A Tribute of Crimson

Chapter 6

"Hmm . . . You're free to go. Now you best go on out of here. Oh, if you even dare tell anyone about this little incident? I will personally track you down and your suffering will be tenfold from what would've been with the Crimson Rose. A pleasure doing business with you; now kindly get out of my sight." He said with a quiet tone.

And so the informant ran with all his might, even tripping along the way only to pick himself right up. Soon he was long gone and with that came silence from the both of us. Words failed to leave me as I stood there, stunned by the display of carnage and monstrosity. I felt a pit brewing in my stomach as a bit of sweat dripped from my cheek. The room had felt a bitter cold, the candlelight in the room had been snuffed during the fight. All that remained was the smell of metal and the ashen odor emanating from the large hole on the side.

"Apologies, I never meant for this to happen so soon. Those men had been dining from the start, I noticed them when we walked in. It meant they knew we were coming. The Crimson Rose is a rather troublesome organization indeed."

I blinked before I regained the ability to organize my thoughts. He acted as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred, I had to address the largest concern immediately.

"Who . . . No, what are you?" I said as I made sure to maintain a distance of a few feet away from him.

"Oh, my apologies once again. Sometimes I forget that I am . . . so different."

Forget? That's hardly something one shouldn't forget so easily. It's by far from the last thing one ought to forget. Does this mean he isn't the only one like this? Then there must be others. Suddenly, it was then that I realized that it may explain his actions from the castle. Perhaps he's capable of much more than that beastly transformation. Yunghui then cleared his throat.

"I am an existence long forgotten by your history. You could say that we were supposed to be extinct. Of course as you no doubt had seen, we're the rather strong type. Once we were feared by many for our monstrous appearance and strength. We are the Shadow-Blood, and I am among the very last of my kind. I hope that is sufficient enough explanation for you because we have work to do."

I nodded yet I still had many more questions. However there were far more pressing matters as he said. So I diverted my attention to the issue at hand.

"The Crimson Rose, I believe they are a cult of sorts. I only heard their name once and that was at a dinner party." I said remembering the past.

"It's no surprise. Their types aren't the kind you talk about so freely. They're the sort of sect that worship the devil's serpent, the Imoogi. I admit, a giant slithering beast can be seen as an all-powerful being. There aren't many left, which gave them much more reason to be seen as a legend." He said with his left hand holding his chin.

"What reason would a cult have for assassinating my Father? And why now? It makes little sense." I started pacing around the room rather lightly trying to come up with answers.

"We can worry about that later. For now, I suggest we turn back. If we stick around any longer then we may attract unwanted attention. Follow me. When you return to the castle, I recommend staying low. This time, I'll be gathering more information on my own. After that little mishap, I can't afford another." He heads through the gigantic hole as he quickly starts making his way back with myself right behind him. 

Eventually I returned back home, having told no one of what I witnessed today. All I could do then was spend time at the library, finding whatever records I can on the Shadow-Blood. There was nothing to be found. Not even a single bit of reference.

A few days have passed since I last saw Yunghui. In that time, I spent much of it on research. I even asked my Uncle for the key to his study, given that it housed shelves of books. He gladly did so and I spent afternoons sorting through all the books I could read. Nothing. There was no information on the Shadow-Blood, not even anything on the mythological spectrum. I gave a deep sigh upon closing another encyclopedia.

"I wondered what you've been up to these past few days. You're a bookworm but this is excessive even for you." Yu-Jun said rather optimistically as he would have his back against a bookshelf with his arms crossed.

"Oh, Yu-Jun. Sorry, I'd been engrossed in my reading that I hardly spent any time outside lately." I instantly pick up another encyclopedia volume and flip open its pages.

"Truly your commitment is worthy of applause. Hear ye, hear ye, tis be the tale of Prince Sung-Ho, the devourer of literature." He gives a few soft claps while retaining that goofy smile of his.

"Alright, alright. I get your point. I need some time off this reading, it's starting to mentally exhaust me. Not like I was making much progress to begin with." I slowly shake my head as I close the encyclopedia. "How have things been with you since?"

"The same old business as usual. Made quite the earnings after a rather fortunate game of mahjong, but I have heard some interesting news from the other patrons and my father. They say Gangwoo, that little village outside city borders, got hit hard."

"What? That village is right near the garrison in the forest. There should've been plenty of guards patrolling around. Was it Sanseong? I know that tensions have been brewing lately between states but . . ."

Yu-Jun shakes his head as he sits right down opposite of me.

"No, from what I heard it wasn't them. Father said that the Royal Guard got reports about sightings of a strange black beast. They already took a good look at the place but they didn't seem to find much."

My eyes instantly widen as I slam my hands down on the table.

"A black beast?! When? What did it look like? Did the beast look similar to a dragon?" I felt a bit pale as I went on with my questions.

It was then that my friend would wave his hand at me.

"Settle down, my good friend. What has you so unsettled? This isn't like the calm and collected Prince I know. Does it have something to do with your behavior recently? If there's something going on, I can help."

Taking a moment to recollect myself, I explain to him just what I've been doing since. From meeting with Yunghui to his transformation at the dregs and the involvement of the Crimson Rose. He only nodded the entire way through, not even asking a single question. I told him of the Shadow-Blood and the lack of information about their kind. What if he was the one who attacked the village? If so, then why? But if he wasn't then could there be more Shadow-Blood hiding among us? The questions only piled on top of themselves as I attempted to maintain focus.

"I need to head to that village right away. I can easily take one of our horses and make it in record time. It's not too far away from the city walls. I can't let anyone know about this. Not yet at least. There's just too much I don't know. Will you help me?"

My friend only smiled as he gave a firm nod.

"Haven't I already told you? I'll always be here to help. Now c'mon, time's a wastin."