Chapter 102
Chapter 102
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Translator: penny
Chapter Title: House Arrest Life (3)
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Thwack. Thwack.
Nangong Yun-ho, skillfully hacking away at the trees, suddenly stopped.
"Instructor, is this really okay?"
"What's the problem?"
"Aren't we arbitrarily damaging a valuable training ground?"
Chu Un-hwi wagged his index finger at the timid remark.
"Jegal said it too. The only issue is 'bringing in external materials.'"
"That's true, but…."
"If we source everything internally, it should be fine."
Chu Un-hwi flashed a triumphant smile.
'The stone axe Nangong Yun-ho's holding right now.'
It was a handmade tool, crafted by grinding a stone and binding it to a tree branch.
Just by carving a groove in the branch, fitting the stone, and tying it with vines, they'd instantly created a fine tool.
'If they nitpick and call it an external item, it'll be a headache.'
These were desperately made to avoid any issues during the academy's audit.
"I've even prepared an excuse. The theme is 'Mastering survival skills in wetlands.'"
Of course, he hadn't submitted detailed documents.
The academy's petty auditors would surely find fault if they sensed anything suspicious.
"That's all well and good."
"Don't worry. Let's hurry and finish before those stiff-necked folks catch on."
In the end, Nangong Yun-ho sighed and gave up his resistance.
After that, it was easy.
"This tree has sturdy fibers. It'd make a good pillar."
"The vines are soft but springy, so they'd work for walls."
"We should make a bed while we're at it."
"Oh. Do we need cooking utensils?"
Before long, Nangong Yun-ho had reverted to a natural man, nimbly traversing the marsh to gather materials.
Baek Ri-seol clamped her mouth shut.
The spacious lodging, complete with its own room, was incomparable to Bronze Hall.
It came equipped with tea leaves and utensils for anytime, and the bed was plush beyond belief.
An exceedingly comfortable lodging.
Not quite up to the Baek Family's standards, but it was clearly crafted with considerable care.
Yet Baek Ri-seol already disliked this place.
"…It's subtly grating."
Having tossed and turned all night in a foul mood, she gripped the sword on the table.
"Maybe loosen up with some exercise to shake off this mood?"
Hiding her complicated feelings, she opened the door and stepped out.
Several students were already milling about in the corridor.
They moved in groups of three or four.
Baek Ri-seol quietly slipped in among them.
Then, a small voice came from somewhere.
"New face…."
"Baek Ri-seol, the Forbidden Jade Leaf of the Baek Family."
"I've heard the rumors. Called the 'Snow Woman of Bronze Hall' or 'Bronze Hall's Ice Flower'?"
"They say she was once dubbed the Baek Family's false flower. Wonder which is her real self."
"This'll be fun to watch."
Gazes swept over her body in an instant.
With her keen senses, Baek Ri-seol felt her mood twist under the onslaught.
'It's been a while since I heard "false flower."'
A chilling smile curled her lips.
She wasn't particularly angry.
'Back then, I was undeniably a false flower.'
Forced to smile in every situation, compelled to be demure.
Stripped of freedom, she smiled on command, cried on command, and was even sold to a white-haired elder without a chance to speak.
'What an idiot.'
Was there ever such a foolish fool?
But looking back now, it didn't feel bad.
Rather, because she'd endured those endlessly bleak, colorless days, she'd met the instructor.
And because of that time….
Zing.
…she could now face the whispering fools behind her head-on, couldn't she?
She saw the female student who'd met her gaze flinch back.
"You there. If you stare that intently, even someone with your faint presence wouldn't notice."
"W-what?!"
"Oh my. Hiding behind your friend won't save you from my eyes."
She beamed.
With a brilliant smile, Baek Ri-seol said,
"Once I mark someone, I never forget them until they drop dead."
"H-how vulgar!"
The female student shrieked at the harsh words. Nearby students covered their mouths and chimed in.
"As the Baek Family's Forbidden Jade Leaf, shouldn't you mind your speech?"
"This isn't the Bronze Hall where you could run wild."
"A famed family's scion, yet so crude. One can tell the depth of your martial arts from your grace."
The students shielding the girl exuded an intimidating aura.
As expected of Silver Hall—each had considerable presence.
But Baek Ri-seol only laughed.
'Their so-called threats are just laughable.'
What was a threat, really?
Something sharper, more vivid, enough to stir the mind.
Something that sliced through meridians like a knife and crushed the brain, no?
'So at least…'
Like Ryeong-ryeong, who'd schemed for a decade to steal her soul.
At that thought, the instructor's voice echoed.
- This is the jianghu. Congrats. It'll only get more fucked from here.
An even brighter smile spread across Baek Ri-seol's lips.
"Do you fight with words in this neighborhood?"
Clink.
Stepping forward, she drew on the pressure from her memories, unleashing her aura. Infused with the intent to drive enemies to despair without mercy.
"Gasp!"
The female students recoiled from the piercing, chilling pressure they'd never felt before.
"If you're not a coward, follow me."
Heading out of the training ground, she ran into Moyong So-hye.
The girl asked outright,
"Sister, what happened?"
How did she know?
'I settled it pretty cleanly.'
Moyong So-hye pointed to the end of her sleeve.
"Your sleeve is cut."
"Oh my, it is."
"Here too."
So it was impossible to deal with five without a trace? As she thought to deflect, Moyong So-hye, uncurious, changed the subject herself.
"Huuuuh. Sister."
She hugged her tightly, rubbing her head against her chest.
"I just can't make any friends."
"You just arrived yesterday. Can't be helped."
"Normally, you bond in a day, stamp the friendship seal in two."
Truly, this lifeform, forged from pure affinity, was astonishing.
For Baek Ri-seol, who barely knew faces after half a year, it was enviably sociable.
With that affinity, friends would come soon enough.
As if reading her mind, Moyong So-hye looked up.
"Doesn't seem like it."
"Why?"
"The people here seem kinda weird."
"Definitely. Not a place to get comfy quick."
"Lots of arrogant types. And rude ones asking about your clan right off the bat."
"How about taking time to make friends slowly?"
"No can do."
Moyong So-hye replied firmly to Baek Ri-seol's suggestion.
"Gotta snag friends before my notoriety spreads."
Her claim: Befriend before Bronze Hall's Bloody Fist evolved into Silver Hall's Bloody Fist.
"Bad rumors are bad, but if the villain instructor finds out, he'll sabotage for sure. Now's the time while he's distracted. Make friends before getting tangled in schemes and ruining my rep!"
If she failed early, she'd graduate the academy all alone and lonely.
Baek Ri-seol affirmed the insistent Moyong So-hye.
"Yeah. I'll cheer you on."
Though whether it'd work was doubtful.
Heading to the mock training ground, now their new training area, Jegal Tan stood imposingly at the entrance.
"What? Move aside!"
But Baek Ri-seol soon stopped.
Jegal Tan's face was slack with shock.
An irritating existence just to look at, yet skilled at hiding emotions—he only showed this reaction for one reason.
Turning to follow his gaze….
"Oh my. Goodness."
"Wow. My god. What's all this?"
There, atop the marsh's giant tree, stood a splendid treehouse.
The late arrivals for training, led by Yeon Ho-seung, couldn't close their mouths either.
"Is this possible?"
"They really built a house…."
Lately, under the guise of survival training, they'd been making weird contraptions, but to produce something like this….
Delighted by the awed reactions, Chu Un-hwi chuckled.
"Cool, right?"
It was cool.
A sturdy-looking house atop a giant tree wasn't an everyday sight.
"Even made stairs."
They'd carved steps into one side of the tree.
"And hammocks between the branches for guests to rest."
Nangong Yun-ho added the explanation.
His face brimmed with pride over this bizarre creation.
"Instructor, the south-facing window is perfect. Great ventilation."
"Walls plastered with baked mud—no bugs or wind getting in."
"Even made a storage room."
Not just the structure, but inside, they'd crafted dishes, chopsticks, and more with care.
One might say it reeked of a plot to settle here permanently.
"Homeownership achieved."
"No idea how long we can stay, though."
"Damn. Begone, landowner tyranny! Begone!"
Chattering wildly, he excitedly climbed the tree, opened a side door, and tossed pebbles.
"When the landowner tyranny starts, we siege."
The side door and piled stones seemed to be siege weapons.
Watching made Im So-jeong's head ache; she pinched her brow.
"Young Master Jegal. Is it okay to build this in the mock exam grounds?"
"Normally, no."
Jegal Tan replied wearily. Indeed, his eyes were bloodshot from an all-nighter scouring academy rules for loopholes.
"But who can stop the instructor?"
"……."
"Well, it's not like there's no way."
The Jegal heir flashed a triumphant smile.
The first to rush over upon hearing the news was Gwak Jong-geun.
Expecting to gloat over the hated man's hardship, he gaped at the treehouse.
"What the hell is this?"
"A fine on-duty room, no?"
"Building this without permission! Are you insane?"
"The fruit of our blood and sweat with the students. Show some respect."
"You… you…."
Gwak Jong-geun clutched his neck and bolted off.
Seemingly calling superiors due to the major incident.
What a petty retreating figure.
"Unbelievable."
The summoned senior instructor, Jang Cheol-sim, couldn't close his mouth either.
"…Instructor Chu Un-hwi."
"Yes?"
"…Do you know how much that Sichuan stone tree you used as a pillar costs?"
"No idea. Got too into survival training to think about details…."
"Never mind the wall wood, but that ornamental one you pulled up is the ultra-rare Nostalgia Grass from Sichuan."
"Expensive?"
"Very. Insanely so. You couldn't buy one with your salary."
"No wonder it looked pretty."
Seeing him just admire without remorse, Jang Cheol-sim thought he had no intention of changing.
"And the fish you caught and dried…."
"Expensive too, huh. No wonder they tasted good."
"……."
This guy's hopeless.
Conversation wouldn't continue.
He wanted to yell and point, but….
'As a Qingcheng Sect expert, I can't curse.'
He never thought being a Qingcheng high master would feel this regrettable.
'If not for the sect's honor, I'd have half-killed him.'
His biggest regret was his past self.
'Why'd I accept this guy over some minor loyalty?'
Making that rash promise out of sentiment was lamentable.
'Not too late now.'
With this blunder, he could bring up the old matter and boot him.
Gnashing his trembling jowls, Jang Cheol-sim maintained his dignity to the end.
"Understood. Your position. Now it's the academy management's opinion?"
For a blunder this big, even he couldn't dodge it.