WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
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◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈
Chapter 366: The Invisible Torrent (6)
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I grew tired of the pointless questions and finished my report.
As soon as the debriefing ended, the tension in the room vanished and the place quickly became noisy.
‘It wasn't as if there had been much tension to begin with.’
Judging by the atmosphere, they had no intention of drafting or sharing an official document.
Not that anyone had asked questions important enough to warrant one.
Perhaps another department would demand the exact same meeting later.
Making every department repeat the same work over and over was the Martial Alliance's disease... no, its beautiful tradition.
The Martial Alliance had always handled matters this way, but it still drained me.
“Now that it's over, let's go drink!”
“Are you buying today?”
“Why the hell would I?”
“Should I report that you broke the wall earlier?”
“...”
Part of me found it bitter.
Their lack of concern, no matter what enemy appeared, might have looked like composure at first glance. But since I knew what the future held, it only looked like carelessness.
Then a low voice reached my ears.
“You seem disgusted.”
I wondered why he had to put it so extremely, but I kept it to myself and looked toward the voice.
A man who had not asked me a single question until now was watching me with an odd look in his eyes.
“You have a lot of nerve. Or are you simply good at hiding your expression?”
“What do you mean?”
“Neither is a particularly good trait. A superior doesn't like subordinates they can't read.”
“...I see.”
I nodded, though I did not agree.
Then again, this man truly did not like subordinates whose thoughts he could not read.
Why?
“I think it's better to hide your thoughts than to carelessly assume you understand someone else's feelings.”
Because he himself was the most unreadable person of all. He probably knew better than anyone how devious he was.
So-called hatred of one's own kind.
“...What?”
The man's face, which had always looked like a smiling mask, twisted slightly.
Oh? I had never seen him make that expression, even in my previous life.
Had my answer really been that unexpected?
Still...
“Haha. You're an interesting young man.”
His face soon returned to its smiling expression.
Yet I could not sense even the slightest affection or friendliness from it.
Because this was Jeong Inbo, the Great Hall Master of the White Tiger Pavilion.
Jeong Inbo nodded several times before continuing.
“Cheonmok Pavilion has already begun investigating Mukrim. Courier hawks arrive there every day with real-time reports. We did not ask for your account because we wanted to know more about the enemy. We only wanted to understand how you responded.”
In a gentle voice, he kindly explained the purpose of today's gathering.
Was he saying this because he cared about how I felt?
Why bother now?
Unconcerned by my indifferent response, he gave a kindly smile.
“So don't think too poorly of them. Once the culprit behind this incident is identified, they will be the busiest people here. They are preparing as thoroughly as they can for what comes next.”
I could not simply accept that favor, which seemed to ask for nothing in return, or that easygoing kindness.
“...”
Most of the Academy lecturers currently causing trouble had come from the White Tiger Pavilion. They were practically Jeong Inbo's hands and feet.
And when I considered that they were currently being brutally tortured in the Enforcement Hall's underground cells...
‘Jeong Inbo is probably the person here who hates me most.’
Kindness and favor from someone like that.
Wasn't it like the smile of a reaper one met just before death?
“That is why a debriefing like this can only be handled lightly.”
“I know.”
He was still a man who made me uneasy, and I wanted to leave as quickly as possible.
Yet as I tried to slip away, he caught my shoulder and murmured into my ear.
“Of course, I believe a more detailed and harsher investigation is necessary.”
Why did the word “harsher” sound especially loud?
“Of you, naturally.”
“...”
He stared at my face persistently, as though trying to read something from it.
I removed his hand from my shoulder.
“I don't know what you're trying to say.”
“There was one thing I noticed, both in your report and in your explanation.”
“What?”
“You responded far too well.”
Just as I was about to snap back, thinking he was once again defending his own people...
“It was as though you knew in advance that enemies like that would appear.”
What the fuck was he trying to do?
His sudden accusation left me scrambling.
“Dark arts? Heavenly Net and Earthly Web? A pursuit force? Those can all be predicted. But how do you explain directing everyone to respond as though they had coordinated against an unknown enemy before, without making a single mistake? Were you simply that capable?”
Jeong Inbo stared straight through me without even blinking.
I recited the formulas of the Taeul True Scripture inwardly and answered as calmly as I could.
“Hmm. Let's say I was lucky.”
“Luck... Luck is a wonderful word.”
Perhaps he found it difficult to keep staring at me from the same position. He kept turning his head slightly, but his gaze remained fixed on my face, making him look utterly bizarre.
“It is also a convenient word. One that removes the need for further explanation.”
“...”
“Ah, come to think of it, I have not apologized for the trouble caused by the lecturers from our pavilion. I am sorry. My failure to educate them properly caused you harm.”
He offered a handshake while spouting words that held no sincerity at all.
Ugh... What was with the sudden handshake?
The hand I reluctantly took was cold and damp, like snake scales.
“I hope you will consider the White Tiger Pavilion. Many positions have opened up, since the Hall Masters who should return are locked in the Golden Prison.”
“...I'll consider it.”
“Good. You have worked hard.”
It was the same offer I had received from everyone else in the hall, but for some reason, his sounded chilling.
#
Once I left Cheonmok Pavilion and got some fresh air, it felt as though my mind was finally clearing.
Come to think of it, one confusing thing after another had kept happening lately.
They came crashing down without even giving me a moment to sort out my emotions. It already felt like living through a war.
It felt as though unresolved matters kept piling up, piling up, and piling up again.
“Argh!!! Aaaah...!”
I was about to shout to overcome the weight pressing down on me when I suddenly met the eyes of a child standing in front of me.
‘What?’
Despite wearing what seemed to be rather nice clothes, the girl looked terribly shabby.
The clothes themselves looked decent, yet it was obvious they had not been cared for.
‘More importantly, why is a child inside the Martial Alliance...?’
Then the girl, who had been staring at me, suddenly spoke.
“Are you a martial artist, mister?”
“...No.”
“If you're not a martial artist, why are you carrying a weapon?”
“I said I wasn't a mister...”
“Then are you a martial artist, mister?”
Ha! What about me made me look like a mister? I was still called quite handsome...
“Are you a martial artist, mister?”
“...”
I looked around to see whether there was a guardian nearby, but no one seemed to be paying any attention to the girl.
“How did you get in here?”
“I walked.”
“No, I mean...”
My head started throbbing.
I needed to sort out what Jeong Inbo had meant and find out why he said the combat pavilions would be busy.
...But I could not just leave when the girl was worrying me this much.
“You aren't supposed to come in here whenever you want.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“Right... Wait, you know?”
Had she come to visit someone?
There were restrictions on visiting one's family or sect headquarters while serving in the Martial Alliance.
That was why family members often came to visit.
“Yeah. They said I couldn't wear my usual clothes, so they got me new ones.”
The girl turned in a circle, proudly showing off the hem of her new clothes.
More importantly, she had not listened to a word I said.
“...”
I had proven myself qualified as a Dang Seohui caretaker, but perhaps that did not work on every child that age.
Ah... Dang Seohui was an adult now.
In any case, I was about to hand the girl over to someone and return to the Academy when...
Grab.
The girl clutched my sword.
“I want to play with my brother.”
Hah, brother? Seriously?
“...It's too late to sweet-talk me now.”
I had already been called mister three times. My mood could not be restored.
It was not as though I had counted them on purpose. I simply could not help remembering because of my memory.
“I came because they said I could see my brother, but I couldn't find him.”
“...You weren't talking about me.”
Did children really see me as a mister without question?
The cruel reality left a bitter taste in my mouth.
“Anyway, this definitely-not-a-mister brother... no, uncle has a lot to do, so I'll be going. Find your brother, and well... There isn't much to see, but enjoy looking around before you leave.”
I turned to go after saying that.
Clutch.
The girl grabbed the hem of my clothes and looked up at me with clear eyes.
Looking at me like that made it hard not to soften...
“Can you find my brother for me, mister?”
“Mm, no. A ‘mister’ is someone without the strength to help. Besides, I don't even belong here.”
“Uncle...”
“Hmm... Then should this tired uncle look for him? Or not?”
As I pretended to think it over, the girl's eyes sparkled.
When I continued rubbing my chin in thought, she nodded as though making a major decision.
“Come to think of it, I think you're not an uncle. You're a brother. Martial artist brother.”
Hah, this little brat was clever.
Still, I somehow could not dislike her.
I snorted with laughter and lightly patted her head.
“All right. I'll find him.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
I would have to go back the way I came, but there were only a few designated places where visitors could meet people inside the Martial Alliance.
If I checked them, her brother would probably turn up soon enough.
“What is your brother's name?”
“Yeah! My brother's name is Geum...”
Just as the girl began to answer excitedly...
“Taeseon! Geum Taeseon!”
A woman who looked to be in her early forties came running toward her from behind, out of breath.
“Mom!”
“Where did you go?”
So the girl's name was Taeseon.
But the middle-aged woman's clothes were strange as well.
Like Taeseon's, the clothes themselves looked fairly new... but as though they had not been properly washed or mended.
She did not look as openly shabby as Taeseon, but her neck and wrists were dark with grime.
The woman slapped Taeseon on the backside several times, then repeatedly bowed to me.
“I am sorry. Did the child cause you any offense, sir?”
“You don't need to scold her. This is the first child I have met with such excellent manners.”
“Pardon?”
The woman looked at Taeseon as though she could not believe it, while Taeseon glared proudly at her mother as if to say, See?
“Madam! Did you find Taeseon?”
People who seemed to be part of the group began running over one after another.
Looking at them, I could only think that they were a very strange combination.
Their appearances were too different for them to be relatives, and their ages varied too greatly for them to be one family.
What made it even stranger was how the older people repeatedly bowed to young people around my age.
“What are you doing? I told you not to move around carelessly.”
“I am sorry. I was so flustered...”
In the end, the attitude of the people my age, who spoke down to them as though such treatment were natural, really rubbed me the wrong way.
Had I hidden my emotions too much earlier?
One of the young men shot me a sharp look after I sighed without realizing it.
“Who the hell are you?”
“I'm a fucking nobody... Ah, excuse me.”
“...What?”
I could not control my emotions, so strange words kept slipping out.
This was why I should have stayed home. Cheonmok Pavilion should not have called me out for no reason...
“Ha...! Say that again. What did you say?”
“Hah, you still look young, yet your ears are already blocked? I said I'm a fucking nobody.”
“You bastard...”
The young man, who was about to charge at me without warning, was stopped by another person beside him.
They whispered among themselves. Then the wildcat-looking bastard who had tried to attack me asked again in a slightly gentler voice.
“Could you be the young hero Black Flame Dragon?”
“...No.”
“You said no... Then are you Young Hero Jin Sowoon?”
If they asked that much, they clearly knew who I was.
Well, I could not hide it any longer.
“Phew... Yes. I am Jin Sowoon.”
“...”
Then a middle-aged man, the only one standing among the younger people, stepped forward and grabbed my hand.
“Goodness! I nearly committed an offense by failing to recognize a hero.”
...What was this now?
His clothing was stranger than anyone else's I had seen so far.
He was clearly wearing worn martial robes, yet they were impeccably clean.
Just who were these people...?
“I am Song Jusaeng, Sect Leader of the Ilhak Sect.”
“Ah...”
Song Jusaeng introduced himself, but my gaze naturally shifted elsewhere.
To Taeseon, who still wore a sulky expression after being scolded by her mother.
“We have heard much of Young Hero Black Flame Dragon's exploits in Mukrim...”
The child who had come to see her brother would surely never get to meet him.
“The children of our Ilhak Sect suffered greatly there...”
That was because Geum Taejong, her older brother, had remained behind in Mukrim in my place.
Footnotes:
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