Side Story 14. Martial Match (2)

Cheongho didn’t go so far as to kick the piglet or anything like that.
No matter how lacking Cheongho might be in a few human emotions, he was not the sort to start swinging hands and feet first.

To Cheongho’s eyes, the piglet was merely a small and dirty creature.
When it pushed its snout toward him, he simply shoved it away with his foot. Just like that.
Even after being pushed back, the tiny thing just stared blankly at him, and the thought came to him on its own.
‘It’s ugly and hideous.’

Only then did the piglet sense the light in Cheongho’s eyes.
Even its shrieking squeals came far too late.

“Calling it hideous. The one saying that is the uglier one.”

Baek Sang-ye appeared as she said that.
Cheongho and Baek Sang-ye’s gazes collided in midair.

Baek Sang-ye’s beauty was such that the phrase beauty that topples kingdoms did not feel at all excessive.
Her glossy hair flowed down in smooth strands.
Her pale skin looked as though powder might brush off it, and her red lips shone with life.
Her eyes seemed to hold the Milky Way itself, so that even while frowning, she was beautiful.
Any ordinary man should have felt his heart race under that gaze.

“What are you supposed to be?”

The truth was, Cheongho didn’t really understand whether facial features were fine or plain.

“I’m Baek Sang-ye.”
“I’m Cheongho.”
“……?”

A brief silence passed.
Baek Sang-ye did not like the Cheongho in front of her, and Cheongho felt exactly the same about Baek Sang-ye.

“Are you a martial artist from Nam Family Manor?”
“No.”
“Then from the Three Pleasures Butchering Guild?”

At that question, Cheongho tilted his head.
He was not a martial artist of the Three Pleasures Butchering Guild, but he did plan to fight on their side in the martial match.
He was a little unsure how to explain that.

“I came to fight in the martial match today. With Nam Family Manor?”
“Are you asking me?”
“No.”
“……You’re impossible to talk to.”
“You’re impossible as well.”

For some reason, the conversation fell apart.
Cheongho had once visited the imperial palace back when Baek Sang-ye had still been County Princess Sang-ye.
It was during the journey he had made with Dam Hyun to save Yi-gang.
Of course, that didn’t mean he and Baek Sang-ye were acquainted. The two didn’t recognize each other.
So neither felt anything beyond simple dislike for the other.

“So why exactly is Ah-jeo ugly and hideous?”

‘Ah-jeo’ was the name Baek Sang-ye had given the piglet. It meant baby pig, so there could hardly have been a more fitting name.
When she demanded an explanation, Cheongho spoke as though he could not understand the question.

“It’s ugly.”
“In what way!”

Baek Sang-ye cared for the Ah-jeo she had saved, but that didn’t mean there was anything wrong with her sense of beauty.
Any animal was cute when it was young.
Ah-jeo was the same. With a body no bigger than a puppy’s and bright, round eyes, it was certainly cute enough.
It was by no means something that deserved to be called hideous or ugly.

“It looks ugly, and more than anything, it smells disgusting.”
“Smell?”

Cheongho answered with such certainty that Baek Sang-ye was taken aback.
Of course wild animals had a musky smell.
But the servants had washed Ah-jeo yesterday.
She knew that for certain, since she had carried Ah-jeo around a few times herself.
And indeed, when she picked it up and smelled it, all she got was a clean, soft scent.

“What are you talking about? It doesn’t smell like anything.”
“That’s because that same smell is coming from you too.”

Cheongho raised a hand and pinched his nose shut.
Baek Sang-ye’s face turned bright red.

“Wh-what, wh-what do you……!”
“You stink.”
“What kind of insane nonsense is that!”

If the ministers of the Forbidden City had heard those words, they would have clicked their tongues.
As Baek Sang-ye trembled all over, Cheongho turned away as if he had lost interest.

Perhaps sensing that something had gone wrong, Ah-jeo let out a small whine.
But Baek Sang-ye only watched Cheongho walk away in a half-dazed state.
Then she set Ah-jeo down and trudged back.

She met So-ryu not long after.
Baek Sang-ye abruptly asked for confirmation first.

“Sis, do I smell?”
“……?”
“I’m asking if I smell. Like I stink.”

When she asked again, So-ryu sniffed at her a few times.
There was no smell at all.
No, if anything, there was only a faint clean scent.

“You don’t.”
“Right! Damn it!”
“Ahem, Sang-ye. Watch your language.”
“I’m joining in.”
“Hm?”

Baek Sang-ye thought of Cheongho.
Hadn’t he said he was a martial artist invited by the Three Pleasures Butchering Guild for the match.

“The martial match!”

When the Nam Family Manor Lord had asked her to participate in the martial match, she had refused because she was not interested.
But now her interest had been piqued.

“That’s fine, right?”
“Well……”

As for So-ryu, she did not see any particular reason to stop her.

“If the Nam Family Manor Lord agrees, sure.”

“Euh haha!”

The Nam Family Manor Lord let out a booming laugh.

“Eu hahahaha!”

As if that were not enough, he laughed yet again.
His retainers were at the point of asking if he was really that happy.

“How could I not be happy? Guests of the Baek Clan have extended a helping hand to our Nam Family Manor. How could I not be glad and grateful for such friendship?”

Baek Sang-ye had told the Nam Family Manor Lord that she wished to take part in the martial match.
The participants for the best-of-three match had already been decided.
Because of the age limit, Nam Family Manor had chosen three, including the Nam Family Manor Lord’s second son.
But the moment Baek Sang-ye said she would participate, one of the Nam Family Manor Lord’s guest retainers was removed from the list.

“Miss Baek Sang-ye will take the final slot. Will that be acceptable, ho ho.”

The Nam Family Manor Lord asked So-ryu, who sat beside him.

“What do you mean by acceptable?”
“Ho ho, if we win the first two matches, then her turn likely will not come at all.”

The Nam Family Manor Lord spoke confidently.
Back when the Three Pleasures Butchering Guild and Nam Family Manor had still been allied, they lost disciples and children while trying to kill a yokai.
But Nam Family Manor still had quite a few talented young martial artists. The Three Pleasures Butchering Guild, on the other hand, had little of note left besides the Guild Master’s dead disciple.
They had brought in some child and some beggar as hired fighters from who knew where, but to the Nam Family Manor Lord, they looked wholly unconvincing.

“Hm……. It doesn’t matter.”

So-ryu didn’t care whether the Nam Family Manor Lord felt confident or not.
Either way, Nam Family Manor and the Three Pleasures Butchering Guild were both just small local factions.
For whatever reason, Baek Sang-ye had decided to take part too, but the match would likely end without much suspense.

“Oh! Well done!”

The Nam Family Manor Lord shifted excitedly in his seat as he cheered on the match in progress.
On the martial platform below, the Nam Family Manor Lord’s third son was already fighting the Three Pleasures Butchering Guild’s second disciple.

“Haha, so that brat is supposed to be the best talent the Three Pleasures Butchering Guild has left? Pathetic. Euhaha!”

In his delight, the Nam Family Manor Lord showed not a trace of dignity.
Then again, the martial match itself was like that.
Even if killing the opponent was forbidden, this was still a matter of a sect’s pride.
And yet even ordinary people had come to watch.

Amid the crowd’s cheers, the fighters from the Three Pleasures Butchering Guild and Nam Family Manor battled with all they had.
The Three Pleasures Butchering Guild’s disciple used a saber art that was fairly swift.
But as time passed, his movements slowed.
Judging by the sickly yellowish cast to his face, he looked like someone who drank too much on a regular basis.
Martial artists from ill-disciplined dark path factions usually had weaknesses like that.

“Huff, huff!”

He tried to evade his opponent’s sword while pouring sweat like rain.

Seogeok!

His shoulder was cut.
The Three Pleasures Butchering Guild martial artist quickly retreated.
But the blood streaming from his shoulder pattered onto the ground.
The one bit of fortune was that the wound was on his left shoulder.
His right arm, the one holding the saber, was unharmed.
If he still had fighting spirit, he would not give up the match for the sake of his faction.
As if knowing that, Nam Family Manor’s disciple raised his sword high.

“I acknowledge my defeat!”

It was an astonishingly swift declaration of defeat.
Fortunately, the Nam Family Manor fighter’s sword stopped in midair.

The referee of the match hesitated, then raised his flag.

“One win for Nam Family Manor!”

Then cheers burst out.
Of course Nam Family Manor’s side rejoiced, and the ordinary spectators didn’t much care who won as long as there was a show to watch.
The Three Pleasures Butchering Guild fighter, shoulder cut, stepped down from the platform with an awkward expression.
The Guild Master of the Three Pleasures Butchering Guild smacked the back of his head and berated him.

In contrast, Nam Family Manor’s side was in a festive mood.

“Hahaha, this is excellent!”

The Nam Family Manor Lord said that, clenching his fist.

“That brat is supposedly the greatest prodigy left on the Three Pleasures Butchering Guild’s side. It looks like they planned to take the first win with him, huhu. This victory is ours.”

If the first bout had been the Three Pleasures Butchering Guild’s gambit, then Nam Family Manor now focused on the second.

“And my second son is up in the second bout…… so I imagine the next match will be our side’s victory as well. Haha!”

The Nam Family Manor Lord’s second son was considered the most talented after his deceased first son.
So-ryu simply thought, Is that so, and looked down toward the platform.

If the Nam Family Manor Lord was right, then the Guild Master of the Three Pleasures Butchering Guild would be in a serious bind.

“……”

But to So-ryu, it didn’t look that way.
The Guild Master of the Three Pleasures Butchering Guild sat there with a composed expression.
And shortly after, the second martial match began.

“Come forward!”

At the referee’s declaration, two people stepped onto the martial platform.
One was a swordsman of Nam Family Manor, and the other was…….

“Heo heo, the Three Pleasures Butchering Guild must really have had no one else to find, to bring in some beggar.”

Just as the Nam Family Manor Lord said, the fighter on the Three Pleasures Butchering Guild’s side was some beggar.
Since she carried no weapon, she was probably a fist fighter.
But it was common sense that a person with a blade had the advantage over one without.

“Red side, Nam Yu-gyeol of Nam Family Manor!”
“Waaaaaaah!”
“White side, Tsering of the Three Pleasures Butchering Guild!”
“Waa……”

The degree of cheering that followed was very different.
And for good reason.
No matter how kindly one looked at her, Tsering looked like a beggar.

“Uaaaah, Tsering!”
“Hang in there! We’re cheering for you!”

But there were also people cheering for Tsering.
They were the beggars of the Beggars’ Union, who had come to watch the match while getting a free meal.
It was true that Tsering was not a member of the Beggars’ Union, nor a beggar.
But as people who had shared meals together, they cheered for her with great enthusiasm.

“I’ll win!”

Tsering waved at the beggars.
The referee stopped the cheering beggars.

“Both sides, give the fist-clasp salute. I trust you are already familiar with the rules of the match.”

Killing moves were forbidden. The match would be decided if one side declared defeat, stepped out of bounds, or the referee judged that continuing was impossible.

Tsering and Nam Yu-gyeol exchanged the fist-clasp salute.
Tsering smiled brightly, while Nam Yu-gyeol wore a serious expression.

‘I can’t let my guard down.’

Unlike the others, Nam Yu-gyeol didn’t look down on Tsering.
She was someone the Three Pleasures Butchering Guild had brought in, passing over its own people.
Seeing the Beggars’ Union branch leader and the beggars cheering for her, she might even have ties to the Beggars’ Union.

“Hoo……”

His aura grew sharp as a blade.

So-ryu watched from beside the Nam Family Manor Lord.
For some reason, unlike the others, she did not feel inclined to mock this girl named Tsering.

“Ho ho, this has turned quite amusing.”

So-ryu was far more of a master than the smiling Nam Family Manor Lord.
And to her eyes, Tsering’s stance didn’t look ordinary.

“As for Miss Baek and what she thinks of the Three Pleasures Butchering Guild……”
“Please.”

The Nam Family Manor Lord’s constant chattering at her side was getting on her nerves.
So-ryu turned toward him and warned him in a low voice.

“Please focus on the martial match first……”

Tteoeong!

Then a tremendous boom rang out from the martial platform.
Tsering stood there with her fist extended, while Nam Yu-gyeol was rolling across the ground with his sword broken.