Chapter – 02
“Wait, wait!”
Conflict is never good.
I quickly stepped in to stop them.
“We’re victims too. A corpse literally fell from the sky while we were just passing by. I didn’t do it!”
“Would you believe that if you were us?”
“Well, you look closer to a monkey than a human, so I thought maybe I could bluff my way through.”
“You bastard. Are you mocking me?!”
…Oops. This damn mouth of mine.
The only thing I seem to have improved while living as a wandering beauty is my ability to provoke people.
Whenever I’m in danger, it just comes out automatically.
“Ah, sorry. I’m just very honest.”
I apologized while simultaneously raising my sword aura. The man charging recklessly froze when he saw the shimmering energy.
That moment decided his fate.
Slash.
The sensation of cutting through flesh was almost too light. The deep blue sword energy—something usually only seen among peak-level masters—passed through his back and shattered the pile of rocks behind him.
The dead man collapsed limply. I crooked my finger toward the two remaining men behind him.
“Want more?”
They had already completely lost their will to fight. Since I didn’t feel like killing more people, I didn’t chase after them as they fled.
If I had to make an excuse, killing that guy just now wasn’t intentional.
More precisely, I didn’t expect him to be that weak. I only meant to lightly counterattack, but I didn’t expect his body to split in two.
This is why I usually try to avoid fights.
“What a mess.”
From what I heard, the Yeon family in Shanxi seemed to be a fairly influential household. Judging from these men, they weren’t part of the martial world, just local power holders.
That made things more complicated.
I should leave Shanxi before my actions are discovered. If I go straight to Hebei next door, even a powerful Shanxi family would have trouble interfering with me.
After all, Hebei is Peng family territory.
And I also had a small expectation.
After all, this body was recognized by the system as belonging to the Hebei Peng Clan.
…Even if it’s the Peng from Peng Dori.
Still, Peng is Peng. If I could at least be acknowledged as a branch family member, my life in the martial world would become much easier.
The chances aren’t bad either.
I am a sixteen-year-old peak-level expert.
Not just that, but someone in the late stage of the Peak Realm, soon approaching the Transcendent Realm.
If I’m lucky, I might even reach the Transformation Realm before turning thirty.
Even in the martial world where experts are everywhere, reaching that level at such a young age would practically guarantee me a place among the next generation’s Ten Great Martial Prodigies.
Given that, the Peng family would surely welcome me. They might even try to marry me into the direct line.
…That is, assuming they don’t find out I’m the Little Heavenly Demon.
That’s also why I didn’t go straight to the Peng family right after running away.
As the “Evil Alignment” tag next to my name suggests, I committed all kinds of crimes with this character.
But…
The Heavenly Demon Divine Art and Lightning Demon Art just sounded cool, so I wanted them both. And to learn them, the quests said things like tear out a living person’s heart or something…
…In a game, pressing a skill button to kill other players or NPCs isn’t really a crime, right?
You can just press buttons like
“Heart acquired!”
“Consume heart to increase proficiency!”
Yeah. No.
Let’s not think about that.
Now that this is reality and not a game, I have no intention of living like that. That’s exactly why I ran away from the Demonic Cult.
I’ll think more about going to the Peng family… For now, I should leave Shanxi tomorrow.
I wanted to leave immediately, but Shanxi is quite large.
And unlike when I escorted caravans, I don’t have a carriage. That means walking and sleeping outdoors.
It would be better to spend at least one night resting properly in a bed.
And naturally, since I was completely broke, I chose the cheapest inn.
“Do you have a room?”
“Yes! Ah… but… will the young lady be staying alone?”
“Yes. Is there a problem?”
When I asked back, the clerk blushed.
“Ahem. No problem at all. What size room would you like?”
“The smallest one.”
“That will be thirty coins for one night.”
After paying with coins, I went upstairs and collapsed. After climbing mountains for seven days straight, starving all day, and even fighting today, I felt like I was dying.
“Ugh.”
I desperately wanted room service.
Of course, there’s no such thing for the cheapest room.
In the end, I had to go downstairs to eat. But eating in the inn again didn’t feel appealing.
Still, I had no choice, so I went down to the first floor and ordered a bowl of knife-cut noodles.
Since this place was quite far from where the earlier commotion happened, hopefully I could finally taste the noodles in peace.
Soon the food arrived.
Wow. Happiness.
“Excuse me, young lady.”
“……”
“Young lady? Can you hear me?”
“Mmm. Happiness. This tastes good.”
“Young lady? Young lady? Young hero?”
While I was enjoying a warm meal for the first time in a long while, I finally looked up at the man who had seated himself across from me.
For the record, I never gave him permission. He just sat down.
“I don’t remember inviting you to sit. Where are your manners?”
“Ah, my apologies. If I have offended you, young hero, I apologize.”
The man, who had been calling me “young lady,” corrected himself after studying my expression.
Doesn’t really matter.
As long as he wasn’t flirting while calling me “miss,” I didn’t really care what he called me.
Still, there was no need to correct his misunderstanding. I finished the last of my noodle broth and looked up.
“You seem to have business with me. Go ahead.”
“I saw you confronting those Yeon family men. Your martial ability is impressive.”
“Hmm.”
My eyes narrowed.
“Young hero… do you perhaps have a nickname? Someone that young at the late Peak Realm must surely be a famous swordsman from another region.”
“…Nope.”
Actually, I do.
Little Heavenly Demon Peng Dori.
…Damn it.
Of course I had no intention of saying that myself. I planned to hide it until the day I died.
“I see. Anyway, our Geum family is currently in trouble because of the Yeon family’s outrageous actions. Especially since they hired a Peak-level expert, our losses have been severe.”
“Ah.”
At this point, I understood what he wanted from me.
“So you want to hire me, right?”
“That is correct.”
“Then I’d like to hear the full situation first. I just arrived in Shanxi and suddenly got surrounded by people talking about Yeon and Geum families.”
“Of course. I will explain.”
The man spoke frankly.
“In Taiyuan, Shanxi, there have long been two powerful families…”
The story went on for quite a while.
The Yeon and Geum families, two powerful houses surrounding Taiyuan in Shanxi.
Both had connections with central officials, with each generation producing government officials in the imperial court.
They also alternated holding local administrative positions in Shanxi. Naturally, the two families constantly tried to push each other out.
—So said the man who introduced himself as Geum Ga-hyeok. As his name suggested, he was the eldest son of the Geum family.
“But those vicious Yeon bastards stole a jade ring that has been our family heirloom for generations.”
“They stole your heirloom?”
I made an awkward face.
To people of the Central Plains, an ancestral heirloom carries meaning beyond its material value. Unless relations were extremely bad, this was serious.
“They will probably either destroy it or demand a huge ransom to return it. Or perhaps demand business rights that would cripple our family.”
“That does sound difficult.”
“Yes. So we want you to infiltrate the Yeon family estate and steal the jade ring back.”
“What’s the pay?”
I asked the most important question.
Geum Ga-hyeok hesitated briefly, then spoke decisively.
“Ten silver taels. What do you think?”
Ten silver taels was enough to live lavishly for half a year.
For a single theft job, that was very good pay.
“Alright. I’ll take the job.”
I accepted without much hesitation.
Geum Ga-hyeok brightened and extended his hand.
“I look forward to working with you. May I ask your name?”
There it was. The question I hated most.
“…Peng Dori.”
“Pardon? I didn’t quite catch that. Could you repeat it?”
“…Just call me Young Hero Peng!”
I muttered while suppressing my burning face.
This is why choosing a nickname carefully is important for your future well-being.
