“……both maybe?”
Tang Ah-Hui answered with a cough of embarrassment.
“Honestly, I’m greedy. You’re a Peak Master approaching Transcendence, and you don’t belong anywhere. So I’m naturally interested and even a little suspicious. I don’t imagine a master like you can just appear out of thin air.”
“So?”
“But doubt is doubt, and greed is greed, right? So, I was going to make sure I learn more about you before I try to do anything with you.”
Tang Ah-Hui spoke frankly. It was brazen honesty. Lee Sungmin smiled at the words.
“So don’t push me away just because you don’t like it so much. We’re nott very familiar, are we? It’s my special issue. It must be very famous.”
Said Tang Ah-hui with a smile.
The only image Lee Sungmin had of Tang Ah-Hui was her pissing herself in fear of him and the immortal vestige of Henemy in the Forest of Temptation. Lee Sungmin shook his head.
“But I don’t want to drink or have tea right now.”
“That’s too bad. It’d be fun to hang out with you.”
Tang Ah-Hui spoke coquettishly. Lee Sungmin didn’t think of her mannerisms too much, but Murong Chae’s face, who was next to him, turned red.
He avoided eye contact by trying not to stare at Tang Ah-Hui’s outfit and body movements that emphasized her voluptuous curvature.
“You’ll have a chance with a woman someday.”, Tang Ah-Hui teased Murong Chae.
[She’s basically asking you to have a night with you. Are you going to indulge in some pleasure tonight?]
‘I’m not.’
[Why? Because you want to remain loyal to the Minor Heavenly Demon? You didn’t say anything like she would be the only one for you, doesn’t that mean you have the go-ahead with another woman?]
“Isn’t it funny that she didn’t actually say that, and that you’re just putting words in my mouth?’
[I swear, you’re so picky about the weirdest things.]
‘Piss off.’
Lee Sungmin failed to refute the heavy words from Heoju. Heoju kept finding and picking at fallacies within Lee Sungmin’s words, so Lee Sungmin just ignored him.
“It’s rather chilly tonight. I’m going in now.”
“Hey, you’re not going to snitch about anything, are you?”
“What the hell are you even saying?”
“No, just asked because I was curious about the other one.”
Tang Ah-Hui glanced at Murong Chae while she grumbled.
Murong Chae, who was peeking at Tang Ah-Hui’s figure with a sidelong glance, narrowed his eyes suddenly at her remark and snorted.
Tang Ah-HHui, noticing this, burst into laughter.
“That’s too bad. If you were just a little older, I would have played well with you as well…….”
“Wait- What’s that mean……!”
“You’re not thinking anything weird, are you? That might be a good idea to help you keep your mouth shut, like I said you should.”
“I didn’t……!”
“Huh, your imagination is welcome to run wild as you’d like.”
Tang Ah-Hui teased Murong Chae and stuck out her tongue. Seeing this, Murong Chae jerked his head away with red cheeks.
Lee Sungmin returned to his room after confirming that Tang Ah-Hui disappeared back into the alley.
[Let’s drink idiot.]
Heoju nagged at him, but Lee Sungmin ignored the words.
Lee Sungmin truly didn’t feel like drinking. He thought of Murong Dae at that moment in his black mourning clothes
How would it feel to lose one’s daughter like that? Lee Sungmin couldn’t even imagine the pain he must be going through.
‘He must be resentful.’
Lee Sungmin remembered Murong Chae’s words. That he would vow to kill Lee Sungmin if he ever saw him. He didn’t feel threatened by it, but instead saddened they couldn’t know the truth of what happened to their daughter.
Lee Sungmin laughed bitterly. He truthfully wanted to say that he didn’t kill them himself.
But there was no evidence. It was impossible for Murong Dae or Murong Chae to possibly believe him unless Murong Seojin was here and back from the dead to testify.
It was sadly common knowledge at this point to everyone in Eria that the Ghost Spear had killed Murong Seojin and her husband Zhuge Taeryong.
Even if Lee Sungmin sought to come out clean and testify with his new position as the young leader of the Sama Order, nobody allied with the Murim Alliance, let alone the 5 Great Families, would believe it.
The very next day, Lee Sungmin left the inn. He went to visit Scarlett and ask her about the schedule of the subjugation. Sufficient forces had arrived, but the mercenaries had not arrived just yet.
“We’ll start as soon as the mercenaries arrive.”
As expected, Scarlett replied with such words.
“The Wizard Guild and the Mercenary Guild are pretty closely knit. So I asked the Mercenary King directly for help, but he refused.”
Scarlett spoke with a bitter regret visible on her face as she spoke the words. At the words : ‘Mercenary King’, Lee Sungmin felt an unknown sense of rage bubble within himself, since Do Zun, one of the Six Divinities, was secretly hidden as the Mercenary King within Eria.
‘I understand why they aren’t coming.’
There was no way that Beyond the Heavens would openly risk sending the Mercenary King to the territory of Geniella, the Vampire Queen of the North.
Since Predator and Beyond the Heavens were two organizations that were near equal in terms of power, aside from Musin, the de-facto leader of Beyond the Heavens, there was no way they would send one of the weaker Six Divinities into the jaws of the strongest monster known in Predator, Geniella.
Perhaps they noticed something going on between Geniella and Kim Jonghyun.
Even Kim Jonghyun, the Devil of the North in possession of the Grimoire, was a child compared to Geniella. But, Do Zun was likely even weaker than Kim Jonghyun, so why risk it?
‘If Do Zun really doesn’t come, Should I think it’s that unfortunate I can’t get rid of him here?’
If the King of Mercenaries, Do Zun had come here himself. Lee Sungmin would, without a doubt, take the opportunity to kill Do Zun with his own two hands.
He would take every chance he got to weaken Beyond the Heavens further. They were actively trying everything in their hands to kill Lee Sungmin, so why should he not do the same?
Now, Lee Sungmin was currently leagues above Guan Zun, whom he had killed in the Elven Forest years back.
The year-long period of training that Lee Sungmin had taken under the tutelage of Sima Ryunju had turned him into a monster within the ranks of transcendent humans.
Didn’t Sima Ryunju say it himself? Among the members within Beyond the Heavens, only Musin, Kang, Seok and Wolhu would be able to challenge Lee Sungmin or give him trouble for that matter.
Since Lee Sungmin knew his power better than anyone else, it surely was regrettable that Do Zun had not come. Since Lee Sungmin would most likely be able to completely assassinate Do Zun quietly, or overwhelm him with sheer force if it came down to it.
If Do Zun had come, Beyond the Heavens would have surely come back with only 3 of the Divinities still alive.
“If the Mercenary King himself doesn’t come, then who will be coming?”
“There are so many mercenaries who want to establish a connection with the Wizard Guild. When I put in a request, some of the biggest names in the mercenary world sent me love calls. I chose a mercenary group that was closest to this place… It’s called the Mad Dogs. Do you know of them?”
“I know of them.”
Because he lived as a mercenary in his previous life, Lee Sungmin knew well about the different and innumerable mercenary corps. He had definitely heard of the prestigious and well-known Mad Dogs.
It is a mercenary corps that mainly operated in the northern regions of Eria, and was a mixture of humans, demi-humans, martial artists, and freelance wizards.
Since there were many talented mercenaries, along with SSS-class mercenaries, who were the highest skill mercenaries, the difference between an individual high ranking mercenary and a group of them was substantial.
“I know it’s a pretty dangerous and rough group of mercenaries.”
“The rumor about Kim Jonghyun whom we need to catch, is worse. I’ve heard they’re rough people as well, but……the other guy we need to capture, is a lunatic who has slaughtered thousands for unknown reasons. I don’t think it’s a bad thing to use a lesser group of evil to catch a bigger individual evil.”
Scarlett didn’t have the slightest change in her facial expression at all. Lee Sungmin sympathized with the words to some extent.
They were badly rumored folks, but it’s true that the Mad Dog mercenaries were excellent choices to bring along with them to subdue Kim Jonghyun.
“In fact, mercenaries, in the grand scheme of things, don’t have much weight in this… war of sorts.”(T/N : I may be crazy, but I feel this is a huge foreshadow to what this entire subjugation is truly about, since I think war might erupt after this between Murim and the Sama Order.)
Scarlett said.
“If you put a lot of weight on it like that, do you mean…?”
“I suppose so.”
Lee Sungmin also nodded at Scarlett’s words. No matter how reliable the mercenaries were, they were not quite in number or skill compared to the forces sent by the Murim Alliance and the 5 Great Families.
Of course, not saying that the Mad Dog Mercenary Corps was weak by any means. They had their own Peak Realm martial artists and high ranking Wizards, but it wasn’t a main contributive force in the grand scheme of things.
Lee Sungmin was sure that the Mad Dog Mercenary Corps weren’t idiots either and probably knew this fact as well.
Most mercenaries would be standing in the vanguard as well, the first to face the bombardment of whatever was to come, while the Wizards and main forces would be positioned behind them.
Yet, mercenaries were such people. They would stand on the front lines of death since they never knew when they would draw their last breath. And if they had the chance to establish a connection with a renowned family or Tower Master, they would willingly stake their bets.
The following two days after his talk with Scarlett, Lee Sungmin had dinner with Murong Chae every day.
Perhaps their welcoming atmosphere and a guilty conscience weighing on Lee Sungmin, was what made this happen. Regardless, Murong Chae and Murong Dae were different people than he had expected. They were not stuck up individuals like the other warriors that Lee Sungmin had encountered when it came to the Murim Alliance and Great Families.
Muron Dae no longer requested Lee Sungmin to eat with them, but Lee Sungmin had found himself to be enjoying their company quite well.
He genuinely felt like they were companions worth a conversation over a meal.
Of course, Lee Sungmin was not foolish, and he probably knew that Murong Dae wanted to form some kind of connection with a powerful warrior like Lee Sungmin because of his family weakening its standing among the 5 Great Families with the death of Murong Seojin.
The same could be said for Tang Ah-Hui, who consistently made blatant approaches towards him during the days he spent in Edor.
Every day, whenever Lee Sungmin went back after finishing his meal, she would come out of the same alley and asked him for a cup of tea or to share some liquor between them.
Tang Ah-Hui’s clothes changed each time as well. To be more precise, she revealed more and more skin every passing day. Thanks to this, Murong Chae’s face turned red every time he went back with Lee Sungmin, but Lee Sungmin paid no mind to her advances.
[Hahahah!]
‘Why don’t you just say it already.’Lee Sungmin grumbled as Heoju continued to tease Lee Sungmin about Tang Ah-Hui and nag him for drinking.
Eventually, as time passed, The Mad Dog Mercenary Corps arrived at Edor.
As the hundred-or-so members of the Mercenary Corps, belonging to the Mad Dogs, passed through Edor’s gates, Lee Sungmin went out of the inn to watch them enter from a distance.
The only reason was because he wanted to see the Mad Dog Mercenary Corps at least once, and had no intention of greeting them individually.
Doberman, the head of the Mad Dog Mercenary Corps, which was more likely to be an alias in Lee Sungmin’s mind…… had a look that suited the name ‘Doberman’.(T/N : Naming sense fml *facepalms)
He was tall, sleek, wearing a tight black outfit, and had sharp battle-tested eyes. He was an SSS-class mercenary. It was the top ranking a mercenary could receive, but in Lee Sungmin’s eyes, Doberman was only so-so in terms of strength.
Behind Doberman, likewise, were mercenaries that were named accordingly to breeds of dogs as their nicknames.
It didn’t seem to be a random naming sense, as they truly did have figures like dogs. The tanky and bulky shieldman of the corps, Bulldog, truly looked like a bulldog. And the man known as ‘Husky’ truly looked like a scout with pointy demi-human ears and a long nose.
[What a messy appearance.]
Lee Sungmin agreed.
Doberman, Bulldog, and Husky immediately headed to the inn where the Wizard Guild had taken over.
The Murim Alliance warriors and Murong Family, who heard the news of the arrival of the Mad Dog mercenaries, gathered at the base of the Wizard Guild’s lodging.
It was to have a full-fledged conversation and strategy planning, in the subjugation of Kim Jonghyun.
Scarlett said it would not matter if Lee Sungmin went in with her, but Lee Sungmin shook his head and refused. It was because he had thought it was not necessary for him to step up.
The meeting took place for hours until evening descended upon the city of Edor. Lee Sungmin confirmed that people were leaving the inn after the meeting, and went to talk to Scarlett.
“What happened?”
“We will start three days from now.”
Scarlett had an irritated face.
“The Mad Dogs asked for time to get acquainted with everyone here. And well, Kim Jonghyun hasn’t run away yet.… but it doesn’t change my mind about not wanting to be here.”
Scarlett grumbled.
“Anyway, we decided to head to the forest where Kim Jonghyun has been hiding in, after three days.”
“Kim Jonghyun is not a fool either, so he would have prepared to greet the subjugation force properly, you should be careful Miss Scarlett.”
“We’ve made our preparations to catch and kill Kim Jonghyun as well though. The Wizard Guild and the Magic Corps weren’t just sitting around in this city.”
Although she said so, Scarlett didn’t look awfully convinced with her own words either.
“……… It won’t be dangerous if you’re here. I’m not alone. But…… I still feel weird. It just makes me feel nauseous if anything.”
“Everything will be fine.”
To Scarlett, who was expressing anxiety, Lee Sungmin spoke in a powerful and re-affirming voice.
“I am here strictly for you, Miss Scarlett. Even if everybody else is in danger, I will only do my best to save you.”
“I feel more anxious when I hear you say that.”
Scarlett gave a muffled laugh, twisting her red hair anxiously with reddened cheeks.
” I’ll believe your words. I hope nothing bad will happen, but if it’s a really dangerous situation……and you are put in a dangerous situation because of me…….”
“Let’s not talk about that.”
Lee Sungmin interrupted Scarlett.
“It’s said that words alone can spring the seeds of doubt in one’s mind.”
Scarlett burst out laughing at Lee Sungmin’s words.