Myst, Might, Mayhem (Novel) - Chapter 129 - Reunion (1)
Chapter 129 – Reunion (1)
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Translated by Jinmu
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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It was truly an absurd coincidence.
Among the provisional disciples, starting with Hwan Yun-myeong, the eldest, then the second Myeong Tak, and even the third Yong Su, once they had awakened to sexual desire, none of them had any wish whatsoever to be castrated.
But the situation had changed.
All of them were now begging to be castrated.
That was because, if they were not castrated and did not become formal disciples, they might have to spend the rest of their lives suffering beneath a bastard like an evil ghost.
“Master, please have us castrated!”
At the sight of them begging, Mok Gyeong-un clicked his tongue inwardly.
Their true thoughts were obvious.
Up until now they had not wished to remove their genitals because of sexual desire, but once a formal disciple like himself appeared, they had judged that their positions were in danger.
They had tried to settle it through force, but since they were no match at all, only one option remained to them.
To be castrated and become formal disciples.
‘Pointless little schemes.’
Though he thought as much, it may have been the right choice for them.
Still, if they suddenly came in such a state and asked to be castrated, would the Shadow Sect Master really accept?
He was wondering that when,
“You will not regret it?”
At the Shadow Sect Master’s question, all three hesitated briefly.
But soon they glanced sidelong at Mok Gyeong-un, clearly conscious of him, then nodded and answered in unison,
“We will not regret it.”
It was not a situation in which they could afford regret.
Hwan Yun-myeong in particular was even more so.
Quite apart from the fact that he had revealed with his own mouth how he had schemed to keep his junior disciples from becoming formal disciples, now that he had lost his right arm, who would ever accept him?
Hwan Yun-myeong looked at his master with desperate eyes.
At that moment, the Shadow Sect Master covered his mouth and laughed as though delighted.
“Ohoho. Very well. Since you have chosen it yourselves, I should of course grant it.”
“Ahhh!”
“Thank you!”
At his answer, the provisional disciples all banged their heads on the floor in gratitude.
Watching that scene, Mok Gyeong-un could not understand it.
Unlike himself, they were not a special case, but people who had chosen to give up becoming formal disciples in order to satisfy their own desires.
Then why was he accepting them now?
As he stood there puzzled, he saw Hwan Yun-myeong and Yong Su turn toward him and smile triumphant smiles.
‘Hm.’
Why were they making such expressions?
The reason was simple.
Because by undergoing castration, their standing had now become equal.
No, since they had entered the school before Mok Gyeong-un, the situation had in fact turned back around.
Now that they, as senior brothers of the same school, were above him, he would no longer be able to raise a hand against them…
“Gyeong-un.”
At that moment, the Shadow Sect Master called Mok Gyeong-un.
“Yes.”
“It should be all right to speak more casually now, should it not?”
“Yes.”
“Ohoho. You have gained three junior disciples the moment you entered, so you are quite the lucky one. As eldest senior brother, make sure to take good care of them.”
‘!!!!!!’
At those words from the Shadow Sect Master, the faces of the three twisted in an instant.
What sort of bolt from a clear sky was this?
Why was that bastard Mok Gyeong-un becoming the eldest senior brother?
Unable to endure it, Hwan Yun-myeong asked,
“M-Master. How can the one who entered last become eldest senior brother?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Pardon?”
“Since Gyeong-un became a formal disciple first, is he not naturally your eldest senior brother?”
At those words from the Shadow Sect Master, Hwan Yun-myeong’s face contorted as though he had bitten into dung.
He had thought that once he became a formal disciple, he would at least outrank this bastard, but it could not be so.
Just then, Myeong Tak saluted Mok Gyeong-un with cupped fists.
“This disciple Myeong Tak greets Eldest Senior Brother Mok Gyeong-un.”
“…”
A shift in stance faster than anyone else.
Watching this, Hwan Yun-myeong and Yong Su were dumbfounded.
Of course, Myeong Tak paid no mind at all to the looks they gave him.
The tide had already turned.
Without even hearing what had happened in this room, Master had designated Mok Gyeong-un as eldest senior brother.
What did that mean?
‘This bastard will be the next Shadow Sect Master.’
If he wanted to survive now, the one he had to look good to was no longer Hwan Yun-myeong, who had stabbed them in the back.
* * *
Once Hwan Yun-myeong, Yong Su, Myeong Tak, and the others, who had been injured, were sent to the infirmary in the inner fortress, and only the two of them remained, the Shadow Sect Master looked at Mok Gyeong-un and said,
“You ask nothing.”
“About what exactly?”
“About why I do not ask how things unfolded inside… and why I placed you, who entered last, above them as eldest senior brother.”
“If Master surely had something in mind, is there any need for a disciple to be discourteous and raise doubts?”
“…”
At Mok Gyeong-un’s words, the Shadow Sect Master’s lips twitched.
He had asked because the boy did not so much as show doubt, and now he was hearing such an agreeable answer.
But this was not the boy’s true heart.
Judging by what he had seen up through the final selection ceremony of Corpse Blood Valley, this child was not merely clever, but of a type difficult to control.
Such a child claiming to concern himself over discourtesy?
“Ohohoho. As a disciple, it is an excellent answer, but there is no need to hide your true feelings in front of me.”
“…”
“Is there nothing you want to say?”
At that question from the Shadow Sect Master, Mok Gyeong-un finally parted his lips.
But the question he asked was different from what had been expected.
“Since you knew, did you accept them as formal disciples out of affection?”
The Shadow Sect Master’s eyes narrowed.
Now look at this child.
He had not expected him to ask in that way.
“My, there must have been more conversation inside than I thought, for you to ask it like that.”
Contrary to the Shadow Sect Master’s guess, there had been no conversation.
It was merely that Hwan Yun-myeong, seized by the demonic aura of the Evil-Answering Sword, had prattled on with his desires and thus revealed how the senior-junior relationship among them had been formed.
“One could call it a conversation, I suppose.”
“Ohoho.”
“If it is inconvenient, you need not answer.”
“It is not that. If I must answer, perhaps it is affection. But separate from that, sometimes there are things one can know and yet choose to pass over while pretending not to know.”
‘Hm?’
Mok Gyeong-un tilted his head.
What did it mean, to know and yet pass over while pretending not to know?
From Mok Gyeong-un’s standpoint, one who valued rationality, it made no sense at all.
But one thing was certain: the Shadow Sect Master had known that all the incoming disciples had refrained from castration because of Hwan Yun-myeong.
No, anything else would have been stranger.
After all, he was the head of the Shadow Sect, which governed information.
“To give up something for the sake of something else is not an easy matter.”
“…”
The Shadow Sect Master spoke with a hand covering his mouth.
“Ohoho. When you have weathered a bit more of life’s storms and find yourself in the position of leading an organization, then you will understand what I mean.”
“…I will keep that in mind.”
“In any case, I am sorry for creating this trouble by failing to warn those children beforehand.”
“It is nothing.”
“You cannot have even finished memorizing it properly, so for today I will have lodging prepared for you, and you can rest while…”
“I have memorized it.”
“What?”
“If you mean the formula of Ghost Shadow Claw Method, I have memorized it all.”
At those words, the Shadow Sect Master looked at Mok Gyeong-un as if asking whether that could possibly be true.
By the reports, not long after he had gone to the main hall building, those three had burst in here.
No matter how brilliant a person was, memorizing the formula in that short a time would be difficult.
However,
“Jo Won-gyeong-ha, yeok-un-hyeok-se, ji-sun-ji-gyeong, o-seok-mu-hun…”
‘!?’
At the sound of the Ghost Shadow Claw Method formula coming from Mok Gyeong-un’s mouth, a strange light appeared in the Shadow Sect Master’s eyes.
Because he had watched the final gate of Corpse Blood Valley, he had already known that Mok Gyeong-un’s martial talent was incomparable to that of ordinary people.
But he had not known it was to this extent.
‘…Was it truly this much?’
This exceeded expectations.
He found himself newly sympathizing with the old sage’s words, that one could not help but be moved when receiving an outstanding disciple.
The more he came to know this child, the more regrettable it became.
Had his origins only been beneath the Heaven and Earth Society, he would be walking an even smoother road.
It was regrettable that the first thing to be improved was his awareness and perception, but he was still more than worth raising as a piece of future timber.
“Even if I wished to spare praise, it would be difficult. Well done.”
“It is nothing.”
“Ohoho. At heart I would like to begin instructing you right away, but I have not yet finished settling what happened earlier, so today will be difficult.”
“Understood.”
“I have already informed the Inner General Chief, so he will guide you to your quarters. You have not been able to rest properly while facing the gates of Corpse Blood Valley, so today you should rest well.”
“Yes.”
“Then I shall see you tomorrow…”
“Ah. Forgive me, but would it be all right if I took a walk nearby?”
“A walk?”
“Yes. I have been in the mountains for a long time, so I would like to go about lightly and look around the area for a bit.”
At those words, a faint gleam flickered in the Shadow Sect Master’s eyes.
However, without showing it, he said as though it were nothing,
“So you wish to look around inside the fortress.”
“Yes. If it is all right.”
“Ohoho. If it is such a thing, I shall assign someone to accompany you.”
At those words, Mok Gyeong-un clicked his tongue inwardly.
Though he had accepted him as a formal disciple, and though his tone had grown softer and friendlier, the Shadow Sect Master had not relaxed his guard against him in the slightest.
That was obvious from the fact that he would attach a person to him merely because he said he wished to look around nearby.
It was troublesome, but there was no helping it.
“Thank you for the consideration.”
* * *
Thus Mok Gyeong-un left the Shadow Sect estate, accompanied by one guard assigned by the Shadow Sect Master.
“You need not concern yourself with this subordinate and may walk about as you please, Young Master.”
“Yes. Thank you for the consideration.”
In truth, it would have been even more considerate if the man had not followed at all.
But there was no helping it.
“Ho.”
Mok Gyeong-un let out a soft exclamation as he looked around outside the estate.
He had taken a light look around on the way here, but it was certainly vast.
No, it would not be an exaggeration to call it immense.
‘The inner fortress itself is large as well.’
It looked as though it would take quite a while to look around the whole place.
Rather, if he climbed the tallest building and surveyed the surroundings, it seemed he could roughly grasp all the geography of the place at once.
But that would be difficult for the moment.
Because the guard was watching his every movement.
-Why come outside at all? It would seem better to rest today as that eunuch-like fellow said.
At that moment Blue Spirit’s voice rang beside his ear.
At that, Mok Gyeong-un shrugged and answered by voice transmission.
-Because I can feel it.
-Feel it? What do you mean?
-I can feel Gochan’s spirit not far away.
-What? You mean the one who had entered that assassin woman’s body?
-Yes.
The reason Mok Gyeong-un had come outside was none other than Guard Gochan.
Once a bond was formed, it was not only resentful spirits that could feel their master’s energy.
Mok Gyeong-un as well could instinctively sense the location of his shikigami.
‘It is not far.’
At least, it was located within a radius of about a hundred jang.
If the energy were very far away, it would be too faint to notice clearly, but at this distance, he could tell rather well where it was.
‘Northwest.’
If he headed there, he seemed likely to find it.
-That fellow is no ordinary one either. Well, as a shikigami, he could hardly flee, so it makes sense that he would follow. But the fact that he did not come close means…
-It seems he is maintaining possession of the body he entered.
-Ha! You mean he infiltrated this inner fortress while still having a body?
-Yes. For now, that seems to be the case.
-That body did look fairly usable, but it did not seem to be at a level that could secretly enter this inner fortress… he is more capable than expected.
-Since he came from an assassin background, he may have managed it based on that experience.
-Well, however it may be, the more pieces we can use, the better. And if it is a shikigami, there is no risk of betrayal.
Mok Gyeong-un agreed with Blue Spirit’s words.
That was precisely why he was looking for Guard Gochan.
Seeing that he had followed them all the way here and infiltrated the place, his value for use seemed greater than before.
Thus Mok Gyeong-un headed northwest through the inner fortress, accompanied by the Shadow Sect’s guard.
It was when he had moved roughly thirty jang.
From the opposite direction, he saw a group of people walking toward them.
One among them was especially conspicuous.
‘Hm.’
He was a handsome young man who seemed to be in his late twenties, with curly hair.
In Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes, the surging energy around that young man was visible.
And surprisingly, the size of that energy was on a level comparable to Son Yun, the King of the Fate Blade.
‘Who is he?’
At that level, it would not be an exaggeration to call him executive-class.
But from his appearance alone, it was difficult to decide exactly who he was.
Then someone else entered Mok Gyeong-un’s sight.
‘!?’
Behind the curly-haired young man was a man who looked to be in his early thirties and seemed to be part of the group.
In one hand he held a wine flask, while with the other arm he had wrapped himself around the waist of a young woman with a seductive and youthful beauty.
-That… is that not that fellow?
At Blue Spirit’s words, Mok Gyeong-un gave a small nod.
That woman, wearing flamboyant clothing cut so low that her chest was visible, was precisely…
-…It seems to be.
Without doubt, it was Guard Gochan possessing Ha Chae-rin.
Yet why was Guard Gochan doing that?
It seemed he had infiltrated the inside of the Heaven and Earth Society by a method rather different from what Mok Gyeong-un had expected.
‘Ahhh, damn it.’
Guard Gochan, who had of course recognized his master Mok Gyeong-un at a glance as well, perhaps out of shame, could not even raise his face.