WeTried Translations
Translator: ZERO_SUGAR
Editor: Abstract
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 82: Monster Academy Student (1)
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Early in the Shen hour, in the afternoon.
Most masters would have been in their offices or lecture halls at this time, but because of last night's incident, several remained in the residential grounds.
A few masters resting in their quarters sensed it at the same time.
A fierce wave of life energy that stirred their Ki sense.
It was radiating from somewhere not far away.
Bang! Bang!
Loud crashes soon followed.
A fierce fight was taking place nearby.
'What's this?'
Hak Gyu, the Fist Tyrant of Iron Grip and the fist-technique instructor for the second-year cadets, frowned.
Things were already chaotic because of last night's incident. Who was fighting this fiercely inside the academy?
Thud!
Hak Gyu threw open the door and headed straight for the source.
He was not the only one.
"Master Hak Gyu!"
"Master Dae Yeon."
"So you sensed it too."
Master Dae Yeon, another second-year instructor who lived nearby, was also heading toward the disturbance after recognizing the sounds of a fight through their Ki sense.
As Dae Yeon used a movement skill, they said to Hak Gyu, "Could that be where Master Sa is staying?"
"It seems so."
Master Sa.
The location of the Manor belonging to Sa Mu-heo, one of the Six Stars of Heaven and a Special Master Grade instructor.
It was hard to understand what could be happening. Fighting while displaying this much power meant both sides were going all out. Who could a master like Sa Mu-heo possibly be fighting?
Rumble!
Besides them, the academy's nearby guard warriors were rushing there as well.
When they finally arrived...
"S-Stop! I was the one who did it! I... Aaaaargh!"
'!?'
The Manor grounds had been reduced to near ruins.
Even the walls had collapsed, and a huge crater had been gouged into the courtyard. A scream that was almost a shriek came from Sa Mu-heo at the bottom of it.
They looked down in shock and could not help but stare.
'What in the world...'
'Isn't that Master Sa?'
Sa Mu-heo's condition was no different from that of the courtyard at the Manor.
Nearly the entire body had been crushed. Bones from both arms and legs had pierced through the flesh and protruded everywhere. It was hard to imagine Sa Mu-heo ever returning to active duty in that state.
Seeing one of the academy's five strongest masters reduced to this left everyone stunned.
"Ugh... stop..."
That arrogant man was practically begging.
Yet something even more shocking stood before them.
'Wait, that person...?'
A massive upper body, muscles red with heat and steam pouring off them.
At first, the sheer intimidation of that appearance had made it hard to tell who it was.
But it was Mumu.
Hak Gyu, who had supervised the first gate of the entrance examination, recognized him immediately from his face.
'No. What is that appearance, and Mumu did this to Master Sa?'
For a moment, Hak Gyu doubted his own eyes.
Hak Gyu had tested Mumu personally back then, so this was impossible to believe.
Sa Mu-heo was several levels above Hak Gyu as a master.
Even if Mumu possessed monstrous strength, could someone who had not learned Martial Arts turn Sa Mu-heo into such a wreck?
Master Dae Yeon spoke in shock.
"W-Who is that giant to have done this to Master Sa?"
"........A cadet."
"A cadet? There is a cadet built like that..."
"I do not know if you remember. The new cadet who had not learned Martial Arts."
"A new cadet? Don't tell me..."
Master Dae Yeon's eyes went wide at Hak Gyu's words.
Did that mean this was the same cadet who had not learned Martial Arts?
"How can this make any sense? You are saying a cadet who has not learned Martial Arts completely overwhelmed Master Sa, one of the Six Stars of Heaven?"
"Overwhelmed..."
This was closer to humiliation than overwhelming someone.
Sa Mu-heo's state was utterly miserable.
Even the successors of the Four Immortal Masters would likely have found it impossible to do this.
Hak Gyu swallowed dryly and spoke with a grim expression.
"I do not know what this situation is either. More importantly, we need to restrain that child right away. At this rate, Master Sa may die."
Though he said that, Sa Mu-heo's condition was already severe.
It was a miracle that Sa Mu-heo was still alive.
* * *
Vice-Master Dan Pil-hu sat quietly in the holding cell with his eyes closed.
From the outside, it looked like meditation to settle his mind, but Dan Pil-hu's thoughts were in complete turmoil.
No, he was anxious.
The interrogation would resume soon, yet he had still failed to present anything decisive that could clear him of suspicion.
'Damn it.'
If he could confront Sa Mu-heo directly, the true culprit, there would at least be a chance. But for that to happen, Sa Mu-heo had to agree to the confrontation willingly, or some small piece of evidence had to emerge.
Unless Sa Mu-heo was an idiot, there was no chance the man would make such a mistake.
'This is suffocating.'
At the moment, all Dan Pil-hu could trust were his secret operatives.
They were his closest direct subordinates, who had worked with him since his time in the Martial World Association's Audit Department.
Still, with Dan Pil-hu imprisoned like this, they would surely be under investigation as well.
'They are smart. They will find a way to handle it.'
Dan Pil-hu believed they would.
The only concern was not the academy, but Sa Mu-heo.
While Dan Pil-hu was being held here, there was a high chance Sa Mu-heo would fabricate false evidence to further cement the suspicions against him.
'If I were that bastard, I would do the same.'
This situation was utterly frustrating.
Who knew being a suspect could leave someone this helpless?
If the Academy Director returned and the charges were finalized, Dan Pil-hu would not just be driven from this world. The academy could deal with him themselves or hand him over to the authorities.
'...If the worst happens, should I prepare for it after all?'
His mind was tangled in thought when Baek Woo-gi, one of the Six Stars of Heaven wearing a white mask, entered the room containing the holding cell.
It seemed the interrogation was about to begin again.
But Baek Woo-gi held an object called a Gate-Opening Mirror.
"Master Baek, what is that?"
"Vice-Master. You have been cleared of suspicion."
Dan Pil-hu's eyes went wide.
Baek Woo-gi had brought the Gate-Opening Mirror that released the Golden Gate Locks sealing the seven great gates, so Dan Pil-hu had hoped for this. Still, he had not expected to hear that his suspicions had truly been cleared.
There had been no sign of it during the last interrogation.
"Is that true?"
"Yes. As you said, there was another true culprit."
At those words, the tension left Dan Pil-hu, and he let out a breath of relief.
"Hah. Have you caught the culprit?"
"Yes."
"It was Sa Mu-heo, was it not?"
"It was exactly as you said, Vice-Master."
"Did I not tell you? Sa Mu-heo was the culprit."
Relieved to have been cleared of suspicion, Dan Pil-hu spoke with a touch of smugness.
Baek Woo-gi gave a fist-and-palm salute, lowered their head, and apologized.
"Though I was in charge of the interrogation, I am sorry that I did not trust you, Vice-Master."
"No. It would be stranger for the person conducting an interrogation to believe a suspect who claims innocence."
"Thank you for saying so."
Baek Woo-gi thanked him and began using the Gate-Opening Mirror to remove the Golden Gate Locks embedded in Dan Pil-hu's seven great gates.
As each Golden Gate Lock was removed, Dan Pil-hu's blocked life energy began to circulate again.
Once every lock had been removed, Dan Pil-hu asked, "Did the secret operatives find the evidence that proved he was the true culprit?"
The secret operatives, his direct subordinates, were the only ones who could have saved him.
Baek Woo-gi shook their head.
"No."
"No? Then did you uncover it through your own investigation, or an investigation conducted by the academy?"
"That was not it either."
Dan Pil-hu could not hide his confusion.
If it was neither the academy nor the secret operatives, how had they discovered that Sa Mu-heo was the true culprit?
In a way, this had been a battle of wits against Sa Mu-heo, the one behind it all.
Baek Woo-gi spoke with an almost absurd tone.
"...Master Sa Mu-heo... no, that bastard confessed himself."
"He confessed?"
"Yes. We also secured some of the hidden physical evidence related to the crime based on his statement."
Dan Pil-hu furrowed his brow.
Something was strange.
That filthy bastard had committed something so grave and pinned every suspicion on Dan Pil-hu. There was no way Sa Mu-heo would confess on his own.
"He could not have confessed so easily..."
"Not easily."
"What do you mean by that?"
"........Someone beat him until he was practically crippled, and that was why he confessed."
"Huh?"
Sa Mu-heo had been beaten until he was nearly crippled?
The only masters in the academy who could handle him were Dan Pil-hu himself, the Academy Director, Meok Chong-un, and the late Elder Hang Yeon, former one of the Ten Great Masters of the Force of Justice.
"Could it have been the Academy Director or Master Meok Chong-un?"
"No."
That was right.
The Academy Director and Meok Chong-un should be at the imperial palace right now.
Even if they had received word, it would have been difficult for them to return in a single day.
"Then who did this to Sa Mu-heo?"
"...The new cadet, Mumu."
'!?'
Dan Pil-hu's eyes widened.
He knew about Mumu's hidden monstrous strength, but he had believed Mumu would still fall short of Elder Hang Yeon, former one of the Ten Great Masters of the Force of Justice, or Sa Mu-heo in a fight where life and death were at stake.
Yet Mumu had done that to Sa Mu-heo?
"I found it hard to believe too."
Baek Woo-gi spoke as if they understood Dan Pil-hu's reaction.
They had been incredibly shocked as well.
Sa Mu-heo's condition was nearly the worst imaginable. It was hard to believe that the innocent child Baek Woo-gi had once counseled had done this.
'Hah...'
Then Dan Pil-hu had underestimated Mumu.
Mumu had reduced even the terrifying Sa Mu-heo, who had defeated Elder Hang Yeon, former one of the Ten Great Masters of the Force of Justice, to a crippled state?
This was a monster far beyond anything Dan Pil-hu had expected.
At only seventeen, Mumu had defeated a master who had reached the peak of the Master level.
'Wait?'
Had Mumu's true strength, which he had worked so hard to conceal until now, not been exposed?
Dan Pil-hu could not help but feel troubled.
'Good grief.'
He was truly grateful that Mumu had helped him.
It even moved him somewhat.
All the help Dan Pil-hu had given Mumu had not been in vain.
But now, the academy would surely make an issue of Mumu's strength somehow.
This would not do.
'I need to see him.'
"If I have been cleared of suspicion, I should return to duty at once..."
"If you are trying to see Cadet Mumu, that will be difficult right now."
"...What do you mean?"
"The Academy Director has returned to the academy."
"What?"
The Academy Director had returned from the imperial palace in one day?
Of course, that was not impossible for a master like Do Jeong-myeong, the Heavy Sword Great Hero and one of the current Ten Great Masters of the Force of Justice.
If Do Jeong-myeong used a movement skill without resting even once, it could be done.
The situation must have been urgent enough for the Academy Director to rush back.
"Then Mumu is meeting with the Academy Director alone right now?"
"That is correct. By now, they are probably..."
* * *
At the same time.
Inside the Academy Director's office in the main building of Changcheon Martial Academy.
Mumu had beaten Sa Mu-heo into a near crippled state and forced a confession out of him. After writing an incident report in the main building's interrogation room, he had been summoned to the Academy Director's office.
The middle-aged figure in a purple formal robe, with an impressive mustache and a strong impression, was Do Jeong-myeong, the Heavy Sword Great Hero and Academy Director of the academy.
'Hmm.'
Do Jeong-myeong stroked their beard and looked at Mumu.
Given the position, it was impossible to remember every single cadet. Still, there were a few exceptional cadets that Do Jeong-myeong remembered.
Mumu was one of them.
'So this child is that child.'
The first cadet in Changcheon Martial Academy's history to pass the entrance examination through physical strength alone.
Naturally, Mumu had become a topic of conversation, so Do Jeong-myeong remembered him.
This incident was quite surprising as well.
Do Jeong-myeong had received word of the situation at the academy by carrier pigeon while at the imperial palace and rushed back. Upon arriving, Do Jeong-myeong had immediately heard that the true culprit had been caught.
[Was it not said that the Vice-Master was under suspicion?]
[That was the case, but Master Sa Mu-heo confessed with his own mouth.]
[Confessed personally?]
The confession had not come through physical evidence or investigation.
Sa Mu-heo had revealed himself as the culprit solely to survive, forced by sheer power.
It would have been less surprising if one of the academy's masters had done that, but this was astonishing.
[A cadet did it?]
The one who had captured the true culprit was Mumu.
The fact that Mumu had subdued Sa Mu-heo through force, despite Sa Mu-heo having killed even the former Ten Great Masters of the Force of Justice member Elder Hang Yeon, had not spread among the cadets. Still, it was enough to throw the main building into chaos.
'Did this child truly subdue Sa Mu-heo?'
Nothing extraordinary could be felt through Ki sense.
A faint trace of energy could be felt in Mumu's dantian, but it was not ki that had been gathered and revealed. It was the state just before Mumu's dantian was fully formed.
Looking at Mumu this way, it made no sense.
'Only seventeen. Could a cadet who had just enrolled possibly subdue a master stronger than the former Ten Great Masters of the Force of Justice?'
The fight had happened less than a two-hour period ago.
Yet Mumu looked perfectly fine.
There was not a single visible injury despite fighting such an extraordinary master.
"Um... do I have to keep standing here like this?"
Mumu had grown confused because the Academy Director had only stared at him without saying anything.
Do Jeong-myeong studied Mumu for a moment, then asked directly, "You are Mumu?"
"Yes."
"Can you tell me how you subdued Master Sa Mu-heo?"
If Do Jeong-myeong knew how the fight had gone, it would be possible to guess what kind of power this child was hiding.
Mumu tilted his head, then answered casually.
"With strength."
"........."
Did this child not understand what was being asked?
Do Jeong-myeong stared at Mumu before asking again.
"Yes. I understand that much. But I want to know exactly how you defeated Master Sa Mu-heo."
Mumu finally understood, clapped his palm, and said, "I beat him up."
"........."
Footnotes:
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