Surviving as the Villainess’s Servant in a Martial Arts Novel - Chapter 52

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 52

 

I ran like a madman.

 

I didn’t even know where I was going. I only had the thought that I needed to get as far away from Young Miss as possible.

 

Clatter, clatter!

 

Before long, the sound of footsteps chasing me multiplied.

 

I had been discovered by the Masked Men.

 

In the past, I would have felt terrible dread, but now I even felt joy. It meant I had been discovered before Young Miss.

 

‘I have to hold out as long as possible, as long as possible.’

 

I gritted my teeth and moved my feet with all my strength.

 

Surprisingly, I wasn’t caught easily.

 

To the point where even I was amazed at having such talent, I always escaped by a hair’s breadth. In moments of crisis, I cleverly avoided them by rolling down hills or hiding in holes.

 

And the more I avoided them, the longer the escape time became, the more hope grew within me.

 

‘Maybe this will work.’

 

Perhaps I could escape safely.

 

If I could buy time until Young Miss descended the mountain, and I could also hide and wait for an opportunity. If I could safely escape this place…

 

‘We’ll meet again soon!’

 

With hope surging, it strangely didn’t feel difficult.

 

I felt numb somehow. Fear and terror no longer affected me. Just when I was running forward as if bewitched, looking only ahead.

 

I discovered light.

 

Light was seeping through the densely packed trees.

 

I instinctively headed toward that place. That seemed to be the path. The only path where I could survive. The path to escape this current situation.

 

Now, if I could reach there…!

 

Thud!

 

I threw my body toward the light. Then I lifted my head and became dazed.

 

“Huh…?”

 

There was nothing there.

 

No trees, no buildings. Only a vast landscape in the distance and clouds spread faintly could be seen.

 

It was a cliff.

 

‘Why?’

 

Cold sweat ran down my back. At the same time, I heard several footsteps right behind me.

 

I held my breath and looked back.

 

The Masked Men were there. Those who had clearly been struggling to catch a single kid were somehow gathered in one place.

 

As if they had been waiting for me to come here…

 

‘I was tricked.’

 

Only then did I realize. They hadn’t failed to catch me. They had deliberately let me go. So their prey would enter the trap on its own. So I could reach the place they wanted.

 

In the end, I had fallen into the trap as if to prove their point.

 

When my heart sank, a sinister voice was heard.

 

“Did you enjoy your stroll?”

 

“…”

 

I kept my mouth tightly shut. Surely they hadn’t discovered that I wasn’t Young Miss, had they?

 

“Hehe, watching you run away frantically without even knowing where you were going was quite entertaining.”

 

“…”

 

“Lady Seo, surrender obediently. If you follow us quietly, you might be able to preserve your life. If you resist… we might see something even more interesting.”

 

‘They haven’t found out yet.’

 

Though I heard the ominous threat, I secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, they didn’t know I wasn’t Young Miss.

 

Most importantly, they didn’t seem to intend to kill Young Miss.

 

I didn’t know what their scheme was, but it was actually good for me. If they had tried to kill immediately, I would have been helpless, but this way I had a chance to look for an opening.

 

I couldn’t waste this opportunity. I raised my hands.

 

“…”

 

When I raised both hands to show I had no intention of resisting, the Masked Men began approaching me one by one.

 

I calmly watched them.

 

There was only one chance. Just a little more, just a little closer…

 

When they came one step closer.

 

‘Now!’

 

Thud!

 

I rolled my body to the ground.

 

The place I rolled to was between the legs of the closest Masked Man. Like the ‘Life-Saving Single Move’ technique I had tried before, I went through between his legs to get behind him.

 

They were flustered, probably not expecting a noble family’s young lady to do such a thing. While they were confused, I passed through another Masked Man’s legs.

 

Only then did one person shout loudly.

 

“Close your legs, close your legs!”

 

The sight of burly men collectively bringing their legs together and standing pigeon-toed was quite a spectacle, but I couldn’t bring myself to laugh.

 

The Masked Man I had just passed through immediately turned around to catch me.

 

I kicked with all my strength at the back of the Masked Man’s knee. Then using that momentum, I rolled forward and avoided the hand that was trying to grab me.

 

Rolling, avoiding, running, falling.

 

I moved my body with all my might. However, that luck didn’t last long.

 

Thwack—!

 

“Ugh…!”

 

Because I was finally kicked in the back.

 

They must have put quite a bit of force into it, as I rolled on the ground several times. Even though I had gotten away from the Masked Men as I wanted, I strangely couldn’t get up.

 

My vision flickered between black and white. When I came to my senses, a Masked Man was standing in front of me.

 

I had a premonition.

 

‘Is this the end?’

 

Just as that pot lid-like hand was coming down toward me.

 

Clang!

 

“Who are you!”

 

Someone jumped out from behind me.

 

The man swung his sword at the Masked Man, and the Masked Man hastily blocked the sword and stepped back. The man turned around and asked.

 

“Are you alright?!”

 

I was about to answer when my eyes widened.

 

‘Who are you?’

 

It was an unfamiliar face.

 

At first I thought it might be Brother Im or one of the Seo Family warriors, but it was someone I’d never seen before. Or was it? It was definitely an unfamiliar face, but it seemed like I’d seen him somewhere…

 

But there was no time to continue thinking.

 

Several people came rushing from behind, with the man as the starting point.

 

“Protect Young Miss!”

 

“You bastards, we won’t let you get away with this!”

 

“Don’t let a single one escape, capture them all!”

 

I don’t know where they came from, but they each wielded weapons and attacked the Masked Men. In an instant, the surroundings became a pandemonium of clashing weapons and screams.

 

While I sat on the ground in a daze, someone approached my side.

 

“Are you alright?”

 

It was that man who had jumped out first.

 

Before I could answer, he continued speaking first.

 

“I’m sorry for being late. I should have helped you earlier, but I was delayed cleaning up the Demon Cult bastards at the manor grounds. What about the Master…?”

 

“…”

 

“…I see, I’m truly ashamed. The Young Master of Seo Family earnestly asked me to protect the Master and family members, but to fail in carrying out that order is truly lamentable…”

 

“Young Master of Seo Family?”

 

The man immediately answered my muttering.

 

“The Namgung Family Head, the Thunder Emotion Sword master.”

 

It was Thunder Emotion Sword, Namgung Jeong.

 

At the same time, I remembered where I had seen the man in front of me.

 

Before departing for the Namgung Family Estate, the Master had increased the number of warriors at the manor grounds. He had brought in people recommended by Namgung Jeong as escort warriors to prepare for any unforeseen circumstances.

 

He probably saw me then. Not often, but we crossed paths occasionally while passing by. They all had such fierce auras that I would avoid them first.

 

Only then did I feel relieved, though also a bit resentful.

 

‘Why only now?’

 

Why didn’t they come sooner. Before the Master died, no, preferably even before that. How wonderful it would have been if they had come before we entered the secret passage.

 

But what could be done about what had already happened. They said they were also fighting the Demon Cult…

 

As I tried to comfort myself and raised my head, the surroundings had been roughly cleaned up. Some were collapsed on the ground and some seemed to have fled as they were nowhere to be seen.

 

Just then, the man extended his hand toward me.

 

“Let’s go together. I shall escort you.”

 

Only then did I open my mouth.

 

“I… I am not the Young Miss.”

 

“Pardon?”

 

Taking the opportunity, I lowered the hood of my cloak and removed the cotton cloth. The man’s eyes widened greatly upon seeing my face.

 

“Actually…”

 

However, I couldn’t continue speaking.

 

In an instant, the man’s face had turned menacing.

 

‘Huh?’

 

When my eyes also widened in surprise, that strange expression disappeared in a flash. Before I knew it, the man had returned to his smiling face.

 

The man’s calm voice reached me.

 

“I see. Then who are you?”

 

“Ah, I, I am a servant who served the Young Miss. I somehow ended up following along this far…”

 

“Yes, I did hear there was a servant. But why were you fleeing in such attire? And where is the Young Miss?”

 

“The Young Miss is…”

 

Suddenly I had a strange premonition.

 

A premonition that somehow I shouldn’t tell the truth here. An intense premonition that I shouldn’t ignore that expression I glimpsed for just a moment.

 

“I… don’t really know either.”

 

“What?”

 

“Well, I was certainly fleeing with the Young Miss up to midway up the mountain. But then the Young Miss suddenly grabbed me and threatened to beat me if I didn’t switch clothes with her…”

 

‘I’m sorry, Young Miss.’

 

I ended up speaking badly of the Young Miss, but I had no choice. It seemed better to make something up for now and see how the situation developed.

 

And considering the Young Miss’s villainess image, it wasn’t entirely an unbelievable story either.

 

As expected, the man looked at me with a dubious expression and asked again.

 

“Then do you know where the Young Miss went?”

 

“That… the Young Miss abandoned me and went off alone, so I don’t really know either…”

 

“Did she say where she was going?”

 

“That too, I don’t really…”

 

“Then you’re useless, aren’t you?”

 

What?

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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