Chapter 264: Chapter 264
After hearing the whole story, a small groan slipped from Ak Byeong-bi’s mouth.
“So……”
It was difficult for him to believe what he had just heard.
“You are saying…… you are being harassed by a child named Yaryul Geuk?”
“Yes!”
Ak Ju-pyeong poured out his sorrow as though he were a man who had suffered punishment after being falsely accused.
“That filthy bastard comes at me at every hour of the day. Moreover, ever since the last incident, the Academy has not taken any particular measures either.”
At first, because of Ak Ju-pyeong’s grave expression, Ak Byeong-bi had thought Jin So-un had done him some harm.
But.
“You are saying it was not Jin So-un, but Yaryul Geuk…….”
“That bastard Yaryul Geuk is the same kind of wretch as Jin So-un. A nobody of insignificant background was lucky enough to enter the Academy, and now he runs around without knowing his place.”
Ak Byeong-bi’s nod stopped abruptly.
“What did you say?”
Ak Ju-pyeong misunderstood Ak Byeong-bi’s reaction, thinking his uncle was angered on his behalf, and excitedly continued chattering.
“From what I hear, Jin So-un and that Yaryul Geuk are quite close. They spar separately, and the disciples of Taeul Sect, Jin So-un’s sect, are apparently looking after Yaryul Geuk as well.”
“…….”
“Ever since Jin So-un became the Academy Representative, everything has become a mess. It seems the current Academy Head, Buk Won-pyeong, and Jin So-un have some secret relationship…… and because of that, the Academy instructors and Teaching Masters do not appear to be moving.”
Then Ak Ju-pyeong, who had been wearing an expression of bitter injustice, let his eyes gleam.
“Therefore, Uncle, I need the judgment of someone from the Execution Pavilion.”
As Ak Byeong-bi looked at him, something from several days ago came to mind.
『When things that are not natural come to be recognized as though they are, people grow arrogant. Even in the Ak Clan, are there not countless scoundrels who take such privileges for granted?』
He had dismissed those words as Jin So-un’s envy, spoken by someone who knew nothing of the Ak Clan. Yet to think that the nephew he treasured was a perfect fit for Jin So-un’s sneer.
“Judgment……”
The reason the Academy was not taking issue with Yaryul Geuk’s actions was likely that Ak Ju-pyeong had already accumulated his own evil deeds until now.
Moreover, since they had seen him, the Third Hall Master, being dragged to the Academy and forced to bow his head, the instructors and Teaching Masters must have judged that they could not intervene in the matter between those two.
Yet this scoundrel before him could not tell dung from soybean paste, trapped in his narrow perspective and thoughts, and felt wronged as though the whole world were oppressing him.
“That is right! Uncle! Judgment is needed.”
Furthermore, he did not even understand what the man before him was thinking, and had no doubt that a flower-strewn path would open before him.
“How did the Ak Clan end up like this?”
Ak Byeong-bi had cared for Ak Ju-pyeong almost as though he were his own child.
How much had he wept upon seeing Ak Ju-pyeong, who had been born the year after he lost his wife and child?
Setting aside his emotional attachment, Ak Ju-pyeong was also an important figure within the Ak Clan.
He was not the eldest grandson, but he was the eldest son of Ak Byeong-bi’s second elder brother.
Though he might not inherit the Ak Clan, it was certain he would take on an important duty related to the clan and work for the family’s sake.
Yet the child who would rise to such a grave position possessed only this much narrow-mindedness……
Ak Byeong-bi felt an immense disappointment.
Whether he knew this or not, Ak Ju-pyeong thumped his own chest with an innocent face.
“I sent a letter to the main house in advance.”
“A letter?”
“Yes. I asked them to send people to judge Yaryul Geuk and Jin So-un’s faction. If you step forward, Uncle, I will handle the aftermath.”
“…….”
Ak Byeong-bi pressed down the rage that had begun in his chest and risen to the top of his head, swallowing it again and again as he quietly closed his eyes.
“Yes. This is what ordinary children are like. Are not the rising stars of the murim world, who grow up pampered and cherished, generally immature like this……?”
However.
As Ak Byeong-bi tried to slowly calm his anger, the faces of Il-myeong, Dang Seo-hui, and Jin So-un, with whom he had shared hardship over the past several days, flashed through his mind.
『Nothing gnaws away at a person’s character and turns him into a frog in a well quite like the consciousness of special privilege. How long could a clan full of such people possibly last?』
BANG!
The table split in half beneath Ak Byeong-bi’s hand, and all manner of documents and the Four Treasures of the Study scattered in every direction.
The moment Ak Byeong-bi opened his eyes wide, Ak Ju-pyeong’s face entered his vision. The boy was filled with expectation and unable to hide his smile.
“You……”
A child he had watched since he was very young.
A child he had cherished more than anyone, enough to personally place his first spear in his hands and teach him how to thrust.
“To think that you……”
Now, he looked like an evil spirit that would gnaw away at the clan and rot it from within.
As though mocking that despair—
“Shall I prepare immediately, Uncle?”
Ak Ju-pyeong wore a triumphant expression, as though he had mounted a tiger’s back.
Just as Ak Byeong-bi was about to send his clenched fist flying into that face—
“Hall Master! A guest has come!”
He stopped abruptly at the voice from outside.
“A guest?”
Even though the speaker knew Ak Ju-pyeong was already here, they were deliberately reporting another guest……
Ak Byeong-bi calmed his anger and asked back.
“Who is it?”
“It is Academy Representative Jin So-un.”
“Jin So-un?”
“T-That bastard?”
At those three syllables alone, Ak Ju-pyeong’s face somehow turned pale.
The triumphant smile on his face crumpled like a piece of paper, and at last, his legs even trembled with anxiety.
Ak Byeong-bi looked at him, then gave an order toward the outside.
“Show him in.”
“U-Uncle?”
Ak Ju-pyeong’s eyes widened as though they might pop out at any moment.
They were not even students of different cohorts, but classmates who had entered at the same time. And yet how could the difference in their vessels be this great?
“Haa……”
Ak Byeong-bi barely swallowed the sigh that was about to escape.
In the previous generation, Ak Buk-san had failed to receive attention because of geniuses like Yong So-ah and Il-myeong.
And.
“J-Jin So-un…… Eek……!”
He thought it would likely not be much different for this cohort.
“It seems we will have to wait far longer for Elder Brother’s wish to be fulfilled.”
The wish of the Young Clan Head to shake the world under the name of the Ak Clan seemed far too distant to be realized in the current generation.
If one were to choose the places Murim Alliance members least wished to go, the Execution Pavilion and the Execution Pavilion would surely be at the very top.
Unless one had been assigned there, being dragged to the Execution Pavilion meant there was a remarkably low chance of returning in one piece.
Yet here I was, having come to this place on my own two feet.
“And to none other than the Third Hall, at that.”
When people saw others being dragged to the Execution Pavilion under false charges, some would sneer that they must have committed some great sin in their previous life to have such bad luck.
From that perspective, I must also have committed quite a great sin in my previous life.
Well, since I had been close to those Sojeong Squad bastards, if that counted as a sin, then perhaps it was a sin.
Those utterly useless bastards.
Fortunately, my destination was not the interrogation room, but the office.
The person guiding me had the solemn and rigid expression befitting a member of the Third Hall.
Like superior, like subordinate, I suppose.
“I heard the Third Hall Master uses the interrogation room as his office. Surely I am not being dragged to the interrogation room, right? Ha ha ha!”
“…….”
I made a joke, but what came back was a chilling gaze.
Damn it. It was frightening enough that I hardly dared open my mouth.
The hall member lightly ignored my words and stopped in front of the office.
“Hall Master, I have brought him.”
“Let him in.”
The cold-looking man gestured with his head, and I opened the door with an awkward expression and entered.
The gaze that followed me until the door closed was extremely uncomfortable.
What was that? Was he doing it on purpose?
Shaking off the uneasy feeling, I stepped inside the office.
“Hm?”
An unexpected sight seized my eyes.
A shattered table and scattered documents.
And.
……Ak Ju-pyeong, his brow deeply furrowed.
When had that bastard gotten here?
Perhaps having read my gaze, Ak Byeong-bi added an explanation.
“It seemed the matter you came for was related to this child, so I called him here deliberately. If you are uncomfortable, shall we speak separately?”
I shook my head.
“That is fine. If I tell you, Hall Master, it will end up reaching Ak Ju-pyeong’s ears anyway.”
“Then sit.”
“……I do not know why the table is broken, but may I still sit in front of a table?”
“Mm…… Is that so?”
Ak Byeong-bi rose as though it were nothing and moved to the long meeting table. Ak Ju-pyeong and I sat facing each other with Ak Byeong-bi between us.
“Very well. What brings you here?”
“It seems Ak Ju-pyeong came here for the same matter……”
“Do not call my name carelessly!”
“…….”
Ak Ju-pyeong growled, baring his fangs.
Why was he so prickly?
Hm. Still, if he disliked it, then I had no need to call him that.
I was a chivalrous hero who did not do things others disliked.
I pointed at him with the tip of my chin and spoke again.
“I heard there is some problem between this bastard and Yaryul Geuk.”
SLAM!
“Jin So-un!”
Ak Ju-pyeong glared at me with blazing eyes.
“What? You told me not to call your name.”
“How dare you…… Do you know who I am?”
“……Tsk. Who are you?”
“What?”
“I asked who you are. You are Ak Ju-pyeong of the Ak Clan, and at the Academy, you are an Academy student…… What else?”
Ak Ju-pyeong’s mouth twitched, and then, as if wronged, he looked at Ak Byeong-bi.
“Uncle!”
It would not have been strange for Ak Byeong-bi to be quite angry as well, yet for some reason, his expression revealed no emotion at all.
Rather, he looked at me and nodded.
“Representative Jin, continue.”
“……!”
Ak Ju-pyeong opened his eyes wide, then sank heavily back into his seat.
I roughly indicated him with my chin and continued.
“In any case, I heard this bastard sent word to the main house. There is no need for adults to step into a children’s fight and turn it into a complete mess, is there?”
“…….”
Ak Byeong-bi looked at Ak Ju-pyeong once, then looked back at me and opened his mouth.
“From what I hear, this boy has also suffered rather serious harassment. Yaryul Geuk attacked him by surprise at all hours.”
“I have spoken to him about that matter. From now on, he will only request formal martial duels.”
“This could be considered similar to the incident that enraged you. In exchange for that incident, you left Ak Ju-pyeong with an impairment.”
I stared at him in disbelief.
No, how could he compare that to a group assault? How absurd.
“Why bring that up? Back then, this bastard dragged his friends along and beat him as a group. On the other hand, Yaryul Geuk has a poor personality, so he has no friends and fought alone. They are completely different matters.”
“Is that so?”
“That is so.”
“Is there no reason for you to step in?”
“If the Ak Clan and you, Hall Master, do not step in, then what reason would I have to step in?”
Ak Byeong-bi nodded and immediately agreed.
“Understood. I will speak to the main house separately. The Ak Clan will not intervene.”
Oh! So easily?
I had been worried that, setting all other conditions aside, I might once again end up in an ill-fated relationship with Ak Byeong-bi after we had finally built a good one. Yet he accepted so readily that my worry seemed pointless.
“Uncle!”
Of course, Ak Ju-pyeong, who had been quietly listening, did not seem to like our bargain.
“What does our Ak Clan have to fear, that we should make a deal with a bastard like that……!”
But as soon as Ak Ju-pyeong’s shrieking was about to continue, Ak Byeong-bi’s fist struck the table.
BANG!
CRACK!
The long meeting table broke apart in a single blow.
So that was why the guest table had been broken earlier.
“Shut your mouth!”
“U-Uncle……!”
Ak Ju-pyeong still looked at Ak Byeong-bi with eyes that could not understand what was happening.
But Ak Byeong-bi’s face was exceedingly cold.
“If you defile the name of the Ak Clan with that open mouth of yours one more time…… I will tear that mouth apart myself.”
“Uh, uhh…….”
Ak Ju-pyeong wore an expression as though he might burst into tears at any moment, unable to understand the current situation at all.
However, Ak Byeong-bi did not stop.
“I will ask you one thing. You harassed Yaryul Geuk because his background was lowly, and because even the level of his martial arts was poor, did you not?”
“…….”
It was only natural.
In the murim world, where people learned martial arts and divided rank by strength and weakness, children who had grown up watching that law used it more viciously than anyone.
“You did suffer a slight impairment, but because you were treated well, there should be no major difference from your previous skill. Even so, the reason you came to find me like this must be because you are being pushed back in skill.”
“…….”
His voice gradually rose.
“Did you never think of raising your skill and facing him yourself? Did you never think of making that Yaryul Geuk bastard run away the moment he sees your eyes?”
“…….”
When Ak Ju-pyeong did not answer, Ak Byeong-bi’s eyes grew even fiercer.
“And you still dare to put the Ak Clan’s name in your mouth?”
“…….”
At his uncle’s rebuke, Ak Ju-pyeong clenched his teeth hard enough to break them.
“Was being born to a good clan and good parents the greatest achievement of your life? Other than that, is there truly nothing you know how to do?”
In the end, Ak Ju-pyeong lowered his head deeply.
Tears fell from the corners of his eyes and spread across his knees.
“If Yaryul Geuk had come from the Nine Sects and One Gang…… no, even if he had merely come from the One Hundred Eight Peaks, would you have acted the same way?”
I stopped Ak Byeong-bi, whose words seemed to have gone too far.
Was he not being too harsh on a child?
“Come now, Hall Master, do not be too hard on him. When have you ever seen cowards stand against someone stronger than themselves?”
“!”
Ak Ju-pyeong, who had been hanging his head, suddenly snapped it up and glared at me.
His face was smeared with tears and snot, and it was truly unsightly.
Despite my attempt to stop him, Ak Byeong-bi did not seem inclined to stop.
“Was it entirely by your own skill that you entered the Academy? If you benefited from the clan, then at the very least, you should not disgrace it!”
“S-Sniff……”
“Get out! I do not even want to look at you!”
At Ak Byeong-bi’s order to leave, Ak Ju-pyeong’s shoulders drooped, and he trudged out of the office.
Even after Ak Ju-pyeong left, Ak Byeong-bi still huffed with unresolved anger.
“To think that he grew up in such a good environment, and yet amounts to only that much.”
After fuming for quite some time, Ak Byeong-bi soon let out a long sigh and looked at me quietly.
“I envy the elders of your sect. They must be pleased to have a disciple like you.”
“……I do not think they see it that way.”
Every time they sent me a letter, they told me to please live quietly.
When I scratched my cheek, Ak Byeong-bi shook his head.
“Perhaps they simply cannot express it in words.”
“Is that so?”
“It is.”
Ak Byeong-bi murmured as though speaking to himself.
“If you were of our clan……”
Then he closed his mouth.
“……No. I am saying all manner of needless things.”
I was curious about the rest, but I did not ask any further.
For some reason, Ak Byeong-bi’s expression looked like that of a man who had lived through the end of the world.
As Ak Byeong-bi had promised, the Ak Clan did not intervene.
Perhaps Yaryul Geuk had understood what I said, for he no longer ambushed Ak Ju-pyeong either.
I thought it was a small relief that even that wildcat-like fellow could understand words.
Instead, I did hear that because Yaryul Geuk visited him every day and requested a martial duel, Ak Ju-pyeong fled from him each time……
Well, even so, was this not remarkable progress?
Moreover, from Ak Ju-pyeong’s perspective, it was only natural that he would not want people to see him, a child of the Ak Clan, avoiding a martial duel brought to him by Yaryul Geuk.
Nevertheless, because Yaryul Geuk kept chasing him tenaciously and requesting martial duels, I even heard that Ak Ju-pyeong eventually applied for seclusion training.
At any rate, both the elder brother and the younger brother truly had a talent for exhausting people.
Around the time I heard that Ak Ju-pyeong had entered the Seclusion Training Hall—
I received Jegal So-myeong’s summons.
At last, the time had come to receive my settlement statement for the delegation’s work.
At the tremendously welcome news I had heard after so long, a grin kept slipping across my face.
“What should I wring out of him this time?”
I had not a moment to rest as I rummaged through the library in my head.