Chapter 11
Chapter 11
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Translator: penny
Chapter Title: Find the Second Student (1)
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After that, things were peaceful.
Yeom Gwang kept up his surveillance, but he no longer provoked in any obvious way.
Thanks to that, Chu Un-hwi could focus entirely on training Nangong Yun-ho.
Now it was truly the flower path.
Or so it should have been.
"Ahahahahaha—"
Chu Un-hwi clutched his head and let out a groan.
"Isn't there any way to avoid work?"
Nangong Yun-ho stopped his sword at the sudden question.
"What on earth are you talking about?"
"What else? I'm asking if there's a way to coast through life."
"Has something happened?"
"Something? Of course there has."
The trouble started with Chung-hyun.
He had been killing time by teaching Nangong Yun-ho just enough, when Chung-hyun called him over.
"Instructor Chu."
"Yes, Hall Master."
"Don't you think this is a bit much?"
"What do you mean?"
"You only have one student under your charge. And you're drawing a salary from the Murim Alliance."
"That's a very admirable situation."
Chung-hyun pinched the bridge of his nose and held up three fingers.
"Three."
"Three what?"
"Bronze Hall instructors are required to handle at least three students each."
"Where's the rule that says that?!"
As he snapped in anger, Chung-hyun promptly opened a booklet as if he'd been waiting.
The title was Instructor Duties Manual.
Ominous from the start.
"Right here."
And it really was there.
On the very first page, no less.
"This is the booklet they gave you when you joined. Didn't you read it?"
"I did."
"Then why don't you know the very first duty clause?"
Because I tossed it as soon as I got it.
Seeing Chung-hyun's eyes narrow, Chu Un-hwi quickly replied.
"I just forgot for a moment."
"Good thing you remembered."
Chu Un-hwi swiftly flipped to the exemption clause and protested.
"But I'm a new instructor. Exemption clause twenty-three states that exceptions can be made if the duties are excessive or for personal reasons."
"Are your duties excessive?"
"Very much so. Extremely."
"Are you ill?"
"Yes. My heart hurts."
"How pitiful."
Despite his words, Chung-hyun's expression was ice cold.
He nodded toward Yeo Mae-hong, who was diligently recording on one side.
"Instructor Yeo Mae-hong is also a new instructor. And she's handling thirty students."
He turned a gloomy gaze, and there was Yeo Mae-hong with her hands neatly clasped, mouthing silently.
- No. Prob. Lem.
She was cute, but it didn't lift his foul mood.
"Instructors typically handle around a dozen or so students. Even the ones with fewer manage five or six."
Chung-hyun turned away with a stern expression.
"You go to the mess hall five times a day. You beg for snacks three times. You're the first instructor they've seen whining for snacks during duty hours. Meanwhile, you clock in and out like clockwork."
He had nothing to say to that.
Chung-hyun patted his shoulder firmly.
"An instructor who doesn't fulfill the bare minimum has no place in Bronze Hall. I'll give you a month. Find your students before then."
What kind of bullshit is this?
"Tch."
He heard a tongue click and saw Yeom Gwang scowling.
Unable to handle him by force, he was trying to oust him using the basic rules.
Of course, the biggest fault was his own for not reading the booklet.
"Just you wait, Yeom Gwang."
Chu Un-hwi glared at Yeom Gwang, harboring more resentment.
"Now that I think about it, it's depressing. Who else works as hard as I do...?"
Chu Un-hwi sprawled over a rock like seaweed and complained.
Nangong Yun-ho looked down at his own body with dead eyes.
His arms and legs were covered without gap by iron weights the thickness of a child's arm.
And that wasn't all.
Acupuncture needles were stuck all over his body.
They were meant to seal his internal energy and temper his body, but every movement brought screams of pain leaking out involuntarily.
And what's with this sword...?
The sword in his hand was a grotesque, pitch-black thing.
Whatever it was made of, just holding it made his hands tremble.
Even Nangong Yun-ho, who had never let go of his sword in his life, wanted to drop it and run.
"If anyone's working hard, isn't it the student?"
"A student training diligently is all thanks to their instructor."
Nangong Yun-ho's eyes went dead again.
"Anyway, Nangong."
"...Yes. Speak."
"We need to find more students."
Other students...
Honestly, Nangong Yun-ho wasn't keen on the idea.
Monopolizing this capable instructor would be best for his growth.
But unlike Chu Un-hwi, who wanted to keep the good things to himself, Nangong Yun-ho had a normal personality.
He had a sense of altruism and knew the ways of the jianghu.
And it's hard enough handling his personality alone.
After a brief moment of thought, Nangong Yun-ho nodded.
"I'm fine with it."
"I don't care about your opinion."
"......"
"Know any easy marks?"
"Hold a recruitment. Before, Instructor Yeom blocked it, but things are different now, aren't they?"
"No one catches my eye."
They all seemed like they'd demand too much attention.
Thinking that far, Chu Un-hwi asked.
"Don't you have any friends to recommend?"
"Me, sir?"
"You're the Ghost of Bronze Hall. You must know the students well."
"I prefer to be alone, so I don't have any close friends."
"No friends? You're useless."
"Ah, not entirely! I have a friend in Silver Hall!"
"Silver Hall isn't Bronze Hall. A Bronze Hall instructor can't teach there."
He added.
"The Ghost of Bronze Hall has no friends. How pitiful."
"You know your youth ended before it began?"
"No friends? Then at least have skills."
The berating continued until Nangong Yun-ho collapsed from exhaustion.
That evening.
Chu Un-hwi sat face-to-face with Yeo Mae-hong.
The place was the inn inside Divine Martial Academy, reserved for instructors only.
Unlike the free mess hall, it was a bit pricey but offered quality meals and a bit of alcohol, making it popular among instructors.
She had apologized for unintentionally making him a comparison and offered to treat him, so he'd come straight here.
"Weren't you a mess hall guy?"
"Somehow, I don't feel like eating fodder today."
"Heh. You treat tomorrow, Instructor Chu."
"Somehow, I'll crave mess hall food tomorrow."
Dismissing it with a word, Chu Un-hwi ordered the most popular braised pork.
"It's really good here."
The good-natured Yeo Mae-hong urged him with her chopsticks, as if she'd never scolded him.
Nom nom.
"It's good."
He picked up two pieces of the braised pork and chewed.
"Hee hee. You eat so heartily."
"This place is a gem."
"Let's come together sometimes."
"We'll see."
As they chatted idly, another guest arrived.
"Sorry. Sorry. I'm late. Some Silver Hall old-timer suddenly called me."
It was Moyong Seon-ya from Silver Hall.
She must have just gotten off work, still in uniform, and no sooner had she sat than she raised her index finger.
"Here! Booze!"
As soon as the bottle arrived, she poured a glass and started complaining.
"Ugh. I can't stand it anymore. This one, that one."
She downed the glass in one go and ground her teeth.
"What happened?"
"Ugh. There was a fight."
"Students are full of youthful vigor, so fights happen sometimes."
"This was different. It was between an instructor and a student."
"Really?"
"The worst part? The instructor got beaten to a pulp in front of the students. Embarrassing."
Moyong Seon-ya sighed deeply.
"Mae-hong, be careful if you get promoted to Silver Hall instructor. The higher halls have students with stronger pride, and accidents happen more often."
"Yes, got it."
"Ah! And the Hall Master! Always calls me only when I'm leaving!"
She emptied glass after glass and poured out her complaints.
This cat-like woman rarely opened up otherwise.
She was sharing so freely because of Yeo Mae-hong's presence.
Yeo Mae-hong matched her, venting various grievances.
The storm of women's chatter began.
"They all. Sneak peeks. Wrapping bandages every day is a job in itself."
"Yeah? Tough."
"The other day at a gathering, he slyly sat next to me and..."
"Which bastard?! Tell your sister! I'll chop his hands off!"
For Chu Un-hwi, it was a blessing.
Nom.
While they were engrossed, he could snag three pieces of pork per chopstick this time.
That was when it happened.
"Ah. Instructor Chu."
Whoosh.
Both women's gazes turned to him.
Why me...?
He'd been quietly eavesdropping on the ladies' talk when Moyong Seon-ya raised an eyebrow.
"Well? Got anything to say?"
Wide-eyed.
No, even if you ask like that.
He'd only half-listened, so he had no idea what to say.
Are they trying to start a gossip club or something?
Chu Un-hwi slammed the table passionately.
"I'm being unfairly oppressed by society."
"Isn't one enough? I believe education is about quality over quantity."
"Just make it easy for me."
Their gazes cooled.
Not that?
There was another story.
"Oh, and another thing. Yesterday, all the male instructors went out for a unity dinner. Without me."
"......"
"......"
"I saw them eating beef in the back yard on my way out."
"Hmm..."
"Oh dear..."
Suddenly, his appetite vanished.
Tears even seemed to well up.
"For a beef dinner, shouldn't they at least invite the traitor first? That's the way of the jianghu."
Moyong Seon-ya sighed and smiled wryly.
"Well, different direction, but good that you're getting closer."
Pour.
"Here, here. Good work."
What was this?
Had he been accepted into the gossip club?
"They must be pretty stung, having a rookie instructor they'd underestimated pull one over on them."
"I didn't mean to rub it in."
"Their pride must hurt. You revived someone they all ignored and gave up on."
"Why blame me for their poor judgment?"
"Exactly! Alright, shall we go for it now?"
Moyong Seon-ya raised her index finger.
"Booze! Another bottle!"
A boozy time overflowing with cheer began.
"Ugh."
Back in his room, as he lay on the bed, the wall thumped.
He sat up and pulled back the covering cloth, and Yeo Mae-hong peeked through the hole in the wall.
"Instructor Chu, thanks for joining us today."
"I had a great time."
He'd eaten plenty of beef and drank booze.
On Moyong Seon-ya's dime.
She looked like she could outdrink a fish in a liquor barrel, but her tolerance was zilch.
"Let's do it again sometime."
As he went to drop the cloth, Yeo Mae-hong urgently called out.
"Wait. We talked so much today that I forgot something."
Forgot something?
He tilted his head, and Yeo Mae-hong made an unexpected proposal.
"Could you possibly counsel one student?"
"A student?"
"If it's okay, I'd like them to be under your guidance."
An unexpected lifeline had descended from an unlikely source.