EP.183 If a Horse Kicks You, You Die
The Third, who had dodged the horse's attack by a paper-thin margin, kicked off the ground and retreated.
It was a fearsome momentum. Had his reaction been even slightly delayed, his shoulder would have been crushed under the furious horse's front hooves.
But a sigh of relief was premature. The lion horse, its confident blow missed, scraped the ground as if displeased and immediately pressed on.
‘Black Shadow Qi Technique!’
Pitch-black energy billowed from all over the Third. The energy of the Black Shadow Qi Technique concealed his form in a curtain of darkness, but the lion horse's mane quivered oddly and accurately pinpointed his location again.
The Third, belatedly realizing the mane's ability, widened his eyes.
‘It reads the wind with its hair! What an ability. A prized horse hard to find even in the kingdom era…!’
It can’t be helped. He wanted to subdue it without injury since he had to use it, but...
The Third took out a throwing dagger from his bosom. When he infused it with qi, pitch-black energy surged from the blade and instantaneously melted into the darkness.
On the dim street, the Third scattered the invisible daggers.
“Just a beast!”
A single stab should calm it down. The blade rippling through the darkness flew toward the horse and rider. Even one clad in Rebound Qi Technique would not be unscathed, and a beast that can only use its innate strength would howl in pain.
However.
Ting.
With an underwhelming sound, the dagger bounced off. The Third’s eyes flew open.
In the blink of an eye, sturdy and tough cloth armor had wrapped around them. Covering the rider and even the horse, every vital spot.
That was possible. The Third knew it well. Because there are Packets in Gunguk.
But what surprised the Third was something else.
‘Not even a scratch on the cloth? When it’s a qi-infused dagger?’
If the Third had known the opponent’s identity, he might have understood.
The Third Celestial Seamless Garment, Sephiere Vakia, the greatest holding company in Gunguk and a collaborator in crafting military uniforms.
In name and reality, the greatest alchemist and tailor in Gunguk.
Calling the clothes she made with unrestrained resources a mere cloth garment would be an insult to the achievements amassed by the name Celestial Seamless Garment.
But the Third didn’t know that, so it was only natural he felt wronged.
Peto shrugged and said.
“The boss takes good care of employee benefits.”
With those words, a mask-like face covering enveloped Peto’s face. Clothing that perfectly wraps the entire body, only possible with a Packet.
Though wearing cloth armor, Peto’s appearance was nothing short of the reincarnation of an ancient knight.
Holding a riding crop instead of a spear, Peto aimed at the Third and said.
“Peto Tinheart of Skebal. Here I come… Ah, damn! Old habits! This is why I shouldn’t hold a weapon!”
Peto shuddered at the habit ingrained from his days as a squire and extended the whip. The whip came crashing down above the Third, who had retreated to avoid the horse.
The reason knights once ruled the world. Mounted on a creature far swifter and stronger than humans, a divine incarnation of violence swinging power from above.
Only a knight could stop a knight clad in expensive armor and wrapped in qi.
“Krgh…!”
Spreading his stealth technique to the extreme, the Third succeeded in dodging a few more times, but the opponent was a horse. The lion horse, even with a person on its back, dug its hooves into the concrete and twisted its heavy body, as if forgetting the concept of inertia.
Slipping past sideways was daunting because of the whip-wielding rider. Not because the whip was frightening, but because getting caught even briefly could mean being crushed under the hooves.
“If only there was no horse…!”
It was a mistake of not assessing the opponent’s skill—more precisely, the capability of his equipment.
But it can’t be helped. Since the fall of knights, the bloodlines of fine horses dwindled in Gunguk, and Packets are unseen until inserted.
Even more so.
‘To think a horse wore horse armor with a Packet…! If it weren’t for the horse armor, a beast like that would be nothing!’
Perhaps due to distracting thoughts. In the moment the Third faltered, the lion horse drew near.
As if finally catching him, the lion horse grinned and rammed its head and shoulder into the Third.
“Krgh…!”
He leapt back to disperse the force, but still a shock as if his whole body was being wrung like laundry struck the Third. Had he not covered his body in qi, his bones would have broken.
Even while flying through the air, the Third skillfully unfastened his cloak and wrapped it around the horse’s head. Seizing the moment the flustered horse paused, he deftly launched himself and landed on top of another streetlamp.
Peto, reduced to a dog chasing a chicken, raised his head. The streetlamp was quite high; if he swung the whip it might reach, but it wouldn’t deliver much of a hit.
Having secured safety, the Third gritted his teeth and replied.
“Just you watch. Next time, I’ll come when you’re not prepared.”
It was a grave warning from the Shadow’s perspective, but to Peto, who was fighting because he was pushed into it, it was simply absurd.
“I’m sorry, but I didn’t exactly come prepared for a fight either, you know. My life has been a series of unforeseen incidents from the start.”
“Like the child your sister-in-law ended up with?”
A voice came from the dark street.
***
Busy, so busy.
I contacted the shelter to tell them to take the kids away, and sent an errand boy to tell the Family to prepare for a fight. Those two have some martial strength, so they won’t fall easily.
Sigh. A nanny role and a meerkat role. Where else would you find a friendly neighbor like me? Gunguk, I wish you’d quickly award me the Brave Citizen Medal.
Anyway, I finished my work, and the only thing left is the Market. The thing is, that side is really unsettling. Unlike the Family or the shelter, there are plenty of gaps to slip into.
If they’re going to fight the Transport Union, it’s not my place to butt in, but the Shadow guys are a bit much.
Alright. Now let’s check out the Market side. Having roughly sorted out the other places, I led my auto-carriage toward the Market.
“Going around here and there with the Lieutenant was worth it.”
Exploring various parts of Gunguk with the Lieutenant was quite meaningful. Although I couldn’t read the minds of the half-Shadows who were executive-level, at least I could find their objectives from the memories of messengers or liaisons.
As expected, their targets were the Market, the shelter, and the Family. Organizations that form and operate as one power in the back alleys of Gunguk.
The Shadow, not wanting to share the pie with them, intended to use the accumulated discontent in the back alleys as gunpowder and detonate it all at once.
However, I’m the type that, if gunpowder is piled up, first brings a match to it. I lit the fuse that should have burned slowly and blew it up first.
This is the result. Not a fight led by the Shadow, but true chaos where desires clash.
If there’s going to be conflict, do it fiercely. Don’t dance to someone else’s tune.
It was as I muttered that and headed toward the Market.
There was a commotion up ahead. I stuck my head out to look, and just then, on the other side, senior Peto on horseback was fighting a half-Shadow.
Senior Peto, who gave me sincere advice at the host bar… If only he hadn’t been kicked out after falling for a widow who lost her husband out of town, it would have been more credible.
Anyway, the senior was fighting well. He’d act as if he had PTSD whenever the topic of knights and squires came up, but sure enough, his record of brawling over women wasn’t going anywhere.
Actually, the horse was fighting better than the senior, but anyway. Even while the horse was rampaging, the senior didn’t fall off and aimed at the opponent.
In terms of numbers, it was 2 to 1; in terms of equipment, the senior had the advantage. He even rode a horse. Not just any horse, but an armored horse.
As expected. As anticipated, the horse rammed the half-Shadow with its shoulder. The half-Shadow absorbed the shock by jumping backward and, using the recoil, lightly jumped onto the streetlamp.
Hmm. What to do about that. Should I ram it with the auto-carriage?
No. Then he’d jump and dodge. Plus, if I ram into it, I’d get hurt, so it’s a loss.
Alright. I decided. I got down from the auto-carriage and carefully approached. Then I stretched out my left hand and took out a card.
Three of Diamonds, angular bow.
I bent the card slightly with my thumb and little finger, and gently wrapped the body with the three middle fingers. In that state, I infused it with magic power and performed alchemical transmutation.
The card grew in its bent shape. Like a soft sprout, the card gradually stiffened as it grew, then turned rigid enough that it was hard to even pull.
The Third, not noticing that I was aiming a bow, said to the senior.
“Just you watch. Next time, I’ll come when you’re not prepared.”
“I’m sorry, but I didn’t exactly come prepared for a fight either, you know. My life has been a series of unforeseen incidents from the start.”
“Like the child your sister-in-law ended up with?”
Oops. Words just come out.
Well, that’s not really important.
Do I even care how much chaos erupted when the senior, suspected of immorality after getting a child just a week after the widow’s funeral, submitted his resignation and ran away?
What matters is whether I can hit that or not. That’s it.
It’s a card transmuted with the arrow already drawn back to the max by the bow-drawing device. The moment the transmutation ends, it will regain its full elasticity and shoot the arrow.
I’ve also zeroed in, so if I just take the right stance, that single shot will be a guaranteed hit and kill.
Actually, it’s more of a pre-drawn crossbow than an angular bow, but anyway, the shape is an angular bow.
“A person without talent should at least be thorough in preparation.”
Having finished aiming, I murmured that and completed the transmutation. For a moment, I had the illusion that a massive wall was pushing my left arm away.
Twang, the sound of something being released.
‘An arrow? But an arrow like that with Rebound Qi Technique….’
Right. That damned Rebound Qi Technique. No matter how much an arrow is drawn back by a bow-drawing device, it won’t do much damage.
As long as Rebound Qi Technique exists, arrows and bullets are less than useless, like shooting underwater.
But what I aimed for wasn’t your body.
It’s the streetlamp.
The arrow pierced the neck of the streetlamp.
The soft alchemical steel that makes up Gunguk’s public fixtures can somehow withstand shaking, but is vulnerable to sharp things like arrows. The streetlamp, broken at the center, began to fall powerlessly.
Rebound Qi Technique or not, the Earth Mother pulls all equally. The Third, instantly losing his support, also could not defy that law.
And below, the furious horse was waiting. As if it had been waiting, the lion horse planted its front hooves into the ground and spun its body. Its powerful hind legs targeted the Third.
“No…!”
He tried to quickly twist his body in midair to avoid it, but just then, the senior’s whip timely flew in. His body, caught by the whip, faltered in the air.
Over that, the horse’s rear hoof slammed in.
The sound of crunch was closer to a sculpture breaking. The Third’s body, struck by an unendurable blow, soared away.
Unlike an arrow, a horse’s rear kick can’t be blocked with Rebound Qi Technique.
The Third half-Shadow flew away, eyes rolling back.
That’s one less of those half-Shadow or whatever guys. Yeah, there are too many miscellaneous guys.
The senior, who had watched the sight of a person being trampled by a horse from the front-row seat, muttered blankly.
“…You brat. The marriage wasn’t planned. Don’t say that in front of the kid.”
“Show me the kid first and then say that. Speaking of which, shall we go see them?”
“No. Don’t come. I know my daughter is precious too….”
The card that had fulfilled its purpose slowly returned to its original form. On the returned card, only the number 3 was written, and the diamond shape that had formed a vertical line inside was gone.
While I was calmly chatting, the carriage door opened.