WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈
Chapter 199: The Uninvited Guest Who Visited the Academy (4)
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The Representative Officer Corps meeting proceeded without much trouble.
“The Hyeongsan Sect has agreed to host this event.”
I tilted my head at Eunho’s words.
“Host it? They aren’t just sending spirit practitioners?”
“Yes. They said they would personally provide a curriculum on banishing evil and suppressing spirits.”
Even when we had only asked them to dispatch spirit practitioners, they had said scheduling issues meant they could not send anyone until the end of this year.
If they intended to host the event and provide the curriculum as well, it would have to be a major occasion, at least on the scale of a Martial Alliance event.
Why was the Hyeongsan Sect suddenly putting so much effort into an event at the Martial Arts Academy, where they had nothing to gain?
“They didn’t mention a reason, so I didn’t ask.”
“Hmm... It is good news, but...”
We had built a good relationship with the Hyeongsan Sect during the Demon Spirit Plateau Incident, but not enough to make them act like this.
I had no idea what could have prompted them.
Then Seong Moran spoke.
“Could it be because of Young Master Jin?”
Her words made no sense to me.
“What do you mean?”
“I heard that the Hyeongsan Sect’s Demon-Subduing Talismans sold in enormous quantities because of what happened in Sichuan.”
“What?”
“For some reason, even the Martial Alliance, which has its own methods of banishing evil and suppressing spirits, hurried to purchase Demon-Subduing Talismans. Because of that, martial artists across the martial world started buying them as essential protective items, and their price rose several times over.”
“Ah...”
In other words, they had struck it rich and were eager to get moving.
I never expected things to turn out like this.
Well, I hadn’t intended it, but the Hyeongsan Sect had benefited because of me, hadn’t they?
I’ll have to milk this properly.
“This works out well for us.”
“Exactly.”
If the Hyeongsan Sect hosted the event, gathering people this time would not be difficult.
Even those outside the Orthodox Society would naturally become interested in banishing evil and suppressing spirits once they heard what had happened in Sichuan.
“Um... Young Master Jin.”
Namgung Seonhwa spoke more cautiously than usual.
“Yes. Is something wrong?”
“It’s about... my grandfather...”
Seeing her trail off, I silently nodded.
The Invitation of Distinguished Figures was originally meant to take place after this event.
It was an occasion where students invited renowned figures from the martial world and displayed their influence before the other academy students.
Namgung Seonhwa had confidently said she would invite the Azure Emperor Divine Sword, but it seemed things had not gone well.
That was only natural. The Namgung Clan had only just entered a period of stability.
The Azure Emperor Divine Sword, Namgung Taeha, had firmly brought the collateral branches under control by creating the Firmament Cloud-Guarding Sword Art.
That did not mean he held absolute authority.
Furthermore, Namgung Gipyo and other members of the Namgung Clan’s collateral branches were currently at the Martial Arts Academy, along with disciples from sects that supported them. They were all openly opposing Namgung Seonhwa.
They had likely invited the Azure Emperor Divine Sword to the Invitation of Distinguished Figures as well. Since he could not be in two places at once, he had surely refused both sides.
“Grandfather hasn’t given a definite answer yet, so I’ll ask him once more. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll return to the clan myself.”
Something impossible would not become possible just because one forced the issue.
Knowing when to take a step back was important too.
I shook my head.
“No. If we keep asking the Divine Sword, we’ll only burden him.”
Even after I said that, Namgung Seonhwa lowered her head as if she had committed some crime.
I deliberately praised her further.
“Besides, as a member of the representative corps, Miss Seonhwa has much to do for me. You are very important to me. I think returning to the clan over this would be a waste of time.”
“...Yes.”
She nodded, her face faintly flushed as though she understood, but she still did not look ready to give up.
She would probably ask a few more times.
I couldn’t stop her from doing that. Perhaps the Divine Sword might agree to come.
The Invitation of Distinguished Figures would be the most troublesome event for me.
Everyone expected someone at least as influential as a Martial Alliance Pavilion Master. I could hardly invite the leader of the Great Heaven Merchant Group out of nowhere.
In the end, I needed to invite someone who stayed hidden away and rarely made appearances...
The second event might prove more difficult than the first event of the new semester.
Putting those thoughts aside for the moment, I continued the meeting.
Seong Moran and Hong Saryeon reported on the progress of their respective matters one after another.
Then Jang Woojae spoke.
“For now, I’ve selected some students who seem capable of working for the representative corps.”
I looked at the names densely written across the documents and tilted my head.
“Why do we suddenly need people to work?”
Jang Woojae looked puzzled by my question.
“What do you mean, why...? You’re currently handling everything alone, Representative.”
“If you mean processing documents, it’s been going smoothly.”
Jang Woojae let out a soft sigh.
“Isn’t that the problem? The representative corps is operating smoothly only because of your exceptional ability, Representative. If you’re absent, as you were this time, the representative corps itself could have trouble continuing to function.”
That was true. We had entered a temporary break because what happened in Sichuan had been such a major incident. If the Blood Cult had not appeared, that would not have happened.
“We are severely short on people, but most of them are children of merchant families or officials. They should have little trouble learning how to handle the work.”
Hmm. He was sharper than I had thought.
When I showed that I agreed, Jang Woojae’s voice grew more confident.
“We should also consider gradually filling our ranks and properly organizing the representative corps.”
This incident had made me start commuting to the Mantong Office every weekend.
Considering that my workload would only continue increasing, recruiting people was the most urgent matter.
I looked at Jang Woojae with renewed amazement.
How did he understand my circumstances better than I did?
The others each worked more than well enough in their respective roles, but Jang Woojae displayed a particular talent for personnel management.
Personnel management was the most vital part of improving an organization’s efficiency.
By gaining one person, one could make use of dozens or even hundreds more.
I really did have an eye for people.
I gazed at Jang Woojae with satisfaction.
“Is there anything else you’d like to say?”
Perhaps embarrassed by my fixed stare, Jang Woojae cautiously watched my reaction.
I smiled kindly and shook my head.
“You’re doing an excellent job!”
“...It’s nothing. It’s only natural.”
He scratched the back of his head, looking awkward.
He was humble too. His character was outstanding as well.
Good. Very good.
Nam Hwaseong spoke next.
“I-I, for this event...”
“That concludes the meeting.”
“...!”
“Hmm? Why?”
Nam Hwaseong blinked his ox-like eyes.
“What could a spy possibly do besides interfere with the event?”
Nam Hwaseong slammed his hand on the table and leaped to his feet, his face red.
“Damn it! I-I’m not a spy!”
“Sure. Let’s say that’s true.”
“I’m telling you, I really am not! I plan to mobilize people for the event too!”
“All right. Let’s say that’s true.”
I needed to fix that temper of his first.
#
After the meeting ended, I left the restaurant’s annex.
Since we had rented the annex, I told those who wanted to stay and drink to do so, while those who wanted to return to the academy could leave.
Nam Hwaseong stayed behind, holding on to Jang Woojae and Eunho.
Seong Moran and Namgung Seonhwa also stayed, saying they wanted a drink.
In the end, only Saryeon and I returned to the Martial Arts Academy.
It had been a long time since we had spent time alone.
“Eldest Senior Brother, is this really all right?”
“What do you mean?”
Worry filled Saryeon’s face.
She had always worried about me, even in my previous life.
“I mean Nam Hwaseong.”
“Ah... that.”
“Nam Hwaseong is a disciple of the Samwon Sect, which ranks among the upper tiers of the Twelve Peak Alliance. He couldn’t have joined for no reason.”
I nodded at Saryeon’s words.
“That may be true. Still, you don’t need to worry so much.”
“Why not?”
“Because Cheol Sunjik’s intentions aren’t visible in Nam Hwaseong’s actions.”
“...”
Saryeon furrowed her brow slightly, as if she did not understand.
“If Cheol Sunjik had been behind this, he would have joined the representative corps himself or sent someone else. The fact that Nam Hwaseong came means there’s a good chance he chose this himself.”
Even after hearing that, Saryeon pressed her lips together, unable to shake her concern.
I gave her a small laugh.
“Once I rise higher in the future, all kinds of people will gather beneath me. There may be times when we have to cooperate with people like Cheol Sunjik.”
“Rise higher...?”
I nodded.
“Yes. Think of this as practice for that day.”
“...That sounds nice.”
“Hmm? What does?”
Saryeon’s voice rang through the cool night air.
“The part about rising higher.”
When I looked at her, she was staring at me with eyes that shone like stars in the night sky.
“If Eldest Senior Brother rises higher, that means the rest of us will rise higher with you. It also means the Taeul Sect will rise higher in the future.”
“That’s right.”
“It sounds so nice.”
“...”
Saryeon’s steps grew lighter, like a child who had received wonderful news.
What had it been like in my previous life?
A past deeply buried in my memories suddenly surfaced.
[Eldest Senior Brother Cheolyeong has called a gathering. Everyone, even the youngest disciple.]
[He says it’s for the Taeul Sect, but I don’t know if this is right.]
[I’m worried. Is this truly for the Taeul Sect? Is it really for our fellow disciples?]
When we went to the Martial Alliance earlier than the scheduled recruitment date at Gye Cheolyeong’s request, Saryeon had spent every night awake.
Simply looking toward an uncertain future must have made each day painful for her then.
But what about now?
“Just as Eldest Senior Brother said, I can’t wait to see what comes next!”
Saryeon was looking forward to a future that had not yet come.
Not staying awake through the night with worries and concerns.
She would probably be unable to sleep because she was imagining that shining future.
“This is all thanks to Eldest Senior Brother.”
Saryeon smiled brightly, without a trace of worry.
Seeing that made me so happy that I stroked her head.
“What a silly thing to say.”
“...”
Her eyes widened at my touch.
I spoke with certainty.
“This is simply what I should do.”
The painful memories of my previous life crashed over me like waves, then receded.
I would never let them overwhelm me, my sect, or the people precious to me again.
Saryeon could not lift her head, as though she had been deeply moved by my words again.
“Don’t tell me... you were moved to tears again?”
I bent down to look at her face, intending to tease her.
She gritted her teeth.
Huh?
“I told you not to touch my hair!”
In an instant, she glared at me and charged.
“Ah! Ah! Junior Sister, wait!”
We were going back to the dormitory to wash anyway. Was touching her hair such a terrible crime...?!
I fled at full speed with the Peerless Wanderer Divine Art.
“Stop right there!”
Even after living a second life, I still could not understand a woman’s heart.
#
The final day of the temporary break.
Starting tomorrow, the normal academy schedule would resume.
Today would probably be the last day I met Yayul Geuk this often.
Still, he seemed to have grasped the principle that softness overcomes strength. He wouldn’t try to mindlessly slam his opponent into the ground like before.
As I roughly straightened my clothes, I heard a voice from behind me.
“Sowoon, shall I prepare your meal outside again today?”
The Head Attendant quietly asked as she entered the hall.
After glancing toward the training ground, I answered her.
“I’ll skip breakfast today. It seems he hasn’t come.”
“...Has something happened?”
“It’s nothing.”
Leaving the worried Head Attendant behind, I exited the hall and headed for my private training ground.
A figure like a boulder sat cross-legged at its center.
What an enormous build.
He was a man whose body was far larger than even Bang Duchil’s.
The gigantic spear placed at his feet was much longer than one an ordinary person could wield.
Although I came within close range, the man did not even open his eyes.
Then he asked me, “Are you Jin Sowoon?”
His low voice was as fierce as a tiger’s roar.
I had never felt intimidated by those who trained external arts in this life, yet a single sentence from him brought tension into the air.
Still, backing down here would wound my pride as a former member of the Sojeong Unit.
Besides, where else in the world was more renowned for its nerve and audacity than the Sojeong Unit?
“Didn’t you come here already knowing that?”
Twitch.
At my provocation, the man raised one eyelid. A murderous aura burst forth, as if blood-red light were pouring from it.
“Are you saying you expected me to come?”
His presence was intimidating, but so was the way he spoke.
This was not the manner of someone who simply overestimated their family’s martial arts.
Could he be one of the direct line?
As my thoughts raced, the man slowly rose.
“Or... are you saying it doesn’t matter who I am?”
Although he was clearly not raising his internal energy, a violent fighting spirit rolled from him.
More than that.
The thick smell of blood, one that should never have come from an ordinary human, brushed past my nose and sounded an alarm in my mind.
“You are truly an arrogant bastard.”
They said dogs wet themselves and fled the moment a dog butcher appeared.
He wore immaculate robes and had a neat appearance, yet looking at him filled me with instinctive revulsion.
A growling sound echoed through the area once more.
“That must be why you could do such a thing to Jupyeong.”
Ak Jupyeong was one of the Shandong Ak Clan’s direct-line heirs.
The fact that he called him Jupyeong suggested that this man’s status was no lower than Ak Jupyeong’s.
The man’s body, already like a boulder, seemed to loom as large as Mount Tai.
He stood nearly eight feet tall.
Now I understood why he used such an abnormally long and heavy spear.
Thud.
“Show me as well!”
Whoosh!
Despite his immense size, the gigantic spear swept toward me with terrifying force.
Using a spear to slash instead of thrust seemed foolish, but that was not his intent in the first place.
Thud!
Even after drawing the Black Dragon Sword to block it, my body lifted into the air and flew back.
Scrrrape!
I barely used my movement art to regain my footing, only to find the man already standing before me.
What kind of speed was that?!
Whoosh.
I evaded the spear shaft with the Iron Bridge.
As it swept past directly above my face, I realized it was no ordinary weapon.
A steel spear shaft...
There was a reason my hand had gone numb even after I redirected it with the Black Dragon Sword.
Whoosh! Crash!
I dodged the spear as it came down as though to split my head, and it smashed into the training ground floor.
The hard marble shattered, fragments flying in every direction.
Only then did I recall someone from the records of people stored in my mind.
“Ak Byeongbi, Master of the Inspectorate’s Third Department.”
One of his brows rose.
I gritted my teeth and spoke.
“They call you the Blood-Devil Flying Spear in the martial world, don’t they?”
He stopped mid-attack for a moment, then readjusted his stance.
“My comrades of the White Path often point fingers at my epithet.”
“...”
He briefly looked down at his hands, then looked at me with detached eyes.
“But I don’t care. If it is to protect the justice of the White Path, I can become a Blood Devil countless times against the Black Path and heretical martial artists.”
Damn it.
I never expected this man to come in person.
“So, like yesterday, are you here as a member of the Inspectorate?”
“...”
I met Ak Byeongbi’s gaze directly and asked, “Am I... a threat to the justice of the White Path?”
There was not the slightest hesitation in Ak Byeongbi’s eyes.
The seven stars who protected the Martial Alliance.
“One thing is clear. You are not a pure member of the White Path.”
Ak Byeongbi, who held the title of Blood Star among them, saw me as an enemy.
Footnotes:
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