“Haaah!!!!!”
I gasped for breath and clutched at my chest. The chilling sensation of a coldly honed blade lodging itself in my heart was vivid. My whole body was soaked in cold sweat.
“Haaah, hah. Hah.”
What was that just now?
It had been far too vivid in all five senses to call a nightmare. When I remembered Yi Mong-ryong’s killing intent, surging as if it would slice through my skin, goosebumps prickled across the back of my neck.
“Does a secret royal inspector need to be that gory?”
I thought it would amount to confiscation of property and dismissal from office at most, but a gruesome-death ending?
That changed the story.
I steadied my ragged breathing and slowly organized the situation.
Sword Amid the Battlefield began withering as soon as it reached Full Bloom, and then the Mirror of Safety and Peril appeared. And in the world shown to me by the Mirror of Safety and Peril, I got skewered by that bastard Mong-ryong’s sword.
My face hardened.
‘The fact that the rebound force didn’t trigger...... means it wasn’t Full Bloom.’
Over the memory of my heart being pierced by Yi Mong-ryong’s surprise attack in the final moment, I recalled the sight of the tenth Mindscape Flower withering and falling. When I thought of what that meant, my hands felt cold.
“This is absurd.”
I first gathered my thoughts and slowly examined the Mindscape Garden once more.
The Mindscape Flowers of Sword Amid the Battlefield, which had been flaunting Full Bloom, had indeed been reduced to eight. Even then, the final blossom was half withered, dried out without vitality as if it would fall at any moment.
The withering of Mindscape Flowers meant only one possibility.
Death.
A Mindscape Flower was a flower that bloomed from an ability user’s life force as its source. In other words, a Mindscape Flower withering meant that its owner was dying.
‘Is the fire that began from the Mirror of Safety and Peril burning the Mindscape Flowers?’
But I soon shook my head.
‘The fact that Full Bloom’s rebound force didn’t work at the final moment in the fight against Yi Mong-ryong means that’s something that will happen in the future.’
If my guess was correct, the Mirror of Safety and Peril was a form of ‘future sight’ that showed in advance what would happen at some point in the future. The flame that began from the Mirror of Safety and Peril was only a warning of an impending calamitous fire it had nothing to do with the Mindscape Flowers withering away.
Rubbing the part of my chest where my heart had been pierced in the dream, I let out a sigh.
In any case, at this rate, this area would be reduced to a wasteland within a few years, my Mindscape Flowers would keep withering...... and I would meet my end at Yi Mong-ryong’s hands.
“Hah.”
A hollow laugh slipped out of me before I knew it.
It was ridiculous.
Namwon Protectorate being destroyed was absurd, and the Mindscape Flowers withering was absurd too, but the most ludicrous part was that I had to be killed by Yi Mong-ryong for the crime of failing to protect Chun-hyang.
Suddenly, I remembered Yi Mong-ryong’s eyes glaring at me as if he would kill me.
That damned layabout was the one who abandoned her like an old shoe and went off to Hanyang alone, so why the X-shit was he taking it out on the wrong person, X-shit.
On top of that, he even brought up his title as Secret Edict Inspector. That was clearly an abuse of power.
“Making a brat like that a Secret Edict Inspector? His Majesty has lost his mind too.”
No matter how short on people they were these days, giving the position of not just an inspector, but a Secret Edict Inspector, to a young brat whose face had not even lost its down yet? Not unless the king had gone mad.
That was why the brat could not tell heaven from earth and went around bullying innocent people. Ugh.
Between anger, confusion, and the anxiety creeping up inside me, I felt like craving cigarettes I did not even smoke.
“Ha, this won’t do. I need to clear my head.”
If I kept sitting there like this, my heart felt like it would burst from sheer frustration. I kicked off from my seat and went outside.
***
“Kuh, now I feel a little more alive.”
I muttered as I set the empty cup down on the table with a CLACK. The thick, bitter taste distinctive to the cheap unrefined rice wine commoners usually drank spread through my mouth.
Storming out in a fit of anger and heading beyond the Three Gates was all well and good, but I had nowhere in particular to go. After wandering around, this was where I ended up. And yet, I was the only person sitting on the wooden platform of the tavern. The sun had not even fully set, but the marketplace was quiet, with no one coming or going.
“What is this, is today some kind of day? Why is it so deserted?”
“Setting out a drinking table outside on the Dark Moon...... I genuinely wonder if you have gone mad.”
A voice suddenly came from somewhere.
No, wait. What lunatic was calling me mad?
When I turned toward the sound with a fierce scowl, I saw Yu-bong, who should have been at the government office, plop himself down across from me.
“You openly asked whether I’d gone mad. It seems you truly no longer wish to live.”
I glared sharply at him and muttered in a low voice. Yet the bastard paid no heed to my words and answered while sweeping the last remaining piece of potato pancake from the old dog-legged low table into his mouth.
“No, but isn’t it true? If you needed a drinking table, you could have called the slaves. Did you really have to sit here drinking?”
At his nagging, I drained the last of the rice wine and said,
“What business is it of yours where I drink?”
“It is the Dark Moon.”
“So what?”
“My lord, have you truly gone mad?”
No, but this bastard really.
Even if we had known each other for a long time, I was still strictly his superior. Was this not crossing a line?
Feeling irritation surge up at once, I furrowed my brows hard and opened my mouth again.
“Ha...... Yu-bong, there is a limit to how much I can overlook—”
“The Dark Moon. Today is the day the Gate opens.”
At his quiet voice, my body trembled before I knew it.
The Dark Moon.
The Gate opens.
In that instant, Byeon Hak-do’s memories surged up like a lightning strike.
That was right.
Just as that bastard Yu-bong had said, the Dark Moon was the day the Gate, in other words, the Dire Gate, opened.
Ah, shit. Because of that Mirror of Safety and Peril or Mirror of Dire Peril or whatever it was, I completely forgot.
As irritation piled on top of irritation and I clicked my tongue shortly, the earth began to shake as if it had been waiting.
GRRRRRK—
“Aaaah—!”
“Good heavens!!!!!”
“Help!!!!”
At the same time, people’s screams began ringing from far away—
“Oh no, it has opened! My lord, hurry and flee...... M-my lord?!”
The moment I heard the screams, my body reacted before my head did.
‘I guess fifteen years in the field as a civil slave don’t just disappear.’
I sprang up from my seat like a coiled spring and started running toward the source of the sound, leaving that bastard Yu-bong’s voice behind me.
“Oh dear, my lord! Let us go together, together!”
Together, my ass. Did he think we were going out for a stroll?
If you can keep up, try it with whatever talent you have.
I snorted as Yu-bong’s voice, following behind me at a run, grew more and more distant, then pushed my speed even faster.
“Aaaagh—!!!!”
“Run!!!!! Hurry!!!!”
As I ran against the flow of terrified people, I saw one part of the sky stained red.
......I never thought I’d see that again even after coming all the way here.
The Gate to the Otherworld, which I had seen to the point of utter disgust, hung in midair with its black maw gaping open, as if it had torn space itself apart.
‘Fortunately, it’s lower-grade. At that level, one or two ability users should be enough to deal with it.’
Dire Gates could be graded by their color. Red, like the one wavering over there, was lower-grade; purple was mid-grade; and black was classified as upper-grade.
In that instant, I ended up frowning.
That useless bastard Byeon Hak-do.
As soon as he took office, he pushed off all the New Arrival Briefings greetings and work reports submitted by the relevant offices to a newly appointed local official), and the very first official duty he performed was the famous gisaeng inspection. So he had not even checked who the important Special Military Officer of Namwon Protectorate was.
The Dire Gates that formed on the Dark Moon were fundamentally similar in nature to Gates. Once a Dire Gate opened, if it was not dealt with within a certain time, the ferocious Dire Species would cross over to this side through the Gate in search of prey.
There was no way ordinary people, who did not even have proper weapons, could stand against Dire Species, so if that happened, it was only natural that a scene of utter chaos would unfold. To prevent such disasters, the state stationed Special Military Officers at each government office and made them prepare for the Dire Gates that opened on the Dark Moon.
In other words, a Special Military Officer’s foremost duty was to cross through the Dire Gate, kill the Dire Species and the leader of that Gate—the boss mob, no, the Chief—and close the Dire Gate as quickly as possible.
‘Well, that’s only what the law says.’
If they had actually followed it, the country would not be in this state. Tsk.
I muttered inwardly as I passed a woman fleeing barefoot while holding one child in her arms and carrying another on her back, and a shaggy-haired boy running with his sickly old mother loaded onto an A-frame carrier.
After going through three upheavals, this country had become a complete shitshow.
Because of that, the Special Military Officers dispatched to prepare for the Dire Gates that repeated every Dark Moon had rapidly grown corrupt, taking advantage of the central government’s lax oversight, and their duty was no longer the handling of Dire Gates. As a result, privately employing a capable Special Military Officer had long since become a very effective and direct method for powerful local clans and merchant associations to flaunt their strength.
Then who closed the Dire Gates that opened?
“That must be it.”
I muttered shortly when I found the place where people had gathered near the wavering Dire Gate.
There were two ways to close a Dire Gate that had already opened.
Enter the Dire Gate, find the Chief who led that Gate, and kill it, or wait until the Dire Gate closed on its own.
In the latter case, once the Chief awoke, the ferocious Dire Species would cross over to this side in search of prey, so in the world I had lived in, it was a method no different from useless.
In the end, there was only one way to buy time until the Gate closed on its own while preventing the Dire Species from crossing over.
Throw living prey beyond the Gate so the ferocious Dire Species would not come over in search of food until the Gate closed by itself. Human sacrifice was the only option.
The offering did not necessarily have to be human, but in a village that did not even have the money to call a Special Military Officer, there was no way livestock to use as offerings would be abundant. In the end, in most cases, children without parents, widows without husbands, or parents who had lost their children were thrown beyond the Dire Gate in the name of offerings.
“Chun-hyang! Oh, my child. My baby!!! Let go, let go of me! I will go with her, so let me go, you worse-than-beasts!!!”
An old woman had collapsed onto the ground and was screaming and weeping.
Chun-hyang?
The instant I faltered, Yu-bong, who had somehow followed me, stood beside me with his shoulders heaving as he panted shallowly and muttered,
“Oh dear, huff, huff. I knew this would happen.”
“What do you mean?”
When I asked, he pointed toward the old woman and answered,
“That woman is called Wolmae. She was originally a gisaeng and was manumitted by order of the Queen Dowager a few years ago. Her daughter is the Chun-hyang you saw today, is she not?”
Damn, so that was Chun-hyang’s mother, Wolmae?
“Tsk, tsk. It looks like those ruffians used this chance to properly take out their anger.”
“What does that mean?”
“Isn’t Chun-hyang famous for her beauty around here, to the point that there is no one in these parts who does not know of her? Enough that you ordered her to attend your bedchamber as soon as you took office, my lord.”
“Ah, who did?! I sent her back, did I not! I sent her back, I tell you!”
When I snapped in irritation, Yu-bong waved his hand roughly as if he understood and told me to calm down, then added one more thing.
“That is exactly what I mean. That is why I thought you had gone completely mad, my lord.”
To think you would send back a woman already in your grasp just like that. I wondered if it was not my lord whom I had served until now, but perhaps a ghost sitting inside him instead.
At Yu-bong’s muttering, which hit unexpectedly close to the mark, I deliberately twisted my face and was about to say something when he swiftly changed the subject.
“In any case, what I mean is that there is no one in these parts who does not know that Chun-hyang has a betrothed she already promised to marry. However—”
“However?”
“Are those ruffians the sort of fellows who would consider every little circumstance like that? Since there was only an old mother and a young daughter in that household, picking fights with them was part of their daily routine, or so they say.”
At Yu-bong’s words, I looked him up and down anew and asked,
“How do you know all that in such detail?”
“Is it not the virtue of a capable literary retainer to investigate the place of appointment in advance and gather information his superior might be interested in?”
Even in the middle of that, I stared at Yu-bong’s smooth face as he proudly lifted the tip of his chin, then asked,
“You thought I would be interested in Chun-hyang’s family circumstances?”
“I repeat, my lord, but originally, today you ordered her to attend your bedcham—”
“Ah, enough. Stop saying useless things.”
Damn bastard.
I cut Yu-bong off and turned my gaze again to Wolmae, who was collapsed on the ground, screaming and weeping.
Ah, shit.
Does that mean if Chun-hyang dies in there now, the story will flow toward that gruesome-death ending?
With urgency gripping me, I was about to head straight for the Dire Gate when I suddenly stopped.
Wait.
No.
That is not it.
There was no way the opening of one lower-grade Dire Gate like that would turn Namwon Protectorate into that much of a wasteland.
Besides, by the timeline, Yi Mong-ryong should still be at the stage where he was studying his books hard enough to get heat rash on his backside. No matter if that bastard was the boyfriend of the protagonist of this world’s canon, there was no way he could become a Secret Edict Inspector before even passing the state examination.
Suppressing my anxiety, I decided to watch the situation a little longer.
“Even if you do not make such a fuss, we will send you to your daughter’s side once enough time passes, so do not waste your strength.”
When one of the ruffians looked down at Wolmae, who lay spread-eagle on the ground screaming, and sneered, the others began joining in one by one.
“That’s right. Who knows? That bitch Chun-hyang might have seduced the Chief even in there and survived.”
“With a slutty look like Chun-hyang’s, she could seduce every Dire Species inside and still have charm left over.”
“You filthy bastards under heaven, are you even human?! Oh, heavens. Gods and spirits of heaven and earth, please look down upon us and let those filthy bastards die screaming before their time.”
“No, but has this old hag gone senile!!”
At Wolmae’s curse-laden cry, one of the ruffians scowled hard and raised his foot to kick her.
‘No matter what, that crosses the line.’
THWACK.
The folding fan I pulled from my sleeve and threw in a hurry struck one of the ruffian’s legs precisely, then dropped to the ground.
“M-my lord?”
“Just watch quietly.”
I answered Yu-bong, who called out to me, in a low voice, then slowly approached and picked up the folding fan that had fallen to the ground. At the sudden appearance of an interrupter, tension settled in the ruffians’ eyes.
“You look unfamiliar. Why not go on your way instead of meddling in another town’s affairs?”
One of the ruffians warned me in a tone feigning politeness.
Aside from the worn dopo robe I had roughly obtained and put on while passing outside the Three Gates, both the gat on my head and the shoes on my feet were high-quality goods commoners could not easily acquire. Anyone with even a little discernment would find my clothing worth being wary of first, rather than charging at me blindly.
Not that I cared.
I snorted and opened my mouth.
“You have every limb intact, yet you shove womenfolk in as offerings and do not even know shame. You only know how to speak. Otherwise, you are beasts.”
“See here, noble sir. I warned you. If you are a traveler, why not act like one and go on your way? Do not stick your nose where it does not belong.”
At those words, another bastard twisted his already ugly face and spoke.
“A Dire Gate has opened, and you are telling me not to meddle? What bizarre talk.”
“Then what are you going to do? Are you going to go in instead, noble sir?”
“Why would I, when there are so many offerings right here?”
With a small laugh, I looked over the group of ruffians, and their faces twisted.
“It seems that nobleman is in desperate need of a beating, so we will give him what he wants.”
One hot-tempered-looking fellow among the group rolled up his sleeves and strode toward me.
“Oh-ho. How dare you.”
Before he could even extend his hand fully, I stepped to the side and swung the folding fan in my hand, striking him hard on the crown of his head.
CRACK—!
“Keugh!”
The fellow, who had a frame as large as a bear’s, lost his balance and staggered. I did not miss that opening. With my other hand, I grabbed him by the collar and hurled him straight through the open space beyond.
“Aaaagh—!!”
“Hiiik!!!”
“Th-that!!”
The ruffians flinched after witnessing one of their companions thrown beyond the Dire Gate in an instant. One of them shouted with a stunned face.
“W-what are you doing!! To an innocent person so recklessly—”
“An innocent person? Then what exactly were the things you did just now?”
At my question, the ruffian stammered in confusion.
“Th-that was unavoidable if we were going to save the village—”
“Just because there’s a hole in your face doesn’t mean you can let any sound fall out of it.”
When I took one more step closer, the ruffians stepped back in unison, as if they had arranged it beforehand.
But I had no intention of letting them off.
After all, the ruffians of this era were bastards who wandered here and there without identity tablets, sucking the marrow out of the weak. They were trying to claim that, in their own way, they had offered a human sacrifice on behalf of the villagers, but judging by the expressions of the people gathered around, it seemed obvious that they had simply used this chance to vent their anger on Chun-hyang, who had acted stiffly toward them.
“Garbage has to be cleaned up by whoever sees it first if the streets are going to stay clean.”
When I snapped open the folding fan in my hand and grinned broadly, the ruffians’ faces went white.