief.
'Good. It's not for murder.'
Specifying a collectible meant they were after something to steal.
Though the Emotionless Technique had stripped most emotions, the thought of killing still made his body tremble.
Thanks to his father's death and dying words, an obsessive aversion lingered.
He'd hidden it well so far, undetected... but if his superior learned of this mental flaw?
'I'd be discarded, nine times out of ten.'
No assassin sect would keep raising a child with a pathological aversion to killing.
So he couldn't be found out. Not yet—not ever, until he escaped this hellish life.
With those thoughts, Yi Hu held out an iron coin to the beggar boy.
"Whoa, errand boy bro! I had a good feeling about today!"
"I have questions."
A stiff tone for such a young boy. Yi Hu worried the beggar might find it awkward, but the boy's face didn't change.
"Ask away, bro. Nah, since you paid today, call me big bro!"
Yi Hu asked about some things needed for his mission.
"Friendly kid servants? There's one with a mole on his face, looks three or four years older than us. I like him."
"Manor Lord? Oh man, he gives alms just for approaching. Super nice guy. Suspicious? No idea."
With the info secured, Yi Hu stood.
"Answer next time, get another coin."
"Then I'll be big bro again next time, lil' bro!"
And so, for several days.
Yi Hu used the beggar boy for his mission.
The kid was sly but honest, spilling exactly what Yi Hu wanted to know—quite useful.
'I hope these days keep going like this.'
Performing surveillance and tailing missions, cultivating in between.
Even trading light banter with the beggar boy, who could now be called somewhat friendly.
But.
Yi Hu's hopes shattered soon enough.
"Sam Ho."
"Yes."
As usual, heading out in the morning for orders,
His superior, the innkeeper, called him.
"Special orders today."
The superior, who never showed even a shred of emotion, smirked coldly.
Yi Hu felt a chill run down his spine, hair standing on end.
And that unease became reality.
"Congratulations. Your first kill has been decided."
Something thudded inside him.
Yi Hu hid his trembling hands behind his back.
"Execution tonight. If the plan goes as scheduled, you'll appear before the fleeing manor lord, pretend to help, lure him in, and finish him. That's your role."
The innkeeper detailed the plan, but Yi Hu's mind went blank.
"Carry out daytime duties as usual. Watch closely for any anomalies or deviations."
"......Yes."
Yi Hu desperately acted normal.
Stifling his quickened breath, he left the inn.
Only after trekking nearly to the Yu Family Manor did he finally exhale.
"Huff. Huff."
That was when.
"Errand boy bro."
Yi Hu startled and looked up. There was the beggar boy.
"Something wrong?"
"N-no, nothing."
He'd lost his composure enough for a mere beggar to notice.
This wouldn't do.
There might be someone watching him, unlikely as it seemed.
"You sick or something? Want me to fetch medicine?"
"Don't worry about it."
Yi Hu brushed off the beggar boy's hand and walked on.
The boy didn't follow, just watched from behind with knowing eyes.
Time passed, and night fell.
"Sam Ho. Follow me."
Yi Hu trailed his superior, the innkeeper.
They stopped at a low hill behind the Yu Family Manor.
A steep, forested slope, really.
"When the manor lord appears here, approach pretending coincidence. Then stab."
A short dagger was placed in his hand—short enough to hide in a sleeve, long enough to pierce a gut.
In the darkness, Yi Hu bit his lip secretly, steadying his trembling grip.
"Understood."
After his superior vanished into a nearby tree's shadow,
Commotion arose, and the manor lord appeared.
"Huff! Huff! Anyone! Is anyone there!"
The manor lord ran, shouting for help.
His portly, rich-man's frame soaked in sweat.
"Save me! Anyone! Attack! They're attacking!"
Yi Hu stepped out silently, dagger hidden in his sleeve.
"Y-you! You're the errand boy from Cheon-gang Inn! What are you doing at this hour... No, wait... huff!"
His superior had ordered a pretense of chance encounter, but it fell apart from the start.
Seeing Yi Hu standing silently, the manor lord sensed something wrong.
"No way...... No way......"
Yi Hu lunged before it was too late.
He shoved the manor lord full-force, knocking him down, mounted him, and pressed the dagger to his throat.
"P-please... spare me... mercy......"
The manor lord begged, tears or sweat streaming down.
Yi Hu glanced toward the tree where his superior hid, then back to the manor lord's face.
"Huff! Huff!"
His breath came in gasps. Matching the manor lord's exhausted panting after his long run, Yi Hu heaved wildly.
To live, he had to kill.
-Do not walk the same path as your father.
To live, he had to kill.
-Do not walk the same path as your father.
Fail, and he'd be discarded.
-Do not walk the same path as your father.
"Huff! Huff!"
His vision warped. The Emotionless Technique's qi stirred on its own, chilling his head.
No—perhaps it felt scorching hot, like touching ice.
"Huff! Huff! Huff!"
'Still... I have to do it. To not die.'
As the dagger twitched downward and the manor lord squeezed his eyes shut with a whimper,
-Errand boy lil' bro!
-Can't spare some charity today?
-Why not! You're a good guy!
A hot-and-cold sensation wrapped his entire body.
In the end, instead of stabbing, Yi Hu blacked out.
"Tch. I knew something was off. Defective product."
As Yi Hu crumpled, his superior emerged.
The manor lord, who had worn a look of miraculous survival after Yi Hu fainted, now despaired again.
"Y-you...! P-please, spare me......"
Ignoring him, the assassin murmured coolly.
"Bit of a waste of talent, but gotta discard him. Perfect. Manor lord, we'll say this kid killed you for your money."
As the assassin raised the dagger to strike,
"You're the one getting discarded, punk!"