Chapter 79: Scoundrel (1)

"Fellow disciples?"

The Hall Master rubbed his interlocked fingers resting on the table as he asked.

My gaze kept drifting towards those heavy, menacing hands, but I barely managed to maintain a serious expression as I replied.

"Yes. The seniors defeated everyone except me, so the morale among my peers was extremely low."

I was able to come up with this excuse because of how my classmates acted before my spar. Those lunatics are suddenly cheering for me even though we aren’t close.

The Hall Master must have witnessed that scene too.

As expected, my words seemed to work as the Hall Master showed interest.

"You're saying you deliberately adopted that attitude during the spar to boost your fellow disciples’ morale?”

“As the ‘representative’ of my class, it is my duty to boost their morale.”

"Hmm..."

The Hall Master sighed with complex emotions. As I watched him, a unique idea struck me.

'Wait, what if I use this to my advantage?'

It was the moment a solution to a very important problem for me came to mind.

Since the Hall Master seemed mentally preoccupied, now was the perfect opportunity.

Without hesitation, I spoke up.

"Also, the reason I came to see you, Hall Master, wasn't to receive training."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I came to decline your offer."

"...You're refusing my teachings?"

When the Hall Master’s fist twitched again, I almost flinched without realizing it.

It felt like the fists of the man once called the Fist Demon were about to fly.

'When there is a crisis, there is an opportunity.'

Even while my brain was blaring alarms in my head, I gathered my courage and said, "Hall Master. I'm already receiving plenty of teachings just for being my Master's disciple. If I receive special treatment from you as well, there's a risk of creating discord."

“Nonsense. Your skill was already proven before everyone during the match. No one will be able to say a word."

"They might not show it outwardly, but there will certainly be those who harbor such thoughts inside. I don't want discord among my fellow disciples, so please give your teachings to another disciple instead of me."

It wasn't rejecting the teachings, but rather giving them to other disciples.

That was the excuse I dramatically came up with.

'If I avoid the teachings, I should be able to avoid enlightenment too. On top of that, I’ll look good with the image of caring for my fellow disciples. Fantastic!’

While I was mentally congratulating myself on my cleverness, the Hall Master sent me a sharp gaze as if to pierce through my mind and spoke.

"Very well. Then let me ask you a few more questions."

"Please do."

“If you adopted that attitude in the match with your fellow disciples in mind, why exactly did you target Instructor Chu Il-hwan?”

I was momentarily speechless but quickly came up with an excuse.

"Because if I deflected those hidden weapons toward the disciples, it could be dangerous. But I believed Instructor Chu Il-hwan would be able to block it properly."

“Oh? It seems the disciples’ trust in Instructor Chu is quite deep.”

"My skills have improved tremendously thanks to his teachings."

I managed to praise that perverted instructor without showing any disgust, though the mere thought of him still made my skin crawl.

"Good. Then, let's move on from that issue. Now, you said you humiliated Disciple Baek Cheon for the sake of your fellow disciples. But broadly speaking, Disciple Baek Cheon is also your fellow disciple, so why did you commit such a disrespectful act to him?"

"...I was planning to apologize to him separately after the match. Though I would personally apologize for my rudeness, my decision at that time won’t change. Because I’m everyone’s hope, and I needed to fulfill their wishes as their representative."

"You were planning to apologize... Is that thought still unchanged?"

"Yes, it is."

"Good. Then let me ask you one final question."

The continuous questioning made maintaining my string of lies quite difficult.

'This isn’t the twenty questions game. Cut it out already!'

As expected.

I suspected it from the first day, but the Hall Master is an even worse old fogey than my own Master.

And the final question the Hall Master asked was something I hadn't expected at all.

"Disciple Baek Cheon said things that shouldn't have been said during the match with you. What kind of punishment do you think should be given?"

For a moment, I couldn't understand what he was talking about.

Only after thinking for a while was I able to understand the meaning of those words.

'Ah. He's referring to when he called me a son of a bitch.'

If I'm a son of a bitch, then my parents are dogs.

Of course, my parents had passed away, so it was indeed a terribly disrespectful insult, but that wasn't really what mattered now.

My personality had only awakened after my parents' deaths, so I didn't really see them as 'parents' anyway.

The real problem lay elsewhere.

In this world, the saying of “A teacher a day, a father for life” isn’t just empty rhetoric. Insulting me as a son of a bitch is the same as saying my Master is a dog.

It required a logical leap and over-interpretation, but considering my Master is the Heavenly Demon, it became an obvious conclusion.

A believer of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult had called a being revered as a god by the same cult a dog.

Considering the thought process of these lunatics, it didn't seem like it would end with just any ordinary punishment.

"Before I share my thoughts, may I ask you just one thing?”

"Ask."

"What punishment are you considering, Hall Master?"

"Since he dared to utter an unspeakable insult against the Heavenly Demon, we should cripple his martial arts, sever his limbs, and feed him to wild beasts.”

"......."

I almost spat out "Are you insane?" without realizing it.

Such a punishment for just saying "son of a bitch" once seemed excessive by any standard.

‘Even though that guy tried to kill me, I was the one who provoked him in the first place. Of course, seeing him try to kill me just because he got mad proves he's a son of a bitch, and thinking about how I even got enlightenment because of him still pisses me off, but...’

Severing his limbs and feeding him to wild beasts felt like overkill.

‘Yeah. Even though I'm pissed, beating him like a dog in front of everyone did let off some steam.’

As someone from modern times, I don't want to share the same mindset as these fanatical cult lunatics.

"I think that punishment is excessive."

The Hall Master frowned at my response and asked, "Even though he spoke unspeakable words against the Heavenly Demon?"

“Baek Cheon was cursing at me in the first place. And since all disciples are equal in the Hall, something like this was bound to happen.”

"However, the insult directed at you also included the Supreme One."

“It happened because I provoked Disciple Baekcheon first. Of course, I didn't expect Cadet Baekcheon to lose his temper to that extent, but I believe it was a simple mistake rather than harboring any irreverent intent towards Master.”

"Hmm. Then, what kind of punishment do you think is appropriate?"

"...I think he needs stern discipline to learn from this mistake, ensuring he won't make such a slip of the tongue again."

"Oh? You mean to cut out his tongue."

"!?"

Why the fuck do these zealots always think this way?!

I thought I had adapted, but they kept exceeding my imagination every time.

Sensing that Baek Cheon might become mute if things continued this way, I hastily spoke, "Rather, how about this approach?"

***

Shortly after Il-mok left the Hall Master's quarters.

Instructor Chu Il-hwan, having finished his teaching duties, visited the Hall Master’s residence.

"Disciple Il-mok returned earlier than scheduled. Did the training end quickly?"

When Chu Il-hwan asked with a puzzled expression, Yeom Ga-hwi responded with an uncharacteristic chuckle.

"He said he's rejecting my teachings."

"!?"

While Chu Il-hwan wore an utterly uncomprehending expression, Yeom Ga-hwi reflected on the conversation he'd just had with Il-mok.

"The Young Master has a mind as vast as his talent."

"???"

Looking at Chuu Il-hwan’s bewildered face, the Hall Master held back his next words.

‘No, perhaps it’s because his talent is so great that his mind is like this.’

To deliberately mock the opponent for the sake of his classmates and to even throw away this kind of opportunity for the sake of his classmates.

He was confident that he would still occupy the top seat even if he gave up this opportunity.

Furthermore, he even forgave Baek Cheon who had tried to kill him.

Of course, Il-mok had proposed his own disciplinary measure to Yeom Ga-hwi, but in his eyes, it felt less like punishment and more like magnanimity aimed at inducing repentance.

Originally, Yeom Ga-hwi had no interest in Il-mok.

As the Hall Master of the illustrious institute responsible for nurturing the future of the Divine Cult, he needed to be fair and impartial.

As the young master had mentioned, giving him special attention when he had already received excessive attention for being the Heavenly Demon's disciple would be very risky.

But.

'Hmm. I'm quite curious to see how much he'll develop during his time at this institute.'

Due to this conversation, Yeom Ga-hwi found his interest in Il-mok growing steadily.

***

That afternoon.

As usual, Il-mok headed to the cafeteria as soon as he finished his daily routine of cleaning his body.

"Young Master!!"

"Young Master Il-mok!"

And as soon as he arrived at the dining hall, Bang Mi-hwa and Dokgo Pae rushed over.

'Ugh.'

Il-mok's expression soured. Not because of Bang Mi-hwa's face.

Even now, she was covering the left side of her jaw with a fan, emphasizing only the right side of her face.

The problem was the strong smell of sweat emanating from both of them.

Dokgo Pae was one thing, but Bang Mi-hwa had always bathed after training before having dinner.

That was why Il-mok had been eating with her every time, but for some reason, the smell of sweat was wafting from her today as well.

'Did she get called by Instructor Chu Il-hwan at the end? Is that why she couldn't bathe?'

While Il-mok recalled what had happened hours ago, Bang Mi-hwa and Dokgo Pae began to speak.

"I heard the story from the Instructor. You gave up a precious opportunity for my sake?"

"I heard about it too. To give up such a precious opportunity for us. I've misunderstood you all this time, Young Master."

Thanks to their alternating explanations, Il-mok could understand what had happened.

'So Instructor Chu Il-hwan called them for that reason? It seems they'll be receiving the Hall Master’s teaching instead of me.'

Of course, it didn't matter to him either way.

He didn't know what Instructor Chu Il-hwan had told them, but it wasn't something he had done for them. It was just to avoid enlightenment.

'More importantly, I wish they'd go away.'

Il-mok frowned and turned his head away from the strong smell of sweat emanating from the two who had approached with touched expressions.

"Hohoho. It's okay to be shy, Young Master."

“That’s right! I’ll hone my skills to become a worthy rival for you!"

The two kept spouting nonsense. And Bang Mi-hwa didn't stop there and spat out the words Il-mok had been waiting for.

"This incident has made your feelings very clear to me. Since I've received a great favor from you, I have to give you a reward as well. I'll grant you one wish, so just tell me anything."

At her offer, Il-mok's eyes lit up as he said, "In that case, please go and wash up."

Because the smell was terrible.

Still, since he was addressing a woman, Il-mok deliberately held back his additional thoughts.

And for some reason, Bang Mi-hwa's face slightly reddened as she fanned herself.

"My, Young Master is bolder and naughtier than he looks. Hohoho."

The rhythmically swaying fan caused her facial asymmetry to alternately appear and disappear, and the strong smell of sweat wafted over on the breeze from the fan.

'Ugh. Is this some kind of mental attack?'

Il-mok, whose compulsions had worsened because of enlightenment, couldn't help but turn his head away quickly.

"Hohoho. Your shy side is cute too. Well then, wait for me. I'll go wash up."

With those words, Bang Mi-hwa departed with light footsteps.

Il-mok, having escaped her mental attack, entered the cafeteria without delay.

"...Should I go wash up too?"

Only Dokgo Pae remained while muttering incomprehensibly to himself.