Chapter 242: Listening Old Rat. (1)
Shinryonggwan.
An educational institution of the righteous faction created after the Blood Demon's blood calamity, with the intent of training Sword Squads to face demonic beasts.
The characteristics and causes of all currently recorded demonic beasts.
From countermeasures to their weaknesses.
And even situational responses.
Countless records existed within Shinryonggwan.
Not only did they open all internal records containing such information to trainees.
But there were even instructors who taught them.
Based on the explanation alone, it sounded like a quite good place, but...
'No, actually it's not bad...'
Whatever the case, the current Central Plains had more situations dealing with demonic beasts than with martial artists.
Providing education for this was certainly not bad.
'The problem is whether I have to go there.'
Anyway, it would be better to train and receive guidance in one's own family or sect.
Ironically, those who couldn't do that couldn't go to Shinryonggwan in the first place either.
'Because they keep everything amongst themselves.'
Meaning, one cannot go without a solid background.
In the first place, one cannot go without a letter of recommendation sent from Shinryonggwan.
Even with a recommendation letter, if one fails to meet certain standards under the pretext of guidelines, one cannot even enter.
In other words.
It meant it was a place only the bloodlines of prestigious families or noble houses, who were prepared from the start, could go.
'Anyway... if it's a prestigious or noble family, they can do demonic beast countermeasures or training at their own homes.'
Moreover, Shinryonggwan was not the only Sword Squad educational institution.
Right now, there were a couple in Sanseo alone.
As there were several institutions across regions that conducted education with the permission of the Murim League.
Knowing these circumstances, the reason many bloodlines and descendants still sought out Shinryonggwan was none other than this.
'...It's training plus networking, what else.'
An obvious story.
..
..
..
The most important things in living life were.
Blood ties, regional ties, and academic ties.
Historically, prestigious families were places that obsessively nitpicked those three things.
Coming from Shinryonggwan, the number one educational institution.
Managing the networking tangled there, along with petty politicking.
It was a place where countless spine-chilling purposes were combined.
Just how important was this?
Even my father, who didn't really care about such things, sent all his bloodlines there.
'If it were me, I'd recall the incident Gu Huibi caused there and not send the next children.'
But father didn't care about that and sent them all anyway.
Fine, whatever.
If one was born into a prestigious family, one couldn't just stubbornly refuse to go.
Let alone if one was slated to be the Young Lord, even more so.
'...Originally, I should have run away.'
Even in the early days of my regression, I was thinking of running away, keeping in mind the entrance to Shinryonggwan.
Somehow, it ended up that I couldn't do that.
It was all my karma, so it couldn't be helped, but...
'Since it's come to this, I should at least take the thing buried underground there.'
It was originally something discovered only after the Heavenly Demon appeared.
Couldn't I just take a little?
I knew it wouldn't work.
It was just self-rationalization.
"...What's... wrong?"
Did she notice I was troubled?
Namgung Bia, who was leaning against me and sleeping, opened her eyes and carefully asked me.
"It's nothing. Just thought of something annoying."
What should I do.
Shinryonggwan is a place where you have to be holed up for at least a year, or up to two years.
To the rising talents of the next generation, it could be seen as a vacation.
Or a rendezvous where noble bloodlines meet face-to-face.
From my standpoint, it was just a waste of time.
'How much help is the knowledge learned there, really.'
It would be nice to just take exactly what's needed and escape.
Of course.
'It's not like there isn't a way.'
It wasn't that there was no way at all.
It was just a little, no, very annoying.
'Tsk.'
Putting that aside.
This wasn't the only thing I'd been wondering about since earlier.
'Why so soon?'
It was a question about the timing of entering Shinryonggwan.
It wasn't held every year like the Dragon and Phoenix Gathering.
Shinryonggwan had its entrance periods set to specific cycles.
And from what I knew, there was still some time left.
'At least until winter...'
Ah.
While thinking, I looked at Namgung Bia leaning next to me.
Because I recalled the reason it was proceeding like this.
"Is it because of the engagement ceremony?"
The engagement ceremony that was to be held by going to the Namgung Family in Anhui as soon as the service on the front lines ended.
It seemed the conclusion I reached after considering that period.
The main family must have judged that they couldn't delay it any longer.
"...Ugh."
Looking at Namgung Bia, I had to make a somewhat peculiar expression.
It wasn't that I was reluctant to be engaged to Namgung Bia now.
It was too late for that.
Things had changed too much.
"...Come to think of it."
Didn't she go to Shinryonggwan?
Such a thought suddenly crossed my mind.
In my past life, Namgung Bia didn't seem to have gone to Shinryonggwan?
That made sense, because if a figure like Namgung Bia had been in Shinryonggwan.
There was no way she wouldn't have been known around.
Whether it was her appearance.
Or her own skills.
There should have been stories about her.
'Looking at her age, the time had already passed.'
Namgung Bia had passed the age of twenty this year.
Which meant she was fully of age to have entered during the previous Shinryonggwan entrance period.
'Did the Namgung Family delay it?'
Rather than delayed, it would be more accurate to say they didn't send her at all.
Because even in my past life, Namgung Bia never went until the end.
Looking at it now, this was a rather strange story.
The fact that Namgung Bia's existence became known late was like that too.
And the story of Namgung Bia deliberately annihilating her own family.
I didn't particularly care at the time.
A sane person wouldn't join the Demonic Cult in the first place, and...
Usually, when a righteous martial artist defected to the Demonic Cult.
Wiping out their own family happened in the majority of cases.
It was just shocking because it was one of the Four Great Families.
'What could she have experienced?'
The woman leaning on my shoulder with her eyes closed.
What on earth did she experience in her past life.
That she had to kill all her bloodlines and live madly?
Now, I had become curious about such things.
'Even though in my past life, I hadn't been curious about it even a speck.'
Whether I liked it or not, I was in a situation where I had to stick by her.
Surprisingly, I really never wondered what kind of life the Magic Sword Empress lived.
My life was shit, so I probably didn't want to be curious about someone else living a shitty life.
Looking at Namgung Bia, I then gazed at the moon floating in the night sky.
It was neither a full moon nor a crescent.
The moon, which seemed to have stopped halfway filling itself, shone brightly so as not to feel lacking.
'What kind of life did you live?'
That I didn't ask you this back then.
I am now regretting it a little.
Gazing at the moon for a moment.
I let out a dry cough.
'I'm being pathetic again.'
A pathetic display.
It's not that the patheticness was different.
It's pathetic to pointlessly dig up memories that should be buried, what else.
"You can wake up now too... Huh?"
I was trying to gently wake Namgung Bia up.
But Namgung Bia, who had been dozing off leaning on my shoulder, was already up and staring straight ahead.
"...Wha, what are you doing?"
I called out to Namgung Bia, containing my bewilderment.
But she only stared ahead.
On top of that, I could feel fighting spirit gradually rising from Namgung Bia.
Crackle.
"...Ugh!?"
As if to prove it, with the aura of lightning that spread shallowly.
Bi Yeonseom, who had been silently holding her breath next to me, flinched and trembled in surprise.
"What are you suddenly doing...!"
I tried to ask again.
But as if she couldn't hear my words properly.
Namgung Bia instantly drew her sword and swung it forward.
Crash!
"Ugh!"
The sword qi, fully imbued with the aura of lightning, swept the front.
The compressed internal energy sliced through the densely packed trees.
A single flash.
Just from thrusting the sword once, dozens of trees were cut down, creating an open space.
This was a part that showed how much Namgung Bia had grown over the past days.
"Hey! What are you doing in the middle of the night all of a sudden!"
I couldn't understand the reason for Namgung Bia's actions.
I checked to see if there were any demonic beasts around.
There was no presence caught by my energy sense.
In the first place, it made no sense for me to notice the presence of a demonic beast later than Namgung Bia.
Did Namgung Bia perhaps have a nightmare?
With such a doubt, I looked at her.
Without shifting her gaze to me, she only looked ahead and gave an answer.
"...A scent."
"What?"
"There was a scent..."
A scent?
At Namgung Bia's words, I sniffed the air.
"What scent? I don't smell anything."
If I had to be specific, wouldn't it be the scent of grass and earth from the forest?
It was a forest teeming with demonic beasts, but contradictory as it was, the scent of the grass at night was rather fragrant.
Hmph.
Namgung Bia didn't answer.
She kept looking ahead, then suddenly tilted her head.
"...Was it... an illusion?"
"What, you bastard?
Suddenly getting up and splitting all the trees.
An illusion?"
As I looked at her, dumbfounded.
Namgung Bia returned to her expressionless face and plopped back down in her original spot.
Pat, pat.
Then, she patted the spot next to her with her hand, as if telling me to sit down again.
"...I'm seriously at a loss for words."
Seeing that, I had to let out a hollow laugh.
As I sat down again.
Namgung Bia leaned her face on my shoulder again and closed her eyes, as if nothing had happened.
The atmosphere blended back into the quiet night.
Tremble...
Bi Yeonseom, who had just witnessed Namgung Bia's actions with her own two eyes, was trembling, seemingly quite surprised.
Rather than surprised, she looked terrified...
'She'll manage on her own.'
There was no need to care that much.
'And.'
I examined the direction where Namgung Bia had thrust her sword earlier.
Even if Namgung Bia looked dull and clumsy.
...No, she actually is dull and clumsy.
In this aspect, she had very sensitive and sharp senses.
Meaning her instincts and five senses as a martial artist were quite outstanding.
Was it really an illusion?
Even if my current energy sense was far superior to Namgung Bia's.
Whirrrr.
Leaving behind Namgung Bia with her eyes closed and the trembling Bi Yeonseom.
I amplified the internal energy wrapped around my body.
Shallowly, so it wouldn't be noticeable.
Flick.
The aura spreading out of my body through the middle dantian became a wind and flowed away.
Controlling the shallow aura that would truly scatter if I missed even a little.
It headed further beyond the fallen trees.
Rustle.
Dark night.
An unidentified figure was stepping on tree branches, piercing through the forest at a rapid pace.
Despite moving their feet without rest, the assassin's mind was incredibly complicated.
'I'm bewildered.'
The sword strike the woman thrust.
Recalling that fierce yet pure killing intent, sweat naturally formed on their back.
'...The aura of lightning was clearly that of the Namgung family.'
At first, they were surprised by the woman's appearance.
But soon, they had to be surprised a second time by the judgment and senses of her noticing their presence and thrusting her sword.
Was it because they had widened the distance significantly?
The assassin stopped moving and turned their thoughts.
'Truly bizarre.'
They were more confident than anyone in hiding their presence and blending into the surrounding environment.
Over the past years.
The reason they could overcome countless crises and carry out various tasks.
And the reason they could sit in the position of a family elder thanks to those tasks.
Was because such skills backed them.
'To almost be caught by a mere young woman.'
They felt hollow and panicked at the same time.
Becoming a peak martial artist after overcoming the wall at that age was truly amazing.
But this was a different story.
Their presence clearly shouldn't have been detected.
Yet, for some reason, that woman seemed to have noticed their presence.
'Rather than noticing...'
It felt like something else.
But the result was the same.
'This Eunamhogwi (Hidden Dark Tiger Ghost)... was detected by a mere youth of twenty.'
Rather than surprise, they felt a chill.
'Since it was the First Young Master's request, I personally stepped in...'
Given the situation, the current Family Lord's bloodlines were very reluctant to ask anyone for favors.
Asking for a favor meant.
Providing a justification to make them pay it back someday.
And the time to repay the grace would be when the First Young Master rose to the position of Young Lord or Family Lord.
'To think he would ask me.'
Since they mainly engaged in covert operations.
They were like a blemish on the Hwangbo Family, known as a righteous faction.
At a point where they were slowly erasing their background, the fact that the First Young Master approached them and personally requested this.
Must mean he would clean up those parts if they granted it.
That was why they accepted such a useless favor.
'I thought scaring a mere rising talent wouldn't be that difficult.'
It wasn't killing.
Just silencing them with appropriate harassment and asking to kill their spirit.
Moreover, since it was the front lines, it would be easy to handle things without revealing their identity.
'There was an unexpected problem.'
They had come briefly to check first, rather than proceeding with the task immediately.
'The woman who felt my presence is a problem, but...'
The biggest problem was the guy named Jin Ryong that the First Young Master spoke of.
They wondered how great the guy was, hearing that the First Young Master and his guards were defeated.
'...I can't figure it out.'
What and how much he harbors.
It eluded their grasp.
Unlike the woman, whom they could tell was a high-level martial artist who had overcome the wall the moment they saw her.
The guy named Jin Ryong couldn't be known just by looking.
"...That can't be right?"
There were two possibilities in this case.
Either he was so outstanding at hiding and manipulating his internal energy that they couldn't notice.
Or, his realm was higher than theirs.
The assassin let out a hollow laugh at the thought that crossed their mind.
Because it was such an absurd story.
"Ha. It seems I've grown senile in my old age."
The first was obvious—a mere brat wouldn't have the ability to hide his presence and avoid their energy sense.
And the second was even more impossible.
'Maybe it's because I'm out on a job after so long, my mind must be weak.'
Well, it had been years since they came out like this.
It was possible for a rusted body to have a brief delusion.
"...First, I'll go back, and then find a proper timing again..."
"Where are you returning to?"
"Obviously to the barracks...!"
A voice came from behind.
The assassin glared and swung their arm without hesitation.
It was a movement cloaked in internal energy at a wind-like speed.
But.
Before achieving its purpose, the arm was caught by someone else's hand.
Whoosh!
Along with it, the internal energy wrapped around the arm failed to do its job and scattered into the air, causing wind pressure.
"How did you..."
The assassin had to sweat cold sweat looking at the one who caught their arm.
Even though the person themselves had a nonchalant expression.
"An old man wouldn't come out for a walk in the moonlight."
Pressure was increasingly felt on the caught arm.
'...This guy...!'
The pressure felt was much stronger than expected.
The black eyes of the youth looking at the assassin, who was flustered by the unexpected situation.
Gradually dyed in a red color.
The color was so deep and splendid that it was rather terrifying.
With the corners of his mouth gently rising, the aura violently distorted.
Facing this, the assassin realized something had gone wrong.
But the youth only asked in the same voice as before.
"What business does the Hwangbo Family's old rat have with me?"
With the question, burning flames erupted around them.