25 Chapter 25 (1/2)
”Welcome back.”
After greeting Kang-hyuk, Byeok Ae-rin began her duties as a maid.
After preparing the meal, she organized the plates and the cutlery, then went on to clean the whole house.
The time had now come for her to organize the more troublesome matters.
Her eyes glinted. The Mad Fox, that had been dormant within her for seven years, was beginning to awaken.
'Should I ask Shim-gu Orabeoni (1) for a favour?'
She was curious what the reaction of the other Kwaepungdae members would be after finding out about Kang-hyuk's reverse aging.
She lightly stamped her feet, and her youthful body appeared not long after.
***
The location was the outskirts of Nakyang.
A woman clothed in red with red hair was walking along a road.
She then stepped into a dark alley. As she did this, she sensed that she had a number of pursuers behind her, making her grin.
'Haha, Shim-gu Orabeoni really is something! Why did he ask me to meet in such a place!'
She abruptly stopped as they began to close in on her with sleazy expressions on their faces.
Her pursuers were a group of five men, whose gazes were on her chest and exposed legs.
The men edged closer, under the impression that she was scared.
”Hahaha. Young lady, you shouldn't have come to such a dangerous place.”
”If you come here, you can't turn people like us away. Hehehe.”
A hand slipped onto her shoulder.
Suddenly.
*Crunch-!*
”Aaaaarghhh!”
The sound of bones cracking and a man screaming could be heard.
”What kind of crap are you spouting? You bastards!”
The woman, who had broken the arm of the man who had touched her shoulder, was none other than Byeok Ae-rin.
”This bitch, who are you?”
Byeok Ae-rin lightly stepped on her skirt as she edged towards the men.
”How dare you casually ask for a lady's name! Don't you have any manners?”
Her body moved backwards whilst she stretched her right leg out in front of her, drawing a circle with her foot.
It was a simple movement, with dramatic results. All of a sudden, the five men, that were standing around her, all had broken legs.
”Arghhhh!”
”Legs! My legs!”
”Ahhhh!”
Byeok Ae-rin was oblivious to the spectacle of the men screaming whilst clutching their broken legs, seemingly gazing elsewhere.
*Tap. Tap. Tap.*
A man appeared within a few moments after this incident. He was holding a black fan whilst being fully clothed in black, having the appearance of an old man in his eighties.
Byeok Ae-rin's pursuers, who had collapsed onto the ground, became jubilant at his sudden appearance.
”My lord!”
”It's the lord!”
”This bitch, you're dead now… aaarghhh!”
The man began to scream once more. Byeok Ae-rin had stepped on his broken leg.
*Crack!*
The sound of bones breaking could be loudly heard.
”Oh my! It must have been an accident! Why is your leg broken?”
The man clothed in black sighed at her obviously intentional action.
”Judging by the terrible personality, it must be Ae-rin. Are you using Ju-Ansul?”
”It's been a long time, Shim-gu Orabeoni.”
Byeok Ae-rin smiled at him.
The old man standing in front of her was known as Shim-gu.
He had been a member of Kwaepungdae, and had become the Head of Hyeonmugak around the time Kang-hyuk had become the Hwacheon Clan Leader.
”I am indeed using Ju-Ansul.”
”It seems that it requires a lot of energy to maintain….”
Byeok Ae-rin sighed at his words.
”These clothes wouldn't suit an old lady. Moreover, I don't want people to see me as a grandmother.”
”Well, I guess that makes sense.”
Sim-gu looked at her clothes as he nodded.
”The red top looks okay, but the long ripped skirt is a bit questionable….”
”You have terrible taste, as usual. You aren't a Magi, so what's with your all-black clothing?”
”It's my personal taste.”
”It's my personal taste as well. These lads that are calling you by 'My Lord' must be your men, right?”
”They aren't my men, they just started calling me that after I beat them up a few times. I also told them that if they were going to address me like that, they would have to leave the elderly, children and women alone….”
Byeok Ae-rin narrowed her eyes.
”But they went after me, a woman, did they not? How dare they take Orabeoni's words so lightly!”
The pursuers, still lying on the ground and groaning, became pale at the force of energy she began to emit.
Byeok Ae-rin took no notice of their reactions, and Shim-gu didn't stop her from acting either.
”Aaahhhh!”
Their desperate screams resounded throughout the dark alley as she stepped on something 'precious' on their bodies.
Byeok Ae-rin's actions served as a clear warning to them.
She dusted off her hands after having thrown their half-dead bodies into a corner. Shim-gu sighed as he watched on.
More than fifty years had passed since he had first met Byeok Ae-rin.
They had met each other as new initiates of Kwaepungdae. In those days she had been a shy, modest and obedient girl who spoke very little.
However, her personality had changed throughout the ensuing chaotic and violent happenings of the group. He felt that it was an obvious change as it was a miracle that she was still alive.
”Anyway, what are you doing here? Hadn't you retired from Jimilgak to live a peaceful life in freedom?”
”I guess I did, but the situation is different now, Orabeoni.”
Shim-gu's eyebrows wiggled in curiosity at her words.
”The situation is different? What do you mean?”
”I've been working as a maid within the Hwacheon Academy recently.”
Shim-gu dug his little finger into his ear as he spoke.
”Hahaha! I'm sorry, my eyes have been acting up recently, and it looks like my ears are doing the same thing as well! Could you repeat what you said?”
”I'm working as a maid. At Hwacheon Academy!”
”Are there good-looking men at the Academy or something? Shame on you! You need to remember how old you are! Even Myeong-myeong, the Principal, being the oldest man there, is at least twenty years younger than…”