The Genius Warrior Who Remembers Everything Chapter 26

Chapter 26. A Second-Rate Warrior Dominates the Exam

Taeul Sect was noisy from morning because of the visit from unfamiliar people.

Dozens of people dressed in the same attire cleaned the grounds of Taeul Sect and prepared the meal.

The smell of a large pig being boiled whole woke the children on its own, and even the external disciples who had entered the sect with heavy hearts found their worries wiped from their faces before they knew it as they searched for the source of the fragrant meat scent that pierced their noses.

“What in the world is this?”

At my mutter, Wang So-so, who stood beside me, smiled cutely and said,

“Father said that on the day of an exam, everyone has to eat well, so he prepared these.”

“The Estate Master did?”

“Yes.”

“I feel as though we are burdening him too much.”

“Hoho, he said he would slaughter an ox, hold a feast, and receive the Appraisal Envoys in Taeul Sect’s name, and we had to stop him very hard.”

“……Please tell him thank you.”

“Father said you should visit Wang Estate sometime. He wants to treat you to a meal personally.”

“I will go soon.”

All of Taeul Sect’s people gathered in the dining hall.

In front of each of them sat a simple but hearty meat soup, and the children, already finding it hard to endure, swallowed their saliva while looking at the Sect Leader.

“Let us eat with gratitude toward the Estate Master, who prepared such an excellent meal.”

“““Thank you.”””

No sooner had the Sect Leader’s words ended than the children shouted in unison, and Wang So-so merely nodded with a small smile.

The children did not know what to do when, even after waiting briefly, she did not show any swaggering attitude like Gye Cheol-yeong.

Originally, it had been their daily routine to listen to Gye Cheol-yeong brag for a long time.

“Is no one going to eat?”

At Wang So-so’s words, everyone hesitated, then soon began lifting their spoons.

The atmosphere of the dining hall flowed more warmly than ever before.

After the meal ended, while everyone was preparing for the exam, the people of the Gyeryong Merchant Guild entered.

There were Gye Yeon-seok and Gye Cheol-yeong, and three distinctive people I had never seen before.

One scholarly-looking man, one warrior-like woman, and a middle-aged man exuding a strange atmosphere between them.

Their composition looked exactly like that of the Appraisal Envoys.

“Hmph! I wonder if you ate some cheap meat soup. The stench of fishiness is vibrating through the hall.”

When Gye Yeon-seok spoke while holding his nose, Wang So-so tilted her head.

“That cannot be. Father specially slaughtered a Green-Blue Pig, a specialty of Zhejiang Province, so there should not have been any fishy taste.”

A Green-Blue Pig referred to a pig raised on Anji White Tea and Bamboo-Salt Clear Wine from Zhejiang Province.

No wonder the broth had been drawn out so richly without even a trace of fishiness.

“……”

In the end, Gye Yeon-seok, who could not say anything to Wang So-so, turned his sparks toward me.

“Could meat soup go down your throat before such an important exam?”

“Compared to eating several cheap pigs, eating soup made from an expensive pig truly does not sit heavily in the stomach and is rather good.”

I was pointing out the fact that whenever Gye Yeon-seok held a feast, he always bought a great number of pigs that had borne plenty of piglets and were then slaughtered.

“But will you be all right? Cheol-yeong could fail the exam, so at a time like this, should you not go to a temple and offer prayers with utmost devotion?”

“Hmph! It seems you still have not heard the rumor.”

“The rumor?”

“The person standing in the middle among those three over there is the famous Ace Instructor, Teacher Jang Sa-gun.”

At Gye Yeon-seok’s gesture, the gazes of the children nearby also turned toward Jang Sa-gun’s party.

“That man has never once had anyone fail the Special Admission Track. No matter what trick you use, Taeul Sect will ultimately be nothing more than our Cheol-yeong’s foil.”

The children who heard Gye Yeon-seok’s words had already begun to wilt, lowering their heads one by one.

“Seeing you speak like this, it seems you truly intend to sever your ties with Taeul Sect.”

“Hmph! There is no need to associate any further with people who abandon ties over one bowl of meat soup.”

At his words, I slowly scattered killing intent.

“Think carefully. Though it is only in name, Senior Brother Cheol-yeong entered as a lay disciple. If he tries to leave as he pleases, he will naturally have to pay the price.”

Gye Yeon-seok’s face, exposed to the killing intent, turned deathly pale.

At that moment, Ace Instructor Jang Sa-gun stepped forward.

“Hoho, one who has learned martial arts threatens a civilian. You truly show the signs of having been poorly taught. Is that what Taeul Sect’s teachings are like?”

I did not back down and spoke.

“A gentleman exchanges what he has learned for money to make a living, so he should be called a merchant rather than a gentleman.”

Jang Sa-gun’s face flinched.

However, he soon recovered his expression and continued speaking.

“Even Confucius, when teaching his disciples, received tuition to provide grain for himself.”

“I heard that Senior Ace Instructor receives a great mansion as tuition?”

Jang Sa-gun’s face flushed bright red.

Just as great as his fame was the enormous amount of money required to hire him.

Even if it was a transaction carried out under tacit approval because supply and demand matched appropriately, from the position of Jang Sa-gun, who pretended to be a gentleman, it was nothing to be proud of.

“Your tongue is exceedingly wicked. We shall know from the results whether your skill is the same.”

At that moment, Kang Chae-seok shouted thunderously into the hall.

“Enough idle talk, and everyone gather! The Appraisal Envoys have arrived.”

The Sect Leader, the elders, and the hall masters of each hall had already gathered.

Once the children gathered in one place, a small traveling party slowly entered.

“It’s the Murim Alliance.”

When someone shouted, heads turned toward the front of the traveling party.

The person standing at the very front held the Murim Alliance flag, clearly showing that they were envoys of the Murim Alliance.

“I am Lee Ja-gon, Appraisal Envoy of the Murim Alliance, and I offer my greetings.”

“We offer our greetings.”

When the person who introduced himself as Lee Ja-gon greeted Hong Mun-gi, the Sect Leader, the envoys who had come with him all greeted in unison.

Excluding the guards, there were eleven envoys in total.

Aside from Lee Ja-gon, there were five scholarly-looking people and five warrior-like people.

“You have worked hard coming such a long way. I hope you will select an excellent talent this time as well.”

“Selecting talent from the One Hundred Eight Peaks is an extremely important matter for the Murim Alliance as well. We will do our utmost to ensure there are no problems with the exam.”

The ten envoys split up at once and began preparing the exam.

The scholars loosened the wooden packs they had been carrying on their backs, took out exam papers densely covered with writing from inside them, and began stacking them on the tables.

The junior disciples, who were taking an exam for the first time in their lives, already had poor complexions.

Gye Cheol-yeong, who had been looking at a palm-sized booklet bound from small sheets of paper, laughed softly and said,

“Are you afraid of the exam?”

“……Senior Brother, are you not afraid?”

“You fellows are afraid because you did not prepare properly. If you had prepared properly like me, you would not be afraid.”

Gye Cheol-yeong’s conversation partner was Dong-ryong, the youngest of the three brothers, Geum-pyo, Eun-ho, and Dong-ryong.

“If you truly do not know anything, shall I point out a few questions for you?”

“……”

Dong-ryong showed Gye Cheol-yeong an expression full of resentment, and Geum-pyo and Eun-ho, who had been listening to the conversation with him, quickly led Dong-ryong away and moved elsewhere.

While the scholars prepared the first exam, the warriors were meeting with the hall masters and speaking.

“Will you be testing only basic sword arts and basic heart methods this time as well?”

At Kang Chae-seok’s question, the female warrior nodded.

“The martial arts exam for the One Hundred Eight Peaks is always the same. It examines the depth and application of basic martial arts. They will learn other martial arts at the Murim Academy, but in any case, what we ultimately examine is how solidly their roots have been formed.”

“I understand. Regarding basic martial arts and basic heart methods, we hall masters will tell you what you should look at.”

At Kang Chae-seok’s words, the female warrior shook her head.

“We have already grasped all information regarding Taeul Sect’s martial arts through the materials at the Murim Alliance before coming here. Thank you for your concern.”

At the female warrior’s words, Kang Chae-seok looked quite flustered.

Even if they were basic martial arts, outsiders could not know them better than those who belonged to that sect.

If they had grasped everything through materials alone, it meant that the skill of the warriors who had come as examiners was already far more distant than their own.

“Grr…….”

Kang Chae-seok said nothing more and merely watched the people preparing the exam.

Lee Ja-gon was examining the examiners’ preparations when he saw one person in the hall and opened his eyes wide.

When the other party also met Lee Ja-gon’s eyes, he gave a bow of the head.

“Senior, what brings you here?”

People’s gazes began to focus on Lee Ja-gon and Jang Sa-gun.

“Junior, have you been well?”

“Of course. Thanks to the thorough teaching you gave me, Senior, I am even serving as the Incense Master of the Appraisal Envoys like this.”

“I knew you would become so.”

As I listened quietly, Lee Ja-gon and Jang Sa-gun seemed to have been close in the past.

“By any chance, is there a student you taught for this exam?”

“Ah, I have not introduced him.”

Jang Sa-gun stretched his hand to his right and said,

“He is Gye Cheol-yeong, a lay disciple of Taeul Sect and the legitimate heir of the Gyeryong Merchant Guild. In Hefei of Anhui Province, aside from the Twin Dragons of the Iron Sword Sect, there is also a remarkable Hidden Dragon, and that is why I came here.”

Gye Cheol-yeong straightened his shoulders broadly, took a step forward, and offered a clasped hands greeting.

“I am Gye Cheol-yeong of the Gyeryong Merchant Guild.”

“He is quite an impressive young man. I understand why you chose him, Senior.”

“Hohoho, you say you have only been conducting exams all this time, so how has only your eloquence improved?”

“Well. In truth, all the children you taught, Senior, went to the Murim Academy, did they not? From our position, we can distinguish jade from stone more easily, so we should consider it convenient.”

“Kekeke. Yes, yes. I understand. If you are not busy after the exam is all over, let us have a drink.”

“I hope we can.”

Because the distance between the children and the two men was not that far, their conversation reached us clearly.

Wang So-so, who had been listening, raised her eyes and spoke.

“This makes no sense. I will tell Father immediately and raise an objection.”

Wang So-so’s feelings were the same as all of ours.

However, I stopped Wang So-so.

“They have not yet given preferential treatment in the exam or anything, so sit still.”

“Brother, the very fact that an examiner and an examinee have a personal connection is unfair.”

At that moment, Sa-ryeon cut in.

“Senior Brother.”

“Yes?”

“She should call you Senior Brother, not Brother, right?”

“Ah…… I am sorry. In any case, Senior Sister, you also think this makes no sense, right?”

“Yes. But Eldest Senior Brother must have a plan. Right?”

Sa-ryeon shot me a look that said she would not let me off if I said now that I had none.

“You both studied the book I gave you, right?”

“I looked at it hard, but…….”

“Yes. I memorized it all.”

Sa-ryeon looked lacking in confidence, while So-so was full of confidence.

“You memorized it all? The amount was not small.”

“Every day in my room, the only thing I could do was read books. I can memorize that much.”

I nodded slightly.

“The other children would not be different, right?”

“Junior Sister So-so personally tutored the children who did not understand.”

“Oh. Then that is enough.”

Even at my confident appearance, Sa-ryeon and So-so tilted their heads as though they did not understand.

“The exam will begin. Examinees, please take your seats.”

As the disciples each widened their distance from one another and took their places on small mats in neat rows and columns, the scholars personally went around and placed the exam papers face down before them.

“The exam time is one full hour. Examinees, please do your best. In the unlikely event that you secretly look at someone else’s answer sheet or copy it, you will be disqualified, so please keep that in mind. Begin.”

When a scholar struck a small gong with a ding, the disciples all began turning their exam papers over at once.

Gye Cheol-yeong began scanning the exam paper as though already full of confidence.

On the other hand, the disciples still looked dejected as they stared blankly at the exam paper, with expressions as though the white thing was paper and the black thing was ink.

‘Notice it!’

After fifteen minutes passed, bewilderment began to appear even in Gye Cheol-yeong’s eyes.

He had encountered some unexpected question.

On the other hand, the dejected disciples began tilting their heads one by one.

Then slowly, but without stopping, they began writing their answers.

“What is this?”

Below the training ground, Jang Sa-gun sensed something strange and furrowed his brow.

He had seen all the disciples of Taeul Sect writing their answer sheets without stopping.

Only then did Gye Cheol-yeong realize that he alone was blocked by the questions.

“Hah…….”

When he let out a small sigh at the sight of the other disciples, one scholar approached and whispered quietly.

“Examinee, if you do not wish to be disqualified, focus quietly on the exam.”

“Ah…… yes, yes.”

Gye Cheol-yeong lowered his head again, but he still could not focus on the exam.