Clatter.
As I moved a roof tile to peer below, I accidentally made a rattling sound.
Immediately, a dagger flew toward the noise and embedded itself in the beam near the ceiling.
Siiiing. Thwack!
It was thrown by a Five Venoms Sect warrior passing underneath. His sharp shout followed.
“Who’s there?!”
He approached right below and looked up at me.
Through the hole, our eyes met.
Or rather, they would have, if Sister Jeokwol hadn’t been with me to conceal us. Still, in that brief moment, an old movie scene I’d watched as a kid flashed through my mind.
What the protagonist did in this kind of situation popped into my head—and before I knew it, I mimicked it.
Squeak. Squeak.
In scenes like this, it’s always either a rat’s squeak or a cat’s meow, right?
It just came out instinctively—after all, movie heroes always managed to bluff their way out with those noises. And strangely enough, just like in those movies, the exact same reaction followed.
“What the—was that just a rat?”
The guy really just retrieved his dagger stuck in the beam and disappeared without a second thought.
Even though I had made a sound myself, I couldn’t believe that a guy who had been on guard would just vanish because I squeaked like a rat.
It actually worked?
Relieved, I swept a hand across my chest and contacted Cho through the group chat to call off the recon.
『“Not here. Let’s go, Cho.”
– Sssrhhk. (Okay, Dad.)』
Cho signaled Sister Jeokwol with her antennae, and the three of us slowly lifted into the sky.
The warrior had left, and I had checked through the hole anyway—what we were looking for wasn’t there.
Nothing here either.
The reason I had been sprawled on Bo-ta Temple’s rooftop in the middle of the night, peering inside, was to locate our target.
Hyehwa, a disciple of Bo-ta Temple, had told us roughly where most of their people were being held. But before the operation started, I needed to confirm exactly—personally—where the princess and the captured disciples were.
Isn’t confirming the hostage’s location yourself a basic step before any rescue mission?
And since Hwa-eun had made it clear that there couldn’t be any mistakes, I had to be meticulous.
Even if she’d been rough on me lately, married life with Hwa-eun had been good—no need to end up a traitor with my head cut off just because the princess died on my watch.
Hovering in the air, I sent a message to Gun Hye-rin through the group chat.
『“Gun Hye-rin, can you tell Hyehwa that we didn’t spot the princess in the last building she mentioned? Also, ask where we should check next.”
“I understand. Hold on.”』
Since Hyehwa was still young, I’d been speaking informally to her. After a short wait, a reply came in.
Gun Hye-rin’s slightly awkward tone came through.
『“Umm. She says she doesn’t know beyond that. Normally, the princess should be there...”
“Oh great, now what?”』
Just like that, her uncertainty passed on to me, and I started feeling uneasy too.
The reason Gun Hye-rin and I were both thrown off was because we still hadn’t confirmed the princess’s location—our main objective.
As Hyehwa had said, the temple head was imprisoned in the dungeon, and most of the others were confined in the Grand Hall.
Except for a few who went out to prepare food, everyone being locked in the Grand Hall was the usual routine.
So identifying where people were wasn’t hard.
Except for one person.
The princess couldn’t be found anywhere.
Hyehwa had said the princess had been with the others in the Grand Hall, so she should have been there—but she wasn’t.
She was the most important person of all.
That’s why we’d been moving from building to building, checking through rooftops—but none of the places Hyehwa had pointed out had the princess.
『“Did Hyehwa say there aren’t any other suspicious places left?”
“She did, Master.”』
I had Gun Hye-rin ask again just to be sure, but the answer was still "no idea."
We were now stuck—either go search every building left or delay the operation entirely.
We couldn’t go ahead with the rescue without confirming the princess’s location. If we acted rashly and they used her as a hostage again, I might be forced to surrender or retreat.
Just as I was agonizing over what to do next...
A woman emerged from the darkened Grand Hall, holding a lantern.
Her left hand was wrapped in bandages, and two warriors escorted her as she headed somewhere.
Then I got a feeling.
That woman—something about her—felt like a lead to unravel this whole mess.
『“Looks like I have to follow her. Guys, let’s tail those people.”
– Sssrhhk. Okay, Dad!』
The three of us followed from above, and we eventually reached a secluded hermitage, perched on the edge of a sheer cliff.
Two warriors stood guard out front, but as the woman with the lantern approached, another woman carrying a lantern stepped out from inside.
“I’ll be looking after Sister tonight. Let’s switch, Sister.”
“So it’s Sister Song tonight?”
“Yes.”
Eavesdropping at the entrance, we heard them mention "looking after someone."
I had a hunch.
I quickly flew to the rooftop, removed a tile, and peered below.
There, silhouetted in the dark, lay a woman on {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} a bed.
She was covered in blankets, seemingly asleep.
Tilting for a better angle, I saw her face—and immediately recognized it.
The princess.
『“Found her!”
“You did!?”
“Yes. Tell Cheonhae to begin.”』
As soon as I answered Gun Hye-rin’s question and gave the signal, dark clouds began to swarm rapidly from the direction of the main island in the Jusan Archipelago where we had flown from.
And in moments, the moonlight vanished, swallowed by a thick veil of clouds.
Dense storm clouds spread across the sky.
Rumble...
Whooooosh.
Thunder roared—and then came the downpour.
***
The Five Venoms Sect warriors refused to retreat indoors, so we had to keep the rain pouring for three whole days. Only on the third day did they finally begin slinking back toward the temple halls.
That’s when I asked Cheonhae to release the mist.
“Cheonhae, if you would.”
‘Got it, mister.’
At my request, gray mist began to billow around Cheonhae.
A thick veil of gray mist spread outward from the largest island of the Jusan Archipelago.
Soon it engulfed the surroundings, gradually drifting toward the small island where Bo-ta Temple was located.
She was a thousand-year-old spiritual creature, after all—her powers were incredible.
“That’s... amazing.”
‘Hehe. I got praised.’
I patted the squishy head of the jellyfish elder pretending to be a baby and waited a little longer, until the mist grew so thick you couldn’t see an inch ahead.
It was time to leave the cave with the kids.
We were currently on the largest island of the Jusan Archipelago.
That’s where we’d been hiding—in a cave.
“Alright, kids, let’s move.”
– Sssrhhk. 『Okay, Dad.』
– Shaaa. 『Let’s go, So-ryong-nim.』
“You all remember what I told you?”
“I remember, Master.”
“Yes, I remember, So-ryong-nim.”
Gun Hye-rin and Hyehwa wrapped themselves in Yeondu and flew toward the Grand Hall.
I headed toward the secluded hermitage with Cho, Moji, and Soji.
It was a two-pronged mission: Gun Hye-rin would rescue those in the Grand Hall while I secured the princess.
“Let’s move!”
At my shout, Cho lifted me into the sky. Behind me, Gun Hye-rin and Hyehwa followed, wrapped in Yeondu.
Moji, Soji, and Sister Jeokwol flanked me, and as we flew toward Bo-ta Temple, we also scooped up Hwanji, Hwana, and Yo-hwa, who had been waiting by the beach.
“...Hm? What’s that?”
Switching to infrared vision through the Mysterious Moth Night Vision Art technique, I spotted a large ship.
A massive vessel drifting in the fog between our island and Bo-ta Temple—one that hadn’t been there before.
“Visibility’s zero—watch yourselves!”
“Beware the reefs!”
『“What’s this ship doing here?”
“Not sure. Maybe it got caught up in our plans?”』
At first, I thought it was just a ship unlucky enough to get tangled in our operation.
We debated whether to help guide it away from the rocks...
But as we got closer, I caught a glimpse of a warrior on deck through the fog—wearing a familiar martial uniform.
Embroidered across his chest was a pattern of five venomous creatures, chained tail-to-tail.
Five Venoms Sect scum.
Gun Hye-rin must’ve noticed it at the same time, because her voice came through the group chat loud and clear:
『“It’s those damn Five Venoms bastards!”』
They were probably the ones Hyehwa mentioned—those bringing “the goods” from the Daewol Kingdom.
『“What should we do? Should we take out the ship first?”』
Gun Hye-rin asked if we should leap onto the ship and wipe them out.
She sounded confident—it wasn’t a question of can we do it, but should we do it.
But I just shook my head and smiled.
Because in front of us, there wasn’t a ship at all.
『“Miss Gun, a ship? What ship?”』
Gun Hye-rin blinked in confusion, not understanding.
『“Master, it’s right there—what are you talking about?”』
She had that look like “There’s literally a ship in front of us—what nonsense are you spouting?” But I just shook my head and replied:
“No, we don’t call that a ship.”
“What do you call it, then?”
“A coffin.”
I’d done this more times than I could count during pirate hunts—at sea, any ship that crosses us is no longer a vessel.
It’s just a coffin waiting to be sealed.
After all, what protection does a wooden crate drifting on water offer against our kids?
So we decided to give them a proper funeral.
What kind of funeral?
A burial at sea.
『“Let’s see... who should I send this time?”』
I pondered whether to let Yeondu or Cho handle it, but then I caught sight of Hwanji and Hwana.
Since the ship was quite large, this might be the perfect debut for those two.
Yeondu and Cho had already racked up plenty of kill marks on ships.
Time to give Hwanji and Hwana a turn.
Looking at the two of them, I said:
“Hwanji, Hwana—swim over here and bring your tails down hard on the center of that ship.”
『–Shhiii. (We... we can really do that?)
–Shuuu. (For real?)』
“Yup. Those guys are really bad people. So it’s fine.”
The two looked at each other.
Yeondu glanced at them and added:
『–Shaaaa. (If you’re not doing it, I will. It’s actually kinda fun.)』
Apparently ship-smashing had become one of Yeondu’s favorite pastimes.
That spurred Hwanji and Hwana into action—they shook their heads and responded.
『–Shhiii. (No, we’ll do it.)
–Shuuu. (Yeah, leave it to us.)』
Despite the mist making visibility nearly zero, the two locked onto their target quickly, probably thanks to their Jacobson’s organ detecting heat.
Carrying Yo-hwa on one of their heads, they raised their long tails high.
Their tails loomed beside the ship, rising from the sea like a pair of giant swords.
Just then, one of the Five Venoms Sect sailors—probably scanning the fog-covered deck—caught sight of the tails and shouted in alarm.
“There—something’s by the ship! Watch out!”
“Is it a reef? Brace for impact!”
They must’ve thought some unexpected reef had emerged.
And then the tails fell.
CRRRACK!
Hwanji and Hwana brought their tails crashing down, slashing across the ship’s side like massive war blades.
SHHHHRRRAAAK!
The tails tore through nearly half the ship like they were cutting tofu.
When their tails returned to the water, the ship—though it had only shuddered at first—suddenly began to sink without a trace.
KRRROOOUUUGHH.
Almost half its side had been carved out, with a gash wider than a drum. The water poured in faster than the hull could manage.
A structure that large sinking so fast pulled a few unlucky sailors into the whirlpool with it.
They didn’t resurface.
It was like cockroaches getting sucked down a sewer.
No—like flushing cockroaches down a toilet.
Just like I said—a burial at sea.
I stared at the floating wreckage that eventually rose to the surface, then turned my attention back to the temple.
That side was all wrapped up in one clean strike.
“Alright then—shall we move out?”
