Volume 2 Chapter 23 – Price

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Translated by Rain

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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In the courtyard, there was the one called Elder Yeom’s steward, the four warriors escorting him, and everyone from Pavilion of Perfect Enlightenment.

“Say that again.”

At the appearance of Yeon So-hyeon who came kicking the door open, the one called Elder Yeom’s steward swallowed dry saliva unconsciously.

“Did I not tell you to say that again?”

Yeon So-hyeon’s voice pressing him quietly was too different from that of the Swordless he had heard of in rumors.

However, he trusted the value of the name of the elder he served.

Because an elder was a position belonging to the highest tier in the Sword Family.

“Elder Yeom gave an order to bring Elder Medicine King.”

At those words, the triplets snorted, and Jeong-ah burst into laughter.

Yeon So-hyeon, with his head tilted askew, asked.

“Who gave an order to whom?”

The steward hastily cleared his throat.

“Ahem. Of course, it is a command given to this steward.”

Yeon So-hyeon asked again.

“This steward?”

The steward flustered.

“No, not this steward, but…”

“But…?”

“It is not this steward, but… That is…”

The way his words got twisted was laughably ridiculous, so the maids all burst into laughter.

That laughter seemed to have thoroughly provoked the steward.

Or did he want to deny the fact that he was mocked by the Swordless?

“How impudent! Where do mere maids dare…!”

Yeon So-hyeon cut off his words and raised his hand.

“The rude one is you.”

He was about to slap him on the cheek.

“Eldest Young Master, stop!”

The four escort warriors grasped their sword hilts simultaneously.

“How dare you…!”

With Jeong-ah leading them, the maids also grasped their sword hilts simultaneously.

It was at that moment.

The wrists of the escorts who had grasped their sword hilts all fell to the ground at once.

It was a sword technique so sharp that even those who had lost their wrists only noticed upon hearing the sound of the wrists falling to the ground.

“U-uwaah!”

The steward jumped in great shock at that sight.

Rather, the escorts, as warriors of the Sword Family, calmly pressed their acupoints to stop the bleeding and stepped back.

“Crazy bastards…”

A man in a guard uniform stood with a sword in his hand.

Surprisingly, not a single drop of blood was stained on the sword that had severed the escorts’ wrists.

Moreover, that sword was a training sword without an edge.

“How dare you show yourself grasping a sword hilt toward the Eldest Young Master of the Main Family…?”

The sword held in the hand of the Life-Snatching Ghost Sword flashed once more.

This time too, that sword had no sound.

It had no shadow either.

The forearms of the escorts, who were stepping back and guarding separately, were severed all at once.

In his sword, there was no blind spot.

“What are you doing? You crazy rebel bastards.”

At the word rebels, the warriors realized what they had done.

Since they were warriors who usually ignored the Swordless, they had ended up committing an absurd act.

The Life-Snatching Ghost Sword bared his teeth and emitted a terrifying killing intent.

It was a killing intent that made the mild air of Pavilion of Perfect Enlightenment feel as if it were freezing.

“Still, if you were a warrior, die while holding your sword.”

Just as his sword was about to move again, Yeon So-hyeon’s voice resounded quietly.

“Stop.”

The Life-Snatching Ghost Sword stopped his sword, but he did not withdraw the sword aimed at them.

Yeon So-hyeon spoke again as he looked at that appearance.

“No one takes lives in this Pavilion of Perfect Enlightenment. That is a solemn law set by my mother, the Grand Lady of this family.”

The Life-Snatching Ghost Sword immediately withdrew his sword.

The steward foamed at the mouth.

“E-Eldest Young Master! Do you think you will get away with harming Elder Yeom’s warriors without anything happening?!”

“Yes.”

Yeon So-hyeon grabbed the steward by the collar and then slapped his cheek just like that.

Although he did not load internal energy, he was the chosen one of the Scripture of Controlling Darkness and Shaking the Heavens.

According to the Medicine King, he was a being that was not human.

He was someone capable of tearing and ripping a person apart with physical strength alone.

The steward’s cheek burst, and teeth flew across the air in a shower.

Yeon So-hyeon looked down with indifferent eyes at the steward, who was almost hanging as his collar was grabbed, and opened his mouth.

“Mother said only not to kill, did she not?”

His palm slapped the steward once more.

The teeth that barely remained fluttered in the air along with a blood mist.

“And I am certain that even if I make a cripple out of a steward bastard who does not know his place, as well as the warriors, Elder Yeom will not say a word.”

His palm slapped the steward yet again.

Now half of the steward’s face was covered in blood, his cheekbone collapsed, and one eyeball ruptured and flowed down.

“Do you know why?”

Although he was clearly asking that question to the steward, the steward had already lost consciousness.

“W-we do not know.”

The warrior who was holding his severed forearm and stopping the bleeding answered instead.

Yeon So-hyeon smiled at him.

“Elder Yeom knows the value of his own name. No matter how lacking I seem, he is a person fully capable of calculating that the value of his own name falls short compared to the value of mine.”

Yeon So-hyeon bared his teeth toward the warriors.

“So, what is the conclusion?”

The warriors could not make any reply.

Then Yeon So-hyeon’s palm slapped the steward once again.

His ear was torn and flew away, and the skin was ripped off, revealing the already fractured cheekbone.

“It is that this fellow lied.”

Yeon So-hyeon shook his hand holding the steward’s collar to the speechless warriors.

“And even if it was not a lie, it does not matter.”

As his killing intent leaked out, a coldness that could not even be compared to the Life-Snatching Ghost Sword’s killing intent swept over.

“Because I will make the elder or whatever look exactly like this fellow.”

When everyone was frozen in place, Jeong-ah stepped forward.

“…Master.”

Yeon So-hyeon let out a sigh and withdrew his killing intent.

However, he did not let go of the steward, and spoke to the warriors.

“Are you worried I might violate my mother’s words? Do not have such worries.”

Yeon So-hyeon laughed.

“Because there are two of the best physicians of the Central Plains here.”

At that time, this time, the Medicine King stepped forward.

“It seems Elder Yeom’s subordinate displayed excessive loyalty in his greed to gain credit.”

He said as he approached Yeon So-hyeon.

“Since Elder Yeom’s daughter suffers from an incurable disease, I used to examine her whenever I stopped by Luoyang.”

The Medicine King frowned at the sight of the courtyard covered in blood everywhere.

“Eldest Young Master. Whether for the sake of myself who has a friendship with Elder Yeom, or for the sake of your mother who cultivated the courtyard, how about letting them go now?”

Although he was trying hard to appear calm, there was no way Yeon So-hyeon could not guess his complicated and frustrated feelings at the changed appearance of his grandson.

Yeon So-hyeon threw the half-corpse in his hand toward the warriors.

The Medicine King spoke to them.

“Since such an unsavory incident has occurred, tell him that it will be difficult to examine his daughter any longer.”

That was no different from a death sentence to those who had caused the incident.

Since they were those who knew Elder Yeom’s personality.

However, they could not say anything and merely bowed their heads deeply, then left Pavilion of Perfect Enlightenment carrying the steward together.

The Life-Snatching Ghost Sword followed them to the main gate, confirming that they had completely departed from Pavilion of Perfect Enlightenment.

The courtyard was in silence.

After a moment, Yeon So-hyeon spoke to the Medicine King without turning back.

“This is also my responsibility.”

The Medicine King did not say anything and waited for Yeon So-hyeon’s words to continue.

“Because I was foolish and dull, allowing myself to be despised and leaving it unchecked, four warriors of the Main Family who had bright futures had to pay the price.”

In the courtyard, their wrists and forearms were rolling around.

The Medicine King let out a sigh and approached Yeon So-hyeon.

“…No. Those fellows merely paid the price for their own foolishness.”

He placed his arm around Yeon So-hyeon’s shoulder.

“Come, let us run until dawn with this grandfather today.”

Yeon So-hyeon chuckled.

“No, what do you mean by ‘let’s run’ at that age? Lacking dignity.”

“This rascal? Come to think of it, did you say there are two of the best physicians of the Central Plains earlier? I must have misheard, right? Isn’t the best only this Medicine King?”

“You misheard indeed. The Medicine King is the best in the Central Plains, and I am the best on this continent.”

As the two entered the room again while bickering, Jeong-ah let out a sigh of relief.

She was worried that her master’s emotions would become excited and make ‘that thing’ pop out.

It was only a short while ago that her master’s mind, which had been eroding after the massive slaughter, had found stability.

She clapped hands.

“What is everyone doing? Quickly clean up this mess and prepare more side dishes for the alcohol.”

The triplets, who were still frozen under the aftermath of Yeon So-hyeon’s killing intent, began to move busily.

* * *

“What?”

A massive greatsword repeatedly slammed the ground.

“Say that again.”

Every time that sword collided, the ground shook as if an earthquake had occurred, and a roaring sound resounded as if thunder was striking.

“I told you to say that again?!”

The pavilion shook, and the dust accumulated in unseen places scattered.

“Why is there no answer?!”

The ground was dented deep.

The complexions of the onlookers were pale.

“Elder.”

“What?”

His attendant, unable to watch any longer, stepped forward and spoke to him.

“As you can see, he has already been dead for a long time.”

Elder Yeom panted heavily.

What he was repeatedly striking down with his giant sword was his steward who had returned in the state of a half-corpse.

His body was miserably crushed, indistinguishable whether it was originally a human or a beast.

Elder Yeom, who quietly looked down at the blood-covered chunk of meat stuck in the collapsed ground, let out a sigh.

As he threw his giant sword over his shoulder, his sword drew a gentle parabola and flew to get inserted into the fixed sheath.

It was the Sword-Controlling Art.

He sat straight down on the ground.

“…Damn it, I killed him in my temper. I’ll get scolded again.”

And he looked at the four warriors who were bowing their heads to the ground in front of him.

“You guys go to the Law Enforcement Lady, confess your sins, and receive punishment. If anyone feels aggrieved, ask for a Trial by Combat.”

“…Thank you for your grace!”

Although the warriors shouted in a loud voice, for some reason they were trembling more than when Elder Yeom was angry.

There seemed to be no one among them who dared to request a Trial by Combat.

Elder Yeom waved his hand.

“Now, everyone get lost except for the staff.”

When the group of people all left, only a few people whom he referred to as the staff remained.

“You say Elder Medicine King said he will not visit any longer?”

“According to what I verified, he said, ‘Due to an unsavory incident, it will be difficult to examine the young lady any longer.'”

Elder Yeom did not say something like, “That’s the same thing.”

At that level of position, he more than knew how big of a difference a single small expression could make.

“My head is about to burst due to the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly anyway…”

Elder Yeom raised his hand, which was like a giant bear paw, and wrapped it around his head.

“…The Swordless, the Swordless, that damn Swordless!”

As he struck the floor with his bare hand, cracks like spiderwebs formed on the paving stones of the floor.

He spoke in a low voice.

“There is a point that the lower servants are thoroughly mistaken about…”

The chief manager took his words.

“What is it?”

Elder Yeom replied.

“The Eldest Young Master was not ignored because he was the Swordless, but was called the Swordless because he stayed still even when ignored.”

He looked up at the ceiling.

“If the fellow does not stay still, he is not the Swordless. Then what is he?”

“In that case, he would be the Eldest Young Master.”

Elder Yeom yelled in a burst.

“Yes! The Eldest Young Master! The Eldest Young Master of the great Luoyang Sword Family! Is there any bastard here who does not know what rank the Eldest Young Master is in the protocol order of the Main Family’s code?! Is there any bastard who does not know how heavy the value of that name is?!”

“…We have no face.”

The staff bowed their heads deeply all at once.

“But how on earth are you educating the steward bastards below?!”

He shouted to the staff.

“Have all the personnel under me receive protocol education again! Especially educate the warrior bastards who have nothing but swordsmanship in their heads twice as much! If that doesn’t work, three times!”

His staff answered all at once in a loud voice.

“And find a way to invite Elder Medicine King again!”

He growled like a mountain lord.

“And anyone who brings in a method of dragging in a person they cannot take responsibility for, calling it a plan…”

He raised his finger and pointed.

Everyone’s gaze turned toward the chunk of meat in the pit.