Chapter 79
Chapter 79
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 79
>Chapter Title: Young Scoundrel (1)
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“Young Scoundrel (1)”
“Juniors?”
The Demonic Path Academy Leader asked, his hands interlocked on the table and wriggling slightly.
I stared at those heavy, menacing hands that kept drawing my eyes and somehow managed to keep a serious expression as I replied.
“That’s right. Since all of us in my cohort lost to the seniors, everyone’s morale was badly crushed.”
I’d come up with this excuse thanks to the way my juniors had acted before the sparring match. Even the guys I wasn’t close to had suddenly started cheering me on.
The Leader must have seen that scene too.
Sure enough, my ploy worked, and the Leader showed interest.
“So you deliberately took that attitude in the sparring to boost your juniors’ spirits?”
“As the ‘representative’ of my cohort, shouldn’t I lift their spirits?”
“Hmm...”
As I watched the Leader let out a sigh laced with complex emotions, a strange thought occurred to me.
‘Hold on. What if I use this to my advantage?’
It was the moment a solution to a very important problem for me popped into my head.
The Leader looked like his mind was a mess right now, so this was my chance.
I didn’t hesitate and spoke up.
“Also, I didn’t come to you to receive training, Leader.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I came to refuse your kind offer.”
“…You’re turning down my guidance?”
His fist twitched again, and I nearly flinched without meaning to.
It felt like the fist of the man once called the Fist Demon was about to fly at me.
‘A crisis is just an opportunity in disguise.’
Even as my brain screamed warnings of mortal danger, I mustered my courage and spoke.
“Leader, I’m already getting a lot of attention just for being Master’s disciple. If I get special treatment from you on top of that, it could breed resentment.”
“Nonsense. Your skills have already been proven in front of everyone at the sparring assembly. No one will object.”
“They might not show it outwardly, but there are sure to be people thinking that way inside. I don’t want discord among us juniors. So please bestow your guidance on the other cadets instead of me.”
I wasn’t refusing guidance altogether—I was yielding it to the other juniors!
That was the dramatic excuse I’d come up with.
‘I’ve dodged the guidance, so I should dodge the enlightenment too. And on top of that, I look like I care about my juniors! Perfect. This’ll work!’
As I mentally patted myself on the back,
The Demonic Path Academy Leader, having sorted his thoughts, fixed me with a piercing gaze that felt like it could bore through my skull and said,
“Fine. Then let me ask you a few more things.”
“Please, go ahead.”
“If you showed that attitude in the sparring for your juniors’ sake, why did you target Instructor Chu Il-hwan of all people?”
I nearly choked on my words for a second, but I quickly came up with an excuse.
“Because if I knocked away a hidden weapon and it flew toward another instructor, it could be dangerous. But I trusted Instructor Chu could handle it.”
“Hoh. It seems the cadets have quite a bit of faith in Instructor Chu.”
“Thanks to his teachings, my skills have improved by leaps and bounds.”
The very thought of that lecherous instructor gave me chills, but I managed to praise him casually.
“Fine. We’ll skip that. But you said you humiliated Cadet Baek Cheon for your juniors’ sake. Yet on a larger scale, he’s a cadet just like you. How could you commit such rudeness?”
“…I planned to apologize to him separately after the sparring. Personally, I’ll apologize for my rudeness, but in that moment, I was representing everyone, so I felt I had to fulfill everyone’s wishes.”
“You were going to apologize…. Is that still your intention?”
“Yes.”
“Fine. Then one last question.”
The questions kept coming, and keeping up the lies wasn’t easy.
‘It’s not like we’re playing twenty questions. Give me a break!’
As I’d suspected from day one, the Demonic Path Academy Leader might be an even bigger old fogey than my master.
And the final question he threw at me was something I hadn’t expected at all.
“Cadet Baek Cheon uttered words in your sparring match that shouldn’t be spoken aloud. In your opinion, what punishment should he receive?”
I didn’t get it at first.
Only after pondering for a bit did I understand what he meant.
‘Oh. You mean when he called me a son of a bitch?’
If I’m a son of a bitch, then my parents are dogs.
Of course, my parents were dead, so it was a truly horrific, unfilial curse, but right now, parents weren’t the issue.
Ever since they died, that’s when my sense of self had awakened, so I didn’t really feel much about ‘parents’ anyway.
The real problem was something else.
In a world where “master and disciple are one body” wasn’t just old fogey nonsense, my master would become a dog too.
It was a logical leap and overinterpretation, but considering my master was the Heavenly Demon, it became all too natural.
It was like a member of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult calling the being they worshipped as a god a dog.
Given the twisted mindset of these cult lunatics, it wouldn’t end with a light punishment.
“Before I share my thoughts, may I ask one thing?”
“Ask.”
“What punishment do you have in mind, Leader?”
“He dared utter an unspeakable insult to the Heavenly Demon, so naturally, we should cripple his martial arts, sever his limbs, and feed his torso and head to the wild beasts, don’t you think?”
“……”
I nearly blurted out “crazy” without thinking.
A son of a bitch comment warranting that? No matter how I looked at it, it was overkill.
‘Sure, he tried to kill me, but I provoked him first. Of course, trying to kill me over that makes him a son of a bitch, and even now it pisses me off thinking about how I got enlightenment because of him.’
Still, dismemberment and feeding to beasts felt excessive.
‘Yeah. I’m pissed, but I got some satisfaction from beating him senseless in front of everyone.’
As a modern guy at heart, I didn’t want to share the same insane mindset as these cult nuts.
“I think that’s too harsh a punishment.”
The Leader furrowed his brow at my answer.
“Even though he spoke unforgivable words about the Heavenly Demon?”
“He insulted me to begin with. And all cadets in the Demonic Path Academy are equals, so it’s something that could happen.”
“However, the insult to you included the Supreme One as well.”
“I provoked Cadet Baek Cheon first, which led to it. Of course, I didn’t expect him to lose his reason that badly, but I see it as a simple mistake, not any irreverence toward Master.”
“Hmm. Then what punishment do you think is appropriate?”
“…I believe he needs stern discipline so he learns from this mistake and never misspeaks again.”
“Hoh. You mean cutting out his tongue.”
“!?”
Why was the mindset of these cult crazies so messed up?
I thought I’d adapted, but they kept surpassing my imagination.
If I left it like this, Baek Cheon might end up mute, so I hurriedly spoke up.
“How about this instead?”
* * *
Not long after Il-mok left the Leader’s hall,
Instructor Chu Il-hwan, having finished his lessons, came to visit.
“Cadet Il-mok returned earlier than expected. Did the training end quickly?”
Chu Il-hwan asked with a puzzled look, and Yeom Ga-hwi gave an uncharacteristic hollow laugh as he replied.
“He refused my guidance.”
“!?”
As Chu Il-hwan made a face like he couldn’t comprehend it at all, Yeom Ga-hwi recalled the conversation he’d just had with Il-mok and said,
“A young master whose vessel is as great as his talent.”
“???”
Chu Il-hwan still looked baffled, but the Leader held back the rest.
‘No, perhaps his vessel grew because his talent is too great.’
Toying with his opponent for his juniors’ sake, and even giving up this opportunity for them.
Perhaps he was confident he could still take first place even if he yielded his guidance to another cadet.
On top of that, forgiving even Baek Cheon, who had tried to kill him.
Of course, Il-mok had proposed his own form of discipline to Yeom Ga-hwi, but to him, it felt more like leniency meant to make the offender repent than actual punishment.
Originally, Yeom Ga-hwi had no intention of paying Il-mok special attention.
As the Leader of the Demonic Path Academy, tasked with cultivating the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult’s future talents, he needed to remain impartial.
As the young master had said, the boy was already receiving excessive attention just for being the Heavenly Demon’s disciple—drawing more from the Leader himself would be very risky.
But.
‘Hmm. I’m quite looking forward to seeing how much he develops while he’s here.’
Thanks to this Q&A, Yeom Ga-hwi found his interest in Il-mok growing despite himself.
* * *
That afternoon,
Il-mok finished his duties without fail, cleansed himself thoroughly, and headed to the dining hall.
“Young Master!!”
“Young Master Il-mok!”
The moment he arrived, Bang Mi-hwa and Dokgo Pae came rushing over.
‘Ugh.’
Il-mok’s expression crumpled involuntarily. It wasn’t because of Bang Mi-hwa’s face.
Even now, she was covering her left jawline with her fan, emphasizing only her right side.
The problem was the intense sweat stench wafting from both of them.
Dokgo Pae was one thing, but Bang Mi-hwa always bathed after training before dinner.
That’s why Il-mok always ate with her, but for some reason, she reeked of sweat today too.
‘She got called to Instructor Chu Il-hwan at the end and couldn’t wash because of it?’
As Il-mok recalled what had happened to her earlier, Bang Mi-hwa and Dokgo Pae spoke up.
“I heard from the instructor. You yielded a precious opportunity for my sake?”
“I heard too. You gave up such a valuable chance for us. I misunderstood you all this time.”
Thanks to their alternating explanations, Il-mok pieced it together.
‘So Instructor Chu Il-hwan called them about that? Looks like they’re getting the Leader’s training in my place.’
Of course, it was all the same to him.
He had no idea what Chu Il-hwan had told them, but it wasn’t really for their sake anyway. It was just to dodge enlightenment.
‘More importantly, I wish they’d back off.’
Il-mok wrinkled his nose and turned his head away from the thick sweat smell coming from the grateful pair.
“Hee hee hee. You don’t have to be shy, Young Master.”
“That’s right! Just as you intended, I’ll hone my skills and become a worthy rival for you!”
The two kept spouting nonsense. And Bang Mi-hwa didn’t stop there—she said exactly what Il-mok had been waiting for.
“I really get how you feel now after this. You’ve done me such a great favor, so I should repay you. I’ll grant you one wish—just name it.”
At her offer, Il-mok’s eyes lit up as he said,
“Then go wash up.”
Because the smell was brutal.
Since she was a woman, he swallowed the rest.
And at Il-mok’s bold response, Bang Mi-hwa blushed faintly for some reason and fanned her face.
“Oh my. You’re bolder and naughtier than you look, Young Master. Hee hee hee.”
Her face asymmetry appeared and vanished with the swaying fan, and the thick sweat scent rode the breeze toward him.
‘Ugh. A mental attack?’
Il-mok, already obsessive from the enlightenment, had no choice but to quickly turn his head away.
“Hee hee hee. You’re cute when you’re embarrassed too. Wait here, then. I’ll go wash up.”
Bang Mi-hwa left with light steps after those words.
Freed from her mental assault, Il-mok hurried into the dining hall without delay.
“…Do I need to go wash up too?”
Dokgo Pae, left all alone, muttered something incomprehensible to himself.