Chapter 11
I had learned to handle numerous weapons, but the fact that I still hadn't seen everything felt exciting to me.
The same went for poisons and poisonous insects.
When I said that, Yeon Cheongha seemed to be in a slightly better mood, and Pae Maseong flinched.
Pae Maseong still had no friends other than me, and he seemed to enjoy training with me by my side.
"Socheong, don't you think it's time for you to focus on swordsmanship too?"
When Pae Maseong said that, I knew what he was worried about and reassured him.
"I'll still be your sparring partner, so you don't have to worry."
I had been Pae Maseong's sparring partner ever since we left Eumyeong Valley, and both Yeon Cheongha and Pae Maseong would say that if it weren't for me, Pae Maseong would not have been able to achieve such rapid progress.
'Seeing as I can hold my own against that amazing Pae Maseong for a few dozen seconds, maybe I'm not a complete dunce after all?'
One day, I thought about it and it seemed to be the case.
In any case, our training in preparation for the assassination mission continued.
* * *
When Yeon Cheongha finally came to us with our first assassination mission, I wasn't as nervous as I thought I would be.
At first, I thought we would be sent on an assassination mission as soon as we left Eumyeong Valley, but a lot of time had passed since then, and we had changed a lot in that time.
If we had been told from the beginning, 'You have to go on an assassination mission in a year,' I don't think we would have been able to live each day so fully.
But living with the thought that 'today is the last day we can learn and practice this,' we lived each day like a month.
How many people could sleep carelessly thinking that today was their last?
There was no moment to waste.
As a result, we spent that time very fruitfully, and when we were told that we were going on an assassination mission, we had a certain degree of confidence.
"There are people among the martial artists of the Cho family who are active in the Central Plains. Cheonrim sometimes supports them. This mission is part of that. We just need to eliminate the people who are getting in the way of their activities."
I didn't want to kill good people if I could help it, and since Cheonrim was the Cho family's assassin organization, I was always worried that there would be innocent victims during the assassination missions.
Since Yeon Cheongha and Pae Maseong were both very skilled, it seemed unlikely that my life would be in danger if I went with them, but it was a shame that if the assassination was successful, innocent people would die.
People who were getting in the way of the Cho family's martial artists' activities.
They were only inconvenient to the Cho family and Cheonrim, so I wondered if they were objectively good people, but Yeon Cheongha continued.
"You don't need to feel sorry for eliminating them. They are people who drug and kidnap the people we are trying to proselytize. The target is not yet known for sure, so this time we also have to identify the target. At other times, the target of the assassination is clearly defined from the beginning, but this time it might be a bit tricky. But with you two, it should be manageable."
'Are there people worse than the demonic path?' I thought, and then I wondered when I had started thinking so foolishly.
What do ideology and beliefs have to do with doing bad things?
"I'll tell you the details on the way."
We had nothing to prepare separately.
Packing a few sets of clothes and weapons was over in the blink of an eye.
On the way, Pae Maseong asked.
"Is time of the essence, instructor?"
"As I said before, we still don't know who is behind this. We have a rough idea of which faction is behind it, but our job is to confirm the information. It seems that's why we were assigned."
He said 'we', but it was probably Yeon Cheongha.
I didn't think the Lord would think of us as a package deal with Yeon Cheongha's work yet.
Although it was just my thought without any basis.
"What happens if we get caught?"
Come to think of it, I had never had a normal social life since I came here.
After first waking up in Yasocheong's body, I became a beggar and wandered around begging, and then I was caught and taken to Eumyeong Valley not long after.
Then I spent a very long time there among the instructors and other trainees, and after barely escaping from there, I lived only seeing Yeon Cheongha and Pae Maseong.
I sometimes saw the Lord and other people, but I only saw them observing us and then leaving, and I had never spoken to them up close.
'Thinking about it like this is really absurd.'
Now I was finally going to a place where people lived, and my job there was to kill one of them.
I couldn't help but worry that I would end up in jail right after taking my first step into society.
"If you get caught, you have to commit suicide. Don't worry about that. I'll give you a potent poison so you can end your life easily at any time."
What did he say?
Is he really saying that now?
I was so dumbfounded that I looked at Yeon Cheongha, but he wasn't even looking at me.
But come to think of it, it seemed to be the right thing to say.
Most of the assassins I had known through novels had ended their lives that way.
By failing an assassination mission and committing suicide by bursting the potent poison in their mouths.
"We are assassins. Moreover, we are assassins of the Heavenly Demon Sect. That means we have a double burden. If our identities are revealed, it will not only bring shame to Cheonrim, but also become a great burden to the Heavenly Demon Sect. We must not let that happen."
The words 'we must not let that happen' seemed to mean that we must not let our identities be revealed, rather than that we must not fail.
Hearing those words, I felt how pathetic our existence was.
Pae Maseong, as if he had noticed how I was feeling, looked at me as if to comfort me.
Yes, let's just trust Pae Maseong.
Pae Maseong is not just strong in the Heavenly Demon Sect, he is the strongest in the world.
After thinking that, I felt better again.
I wouldn't get caught or die easily, so why should I be depressed thinking about such things?
Now, finally, my first social life was about to begin.
* * *
The distance to the destination was considerable, but Yeon Cheongha did not suggest resting on the way.
In the end, I was the one who first suggested that we rest for a while.
I thought that if I hadn't said that, both of them would have collapsed, but that was not the case.
'What? Was I the only one who was tired?'
But that's fine.
What's the point of feeling jealous of monsters you can't even touch? When I think about how these people will save me from ruffians later, there's no room for such feelings.
"There's something over there, instructor."
I said, pointing to a place that looked like an inn at a glance.
Then, I felt my heart pound for no reason at the thought that I would finally be able to go to an inn like other people.
To think that living such a normal life was so difficult.
Pae Maseong seemed more nervous than at any other time.
Come to think of it, Pae Maseong had lived a life no different from mine.
Before entering Eumyeong Valley, he might have had more experience than me, but it didn't seem like there would be a big difference.
"Just follow what I do. No one will pay attention to you, so don't be overly conscious of other people's eyes either."
I really thought I should do that, but for some reason, it wasn't easy.
There weren't many people in the inn.
The building, standing alone in a quiet place away from the village, looked a little strange.
I thought that if they wanted to get a lot of customers, it would be better to build it in a place where many people passed by.
'Did they build it here because the building is expensive and the maintenance costs are high in such places? Were they thinking of targeting the people who passed by?'
That's up to the innkeeper, I thought, and when I told Yeon Cheongha my thoughts, he laughed.
"It must be run by someone who works for exercise and not for the purpose of making money."
Seeing that there weren't many people coming and going, I felt a little relieved.
It would have been burdensome to start in a place with too many people from the beginning, but this place seemed a bit more manageable.
When we went inside, a middle-aged woman approached us and took our order.
She had a flustered look on her face, as if she hadn't expected any customers.
"What kind of dishes are available?"
I found it strange that Yeon Cheongha asked that. I thought they would cook and serve whatever we ordered, so I wondered why he was asking that.
But the woman seemed to be glad that he had said that.
"There aren't many customers here, so we don't always have all the ingredients. So there aren't many dishes we can make. If you want to eat right now..."
The woman said she could bring out one type of soup with meat and a stir-fried dish, and Yeon Cheongha told her to bring that.
He ordered enough for five people, and I was hungry too, so I thought I could eat it all.
"Let's eat first and see if we can go a little further. We need to get as close to the destination as possible to gather information."
I belatedly realized that such things were also necessary when choosing an inn.
As soon as the food came out, I was about to start eating without a second thought when Yeon Cheongha stopped us.
"Once you're outside, you have to suspect everyone. It's best to think that it wouldn't be strange if someone attacked you at any time. And don't forget that the easiest way for such people to harm you is through what you eat."
Then he slowly brought his face to the food. It seemed he was trying to smell it.
"Don't get too close at once. First, smell it from a distance and then slowly get closer."
There was no smell, but he still didn't let his guard down and this time, he took out a silver needle and pricked all the dishes deeply before taking it out.
Then, after confirming that there was no change, he nodded to us.
"I didn't know we had to go this far."
When I said that, he laughed.
"We are assassins. We make numerous plans to kill our targets. So we know better than others what to prepare for."
There was no law that said that others wouldn't do to us what we were trying to do to them.
"What we do must not be lacking. The moment it is lacking, we could lose our lives. At least in our line of work, it's better to be excessive than to be lacking."
I nodded repeatedly.