Chapter 145
Chapter 145
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 145
Chapter Title: Nine Dragons Armory
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After that day's conversation, nothing changed on the outside.
I couldn't give him an answer, and Bukgung Baek didn't press me for one.
I decided to remain the Squad Leader of the Outer Hall, and he remained its Hall Master.
However, I did make one thing clear.
‘From now on, I will serve you as my master.’
‘That's cringeworthy.’
‘If you don't like it, then don't.’
‘…Ahem, if you insist, I'll allow it.’
‘Receive my bow, Master! I'll serve you moderately for the rest of my life!’
‘…’
We had officially formed a master-disciple relationship.
Even if it wasn't entirely my own will, it was a fact that he had bestowed upon me the divine martial art known as the War King Arts.
And without those War King Arts, I wouldn't have just failed to acquire the Hanzhong Merchant Guild; I wouldn't have even survived this long.
I might have ended up dead or crippled in the war with the Southern Heaven Palace.
In other words, everything I have now is rooted in the War King Arts.
Having received such a great favor, how could I, a man from a land that prides itself on courtesy, simply ignore it?
Naturally, I had to form a master-disciple bond and serve Bukgung Baek.
‘Hehehe, so now I have a backer. A backer who's one of the Ten Great Masters, no less.’
Well, there were various other reasons, too.
Still, seeing the satisfied look on Bukgung Baek's face put my mind at ease.
The day after taking a master of the divine realm as my teacher.
“Hmph…”
I arrived at work, and the sight of the Outer Hall was not to my liking at all.
“Tsk, tsk.”
To think that I, the direct disciple of the Ten-Hand Heavenly Conqueror—no, the Heaven and Earth Combat King—had arrived, yet no one came out to greet me.
‘The discipline in the martial world is in shambles!’
It seems I'll have to set a day aside soon and give them a proper shakedown.
“My, my, what brings our dear First Squad Leader to work so early?”
On my way to the First Squad's pavilion, I ran into the Fifteenth Squad Leader, the sole woman among the Outer Hall's leaders.
“You look as beautiful as ever… no, that's not it.”
‘This isn't right.’
Until now, even though I was her superior, I treated her with respect as my senior, but I couldn't do that anymore.
I had to show the unyielding dignity of a superior. That was the only way to restore discipline, not get lost in the scent of her shampoo.
“Ahem! It's been a while, Fifteenth Squad Leader.”
“Oh my? Your tone has become so mature.”
“Well, given my social standing…”
“Oh, is that so? Our cute little First Squad Leader. Hohoho.”
She laughed brightly, then turned and walked away.
My eyes were unconsciously drawn to her firm buttocks.
‘Gasp!’
After admiring the view for a moment, I snapped back to my senses.
‘How can I restore discipline in the Outer Hall like this!’
If I let myself get swayed like this, how could I ever establish the dignity of a superior?
I pulled myself together and headed for the First Squad's pavilion.
“Nine Dragons!”
Opening the door, I saw Wu Je-jun.
Officially, he was the Vice Leader of the First Squad and my senior by seven years, yet he was always respectful to me.
I nodded in satisfaction.
A sense of contentment washed over me.
‘That's right. This is how a proper organization should be.’
I placed a hand on Wu Je-jun's shoulder and said,
“So, anything unusual happen?”
“No, sir. Thanks to you, everything has been running smoothly.”
“Haha, you flatter me! It's all thanks to your hard work, not mine. Hahahaha.”
“You're too kind.”
He's even humble.
A true model worker of this era was right here.
Satisfied, I sat down, and he handed me a few documents.
“Huh? Is this all? It's not even a quarter of the usual amount.”
“While you were on your 'unannounced long-term business trip,' I took care of it in advance.”
“…I, I see.”
“If you'd like to review them, I can bring them back up.”
“No, no. I'm sure our Vice Leader Wu handled everything perfectly. I'm not worried at all, so please continue to take care of things on your own.”
My actual work was over in less than three minutes.
“The man named Oh who got drunk, caused a disturbance, and assaulted his neighbor, Mr. Yang, gets two lashes. The Yuk family, who committed murder for money—execute them by beheading tomorrow morning.”
“Understood.”
From the start, this work was far too easy for a genius like me.
‘Should I just go home…’
I came in early thinking work would be piled up, but I never imagined there'd be nothing to do.
Just as I was about to get up from my seat.
*Stare…*
I saw the four members of the former Seventeenth Squad also sitting around blankly, with nothing to do.
“…What's with those guys?”
“Ah, I was just about to explain.”
He lowered his head and spoke in a quiet voice.
“They're not getting along with the other squad members.”
“What? Why not? It's not like they have difficult personalities.”
“Well, it seems to be because of their backgrounds.”
“Hmm…”
Hearing that, it made sense.
Yang Gang, Ha Jin-hyeong, and Lee Dang-pal are from a collateral branch of the Green Dragon Hall and boast martial arts that have reached the peak, while Yu So-pyeong is the son of the Grand Chancellor.
Moreover, these four were once the guards of the current Lord's eldest grandson, the man who was certain to become the next Lord of Nine Dragons.
Now that their identities are known, it's bound to be a bit awkward for the regular squad members to associate with them.
Not because they dislike them, but because they're intimidated.
‘Unless you're as charming as I am, it's hard for a master to blend into an organization.’
From Wu Je-jun's next words, I realized the situation was more serious than I thought.
“On top of that, we've had a lot of new recruits lately, so we have plenty of manpower. As a result, the number of times those four are dispatched with others has decreased significantly.”
“Hmm… that's a problem. Fix it systemically so that dispatch orders are rotated fairly.”
“Understood.”
This was a problem I couldn't solve.
The Outer Hall wasn't some elementary school; I couldn't just tell everyone to get along.
I could only hope the former members of the Seventeenth Squad would adapt well.
‘Sigh… Nothing ever goes my way.’
* * *
The next day was finally the day I would receive a grade-A weapon from the Nine Dragons Armory.
I dashed toward Nine Dragons Mountain with the giddiness of a schoolboy released for summer vacation.
Why?
Because the Nine Dragons Armory was an artificial cave bored right through the center of Nine Dragons Mountain.
‘How did they dig this in a world without excavators and dynamite?’
The more I looked at it, the more of a mystery the structure became.
And so I arrived at the Nine Dragons Armory.
Before a massive cave, as large as a highway tunnel, stood an enormous gate.
As I lingered in front of it for a moment, a warrior dressed in a dark green uniform suddenly emerged from the shadows.
He was from the Dark Poison Corps, a military unit directly under the Lord's command.
If the Black Tiger Corps were the sharp daggers that stabbed the enemy, these men were the thick shields that blocked the enemy's daggers.
“Welcome, Squad Leader Jin.”
“Ahem, it seems you know who I am.”
“As a warrior in service to the fortress, how could I not know the face of the Fighting Dragon?”
To think a member of the Dark Poison Corps, who never leaves the Lord's side, knew my face.
And in a martial world without social media, no less.
Seeing this, it seems I'm starting to enter the ranks of celebrity myself.
As I savored the brief moment of pride, he cleared his throat and held out his hand.
“Ahem, may I have the plaque you brought? It's just a formality.”
At his words, I took out a platinum plaque engraved with the character for 'First-Grade' from my robes and handed it to him.
It was the entry plaque I had received from the Grand Chancellor.
The warrior from the Dark Poison Corps examined the plaque very slowly before nodding.
“You have two hours to choose a weapon. After that time, a formation will activate, so you must come out before then. If you fail to come out…”
He continued, his eyes feigning seriousness.
*Gulp.*
I swallowed nervously. If I couldn't get out, what would happen? Would I starve to death or something?
“We'll have to do our job twice. It's a difficult task that takes three whole days, so we'd appreciate it if you'd be on time.”
“Aww…”
I clicked my tongue at the anticlimactic answer and nodded, and he opened the massive gate.
“The Lord once said that when a divine weapon meets a worthy master, it calls out to them on its own. If you follow that resonance, you should be able to find the weapon with the best affinity for you, Squad Leader Jin.”
“…?”
Wondering about the sudden advice, I looked at him, and he spoke in a voice tinged with amusement.
“On Mount Diancang, my sworn brother's life was saved thanks to you, Squad Leader Jin. This is woefully inadequate as payment for a life, but it's all I can offer right now. I'll repay the rest in due time.”
*Grin.*
*Thud!*
He gave a small smile and closed the door.
‘You could have just paid me with money…’
Still, getting advice on how to avoid picking a dud without spending a single coin was a definite win, so I quickened my pace.
According to his explanation, I could only stay here for two hours.
I had to move quickly, lest I inconvenience the warriors of the Dark Poison Corps.
Factoring in the time it would take to carry the weapon out, it wasn't a long time at all.
Following the continuous passage, I saw doors engraved with the characters for A, B, C, and D.
When I inserted the plaque into a slot in the middle of the 'A' door, it began to open with a tremendous roar.
*Rumble.*
In a world without springs, I was immensely curious how they had implemented such an automatic door.
‘Are there dwarves around here or something?’
Well, I'd look into that later.
Passing through the door and walking a short distance, I saw a vast chamber, filled with a blue mist.
The natural energy emanating from dozens of divine weapons had filled the cave.
And there, I witnessed an incredible divine weapon hanging right at the front.
‘Th-this is!’
A single sword that exuded a presence like the sun.
‘The Emperor's Sword is here!’
It was the Azure Sky Emperor's Sword, hailed as the greatest of all legendary swords under heaven.
And it even had a friendly little name tag on it.
‘Hmm…’
It was amazing, but… how should I put it? It felt like they were showing off to visitors, saying, 'We have treasures this great, too.'
I immediately lost interest in the Emperor's Sword and moved deeper inside.
Since I couldn't exactly post it on the local flea market, and I don't use a weapon, there was no reason for me to look at a sword.
‘I don't need armor since I have the S-rank item, the Dragon Scale Armor…’
The rest were mostly weapons like swords, sabers, and spears.
The only things worth looking at were the gauntlets…
‘Is this all they have?’
Among the more than fifty divine weapons, there were only two pairs of gauntlets, and one was in terrible condition.
‘Heavenly Spirit Gauntlets.’
I examined the pair in decent condition first.
‘They look sturdy enough…’
The fit was snug and comfortable, and when I infused them with my energy, the affinity wasn't half bad either.
I thought it might be a good choice to just take these.
‘The Lord once said that when a divine weapon meets a worthy master, it calls out to them on its own. If you follow that resonance, you should be able to find the weapon with the best affinity for you, Squad Leader Jin.’
The words of the Dark Poison Corps warrior kept ringing in my ears.
According to him, these gauntlets, which gave off no particular resonance, were not a perfect match for me.
So, I examined the next pair, the ones in poor condition.
‘Ah, for fuck's sake!’
I couldn't hide my disappointment.
I had imagined a scene straight out of a martial arts novel cliché, where the weapon, having found its master, would resonate, glow, and be reborn, but no matter how I looked at it, this was nothing more and nothing less than a tattered pair of gauntlets.
‘How is something like this in the grade-A armory?’
It seemed to hold some kind of secret, but one thing was for sure: I wasn't its master.
I spent nearly an hour wandering around, hoping to find something else.
‘Should I just choose the Heavenly Spirit Gauntlets and go…’
I hadn't found anything.
“Damn it. What is this?”
Just as I began to vent my burning frustration with a curse.
*Vmmm… Vmmm. Vmmm…*
A sound like a vibrating smartphone reached my ears.
“…!”
I didn't even have to think.
This was clearly a resonance telling me to pick it up.
And.
“What the? What is this?”
Having found the source of the vibration, I unknowingly raised my voice at the absurd sight.
“A snake?”