The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything - Chapter 462

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Chen

◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈

Chapter 462: Uncertain Conviction (4)

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The position of Clinic Director at the Life-Saving Clinic was closer to that of a physician than a martial artist, but he seemed like the kind of person who used his abilities not to find meaning in his profession, but as a means to wealth and glory.

That did not mean he lacked skill.

After all, someone without skill could not become the Clinic Director.

‘Nor is it a position one can attain through skill alone.’

No matter the profession, the higher one rose, the more important the ability to manage people became than personal ability.

And the ability to manage people was ultimately the ability to read the world.

That was why his words left such a sticky, unpleasant aftertaste.

It felt as though my gaze had been forcibly fixed on a truth I had always known, yet avoided facing directly.

For those gathered to uphold justice, the distinction between good and evil no longer mattered...

As the Clinic Director said, the greatest issue in this matter would not be that the Inspectorate had made a mistake.

It would be that I had stopped the Inspectorate and questioned its actions.

That would be seen as the real problem.

Those with authority hated having their authority challenged.

Even when they knew they were wrong, they could not admit it.

The moment they did, their authority would be wounded.

And wounded authority became sharp.

It was obvious where that sharpened blade would turn.

Talking about good and evil while standing before a blade hanging over your neck was foolish.

In the end, only strength could protect and prove you.

More than the strength to withstand an attack, I needed the strength to ensure I would not be attacked at all.

‘A group.’

I was not thinking of joining an existing power.

Becoming their underling would only mean conforming to the rules already in place.

In the end, I had to create an independent force of my own...

The problem was that it would not be easy.

The powerful sects had already settled into their places within the existing powers, so they had no reason to leave that comfortable embrace.

Even if they did leave, there was no reason for them to stand with the Taeul Sect.

Gathering a few sects with no affiliation or presence and calling it an alliance would only make us look like children playing house.

‘And I absolutely cannot settle for just anyone.’

I needed the support of a sect with a solid standing in the martial world, one people did not consider weak and that other sects could not dismiss.

Yes, a sect like that...

‘Why would it support the Taeul Sect?’

Even I found the thought ridiculous, so I shook my head.

The Clinic Director had clearly poisoned my mind.

Or perhaps the thoughts I had put off were finally spilling out now.

Had I had this much on my mind lately?

I lightly shook my head and looked around.

The physicians and female physicians from the Life-Saving Clinic had devoted themselves to treatment without a moment’s rest since arriving.

Thanks to them, the injured began waking one by one.

Those who survived shed tears of joy, then wept again when they heard news of the dead.

“Sniff... sob...”

As the people cried and the sound of their weeping grew louder, the people of Mount Mao Sect gradually began to find peace.

As though they had finally released all the anguish pent up inside them, those who had escaped their helpless despair began moving again, like people who had found new hope.

That was when something interesting began to happen.

“What in the world happened here?”

People began visiting Mount Mao Sect.

“How could the Martial Alliance handle things this way?”

They were the people who had turned away when Mount Mao Sect asked for help.

“How could they use such cruel methods?”

They were the people who had pretended not to know despite being aware of Mount Mao Sect’s misfortune.

“Goodness... I heard Mount Mao Sect suffered a truly grievous injustice.”

Even people who had deliberately taken the long way around to avoid getting caught up in the matter began arriving.

All of them came to Mount Mao Sect “of their own accord.”

“...”

The fact that the Life-Saving Clinic had come to provide treatment was no different from the Tang Clan indirectly declaring that it stood with Mount Mao Sect in this matter.

That was what the Life-Saving Clinic’s involvement meant.

It meant Mount Mao Sect was innocent.

And the people who had turned away from Mount Mao Sect came running the moment they realized it.

“...They have no shame.”

Geumpyo was not the only one disgusted by their behavior.

The people of Mount Mao Sect could not hide their cold expressions even as they spoke with the visitors.

The abandonment of those they had trusted had created too great a tragedy.

Trust was an invisible thing, but when it shattered, it dealt a heavier blow than anything else.

The wounds suffered by the people of Mount Mao Sect could not be healed with smiling faces.

“I apologize, but we are busy with matters within the sect right now. Could you visit again another time?”

“...O-of course. But surely there is something we can do to help?”

“The time when we needed help...”

Coldness dripped from Yu Jiryang’s voice.

“has already passed.”

The visitors’ hearts seemed to drop at those icy words.

After receiving such a cold reception and returning home, they sent supplies.

They sent food, clothes, medicine, and even coffins they had somehow prepared after counting the dead.

Mount Mao Sect did not bring the delivered supplies inside.

Enough goods had piled up before the gate to set up a market, yet no one from Mount Mao Sect looked pleased to see them.

“They turned their backs on Mount Mao Sect before this. Why are they acting like this now?” Geumpyo asked, sounding puzzled.

“Because it is Mount Mao Sect.”

“...But won’t this still hurt them?”

“Of course it would, if Mount Mao Sect were just another martial sect.”

A sect’s power was proportional to its martial strength and influence, but Mount Mao Sect’s power did not come from martial strength.

The source of Mount Mao Sect’s power.

“Thirty percent of the mystic formations installed throughout the martial world belong to Mount Mao Sect.”

“Ah...!”

A mystic formation could not simply be installed once and used forever.

Maintenance and management were essential, and depending on the situation, adjustments suited to each sect were needed.

That was why countless sects paid Mount Mao Sect tens of thousands of taels every year just for mystic formation maintenance.

It was no surprise that the sects which had traded and interacted with Mount Mao Sect all this time were now panicking.

Geumpyo nodded in admiration.

Seeing Geumpyo’s face, I asked, “What have you been doing that’s kept you so busy?”

I had not seen hide nor hair of Geumpyo since things settled down.

“W-what do you mean? Of course I’ve been helping the people of Mount Mao Sect.”

“What is there for you to do? Everyone else is already handling it.”

After the Life-Saving Clinic arrived, Mount Mao Sect hired a large number of servants to handle the cleanup within the sect and attend to us as well.

I thought it was absurd for them to be doing such things in the middle of an emergency and strongly declined, but Yu Jiryang stubbornly insisted. So we were receiving hospitality we had not expected.

Yet Geumpyo, who should have been with us, disappeared somewhere all day long.

“...W-well, you know. There’s a lot to do.”

“No, I mean, what exactly is there for you to...?”

“Oh! I forgot something I have to do. I’ll be going now.”

Geumpyo awkwardly mumbled an excuse, then vanished as if fleeing.

In truth, the Taeul Sect had nothing more to do here.

We had stopped the Black Officers and seen the critically ill patients receive treatment.

The Martial Alliance would come soon enough to deal with the rest.

There was nothing left for us to do, but Yu Jiryang kept making it clear that he wanted us to stay, so we remained.

Besides, it was difficult to simply leave.

As time passed, people from the Inspectorate arrived from the Martial Alliance.

And surprisingly, the person who came as their representative was someone I knew.

“...It has been a long time.”

“Yes. I heard what happened.”

Ak Byeongbi, who had relentlessly suspected me of being an agent of the Black Path.

The look in his eyes when I saw him again was far from ordinary.

“How dare you...”

At one point, I thought we had grown close enough that he had even suggested I apply to the Inspectorate. Perhaps I had been mistaken...

“You stopped the Black Officers, did you not?”

“...”

Still, it was unfair for me to receive such a murderous glare.

They were the ones who had made the mistake, so why were they making me look like the villain?

“If I had not intervened, Mount Mao Sect would have disappeared from the world despite being innocent.”

“...That is not what I came to say.”

Huh?

What was this all of a sudden?

“Too many people have become uncomfortable with what you did.”

Ak Byeongbi clicked his tongue as if the plan had gone awry.

“Did you not know you should avoid making enemies until you had at least reached the rank of Great Hall Master? I thought a clever boy like you would handle that on your own.”

What was this? He was not angry?

“...I’ve already made too many enemies for that to be the issue.”

“This is an entirely different matter.”

He looked worried.

When someone wore that expression, even their concern looked like anger.

He truly was made for the Inspectorate.

As I was thinking that, Ak Byeongbi continued.

“...I heard dark arts appeared.”

He seemed to choose his words for a moment, then glanced at me.

He was about to begin the real conversation.

“It seems the Black Officers made an incorrect report.”

“...”

“It was not dark arts. It was clearly demonic qi.”

“Goodness...”

Ak Byeongbi let out a long sigh at my firm answer.

“Are you certain?”

I could not mention my experience from my previous life, so I gave him another answer.

“It gave off the exact same energy as the beings I encountered in the Black Alliance.”

“Damn it!”

Ak Byeongbi ground his teeth as though he were deeply frustrated.

“Have you never met that man?”

“Heo Ilsik is not under our jurisdiction. Besides, the Black Officers do not meet the White Officers directly.”

So Heo Gwanjung’s original name was Heo Ilsik.

“Not even once?”

“I have encountered him a few times. But I did not sense anything.”

Of course, the Demon-Subduing Madman’s energy was sealed in the form of a Demon Spirit Flower, so it could not be detected before it blossomed.

Not knowing that, Ak Byeongbi kept grinding his teeth as though he resented having let a demonic being slip past him.

“What about the Martial Alliance?”

“For now, it is quiet.”

“What?”

“Investigating the Inspectorate comes first.”

The Martial Alliance had already been in turmoil, and it was obvious that this incident would make it even more chaotic.

“Have you uncovered the truth behind what happened to Mount Mao Sect?”

Ak Byeongbi’s face darkened at once.

He looked like a man frustrated because he did not know how to solve the hardest problem in the world.

After staring into empty space for a moment, he turned his eyes toward me.

“May I ask you a favor?”

“I refuse if you are asking me to go in with you.”

As the Inspectorate’s representative, the only place Ak Byeongbi could go after settling in was the Sect Leader’s Hall.

“...Haa.”

I had no intention of becoming the scapegoat for the Inspectorate’s mistake.

“If you come with me, you can hear the truth of what happened.”

I shook my head without hesitation.

“I’m not curious. Heo Ilsik and a few others must be involved.”

“I’m asking you as a favor.”

“You have quite some nerve. When was it that you suspected me of being an agent of the Black Path?”

A long sigh, rare for Ak Byeongbi, escaped his lips.

I suddenly grew curious and asked, “But why did you come, Great Hall Master? Shouldn’t at least the Deputy Pavilion Master have come?”

Considering the seriousness of this incident, it would not have been enough even if the Black Officer Hall Master, Pavilion Master, and Deputy Pavilion Master had all come to kneel.

The damage was too great to call it a simple mistake, and the responsibility was heavy.

“That’s why I’m asking this favor of you.”

Ak Byeongbi’s voice was full of guilt.

“This is not something that can be settled with a simple apology.”

“Does the Martial Alliance intend to investigate this properly?”

“It is investigating properly. And it will continue to do so.”

I would see that for myself.

“Anyway, do not think I have any intention whatsoever of helping the Inspectorate avoid responsibility...”

Then,

Rustle.

Ak Byeongbi held out the bundle he had been carrying in one hand.

What was in that bundle he had been holding this whole time?