Listening to the sound of the rain while soaking in a hot bath was pure bliss.

With my eyes closed, the once heavy downpour gradually faded.

Some time passed, and the hallway outside grew quieter than before. Even the noise from downstairs diminished.

“……”

My heightened senses and instincts picked up on something unnatural in the silence.

A surprise attack?

If it really was an ambush, I would be greeting my visitors completely naked and unarmed.

A brothel falling into complete silence was not normal.

But I didn’t call for anyone or order a weapon to be brought. I simply remained in the bath and waited.

After all, who would dare come after me now, after I had killed the Jo Brothers and the Twin Phantom Blades?

It wouldn’t be the Black Cat Gang. The collectors had been terrified, so their masters were unlikely to send anyone immediately.

That meant it had to be someone from within Ilyang County.

The second-in-command fighters of Ihwaru and Siwharu came to mind.

It wasn’t that I was a prophet.

I simply knew the future, and I was already familiar with most of the notable figures in Ilyang County. My conclusion was based on that knowledge.

Of course, this was just a prediction, so I wasn’t entirely sure—until I heard footsteps in the hallway.

Without any announcement, the door to the bathhouse opened.

I watched as two men stepped inside.

“You guys?”

Naturally, I recognized them. Locals.

Song Wu-geum from Ihwaru and Yu Jun-gu from Siwharu.

If Cha Seong-tae were here, the three of them together would be what the subordinates called Tae-Geum-Gu—the brothel overseers and de facto rulers.

Seeing that I was naked and sitting in the bath, neither of them wasted a word. They simply drew their swords and lunged.

In that brief moment, a thought crossed my mind.

Killing and being killed—such is the way of Jianghu.

I was unarmed and completely bare, but…

There was a bathtub.

Summoning Flame Fowl Qi into my hands, I ripped two planks from the bath and wielded them like wooden swords. At the same time, I unleashed a blast of energy, sending shattered wood and water flying at Song Wu-geum and Yu Jun-gu.

Splinters and water splashed in all directions, crashing into my attackers.

Then, I—still naked—swung the makeshift wooden swords.

Both men were at least as skilled as Cha Seong-tae.

Which meant they posed no threat to me.

However, they did have an advantage in weaponry.

When my wooden sword was sliced in half by Song Wu-geum’s blade, I drove my left foot into his stomach.

Thud!

As Yu Jun-gu’s sword came for me, I dodged with a tilt of my head and struck his hand with my remaining wooden weapon.

Song Wu-geum, face turning red from the blow, charged again. Meanwhile, Yu Jun-gu, having lost his sword, lunged at me with his bare hands, seemingly intent on grappling.

I kept my distance.

As I retreated, I infused the wooden plank with Flame Fowl Qi and slashed indiscriminately through the air.

Each time the plank cut through the rain-filled air, it struck their faces.

Though it was just a piece of wood, I had no intention of stopping after one or two strikes. I slashed them over and over.

Within seconds, their faces, torsos, and arms were covered in gashes, struck at least seven or eight times each.

With every cut, blood spurted out, splattering the bathhouse.

I hoped their deaths would serve as a warning to others.

I kept swinging the battered plank until they were both reduced to a bloody mess. When their bodies finally collapsed to the floor, I discarded ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) the plank.

Blood poured from their corpses, flowing down the bathhouse drains.

Song Wu-geum and Yu Jun-gu had drowned in their own blood.

I picked up one of their fallen swords and, still naked, stepped out into the hallway.

“Seong-tae…”

Had these two been working with Cha Seong-tae?

I doubted it.

The fact that there was no response meant one of two things: either he was already dead, or these men had sent their subordinates to attack him while coming after me themselves.

As I walked, I forgot that I wasn’t wearing any clothes.

A passing servant girl screamed before clamping her hands over her mouth.

I calmly addressed her.

“Bring me some clothes. Anything.”

“Y-yes.”

Passing through several rooms, I called out,

“Where’s Lady Son? Lady Son…”

The servant girl returned, breathless, carrying a pair of pants.

“I only found these. Please wear them for now…”

I pulled on the pants as I asked,

“You haven’t seen Lady Son?”

“No.”

“So she hid herself, huh.”

Not that Lady Son could have done much in this situation. But she had no reason to flee, either.

Perhaps she had tipped them off about my bath.

I chuckled as I looked at the trembling servant.

“Lady Son has no loyalty, does she?”

“Ah, y-yes. That’s right.”

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

I grabbed my sword and descended the stairs.

If Cha Seong-tae was dead, I would track down and kill whoever had done it. If he was still alive, I would help him.

Most likely, Song Wu-geum and Yu Jun-gu had chosen a surprise attack.

They had sent their men after Cha Seong-tae while coming to kill me themselves.

As I stepped outside into the rain, I realized—I had forgotten to wear shoes.

The soaked ground squelched beneath my bare feet.

My pants kept slipping, so I planted my sword into the ground and secured them properly.

“Cha Seong-tae.”

I infused my voice with internal energy and listened.

From the direction of Zaha Inn, I heard faint shouting—filled more with curses than coherent words.

Gripping my sword, I leaped forward, using light footwork to race toward Zaha Inn.

***

Cha Seong-tae leaned against the alley wall, blood trickling down his face. Despite his condition, he pressed a dagger against the throat of one man while pointing his straight sword at the others surrounding him.

His voice was hoarse, as if he were chewing on his words.

“Did Jun-gu order you, you dumb bastards…?”

More than ten men still surrounded him. He had been driven toward Zaha Inn like cattle, and along the way, he had killed seven of them. That meant he had originally been facing seventeen opponents alone.

If his subordinates had been with him, he wouldn’t have ended up in this mess.

He had been ambushed while moving the bodies of the Twin Phantom Blades with Ihwaru’s lackeys. But those same lackeys had turned on him, attacking as if they had never been on his side.

This town really was a cesspool.

Cha Seong-tae should have been more cautious. But he had always thought of himself as stronger than Song Wu-geum and Yu Jun-gu.

His subordinates were stronger, and he himself was indeed the better fighter.

But Cha Seong-tae had never fought this many opponents alone before.

Seeing that his enemies had no intention of retreating, he drove his dagger into the throat of the man he had been holding, then swung his straight sword forward.

He was already bleeding. His only chance of survival was to finish them quickly, cutting down the remaining ten before his body gave out.

He didn’t bother targeting limbs—he aimed for whatever he could. Even as his arm was slashed, he buried his blade in an opponent’s face. Even as he was kicked back, he rolled along the ground and stabbed at any exposed ankles.

More screams erupted.

Cha Seong-tae, now drenched in rain, blood, and mud, pushed himself to his feet and roared.

“Come at me, you sons of bitches!”

For weaklings, fights were all about morale. These weren’t men like Song Wu-geum or Yu Jun-gu—these were disposable lackeys, easily intimidated by a display of bravado.

At that moment, one of them, completely lacking loyalty, shoved an injured comrade toward Cha Seong-tae and barked out an order.

“Everyone, attack at once!”

As the shoved man was impaled on Cha Seong-tae’s sword, the others rushed in, their broad sabers raised.

“Ah, shit.”

Cha Seong-tae wasn’t stupid. He immediately backpedaled.

He knew that he had to wait for the right moment when the psychological balance shifted again.

Then—thwack!

A dull sound rang out.

It was too dark to see clearly, but another thwack followed, and one of the men collapsed.

Then—splat!

A head flew into the air.

And finally, a familiar, infuriating voice hit Cha Seong-tae’s ears.

“Reformation Clan Leader, you still alive? Damn, impressive.”

Cha Seong-tae, despite his relief, couldn’t help but scream.

“Save me!”

And then, muttering in a smaller voice, “You bastard…”

***

I had no particular grudge against Song Wu-geum and Yu Jun-gu’s lackeys.

But since they had tried to kill the Reformation Clan Leader, I couldn’t let them live.

Thinking of it as culling the herd, I cut them down with swift, precise strikes, aiming to remove body parts or kill instantly.

When only three or four were left, Cha Seong-tae, still panting like a madman, jumped into the fray with a furious roar.

I withdrew my sword, letting him have his revenge.

For a moment, his stabbing and cursing created a strange harmony.

.

.

.

The bodies around Zaha Inn were piling up.

After killing every last one of them, Cha Seong-tae dropped his straight sword and slumped to the ground, his breathing ragged.

“Haa… haa… haaa… huu… haa…”

Then he turned his gaze to me, taking in my disheveled appearance.

I was gripping my pants with one hand to keep them from slipping. I had no shoes, and my upper body was bare.

It was clear to anyone that I had run out in the middle of a bath.

Cha Seong-tae stared for a long moment before asking,

“Did you come straight from the bath?”

I nodded and glanced up at the sky. The heavy downpour had subsided, leaving only a light drizzle.

“I’ve taken a lot of baths today.”

Cha Seong-tae, finally relaxing, let out a tired laugh.

“Haa…”

I pointed my sword at his chin.

“Seong-tae.”

“Yes.”

Looking down at him, I asked,

“Do you still think I’m just some errand boy? Just a lowly lackey?”

Cha Seong-tae hadn’t actually done anything wrong, but he still looked at me with wide eyes, startled.

Still, I needed to make sure he understood.

This couldn’t happen again.