Chapter 84
Chapter 84
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Translator: penny
Chapter Title: Chapter 24: A Day of Rest (2)
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"They really have no shame."
Chu Un-hwi grumbled, squatting on the ground.
"Coming all the way here just to pull this nonsense again."
He turned his head and saw the kids grunting as they wrestled with their wooden blocks.
Amid the grunts and fumbling with carving knives, Moyong So-hye clapped her hands as she wandered around.
"Nangong oppa. Try holding the carving knife upright."
"Like this?"
"No. Like you're gripping a stone knife."
"Ah, got it perfectly."
Nangong Yun-ho caught on immediately at the mention of Stone Age tools.
"Jegal oppa, you're doing great."
"Hoo. This is tiring."
A practice wooden doll was taking shape nicely.
Kwajik.
A shadow fell over Baek Ri-seol's face as she turned what had been a wooden block moments ago into a wooden chopstick.
"...This is too hard."
"Can't control your strength?"
"Yeah. It's just not working right."
She'd never been handy to begin with, but after the special summer training, her freakish strength had only gotten worse.
Kwaduduk.
She gripped the chopstick in her hand, turning it into a toothpick, and ruffled her hair with a frustrated wack!
"Instructor! I can't do this!"
"How long do we have to keep up this pointless task?"
"Shouldn't we be doing something more useful?"
Chu Un-hwi gave a gloomy reply to her complaints.
"Whose fault is it...?"
"Eek."
"Who was it that told the student who'd finally warmed up to you, 'You're like an egg dropped from a mountaintop with all your might'?"
"I-I'm a perfect wife and the ideal bride, but I do have a few shortcomings."
"Sister. And that student was balding, too."
Telling a guy already worried about his thinning hair that he was like a raw egg, or that he sparkled in a humane way— that was a bit much.
"Eek. I'll reflect on it."
"Yeah, you do that."
Not that it would make any difference.
For some reason, he couldn't picture the ever-polite Baek Ri-seol acting any differently.
"On top of getting screwed over in Bronze Hall, now it's happening here too."
Chu Un-hwi's insides burned black with resentment.
The other Bronze Hall instructors had at least managed to snag some students, but he was the only one left out in the cold.
"Didn't expect it to be this bad..."
As he sulked, Jegal Tan quietly spoke up.
"I think Silver Hall pulled some strings."
"Huh? Really?"
"They lost face, so they'll try to get revenge somehow."
But there was something that didn't add up easily.
"Silver Hall's the one who begged for help because they were short-staffed. Why now?"
"Maybe they're waiting for the right opportunity?"
"Opportunity..."
Come to think of it, something suddenly came to mind.
It had happened not long ago.
Dokgo Ryul and Dan-ya, meeting after a long time, smiled at each other.
"It's been a while."
"Heh heh. Doing well?"
Dan-ya cracked his neck while glaring at Dokgo Ryul.
"Damn. You wrote a bunch of nonsense in that letter."
It was odd.
Dan-ya might be rude, but he usually showed some respect to his seniors. It was rare for him to start cursing right away.
But Dokgo Ryul's reaction was weird too.
"I just wrote the facts. What, did cataracts grow while I wasn't looking?"
"Why are you the left arm?"
"Obviously, I am."
"Bullshit!"
Kwang! Dan-ya smashed the desk with one fist and growled.
"The left arm is mine. You're the right leg at best? No, left leg."
Ttak.
Dokgo Ryul's aura flared.
"You're the left leg. Hell, you don't even qualify for the middle leg."
"You wanna go for real?"
As they glared and snarled at each other, Chu Un-hwi's fist twitched.
Thwack!
"Ow!"
Thud!
"Urk."
Chu Un-hwi glared at the two groaning with their heads in their hands.
"What the hell? Left arm? Right arm?"
Who was claiming ownership of his limbs?
And the middle leg's ownership was absolutely non-negotiable.
Under his glare, Dan-ya quickly answered.
"My lord. Even on my deathbed, I won't yield the left arm. This is the right arm—no, even Master Sima agrees."
"What, Master Sima?"
"Yeah, your old man. I went and asked him myself. He said clear as day, 'Ho ho ho. Of course, Dan-ya is the left arm.' I'm not making this up. There's solid evidence."
A foreboding word slipped out amid Dan-ya's steady stream of bullshit.
"You didn't... go meet my Sima pops, did you?"
"Of course. Had to drop off my cuties."
Desert cuties.
The Desert Assassins.
He was the perfect guy to wrangle those rough killers, but the problem was he was the last person whose attention Chu Un-hwi wanted.
"Ha, for real."
Chu Un-hwi sighed deeply at a truth he wished he didn't know.
Dokgo Ryul offered some consolation.
"Wasn't this predictable?"
True enough.
Hearing it out loud just made it hit harder.
In his gloom, Chu Un-hwi smacked Dan-ya.
"Ugh—this toe-less punk."
"Ah, why me? I'm hurt. This is unfair."
As Dan-ya grumbled sulkily, Dokgo Ryul spoke up.
"Since it's come to this, we need a quick resolution."
"Yeah."
If Master Sima—Sima Baek—knew where he was, who knew what trouble he'd stir up later.
"Gotta find the bride and make it a done deal before Sima pops shows up."
"Best case, marry her and pop out a couple rabbit-like kids to seal the deal."
"He caught the scent, so he could barge in anytime, anywhere."
When it came to vanishing and reappearing like a ghost, even the Dark Wind Assassins would bow to him. Time was short.
And the old man moved fast, so the odds of running into him before even meeting the bride were high.
"Difficulty just spiked."
"Any ideas?"
"I did assign someone to watch Seo Ok-rang from Blue Cloud Sect."
The woman he'd spotted hanging out with Instructors Moyong Seon-ya and Yeo Mae-hong. She had the same scent as his bride. He'd been keeping tabs in case she crossed paths with her later.
"...But lately, she's gotten interested in romance. Spending more time with male students than her female friends."
"Damn. Weren't the dorms separated by gender anyway?"
"Some classes are mixed. Pretty clever. She creates opportunities so seamlessly, no flaws."
"Goddamn. Makes me wanna kill the guy she's with."
Then the lonely Seo Ok-rang would go back to her female friends.
But he couldn't do that.
From the position of someone desperately awaiting love, there was that odd sense of kinship, but also...
'Forcing the situation artificially could derail the future with my bride.'
He couldn't risk rash moves ruining his destined bond with her.
"Just keep watching."
"As you command. Your left arm always delivers."
That was wrapping up the discussion.
"Heh heh heh."
Dan-ya, who'd been listening, started chuckling creepily.
"So it's true—you're hunting for your principal wife."
"Got a problem?"
"Nah. I'm not like Master Sima. If my lord wants it, I accept."
Surprisingly, Dan-ya took it in stride.
What's with this guy? But Dan-ya seemed to accept reality easily.
"No wonder you couldn't speak up in front of Lady Lu."
No helping it.
Even the thick-skinned didn't want to talk about their beloved in front of another woman.
'Just in case.'
They said a woman's grudge could bring frost in May.
And who knew what variables might arise if the Hao Clan learned his bride's identity.
"What do you wanna say?"
"My lord. I am your left arm."
He got it instantly.
'This punk wants a beating right now.'
As he pulled back his fist, Dan-ya raised both hands in panic.
"H-hear me out first."
"Gonna have to thresh some corn."
"That fake left arm bro is trying to find someone in the academy's ironclad security, but even the notoriously strict Divine Martial Academy isn't easy."
"So?"
"Better to target when she goes outside."
Dokgo Ryul, who'd been listening, shook his head.
"Not that I haven't thought of it. But now that term's started, students rarely go out. I handed off watching the few who do to you, right?"
Dan-ya crossed his arms smugly.
"Think outside the box."
Outside the box?
"My lord. Even if students go out sometimes, how long to comb Infinite City for those brats?"
"Then?"
"Lure the students we want to us."
Dokgo Ryul frowned at the idea.
"Using the Riverside Festival, huh."
"Right. They say all the promising talents crawl out for it."
"Impossible."
Dokgo Ryul shot it down flat.
"The festival's under heavy security from the start. Hard to even learn the route or destination."
"Instructors can react flexibly based on judgment, and routes change mid-way."
"Even Infinite City is tough to cover, let alone tracking students scattered across the world? No way."
Conclusion: absolutely impossible.
But Dan-ya kept his victorious smirk.
"You didn't listen properly."
This is why he's no left arm.
Dokgo Ryul's eyebrow twitched at the blatant taunt.
Dan-ya sneered.
"Left leg bro. Who am I?"
"A toe-less nobody?"
"That hurts."
This time, Dan-ya turned to Chu Un-hwi.
"My lord. Listen up. Who's the left arm?"
And what Dan-ya explained was simple yet enticing.
After a brief rundown, Dokgo Ryul muttered in fresh admiration.
"...Never thought of that."
"What'd I say? I'm the expert here."
Right, my lord?
Chu Un-hwi gave a short reply.
"Count on you, left arm."
Dokgo Ryul looked bitterly envious.
"...Instructor?"
Oh, ah. Got lost in thought for a sec.
Snapping back, Moyong So-hye was waiting with a stack of over a dozen wooden dolls.
"Today's quota is all done."
"Uh, good."
"Time to head back now."
"Yeah, already that late?"
He was about to pack up and go when Nangong Yun-ho muttered glumly.
"I could sleep here too."
"Yun-ho. Bear with it. Our rep's bad enough—camping out here too will start rumors."
Nangong Yun-ho, now more used to roofless living than under-roof, looked downcast.
On the flip side, someone was thrilled.
"Time to return to our love nest, just us two."
"Whatever, just hope we get proper lodging soon."
The fuss as sunset approached had a simple reason.
No vacancies in Silver Hall dorms.
'Trying to save face in some weird way.'
Obviously a continuation of their failed pride standoff from before.
Holding out without yielding rooms, building walls or whatever.
'Works for me.'
Made it easier to come and go from lax Bronze Hall, contact Dokgo Ryul and Dan-ya.
"Kinda nice, feels like going home."
Shall we?
A chorus of yeahs followed.
"Oh my. Good work today."
"See you tomorrow."
"Whew. Tired."
Exchanging greetings with instructors on the bridge between Silver and Bronze Halls, another day became a memory.