Chapter 13
There was a well-built man.
He was the Grandmaster of the Golden Sword Company, and just as impressive in appearance, his character and skill were also exceptional—someone who would be treated with respect wherever he went, not just in the Gold Coin Guild.
But such a man was dead.
Killed by his own subordinate, the company’s deputy commander.
He hadn’t even put up much of a fight.
The deputy had quietly slipped a poison into his cup and waited until it took effect, then struck.
The Grandmaster died without even properly closing his eyes.
Did the deputy feel no guilt at all?
In front of the dead Grandmaster, the deputy couldn’t hide a vile smile.
‘I didn’t expect the Clairvoyant Eye to show something like this.’
The whole series of events unfolded in my mind the moment I faced the deputy commander, as if it were happening right in front of me.
The Clairvoyant Eye. I had suspected from the beginning that this eye was special—ever since I heard a story about Yama’s unique sight.
Rarity doesn’t automatically mean superiority, but the fact that this eye belonged to a king of the underworld added weight to it.
Still, I did not expect it to show me this.
Even after experiencing it firsthand, the ability was unbelievable, but there was no time for mere admiration.
“Deputy Commander.”
A man who betrayed his allies and killed cruelly to satisfy his own greed.
He no longer deserved the title of deputy commander.
Nor the name of a human being.
“No, Yangchung.”
That was the first and last time I called his name.
“You will die here.”
Like opening a ledger of the afterlife, a number—representing his remaining lifespan—appeared to Yangchung.
It kept decreasing.
“When you go to the afterlife, apologize to the Grandmaster of the Golden Sword.”
When the number finally reached one, as if it had been waiting, the Annihilation Sword drew itself out.
Screech.
Thud, topple, roll.
The deputy’s head—once his—rolled across the cold floor.
I glanced coldly at the traitors who were aghast at their leader’s death.
Perhaps sobered by that look, they began to kneel and plead.
“P-please spare us!”
“W-we were fools, Young Master!”
“I-I’ll tell you everything I know!”
“Just please let us live!”
But I did not sheath the Annihilation Sword again until four more corpses lay on the floor.
“You should have accepted your chance when it was given.”
If the deputy had atoned before he died, I would have left him alive as promised.
No—if even the slightest hesitation or reluctance had been shown, I would probably have given them a chance.
But none of them did.
Some even attempted to threaten us by casually revealing weapons.
They had apparently taken me—more precisely, my reputation as a terminally ill weakling—lightly, so such behavior was predictable.
But if they wanted to live, they should not have acted like that.
Through my sword-sense I knew that while mercy can be a virtue, showing mercy to someone who has already leveled a blade at you is an act of foolishness.
I knew how many deaths that foolish choice could cause.
Knowing that, I had no intention of making the same foolish choice myself.
“Sahun.”
The death attendant who had been hiding his presence at my call now revealed himself.
‘You called?’
True to someone who deals with death, his complexion did not change even standing before five corpses.
If anything, he looked at me with curious interest—probably because I had used the Clairvoyant Eye.
I had some questions for him about the eye, too, but there were matters that needed doing first.
“I want to get some information from these ones before the other death attendants arrive. Can you help me?”
My gaze fell on the dead—more precisely, on the spirits that had left those bodies.
They still showed fear and avoided me.
Dealing with them was obviously the death attendant’s specialty, not mine.
I wondered if he might refuse, but Sahun nodded obediently.
‘I’ll try to speak with them. Tell me what you want to know.’
Confident words.
Sahun was clearly an expert in this field.
In what felt like only a few exchanges, he learned everything he needed to know.
But those who had been small-time crooks didn’t have much useful to say.
Their reasons for betrayal were shallow; I had no interest in petty sums of money.
I found Sahun’s eagerness to assist me far more intriguing.
‘Come to think of it, we didn’t really get a proper chance to talk.’
We hadn’t even spent a full day together—there had been so much to do and think about, I hadn’t had the time.
This, too, would have to wait.
At that moment I saw the other death attendants approaching, so I left; there was no need to be entangled further when they arrived.
Cleaning.
Originally, I had planned to “clean” only those who were clearly acting—people like the deputy commander and his men.
There might be other traitors, but it wasn’t easy to root them out right now.
After dealing with the deputy and his cronies, my thinking shifted a little.
‘Let’s make active use of the Clairvoyant Eye.’
After all, the more meticulous the cleaning, the cleaner the result.
I’d only postponed a full sweep because I couldn’t see where the dust and filth had gathered.
The Clairvoyant Eye reveals one’s karma in life.
At first that’s how I thought of it—the idea to meet everyone in the guild and see them one by one.
It was also intended as an experiment for the eye.
But things unfolded slightly differently from my assumption from the very beginning.
The Clairvoyant Eye didn’t just show deeds—it also showed sins.
It displayed the wrongs done: whomever someone had hurt or deceived.
And that wasn’t all.
‘There might be something mixed into the medicine for the guild leader. It’s risky for me to step forward with the guild atmosphere being what it is… but I don’t want to die for the guild. I’ll do what I can for now.’
‘It’s not just the Black Front. There’s someone else—moreover, there’s a traitor within the guild… If we leave things as they are, it won’t just be about losing the guild—someone might die or be injured. We don’t have the strength to stop them all… but let’s do what we can. First, find out who the traitors are and who is behind them.’
Those who had quietly worked for the guild—those small acts of kindness—were also shown by the Clairvoyant Eye.
At first I was surprised, but then it made sense.
‘Yama is the judge of the underworld. He judges not only sins but also the good deeds—the merits—of a person, so it’s not strange.’
Still, there was a definite difference from Yama’s vision.
If Yama could see everyone’s deeds in the world, my Clairvoyant Eye did not.
There were times it activated, but more often it did not.
‘Was something made wrong when it was created?’ I couldn’t tell.
I couldn’t ask Yama either.
Roughly one in thirty of the guild members I checked seemed to trigger the Clairvoyant Eye, but I couldn’t discern the standard.
If I had to hazard a guess, I thought it might be connected either to me or to matters involving the guild.
‘I’m curious about the reason, but it probably doesn’t matter much if I don’t know.’
Whether these differences came from an imperfect Clairvoyant Eye or from my own lack of ability, I didn’t know.
Either way, having this ability wasn’t bad.
Even half-baked as it was, it could be used to turn situations around.
I even found myself wondering whether such a power should be granted to a human at all.
But I didn’t dwell on that; there was no time for deep thought.
When the Clairvoyant Eye activated for roughly three people—four if you counted the deputy commander—I suddenly blacked out while walking.
I collapsed.
I came to two days later, in the early evening.
‘I was worried.’
When I opened my eyes, the Annihilation Sword, which had been placed beside my bed, spoke in concern.
Only then did I realize how much time had passed, and I couldn’t help but be surprised.
“…This is a power that shouldn’t be used recklessly.”
I didn’t remember where or how I had fallen.
I had felt my spiritual power draining each time the Clairvoyant Eye activated.
But it hadn’t felt that much.
So I looked for another cause.
“The mental-energy consumption was greater than I expected.”
I had felt a warning from the moment I dealt with the deputy commander: a headache like something about to break.
Although it was severe, I was used to pain over the past hundred years because of the Heavenly Demon Sword; I could endure it and dismissed it—only to have this consequence.
“I was careless.”
I scolded myself.
It could easily have been dangerous.
While I was unconscious I had been effectively defenseless.
What if enemies had remained? The thought was horrific.
“Your body’s in a mess, too.”
Not just my head—my whole body ached.
Even I, who am used to pain, could not think straight because of it.
This was another aftereffect of using the Clairvoyant Eye indiscriminately.
“It’s best to avoid using it unless necessary.”
Three times.
Even in a situation that required pushing myself, I decided not to use it more than three times a day.
This wasn’t a choice so much as a necessary rule.
If one could use such an ability endlessly whenever desired, that would be absurd.
In that sense, Yama was impressive—he must have been checking souls’ deeds with this sight every day for many, many years.
If I meet him again, I’ll be less reckless.
More pressingly—
“I have to get up.”
I wanted to practice breathing and energy control to steady myself, but I forced myself to stand.
Seeing that I had survived while unconscious meant something had probably watched over me; still, I needed to confirm things.
Rest would have to wait.
But that need evaporated quickly.
‘While you were unconscious, nothing serious happened. Recover your body first, Master.’
It was Sahun speaking.
“Have you been guarding me all this time?”
When I looked, Sahun was standing there—had been there for some time.
When our eyes met he nodded.
He didn’t say much else, but hearing him eased the turmoil in my head.
A death attendant had no reason to lie to me.
‘I judged him to look rather clumsy for a death attendant, but I was mistaken.’
My poor impression from our first and second meeting had made me biased.
Now, seeing how reliable he was, I accepted his words without question.
I sat up on the bed, folded my legs, and closed my eyes.
I felt how badly my insides were torn apart.
Sahun’s presence—like a bodyguard—remained beside me.
Some time passed.
As my raging body calmed, I slowly spoke.
“You must have many things you want to say to me. Many questions.”
Although the conversation took longer than I expected, the atmosphere wasn’t bad.
Or at least that was my impression.
There was no reply.
Sahun hadn’t left my side—his presence was still with me—but he kept silent.
“You don’t seem to want to talk to me much.”
That seemed possible.
After all, he wasn’t staying beside me by his own choice.
But that was just my assumption.
‘That’s not it.’
Sahun’s will finally reached me.
‘While you lay there, I stopped by the otherworld and spoke with the Reaper. I learned what I wanted to know.’
“Is there nothing you’re curious about or want to say to me?” I asked.
‘Not now. And at the moment—’
“Not now?”
‘—I would rather watch.’
I opened my eyes and met Sahun’s gaze.
It was a look I couldn’t read, even after a long life.
There was seriousness to it. I couldn’t help but ask.
“Suddenly?”
‘…’
At my teasing remark, Sahun fell silent again.
But there was one thing I could surmise.
“You close your mouth when it’s disadvantageous to speak.”
He couldn’t stay silent after I hit the mark; he hesitated and then answered.
I could have pressed him, but I waited for him to speak.
Instead—
‘…Rest.’
With that, Sahun’s figure vanished.
He left unspoken the full meaning behind his desire to watch.
I closed my eyes and finished my breathing exercises, then snorted softly.
“You make a grand show of saying you’ll keep watch.”
Still.
It might not be a bad thing.
