WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
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◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈
Chapter 423: The Price of Fame (3)
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Eunho watched Jin Sowoon being dragged away(?) by those from the Alliance with sorrowful eyes, then immediately set to work.
‘I need to find a way.’
As a Taeul Sect disciple who had entered two massive organizations, the Martial Arts Academy and the Martial Alliance, Eunho had never been free of danger.
Still, the current situation gripped the heart even more tightly.
‘My fellow disciples and the elders of the Taeul Sect!’
The hardships they had endured were something they could overcome, but the attacks the Taeul Sect would face from the entire martial world might be worse than anything they had suffered.
Eunho knew the time for reopening the sect was drawing near.
Yet reopening the sect in peaceful times and reopening it at a time like this were worlds apart.
If things went wrong, the Taeul Sect could be crippled the moment it reopened.
‘Of course, Senior Brother Jin is there, so that will not happen...’
That was exactly why Eunho was even more worried.
If anything happened to the Taeul Sect, there was no telling what that person, already like a colt with its tail on fire, would do in the name of revenge.
“Ugh... No. Absolutely not!”
For the peace(?) of both the Taeul Sect and the martial world, that could never be allowed to happen.
Think. Think... Hmm.
“Is prevention not the best course of action?”
But Eunho had only just been assigned to the Mantong Office and was still learning the job. All Eunho could do was minor work, such as checking whether each department was wasting its budget.
So, Eunho decided to make use of personal connections.
#
Thwong.
It was a training ground belonging to the Martial Arts Academy, though it stood so far away that it was practically separate from it.
Even when the Martial Arts Academy had been open, only one person used this training ground. Now that the Academy had closed, that person was still its sole user.
Thwong.
With the crisp sound of a plucked string, something flashed and shot into the sky.
Boom.
A sharp explosion rang out from the object soaring through the air, and a streak of light vanished even faster.
“Are you training?”
Moyong Jaehwa turned at Eunho’s presence and smiled brightly.
“Yeah! I was just about to check the target. Want to come with me?”
There were no targets or stray arrows anywhere near Moyong Jaehwa, who was honing his archery.
Instead, an enormous curtain rose as high as a building around the training ground, blocking even the view.
To see the target, they had to cross that towering curtain, go over a mountain, and enter the basin beyond.
‘The person who came up with this insane training method and the person following it are both...’
It was obvious who had proposed training that defied all common sense.
Jin Sowoon.
And Moyong Jaehwa was quietly following that unreasonable regimen.
They crossed the curtain and went over the mountain in no time.
Then Moyong Jaehwa spoke with difficulty.
“Eunho... Could you slow down a little?”
“Huh?”
Eunho came to their senses and realized they were several steps ahead of Moyong Jaehwa.
While Eunho had been lightly jogging, Moyong Jaehwa had been desperately running.
“Ah... Sorry.”
“That’s amazing. Your movement art is already at this level.”
Eunho had surpassed the Moyong Clan’s movement art by a wide margin.
Eunho was startled without meaning to. Eunho had realized just how far they had come compared to a few years ago.
At the same time, Eunho could not help feeling bitter.
‘This is not enough.’
Eunho had reached the place they had once dreamed of so fervently as a child, yet their strength still had not grown as much as they wanted.
After running for a while amid those thoughts, they arrived at the basin below the mountain, where the target had been set up.
They slowed down from there and continued while talking.
“Why is Eldest Senior Brother making you train like this anyway? Is he in his right mind?”
Naturally, their topic of conversation was Jin Sowoon.
“I had my doubts when I first heard about it too.”
Just doubts?
If Eunho had been the one doing it, Eunho would have asked whether Jin Sowoon had suffered qi deviation.
“But he said that arrows fired from somewhere you can see are frightening enough, so how much more terrifying would arrows be if they came from somewhere you could not see? That convinced me.”
Come to think of it, it was strange.
Unlike them, Moyong Jaehwa’s school had never been in danger, and the Moyong Clan itself possessed tremendous martial strength.
Why, then, did Moyong Jaehwa pursue martial arts to such an unreasonable degree?
Moyong Jaehwa answered Eunho’s question as though it were obvious.
“I was terrified in Sichuan. It was the first time I realized that neither my family name nor my clan’s martial arts could protect me.”
“...”
Their starting points might have differed, but martial artists all seemed to feel the same thing in the end.
Once they reached the target, the scenery around them began to change.
Eunho could not hold back their amazement.
“Whoa...”
Countless holes riddled the trees and rocks. The bare earth lay exposed, and the entire area around the target had been miserably pulverized.
“The accuracy is still lacking.”
“Isn’t this enough?”
Eunho looked toward the direction from which the arrows had been fired.
As expected, the mountain blocked everything from view.
Arrows falling from such a distance when one could not even sense their direction...
Eunho could not begin to imagine how anyone was meant to stop them.
Moyong Jaehwa spoke beside Eunho, sounding embarrassed but determined.
“He said I should raise my accuracy as much as possible in case the range increases further.”
“...”
What would happen if Moyong Jaehwa perfected his archery?
Would there be anyone in the world who did not fear his arrows?
Eunho could not help thinking that if someone could shake the world with a single bow, it might be Moyong Jaehwa, standing right before them.
“But did you come just to watch this?”
“Oh! There’s something I wanted to ask you.”
“What is it?”
“Could you invite your grandfather, Moyong Gang, to the Taeul Sect’s reopening ceremony?”
“W-What?!”
Moyong Jaehwa, who had been smiling and chatting moments ago, froze like ice.
“G-G-G-Grandfather?”
He repeated the same word several times, his teeth chattering like a boy who had encountered a jiangshi[1].
“W-Why Grandfather?”
His friend, who usually spoke so well, was suddenly stammering over a few words. Eunho felt bad for him.
‘Right. He’s terribly afraid of his grandfather.’
After hearing about Eunho and the Taeul Sect’s situation, Moyong Jaehwa fell into deep thought before crying out with determination.
“O-Okay!!! I’ll try to persuade Grandfather!!!”
Moyong Jaehwa did not look particularly reliable, despite his resolute declaration.
“Hmm...”
Eunho thought that Moyong Jaehwa’s greatest fear might truly be his own grandfather.
“B-But it probably will not work. He hates doing anything other people ask him to do.”
Of course, it was unlikely to happen.
#
As I entered the Martial Alliance behind an Alliance warrior, I found the atmosphere distinctly different from before.
‘It’s tense.’
The place seemed drained of energy, yet the sharpened tension in everyone’s nerves gave it a cold edge.
I knew the reason well.
The Alliance had been turned upside down over Dam Ak’s matter.
I heard that every department head connected to the incident at Bongan Hall had been dismissed.
Still, the coldness in the looks directed at me had not changed.
After all, the ones who filled those newly vacant posts were the people the department heads trusted most.
What did that matter? This was how the Alliance would gradually be cleansed.
Since I needed to look further ahead, I took a deep breath...
“Please calm yourself.”
“Huu... Aren’t those bastards looking at me with hostility?”
When the Alliance warrior turned to look at them, they all awkwardly hurried to avert their eyes.
“Many people are watching Master Jin right now. Please be mindful of every action you take.”
“Yes!”
Even so, the dismissal of the Cheonmok Pavilion Master was a huge accomplishment.
It had broken the Beggar Sect’s exclusive contract.
On top of that, thanks to the Beggar Sect making a mess of things, the Hao Sect had quietly gained a foothold in the Martial Alliance as well.
Now that the monopoly on information had been broken, information about the Demonic Cult would no longer be omitted at someone’s convenience as it had been in my previous life.
‘Right. I just need to change things one by one.’
More had already changed than I had expected.
A short while later, I arrived at the Alliance Leader’s Hall.
“You may enter.”
The Alliance warrior said that, then continued watching me.
“Thank you. You can go now.”
“I’ll leave after I see you enter.”
“...”
Did they think I was going to run away?
When I went inside, another Alliance warrior was waiting for me.
“This way.”
The repeated process of being guided farther inside gradually made me tense.
I met Jegal Somyeong often enough that I felt no pressure around them, but Alliance Leader Hyeok Mugang felt different.
‘They were also the one responsible for keeping me out of the White Wolf Pavilion.’
Personal matters aside, Hyeok Mugang had led the Martial Alliance against the Demonic Cult.
My experience and age far surpassed Hyeok Mugang’s, but the force of that presence, deeply imprinted in my mind, was not easily erased.
“They are waiting inside.”
The Alliance warrior standing before the door gave me a moment.
It seemed I was expected to straighten my clothes one last time.
After adjusting my outfit and waiting, the Alliance warrior opened the door.
“Welcome.”
Hyeok Mugang greeted me warmly from within the inner chamber, while Jegal Somyeong was frowning as if something had greatly displeased them.
Why did the smiling Hyeok Mugang feel more burdensome than Jegal Somyeong’s frown?
“It has been a long time since I last greeted you. Have you been well?”
When I offered a fist-and-palm salute, Hyeok Mugang burst into hearty laughter.
“We are not strangers meeting for the first time. There is no need to stand so much on ceremony. Come, sit comfortably.”
Hyeok Mugang said that, but...
‘How am I supposed to do that?’
Still, as an Alliance warrior, I could not disregard the Martial Alliance Leader’s order.
I began to stretch out my folded legs to sit more comfortably when...
“You’re doing that again after being told to sit comfortably...”
Jegal Somyeong glared at me as though they were dumbfounded.
‘What do you want me to do...?’
As I remained stuck in an awkward posture, Hyeok Mugang spoke.
“That is enough. Sit comfortably.”
Jegal Somyeong clicked their tongue and turned away, apparently displeased by something.
‘Now I see why their nickname is the Small-Minded One.’
Once I sat down, Hyeok Mugang himself filled my cup with tea, an honor beyond measure.
“I heard you have endured much.”
Hyeok Mugang was the same in this life and the last. Hyeok Mugang understood people and knew exactly how to treat them.
“What hardships? He volunteered for it from the beginning. Why didn’t you report it?!”
“...”
Jegal Somyeong, on the other hand, was busy finding fault with me regardless of the result.
“What? Do you have a complaint?”
“...”
I had not reported it because Dam Ak asked me not to. What was I supposed to do?
“Enough, Chief Strategist. You were praising him until yesterday. Why are you suddenly acting this way?”
“Ahem! When did I ever praise him?”
This was why I had been called here.
“Isn’t this a meeting to settle what has happened and decide what comes next? There is no need to keep finding fault with things that have already passed.”
“Ahem!”
Rewards and punishments must be clear.
“Some may call the actions of a few people foolish, but the Martial Alliance nearly committed a grave mistake. Had things gone wrong, the Alliance might have been forced into a major war. Solving such a situation is something worthy of praise.”
I could not help nodding at Hyeok Mugang’s fair words.
“This should not end with words alone. The Alliance itself must reward him.”
As expected, someone leading a Great Undertaking had a generous heart.
Hmm. What should I ask for? The gold treasury? The silver treasury? No, what I urgently needed right now was...
“But he failed to make the report he was obligated to make, acted on his own, and caused people across the Alliance to misunderstand. He must also pay for putting the warriors of the outer compound to sleep as a group and neutralizing the Alliance’s security.”
“...”
Who was this narrow-minded, petty person? Were they really the Martial Alliance’s Chief Strategist and the person leading the Mantong Office and Profound Mystery Pavilion?
“Hmm... The Orthodox Society’s backlash is quite severe right now.”
Excuse me, Alliance Leader! How could you agree so easily?!
“And is that all? We might overlook him wrecking the Wudang Sect in Eunhyeon, but we cannot simply ignore how he beat the Wudang Sect members into a pulp after returning to Wuhan.”
They were the ones who came looking for trouble.
“Wasn’t the Wudang Sect at fault for that?”
“Your hand was too heavy. Look at him. He came back completely fine without even a minor scratch. Even if the Wudang Sect was at fault, do you think they will simply let this go?”
“Um... I have an injury too.”
I quickly showed the wound on my forearm.
Jegal Somyeong leaned in to inspect it, but...
“What injury?”
Ah, right. The Ten-Thousand-Year Earth Bear’s energy!
Damn it... My recovery was too good when I did not need it.
Jegal Somyeong pulled back and slowly rubbed their face.
“Let the reward and punishment cancel each other out in this matter. It will take considerable effort to keep the bastards from the Wudang Sect under control.”
“Hmm... Shall we do that?”
What was this supposed to mean?!
They had not secretly arranged this in advance, had they...?
As the conversation naturally moved in that direction, I started to feel impatient.
After everything I had gone through, this was how they intended to settle it?
‘These people won’t do!’
If I stayed quiet under Hyeok Mugang’s presence, they would take me for a pushover.
“You have no complaint either, do you?”
“No.”
When I answered so readily, Jegal Somyeong and Hyeok Mugang looked slightly surprised, but also somewhat disappointed.
Well, I had never simply let things go before, so it made sense.
Shouldn’t I meet their expectations, then?
I smiled and lifted the teacup before me.
“Then I suppose there is no need to deliver the letter Strategist Dam Ak asked me to pass on.”
“What? If you had something like that, you should have brought it out earlier!!! I was already frustrated because we had received no word.”
Jegal Somyeong thrust out a hand, but I shook my head.
“I actually lost it.”
“W-What?!”
“He said it was a letter about the future relationship between the Martial Alliance and the Black Alliance... If it were truly important, he would contact you again. Hmm, the tea is not very fragrant today.”
“Y-You lost it...!”
Dam Ak would not be sending a letter first after all he had endured, of course.
“You said the reward and punishment would cancel each other out, so please let this be canceled out as well.”
“Y-You bastard?!”
Jegal Somyeong looked ready to clutch the back of their neck and collapse, but what could they do?
I said I had lost it.
‘Thank goodness I didn’t show my hand beforehand.’
=======
Author’s Note
Hello, fellow companions of the martial world. This is Jeokseolmok.
I hope you are keeping well despite the strange workings of heaven and earth, bringing both summer heat and the rainy season.
I have returned with consecutive releases today. I also apologize for arriving late.
Lately, I have been thinking deeply and making adjustments to Sowoon’s journey.
Thanks to the affection and support of all you great heroes, Sowoon has been able to take each step forward.
I will continue thinking carefully so that his journey may become even more meaningful.
I will keep working hard so that I can bring you consecutive releases more often.
Please continue to accompany Sowoon on his journey. Thank you, always.
P.S. Some people keep asking whether I like fried dumplings. I do not know why, but I do like them.
They never get old.
=======
[1] Jiangshi: A Chinese reanimated corpse, often depicted as a hopping vampire-like monster.
Footnotes:
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