The Martial Genius Who Remembers Everything Novel - Chapter 45

Chapter 45
## Chapter 45. A First-Rate Warrior Who Gathers People (4)

In one corner of the Jegal Clan.

There stood a small pavilion built in a peculiar square form.

The people of the clan called the pavilion the “Vermilion Character Prison.”

The clan already had a Prison beneath its grounds where the great devils of the Murim World were confined, but this “Vermilion Character Prison” had been built for a special prisoner who had never existed before and would never exist again.

Inside the small space, just large enough for one person to live in, a rosy-faced boy was ceaselessly drawing pictures, design schematics, and spell formulas without distinguishing between walls and floor.

“Young Master.”

Then, at the sound from the ceiling, he stopped short.

“Yeong-yeong. If you keep coming in here, the Grand Elder will punish you severely.”

Yeong-yeong.

A shadow-like being who followed only Jegal Cheon-gi.

Because he could not know when he would leave the Prison, he had told Yeong-yeong to return to her original post, but this loyal shadow had continued hovering around Jegal Cheon-gi.

“Someone has come to meet that Grand Elder.”

“The Grand Elder is always busy.”

“He came looking for you, Young Master.”

“For me? Why?”

Jegal Cheon-gi looked up at the empty ceiling.

“He says he came to request your dispatch, Young Master.”

“Why me……?”

“He says he wants to install your Mechanism Formations in his sect.”

“What!”

Jegal Cheon-gi was startled.

The people of the clan, and countless intellectuals of the Murim World as well, had all spoken with one voice about the uselessness of Mechanism Formations, and yet someone had come saying he would install his Mechanism Formations.

“And do you know who that person is?”

“His identity? Is he someone special?”

“You know about the incident that happened recently in Hunan Province, right?”

“I do.”

“They say he is Great Hero Black Flame Dragon, who played an active role there.”

“Great Hero Black Flame Dragon!”

Sometimes Yeong-yeong would tell him about events happening in the outside world, and among the stories he had heard recently, the one that interested Cheon-gi most was the story about Black Flame Dragon.

No matter how many times he heard the story of how Black Flame Dragon had played an active role within the legendary Boundless Indestructible Soul-Destroying Formation, he never grew tired of it.

If he had not been confined in the Prison, he would have wanted to go meet him at once.

Because he wanted to know exactly how Black Flame Dragon had broken through the Boundless Indestructible Soul-Destroying Formation.

“Someone like that came to meet me?”

Jegal Cheon-gi instantly forgot the surrounding circumstances and people’s criticisms that had depressed him over the past several months.

There were far too many things he wanted to ask him right away.

“……Ah, ah.”

Then the Grand Elder’s existence came back to his mind.

“It will probably be difficult…….”

“Pardon? What are you talking about?”

“The Grand Elder is not an easy person.”

“…….”

“Yeong-yeong, if I end up unable to meet Great Hero Black Flame Dragon, could you deliver my letter to him?”

“Do not say that. Young Master, I am certain that person will come to meet you.”

—

“Hah!”

Jegal Jeong made a sound that could not be identified as either pleasure or anger.

“I heard Hunan Province was abuzz with rumors about Black Flame Dragon, so I thought I might get to meet him, but as expected, he was a rogue bastard of lowly origins.”

Most of what Jegal Jeong spat out grated on me, but among them, the word “Black Flame Dragon” grated the most.

“Black Flame Dragon?”

Seeing my expression, Jegal Hyeon-un raised an eyebrow and said,

“Did you not know? That is the epithet the Murim World is using to refer to you.”

“…….”

I could roughly guess the origin of the word “Flame” being included.

Furthermore, I could only be deeply moved that the excessive word “Dragon,” which was attached only to those who stood out even among the Later-Generation Talents of renowned sects, had been attached to me.

However, “Black”?

Was that a word to attach to a Later-Generation Talent of the Orthodox Path Murim?

Moreover, when the three words were combined, the sound of it grated in a strange way.

‘Why?’

In any case, I decided to think about the epithet later and continued speaking.

“Does the proposal I gave you displease you?”

“Do you not know how greatly the proposal you made insults the Jegal Clan?”

I tilted my head.

“You say this proposal insults the Jegal Clan?”

“Do you think the Jegal Clan does not catch the Ironclad Black Python Great Serpent because we lack strength? It is all because of proper order.”

“Is there anyone in the Murim World who does not know that?”

“What?”

They could catch it easily enough, but if they stepped forward for free, the value of their name would fall. Unless greater damage appeared, or unless someone pushed them forward from behind, they could not move.

“In fact, looking at it that way, should you not be even more ashamed of putting Jegal Cheon-gi in Prison?”

When experimenting with Mystic Gate Formations, many accidents occurred.

In severe cases, some people were tormented by phantoms and illusions within a formation, suffered mental illness, and lived the rest of their lives after losing their reason.

The mistake Jegal Cheon-gi committed was not a particularly great problem within the Jegal Clan.

The real issue was that Jegal Cheon-gi, one of the direct descendants, had tried to preach the usefulness not of Mystic Gate Formations, but of Mechanism Formations.

Jegal Cheon-gi could have left the Prison long before this.

There was only one condition.

To give up Mechanism Formations and swear to devote himself to the development of Mystic Gate Formations.

Because he had not accepted that condition, Jegal Cheon-gi had spent eight years in Prison.

As a result, he had been unable to take even the Murim Academy’s Regular Exam, had done mandatory service in the Murim Alliance, and had ended up coming all the way to the Sojeong Squad.

“I truly cannot understand it. You belittle Mechanism Formations, yet you apply a cruelly high standard to someone who has come saying he will use those very Mechanism Formations. Is a chaotic contradiction this impossible to escape not something one should experience only inside a Mystic Gate Formation?”

Jegal Jeong’s face flushed bright red.

It was right when I thought that perhaps the matter itself might fall through.

“Grand Elder. I do not think this young friend’s words are wrong.”

“Clan Head!!”

The sight of the Clan Head having to persuade the Grand Elder, and of the Grand Elder’s influence sometimes being stronger, was rare in the Murim World. At the same time, however, it was also a unique form that only the Jegal Clan possessed.

“To begin with, this Young Hero is also correct. If people learn that we set such harsh standards despite the fact that he is not a formal Spell Practitioner, will they not think our standards are based not on rationality, but on personal stubbornness?”

Jegal Jeong seemed deeply displeased that Jegal Hyeon-un was taking my side.

“That is because, Clan Head, Jegal Cheon-gi is your child!”

“……!”

In the end, he made a mistake.

Because the Jegal Clan decided the great and small affairs of the family according to rational opinions, the Clan Head’s opinion could sometimes become weak.

However, that did not mean one could go so far as to disrespect the Clan Head.

“Indeed. He is certainly my child. Then let me ask you in return. Grand Elder, why have you imposed such a harsh punishment only on my child?”

“……Th-That is because he is the Clan Head’s heir, is he not? If that child disregards Mystic Gate Formations, then that means the Jegal Clan itself has disregarded Mystic Gate Formations.”

“Cheon-gi has never once disregarded Mystic Gate Formations. He has simply had great interest in Mechanism Formations.”

After saying that, Jegal Hyeon-un folded his arms and closed his mouth firmly.

Because of the mistake he had suddenly committed, Jegal Jeong’s situation had become awkward.

If he kept insisting on his own stubbornness here, then it would truly mean that he had disrespected the Clan Head and imposed a harsh punishment on his child.

“Oh my, was that the case?”

“Be quiet! This is not the time for you to interfere.”

If there was no rationality, there was no way the people of the Jegal Clan, who did not let any issue pass quietly, would look favorably upon Jegal Jeong.

In this situation, if I opened my mouth and settled things, it would be a way to wrap up this meeting without damaging his face. But because I knew that, I deliberately said nothing and looked at Jegal Jeong.

Jegal Jeong glanced once at the Clan Head, shot one glare at me, then looked briefly at the ceiling before speaking with a thin sneer on his lips.

“Fine. I will accept your condition.”

One of Jegal Hyeon-un’s eyebrows rose.

His folded arms slowly began to loosen.

“At least you possess the bare minimum of rationality.”

“……However, there is a condition.”

Instead of answering, I nodded.

“Passing the Jegal Clan’s standards means being recognized as a prestigious sect of the Murim World. Therefore, you may be seen as the representative of the Taeul Sect. Through you, we must see the level of your sect.”

“That is correct.”

“Therefore, you must catch the Ironclad Black Python Great Serpent alone, without the help of any warrior or hunter.”

“Grand Elder!”

Jegal Hyeon-un and I were both startled.

“Clan Head. Even this much is a great concession from me.”

“No matter what, how can he catch the Ironclad Black Python Great Serpent alone?”

“That is for that child to choose. What will you do? Will you do it?”

As expected, he was a cunning old man.

In this Jegal Clan, where exceptional talents swarmed, it was not mere luck that had allowed someone from a collateral line to claim the position of Hall Master of the Artisan Hall.

For a moment, I rummaged through the library in my head.

And perhaps the time I spent thinking looked like hesitation to Jegal Jeong, because a thin sneer was forming at his lips.

After I briefly examined a book on Demonic Beasts and Spiritual Creatures in the library, I answered obediently.

“Understood.”

“……You will do it?”

Perhaps my answer made him slightly uneasy, because he quickly continued speaking.

“The sword and the objects you are wearing on your arm do not look ordinary. You may not receive help from such special items either. I will lend you an ordinary iron sword.”

“Huh…….”

At the sight of Jegal Jeong, who had now become a child throwing a tantrum without rationality or anything else, Jegal Hyeon-un let out a hollow laugh.

“Understood. Is there anything else you wish to restrict?”

“You must not set fire to the mountain or cause damage to the surrounding villages either.”

“Anything else?”

I was slowly beginning to wonder just how unseemly this old man could become.

“……Items such as Thunderbolt Bombs are also forbidden.”

“Can I even obtain those? Please keep going.”

“…….”

“Is there nothing else?”

“…….”

As I unfastened my sword scabbard and Flying Dragon Claw, I spoke to Jegal Jeong, who was still pouring out anger as though something made him uneasy.

“Elder, do you know the term Old-Age Ugliness?”

“……You bastard!”

“When you were evaluating me according to your standards, I was pleased, thinking a good opportunity had arisen to raise the Taeul Sect’s name.”

I looked back and forth between Jegal Jeong and Jegal Hyeon-un.

“But now, I find myself wondering whether there is much meaning in passing that standard and being acknowledged by the Jegal Clan.”

—

Even after Jegal Jeong slammed out of the room, Jegal Hyeon-un remained silent for a long while.

“I am sorry you had to see such an ugly sight.”

A sigh escaped Jegal Hyeon-un.

There could be no greater disgrace.

Unlike the heads of other clans, Jegal Hyeon-un had ascended to the position of Clan Head decades earlier than usual.

It was because his father, Jegal So-myeong, had taken the position of Grand Strategist in the Murim Alliance.

It would have been good if such a father had at least put the clan’s internal affairs in order for him, but what his father had actually said was this.

“If you lack the ability, hand it to someone else.”

One could call that cold-hearted, but that too was the custom of the Jegal Clan, and it was also the foundation that had allowed the Jegal Clan to maintain its fame for hundreds of years.

“It is all right.”

The young man before him.

When Jin So-un had defended Jegal Cheon-gi, Jegal Hyeon-un had been so grateful that he had wanted to jump up from his seat and embrace him.

It also felt strangely new that this young man, an outsider, recognized Cheon-gi, whom no one in the Jegal Clan acknowledged.

‘Cheon-gi might gain a good older brother.’

After all, Cheon-gi had always been particularly adrift even among his siblings.

But that was as far as it went.

He had to stop what the young man was trying to do.

Catching the Ironclad Black Python Great Serpent was already difficult, but catching the Ironclad Black Python Great Serpent alone while enduring all those restrictions was, from his standpoint, no different from suicide.

“I will speak to the Grand Elder. So please go back.”

“I need Young Hero Jegal Cheon-gi.”

“I am grateful that you say so. Cheon-gi would also be very grateful if he heard that. However, catching the Ironclad Black Python Great Serpent alone is absurd. Moreover, not being able to use special items? The swords commonly found on the market will not pierce even its hide. To begin with, the Grand Elder is playing a nasty trick to wring a surrender out of you.”

Jegal Hyeon-un stared intently at Jin So-un.

He himself had heard about Jin So-un’s accomplishments on the Demon Spirit Plateau until his ears ached.

He had lamented the fact that the Jegal Clan had been unable to step forward, and on the other hand, he had marveled at the rumors of Jin So-un’s achievements.

He had wanted to ask what method Jin So-un had used to pass through the formation and study it together with him, but as the Clan Head, he could not act that way either.

Because he was someone Jegal Hyeon-un liked that much, he did not want such a promising young man to give up his life because of stubborn pride.

“Once the Grand Elder makes up his mind about something, he clings to it until the end. He will probably attach an observer to you as well, so that you cannot possibly do anything else.”

“That is within my expectations.”

As they continued talking, Jegal Hyeon-un felt a subtle sense of incongruity.

“……Are you not afraid?”

“I am afraid.”

The young man called Jin So-un showed not even the slightest trace of tension, as though he were someone who already knew what the conclusion would be.

‘Come to think of it.’

Jegal Jeong was one of the most renowned figures under heaven.

Yet before such a Jegal Jeong, a young man who had not yet even reached the age of majority had pointed out his contradictions and criticized him for “Old-Age Ugliness.”

“It does not look that way at all.”

“I am afraid, but that is because there are several ways to catch the Ironclad Black Python Great Serpent.”

“……Several ways?”

“I am thinking of catching it in the way that will vex the Grand Elder the most.”

Then Jin So-un showed his teeth in a bright grin.

Jegal Hyeon-un wondered where he had seen that familiar smile before, and then he realized that children often smiled like that when playing pranks.

‘He is thinking of playing a prank in a situation like this?’

Jegal Hyeon-un had never once thought himself lacking, but right now, he could not even guess what Jin So-un was thinking.