Chapter 319 - Where Responsibility Lies (2)

“Uh... huh? Losing strength? Hm?!”

Every time that sword clashed against his in a mocking rhythm, a stinging shock ran through his hand.

Eunho shouted in indignation.

“I’m at my limit already!”

At that, his Eldest Senior Brother said with a sneer.

“So? Are you going to die because you’re at your limit?”

SLASH.

The Red Light Sword brushed past his collar and cut away the hem of his robe.

There was a faint sting too, so he was certain Jin Sowoon had deliberately cut a little deeper.

'That damned bastard!'

He had eaten two spiritual pills during the break, and his moving cultivation had reached full maturity, but there was still such a thing as a limit.

As if Jin Sowoon knew exactly where that limit lay, he controlled the pace and drove them until they were utterly exhausted.

“Haa, haa── haa.”

“Damn it.”

Not only Junior Sister Saryeon, but Brother Geumpyo and Dongryong as well were plainly being pushed past limit after limit.

“There you go again. Thinking of running away?”

The flat of the sword he lightly raised turned red.

SCREEEEEECH!

Along with a scream of ominous energy whose source he could not identify, killing intent constricted his entire body until it felt as if his soul would leave him.

That alone was enough to make him feel like dying, yet Jin Sowoon swung his sword without mercy.

SHING-SHING-SHING-SHING!

The blade, filled with killing intent, spread into dozens of edges and tightened around all four of them.

He knew full well that his Eldest Senior Brother would not kill them, but his body instinctively felt the terror of death.

“Uaaaaaah!”

Eunho screamed until his throat felt like it would burst and scattered his sword strikes as he shot forward.

He had realized it through countless sparring matches.

Running away was not always the answer.

When he was most afraid, he had to be the one who advanced first.

That, in the end, was the answer.

Just as his Eldest Senior Brother always had.

He scraped every last bit from his Dantian and used moving cultivation.

The amount of internal energy he could use in the first place was so small that he could not even attempt the Great Heaven Sword Technique.

He simply used the Lesser Heaven Sword Technique, and even then, only its simplest move.

'I can’t block them all anyway.'

That was why he used the smallest possible movements to avoid only the most decisive wounds.

Give the enemy flesh and bone, and take the opponent’s heart.

That was the only way to survive in this situation.

SLASH.

The moment he thought he had finally evaded the Red Light Sword and reached Jin Sowoon’s body.

“What are you going to do, coming alone like this?”

As if he had been waiting, Jin Sowoon suddenly raised his foot and kicked Eunho away.

THUD!

SKID!

Eunho flew nearly thirty feet and slammed into the ground.

'Please, follow up behind me...'

He desperately pleaded with the three remaining people.

THUD! THUD-THUD!

SKID! SKID! SKID!

'I haven’t even finished my dying words yet...'

The three of them had merely flown after him and landed behind Eunho as well.

“Tsk, tsk. You collapse after only this much... Do you think you’ll have the leisure to do that on a battlefield? If you have no internal energy, you fight with stamina. If you have no stamina either, then you fight with sheer spite.”

What nonsense. Anyone listening would think he had rolled around on battlefields for decades.

He was full of complaints inside, but he did not so much as open his mouth.

After all, when he had voiced a complaint four hours earlier, that crazy... no, that man called his Eldest Senior Brother had said, “So you still have strength left,” and continued the sparring.

He had also attained the realization that it was better to keep quiet even if he had something to say.

“Tsk. I’ll give you thirty minutes. Recover.”

Jin Sowoon had already gone inside the building.

The Taiyi Sect disciples, including Eunho, did not get up even after Jin Sowoon left.

“Haa...”

“K-Kill me.”

Because they truly could not move a muscle.

In any case, they could not finish qi circulation within thirty minutes.

They had no choice but to operate their moving cultivation and rest even a little.

'Haa... What the hell am I even doing?'

As he lay sprawled on the ground, doing moving cultivation, Eunho felt a sense of self-loathing and moved only his eyes to look at Saryeon.

“Senior Sister, do you happen to know why Eldest Senior Brother is doing this?”

He could tell from Saryeon’s stiff face all day yesterday and today.

Something had happened between the two of them.

However, seeing Saryeon’s rigid expression and the way she had not said a word, he had not dared to ask.

But now was different.

If they kept this up for only a few more days, they might become the first academy students to die during training at the academy.

“...”

It would not do to become vengeful ghosts who died without even making it to the doorstep of the Murim Alliance.

Eunho urged Saryeon again.

“Senior Sister, at this rate, all of us might die together. No, to tell the truth, I’m already a dead man. I’m struggling like this to save at least Brother Geumpyo and Dongryong...”

“Eldest Senior Brother...”

In the end, at Eunho’s groaning, Saryeon opened her mouth.

“...seems to be worried about us.”

What exactly was he worried about while pushing people to the brink of death like this?

“He’s afraid that when he’s not there, he won’t be able to protect us.”

“...”

Eunho’s deeply frowning expression loosened in an instant.

Geumpyo and Dongryong, who had been staring blankly into space, opened their eyes wide and looked at Saryeon.

“He’s afraid that the people who hate him will hate and torment us instead of him.”

Saryeon lifted her head and looked at the young junior disciples.

For some reason, sorrow seeped from Saryeon’s face, which had been so stiff until now.

“That seems to be what he’s worried about.”

He had definitely thought all his strength had drained away.

He had thought he did not even have the strength to breathe anymore.

GRIND.

His jaw tightened with force, and his teeth ground together.

The anger that had been directed at his Eldest Senior Brother until now became hostility and turned toward himself.

'Have I become a burden again?'

When they had returned from the Iron Sword Sect, and when he had heard that Jin Sowoon would take the standard exam.

Because he had felt sorry and apologetic toward the one who carried far too much alone, he had tried to lighten his burden even a little.

But no matter how much he tried to help, the burden on Jin Sowoon’s shoulders did not grow any lighter.

No, at some point, he had realized that he himself was also being carried on those shoulders, and had fallen into self-loathing.

He had thought that he had grown a little on the way here, but he... and his brothers had not grown at all.

“It must be because of the matter with the instructors.”

At Eunho’s voice, which had turned cold before he knew it, Saryeon gave a small nod.

Eunho growled as he spoke.

“We have nothing to do with it. Whether we receive low scores or suffer discrimination, things like that don’t bother us at all.”

“...”

Saryeon looked at Eunho with the same sorrowful expression.

“What if it doesn’t end at the academy?”

“...”

“What if it continues even after we go to the Murim Alliance? What if we are scattered apart? What if we have to obey the orders of our superiors? Will you still be able to say it doesn’t bother you then?”

The sorrowful words deeply lacerated the hearts of the Geum-eun-dong Brothers.

If they could form a sword array and stand together, there was nothing to fear, but judging by their individual abilities, they were only around the middle ranks even within the academy.

Once they went to the Murim Alliance, the gap would grow even wider.

Without the protective shell called a sect, just how much could they protect themselves?

“Damn it... damn it, damn it, damn it!”

The one who must be most troubled right now was surely Eldest Senior Brother, who had made enemies of the instructors.

And yet, in the midst of that, what he was most worried about was...

["Don’t worry."]

Not himself, but them.

That ignited Eunho’s rage like an active volcano.

THUD, THUD, THUD, THUD.

His bare fists, striking the marble floor, were soon covered in blood.

Just like themselves, who were weak beyond measure.

“...”

He had injured himself deeply, but no one easily stopped him.

Because all of them must have felt the same way as Eunho.

Just then.

STEP, STEP, STEP.

A group of people entered the training ground.

Saryeon rose from her spot.

“Hm?”

This was, after all, Jin Sowoon’s private training ground.

It was not a place other people could enter.

Saryeon, who had risen, saw the faces of those entering and let out a small groan.

“... Mm.”

They were none other than the newly appointed instructors and drill instructors.

At the very front stood a pale-faced man glaring daggers at them.

“I hear Jin Sowoon is here?”

As Saryeon hesitated at the instructor’s question.

Eunho, who had not even properly wiped away the blood flowing from his hands, rose and stepped in front of Saryeon.

“This is the academy representative’s private training ground. Please leave.”

“... Who are you?”

At Eunho’s words, the instructor deeply furrowed his brow.

As if asking why someone like him was blocking his way.

The fact that Eunho was no threat to them at all made him feel even more painfully furious.

“If you wish to speak with the academy representative, make a separate appointment and meet him at the representative’s office. This is the Representative’s private dormitory.”

“I believe I asked who you were... And the dormitory is also an academy facility. What academy facility is there that an instructor cannot enter?”

The fact that he could not force the other man to obey even something so obvious, and the reality that he could not make the other man feel even the slightest threat, felt sorrowful.

So he spoke with even more fire in his eyes.

“Even an academy instructor has no right to enter an academy student’s private living space at will. All the more so if it is a sensitive facility like a training ground.”

At Eunho’s cold mutter, displeasure spread over the instructors’ faces.

“I have asked who you are three times. Do you intend not to answer an instructor’s question? Do you also want to be expelled?”

Also...?

His heart dropped.

His Eldest Senior Brother had clearly done nothing wrong.

So there should be no reason for him to be expelled.

Even so, those words, as if Jin Sowoon’s expulsion had already been decided, made his heart lurch.

'So this is exactly what Eldest Senior Brother is worried about...'

That weakness of being swayed by a single word and shaken by a small movement.

Eunho forced a sneer onto his lips.

It was a false expression imitating someone he had always seen.

But if he did not do even this, he felt like he would run away.

Just as that person had, he made a great show of composure and spoke in a voice tinged with mockery.

“Expelled for not answering a question... Perhaps some academy rule I know nothing about was created during the last break?”

“...”

He saw a small crack appear on the other man’s face.

He had merely imitated him, yet somehow, even that seemed to have an effect.

“Is this something the Education Pavilion agreed to? That it’s fine to expel students selected through the hard-won standard exam so casually? Or is this a rule you instructors made up on the spot?”

The small crack grew larger and larger, and through it, the emotions the man had kept tightly hidden until now surged up.

“You bastard, how dare you act so insolent in front of me!”

“Ah, did I say something wrong? Or.”

It was strange.

As the other man spewed flame-like rage, Eunho was instead able to maintain a colder reason than ever before.

“Could it be that you’re getting worked up because I hit the mark? Hmm... It seems you still haven’t come to your senses after showing reckless bravado against our Eldest Senior Brother and ending up like that.”

“...!”

The other man could not think of a reply and clamped his mouth shut.

Eunho had only been fumbling through the sensations before his eyes, but luckily, he had touched a reverse scale.

While Eunho was intoxicated by victory and quietly cheering inside.

Fire lit in the other man’s eyes.

GRIND.

By the time he noticed something was wrong and lifted his head, the instructor had already drawn his sword.

“How dare mere disciples of a Third-Rate sect... you and him both dare look down on me?”

It could not compare to Jin Sowoon’s, but it was still sufficiently sharp killing intent.

And a sticky wave of qi constricting his entire body.

At the sight of the instructor moving as if his reason had flown away, his colleagues tried to stop him.

“Now, wait...”

“Let go!! If I don’t cut off that bastard’s head today, I’ll just die right here.”

He began to approach in earnest, like a man with nowhere left to retreat.

'Damn it...'

If he at least had internal energy, he might have been able to try running away, but right now, he was barely holding his body upright when even standing was difficult.

Moreover, it was already too late for Saryeon or his brothers standing behind him to help.

Compared to the Underworld, the Orthodox faction supposedly had principles, but in the end, White Path people were martial artists too.

If they could not control their own anger, they ultimately resorted to force like this.

Eunho tried to raise his sword and respond somehow, but the prediction that he would at least be seriously injured flashed through his mind.

And then.

“That is enough. Hall Leader No Jinha. Are you not ashamed to bear the name of the Qingcheng Sect?”

At the leisurely voice, the instructor, who had been charging as if his eyes had rolled back, came to a sudden halt.

“... What crazy bastard dares mention Qingcheng...!”

No Jinha’s voice, which had been about to roar, abruptly cut off.

From the end of his gaze.

“Honestly... So crudely noisy.”

A man dressed as a scholar was slowly walking over with his hands clasped behind his back.

Eunho tilted his head.

'Who is that?'

Untidy hair, a gaunt, skin-and-bones appearance, and even the way he carried himself without the slightest trace of internal energy.

The man, who looked wholly unsuited to this Murim Academy, slowly approached the tip of No Jinha’s blade.

“Are you not going to move this?”

“...”

“You’re going to stab me with it. Hm?”

“... N-No, sir.”

No Jinha, who had been foaming at the mouth like a mad dog until just now, tucked his tail tightly and stepped back.

Just who was that man?

“Did the Eighth Hall Leader of the White Tiger Pavilion come all the way to the academy just to kill an academy student?”

“... This is not something you should concern yourself with, Manager.”

“Dear me, what a hurtful thing to say... In the end, I was the one who stamped your transfer approval too...”

It was strange.

The man had not learned even a single martial art.

No, if anything, he looked even frailer than the average man, yet at his words, No Jinha turned pale and his expression changed.

“Seeing as you transferred here for such personal reasons...”

The man leisurely looked around, then turned to No Jinha and smiled brightly.

“I suppose I should take it that you have no more attachment to the Eighth Hall?”

“Wh-What is that supposed to mean!!!”

“Did you think you could kill an academy student and return to the Eighth Hall? Did you think I would allow that kind of thing?”

“... Th-That is not it.”

No Jinha answered, stiff with tension.

“What do you mean, it’s not? From what I can see, you no longer seem to have any attachment to life in the Murim Alliance. Were you not acting that way until just now?”

“N-Never, sir.”

“Are you sure that is really not the case?”

“Yes, sir.”

The scholar man nodded, then waved his hand as if shooing away a fly.

“Then leave.”

“... That is.”

Then he came over and familiarly slung an arm around Eunho’s shoulders.

“Why not? This friend is right. This is, after all, the academy representative’s private training ground. It is not a place an instructor can, or should, intrude upon.”

“...”

No Jinha’s eyes shook violently.

He seemed to be suffering an internal conflict because he could neither simply turn back here nor do anything further.

Then he finally squeezed out a single sentence.

“... I intend to speak with Jin Sowoon.”

But the scholar man cut him off at once, as if there was no need to listen.

“Then arrange a separate meeting later. In any case, you do not have an appointment today, do you?”

“...”

No Jinha and the instructors standing behind him somehow gave tepid reactions.

As if they feared the man, but he was not someone who could physically enforce anything on them.

“No matter who you are, Manager, you do not have the authority to order us around...”

“Come to think of it, the White Tiger Pavilion Master was whining at me to increase some budget... And the White Tiger Pavilion’s spending has been rather lax lately, so I was already thinking of conducting an inspection...”

“We will return for now.”

“Hm?”

“... We will make another appointment next time.”

They were leaving this easily? After causing such a commotion?

Eunho was dumbfounded by the turn of events.

The scholar man waved his hand again as if he found it bothersome.

“Yes, good thinking. Go on!”

No Jinha bowed politely to the man, glared at Eunho as if he would kill him, then abruptly turned away.

After the instructors left, the man called Manager lowered his hand from Eunho’s shoulder and asked.

“Sowoon is inside, isn’t he?”

Eunho, who had been staring blankly at the Manager, cautiously asked.

“... Who are you?”

“Hm? I am someone who can meet Sowoon even without an appointment.”

“No, what I am curious about is... what kind of work you do that lets you handle those people like that.”

At Eunho’s question, the man’s eyes rounded, and then he burst into laughter.

“Hm? Ah! Hahaha. I was wondering what you were curious about, and it was that?”

“If it is not rude of me to ask, your title is...”

Eunho swallowed dryly without realizing it.

Because he truly could not sense even the slightest bit of internal energy from the man.

Could it be that he was an absolute expert so powerful Eunho simply could not perceive him?

However.

“I have not learned martial arts.”

The answer that came from the man was unexpected.

“What? Then why would they... Perhaps your sect or family is extraordinary?”

A member of the Qingcheng Sect and a Hall Leader of the White Tiger Pavilion was in a position powerful enough to make even birds fall from the sky.

Such a man had suppressed his own emotions and left because of a few words from someone who had not even learned martial arts.

It was utterly difficult to believe.

Looking at Eunho’s face, which was full of doubt, the man smiled faintly.

“Why, because I am Maeng Ju-won, Manager of the Mantong Bureau, of course.”

“Mantong Bureau... Manager...”

Eunho rolled the man’s position around in his mouth, then lifted his head and looked straight at him.

“If I reach that position... can I gain that kind of power even without martial arts?”

“Hehe... In living through the world, background and martial might are not the only forms of power, are they?”

The Manager said that, then patted Eunho’s shoulder and went inside.

Eunho watched Maeng Ju-won’s back as he entered the building and thought.

'Holy shit...'

Perhaps the answer he was searching for might lie with that man.

'He’s so cool.'