Surviving as the Villainess’s Servant in a Martial Arts Novel Chapter 143

Chapter 143

 

Two groups of people were facing each other in the main hall.

It was easy to tell them apart.

The people wearing clothes of various colors and standing in the upper seats were from the Pleasure Pavilion, while those standing a little farther away, all dressed uniformly in white, were from the Sacred Flame Cult.

And at the very front of the Sacred Flame Cult was someone familiar. The person I had first met in Jinhae, reunited with in Sangju Village, and who had desperately told me her circumstances and asked for my help was…

‘Is that really Miss Ayoung?’

Ayoung was dressed differently from usual. Unlike when she had worn the plain white clothes of the other cult members, she was now dressed in glossy silk robes.

The upper part of the outfit was white, but it gradually became red toward the bottom. At a glance, it looked as though a red flower were blooming, or perhaps as though she herself had transformed into a flame.

She looked completely unfamiliar. With elaborate ornaments, red eye makeup, and a dignified expression, she truly looked like the Sacred Flame Maiden…

“I shall offer my greetings.”

She happened to speak at that moment.

“My name is Baek Seol-yeong of the Sacred Flame Cult. It is truly an honor to meet Master Ma, the leader of the Pleasure Pavilion, whose reputation is well known throughout the martial world.”

As she spoke, she respectfully clasped both hands together and bowed.

I couldn’t bring myself to close my mouth.

‘Baek Seol-yeong?’

She really was the Sacred Flame Maiden? For real?

Who was the Sacred Flame Maiden?

She was none other than the esteemed daughter of the Sacred Flame Cult’s leader and the current second-in-command of the Sacred Flame Cult.

From what I had vaguely heard, she handled all the major and minor affairs of the Sacred Flame Cult in place of their aging leader. If the leader passed away, she was also one of the strongest candidates to become the next leader.

Regardless of why someone like her was here, I couldn’t take my eyes off Ayoung’s face. Then, at last, I realized.

‘I was fooled again.’

Ayoung had been an alias for Baek Seol-yeong. She had concealed her identity and stayed by our side while giving us instructions!

‘How is it possible that not a single thing was true?’

At that moment, a voice came from the Pleasure Pavilion’s side.

“An honor, you say? You flatter me.”

He was a middle-aged man standing at the very front of the Pleasure Pavilion, just like Ayoung… Baek Seol-yeong.

He was remarkably tall and extremely thin. However, judging by his appearance, the expensive long robe and jewelry he wore made him look less like the leader of an unorthodox faction and more like a nouveau riche.

‘Is he the leader of the Pleasure Pavilion?’

As I looked him over, the middle-aged man, the gang leader, continued in a smug tone.

“Rather, I am the honored one. To personally meet the Sacred Flame Maiden, whose face is supposedly so difficult to see, is an enormous honor indeed, wouldn’t you say? It seems I’ve used up all the luck I’ve accumulated in my entire life!”

Then he burst out laughing.

“Hahahaha!”

The other Pleasure Pavilion members around him also laughed loudly along with him. It was an unmistakable mockery directed at her. 

But Baek Seol-yeong didn’t become agitated. Instead, she smiled brightly and replied,

“Thank you so much for welcoming my visit so warmly. If I had known it would be like this, I should have visited your establishment sooner.”

“Then why didn’t you? If you’d sent an envoy, I would have invited you anytime.”

“Even if I wanted to send an envoy, I would first need to know where your establishment is. You’re hiding away with your tail tucked between your legs, apparently so terrified of something. How could I possibly send anyone?”

“How rude!”

A sallow-faced gang member beside the leader shouted, spitting as he spoke. He glared fiercely at Baek Seol-yeong and pointed a finger at her.

“Our establishment welcomes your cult with such hospitality, yet your cult dares to speak so rudely to us! I will formally lodge a complaint about this with the Cult Leader…!”

“Enough, enough.”

Master Ma waved his hand with a smile.

“Why are you getting so worked up over something a young girl said without knowing any better? You need to learn to keep your composure.”

“I-I apologize, Master……”

“It’s fine. In any case, Sacred Flame Maiden, what brings you here? Well, I doubt it’s anything particularly important. Perhaps you came to have a drink with this leader of the Pleasure Pavilion all night…”

“Rude? You call that rude?”

Baek Seol-yeong casually ignored what the leader said and spoke about something else.

“Your words are strange. Wasn’t it your establishment that was rude to our cult first?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“You know perfectly well, yet seeing you pretend otherwise keeps making me laugh. Wasn’t it your establishment that attacked our cult first? You raided villages where our cult members lived, killed people, and abducted them.”

“……”

“And yet you call me rude? Is my casual remark really comparable to something that outrageous? I wonder whether you truly don’t know, or simply have no shame…”

“You-!”

In the end, the leader became enraged and shouted.

“I was trying to speak nicely, yet how dare you put the blame on our establishment! If we’re going to determine right and wrong, wasn’t it your cult that crossed the line first?”

“What line did our cult cross?”

“Hah, now you’re going to pretend you don’t know? Weren’t you the ones who entered our territory first and rampaged around however you pleased? And then you interfered with everything our establishment did!”

“How is helping people considered rampaging around? And since what your establishment does goes against basic human decency, of course we had no choice but to interfere.”

“Against human decency? What exactly have we done that goes against human decency? We made them pay a fair price. If they asked for food, we gave them food. If they asked for money, we gave them money. We didn’t force anything down their throats. They chose to consume it themselves!”

At the gang leader’s shameless words, Baek Seol-yeong’s expression also twisted. Refusing to back down, she scolded him loudly.

“What ridiculous sophistry! Then what choice do the poor have? Do you think telling people who don’t even have enough food to eat tomorrow that it was their own choice makes it justified?”

“Nonsense! We have nothing to be ashamed of!”

“If you’re so proud of yourselves, then why didn’t you offer it to ordinary people and only recommended it to the poor? And you claim they paid a fair price? Do you really think we don’t know? That sometimes, you secretly mixed drugs into the food they ate!”

“……”

“That’s right. We deliberately interfered with your business. And we will continue to interfere. Because we will manufacture an antidote and distribute it!”

The gang leader’s lips trembled. Judging by how his previously relaxed face had turned bright red, he seemed furious to the very tips of his hair.

However, perhaps he was also quite calculating, because he took a deep breath and desperately tried to calm himself. The gang leader closed and then opened his eyes before speaking crookedly.

“Do you really think you can do that?”

“What?”

“Go ahead and try for a hundred days if you wish. If you make an antidote, all we have to do is make a stronger drug. How far do you think you’ll be able to go making antidotes?”

“……”

“And do you think you can continue looking down on our establishment like this? You haven’t forgotten who we are holding captive, have you?”

At the leader’s words, Baek Seol-yeong’s expression stiffened slightly. 

The people he was referring to were probably the cult members being held in the prison.

‘Is that why the leader ordered them to be brought here first?’

But they were too late.

I had already released the hostages.

I wanted to rush out immediately and tell them this, my mouth practically itching to speak, but I held myself back.

I intended to watch the situation a little longer. But the leader continued running his mouth and getting on my nerves.

“Knowing when to bow your head is also a skill. Don’t you understand who has the upper hand in this situation? If you keep insulting our establishment like this, what do you think will happen to your subordinates?”

“……”

“If you want your subordinates back, wouldn’t it be better to apologize for your rudeness? Yes, I think it would be best for you to kneel here and beg everyone for forgiveness.”

“……”

“While prostrating yourself before me, say, ‘Elder, we foolishly spoke out of turn without knowing our place. We will never interfere again, so please show mercy just this once!’ and…”

“Ahahahaha!”

“…Huh?”

Baek Seol-yeong suddenly burst into laughter. Her abrupt reaction startled not only the Pleasure Pavilion but even me, and we all stared at her.

Baek Seol-yeong continued laughing for quite some time before finally speaking with a face full of amusement.

“Sorry, sorry. I heard something so funny that I couldn’t help myself.”

“What?”

“What do you mean, what you have in your hands? Did you think I’d hear that and become so frightened that I’d immediately bow my head? You really thought far too little of me!”

“T-This…”

“Fine, do whatever you want. I, too, will tear your limbs apart and kill you all right here.”

Baek Seol-yeong’s eyes turned fierce.

“My father has always told me this. If someone shows you kindness, repay it twice over; if someone bears a grudge against you, repay it three or four times over. I have always lived by those words.”

“……”

“But now that you intend to form a deep grudge with our cult, how could I hold my head high if I failed to repay it properly?”

“…Are you truly determined to bring death upon yourself?”

“What about death? I am not afraid of death! On the contrary, if I can perish together with you and thereby benefit the world, then that is precisely the path to achieving the Sacred Flame. It would be an honor!”

At the words perish together, the gang leader’s face stiffened. Regardless, Baek Seol-yeong swiftly drew the flexible whip hanging from her waist.

Then she raised it high toward the heavens and shouted,

“Proud flames of the Sacred Flame! The time has come to burn the wicked with the sacred flames and bring benefit to the world. Now is the time to shed blood! Follow me and wage the Holy War!”