Chapter 159
Chapter 159
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 159
>Chapter Title: New Recruits (1)
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Once the villagers, lost in religious fervor, had stopped their ecstatic babbling and fervent bowing, and regained some semblance of calm.
"Take just one bucket each—the water is plentiful!"
The Cult members mediated among the villagers, drawing water from the well and distributing it.
"Damn it!! Dammit!!"
Except for one.
"The enlightenment of Dokgo Gugeom!!!"
If you ignored Dokgo Pae, who was maniacally swinging his massive sword through the empty air without pause.
'Crazy bastard keeps yapping about enlightenment. It's just making his side effects worse.'
Il-mok watched Dokgo Pae's outburst with a pathetic gaze, then belatedly realized something crucial.
'...Ah. That's normal for him.'
He hurriedly shook his head.
'Dokgo Pae being normal? No way!! I'm the normal one. Obviously.'
He absolutely couldn't accept it. That guy being normal and himself the lunatic.
While Il-mok was lost in his self-justification, the task of distributing water to the villagers wrapped up.
Only then did Il-mok snap out of it and casually mention to the village's Branch Leader.
"Truth be told, creating this well is akin to lowering the stone platform. The water from this vein used to flow to the village well, so now the supply to the village well will drop sharply."
"Ah...."
The Branch Leader, who had been enthralled by the miracle of the new well, finally grasped the key point and let out a faint groan.
"It means you shouldn't distribute excessively just because there's plenty now. Everyone's caught up in the excitement today, so it might be best to explain calmly once things settle."
Because of this well, the existing one would dry up, forcing villagers to trek here for water from now on.
But it wasn't entirely bad. The old well was drying up anyway, and this vein had far more water.
"You could have the Branch's warriors periodically haul water, or even relocate the village here altogether—it might be better in many ways. Discuss it with the villagers."
Having passed on the aftercare details to the Branch Leader, Il-mok could finally head back to the village for some rest.
* * *
The next day around noon.
The Cult members, who had toiled digging the well until late into the night, rested until the sun was high in the sky before preparing to depart the village.
A village of just over two hundred souls had no lodging to accommodate more than sixty people.
Yet the villagers, deeply impressed by the miracle they had witnessed the night before, gladly offered up their homes.
Instead of cramming a couple and their children into a corner of a tiny room, they yielded the remaining space. Or an elderly couple gave up a now-empty room.
And even now, as the Cult members set out from the village.
"The Heavenly Demon has descended! Myriad Demons rejoice!!"
"May the Heavenly Demon's blessings be with the warriors of the Divine Cult!"
The villagers poured out to bow toward the departing group, showering them with blessings.
At that reverent sight, the Cult members left the village with faces full of pride—one and all. Il-mok was no exception.
It wasn't just because they had saved the thirst-stricken villagers.
'How long has it been since a proper bath?'
Thanks to the water from the new well, Il-mok had finally sloughed off his hygiene obsession in true refreshment.
For the next ten-odd days after that, Il-mok traveled the vast wastelands of the Divine River alongside the Viscount Unit.
There were nights when camping grime triggered his hygiene fits, and others when they stopped in sizable villages for comfortable rest.
He even witnessed men pulling carts carrying children assigned to the Initial Demon Academy under the Senior Brother's command—warriors from the martial units.
After such unremarkable days, the return to the Heavenly Myriad Mountains finally drew near.
Perhaps because they were closing in on the Heavenly Myriad Mountains—the wastelands gave way to green pastures filling the view, and further on, the mountains' silhouette gradually emerged in the distance.
"Viscount Unit Leader."
Il-mok approached the Viscount Unit Leader and pulled a stack of letters from his sleeve, offering them.
"If it's not too much trouble, could you deliver these to my Master?"
While the Viscount Unit was heading back to headquarters after completing their mission, Il-mok had to return to the Demonic Path Academy.
By academy rules, cadets were forbidden contact with headquarters—purely for that old-fashioned reason of focusing solely on training and self-improvement.
But since it involved his master, the Heavenly Demon, the Viscount Unit Leader asked cautiously.
"What are these that you ask me to deliver to the Lord?"
"Letters summarizing improvements I noted while traveling with the Viscount Unit."
It was uncharacteristically proactive for Il-mok.
But he had his reasons.
If word of that village well reached his master, he'd surely issue orders for all sorts of improvements again.
Better to take the first hit—rather than suffer under his master and trigger another obsession fit, Il-mok figured it wiser to compile and present the improvements himself.
And on top of that.
'I can't suffer alone.'
The improvements contained one hidden trap.
"...Improvements, eh."
Stroking his scruffy beard with a mutter, the Viscount Unit Leader took the stack and asked.
"May I read them?"
To the slightly displeased question, Il-mok replied politely.
"Yes."
No sooner had Il-mok answered than the Viscount Unit Leader began scanning the letters.
The reason for his displeasure was simple.
'So the Heavenly Demon's top-secret mission to the Eighth Young Master was just to monitor our martial unit?'
It stemmed from the term "improvements." He suspected critiques of the Viscount Unit's mission handling.
But soon after reading, he realized he'd misunderstood.
"Huh...."
Midway through, the Viscount Unit Leader let out a deep sigh, looked up at Il-mok.
With eyes like he was staring at a monster.
"...I think I see why the Lord considered assigning you a different top-secret mission instead of the martial unit."
Il-mok gave a wry smile at the Viscount Unit Leader's high praise.
"Just got lucky."
He had gotten lucky.
'Damn it.'
It was the product of his modern knowledge combined with the Soul-Stealing Heartless Sword's obsession.
Unaware of Il-mok's inner thoughts, the Viscount Unit Leader chalked it up to modesty and smiled warmly.
"It's forbidden for academy cadets to send letters, but since this is the Eighth Young Master's personal matter, I'll ensure delivery."
The Viscount Unit Leader carefully folded the stack and tucked it into his bosom—like he'd guard it with his life.
Time passed, and as they neared the Heavenly Myriad Mountains, the Viscount Unit members and cadets exchanged light farewells before parting.
"Thank you for your guidance, seniors!"
"We'll become fine demons and meet again!"
"Hahaha. See you in a year!"
The Viscount Unit Leader headed to headquarters' barracks with his unit, ordered rest upon arrival.
Then he made straight for the Heavenly Demon Hall.
"We meet the Lord of Myriad Demons!"
"Yes. You have letters Il-mok earnestly asked you to deliver to me?"
"Indeed."
Prostrating, the Viscount Unit Leader answered, rose at the Heavenly Demon's command, and presented the letters.
The Heavenly Demon's personal guard, the Silver Wing Pavilion Lord, took them, checked something, then passed them on.
The Heavenly Demon read with eyes gleaming like a warrior discovering a supreme technique.
'Heh heh heh. What ingenious change will my cute youngest bring this time?'
He read with eager anticipation, and it was fulfilled page by page.
- The Divine Cult's most sacred duty is to keep the evil within all humanity in check. But the Divine River is an environment all too perfect for that evil to rampage. Unlike the fertile Central Plains, over half the land is wasteland, leaving food and water perpetually scarce.
The letters Il-mok sent bore the title [Divine River Wasteland Development Plan].
- First, we must expand the Divine River's pastures. Turning desert to pasture overnight is impossible. But steadily planting and tending grass and trees along the pasture-wasteland border each year can gradually expand the pastures.
...
- Moreover, children attending schools and academies can participate. Watering and watching the trees and grass they plant grow provides great emotional stability for kids. So how about designating the day when all children plant together once a year as 'Arbor Day' and making it a festival?
...
- There's a saying: seas turn to mulberry fields. But mulberry fields don't become seas overnight. Expanding Divine River pastures is the same. No dramatic change tomorrow, but in decades, no one will remember the old Divine River.
Il-mok personally called it [Make Our Divine River Green Green].
His greatest inspiration came from elementary school memories.
Planting flowers and trees with a trowel on Arbor Day.
Plus, Arbor Day was a foothold.
A foothold to increase holidays in the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
An insane group that treated nonstop work or training as the norm.
Il-mok planned to legally snag rest days by tricking the Heavenly Demon into adding holidays, starting with Arbor Day.
His schemes didn't end at one holiday, either.
- Even I, just learning divination, could detect ley lines. The Eight Trigrams Hall and An Clan diviners could surely map them. We must use them to create a Divine River ley line map.
...
- Great villages like Toro Village or Huajeong, hugging water sources, should expand pastures. Others should use the ley line map to create new sources nearby and build new pastures and villages from there.
...
- Forcibly relocating villagers risks unrest, but new water sources will tempt them greatly. And we have education as bait. Use martial unit and Branch warriors to build new schools and academies, urging migration.
....
Il-mok added plans for immediately water-short villages and denizens to complete the proposal.
This plan was Il-mok's trap.
The trap born of fury: I won't drown in work alone.
And having read it all, the Heavenly Demon played right into Il-mok's hands.
"Summon the Eight Trigrams Hall Lord, An Clan Head, all martial unit leaders, and the Demon Teaching Pavilion Lord immediately."
The Demon Teaching Pavilion Lord oversaw the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult's new education division—none other than Eldest Young Master Wi Jin-hak.
And from this moment, a massive storm would ravage the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
A horrific workload storm that would grind up martial unit warriors, Eight Trigrams Hall diviners, and everyone under the Demon Teaching Pavilion.
* * *
Having dropped a massive bombshell on Heavenly Demon Divine Cult headquarters, Il-mok strolled the mountain path with a refreshed expression.
'Heh heh heh. No spare attention for me now.'
Stabilizing this would tie up a huge chunk of headquarters' manpower for quite a while.
If all went well, even after Il-mok graduated the academy, it might still be churning.
'If I can get dispatched to a Central Plains Branch fast, I can live like an immortal from then on!'
A Heavenly Demon Divine Cult member spinning Taoist daydreams.
Lost in visions of a blissful future with a goofy grin, Il-mok and the cadets reached the Demonic Path Academy entrance.
Dust-covered from a month roaming the Divine River, the robed cadets passed through the main gate.
In the academy's training ground, after a month away, young men and women—strangers all—stood frozen, staring at them.