Dana wanted to refuse.
She had a strong premonition that it would be best to somehow get out of this commission.
Of course, refusing a commission was something brokers hated most. Naturally, they wouldn't give work to wanderers who frequently refused commissions.
But the three of them had a reputation built steadily over the past ten years, so she could refuse this commission.
Yet there was one thing that held her back.
Dana's gaze turned to the woman who was frightened, only waiting to see what would become of her.
*If we give up, this woman dies.*
That premonition hit her strongly. It was the thick scent of death wafting from this that made her want to back out.
Dana looked at her younger sisters. Having been together for so long, they knew just from her hesitation what dilemma their elder sister was facing.
They showed no reaction. In moments like this, they followed their elder sister's will completely.
Soon, Dana made her decision.
"We will escort you to the Cheonhwaru in Gui Prefecture."
A sense of relief flashed across the woman's face as she waited for the decision.
"Thank you."
"Let's depart at once."
As she turned and walked away, Chohui spoke from behind.
"My name is Chohui (草熙)."
Without turning around, Dana answered.
"It's a beautiful name."
Just as the four of them were descending from the hermitage—
Swish!
A hidden projectile flew swiftly toward Chohui.
Chang!
Dana swung her sword, knocking away the hidden projectile as she shouted.
"Left tree, above!"
But before her shout even came out, the youngest, Danyeon's throwing dagger was already lodged between the branches.
A masked man struck by the dagger fell from the tree.
From the opposite tree, hidden projectiles flew with sharp whistling sounds.
"Run!"
Dana scooped up Chohui and leaped down the stairs.
Thud, thud, thud!
The flying projectiles embedded themselves where Chohui had been standing.
Danbi and Danyeon's, who had leaped down from both sides, deflected the incoming projectiles with their swords. The area around the hermitage was already ambushed by enemies. The situation was grave. The fact that the rendezvous point had been exposed meant the broker had been compromised.
While knocking away the hidden projectiles, the three women threw their own daggers. Especially the youngest Danyeon's blade-throwing arts were of a high level, and masked men fell one after another to her daggers.
"Behind that rock!"
The four of them dove behind the rock.
Papapapapak!
At the same time as their narrowly timed cover, the flying projectiles bounced off the rock.
Despite the quick judgment, blood was flowing from Danbi's shoulder.
"Are you alright?"
"It just grazed me. I'm fine."
But Danyeon's, who examined the wound, was startled. The wounded area was swelling up blue-black.
"It's poison."
At Danyeon's shout, a curse burst from Dana's lips.
"These bastards!"
She was the one best at cursing among the three sisters.
Danyeon's quickly took a medicine bottle from her bosom and applied it to the wound. It was a temporary medicine to stop the poison from spreading.
"We can't hold out long! Hurry and get out—"
Right then, masked men who had leaped over the rock attacked.
Sssssk! Puk!
Dana's sword pierced the side of the masked man lunging at Chohui, then tore through his flesh.
Shhhrrrrk!
The sword that tore through his side then stabbed the neck of another masked man who charged in after. Blood splashed across her face, but she had no leisure to wipe it away. Sword clashed against sword, emitting sparks, and hidden projectiles crossed each other, drawing two lines in the air.
Danyeon's throwing dagger flew and embedded itself in the neck of the masked man attacking from behind her elder sister. The descending sword lost its strength and split the empty air.
Behind the falling masked man, more masked men charged. Throwing herself toward the sword blades reflecting in the sunlight, Dana shouted.
"Dodge!"
* * *
Rumble.
Passing over a torn-up part of the road, the carriage shook violently.
"My apologies!"
The urgent cry was from Seo Daeryong.
From inside the carriage, Geom Mugeuk's voice was heard.
"Father spilled tea on his face while drinking."
Of course, it was Geom Mugeuk's prank. He hadn't forgotten the joke made when they first departed—that if the carriage rattled, heads would roll—after Seo Daeryong said he would drive.
Seo Daeryong, whose mind had snapped to attention, asked Hwi.
"Would you like to take the reins yourself?"
Having made a mistake, it wouldn't be strange for him to take the reins, but Hwi shook his head and continued to let Seo Daeryong drive the carriage.
"The road is treacherous, so focus."
At first, he had driven the carriage with extreme concentration. But human minds are fickle, and as he grew a bit accustomed, his thoughts wandered. Before he knew it, he had recalled the woman he met at the inn.
*To think I'm driving the carriage that the Cult Lord is riding in. I've lost my mind.*
Seo Daeryong shook off his stray thoughts with effort and gripped the reins tightly.
Geom Mugeuk poked his head out the window.
As the carriage ran through an open area and entered a narrow trail, the scenery that had been slow—as if wielding a heavy sword—sped up, as if now wielding a swift sword.
"Why does the return journey feel faster than when we departed?"
Then Hyeolcheon Doma spoke, his gaze still fixed on the book he was reading.
"What is the Young Cult Lord finding so regrettable?"
Facing the blowing wind, Geom Mugeuk answered.
"Indeed. What is it that I find so regrettable?"
Geom Mugeuk's gaze turned to Seo Daeryong on the driver's seat.
At least, the regret of these past two days was certainly not solely due to memories with his father.
"Branch Lord Seo, watch out for that pothole ahead!"
* * *
Rumble.
Closing the stable door, Dana was covered in blood.
Fortunately, the blood belonged to the enemies, but the problem was the second sister, Danbi.
The wound struck by poison earlier was continuing to swell.
Dana grabbed Chohui by the collar.
"You! Just what kind of trouble have you gotten tangled in?"
Run when told to run, lie down when told to lie down. Having mindlessly come all this way, Chohui came to her senses.
"I'm sorry."
She had asked for escort while knowing she was in grave danger. It had been an unavoidable choice, but because of her, they had fallen into great danger.
"Do you even know who attacked us!"
Dana had despaired when she realized who they were facing.
The Seven Paths Assassination Squad (七路追殺隊).
The Seven Paths Assassination Squad were also wanderers. They were those who mainly took on pursuit and killing, and among assassination squads, they were notorious and vicious.
If they were wanderers on the side of light, the assassination squads belonged to darkness. And among them, the Seven Paths Assassination Squad was profound darkness.
Getting through even a single squad of the Seven Paths Assassination Squad was a miraculous feat. But this matter wouldn't end with killing a dozen or so of them.
They would swarm endlessly like ants and eventually harm their target.
The fact that the Seven Paths Assassination Squad had been mobilized meant a huge sum was being spent to hunt Chohui.
Just why, for a mere courtesan?
But now was not the time to argue with her over such reasons.
Soon those bastards would come charging here.
"How is Biya?"
At Dana's question, Danyeon's answered worriedly.
"I've barely managed to stop the poison from spreading, but if we move too recklessly again, it'll spread throughout her entire body."
Then Dana's gaze turned to Danyeon's side. Pushing aside the blood-soaked hem of her clothes, a sword-cut wound was revealed.
"When did you get stabbed?"
"Earlier. I had stopped the bleeding, but it reopened when I ran."
She hadn't even realized her younger sister had been stabbed while fighting frantically.
"You!"
"I'm fine. I won't die, I'm fine!"
But the fact that there was no color in her face meant the youngest's condition was not good either.
Dana pressed the acupoint at her younger sister's wounded area again to stop the bleeding, then took out golden wound medicine and applied it to the wound.
"Lie down and rest for now."
"Yeah, let me lie down for a bit."
Watching her two younger sisters lying down, Dana regretted. She shouldn't have taken this commission. The premonition had been that bad.
"I'm sorry."
At Chohui's words, Dana didn't vent her anger on her. Chohui was merely the client, the customer. The one who decided to accept the job was herself.
"It's alright."
"Shouldn't we find a doctor for your sister first?"
If only they could. They couldn't take her to a doctor. When a situation like this occurred, those bastards would search the doctors first. That was the basics of pursuit.
"If the Seven Paths Assassination Squad is on us, we absolutely cannot reach Gui Prefecture. We need to ask someone for help first."
She took out a map from her bosom.
It was a map she had made herself for emergencies. Recorded on it were sects from whom they could request help. Sects with whom they had even small connections.
But they couldn't ask ordinary sects for help while being chased by the Seven Paths Assassination Squad. The Seven Paths Assassination Squad were ones who would storm into ordinary sects and massacre them to kill their target.
"We need to ask the Martial Alliance for help."
But it was too far. They had to leave this village and go another thirty ri before a Martial Alliance branch would appear. Taking her injured younger sisters, and moreover protecting Chohui while getting there, was impossible.
Furthermore, they might be guarding that route expecting them to head for the Martial Alliance.
Then a certain place caught Dana's eye.
The Heavenly Demon Cult's Jeongan Branch.
Not far from here was a branch of the Demonic Cult.
But if they recklessly went to the Demonic Cult and asked for help, they might incur an even greater disaster than falling to the Seven Paths Assassination Squad bastards.
Then she suddenly thought of the man she saw yesterday.
—I belong to the Divine Cult.
The characters engraved on the great blade he carried as he turned to leave after speaking those words.
Musou.
It was a phrase that suited the pure, bashful gaze with which he had looked at her far too little.
Then Danyeon's, who was lying down, asked quietly.
"What are you thinking?"
Dana bit her lip slightly and answered.
"A crazy thought."
* * *
The Heavenly Demon Cult's Jeongan Branch was a small sub-branch with barely twenty permanent members.
With no war occurring, what business could there be at a demonic cult branch? The person in charge of that peaceful place was the branch leader, Gangdal.
"Branch Leader, I think you need to come out."
At his subordinate's report, he came out to see something unexpected happening.
At the entrance of the Jeongan Branch, four women were surrounded by numerous masked men, their backs to the gate.
The women were Dana's group, and the Seven Paths Assassination Squad had pursued them all the way here.
"Please open the gate! I have something to tell the branch leader."
Because of the demonic cultists guarding the entrance, the Seven Paths Assassination Squad had only surrounded them and couldn't charge in.
Then the gate opened and Gangdal came out.
With him, more than ten branch cultists who had been waiting at the entrance followed out.
Gangdal looked at Dana's group first.
Only Dana stood straight, holding a sword dripping with blood.
Chohui was tending to the unconscious Danbi, her head laid on her lap, and Danyeon's was lying asleep beside her. They were in a state that made one marvel at how they had managed to get here, wounded all over.
Before the four women, more than ten masked men stood surrounding them in a semicircle.
Gangdal looked up at the plaque above the entrance. Had the plaque fallen off, causing this commotion? But the plaque reading "Heavenly Demon Cult Jeongan Branch" was firmly attached.
Then a subordinate spoke quietly.
"The masked ones are Seven Paths Assassination Squad bastards."
At the words "Seven Paths Assassination Squad," Gangdal frowned. He knew them well. They were vicious bastards who would kill even friends and family for money.
"Those bastards are crazy to begin with, but what are you lot?"
At Gangdal's question, Dana answered.
"We are wanderers known as the Three Dan Sisters. Please help us."
"If you're going to ask for that kind of favor, you should do it in front of a Martial Alliance branch."
Gangdal spoke while looking at the masked men.
"Clean them up and leave. If you leave so much as a single bloodstain, you will die."
He was telling them to kill them on their own and get lost.
As Gangdal turned to go back in—
"A master from the Divine Cult sent us here."
For an instant, Gangdal flinched and stopped. His eyes turning toward her were cold.
"Which master?"
Naturally, Gangdal thought the woman was lying to save her life. He hadn't received such word.
"He left the Yuyeong Inn yesterday. A short man wielding a large blade. The characters 'Musou' are engraved on that blade."
A moment of silence passed.
Gangdal asked again.
"And who is that?"
After a brief pause, she answered.
"I don't know who he is, either."
Then a cold word flowed from Gangdal's lips.
"You insane wench."
Yes, this was a crazy act even by her own reckoning. But she had already chosen, and now there was no way out. Ahead were the Seven Paths Assassination Squad, and behind was the Demonic Cult.
"That person said if a problem arose, we should receive help here."
Having lied to a Demonic Cult branch leader, it was truly a life-or-death gamble.
Even if they could get help, if the man she had seen at the inn was not a demon cultist, or was merely some low-ranking martial artist, then they would die at the hands of these demon cultists.
“I’m certain he’s someone higher-ranking than you. If you save us, you’ll live too. If we die here, you’ll die as well.”
It was just then. More members of the Chilro Chusaldae arrived. With over ten more added to their number, there were now more than twenty of them. From the look of it, they were all gathering here.
Even when the bastards saw him and the demon cultists of the branch, they showed not the slightest sign of fear. Instead, they bared their killing intent, as if saying, Just wait until we’re all here.
‘These bastards, do they have a death wish?’
But Gangdal turned around and said,
“Close the door.”
Then came a desperate plea.
“Please let at least these three people in.”
Gangdal turned back to Dan-a.
“I’ll be fine, so please let at least these three people in. Later, when that person comes, you should at least have something to say, shouldn’t you?”
Dan-a was prepared to fight alone and die.
Gangdal stared at her quietly, then said something unexpected.
“If you sisters are wanderers, then the one the Chilro Chusaldae chased here must be that woman.”
Gangdal looked at Chohui.
“In any case, that woman must be their target. Leave her outside, and I’ll take the three of you in.”
Dan-a looked at Chohui. Holding Danbi in her arms, Chohui nodded. Her eyes said to save the lives of even just those three.
Dan-a said to Gangdal,
“Please take only my younger siblings in. That woman and I will stay.”
If she could save even just her younger siblings, that was enough. Chohui shook her head, telling her not to, but Dan-a was not the sort of person who would abandon a client in a situation like this, even if it meant throwing away her life.
Gangdal looked at Dan-a, then abruptly said,
“If you had tried to come in by yourselves, none of you would have gotten in.”
Which meant—
“Everyone, come in.”
The Jeongan Branch had accepted them.
“Thank you.”
“Thank you so much.”
Dan-a and Chohui looked at each other in relief. Chohui bowed her head to Dan-a in gratitude.
Her younger siblings were carried inside, and Dan-a and Chohui entered as well.
Gangdal sealed Dan-a’s internal energy and took her sword. She accepted it meekly without resisting. His suspicion was only natural.
Gangdal gave an order to his subordinate.
“There’s no telling what those lunatics outside might do. Sound the emergency alarm and wake everyone who’s sleeping.”
“Understood.”
“And send an urgent message to Tongcheongak! Tell them the current situation.”
At that moment, Dan-a stepped forward. It meant she wanted him to convey what she had said as well.
“Add what that woman said earlier too. Short, uses a great saber with the word Musang written on it. What inn was it?”
At his question, Dan-a answered quickly.
“It was Yuyeong Inn.”
“Say we urgently need to find the person who left Yuyeong Inn yesterday.”
“Yes!”
The demon cultists began moving busily. Martial artists armed with weapons came out of the buildings, and hidden weapons were distributed from the concealed-weapon boxes.
“If you were spouting nonsense just to avoid those bastards, you’d better be prepared.”
Even at Gangdal’s threat, Dan-a did not shrink back at all. The wheel of fate had already begun to turn.
“Please return my sword and release my internal energy. If a fight breaks out, you’ll need me.”
She was dignified even before the branch leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult. In truth, it was this dignity that had moved Gangdal’s heart. The courage to remain alone and protect her client.
And then she added a line Gangdal could never understand.
“I also want to live so I can hear that poem again.”