Episode 14 These days, the educated are braver.
There were also people blocking the entrance to the Demon Lord’s office.
“I cannot meet you without prior arrangement.”
“I’m here for an official investigation. Get out of the way.”
“That can’t be.”
I didn’t want to see the repeated scuffles between Seodaeryong and the Demon Army any longer, so I held out the order Seodaeryong was holding in front of the minions.
“Do you see any symbols drawn on this order?”
Since it was an official document, the symbol of the Heavenly Horse was engraved on the background.
“Blocking this order doesn’t block us. It blocks the leader.”
When Cheonma was mentioned, the minions flinched. I was probably the first person to mention Cheonma while showing the background of an official document.
“We can laugh at this, but we can’t laugh at this, right? Right? Why? Will the leader find this funny too? Should we report it like that?”
“Oh, no!”
“Absolutely not.”
Then someone’s voice was heard from inside.
“Bring them inside.”
The mines opened the door in relief.
Seo Dae-ryong must have felt that he should have done the same to the gatekeepers before. He must have been reluctant to mention his father, but he must know that the authority of the Heavenly Demon is there for him at times like this.
“Your Majesty, come quickly.”
Demon Lord Gucheonyang was a man of average build, but possessed the momentum to overwhelm larger demon lords.
However, he was inferior to his older brother, Hyeolcheon Doma. They had similar faces and similar eyes, but the fire in Hyeolcheon Doma’s eyes was not visible.
“It is more difficult to meet you than to meet our father.”
“It seems our children have been rude. They are ignorant to begin with, so you must understand.”
“You all seem to have nothing to do, seeing as you all are rushing out and making a fuss. Why don’t you read a book or something?”
“Wouldn’t ignorance be brave?”
“That’s an old saying. Nowadays, the educated ones are braver. They plan their strategies well and know what to do.”
“As I get older, I seem to be falling behind the times.”
Even as our short conversations continued, we were arguing. The warlord, who was worn down by school politics, accepted my words without any emotional agitation.
“But why did this Confucius take charge of this investigation?”
“It seems like my father is punishing me.”
“A bee?”
“I made some mistakes when I went hunting.”
“ah!”
The Demon Lord now had an expression on his face that seemed to indicate that he understood. He must have thought about all sorts of things when he heard that I was being sent as an investigator.
“Why did Hwangcheon-gak start this investigation? Or did they receive a complaint like before?”
He pretended it was nothing, but the Demon Lord must be nervous inside. It might be different in other organizations, but Hwangcheonggak was not a place where they could just squash it. Hwangcheonggak was a place where if someone was found guilty, they would be executed according to the established law.
“I cannot discuss any details related to the investigation.”
“Can’t we just say that much between us?”
How can you use the word “between us” so naturally? You really need this much shamelessness to become the center of factional strife within the school.
“I will be honest with you, Your Majesty. Yes, I have received complaints.”
“I see, that’s what happened.”
To be honest, Seo Dae-ryong, who was sitting next to me, looked at me. His eyes spoke. Are you going to say everything like this? My eyes spoke. It’s okay. You can say everything.
The corners of the Demon Lord’s mouth went up at the exchange of glances. In his eyes, these actions would seem clumsy, but it was actually an advantageous situation for me.
“I heard that when a complaint comes in, Hwangcheon-gak has to send an investigator without fail. This is the first time I’ve heard of it.”
The Demon Lord naturally claimed his innocence.
“If you are in a position to lead ignorant and rough people like the devil, you will suffer from all kinds of slander.”
“I thought that would not happen. Shouldn’t people use their brains to find fault? If they were as ignorant as you said, would they even think of filing a complaint?”
“The greed of ignorant people is not ordinary. Even you, you have to be careful. When ignorance and greed come together, things that would never happen can happen.”
Even with the subtle threats, I didn’t lose my smile.
“We will complete the investigation as quickly as possible, so please understand even if it is inconvenient.”
The Demon Lord’s slightly stiff expression loosened.
“Uncomfortable? Are we like that? This is disappointing.”
“Isn’t it a well-known fact that the Bloodthirsty King supports my older brother?”
“That may be true, but you are your brother and I am me. I support this Confucius of ours.”
I laughed out loud at his blatant lie.
“Haha. Just your words are enough to give me strength. Okay, then I’ll ask you to take care of me for the next few days.”
“If you go out, I’ll give you a place to stay.”
As I was getting up from my seat to leave, the Demon Lord interrupted me.
“Be careful. I’m saying this because I’m really worried about you.”
“Like last time, when the investigator was murdered?”
“Do you think the cult leader would send us here to die? I’m worried.”
“Haha, just hearing you say that makes me feel better. Well then, I’ll take my leave now.”
I left the office with Seo Dae-ryong. Judging from the hot feeling on the back of my head, his expression must have been very stiff.
‘Then you should be careful. I think my father sent me here to make sure that one of us, you or me, dies.’
* * *
General Sima Ming was watching Cheonma Geomwoojin sharpening his sword.
“It’s been a long time since you took out the Black Magic Sword.”
One of the four great swords of the Cheonmasingyo was this Black Magic Sword.
The best sword is the Heavenly Demon Sword (天魔劍) that the Heavenly Horse is carrying, followed by this Black Demon Sword. The third is the Evil Spirit Sword (邪靈劍), and the last is the White Flower Sword (白花劍).
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The swords had their own unique characteristics: the Black Demon Sword was rough and destructive, the Commander Sword had a dark and evil aura, and the White Flower Sword had a gentle and noble nature.
“Did you take it out to give it to the Confucius?”
For a moment, Geumwoojin’s hands stopped and then resumed.
“If my son is lucky, he will take it.”
Sima Ming could guess that if the prince handled this matter properly, he would give him this sword as a gift.
“It won’t be easy for this prince to deal with the Demon Lord.”
Sima Ming did not understand the leader’s decision. Although the recent actions of the Sword Dance Theater had been unexpected, he did not think it was to the extent of dealing with the Demon Army.
“There have already been reports of clashes with the demons. Perhaps passing through Sochon-dong could actually be a poison.”
Because of that confidence, he could have made a mistake. He is still young. Even though he is young, he is too young to face that worn-out Demon Lord. That is why Sima Ming was confident that this black magic sword would return to the depths of the treasure vault.
“I should have taken action and handled this myself.”
We were able to find out through the incident where the last Hwangcheon-gak investigator was murdered.
The Demon Lord had subjugated the Hwangcheon Pavilion or seized upon its weakness. The Hwangcheon Pavilion covered up the death of its subordinate without properly reinvestigating it. Therefore, instead of leaving it to the Hwangcheon Pavilion, he tried to resolve it through the Tongcheon Pavilion that he led.
Then, Geum Woo-jin said something unexpected.
“That’s what he said. We lost the magic sword.”
For a moment, Sima Ming was startled. Those words were disrespectful not only to Cheonma, but also to Sima Ming, who was in charge of the military of the Qiao.
Sima Ming felt more anxious than displeased.
“So that’s why you sent it?”
In other words, this was no different from saying, “So you want to kill me?” Since Sima Ming had not yet directly encountered or felt the changes in the sword dance, it was natural for him to think this way.
“If you’re going to talk that much, you should show it with action.”
These words also sounded like this to Sima Ming.
‘If you act presumptuously, you must take responsibility.’
Sima Ming remained silent for a moment and watched Jian Wujin’s hands carefully polishing the blade. Despite sending his own blood relative to the grave, Jian Wujin did not waver at all.
“So, you’re going to find the lost magic sword yourself?”
“I guess so.”
“If this Confucius has been acting this way lately, then I have high hopes for him.”
Geom Woo-jin silently focused on sharpening his sword. Sima Ming, who had been standing for a while watching him sharpen his sword, said goodbye.
“Then I have something to do, so I will be leaving now.”
After Sima Ming politely greeted them, he left. As he walked out on the red carpet, he glanced back.
Although Geom Woo-jin didn’t seem to care about the life or death of Geommu-geuk, he was more dedicated than ever when it came to handling his sword.
‘Really? Do you believe that this prince will deal with the Demon Lord?’
Even though he usually did not show his feelings easily, this time it was even more difficult to know what the leader was thinking.
Sima Ming started walking again.
When he reached the end of the red carpet, Sima Ming concluded:
As expected… … the Black Magic Sword will return to the treasure vault.
* * *
We made dumbfounded expressions in the room the demons guided us to.
“This is too much.”
The room they gave me wasn’t clean at all. There was dust everywhere, and there were even spiderwebs on the ceiling.
“I don’t understand. No matter how much the Demon Lord follows the Grand Prince, the Grand Prince himself came.”
“In their eyes, I’m someone who will be pushed out of the succession fight anyway. What does it mean to be pushed out in the succession fight, let alone any other fight? It means you’ll die. And that’s not all. If you become close to me, there’s also the risk of being purged together.”
I pointed at Seo Dae-ryong with my finger and then slit his throat with the edge of my hand. If you were to be friendly with me, you would be a jerk too, but Seo Dae-ryong didn’t seem to care much.
“Even so… … Looking at the leader, I don’t think I can do this?”
“You know. Father doesn’t care about this. Rather, he watches with interest. And this room isn’t the work of the Demon Lord, but rather the instructions of the old bastard.”
“A narrow-minded man holds a grudge… … .”
“You’re only shortening my lifeline. Don’t forget my prophecy.”
“Anyway, I’m going to do some cleaning. You go out.”
“Let’s do it together.”
“That can’t be.”
“What’s not possible?”
I cleaned the place thoroughly with Seo Dae-ryong. He looked at me several times because he thought it was strange that I was cleaning it myself. If he knew how much I struggled and lived in my life before returning, he would know that this kind of cleaning was nothing to me.
After finishing cleaning with him, Seo Dae-ryong went and brought back clean blankets.
“Are you really going to sleep here?”
“huh.”
“Can I ask why?”
“We need to find the person who sent the complaint. The sooner they stay here, the better chance we have of getting close to them.”
“Then I will stay. Your Majesty, please return to your residence and sleep.”
“If you sleep alone, a pervert might invade you at night. What would you do if a pervert who goes crazy over small men came in?”
I said it as a joke, but Seo Dae-ryong took it seriously.
“Let’s sleep together.”
“What if I were that kind of pervert?”
“I will also take out my hidden feelings.”
When that sullen guy made that joke, it felt like a cold wind was blowing between him and me.
“I’m hungry. Let’s go eat.”
When we left the room and went out of the building, Il-dae-ju Godang was waiting at the entrance. He had a bandage wrapped around his broken hand.
I pretended not to know him and greeted him cheerfully.
“Your Majesty, have you eaten? If not, let’s go together. Oh, you hurt your hand. How did you get hurt?”
Godang glared at me like an angry beast. Even his mortal enemy wouldn’t look at him so fiercely. He had originally intended to give me a cold warning, but his face turned red as he became furious at my annoying reaction.
“I will not forget your cowardly deeds, my lord.”
He thought I broke his hand because I was surprised. If he doesn’t realize that it wouldn’t have made any difference if it wasn’t a surprise, then everything he tries to do to me from now on will be a tightrope walk on the edge of death.
“What are you talking about?”
When I pretended not to know and just ignored him, he ground his teeth.
“Some people sometimes make the mistake of thinking that a person of noble birth will not be stabbed in the stomach.”
“Can you hold a sword with that hand?”
“Let’s see where it leaves off. Whether it drops its sword or its guts.”
Even though it was a line-breaking remark, I smiled and waved, and he left, grumbling.
“Isn’t that too provocative?”
“He provoked me.”
“yes?”
“He was the one who waited to threaten me, and he was the one who said he would stab me in the stomach.”
“Now that I think about it, that’s true.”
“Because he’s a villain, because he’s just like that, we understand villains for various reasons. I think that’s a bad thing. Why do we understand villains? We need to hold them to a stricter standard. Much harsher than ordinary people. It’s not enough to just bow your head and go around, but this villain bastard is going crazy wanting to die.”
Seo Dae-ryong nodded his head vigorously as if he completely agreed.
“I saw someone who lost his appetite, so let’s buy the most expensive and delicious one.”
“yes.”
“If you say you want to spend money, can’t you react a little more strongly?”
“I’m sorry, I just don’t enjoy eating.”
“What do you want to enjoy? Go and eat some noodles.”
“yes.”
Seriously, Seo Dae-ryong was a tight-lipped man.
After seeing him leave half of that expensive dish behind, I decided that next time I should really buy him noodles.
When we came back from eating like that, we stared blankly at the bed for a while.
A pair of dead crows were thrown onto the bed.
Seo Dae-ryong’s already gloomy look became even more gloomy.
“I guess I’ll have to buy another blanket.”
“Before that, bring that and follow me.”
“Why is this?”
I said as I strode out of the room.
“We need dead crows more than live crows.”
