Myst, Might, Mayhem (Novel) - Chapter 5 - Yeon Mok Sword Manor (1)
Chapter 5 – Yeon Mok Sword Manor (1)
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Translated by Jinmu
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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After removing the bandages, Mok Gyeong-un looked at his upper body reflected in the bronze mirror.
Traces of sword wounds remained on the left side of his chest and abdomen.
‘Scars?’
Ordinarily, most wounds would not leave scars on him.
But the wounds stabbed by that man’s black sword had remained exactly as scars.
It seemed they would last for life.
‘Well… there is nothing to be done.’
He had to be satisfied with having survived.
He too had thought he would die from wounds of that extent.
But contrary to expectation, he survived.
He had known from the start that he possessed unusual powers of recovery, but his vitality was tougher than he had imagined.
‘Does it mean I am not yet meant to go there?’
That was a relief.
At the very least, if he had to hear Grandfather’s scolding, he wanted to finish his revenge first.
That would make it less unfair.
‘Revenge…’
Thinking of revenge made him think he was fortunate.
Who could have imagined there would be someone in the world with exactly the same face as his?
Thanks to that, he had been able to wash his identity clean.
‘Should I call that good luck?’
Since the identity of the condemned prisoner had been murdered, there would be no wanted order saying he had escaped.
In truth, rather than the government office issuing a wanted order, there was something else he had in mind.
‘They will believe I am dead now, won’t they?’
That middle-aged man with the black sword whom he met while chasing traces of his enemy.
That man had appeared to kill him.
If the fact that he was alive were discovered, he would certainly appear again.
‘… Martial arts.’
He had experienced it clearly.
That man had been the first monster he had ever encountered in his life.
Unless he learned what martial arts were, it seemed impossible to oppose him.
In that sense, it felt like heaven-sent luck.
The one who had the same face as him was the Third Young Master of Yeon Mok Sword Manor, a martial family.
He could deceive that man and the world as the Third Young Master of Yeon Mok Sword Manor instead of the Sickle-Killing Ghost,
and furthermore, the chance to learn martial arts had opened.
‘It opened, but…’
There was just one problem.
As he put on his upper garment, Mok Gyeong-un looked at the black silhouette standing outside the door.
It was someone Guard Gam had placed there to watch him.
Because of that, he was trapped in the villa and could not move about except to go to the latrine.
‘Annoying.’
The situation was far from easy.
At this level, it was no different from confinement.
They had made a bargain, but as expected, Guard Gam did not trust him at all.
He likely never would.
After all, he had boldly killed the real one in front of him.
‘What should I do?’
If he stayed still, he would merely be pushed around like this.
And the chance to learn martial arts might not come at all.
A dead-end situation in which he could do nothing.
-And yet Mok Gyeong-un merely gave a calm little smile.
Knock knock.
At that moment, someone knocked on the door.
“Young Master. I have brought your lunch.”
Soon the door opened and a maid entered carrying a tray with food.
It was stir-fried beef and eggplant, bean sprouts, and rice.
As she always had, the maid set the tray down on the round table by the window.
Then she stole a glance at Mok Gyeong-un, who was sitting in a chair fastening the buttons of his top.
‘He is handsome.’
Among the four young masters of Yeon Mok Sword Manor, Mok Gyeong-un’s beauty was by far the greatest.
The maids practically competed to bring him meals just so they could see his face.
Would they not need at least this small bit of pleasure?
But then,
‘Hm?’
The maid slightly furrowed her brow.
Even the way he wore a faint smile looked no different from the usual Mok Gyeong-un.
Then what was this strange sense of incongruity?
‘What is it?’
Something felt different.
It was hard to tell exactly where.
As the bewildered maid gathered the tray to withdraw,
“Wait.”
“Yes?”
“About the stir-fried beef and eggplant.”
“Yes.”
“Next time, I would like the beef cooked a little less.”
“But if it is undercooked, the blood…”
“Beef is softer when it is cooked less, and it tastes good when there is a little blood on it.”
He said that and smiled brightly.
The moment she saw that smile, a chill ran lightly down the maid’s spine.
She thought she now understood why she had felt that incongruity.
The corners of his mouth were smiling, but his eyes were staring at her without moving in the slightest.
It made her whole body feel stiff.
“Is there some problem?”
“Th-that is…”
Once fear took hold of her, it became hard to answer.
Right at that moment,
“How food is cooked is for the kitchen staff to decide, Young Master.”
Mok Gyeong-un turned his head toward the door.
Guard Gam was coming in through the open doorway.
Looking displeased, he shook his head and waved his hand sharply at the maid.
-At that, the maid bowed quickly and hurried out.
Bang.
After shutting the door, Guard Gam approached Mok Gyeong-un and said,
“I warned you not to do anything conspicuous.”
Mok Gyeong-un lightly scooped up some rice with his chopsticks and replied,
“Is asking for the beef to be less cooked considered doing something conspicuous?”
“You are Mok Gyeong-un, not a condemned prisoner.”
“The sheet you gave me to memorize did not say what kind of meat the real one preferred.”
Mok Gyeong-un calmly argued back.
‘This bastard.’
At that attitude, Guard Gam’s expression hardened fiercely.
Strictly speaking, he was not wrong,
but it still displeased him that the boy had an answer for everything.
Even the way he sat there chewing rice while speaking was irritating.
Taking the seat opposite him, Guard Gam said,
“Judging by the way you talk, you must have memorized everything I told you to learn?”
“Yes. There was nothing much to it.”
“Nothing much? Ha. Then what is the name of the First Young Master?”
“Mok Yeong-ho. Age twenty. A mole on the left cheek. So addicted to drink and women that he visits taverns every other day. The most incompetent among the brothers, but greedy and violent.”
‘…’
One of Guard Gam’s brows rose.
Not a single word was wrong.
Because the real young master had written the information sheet himself, it was written quite bluntly from his own point of view.
“… And the Second Young Master?”
“Mok Eun-pyeong. Age eighteen. Drooping eyes that resemble the First Madam. Cunning and crafty. Trash who might do anything to become the manor lord.”
Mok Gyeong-un recited it exactly as written.
The force in the handwriting had made it clear how much the real one had hated him.
‘It would be easier if he were just an idiot.’
Guard Gam clicked his tongue inwardly.
As expected, this one was sharp enough to memorize everything.
There seemed to be no need to test him further.
“Shall I tell you about the Fourth Young Master as well? Or perhaps the real Mok Gyeong-un’s usual habits…”
“That is enough. This much will do.”
“Then I have not finished eating yet, so may I continue?”
“Hmph. Eat while you listen.”
“Understood.”
Guard Gam stood up, faced the window with his hands behind his back, and spoke.
“Even though you have memorized what is on the information sheet, you will have almost no occasions to meet the others in this household.”
“… Why is that?”
“No matter how much you have the same face as the Young Master, if a tail grows long enough, it gets stepped on. The easiest way is never to let such a thing happen.”
“So you are saying I am to stay shut up inside all the time?”
“You catch on quickly.”
“That sounds hardly any different from being a stand-in.”
“It was you who chose to become a puppet instead of a stand-in. Since you chose that road yourself, all you need to do is exactly what you are told.”
Guard Gam hammered that point down firmly.
So that this cunning bastard would not even think of other ideas.
“So all I have to do is what I am told.”
“That is right.”
“Is there anything else I should know?”
“There is not.”
At Guard Gam’s final answer, Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes narrowed as he handled his chopsticks.
They had called it information he needed to memorize, but beyond habits and personal details sufficient to keep the fact that he was a fake from being easily exposed, they had told him nothing.
Especially the one thing he most needed to know.
‘So he will not tell me why a stand-in was needed.’
Of course, he had guessed that he might choose not to say.
That allowed Mok Gyeong-un to become certain of one fact.
‘He intends to leave me alone even if I run into the dangerous situation that required a stand-in.’
Otherwise there would be no reason not to tell him.
Now that he had been fed the poison pellet and the real Mok Gyeong-un was dead, he had expected to be used as the only replacement for a while.
Apparently that was not the case.
There seemed to be some other hidden card.
-As he sank into thought, the corner of Mok Gyeong-un’s mouth curled in a dark smile.
‘He is trying to switch lines.’
* * *
Bang.
After shutting the door, Guard Gam spoke to the sharp-eyed middle-aged man standing outside.
“Make sure he absolutely cannot get out. And if anyone comes looking for him, make some excuse like his health is poor so he cannot meet anyone else.”
“Understood.”
“I will step out for a while.”
As he turned to go, the middle-aged man lowered his voice and said,
“Senior Brother. Is there really a need to switch lines?”
“Hm?”
“He already swallowed the poison pellet. Would it not be better to simply use that fake? After all, choosing the Third Young Master in the first place was…”
“That one is not suitable.”
“Pardon? What do you mean?”
“I mean he is not the sort who can be easily controlled.”
At those words from Guard Gam, the middle-aged man inwardly snorted.
No matter that he was a condemned prisoner, he was still just a civilian who had not learned martial arts.
So Guard Gam’s overreaction seemed ridiculous.
Perhaps because he had long since withdrawn from the front lines and lived as a bodyguard, the sharpness he once had had clearly dulled.
If the bastard was that irritating, they could just beat him down a little and teach him his place.
But regardless of what he thought, there was no way he could openly talk back to a senior brother.
“Understood.”
“Watch him well. If he tries anything pointless, subdue him with grappling. Other than the face, I permit you to inflict some pain.”
“Ho. Truly?”
“That might actually be better for a bastard like him. In any case, guard him well.”
“Understood.”
The middle-aged man lifted the corner of his mouth in satisfaction.
* * *
It was about one gak after Guard Gam had gone out.
The closed door opened.
The middle-aged man guarding the entrance blocked Mok Gyeong-un, who was trying to step outside.
“Where do you think you are going?”
“I was thinking of stepping out for a while.”
“To the latrine?”
“No. I thought I would take a look at what it is like outside the villa. I needed someone to talk to anyway. Would you like to come with me?”
Mok Gyeong-un said it as if it were nothing.
At that, the middle-aged man could only shake his head in disbelief.
Had not even that much time passed since his senior brother left, and already he was trying to go outside?
In a cold tone, the middle-aged man said,
-“If you do not want to see something unpleasant, go back in right now.”
“You are Gochan, if I remember right? If the two of us simply keep our mouths shut, it seems like nothing much would happen…”
Before Mok Gyeong-un could finish speaking,
the middle-aged man, Gochan, moved with quick hands and seized Mok Gyeong-un’s wrist, twisting it behind his back.
It was a grappling technique.
According to his senior brother, the boy’s muscle density was abnormal even if he had not gone so far as to train external arts, so locking the joints would be easier than striking him down.
‘Nothing special.’
He had not used grappling in a long time, but it seemed his touch had not dulled.
-Pleased as he twisted the boy’s arm, he spoke into Mok Gyeong-un’s ear.
“You seem to have forgotten your place. You are not the real Mok Gyeong-un. You will gain nothing good by irritating me.”
He twisted the wrist further.
Whatever the state of the muscles, a bent joint would still hurt.
“Go back inside and stay put.”
Gochan warned him in a low voice.
He had thought this much would naturally make the boy go quietly back in on his own,
but instead he heard,
“What if I do not want to?”
“What?”
Gochan nearly snorted at the absurdity.
He had heard the boy’s way of thinking was unusual, but now it seemed he might simply be out of his mind.
If he refused to go in quietly, then there was nothing for it.
-“Foolish brat.”
Gochan brought down a hand edge carrying internal power onto the back of Mok Gyeong-un’s neck.
Thud.
At that level of force, regardless of what his muscles were like, the shock should have knocked him unconscious.
Or so he thought.
But something felt strange.
It was as though he had struck a wooden pillar.
‘What?’
He had naturally expected the boy to collapse, but instead he had endured it perfectly well.
Gochan wondered if he had failed to put in enough power and was about to strike harder,
when Mok Gyeong-un’s voice reached his ears.
“You really do seem weaker than Guard Gam.”
‘This bastard?’
-It seemed he had not felt pain at all.
Otherwise how could he speak so calmly after being struck on the back of the neck?
Feeling something deeply unpleasant, Gochan decided he had to end it and twisted Mok Gyeong-un’s wrist harder in an effort to force him to the floor.
But,
no matter how much he twisted, the boy did not budge.
No, he was straightening the very wrist and forearm Gochan had bent.
‘W-what in the world…?’
Flustered, Gochan drew out as much of his internal power as he could.
This was no time to worry about whether the bastard was hurt or not.
He first had to subdue him.
But then,
-‘Eh?’
The moment he tried to raise his power, his body suddenly floated up into the air.
Then he was flung down in front of the boy.
Bang.
-“Ugh!”
Fortunately, it did not seem as though he had been smashed down with full force.
He quickly snapped his waist to rise,
but Mok Gyeong-un seized his throat with his right hand.
Clench.
“Ghk!”
The grip was so strong that his neck felt as though it might snap at any moment.
Gochan’s eyes trembled and grew bloodshot.
He grabbed at the boy’s wrist and tried desperately to pry it away.
But it would not move in the slightest.
‘W-what is this bastard? Why is his strength like this…’
In terms of martial skill, Gochan had reached the level of second-rate.
It would not have been an exaggeration to say he possessed twice the strength of an ordinary grown man.
Yet he could not withstand the one-handed grip of this bastard, who had never learned martial arts.
“Khk, khk.”
His breath was being cut off.
His face felt as though it would burst.
As he struggled in agony, his eyes suddenly caught the bastard’s face.
‘He is smiling?’
The corners of his mouth were stretched toward his ears.
He wore the face of an innocent child playing with a toy.