WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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Chapter 39: Appointment Ceremony (1)
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Evil Heaven's bombshell shocked even me.
I never expected him to reveal the origin of my sword style here of all places.
Honestly, considering Evil Heaven's pride, I thought he would hide it. What could he possibly intend by revealing it here?
One thing was certain, this was no ordinary stir.
“Southern Heavenly Swordmaster?”
“That Southern Heavenly Swordmaster?”
The brigade leaders murmured among themselves.
Even the masters who led the Blood Cult reacted like that. The Southern Heavenly Swordmaster's reputation had apparently remained undiminished even after fifteen years.
Yet while everyone was looking at Evil Heaven because of the Southern Heavenly Swordmaster, one person was looking at me.
It was a woman in a white gauze veil who appeared to be a disciple of the Blood-Hand Witch.
Her gaze shifted between me and the Southern Heavenly Steel Sword strapped to my back.
'What is this?'
The only visible part of her face, her eyes, seemed strangely familiar.
Those round eyes and long lashes especially resembled the red-eyed woman I had met before.
'Surely not...'
- Surely what? Who is it?
'...It looks like Miss Ha Yeon, no, Baek Ryeon Ha.'
- What? That girl?
Even the SoDam Sword was startled.
The reason was simple.
The veiled woman's figure was slender.
- Aren't you seeing things?
The SoDam Sword doubted me.
That was understandable. The woman we knew had been plump and fat.
Yet in just six months, she had become slim as though she had undergone a Body Reconstruction.
- Then she lost weight?
If it was really her, she must have.
At that moment, our eyes met, and she hastily looked away.
- It's her. Definitely.
Seeing how flustered she looked, it really did seem to be her.
She turned her head toward the distant mountains, doing her utmost to avoid my gaze.
I wondered what had happened.
Had she lost all that weight after taking the Hasunbu Seolcho?
Then Han BaekHa, the Blood-Hand Witch, spoke.
“Venerable One. What... do you mean? The Southern Heavenly Swordmaster?”
Her voice trembled slightly, perhaps because she was also shocked.
He had revealed this so suddenly that I was curious what Evil Heaven would say.
Surely he was not planning to claim, before everyone, that he had defeated the Southern Heavenly Swordmaster and obtained his secret manual?
With that old man's temperament, it was entirely possible.
“Of course you do not recognize it. Still, could there be anyone here other than me who ever faced the Southern Heavenly Swordmaster?”
Han BaekHa fell silent at those words.
Judging from her reaction, Evil Heaven seemed to be telling the truth.
“Heh heh.”
She gestured at me with her eyes and said,
“...Setting aside whether that is true, why has your disciple learned the Southern Heavenly Swordmaster's sword style?”
She deftly twisted the subject.
Rather than questioning Evil Heaven directly, she used me as an excuse to ask.
“The Southern Heavenly Swordmaster was not someone with a power base. He was clearly a force of justice member. This is something you must explain, Venerable One.”
The Blood-Hand Witch was not one to simply take a blow.
She focused on the fact that the Southern Heavenly Swordmaster was a force of justice member and pressed Evil Heaven for an answer.
At that moment, Evil Heaven took something from his robes.
'Ah...'
It was the martial arts book of the Stellar Star Sword Art.
He had taken it back from me, but I never imagined he would bring it here.
Had he intended to reveal this from the beginning?
“Stellar Star Sword Art?”
“It is the Southern Heavenly Swordmaster's sword-style manual.”
“How did you come by that, Venerable One?”
Han BaekHa could not take her eyes off the Stellar Star Sword Art's martial arts book.
The same was true for the brigade leaders.
The leaders who used swords in particular stared at the Stellar Star Sword Art's martial arts book as though it were a treasure.
The sword manual of the Southern Heavenly Swordmaster, who had earned fame as one of the greatest swordsmen of the age, was right before them. Of course no one would see it as anything less than a treasure.
“The Southern Heavenly Swordmaster is dead.”
'!!!'
Everyone was shocked at the announcement of his death.
His whereabouts had been unknown for fifteen years, so many martial artists, regardless of faction, had wondered about him.
I could see where this was going.
Evil Heaven seemed to be planning to say that he had defeated the Southern Heavenly Swordmaster and acquired the martial arts book.
- This wicked old man!
The Southern Heavenly Steel Sword vented its rage.
It seemed to believe its former master's honor was being sullied.
I would have felt the same.
“The Southern Heavenly Swordmaster is dead? Surely you were not the one, Venerable One?”
The Blood-Hand Witch looked at Evil Heaven with startled eyes.
Yet his response was utterly different from what I expected.
He snorted.
“Hmph! If I had been, my long-cherished wish would have been fulfilled. But no. Someone got there before me.”
Amazingly, Evil Heaven told the truth.
He could have lied and claimed he had killed him, so this was truly unexpected.
“Who killed the Southern Heavenly Swordmaster?”
“Good heavens!”
Everyone was curious at Evil Heaven's words.
It was only natural. Someone had killed a man renowned enough to be spoken of as one of the next Eight Great Masters of the Central Plains.
Evil Heaven paid no heed to their reactions and continued.
“This martial arts book was left behind by that Southern Heavenly Swordmaster.”
So that was how he was whitewashing it.
He would rather die than admit he had stolen it.
The Blood-Hand Witch frowned and asked,
“Are you saying that you found the Southern Heavenly Swordmaster's remains, Venerable One?”
“That is right.”
“What joyous news!”
“Congratulations, sir!”
Several brigade leaders spoke in unison at Evil Heaven's answer.
They were congratulating him for obtaining the Southern Heavenly Swordmaster's martial arts book, a priceless treasure to swordsmen.
“Congratulations for what!”
Evil Heaven snapped.
The brigade leaders who had tried to flatter him fell silent as though struck mute.
One brigade leader tried to explain.
“Th-that is not what we meant...”
“Do you think another man taking him before I could settle our match is something worth celebrating!”
Everyone lowered their heads, cowed by Evil Heaven's roar.
Before my regression, the brigade leaders had seemed so lofty. Yet seeing them all unable to raise their heads, a Venerable One truly was a Venerable One.
“Not being able to settle things with him is my regret. It is not something for you lot to celebrate.”
After venting his anger, Evil Heaven hardened his expression and held up the Stellar Star Sword Art's sword manual.
“This sword manual is not complete.”
That was true.
Strictly speaking, it had only been completed into the Stellar Star Sword Art of today because Evil Heaven had stolen it.
“I crossed swords with him many times. There may be no one who knew him as well as I did.”
The Blood-Hand Witch narrowed her eyes.
“Are you saying...?”
Evil Heaven raised the corner of his mouth and nodded.
“I corrected the flaws in the sword style and passed it on to this boy.”
Tap!
Evil Heaven placed a hand on my shoulder.
“This boy may be called the joint personal disciple of myself and the Southern Heavenly Swordmaster.”
'Ha!'
I clicked my tongue inwardly.
In the end, Evil Heaven had not only ensured that the dead Southern Heavenly Swordmaster's lineage would not end, he had also become the man who improved the sword style of his rival.
- ...That is impressive. Truly.
Even the SoDam Sword admitted it.
In a sense, Evil Heaven really was remarkable.
Now, even if someone recognized the Southern Heavenly Swordmaster's sword style, no one could object.
At least not within the Blood Cult.
Evil Heaven was too cunning an old man to be described merely as eccentric.
- ...Still, I think it is fortunate.
The Southern Heavenly Steel Sword, which I expected to be furious, spoke in a subdued voice.
What was fortunate about it?
- In truth, if not for that man, there is no denying that my former master's lineage would have ended. Moreover, he declared that you, Un Hwi, are also the Southern Heavenly Swordmaster's successor.
Come to think of it, the Southern Heavenly Steel Sword was right.
Since Evil Heaven had obtained the secret manual, he could have declared the Stellar Star Sword Art to be his own sword style.
Yet by presenting me as a joint personal disciple, he left room for the Southern Heavenly Swordmaster's lineage to continue.
It showed what Evil Heaven had truly thought of the Southern Heavenly Swordmaster all this time.
- For that alone, I am grateful.
The Southern Heavenly Steel Sword was satisfied that its former master would not be forgotten.
* * *
Han BaekHa, the Blood-Hand Witch, her disciples, and the brigade leaders from every faction all headed for the Main Hall of Blood-Nurturing Valley.
The Appointment Ceremony for the new warriors was about to begin.
Before leaving, Han BaekHa sent me sound telepathy.
[Young Master So, you won the wager. Let us meet around midnight tonight at the clearing we saw before.]
Han BaekHa conceded cleanly.
Strictly speaking, since Dam YeHwa had also attained the position of high-rank warrior, we should determine superiority through a martial match as promised. But it was meaningless in practice.
The difference in our abilities was already clear.
- What do you think she'll teach you?
'I am not expecting much.'
I did not think she would teach me a particularly useful skill.
She had not expected to lose the wager either, so she would probably pass on the most insignificant of the skills she possessed.
More than that, I was curious about Baek Ryeon Ha.
As she left ahead of us, she looked at me with an odd expression.
- Do you think she noticed that you recognized her?
That was entirely possible.
After all, I had looked at her several times.
“But... Master, why are we going to the Main Hall?”
As we headed there, Song JwaBaek asked Evil Heaven, apparently curious.
Evil Heaven gave a faint laugh.
“This is where it matters.”
“Yes?”
“We need to bring in the useful ones. Heh heh.”
I thought I knew why Evil Heaven was saying this.
He had said he would build a power base.
The existing Blood Cult members already belonged to their own factions, so he needed fresh talent.
What mattered was how many talented people he could secure.
Murmur, murmur!
When we arrived at the Main Hall, it was bustling.
Not only the brigade leaders but the Cadets had gathered as well.
Memories from before my regression came flooding back.
'Ah.'
In the courtyard before the Main Hall, a roster of Cadets was posted on a broad wooden board as wide as a door.
The names were divided into high-rank warrior candidates, mid-rank warrior candidates, and low-rank warriors.
Before my regression, I had no choice in the matter and was assigned wherever the Valley Lord designated.
The Blood Wolf Squad.
While low-rank warriors were distributed evenly among various places, high-rank and mid-rank warrior candidates were different.
I remembered the brigade leaders standing before the roster and fiercely competing for them.
It had not concerned me at the time, so I did not remember exactly who had been assigned where. But I knew of one person.
- Who?
Jo SeongWon, a Spy from the Beggars' Sect.
That bastard entered the First Blood Star's service.
Since he had the right to choose, I thought he would join the power base of one of the Venerable Ones. Everyone had found his decision surprising.
- But it was the wrong choice.
'Right.'
His identity was exposed in only six months.
He was even captured and killed just fifteen days after a pursuit-and-kill order was issued.
- In the end, he was destined to die.
'Yes. That is true, but...'
What would happen if I changed that bastard's fate?
Because of Jo SeongWon and several other Spies, Blood-Nurturing Valley and several Blood Cult strongholds had been exposed.
But I wondered how great a change it would cause if Jo SeongWon entered somewhere other than the First Blood Star's service.
For example, if I exposed his identity right away.
“Then we shall now begin the Appointment Ceremony.”
The entire hall fell quiet at the shout of Gu SangWoong, the Tyrannical Blood Brigade Leader.
The ten brigade leaders from the various factions stood before the roster.
Each seemed to have people in mind, and their eyes did not leave the names as they tried to secure them.
Then Evil Heaven stepped forward.
The brigade leaders were all flustered when he did.
“Sir?”
“Why is the Venerable One...?”
They apparently had not expected Evil Heaven to participate in the Appointment Ceremony.
It was only natural. Evil Heaven had never built a power base until now.
One of the brigade leaders asked,
“Will you also be participating in the Appointment Ceremony, sir?”
“Hmph! Since I have no brigade leader beneath me, must I not choose them myself?”
Their faces darkened.
They had not expected a Venerable One to participate in the Appointment Ceremony personally.
Even the Sixth Blood Star, the Blood-Hand Witch, had sent someone holding the position of brigade leader under her to act on her behalf.
“Ahem.”
Even the Tyrannical Blood Brigade Leader looked troubled, as though he had not anticipated this situation.
Evil Heaven said to him,
“Do we start with the mid-rank warriors, or the high-rank warriors?”
“...The mid-rank warrior candidates first.”
“Is that so? Then that works out nicely. I will go first. No objections, I trust?”
The brigade leaders nodded with expressions as though they had bitten into dung.
They could not bring themselves to say no before a Venerable One.
Who among brigade leaders would have the nerve to oppose Bizarre Oddity of all people?
“You just choose them?”
“Y-yes, that is correct.”
Evil Heaven pointed at the wooden board where the roster hung.
It was the list of mid-rank warrior candidates.
There were thirty-seven in total.
The list had been arranged from top to bottom according to their outstanding aptitude.
“...”
The brigade leaders from each faction held their breath, their eyes following Evil Heaven's finger.
They were worried he might select the talented people they had already chosen.
His finger moved downward.
“Whew.”
Several brigade leaders sighed in relief.
But then,
“Cross out the last ten. I will take everyone above them.”
'!?'
The brigade leaders stared at Evil Heaven in stunned disbelief.
Evil Heaven paid them no heed and continued.
“I have fairly left exactly ten for you. Discuss it among yourselves or do whatever you want, then each of you can take one.”
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