Chapter 40
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: Can You Handle It?
‘Damn. Damn. Damn. Damn...’
Pavilion Lord Pang Do-yul plastered a bright smile on his face while inwardly unleashing every curse he knew at the man before him.
He had no choice.
The Dragon Training Pavilion's greatest—and worst—walking bomb had shown up at the crack of dawn, dragging along a young woman from the demonic realm.
"Introduce yourself, Lan."
"Pleased to meet you. Pavilion Lord. I'm Ha Seol-ran. I hope you'll look after me kindly."
Pang Do-yul mustered superhuman effort to keep his twitching face locked in a smile.
He knew the moment he heard her name.
She's blood-related.
The way that monster gazed at her with warm yet worried eyes said it all, and they shared the same "Ha" surname to boot.
His little sister, no doubt.
Thanks to that, Pang Do-yul pieced together Ha Seol-ran's identity without any introduction.
Who would've thought that monster had a sister like her...
On the other hand, it was astonishing.
No one could've imagined he had such a stunningly beautiful little sister.
"Haha. What a pleasure. I never dreamed Instructor Ha had such a lovely sister. So, what brings you here so early in the morning?"
"She's applying to join the second-semester recruitment for the Fierce Dragon Corps."
His tone was unusually polite—probably because his sister was there.
But Pang Do-yul was too distracted to notice Ha Mu-baek's shift in demeanor.
Those words were splitting his head open with agony.
Han Seol-bing, Pang Gun-ho, and even Joo Woo-myeong.
All those bombs had just dropped yesterday. And now this massive one first thing in the morning? No, this wasn't a bomb—it was a full-blown disaster.
Pang Gun-ho plus the Fierce Dragon Corps, combined with the beauty of Ha Seol-ran right in front of him...
This could turn into a colossal catastrophe...
A chill ran down his spine.
If that bastard Pang Gun-ho lost his mind over Ha Seol-ran's looks and did something stupid, it could spark a war between that monster and the Pang family.
Sigh. Father... Brother... Why the hell did you send that bastard here...
He shot a resentful glare not at Ha Mu-baek, but toward his father and brother back home. They seemed like easier targets.
Ha Mu-baek picked up on Pang Do-yul's subtly shifting expression and asked,
"Pavilion Lord, is something troubling you?"
His voice was gentle, but his eyes were lethal.
"Haha. It's nothing. We've just had a lot of visitors lately..."
Pang Do-yul stopped short.
The name Han Seol-bing had frozen his thoughts, bringing back a rumor he'd overheard that sounded like mere pillow talk.
Why was it surfacing now, not yesterday?
"Are you aware a new instructor was assigned to the Fierce Dragon Corps?"
"I only arrived in Wu City late last night and came straight here this morning. How would I know?"
Han Seol-bing had strongly requested the Fierce Dragon Corps, so she'd been slated for it anyway—but Pang Do-yul just sealed the deal in that moment.
About twenty people had dropped out of the Fierce Dragon Corps in the first semester, leaving four squads empty. Two instructors had quit too.
Replacements were coming in the second semester. A new instructor wasn't unusual. But Ha Mu-baek shot him a look questioning why he was bringing it up.
"Vice Corps Leader Han Seol-bing has been newly assigned as an instructor for the Fierce Dragon Corps."
Ha Mu-baek's face twisted the instant the words landed. He looked utterly dismayed.
So it wasn't just baseless gossip—there was some truth to it.
Pang Do-yul inferred as much from his reaction.
Then.
"Hah..."
Ha Mu-baek let out a disbelieving sigh, and at the same moment, the door to the pavilion lord's office burst open.
It happened in a flash, without warning.
Yet Pang Do-yul was startled.
He prided himself on being among the top elite masters, but he hadn't sensed a thing.
"Corps Leader!!"
Han Seol-bing burst in, her voice a mix of joy, hurt, and anger.
The Hocheon Corps lives up to its name...
He knew Ha Mu-baek was skilled, but for a vice corps leader like Han Seol-bing to charge in so determinedly... he'd missed her presence even at close range.
For someone like that to volunteer as a Fierce Dragon Corps instructor? Absurd.
"I'm not your corps leader here. And bursting into the pavilion lord's office like that—what kind of manners are those?"
A cold voice flowed from Ha Mu-baek's mouth.
"And how did you know I was here?"
Han Seol-bing grinned and formed a circle with two fingers.
"This works for most things."
"From him?"
Ha Mu-baek pointed toward Pang Do-yul's attendant guard outside the office door.
"You coming here isn't exactly headline news, Corps Leader. It's a big deal to me."
Han Seol-bing shrugged.
"Isn't the visitor log for the pavilion lord's office supposed to be confidential?"
Ha Mu-baek asked Pang Do-yul.
"It is. Though his clearance is a bit low. Guess I'll have a chat with the guy outside later."
"Can we fire him for breaking protocol?"
Ha Mu-baek pointed at Han Seol-bing.
"Corps Leader!"
She shrieked.
"Tch. Mind yourself in front of the pavilion lord."
Ha Mu-baek scowled darkly. Han Seol-bing flinched slightly but still faced him down.
"We could discipline him a bit—suspension or pay cut, maybe. But firing him like you want? Probably not."
"Too bad."
"And we shouldn't anyway. Looks like Instructor Han will be the supervising instructor."
"What?"
"Huh?"
Ha Mu-baek and Han Seol-bing whipped their heads toward Pang Do-yul in unison.
"Instructor Ha, you know your squad is already full, right? We'll have to assign her elsewhere. Who better than Instructor Han?"
Ha Mu-baek glanced at Han Seol-bing with a complicated expression.
"What's going on? Spill it."
Han Seol-bing shook her head impatiently at Ha Mu-baek.
Only then did she notice Ha Seol-ran in her frustration.
"Oh, and who's this beautiful young lady...?"
A hint of wariness crept into Han Seol-bing's voice.
"Ah, pleased to meet you. I'm Ha Seol-ran, your brother's little sister."
Ha Seol-ran, dazed by the whirlwind, finally snapped to and bowed politely to Han Seol-bing.
"Little sister? His?"
Han Seol-bing's eyes curved into crescents with a smile. Her voice warmed instantly.
"Ah-ha. So the corps leader's sister is joining the Fierce Dragon Corps. Then I have to take her."
She beamed at Ha Mu-baek.
"Ugh."
Entrusting her felt uneasy, but so did not entrusting her.
"Since Instructor Han's here anyway, let me tell you about the other cadets. There's Pang Gun-ho, the eldest grandson of the Pang family head. Total scumbag."
The idea hit Pang Do-yul on the spot as he looked at them.
No telling when this disaster waiting to happen would strike, so better to keep him close under watch.
With Han Seol-bing's grit and skill, handling a punk like Pang Gun-ho would be a breeze.
"Hold on, Instructor. A scumbag like that..."
"Instructor Han can handle it. Sometimes it's better to keep those types where you can see them."
Ha Mu-baek nodded reluctantly at Pang Do-yul's response. It made sense. And there was another safeguard.
"The Pang family head's grandson... so he's related to you, Pavilion Lord...?"
"My nephew. A real piece of work."
To badmouth his own blood like that in front of others—what kind of mess was this kid?
Ha Mu-baek concluded handing Ha Seol-ran to Han Seol-bing was the best option.
"And the other one's Young Master Joo Woo-myeong."
A completely different tone from before.
"The lay disciple of Elder Mu Yeon-jin."
Ha Mu-baek and Han Seol-bing nodded slightly. That explained the respect. They were peers in status.
"Mu Yeon-jin..."
Ha Mu-baek murmured softly. He held the elder in high regard.
He vaguely remembered him once boasting happily about an exceptionally talented disciple.
"Instructor Han, I figured you'd overlook the status difference."
"You're right."
Her origins were Bingcheon Palace, one of the New Eight Schools. Though grouped together, it was technically a school beyond the passes.
So she wasn't bound tightly by Central Plains hierarchies. She respected them but kept a proper distance.
And here, rank took a backseat to position.
Han Seol-bing was the instructor. Joo Woo-myeong was a cadet.
That was it.
"What about the other two?"
"Depends on recruitment. Might fill them, might not."
"Huh? Why?"
"The squad you'll take is Squad 20. The Fierce Dragon Corps' very last one."
Ha Mu-baek's expression turned peculiar.
Training ground for Squad 20 was right next to Squad 7's.
He stared at Pang Do-yul, eyes saying he got the hint.
Pang Do-yul met it with a grin. What's the problem?
His face practically asked if keeping his sister close wasn't ideal.
And so the final typhoon to hit Pang Do-yul blew past.
The Dragon Training Pavilion was an enormous institution.
To maintain its vast scale, countless people in various roles meshed like gears, working tirelessly.
Just as many quit and new ones started.
Yet it was perpetually short-staffed.
Especially for odd jobs—they were always hiring.
Odd job workers were the bottom rung at the pavilion. The work was grueling, but cadets made many quit.
Not just Hidden Dragon or Wa Dragon Corps—the Fierce Dragon cadets tormented them with a weird sense of superiority.
Ha Mu-baek's master, Wi Ji-gun, headed to where they recruited such workers.
"What brings you here?"
"Heard you're hiring laborers."
A small thatched hut by the Dragon Training Pavilion's west gate served as the odd jobs office.
The clerk eyed Wi Ji-gun curiously.
Old man. Definitely old.
But he couldn't turn away an old-timer outright.
The guy's frame was imposing. His fitted clothes accentuated it.
Straight back, broad shoulders, muscles straining the fabric.
His face, with white beard and clear eyes, screamed scholar...
But the body didn't match.
Might actually handle the work.
"It's pretty tough. Think you can manage?"
Wi Ji-gun just smiled in response.