Chapter 13 - My Temper Is Even Nastier

“The Demon Army commander’s name is Gu Cheonyang. He is the younger brother of Gu Cheonpa, the Blood Heaven Saber Demon. This is his eighth year as commander. By completing all manner of dangerous missions, he has made the Demon Army an elite organization acknowledged by everyone, in both name and fact.”

Seo Daeryong knew a great deal about the commander, too.

“So he’s done his job well.”

“Yes.”

“Can I see the anonymous letter that came in this time?”

“Yes. Here it is.”

He showed me the letter. Its crooked handwriting seemed intended to disguise the writer’s hand, and its contents were very simple.

—Serious corruption within the Demon Army. Investigation requested.

When I had spent a long while looking down at it, Seo Daeryong asked, “What is it?”

“Let’s imagine something. There’s corruption in Yellow Springs Pavilion, and you discover it.”

I looked at him and asked, “Would you send an anonymous letter?”

“I wouldn’t.”

His answer came without hesitation.

“Right? It has nothing to do with you.”

“No, that isn’t why.”

“Then why?”

“Because sending a letter wouldn’t change anything.”

There was a certain defeatism in his casually tossed-off answer.

“Isn’t changing the Cult the very reason your Yellow Springs Pavilion exists?”

“To be precise, we’re the blade wielded by those who want to change the Cult. We aren’t the ones driving the change.”

“So unless the bastards at the top change, the Cult won’t change?”

“I never said that.”

But his expression said, Isn’t that the truth? He already exuded a gloomy air, so these cynical, pessimistic views suited him well.

“Regardless, this person sent a letter. They believe they’ll die if they’re caught. You can tell just from the way they disguised their handwriting. So why did they send it? As you said, doing this won’t change anything.”

When Seo Daeryong gave no answer, Yi An quietly stepped in.

“They couldn’t have sent it out of a sense of justice... Could they have a grudge against whoever committed the corruption?”

“That makes sense.”

I nodded and returned the letter to Seo Daeryong.

“At any rate, we have to find this person. If we look like pushovers, they’ll never show themselves.”

“Yes, I agree.”

“Well? Can you do this?”

“I have to. I’ve already received my orders and come here.”

“I mean, this is truly dangerous. The commander himself could be involved. Aren’t you afraid?”

“No.”

“You know the last investigator died, don’t you?”

“I do. The investigator who died was my immediate senior.”

“Ah, I see.”

“He was the senior investigator who trained me.”

There was a certain sorrow in his calm words. Perhaps his desire to avenge his dead senior was why he had memorized the information on every demonic martial artist in the Demon Army.

“Does thinking about him make you sad?”

“His death was so meaningless.”

“It wasn’t meaningless. His death brought you and me here. And you should be afraid. These people killed a Yellow Springs Pavilion investigator, then killed their own comrade to silence him. In short, they’re bastards with nothing to lose.”

“I don’t want to fear filthy bastards like that.”

Those words made it clear. He wanted to avenge his senior. A great anger lay dormant in that small body.

“Now, shall we go investigate?”

As I was leaving my quarters with Seo Daeryong, Yi An followed us.

“Young Master! Please take me with you.”

She believed investigating the Demon Army was dangerous.

“No. This is an official assignment. Take the opportunity to get some rest.”

She needed to spend some time away from me.

Yi An watched us recede with worried eyes, then suddenly looked around.

I had sent qi behind me to stroke her head once.

Don’t worry, Yi An. I walked a very long road for days like these.

* * *

Demon Dragon Court, where the Demon Army was housed, stood in the western district of the Cult’s outer compound.

As befitted an elite organization, its buildings were large and its facilities excellent.

When I arrived at the entrance with Seo Daeryong, two demonic martial artists blocked our path. Like the rest of the Demon Army, whose members boasted massive builds, these gatekeepers looked twice the size of ordinary men.

“Where are you from?”

“I am Seo Daeryong, special investigator of Yellow Springs Pavilion. Stand aside!”

He might have been small, but he had backbone.

Yet neither man looked tense or frightened by his forceful manner. Instead, they mocked him.

“A special investigator? Doesn’t look very special to me.”

One muttered it as though speaking to himself, but he meant us to hear, and we heard every word.

Before either Seo Daeryong or I could respond, the other quickly stepped in.

“You can’t enter without authorization from our superiors.”

Seo Daeryong held out the investigation order for this case.

“Here’s your superior authority. This is the order.”

“Wait here. I’ll report to our superiors.”

“We’ll meet your commanding officer ourselves. Move.”

I simply watched from behind to see how Seo Daeryong would handle this.

“I told you, you can’t enter without permission.”

“This order is our permission!”

Their voices rose.

“What kind of bullshit is that? You come here, you follow our rules.”

“Bullshit?”

Without hesitation, Seo Daeryong viciously kicked the shin of the man blocking him.

CRACK.

“Urgh!”

The man clutched his shin, then raised his fist.

“You little bastard!”

Seo Daeryong stood his ground and glared at him.

“You intend to strike a Yellow Springs Pavilion investigator?”

The man did not dare hit him. However arrogant the Demon Army might be, assaulting a special investigator of Yellow Springs Pavilion meant an immediate trip to prison.

“Ugh. Should I just beat this little runt and pay for it afterward?”

That was exactly the Demon Army’s level.

Then again, was it only the Demon Army? Countless demonic martial artists in the Cult lived by their tempers, never considering the consequences.

We had no Demonic Path.

We might have had one once, but by now we had lost it.

No one gave any thought to why the Cult should exist in Murim, or what it ought to pursue in the future.

A gathering of villains united by the misguided belief that brutality and strength were justice and truth. If someone condemned the Cult in those terms, I would have no rebuttal.

Seo Daeryong raised his voice.

“Move!”

“I told you to wait until our commanding officer arrives!”

They did not move.

This reality must have been why Seo Daeryong had said it.

[“Because sending a letter wouldn’t change anything.”]

The struggle he was waging with that small body laid bare the reality of the Cult.

After watching for a while, I finally stepped forward.

“Do you know who I am?”

Even with me intervening, neither man’s arrogance diminished.

“We do.”

“I don’t think you do. If you knew it was me and still acted this way...?”

The instant I finished speaking, I viciously kicked the man in the balls. A kick to the shin apparently wasn’t enough, so I targeted something more important.

THUD!

“Aaaaaaargh!”

He clutched his crotch and rolled on the ground.

“You’re talking about paying for a beating while I’m watching?”

My fist slammed into the other man’s bewildered face.

BAM!

That huge body went flying with a single blow.

Seo Daeryong stared at me in surprise. Apparently, he had never imagined I would beat Demon Army members so openly.

“What are you doing? Lead the way.”

“Yes. Let’s go.”

He took the lead, and I followed.

Word must already have spread, because before we entered the main building, a group of demonic martial artists rushed over to block his path.

“Move!”

When no one stepped aside, Seo Daeryong held out the order and shouted.

“Can’t you see this? You’re obstructing an officially ordered investigation. Do you all want to rot in prison?”

However loudly he shouted, they merely snorted. Not one showed any sign of fear. His small build made them look down on him all the more.

Their ranks parted, and a man walked out.

“Which bastards did you say came here to cause trouble?”

“I am Special Investigator Seo Daeryong. Identify yourself.”

“Go Dang, First Squad Leader of the Demon Army. Satisfied, you bastard?”

Seo Daeryong quickly sent me a sound transmission.

—This man is effectively second in command. He is known as the worst of the Demon Army.

Go Dang apparently noticed his lips moving as he sent the transmission.

“Are you so desperate to die? You dare send sound transmissions right in front of me?”

These men were every bit as insolent as the ones at the main gate. They disregarded me because the Demon Army itself supported my older brother. The commander’s elder brother, the Blood Heaven Saber Demon, was also known to back him. That was why they treated me with such open contempt.

“Squad Leader Go, I am a special investigator from Yellow Springs Pavilion, here under official orders. Watch your language!”

Seo Daeryong stood his ground even before Go Dang.

‘I like him.’

After seeing the Blood Heaven Saber Demon’s scum of disciples and the arrogant Demon Army, looking at Seo Daeryong felt cleansing.

Apparently displeased with his attitude, Go Dang glared fiercely.

“Watch my language? And what if I don’t?”

“I’ll arrest all of you for obstructing a Yellow Springs Pavilion investigation and insulting an investigator.”

“Arrest us? Hahahaha!”

As he roared with laughter, his men joined in.

“Try it if you can!”

They would have acted this way even if enforcement martial artists authorized to use force had accompanied us.

Unable to do anything more, Seo Daeryong turned to me.

It was time for me to step in again.

“Squad Leader Go, it’s been a while.”

I strode over with a friendly expression and took his hand as though shaking it.

“When did we last meet? At the last banquet? It’s good to see you.”

In contrast to my warmth, Go Dang’s expression was far from pleasant.

“I believe I need to see the commander urgently. That’s enough throwing your weight around. Please let us through.”

As I spoke, I walked inside with him.

The way opened naturally, and Seo Daeryong and I went in, my hand still clasping Go Dang’s.

His men looked puzzled to see him give way so easily after his initial bluster.

We walked down the corridor, and I parted with him at the stairs.

“I’ll buy you a drink next time.”

We had gotten through and climbed the stairs so easily that Seo Daeryong asked in astonishment, “Did you know Go Dang?”

“No. Today was the first time I’d seen him.”

“Then how?”

“He’ll have to eat with his left hand for a while. I broke his hand when I shook it.”

“What?”

Seo Daeryong shouted in surprise.

How could he not be shocked to hear I had broken a Demon Army squad leader’s hand without giving the slightest outward sign?

“I had no idea anything like that happened. But why didn’t he order his men to attack?”

“Then they’d know what happened to him, wouldn’t they? His hand broke during a handshake? He couldn’t let it show, if only to avoid humiliating himself in front of his men.”

Of course, that wasn’t the only reason. When Go Dang tried to retaliate after the sudden attack broke his hand, I quickly sent him a sound transmission.

—Try anything, and you’ll never use this hand again.

I gripped his broken hand tightly, as though about to crush it completely. Since I had already crushed the Blood Heaven Saber Demon’s disciple’s arm beyond recovery, Go Dang was afraid.

“With that nasty temper of his, Go Dang won’t let this go.”

“And if he doesn’t?”

“He’ll try to hurt you somehow.”

“Then he’ll die with his skull smashed open. That’s a prophecy.”

Seo Daeryong looked at me as though seeing me anew.

“Admirable, aren’t I?”

“Your temperament is more... than I imagined.”

“Why stop there? Nasty?”

“...”

“So you’re the sort who can’t lie?”

“That’s why so many people dislike me.”

“What makes one person dislike you can make another like you.”