I'm The Lowest-Ranking Daughter Of A Martial Arts Villain - Chapter 55

Having revealed her name to the child, Hwa Ryeon roughly pushed through the crowd and stepped out to the street.

At first, people cried out in sharp voices, “Who are you?”, but upon seeing the lower character “下” embroidered on the arm of the girl who had pushed them, they all shut their mouths in unison.

Even if they were of lower rank, warriors were objects of fear to commoners.

‘Thanks to that, I got out easily.’

Hwa Ryeon stood at the edge of the empty street, fixing her gaze on the approaching flower palanquin in the distance. The fact that she had become a proper lower-rank warrior was, in a way, thanks to Na Rin.

“……”

After the Bongmadong incident, Hwa Ryeon had not been able to meet Na Rin.

At that time, she thought that once the wounds on her hands were fully healed, she would take the lower-rank warrior examination again and apply to the Eastern Sky Palace. If she became a member of the Blue Dragon Squad, she believed she would be able to work for Na Rin and repay the favor she owed.

‘I was thinking too simply.’

Na Rin did not stay in the same place until Hwa Ryeon became a lower-rank warrior.

While Hwa Ryeon was receiving treatment for her burns and undergoing rehabilitation training to hold a sword again, Na Rin moved her residence from the Eastern Sky Palace to the Bright Palace where the sect leader was.

And by the time Hwa Ryeon passed the lower-rank warrior examination, Na Rin’s status had already become that of a Demon Slaying Girl.

‘Maybe today is the last day I can reach her.’

Hwa Ryeon’s fist gripping the hilt of her sword tightened.

Despite her confident words, her situation was no different from the young child she had just met. If necessary, she would bow her head and ask to be taken in unconditionally in order to make contact. Hwa Ryeon hardened her resolve.

“Long live the Heavenly Demon Bloodline!”

“Long live the Demon Slaying Lady!”

Cheers and shouts poured down like rain. The flower palanquin was looking down at the people from an even higher position.

‘Na Rin!’

However, what the desperately pursuing Hwa Ryeon encountered was the face of an unfamiliar girl.

“Thank you~!”

Dressed nicely in a black ceremonial robe and wearing an ornate hat to cover her hair color, Yuri, who was replacing Na Rin, was smiling brightly and waving to the people.

‘What’s going on?’

Behind the confused Hwa Ryeon, there was another woman.

Even at the age of sixty this year, she had glossy black hair and a sharp physique that was so thin it looked gaunt.

The woman, who had an alluring yet somehow ominous impression, took a long pull from her pipe and puffed out a white, round smoke.

“That child, you say.”

“Yes, Madam.”

The dignified old man who answered took out a metal ashtray from his bosom and opened the lid. Then the woman called Madam, with her gaze fixed on the child in the flower palanquin, habitually tapped the ashes.

“She doesn’t look very bright. Her bones and marrow are lowly, and no inner energy can be felt. Is it true that little wench found the Asura Sword?”

“According to what is known, that is the case. Here.”

What the old man handed to the woman was the Heavenly Demon Newspaper with an article about Na Rin on the front page.

“Hmm.”

The praise and adulation written in a string like candy.

Na Rin’s diverse achievements, unsuitable for her age, seemed like nonsense to the woman’s eyes.

“It seems she has a powerful backer.”

The woman inhaled deeply from her pipe.

“What shall we do?”

“We need to find out who is backing that young thing.”

The woman threw her gaze, which had lost interest, at the old man and smiled seductively. At that smile, a faint blush rose on the old man’s face, strangely enough.

“Communicate with the Blood Demon Palace. I should see my nephew’s face after a long time.”

“Yes, Madam!”

As the old man hurriedly left first, the woman slowly moved her steps to follow him, as if she had forgotten something.

“Madam?”

“No, it’s nothing. Let’s go.”

The Brain Prison.

Once you enter, it is said that you can only leave by dying. The hell of the martial world.

Ja Ryong couldn’t understand how he ended up in such a place.

Heavenly Demon Bloodline. The sect leader’s eldest son. The man closest to becoming the junior sect leader.

None of the words that described him could explain this predicament.

“Where is the Asura Sword?”

“I don’t know.”

“Young Master Ma, you will really be in big trouble at this rate.”

“Didn’t I say I don’t know!”

He felt like vomiting.

It was disgusting and irritating that not a single one of the jailers interrogating him with honorifics for his sake genuinely believed him.

“……”

The jailers exchanged glances with each other at Ja Ryong’s overly agitated appearance and quietly headed towards the entrance.

There was also a need to leave him alone for a while to cool his head, and given Ja Ryong’s prideful personality, there was no way he would submit in front of many people.

Arriving at the entrance, Jailer Hwang released the irritation he had been holding back as if he had been waiting.

“Aish! Why did this have to happen during my shift? It’s so inconvenient!”

“I know. We can’t even interrogate him properly since he might become the junior sect leader.”

At Jailer Park’s dejected mumbling, Hwang let out a snort as if it was absurd.

“Hey, junior sect leader my foot. Has there ever been a young master who entered the Brain Prison and rose to become the junior sect leader? I’m telling you clearly, the First Young Master is finished now.”

“I guess you’re right. Sigh.”

“What’s with the sigh?”

Park hesitated for a moment before opening his mouth.

“…Actually, I was rooting for the First Young Master. I even offered purified water and prayed for his success.”

At that, Hwang was startled and hurriedly covered Park’s mouth.

“Are you crazy? What if someone else becomes the leader! You might get swept away during the purge of the young masters and misses!”

“I don’t know. It’s just… Even now, I don’t think the First Young Master is someone who would cause this kind of incident. Could it be that he was caught up in some kind of conspiracy?”

“It’s possible. He has such a good reputation, after all.”

“Even if that’s the case, it’s the result of the higher-ups using tricks. For lowly people like us, it’s best to stay quiet like a dead mouse and accept the outcome after the storm passes.”

“That’s also true. It’s a realistic and wise way to handle the situation.”

“Right? Right… Wha… What?”

The gazes of the two jailers slowly converged on one spot.

The front of the entrance. And a little lower.

A child wearing a black robe and a hood covering their face.

Towards where Ja Ryong was.

“Who-!”

Before he could finish saying “-are you,” Na Rin’s toes kicked Jailer Hwang’s solar plexus.

Thud!

His breath was cut off, the sky sang, and his vision momentarily became distant.

“Hwang! You bastard! Where did you send an assassin from!”

‘If I were an assassin, you would already be dead.’

Na Rin thought that and smiled. No matter what, she had no intention of killing ordinary jailers who were diligently doing their job. She just wanted to knock them out for a moment.

Then, Jailer Hwang, who had been hit in the solar plexus, convulsed as if having a seizure, flailing his arms and legs, and gasped for breath.

“Gasp! Cough! Cough…!”

“Huh? He didn’t faint.”

Na Rin stomped on the crown of Jailer Hwang’s head with her heel.

With a thud, Hwang’s knees buckled and his face slammed into the ground.

“Hwang!”

“Now it’s your turn, uncle.”

Engulfed in fear, Park took a stance holding a spear and thrusting it towards Na Rin with a crouched posture.

“T-That can’t be! Hwang’s enemy!”

If anyone heard that, they would think I killed Hwang.

Na Rin lightly dodged the spear of the jailer charging at her, struck his wrist to make him drop the spear, and then extended her right fist.

Where to? Park’s philtrum.

Bam!

Judging by the crunching sensation on her fingertips, it seemed a few of his teeth had fallen out.

‘Because I hit from below, the angle… It can’t be helped.’

Na Rin thought about putting the two miserably collapsed jailers somewhere, but gave up.

There was less than a moment left until the jailers’ shift change, so wasn’t it better to hear one more word from Ja Ryong instead of wasting time moving bodies?

‘Ah! Not bodies, right.’

Whatever.

Na Rin hopped over the bodies of the jailers and entered the Brain Prison.

The scale of the martial sect’s Brain Prison was not large. This was because, regardless of who it was, there were very few people among those who deserved to enter the Brain Prison that needed to be kept alive.

Therefore, it was easy for Na Rin to find Ja Ryong.

“Are you Brother Ja Ryong?”

Squatting behind the iron-barred cell, Na Rin tilted her head and looked at Ja Ryong.

“…!”

Ja Ryong, startled by the sudden appearance of an unfamiliar child, quickly raised his head and scanned the corridor. It was a natural reaction since the jailers were all gone and there was a strange child.

“I don’t know how you got in, but leave quickly when no one is watching. This is no place for a child.”

“You don’t seem to be the right age for the Brain Prison either. You look young.”

“That’s…”

Ja Ryong suddenly lowered his head as emotions welled up.

Come to think of it, he had never been treated like a child at his age.

‘The Brain Prison at only fifteen.’

Isn’t that a story that couldn’t be more miserable?

If Ja Ryong were a commoner, everyone would have cursed the interrogator who arrested the boy.

“Are you wronged?”

“Why are you asking such a thing?”

“It seems like you would be wronged. My master said you’re not the kind of person to do that.”

Only then did Ja Ryong make eye contact with Na Rin.

An unfamiliar child. Suspicious attire.

And a master with a way of speaking that sounded familiar.

“Child. Who are you?”

Na Rin pulled down her hood to reveal her face and answered.

“Dokgo Na Rin. As of today, I’m going to become your youngest sister.”

“You?”

Ja Ryong asked back with an expression of disbelief, as if he had heard of Na Rin before.

“Are you saying that you, at such a young age, are the Demon Slaying Girl of the Central Plains who found the Asura Sword?”

“Hey! I’m not that young. When we become seventy and eighty later, we’ll grow old together.”

In other words, they had a ten-year age gap.

Ja Ryong felt absurdity at Na Rin’s words, but at the same time realized who Na Rin’s master was who believed in him.

“…The Guardian of the Four Heavens believed in me.”

“He believes in you as much as his own disciple. So, are you wronged?”

Ja Ryong slowly nodded his head.

To be honest, up until just before, Ja Ryong’s attitude was one of resignation. However, now that he heard that Gong Son Wu believed in him, he couldn’t just give up on himself.

“I swear to the Demon God that I did not steal the Asura Sword.”

“Okay.”

“Do you believe me too?”

“If I didn’t believe you, I wouldn’t have come all the way here. So, what exactly happened yesterday?”

Ja Ryong was puzzled as to why Na Rin was asking for detailed circumstances. What was the point of reciting the whole story when he was already trapped? He would only leave the Brain Prison when he died anyway.

Thinking that far, Ja Ryong suddenly realized.

‘Don’t I need to clear my innocence later so that my remaining family can escape dishonor?’

For the sake of the maternal relatives who had taken care of him all this time, his innocence had to be proven. With a determined mind, Ja Ryong opened his mouth.