Chapter 99. A Capable Monster
Before and after the Six Families Assembly.
The mood in the Sado Family was vastly different.
“Hey, did you hear the news?”
“What news?”
“I got to know a physician working at the Demon Medical Hall, lately… our clan head beat Clan Head Jin…”
“What? Is that true? Our clan head beat Jin Yeongryeong, Clan Head Jin?”
“They say so. They say he smashed him so badly that Clan Head Jin has a seizure just from seeing our clan head.”
“No wonder those sly Shadow Blood Jin Clan bastards suddenly vanished from the streets… so that was it?”
“Our clan head, it seems he is not just all talk.”
“Bah, how can you even say that!”
The more you try to stop rumors, the more they bloat.
What happened on the Island of Restless Souls, was supposed to be kept secret, and in fact, that principle had been well kept down the years.
The reason Sado Hwan did not know what was on Island of Restless Souls was because the secret had been well guarded until now.
But this assembly was different. An outsider, the Demonic Physician, entered this time, and physicians to attend him came in as well.
So it became difficult to maintain secrecy.
The First Elder of the Sado Family heard the rumor on the last day when the assembly’s plenary session was being held.
“Do not talk nonsense! You say Sado Hwan beat Jin Yeongryeong?”
The First Elder strode around the room in a paranoid frenzy. Extreme anxiety was etched across his deeply wrinkled face.
“What is Chu Taesu doing! Did he not say that if we just sent them to Island of Restless Souls, he would take care of it himself…”
Who is Chu Taesu?
Even if he lagged a little when Sado Gwang was alive, he was the man who, by all accounts, called himself and was called the Divine Cult’s brain for generations.
If such a man spoke so confidently, should he not have kept his word?
Then why is the circulating rumor not that Sado Hwan fell, but that Jin Yeongryeong became a cripple?
Anxiety turned to fear and began to eat away at the First Elder.
“Sixth Elder! Sixth Elder! Sado Chunseok! Where are you!”
As if he had forgotten with his own hands he had killed the Sixth Elder, the First Elder began to rave.
“Uwaaaah!”
Clang!
The sound of furnishings breaking rang from beyond the First Elder’s door.
And another rumor began to circulate in the Sado Family.
After returning to the family, I was washing up and resting in my room.
Once again, our Horak came bustling in making a fuss. Just a while ago he was still woozy saying he was dizzy, but whether it was the Blood Replenishing Pill working well or that he simply loved being home, his complexion had completely returned.
At that bright, innocent look, I felt that familiar aggravation starting to rise, but what he brought was actually useful.
“What about the First Elder?”
“They say he is senile.”
“All of a sudden?”
“Yes. Suddenly. More precisely, from the moment he heard the rumor that you beat Jin Yeongryeong, Clan Head.”
“So that rumor is out there.”
“Yes. Those fools did not know how it happened, so I explained what I saw with my own two eyes.”
“...”
My mild irritation turned into outright anger.
It is fine that I beat Jin Yeongryeong. It is even fine that the clan heads of the Six Demon Families now recognize me as a powerhouse and do not dare to pounce, since they witnessed it with their own eyes.
But what about those who only hear of it as rumor.
If they are Divine Cult folk, their blood will boil and they will line up to challenge me. Of course, as always, I could use the Saweol shield, but there could be a case where someone challenges me when I am alone.
There could even be people within the family who try to challenge me, right?
The Sado Family alone numbers in the thousands. At that size, the probability of having zero crazies is 0.
This has become troublesome.
As expected, our Horak does not disappoint.
“Tak Horak.”
“Yes, Clan Head, give your order!”
“If I told you to choose between a two month pay cut and two days in the Disciplinary Wing, which would you hate more?”
“Mm, let me see. Personally, I hate Disciplinary Wing more. It is too damp, and Do Il-gwang bullies me. Ah, now there is also the… former clan head there, is there not?”
“As I thought.”
With a warm smile, I said,
“Then go spend two days in Disciplinary Wing.”
“Huh?”
“Go find out what Sado Muyul is up to. While you are at it, have the martial arts you learned from Do Il-gwang checked.”
“Ah, that is true!”
“There is no one of your caliber.”
“Ha ha! Thank you!”
“What are you doing? Why are you not departing.”
“Yessir! I will depart at once!”
Having thus dealt with Tak Horak, I spoke with Skybreaker.
“The First Elder becoming senile is not purely a good thing.”
[That is right. He is still one of the two legs supporting the Sado Family, after all.]
The Sado Family’s power was split into two, the New Clan Head faction that supported me and the Elder faction that supported the elder.
The problem was, even the New Clan Head faction was, frankly, a motley crew that banded and scattered. At best, only the uncle called Mu Yeong-do was usable, and beyond that, it was a situation where I did not even clearly know who was who.
By contrast, the Elder faction, though harboring some different schemes, was a group that had continuously devoted loyalty to the Sado Family. To maintain the clan, the Elder faction’s strength was also necessary.
A complete mess.
“From the start, trying to make up for the small number of top experts by just bloating the size was the problem.”
[You are saying an overhaul is needed…]
Skybreaker continued.
[Monster. Do not concern yourself.]
“Huh?”
[Matters of the clan are my business anyway. When I get my body back, you will return in the end. I will have to clean up.]
“Hearing it put that way makes me oddly a little sad. But it is also true.”
I cannot live in this world forever and solve its problems.
Suddenly, I was curious.
If I return to my original world, what happens to Return of the Murim?
Does it become a separate story that exists only in my head, or does the content change?
Maybe because my Mental Domain has been rattled so much lately, I have had a lot of idle thoughts.
“It is not purely because of you either. If our base in the Divine Cult is solid, it is convenient for me to operate too.”
[Is that what you called tsundere, the thing you mentioned?]
“Ah, I feel like I am contaminating you. Just forget it.”
[Sometimes I am curious about the world you lived in.]
“Come visit if you can.”
At my words, Skybreaker vibrated as if laughing.
“First, let us draft a reorganization plan. I am also crazy good at drawing org charts.”
***
A few more days passed.
The First Elder was certainly senile. I did send him to the Demonic Physician to receive treatment, but it did not seem he would easily return to form.
He was an old man to begin with, but I did not expect an early exit like this.
For now, I convened an interim clan head meeting and, while leaving the First Elder’s seat as is, appointed the Second Elder as the head of the Elder faction.
The Second Elder was more docile than I expected, and it seemed that was because, with what happened on Island of Restless Souls becoming known, he truly acknowledged me as a true top expert. No matter how much of a madhouse the Sado Family was, it was still a Divine Cult clan that revered the strong. It was a moment I felt a little sorry toward Tak Horak.
The most surprising on return was Cho Ryang. The phrase “eye-opening growth” seems made for this kid.
I had briefly forgotten, but learning poison arts under the Poison Demon, Cho Ryang was growing rapidly stronger. He had not even been learning martial arts that long, but they said he was already second-rate. He had reached the stage where he could sense and circulate qi.
He even said his power to control animals seemed to have grown stronger. In the past it was centered on mystic beasts with whom he could communicate, but now he showed he could control, to some extent, even beasts that did not communicate.
And so, Cho Ryang wore a sparrow on his shoulder like an ornament.
Meanwhile, some people sit on tremendous power and cannot even use it.
“Well, he is the guy who once stirred up all of Sichuan alone.”
The original “One-Eyed Beast Master” Cho Ryang, single-handedly, though strictly speaking it was hard to call it single-handed since he brought mystic beasts, bathed Sichuan Province in blood. In the process, the Emei Sect was annihilated, and the Sichuan Tang Clan’s power shrank by about half, that was how great Cho Ryang was.
In a few months he will probably hit first-rate, and by next year he will suddenly exude a poisonous aura and say, “I reached Peak realm, hehe.”
Truly, this world is one where talent is everything, and supreme.
There was also information I heard from Tak Horak after he returned from the Disciplinary Wing. As expected, Sado Muyul contacted Do Il-gwang, and, as expected, got thrashed.
So Sado Muyul hid deep within Disciplinary Wing and could do nothing.
If it were someone else, I would have to beware of someone hiding to lie low and plan revenge, but who knows. Sado Muyul is not the type who can do that. I was not greatly worried.
In any case, the scariest one in Disciplinary Wing, Do Il-gwang, is on my side.
Lastly, I carried out a large-scale restructuring. Through the reorganization, I merged or split units, and even abolished useless ones. For example, units like the First Elder’s direct guard.
Of course, there was pushback.
However, there was no one gutsy enough to openly oppose the orders of me, the clan head who, as a Transcendent Peak expert, had defeated Jin Yeongryeong. (As an aside, there were an awful lot of people who challenged me or requested a one-exchange spar. Naturally, I had Saweol handle all of them.)
Even if I abolished a unit, I guaranteed employment, or, if they preferred, let them leave with ample compensation.
I had Saweol audit the whole process to prevent any ill-gotten skimming of compensation. I also come from a decent small company background, so I do not fire people recklessly.
[It looks mostly sorted. Thanks to the reorg, projected operating costs dropped by about a tenth. You are a more capable monster than I thought.]
‘That is all because I inherited Boss Kim’s legacy. He drilled cost reduction into us nonstop.’
[It sounds like this Boss Kim was a very capable leader. Truly a model.]
‘He was a very capable bastard. Not a model, someone who should have been jailed. Ugh, exhausting.’
Drained, I flopped onto the bed. Thanks to the Heavenly Demon Divine Art strengthening this body, it hardly ever tires, but my mind desperately craved rest.
I wanted to lie like this and truly do nothing.
At least if I am lying in my room, no one will suddenly pop out saying they want to challenge me.
If I say I am taking a siesta, maybe they will not bother me?
Who knows…
It was at the moment I was sprawled on the bed, hovering on the edge of a drowsy sleep.
A presence. It seems like Tak Horak.
“...”
From far off, I could hear, “Clan Heaaad! Clan Heaaad!” That fussing voice. Even without Skybreaker telling me, I could guess.
“Clan Head! Are you inside?”
“I am.”
“Excuse me!”
Tak Horak burst the door open and came in, his face flushed.
I waited for his mouth to open, ready to send him to Disciplinary Wing for a week instead of two days if he spouted nonsense again.
“Clan Head! An urgent message!”
“What is it?”
“The Supreme One, the Supreme One is summoning you.”
“The Supreme One, summoning me?”
The Heavenly Demon is summoning me? Why?
“Yes! As before, the Judge of Life and Death, Gu Jin-gyeong, is waiting outside.”