Nano Machine novel - Chapter 70

He put down his head in embarrassment because he didn’t have anything to show when Hou Sangwha had just showed off her power.

‘She proved herself in such a cool way… will Prince Chun accept someone like me?’

He wasn’t a cadet from a clan that specialized in martial arts. His father was a mid-ranked warrior, and his family’s martial arts was only at the second level, which was weaker than most families. However, seeing Yeowun’s fights had given him hope to become stronger.

“Do you want to join me?”

“I am weak, but if you accept me, I will serve you wholeheartedly. A-and I will do my best not to become a nuisance!”

The cadet’s eyes were full of admiration, just like how Hu Bong looked at Chun Yeowun now. It almost made him laugh.

“Are you weak?” Yeowun asked back and the cadet became uneasy, thinking that Yeowun would refuse. Yeowun then smiled and bowed.

“You can always become strong. I am grateful that you want to join me nonetheless. Welcome.”

It was possible to become stronger, but having loyalty was not something that could be easily achieved.

“Ohh!”

The cadet teared up because of the welcome. He then began pounding the ground with his forehead, bowing.

“Jin Guuk, the eldest son of Jin family hereby pledges allegiance to the Prince! Thank you!”

‘Hmm…’

Ko Wanghur and Bakgi also saw Hu Bong’s shadow in Jin Guuk. However, Hu Bong himself thought that Jin Guuk was going overboard and shook his head.

With that, Yeowun now had a total of eight members with him. It was a total of nine if Chun Yeowun was included, so he only needed three more cadets now.

‘Hmph. I wished there were more who might be interested.’

Ko Wanghur had expected more cadets to want to join their team. He had thought Yeowun’s reputation would go up by defeating Hou Jinchang and accepting Bakgi into the team, but Ko Wanghur didn’t know that it was too much for the cadets to trust fully Yeowun who had lost his leadership rights once.

‘At least Master has the yellow tag now. We can get more cadets soon.”

There was a time limit in getting a yellow tag, but there was no time limit for getting teammates. Therefore, they didn’t need to hurry. Yeowun then looked around and asked Wanghur, “Where are the others?”

He asked because he didn’t see Ohjong, Ja Wumin, Machil, Wungchun, and Ho Daming. Wanghur and Hu Bong frowned. Chun Yeowun did not know anything about what had happened while he was gone. He didn’t even know that Wungchun and Ho Daiming had left him.

“Master, I think we should talk in private.”

‘Ah…’

Yeowun nodded as he realized something had happened while he was gone by the look on Wanghur’s face. This place had too much foot traffic from the cadets and instructors, so they decided to move. The team then moved to the mountain at the back of the dormitory building. Machil and Ja Wumin who were out to recruit cadets had joined them. They were happy to see Chun Yeowun, and they were surprised to hear that Yeowun had gotten a yellow tag right away.

As they gathered at the mountain, Ko Wanghur first told Yeowun that Wungchun and Ho Daiming had left. As their names came up, most of the members responded in anger.

“How dare they betray the master!”

“It’s good that we don’t have them anymore!”

“It’s right to not have them if they cannot overcome such hardship!”

But Chun Yeowun did not get angry. He just calmly listened and nodded. He already had expected some leavers in his group since he was the one who brought this situation upon them. Fortunately, no one else left the team and they still acted together.

“I thank all of you for staying with me to the end. I really appreciate it.”

Yeowun got up and bowed to every member. Ko Wanghur and the others were touched by that action.

‘Master…!’

Ko Wanghur was able to confirm that his decision to stay with Yeowun was right. So, the first issue was taken care of, but the next one was bigger.

“So, with that aside, where is Ohjong?”

At Yeowun’s question, Hu Bong teared up. He still felt guilty for letting Ohjong get hurt. The other cadets all seemed to be angry just by thinking of it.

“What had happened?”

Chun Yeowun frowned, realizing there had been some serious problem by the looks of it.

“That’s…”

Bakgi, who had lost his yellow tag, tried to explain, but Ko Wanghur shook his head. He carefully explained how Bakgi joined them, and how Ha Ilming ambushed and was stopped by Chun Yuchan. Wanghur also told him how Ohjong’s fingers were snapped backward and he had bruises all over his body. Thus he had to be carried to the medical room, but Chun Yeowun’s eyes only turned sharp and cold. He didn’t seem to be furious.

‘…He’s different from before.’

Bakgi was surprised. If it was the same Yeowun from the medical room five days ago, he would have been angry after hearing this. But now he just focused on listening to what had happened with icy eyes. It was foolish to be concerned about the possibility that Yeowun might run after Ha Ilming for revenge. Yeowun was angry, but he kept a cool mindset.

‘He still hasn’t fixed his ways.’

Ha Ilming always played with trickery. His actions weren’t wrong as the academy itself supported the cadets fighting each other for the tags, but Ha Ilming didn’t come for it himself. He brought over thirty people to mob them and that was too much.

“…So Master, what will you do? ”

Ko Wanghur asked since it was up to Chun Yeowun now. They had gotten a yellow tag so they could just let it be, but they couldn’t just forgive Ha Ilming and others for what they did. They were curious as to what Chun Yeowun would decide to do.

Yeowun then spoke to them.

“We’ll pay them back with the same thing.”