Chapter 16

The carriage we rented from the carriage yard rolled along the road at a steady pace.

I sank deep into the backrest. It was so soft it felt like I was melting.

‘As expected, expensive stuff is best.’

One facing harsh training must keep body and mind at ease.

So I splurged and rented a high-end carriage. I planned to bill the Guardian Hall anyway.

Deolkeong, Deolkeong.

I gently closed my eyes.

The rhythmic jolts naturally made me drowsy.

There was still a fair distance to go, so a brief nap should be fine.

Just as I was about to drift off.

Chwareuk! Chwareuk! Chwareuk!

A strange sound suddenly rang by my ear.

I cracked my eyes open, and saw that it was Im Yeon.

Seated opposite of me, she was roughly flipping through a small booklet.

“…Can you read a book like that?”

“I can.”

A very curt reply.

Her lips were jutting out. It seemed like she was upset.

It was likely because I hadn’t followed her escort policy.

A faint smile tugged at my lips.

‘Like a rookie, she can’t hide her feelings.’

Strictly speaking, she has no reason to be upset.

I never asked for escorts.

Besides, she didn’t come purely to guard me. Her main objective was to keep her eyes on me.

Still, I couldn’t just ignore her.

We might be together for who knows how long.

And I had major business in Demon Valley, so it’s better not to be on awkward terms.

“What’s that book?”

“The Escort Code Manual.”

“You carry it even on assignments?”

“As a gentleman keeps scriptures close by, an escort keeps the manual at hand. To review and check daily.”

“Wow. What an exemplary attitude for an escort.”

I gave a thumbs-up and her expression eased a little.

But only briefly.

She let out a heavy sigh.

“I’m disqualified as an escort.”

“Why?”

“Article 1, Clause 6: To perform perfectly, an escort does not compromise with the protectee. All of Article 1 is a grand principle of escorting, and I’ve already violated it.”

“That makes no sense. Escort situations vary wildly; you can’t codify them so flatly.”

“But the manual is written in bloo—”

“I know—written in blood. Does it also say, ‘An escort must not talk about the manual all day’?”

Im Yeon tilted her head and began flipping pages.

“Please wait. I’ll check if such a clause exists.”

“It was a joke.”

“Ah.”

Blushing, she closed the manual.

“…You like jokes, Seventh Young Lord.”

“Better than being serious about everything.”

“I suppose… sigh. We shouldn’t have rented a carriage…”

“Stop being so fixated on the carriage. What’s wrong with a carriage? It’s great, and comfortable. Be honest, Escort Im, it’s comfy, right?

“It is not.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Then do you want to walk?”

She averted her gaze.

I asked with a smile.

“What’s this? It looks like you don’t want to walk?”

“I-it’s not that I dislike it—rather, I mustn’t.”

“Why?”

“The manual states an escort must remain within three steps of the protectee.”

“Ah, quote it moderately. Please.”

“Y-yes…”

“By the way, how long have you been an escort, Escort Im?”

I went ahead and asked what I was curious about.

I could tell she lacked experience, but I wanted to know the exact length.

“W-well, that…”

She looked aside, trailing off.

“Not long, huh. Don’t be shy, say it. About a year?”

“…months.”

“Pardon?”

“Three months!”

“…”

I was momentarily speechless.

Three months?

That’s far shorter than I expected.

“How did you become a captain with only three months of experience?”

“I—was specially recruited.”

“For your martial skill?”

“Y-yes, that’s right.”

Her face red, I pressed again.

“On whose recommendation?”

“Ah, that… um…”

I tilted my head.

It was an offhand question, yet her reaction was fishy. She’s hiding something.

“Don’t tell me the Elder Council Lord planted you here?”

“Absolutely not!”

She sprang up, almost hitting the roof.

That made it more suspicious, but prying further was unwise.

Everyone has parts they wish to keep secret.

“There were no issues in my recruitment—truly. If you wish, we can go to the Guardian Hall and I’ll prove it!”

“There’s no need to go that far.”

“You—seemed doubtful.”

She fidgeted with the manual in her hands, worried I’d suspect favoritism.

True or not, I honestly didn’t care.

What I needed from her was her Peak-level prowess.

Nothing else mattered for achieving my goal in Demon Valley.

‘Will this be enough?’

I pondered while watching the scenery pass.

It would be a long afternoon.

There would be several crises between entering and leaving Demon Valley.

I had solutions in mind, but a small slip could end badly.

That’s how abnormal a visit to Demon Valley was.

‘It’ll go well.’

At least better than going alone.

If worse came to worst, I could take the Tranquil Frost Pill.

While I was lost in thought, the carriage kept moving.

Before long we were well past the Black Spirit Division.

The scenery had changed, but fortunately Im Yeon didn’t notice.

She was buried in her manual.

But the escorts riding the rented horses beside us were different.

They began to tilt their heads little by little.

They must have wondered how far we were going.

Too late now.

A little farther and it’s the edge of the Black Spirit Division.

Beyond that is Demon Valley.

“Stop there!”

It was right as the carriage reached the division’s edge.

The first expected crisis arrived.

Three mounted warriors blocked our way.

“A-an ambush?”

Im Yeon startled and went for her sword. Her lack of experience showing.

Blocking the way doesn’t always mean attackers.

I calmly soothed her.

“It’s not an ambush, so don’t draw.”

“T-then who would block the way?”

“From their outfit, people of the Seven Demonic Houses.”

“Ah.”

She calmed quickly.

Her face returned to normal as if she’d never fussed.

Though her ears had reddened a bit.

“I’ll step out, Young Lord.”

“I’m coming too.”

I stepped out with her.

Seeing their attire, Im Yeon visibly flustered.

“Iron-Gold Wi Clan?”

The Iron-Gold Wi Clan.

The wealthiest among the Seven Demonic Houses, and the house my little sajae Wi So-rang belongs to.

Why were their warriors, based in the Black Spirit Division, blocking me?

Unlike Im Yeon, I knew the answer.

She asked the Iron-Gold Wi warriors.

“For what reason is the Iron-Gold Wi Clan blocking the Seventh Young Lord?”

“The Seventh Young Lord? The Cult Leader’s new disciple?”

“That’s right.”

Little Demons’ carriages normally carry flags to prove their identity.

But mine had no such thing, since it was rented on short notice.

So they conferred briefly among themselves, then dismounted.

They all cupped their fists at once.

They had decided to accept me as the Seventh Young Lord.

“We greet the Seventh Young Lord.”

“What is it?”

I asked, feigning ignorance.

“Forgive us, Young Lord. We dared to halt you as it seems you’ve taken the wrong road.”

“The wrong road, what do you mean?”

“Ahead lies Demon Valley.”

“D-Demon Valley?”

Im Yeon’s pupils quaked.

Well, that was a natural reaction.

Demon Valley is one of the Four Forbidden Grounds.

It’s so dangerous that patrols are operated from several bases in the Black Spirit Division to bar entry.

“Young Lord, we were heading to Demon Valley!”

“I know.”

“Demon Valley is where demonized fiends roam—You… knew?”

“Yeah. I told the driver to go there.”

Her jaw finally dropped.

“Y-Young Lord, Demon Valley is a place from which none return. Why would you go somewhere so dire…”

The reason is simple.

There’s something that can only be obtained there.

Demon-Gathering Stone.

A mineral that holds Demon Valley’s dense, special demonic energy.

This dark-sheened ore is all but lethal poison to most people.

But processed by a special method, minute amounts can be ingested. By blending that with other herbs, it can have tremendous effects on training.

Granted, this applies only to me, a bearer of the True Blood Severed Meridians.

How do I know this?

‘I didn’t want to know either.’

A ghastly scene from the past flashed by.

Before I fled the Cult, I thrashed about trying to cure my severed meridians.

Then I met a mad physician.

Clutching at straws, I let him run all kinds of experiments, and thus some results came of it.

None helped the actual cure.

In any case, that’s why I needed the Demon-Gathering Stone.

With it, the hellish training starting tomorrow would be greatly aided.

“I can’t explain in detail, but I have my reasons.”

“May I ask them?”

“No.”

“In that case, we cannot allow you to go to Demon Valley.”

“Why?”

“As a rule we must not expose the protectee to danger.”

“Someone who harps on rules does surveillance?”

“T-that and this are different.”

“So you admit you’re surveilling me?”

She opened and closed her mouth, then shut it tight.

She’d have no words even if she had several mouths.

I smiled to reassure her.

“Don’t worry. I’ll return safely.”

“Young Lord, have you heard of the Black-Slaughter Ghost Demon?”

She lowered her voice like telling a horror tale.

I shook my head.

“Decades ago. The Black-Slaughter Ghost Demon was one of the Ten Great Demonic Masters representing the Cult. His attainment in demonic arts was so deep the Cult Leader then often marveled, saying he could rival himself.”

“And?”

“One day at a drinking table he boasted: ‘What’s so scary about Demon Valley? I, the Black-Slaughter Ghost Demon, can come and go as if it were my home!’”

She swallowed and continued.

“Everyone tried to stop him, but he laughed and entered Demon Valley with thirty elite subordinates. Do you know what happened? From that day on, no one ever saw the Black-Slaughter Ghost Demon or his men again!”

She ended gravely.

A wry laugh escaped me.

A truly Demon-Cult-like anecdote.

How impulsive and reckless.

There’s always a reason when others say not to go.

‘Do I look that reckless too?’

Strictly speaking, worse.

He was one of the Ten Great Demonic Masters, and I’m far below that.

“You should turn back. As your escort says, it is a place Seventh Young Lord could lose your life.”

An Iron-Gold Wi warrior added.

‘Right, and I can’t explain this.’

A land that brushes death.

That’s how Cult members generally view Demon Valley.

True enough, but only for those who don’t know its other side.

I knew that hidden side.

I’d been there in my past life.

If I weren’t sure I could survive, I wouldn’t go now.

“It’s fine, so let me through. I’ll be alright.”

“Forgive us. It is our duty to bar entry to Demon Valley…”

They were courteous, yet showed no intent to yield.

That’s fine.

I expected this.

I’d prepared a trump for exactly this.

Namely—

“Think carefully. I’ve been in the Cult only a few days—how would I know of Demon Valley? Perhaps I received a secret order from someone you dare not name?”

The ultimate move: sell my master’s name!

At that instant, the same person would leap into their minds.

The Heavenly Demon.

Sure enough, Im Yeon fussed for everyone.

“Y-Young Lord! S-surely not the Cult Leader…?”

“Shh. Knowing too much hurts.”

“Heuk, y-yes.”

Of course, it was a lie.

That guy, usually quiet to the bone, would never have gone on about Demon Valley and the like.

‘He’ll forgive this much.’

Selling the Heavenly Demon’s name is a grave sin.

I didn’t say the words “Heavenly Demon,” but it was still highly questionable.

Yet I did it because he already had me somewhat figured out.

I’d already shown him many things that were hard to understand.

Each time he found me suspicious, but didn’t dig into the details.

This time will be the same.

He may wonder how I learned of Demon Valley and came to visit, but he won’t grill me on using his name.

“So, what will you do?”

I swept them with a confident gaze.

They whispered among themselves for a moment.

Then, as if decided, they all nodded.

Of course, they’d allow passage.

“We cannot. No such order has been issued to us.”

…I couldn’t believe my ears.

No?

Even after selling the Heavenly Demon?

“But I received a secret order…”

“Our apologies.”

The Iron-Gold Wi warriors didn’t budge.

I was flustered, and also impressed.

The Seventh Young Lord claimed a secret order from the Heavenly Demon.

Defying that could bring consequences, yet they followed procedure.

That speaks to the Iron-Gold Wi Clan’s tight discipline.

“Listen, you know, the Cult-no, that guy gave a secret order!”

Im Yeon, on the other hand, was completely taken in.

If only the Iron-Gold Wi were that easy.

‘Anyway, they won’t let me through, huh?’

In the Cult, most problems resolve when you invoke the Heavenly Demon.

So I’d counted on it, but who’d think it wouldn’t work?

Then only one method remains.

Create a situation where they must let me pass.

I’ll prod a primal human emotion.

I asked the Iron-Gold Wi Clan warriors:

“Since when has your Iron-Gold Wi Clan patrolled before Demon Valley?”

“I don’t know precisely, but ages past, as far as I know.”

“Then since then, how many times have the fiends burst out first?”

“That is…”

“None, right?”

“…”

They affirmed in silence.

“Hasn’t it ever seemed odd? Demon Valley corrals fiends—yet why don’t these mindless fiends come out? There’s even no formation set over it.”

“…”

Silence stretched among them.

Hearing me, they realized what they’d never noticed.

“But what if that changes? What if those terrifying demonic fiends penned inside start pouring out?”

Fear spread across their faces.

Even a single ordinary demonic fiend can’t be stopped by a handful of normal warriors.

If they swarm out, who dies first?

The patrolling ones themselves.

I added one more line.

“I hear demonic fiends tear people apart alive.”

“Ghk.”

Their faces blanched.

“A-are the demonic fiends truly going to come out of the vale?”

“Yes. Signs you don’t know are appearing. I’m going to prevent that—on secret order.”

I gave them a trustworthy, healthy smile.

Not everything I said was true.

But neither was it a lie.

A major incident centered on Demon Valley will erupt in the future.

By advancing my visit, I might avert it.

Though that was only a secondary goal for me.

“…”

The Iron-Gold Wi warriors looked at each other.

Their faces were full of hesitation.

But soon the highest-ranked of the three slowly nodded.

“You may pass.”

Yes!

I cheered inwardly.

I couldn’t very well fight those on rightful duty.

Had it failed again, I’d have had to return later, but at last, I could enter Demon Valley.

“Please achieve your purpose and return, Seventh Young Lord!”

With their courteous yet earnest farewells, the carriage started forward again.

The farther we went, the harsher the terrain grew, and for some reason the sky seemed to dim.

The driver’s hands must have been shaking as the carriage rattled more.

A place everyone knows by name, but few have seen—Demon Valley.

Now, we arrived.