Chapter 109 – 109 – A Matter of Taste
Compatible song. A powerful mercenary group that controls the East and is centered on those with tiger blood.
The secret to being unrivaled and number one in the industry is not just overwhelming power. They show various appearances depending on the client’s needs.
Yesterday, he was a warrior who caught and defeated a bandit, and today, he was a warrior who throws rocks at a bandit.
Tomorrow it will be a guard warrior chewing on the water, and the day after tomorrow it will be a guard warrior sneaking out of the way. In all fields, compatible songs are by far the best.
Even today, wealthy people and merchants from all over the central plains are generously throwing away gold. To buy safety and authority through the force of the noble Tigris.
Compatible song. The best country, the strongest warrior group, and the worst assassin group. And at the same time…
“The Hungsal Cheonpa belonging to the Black Island were neutralized. The leader, Madu Hungmo Salma, was provoking them by performing tricks with his sword, and fled when he lost his head to Morgan Tomko’s chest bullet.”
It is also an information group that no one can ignore, with its ears spread out to the whole world based on that gold.
Jeon Seo-gu, trained by qualified ‘trainers’, flies away. The copyists open the letter tied to the leg. Then, the performance of each group is written down in the record book.
However, no one has yet received a reward. Among the busy news accumulating, there is no mention of catching ‘Lan Bantai’.
All that can be heard is the cries of those blocking the Special Monster Destruction Removal Party.
“The Shinkyo-affiliated Dark Horse Special Forces were unable to fight. While setting up the engine formation, Lenny Astala hit the bow and fell off the cliff.”
“Byuk Cheon-mun, a member of the Four Sects, was routed. His skin was burned by the fire of the Red Dragon, and he fell into the river, and all of them scattered and fled.”
“The Yinnyeongdan, an assassination group made up of quintuplets from Nanman, fainted. Eshen Taiga knocked them down with a swing of a cooking utensil used to fry eggs.”
“Madu Hongsalgwi, an assassin belonging to the Black Island, was captured. While he was practicing silver sleep techniques in an attempt to isolate himself, he was crushed by a load deliberately dropped by Jaengjasu, breaking six of his ribs and subduing him…”
“Tsk.”
When someone clicked their tongue, the last reporter flinched loudly.
The person who expressed dissatisfaction was a woman. I lay down long in the back of the room overlooking the entire facility.
The gentle voice of the woman, of whom only a shadow was visible, made all the copyists’ hands stop for an instant.
“He is not a porter. Call him a porter. He is not a member of the bureaucracy.”
“I’m sorry, I’ll make it right!”
“And raise the bounty to 5 million! It’s absurd. No matter how fierce Gu Murim is, it’s a thing of the past, but how is it that no one can properly stop the play group formed by that child and his peers?”
“You can’t criticize the clans. They are also considered the elite Hero Collaboratories in the West.”
A man with gloomy eyes approached her woman’s room. And he politely set down the green tea he had brewed in front of me.
In an instant, a hand came out from under me. And he grabbed the tray where the teapot was placed like a cat’s paw and snatched it away.
“Hmph. It’s all just an excuse since you’re getting beaten up by young girls who are barely in their twenties.”
“If that’s really true, Lord Gok, do you really have to move Cheonmoo-gyo to keep such young children in check?”
“What do you think strength is?”
The silhouette behind Jooryeom sat up straight. And sipped the tea.
“Why do you think you can’t say that Cheonmu-gyo is Cheonmu-shin-gyo in front of me? Why do your subordinates, who talk about the invincibility of Shingyo and the fortune of the devil, carefully look around to see if the beast ears of a noble family have sprouted?”
The eyes of the Protestant leader became even more tired.
“···So you’re saying the reason is power.”
“The path of the loser is narrow. If you are weak, what you hold in your arms will flow down the cliff. Am I wrong?”
“What Gokju said is correct.”
“Only the strong can protect what they desire. I will let Eshen know that. If she protects it until the end, it will be a proud thing for this mother, and if she fails, it will be a lesson learned.”
“···But, Hualien.”
The ruler of Hwanhwagok opened his closed eyes. As bright yellow eyes stared at him emotionlessly, the religious leader gritted his teeth.
“That child is your daughter. She is your eldest daughter.”
“However?”
A refreshing answer. The leader could not say anything more.
What relieved the embarrassment of the silence was the sound of a golden dove flapping its wings. Jeon Seo-gu, who had carelessly dug into the main area where the religious leader could not even open it, was patted to the fullest and put down the letter tied to his ankle on his own.
Hualien Taiga, the ruler of the compatible song, opened his eyes wide.
“This is an unexpected situation. It’s going to be fun.”
“What if you say it’s an unexpected situation?”
“Maybe I was too harsh. I understand your concerns.”
Hwa-ryeon stretched out her hand to give it a try. The leader winced as he recalled the scars those white fingers left on his face.
“So, come pick me up.”
“···Are you talking about picking me up?”
Hwaryeon, the head of Hwagyeonggok, gave detailed instructions on the form of greeting. The cult leader felt like punching his wife in the face. His wife’s cheek, which could have torn him apart with her fingers. Without even thinking about how she would retaliate.
The religious leader who controlled himself kissed that finger.
“I will.”
————-
“You said you defeated the Yang diary of the head of the Yang family, right? But we will be different.”
“Is this a part-time job?”
“Unlike the stupid guy who made people angry by exploiting the local people by revealing his money, we are not a sloppy small sect that relies on the martial arts of the head of the family.”
“Did you ask?”
“I have brought a paralyzing medicine as strong as the Shinyo religion’s arsenic poison, so even Western dragons will not be able to use its power! They will not be able to withstand the 200 elite assassins of our convention! If you surrender obediently, I will spare your life!”
“Do you know how many people have said something like that? Fuck it and come in quickly. I’m busy.”
Enemies who accepted my provocation are approaching. With greed for the 7 million bounty in his eyes.
As the amount went up, they were becoming more toxic. And we too were feeling just as angry.
Just as they were about to grab the suspicious powder and sprinkle it, Lennie took the bottle of the suspicious potion first. And then he scattered the green contents all over the place.
It seems that those who prepared the poison were not prepared to be poisoned. They hurriedly retreated and missed the player, but were hit by Lenny and Isilun’s gauntlet and lost their momentum.
They were struggling to avoid the green liquid and deal with the special combatant, and it was only when the 20th person lay down that they realized something strange.
Nothing happened to those who came into contact with the liquid we sprayed.
“···What is this?”
“Vegetable salty water. Also called green juice for short.”
“Such a cunning-“
“If it were a deadly poison that hurts on contact, would we have been able to attack you guys covered in green juice so aggressively? Think about it.”
At the angry enemy leader, Lenny repeatedly fired his poison needle launcher.
We also inserted needles of arsenic venom one by one into his subdued subordinates. And tied their limbs as they left for dreamland.
“It’s easy. You do as Leni says.”
“Yes?”
A bottle with a skull mark borrowed from Villena, but the contents are emergency food with a terrible smell but high nutritional value.
One day, Lenny taught this to the party members, and it became the standard for extermination parties.
“As you can see, it is especially useful when dealing with assassins. Those who know the dangers of poison well are more afraid of it. It’s experience.”
···This is the part where we can guess that Lennie’s life had many ups and downs.
And next to Lennie, someone whose life was going through ups and downs came up and muttered.
“My experience is… Hot… The experience of being covered in heat is terrible.”
“Say it’s hot one more time. Think about how we almost got dragged away as sleeping princesses!”
Eshen grabbed the back of the head, but it didn’t seem to hurt Nidroga in the slightest. That’s because he was draped in several layers of cotton clothing and armor captured from the enemy.
The effect was amazing. The enemies’ paralyzing poison was concentrated on Nidroga, but Nidroga, who had turned into a hedgehog, was able to fight unharmed.
Everyone was satisfied. Except for Nidroga, who has to walk through the desert dressed like an Antarctic explorer.
“Can’t we just fight in dragon form?”
“Do you remember when those Protestants came to visit again yesterday and stuck poisonous needles under your fingernails? How about you almost lying on top of us?”
“···If you fly up into the sky without the poisonous needle reaching you…”
“When you chased away those men named Byeok Cheon-mun with your breath, the porter’s backpack caught fire and half of our emergency rations went missing?”
Nidroga, who was sweating like a river, nodded his head gloomily. Poor.
Coincidentally, the next group we met surrendered as soon as they saw Nidroga’s frozen body.
“All we brought was dysentery poison that we applied to the dragon’s stomach with the intention of causing an upset stomach. It won’t work, so we won’t attack you!”
Thanks to this, Nidroga’s cause of wanting to take off his clothes was completely lost.
···If I were Nidro, I would rather have an upset stomach.
“But you will encounter increasingly stronger and smarter factions. They are just waiting for the bounty to rise and for you to get tired.”
“What? It would be safer if I got caught by you?”
“Ah…No.”
The young assassin, whose true intentions were discovered, glanced at the frying pan that Eshen had lifted in anger and changed his words.
“I just want to ask: What are you going to do next?”
“Cheonmu Guest Cup.”
“···Yes?!”
“A guesthouse run by a Protestant sect. I’m thinking of going there. It’s probably not far, right?”
“Wait a minute, isn’t that actually your enemy’s territory?”
“The safest enemy territory. No one is allowed to fight within it. Unless you want to turn the entire Cheonmooshin Church into enemies.”
Garam said as he walked in front of the assassin and stroked his face.
The assassin blinked for a moment as if fascinated by the slender and pretty face that seemed at first glance to be rough.
However, when the powerful hand touched the uvula, the assassin came to his senses and remembered who the opponent was.
“···You are a compatible song.”
“Yes. I believe you came back from Cheonmu Gaekjan for maintenance. I lost the map during the fight. Which direction should I take?”
“If I tell you, will you spare my life?”
“Look at how sincere the guidance is.”
Garam put the assassin on top of our lizard.
Unfortunately, most of the lizards we borrowed from the Party Alliance got scared and ran away, so only the bravest one was left with us.
If we wanted to ride together, we all had to squeeze into the narrow compartment. Even so, Garam and the Tigris hunting party had to run and chase us.
Eshen insisted that he ride with them since he was not part of the hunting party.
In return, with his face pressed against my shoulder, Eshen muttered dissatisfiedly.
“That obnoxious bitch. She works hard.”
“If it gives you a sense of obligation, that’s good.”
“A sense of duty? Do you really think it’s a sense of duty?”
Eshen chuckled and stabbed me in the side. I was at a loss for words and lowered my head.
“What did you promise when you released the hunting party and hired them? What did you whisper while holding Garam’s hands tightly and in a voice so low that the other Tigris couldn’t hear?”
I closed my eyes tightly. Flashbacks pass before my eyes.
I think I said this back then.
‘Friends who are like family are facing a huge crisis. I want to help that friend.’
‘Our purpose is to meet Hwanhyeonggokju and ask for help. ‘I can’t give my head to the assassins until I tell them that.’
‘Whether it is to put aside our mission and return safely, or to meet Hwanhyeonggokju and personally deliver the ‘information’ we have, we must first break through their siege.’
‘I need some damn help for that. I don’t mind asking for anything as a commission fee, so please help me.’
I remember every word of Garam’s words.
Eshen’s younger brother, who had a tyrannical side, said that with a strangely stiff expression on his face.
‘Give me you.’
‘···What?’
‘Are your ears clogged? I want you. In Western terms, it means asking for a date.’
‘···Why?’
“···Shall we talk about that later?”
“Damn it, what are you going to do with my little brother? Are you doing this on purpose when you know I’m going to throw a fit?”
“I’m also outraged. What can I do? You said you’ll fight on our side only if I do that! If my life is at stake and I’m missing even one person on our side, what does my fidelity matter? If you and I can be safe, could you go on a date or two? Yes!”
“You crazy bastard, you heard what he likes! What are you going to do!”
“I know. Lower your voice!”
I looked behind me in case Garam heard me.
Garam, who was running sweating in front of the rest of the Tigris, shyly avoided my gaze as soon as he felt my gaze.
I feel dizzy.
‘If it seems like I misunderstood, don’t worry.’
‘···Are you worried?’
‘I actually like women more than men.’
The lizard ran across the sandy plains, filled with worry, anger, and strange promises.
Cheonmu Gaekjan was getting closer and closer.
