The Genius Warrior Who Remembers Everything Chapter 117

Chapter 117. The Black Flame Dragon Dressed in Gold (2)

“What is the reason that the Elders, who should be busy with legislation in the Alliance, have come all the way here?”

Murong Cheong stepped forward in place of Daoist Master Myeonghyeon, who was already too agitated to speak properly.

“There was an objection raised regarding the treatment of that child, Jin So-un. You know this as well, Grand Strategist, do you not?”

“Not only I, but the Alliance Leader is also aware of the gravity of this matter. And I am on my way here after receiving the Alliance Leader’s opinion.”

“……!”

“……!”

The fact that Mantongbu and the Alliance Leader Hall, which divided the Murim Alliance’s authority into thirds, had gathered their opinions as one meant that, in the end, the matter would be handled that way.

“The point at issue in the current situation is whether Jin So-un committed cheating or not. Is that correct?”

“That is correct.”

Jegal So-myeong, who swept his gaze once over the Elders of the Murim Alliance, spoke.

“If there was no cheating, he will pass, and if cheating is revealed, he will be failed.”

Then he turned his head and looked at me.

“As you said, the Murim Academy’s Regular Exam exists for the future peace and stability of the Murim. That is all. It is not a place that ranks people according to the interests of any individual. If you insult the Murim Academy’s Regular Exam once more, I will personally imprison you in the Prison. Do you understand?”

At Jegal So-myeong’s stern words, the atmosphere in the field sank coldly.

“…I understand.”

“Good. Speak on the matter of greatest importance.”

The Murim Academy Head came forward holding a scroll and spoke.

“There are two major points of contention. First, as previously stated, that he colluded with the Black Path.”

The Academy Head paused for a moment and looked toward Elder Myeonghyeon, then continued.

“And second, whether or not collusion is proven, that he received help from more than the permitted number of people. These two matters.”

No matter the reason, it was no different from saying I would be failed in the end.

A perfect checkmate.

There was no way someone who had risen all the way to the Elder Hall inside the Murim Alliance, where schemes and cunning plots ran rampant, would be easy to deal with.

“If that is the case…… there is no room for reconsideration.”

When Jegal So-myeong said that, Daoist Master Myeonghyeon smiled for the first time.

“You came while mixed into a procession of the Black Path, so surely you will not spout the nonsense that this was not receiving help?”

At Jegal So-myeong’s words, everyone’s gaze now gathered on me.

Now that even Jegal So-myeong had said that, it was clear that denying any connection to the Black Path would no longer work.

I had no choice but to admit it obediently.

“If accompanying the funeral bier procession counts as receiving help……. then yes. I received help.”

“As expected……!”

“That is right!”

Small exclamations burst out among the Elders, who were supposed to maintain solemnity.

“However, since it has nothing to do with the regulations, there is no problem with my passing.”

“No…… What……”

“That bastard is quite the madman.”

“Drag that bastard out at once!”

As dissatisfaction burst out among the Elders, Jegal So-myeong shouted sharply.

“Be quiet! If you keep doing that, I will throw you out!”

“……”

“Speak. Surely you have not forgotten that you are now before the Grand Strategist of the Murim Alliance?”

“That is correct.”

“As this Grand Strategist remembers it, according to the Regular Exam regulations, the limit on the number of people one may hire or receive help from is one hundred. And the Black Path procession exceeded that number by far. If we are to determine right and wrong, not only you, but all the disciples of the Taeul Sect, the children of the Namgung Clan and the Murong Clan, and even the disciple of the Iron Sword Sect are all failures.”

I took the Murim Regular Exam Regulations out of the library in my head.

“But according to those regulations, my party and I are not failures.”

“What?”

“‘Murim Regular Exam Regulations, Article 3, Clause 7. An examinee may not receive help from allies, wanderers, or warriors of the Orthodox Path as a whole!’”

This was the Regular Exam clause in question.

However.

“These regulations do not include any statement that one must not receive help from the ‘Black Path,’ which is clearly recorded as an ‘enemy’ here.”

The corners of Jegal So-myeong’s eyes trembled.

He gave a look to the Deputy Academy Head, and the Deputy Academy Head quickly flipped through the thick regulations and showed him one page.

“……”

Jegal So-myeong looked back and forth between the regulations and me, staring at me with eyes full of disbelief.

While Jegal So-myeong remained silent, having lost his words, Daoist Master Myeonghyeon shouted.

“Such absurd nonsense! It is only natural common sense that a disciple of the Orthodox Path does not receive help from the Black Path!”

“Then you should have included that obvious common sense in the regulations. Is it not the Elder Hall’s fault for failing to include it?”

The authority of the Murim Alliance was built upon absolute regulations.

Regulations might appear and disappear with the passage of time, but while they existed, they were the standard for everything.

“The Second Trial was an exam to obtain Spiritual Pills. In common sense, anyone would see that exam as one telling us to hunt Spiritual Creatures or Demonic Beasts and obtain Spiritual Pills. But in reality, most examinees purchased Spiritual Pills and obtained Second Trial Tokens. Because it was not written there that they had to ‘hunt directly.’ If you put it that way, are most of the people here not failures?”

“……”

“Those among the successful candidates here who personally hunted Spiritual Creatures or Demonic Beasts, please step forward.”

The people who had been keeping their distance from our party as if we were a plague ground their teeth with sharp eyes.

“Th… Th……”

Daoist Master Myeonghyeon opened and closed his mouth like a goldfish.

Honestly, if one were to call something forced, the forced absurdities they had committed all this time were far greater.

This much forcefulness from me would not even stand out.

Moreover, I had already informed them of the Demonic Cult’s existence and given them a chance to draw in the Black Path Murim. Daoist Master Myeonghyeon aside, was there any reason Jegal So-myeong would miss it?

This argument was a fight I had already won before it even began.

“Stop, Myeonghyeon.”

“……But.”

“Did I not tell you to stop? How long will you continue this overreach of authority?”

“……”

Jegal So-myeong looked at Myeonghyeon, who had lowered his head deeply, and muttered as if to himself.

“……This is absurd. To pass the exam in such a way.”

Jegal So-myeong looked at the Academy Head and asked.

“It seems the result of the exam has been decided. Do you have anything to add?”

“……I do not.”

“Do the members of the Elder Hall have anything to add?”

The members of the Righteous Path Association wore expressions as if they had chewed shit and gave no answer, while Murong Cheong of the Orthodox Path Association answered in their place.

“If we dig any further, it seems only our own flaws will be exposed further. I think you may proceed as it is.”

Jegal So-myeong lightly nodded.

“I will announce the exam result.”

Though his words were clearly no more than a low murmur, his voice spread throughout the training ground and every corner of the audience seats.

“I announce this in the name of the Murim Alliance Leader. The top entrant of this Murim Academy Regular Exam is Jin So-un of the Taeul Sect!”

————!

—————–!

Everyone gathered within the Academy opened their mouths wide.

Our party rushed toward me without exception and shouted.

But the party, who had been rejoicing, stiffened their faces and looked around.

Not a single person was clapping.

“……”

“……”

“……”

Even if I was from the Taeul Sect, were they not being too stingy with their applause?

Clap, clap, clap, clap.

On one side of the audience seats, the great figures of the Black Path were clapping while carrying killing intent.

Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap.

Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap.

Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap.

Only then did people begin clapping one by one after them, and our party, coming back to their senses, shed tears on the spot and rushed toward me again.

“This is the place.”

The place I followed to under the maidservant’s guidance was like a detached residence with a small garden and a training ground attached.

By the standards of a lodging house or an expensive wine house, the facilities were not particularly impressive, but if one considered that this place was a dormitory, they were enough to make one’s mouth fall open.

Inside the house, one could eat food cooked by a Cook, there was a maidservant standing by all day, and there was even a private training ground and bathhouse for training alone.

It was a special residence given only to the entering student who had ranked first.

“What color do you prefer for your martial arts uniforms? Or is there something you originally wear in your sect?”

“I do not have anything separate. I originally wear only black.”

“We wash them anew for you every day, so you need not be bound by color.”

They even took care of things like this?

“It is all right. Black is comfortable for me, so please continue preparing that.”

“Understood. If there is anything else you need, please call for us at any time.”

After saying that, the Head Maidservant left the building.

Alone in the room, I looked back on everything I had gone through during the past days.

“Hoo… Have I overcome one hurdle now?”

Truly many things had happened, and there had been many moments along the way when I nearly gave up on the exam.

Fortunately, I had overcome all those trials and reached this place.

“Still, things are roughly going according to plan.”

The Murim Regular Exam, which had only seemed impossible, and entering at the top.

Having accomplished all of that, my chest swelled with an overwhelming emotion I was feeling for the first time since my regression.

“At this rate, there should not be much to worry about in the future either.”

In the first place, the reason I had aimed to enter at the top was not because of this luxurious life.

If I maintained the top position and continued maintaining the best grades, after graduating from the Murim Academy, I would gain the authority to choose my assignment location.

That was why I had worked so hard.

Most would choose the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly, but I had no time to play along with such children’s games.

Entering White Wolf Pavilion, preparing to receive the disciples of the Taeul Sect, and making the lower-ranked warriors of White Wolf Pavilion prepare proper defenses.

Those were the plans I had made.

Knock, knock–

I rose while lost in thought.

The Gold-Silver-Copper Brothers and the other members of the party had gone out, saying they would inspect the dormitories assigned to them, so there was no one who should visit this place.

“What is it? Did you already finish looking around the dormitory and come bac…… Who are you?”

Outside the door stood a scholarly-looking man I had never seen before in my life, smiling affably.

He was smiling, but his sunken, dark eyes made him look rather pitiful.

“Ah, Young Master Jin So-un? It has been a long…… no, this is our first time meeting. Nice to meet you.”

The sunken-eyed man opened the door without permission and came into the building.

“Wow, so in the Murim Academy, you get to use a space like this all by yourself? I hear they even assign a maidservant and a Cook to take care of all your food and clothing?”

“Ah…… Yes. But who are you?”

“How enviable. When I entered the Alliance as a low-ranking scribe, I used a room shared by eight people.”

This talkative man poured out his own words without pause and began touching this and that among the objects inside.

“No! Excuse me! I asked who you are! Who are you to enter here as you please?”

“Uh…… You. How could you say that to me……”

The man looked at me with the expression of a parent wounded by his child’s words.

So who exactly are you?

“Do you know thanks to whom you were able to enter the Murim Academy instead of failing?”

What kind of dog-fart nonsense was this now?

“That was all thanks to me, thanks to me.”

“Haa…… I will ask one last time. So who are you?”

“As for me……”

“Get out.”

“I am Mantongbu Department Head Maeng Ju-won.”

My rough hand, which had been dragging his body out, stopped abruptly.

“Maeng Ju-won?”

A name I could not forget even if I tried.

The person in charge of Mantongbu as a whole, and a strategist who had long been called Jegal So-myeong’s right arm.

“Yes, I am Maeng Ju-won.”

Another genius who had died around the time I entered Mantongbu was standing before me, smiling kindly.

The Murim Alliance officially announced that the Murim Academy’s Regular Exam had ended, and circulated the list of successful entering students throughout the world.

In the name of the top entrant, the name of the Taeul Sect, which had been slowly fading even from people’s memories, was boldly stamped, and because of this, the idle talkers of Jianghu gathered stories about Jin So-un as if possessed by hungry ghosts.

“Do I know stories about the Taeul Sect……? Of course I do!”

“This is the very village protected by the Taeul Sect. Jin So-un and I are close enough to call each other grandfather and grandson.”

The world had been shaken, so it was obvious that chaos had also broken out inside the Murim Alliance.

“You fools! You lost the top position to some nameless sect trash? What a waste of the name of the Nine Sects and One Gang!”

“Just what method did those bastards use to have all four of them enter the Academy with only four people?”

“Hmph! As the rumors say, they must be connected to those Black Path bastards.”

“You there, will you shut that mouth? Are you denying a matter that the Grand Strategist clarified had no suspicion?”

“Ahem, when did I deny it?”

There were also many who worried about the great record Jin So-un had established.

“They say Jin So-un of the Taeul Sect entered with more Entry Tokens than Yong So-ah, do they not?”

“Moreover, they say he did not lead a single warrior. I am worried that because of this, our children will be undervalued in the future.”

“Our children will likely do well even without a few warriors. From the next round onward, I am thinking of reducing the number of supporting warriors by half.”

Too many things were changing on a large scale for it to be simply the result of one person’s actions.

“Hoo, when I think of the trouble I went through because of that bastard……”

At Jegal So-myeong’s sigh, Hyeok Mu-gang let out a hollow laugh.

“Hoho, still, it gave the Alliance good stimulation, so is that not a good thing? You have done a great task, Grand Strategist.”

“That is why I told you to go to the Alliance Leader from the beginning. Do you know how fiercely the Four Emperors Peak Lord at that place glared at me?”

“Well, did you speak with those people a little?”

“They said nothing much. They told me to take good care of Jin So-un. Something about him becoming their own ‘Yong So-ah,’ even though he nearly failed to enter the Academy because of them.”

“So it comes to pass after all. The Black Path Alliance.”

It was something that would be created someday anyway.

The Black Path Murim had already been torn apart and fragmented by the Murim Alliance, and the chaos within the Black Path Murim was intensifying.

Because of that, the need for a Black Path Alliance had continued to be raised within them, so it was something that would be created at any time if only some trigger appeared.

“That is what I mean. Does this make any sense? A Murim Academy entering student laid the foundation for the Black Path Alliance.”

A secret known only to Jegal So-myeong and the Murim Alliance Leader.

A story that would not be revealed to anyone came out casually.

“Still, thanks to that, did we not gain one connection to the Black Path Alliance? I was already always worried because the anti-Black Path forces inside the Murim Alliance were too strong.”

“Under normal circumstances, what would there be to worry about? I am worried because the situation has become special.”

Even if they gathered, what difference would there be other than the battles that had previously occurred as localized skirmishes becoming large-scale battles?

Even so, right now, they were hoping to some extent for the establishment of the Black Path Alliance.

“What about the traces of the Demonic Cult?”

The Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.

Those terrifying Demonic Practitioners, thought to have disappeared five hundred years ago, were once again aiming for the world.

“There have been many strange incidents throughout Jianghu until now. If we had not known of the Demonic Cult’s existence, there are not just one or two matters we would have passed over.”

“It truly is a great relief, is it not?”

“That is true. It is, but……”

For some reason, Jegal So-myeong could not shake the uneasy feeling.

The fact that everything fit together so neatly instead made him uneasy.

“Still, surely……”

“What do you mean?”

“Ah, it is nothing.”

“In any case, I am worried. This is the first time a child without a foundation has taken the top seat. I wonder whether that child will be able to endure. Has there been such an example in the past?”

“The current Murim Academy Head, the Three Pure Ones Peerless Sword, once passed as the top entrant.”

“How long did he maintain that position?”

“He stepped down on his own after half a year.”

“That is too short.”

Though the Three Pure Ones Peerless Sword was a sword sect maintained through one-successor lineage, its size as a symbolic existence evaluated within the Murim was by no means small.

Even such a Three Pure Ones Peerless Sword had been unable to exert much strength, so one could newly feel just how strong the existing powers were.

“He lasted because he was at least the Three Pure Ones Peerless Sword. In contrast, the Taeul Sect is……”

“Will that child Jin So-un be able to endure well?”

“On that point, I do not have much expectation either. ……Will he not soon realize his own limits and step down on his own? If he becomes greedy for the position, he will be expelled from the Academy. He is likely not that kind of child.”

“…Then perhaps to the Alliance Leader Hall……”

“Ahem! I am busy with work, so I will take my leave.”