WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
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◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈
Chapter 367: The Invisible Torrent (7)
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If I were to speak of my connection with Geum Taejong in my previous life, as usual, I had nothing but one-sided memories.
I even wondered whether it could be called a connection at all.
I'd only seen his name once on the list of those killed in the Sichuan Bloodbath.
That didn't mean we had formed any connection in this changed present, either.
We were little more than distant acquaintances.
So, if I retraced my connection with him, I had to search through fragments of memory.
The first was when I threw my Academy Admission Token onto the ground before the Martial Arts Academy's main gate.
It was Geum Taejong watching the scene and grumbling.
[What's with him? Why's he showing off like that?]
The second was when I appeared at the entrance banquet wearing ceremonial robes embroidered with the words 'top student.'
[He looks utterly ridiculous.]
The third was when I returned from Sichuan, and he glared at me with burning eyes.
[Always acting so high and mighty.]
The fourth was when I rescued the Academy students from the Jegal Clan's mystic formation.
Unlike before, he approached me for the first time and muttered quietly.
[...You'll die soon if you keep doing that.]
The fifth was...
[A commander isn't supposed to take the lead...]
That time, he was closer than ever.
The one who had always glared at me with that stiff face smiled for the first time and said,
[...I'll rest for a bit. I can't be too tired if I'm going to drink.]
It was absurd. The first time I saw him smile, he was dying.
“...”
That was why I couldn't understand it.
Geum Taejong and I had never been that close to begin with.
No, hadn't he disliked me from the start?
And yet...
[From now on... don't step forward. The Unit Leader is important, so...]
He took the sword for me.
The fact that he smiled in satisfaction as he died was a question I couldn't resolve.
“...And so, our Ilhak Sect plans to use this matter as an opportunity...”
I could barely hear Song Jusaeng's long-winded speech.
All I could see was Geum Taeseon, still pouting with an upset expression.
“Young Hero Jin? Young Hero Jin?”
Song Jusaeng must have noticed that I was lost in thought, because he furrowed his brow.
“Are you listening to me?”
His eyes slanted oddly upward as he tried to look at me while keeping his head bowed.
It meant that this man's humble attitude wasn't sincere.
In my previous life, around this time, the newly prominent New Star Martial Clan had eradicated Cheonmok Manor, which had been growing nearby. After greatly expanding its power, it claimed one of the One Hundred Eight Peaks' seats.
The reason was that Cheonmok Manor had secretly studied dark arts.
Ilhak Sect would eventually become a sect of tremendous reputation and influence. Near the Martial Alliance, there was even an incident where a mad old man was beaten to death by thugs for insulting Ilhak Sect.
I looked at Song Jusaeng, who still had his head slightly lowered.
Perhaps he had been able to make Ilhak Sect flourish to that extent because he was clever enough to bring a disciple's family here himself and subtly pressure us to explain that disciple's unjust death.
“...”
I searched through fragments of memory and reconsidered what he'd said. Then I nodded.
“Of course. I've clearly included Ilhak Sect's efforts in the report. You don't need to worry.”
Only then did Song Jusaeng's expression relax.
“That's a relief. You may say there's little point in discussing martial merit in a situation like this, but if their deaths are to have meaning...”
I cut him off.
I understood how he felt, but that didn't make another person's death any lighter.
“Sect Leader, wouldn't it be better to discuss that later?”
When I spoke while looking at Geum Taejong's family, he nodded as though he understood.
No, he continued speaking as though that worked out even better.
“Taejong's family has been unable to return home for weeks because of that. If his martial merit isn't recognized...”
I was worried about Geum Taeseon.
Did being a child mean she knew nothing about the world?
Even if she didn't understand at the time, vague memories would remain and become wounds someday.
I offered an answer that would shut him up.
“Understood. I'll submit an additional report, so please don't worry.”
“Oh! Thank you. At last, this family's grievance can be put to rest.”
Song Jusaeng headed toward the Ilhak Sect members.
As they exchanged quiet whispers, their shoulders shook as though they could barely hold back their smiles.
The girl still wore a pout because she hadn't been able to see her older brother. The middle-aged couple standing behind her kept their heads lowered, whether from fear or resentment, so I couldn't read their expressions.
In the end, I never found out whether Geum Taejong's family truly wanted what the Ilhak Sect Leader wanted.
My fists clenched tightly without me realizing it.
“I don't think I can keep my promise.”
I approached Geum Taeseon and spoke, but the girl didn't move. She only stared somewhere into the distance.
“I'm sorry.”
Leaving those quiet words behind, I turned and left.
#
The first investigation team sent to Mukrim returned.
They carried several objects that appeared to be the enemy's weapons, along with some of the Academy students' remains.
The bereaved families, who had stayed at the Martial Alliance for weeks, wailed when they saw the remains.
Those who had clung to their last hope were finally certain of their deaths the moment they identified the remains.
At least the families who received remains had it better.
“My son...! Was my son not there?”
“Where is Beomgwon? He definitely, definitely went with them!”
Most families didn't get their loved ones' remains back.
“There were many traces of Bone-Dissolving Powder.”
The families who hadn't found remains weren't told about the Bone-Dissolving Powder. Believing their loved ones might still be alive somewhere, they clung once more to a small hope.
The families who saw the remains and those who did not. I couldn't say which side was luckier.
Either way, the funerals were held.
We kept the possibility of survivors in mind, but we couldn't postpone the funerals forever. They proceeded as scheduled.
The Academy students wore Martial Alliance official uniforms several months earlier than expected.
They had finally put on the uniforms they had wanted so badly, but no one looked excited.
The funerals proceeded in the Martial Alliance's Grand Training Ground, where coffins containing some bodies stood beside empty coffins.
Most of the Academy students had recovered from their injuries, yet they sobbed painfully.
Their sobs soon spread to the bereaved families watching the funerals and to the fallen students' fellow disciples.
It was a grander funeral than any before it, and countless mourners from across the land came to the Martial Alliance.
“Today, we will remember those who gave their lives for peace in the martial world. Their deaths will become nourishment for history, leaving an enduring mark and serving as a firm foundation for the next generation and the one after that...”
Everyone praised the fallen Academy students as heroes, but none of the bereaved families looked moved.
They could only grieve as they faced the fact that they would never see them again.
The funerals ended that way.
The Academy students who died in Mukrim were registered as Martial Alliance members, then registered as persons of merit of the Martial Alliance before the ink had even dried.
#
Through the Hao Sect, I reserved Songhwa Pavilion, one of Wuhan's three great taverns.
I was finally making good on my promise to buy drinks after the operation, though several months had already passed.
“Senior Brother, why did you choose Songhwa Pavilion? Should we rent out somewhere quiet instead?”
“It would've been too quiet.”
“Ah...”
I arrived at Songhwa Pavilion first and poured myself a drink. One by one, the Life-and-Death Unit members arrived.
“Looks like the Unit Leader has steeled himself.”
“Can you really afford this? You aren't going to run off and leave us behind later, are you? Hahaha.”
“Come on... The person who didn't run from Mukrim isn't going to run away here.”
“Don't you know money is scarier than people?”
The silly jokes made me think it hadn't been a bad choice.
Still, as more people gathered, more of them simply held their cups in silence.
Life-and-Death Unit members gradually filled the third through fifth floors, but it remained quiet.
At least the noise from the first, second, and sixth floors filled our silence.
Fortunately, as we began adding our own comments to that noise, the silence naturally faded.
“Where are you thinking of applying?”
Some thought about what came next.
“You remember the second daughter of the Yang Family Brewery, right? I want to tell her how I feel... What should I do?”
Some sought advice about their worries.
“Sis, what kind of face powder are you wearing?”
Others chatted about trivial everyday matters.
For the first time in a while, utterly ordinary conversations passed back and forth in the most ordinary way.
“Come to think of it, Wang Jubal carefully saved money because he said he'd come here. What a pointless thing to do.”
“...”
Then, as though it were nothing, someone brought up one of the dead.
The one who spoke and those listening all realized what they had been trying to forget, their shoulders sagging.
No, they couldn't possibly have forgotten. They had only looked away.
Just as heavy silence threatened to press down on the tavern's air, someone sitting across from me gave a faint laugh and replied.
“Exactly. He could've had free drinks here.”
The person beside them joined in.
“Idiot. He hated the Unit Leader that much, yet he missed his chance to empty the Unit Leader's pockets!”
“That's what idiots do. Heh heh.”
They cursed him for no reason and quickly swallowed their drinks.
That was how talk of the dead began.
“Yang Jingeuk said he'd apply to the Azure Dragon Pavilion, but isn't that completely ridiculous?”
“With those grades? He'd be lucky to make it into the White Wolf Pavilion. Otherwise, he'll be sent to a branch office. Hahaha!”
“You're barely hanging on too, aren't you? If it doesn't work out, why don't you apply to the armory?”
“Oh! That's a great idea. But Mala, do they accept people without technical skills there, you bastard?”
Words none of us had been able to say anywhere else poured out like a flood.
The fact that they could no longer share a future with those who had left us filled everyone's hearts with sorrow. The empty spaces left by friends in the everyday life we'd taken for granted brought a deep sense of loss.
Those who had endured by pretending nothing was wrong finally broke down, using their drinks as an excuse.
At last, they drank as much as they wanted.
“That guy's pride was so damn strong... Hic...”
Tearful sobs broke out from tables throughout the tavern.
Even the person who scolded them for crying on such a good day had tears in their eyes.
Those who had never been given time to honestly release their feelings kept swallowing drink after drink, unable to tell whether it was sweet or bitter.
Only now did they drink freely.
The once noisy gathering became a place of mourning again.
After a long time passed.
When even the tears had eased a little, someone shouted at me.
“Unit Leader, say something!”
“Me?”
“Who else is going to speak if not the person hosting this?”
“...You seem like you want to do it.”
“Tch, you caught me.”
Laughter broke out around us at the unexpected exchange, and the one who'd spoken sat down with a bright red face.
I tried to let it pass naturally, but the Academy students' eyes began to turn toward me.
The crying and commotion died down. Even the Academy students drinking upstairs poked their heads out and looked this way.
...What was this?
“Whew.”
I had no choice but to stand.
Just as I was about to say something offhandedly...
“...”
Geum Taejong came to mind, standing in front of me.
“...Our comrades died when we never expected it.”
It wasn't only Geum Taejong. The deaths of the other Academy students came to mind as well.
“They died so pointlessly...”
The Academy students murmured.
These words might cause another controversy.
After the Academy students, the deaths of the Sojeong Unit members from my previous life surfaced as well.
“No matter what meaning the Martial Alliance gives death, there is no death better than being alive.”
The deaths of the Taeul Sect disciples and Martial Alliance members also rose to the surface.
As though a dam had burst, terrible memories from my previous life surged up again and again.
“I don't know how many more deaths may come for us.”
I remembered the words I had spoken on days like this in my previous life. The words I had shared with my unit members.
“Far more battles will happen than we expect, and every time, our lives will be in danger.”
They were words that, like the simple-minded fools we were, I hadn't been able to dress up with a single pretty phrase.
“We will witness many unexpected deaths. Days of sorrow will continue.”
Even so, those words had brought such comfort and relief.
“So... So...”
I spoke those words in this life.
“Let's survive. Desperately.”
Hoping they would comfort them as they had comforted me.
“For ourselves... and for those who care about us.”
I desperately prayed that they would not break easily beneath the despairing future ahead.
“Let's survive.”
Footnotes:
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