WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
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◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈
Chapter 119: The Black Flame Dragon in Golden Garments (4)
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A smile played on one man's lips, and he made no effort to hide his killing intent.
The burly man standing behind him was also puffing himself up, trying to make his already imposing frame seem several times larger.
They were Cheol Sunjik and Nam Hwaseong of the Twelve Peak Alliance.
“What do you call that? That spear-like arrow hidden within the Illusory Arrow.”
“I don't know. Why don't you ask him yourself?”
When I looked at Moyong Jaehwa, he hesitated for a moment before answering.
“I-It is a Horse-Piercing Arrow.”
Upon hearing the name, Cheol Sunjik nodded with a quiet exclamation.
“It truly suits the arrow. So Young Master Moyong was the one who fired it. Thanks to you, I nearly failed to enter the Academy.”
“...”
Cheol Sunjik was still pressing the matter of how I had blocked him and Nam Hwaseong at Mount Song, then casually taken several of their Academy Admission Tokens.
“If you intended to take them, shouldn't you have been prepared to lose them as well?”
At my words, Cheol Sunjik and the members of the Twelve Peak Alliance with him showed faintly twisted expressions.
Cheol Sunjik studied my face for a moment, then asked with clear doubt.
“Are you all right with this?”
“With what?”
“You will need the strength of the Twelve Peak Alliance to form the Academy Representative Corps.”
“...”
“I assumed you had at least considered that. As expected, you always defy my expectations.”
With that, Cheol Sunjik and the Twelve Peak Alliance were led into the banquet hall.
While I mulled over his words, an attendant approached us as well.
“My apologies for the delay. I will show you to your seats at once.”
#
The banquet began with an opening address from the Martial Arts Academy Head.
The training officers and instructors came forward one after another to introduce the subjects under their care. After a brief introduction of me as the top entrant, the musicians began a song-and-dance performance.
All sorts of dishes were brought out in succession, and people moved from table to table, exchanging greetings.
Geumpyo's expression stiffened as he watched the vice head, administrative staff, training officers, and instructors moving about and greeting people here and there.
“...Should we assume they all knew each other already?”
Eunho scoffed at Geumpyo's words.
“They look far too unfamiliar with each other for that.”
Our table stood in the very center, closest to the platform.
Even so, the instructors passed by our table, approaching only the others to exchange greetings, share drinks, and chat.
“But they aren't going over there either.”
Geumpyo pointed toward the table farthest from the platform.
After glancing in that direction, Eunho said, “By coincidence, none of them belong to the Nine Sects One Gang, the Five Great Clans, or the Twelve Peak Alliance. They're probably merchants or government officials.”
“...”
Ignoring Geumpyo's sour expression, Eunho turned to me.
“Senior Brother, shouldn't we approach them first?”
Before I could answer, Geumpyo pointed at my chest.
“We're the guests of honor. It says right here that he's the top student.”
Eunho sighed at him.
“Brother, Senior Brother has to form the officers of the Academy Representative Corps as the Academy Representative. If we become isolated like this, he won't even be able to arrange the academic program. In the worst case, he could lose his position as representative.”
Eunho looked around the hall.
“I heard people compete for officer positions when someone becomes the Academy Representative. Yet there is no sign of that at all.”
“It's probably because we're from the Taeul Sect.”
I rose from my seat.
“Are you going to approach them first?”
“Yes. We have to form the officers somehow. Without them, the Academy students won't move either.”
If I could not unite these thoroughly divided factions, I would lose my position as representative. There was no reason to lose a position I had earned with such difficulty over something so absurd.
“I'll come with you.”
When Eunho stood, Geumpyo, Dongryong, and Moyong Jaehwa began moving as well.
Yet the atmosphere was completely different from what we had expected.
We first approached the Nine Sects One Gang to greet them, but no one turned toward us or paid us any attention.
A few even rose from their seats and moved elsewhere.
“Greetings!”
I raised my voice slightly and greeted them first, but only a handful turned to look at me.
Even they only gave my clothes a quick glance before turning away again, busy talking among themselves.
“...”
Geumpyo's face reddened, while Eunho's expression hardened.
Dongryong looked at a loss, while Moyong Jaehwa looked ready to flip a table. I stepped in to stop him.
“Forget it.”
“But, Brother...”
“They seem busy, so let's go elsewhere first.”
As I moved toward the table of the Five Great Clans, I glanced back toward the Nine Sects One Gang.
Just as expected, the moment we moved away, everyone who had been talking turned to stare at us.
“Ahem... I've been inside too long. It's rather stifling. Shall I go out for some air?”
“I'll come with you.”
As we approached the table where the Five Great Clans were seated, its members suddenly rose and began leaving the banquet hall.
“...Hah.”
“It seems deliberate.”
Eunho looked devastated.
Geumpyo snorted furiously.
“Senior Brother, can't you just appoint some officers yourself?”
“...The Academy Representative sets half of the academic schedule. Points are deducted for every Academy student who does not attend those events.”
Whether Academy students attended the events I arranged was up to them.
In the end, I needed officers capable of mobilizing many Academy students if I wanted them to attend the academic schedule I designed.
Originally, this position had been intended to give the top student a place to build connections and unite that year's students. Yet for someone from the Taeul Sect, it had become a weakness instead.
“What happens if points are deducted?”
“...I have to step down as representative.”
I needed to be able to mobilize at least half the Academy students. With the Nine Sects One Gang and the Five Great Clans already turning their backs on us, it would not be an exaggeration to say I had already lost more than half of the available points.
“...If they are deliberately trying to force you out as representative...”
“Hah... Then Senior Brother would have to give up the position. In the worst case, if every Academy student impeaches him... I heard he could even be expelled from the Academy.”
“What kind of fucking system is that?!”
Only a few hours ago, Geumpyo had been delighted to wear such fine clothes for the first time in his life. Now his face was twisted beyond words.
“They're really acting like this?”
Geumpyo's voice was loud enough to echo throughout the banquet hall.
The training officers and instructors conversing at other tables turned toward us at his shout. The Academy students also cast us a glance, but no one reacted strongly.
“Haah...”
The banquet hall was so brightly lit that it was difficult to feel that night had fallen. Cheerful music played, and delicious food filled every corner.
Still, none of us could enjoy the festive atmosphere.
“This time, my prediction was correct.”
The Geum-Eun-Dong brothers and Moyong Jaehwa, who had all been on edge, glared toward the source of the voice.
Cheol Sunjik sat there with a relaxed expression, just as he had at the entrance.
“Have you come to understand reality a little better now?”
“...”
“If you had joined us from the start, you would not have had to worry about such things.”
“If we had joined you, entering this place would have been impossible to begin with.”
Cheol Sunjik smiled meaningfully.
“The Taeul Sect was never capable of containing someone like you.”
“You speak as if the Twelve Peak Alliance could.”
About two hundred and fifty disciples from the Twelve Peak Alliance's sects and those who followed them had passed the examination.
That was nowhere near half.
Cheol Sunjik suddenly brought up something unrelated.
“I heard that Young Master Jin deliberately gave up special admission.”
He glanced at Moyong Jaehwa.
“And that the Academy Admission Token received by the Grand Strategist was given to someone you had never even met.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“You entered the Martial Arts Academy regular examination with only three junior brothers and no guards.”
As I began tilting my head at words whose intent I could not understand, Cheol Sunjik continued.
“Young Master Jin is far too outstanding.”
“...”
“You are too outstanding and shine too brightly to stand with anyone.”
The Geum-Eun-Dong brothers and Moyong Jaehwa nodded.
“I also gave up special admission. I yielded my place to the junior brother I cherish most. Yet I did not give up on mobilizing one hundred guards. That was as far as I went. Far enough to earn recognition from the others of the Twelve Peak Alliance, but not far enough to draw the vigilance of the Nine Sects One Gang and the Five Great Clans.”
For the first time, Cheol Sunjik looked satisfied.
“You ask whether the Twelve Peak Alliance could contain you? Of course not. Yet we could have proved ourselves as the Twelve Peak Alliance. After securing suitable concessions from the Nine Sects One Gang and the Five Great Clans, we would have achieved harmony.”
Cheol Sunjik looked straight at me.
“Young Master Jin is a threat. That is why there is no way for you to prove yourself to them. To them, expelling you is more convenient than cooperating with you.”
“...If that happens, the Martial Arts Academy will once again be led by the Nine Sects One Gang and the Five Great Clans. Do you want to repeat all of that?”
Cheol Sunjik smiled.
“Is this something that has only been happening for a day or two? We have waited two hundred years. Would waiting another fifty or a hundred years be so difficult? And would it even take that long?”
I had felt this in my previous life as well, but Cheol Sunjik truly was a snake of a man.
“...”
With only a few words from him, the shoulders of the Geum-Eun-Dong brothers and Moyong Jaehwa, who had been so tense, drooped.
“No one in this banquet hall will take an interest in Young Master Jin. Until you are expelled, they probably will not listen to a word you say.”
Cheol Sunjik swept his gaze over the Geum-Eun-Dong brothers and Moyong Jaehwa, then said, “Would you like to know the best course of action?”
“...”
Without waiting for my answer, he continued.
“Step down as representative of your own accord. Return to being an ordinary Academy student. At the very least, you will avoid being forcibly expelled.”
“...”
“Then I hope you enjoy the rest of the banquet.”
Cheol Sunjik clasped his hands in salute and returned to his table.
We stood in the center of the banquet hall, unable to think of returning to our seats or speaking to anyone else.
“Let's return to our table.”
“Senior Brother... I'm sorry, but may I return to the dormitory first?”
Geumpyo spoke without lifting his head. I was about to nod, understanding how he felt.
Murmur, murmur.
The atmosphere in the hall abruptly changed.
The noise and music that had made us seem even more pathetic suddenly stopped.
The musicians, apparently realizing their mistake, quickly resumed playing. Yet the people who had been noisily chatting throughout the hall could not continue their conversations.
They only stared blankly toward the banquet hall entrance.
Three women of radiant beauty were entering, as though light itself shone upon them.
“...Huh?”
“...Could the Academy have invited courtesans?”
“That cannot be. If they were that beautiful, there is no way I would not know them in Hunan.”
Every gaze, regardless of whether it belonged to a man, woman, training officer, or instructor, fixed on the three women entering the hall.
Their flowing garments gave off a strange aura whenever they moved, and their painted beauty seemed unreal.
Every movement held elegance, and only after seeing the smiles on their lips did people realize they were real.
The women who had entered the hall slowly surveyed the room.
Wherever their gazes went, everyone's eyes followed.
After looking around, the three women spotted us standing in the middle of the hall and slowly approached.
“Gulp.”
I heard Geumpyo swallow. Only moments ago, he had been so dejected that he wanted to return to the dormitory.
Everyone in our group was tense.
Then the woman at the front parted her red lips.
“Young Master Jin.”
Every gaze that had ignored and dismissed me until now turned toward me.
The Geum-Eun-Dong brothers, and even Moyong Jaehwa, looked at me with disbelief.
“...”
Hearing her voice, I tilted my head.
Her mannerisms and voice were exactly like someone's.
“Miss Namgung? What is going on?”
Footnotes:
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