Chapter 108: New Vice-Captain of Flying Dragon Thirteen Squad's Third Team-2
Chapter 108: New Vice-Captain of Flying Dragon Thirteen Squad's Third Team-2
The first one to draw his blade against me was, unsurprisingly, the same bastard who had been running his mouth from the start.
"I am Kang So-cheol of the Guizhou Heuk-oh Bang! Seonwoo Jin, I know full well what kind of treatment you received in the Seonwoo Clan! Today, I will expose you for the bottom-feeder you are! Draw your sword!"
"Hm, Heuk-oh Bang, is it."
The Guizhou Heuk-oh Bang was one of the Guizhou Eight Families.
They were an evil faction, yet curiously, they seemed to have dispatched warriors to the frontline.
I smirked and beckoned with my finger.
"Just come at me. If you see my sword, you die."
The bastard immediately snapped and charged at me.
"You bastard!"
Bwaaang!
He swung his blade diagonally with all his might.
But unfortunately for him, it was far too slow for me to simply take the hit.
After watching his blade swing, a fist that shot out belatedly like a flash of light slammed into his face.
Ppaaak!
"Keugh!"
The bastard couldn't even finish his swing and tumbled backward in a humiliating sprawl.
"Ugh-gh! You bastard!"
I hadn't struck him hard enough to knock him unconscious, so he staggered but immediately got back up.
I approached him with cold eyes and spoke.
"Swung your blade so wide without even knowing your opponent's skill level. It's a wonder you're still alive, really."
The bastard gnashed his teeth and charged again.
"Shut your mouth!"
But the result was exactly the same as before.
Ppeok!
"Keogh!"
Watching him roll on the ground again, I gave him my verdict with a pitying expression.
"Weak, and stupid to boot. Did the Heuk-oh Bang send you here thinking it wouldn't matter if you died?"
The bastard charged again.
"You son of a bitch!"
Ppeok!
"Keogh!"
I hadn't hit him that hard, but even after taking three clean shots, he was gnashing his teeth and trying to pick himself up again.
I smirked and said,
"Your fighting spirit is at least somewhat commendable. The problem is, that's the only thing about you worth a damn."
"Y-you bastard...!"
This time, I didn't wait. I rushed straight in and struck him hard.
Ppeo-eok!
The bastard finally stretched out flat on his back.
I had hit him a little harder this time, so he wouldn't be getting up again.
When I looked around at the other squad members, unlike before, they were watching me with tense eyes.
Among them, I looked at the one who had chimed in with that Kang So-cheol fellow I'd just laid out, and spoke.
"Next."
The bastard gnashed his teeth and drew his sword.
"I am of the Guangxi Mok Family...!"
I cut him off, picking at my ear as if bored.
"Not curious. Just hurry up and come at me."
Stung by my provocation, the bastard thrust his sword straight at me.
"You bastard!"
Syuhak!
But in the next instant, he couldn't help but recoil in shock, eyes nearly popping out of his head.
Because I had lightly caught his sword between my index and middle fingers.
His sword, trapped in midair, trembled and shook.
"Wh-what..."
The other squad members watching cried out in disbelief.
"H-he caught a sword with his fingers?!"
"Th-there's no way!"
I smirked and released the sword.
"You've already died once. But I'll give you one more chance. You'd better come at me properly this time."
The bastard gulped, then this time assumed a cautious stance, searching for an opening in my guard.
But I wasn't taking any defensive posture to begin with, so it was a meaningless exercise.
After hesitating for a moment, he charged once more.
"Hyaaap!"
What he chose this time was Changing Grass.
A feint thrust, followed by two false strikes to confuse the opponent, then a slash aimed at the throat—Linked Chain Grass.
I smiled faintly and told him,
"A bit better."
But in the next instant, his sword was caught squarely in my palm again.
Teok!
I blocked the blade with my palm and even clenched my hand around it, gripping it tight.
Staring at my hand, from which not a single drop of blood fell, he asked in a trembling voice.
"H-how?!"
"I've trained in external arts. You should know that, shouldn't you?"
And with that, I kicked him flying.
Ppeok!
"Keoghhk!"
Then, I swept a cold gaze across the other squad members.
"Weak, slow, and stupid to boot. It's so dull I'm about to yawn. Is this paltry level truly the standard of the Third Squad?"
At that, the eyes of the Third Squad members, who had been losing their fighting spirit from the shock of the overwhelming skill gap, began to turn fierce once more.
"Do not insult us!"
I smirked and shot back.
"Insult? In what way? I only stated the facts as they are. What's truly insulting is that I came here to serve as deputy squad leader for the likes of you. And Lady Dang Yeo-eun, who has to manage trash like you as squad members."
"What did you say?!"
"You son of a bitch!"
I had done it deliberately, and as expected, mentioning Lady Dang to these followers of hers had a surefire effect.
Now radiating killing intent, I laughed fiercely at them and beckoned with my finger.
"Now, come at me all at once. Trash."
After that, the front of the Third Squad's quarters was filled for a good while with a clamor of strikes and screams.
Ppeok! Ppak! Pyeok! Puck! Ppajak!
"Keogh!"
"Keuk!"
"Kkuak!"
"Uaaaaack!"
***
A short while later, all the male squad members of the Third Squad were sprawled on the ground, groaning.
I had beaten them until every ounce of venomous energy had drained out of them, so it was only natural they were slumped and limp.
Glancing to the side, I saw Miss Song Yeong-yeong and one other woman also staring at me with sickened eyes.
In the eyes of the woman who wasn't Miss Song, there was even a hint of fear.
I felt as though I had become the villain, but it wasn't a bad feeling.
'The mood seems roughly set now.'
If all I did was beat them senseless, my mood might feel momentarily refreshed, but there was no way I could properly perform the duties of deputy squad leader.
So I had planned from the start to beat them up to some extent and then attempt to build a rapport.
Wasn't the carrot always sweeter after the stick?
I looked around at them for a moment, then slowly opened my mouth.
"I respected Myeong Sa-hyeon, the former deputy squad leader of the Third Squad. It wasn't about martial arts skill; I purely admired the qualities he showed as a person. He was a cheerful and honest man, magnanimous yet meticulous. Above all, his mental fortitude—to not break his own will even after falling to the Blood Cult's soul-stealing art—I had never even heard of such a thing being possible before. So I held expectations. For the Third Squad he had led, and for the squad members who had been with him. But..."
Having said that much, I silently swept my gaze over them.
They couldn't lift their heads and could only stare at the ground.
I couldn't see their faces head-on, but it was easy to tell that each of their expressions was twisted with longing and shame for Myeong Sa-hyeon.
That Myeong Sa-hyeon had been a special figure to these people was a fact known to anyone in the Thirteen Squads.
So my guess was that the reason they showed hostility toward me was, of course, partly because of Lady Dang, but perhaps the greater reason was that someone other than Myeong Sa-hyeon had taken his place.
That was why I had deliberately brought up Myeong Sa-hyeon's name.
What I wanted to convey was that I had come to this position out of respect and longing for him, and that I was no different from them.
And that wasn't entirely a lie.
Because she really did respect him.
He continued speaking.
"Before you blame me for coming in as Deputy Squad Leader from the outside, you should have first blamed yourselves. Blamed your own incompetence, which forced you to pull in an outsider because none of you had the ability to become Deputy Squad Leader yourselves! And before you grew angry at the insult I gave you, you should have been angry at yourselves. Angry at your own powerlessness, lacking even the strength to avenge that insult!"
Faced with his scathing rebuke, delivered with an imposing force, they couldn't offer a single rebuttal.
That was only natural.
Because they were martial artists too.
Even if they had picked a fight with him out of twisted hearts, they weren't villains.
He enunciated every single word, slowly and clearly, for the final blow.
"Strive before you rage. At least, if you call yourselves martial artists."
At that, he noticed the squad members sprawled on the ground starting to grit their teeth, one by one.
The fighting spirit was returning to their eyes.
And it would be a longing for self-improvement, not fighting spirit directed at him.
He had successfully used Myeong Sa-hyeon's words to convert their hostility into ambition.
A faint smile escaped him.
He'd felt it back in his past life when he took over as head of the Seonwoo family, but he seemed to have a hidden talent for leadership roles.
It felt like it was time to wrap things up.
And while he was at it, add a little fuel to the fire.
Lowering his imposing aura, he spoke to them in a serious voice.
"I'll make you one promise, here and now. If any one of you gains enough skill to properly fulfill the role of Deputy Squad Leader, I will return to the Seventh Squad without a shred of regret. But until then, I am your Deputy Squad Leader. I hope you won't forget that again."
No one answered, but he could feel clearly enough that they had accepted it.
He shouted with crisp precision.
"Third Squad, fall in!"
The Third Squad members, who had been collapsed on the ground, now sprang to their feet and began lining up in a single column.
Some of them winced from the pain of getting hit, but at least no one moved sluggishly.
He was very satisfied.
Looking at them lined up before him in an instant, he said,
"My name is Seonwoo Jin. But I haven't heard your names yet."
At that, the one on the far left shouted out boldly.
"I am Kang So-cheol, from the Heuk-oh Bang of Guizhou!"
He was the very first one to sneer at Seonwoo Jin, and the very first one to get hit.
But now, not a trace of that could be found in his expression or his tone.
"I am Mok Gyeong-jin, from the Mok Family Estate of Guangxi!"
"I am from the Sichuan Jindomun...!"
After receiving introductions from all the squad members, he gave a simple greeting and dismissed them.
Then he went into his quarters, roughly unpacked his things, and came back out.
It was to go see the person who had been watching from the forest since earlier.
When he quietly slipped into the underbrush by himself, the person there looked at him in surprise.
"S-Seonu Gongja?"
"It's all over. What are you doing, not coming out?"
It was Dang Yeoeun sojeo.
Lady Dang had already returned while he was busy beating up the squad members and had been watching from the forest.
He'd already sensed her presence back then but pretended not to notice. But when she still didn't come out even after everything was finished, he'd come to check on her.
At his words, she smiled softly and shook her head.
"Oh, just... thinking about this and that."
As expected, the expression of hers that he could only see when they were alone was this adorable.
Sure, her cold, icy beauty look was impressive too, but personally, he liked this side of her much better.
"What kind of thoughts?"
She answered with a slightly bitter smile.
"Hmm, just... Seonu Gongja, it's your first time, yet you handle the role of Squad Leader so well. I still find it so difficult. Thoughts like that, I suppose?"
At her somewhat self-deprecating tone, he smiled and shook his head.
"That's not true. I was startled myself when I saw Lady Dang shouting earlier. I thought, 'The Squad Leader really is something else. Lady Dang is truly doing well.'"
At that, Lady Dang's face flushed slightly.
He already knew well that encouragement—the reassurance that she was doing well enough right now—was a great comfort to her.
Because there had been a few incidents before.
So he was consciously trying to say those kinds of things to her often.
But still, her face didn't fully brighten today.
Thinking it somewhat odd, he asked her,
"How was the letter from the Dang Clan? Was there something important in it?"
At that, she shook her head, her face growing even darker.
"There was no real content in the letter itself. It just... said to come to the main family as quickly as possible."
"The main family, as in the Sichuan Dang Clan?"
"Yes. It's something that hasn't happened once in the past four years...."
He felt like he now understood, at least a little, why her face had darkened.
She was afraid of the situation itself—of having to return to the Dang Clan.
He didn't know the details, but it probably had something to do with her mother, whom she had spoken of unconsciously.
The one she kept tearfully apologizing to, even unconsciously, when she was under Ma Yu-gyeom's suggestion technique....
He gazed at her dark expression for a moment, then asked again.
"Can't you just not go? It's not like a frontline duty officer can just leave on a whim anyway."
She shook her head and replied,
"They said we could swap leave rotations with the Fifth Squad. The Fifth Squad is in a situation where they can't take leave right away anyway, because they have so many new recruits. And... members of the Sichuan Dang Clan can never disobey the Family Head's orders."
"Hmm."
It seemed Dok Su-gwang's Fifth Squad would be missing out on leave again.
Come to think of it, so many of their people had died during the Cheol-gwi incident that they'd filled the vacancies with new recruits, so taking leave in that situation did seem unreasonable.
But for it to connect like this again....
Then a thought suddenly crossed his mind.
'Wait? So if that happens, does that mean I get to go on leave again this time too?'
It certainly seemed that way.
His affiliation was now the Third Squad, after all.
'What the hell? Lately it feels like I spend more time going outside than actually working. So what am I supposed to do this leave?'
Thinking that, he glanced over at Lady Dang, who was lost in worry with a dark face.
And suddenly, the sight of her troubled by her main family's issues reminded him, unbidden, of Na So-jeo from not so long ago.
The one he'd wanted to reach out to and help with all his might, but couldn't. And now, the one he must no longer do so with.
Perhaps that was the reason.
That he impulsively asked her,
"Should I go with you?"
At his sudden words, she looked back at him, startled.
"What?! Go... where?"
He answered, grinning at her as she stared at him with wide, round eyes.
"To the Sichuan Dang Clan. Your main family. If I go with you, wouldn't I be of some help? Oh, of course, if it would be awkward for you, sojeo...."
He had been about to say that if it would be awkward, he of course wouldn't go. But her large eyes, looking at him, were already brimming with tears.
Drying the tears streaming down her face, she spoke to him.
"Thank you. Truly... thank you, Seonu Gongja."
"Ah, it's nothing."
It looked like he really would be heading to the Sichuan Dang Clan this leave.