Chapter 133
Chapter 133
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 133
Chapter Title: The Committee's Decision (2)
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Professor Nosam was always a hard man to pin down, but talk of there being no burden for me alone to bear or him adding his own body to the mix was utterly incomprehensible.
"What he heard at the head branch is the most important part, but that's conveniently missing from his words."
No matter how much I racked my brain, it didn't make sense.
Just as I was trying to guess what on earth he'd heard at the Open Faction headquarters to spout such nonsense,
Master, at my waist, suddenly chimed in.
- ...? Did that beggar brat steal and eat some spoiled dog food? Or is it the middle of the day and he's suddenly acting up for no reason?
My train of thought derailed into something absurd.
"...Nosam stealing spoiled dog food."
And the inevitable bloody battle with the grown dog that would ensue?
It was the kind of story that felt like it had to have happened to Nosam at least once in his life, and I couldn't help but let out a snicker.
Nosam noticeably flushed with embarrassment, scratching his thick neck with a cough.
"Ahem! Hem hem! I must've let slip some itchy words without realizing it!"
He seemed to have taken my leaked laugh in a different way.
On top of that, saying "This laugh came from imagining you stealing dog food, Professor" felt off, and returning to the original topic with "So what did you hear at the head branch?" felt equally awkward.
"It'd inevitably lead to stories about that bastard previous Yong-un's deeds."
If Nosam was saying he'd always take my side no matter what, whatever they'd said about me at the head branch wasn't slander.
In that case, there was no need to probe relentlessly.
Since my lips were already twisted from the laugh anyway,
another fake cough came from Nosam.
"Hem hem! Ahem!"
And his pace quickened a bit.
Chasing Nosam's faster steps, we soon arrived at the academy's main building.
Passing the staff cafeteria on the first floor, climbing the stairs to the door marked "Small Conference Room," and entering,
"You've arrived."
Director Kyung Hye, seated at the head, set down her teacup and fixed her gaze on me.
At her words, the professors sitting at the rectangular table in front turned their heads sideways.
"To my left and right are the Administrative Director and the Security Chief responsible for the academy's protection."
And Paeng Jae-hyeok, Chang Ryang, Zhuge Min.
The dormitory supervisors for Yunmaeng, Hyangran, and Yun-guk respectively, with one empty seat among them. Nosam took it, balancing the numbers on either side.
Thus, everyone corresponding to the Righteous Martial Academy's operating committee was gathered.
I immediately cupped my hands in greeting toward them and spoke.
"Cadet Eon Yong-un. I have just arrived at the operating committee's summons."
Director Kyung Hye, the chair of the meeting, nodded in acknowledgment of my greeting and pointed to the empty seat beside Nosam.
"Knowing this is a difficult and uncomfortable seat for cadets, we called you because there are things we must ask and tell. Shall we sit first?"
Nosam pulled out the chair for me, and I sat.
A senior graduate student in dark blue uniform entered, pouring tea into the cups before Nosam and me.
Pour...
As the teacup filled and the graduate student left the conference room, Director Kyung Hye let out a deep sigh and spoke.
"...Whew. First, the announcement. We haven't found the masterminds behind the assassins from the recent field trip. The adults have no face to show."
In truth, I'd expected the conclusion to land like that.
"Nosam suddenly mentioned the Hubei incident and spouted oddities, so for a moment I wondered if he'd realized the group that stole the Pearl Eon Family's manuals from that bastard previous Yong-un was the Demonic Cult."
Even if the Open Faction had grasped a clue, the conclusion would still be the same.
"In this world's setting, the Demonic Cult is a newly emerged group that's only been around for a century."
The Open Faction formed by beggars who appeared as cities rose in human society, the Buddhist sects led by the millennium-old Shaolin, the Daoist sects inheriting the traditions from the ancient Hundred Families era, and the Nine Great Righteous Clans.
Families that had passed down through dozens or hundreds of generations, involved in the rise and fall of dynasties and the major and minor events of the martial world.
"In their eyes, the Demonic Cult is..."
At best, some upstarts whose hands got a bit bloody.
"Though professors often use 'demonic scum' when explaining hypothetical enemies in exams or classes due to the aftermath of the Great War Between Righteousness and Evil."
Even that Great War was seen as merely letting their guard down for a surprise blow.
"Since it ultimately ended in victory for the Righteous Martial World."
Among the clans directly hit, some like the Pearl Eon Family, ousted from the Five Great Families and Nine Great Righteous Clans, staggered, while others like the Kunlun Sect were utterly destroyed.
However, by the metric of the Righteous Martial World as a whole, it was an incident that ended in victory with minimal losses.
"Afterward, there were no major events worthy of the name 'war'; the original work only described occasional demonic arts leaking into the Central Plains causing minor disturbances."
Thus, the Demonic Cult likely wasn't even on people's radars.
Even if it was, publicly naming the Demonic Cult could swell their followers.
And disrupt the martial world's economy and politics, so the conclusion had to be to watch and wait for now.
"They probably suspected established groups with real presence and active operations more than the Demonic Cult anyway?"
How long had I been lost in such thoughts?
Taking up from Director Kyung Hye's words about having no face,
Chang Ryang and Nosam, who had been relaying what they'd learned from the Martial Alliance and the Open Faction headquarters, spat out exactly what I'd anticipated at that moment.
"The Alliance's Military Affairs Division said the current Bandit King is busy handling internal affairs, and the Evil Faction Alliance has just installed a new leader with heavy losses, so they lack motive for suddenly pulling this off."
"Our Bangju at headquarters said it's not the Already Buried Valley or the Heaven-Slaying Curtain, and ordered the beggars to dig deeper."
As the two finished speaking, Im Tae-ok among those seated beside them spoke up.
"Thus, we've decided to indefinitely postpone the upcoming civil aid schedule. However, according to what Professor Chang Ryang heard at the Martial Alliance, it seems Cadet Eon Yong-un made some promise with the Alliance Leader?"
Ah.
I had applied for Shaanxi as the civil aid region and promised to report back what I saw and heard there.
As I was thinking that,
Chang Ryang pulled a sealed letter from his sleeve.
"A letter written by the Alliance Leader himself. Read it."
With an indifferent flick, he slid it diagonally across the table toward me.
I caught it with a tap, broke the seal, and checked the contents.
- What does it say?
"With the martial world in turmoil, the promise made at the Martial Alliance can be considered null and void."
- The Alliance Leader must really favor you. But to realize that business plan you set up with Hayeon at the Martial Alliance, don't you need to visit your maternal family in Shaanxi?
"Yes."
That's true, and...
Since it was an event from the original work that Jeong Hyeon and some protagonist generation characters went through, I'd been leaning that way.
But here, I hit an unexpected snag.
"In this atmosphere."
Could I get permission to go to Shaanxi for civil aid?
That was when.
As my brow furrowed in thought,
Director Kyung Hye asked about the letter's contents.
"I heard you promised the Alliance Leader to apply for civil aid in Shaanxi—is that right? What does the letter say?"
"I made a similar promise, but the letter says it's fine to disregard that promise."
Unexpectedly, she handed me the hilt of the sword.
"So, what does Cadet Eon Yong-un want to do?"
This was my chance.
I calmly organized my thoughts and carefully opened my mouth.
"If the Director and professors permit it, I want to go."
"If you're hung up on the debt to the Alliance Leader who sponsored the White Lotus Pure Steel weapons or to the Nam Tae-seong Branch Lord who helped,"
"......"
"The weapons can be compensated at the academy's level, and for the Nam Tae-seong Branch Lord, I can more than repay by lending a hand at a Martial Alliance event."
"It might be shameless coming from me and disappoint the Alliance Leader if he hears, but I was a famous scoundrel in Hubei. I have many debts there. I'm the one who left them all to my father and ran away. It's not just about going because I owe debts."
With that opener, I pointed to Paeng Jae-hyeok to conclude.
"My stance on debts is something Professor Paeng Jae-hyeok knows better than anyone."
Paeng Jae-hyeok confirmed my past with a "Ahem."
Scoundrel history comes in handy at times like this.
Anyway.
At my words, Director Kyung Hye posed another question.
"Then why does Cadet Eon Yong-un want to go to a place that could be dangerous?"
Her question wasn't giving me a choice; it was asking how I wanted to proceed, with the answer determining the outcome.
I earnestly selected my words, nodding as I spoke.
"Because it's a promise."
If this weren't the Righteous Martial Academy that reveres knights-errant, or if I were a neighboring country's politician, I'd be called insane or made a laughingstock.
But this was the martial world.
"Thanks to Jeong Hyeon dragging me along, shouting 'justice' at every turn, I remember a sage's words like that among the memorable quotes."
And sure enough.
Sounds of "Huh" leaked from here and there,
and Zhuge Min muttered alone.
"...Words of Grand Historian Sima Qian. One who keeps promises without fail. Their actions may not always align with justice, but their words are trustworthy; their deeds bold; they plunge into peril heedless of life or death. Yet they boast not of their abilities, deeming such self-praise shameful. That is..."
Director Kyung Hye spoke with the expression of someone struck hard.
"...a knight-errant. Thanks to Cadet Eon Yong-un's words, I, the director of the Righteous Martial Academy—cradle of the Righteous Martial World—remember a truth I'd forgotten."
As a subtle atmosphere flowed through the conference room, Professor Nosam backed my intent.
"If this committee decides to respect the young master's will, I will accompany him to Shaanxi and serve as his protector."
With that, momentum built for granting permission.
"Professor Nosam is reliable as a protector."
"...? As a protector? The Director's words seem to imply he's not otherwise—am I imagining the bite?"
"You're imagining it. Anyway, I want to permit it. What about the other professors?"
Principles-stickler Professor Chang Ryang just crossed his arms, but the others all nodded.
Thus, civil aid to Shaanxi itself was approved.
Director Kyung Hye now asked about team composition.
"As with most academy external activities, civil aid has been done in teams of like-minded cadets choosing locations and doing rewarding work, like the recent field trip. Does Cadet Eon Yong-un have teammates in mind?"
"I was still pondering the exact roster."
"...Pondering. Were you planning to include cadets from dorms other than Cheongjuk Hall again?"
Well, I planned to bring Yong-myeong no matter what, so I nodded and replied.
"Yes. That was the plan."
"...Even considering the spirit of the Righteous Martial Academy. The more I learn about you, the deeper you seem."
Such words came back.
She seemed slightly misunderstood, but no need to correct it, so I stayed silent.
Director Kyung Hye spoke again.
"We've permitted it, and the intent is good. But with the times unstable, too many people won't do. I think five or six would be ideal—what do you say?"
Five or six.
I hadn't finalized who yet, but I'd been thinking the same number.
"Yes. That's the scale I had in mind."
"Good. I'll give you three days. As a specially permitted team, the sects or families of the cadets involved may raise issues, so we'll need their consent on record. I'll have the instructors post a notice on the blackboards in front of the four great dorms."
"Yes. Thank you for your consideration, Director."
The notice was just procedural.
I had full say in team composition.
And I had junior brothers ready to follow anywhere.
For the other protagonist-generation folks, a bit of coaxing, leveraging held weaknesses, or appropriate force would assemble the optimal lineup.
Thus, the next day.
When the notice went up in the academy cadet square and in front of the four great dorms' towers,
"Huh? Only one team for civil aid?"
"The team leader's already set? Eon Yong-un's going?"
I passed by the cadets gossiping without a thought.
I had no idea back then.
That this civil aid notice would cause such a mess.