Side Story: Yuri’s Runaway Ruckus! (7)

“Blood cult? That sounds even scarier than the Demon Sect.”

“Though their martial arts skills are inferior to the Demon Sect’s, their cruelty far surpasses it.”

Moyongchan took a deep breath.

“The preface of this book says the Blood Cult orchestrated a bloody war by pitting the government against the martial arts world, all to expand their influence and swallow up the Eastern martial arts community.”

“That’s in the past tense, though.”

“Not an easy feat. So, the Blood Cult spent years infiltrating both the government and the martial arts circles with their members.”

Moyongchan flipped through the pages swiftly.

“But over time, those infiltrators assimilated into their new lives. Life was easier that way—why bother with war?”

“That makes sense.”

“So, the Blood Cult prepared a contingency: a forbidden technique.”

Moyongchan’s finger pointed to a spot in the book.

Around a human figure diagram were all sorts of Eastern characters.

“This martial art is called ‘Jie Jie Hypnosis Technique’ (孑孑催眠術)!”

Yuri’s mouth dropped open.

“Why is it ‘Jie’ (孑), meaning ‘lonely,’ instead of ‘Blood’ (血)?”

“Because the path of hypnosis is a lonely one.”

“Huh?”

“Anyway, those who master the Blood Cult’s internal energy method cannot resist the commands of someone skilled in this hypnosis technique. No matter what the order is!”

“Th-That’s…!”

Yuri glanced around nervously, feeling this was something minors shouldn’t hear.

Lowering her voice, she asked cautiously, “W-What kind of commands are we talking about…?”

“If they disobey the hypnotist’s orders, their ‘Imdok Yangmai’—a vital meridian—ruptures, and they die.”

“……”

“Truly a dangerous martial art.”

“No, then it’s not hypnosis—it’s blackmail!”

“Strictly speaking, yes.”

“Wow…”

“And this dagger here is the Blood Cult leader’s sacred relic. So, the child Kori took in is the last heir of the Blood Cult. It seems the cult destroyed itself in power struggles, and the remnants fled, sending only the leader’s child to the Western Regions for safety.”

“So that means…”

“To put it simply…”

Moyongchan closed his eyes.

“As long as that child lives, the East risks being dragged into the whirlpool of war.”

“Ah…”

Yuri sighed deeply. Shadows fell over everyone’s faces.

Moyongchan whispered like a sigh.

“A decision must be made. It won’t be easy.”

No one spoke.

It was a dilemma.

The child’s life.

And the peace of the Eastern martial arts world.

One had to be chosen.

This was a trope repeated countless times in dramas and novels: the child would one day discover their origins, become a master of the Jie Jie Hypnosis Technique, and return to the East to wreak havoc in revenge on the world and society that destroyed their family.

But that didn’t mean they could just harm an innocent child.

After a long silence, Yuri squeezed her eyes shut and said, “I’ve made up my mind.”

“I respect your choice.”

“I will eliminate it.”

Yuri’s declaration sent ripples through the room.

Cold-hearted Jared nodded, and surprisingly, Roland looked shocked as he stared at Yuri.

But no one could blame her.

The pain of having to use an assassin’s hand for peace was hers alone to bear.

The man who always carried the weight of everything.

That was Yuri Briole.

Yuri sprang to her feet.

“I’ll do it right now.”

“J-Just think it over a little more—”

“No. Let’s do it immediately. Hah!”

Yuri swung her sword.

The book detailing the Jie Jie Hypnosis Technique was shredded to pieces in an instant, scattering into dust.

Yuri declared, “With this, the martial world has regained peace.”

“W-What…!”

Everyone present widened their eyes.

They looked so stunned that Yuri asked back, “Why? Isn’t this the right thing to do?”

“……”

“Don’t tell me you actually considered killing the child?”

“……”

“Just get rid of the hypnosis technique!”

“That’s an option?”

“Are you all out of your minds?”

Everyone scratched their heads and avoided eye contact.

Cheongwoon tried to explain, “It’s all because of Moyongchan, the chief instructor. He spoke so seriously and gravely that naturally, our thoughts went that way. He made it sound like a huge problem!”

Simon and Guinness agreed.

“Yeah, he was so serious we thought it was a big deal…”

“When he said ‘make a decision,’ we just assumed what it meant.”

“So this settles it?”

“Not a big deal after all.”

Moyongchan, sulking under their criticism, nodded.

“That’s right. With the Blood Cult and the Jie Jie Hypnosis Technique gone, the infiltrators will just go back to their normal lives. The government and martial arts world will peacefully coexist again. And the child…”

“Kori will raise them well.”

“Problem solved.”

Yuri clapped her hands.

“So the peace of the East is preserved. Let’s all applaud.”

Clap clap clap clap clap…

A celebration far too brief for having saved an entire continent’s peace.

“I’ll throw this dagger away.”

Yuri snapped the Blood Cult leader’s sacred dagger in half and tossed it into the trash bin in the corner of the reception room.

This was truly the end.

Yuri said, “I’ve already taken care of two major issues…”

She had reformed the Green Forest Gang, which could have sown discord between East and West, and eliminated the Jie Jie Hypnosis Technique that could have brought bloodshed to the East.

It was too easy for something so serious.

“What now…”

Yuri sighed, and Moyongchan, having composed himself, asked, “By the way, you said the Empire’s busy—how did you end up taking on this job?”

“Well…”

Yuri explained what had happened.

Moyongchan frowned.

“Running away because you didn’t want to work? Tsk tsk…”

“That just shows how serious things are. Asana, right?”

“Who knows?”

“Come on, you know!”

Asana shrugged, and Yuri slumped.

“No one’s on my side. The four of you are all on the same team. So unfair…”

But no one felt sorry for him.

Considering the four wives he had, this was barely enough.

He had to keep rolling and rolling.

Still a long way to go.

---

As a swordsman trained by Moyongchan, Yuri accepted the officials of the Shincheongseong Sect as her disciples and held private lessons.

That attracted the attention of reporters.

They tried to photograph Yuri with a newly introduced device called a ‘camera.’

But no one could capture her image.

“This is the latest model! If you stay still for ten seconds, it can take a picture!”

“But His Majesty never stays still!”

“Damn it!”

Countless cameras hovered over the walls of Shincheongseong Sect, but none caught Yuri.

Whenever she sensed their presence, she moved swiftly, leaving only afterimages behind. Numerous mysterious spirit photos were produced instead.

So painters were hired again.

They spotted Yuri with their eyes and immediately sketched her.

By tomorrow, the news that Yuri was staying at Shincheongseong Sect would spread across the continent.

Yuri fell into thought.

“Is this how my runaway ends…?”

Sitting in the training ground, doodling with a wooden stick, Yuri was watched with pity by Moyongchan.

Still a teacher.

He could at least offer a little help to his student.

“Yuri.”

“Yes, Master.”

“Are you going back to the Empire?”

“Yes. I might die young, buried under work. Please throw a single flower on my grave.”

“Do you have to go back?”

“Not unless there’s a good reason…”

“A reason…”

“A serious matter that only someone like you can handle…”

“Hmm…”

Moyongchan said, “Alright. I have a request for you.”

“Yes?”

“The Shincheongseong Sect recently opened a branch in Bursen. But…”

Yuri’s face lit up. It seemed her runaway wouldn’t end just yet.

“Is there trouble in Bursen? A mysterious serial killer roaming the streets? Or an impossible locked-room murder? Maybe fish dying off for no reason?”

“No.”

Moyongchan’s expression shifted subtly.

“Something far more serious.”

Yuri read the slight change in his facial muscles and sensed something unusual.

Moyongchan wouldn’t create work for her unnecessarily.

If he asked for help, it meant he truly needed it.

Yuri smirked and muttered, “Lucky me.”

Most would say unlucky, but this was Yuri Briole.

A man of destiny.

Incidents and accidents only delighted him.

Not just because it meant he could keep running away.

“Leave it to me. What is it?”

“Hmm.”

Moyongchan began.

“Recently, strange things have been happening in Bursen. And this might be connected to black magic.”

“Huh?”

Yuri’s eyes widened.

Cedric was dead, and the demon’s grimoire gone, but black magic itself hadn’t disappeared. Any mage who fell into darkness could tap into that power.

But the moment someone was caught using black magic, they became a public enemy of the continent. No mage was unaware of this.

“As long as I, Yuri Briole, am wide awake, who dares…”

Eradicating black magic was always Yuri’s top priority.

Rumors spread far and wide: anywhere on the continent, if there was even a hint of black magic, Yuri and the Avenging Knights would come knocking.

This wasn’t a false pretext—it was a matter serious enough to leave the imperial palace.

Jared muttered nearby.

“I knew this would happen…”

“What do you mean?”

“Now that His Majesty has started moving, I have a feeling another incident will occur somewhere on the continent. And this time too!”

“You speak as if I’m the one who caused this incident. That’s nonsense. The cause and effect are completely reversed.”

“Is that so? Are you sure about that?”

“What do you mean?”

“The moment Your Highness left the palace and began ‘observing’ the continent, perhaps events that never existed before started to take shape and rise to the surface.”

“J-Jared, you….”

Yuri glared at Jared, eyes wide with disbelief.

“Could it be that you’ve reached a level where you can manipulate the forces of chaos?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Your enlightenment must be profound…”

“Anyway.”

Jared cleared his throat and turned toward Moyangchan.

“Let’s hear the full story first. Moyangchan, please explain.”

“Understood.”

Moyangchan began recounting the tale.

Strange occurrences were happening in the seas of Bursen.

Fishing boats that had set out to catch fish were starting to disappear. At first, everyone assumed pirates were behind it.

“As the fishermen’s worries deepened, the Bursen branch’s martial artists obtained the king’s permission to assemble a privateer fleet to hunt down the pirates. It was also to bolster the reputation of the Shincheongseong faction and recruit more members.”

“And then?”

“But…”

A shadow fell over Moyangchan’s eyes.

“In the middle of the vast ocean, what they saw was a massive ship of unknown origin.”

“Unknown origin?”

“Among the Bursen branch’s martial artists were former Bursen navy personnel, and none of them had ever seen a ship like that before.”

“Impossible…”

“Of course, it was unlike anything found even in the East.”

While Yuri looked stunned, Jared muttered something under his breath.

“Damn it… Has the world really begun to expand?”

Moyangchan continued.

“But the martial artists of Shincheongseong were fearless. They approached the colossal ship, identified themselves according to continental maritime law, and demanded the enemy reveal their identity as well.”

“And?”

“Instead of a reply, arrows were fired.”

Though threatening, the arrows weren’t enough to overpower the martial artists trained in Cheongseongpa’s techniques.

The Shincheongseong warriors quickly turned their bows and fled. The giant ship didn’t pursue aggressively but instead drifted away in the opposite direction.

However…

That ship was heading toward the exact opposite side of the continent.

Beyond the horizon, where nothing is said to exist.

Where the world’s end lies.

Where, according to legend, the owl waits for the dead.

Owl Blue.

As if it were its home, the massive ship kept moving farther and farther toward the horizon.

“This is one of those arrows.”

Moyangchan pulled something out.

It looked like an ordinary arrow, but the shape of the arrowhead was different.

Yuri whispered.

“Obsidian arrowhead…?”

“That’s right.”

Obsidian is sharp but brittle, easily shattered. Compared to iron, it’s not ideal as a weapon.

But it excels in other uses.

“You don’t mean that arrow was…”

“It was cursed. The curse has since faded, but it was there.”

Obsidian easily absorbs dark magic of the curse variety.

“It’s very similar to black magic.”

Yuri clenched her fist.

This was no ordinary matter.

The intuition of a hero who had saved the continent was warning her of the gravity of this situation.

“Master, are you aware that this land is round?”

“I saw it in the ‘Night of the Imperial City’ science special. Why do you ask?”

“It means that sailing to the edge of the sea won’t make you fall off anywhere. Perhaps beyond that sea lies an empire that worships black magic. Maybe there’s someone like Cedric there, fulfilling their own ambitions. After all, Yuri Briole is the only one of her kind in the world.”

Yuri’s eyes sharpened.

“It seems I’ll have to step in once again.”

Meanwhile, Jared sighed from behind.

“My goodness. Could this really be the emergence of a new continent…?”