Soul-Enslaving Incense.
The reason it was called evil was because it had the power to suppress another person’s will and make them move exactly as one pleased.
It was the same kind of thing as the Straw Effigy the Shaanxi Scorpion had carried before.
I had no idea why an Artifact like that had ever been created, but in the future I knew, it hadn’t been in a pirate’s hands. It had belonged to someone from the Unorthodox Sect.
And because of it, countless innocent people had suffered.
I had heard that when Soul-Enslaving Incense was used, the scent of roses lingered in the area for quite some time.
Roses weren’t even in season yet, so I’d thought it strange when I smelled them. To think that had been the reason.
I hadn’t thought that far.
Grit.
When I ground my teeth, Geumryeong tapped my arm from inside my sleeve, as if telling me to calm down.
– Kui! Kui!
I’m fine. Right now, my reason is sharper than it’s ever been.
I asked the former pirates.
“Do they have any weaknesses?”
I did know about the Blood Claw Pirates. But I was asking because there might be things they knew that I didn’t.
“A weakness…”
“I’m not sure about that, but he’s an incredibly greedy bastard.”
“That’s probably why he crawled all the way up to the harbor to pull something like this.”
“Pirates are supposed to keep their heads down at the harbor if they want to live long.”
At their words, I slowly nodded.
“I see. Tell me everything you know about them. If you cooperate, I’ll make sure you get a special meal tonight.”
A short while later, I returned to my quarters.
I poured tea into a cup, chilled it with my Ice Art, and drank it down in quick succession.
Then I spoke.
“I intend to wipe out the pirates known as the Blood Claw Pirates. If I leave people like that alone after they’ve caused me a loss, someone else will only end up suffering next.”
“That is true.”
I recalled what I had heard from the former pirates earlier.
Those who were bewitched and controlled by the Soul-Enslaving Incense remembered nothing of what had happened to them.
That was why they had no memory at all of the cart being switched.
And since the cart had been switched by people under control, it was only natural that no Unorthodox Qi had been left behind.
“They’re greedy, from what I’ve been told. They’ve already tasted success once. If we dangle bait in front of them again, they’ll bite.”
I continued.
“Palgap. Bring Deputy Yeo Chang-ui here.”
“Yes, sir.”
Soon, Deputy Yeo Chang-ui entered my room.
“You called for me?”
“Yes.”
“I’m truly ashamed about what happened. I should have guarded it properly…”
“Now isn’t the time to blame yourself.”
I shook my head and cut him off.
“Listen carefully to what I’m about to say.”
“I’m listening.”
“Because the Eunhae Merchant Group lost the gift meant to be presented to the King of Great Yue Kingdom, we prepared wine cups made of gold instead. Those wine cups are being kept under strict guard in a warehouse at the harbor.”
“What? Is that true?”
“Believe that it is true, and act accordingly. Do you understand what I mean?”
At my words, Deputy Yeo Chang-ui’s eyes gleamed. He cupped his fist and bowed his head.
“I understand. I’ll do exactly that.”
“You are the only one who knows the truth behind this.”
“Yes.”
“Then go out and move immediately.”
“I accept your command.”
Deputy Yeo Chang-ui left my quarters, and I spoke to everyone.
“Then we should move as well.”
We left the room. Just then, the door to the room beside mine opened, and Young Lady Seohyang stepped out.
“Ah, Deputy Gwak.”
“I heard what happened. I’m sorry.”
At her apology, I looked at her for a moment.
“Let’s step inside and talk.”
“Yes.”
I led her into the room and took a seat.
“Why are you apologizing to me?”
“Because… I didn’t see that future.”
Ah, so that was it…
It wasn’t that she hadn’t mentioned it because everything would work out. She simply hadn’t seen it.
Well, her ability to see the future was extremely fragmented, and she couldn’t choose what she saw or know it ahead of time.
I felt like I knew what she was thinking.
“Deputy Gwak.”
“Yes.”
“Are you blaming yourself because you couldn’t help me with that ability?”
She flinched at my words.
“Are you an idiot?”
“What?”
“And here I thought you were intelligent.”
I let out a sigh.
“It’s true that I’ve received help thanks to your ability, Deputy Gwak. And I’m deeply grateful for it. Because of you, we were able to save many people again this time.”
I continued.
“But the reason I keep you by my side isn’t because of that ability. To be honest, your father’s request is part of it, and you are my deputy, but before any of that… it’s because you’re you, Deputy Gwak.”
“What?”
Uh… why did that come out of my mouth?
I cleared my throat.
“Ahem, ahem. In any case, I have a duty to protect you, Deputy Gwak. So you don’t need to feel pressured to be useful to me at every moment. Do you understand?”
“…”
“Your answer?”
“Yes.”
I gave a small laugh and said,
“So don’t worry too much. Just wait. As you’ve already seen by now, I’m rather excessively capable.”
“That’s true.”
Then she said,
“Ah… you absolutely have to destroy that necklace.”
I smiled again.
“So it was a necklace.”
.
.
.
A short while later.
I took my group through Nanjing’s marketplace and bought wine cups made of gold.
And, of course, I didn’t forget to complain loudly to people along the way.
“Haah… Because that disappeared, do you have any idea how much of a loss this is?”
“My goodness! I don’t even know what words could possibly comfort you.”
“This time, I plan to guard them thoroughly. I even purchased a fairly sturdy warehouse for that purpose.”
“I hope they stay safe this time.”
After buying suitable wine cups, we wrapped them up openly, loaded them onto a cart, and headed to the harbor.
We dragged the cart to the harbor warehouse, placed it inside, and I gave orders to those guarding it.
“Everyone, remember this. You must protect those wine cups no matter what.”
“We accept your command.”
I returned to my quarters.
Now all that remained was to wait for the rumor to spread and reach their ears.
Those bastards had made a mistake.
They dared to touch what was mine.
It was night.
In this place where only the sound of waves slapping against the shore could be heard, ships bound for foreign trade were anchored at the harbor.
There, figures wearing shoes padded with animal fur to muffle their footsteps appeared.
They crept toward a certain warehouse.
“Is that the warehouse?”
“Yes. There’s no mistake.”
At that answer, a man smiled in satisfaction.
His name was Jeon Jung. He was the captain of the Blood Claw Pirates.
Jeon Jung looked at the warehouse that was being carefully guarded by Escort Guards.
“Judging by the level of security, that must be where they’re keeping the gold wine cups.”
They had heard in the marketplace that Eun Seo-ho, Deputy Merchant Lord of the Eunhae Merchant Group, had purchased no fewer than one hundred gold wine cups.
They had come tonight for those very cups.
“Stupid bastards. It doesn’t matter how many guards they post.”
He chuckled and pulled a necklace out from around his neck.
The necklace was called Soul-Enslaving Incense.
It had the power to control others at will through its fragrance.
Yesterday, he had already used it to steal away one cart.
Inside that box had been several small liquor bottles.
They had looked quite valuable, so he hadn’t touched them yet, but after what he’d heard today, it turned out they were goods prepared as tribute for the King of Great Yue Kingdom.
There were only a few mouthfuls of liquor in each bottle, so he had hesitated to drink them.
And then, in the middle of that, news about gold wine cups had reached him. Naturally, he had no choice but to come.
Soul-Enslaving Incense alone wasn’t enough to earn his subordinates’ loyalty and reign over them.
He had to keep handing out rewards.
And these were no less than one hundred gold wine cups.
Even if he gave one to each of them, dozens of gold wine cups would still remain for him.
Jeon Jung activated the Soul-Enslaving Incense.
Sssaaaaaa.
Soon, the fragrance spread to everyone guarding the warehouse.
“You saw nothing.”
“We accept your command.”
“Those guarding the warehouse door, open it at once and bring out the cart inside.”
“We accept your command.”
At his order, the men guarding the warehouse door opened it as if bewitched and went inside.
Then they dragged out the cart containing the gold wine cups.
This time, he didn’t bother doing something as troublesome as switching the cart.
Back then, he had gone through that complicated process because he planned to remain here for a while, but this time, there was no need.
Once he took this, he intended to return straight to his base.
“You will go back, guard the warehouse again, and forget everything.”
“We accept your command.”
Just like that, they returned to their original positions.
The Blood Claw Pirates dragged the cart toward the ship they had secretly anchored nearby.
They reached the shoreline and opened the box at the very top.
Inside, they saw gold wine cups glittering in the moonlight.
“Hehehe, ah, look at these pretty things!”
“With this much, we can eat and drink ourselves sick for a good long while.”
“Hehehe, that’s right.”
The Blood Claw Pirates’ captain closed the lid of the box and gave an order.
“Move them to the main ship.”
“Yes!”
“If any one of you drops this into the sea, I’ll tie you to the bow and leave you there until you die!”
“Eek!”
At that threat, the pirate crew handled the boxes with extreme care.
After moving the boxes onto a small boat, they headed toward the main ship.
The main ship couldn’t anchor right at the shoreline.
The shore wasn’t as deep as the harbor, and if someone caught sight of them, it would be a serious problem.
So the main ship had been anchored nearby instead.
Swaaaa, swaaaa.
They rowed toward the main ship and used ropes to raise the boxes up.
The rest climbed up the ladder and boarded the ship.
The captain called out to the men waiting aboard and shouted in high spirits.
“Hahahaha! You bastards! I brought something very nice for all of you! Look!”
The pirates answered with excitement when they saw the glittering gold wine cups.
“Waaaaaaa!”
“As expected of you, Captain!”
“On a day like this, we can’t just sit around. Tonight, we feast!”
“Wooooaaaah!”
The Empire was still under the Prohibition Decree, but pirates didn’t care about that at all.
Soon, liquor was brought out from storage, and the pirates drank while enjoying their feast.
Meanwhile, the boxes containing the gold wine cups the captain had brought were moved into the captain’s cabin.
Since the captain’s cabin was a place not just anyone could enter, it was safe.
After all, one of the pirates might lose his mind over the gold wine cups and quietly pocket one.
Slice, slice.
After confirming that the area around me had grown quiet, I cut through the side of the box and came out.
A loud commotion could be heard outside, and a thick smell of alcohol drifted through the air.
These bastards are having fun, aren’t they?
Good. Enjoy yourselves all you want. Today is your last day.
I tapped on the box.
Knock knock, knock knock, knock knock.
Two knocks each, six times.
That was the signal to come out.
At that, the sides of the boxes were cut open, and my Escort Guards emerged from within.
We had been hiding inside the boxes that contained the gold wine cups.
There were ten boxes in total, and I, Escort Guard Seo Wu, Escort Guard Jin Yu, and Escort Guard Yeo Eung-am had entered the four boxes placed at the bottom.
The six boxes placed on top contained real gold wine cups.
Since we knew they wouldn’t have much time, we had only placed the boxes with real gold wine cups on the upper part of the cart.
The gold wine cups were heavier than one might expect, so even with us inside the boxes, they hadn’t grown suspicious.
The rest of the Escort Guards were waiting at the shoreline.
They had their own work to do.
We slowly looked around.
This was the captain’s cabin, so there was a high chance the goods they had stolen from us were here.
Ah! Found them.
A familiar box lay near the bed.
When I opened it, the contents were still safely inside.
“Fortunately, they didn’t touch it.”
“Geumryeong.”
“Kui?”
“Put these little liquor bottles and all those gold wine cups into the Hidden Vault.”
“Kui!”
But then…
“Kui… kui?”
“I know. I’ll give you one gold wine cup. But in exchange…”
I asked Geumryeong for one more thing separately.
“Kui!”
It was its specialty, so I shouldn’t worry?
Geumryeong immediately grew excited and wiggled its little rear.
At the sight, I couldn’t help giving a small laugh.
But my eyes were cold as I looked beyond the captain’s cabin.
“Whew… Let’s go.”
“Yes.”
We gripped our swords. Then we left the captain’s cabin and immediately began swinging.
Slice!
“Aaaargh!”
Slash!
“Guh!”
The feast that had been filled with alcohol and food was instantly dyed with the pirates’ screams and blood.
Looking at it like this, we seemed like the villains, but these men weren’t worth keeping alive.
They were so vicious that even the former pirates locked in the underground prison of Nanjing’s Provincial Command Office clicked their tongues at them.
A few years from now, they would be exterminated by the Emperor.
Apparently, only the captain barely escaped. After that, an Unorthodox Sect figure must have taken the Soul-Enslaving Incense from him.
They would certainly be wiped out eventually, but when I thought of all the people who would suffer during those few years, these bastards needed to disappear here and now.
Soon, the pirates came to their senses and tried to counterattack, but they were already staggering drunk from the liquor. There was no way they could fight back properly.
To begin with, the difference in skill was overwhelming.
But then a voice rang out.
“You made a mistake!”
I turned my head and saw the captain standing there under the protection of several other pirates.
“I don’t know how you got in here, but you won’t die peacefully!”
And in that instant, the scent of roses reached my nose.
He gave an order.
“Drop your weapons and kneel before me!”
Hah. Why do you think I came here so confidently when I already knew about that Soul-Enslaving Incense?
Something like that doesn’t work on me at all.
I grinned and spread the power of the Supreme Yin Ice Sea Divine Art in every direction.
The scent of roses soon vanished.
“You were the one who made the first mistake.”
I’ll be taking your life as payment.
–TL Notes–
Tired of seeing Ads? Then please support me on Patreon! Any tier of subscription will make it so you won’t get any ads!
If you want to support me or give me feedback, you can do it at patreon.com/InsanityTheGame
Join my Discord! https://discord.gg/BWaP3AHHpt