Chapter 147: Mask (1)

The best place to find an instructor was The House of Assassins, but there had been only one reason it had remained off the list until now.

‘Because that place is the cradle of the Hidden Shadow So Clan.’

House of Slaughter wasn’t merely a training ground for assassins.

Even the bloodline descendants of the Hidden Shadow So Clan were raised there without exception.

It was where the strongest assassins, who would devote their lives solely to the So Clan, were forged.

The only exception was when the Cult Leader’s direct unit, the Ghost Command Unit, requested personnel.

“Hidden Shadow So Clan… Hidden Shadow So Clan, huh…”

I closed my eyes tightly, feeling a vague sense of frustration.

“It’s one of the factions acting suspiciously these days.”

“……”

I’d heard that back during the Iron Steed Prison Cave incident, Jin Gun-ak had requested reinforcements from them, only to be completely ignored.

After the situation settled, Jin Gun-ak was said to have sent several furious protest letters to the clan.

‘And the So Clan ignored all of them.’

I tilted my head with a serious look.

“Is something happening inside the So Clan that I don’t know about?”

“That… I’m not really sure…”

I shot a flat look at Gu Chil, who was pretending to be ignorant.

“Wouldn’t it be quicker for you to make unofficial contact rather than me doing it through formal channels?”

To be honest, that seemed far more likely to work.

Because…

“You’re the disciple of the Murder Demon.”

“……”

The Ten Thousand Killer — Murder Demon, So Munyak.

Alongside the Left Guardian Mujeong, known as the One-Thousand Kills a Day, he was one of the cult’s two most fearsome assassins.

Gu Chil shook his head with a bitter expression.

“That relationship was already severed.”

“Really? Well, I suppose…”

Originally, Gu Chil wasn’t meant to end up in the Ghost Command Unit. He should’ve become the son-in-law of the So Clan and lived a completely different life.

Now, of course, he was my subordinate, getting dragged around, but in truth, he used to be…

Wait, hold on. Son-in-law?

“Gu Chil?”

“Yes?”

“Now that I think about it… wasn’t there a girl who came at you with a sword, saying she’d marry you?”

“…Yeah.”

“Her name was… So Soryu, right?”

“Y-Young Master?!”

Right, now I remembered.

It had been such a wild incident, it was impossible to forget.

“Not long after I took you in… that little thing came at me with a poison-coated dagger, demanding I hand you over…”

“…You still remember something from years ago?”

“Honestly, it’s not the kind of memory you forget, is it?”

I think she was a few years older than me. After being subdued by Gu Chil, she was swiftly taken back by people from the clan, wasn’t she?

Because of that, the Head of the Hidden Shadow So Clan personally visited the Jin Clan to apologize.

It was a memory from my past life, more than thirty years ago… but it was definitely unforgettable in many ways.

“She’s a direct line of the So Clan, right? With succession rights, too.”

“T-That’s true…”

“If you ask her, wouldn’t it be easy to get a few instructors at the Ghost Command Unit level?”

“……”

Gu Chil made a thoroughly displeased face.

No — it was more than that. He looked like he was about to cry.

“N-No. No way. Not her.”

“No way?”

“You’re not thinking of selling me out, are you, Young Master?!”

His teary-eyed expression actually tugged at my conscience a bit.

“Well, if they offer instructors, it’s likely they’ll want to drag you back to the clan as payment.”

“Exactly!”

“Tch, then maybe I need to try a different approach.”

Just then, Gu Chil glanced at me, cautiously suggesting,

“Um… what about asking the Young Cult Leader?”

Flinch.

This time, it was my face that froze.

“If it’s the Young Cult Leader making the request, even the So Clan wouldn’t be able to refuse.”

“…U-Ugh.”

I let out an awkward groan.

Only after a brief silence did I stammer out a response.

“Well, thing is… for some reason, Lady Cheon seems to be avoiding me.”

“Huh? The Young Cult Leader is avoiding you?”

“Yeah…”

My voice trailed off weakly.

‘She probably hates me even more because of what happened back then.’

Back when we emerged from the cave, Cheon Yura had clearly recognized me.

But I had impulsively embraced her.

And right after my talk with the Cult Leader, she’d immediately returned to the Lesser Demon Hall.

“When I made time to visit her again at the Lesser Demon Hall, I was told she wasn’t there.”

And the one who delivered that message had been none other than the Grand Protector, Wang Cheongeol. That alone made it certain — she wasn’t just absent; she was avoiding me.

“Damn it, all I did was hug her because I liked her. It’s not like I did anything that wrong.”

“…To be honest, you kinda did mess up. In a lot of ways.”

“Whose side are you on?”

I narrowed my eyes, glaring, and Gu Chil hurriedly turned his head away.

Having once faced my overwhelming killing intent, Gu Chil stammered out a pitiful excuse.

“M-Maybe… maybe she’s just avoiding you because she’s embarrassed?”

“Embarrassed? Cheon Yura? That Cheon Yura?”

I tilted my head for a moment, considering it, but then shook my head.

“No way.”

“You sure…?”

“She’s the kind of woman who never looks back once she’s made up her mind. There’s no way she’d get flustered over something like that.”

“……”

For some reason, Gu Chil looked at me with a strange expression full of doubt.

“…What’s that look for?”

“Well, I mean… it’s kinda hard to say, but…”

“Then how about… not saying it?”

“Honestly… when you were playing as the Noble Flower Player and frequenting pleasure quarters, you often misread women’s hearts. There was even a time people called you the Flowery Eunuch…”

Shiiiing!

I drew my sword with genuine murderous intent.

This bastard… did he really just dig up my dark past?

“I-I’ll be off to the Thousand-Day Pass now!”

Gu Chil bolted without even considering the consequences.

That rotten bastard.

He’d better be ready when he comes back.

***

Mornings at the Lesser Demon Hall were always hectic.

Its mistress began her training at dawn with a blank face as always, and unless they were on rotation, the maids and guards followed her routine without exception.

In truth, just about two months ago, the atmosphere at the Lesser Demon Hall had been far from pleasant.

That was because their mistress — the Young Cult Leader — had been stood up by a man(?!).

Of course, no matter how generous their mistress might be, if she ever heard those words, they’d all be in serious trouble…

But at the time, she had been too mentally shattered to care about anything.

After the incident surrounding Iron Steed Prison Cave, which nearly sparked a civil war among the Six Great Demonic Clans—

For some reason, the overwhelming killing intent that had cloaked the Lesser Demon Hall completely vanished.

The maids secretly sighed in relief, finally feeling like they could breathe again.

However, a different problem soon emerged.

“Is the Young Cult Leader… still the same today?”

“Yeah, seems so.”

For the past few weeks, Young Cult Leader Cheon Yura, who had been emanating a terrifying aura in the training hall, now refused to even come out of her room.

The maids let out quiet sighs.

“Seriously… what’s so special about that man?”

“At least she’s eating regularly this time.”

“What could be weighing on her so much?”

They worried about their heartbroken mistress, but they weren’t in any position to offer her comfort.

As far as they knew, there were only two people in the entire cult who could console her.

And one of those two had just arrived at the Lesser Demon Hall.

“Heaven’s Return, Ten Thousand Demons Bow!”

“All hail the Great Cult Leader!”

The maids, guards, and even the Grand Protector knelt down in respect as the Cult Leader appeared at the hall.

“Is Yura inside?”

“Yes… she’s still lying in bed today.”

The woman who had taken over as head maid in place of Sa Biyeon answered.

“I see.”

The Cult Leader threw open the doors to Cheon Yura’s bedroom — which had, until now, been forbidden to all.

Inside, Cheon Yura was not lying down as expected but standing, gazing out the window.

“Ah…”

Noticing her father’s presence, she hurriedly tried to stand.

“Heaven’s Return… Ten Thousand—”

“This isn’t a formal visit, Yura.”

“Yes… Father…”

The Cult Leader, Cheon Taejong, examined his daughter’s face closely.

She looked a bit drained, but not seriously unwell.

To him, as a father, she didn’t seem much different from usual.

“After storming into the Heavenly Thunder Corps and declaring your bold intentions… what kind of pathetic sight is this?”

“T-That’s…”

Cheon Yura bowed her head low.

Even she knew that spending nearly a month moping like this was unlike her.

Cheon Taejong grinned and asked,

“Didn’t you say you’d drag that young man back by a leash? So why are you here instead?”

At the word leash, Cheon Yura flinched noticeably.

“N-No! Who the hell said that?! Was it Biyeon?! Or was it one of those bastard guards that was there—?!”

“That’s not what matters.”

While Cheon Yura fumed in betrayal, Cheon Taejong lightly stroked his beard and clicked his tongue.

“I decided to give that young man a chance.”

Cheon Yura’s face immediately stiffened at those words.

And then a secret of the cult, which no one else had been told, slipped from his mouth.

“Not long ago, the Yin-Yang Fist Demon who had been imprisoned in the Sealed Prison was assassinated.”

Former Seventh Elder, Yin-Yang Fist Demon Jan Hyeol.

After his dantian had been destroyed and he was dragged back to the cult, there had been no word from him…

But that wasn’t the real problem.

“The Sealed Prison… isn’t that the deepest part of Iron Steed Prison Cave?!”

It was guarded by martial artists directly under the Cheon Clan.

Someone had cut through them to assassinate the Yin-Yang Fist Demon?

“The killer introduced himself as Han No, a mysterious swordsman.”

Someone who slaughtered every guard of the Sealed Prison — all of them at least Master Level — and then beheaded the Yin-Yang Fist Demon.

And even escaped from the Heavenly Demon himself.

“In my opinion, that man is one of the Ten Heavenly Lords.”

And he was likely among the higher ranks.

“I thought they had become distracted by matters of the Central Plains and were neglecting our cult.”

But that had been a grave misunderstanding.

“I thought I had purged most of their agents, but they’re still operating in the shadows of our cult.”

I believed there was still time.

But that too… was a mistake.

“That’s why I realized — you need someone by your side to support you.”

“You mean… Jin Yeomyung?”

“Well, I didn’t specifically say him…”

Cheon Taejong’s expression, which had been serious until now, suddenly turned playful.

“But if things go that way, it wouldn’t be so bad for me as your father.”

“……”

That was a provocation.

A clear and direct provocation.

But the problem was — Cheon Yura had no real rebuttal.

She spoke up with a somewhat wilted expression.

“Not long ago… Cheon Yujeong told me something.”

“What did she say?”

“She said… I don’t know how to give love.”

“……”

“I worked up the courage to confront him, after agonizing for days… but when I saw that boy, all battered and bruised, my resolve faltered.”

The Cult Leader’s face stiffened slightly.

That probably wasn’t all of it.

The moment Jin Yeomyung embraced her without a word, whatever vague feelings Cheon Yura had likely solidified into something real.

“I don’t know how to approach him. Back then, it felt like I could treat him more casually…”

“Hmm…”

Cheon Taejong sighed inwardly — it was like counseling a lovesick teenager.

Feelings like these were usually experienced and resolved in youth, but given the environment she was raised in, it was only natural such side effects had developed.

“Do you want to have an honest talk with that young man?”

“…Yes.”

Cheon Yura lowered her head and gave a small nod.

Even if she wanted to approach Jin Yeomyung, the weight of her duties and pride held her back every time.

And that experience — in truth — was something Cheon Taejong himself had gone through in the past.

“There is one way.”

“W-What is it?!”

“Set aside your pride as the Young Cult Leader… even just for a moment.”

“…?”

If she could do that, she wouldn’t be in this state to begin with!

Sensing his daughter’s frustration, Cheon Taejong slowly extended his palm and gently covered her face.

“Just for a while… wear a mask.”

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