Free Web Novel“Hmm.......”
Inside a collapsed building in the outskirts.
Through Jeong Sua’s ability, the Legion members discovered that the beastkin had settled there.
The Legion officers immediately went to find them and started a conversation.
Then.
“......Shouldn’t we answer them too?”
They began whispering among themselves in low voices.
“Senior Sister Miyang. You hold the highest position among us, so please say something.”
“M-me......? I’m a little.......”
The snake-eyed woman poked the sheep-horned woman and urged her to speak.
But the woman herself waved her hands as if embarrassed.
“R-right. Usually, isn’t this the sort of thing Junior Brother Gyeonsul, who’s good with people, would do?”
“Junior Brother Gyeonsul?”
At those words.
The beastkin’s gazes turned toward one corner of the room.
“Ghhhhhh.......”
“You want to leave the conversation with them to Junior Brother Gyeonsul, who is busy detoxifying the poison that entered his body....... Are you serious?”
A man with fluffy puppy ears.
He was lying collapsed on the floor, breathing roughly.
“T-then Junior Sister Sarin can do it in my stead.......”
“I would like to, but I am the youngest person here, am I not? For me to step forward as representative in a conversation with them would be.......”
They whispered among themselves for a moment like that.
Then.
“Ah, damn it. I’ll just do it.”
The one who finally sighed and spoke.
Was a short-haired man with a monkey tail.
“Good to meet you. My name is Shin Jong.”
“Shin Jong.......”
“The sheep horns over there are Senior Sister Miyang, the green hair is Junior Sister Sarin. The red hair is Junior Brother Gyeyu. That one over there, the bastard lying down because he’s sick at the most important possible time, is Gyeonsul.”
At those words.
The one who stepped forward from the Legion was Corporal Jeon Gwangil.
“......I have heard much about you from the two instructors.”
The reason was simple.
Their strange appearances, mixing human forms with animal traits.
Their martial robes, far removed from modern clothing.
And more than anything.
'Those martial skills.'
The Legion members were also learning martial arts.
And.
Their martial arts were of such a high level that the Legion members found them difficult to fully comprehend.
There was no way they would fail to know the identity of people who possessed such skills.
'Martial artists of the Cheonsan Martial Hall.'
Then.
The person to enter the conversation should also be the person in the Legion who possessed the most outstanding martial arts.
They judged that it was right for Corporal Jeon Gwangil to step forward.
“First of all, thank you for helping us escape this time.”
Corporal Jeon Gwangil spoke awkwardly, bringing both hands together.
The etiquette of their world, which he had learned from Miho and Seohwan.
Seeing that, Shin Jong scratched his head and said.
“Well...... you don’t need to be that formal, so speak comfortably.”
“Thank you. By the way.......”
Corporal Jeon Gwangil looked at him with a strange gaze and asked.
“The gate containing Cheonsan Martial Hall was below the cliff behind Myoyang Temple. I understand that is quite far from here.......”
“You mean, why are we here? We didn’t want this either.”
Shin Jong sighed with his arms crossed.
“We came because your leader asked us to.”
“By leader, you mean.......”
Corporal Jeon Gwangil’s eyes widened at those words.
“Sergeant Shin?”
However.
Hearing that, Shin Jong tilted his head and said.
“Huh? Sergeant Shin? What are you talking about?”
“Pardon? You said our leader asked you.”
“Your name is the Legion, isn’t it? If you say leader, then naturally that means the army’s leader...... the general.”
“General?”
“I mean General Kim Hyeon-seok.”
At that name.
The other unit members who had only been listening also widened their eyes in surprise.
“Lieutenant General Kim Hyeon-seok?”
“Yeah.”
Then.
Shin Jong scratched his head as if annoyed, but continued explaining.
“Jeochil and Woojin....... Ah, I guess you might not know those two?”
“No, I’ve heard about them from the instructors. They were surely...... the senior and junior disciples who stayed behind at the martial hall when the two instructors decided to cooperate with the Legion.”
“Glad you know. Anyway...... when we opened our eyes, the ones who appeared in front of us were those two.”
In the past.
The Legion had begun securing territory in order to proceed with the occupation war in Gangwon Province.
At that time, they had arrived at a temple named Myoyang Temple.
After resolving the problem at that temple.
They heard of the existence of a gate connected to Myoyang Temple.
And inside that gate.
“According to those two...... we had been asleep under some kind of seal.”
There was Seohwan, a martial artist in a state of severe injury.
And several martial artists sunk in deep sleep.
“They said that normally, we would have been unable to escape that seal.”
The martial artists of Cheonsan Martial Hall.
Martial artists sounded nice.
But in this world, they were beings classified as monsters.
The sudden invasion that had occurred in this world.
Was it some kind of defense mechanism of this world against that invasion?
Monsters possessing strength above a certain level had been sealed and prohibited from activity.
They were a representative example of that.
As time passed, those seals loosened, and powerful monsters began roaming the world.
Originally.
Only around now would Jeochil, Miho, Woojin, and the others.
Those whose individual combat power was weaker even within Cheonsan Martial Hall, have just opened their eyes.
But.
“I heard those two were able to wake thanks to the help of someone called their ‘benefactor.’”
Through Sergeant Shin Youngjun’s cooking.
Those three had been able to open their eyes early.
Of course.
As for those with even greater martial strength than those three.
Normally, it would have been natural for them to remain sealed for several more years.
But.
As time passed, that seal gradually loosened.
And at the same time.
'Sergeant Shin’s cooking skill...... has become incomparably stronger than before.'
Every time his level rose.
Sergeant Shin Youngjun had sent stronger “bad food” with greater effects to Cheonsan Martial Hall through Myoyang Temple.
The two martial artists staying at Cheonsan Martial Hall.
Jeochil and Woojin tested those dishes on their fellow disciples each time the bad food arrived.
And as a result.
“We five opened our eyes not long ago too.”
Even while the Legion was busily carrying out its Conquest War.
Inside Cheonsan Martial Hall, the sealed senior and junior disciples had been opening their eyes one by one.
“Actually, the only one who woke up just recently is Senior Sister Miyang over there. The rest of us have been awake for quite some time. In Junior Sister Sarin’s case, it has probably already been several months?”
“Pardon?”
At those words.
Corporal Jeon Gwangil could not help feeling somewhat puzzled.
Because.
“If you woke that early...... what have you been doing all this time?”
“Hm?”
“Well. As far as I know, only the two instructors agreed to cooperate with the Legion.......”
Even if they had awakened thanks to Shin Youngjun’s help.
The ones who had decided to repay that grace were only the two martial arts instructors.
Whatever the rest of them did was their own freedom.
The point that puzzled him was.
“If you are fellow disciples of the instructors...... it would not have been strange if you wanted to walk around outside freely.”
“Ah, that’s what you mean.”
People with such power had opened their eyes.
If even some of them had begun roaming the world, news would surely have reached the Legion.
But he had never heard any news of people like them being active.
The reason was simple.
“We just stayed at the martial hall.”
“......?”
“Well...... we spent time blankly meditating, or talking among ourselves as fellow disciples.”
They had opened their eyes through Shin Youngjun’s cooking.
But after awakening like that and enjoying a reunion with their fellow disciples.
They had stayed inside the martial hall without taking any action.
To the Legion members, it was puzzling.
Their skills were astonishingly excellent even in their eyes.
Each and every one of them was powerful enough to be called a boss monster.
'People like that, with that much strength, shut themselves away without doing anything.'
By nature, when one had power, one wanted to exert it.
And they were not merely somewhat strong.
With their abilities, they were at a level where most problems could likely be solved by force.
Yet they did not wield that much power, and instead simply stayed still.
The Legion members could not understand it.
“Well, that’s only natural.”
For some reason.
Those beastkin seemed to hold no desire toward the outside world.
And.
When he spoke about the reason.
“......It’s a world that will soon perish anyway. No matter what we went around doing in it, there would be no meaning.”
In Shin Jong’s eyes.
There was a strange despair that had not been there at first.
***
“Some of our senior brothers originally quite liked taking walks and looking around unfamiliar places, but.......”
“Meaningless.”
“If our lives will not be long anyway...... it is better to spend them with our fellow disciples.......”
Not only Shin Jong.
The three behind him as well.
Muttered quietly with dark expressions.
'......What is this?'
The Legion members could only feel puzzled.
What in the world had they experienced.
For people with such power to suffer from such helplessness?
'Does Sergeant Shin...... know?'
Unfortunately.
There was no one here they could ask about that.
Nor could they lightly ask the reason in such an atmosphere.
“Ahem, anyway.”
As the mood grew dark.
Shin Jong cleared his throat and continued.
“After that, contact came from the Legion. A request for us to come to the Legion.”
“The summons was a little unpleasant, but we decided to comply for now.”
“Because we wanted to see Miho and Seohwan, the two junior disciples working at the Legion, too.......”
As a result of responding to that summons and visiting the Legion.
Lieutenant General Kim Hyeon-seok had asked them for help.
“Originally, we wanted to spend the rest of our lives comfortably at the martial hall, so we were going to refuse unless there was a very good reason.”
But.
Shin Jong scratched his head with a sigh.
“Jeochil and Woojin told us that if not for that ‘benefactor,’ we would never have been able to wake like this.”
They had meant to ignore the request if it came from anyone else.
But when they were told that the benefactor was involved.
They could not bring themselves to refuse, and so had come here.
'Lieutenant General Kim °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° Hyeon-seok.......'
At those words.
The unit members thought blankly.
'Did he guess their objective just from our brief reports......?'
The Church’s objective was seizing Shin Youngjun.
And placing that “crown” on him to control him.
And.
If that objective was achieved, and Sergeant Shin Youngjun fell into their hands.
Sending hundreds of ordinary unit members would not mean much.
If Sergeant Shin Youngjun, who specialized in strengthening armies, was the enemy, then no matter how many soldiers there were, it would be meaningless.
What they needed instead was.......
'A small number of powerful individuals...... capable of subduing Sergeant Shin.'
Lieutenant General Kim Hyeon-seok had judged.
That those martial artists of Cheonsan Martial Hall were precisely that.
'The two instructors would have been fine too.......'
The teachers of the martial arts the current Legion members were learning.
Miho and Seohwan were also people who fit those conditions.
But.
'Those two had met Sergeant Shin face-to-face and become close to him.'
He must have judged that they would be unable to properly oppose Shin Youngjun.
In reality.
Until the final retreat, some soldiers had still been thinking of turning back if Shin Youngjun gave the order to stop.
To those who had belonged to the Legion for a long time, Shin Youngjun’s presence was far too enormous.
The very act of opposing him was not an easy choice.
On the other hand.
'They know the fact that they received help from Sergeant Shin.'
'But they have never interacted with him, and they have never even seen him to begin with.'
Because of that.
In a situation where they had to fight Sergeant Shin Youngjun.
They had been able to fight him with all their strength, without any hesitation.
“I’m sorry, but.”
And.
Lieutenant General Kim Hyeon-seok’s plan had certainly not been wrong.
If anything, it was strange how he had been able to foresee so much from so far away.
And if things had gone according to Lieutenant General Kim Hyeon-seok’s original plan.
They might have been able to retake Sergeant Shin Youngjun with their power.
“Somehow or other, we were able to block him...... but we failed to capture him.”
Unfortunately.
That plan had ended in only half success.
“That man...... was absurdly strong.”
“He was scaryyy.......”
They spoke with cold sweat running down their faces.
At those words.
The Legion members could not help being shocked as well.
'I heard they woke later because they were clearly stronger than the instructors.'
'Even the two instructors are incredibly powerful.'
The two instructors had also undergone a significant improvement in skill after awakening.
But judging by the timing of when they had opened their eyes.
Even taking into account that Seohwan had suffered a severe injury, there was a high probability these people had been stronger than the two instructors.
Each of the five was an extraordinary powerhouse.
If compared to monsters, they would be boss-class.
For five such people to speak like that.
“To be exact, I think we could have caught him.”
In truth.
Lieutenant General Kim Hyeon-seok’s judgment that these people could subdue Sergeant Shin Youngjun itself had not been greatly mistaken.
They had actually reached the point just before doing so.
The problem was.
“At the final moment...... the energy that flowed out of that man’s body.”
No matter how outstanding Lieutenant General Kim Hyeon-seok’s abilities were.
He could only produce the optimal result within the information given to him.
He did not know everything.
The battle in that land of China.
What had happened to Sergeant Shin Youngjun at the end of it.
And what sort of change had occurred in him as a result.
“That energy...... seemed impossible to endure.”
There was no way he could have known, even if he had wanted to.
