The Genius Warrior Who Remembers Everything Chapter 53

Chapter 53. A First-Rate Warrior Who Startled the Divine Sword

“Great Hero Black Flame Dragon told us to go on ahead first.”

Again.

Outer Hall Master Jin Tae-san felt his temples throb.

A modest Traveling Party had appeared, leading two carriages.

At the front stood a young master of thirteen or fourteen and a female swordswoman who seemed to be his guard.

There were no marks of any clan or sect.

However, even to Jin Tae-san, who could hardly distinguish sackcloth from proper clothing, the shape and material of the young master’s clothes looked far from ordinary, so he had no choice but to act cautiously.

“By Black Flame Dragon, you mean……?”

Jin Tae-san asked again to confirm, and the young master answered without hesitation.

“I mean Brother Jin So-un.”

“Haa…….”

He had been hearing that sobriquet, Black Flame Dragon, over and over again lately, but he simply could not get used to it.

‘Of all people, the one who gave him a sobriquet had to be a great figure of the Black Path.’

The first time he heard the sobriquet was from an enormous Traveling Party.

One hundred sacks of rice, one hundred bolts of silk and cotton cloth, all sorts of equipment, and two hundred fine Blue Steel Swords.

Before the goods they had brought as gifts, the person who should have been happiest, the Outer Hall Master, felt suspicion first.

‘The Wang Estate would never have failed to tell us in advance.’

If it was not the Wang Estate, where in the world had sent such excessive gifts?

“These were sent by the Peak Lord of Four Emperors Peak.”

“E-Eh?!”

He was horrified when he heard the name Four Emperors Peak.

If the Orthodox Path Murim had the Nine Sects and One Gang, the Black Path Murim had the Four Gates, Two Gangs, and One Peak.

Four Emperors Peak was the representative sect of the Black Path Murim that occupied that one peak.

“You must have sent the goods to the wrong place. We are the Taeul Sect of Hefei.”

The escort, whom he naturally thought would take the goods and leave, checked the documents and then nodded.

“Yes, that is correct. It says they are addressed to Young Hero Black Flame Dragon of the Taeul Sect.”

“……This is the Taeul Sect, yes, but there is no one in our sect with the sobriquet Black Flame Dragon.”

As expected of the Black Path, Jin Tae-san thought the sight of them attaching the characters for “black” or “flame” to the sobriquet of a newly rising Later-Generation Talent was truly something to behold.

But the escort’s next words left him feeling aghast.

“……Hm, is there not Young Hero Jin So-un of the Taeul Sect?”

“D-Don’t tell me…….”

“Yes. Is Young Hero Jin So-un’s sobriquet not Black Flame Dragon…….? Ah! It seems the rumor has not reached Anhui Province yet. The Peak Lord of Four Emperors Peak personally bestowed the sobriquet Black Flame Dragon upon Young Hero Jin So-un.”

What in the hell had that damned brat been going around doing, to receive a sobriquet from a great figure of the Black Path Murim?

Thus he heard of what had happened on Demon Spirit Plateau.

After hearing the inner details, Jin Tae-san could not open his mouth to say anything.

“…….”

“The exploits Young Hero Black Flame Dragon achieved on Demon Spirit Plateau in Hunan Province will likely be spoken of for ages as an achievement that no Later-Generation Talent under heaven can compare with.”

All of that was fine.

It was fine that, before life itself, he had carried out chivalrous righteousness without distinguishing between black and white. What father would not be pleased when a child he had raised brought benefit to the world? But.

‘Still, what is Black Flame Dragon? Doesn’t this make him sound like some new star of the Black Path Murim?’

He truly did not like the sobriquet.

“In any case, I understand. However, we are, strictly speaking, one peak under the Murim Alliance, ally of the Orthodox Path Murim, so we cannot accept such excessive gifts.”

The Taeul Sect’s already precarious position among the One Hundred Eight Peaks could be put into a desperate crisis because of Four Emperors Peak’s gifts.

However, the escort’s next words made Jin Tae-san’s mouth open and close once more.

“Ah…… according to what is written here, if you do not accept the goods, he will consider his sincerity insufficient and personally lead his disciples to the Taeul Sect…….”

“Where did you say I should sign?”

“…….”

The escort’s gaze was not kind at his sudden change in attitude, but even so, there had to be no meeting with the Peak Lord of Four Emperors Peak where they exchanged cups of wine.

Moreover, surely the Eminent Masters of the Orthodox Path Murim would not look askance at the Taeul Sect just because it had received a gift once.

But.

“…….”

“The Gang Chief of the Black Serpent Gang has sent a gift to Young Hero Black Flame Dragon.”

“The Young Sect Leader of the Blood Tiger Sect has sent a gift to Young Hero Black Flame Dragon.”

“The Gang Chief of the Nine Dragons Gang has sent a gift to Young Hero Black Flame Dragon.”

An endless procession of gifts.

It was a moment when a financial revival unseen in the Taeul Sect’s five-hundred-year history seemed likely, but Jin Tae-san felt as if he wanted to flee by night at once.

‘Doesn’t this look exactly as if we’ve formed an alliance with the Black Path Murim?’

The one fortunate thing was that after the Black Path Murim sects’ barrage of gifts, the Orthodox Path sects visited as well.

“The Sect Leader of the Sangyang Sect sent word to the Sect Leader of the Taeul Sect, thanking him for raising such a fine disciple.”

“Oh my~ Do not mention it. Please come in and stay a few days.”

Compared to the gifts sent by the Black Path sects, they were no more than blood from a bird’s foot, a mere drop, and the sects that had sent gifts were no match for the Black Path Murim either. But at least they were not saying anything about “Black Flame Dragon,” and that was something.

With a willing heart, Jin Tae-san insisted, stubbornly and forcibly, even seating people who said they did not need to, that they stay at the Taeul Sect for several days. He even opened a banquet he would normally never have opened, treated them, and sent them back.

At the very least, if he made sure this was how people perceived things, would they not be able to avoid some suspicion that they were secretly communicating with Black Path sects?

Around the time he had finally managed to catch his breath.

Twenty people with the air of scholars visited the Taeul Sect.

“What brings you to our sect…….”

“Ah! My introduction is late. I am Yu Ji-ryang of the Maoshan Sect. I was dispatched by my sect to repay the debt owed to Young Hero Jin.”

“Uh…, uh…, uh…….”

Jin Tae-san’s mind froze for a moment, and he could not say anything.

The Maoshan Sect.

If it was the Maoshan Sect, did that mean that Maoshan Sect of the One Hundred Eight Peaks?

Though the Maoshan Sect had not entered the Nine Sects and One Gang, if judged by importance, it was no less important than the Jegal Clan of the Five Great Clans.

In particular, their Mystic Gate Formations served as a good alternative for those who could not install the Jegal Clan’s Mystic Gate Formations.

Why had such a Maoshan Sect come all the way to the Taeul Sect?

“Young Hero Jin wanted us to install a Mystic Gate Formation at the Taeul Sect, so we came.”

Jin Tae-san’s mouth, open as wide as a washbasin, showed no sign of closing.

“Eh? No, with what money?!”

Was that fearless bastard trying to buy all under heaven with a single Seven-Colored Jewel? He had brazenly hired the Maoshan Sect without a trace of fear.

Just as the brief feeling that his son was praiseworthy was about to drop him in status to the most damnable bastard under heaven, unbelievable words came from Yu Ji-ryang’s mouth.

“Ah, our sect will bear all of the expenses. So there is no need for you to worry about anything.”

“!!!!”

Through that sequence of events, Jin Tae-san no longer had the strength left to be surprised by Jin So-un’s sobriquet, and he felt confident that even if someone came looking for Jin So-un, he would not be startled.

Jin Tae-san calmed his heart and spoke to the handsome young master before him.

“What brings you to the Taeul Sect, Young Master?”

“O-Oh. Please speak comfortably to me. I am far younger than you, am I not?”

His behavior, his speech, and his entire attitude carried a cultured refinement that only High Officials and Nobles would possess.

“Ahem, understood. Then what did that scoundrel Black Flame Dragon have you do, Young Master?”

“……Isn’t ‘scoundrel’ a bit much?”

“Hm?”

He had just shown a respectful manner and asked to be spoken to casually, but his attitude had completely changed in an instant.

Beside him, the female swordswoman’s bearing was also far from ordinary.

“He saved nearly five thousand lives on Demon Spirit Plateau, and for the stability and peace of the villages around Mount Longzhong, he captured the Ironclad Black Python Great Serpent! He is not someone so insignificant that he deserves to be called a ‘scoundrel’!”

The young master who had been polite now looked as if he had met the enemy who had murdered his parents, and the female swordswoman seemed ready to draw the Twin Swords on her back at any moment.

Jin Tae-san gulped and stopped them.

“I-I apologize. That boy Jin So-un has done so many unexpected things that my words came out harshly. If it offended you, I apologize.”

“…….”

“…….”

When he apologized, the expressions of the young man and woman somehow turned strange.

After looking at each other, the young master looked back at Jin Tae-san and asked cautiously.

“Um, if it is not rude, may I ask what your relationship is with Great Hero Jin So-un?”

“Ah, me? I am Jin So-un’s father.”

“!”

“!”

The two, their eyes round as rabbits, knelt on the dirt floor and pressed their heads down.

“I-I apologize! I dared speak rudely to my benefactor’s father. Please forgive me.”

“Please forgive us.”

“Uh, hm?”

Whether they knew or not that their silk clothes were getting dirty, they looked as if they might roll across the ground at any moment, and Jin Tae-san, now the one becoming anxious, made them rise.

“It is fine. It is fine. No, rather, you defended my son, so I feel better for it. Please rise.”

“I truly apologize, Father.”

“I truly apologize.”

Seeing the young master and female swordswoman return to their courteous attitudes, Jin Tae-san let out a hollow laugh.

“Ha ha, truly. I said it is fine.”

At that, the young master stepped forward and spoke with a resolute expression.

“Father, I have resolved to serve Great Hero Jin So-un as my elder brother for the rest of my life. So please treat me comfortably as well from now on.”

“Uh…… You became Sworn Brothers?”

“Yes. That is so. Originally, I wished to serve him as my Liege Lord, but Brother stubbornly refused.”

The young master looked deeply regretful about something.

Jin Tae-san, who had been listening, gave a faint laugh.

From Jin Tae-san’s point of view as well, it was better for that rascal Jin So-un to become the elder brother of this bright-looking child than to become someone’s ruler.

Unlike Jin So-un, this child seemed to have something properly decisive about him.

Among Jin So-un’s actions that he had not known of, the fact that he had become Sworn Brothers with this child pleased him the most.

“Ha ha, even to my ears, brothers sounds better than Liege Lord. I feel reassured, as if I have gained another son.”

“Brother’s father is the same as my own father. I will serve you to the best of my ability.”

“You are far better than that rascal Jin So-un. I am thankful just for those words.”

“I will make certain to put them into practice.”

The sight of the young master, who had not yet fully shed his boyishness, imitating an adult was quite cute.

“Good. What is your name?”

“Cheon-gi. Please call me Cheon-gi.”

“Cheon-gi. That is a good name. Your surname?”

“Yes. I am of the Jegal family.”

“………Hm? Was there a surname called Je-mal(?)?”

“The Jegal Clan, Father.”

“…….”

“By any chance, your father’s name is…….”

“My father is named Jegal Hyeon-un.”

“Ah…… then your grandfather is…….”

“My grandfather is named Jegal So-myeong.”

“…….”

The suspicion he had thought could not possibly be true became certainty when he heard Jegal So-myeong’s name.

“Ah! Then your grandfather must work at the Murim Alliance?”

“Yes. I have always been proud of him.”

“…….”

Jin Tae-san’s thought that there would be nothing left to surprise him did not continue.

“Father?”

“Yes?”

“Are you all right?”

“Yes? I am fine.”

“……?”

“……Shall we go inside? Young Master?”

“……?”

Jin Tae-san began to genuinely wonder what in the world his son, who felt like his mortal enemy, had been going around doing.

***

“Why are my ears so itchy?”

While studying the Azure Dragon Bracelet and the Red Phoenix Bracelet, I picked at my ear.

“The only people who would speak ill of me are…… the future Sojeong Squad and my current father…….”

I had not met the Sojeong Squad yet, and to my current father, I was a filial son sent down from the heavens, so neither possibility made sense.

“……In any case, I need to study a bit more how to use these.”

The conclusion I reached after much thought was that I must not overuse the Azure Dragon Bracelet.

No matter how much I raised my name in the Murim and became a Chivalrous Hero who saved people, if others witnessed the sight of me absorbing another person’s True Qi, I would become nothing more or less than a Demonic Martial Artist who had learned a Forbidden Art.

Moreover, the fatigue I felt in the process of absorbing Demonic Qi was quite significant.

“There has to be a way.”

The Red Phoenix Bracelet had the property of purifying Demonic Qi.

My current hypothesis was that if I used it well together with this, I could absorb True Qi without suffering fatigue even while absorbing Demonic Qi.

‘If that alone is possible….’

Even if the Great Righteous-Demonic War broke out in the future, I expected that I would not be forced to retreat helplessly like before.

Unfortunately, however, I had no opportunity to test it against those who had learned Demonic Qi.

“It’s not as if I won’t meet them in the future. Demonic Martial Artists are a problem because there are too many of them, not too few.”

I stopped thinking any further, stretched out my legs and body once, and swept a glance around the room’s luxurious atmosphere.

At present, I was staying in the Clear Bright Escort Agency.

The corpses of the Yama Ghost Eye Unit recovered last night had been taken by the Murong Clan’s warriors, and I heard many conversations had been exchanged about the martial arts they had used.

In the end, Murong Sang-won decided to send some of the corpses to the Murong Clan and some to the Murim Alliance.

The Demonic Cult’s absence for five hundred years would fuel confusion about their identity for a while.

The one fortunate thing was a small hope that, since even a slight trace had been found, people could become alert a little faster than in my previous life. Of course, the chance that the report would be omitted somewhere in the middle was greater.

“Have you risen?”

A Maidservant asked from outside.

“……Yes.”

Soon after, three Maidservants entered in order, carrying a basin, clothes, and other items.

“The Young Clan Head of the main house said the banquet will begin in the evening, and that you must attend.”

At first, Murong Sang-won had asked me to go to his clan, but I talked him out of it again and again and smoothed things over by promising that I would certainly go next time. In the end, he suggested opening a banquet at the Clear Bright Escort Agency.

‘The fact that he insists on opening a banquet, even though this is not the main house, means…….’

Murong Sang-won clearly intended to publicly announce me as his benefactor.

Leaving aside the high or low level of martial arts, a public declaration that someone was a benefactor to whom he owed his life was the same as informing the world that the Murong Clan owed a debt to the Taeul Sect.

If what was usually exchanged through plaques represented a debt between individuals, a banquet like this had a far greater public symbolism.

‘As a Young Clan Head, shouldn’t he avoid making this kind of decision lightly?’

Opening a banquet with even the Namgung Clan, who had come to help, attending was the same as Murong Sang-won’s will to announce it that certainly.

Faced with Murong Sang-won’s feelings, I had no choice but to nod.

“Understood. Please tell him I will prepare.”

“Yes.”

However, the Maidservant who had finished her business did not leave and waited.

“Have you finished washing your face?”

“I washed very refreshingly.”

“Then let us go.”

“Yes?”

Suddenly, the door opened and five more Maidservants entered. The place they led me to was a steaming bath barrel.

“Uh, this is…… no, wait! Then why did I wash my face?! Wait! Do not undress me there!”

Before I could say anything, the Maidservants stripped off my clothes, put me in the bath barrel, and began scrubbing every corner with brushes.

Once the forced bath ended and I came out, they dressed me in clothes made of black silk, even applied oil to my hair, and arranged it neatly.

When I looked into the bronze mirror, a young master with a fair, delicate face I had never seen before stood there.

“Ha ha, you’ve become a dragon, Jin So-un.”

It was a look I had never once seen in my previous life.

Perhaps it looked like the hero I had dreamed of becoming before experiencing the Great Righteous-Demonic War.

Someone who raced through the Murim with powerful martial arts and a splendid appearance, that kind of…….

“If the Sojeong Squad bastards had seen this, they’d have clutched their bellies and collapsed laughing.”

***

After the sun set, a Maidservant guided me to the banquet hall.

In the banquet hall, the escorts of the escort agency, the warriors of the Murong Clan, and the warriors of the Namgung Clan had already taken their seats and were chatting.

“Oh! You’re here!”

When I entered, Murong Sang-won sprang up, and at the same time, the warriors of the Murong Clan, the warriors of the Namgung Clan, and the escorts of the Clear Bright Escort Agency all rose from their seats at once.

“……!”

A silence hung over the banquet hall as if the banquet had been cut off.

“Come here.”

I had briefly lost my senses at their sudden behavior, but at Murong Sang-won’s gesture, I went to the seat beside him and sat down.

THUMP.

And in perfect unison, the people of the Murong Clan, Namgung Clan, and Clear Bright Escort Agency took their seats.

Now I was beginning to feel slightly afraid.

“Everyone, greet him. This is Young Hero Jin So-un, my benefactor to whom I owe Life-Saving Grace, who fought life-and-death battles while risking his life several times for me when I nearly died.”

No sooner had Murong Sang-won’s words ended than the warriors of the Murong Clan and the Clear Bright Escort Agency sprang back up from their seats.

They all formed clasped hands greetings and shouted thunderously.

“““Thank you for your grace, Young Hero Black Flame Dragon.”””

When I went blank at the unexpected behavior, Murong Sang-won winked and tapped my side.

“……Ah, yes. I also thank you for your hospitality.”

Dazed for a moment by their intimidating appearance, I stupidly returned the clasped hands greeting, and they sat down all at once.

Murong Sang-won looked somehow proud, and the Murong Clan’s warriors also seemed satisfied with themselves.

‘If I’d known a place of gratitude would become this painfully embarrassing, I would have avoided this somehow too.’

Around the time I was thinking that.

A Namgung Clan warrior seated in front of Namgung Seon-hwa sprang up from his seat.

“We, too, would like to offer the greeting we were unable to give last time.”

Before the thought, ‘Why are even you doing this?’ could finish passing through my mind, the Namgung Clan’s warriors also sprang up and shouted even louder than the Murong Clan’s warriors, as if they were competing.

“““Thank you for your grace, Young Hero Black Flame Dragon!”””

“……Yes, I-I only did what was natural.”

I truly felt as if I wanted to crawl into a mouse hole if there were one.

I would rather fight the Yama Ghost Eye Unit again than attend this kind of gratitude banquet ever again. I vowed it and vowed it again.

“It is all over now, yes?”

“Puhahaha. Your face has turned into a ripe persimmon.”

Only after the banquet finally began and people’s attention drifted slightly away from me could I begin picking at the food.

But then Namgung Seon-hwa set down her chopsticks with a sharp CLACK.

“……Are you all right, Lady?”

From the start of the banquet, her mood had not seemed very good. Wondering whether she had some complaint about the banquet, I asked.

“Why are you so reckless?”

“……Me, you mean?”

“Yes. You. No matter how much it was for the Young Clan Head, rushing into a place like that alone made no sense.”

“…….”

Namgung Seon-hwa did not know my detailed circumstances, and what she said was not wrong, but this was not a story to bring up in a place like this.

Whatever the case, this was a place where the Young Clan Head was expressing his gratitude. Namgung Seon-hwa should not have been ignorant of that etiquette, yet she did not correct her expression.

In the end, Namgung San stepped in.

“Seon-hwa. I know you are worried about Young Master Jin, but this is not a suitable story for this occasion. Apologize to the Young Clan Head.”

“But…….”

At that moment, Murong Sang-won spoke.

“No. You did well, Seon-hwa. You said what I wanted to say, so there is no need to apologize.”

Murong Sang-won could have been offended, but he laughed heartily.

“But, Senior…….”

“No! This time, Seon-hwa is clearly right. So-un, you. Even if you possessed an outstanding memory and had grasped every location of the traps, it was certainly a reckless action. Do not do this again. Always keep in mind that just as you cherish others, there are people who cherish you.”

“……I will keep that in mind.”

As he said that, Murong Sang-won looked at me with the eyes of a father looking at a proud child.

Just as the atmosphere of the banquet was about to become natural thanks to Murong Sang-won, Namgung San opened his mouth after pondering seriously.

“Perhaps it may not have been reckless.”

“Hm?”

They were enemies that even the renowned Murong Sang-won and his guard warrior had been unable to handle.

Even so, Namgung San continued as if it were only natural.

“Young Master Jin must have had every calculation in his mind.”

“What do you mean?”

“I…… once visited the Taeul Sect for a certain reason and had a Martial Duel with Young Master Jin.”

“You and So-un?”

At Namgung San’s story, every warrior attending the banquet stopped talking and began to focus.

“Yes.”

“What was the result?”

The Namgung Clan warriors listening from the side swallowed hard and focused on the story.

“I was defeated.”

“Hm?”

“Huh?!”

Those who heard the story let out exclamations of confusion rather than admiration.

“Tell me in detail.”

“At first, I promised to use only the Third Star of my inner arts. If I had gone all out from the beginning, it would not have been fair.”

Murong Sang-won nodded.

“Of course. No, even your Third Star would already be excessive.”

“But during the Martial Duel, I had no choice but to break that promise.”

“Huh!”

“Mm!”

This time, exclamations of surprise sprang up here and there.

“So that was how you lost.”

“No, that is not it. In truth, I continued the Martial Duel after that as well. Clearly, even if I had lost that decisive exchange, I had won the Martial Duel. But I could not feel that I had truly won the Martial Duel itself.”

“Then…….”

“In the end, I drew up all the way to the Eighth Star of my inner arts…… but in the end, I lost.”

“You did?! How?!”

Murong Sang-won looked back and forth between Namgung San and me with round eyes.

“He caught a sword wrapped in Sword Qi with his hand.”

“Eeeh?!”

Gasps burst out among the warriors.

“W-With his hand?”

“I was startled as well and stopped my sword. Young Master Jin’s sword was already aimed at my neck.”

“Ha ha…….”

The warriors’ eyes, which had seemed to be looking at a benefactor, changed in an instant into eyes looking at a lunatic.

For some reason, Murong Sang-won shook his head and let out a long sigh.

“But the story after that is even more of a masterpiece.”

“Hm?”

“Later, I went to him and asked. His fingers could have been cut off. What was a Martial Duel worth, that he would go so far?”

Namgung San stared at me as if recalling that time.

“He said it was because his sect’s Junior Brothers were watching. Since he had shown them a Namgung Clan martial artist being defeated, they would have hope in their sect’s martial arts.”

Soon, Namgung San smiled playfully.

“On top of that, he said he had calculated that I would be startled and stop my sword.”

“What! Hahahahaha!”

Murong Sang-won burst into delighted laughter.

“You took quite a heavy blow from our So-un!”

“Yes, it was a blow that made my head ring.”

“Hahahahaha!”

Feeling awkward and not knowing what to do, I turned my gaze away.

But in the direction I turned, many warriors were already staring at me with intense gazes filled with countless indescribable meanings.

“…….”

When I turned my eyes again, Namgung Seon-hwa was looking at me with the expression of a rabbit gazing at a swaying carrot.

The heat I felt from their eyes was so burdensome that I could not even swallow water.

‘If I ever attend a gratitude banquet again, I’m not human!’