Chapter 91
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 91
Chapter Title: Growing Up (6)
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“So that’s what happened.”
“Indeed.”
Giyang let out a sigh.
He had only just returned from his mission, and now he was hearing this bolt from the blue. To think that Ma Dongpil would be put on indefinite suspension and appointed as the Third Young Master’s personal guard.
“If it’s an order from the higher-ups, there’s nothing we can do…”
“Hm? What are you talking about?”
“Pardon?”
“An order from the higher-ups? We haven’t received any word from them.”
Giyang was taken aback.
“Does that mean sending the Third Team Leader to the Third Young Master wasn’t an order from above?”
Lee Gunseong chuckled.
“You don’t really think the Cult Leader himself would issue such an order, do you?”
“Th-then… could it be the Lord?”
“As you know, the Hall of Protectors doesn’t have the authority to transfer personnel to other organizations. The same goes for the Lord.”
“…!”
Giyang’s face stiffened with shock.
“Then did you send the Third Team Leader on your own authority, Senior?”
Lee Gunseong gazed out the window.
Giyang couldn’t possibly imagine what his fatigue-ridden eyes were searching for.
“The Third Team Leader has changed.”
“Senior.”
“To be precise, he changed after returning from the Solitary Bamboo Forest with the Third Young Master.”
Lee Gunseong smiled.
Beneath that smile, which seemed to hold a hint of pride, was there a trace of bitterness? Or was it just Giyang’s imagination?
“Do you remember? Back when we were quite busy with the Lord of the Demonic Sword House’s case. It was shortly before the Third Young Master left the forest.”
“…I remember.”
“The Third Team Leader came to get Gulsong tea leaves then.”
“He did.”
“Then you must also remember how he looked at that time.”
Giyang nodded unconsciously.
The change in Ma Dongpil, who had returned with calloused hands and a large scar on his face, had been shocking.
His appearance was one thing, but the killing intent he exuded was truly overwhelming.
“I do not wish for it, but the Lord will retire one day. Regardless of my own abilities, he will most likely name me as the next Lord.”
“Of course.”
“I dare not compare myself to the Lord. If I am to be worthy of the position, I too need to train endlessly. But it’s an undeniable fact that, aside from the Lord, I am the strongest warrior in the Hall of Protectors.”
Lee Gunseong turned to Giyang with a calm expression.
“And yet, the moment I faced the Third Team Leader’s killing intent, I froze. He wasn’t even intentionally releasing it; just the aura leaking from him was enough to set my nerves on edge.”
“…!”
“You felt it too, didn’t you?”
“…Yes, I did.”
“But what about the Third Team Leader who returned after the mission in the Solitary Bamboo Forest was over?”
“He had his killing intent under perfect control. He must have put in a great deal of effort.”
“He must have. So much effort that it became detrimental.”
“Pardon?”
“We must be ready to lay down our lives for the safety of the one we protect. I may die, but the one I protect must live. To do that, we must be able to respond perfectly to any external threat.”
“…!”
“I don’t know what he experienced there, but the Third Team Leader’s killing intent was so immense that ‘explosive’ is an understatement. Such an aura inevitably draws the enemy’s attention.”
“Y-you mean?”
“Yes. When considering the safety of the person you’re protecting, such killing intent is a fatal flaw for a guard.”
“So, you’re saying the Third Team Leader controlled his killing intent for the sake of his identity as a Protector?”
Lee Gunseong sipped his tea. The heavy aroma of the Gulsong tea seemed to clear his throbbing head, if only a little.
“It’s just a guess. But it’s also true that after he brought that killing intent under perfect control, his skills were not much different from before he entered the Solitary Bamboo Forest. Though his potential was explosive.”
“But I saw the Third Team Leader’s sword energy.”
“You mean the energy that pierced through a boulder with the Demon-Guarding Sword Style?”
“Yes.”
“Then let me ask you this. Does it make sense that a master capable of wielding such sword energy would suffer enough to lose over twenty team members in the transport unit incident?”
For a moment, Giyang’s eyes wavered.
That was right. He didn’t know the full strength of the attackers, but given the level Ma Dongpil had displayed at that time, suffering such heavy losses was indeed suspicious.
“He was constantly suppressing his killing intent. His skills, and his potential.”
“…”
“Whether he had some great fortune in the Solitary Bamboo Forest, his entire body was filled with power that he hadn’t yet refined into internal energy. Considering the time since he left the forest, he should have assimilated at least a fifth of that potential into his internal energy. But the Third Team Leader couldn’t.”
“To be precise, it wasn’t that he couldn’t, but that he wouldn’t.”
“That’s what I think.”
Lee Gunseong smacked his lips.
“For the sake of his duty, he subconsciously turned away from the path to becoming stronger. To think he would suppress his own growth because of his identity as a Protector… I don’t know whether to call that responsible or just plain stubborn.”
Listening to him, Giyang recalled that day again.
Seeing Ma Dongpil for the first time in months, he and Lee Gunseong had been too stunned to even speak properly. And in that awkward atmosphere, Ma Dongpil had said this:
— *It seems I’ve come at a bad time. I’ll take my leave.*
‘What a fool…’
A look of self-reproach crossed Giyang’s face.
No matter what, the Hall of Protectors was Ma Dongpil’s home.
He had returned home after a long time, only to find his family tense and wary around him. It must have been a truly sorrowful experience.
When a family member who had been away returned, they should have been greeted with smiles, not stunned silence.
How deeply must that have wounded Ma Dongpil? Reading that stiff atmosphere, how must he have perceived his own changes?
Perhaps they were the reason for the shift in Ma Dongpil’s heart, for his turning away from his own growth.
“That’s why I sent him to the Third Young Master.”
“…”
“At the very least, I judged that the Third Young Master knows the Third Team Leader well. I also thought that, aside from the Protectors, the person the Third Team Leader trusts most is the Third Young Master.”
“I see.”
Lee Gunseong smiled.
“He’ll be back. Someday, he will definitely be back. And when he returns, the Third Team Leader will be the same man we remember, yet a much greater warrior.”
Giyang nodded. He finally understood why Ma Dongpil had been sent to the Third Young Master.
“Dongpil will do well.”
“I have no doubt he will.”
The two men let out sighs mixed with frustration and relief.
As if a thought suddenly occurred to him, Giyang asked.
“But you don’t have the authority to transfer personnel. What were you thinking? What if you get caught?”
“I am the Acting Lord. While I don’t have the authority to transfer personnel externally, I do have the authority for internal transfers and disciplinary actions. That’s how I was able to place the Third Team Leader on indefinite suspension.”
“But to the Third Young Master…”
“I haven’t heard any complaints from that side.”
“…Huh?”
“Whether he jumped to conclusions or something else, as long as he accepted it, that’s all that matters. Isn’t that right?”
Giyang stared at Lee Gunseong as if he were dumbfounded.
Lee Gunseong shrugged.
“I gave him some high-quality tea leaves, so I’m sure he’ll overlook this much. He might even be pleased.”
“…”
“Two is better than one, isn’t it?”
Lee Gunseong truly knew nothing about Seo Ryang.
* * *
“The sun should be setting soon.”
Seo Ryang, who had been looking up at the sky, glanced at the training yard.
In the center of the yard, Ma Dongpil sat cross-legged. Numerous sword wounds were etched across his body, and his complexion was rather pale, but his expression was serene.
Seo Ryang smiled.
“Damn kid. When he says he’ll do something, he does it.”
The killing intent Ma Dongpil had instinctively suppressed.
It was an aura he had built up over his time as a Protector, which had then fully blossomed through his battles in the Solitary Bamboo Forest.
The demonic beasts of the forest were dangerous enough to kill even a peak master in a moment of carelessness.
But they were not beings with human-like reason. Though called demonic beasts, they were closer to animals.
In other words, Seo Ryang and Ma Dongpil had survived eight months of bloody battle in the world’s most dangerous wilderness.
Animals only conceal their presence and hide when they are hunting. But they had to fight not to hunt the beasts, but to become stronger.
Naturally, their spirits were sharpened like blades, and they had to use their aggressive killing intent to keep the beasts on edge.
Ma Dongpil, in particular, whose combat skills were inferior to Seo Ryang’s, had no choice but to rely on it to drive the beasts away.
That killing intent was amplified day by day by the power of the Spirit Bamboo. At the time, Ma Dongpil’s primary objective, unlike Seo Ryang’s, was not ‘growth’ but ‘survival.’
Now, the time had come to use all of that amplified killing intent as a catalyst for growth. It would have been better if he had realized it on his own, but this method wasn’t bad either.
What mattered wasn’t how one grew, but how one used that newfound strength.
“Alright then, while that kid is out, I should get some rest myse—huh?”
From beyond the main gate, he felt a powerful pulse of true energy.
Normally, he would have complained about how he could never catch a break, or why so many people were looking for him.
But he couldn’t grumble.
He knew who the source of that energy was.
“…Well now, another interesting person has paid a visit.”
A moment later, he heard the sound of someone dismounting from a carriage.
*Clank!*
Seo Ryang had already opened the gate.
Beyond the open gate, Go Gu, who looked twice as stoic as Ma Dongpil, revealed himself.
“What brings you here?”
“May I come in?”
Seo Ryang looked Go Gu up and down before replying bluntly.
“No tea for you.”
With that, Go Gu stepped inside.
He glanced at the training yard.
“That’s Ma Dongpil, the Third Team Leader of the Hall of Protectors.”
“*Former* Third Team Leader, I’d say. He’s currently under suspension.”
“To be spending time with someone who has nothing to do because he’s suspended, I didn’t realize your bond was so deep.”
“He’s got plenty to do. He’s been appointed as my personal guard.”
“Personal guard?”
Go Gu nodded.
“To be the personal guard of someone as skilled as the Third Young Master, he seems somewhat lacking… hm?”
*Wooooong.*
As if on cue, a powerful pulse of demonic energy began to emanate from Ma Dongpil’s body.
He was in the process of refining all his latent killing intent and the energy of the Spirit Bamboo into demonic energy.
Finding the starting point of that process was difficult, but once found, he would be able to make it his own in no time.
Seo Ryang grinned.
“Right. He seemed lacking, so I forcibly pulled it up for him.”
“…”
“So, what’s the real reason you came all the way here?”
“Third Young Master.”
“What.”
“It’s something I’m realizing anew, but… you are truly remarkable.”
His voice was as flat as ever, but it was clear his words contained genuine admiration.
Seo Ryang gave him a look that said, ‘What’s with this guy all of a sudden?’
“I’m not the remarkable one; he is. He was the one hiding that much potential in the first place.”
“Knowing how to draw it out is also remarkable.”
“It’s a method anyone could apply if they thought deeply enough about energy arts.”
“That’s why it’s remarkable. Most warriors don’t contemplate the application of energy arts to that extent.”
“That’s true, I suppose. So what do you want to say? That being remarkable makes me dangerous?”
“That’s so obvious it seems unnecessary to say.”
Seo Ryang chuckled.
“We’ve had enough pleasantries with this conversation, right? Our relationship isn’t one for idle chatter. Get to the point.”
Go Gu stared intently at Seo Ryang.
Seo Ryang’s expression immediately soured. He looked as if he was wondering why this guy had shown up unannounced to spout nonsense.
After a moment, Go Gu spoke.
“You must be aware that the Festival of Papiyas is just around the corner, Third Young Master.”
“The Festival of Papiyas?”
Well, he’d heard of it, but so what?
Go Gu spoke with a uniquely serious expression.
“I’ll get straight to the point. Lend me your strength.”
…Ah, what now.