Etiquette Education (6)
Dokgo Ryeong woke from sleep and spat out a curse.
“Fuck…. Again?”
Her head felt ready to split open, as if she’d slammed into something when she collapsed.
“No…, shit….”
“Ah, Dokgo-sojeo. You’re awake~?”
“…”
The moment she saw Eun Gwanyeong greeting her, the memories from before she lost consciousness came flooding back.
Baekri Sohyeon stripped bare.
Wi Ilcheong pointing out every part of her body, explaining exactly where to touch to make her feel good.
And Eun Gwanyeong cheerfully sharing her own methods of self-pleasure.
As the memories rose one after another, Dokgo Ryeong’s face flushed scarlet and she screeched.
“Ugh… You lewd bitch!”
“Haa… You’re doing it again. You learned everything yesterday, so why are you like this~? It’s not lewd, I keep telling you.”
“If… if that isn’t lewd, then…!”
“We don’t have time for this right now. Snap out of it and pack your things.”
“What?”
“We have to get off. Shandong’s starting to come into view~?”
“Already?”
“Yes. Wi-oppa and Sohyeon-unni are already outside looking around~?”
Having finished packing her own belongings, Eun Gwanyeong approached Dokgo Ryeong.
The moment she drew near, Dokgo Ryeong felt an instinctive sense of danger.
“Why… why! Don’t come closer!”
“Come here. We need to get ready if we’re getting off.”
“What the…!”
“You have to change your hair color.”
“… What?”
“Aigoo, seriously. Dokgo-sojeo, have you already forgotten? You’re under a wanted order right now! With hair that eye-catching you’ll get spotted in no time~.”
“Ah….”
Dokgo Ryeong fidgeted with her own hair.
Watching her, Eun Gwanyeong wore a sly little smile.
“Why~? Were you expecting something else again~?”
“D-don’t talk nonsense!”
“Heheh, once we get a room later, we can do lots of…”
“Kyaaaaak!!”
“Okay, okay, I’ll stop teasing~. Turn around.”
“Fuck….”
“Ah, and cut down on the swearing too. We’re about to meet my senior brother.”
“The Guardian of the Hao Sect?”
“Yeees. Though the man himself doesn’t like that nickname much.”
Eun Gwanyeong sent inner energy into the acupoints around Dokgo Ryeong’s head, and her hair changed from pink to black from the roots outward.
“That’s a relief.”
“What is?”
“It seems Dokgo-sojeo’s hair color is affected by her inner energy~. Just in case, I’m begging you—please don’t think anything dirty outside? If your hair suddenly changes color…”
“Die!!”
Dokgo Ryeong swung a fist; Eun Gwanyeong dodged and stepped back.
“… See this~?”
Eun Gwanyeong pointed at her. Dokgo Ryeong looked at her own fluttering hair.
It had turned pink again.
“… Please calm down, okay? Got it?”
“Fuuuuuck!!!”
Even as she said it, Eun Gwanyeong thought the word “calm” really didn’t suit Dokgo Ryeong at all.
“Ah, you’ve come ou…t?”
When Dokgo Ryeong stepped out of the cabin, Wi Ilcheong’s voice carried a note of confusion.
“… Why are you hiding, sojeo?”
“Well, you see~…, if Dokgo-sojeo keeps thinking about Wi-oppa… kuh!”
“Sh… shut up!”
Dokgo Ryeong’s fist buried itself in Eun Gwanyeong’s side; the smaller girl grimaced.
“Can’t you… just live a little more like a normal person~….”
“Kyaaaaak!!”
“… All that etiquette training was completely pointless~.”
“What’s going on, Gwanyeong-ah?”
Baekri Sohyeon approached and looked at Dokgo Ryeong, who was hiding her body behind Eun Gwanyeong’s small frame.
“Ryeong Mae, why are you like that?”
“Well, you see~….”
“Kyaaak!!”
“…”
Watching Dokgo Ryeong keep throwing tantrums like she was having a fit, Eun Gwanyeong sent a sound transmission to Baekri Sohyeon.
Dokgo-sojeo’s hair turns pink the moment she looks at Wi-oppa~…
Oh my
… What should we do? Wouldn’t it be better to just put her to sleep~?
Her being embarrassed is cute and nice to watch, but…. Hmm….
Baekri Sohyeon rested a finger against her cheek, tilted her head, then walked over to Dokgo Ryeong.
“Ryeong Mae, Ryeong Mae.”
“Call me once.”
“How about just walking around with pink hair the whole time?”
“What?!”
Dokgo Ryeong nearly jumped out of her skin.
Even if no one else understood the meaning, to Dokgo Ryeong that soft pink hair was pure humiliation.
It was living proof that her lewd desires were boiling over—and now they wanted her to walk around with it?
“Dummy.”
“Hm?”
“Have you lost your mind?”
“Heheh, other people will just look at Ryeong Mae’s hair and think ‘pretty~’ and move on.”
“…”
Baekri Sohyeon stroked Dokgo Ryeong’s hair as she spoke.
“Fiery red hair and this lovely pink give completely different impressions, don’t they? If you’re bold about it, even the people from the Wulin Alliance might not notice.”
“N… no…. But how….”
“I thought of a good method, heheh.”
Baekri Sohyeon smiled brightly.
Even while looking at that refreshing smile that was sure to lift anyone’s mood, Dokgo Ryeong somehow felt uneasy.
“… Fuck.”
“You’re going to have to keep that mouth shut, Ryeong Mae.”
“…”
“So…”
After hearing the whole plan, Dokgo Ryeong rejected Baekri Sohyeon’s proposal.
No—rejection wasn’t enough; she thrashed around as if she meant to sink the entire ship.
But in the end there was no other way, so she swallowed her shame and followed Baekri Sohyeon’s words.
At the edge of Shandong.
Having arrived in Weihai, the young master of the Hwangbo Clan, Hwangbo Yun, sat on the pier chewing sticky candied hawthorns with a sour look.
“… Do I really have to do this nonsense?”
After finishing yet another stick of candied hawthorn, Hwangbo Yun turned to the beggar sitting beside him and asked.
“Haa…, the Alliance’s orders have come down. How can we not move?”
“I’ll be honest—I feel bad saying this to a disciple of the Beggar’s Sect, but let me speak my mind.”
“Honesty is a virtue of the Hwangbo Clan.”
“Even if I see the Mad Demon’s daughter, I have no intention of capturing her. I’d rather treat her to a meal in secret, if anything.”
“Khahah, truly worthy of the Hwangbo Clan.”
“Frankly speaking, wasn’t it the Beggar’s Sect that first made an enemy of the Mad Demon? I heard you refused to give information just because he traded with the Hao Sect.”
“That’s also true. However, young master, there’s one thing you’re forgetting.”
“And what is that?”
The beggar-disguised man toyed with the four knots tied at his waist as he spoke.
“Have you forgotten that this extermination order was declared by our own Sect Leader, Elder Mukseon?”
“… That’s exactly why it feels even stranger. Is there anyone in the jianghu who doesn’t know Elder Mukseon’s character?”
“Rather than commit the disrespect of questioning the Sect Leader’s judgment, I will simply follow it.”
“Well. If our own Clan Head ordered me to bring someone’s head this very moment, I’d go fetch it and offer it up too.”
“Isn’t that just the life of those beneath them?”
“True enough. Ah, another ship’s coming in.”
Hwangbo Yun heaved his massive frame upright and looked toward the vessel approaching from afar.
“Shall I go, or will the Branch Master go?”
“I went last time, so the young master should handle this one.”
“Very well.”
Hwangbo Yun poured inner energy into his legs and bent his knees.
Bang!
With a thunderous boom his body shot into the air and landed squarely on the deck.
When a giant of a man suddenly dropped from the sky, the sailors panicked and scattered in terror.
“H… huuuh!”
“I come from the Alliance! From this moment, every person on this ship will actively cooperate with this one! As for who I am…”
Hwangbo Yun thumped his own chest with a fist as he spoke.
Embroidered on the spot his fist struck was the symbol of the Hwangbo Clan—Thunder ().
“I am Hwangbo Yun, young master of the great Hwangbo Clan!”
“Th… Thunder Dragon Fist Star!”
“Embarrassing as it is, that title refers to this one. Where is the captain?”
“Th… that’s me.”
One of the sailors stepped forward; Hwangbo Yun looked at him and asked,
“Is there a red-haired young lady of fiery temperament aboard this ship?”
“… I’m not sure.”
“Not sure?”
Crack-crack.
When Hwangbo Yun clenched his fist, extreme yang energy sparked into lightning that crackled around his hand.
“Do you know what this one hates most?”
“I… I don’t know.”
“Vagueness. If there is, say there is! If there isn’t, say there isn’t! Give me a clear answer.”
“That’s…”
Just then, a man strolled out leading three women.
“To meet the young master of the Hwangbo Clan here.”
“… And who might you be?”
“Embarrassingly, in the jianghu I am called the Jade-Faced Young Master.”
“… So it is Great Hero Wi.”
Hwangbo Yun readily bowed his head and cupped his fist in greeting; Wi Ilcheong smiled brightly in return.
“It seemed the captain was in a difficult spot because of me, so I came out myself.”
“What do you mean?”
“One of my companions has pink hair, so I thought there might be some confusion.”
“Ha! Is there truly a woman with pink hair in this world?”
“I found it curious myself. Would you like to confirm with your own eyes?”
“Very well.”
Hwangbo Yun looked at Wi Ilcheong; from behind him a young woman whose face was flushed bright red with embarrassment stepped forward.
“I… it is a pleasure to meet you. I am…”
“Speak quickly.”
“R… Ryeong-ah, if it please you.”
“Hoo…”
Looking at the young woman who introduced herself as “Ryeong-ah,” Hwangbo Yun let out a breath of pure admiration.
To think such a beautiful woman exists in this world…. And not just one, but three.
As the son of a prestigious clan, Hwangbo Yun had mixed with many other great houses since childhood, and among them had been more than a few women famed throughout the jianghu for their beauty.
Yet not a single one of them could compare to the three women Wi Ilcheong had with him.
A lovely young lady with silver hair and a small frame that somehow still held the fresh charm of a girl.
A demure young lady whose hair was as beautiful as the night sky and whose full, womanly figure made one feel a sense of warmth just looking at her.
And finally the young lady with mysterious soft-pink hair whose face was dyed scarlet with shyness—so lovable that it was hard to restrain the protective urge that welled up just from watching her.
Hwangbo Yun stared at the three young ladies in a daze for a moment before remembering why he had come and asking again.
“D… do you have no surname?”
“I… I am the child of commoners who till the fields.”
“Ah…, forgive me. I was rude.”
“It is nothing….”
Watching her flush red with embarrassment at the end of every sentence and lower her head, Hwangbo Yun felt a ticklish warmth bloom in one corner of his chest.
How can such a lovable woman even exist….
Her appearance naturally stirred a man’s protective instincts; Hwangbo Yun’s heart pounded.
“But Great Hero Wi.”
“Yes.”
“… Why do you keep holding Sojeo Ryeong’s hand?”
“Ah…, haha. Well… the sojeo is extremely shy around strangers. Because of that she refuses to leave my side.”
“… Is that so?”
“Yes. Right, Ryeong-ah?”
When Wi Ilcheong’s gaze turned to Ryeong-ah, Hwangbo Yun’s eyes naturally followed.
Hm?
For an instant he thought he saw the eyes of a wild beast in her gaze, but a moment later she answered with even her ears dyed bright red.
“Y… yes….”
“She seems a truly bashful young lady.”
“Indeed she is, haha.”
Having finished his check, Hwangbo Yun cupped his fist toward Wi Ilcheong once more.
“Thank you for your cooperation, Great Hero Wi. If you ever have occasion to visit Mount Tai, be sure to call on the Hwangbo Clan. I would very much like to sit and talk with Great Hero Wi at leisure someday.”
Wi Ilcheong returned the greeting with a cupped fist of his own.
“Haha, should I ever have reason to go that way, I will certainly do so.”
“… Then.”
Just as Hwangbo Yun kicked off the ship to return to land, a strange sound reached his ears.
“Fuuuuuck!!!”
It was unmistakably the voice of the soft-pink-haired young lady he had just seen.
But Hwangbo Yun ignored it.
Surely such an ugly word could never come from the mouth of so lovely a young lady.
“I’ll kill you…! Kyaaaaak!!”
“… Please calm yourself, Dokgo-sojeo. Thanks to you we got through it just fine, didn’t we?”
“I’d rather…!”
Dokgo Ryeong glared at the ship’s mast with murder in her eyes.
When she looked ready to ram her head straight into it, Baekri Sohyeon hurriedly stopped her.
“Ryeong Mae, just calm down a little…”
“Kyaaaaak!!!”
“Wi-orabeoni.”
“Rather than sleeping incense, it might be better to simply seal her mute acupoint…”
“Kyaaaaak!!”
Dokgo Ryeong felt like she would die of shame from having just played the part of a demure young lady.
What made her even more furious was the fact that merely holding Wi Ilcheong’s hand for a short while had kept her hair soft pink the entire time.
I… I felt lewd desire… Fuuuuuck!!!
The thought that her body had become so lewd that just holding hands made her desires boil over left Dokgo Ryeong’s mind flying off somewhere far away until she went completely blank.
While her unfocused eyes stared into empty air, the ship bumped against the pier and rocked once.
“Ryeong Mae. Let’s calm down for now…, we’re on land.”
“Fuuuck… I… I am…”
“Yes, yes. I know. Ryeong Mae isn’t a dirty girl.”
“Kuuuuh…”
“…”
Watching Dokgo Ryeong’s mind leave her body in real time, Wi Ilcheong turned his head toward Eun Gwanyeong.
“… By the way, Eun-sojeo.”
“Yes.”
“How did you fool the eyes of the Wulin Alliance? They must already know that I am traveling with Dokgo-sojeo.”
“Heheh, there are ways for everything. Ah, there he is.”
When Eun Gwanyeong stepped off the ship, a beggar with four knots tied at his waist approached.
She pointed at him and introduced him.
“This is my senior brother and the Guardian of the Hao Sect! Senior Brother ‘Eunho’~?”
“… It’s been a while, junior sister.”
Eunho, still disguised as a Beggar’s Sect disciple, greeted her with a weary smile.