Chapter 33

‘The fourth, huh.’

I briefly retraced my memories.

Eyes slanted and full of killing intent, a sneering mouth, and the whip he carried as if it were a part of his own body.

The owner of that image was none other than my fourth sahyung.

Blood-Demon Mad Ghost Heuk Un-hwi.

As his title suggested, he was vicious to the core. The very model of a Demon Cult man.

So why had this bastard suddenly summoned the fifth, sixth, and seventh disciples?

‘Education, maybe.’

There was a pointless custom passed down among the Little Demons.

The great sahyung would educate the junior disciples about various aspects of the Demon Cult.

This was called the Little Demon Gathering.

But the great sahyung was always busy, the second sajeo barely left her residence, and the third sahyung spent every day playing outside, so the duty of hosting the Little Demon Gathering fell all the way to Heuk Un-hwi.

However, rather than educate anyone, Heuk Un-hwi only used it as an excuse to torment his sajae.

I had suffered it many times myself.

-To think a beggar like you has the same status as me. Wow, the world’s really gone soft.

He insulted me from our very first meeting.

-Oh mighty Seven Minute Invincible, would you spar with me? For about twelve rounds. Hehe.

Even though I could not use internal energy for long, he forced me into endless sparring until I was exhausted.

-You’re not even Seven Minute Invincible. You’re half of that. No, no. Even that’s too generous. Let’s call you a quarter of a quarter.

Then, once I couldn’t resist anymore, he whipped me.

Those scars stayed on my body for a long time.

‘Past life or now, he really is a hateful bastard.’

That was true in my previous life, and it hadn’t changed in this one.

To bother me by calling a gathering on a rare day off, no less.

“Where did he tell us to go?”

I asked the guard who had delivered the message.

We were going to run into each other sooner or later anyway. Might as well move that up.

“To Blood-Thousand Hall.”

“By when?”

“He ordered that you come as soon as you received the message.”

“Really? Then I should get ready to head out.”

I threw on an outer robe and stepped out of my room to take the carriage.

But before I could reach it, my steps were stopped.

“Sajaeee!”

From a carriage bearing the flag with the character six, Wi So-rang leapt down as if flying.

She ran straight up to me and shouted.

“Sajae, did you get the message? Fourth Sahyung told us to gather!”

“I did. I was just about to leave.”

“You can’t!”

Her voice rose sharply.

I looked down at Wi So-rang.

She had her small fists clenched and was biting her lip.

“You can’t go. You’ve never seen fourth sahyung before, right?”

“Yeah.”

“He’s going to bully you.”

“He wouldn’t do that the first time we meet.”

I knew perfectly well what he might do, but I feigned ignorance.

Wi So-rang shook her head.

“Fourth sahyung is… bad.”

Wi So-rang was a girl raised in luxury.

That gave her a bold streak, but at heart she was a cute child.

If even a kid like her called someone bad, he really had to be a piece of work.

I asked with a smile.

“So you’re telling me not to go?”

“Yeah.”

“If I listen to you and don’t go, won’t ‘you’ be in trouble?”

“That’s… um…”

Wi So-rang fell into thought.

With a bastard like Heuk Un-hwi, he would make a huge fuss at Wi So-rang.

Demanding what right she had to stop the seventh disciple from coming.

After a brief pause, Wi So-rang answered.

“It’s okay if I’m in trouble.”

“Why?”

“I’m your sajeo. A sajeo has to protect her Sajae.”

Her unexpected answer almost moved me.

How could a ten-year-old be this admirable?

She wanted to protect me, even though I was much older, just because I was her sajae.

“Thanks, but you don’t need to worry. Since you’re here anyway, let’s just go together.”

“But Sajae-”

It was when Wi So-rang answered with a troubled face.

Dadada-

Another carriage came rolling in. The flag on it read five.

It was Yuk Ja-heung.

‘What’s he doing here now?’

The carriage stopped near me and Wi So-rang.

Yuk Ja-heung stepped down, his violet long robe fluttering.

“Dammit, we’re screwed! Fourth Sahyung is calling us- huh?”

Yuk Ja-heung looked at Wi So-rang in puzzlement.

“What are you doing here?”

“I came to see sajae. Why did you come?”

“I came to see him too.”

“Khh.”

I let out a sound of admiration and clapped my hands together.

“I sure ended up with a great sahyung and sajeo. You came to stop me too, right, Sahyung? To tell me not to go or I’ll suffer under Fourth Sahyung.”

My fate after regression had become way too good.

People worried about me from all sides.

Especially when I hadn’t gotten along with these two very well in my previous life.

Yuk Ja-heung replied.

“What nonsense? Why would I stop you? What would happen to me if I did?”

“Then why are you here?”

“To warn you, idiot. Don’t act up in front of Fourth Sahyung and ruin the atmosphere. I’ll get caught in the fallout too.”

“You’ve got to be kidding. Instead of saying you’ll cover for me, you tell me not to act up? What kind of sahyung are you?”

“Why would I cover for you? Just protecting myself is hard enough.”

I shook my head.

Right, I should only expect things from people actually worth expecting.

“You didn’t listen to me last time either, when the Elder Council Lord held that banquet. This time you have to listen. If you talk back to Fourth Sahyung, you’re screwed. Because Fourth Sahyung is…”

Yuk Ja-heung glanced around, then leaned close and whispered.

“He’s insanely stupid.”

I didn’t want to agree with him, but it was undeniably true.

Heuk Un-hwi was brutal and stupid.

“You get what I’m saying, right? If you mess around, you’ll really die.”

“What does ‘die’ mean?”

Wi So-rang asked innocently.

Yuk Ja-heung grimaced.

“‘Die’ is… uh, when you ‘go to the valley’.”

“Valley? Like a ravine?”

“No, ugh.”

Yuk Ja-heung was at a loss for words.

Holding back my laughter, I clicked my tongue.

“Tsk tsk. Try talking nicer. Our sajeo doesn’t even understand you.”

“How is that my fault?”

“It’s your fault.”

“How come you call her ‘sajeo’ but won’t call me ‘sahyung’?”

“You don’t deserve it. Enough talking, let’s go. We’re all here, so we can ride in one carriage.”

I quickly climbed into Yuk Ja-heung’s carriage.

He grumbled about why I was getting into ‘his’ carriage, but I ignored him easily.

Soon the carriage set off. Im Yeon and the guards followed behind in my carriage.

Perhaps because of the man waiting at our destination, silence hung in the carriage.

“Sigh.”

“Heeew.”

I silently watched the two take turns sighing.

They had come to me for different reasons, but had something in common.

They were both afraid of Heuk Un-hwi.

‘That will change from now on.’

They would soon find out.

That while Heuk Un-hwi was strong, he was not someone they had to fear forever.

“We’re already heeere.”

Wi So-rang dragged out the end of her words.

When we stepped down from the carriage, we saw the sight of the front gate, walls, and buildings all dyed in red.

This was Blood-Thousand Hall, the residence assigned to the Fourth Young Lord.

“Let’s go in.”

The two dawdled, following reluctantly behind me.

“You have arrived.”

Perhaps because it was the Fourth Young Lord’s residence, Blood-Thousand Hall was quite spacious.

There was even a separate training yard, where warriors in red uniforms and a middle-aged man wearing an eyepatch were gathered.

‘What was his name again?’

It came to me quickly.

Mak Mun.

He was Heuk Un-hwi’s right-hand man.

I had never fought him one-on-one, but I knew he was at the mid-tier peak level.

“Where is Fourth Sahyung?”

Yuk Ja-heung glanced around.

Mak Mun answered.

“The Fourth Young Lord has gone out.”

“Out? We were told he was holding a Little Demon Gathering.”

“He said he forgot he had a hunting appointment.”

For a moment, Yuk Ja-heung and Wi So-rang looked at each other.

Their eyes were strange, as if they could not decide whether to be happy or angry.

‘Obviously, they should be angry.’

He summoned us here and then went off hunting.

This was outright treating us like nothing.

‘So that’s how he wants to play it?’

He hadn’t done this in my past life.

He had done plenty of bastardly things to hassle us, but Heuk Un-hwi had at least shown up to the Little Demon Gathering every time.

The fact that he wasn’t now was surely because of me.

Unlike in my previous life, I’d been far from easy to handle this time, so he might be trying to crush my spirit from the start.

“For that reason, I will be conducting the Little Demon Gathering.”

Mak Mun said.

Wi So-rang stammered.

“The Little Demon Gathering is supposed to be only for the Little Demons…”

“The Fourth Young Lord has delegated his authority to me. So please, all of you sit.”

Mak Mun jerked his chin toward the bare ground.

Yuk Ja-heung frowned.

“Sit here?”

“Yes.”

“Come on, at least give us chairs or cushions.”

“There is no such thing, so just sit. And watch your tone. I am not a subordinate of the Fifth Young Lord.”

“Urk…”

Yuk Ja-heung shut his mouth.

He had been cowed.

He stuck out his lips and began taking off the violet long robe he treasured like his life.

He probably planned to hand it to his attendant rather than spread it out on the ground.

I stretched out my arm to stop Yuk Ja-heung.

“What are you doing?”

“Don’t take it off.”

“I have to take it off to sit. You know what this is, right?”

“I mean you don’t need to sit.”

I stared at Mak Mun.

He stared back, our gazes meeting in the air.

He spoke in a coercive tone.

“Would you explain what you mean by saying there is no need to sit?”

“Just what I said. Why should we be taught by you? I don’t even want to be taught by that so-called Fourth Young Lord of yours.”

“Gasp.”

Yuk Ja-heung and Wi So-rang both flinched in shock.

Yuk Ja-heung especially wore a face that screamed, ‘I knew this bastard would do this.’

Mak Mun’s eyes hardened with pressure.

“You have just made two mistakes, Seventh Young Lord. First, using the same tone even after I warned you about it. Second, speaking of the Fourth Young Lord with disrespect.”

“You’ve made two mistakes too. First, not knowing your place and deciding to conduct the Little Demon Gathering. Second, not knowing how big the price for that will be.”

“…”

Mak Mun glared at me.

He looked like he might hit me any second.

He spoke to Yuk Ja-heung and Wi So-rang.

“It seems the Seventh Young Lord is displeased. Do the rest of you feel the same? The Fourth Young Lord will be quite offended.”

“I-I think Sajae is right. Sajae never says anything wrong.”

That was Wi So-rang’s answer.

“I don’t have any complaints.”

That was Yuk Ja-heung’s answer.

“Tsk tsk. What is wrong with you?”

“What did I do?”

“You’re pathetic.”

“This isn’t pathetic, it’s survival, you brat.”

Good grief, and these are supposed to be Little Demons.

Mak Mun spoke again, toward the chattering me and Yuk Ja-heung.

“Sit. Now.”

“And if I don’t want to?”

“Then we will settle this by the cult’s traditional method.”

Mak Mun twisted his lips and cracked his fingers with a crunch.

I twisted my lips the same way.

“How funny. You really look like someone dying for a fight.”

“Likewise, Seventh Young Lord. It was you who refused the Little Demon Gathering.”

“Shut it, let’s just fight.”

I do not avoid a fight that walks up to me.

What I needed to do now was put Mak Mun on the ground.

Then Heuk Un-hwi would come bursting out on his own, kicking Hidden Cloud Pavilion’s front gate open, snorting.

“You will regret being displeased with the rules set by the Fourth Young Lord.”

“I’ve heard ‘you’ll regret this’ more times than I can count, you know? But I’ve hardly ever regretted anything. This won’t be any different.”

“Your arrogance knows no bounds.”

Mak Mun took his stance.

It wasn’t like I had killed his parents, but his eyes were full of poison.

‘He must be thinking of flooring me in a single blow.’

As I said, I had never fought Mak Mun before.

But I did know he used a fist art with heavy destructive power and preferred to end fights with his first move.

Charging straight into someone like that was what a novice would do.

A true expert counters with simple, clean movements.

“Hyaaaap!”

At that moment, Mak Mun charged with a fierce shout.

As expected of someone working under a stupid master, he was extremely headstrong.

He closed the distance almost instantly, his fist driving straight toward my solar plexus.

I stood still.

Then, when his attack was right in front of my nose, I pivoted on my right foot and spun my body.

As the wind from his fist stirred my hair, I was already behind him.

With the simplest method imaginable, I had taken his back.

“…!”

Realizing something was wrong too late, Mak Mun tried to turn quickly.

Ppaak!

He was already too late.

A fist carrying Perfect Demonic Qi slammed into the back of his head.

Mak Mun crashed to the ground in the very posture of turning, his body spread out with his limbs spread in a 大 shape, trembling slightly before going still.

He had fainted.

He probably never even dreamed he would be taken down this easily.

“…”

Silence fell over Blood-Thousand Hall’s training yard.

Yuk Ja-heung, Wi So-rang, and even the warriors of Blood-Thousand Hall were speechless.

Regardless, I looked down at the fallen Mak Mun and spoke.

“Tell your master this. If he calls people over, he should stay put instead of running off to do something else.”

Could he hear me?

It doesn’t matter.

There were plenty of ears around besides his.