Chapter 25
Chapter 25
Pyo Inhaeng was renowned within the Tenth Division for being a maverick.
The First Division’s executive leadership was wondering what they had just witnessed when they saw the gentle-looking Seo Mugyeom confidently expressing his opinion.
“Since the First Division will be interrogating the others, wouldn’t it be best for them to interrogate this one as well?”
“Is that so? Fine. Let’s do it that way. Then we don’t need to stay here any longer, right? Let’s go back.”
Pyo Inhaeng looked like he was about to engage in a tense standoff, unwilling to back down in the slightest, but suddenly, as if none of that had happened, he approached Seo Mugyeom with a wide smile.
“What are you doing? Aren’t you going to take him?”
When the First Division’s leader continued to stare blankly at Seo Mugyeom, Pyo Inhaeng scolded him.
“Huh? Ah, yes! Thank you, Captain Pyo. Seo Mugyeom, thank you as well. We’ll reward you separately at the First Division later.”
He then called his subordinates to take the Black Kill Valley Leader away.
As he was being dragged away, the Black Kill Valley Leader looked back and glared at Seo Mugyeom.
“Let me speak to him for just a moment!”
The Black Kill Valley Leader shouted resentfully. He probably couldn’t understand how Seo Mugyeom had figured everything out in such a short time.
The First Division’s leader glanced briefly at Seo Mugyeom. He seemed willing to wait if Seo Mugyeom wanted to talk.
But Seo Mugyeom simply shook his head. He had no reason to satisfy the Black Kill Valley Leader’s curiosity.
The First Division left with the Black Kill Valley Leader, and Seo Mugyeom mounted a horse alongside Pyo Inhaeng.
Pyo Inhaeng’s face was full of pride as he looked at Seo Mugyeom.
“Well done, Seo Mugyeom. I didn’t expect you to resolve things that way. That was truly well done. I might be good at other things, but I’m not good with my head. You’re like a mix of me and the Vice-Captain. When did you figure all that out? From what I’ve seen, you hardly ever leave the Guardian Ten Division.”
“All the things I’ve heard here and there had been piling up in my head, and they just connected. Since I’ve mostly handled trivial tasks in the Tenth Division, I haven’t had much reason to go outside, right? I just remembered what people said back then.”
“Right. Right. Splendid. Good job.”
A smile lingered on Pyo Inhaeng’s lips. Then he seemed to realize something even more important and looked at Seo Mugyeom.
“Are you hurt?”
There was still blood around Seo Mugyeom’s mouth. That must’ve been what he was referring to.
“Ah… it’s nothing serious. My internal energy flared up, but I’m fine now. It wasn’t anything critical.”
Pyo Inhaeng looked at Seo Mugyeom as if unsure whether to believe him. If his internal energy had flared up, he shouldn’t be casually riding a horse and talking like this. But Seo Mugyeom truly didn’t seem affected.
“Captain.”
“Yes, Seo Mugyeom. Say whatever you want. If you want me to carry you, I will.”
“Then please carry me.”
“…”
Pyo Inhaeng stared blankly at Seo Mugyeom, surprised he would say something like that.
Seo Mugyeom also realized it might have been too much and quietly turned his head to face forward. Then he said what he originally intended to say.
“You need to train harder, Captain. I’m starting to like you. I like the Vice-Captain, and I like Senior Ho. I’m starting to like the Tenth Division more and more. But the thought that our respected Captain might actually die to mere assassins made me very worried. So please get stronger, quickly.”
Pyo Inhaeng’s face turned bright red. He had suffered countless insults from the First Division’s warriors, but this was a new kind of humiliation. He thought his skin had thickened enough over the years, but hearing this directly from a subordinate hit hard. And yet, he couldn’t argue. If not for Seo Mugyeom, he might not have returned alive.
“At this rate, I might end up on my way to the afterlife during Young Mistress Ak’s trip to the Imperial City. I really think I need to start training seriously from now on.”
“Y-yeah. It’s just that it’s been so long that I was rusty. It’s not like I’ve been in actual combat recently, right? So please understand.”
Even as he said it, Pyo Inhaeng knew it only made him sound more pathetic, so he shut his mouth.
His pride was so wounded, he couldn’t bear to sit there any longer.
What was he lacking? What was he missing to hear such words from a subordinate? It stung even more because it wasn’t wrong. He decided then and there to make sure Seo Mugyeom never said anything like that again.
“You can find your way back on your own, right?”
“…Sorry?”
“You can come on your own. I have something urgent to take care of, so just take your time and follow later.”
And with that, he rode off on his own.
Seo Mugyeom stood there blankly before mounting his horse as well. What was the point in going slowly? Now that the Captain seemed determined to train hard, he figured he’d have to work hard alongside him.
‘Yeah. I need to try even harder too. To become the Blood Demon, I can’t die completely… but that doesn’t seem easy, does it?’
That day alone, Seo Mugyeom had been on the brink of death multiple times, making that thought even clearer.
Realizing that surviving and returning in a half-dead state wasn’t as easy as he thought, Seo Mugyeom let out a hollow laugh.
The horse carrying him galloped forward happily, unaware of what its rider had just gone through.
The atmosphere within the Guardian Ten Division had subtly changed. Everyone was on edge, trying to figure out what had happened.
The First and Tenth Divisions were involved in the incident, and the Tenth Division had no reason to hide what had transpired. So the feats of the Captain and Seo Mugyeom had spread widely throughout the Tenth Division.
Pyo Inhaeng was so proud of Seo Mugyeom that he couldn’t help but share what he had done, and Seo Mugyeom shared the Captain’s accomplishments.
Though he had spoken somewhat harshly to the Captain on the way back, the more Seo Mugyeom thought about it, the more he realized he had been too harsh.
Compared to the First Division’s warriors present at the scene, the Captain had stood out like a crane among chickens.
As Pyo Inhaeng and Seo Mugyeom glorified each other, the details of what had happened spread fairly accurately.
People listened in awe, and none thought to keep it to themselves.
Considering how the Tenth Division had been treated with disdain and neglect within the Guardian Ten Division, their reaction was understandable.
Who had ever acknowledged the Tenth Division before? And yet, the Captain had taken only an ordinary warrior, Seo Mugyeom, to rescue the First Division’s warriors.
Ordinarily, the Tenth Division’s warriors never left their area unless it was a special case. Whenever they went out, people mocked them as being from the Tenth Division, and no one liked being treated that way.
But now, things had changed. The very mention of the Tenth Division seemed to elicit different reactions. So, determined to make the most of it, they roamed around spreading the word—only to discover that the other divisions didn’t really know what had happened.
The Tenth Division’s warriors belatedly realized what was going on. This was a momentous occasion for the Tenth Division. The Captain and Seo Mugyeom had achieved something remarkable, but from the perspective of the First Division, things were different. They had already suffered many casualties, and those who remained had been barely rescued by the Tenth Division’s Captain and Seo Mugyeom. Naturally, they didn’t want those stories to spread.
Their only public claim to success was that they had captured the Black Kill Valley Leader. But the Tenth Division’s warriors knew it was Seo Mugyeom who had done that.
The Tenth Division’s warriors, thrilled to finally have something to boast about after so long, went out ready to flaunt it, only to find the situation sour. So, they deliberately leaked everything they had heard.
Two or three Tenth Division warriors would gather and speak as if they were talking among themselves.
As soon as those stories emerged, warriors from other divisions, curious, would come closer to listen. And why wouldn’t they be curious? The First Division didn’t only look down on the Tenth Division. They looked down on everyone, just to varying degrees. The Tenth Division had simply borne the worst of it.
So, those who had also suffered the First Division’s arrogance felt a shared sense of injustice—and marveled at the strange tales the Tenth Division shared.
The rumors spread like wildfire.
The First Division hadn’t expected Pyo Inhaeng to talk, and they were baffled.
But since none of it was false, they had no choice but to endure it. The First Division’s warriors could only hope time would make people forget. If Seo Mugyeom had been living in his past life, that might have worked, but this time, the Tenth Division had unexpectedly intervened.
And since Pyo Inhaeng and Seo Mugyeom were eager to glorify each other, it didn’t look like the rumors would die down anytime soon.
One could easily imagine the misery that the Valley Leader from Black Kill Valley must have endured in that gap.
His misfortune truly knew no bounds.
But since he had committed those acts, he had no one else to blame.
“Captain, there’s a captains’ meeting. You need to attend.”
The person delivering the news was an ordinary warrior of the Tenth Division. He was smiling brightly as he spoke. That had become the typical expression among Tenth Division warriors lately.
Pyo Inhaeng didn’t like that look.
“Why are you smiling?”
“Ah… I’m sorry.”
He snapped to attention and erased his smile.
“Get out. I don’t know why these people always want to have meetings. If they have something to say, they should just gather the people involved and settle it.”
Pyo Inhaeng grumbled as if utterly annoyed. His complaining continued even after the messenger left.
“I won’t even have anything to say there, so maybe I’ll just pretend to be sick and skip it?”
Then he looked at Seo Mugyeom.
Seo Mugyeom couldn’t say a word. He knew that if the Captain pretended to be sick, the real reason would be a martial arts duel he intended to hold here, so he didn’t know how to respond.
But thinking it wasn’t a bad idea, he subtly nodded.