Chapter 10
I'll Take Her
“Please accept me as a member of the Demonic Cult, Senior Disciple!”
“…What?”
The man with sharp features, standing at the front of the Demonic Cult members, wore a dumbfounded expression.
He seemed to be at a loss for words, as if he wanted to ask where this kid came from.
‘He looks even more like his portrait up close! I think I’ve come to the right place!’
In Dad’s secret archive, there were portraits and names of the leaders of the Demonic Cult’s internal organizations.
‘I heard that the members of the Three Wings Squad, the Cult's secret intelligence agency, usually hide their faces and operate, so even the members don’t know who their leader is. Only the Heavenly Demon and the Young Leader know.’
No, now that I know too, does that make three of us?
The fact that I am a brilliant transmigrator who knows information that others don’t.
That was why I could be so confident right now.
I confidently puffed out my chest, as if such a dumbfounded reaction was nothing to me, and spoke.
“I can see things that will happen in the Demonic Cult in the future. So, I want to use my abilities to serve the Demonic Cult.”
“Wow, what a bold kid. Senior Disciple, do you know him?”
Then, a Demonic Cult member right behind the Senior Disciple laughed heartily as if I was amusing.
“I’ve never seen his face before either.”
The Senior Disciple, who had been watching me as if I wouldn’t back down easily, rubbed his forehead as if he had a headache.
“There are no villages nearby, so how did that kid get here?”
“Could she be the little sister of someone on cleanup duty?”
As if my existence had become a source of amusement in their intense training, the Demonic Cult members in the line gathered together and whispered about my identity.
‘Hmph, not some chore doer's little sister, I'm the Heavenly Demon's daughter!’
While I was receiving all the attention from the Demonic Cult members, the man who had been standing behind the Senior Disciple earlier looked at me with amusement.
“Senior Disciple, isn’t that little kid really cute? She’s just like Jangryu and Chaechae when they first came to the Demonic Cult.”
“What do you mean we’re like her? Senior Brother.”
“That’s right. Don’t compare us to that kid who looks like she hasn’t had a proper meal.”
I could feel their stares, and when I looked, there were two boys who looked about my age, with the same face and red hair, glaring at me with narrowed eyes.
‘Their hair is really red. Like red pepper paste. Red pepper paste is good...’
Recalling red pepper paste dishes I had eaten in my past life, I unconsciously licked my lips.
“Jangryu, I think she just licked her lips at us.”
“What? That's gross.”
The twins took a step away from me, as if I was somehow unsettling.
I seemed to have unintentionally scared the twin Demonic Cult members.
“Kid, this place isn’t some pushover place where kids like you, who look like they’d collapse if you just flicked them, to come here and play. So, if you want to live, it’s best to go back now.”
When I showed no sign of turning back, the man who had been looking at me with amusement suddenly made a grim expression and warned me.
‘Funny. Who do you think you’re scaring? Just watch, Senior Disciple will have no choice but to accept me.’
“I didn’t come here to play around. I came to help the Demonic Cult.”
“Are you taking it easy on her because she's cute? Who's helping who here?”
At my words, the man who had warned me frowned and shouted.
‘The one I need to deal with isn’t you, but Senior Disciple.’
Ignoring him, I continued to speak, looking at the Senior Disciple.
“Wasn't the Demonic Cult attacked by mysterious assassins a few days ago?”
“How do you know that...?”
‘How do I know? Because I saw it in the novel.’
The original novel mainly dealt with small and large incidents between the Martial Alliance and the Demonic Cult, so I knew well what would happen to the Demonic Cult in the future.
“Did they really?”
‘As expected, the disciples don’t seem to know. Well, I heard that the higher-ups kept it a secret because they were worried that the disciples might become anxious if the truth was known.’
“Didn’t I tell you? I have the ability to see things that will happen in the Demonic Cult in advance. I saw those incidents in advance too.”
“How can we believe that?”
“I also saw who was behind those assassins. You haven’t found out who’s behind it yet, have you?”
The Senior Disciple couldn’t refute my words.
‘Of course, they wouldn’t have found out who’s behind it. In the novel, the Demonic Cult never finds out who’s behind it.’
“You really know who’s behind that incident?”
“Yes!”
“Alright, let's hear it. Who is behind them?”
“Senior Disciple, you can't expect to get information for free just because I look like some naive kid.”
I put on an innocent smile and tried to strike a deal with the Senior Disciple.
“You don’t seem like just an innocent kid. Alright, what do you want?”
But instead of immediately saying what I wanted, I pulled out one more card.
“I also know who the leader of the Three Wings Squad is.”
At my words, the Senior Disciple’s eyes momentarily wavered.
“Three Wings Squad? How dare some kid, who might be a spy or just wandered in from some village, mention the leader of the Three Wings Squad?”
“That's something even we don't know!”
The red pepper paste-haired twins, Jangryu and Chaechae, waved their hands as if it was absurd.
‘That’s why I came to you, Senior Disciple, because I know. The organization I’ve decided to belong to in the Demonic Cult is the Three Wings Squad.’
Right now, I can't learn martial arts or cultivate internal energy. And I can't ask my father to teach me because he's hiding the fact that he's the Heavenly Demon from me.
But there was one thing, one thing I was superior to anyone else in this world, and that was information.
If I used the information I got from the original novel well, there would be no problem with me working for the Three Wings Squad.
‘In fact, I'll be a great help to the Demonic Cult in the future.’
Anyway, why am I saying this in front of him? It’s because the man in front of me works as the Senior Disciple for the new recruits during the day, but his true identity is the leader of the Three Wings Squad, the Flying King.
“Senior Disciple, I want to serve under you, Senior Disciple.”
“He can't answer because he doesn't know, he's just trying to brush it off.”
‘To the Demonic Cult members who don’t know this fact, it would look like I’m avoiding answering.’
But there is one person who definitely knows.
‘That I know that the Senior Disciple is the leader of the Three Wings Squad. And that person is...the Senior Disciple himself.’
As I expected, the Senior Disciple seemed very surprised.
“Alright.”
“Senior Disciple! Are you really going to believe this little kid's nonsense?”
As soon as the Senior Disciple gave his permission, the Demonic Cult members lined up behind him started to whisper among themselves.
“Quiet.”
With a single word from the Senior Disciple, who had become quite sensitive because his identity had been exposed, the Demonic Cult members became quiet as mice.
‘Looks like they're starting to believe me now, huh?’
“I'll hear you out, and if what you say turns out to be true, I'll give you what you want.”
“The mastermind behind the incident is the Sichuan Tang Clan.”
“What makes you think the Tang Clan scum are behind it?”
“Sprinkle salt on the wounds of the corpses of the assassins who attacked. Then the wounded area will turn purple.”
“……”
“Blue snake grass is a highly poisonous plant, and even a small wound can cause it to spread throughout the body and lead to death in an instant. But when it comes into contact with salt, it turns purple. There’s no other way to notice it’s poison, and it’s a poisonous plant that can only be cultivated in the Sichuan Tang Clan.”
“How do you know about a poisonous plant that only the Sichuan Tang Clan knows about?”
“I saw that in advance too.”
“What if you’re a spy sent by the Tang Clan bastards?”
“If I were a spy from the Tang Clan, I would have named another family as the mastermind behind the incident. Unless I’m an idiot, why would a spy confess?”
Since there was nothing wrong with what I said, the Senior Disciple didn’t refute any further.
That was right. Besides the Sichuan Tang Clan, what other family could use poison that even the Demonic Cult didn’t know about? Even if there was, the Tang Clan’s hand would have definitely reached them.
“If you don't believe me, why don't you check it out for yourself?”
‘Once they confirm it, they’ll keep me by their side because they’ll be curious about the source of this information.’
This was the plan I had set up early on.
“…I can't confirm what you're saying yet, so get lost for now. If what you've said turns out to be true, then I'll grant your wish.”
‘What? He’s telling me to go back like this?’
The Senior Disciple’s reaction deviated from the common and natural instinct to keep someone with information that is beneficial to oneself by their side.
I know about the core organization of the Demonic Cult, and I even told them that the Sichuan Tang Clan is behind it, but he’s just sending me away?
Usually, at times like this, isn’t it normal to keep me close?
‘Should I just throw a tantrum and refuse to leave?’
Just as I was racking my brain to come up with a contingency plan, it was then.
“Accept that child.”
“We greet the Young Leader!”
A boy appeared, parting the line of bowing disciples.
With black, curly hair like ink and red eyes that seemed to suck you in just by looking at them, he looked like he was only five or six years older than me.
‘So young, and he’s the Young Leader?’
That wasn’t the only thing that was puzzling.
‘That voice, I feel like I’ve heard it somewhere before?’
But I couldn’t remember exactly where I had heard it.
“We haven't confirmed this kid's identity yet.”
The Senior Disciple stepped forward to dissuade him, but for some reason, the Young Leader’s gaze didn’t seem to leave me.
‘What, why is he staring at me like that? Is he trying to intimidate me? If so, I can’t back down either!’
Thinking that I couldn’t lose, I didn’t avoid the Young Leader’s gaze.
“Since her identity is not confirmed, we should keep her here even more. If we let her go, she might leak the Cult's secrets.”
The Young Leader’s words, as if he would never let me go alive as long as I knew about the Demonic Cult’s affairs, sent a chill down my spine.
‘Was there another reason why the Young Leader was staring at me so intently?’
“That’s true, but we still don’t know the truth of what that child said, and the possibility that she’s a spy hasn’t completely disappeared, so we can't just assign her to a position recklessly.”
“I'll take her under my wing.”
“Yes?”
The Senior Disciple looked quite flustered at the Young Leader's unexpected statement.
“That way, it'll be easier to keep an eye on her, and if what she said isn't true...”
In that instant, the Young Leader’s blood-red eyes, directed at me, gleamed coldly.
“Kill her.”
What? ...You mean me?
