“Waaaaah!”
“Urk!”
“S, stop them!”
Outside, soldiers’ battle cries mixed with panicked shouts, erupting all at once.
Bang!
“What, what’s happening?”
Gong Ho flung open the door and shouted, but no answer came back.
The martial artists had realized what was happening and already fled.
Just as he was about to step outside, someone entered.
A peerlessly handsome face gleamed in the moonlight.
“D, Deputy Merchant Lord Eun Seo-ho! What in the world is going on?”
“The Imperial Guard sent by His Majesty has entered Springview Fortress.”
“Wh, what?”
He stared in shock, then quickly looked relieved.
“So you came to get me out! Everyone else ran, but you still thought of me and came for me after all…”
“Oh, no. That’s not it.”
“What?”
“I’m the one who let the Imperial Guard in.”
Now that he looked again, Eun Seo-ho’s face was far too relaxed for someone in the middle of an emergency.
“And I came ahead of time so the man who orchestrated all this wouldn’t escape.”
“Wh, what?”
“So just give me one leg.”
At my words, Gong Ho looked at me like I had lost my mind. Then his face twisted savagely.
“So this was your plan from the very beginning…?”
“Obviously.”
“You damned bastard!”
He cursed and kicked off the floor.
He’d been pretending to talk while waiting for a chance to run.
As if I’d let him.
I instantly used my Lightness Skill, grabbed him by the back of the neck, and slammed him to the ground.
Thud!
“Urgh!”
Groaning as he clutched his waist, he looked up at me.
“E, even Peak realm fighters couldn’t catch me with my Lightness Skill… what the hell are you?”
So that was how he’d managed to escape in the future Lady Seohyang saw.
His Lightness Skill really was exceptional.
He only failed because he ran into me.
If I hadn’t secretly taken those artifact shoes ahead of time, even I probably would’ve lost him.
Letting out a quiet sigh of relief, I walked toward Gong Ho.
“I’m pretty confident in my Lightness Skill myself. And I already knew you’d try to run.”
There was no need to tell him I had reached the Profound realm.
“Damn it! Those shoes! If my One-Step Thousand-League Shoes hadn’t burned up, I never would’ve gotten stuck here!”
Still unwilling to give up, Gong Ho drew his sword and charged at me.
“Die, you bastard!”
Thud!
But I wasn’t alone here. And my escort guards were more than capable.
In an instant, Escort Guard Seo Wu’s foot slammed into Gong Ho’s chest, and Escort Guard Jin Yu unleashed palm force into his back.
“Cough! Cough!”
He rolled across the floor, his insides thoroughly shaken up, then looked at me with desperate eyes.
“P, please, spare me! I have a wife and children. If I die, they’ll starve.”
A lie.
Wife and children, my ass.
Did he think the Murim Alliance was stupid enough to assign a sleeper agent to a man with a family?
To keep things secret, they would’ve chosen an unmarried man without question.
And those weren’t the eyes of a family man, either.
“When did I say I was going to kill you?”
“Huh?”
“I said I was only going to break one leg.”
“You’re planning to hand me over to the Emperor after that! How is that any different from killing me?”
“It’s very different. For one thing, I’m not the one killing you.”
“What kind of bullshit logic is that, you fucking bastard!”
He hurled curses at me.
I ran a hand through my hair and let out a sigh.
“Whew. Looks like you still haven’t figured out your situation. And now you’ve offended me. I was only going to break one leg, but now I think I’ll break all four limbs.”
“By your command!”
“N, no! I was wrong, I—”
Crack!
Craack!
“Aaaaaaagh!”
I don’t exactly have a good personality.
.
.
.
A little later,
Gong Ho, his arms and legs broken, was being dragged along by my escort guards.
We had decided to gather everyone we’d subdued in one place.
Before long, we arrived in front of the manor.
Several pillars had been driven into the ground there, and each one had someone tied to it.
Jin Dae-cheol, Baek Seon, and several turncoats the Imperial Guard and Embroidered Guard had captured.
The other Unorthodox Sect martial artists had been bound and gathered off to one side.
“Oh! You’re here?”
Warrior Jin Yeong and the other Embroidered Guard members welcomed me.
“Yes. You all worked hard.”
“You’re the one who’s done the real work.”
Then he looked past me and his expression hardened.
“That’s him?”
“Yes. Gong Ho, the one who taught them the scheme that set all this in motion.”
“Tie him up tight.”
“Yes.”
At my order, the escort guards firmly tied Gong Ho to one of the pillars.
Only then did Warrior Jin Yeong take in Gong Ho’s condition and ask,
“Though… he looks awful.”
“Ah… I only meant to break one leg at first, but things happened and he ended up like that.”
At my words, Palgap shook his head beside me.
What was that for?
What was that supposed to mean?
The power of five thousand Imperial Guards was overwhelming.
They had sealed off Springview Fortress so completely that not even water could slip through.
The martial artists Gong Ho had brought, along with the turncoats, had no way of breaking through that encirclement.
A few tried hiding in civilian homes, but there was no way the townspeople were going to shelter them.
And so, less than half a day after the Imperial Guard and Embroidered Guard entered the fortress, it was all over.
I clicked my tongue as I looked at the people tied to the pillars.
Just a few hours ago, they’d probably been dreaming about bright, glorious futures.
But the reality was simple.
They were criminals who had deceived the Emperor and plotted treason.
Worse, in my previous life, they had pinned that crime on this fortress’s lord instead.
Knowing I had stopped that unjust death and made the real culprits pay for what they’d done filled me with a strange satisfaction.
Just then, I sensed someone approaching from the side and turned my head.
Gwon Jik was coming this way with a group of people.
Behind him, Yeon Yu-mun was supporting a middle-aged man.
One of his arms was gone, and he looked badly worn down, but I recognized him right away.
The Fortress Lord of Springview Fortress.
Gwon Jik spoke to Warrior Jin Yeong.
“This is the Fortress Lord of Springview Fortress and his household.”
“Ah! I see!”
He cupped his fist and bowed his head to the Fortress Lord.
“I am Jin Yeong of the Embroidered Guard. Are you feeling any better? His Majesty has been deeply concerned for you.”
“This old body is hardly worth such care… I am overwhelmed by His Majesty’s grace.”
“This is the imperial decree His Majesty has bestowed.”
Warrior Jin Yeong held out a scroll decorated in brilliant gold.
The Fortress Lord accepted the decree with trembling hands, and Yeon Yu-mun helped him open it beside him.
Tears streamed from the Fortress Lord’s eyes as he read it, so it seemed His Majesty had sincerely apologized.
“I am overwhelmed by His Majesty’s boundless grace, truly overwhelmed!”
Then Yeon Yu-mun stepped closer and whispered something to him.
The Fortress Lord turned his head and looked at me.
Huh?
Why was he looking at me?
The Fortress Lord walked over and took my hand in his remaining one.
“You are Deputy Merchant Lord Eun Seo-ho?”
“Ah, yes. That’s right, but…”
“I heard you played a major role in all this. Thank you. Truly.”
“I didn’t do much.”
“That humility goes too far. Gwon and my son have already told me everything. If not for you, I would have…”
His eyes welled up again.
Maybe because I knew how he had ended in my previous life, but the moment felt strangely complicated.
Without thinking, I offered him a blessing.
“I hope you live a long life and spend the rest of it in peace.”
“Thank you.”
After greeting me, he turned to Gwon Jik.
“I have a request.”
“Please, speak.”
“Those men… may I beat each of them once?”
The Fortress Lord’s eyes were blazing as he said it.
They hadn’t been content with extorting and tormenting the people for years.
They had violated his daughter and driven her to take her own life.
If I were him, I’d want to beat them too.
But their punishment belonged to the Emperor.
That was why he couldn’t act on his own and had to ask first.
I turned to Warrior Jin Yeong.
“Have they confessed their crimes yet?”
At that, Warrior Jin Yeong grinned.
“Not yet.”
“Then a little violence in the course of interrogation can’t really be called punishment, can it?”
“That’s right.”
It seemed Warrior Jin Yeong understood what I meant.
“Can you bring me a suitable club?”
“Right away!”
Palgap soon returned with a club covered in short little thorns.
“You brought just the right thing.”
It was made from a thorn tree that grew only here in Yunnan.
The Empire often used that wood when punishing criminals. Its sap helped wounds heal cleanly, so injuries were less likely to fester.
I placed it in the Fortress Lord’s hand and said,
“Do you think they’ll confess after one hit? It’ll probably take thirty before they open their mouths.”
“…”
“We pushed ourselves pretty hard catching them. It’s embarrassing to admit, but I think we’ll need the Fortress Lord’s help.”
“In that case, I should help.”
The Fortress Lord raised the club, and the turncoats’ eyes shook with fear.
I gently added,
“If your emotions get too out of hand, I’ll take it away from you. So please, make every strike count.”
“Understood.”
“Oh, and avoid the vital points. Dying here would be mercy for people like them. There’s no reason to grant them that mercy, is there?”
“Of course not.”
Thwack–!
“Ghk!”
Now that’s a satisfying swing.
This should ease some of the bitterness in the Fortress Lord’s heart.
Honestly, beating them himself probably felt a hundred times better than watching the Emperor sentence them.
The next day.
The turncoats were hung upside down in prison carts one after another.
His Majesty had ordered them to be transported to Beijing hanging upside down.
So once again, specially made prison carts had been prepared.
The road to Beijing was long and rough, so they were bound to suffer the whole way, but I didn’t feel sorry for them in the slightest.
They deserved every bit of it.
And so, four thousand Imperial Guards and Embroidered Guards finished preparing to depart, surrounding the prison carts.
The rest would remain here to stabilize order and help with repairs.
Though from the sound of it, they were also staying behind to investigate the surrounding regions.
“Then we’ll be on our way.”
“Travel safely.”
“As soon as you recover, I’ll come and escort you myself.”
Yesterday, the Fortress Lord had quite literally beaten the envoys who had exploited him all this time half to death.
Beating people takes stamina, but somehow he kept going until there wasn’t a single part of their bodies that hadn’t been pierced by thorns before he finally stopped.
Thanks to that, he looked remarkably refreshed.
“Move out!”
At Warrior Jin Yeong’s shout, we started forward.
After dealing with Shaolin Temple’s matter and then getting dragged to Yunnan so abruptly it might as well have been kidnapping,
I could finally, truly, go back to the Beijing Branch.
I was so overwhelmed I nearly cried.
The road from Yunnan to Beijing was practically a journey across the entire Empire.
Naturally, it was a long one.
Since a force of several thousand was moving together while hauling prison carts, our pace was painfully slow.
To be honest, my group and I were riding River-Crossing Horses, so if we wanted to, we could reach Beijing in no time.
But there was a reason we were matching their speed instead.
Someone might try to rescue Gong Ho or kill him.
Once Gong Ho was interrogated, the Murim Alliance would be in a very uncomfortable position.
If I could use that to narrow the Murim Alliance’s footing or tarnish its reputation, then this much trouble was worth it.
I glanced toward the prison carts.
The turncoats locked inside had already tried to escape several times, waiting for openings.
They’d try untying themselves when the cart shook and their bodies pressed together, or make a run for it while being fed or taken out to relieve themselves.
I’d even had to catch some of them myself.
You couldn’t hide where they came from. They were a headache to the bitter end.
But Gong Ho and Jin Dae-cheol hadn’t tried anything, and that apparently struck Warrior Jin Yeong as odd.
“Those two are quiet.”
I answered calmly,
“Ah, as you know, I had no choice but to break all of Gong Ho’s limbs while capturing him, didn’t I? He can barely move at all. And as for Jin Dae-cheol, weren’t the tendons in all four of his limbs severed?”
“Hmm? Is that so?”
Warrior Jin Yeong’s eyes lit up.
“That’s true enough. That won’t kill them.”
It seemed those two had once served in the Embroidered Guard themselves, yet still hadn’t realized just how vicious the Embroidered Guard could be.
Maybe my words gave them inspiration, because they went ahead and crushed the prisoners’ fingers and toes too.
After that, the escape attempts stopped, and the journey became a peaceful one.
And so, at the end of the Tenth Month, we finally arrived in Beijing.
.
.
.
As soon as I reached Beijing, I went straight to the Emperor.
But not the main hall where the officials gathered.
This was the Emperor’s private office.
The Embroidered Guard and Eastern Depot couldn’t reveal their identities openly.
“You’ve done well.”
The Emperor praised the Embroidered Guard for their efforts and rewarded them.
Then he turned his head toward me.
My turn.
“Well then, Deputy Merchant Lord Eun Seo-ho.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“You handled this even better than I expected. Your ability truly is remarkable.”
At those words, I answered with proper humility.
“It was only because Your Majesty placed your trust in me that I was able to do what I could.”
“With talent like yours, how could I not trust you? This time, you rendered an extraordinary service. You even saved my son’s life.”
“All of this is due to Your Majesty’s grace.”
“There’s no need to gild my face. As I said before, tell me what it is you want.”
Yes!
Just as I’d resolved before, now I could ask him to leave me alone for once.
But then the Emperor continued, and the words died in my throat.
“As long as it isn’t something like saying you’ll devote yourself only to merchant affairs, or that you plan to leave my side, I’ll grant you anything.”
“…”
Y, Your Majesty?
Ah… why are tears suddenly blurring my vision?
–TL Notes–
Tired of seeing Ads? Then please support me on Patreon! Any tier of subscription will make it so you won’t get any ads!
If you want to support me or give me feedback, you can do it at patreon.com/InsanityTheGame
Join my Discord! https://discord.gg/BWaP3AHHpt
