Chapter 360: Chapter 360

I tried my best not to let it show.

Yong So-ah watched me with that impassive gaze.

Which made me try even harder not to let it show.

And I asked carefully.

I needed grounds to confirm whether he was truly looking for me.

“Bringing down the Murim Alliance…… why do you think that?”

“Because they were things that should never have existed in the first place.”

“……Because only the Murim Alliance should be the absolute hegemon of the murim?”

“I am not a fool consumed by self-righteous delusions.”

Yong So-ah instantly saw through the intent behind my jab and thoroughly asserted his innocence.

As though stating an obvious fact, he showed not a single waver.

Then…… it wasn’t that he was simply indoctrinated by some “heaven and earth, I alone am supreme” ideology.

I tested the waters, just in case.

“Hmm, for that many things to happen…… it’s hard to believe a single person did it all alone.”

“I never said it was one person.”

“So you’re just speculating?”

“……”

To my last question, Yong So-ah was oddly silent.

Based on the conversation, I could deduce two things.

One was that he suspected some external force had infiltrated the formation of the Black Thought Alliance and the Green Forest Alliance.

The other was that he was not suspecting me.

‘Well, suspecting me would be strange too.’

I had planted the seeds for the Green Forest Alliance and the Black Thought Alliance to germinate, but calling myself their creator was a stretch.

Indeed, absolutely. Who am I to claim such a thing?

I had merely given the future leader of the Black Thought Alliance a faster path to that opportunity.

And in the case of the Green Forest Alliance, I had simply prevented a calamity that would have befallen its leader.

That was truly the extent of it.

Claiming credit for creating them would be embarrassing.

So even if they investigated me, there was effectively no evidence or basis linking me to the creation of those forces.

But at the same time, a chill ran through me.

In a situation devoid of evidence, to harbor doubts about the formation processes of the Black Thought Alliance and the Green Forest Alliance–processes that looked natural on the surface.

His decisiveness in judging that intent was behind it all and attempting to uncover the identity of the artificial hand at work was rather impressive.

At a glance, his thinking resembled that of the idiots sitting in high places at the Murim Alliance, desperately clinging to their positions.

But looking beneath the surface, the underlying logic was distinctly different.

To put it precisely, he was saying the same things as people driven entirely by emotion and greed, but with emotion and greed stripped away.

‘Truly…… a spine-chilling son of a bitch.’

Even in my past life, I had thought that someday Yong So-ah–the Taecheong Divine Sword–might come for me.

Of course, the absurdity of him actually making that long journey in person was something else entirely.

In any case, the Yong So-ah I knew from my past life was not a man who would simply leave me be.

Being one of the many pools of blood in a hero’s wake.

I had thought that would ultimately be my role.

My insight was shallow, but my prediction had proven correct, and it had been bitterly painful.

In the end, I’d gotten lucky when that bastard Gwak Gung showed up.

Regardless, the fact that Yong So-ah was chasing this “unprecedented enemy” and digging around behind me was deeply unsettling.

Even if no evidence turned up, the moment his conviction solidified, Yong So-ah was the kind of man who would draw his sword.

If he was going to obstruct my path anyway, it was better to redirect him in a direction that served me.

But Yong So-ah was no fool.

He would catch any lie in an instant.

After a moment of deep deliberation, I loosened my tongue.

“Hmm…… come to think of it, I think I’ve heard something similar.”

“……”

Yong So-ah, who had been sipping tea, raised his eyelids just slightly.

As if to say he was ready to listen, so speak.

‘This arrogant prick, acting like a lord.’

Having baited the hook, I clamped my mouth shut.

His heavy, impassive gaze pressed down on the air, but so what?

The Yong So-ah of now was not the Yong So-ah of my past life.

Besides, credibility dropped when you initiated the persuasion yourself.

Humans were at their most receptive when they craved something–was that not so?

“……”

Feigning ignorance, I sat there in stubborn silence, and after a long while, Yong So-ah spoke first.

“What is it?”

“What?”

I kept playing dumb.

A small crease appeared between his brows.

How entertaining.

“……I asked what this similar story you heard was.”

“Oh. That.”

Then I tossed it out as though it were nothing, as though it were a matter of no interest.

“The ones who appeared in Sichuan. They called themselves descendants of the Blood Demon Sect. And they added this: that the descendants of other demonic sects would make their move, and that they would have their revenge.”

Of course, they had said no such thing.

The Blood Cult had been a splinter faction of renegades who had broken away from the Demonic Cult in the first place.

But if Yong So-ah was going to dig around, wouldn’t it be better for the entire murim if he dug behind the Demonic Cult rather than behind me?

Surely even the Jade Emperor would grant me leave to become a righteous liar for this. Indeed he would.

I fiddled idly with my wine cup and shrugged.

“Of course, no one’s stupid enough to believe everything those blowhards say. Right?”

“Blowhards?”

“Well, wouldn’t you agree?”

I neither strongly affirmed nor strongly denied.

“……”

Through experience with Jegal Cheon-gi, Jegal So-myeong, and others, I had learned that with geniuses, you didn’t need to show them the whole picture.

They wanted only a small piece of the puzzle so they could draw the map themselves–not stand by while others drew a flawed one.

And just as I had expected–

“……”

Yong So-ah’s eyes gleamed as though he had seized upon something within the fragments of my words.

“Descendants of other demonic sects……”

In any case, the suspicion that had been pointed at me seemed to have been offset to some degree.

Yong So-ah appeared to be sinking into contemplation, sketching something in his mind.

I might finally get a moment to breathe……

“That is suspicious.”

Yong So-ah’s eyes suddenly flashed.

“To only reveal such critical information now.”

Then he fixed me with a gaze thick with suspicion.

“That is suspect.”

For fuck’s sake, what do you want from me?

***

Contrary to my worries, Yong So-ah did not question or press me further after that.

Whether he was hiding his suspicions of me, or simply too busy deliberating on where to begin tracking the demonic remnants, I wasn’t sure.

In any case, Yong So-ah said nothing more.

I had expected him to leave for Sichuan to investigate the moment he heard my story.

“Yong So-ah, try this too.”

“……”

But Yong So-ah did not leave the column.

What was more, he joined us at every single meal, which was no small ordeal.

‘Why does he keep sitting at the same table?’

Several times, I tried to escape their company by fleeing to the farthest corner and squeezing in among the academy students.

“Jin So-un, do you prefer this seat?”

Dang Seo-hui would come hopping through the students until she was beside me, pushing away the student next to me.

Then Hwa Jeong-san would intimidate another student into leaving, and Yong So-ah would appear at a leisurely pace to claim the remaining seat.

“They say you were acting as these kids’ Unit Leader. Why are you sitting in the corner?”

“I truly cannot fathom these sudden intrusions.”

Because my digestion goes to hell when I’m around you people, that’s why.

“……”

Apart from that, there were no hardships.

The fact that it was the hardship was the problem, but still. Fuck.

After that, nothing else went wrong.

When we arrived at the academy, I had assumed my first destination would be the Execution Pavilion.

I was certain the instructors had pulled some stunt.

On top of that, the number of academy students who had died in the Black Forest was staggeringly high.

The weight of each life lost was far from light, and I had anticipated that things would not resolve easily.

The instructors would never willingly pay for their crimes.

‘Of course, that didn’t mean I had any intention of taking the blame either.’

But.

“It is a relief that you have returned safely.”

Contrary to my expectation of an arrest order, the Execution Pavilion personnel who came to greet us were courteous and polite.

“I understand that Academy Representative Jin So-un led the entire student body.”

A man who appeared to be considerably senior even used formal language with me and requested cooperation with the investigation.

“Before the formal investigation, I’d like to conduct a brief preliminary interview.”

He didn’t even suggest going to the Execution Pavilion.

We sat across from each other in the Academy Representative’s office, conversing in a relaxed atmosphere.

I did not, of course, produce the Seven-Colored Flower.

“……So, you’re saying that in that situation, you led the academy students through the Demonic Reaches and escaped?”

The Execution Pavilion officials who had been listening to my account exchanged glances laden with some inscrutable meaning.

I leaned back and asked slowly.

“Yes. Is there a problem?”

“No, not a problem…… more a question of veracity.”

Veracity? What were they talking about?

“If by any chance you’ve exaggerated for the sake of recognition, there’s no need. Academy Student Jin So-un has already accumulated more than sufficient merit. Any additional points won’t make much difference.”

Though he spoke as if for my sake, something kindled in my chest, flaring up like a lit fuse.

“……I told you the bare minimum. And…… I have absolutely no intention of padding my record with the deaths of academy students.”

“Ah, I apologize. I didn’t mean to make light of your friends’ deaths.”

“……”

The word “friends” weighed heavily on my heart for some reason.

When I thought about it, they hadn’t been friends.

Had they survived and graduated from the academy together, we would probably never have called each other friends in our entire lives.

That was what made it strange.

That I only became their friend after they died.

“I’m sorry if I offended you.”

“……It’s fine.”

I didn’t press the issue.

The Execution Pavilion agents’ friendly demeanor was something I wasn’t accustomed to in the first place.

“We’ll wrap up the preliminary interview here.”

“Didn’t you come to ask about the Ten-Thousand-Poison Sect?”

“Ah…… well, that will come up once the formal investigation begins. But there’s really no need to worry.”

The visit to the Ten-Thousand-Poison Sect, which I’d expected to be a major issue, drew surprisingly little interest.

Though the Execution Pavilion investigator’s follow-up comment did sting.

“Based on Yong So-ah’s report, the fact that those people made it as far as the Ten-Thousand-Poison Sect at all is a miracle in itself.”

So that was the reason.

My own report would have been far more detailed and useful for understanding the situation.

Yet they placed greater trust in the report simply because the name “Yong So-ah” was attached to it.

“……”

The stark gap between his credibility and mine was hammered home, and my blood boiled, but I quickly cooled my heart.

Too many people had died because of this incident.

People who hadn’t been friends, and only now had become friends.

Even if we’d shared no closeness in life, expressing condolences for their deaths was my duty.

My petty pride could wait.

Some might say this was pointless obligation for a man who was no longer the Unit Leader.

But at the very least, for as long as I had been their Unit Leader.

And.

For every moment they had obeyed my orders without question.

I had been the person responsible for their deaths.

They had trusted me and effectively placed their lives in my hands.

And so, unlike those people I had despised in my past life, I had no intention whatsoever of shirking that duty.

“That concludes today’s investigation.”

When I stepped out after the interview, academy students were swarming the Representative Pavilion entrance.

“What’s all this?”

When I made a bewildered face and acknowledged them, they finally noticed me and turned around.

“Unit Leader?! The Unit Leader is out!”

“Unit Leader! Nothing happened in there, did it?”

“Those bastards didn’t try to pin everything on you, did they? We tried to get in but they wouldn’t let us! Damn them……!!”

From those who had served as Captains, all the way to the ones I’d sent to the Medicine Hall because their injuries hadn’t fully healed.

“……”

Every last one of them had gathered and was staring at me.

I pried open lips that refused to part.

“……Unit Leader, my ass. We left Yunnan days ago.”

At my words, the academy students erupted.

“What kind of cold thing is that to say! Once a Unit Leader, always a Unit Leader!”

“Damn right! The Life-or-Death Unit beat life-or-death odds! You’ve got to stay on as honorary Unit Leader!”

“Don’t you even think about letting this slide! You still owe us drinks!”

What kind of unit members talk to their Unit Leader this disrespectfully?

“You crazy bastards.”

The same people who would normally cringe at my cursing bared their teeth in ugly grins and laughed.

“Heh heh heh, the Unit Leader is crazy, so naturally the unit members go crazy too.”

“Well, they say you start to resemble your unit. Ka ha ha ha.”

Watching them try so unnaturally hard to stay cheerful, I thought: I’m not the only one being crushed by the weight of our friends’ deaths.

Everyone was struggling not to be crushed.

Lying alone in the Medicine Hall, where you could have a room to yourself in peace, every kind of thought would come flooding in.

Like being swallowed by deep water, the grief and guilt slowly tightening around your throat until you couldn’t breathe–

Unable to endure even a moment of it, they’d come out here on every excuse they could invent, deliberately exaggerating their cheer.

Because I understood that, I didn’t pretend to know.

“Cut the nonsense and go get treated. Don’t come crying that you’re too hurt to drink when the time comes.”

In any case, this weight had to be borne on one’s own.

Just as I intended to, so must they.

Because if they could not–

“Get well and I’ll see you then.”

Only a tragic future where survival was impossible would stretch out before us.