Chapter 7: I’ll Become the Top Instructor in Fantasy Land!

The faint light of dawn seeped through the narrow bars.

On the hard wooden bed, Sirin opened her eyes.

As soon as she woke, she muttered whatever came to mind.

“Longing, corrosion, seventeen, dawn, furnace.”

She smiled.

It wasn’t a dream. Regaining her speech wasn’t a dream.

Yesterday was the most eventful day since falling into this world.

She’d regained her speech, dethroned Hans, and snapped a scumbag’s neck…

It almost felt like a night’s dream.

Her side ached, but she welcomed it. If this were a dream, there’d be no pain.

Sirin looked around while lying down.

She was in the temporary holding cell of the empire’s peacekeeping outpost.

Tagged as a “witness to a death,” it was essentially a prison without bars.

She sat up slowly.

She had no complaints about being confined.

She’d expected things to go this way.

A death right in front of a village with public authority? Of course this would happen.

In fact, she was quite satisfied.

Unlike her crude hideout, this place had solid walls and a roof to block wind and rain.

The hard bed was a slight downside, though.

Plus, she could avoid mercenaries and pesky kids here.

In a way, this civilized prison was her safest fortress.

She nodded contentedly.

Worth the taxes.

She’d never paid taxes in this world.

“Hmm…”

Pushing aside self-threatening thoughts, she reviewed the system logs she hadn’t checked yesterday.

She’d realized something from yesterday.

The fight with Heres wasn’t just a survival struggle.

It meant more.

[DLC – Using Martial Arts in Fantasy Land (Tentative Title) Applied.]

This wasn’t just a joke. Martial arts, out of place in this medieval fantasy land, were real.

If martial arts are real…?

She desperately recalled scraps of wuxia knowledge. Jianghu, inner energy, serendipity… and…

Bone-Shedding Rebirth.

Yes, that was it.

Shedding bones and escaping the mortal coil.

From what she remembered, it was beyond mere strength.

A state that fundamentally transformed the body.

The thought sparked a flash of realization.

Bone-Shedding Rebirth transformed the body through martial arts enlightenment.

A unity of mind and body.

So, for Sirin, a man’s mind in a woman’s body, achieving this…

My body could match my mind…!

She felt near-certain excitement.

She had two urgent goals.

First, returning to her original world.

But more important, perhaps prerequisite, was the second.

Regaining her original body.

The gnawing loss and discomfort in her lower half hadn’t faded with time.

The answer was clear.

Learn martial arts. Get stronger.

Achieve enlightenment and undergo Bone-Shedding Rebirth.

I need to master martial arts.

And she’d already taken the first step.

Sun-Shooting Sword.

[Gain Insight into the Houyi Sun-Shooting Sword to complete the martial art!]

It wasn’t complete.

Practice alone couldn’t fully master it.

Even in the wuxia stories she vaguely knew, mastering martial arts required some enlightenment.

But how to gain Insight?

She checked the system logs.

[Your understanding of others has increased!]

[Partially/Substantially/Fully met conditions for activating the Basic Insight System!]

Understanding others increased Insight? Was she supposed to become a therapist?

The only times she gained Insight were when mocking Heres.

She sighed.

Heres, you useless jerk. If you’re gonna die, at least leave some enlightenment.

All he left was the knowledge of his pathetically small size.

Still, gaining the basics of the Sun-Shooting Sword through Practice was fortunate.

She’d been planning to fist-fight, bite, or gouge eyes.

“…!”

She suddenly realized.

Damn it, Sun-Shooting Sword? It’s a sword art. Was I supposed to use a blade, not my fist?

No wonder her wrist broke. What nonsense.

A disaster from her lack of knowledge. Though, she had no sword at the time anyway.

But then, something didn’t add up.

If it was a sword art, why did it work with a punch?

Is the sword not the key?

Ding!

[Congratulations!]

[Gained partial Insight into the Sun-Shooting Sword!]

[Gain more Insight to complete the Sun-Shooting Sword!]

“…”

The system messages popped up at random.

While she was reviewing, another appeared.

Ding!

[New Title Acquired!]

[Title: Witch]

[Title Effect: Fear and Irreverence]

[Detailed Effects]

[You instill unknown fear in those who believe you’re a witch and weaken their reverence for sacred or authoritative beings.]

[Your presence spreads like a whisper in the night, planting seeds of fear in the weak and cracking steadfast beliefs.]

[Eyes upon you will carry both fear and irreverence.]

Sirin was dumbfounded.

Just sitting and thinking, and it spouts this nonsense?

“Witch, my ass…”

Her muttering made the guarding peacekeeper shudder.

Sirin was a famous idol to the peacekeeping force.

But a reverse idol, so instead of drooling, the guard swallowed and averted his eyes.

Her muttering into the air looked chillingly eerie to the young peacekeeper.

Is she crazy… no, she was already crazy, but even crazier now?

In the empire’s frontier, unnatural deaths weren’t rare.

Beasts, monsters, barbarians, or evil-worshippers caused them. Sometimes mercenaries died fighting each other.

But even a seasoned peacekeeper rarely saw a corpse as grotesque as Heres’s.

A neck fully twisted, showing only the back of the head.

He shuddered again.

The crazy beggar girl, grinning in front of that grotesque corpse.

No, “crazy beggar girl” no longer felt right.

He’d overheard Roderick talking gravely with his deputy.

If she had some curse that was lifted…

Is she really a witch…?

Meanwhile, in the captain’s office, Roderick rubbed his dry eyes, plagued by a headache.

On his desk lay a brief report on last night’s incident and Heres’s autopsy results.

He’d grasped the rough sequence of events.

He knew Heres was trouble.

He had a history of assaulting Mary at the tavern and causing endless petty conflicts.

The evidence was clear.

Heres’s bloodied sword and traces of his blessing.

The unidentified woman was clearly stabbed first.

She probably counterattacked while stabbed.

No, it’s not even certain she was stabbed.

She couldn’t be that fine if she was.

But she wouldn’t let them check her wound, and Roderick couldn’t force her.

Combat ability: unmeasurable. Mental state: highly unstable… or unpredictable.

He set the report down and pressed his temples.

What was this woman?

An unidentified beggar.

All they knew was the name she gave.

Unknown identities weren’t unusual in frontier villages.

War orphans, runaway slaves, fallen nobles… many drifted in with hidden stories.

But she was special.

That strength? That blood? That eerie laugh last night?

“Captain.”

A subordinate cautiously entered.

“Captain, last night’s incident has spread across the village. It’s public knowledge that the… witness killed a mercenary.”

Roderick frowned. As expected.

“What about the mercenaries?”

“Their camp’s atmosphere is hostile. They’ll likely make a move soon.”

Of course.

Their pride wouldn’t let a vice-leader’s death by a beggar girl slide.

By principle, this was the peacekeeping force’s jurisdiction.

But Roderick knew the reality of this frontier.

The empire’s control barely reached here, and the mercenaries, hired for beast hunts, were practically an uncontrollable armed group.

With recent delays in their payment, their discontent was at its peak.

Would they calmly leave their vice-leader’s killer to the peacekeepers?

No chance.

But could the outpost’s meager forces stop them?

If he caved to their pressure and handed her over?

The peacekeeping force’s authority would crumble, and he’d face charges for dereliction of duty.

More importantly, this mysterious woman wouldn’t comply quietly.

Given her hidden abilities, the entire outpost could be obliterated.

“Damn it…”

A low curse escaped his lips.

A checkmate situation. A troublesome morning was dawning.

Knock knock.

His deputy cautiously opened the door.

“Captain, a priest from the Salvation Church is here.”

A familiar sound of footsteps came from the corridor.

Creak.

The rusty hinges groaned as the cell door opened.

The peacekeeper who opened it glanced inside, bowed lightly to the arriving old man, and closed the door.

It was Peter.

“Visitation? You must have connections with the peacekeepers, old man.”

Sirin teased, sitting on the bed.

Unexpected.

Allowing a visit to a witness in a murder case so easily? Then again, Peter had an unusual air about him.

He looked at her with open pity.

“Your way of enjoying the festival is quite intense.”

“What’s that mean?”

“I heard you didn’t even drink, yet you ended up here sober. Found a new hobby instead of mud baths?”

Her eyes grew wistful.

“…I once dreamed of being a public servant.”

“What nonsense is that?”

“I wanted to live comfortably under the warm roof of public authority. I’ve fulfilled that dream, so it’s a win.”

Peter clicked his tongue.

“Enjoying prison life? Being a beggar must’ve been that tough.”

“Old man, the trend these days is using public authority to secure cozy, quiet spaces for personal use. And those mud baths were for skincare.”

She looked at him with pity.

“It’s sad you’re falling behind the times in your old age.”

Peter nodded gravely.

“I’ll pass on dog-style beauty, even if I’m behind. You do you.”

She glared, but he just shrugged.

He pulled a bundle from his coat and handed it to her.

“Here. Marta insisted I give this to you.”

The savory smell of bread stirred her hunger.

Waiting until she finished one, he spoke.

“I heard what happened. You snapped that mercenary’s neck. They’ll come for revenge. What’s your plan?”

“…”

She thought for a moment and answered.

“A lecture.”

Peter looked baffled.

“A lecture?”

“Neck-snapping lecture. Perfect for rapists seeking retaliation.”

She said dryly.

“Maybe a full head-turn will knock some sense into them.”

A smile spread as her plan took shape.

She’d use this chance to wipe out the annoying mercenaries, put the useless peacekeepers in her debt, and claim her reward.

It’ll help me get to the capital.

She thought, smiling slyly.