Chapter 264
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 264
Chapter Title: I'll Handle That
While Hocheon Corps Leader Ha Mu-baek focused on the affairs of the Namgung Clan,
time at the Dragon Training Pavilion flowed on just the same.
The cadets of Wa Dragon Corps Squad Twenty sweated it out day after day, preparing for the Summer Combat Festival.
And as such...
they were growing stronger.
Fierce Dragon Corps Squads Seven and Twenty.
With all of them throwing themselves into teaching and training.
"I wonder how it's going?"
Dan Mok Un-roe murmured, gazing toward the eastern sky.
"What?"
Dang Jin-san's question.
"Instructor Ha, Ji-hu, and Ji-yu."
After the people from their clan—Namgung Ji-hu and Namgung Ji-yu—had visited the Dragon Training Pavilion,
their atmosphere had seemed strange, and then they'd abruptly left.
Taking Ha Mu-baek with them.
They'd probably gone to the Namgung Clan.
What on earth was happening there?
"You're worrying over nothing. Do you know what kind of man he is?"
A voice chimed in out of nowhere.
It was Baek Ri-pyeong.
His eyes shone with unshakeable faith in Ha Mu-baek.
"True enough."
Dan Mok Un-roe readily agreed.
Right—their instructor was no ordinary man.
He seemed like someone for whom the word "impossible" didn't exist.
No, was he even human?
He was the kind of person who made you question that.
"I told you it was just kids' squabbling, so he'd overlook it. Meaning he won't interfere in kids' fights."
Gu So-so's eyes blazed with venomous blue light.
After Cheol Ryeong finished his wall-facing punishment and emerged,
Gu So-so hadn't left the Dragon Training Pavilion. Instead, she'd delved deep into the circumstances.
And once she knew everything...
Ha Mu-baek.
That bastard not worth even spitting on was in charge of Fierce Dragon Corps second-year Squad Seven.
And the ones who'd bested the squad her son belonged to were trash from Wa Dragon Corps first-year Squad Twenty.
Yet the stakes were those Fierce Dragon Corps Squad Seven bastards.
She could use those kids under Ha Mu-baek's watch however she pleased for the entire second half of the term.
A man who stuck his nose into kids' business like that.
What must he feel if his own students ended up like that?
He'd made his word on it, so he couldn't meddle in that fight.
Summer Combat Festival, was it?
She'd show him then.
And so Gu So-so was now supporting Wa Dragon Corps Squad One cadets with all her might, alongside Gu Tan-gil.
Elixirs, weapons, and even training.
She'd even called in reinforcements from the Iron Armament Guild, up to the Ironclad Ironclad Army.
This sudden, unseasonal intensive training.
Naturally, the Wa Dragon Corps Squad One cadets rebelled.
Byeok I-gyeom, Tak Mu-jeon, Gong Gu-pae, Hwa Bo-myeong.
They weren't the type to take it lying down.
They looked down on Wa Dragon Corps Squad Twenty, and their pride in themselves was sky-high.
There was no way they'd train for the Summer Combat Festival.
But...
Gu So-so's terrifying aura.
And Gu Tan-gil stepping up front and center.
Because of those two, they had no choice but to submit.
Wa Dragon Corps Squad One rolled around, cursing inwardly up a storm.
Even dreaming of heading to the pleasure houses on rest days was out of the question now.
"Didn't they say there's a pretty decent-looking girl in Fierce Dragon Corps Squad Seven? Better than some old whore from the pleasure house, no?"
Gu So-so's words lit a fire in the hearts of Wa Dragon Corps Squad One cadets.
"Fuck, what the hell is this shit?"
After rolling around on the training ground for a good while, during a brief break.
With Gu So-so and Gu Tan-gil away,
Byeok I-gyeom spat out a rough curse.
And glared at Cheol Ryeong.
"You retarded fuck. Because of your pointless bullshit, look at the mess we're in."
Byeok I-gyeom's rebuke.
Cheol Ryeong glared right back at him.
"Who was the dumbass who accepted that stupid bet?"
Byeok I-gyeom's face twisted viciously at Cheol Ryeong's words.
"Wasn't it something we all agreed to?"
"Bullshit."
The mood between the two grew increasingly hostile.
But the other three showed no sign of intervening.
They had no reason to.
Byeok I-gyeom was the one who'd accepted the bet.
Cheol Ryeong was the one who'd called in his maternal uncle and mother, causing this mess.
The remaining three found both equally distasteful.
"Fucking idiots..."
Tak Mu-jeon muttered.
Gong Gu-pae and Hwa Bo-myeong nodded in agreement.
Byeok I-gyeom and Cheol Ryeong whipped their heads around.
The five shot glares at each other, eyes burning with fury.
"Fuck. You lap up those elixirs they hand out like good little dogs. Real classy."
As Cheol Ryeong spat curses in disgust,
"Looks like you've all got energy to burn."
A voice rang out.
The five froze stiff.
No helping it.
This was someone even scarier than Gu Tan-gil or Gu So-so.
Cheol Ryeong couldn't fathom why this man was even here.
The first time he'd laid eyes on him, Cheol Ryeong had thought his uncle and mother were insane.
Calling someone like this for something so trivial?
This man who'd arrived leading twenty of the Ironclad Ironclad Army.
Gun Mu-han.
The Iron Armament Guild's top expert and commander of the Ironclad Ironclad Army.
Why the hell would he come to the Dragon Training Pavilion over cadets' bets?
It was way overkill.
Regardless of Cheol Ryeong's thoughts,
Gun Mu-han was dead serious.
"If you've got the strength to fight each other like that, I can expect great things, right?"
The five cadets' faces drained white at his heavy voice.
Han Seol-bing perched on the academy rooftop.
The spot where Ha Mu-baek often climbed to survey the entire Dragon Training Pavilion.
From there, Han Seol-bing's gaze fixed on Wa Dragon Corps Squad One's training ground.
The Iron Armament Guild was going all-in, drilling the Squad One cadets.
Even using all sorts of elixirs.
Fine for Cheol Ryeong, the guild master's nephew.
But they'd fed them to the other four as well.
"Why are those people going so hard?"
Han Seol-bing muttered in utter confusion.
She'd been shocked when Gun Mu-han showed up.
She'd witnessed the Ironclad Ironclad Army's might firsthand in the last war.
Han Seol-bing had no idea things had escalated this far due to Gu So-so's grudge against Ha Mu-baek.
Still...
"This puts our kids at a huge disadvantage. And with the squad leader gone at a time like this."
She'd meant to leave it to the cadets.
But now...
This was no longer kids' play.
It had become a grown-ups' fight.
Fierce Dragon Corps Squad Seven weren't her charges,
but she couldn't just sit by.
She figured Ha Mu-baek had left because he trusted her to watch the pavilion.
"Wait. Feels like I'm always cleaning up after the squad leader..."
She murmured and chuckled wryly.
So what? What did it matter?
She'd do it anyway.
After watching Wa Dragon Corps Squad One for several days, Han Seol-bing finally moved.
It might be late, considering the time until the Summer Combat Festival,
but she trusted Ha Mu-baek would pull some miracle when he returned.
"Huh? Instructor Han?"
The Fierce Dragon Corps Squad Seven and Squad Twenty cadets, deep in training, and Wa Dragon Corps Squad Twenty—all snapped their attention to the suddenly appearing Han Seol-bing.
"If you keep messing around like this, you're in big trouble."
"Pardon?"
Dang Jin-san tilted his head.
"Do you know what Wa Dragon Corps Squad One is up to right now?"
Han Seol-bing's question.
"Well, I hear the Iron Armament Guild's supporting them properly."
True to Fierce Dragon Corps' information network, Dang Jin-san had grasped the situation.
"Right. But is it okay for you to be slacking like this?"
Dang Jin-san shrugged at Han Seol-bing's question.
"What can we do? Instructor Ha's away. We just do our best."
Han Seol-bing frowned at his calm response.
"This isn't the time for that. What did you bet on that wager?"
"Our second half?"
Han Seol-bing sighed and shook her head at Dang Jin-san's answer.
Then she pointed at Yeon Ha-min.
"Ha-min. You bet Yeon Ha-min!"
Han Seol-bing bellowed.
"Chengdu Playboy Dang Jin-san!"
She invoked his old delinquent nickname.
Dang Jin-san simply stared at her quietly.
"You know exactly how those bastards would exploit that bet, don't you? Serving them hand and foot for the entire second half?"
Dang Jin-san bowed his head deeply.
He knew.
He knew all too well.
He even remembered their lecherous gazes back then.
"Then you can't pick and choose your methods. What kind of lucky bullshit are you spouting!"
Dang Jin-san hung his head even lower at Han Seol-bing's scolding.
It was his mess, after all.
No words to argue back.
"Last year's Summer Combat Festival. How did you prepare?"
Han Seol-bing hadn't been at the pavilion then.
So she needed to start there.
Yeon Ha-min explained last year's events in detail, in her soft voice.
Han Seol-bing nodded after hearing it all.
"Good. Then joint training: Fierce Dragon Corps Squads Twenty and Seven, plus Wa Dragon Corps Squad Twenty."
Her decision made.
"Pardon? Even Wa Dragon Corps?"
Their instructors were different, after all.
A question of feasibility.
"I'll handle that."
"Then what about Fierce Dragon Corps' group training?"
Dan Mok Un-roe's question.
With Ha Mu-baek away, Han Seol-bing was overseeing that training.
"What are the other instructors for? They're instructors too. And Instructor Ha will handle the rest. He's the one who up and left without a word."
With that, Han Seol-bing vanished.
Off to negotiate with the Pavilion Lord.
Pavilion Lord Pang Do-yul had no choice but to accept her request.
He hadn't blocked the Iron Armament Guild's involvement, so he had no grounds to refuse her.
And so that afternoon.
Fierce Dragon Corps second-year Squads Seven and Twenty.
Wa Dragon Corps first-year Squad Twenty.
These twelve cadets...
left the Dragon Training Pavilion.
Destination: Mokran Mountain in the Great Ridge Range.
The site of the Summer Combat Festival.
On the morning of the first day of June.
Ha Mu-baek returned to the Dragon Training Pavilion.
Twenty days before the Summer Combat Festival.
"Hm? What's this?"
The moment he entered, Ha Mu-baek knew.
A lot of people were missing.
All of Fierce Dragon Corps Squad Seven and Twenty under his charge.
Wa Dragon Corps first-year Squad Twenty was gone too.
And so was Han Seol-bing.
"Seol-bing made a move, huh?"
Only explanation.
She wouldn't have acted without cause.
As a pavilion instructor, she'd have followed procedure.
Ask Pavilion Lord Pang Do-yul, and he'd get the full story.
"Probably because of those guys, though."
Ha Mu-baek's gaze turned to Wa Dragon Corps first-year Squad One's training ground.
The presences gathered there.
Gu Tan-gil and Gu So-so, whom he'd thought gone by now.
And on top of that...
"Gun Mu-han, huh..."
A comrade from the last war.
Given the natures of their forces, they'd roamed different battlefields.
But they crossed paths occasionally.
He'd been impressed by the Ironclad Ironclad Army's power back then.
Kids' fight turned grown-ups' war.
Ha Mu-baek sought out Pavilion Lord Pang Do-yul.
"You're back."
Pang Do-yul greeted him calmly.
Now,
he'd grown accustomed to this man called Ha Mu-baek.
Pang Do-yul personally poured the tea.
"What about Namgung Ji-hu and Namgung Ji-yu?"
No word on their return.
"Might be tough for them to return this term. Oh, and they changed their names. Namgung Hu and Namgung Yu now."
Pang Do-yul's expression turned subtle at Ha Mu-baek's reply.
He knew the Namgung Clan's naming conventions too.
Two characters versus one.
Rumors of the upheaval in the Namgung Clan hadn't spread yet.
Naturally so.
It had happened within their inner quarters.
People in Hefei just knew something had gone down at the Namgung Clan.
But not what.
"Sounds like quite the mess."
Ha Mu-baek nodded at Pang Do-yul's words.
"Where'd Seol-bing go?"
Ha Mu-baek's follow-up.
As if expecting it, Pang Do-yul answered composedly.
"To Mokran Mountain. Kids' squabble became adults' brawl."
"As expected..."
"You'll head there too, right?"
Pang Do-yul asked as if it were obvious.
Ha Mu-baek nodded.
If they were going all-in, he had to match it.
"Then what about Fierce Dragon Corps' group training? With Instructor Han gone too."
Ha Mu-baek paused.
It was his responsibility.
"I'll check on it first."
"Appreciate it."
Ha Mu-baek nodded at Pang Do-yul's request and rose.
Group training was in the afternoon.
For now, he headed to the academy rooftop.
To see how the Iron Armament Guild was drilling those guys—and how far their skills had come.