Chapter 205
Chapter 205
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 205
Chapter Title: Where to (2)
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The CBRN training first conducted at the academy had targeted those who had ingested the Hundred Poisons Pill.
In contrast, the CBRN training for the owls of Fragrant Orchid Hall was carried out without ingesting the pill, simply using an extremely diluted concentration of the Mara Firefly Bullet.
"Cough! Cough! Dang Ok-gi, you... why are you here?!"
"Who gave you permission to call the instructor by name?!"
Even diluted to the extreme, poison was still poison.
To prepare for any unforeseen incidents, Dang Ok-gi was stationed at the site where the Mara Firefly Bullets were ignited, ready for immediate symptom checks and responses.
Clatter-
"Gah! Kek!"
"Water! Someone give me water! My face feels like it's melting! I need to wash this off quick..."
Naturally, my younger Eon brothers and I took on the role of calming(?) the cadets who had finished their practical training.
"It's not melting! The poison used in this training has no such effect! If you touch your face, you'll only suffer greater pain!"
"Cough! Th-then what do we do?!"
"Blow it off—that's the best way! All owls who just came out of CBRN, line up in front of this instructor right now and do jumping jacks with arms raised! Begin!"
"Kek! B-begin!"
We were in the midst of performing that role when a graduate student senior working under Senior Nun Gyeonghye approached and spoke.
"You're always so busy."
"Must have a lot of good fortune in work."
"...Is 'fortune' the right word to pair with 'work'?"
The senior saying this also had dark circles under his eyes, looking utterly exhausted.
"Anyway, what brings you here?"
"The Chancellor wants to see you. He said to come at your convenience, or if you're busy, just send word later or let him know a good time."
CBRN training emphasized establishing discipline beforehand and managing the site where the poison was dispersed.
Discipline had been firmly established, and perhaps because we'd done it once before, Dang Ok-gi was handling site management well.
Supervising the poison dispersal was something any of my younger Eon brothers could do.
"No, I'll go right now. Silver Young Lady, watch over things here for a bit while I head to the main office."
"Yes, Young Master Eon! Don't worry!"
Silver Xia Lian told me not to worry.
But her blazing eyes made me briefly concerned for the Fragrant Orchid Hall guys.
"......"
Leaving the rest to my younger brothers, I headed straight to the main office.
Arriving at the Chancellor's office, Senior Nun Gyeonghye offered me tea and spoke.
"Cadet Eon Yong-un must be as busy as I am, so I hope I'm not stealing your time."
"It's a break courtesy of the Chancellor. I'm grateful, actually."
"Hm. Even a single word from you puts one's mind at ease."
In that warm atmosphere, Senior Nun Gyeonghye slid a small wooden box toward me.
"That aside, take this."
Slide- Opening the handed-over wooden box revealed a golden round pill I had seen once before.
"What's this?"
"It's the Ami Sect's Bori Heart Pill."
Ami Sect's Bori Heart Pill.
It was the spirit pill I had received upon being selected as a Jeongjin Scholar at enrollment.
"Your contributions as Cadet Eon Yong-un are no small matter, so you deserve great praise. But with so many injured, we couldn't publicly commend your merits or bestow rewards without it seeming contrived, so it ended up glossed over. Thus, as an individual, I've prepared this to honor you."
I swallowed dryly and opened my mouth.
"Oh dear. Why go to such trouble? On the day we chased off that Song Gil-jun bastard and his gang, you and the other faculty formally bowed to a lowly scholar like me—that was more than enough."
- Your words are flowery, but smacking your lips while saying it looks suspicious! Make your actions match your words! And stop rubbing your hands under that desk!
...Oh, was I doing that?
As I corrected my posture at Master's words, Senior Nun Gyeonghye continued.
"That was as the academy's Chancellor. Think of this as a personal gift from the nun Gyeonghye."
"I'll gratefully accept it."
"No need for such thanks. Truth be told, you already received this pill as a Jeongjin Scholar, so if you took it then, it'll only have inner injury healing effects now. I've lived at odds with accumulating wealth my whole life, so I'm sorry this is all I can give."
Senior Nun Gyeonghye spoke apologetically, but inwardly I cheered.
The Bori Heart Pill from enrollment had been used to neutralize the Thousand Poisons Pill.
So, taking this one alone would sufficiently boost my inner energy, even if not purely.
'She's apologizing, but it feels like I've incurred even more debt of gratitude?'
Preventing myself from rubbing my hands again, I swallowed and tucked the Bori Heart Pill into my bosom.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ After knocking out several major tasks, I finally had some leisure.
Time had passed in the interim, and vacation was right around the corner.
'Righteous Martial Academy's vacation starts the moment you finish the final exams for the courses you registered for.'
Time to decide on a destination.
So, while having a meal, I gathered my younger Eon brothers at Dan River's Number One Inn to discuss it.
While the Yunmae Hall guys were running late, the topic was Namgung Yun.
"Ha ha! How could you voluntarily join Eon Yong-un's training? The other Fragrant Orchid Hall folks might not know, but you've experienced it plenty, Namgung Yun?!"
"...The whole Fragrant Orchid Hall is participating— you're the weird one for skipping it, Dang Ok-gi."
"I'm the weird one? What do you all think?"
"You're the normal one, Ok-gi, and Yun is the weird one."
"Right, Brother Namgung is the strange one."
"Heh. I don't know about the other Fragrant Orchid cadets, but I've decided to acknowledge Young Master Namgung now."
"See? Even Seolji and Hayeon say you're weird, Namgung Yun! Oh, Jeonghyeon, what do you think?"
"...I'll refrain from comment."
"Hahaha! Him refraining itself means you're weird, Namgung Yun! No talk of Tao this or that!"
"......"
"Why's everyone picking on Gongyun?"
"...B-Brother Yong-un, shouldn't you call him by name properly instead of that?"
How much time passed with everyone laughing at Namgung Yun?
Led by Brother So-cheon, Yong-myeong, Cheon Jang-ho, and the Yunmae Hall crew entered the inn.
"Brother So-cheon, you're late? Held up by physical training?"
"Not because of me. A letter came from Jinju for Yong-myeong, so we waited for him to write a reply. I did squat jumps in the meantime, though. Oh, they said one came for you too?"
"For me?"
At my question, Yong-myeong pulled a letter from his bosom in Brother So-cheon's stead and handed it over.
I took out the proffered letter from its envelope and read it—it was from Father.
As I tucked the skimmed letter back into the envelope, several younger brothers swallowed dryly and asked in unison.
"What does it say?"
"If it's alright, he asks you to stop by Jinju during vacation?"
And Yong-myeong posed a more specific question.
"Nothing about hyung's reinstatement?"
"No, nothing like that?"
As Yong-myeong visibly deflated, I spoke up.
"Regardless of reinstatement, spending vacation in Jinju doesn't sound bad. What do you all think? Actually, that's why I called you here today."
At my words, Yong-myeong, who had been down moments ago, perked up.
"I'm for it! Even saying it's unrelated to reinstatement... Hyung truly cares for the Eon family more than anyone..."
Stopping him with a hand wave, I turned to Jeonghyeon.
"I have nowhere else to go. If it's not a bother, I'd be grateful to join."
"Bother? Then Jeonghyeon is coming along. So-rung, Cheon Jang-ho?"
"Same as Jeonghyeon-dojang."
"Yong-myeong here and Brother So-cheon say Madam's cooking is amazing—how could a beggar kid pass that up?"
"So everyone on my left is going?"
"Yong-un, I haven't answered yet?"
"Hyung's from Hanbuk anyway."
"Ah."
With Jeonghyeon, U So-rung, Eon Yong-myeong, Cheon Jang-ho, and Peng So-cheon decided for Jinju, I turned to my right.
First, Silver Xia Lian sighed and spoke.
"I'd love to come, but I've decided to go to Botam Temple's Sword Pavilion with Master. Pay respects to the sect and train there."
"Then go there."
"Yes, probably via the Yangtze. I'll stop by to see Father and discuss building the southern express pigeon network."
As Silver Xia Lian finished, my eyes inadvertently met Namgung Yun's, and he cleared his throat.
"...Ahem. Lately, I've felt my shortcomings, so I plan to go home and train."
"...Yeah. Whatever. What about Lady Zhuge?"
"I've been feeling my lacks too. Heading to the main family in Yungzhong to refine my sword. It's close to the academy, so I'll look after the horse stables too."
"Good. Dang Ok-gi, you?"
"Sichuan, of course? To the Dang family home to show the Hundred Poisons Pill to the pharmacy grandpas."
Thus, I'd heard from everyone except Ha-seong.
I figured no need to ask Ha-seong, but since he was here, I asked formally.
"Ha-seong, you'll follow me, right?"
But he scratched his head and gave an unexpected answer.
"I'm thinking of going to Namjikye."
I furrowed my brow.
"Why? Home for some triumphant return fun? Don't waste time—just come along."
"No. Not Hwiju—with glasses."
Hm?
Not Hwiju where Silver Radiance Merchant Group is, but Ankyung?
- Ankyung—isn't that Gongyun's family home?
Instead of answering Master, I immediately asked Ha-seong.
"Ankyung? To Gongyun's place?"
He nodded with unusual resolve.
"I'm the most lacking here."
At Ha-seong's determined words, I nodded silently.
A touch of pride welled in my chest, but I said nothing.
"Do that."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Finishing all the tasks that needed doing.
Taking finals for the few courses without end-of-term declarations.
Summer vacation had begun.
Those younger brothers with other destinations headed there.
Those going to Jinju rode carriages north with me through Henan.
Plan was to board at Maengjin Port near Luoyang and follow the Yellow River to Hanbuk.
But two more joined the group here.
Peng So-jin and Gongson Mu-gyeol.
"Hey, kids."
"All heading to Jinju? Moyong family has been stirring trouble lately, so I was planning to head to Hanbuk to check it out. Also wanted to talk next semester stuff with Senior Peng and So-jin. We were just about to set off... Mind if we join?"
How could lowly scholars refuse the Murim Alliance Leader's company?
The answer was decided from the start.
Besides, traveling with Gongson Mu-gyeol wasn't bad at all.
Quite good, actually.
The others complained of discomfort in turns.
But having dealt with him plenty, I felt none.
'Every checkpoint we pass like a high-pass lane—no waits or inspections.'
Word must have spread of Gongson Mu-gyeol traveling—no bandits or river pirates dared approach.
'And he covers all costs, saving money?'
Thus, we arrived in Jinju far faster than planned.
Thud. Thud.
"Who is it?"
"It's me."
"Eh?! Young Master Yong-myeong? Already here?"
"Yes. Hurry and spread the word. Big brother has arrived."