Chapter 82
Chapter 82
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 82
>Chapter Title: Demonic Path's Greatest Prodigy (1)
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Recently, Il-mok was satisfied with each passing day.
"Heh heh heh. So peaceful."
Bang Mi-hwa and Dokgo Pae had been selected for special classes under the Demonic Path Academy Master. Thanks to that, the two of them had hardly come looking for Il-mok lately.
"I'll not waste this opportunity that my young master graciously yielded! Just you wait. I'll become a rival worthy of you!"
He had no idea what thought process led to it, but Dokgo Pae had declared it like a declaration of future vengeance before throwing himself into training.
As for Bang Mi-hwa.
"Hee hee. Opportunities don't come knocking often, young master. Well, if you get down on your knees and beg for forgiveness, I might let it slide once or twice."
She spouted that strange nonsense before starting to ignore Il-mok completely.
From Il-mok's perspective, it was truly a blessing. They were ignoring him on their own, after all.
On top of that, Joo Seo-yeon had been throwing herself into training to avoid demerits ever since Il-mok's scolding last time.
And Mak Ho-yeol, who he'd suspected might be Dokgo Pae's lost brother, had caught the eye of Vice Academy Master Yu-geuk and was receiving special training lately.
With hardly anyone coming around anymore, true peace had finally returned to Il-mok's daily life after so long.
The only slight annoyances were Instructor Chu Il-hwan, whom he had to face during training sessions, and the strange rumors starting to circulate about Baek Cheon lately.
They said he would stop in the middle of circling the training ground doing his three bows one prostration, flashing sinister smirks or bursting into mad laughter now and then?
Rumors were rampant in the Demonic Path Academy that he'd gone mad from his punishment.
Il-mok felt a vague unease since Baek Cheon had started acting strangely right after their conversation last night.
'Well, going mad is better than killing himself, I suppose.'
He wrapped up his self-brainwashing with that and decided to pretend he hadn't noticed.
"Yaaawn."
As Il-mok let out a long yawn, Jeong Hyeon, who had been aiming her bow from about a zhang away, flinched and looked his way.
After fidgeting uncertainly for a moment, Jeong Hyeon lowered her bow and cautiously asked Il-mok.
"Y-Young Master...? A-Aren't you... training?"
"Resting is part of training too. Yaaawn."
Jeong Hyeon, who had been fidgeting like a puppy desperate to poop at the sight of Il-mok's languid response and another yawn, hesitantly spoke up.
"Um, if I'm bothering you, I-I'll step away, Young Master."
"??? What kind of talk is that?"
If Jeong Hyeon was uncomfortable because of him and wanted to leave, that would be one thing. But he had no reason to be uncomfortable because of her.
He didn't like crowds and bustle, sure, but even now, Jeong Hyeon was keeping a full zhang's distance while talking to him.
She'd barely spoken to him up to now besides this, so there was no more comfortable companion than her.
"Ah, were you uncomfortable because of me? Sorry about that."
"N-No, Young Master!"
At Il-mok's apology, Jeong Hyeon frantically shook her head and waved her hands.
Then, after a moment of hesitation, she mustered her courage and spoke.
"Actually, I saw it."
"...Saw what?"
"After the sparring tournament last time... you training.... I happened to come here and..."
"Ah."
Il-mok recalled that incident.
He had sparred with Baek Cheon, enlightenment had struck, and to embody it, he'd gone berserk with his sword right here.
"Ahem. Embarrassing, that."
As Il-mok said it with an awkward expression, Jeong Hyeon thought, *Just as I figured.*
That day, Jeong Hyeon had seen it.
What Il-mok looked like when he truly trained with the sword in earnest.
The process, infused with madness that only someone truly obsessed with the sword could show.
Even when she approached fairly close, Il-mok hadn't noticed her presence at all and just kept swinging his sword endlessly. Of course, "close" was relative to Jeong Hyeon's standards.
In any case, ever since then, Jeong Hyeon had felt a sense of discomfort.
Why was someone who loved the sword so much and went mad with training like that, never training anything but stealth techniques whenever he was around her?
And drawing from her own experiences, Jeong Hyeon had reached a conclusion.
*The Young Master is surprisingly shy, it turns out.*
He must be embarrassed to train with the sword in front of others.
Not wanting to be a burden to Il-mok, Jeong Hyeon mustered her courage again.
"If I'm a bother, I'll step away, Young Master. P-Please train comfortably."
Il-mok wondered what kind of bullshit this was.
*Peace has finally come after so long, and now training?*
His recent enlightenment had only intensified his compulsions right when they hit.
If he didn't rest a bit to stabilize his mind and body, who knew when the bomb might go off.
Especially once the special training under the Academy Master and Vice Academy Master ended, and the likes of Dokgo Pae, Mak Ho-yeol, and Bang Mi-hwa started clinging again—he might end up dancing with blades once more.
'At the very least, I need to calm my mind until then.'
It absolutely wasn't just resting for the hell of it. This was rest for very good reasons.
But he couldn't very well say it was because his mental illness was flaring up.
"It's not the only training to pick up a sword and swing it, you know. Actually, I was meditating, so don't mind me."
Il-mok came up with a half-assed excuse.
"M-Meditating?"
She'd clearly just seen him yawning a moment ago.
She even remembered seeing him dozing off yesterday, snoring while sitting.
At Jeong Hyeon's dubious look, Il-mok shrugged and said.
"You should try it too, Disciple Jeong. It still seems burdensome if someone approaches directly, so close your eyes and imagine it in your head. Once you're used to it in your imagination, it'll be somewhat bearable in reality too."
"Ah!"
Jeong Hyeon nodded with an admiring look.
She'd been wanting to overcome this side effect of fearing when people approached, after all.
"Whew."
Jeong Hyeon took a deep breath, closed her eyes while standing, and sank into the depths of her mindscape.
In her mindscape world, she stood in the middle of an empty mountain forest, bow in hand, aiming at something.
Pop.
Her imagination took solid form, and suddenly a person appeared a zhang away.
It was Il-mok.
*'Ah, even in imagination, it's better to picture someone comfortable, right?'*
And in her mindscape, she released the bowstring aimed at Il-mok.
Clang!
The mindscape Il-mok casually deflected her arrow.
Even as a product of imagination, he'd been observed enough for her to replicate his exquisite swordsmanship fittingly.
After easily batting away her arrow, Il-mok closed in one pace.
Jeong Hyeon nocked another arrow and drew the string taut again, releasing it.
Clang!
Il-mok deflected the arrow again and closed another pace as she fired several more times in succession.
Before she knew it, Il-mok had reached the boundary line in her mind: one zhang away.
Clang!
Jeong Hyeon's latest arrow bounced off, and the moment Il-mok finally crossed that boundary.
"Eek."
Jeong Hyeon nearly spasmed in panic without thinking, but she hurriedly steadied her mind.
*This is imagination. In imagination, I can do anything!*
Repeating it to herself, she nocked another arrow, drew the string, and stared straight at the approaching Il-mok's face.
*Right. It's imagination, so I can do anything... Can I? Then, getting... closer to the Young Master...?'
The moment that thought crossed her mind.
Step.
Step.
The mindscape Il-mok, who had been advancing slowly step by step until now, suddenly rushed toward her boldly.
"Eek...."
Frozen at the sudden approach, by the time she realized it, Il-mok was close enough for their breaths to mingle.
'T-This is too fast, Young Master!?'
She twisted her body awkwardly and flushed beet red for a good while, at a loss.
Only belatedly realizing this was her mindscape did she jolt awake and open her eyes.
"......"
Her face upon emerging from the mindscape was just as flushed as inside. Not only that, she was twisting her body in the exact same bizarre way.
Suddenly gripped by fear, she whipped her head around.
Had Il-mok seen her embarrassing display?
"Cough. Phew. Cough. Phewuu."
What met her eyes was Il-mok, sitting cross-legged, snoring away in his sleep.
* * *
While Il-mok was off wandering dreamland and Jeong Hyeon was spinning her bizarre flights of fancy.
In another part of the Demonic Path Academy, Bang Mi-hwa and Dokgo Pae were diligently training under Yeom Ga-hwi's guidance.
After watching the two exchange moves with fan and sword for a bit.
Yeom Ga-hwi, stroking his beard with a lid-like fist, spoke up as he observed.
"You've both improved beyond recognition these past ten days."
"It's all thanks to your tutelage, Academy Master."
"Thank you, Academy Master."
As the two cupped their fists and expressed their gratitude, Yeom Ga-hwi nodded and casually broached the subject.
"It could also be thanks to Disciple Il-mok, who yielded this opportunity to you."
"That's true, Academy Master."
"We're still deeply grateful to Disciple Il-mok even now."
At their responses, Yeom Ga-hwi kept a stern face hiding his true thoughts and asked.
"Since it came up, as fellow initiates, what do you make of Disciple Il-mok?"
Ever since that interview, Yeom Ga-hwi had grown intrigued by Il-mok.
At Yeom Ga-hwi's question, Dokgo Pae answered first.
"I think I understand why the Heavenly Demon took Disciple Il-mok as a disciple. He's a disciple who truly lives up to the title of the Demonic Path's Greatest Prodigy. But that doesn't mean I'm giving up! With your personal guidance, Academy Master, I'll definitely catch up to him no matter what."
Dokgo Pae declared it boldly, eyes blazing with the flames of competitive spirit.
"Hmm."
Yeom Ga-hwi let out an odd exclamation as he eyed Dokgo Pae.
*'No need to tell him how hard catching up will be.'*
Just looking at the youngest young master's performance in the recent sparring tournament, it was a level hard to reach at that age.
Not to mention.
*'Considering he's only been in the cult for a year, the gap will only widen from here.'*
But there was no reason to voice that. People's fortunes were unpredictable, after all. It was possible the boy might actually catch up to the youngest young master someday.
"Aside from martial arts, what have you observed of him as a fellow initiate?"
Yeom Ga-hwi shifted the topic appropriately while asking what he'd wanted to know from the start.
He already knew their martial prowess well from the sparring tournament—what truly piqued his curiosity was this.
At Yeom Ga-hwi's question, Dokgo Pae fell silent.
Having fixated only on Il-mok's martial skill and seen him as a rival, Dokgo Pae had zero interest in anything else about him.
In Dokgo Pae's place, Bang Mi-hwa spoke up.
"Disciple Il-mok is more shy than he appears."
"...Shy?"
Yeom Ga-hwi was baffled.
It didn't match at all with the image of him confidently laying out arguments before the Demonic Path Academy Master himself.
At Yeom Ga-hwi's puzzled echo, Bang Mi-hwa replied with her usual haughty, dignified expression.
"Hee hee. He even struggles to look straight at the face of the woman he adores. And perhaps embarrassed by others' attention, he always seeks out deserted spots outside of class time."
She tactfully omitted that the woman he adores was herself, out of consideration for his shyness.
If even the Academy Master learned of it, Il-mok might die of embarrassment.
Still, since she cared for Il-mok in her own way, she added.
"But I think he's a man who steps up when he must. Didn't he show his skills in front of everyone at the sparring tournament?"
"Hmm...."
Yeom Ga-hwi let out a faint sigh of inscrutable meaning with his characteristically solemn face.
*'Shy, huh.... A temperament lacking for great responsibility.'*
But he had no intention of judging Il-mok solely on Bang Mi-hwa's words.
After all, the only sides of Il-mok that Yeom Ga-hwi had witnessed firsthand were two.
His performance at the sparring tournament and the way he'd boldly refused his tutelage while arguing his case.
Various contradictions came to mind, but after finishing the lesson with Bang Mi-hwa and Dokgo Pae, Yeom Ga-hwi summoned Instructor Chu Il-hwan to the Academy Master's hall.
"Have the instructors submit evaluations of the new initiates they've observed so far."
"Understood."
Chu Il-hwan showed no particular doubt. It was the Academy Master's order, and such directives came occasionally anyway.
The next day.
Dozens of letters piled on Yeom Ga-hwi's desk, each bearing the instructors' evaluations of the twenty initiates.
Yeom Ga-hwi began by reading those on Il-mok first and foremost.
But after going through all the instructors' evaluations, Yeom Ga-hwi's mind plunged into even greater confusion.
Because Instructor Chu Il-hwan and Instructor Eun-ryeo had given Il-mok identical assessments.
-Exceptional talent, but overly fond of women.
Shy, yet overly fond of women.
The more he heard others' evaluations of Il-mok, the dizzier Yeom Ga-hwi's head spun.