Chapter 315
Chapter 315
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 315
>Chapter Title: Years (4)
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Il-mok, who had entrusted Seo Jae-pil with a mental evaluation of his sixth senior brother, left the main headquarters a few days later.
Il-mok set off with goods he had gathered from Gansu and, just like always, headed to Merb in the Western Regions to sell them before returning to the main headquarters.
A little over a month passed, and upon his return to the main headquarters, Il-mok sought out Seo Jae-pil once more for a talk.
“How’s Sixth Senior Brother doing in detail?”
At Il-mok’s question, Seo Jae-pil’s eyes lit up for some reason as he smiled.
“No need to worry. I even checked with the shamans, and he’s no ghost.”
“If he’s not a ghost, how else could he learn a foreign tongue through hallucinations and auditory visions?”
“From my observations and research, it seems Sixth Young Master has extraordinary memory.”
“???”
Il-mok made a puzzled face, and Seo Jae-pil continued his explanation.
“It looks like he memorized all the conversations the foreigners chattered among themselves at the initiation hall without even realizing it.”
“So he kept replaying those conversations they babbled through his hallucinations and auditory visions?”
“Exactly. And by conversing with those hallucinations, he seems to have inferred the meanings behind the foreign words and learned the language that way.”
“Huh…”
Il-mok let out an involuntary sigh of subtle admiration.
It reminded him of his past life.
They said the fastest way to learn a foreign language was to make a foreign friend.
In that sense, Sixth Senior Brother might as well have made imaginary foreign friends and chatted with them nonstop in their tongue.
“So that’s why Sixth Senior Brother picked up the foreign language so quickly.”
“It’s the combination of Sixth Young Master’s innate memorization skills and the side effects of the Mad Soul Sword Art. Hahaha.”
“…His condition must be pretty fascinating to you.”
Il-mok eyed Seo Jae-pil like he was looking at a madman, but Seo Jae-pil just nodded happily, looking thoroughly pleased.
“Hahaha. I’ve seen you often, Young Master Il-mok, so I thought you were the only peculiar one, but it seems the other young masters have strong personalities too.”
Il-mok shook his head and rose from his seat.
“Even so, the number of hallucinations and auditory visions he’s been seeing lately seems to be increasing, so keep a close eye on him.”
Those were Il-mok’s final words regarding Sixth Senior Brother’s well-being.
He was a madman, but a doctor whose skills were beyond doubt.
Leaving the Tranquil Heart Clinic, Il-mok headed to the Heavenly Demon Hall.
Learning of Sixth Senior Brother’s special talent had sparked an idea.
A way to utilize Sixth Senior Brother’s talent while also lightening the load on Eldest Senior Brother and the Demonic Preaching Hall, even if just a little.
“It would be best to establish a separate organization to propagate and teach doctrine to the foreign believers, and put Sixth Senior Brother in charge of its operations, Master.”
It was a proposal to create something like a foreign affairs department.
“Hmm. The Demonic Preaching Hall has indeed been overloaded with work from the foreign converts. But in your view, does Sixth look ready to lead this new organization?”
“Sixth Senior Brother is proficient in the foreign language and familiar with Demonic Preaching Hall duties from working with Eldest Senior Brother. He’s the perfect fit.”
“Professionally, maybe, but if he becomes its head, who’ll stop him if he goes berserk from demonic deviation again?”
The Heavenly Demon wasn’t talking about professional skills but Jong-ri Chu’s martial arts realm.
He was still struggling in the most dangerous Extreme Demon stage, far from Transcending Demon.
“Then perhaps keep Sixth Senior Brother as the hands-on manager and appoint a separate head for the organization. However, the Church now lacks anyone at Transcending Demon or close to it.”
Stroking his beard in thought at Il-mok’s words, the Heavenly Demon nodded once and replied.
“I’ll handle that part myself. We’ll create the new organization and put Sixth in charge of its day-to-day operations.”
“Thank you for granting my request, Master.”
“Ho ho ho. What’s there to thank? Your constant thoughtfulness for the Church is commendable. And the bond between you brothers is so strong—it fills me with joy as your master.”
The Heavenly Demon assumed Il-mok proposed this out of consideration for Wi Jin-hak and Jong-ri Chu.
“But I’m a bit worried that even splitting the organization, the new one might still lack manpower.”
“That issue should resolve within a year. The new convert named James learns exceptionally fast, so he’ll soon be able to assist Sixth Senior Brother. And we could have the quick learners among the foreign new converts work there.”
“Not a bad idea. Since it’s meant for proselytizing abroad, it’d be efficient to have natives of those lands handle the work.”
After that, Il-mok exchanged more thoughts with the Heavenly Demon on the new organization before leaving the hall.
Letting out a light sigh, Il-mok finally cracked a smile.
“Phew. Got away with it without raising suspicion.”
Proposing the new organization and recommending Jong-ri Chu for operations wasn’t just for him and Wi Jin-hak.
‘If Sixth Senior Brother becomes the foreign affairs manager, I won’t have to shuttle between the Western Regions and Gansu anymore!’
In truth, it was groundwork to dump his own duties on someone else.
* * *
With the groundwork laid at the main headquarters, Il-mok headed back to Gansu.
Gansu, which he visited every two or three months traveling to and from the Western Regions, had subtly changed each time he returned.
But the biggest change was the people.
“Auuu~!”
Dam Bin, cradling her newborn and smiling—it was a sight that felt wondrous every time.
The same smile, yet utterly different from her old seductive one.
Though when she smiled at Gu Yang-mun like that, the allure overflowed, making him wonder if a second child was on the way soon.
Il-mok exchanged warm greetings while gazing fondly at Gu Yang-mun, Dam Bin, and the baby in her arms for a moment.
“Waaah~!”
The baby in Dam Bin’s arms burst into cries, and she gave a troubled smile.
“Oh dear. Looks like it’s feeding time.”
“Ahem. The child comes first—please go ahead.”
At Il-mok’s words, Dam Bin smiled softly, bid her farewells, and left the room.
With no such thing as formula in this world, she had no choice but to nurse and fill the baby’s belly.
After Dam Bin departed, Il-mok handed Gu Yang-mun the paper he had prepared in advance.
“Please pass this to the craftsman who made the bow and arrows last time.”
“What is it?”
“Specifications for the half-arrows to use with that monster bow.”
Half-arrows. In Korean terms familiar to Il-mok, they were baby arrows.
They were what was needed to fire arrows instead of spears from that ridiculously large and powerful monster bow.
“Any of that spirit beast’s hide or bones left from last time? Use them for the half-arrow shafts and the handguard.”
Given the bow’s immense draw strength, using common bamboo for the shafts would likely shatter them.
Moreover, the handguard tied to the fingers while firing meant shooting barehanded risked injury—especially with that bow’s insane power.
‘Who’d have thought a movie from my past life would come in so handy.’
The memory was old and fuzzy on details, but recalling the baby arrows from that film let him think up this upgrade for Jeong-hyeon’s gear.
With the equipment commission done, Il-mok chatted idly with Gu Yang-mun.
They talked about the Central Plains situation, everyday life, things like that.
“Hahaha. You’ve got a real dad face now.”
Il-mok laughed at how much more serious Gu Yang-mun had become compared to before, and Gu Yang-mun smiled softly in response.
“Having a child just naturally makes it so, Young Master. In the past, I lived only for martial arts, serving the Divine Cult, and thoughts of Ha-yeon.”
When speaking of Jin Ha-yeon, he leaned toward Il-mok and murmured low like a whisper.
“Now I worry about how to protect that child, how to make a world where she can live even a bit happier. Hahaha.”
“Doesn’t it feel burdensome or tiring?”
“Not at all, Young Master. Just seeing my wife and child’s faces fills me with happiness. I recommend it to you too. Now that you’ve overcome the demonic art’s side effects, why not start thinking about marriage?”
At Gu Yang-mun’s words, Il-mok could only give an awkward laugh.
“Hahaha. Well, marriage needs a partner, right?”
“Seems like you’ve got plenty of prospects, Young Master. There’s no greater blessing than having a child. I hope you hold your wedding soon. Hahaha.”
Il-mok rose with an awkward smile at Gu Yang-mun, who kept brightly urging him to marry.
The guy who used to be an hopeless stalker was now acting like a nagging cousin at family holidays.
* * *
Two more round trips between the Western Regions and Gansu.
Having paused trade during the bitterly cold weather, a full year had flown by since he first started.
Il-mok returned from the Western Regions as usual and stopped at the main headquarters for a day to resupply.
“Young Master. His Supremacy the Lord of Ten Thousand Demons summons you straight to the Heavenly Demon Hall.”
He received the gate guard’s sudden message.
For them to relay it even to the warriors at the main headquarters entrance meant it was quite urgent.
Il-mok hurried to the Heavenly Demon Hall without delay, where the heads of each division and the five great families’ leaders were already gathered.
Strangely, in the center of those seated in two rows, an old man knelt alone like a criminal.
As Il-mok entered the Heavenly Demon Hall, the Heavenly Demon, wearing an unusually stern expression, spoke.
“Everyone who needs to hear this is here. Protectorate Chief, speak now.”
The old man kneeling alone in the center—the Protectorate Chief who had once often visited Il-mok to build rapport—cautiously opened his mouth at the Heavenly Demon’s command.
“It was about fifteen years ago that I decided to join forces with Deung Bi, the former Elder Chief.”
The moment the Protectorate Chief spoke, Il-mok grasped the situation.
‘The former Elder Chief… so they’ve uncovered those colluding with the Central Plains.’
As Il-mok predicted, the Protectorate Chief began confessing in detail all the schemes he had carried out with former Elder Chief Deung Bi.
The plot to assassinate Il-mok, circulating the Black Demonic Carriage through unknown channels to the former Elder Chief.
And even further back, to the misdeeds before Il-mok entered as the Sixth Young Master.
But something felt off about it.
It wasn’t the desperate pleading of a man begging for mercy to lighten his punishment.
Instead, the Protectorate Chief’s face was filled with guilt.
As the head of the Protectorate, tasked with handling sinners within the Church, he had recently noticed unsavory movements.
He realized that Silver Shadow Hall members were subtly surveilling Church people.
Since the Protectorate did similar work, their paths naturally overlapped, revealing it.
Further, he realized those surveilled by Silver Shadow Hall were all connected to former Elder Chief Deung Bi.
Which raised questions, since matters tied to Deung Bi were to be buried with his death—as per the great Heavenly Demon’s own decree.
For the Heavenly Demon to go back on his word meant something was afoot.
The Protectorate Chief secretly dug into Silver Shadow Hall’s movements and finally obtained crucial information.
That former Elder Chief Deung Bi might have been colluding with some Central Plains faction.
Upon learning this, the Protectorate Chief went straight to the Heavenly Demon without hesitation.
“I have something to report about former Elder Chief Deung Bi, Lord of Ten Thousand Demons.”
The Protectorate Chief.
He was a greedy old man who would gladly assassinate rivals to become the Divine Cult’s leader.
But before being cunning and greedy, he was a believer of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
He wanted to become the god of the Church he had devoted his life to—not sell it out to some Central Plains figure.
Thus, the Protectorate Chief voluntarily came to the Heavenly Demon Hall and began his confession.
“Blinded by desire for the leader’s seat, I was deceived by one colluding with the Central Plains hypocrites. Bring heavenly punishment upon me and kill me.”
When the Protectorate Chief’s confession ended, a chill silence descended upon the Heavenly Demon Hall.