The Heavenly Demon Cult’s Strongest Maid - Chapter 18
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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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Chapter 18
The news that I had a fiancé spread just as quickly as the overnight scandal with Eok I-geon.
And the effect was tremendous.
“Seolha, I misunderstood you for a moment! I had no idea you had a fiancé!”
“Me too! You’re not that kind of girl.”
“When is the wedding date?”
“…Wedding?”
“Yeah, aren’t you quitting your maid job because of that? That’s what Sook said.”
Ah, Sook.
How could you go around telling what I only confided to you?
I had only given her a heads-up since we’d shared the same room for five years and she’d been such a good friend, but I never expected it to come back like this.
They say lies beget more lies, and this was exactly that situation.
If I said anything even slightly negative here, I might arouse suspicion again.
I forced myself to act happy.
“I don’t know the wedding date yet. We’ll have to figure it out gradually.”
“He must be a really good person. Seventeen is a bit young, isn’t it?”
Of course. Very young.
“What are you talking about! If he passed the Blood Shadow Unit, you should snatch him up! He’ll have a steady salary coming in, and he’ll be away from home often. You couldn’t ask for a better husband!”
“Is that so?”
Watching the older girls giggle while keeping me in front of them made me feel a bit of reality shock, but I worked hard to manage my expression until the end.
Anyway, in two months we wouldn’t see each other anymore.
If I could just endure until then, a hopeful future would be waiting for me.
“Sisters, about Prince Lee’s lunch today.”
Thanks to my sacrificial lie, Eok I-geon’s meal preparations proceeded smoothly without any hitches each time.
Proportionally, my martial arts skills also grew remarkably day by day.
Very secretly.
“What you need to learn is Demon Birth Sword, the foundation of swordsmanship.”
On the first day of training, Eok I-geon handed me a wooden sword and began the lesson.
To think the day would come when I’d learn swordsmanship in my life.
The martial arts novels I’d read in the past flashed by like a panorama, and I fell into solitary, deeply moving contemplation.
“Demon Birth Sword consists of the basic three forms and one advanced form that combines them.”
Huh?
I feel like I’ve heard this somewhere before.
In martial arts novels, when the protagonist first learns the Three Talents Sword Technique, the teachers always said things like this.
“First form, Demon Army Suppression!”
Thud!
Eok I-geon stepped forward with a strong stance and struck down powerfully with his sword.
“Second form, Demon Wind Sweep!”
Then he twisted his body and slashed horizontally with the sword.
“Third form, Demon King’s Path!”
Vertical and horizontal, so next must be thrusting.
Bang!
Eok I-geon’s sword pierced through the air, and the air burst belatedly.
“Advanced first form, Demon Wind Under Heaven!”
Swish!
Whoosh!
The last one combined the existing techniques and executed them consecutively.
The speed of movement was so fast that it was difficult even to follow with the eyes.
“Did you see?”
Eok I-geon sheathed his sword and asked me. Even after the intense movements, his breathing remained perfectly composed without the slightest disturbance.
“Try it.”
Straight to practice after just one demonstration.
As expected, Eok I-geon never goes easy on anything.
This is actually quite nerve-wracking.
In truth, martial arts were still like floating clouds to me.
Could I really do something that only superhumans beyond human limits could accomplish?
I had completely forgotten about the opening of my conception and governing vessels in the meantime and picked up the wooden sword while lost in useless worry.
Well, I’ll just try it for now.
“First form, Demon Army Suppression!”
Taking a big step forward, I struck down with the sword with all my might.
“You need to step firmly into the stance.”
I tried, but it must have looked clumsy to Eok I-geon’s eyes.
He tapped my lower body with his scabbard, correcting my posture.
“The roots must be solid for the tree to spread its branches. Try again.”
There’s that root talk again.
“Yes.”
Following Eok I-geon’s instruction, I struck down hard with the sword once more.
“A sword is not a club. Don’t chop, cut. Again with the mind to cut!”
The mind to cut.
Cut. Cut. Cut.
I repeated Eok I-geon’s words like mind control and struck down powerfully with the sword.
“Now it’s becoming quite acceptable.”
Since he corrected my mistakes immediately, my posture improved with each swing of the sword.
Perhaps because of this, Eok I-geon’s initially blunt tone also became much softer.
“Next is Demon Wind Sweep.”
But wait, why am I already sweating so much when I haven’t done much?
I wanted to rest for just a moment, but I didn’t have the nerve to ask Eok I-geon for that.
I just kept swinging the sword without rest, again and again.
How many days passed like this?
The martial art I learned after Demon Birth Sword was a footwork technique called Demon Birth Step.
Eok I-geon said that the basic techniques of Maegyo, Demon Birth Sword and Demon Birth Step, should be ingrained in the body to the point where they could be used freely even while sleeping.
Saying that I could only learn advanced martial arts if I mastered the basics well, he pushed me incredibly hard.
Training that was initially limited to lunch time often extended until evening, and later I had to endure harsh training while practically residing at the Training Grounds.
What was surprising was that this entire process was incredibly fun.
No matter how much Eok I-geon pushed me to my limits, I endured to the end and made it my own.
Is this level of skill possible in such a short time?
Do I perhaps have talent?
Surely I don’t have something like a Heavenly Martial Body?
Even though I had opened my eight extraordinary meridians, my achievement was unbelievably rapid progress by anyone’s standards.
Honestly, with how I felt now, I thought I could even defeat the Ten Great Villains if I met them.
“You’ve achieved small success now.”
Of course, in Eok I-geon’s eyes, I was still just a mere novice.
“Let’s end today’s training here.”
“Thank you for your teachings.”
Eok I-geon and I had unintentionally become something like master and disciple.
Though I couldn’t call him master, I expressed my sincere gratitude to him every time training ended.
Scary things are scary, but grateful things are grateful.
“Seolha, it seems you have a visitor outside. Wipe yourself off with this and go quickly.”
Cheon-gang, who had been doing individual training alone in the corner, approached and informed me of the news from outside.
Eok I-geon’s training grounds, surrounded by high walls, could only be accessed by me, his personal maid, and Cheon-gang, his bodyguard.
Therefore, the fact that I was learning martial arts from Eok I-geon was a secret known only to the three of us.
“You said there’s a visitor looking for me at Geonyeong-gak?”
Who on earth could it be?
“Could it be Grandmother?”
“It was a man.”
“A man?”
“A young man who’s been waiting quite eagerly.”
“Yes, Lord Cheon-gang. Thank you for letting me know. I’ll go see him now.”
Filled with curiosity, I practically ran out of the training grounds.
I had absolutely no idea who could have come to see me.
Where could he be?
I naturally thought he’d be near the main gate and rushed there, but I couldn’t see a single soul.
Could it be the back gate?
I crossed the garden and walked quickly through the spaces between buildings, heading toward the back gate.
“I heard you passed the Blood Shadow Unit! They say not just anyone can get in there, how amazing!”
“Seolha was so proud of you. And I heard you’re getting married soon too!”
On the way to the back gate, there was a space where the maids would rest their tired bodies after work.
The sound of chattering and laughter from that place rang uneasily in my ears.
Ugh, Yang So-baek!
I immediately realized who the visitor was.
Someone who was once my male friend, but had somehow transformed into my lover.
So it was you after all?
If he had business with me, he could have come to the noodle shop as usual, so why did he suddenly come here?
And at this timing of all times!
Worried that my lies might be exposed, I even stepped on grass as I hurriedly arrived at the problematic location.
“Hahaha, I’d like to get married too. If only Seolha would agree.”
What is that guy saying?
“Yang So-baek!”
Before it was too late, I called out his name loudly to drag him away.
Thanks to that, all eyes turned to me.
“Seolha!”
Yang So-baek jumped up from his seat with a delighted expression.
But why does he look like that?
For some reason, he seemed quite moved.
“Come out quickly!”
Regardless, I urged him to come outside quickly.
The lies were already enough.
I didn’t want to continue them, and I had to quickly explain to Yang So-baek, who was unaware of what was happening.
“Seolha!”
But what was this?
This uneasy feeling?
From Yang So-baek, who ran toward me and embraced me tightly, I sensed a very unfamiliar atmosphere.
If only that were all.
“…!”
I nearly had a heart attack.
Not far away, Eok I-geon was standing there.
With eyes that looked like he wanted to kill me right then and there.
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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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