Chapter 94
I looked at the two men walking ahead of me. They were taken aback when they heard my request. However, after hearing what I said next, they nodded as if they could understand where I was coming from.
“I’m afraid to make my way out of the mountain by myself. What if I run into bandits like those from earlier?”
“If you pay the toll…”
“From what I saw earlier, the bandits of Yongcheok Stronghold looked vicious and completely devoid of compassion! If I run into them again, this powerless me will surely be killed. Could you please show me mercy just one more time?”
As I said that and looked at them earnestly, the two seemed visibly swayed.
Zhuge Ye looked at me and said, “Please wait a moment,” before stepping some distance away with Paeng Ga. Then they began arguing in hushed voices for quite a while.
“No! We can’t take him with us. We’re already running late as it is. If we have to protect him along the way, it’ll take even longer, won’t it?”
“But Brother Jin’s words do make sense. If we part ways here, he could run into the bandits again. Besides, those bandits seemed particularly aggressive, so what if something really serious happens to him?”
“……”
“Even if we can’t take him all the way down the mountain as Brother Paeng suggested, we could at least accompany him to somewhere safe…”
No matter how quietly they spoke, my superior senses allowed me to hear everything, and I silently rooted for Zhuge Ye, who was at least taking my side.
Fortunately, the argument ended with Zhuge Ye’s victory. Perhaps they really did have a sense of chivalry befitting young masters of prestigious families, because the two of them couldn’t bring themselves to leave me behind. In the end, they allowed me to join them on the condition that they would only accompany me “partway.”
That alone was more than enough. I smiled brightly and expressed my gratitude.
“I can only thank you for your consideration.”
…And that was how I ended up traveling with them.
The reason I had stubbornly insisted on accompanying them was simple.
‘I have a chance to keep an eye on them from up close, don’t I?’
A chance to directly observe the Inspection Unit, which could be considered one of the central pillars of the Murim Alliance.
They said they wanted to meet the lord of Yongcheok Stronghold. As far as I knew, Yongcheok Stronghold had no connection whatsoever with the Murim Alliance. So why did the Inspection Unit go out of their way to meet the stronghold lord?
‘Because they discovered evidence suggesting a connection to the Demonic Cult.’
That had to be the reason. They suspected that the lord of Yongcheok Stronghold was a member of the Demonic Cult and had come to confirm it.
I had no idea how they intended to confirm that by meeting the stronghold lord in person, but I was curious too. Was the lord of Yongcheok Stronghold really connected to the Guangjin Cult, or…
‘…were they once again going after an innocent person?’
Judging from what I had seen so far, the latter seemed highly likely. Still, I intended to find out what their ulterior motive was, and why they were trying to brand the stronghold lord as a member of the Demonic Cult.
And, above all, there was one particularly important reason…
“You bastards have a death wish or what? How dare you come to our great Yongcheok Stronghold… Ack!”
“You’re the ones who look like you want to die!”
They were taking care of the bandits for me!
‘So convenient. So very convenient.’
Our goals were currently aligned. We were both heading to Yongcheok Stronghold.
Of course, they were going to meet the stronghold lord, while I was going to meet a beauty, but for now, our destination was the same.
So they would beat up the bandits and find out the location of Yongcheok Stronghold, and if I simply hitched a ride with them…
‘Isn’t this killing two birds with one stone?’
On top of that, traveling with them lowered the chances of my identity being discovered. Who would ever think that the notorious symbol of the Unorthodox Faction, Flower-Glutton, would travel around with young disciples of the Orthodox Faction?
Even the bandits who were gnashing their teeth trying to capture me wouldn’t expect it. So I could pretend to be their companion, distract everyone’s attention, and leisurely enter the stronghold.
‘Heh, perfect.’
…That was definitely the plan.
“Tell us where the stronghold is already, damn it… Argh, wake up! I said wake up!”
“Oh, come on, Brother Paeng! What are you doing, knocking him unconscious again?!”
‘Will we even make it inside?’
They were even more inept than I had expected. So inept that I wondered how they had managed to track down members of the Demonic Cult all this time.
They should have applied just enough force to intimidate the bandits, or persuaded them somehow. Instead, without giving any thought to what would happen afterward, they simply kept beating them senseless.
When even the last remaining bandit was knocked down, Zhuge Ye finally exploded.
“Brother Paeng! Didn’t I say I’d handle it myself this time?! Why did you step in again and make things more complicated?!”
“This brat has no manners… That bastard picked a fight with me first. How was I supposed to put up with that?!”
“Oh, come on, just let it go. You’re an adult! This is exactly why I don’t want to travel with you, Brother Paeng. We could’ve just waited as I said and come together with the others!”
“You bastard, if you’re unhappy, then go back!”
The atmosphere looked like a fight was about to break out, so I hurriedly stepped in and changed the subject.
“Oh, why are you two getting worked up over something so trivial? Please calm down, calm down. By the way, are there more people from the Alliance besides the two of you? Where are they?”
Apparently, these two weren’t the only members dispatched by the Inspection Unit to Yongcheok Stronghold. Then why were only these two here? And of all people, the most incompetent ones, huh?
Whether he knew what I was thinking or not, Zhuge Ye muttered with tears welling up in his eyes.
“There… are. Normally, when carrying out missions for the Alliance, we travel together with our other companions.”
“Then why are the two of you alone…?”
“It’s all Brother Paeng’s fault!”
Zhuge Ye suddenly pointed at Paeng Ga.
“After Brother Paeng heard about the mission first, didn’t he insist on rushing ahead, saying that he was more than capable of dealing with the bandits by himself? He said this was the perfect chance to make a name for himself!”
“Ah, damn it…”
“You couldn’t expect me to let Brother Paeng go alone, so I followed him… Honestly, it’s because of Daoist Woonhak, isn’t it? You felt competitive toward him and rushed ahead, didn’t you?”
“What competition?! Do you think I care about some long-nosed Taoist like that? I just want to knock that bastard down a peg. It pisses me off how he’s always acting so smug!”
“Since when has the Daoist ever acted smug? That’s all in your persecution complex… I’m sorry. I’m sorry!”
I stared blankly at the two of them bickering yet again.
I see. So they really had come here without any plan whatsoever…
If anything, I suddenly wanted to ask something else.
‘Guys, are you really going to be okay?’
You have no plan, and you’re short on time. Didn’t you say you had to meet the stronghold lord quickly? I need to go see the beauty quickly too!
Wouldn’t it be better for me to travel alone at this point? I was seriously considering whether I should split off from them even now.
Rustle.
‘Hmm?’
I casually glanced to the side. Sure enough, one of the bandits who should have been unconscious had gotten up at some point and was sneaking away behind us.
He seemed so preoccupied with those two that he hadn’t even noticed I was watching him.
‘Uh-oh. Is it okay to just let him go like that?’
If we let him escape, he would obviously bring a whole group of his comrades back with him. Or he might get ahead of us and set something up along our path.
‘You guys are going to get yourselves into trouble if you let your guard down. You could get captured by the bandits, you know?
…Captured?
Wait, what would happen if they really were captured?
There were generally two possibilities if you were caught by bandits. They could kill you on the spot, or, if they didn’t kill you…
‘They’d lock you up in their stronghold.’
Large organizations generally had prisons in their headquarters, after all. If they couldn’t kill someone immediately or needed to decide how to deal with them, they would capture their enemies and lock them away.
If the bandits decided not to kill them and instead imprison them… And if I, who was traveling with them, happened to get captured as well and entered the stronghold together with them…
‘…Wouldn’t that be fucking perfect?’
Looks like I wouldn’t need to help them at all.
I glanced sideways at the bandit. The bandit had now completely turned around and was desperately fleeing.
Of course, this was all a gamble too. The bandits might decide to kill them in revenge for their comrades.
In that case…
‘I can just run away by myself. All right. Let’s do it.’
A gamble with my life on the line.
Not my life, but ‘their’ lives!
I smiled gently and turned my head away. In my ears, I could still hear the two of them bickering affectionately.
***
Whether fortunately or unfortunately, the two soon stopped arguing.
Perhaps they were at least aware that they couldn’t keep wasting time like this. They ended their conversation at an appropriate point and returned to the matter at hand.
Watching the two of them seriously discuss what lay ahead, I clicked my tongue in disbelief.
‘You idiots, one of them already escaped.’
But I didn’t utter a word.
We began walking along the mountain path again. For the most part, Zhuge Ye and I talked, while Paeng Ga occasionally butted in and ended up arguing with Zhuge Ye. I laughed like a carefree wastrel while secretly keeping an eye on my surroundings.
‘They should be showing up any moment now…’
Tap-tap-tap.
Just then, I heard footsteps. At the same time, the people I had been waiting for finally appeared.
“You bastards, this is as far as you go!”
‘Been waiting for you, customers!’
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