“Deal? Ha!”
Noh Songgu, the Blood Wolf leader, responded to my suggestion like it was ridiculous. In fact, it was he who was taking the initiative, but it probably seed like an idiot’s move to try and make a deal right now.
“You must be out of your mind.’
“I am sane.”
Actually, I was out of my mind.
As Noh Songgu’s hand pushed his blade ahead, my body and mind still felt fine. What could I not say in this state?
“I an it, sincerely.”
Pak!
“Kuak!”
Noh Songgu stepped on my chest. Man, he was as relentless as much as I still feared the Blood Cult. No matter how hard he stepped on , my words still managed to co out.
“I shouldn’t just kill you.”
“… right.”
“If you want to prolong your life even a little more, you will have to speak your purpose for using my father’s na and trying to get a place in the sect.”
Clench!
Noh Songgu pushed his foot further. If he stepped just a little harder, my chest might explode.
“Noh Sehwa.”
“… what?”
Nog Songgu’s foot, which was trying to kill , lost its strength as his face hardened.
“How do… you know that na?”
The reason he reacted to the na like this was simple. Noh Sehwa was his sister. To be precise, she was the sister who disappeared about 15 years ago.
“Tell ! How do you know that na!”
Noh Songgu pushed . Truth be told, I was scared out of my wits, but I couldn’t just reveal all my cards imdiately, right?
“Are you going to keep doing this? Or will you make a deal with ?”
“You!”
Noh Songgu stared at
and lifted his foot off of my chest. But he still didn’t withdraw his blade on my neck.
“…You think this is enough for us to make a deal?”
“I know that even enemies will take responsibility for the words they speak.”
The Noh Songgu I knew was a man who was generous and faithful to his subordinates, very much unlike other Blood Cult mbers.
-His voice is shaking.
‘It is his sister who he has been looking for.’
Noh Songgu had judged
to be an enemy here. Yet, when I ntioned the na of the sister he had been searching for, his heart could not help but be shaken.
‘How will you respond, Blood Wolf squad leader?’
I stared him in the eyes. Soon, Noh Songgu opened his mouth.
“What do you want? Do you want
to keep my mouth shut about your truth?”
Sure, that’s sothing I wanted, but this was too huge an opportunity to waste.
“That’s why I said, let’s make a deal.”
“It seems like you don’t have any hope of holding on to your life.”
“Then the leader will never be able to find his sister.”
In exchange for my life, this man could find his sister.
In a way, that too would be the beginning of his life’s misery.
Clench!
Noh Songgu asked
with a grimace.
“What more do you want?”
“Be my strength when I need you.”
“Ha! Did you just ask
to beco your crutch? You must really want to…”
“Not that. It’s just that if I get into trouble here, I will ask the leader for help.”
Noh Songgu was soon to beco a peak master. If he cpi;d co to my aid, I won’t be at the bottom of the pecking order any more.
“Nonsense! I am not soone like that! I cannot close my eyes when you could bring harm to the sect and help? I am not going to let myself be played by you.”
“You are only in the Blood Cult to pay back the debt that your father left? Right?”
“No… How do you know this?’
Noh Songgu was in shock. The only person who knew of his condition was in the highest position of the cult. Most of the Blood Cult simply thought that this man was just walking after his father’s path, but the reality was different.
“Didn’t you take charge as the squad leader in exchange for information about the man who killed your father?”
This was sothing I heard directly from the man.
“… What is your fucking identity?”
I thought that even I would be curious in such a situation, but it was impossible to say ‘I have returned from ten years in the future’.
So I had to shift his attention.
“Let’s do this. I will not only tell you the whereabouts of your sister but also about the man who murdered your father and who made your eye like that.”
“You…”
He was a bit shaken by everything he would receive from this deal. Anyway, these are things I heard from a future Noh Songgu, so I had nothing to fear.
“How do I know that you aren’t lying just to escape this situation?”
“I have the blood parasite within . Can’t the leader kill
at any ti?”
Noh Songgu’s face was clearly contemplating my words. I did have the blood parasite within , and if I tried to run, they could kill .
After hesitating for a while, he eventually made up his mind.
Sh!
Then he took his blade off of my neck.
“Haa…”
I never thought it would be such a relief. My gamble managed to work.
“If it is false. You die.”
“Whatever you like.”
“Who killed my father?”
That is what he wanted to know first, even more than his sister’s fate. I knew who it was, but I hesitated before saying it.
“… First Blood Star.”
At the unexpected na from my mouth, his expression changed.
At this ti, he still believed that the Murim Alliance was the one who had killed his father and kidnapped his sister. So he entered the Blood Cult, vowing to take revenge on those people.
However, when he learned that the true culprit is the highest mber of the cult, he seed to doubt .
“Are you playing with
now?”
“Play with you? Not at all. I shall correct my words. To be precise, it was done by another leader who had received orders from the First Blood Star. When he tried to kill your father, there were traces of the Murim Alliance left in…”
Tak!
“Huak!”
Noh Songgu went back to stepping on my chest.
I try not to show it, but my expression was clearly changing as the pain turns my face red.
“Why don’t you ask your sister directly?”
“Sister?”
“Leader’s sister knows the truth.”
“… my sister knows?”
“Your sister is in Jinhai county of Zhejiang Province. If you go there yourself, your sister might end up dead, so send soone you can trust.”
That place was managed by the First Blood Star. In his previous life, Noh Songgu t his dying sister there and heard the truth. He could not win over his anger and went to confront the First Blood Star, after which his squad was disbanded, and all his mbers were dispersed to other groups.
“You… how…”
Noh Songgu glanced at
and turned away like he had nothing to say.
-He must be too shocked
‘Right?’
I knew at once what he wanted to know. I just wanted things to not be the sa as in my previous life.
He’s a Blood Cult mber, but this man was soone I admired a lot. If only his sister, his only blood, didn’t die, no matter how strong his father’s killer is, he wouldn’t lose his cool and could challenge the First Blood Star.
“…”
After looking at
for a while, Noh Songgu regained his calm. He then took his foot off my chest and extended his hand.
Hold!
When I took that hand, he pulled
up. Noh Songgu then looked at
with a firm expression.
“I will trust you just this once.”
“Oh!”
“Don’t think you are out of danger. If this turns out false, I don’t care who you are or what you know. I will kill you myself.”
“I understand.”
“But if this is true… I will consider you as my life’s benefactor.”
“… You’re not just saying that, right?”
“I believed you, but you cannot get yourself to believe ?”
I smiled.
“No. I believe you.”
You are a man who is full of faith and would never go back on your words.
I could not help but believe you.
But I had been beaten up so much in my previous life that asking that question had beco a habit. Even beasts you could eventually trust, but not people.
“Then the deal is sealed.”
Noh Songgu nodded at . As it seems that I managed to barely hold onto my life, I began tearing up. Monts later, Noh Songgu looked at
and said,
“But I cannot tell if you are smart or stupid.”
“Uh?”
“I didn’t even speak of your grandfather’s na, but you decided that you were caught, and this happened.”
‘…!?’
When I heard that, it felt like being hit in the head with a hamr.
As Noh Songgu said, he never ntioned my grandfather’s na. I simply guessed that they had done a background check on
and jumped to conclusions.
-Well, this is how you do things.
‘What?’
Even the short sword seed to enjoy it when I am in trouble.
But when I thought back, I don’t think it would have worked out anyway else.
Even if my grandfather’s na wasn’t ntioned here, this man rembered everyone he trained with, so I couldn’t possibly have fooled him.
“… I just thought it was natural.”
I spoke with pride, and Noh Songgu seed to be in a better mood after seeing my expression. Now all that was left was to receive the plaque.
“The deal is done. So can I go and get my plaque?”
Even if I didn’t want to, I had to get a middle or upper-rank plaque.
However, that was only possible with skilled or talented people, so if I received it, especially an upper-rank plaque, people would doubt .
However, Noh Songgu’s expression seed strange.
“True. Here.”
“Uh?”
“I am keeping my mouth shut for now, but I haven’t confird my sister’s whereabouts yet. And you are hoping for
to give you benefits already.”
“No, this much should be fine.”
“Funny. If you want to receive it, prove your skills.”
“Haa…”
The conversation was turning again. I felt like we have been going in circles for quite so ti.
-Kikiki. You got caught too.
I thought he was a good man who didn’t use his head too often, but now I was seeing new sides to him.
“…How do I prove it?”
He was different from the man I knew, so I had to be certain.
Noh Songgu waved his hand at .
“I heard that you have a body that cannot cultivate internal qi. I won’t use qi and attack you with my bare hands.”
Oh! Fair play!
Noh Songgu continued with a confident voice.
“Really?”
“Even if I don’t use my internal qi, there will be no gap in my movents. I will give you whatever rank you want if you can hit
just once.”
Right.
First-rate warriors don’t have run-of-the-mill bodies. I was also at an overwhelming disadvantage because I had only trained physically.
But…
“Can I use this dagger?”
“Do whatever you want. What difference will having a dagger make when you don’t know martial arts or have internal qi?”
At those words, I smiled.
‘Hear that?’
Small Short Sword spoke with determination.
-Dagger? Hey! I am Short Sword! Take
out already!
At the other side of the cave…
Excluding one person, all the trainees had received their plaques. As the rest of the trainees took longer than expected, Gu Sang-woong, the commander, began to get anxious.
anwhile, Leader Oh’s face was filled with joy.
‘I told him to teach him right, and he must have been caught. I did say I was going to watch him. Hehehe.’
It was worthwhile to call for Noh Songgu.
Instead of waiting for the person he sent to Yulang to investigate and report back, he could simply save himself the trouble by calling soone who would know the truth behind the kid’s story.
And it seed like there was going to be a tragic end.
“Commander. If my guess is right I…”
The commander raised his hand and signaled Leader Oh to be quiet. Leader Oh wondered why before he saw soone coming out of the cave.
It was So Wonhwi.
‘What?’
So Wonhwi, who ca out of the cave, proudly lifted sothing up in his hand.
[Middle]
Not a lower plaque but middle? Leader Oh’s expression beca distorted at the sight.
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