Chapter 118: Chapter 118

After the results of the Murim Regular Exam were announced to the world, Hefei in Anhui Province was abuzz with the name listed in the results.

“Taeul Sect? Was there such a sect?”

“Are they talking about the Taeul Martial Hall?”

“Taeul Martial Hall, this man! Do you not know about the orthodox Taeul Sect?”

“Hey, bastard! Do you think I don’t know you were always sneering about the Taeul Sword Emperor or whatever?”

Interest had suddenly surged, but because the Taeul Sect had taken down its signboard and sealed its gates, people’s curiosity was not satisfied.

However, that did not mean the matter passed unnoticed inside the Taeul Sect.

No, rather, a feast large enough to be called quite grand was held inside the Taeul Sect.

“Heh-heh, our So-un ended up taking first place.”

“Hall Master Kang Chae-seok, did you not curse Eldest Senior Brother So-un every day?”

“Hey, bastard! That was all because I had that much affection for him!”

“Then you must not have any affection for Senior Sister So-so. You never cursed even once in front of Senior Sister So-so.”

“You, come here. Have you mastered the Twin Heaven Sword Formula?”

“Who trains during a feast?”

All the Hall Masters and disciples gathered in one place, and the parents of the disciples were also invited.

Among them, the ones who drew people’s attention the most were, without question, the parents of the Gold-Silver-Copper Brothers, who ran a mill.

“Congratulations. How did you put all three brothers into the Murim Academy? Please tell us your secret.”

“Ah…… well, we only worked……”

“Oh my, the children must have become motivated on their own after seeing their parents’ example. How did you do it?”

“Ah…… well, just, we told them to listen well to their Senior Brothers and Masters……”

The parents of the Gold-Silver-Copper Brothers, who had lived their whole lives running a mill while being subtly looked down upon, could not properly come to their senses in the current situation and were merely nodding their heads.

“Hoo…… Since Eldest Senior Brother entered at the top, the burden on our shoulders will become even heavier from now on.”

“Hm? What are you talking about?”

Gwak Sam-nam looked at Wang So-so and Jegal Cheon-gi, who were eating chicken skewers.

“From now on, if those from the Taeul Sect fail to achieve results on the level of Eldest Senior Brother, will we not be cursed?”

“I’m not going to take the Murim Regular Exam, though?”

“Pardon?”

At Wang So-so’s words, Gwak Sam-nam’s eyes widened like a startled rabbit’s.

Though she had begun learning martial arts later than he had, Wang So-so’s accomplishments had risen steeply. In particular, her achievement in inner arts was overwhelmingly absurd.

Though he could certainly defeat her in sword arts and footwork, because she poured out her overwhelming inner arts like waves, Gwak Sam-nam had never once defeated Wang So-so.

And yet such a Wang So-so was not going to take the Regular Exam?

“I’m going to the Murim Alliance through mandatory service.”

“……As a lower-ranked warrior?”

He had heard that the Wang Estate treasured Wang So-so so much that they had kept her hidden away in her room her whole life.

Moreover, recently, he had even heard rumors that she had laid her hand upon the family’s affairs and was making enormous profits. How could such a Wang So-so enter the Murim Alliance as a lower-ranked warrior?

“That way, I can act together with Eldest Senior Brother.”

“……”

At that moment, Jegal Cheon-gi spoke while chewing on a chicken skewer.

“I will also enter as a lower-ranked warrior. Sam-nam, you have many burdens placed on your shoulders.”

“What does that…… No, then I will also……”

“No! We are Lay Disciples. You have to take the Murim Regular Exam.”

“Where is there such a rule?”

“Where else? Here.”

“Then I will send Yu-seong in my place.”

“Pardon?!”

Kang Yu-seong, who had been getting food for his younger sisters, was startled.

“You entered the sect later than I did, but you possess skills far superior to mine.”

The children of the Taeul Sect who had gone to the Murong Clan as Exchange Disciples together with Hegemon Blade had returned with skills that had improved by leaps and bounds.

Moreover, although Kang Yu-seong had entered the Taeul True Scripture later than the other disciples, he was already at a level where he could compare achievements with Kang Chae-seok.

Gwak Sam-nam patted Kang Yu-seong on the shoulder.

“You are the disciple who will make the Taeul Sect’s name widely known in the next round. I am counting on you, Yu-seong.”

“No, I, I also want to be a lower-ranked warrior……”

Yu-seong looked as if he were about to cry at any moment, and Gwak Sam-nam, Wang So-so, and Jegal Cheon-gi looked at one another and giggled.

A little distance away from the four of them.

“Why are you sitting alone?”

Someone spoke to Jin Tae-san, who was sitting alone, unable to blend into the cheerful feast atmosphere.

“Ah, you have come, Estate Master.”

Wang Geum-san stopped Jin Tae-san from standing up, sat beside him, and set down a bottle of wine.

“It is called Hundred Flowers Jade Dew Wine.”

Jin Tae-san’s eyes widened.

Was this not a famous wine of the imperial palace made from one hundred flowers?

A strange fragrance was already flowing out from the narrow mouth of the bottle.

“Is it not suitable to drink on a day like this?”

“I-It is too much.”

Jin Tae-san’s hand trembled as he accepted the Hundred Flowers Jade Dew Wine.

To a drinker, it was a wine that precious.

Watching him, Wang Geum-san gave a faint smile.

“Are you not happy?”

Jin Tae-san’s body, which had been halfway through drinking the Hundred Flowers Jade Dew Wine, abruptly stopped.

After worrying over whether he should finish the wine left in the cup or stop for now, Jin Tae-san eventually drank all of it.

Then he stared into the empty cup for quite some time, whether in admiration of the wine’s fragrance or because he had fallen into deep thought.

“……Where in the world is there a father who is not happy at his child’s success?”

The gaze with which Jin Tae-san looked at the empty wine cup was filled with regret.

“Still, I am simply worried that the boy may climb too high, fall, and be badly hurt.”

A child’s success was connected to a parent’s anxiety.

The anxiety that one might be unable to become a safety net when the child fell.

The anxiety that perhaps the child could originally fly farther, but his limits had been set because of the shackles that were oneself.

Whenever a child grew by leaps and bounds, a parent ended up looking back on himself.

“Are you not worrying too early? It seems he has only just begun to fly.”

“I am someone who worried whether that boy would do well even as Outer Hall Master. I am only a man with a vessel of that size. Yet my child merely flapped his wings once, and the whole world rang with it, so how could I not be anxious?”

It was a ladder that could not be climbed through normal methods.

Because of that, he must have made reckless moves and gambled.

Considering that in the gambling table called life, the only thing one could wager was one’s own life, Jin Tae-san did not even want to imagine how many times that boy must have staked his life to rise to that position.

“Is it because of his connection to the Black Path Murim?”

“……”

That epithet, Black Flame Dragon, must be a representative example.

Jin Tae-san smiled bitterly and poured Hundred Flowers Jade Dew Wine into his own cup.

“Still, is it not fortunate? The great figures of the Black Path testified that he had absolutely nothing to do with them.”

“Pfft.”

“No, why waste such precious wine?”

Jin Tae-san, whose mouth was now fragrant because of the wine he had spat out, looked at Wang Geum-san with bewildered eyes.

What idiot in the world would look at that sight and think Jin So-un had nothing to do with the Black Path Murim?

Even he himself was already curious about how that rotten brat Jin So-un had become connected to those Black Path bastards.

“……”

“It was a joke. A joke.”

Wang Geum-san patted his shoulder and poured him more Hundred Flowers Jade Dew Wine.

“……”

This person looked more and more different from when Jin Tae-san had first met him.

He kept making useless jokes.

Because of his unique solemnity and seriousness, it was confusing, and even when he joked, one could not easily laugh.

“Then does that not mean Hall Master Jin simply has to work harder? You can become a good safety device so that he will be safe whenever he falls.”

“They say that if he becomes the Academy Representative, he will have to organize an executive staff as the Academy Representative. Will there truly be anyone willing to help a boy with neither money nor background?”

If he sent all the profits coming from the mine right away, then he could form an executive staff with money, but if he did that, the very pillars of the Taeul Sect, which had only just begun to settle into place, would be pulled out. So that was impossible as well.

“If that is difficult, there is also a slightly easier method.”

“What method do you mean?”

Wang Geum-san paused for a moment and poured the wine.

Every time Jin Tae-san drank it, he felt it again, but the fragrance was truly extraordinary.

To the point that he wanted to lick back up the wine he had spat out just moments ago.

“Have a drink.”

“What method is it?”

“…Listen while you drink.”

Jin Tae-san slowly savored the golden, brilliantly clear wine.

“How about having him enter the Wang Estate as a son-in-law? I think that would become a good background.”

“Pffft!!!”

“Are you joking right now?”

“……”

I had expected life at the Murim Academy to be difficult.

But to think they would scheme like this when the semester had not even started yet.

Truly, the Murim Alliance and the Murim Academy must be rotten from the roots.

“This is not funny. Please give me proper clothes now.”

“……These are the clothes.”

“……There is something I failed to say in advance. I do not like jokes very much.”

“……”

Seeing the faces of the maidservants standing quietly with expressionless faces, I grew even more uneasy because it did not seem to be a joke.

“These are really the clothes I have to wear to the banquet?”

The clothes the maidservants had brought were a splendid outfit embroidered with golden thread on white silk.

Moreover, there was a ceremonial crown, a gold-plated waist belt, and white shoes that seemed completely useless in daily life. They looked just like clothes worn by Immortals descending from heaven.

Up to that point, it was fine.

But….

“Really? Swear it?”

The problem was the golden characters ‘Top Entrant’ embroidered across the chest as large as a gate.

I could not hide my shock at the fact that this outfit, which looked no matter how one looked at it like nothing but a punishment, was the formal attire worn by the top entrants of past years.

“I will just wear my martial arts uniform.”

Rather than wear something like this, it would be better to walk around naked.

As I tried to pass by the maidservants to attend the banquet, the middle-aged woman who seemed the oldest blocked my path.

“This is formal attire that every top entrant throughout history must wear without fail. You cannot take a single step out of this place without wearing it.”

“……Then I will not attend the banquet.”

If I went out wearing that, the social honor (?) I had built until now would be thrown to the ground, and at the same time, my authority as the Eldest Senior Brother respected by my Junior Brothers would also hit rock bottom.

I absolutely will not wear it.

“What are you doing? The young master is changing clothes.”

“H-Hey! Wh-What are you doing! Let go of me! I will say this in advance. Recently, I obtained three cycles of inner arts!”

I tried to resist, but in the end, I could not stop the merciless hands of the maidservants.

“Now, look. Do you not look like a noble, stately man?”

“……”

The maidservant proudly showed me a bronze mirror.

“I feel as if I have seen this appearance somewhere before.”

“Where do you mean?”

“In street plays. Mostly, foolish princes or children of noble families come out wearing clothes like this.”

The Head Maidservant lightly ignored my words and nodded.

“Then please enjoy the banquet.”

“My mood is already poor, though……”

“……Perhaps once you see the sight of others looking up to you, your thoughts will change.”

“Pfft!”

“Urgh!”

The moment Geum-pyo and Eun-ho saw me, their faces turned red, and they bit their lips tightly.

See?

I said I would definitely become a laughingstock.

“Are you laughing?”

“N-No. I was thinking how wonderful it would have been if the Sect Leader and the people of the Taeul Sect could have seen this proud appearance…… and before I knew it, my emotions overcame me…… Sniff. Hic-.”

Geum-pyo turned his head while making a strange sound that made it impossible to tell whether he was crying or laughing.

Beside him, Eun-ho spoke.

“Eldest Senior Brother, could you lend me some silver coins?”

“What…… Do you have somewhere to use them?”

“If I go quickly now and call a painter……”

“Shut up.”

Dong-ryong and Murong Jae-hwa were looking at me with blank eyes.

“Is it that strange?”

When I asked out of embarrassment, Dong-ryong shook his head firmly.

“You look just like a prince descended from heaven.”

“Brother, I think you are truly wearing clothes that suit you.”

“……”

At the words of those two, filled completely with sincerity, I became even more embarrassed, and Geum-pyo and Eun-ho finally burst into a round of laughter.

I found it even harder to endure and quickly changed the subject.

“What about the young ladies?”

“Do women not usually take a long time to prepare?”

Fortunately, the Gold-Silver-Copper Brothers and Murong Jae-hwa ended up using one room together.

Originally, dormitories were assigned according to grades, but Murong Jae-hwa, who had an Entry Token, wanted to use a four-person room together with the Gold-Silver-Copper Brothers, so it was assigned that way.

Namgung Seon-hwa and Seong Mo-ran were assigned to two-person rooms, but they were each said to be using them with different people.

At least the distance was not far, so neither of them seemed too disappointed.

“What about Sa-ryeon?”

As soon as I entered the Murim Academy, I tried to meet Sa-ryeon.

However, Sa-ryeon, who had shown her face to the Gold-Silver-Copper Brothers, was not showing her face only to me.

I did not know what it meant when she said our first meeting should be in the banquet hall, but knowing it would not take very long, I quietly waited.

“Senior Sister Sa-ryeon will also come soon.”

“Everyone is late.”

“Let us go in first.”

“Let us.”

The gazes of the servants coming and going outside the banquet hall bothered me.

Since I alone was glowing in an area filled with darkness, it was only natural that gazes gathered on me, but their strange smiles, which I could not tell were admiration or mockery, were enough to bother me.

When we headed to the banquet hall, there was a long line from the entrance.

It seemed everyone was waiting to enter in order, guided by the maidservants, but everyone’s attire was unusual.

The Gold-Silver-Copper Brothers and I were wearing formal attire that had clearly been provided by the Academy, but the other Academy students were wearing expensive clothes bearing patterns symbolizing their families or sects.

Their splendor was no less than my clothes, which had ‘Top Entrant’ gilded on them.

Seeing that the clothes worn by the Gold-Silver-Copper Brothers did not have the characters ‘Taeul’ embroidered on them, it seemed the Academy students had each ordered and worn their own formal attire.

“At this rate, one cannot tell who the main character is.”

Just as Eun-ho said, I seemed to have become their clown, and they looked like the actual people who had come to enjoy this banquet.

“Are you Jin So-un?”

While I was waiting at the very end of the line, a man who seemed to be an attendant spoke to me.

“Please go this way. The top entrant’s seat has been prepared separately.”

“Only now do I feel like the main character.”

The Gold-Silver-Copper Brothers and I began walking forward under the attendant’s guidance, ignoring the line.

The gazes of the Academy students standing in the long line gathered on us.

But their gazes were not pleasant.

“If you wait here for a moment, a maidservant will guide you to your seat.”

After saying that, the attendant disappeared again.

The Gold-Silver-Copper Brothers, who had come to the very front, were staring blankly at the enormous scale and splendor of the banquet hall glimpsed from the entrance.

I, too, was admiring it without showing it when I heard a familiar voice.

“For the Murim Alliance’s finest educational institution, are the facilities not far too poor?”

After confirming the owner of the voice, I killed the sign of my excitement and spoke.

“……So you passed in the end.”

“Indeed. When you took my Trial Tokens, Young Master Jin, I thought I had certainly failed. But I barely managed to seize another chance for revenge.”