Chapter 128
Chapter 128
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 128
>Chapter Title: Man of Demonic Charm (3)
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Club activities had come to an end.
Il-mok stopped by the infirmary where Seo Jae-pil, the physician, was stationed and took a sip of the tea said to soothe both body and mind.
“Phew.”
Seo Jae-pil, who had been watching him with sparkling eyes, asked as Il-mok let out a light sigh after downing the warm tea.
“Did you make any progress?”
Il-mok nodded at his question.
“The new instructor seems suspicious.”
“Hmm. May I ask why?”
“Unlike the other instructors, he shows way too much interest in me. Blatantly so.”
Seo Jae-pil nodded at Il-mok’s observation before replying.
“If the Young Master felt that way, then it must be true. But isn’t it a bit strange?”
“What do you mean?”
“No matter how you look at it, being that obvious would be too foolish, wouldn’t it?”
Il-mok nodded at Seo Jae-pil’s point.
It was something he had already considered to some extent.
“When I think back on his methods so far, it does seem odd. That’s why I haven’t reported it to the Academy Lord yet.”
The constant provocations that seemed designed to make him snap were irritating, but Il-mok still retained a minimum of rationality separate from his ill feelings.
‘Better safe than sorry. That approach is a bit risky right now.’
Deep down, he wanted to dig a trap and frame the guy just to make him suffer for being annoying.
But that would be a bad move in every way.
It would tip off the enemies that he was using himself as bait.
On top of that, if the culprits sensed danger and went into hiding, he’d lose the chance to root them out for good.
‘With people targeting me, it’d feel too unresolved if I couldn’t deal with them.’
If that happened, this crazy perfectionist obsessive might really go berserk every single day.
That is, Il-mok’s other self.
As Il-mok pondered how to handle the issue with Ma Do-yeong, Seo Jae-pil spoke up.
“Counseling sessions with the instructors have already started today. We’ve finished with the Academy Lord, the Vice Academy Lord, and a few instructors. Could you wait just a little longer?”
“You plan to probe during the session with Instructor Ma Do-yeong?”
Seo Jae-pil nodded.
“Asking directly about the Young Master might raise unnecessary suspicion, so I’ll conduct a few sessions and casually ask about their thoughts on the trainees. And this won’t just apply to Instructor Ma Do-yeong.”
“True. Aside from him, there could be other lackeys, so targeting only Ma Do-yeong rashly could be dangerous.”
“That’s right, Young Master.”
Il-mok nodded with an uneasy expression at Seo Jae-pil, who gazed at him with sparkling eyes.
‘His skills as a physician seem solid, but he’s such a nutjob I can’t fully trust him.’
Still, with no one to replace Seo the physician right now, Il-mok decided to trust him for the time being.
“Then I’ll leave it to you.”
“Yes, Young Master. Oh, and while you’re here, could you tell me about the recent events and your emotional changes? Recording them could make excellent teaching material later.”
Seo Jae-pil was blatantly saying he was a test subject.
Il-mok let out a faint sigh at the sight and explained the events and emotional shifts of the past two days. Seo Jae-pil eagerly jotted it all down with a delighted expression.
Once his role as a test subject was done, Il-mok stood up and said,
“Oh, and can you send a message to the main headquarters?”
“We exchange regular correspondence with the Tranquil Heart Institute.”
While the Demonic Path Academy’s staff consisted mostly of instructors, assistants, and trainees, it couldn’t run solely on them.
Cooks for meals, people to transport ingredients, cleaners for the trainees’ dorms who focused solely on training, and launderers for their uniforms were all necessary.
Even the academy’s assistants and instructors primarily communicated with the main headquarters through them, only visiting in person when absolutely needed.
It was bizarre that trainees were forbidden from outside contact under the pretext of devoting themselves to training, but it felt familiar enough to Il-mok.
‘Boot camp was the same.’
Just one letter to parents at the start, and phone calls as a reward only for exceptional performance during training. And even then, only for about a minute?
‘If a medieval cult of lunatics matches modern boot camp standards, which one’s actually the weird one?’
As Il-mok inwardly concluded both were weird, Seo Jae-pil asked,
“Is there an important message for the main headquarters?”
Trainees were normally barred from outside contact, but given the circumstances, Il-mok could relay through the physician.
Il-mok nodded with a serious expression.
“Please pass a message to the Witch Elder.”
“What should I say?”
“Tell her to send more hand sanitizer.”
“…….”
Seo Jae-pil momentarily froze at Il-mok’s utterly serious words, uncharacteristically lost for words.
Regaining his composure, he asked in a hesitant tone,
“Uh… did you already run out?”
It hadn’t even been ten days since returning from the main headquarters.
Il-mok shook his head at the question, swallowing the follow-up.
“There’s still some left, but it takes time for the message to arrive and for the Witch Elder to send more sanitizer. Better to stock up before it runs out so I can relax.”
True to his obsessive nature, Il-mok was preparing for the worst case.
At that answer, Seo Jae-pil made an enlightened face as if to say ‘Indeed!’ and nodded.
“I’ll do that.”
After Il-mok left the infirmary with Seo Jae-pil’s confirmation, the physician picked up his brush.
Not to write the message to the Witch.
- The youngest Young Master seems unaware of it himself, but his obsessive symptoms have seeped into daily life. Even amid threats to his own life, he worries first about running out of sanitizer…
As he busily wielded the brush, Seo Jae-pil thought,
The youngest Young Master truly is excellent teaching material.
* * *
The next day.
While the trainees were diligently training under their instructors,
Seo Jae-pil was conducting sessions one by one with the instructors.
“Pleased to meet you. I’m Seo Jae-pil, physician from the Tranquil Heart Institute.”
“I’m Eun-ryeo, chief instructor of the Demonic Path Academy.”
With classes divided into Group A and Group B, two instructors taught simultaneously while the other two rested, so the sessions were scheduled during rest times.
“Hmm. Excessive sympathy as a side effect, you say. That must make it hard to refuse others’ requests.”
“…Yes.”
Eun-ryeo nodded, feeling a strange mix of wariness and relief at Seo Jae-pil’s insight into her condition.
As if reading her thoughts, Seo Jae-pil smiled gently and said,
“This counseling has already been conducted with everyone at the main headquarters. Even the great Sovereign of Ten Thousand Demons has undergone it, and all the division heads as well, so no need to worry.”
“…Understood.”
Knowing even the Heavenly Demon, object of his faith, had done it eased his mind somewhat.
They shared tea meant to soothe the mind and conversed for a while.
“Teaching young trainees, there must have been tough moments due to Instructor Eun-ryeo’s side effect. How about it?”
“…To cope, I consciously control my expressions and tone to seem cold on the surface.”
As they discussed her condition and coping methods, talk naturally turned to Jeong-hyeon.
“Oh my. Such a trainee exists. After finishing with the instructors, we’ll counsel the trainees too, so I’ll pay extra attention to Trainee Jeong-hyeon.”
“Thank you, Physician Seo.”
Seeing this as an opening now that trainees were mentioned, Seo Jae-pil probed Eun-ryeo.
“Besides Jeong-hyeon, are there any other trainees you’re concerned about?”
Surprisingly, she bit immediately.
“If I had to name one, it’d be Trainee Il-mok.”
“Hmm. Isn’t Trainee Il-mok famous as a genius?”
“Sigh… His talent is beyond doubt, but there’s one regrettable thing.”
“Could you share what that is? No pressure if it’s uncomfortable.”
After a moment’s hesitation at Seo Jae-pil’s gentle question, Eun-ryeo spoke.
It was common knowledge among instructors that Il-mok chased women. It had even been reported to the Academy Lord, likely reaching the Heavenly Demon too.
She didn’t like gossiping about a trainee’s private life, but since it was already widespread, it should be fine.
“It’s natural for young men to like women, but Il-mok takes it too far. Even the delicate Jeong-hyeon has gotten caught up lately and seems quite distressed, which pains me.”
Of course, to Seo Jae-pil, who had never heard this before, it was highly intriguing.
After Eun-ryeo left following the roughly thirty-minute session, he continued with the other instructors.
For Jeong Gyu-seok, in charge of doctrine education:
“Any recent concerns?”
“Honestly, creating that meditation club was regrettable in many ways. To make it, three trainees left our doctrine research club.”
“Hmm. That’s enough to anger anyone.”
“Ah, don’t misunderstand. It’s not about losing trainees. If it’s for mental stability, doctrine research would be far more beneficial than meditation. I just wonder why they bothered making a meditation club.”
They discussed how the trio from the doctrine club had switched to meditation under Il-mok’s influence.
For Cheok Il-so, in charge of external martial arts:
“Hahaha! If you ask my biggest recent concerns, it’s got to be Mak Ho-yeol, Dokgo Pae, and Gwak Sul from the physical beauty club. They get along so well with me, I can’t help but keep an eye on them!”
“Having trainees you click with must be heartwarming just to watch.”
“What can I say. Actually, they all seem interested in Trainee Il-mok, so I’ve been watching closely. If possible, I’d love to bring Il-mok into our physical beauty club too.”
They mainly discussed the physical beauty club.
* * *
A few days later.
Il-mok visited the infirmary for counseling on his side effect and to pick up the hand sanitizer he’d requested.
Taking the bottle from Seo Jae-pil, he asked,
“Did you find any leads?”
Since he was there anyway, Il-mok wanted to know if there was progress.
“I’ve completed one round of sessions with all instructors, including Ma Do-yeong, but…”
At Seo Jae-pil’s somewhat awkward response, Il-mok pressed.
“Was there a problem?”
“Not a problem exactly, but it’s hard to pin Ma Do-yeong as the culprit.”
“…Why? Did Instructor Ma Do-yeong avoid mentioning me at all?”
“No, quite the opposite. If he’d deliberately dodged talk of the Young Master, I’d suspect him more.”
“He talked about me, so why isn’t he suspicious?”
Seo Jae-pil let out a faint sigh at Il-mok’s question before answering.
“That’s because all the instructors talked about you, Young Master.”
“…Did you ask about me outright?”
At Il-mok’s suspicious glare, Seo Jae-pil replied with an indignant look.
“I just casually asked if they had any trainees they were concerned about lately, and every single one brought up you.”
“???”
Seo Jae-pil let out a hollow laugh at Il-mok’s utterly baffled expression.
Summing up what he’d heard from the instructors over the past few days yielded an absurd result.
According to Instructor Eun-ryeo, four female trainees had turned into a battlefield vying for Il-mok’s affection.
According to Instructors Cheok Il-so and Jeong Gyu-seok, the male trainees were desperate to befriend Il-mok.
From Academy Lord Yeom Ga-hwi down to the Vice Lord and all instructors, everyone was concerned about Il-mok.
And that wasn’t the end.
‘Come to think of it, the Sovereign pays special attention to the youngest Young Master, as do the Tranquil Heart Lord and I. Rumors say even the lady from the Hyeok-ryeon family follows him.’
The youngest Young Master was truly a man of demonic charm. Captivating men and women, young and old, friend and foe alike.