Chapter 174
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 174
Chapter Title: Sun and Moon Corporation (2)
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- This has nothing to do with the current incident, right?
- Yes.
- Alright, let's do well.
That was the gist of the interrogation, summarized from the perspective of a street vendor.
I wrapped up my lengthy speech in front of the Martial Alliance's representatives who had rushed over in a panic alongside the Agricultural Alliance Leader, as well as the academy's higher-ups.
......Manipulation is a bad thing.
But the manipulation I did was a good one.
- Regardless of the circumstances, the Justice Inspection Leader and his deputies sacrificed themselves to protect you...... I'd appreciate it if you kept that fact in mind.
It felt a bit unfair from my standpoint.
No, they were the ones trying to smash the back of my head first, you know?
If it weren't for my genius intellect, you'd all be filming Season 2 of the Orthodox-Demonic Great War by now, I tell you?
But this wasn't the situation to argue back, so I just stood there at the photo line like the chairman, putting on a somber expression mixed with feigned pain, groaning softly.
Of course, no one questioned my perfect Method acting backed by Intelligence 100.
So......
This should seal the Justice Inspection Squad incident for now.
"Geum Sihyeon, student officer. You've worked...... hard."
The one who came to greet me without even carrying a block of tofu in her hands was Sister Seol.
Her tone was quite fitting for Moyong Seol with all the watchful eyes around, but her tear glands, ready to spill over at any moment, made her the epitome of Seol-du.
"No need...... Thank you so much for handling the student council duties in my place."
"Today, you should head home and rest──"
"No. I've been away too long...... I need to stop by the student council room first."
Oh dear.
Facial expression control, facial expression control.
The moment I mentioned heading to the student council room, Seol-du made a bizarre face like she had a horn growing from her butt.
.
.
.
And then, the instant we entered the empty student council room.
Tadadak!
Seol-du, who had been maintaining a proper distance befitting an instructor and student officer, came charging like a puppy, groping all over my body while sniffling.
"A-Are you okay? I-I should have gone with you, I had no idea something like that would happen, h-hic, sob."
Then, she outright clung to me and broke down into full sobs.
Narang and Luri had done the same when I first returned to Geumhyeon Sect, crying and hanging onto me.
Worried the sound might leak out, I set up a barrier to seal the space and silently patted Sister Seol's shoulder.
Until her heaving shoulders finally stilled.
Only then.
"H-Huee...... I showed such an unsightly side......"
Looking up at me with reddened eyes, Sister Seol wore the faintest smile at the corner of her lips.
"Well, you made it back safe and sound."
I helped her up onto a chair, her legs too weak to stand easily.
Then, I gave her a straightforward summary of everything that had happened.
In a world where even the Martial Alliance Leader was suspicious, who could you trust?
But Moyong Seol was trustworthy.
We'd shared worries about the Azure Heaven Society several times before.
And recently, the Moyong Family had cautiously cut ties with the Azure Heaven Fortress and fully switched to the Ten Thousand Gold Treasury Fortress.
......I had this strange hunch that Sister Seol's influence was behind that choice, but I'd look into it later.
"The Justice Inspection Squad...... even within the Martial Alliance......"
"Well, there were cases like Nangong Baek or the Poison King. It's safe to assume Azure Heaven Society members are widespread in the Martial Alliance too."
"I'll keep looking into that part. I heard the Justice Inspection Squad operates completely independently, so if we backtrack to who has influence over them......"
"We can catch the Azure Heaven Society's tail."
I can't live like this.
Next time, should I just slice open one's belly and yank out the poison sac?
"Anyway, Sihyeon."
As I was lost in grim thoughts, Sister Seol suddenly approached me with a resolute expression, like she'd made up her mind.
......Something.
Felt like I was hallucinating spider legs sprouting from her back.
Chomp!
Like snatching prey, Sister Seol grabbed my slightly recoiled hand with both of hers.
"From now on, never get hurt again. Do you know how worried I was when I heard the news?"
"Yep."
"Every time that happens, my heart drops...... They say warriors walk the line between life and death, but I just want Sihyeon to stay healthy. To be happy. You get what I mean, right?"
"Yep."
"So, what I'm saying is, th-that......"
But her overflowing passion and lion-like momentum was fleeting.
Today, too.
Sister Seol opened and closed her mouth, unable to take that crucial step forward.
......But it felt a bit awkward for me to take the lead here.
I'd thought about it before, but logically speaking.
I like you, but I plan to have multiple wives──if that's okay with you──
No sane person could blurt that out to her face.
Ah.
There is one.
That crazy lecher bastard Yeon Hong-un.
- Wooing, Yeon Hong doesn't know the hard things! Bad words get fireball! Firebaaaall! Along!
......Though these days he's progressed from corrupting women to regressing into infancy.
Anyway, Yeon Hong-un and I are different.
I.
I......
Have mastered the Cloud-Rain Color Art.
Support polygamy.
Can distinguish virgins from non-virgins.
Have no experience, but I'd probably be perfect at night too.
And plenty of women throw themselves at me first......
Huh?
Wait?
Am I, perhaps, qualified to be a great villain──
"Ah."
Suddenly, Sister Seol hugged me tight, accelerating the melting sensation in my brain.
Aje aje bara aje bara senga aje moji sabaha.
Aje aje bara aje bara senga aje moji sabaha.
With the Prajna Heart Sutra remix on autoplay, my thoughts veered to her modest hill of a butt──no, not the rear, why am I thinking like this.
"......I'm letting it slide because you're a patient."
It was a weighty line that felt like it could suddenly shift genres to Tag: school if I weren't injured.
An overwhelming stimulus for Geum Sihyeon, in the prime of his vigorous youth.
But not yet, not yet.
I could embrace and comfort my people in my arms right now if I wanted.
It wasn't for nothing that Winston Churchill was my role model.
Not talking about Mr. Gallipoli.
Winston's sturdy intellect plus Churchill with seven wives──isn't that the perfect name?
Objections mark you as a monogamy spy.
However......
I still have too many entangled grudges.
The Azure Heaven Society, the Blood Cult, and more.
Only after resolving those issues, or growing strong enough that they become irrelevant, can I sever those evil ties and reach the villain's ending.
I might be the villain to some.
......To Sister Seol right now, my iron wall might look that way too.
So.
"First, I need to clear the obstacles in front of me."
"Yeah, you're right......"
Fortunately, though emotional, Sister Seol was discerning enough to understand my meaning, and she smiled faintly again.
"But isn't it dangerous right now? If even the Martial Alliance is coming out so blatantly......"
But anxiety soon flickered across her face.
"It'll be safe for a while."
"How can you be sure?"
Ahh.
She doesn't know yet.
"A monster moved in next door."
* * *
"Huh......?"
Returning to the academy, a bizarre sight met my eyes.
The height seemed no obstacle for a master to scale, but originally, a massive wall stood between the neighboring Heavenly Demon Divine Cult's Xi'an branch and our Geumhyeon Sect.
But......
"Geum hubby. You're back?"
Why was there a gaping hole punched through the wall?
"Eek."
Why were these people lounging casually in someone else's garden without permission?
"Sihyeon! Come on in. Hehe, I prepared a meal!"
......Why was our Number One disciple not only ignoring outsiders trespassing but actually cooking for them?
My mind was in chaos.
.
.
.
"So, to clarify, it was purely an accident. While practicing martial arts, Luri happened to punch a hole exactly the right size for two or three people to pass through."
"Yeah."
"It's entirely their fault, so they'll repair it, but since it's like this, they want to install a gate to allow neighborly exchanges."
"Wise as expected. You summarized it perfectly?"
"Why me?"
At my protest, Cheon Luri smiled sternly like a cult leader.
"Didn't G&G Corporation already sign an agreement with Sun and Moon Corporation? On incredibly generous terms, at that? Doesn't that make us more than strangers──practically a shared fate? Enough to overlook a minor blemish like this?"
"......"
She was absolutely right.
Compared to Sun and Moon Corporation, the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
Even combining the 20% stake in Ten Thousand Gold Treasury Fortress with the sunk costs into G&G and Geumhyeon Sect, it was a drop in the bucket.
They'd handed over nearly free distribution rights to Silk Road imports...... making me the debtor.
No wonder the terms were so favorable.
So this was their plan to bind me economically.
"Eek."
That Luri girl.
On the outside, with her adorable, cute, squishy appearance that makes you want to bite her, deceiving me, while plotting such vicious schemes behind my back.
Her subtle tightrope-walking words and actions must be a nefarious ploy to imprint the image of Bread-Luri in my mind.
Not that she'd ever grow to 170cm 65G.
"Anyway, whatever. What brings you here today?"
I gave up, sat in a chair, and hugged Cheon Luri as I asked.
Then.
"I came to teach our Geum hubby some demonic arts."
"I refuse."
Whether it's Madam Tibu or Bread Cult Leader.
Why do Demonic Cult folks always whisper 'Become an oni, Geum Sihyeon!' the moment our eyes meet?
Is my face one with a donut hole?
Though it's not quite a donut, it does have a sheath right now.
"It's the Heavenly Demon Divine Art? You still don't want it?"
"......Pardon?"