---

<1003 – Eastern Expedition Journal (2)>

The official troops caught in the grip of Oknodie trembled as they spat out a fierce Eastern tongue.

“Barbarians from the Western world! What a cowardly thing to bait people with gold coins. Can you still call yourselves humans doing that?”

The secret of fishing for people.

It was the moment the true nature of the customized bait was revealed.

Heh.

Oknodie’s Eastern expedition party members chuckled.

Sadi and Sing regarded each other with curiosity.

And soon realized.

Sing could wield the Eastern tongue because he was a native.

Sadi could interpret by peeking into hearts.

It was indeed strange that in a place like the Jibsa Jang Okashii-ne, which knows all secrets of the world, someone wouldn’t know the Eastern tongue.

Whether they did it knowingly or not.

Everyone in Oknodie’s Eastern expedition party could understand the Eastern tongue.

“Oknodie, what are you going to do with the captured official troops?”

“Not much use! I’m not going to collect recipes with human meat.”

“Then can I have them?”

“How would you use them?”

“I’m curious about the information. It’s frustrating to be manipulated by that suspicious old man every time.”

Oknodie feigned innocence.

“Is that so?”

Oknodie gladly handed over the official troop.

The official troop braced himself, looking as serious as a girl whose chastity was at stake.

“There’s nothing you can gain from me!”

“Real name Jang-Sam. Age 37. Son of a martial arts master from Dongdong Village, with only his father still alive.”

“No way?! How do you know my personal information!”

Realization swept over Jang-Sam’s panicked eyes.

“You sneaky little brat! You peeked at the documents of the government office! But all you’ll get is what’s recorded in the document submitted to the office!”

“Confessed loudly to the neighbor, Somi, at the village’s main entrance and got slapped. Somi moved away, and the village men got angry and decided to lynch me.”

“No way! Who? Who told you my past, which was never submitted to the office?!”

Jang-Sam panicked.

But already, ‘Terminal’ was implanted in his mind.

Sadi Chocolate had already peered into Jang-Sam’s mind as if it were her own.

Noncooperation.

Negative thoughts.

With those, he couldn’t hide anything about his past, his thoughts, or even his information.

“A bizarre special district was artificially controlled, trapping residents who revivified every night and using them as sacrifices to manage or summon the weird creatures.”

“M-Magic!! How could you… Are you reading my mind in real-time?!”

“Terrifying yet beautiful. I want to be trampled. If undressed…”

“Stop!! Please stop!!”

Clearly, the evil was the official troop, yet in the face of Sadi Chocolate’s mind-reading, Sadi appeared more wicked.

The fear and dominance brought about by the one-sided ability to read the opponent’s mind were overwhelming.

“Such trash. It’s gotten worse than before.”

“What was it like before?”

“Each village used to capture widows, illegitimate children, the elderly, and beggars, imprisoning them in shrines and forcibly attaching weird creatures to keep the rest of the residents safe.”

The allocation of weird creatures to social underlings!

The cruel welfare policy of the Eastern Empire where the weak couldn’t survive.

“Want to take revenge?”

Sadi, holding Jang-Sam by the collar of his shirt with her umbrella, presented him before Sing.

Sing’s sword trembled violently.

A fierce vibration gradually slowed down and eventually dwindled.

“How commendable. Rejecting a toy for venting your frustrations right in front of you. Definitely different from Oknodie’s ‘toys’.”

“Is that all the info that can be gleaned?”

“No. Jang-Sam and the official troops are also part of the weird creature. Though he doesn’t know it, he possesses memories from the one who bestowed him with the weird creature. There are also memories of sealed weird creatures within him.”

Jang-Sam, dangling at the end of the umbrella, was thrown into confusion by Sadi’s words.

“Lies! Me, a weird creature? Ridiculous!”

“Then tell me. When did this military mission start?”

“That’s, that’s… I don’t have the authority. Why don’t I have the authority? I only know the date; why do I need authority? It’s weird. My head feels like it’s going to explode.”

“Ha ha. I can tell you. Today is September 11, 280 of the Heavenly Origin. Your first assignment started on October of 275. You’ve already been working for 5 years.”

“That can’t be. It’s only been a year since I was assigned to the frontline. I even received a letter from my mother back home! Look, here it is!”

A rolled-up letter emerged from Jang-Sam’s cloak.

Sing grimaced.

The ominous aura unique to cursed objects.

It felt like touching that scroll would taint the soul.

Whoosh.

As the scroll was about to unfold, Sing swung his sword and sliced through the letter.

Thick.

Something, the sticky sensation, left a dirty taste at the tip of Sing’s sword as the scroll split in two.

Jang-Sam’s face turned blank as he hurriedly gathered the scattered fragments.

“What is this?”

The perceptual distortion magic shattered by Sing’s sword.

Only then did Jang-Sam see it.

The vile truth of what he once thought was a letter from his mother.

A book of evil composed of creatures that taint the mind.

Disguised as his mother’s letter, it lowered the resistance of his mental barriers and smoothly blinded his mind’s eye with darkness.

“Ah. Ahh.”

Jang-Sam understood.

How many times had he repeated this first year?

A recurring nightmare.

Repeating massacre.

His military service was supposed to end in just three years of blind compliance, but it would actually be repeated forever.

He questioned whether the upper command’s words about sacrificing a few for the many were truly the truth.

“Do you know? Your superiors don’t care for that stuff. They merely used a moron like you, fitting for a cog in their machine, and slyly placed you in your position.”

“Lies. That’s a lie!”

“The residents are serious criminals gathered from across the Eastern Empire. You’ve heard that, right? That’s also a lie. What’s over there are ordinary village folks. Those are ‘innocent people’ that weird creatures love to prey on.”

Jang-Sam screamed.

The suffering, which couldn’t even be expressed in sound, caught in his throat.

He knew he had no right to suffer.

Emotions surged that he couldn’t escape.

The feelings of despair and self-blame overflowed into tears.

“Lift your head, Self. You’re not bad at all.”

Sadi comforted Jang-Sam’s heart with a compassionate voice.

“The bad ones are your superiors who disguised a forbidden book as your mother’s letter. And the military command, right?”

“Y-Yeah… The bad one isn’t me…”

“Are you scared? Even if you want revenge, too many people and too powerful authorities are entangled. You’re thinking about fighting those who manipulate this strange disaster with no beginning or end.”

Sadi’s terminal enveloped Jang-Sam’s dirty and ugly soul.

“Don’t be afraid. I came down from the heavens to punish those who made the innocent into criminals.”

“A heavenly maiden…!”

“I can lend my insufficient strength, wisdom, and courage anytime. Just don’t give up. You owe it too much to those who have died countless times, don’t you?”

While gaslighting as easily as breathing, Sadi Chocolate naturally dominated and controlled Jang-Sam’s heart.

Sing thought this was a bit risky, but compared to the evil sorcerers manipulating the Eastern weird creatures, what Sadi was doing felt closer to therapy.

Though she recognized that calling herself a heavenly maiden would be the easiest keyword to use on Jang-Sam, looking back, Sadi Chocolate truly fit the description of a heavenly maiden.

“Oknodie. Want to fish for more?”

“Already fished!”

“Not just a soldier; I want a brigade officer too.”

“Already fished!”

Soldiers are caught with gold coins, while brigade officers are caught with jewels.

With the thought that fishing for people was surprisingly easy, Sadi had by now made most of the official troops, who were complicit in the massacre, dependent on her.

However, the villa-level commander didn’t fall for jewels and instead swung his sword to strike it.

“What kind of foul play is this, with jewels falling from the sky and officials going missing in succession? You sly monster, why not show your face?”

A commander leading troops below ten.

Numerous squad commanders under that villa.

As a figure of high authority, his access to wealth made him indifferent to jewels; his eyes widened in shock.

“Land ownership falling from the sky, the immortals have bestowed blessings upon me!”

Oknodie’s wicked wisdom, filled with experiences from the Eastern Empire, ensnared the villa commander with <Forced Binding>.

By the time the villa commander realized something was wrong and tried to pull away, it was already too late.

Swish!

“Aaaah!”

With a scream, the ensnared villa commander sprawled before Sadi.

“Time to repent, isn’t it?”

In front of Sadi, an entire squad of official troops was perfectly conquered.

“Is it really necessary to go through all this trouble? I think we could cut through anything with our skills.”

“If your intent is to report back the moment you return for your sister’s revenge, I won’t stop you.”

“…!”

Sing realized he was receiving subtle consideration from Sadi Chocolate and felt a bit moved.

This guy might actually be a good one, right?

Just as the locks on Sing’s heart were about to loosen, Oknodie poked his finger at Sing’s solid thigh.

“What about Sia? You can’t just forget her and open your heart to Sadi after taking your eyes off her for a second, right? Or you’ll end up like the Class 980 seniors, you know?”

Oknodie’s warning jolted him awake like a splash of cold water.

Just a moment ago, Sadi had been wearing a benevolent smile, now humming a tune as she feigned innocence.

‘Even if it’s the same side, one can’t let their guard down.’

The dark sorceress wielding bizarre shadows.

Sadi Chocolate, who skillfully deciphered the sorceress’s tricks and inversely took control of the squad.

Yet even Sadi Chocolate, who seemed unassailable, wouldn’t anticipate Oknodie.

Not particularly inclined to save his hometown, but knowing the current heavenly sovereign was a fake, Sing thought that he was half-pretending to be a warrior.

Under such circumstances, Sing felt uneasy about this situation.

‘If it continues like this, it won’t be a warrior party, but rather a clash of dark sorceries from the East and West…?’

But dealing with the heavenly sovereign was merely a secondary task along with avenging his sister.

Whether the wielded sword is swift or steady, it didn’t matter.

So long as it strikes correctly.

Sadi and Oknodie.

Two swords that struck far too well.

Sing watched the scene where troops squared off against the bizarre shadows while holding a bomb in each hand.

 

---