novelraw Chapter 85
Chapter 85
Chapter 85
“It wasn't money to be used just for the followers in Qinghai; I was planning to send it to the lower branches of the Intelligence Pavilion scattered in various places.”
“Wouldn't it be nice if you said that all at once?”
Ak Gun-so grinned as if the Cult Leader's reaction were amusing, and Cheon Ha-seong, looking at Ak Gun-so's cute face, ended up bursting into laughter.
“The Vice Chief of the Intelligence Pavilion is teasing me, and my son-in-law is laughing at me so loudly. I don't know how I've ended up in this state.”
However, a pleasant smile was on the Cult Leader's face as he said that.
“Hurry and bring in the safes. I must have a look at those commendable gold taels.”
From then on, a bustle of activity occurred for a while.
Several safes were moved, and the Cult Leader looked at the money that filled them.
“Having gained a good son-in-law, I'm getting to touch money I would have never been able to touch in my life.”
Listening to the Cult Leader's words, he asked something he had been curious about.
“Cult Leader, what is the Divine Cult's annual budget?”
“If nothing special happens, we could probably use the money the Vice Chief brought for the next five years. That is, if we don't particularly increase our expenditures.”
“What good is it to just pile up money? How about you support the Martial Arts Academy with one-tenth of it? And I think it would be good to change the way the Martial Arts Academy is run, instead of operating it in the same way as now. We could support the particularly talented among them with spiritual elixirs from the cult and teach them martial arts.”
The Cult Leader nodded his head without much thought.
The Cult Leader had high expectations for Cheon Ha-seong, but he had been thinking that the part he would be most interested in would likely be the Martial Arts Academy.
It was a place to which he had devoted such a long time; if he didn't, that would be stranger.
“I would also like to discuss it with Senior Danmok and be able to teach the martial arts he has created. Since everyone's talents are different, if a variety of opportunities are given, I think they will be able to find what they are good at among them.”
However, at those words, it seemed he could not easily nod his head.
“I don't think he would agree. Isn't he the one who hid the commentary, against the interests of our cult, in order to master the Heaven-Shattering Will Art by himself?”
“If I succeed in persuading him, will you give your permission?”
“First, I will have to see those wicked arts for myself. Among martial arts, there are some that contain danger and harm people. There are some that, if one starts to learn them under the temptation that they will become strong quickly, can make one's mind become strange or lead to death.”
Knowing what the Cult Leader was worried about, Cheon Ha-seong also promised to do so.
Seeing that, the Cult Leader smiled to himself.
It was because he thought that his son-in-law didn't seem to find the old monster of the Divine Cult, whom no one had been able to control until now, difficult at all.
……
Various matters were accomplished quickly.
Ak Gun-so, who had returned to Qinghai, found Danmok Muyeol. It was thanks to him having secretly sprinkled a tracking fragrance on him beforehand, thinking he might need to find him again soon.
Even when Ak Gun-so went to find him, it seemed Danmok Muyeol had no idea that he had sprinkled a tracking fragrance on him.
Instead, he found it strange, thinking that they were running into each other quite often by chance.
“Young Family Head, could you spare a moment?”
Ak Gun-so said quietly as he passed by, and Danmok Muyeol followed him.
Ak Gun-so confirmed that Danmok Muyeol was following, led him into a deserted alley, and there, he relayed the Cult Leader's will.
Danmok Muyeol couldn't hold back his surprise, wondering what he was talking about.
“Is that… Is that really true?”
Tears even welled up in Danmok Muyeol's eyes. Having become a person who could not return home overnight, he couldn't express how desperate a wish it had become to return there.
“This will be your last chance. Please do not disappoint the Cult Leader again.”
“I will keep that in mind. I am ashamed.”
“The Cult Leader has high expectations for you. He was pleased and smiled the whole time he was listening to the story. And he was happy that you had come to have a heart for the followers.”
Danmok Muyeol nodded his head and listened attentively.
“Please hurry. It seemed many things will be starting anew in the Divine Cult. You must lend your great strength, Young Family Head.”
“Understood, Vice Chief. Thank you for delivering the good news.”
At that, Ak Gun-so smiled and gave a nod.
If other people had seen that sight, they would have thought it was very strange.
A grown man was crying in front of a fresh-faced boy and even bowing.
Danmok Muyeol quickly wiped away his tears and left the alley. It seemed he had a talent for stealing horses, as he had stolen one and sold it as stolen goods, and his subordinates were all out selling the horses at that moment.
Thinking the Cult Leader would never call for him again, he had gone astray with the intention of rebelling, but it would be a big problem if he were caught having stolen horses in Qinghai.
It seemed Ak Gun-so hadn't noticed that yet, so he had to quickly find his subordinates and wash his hands of it as if it had never happened.
With that thought, as Danmok Muyeol was leaving in a hurry, Tang So-cheol walked towards him from the opposite direction with a distraught face.
Danmok Muyeol knew Tang So-cheol, but he did not know Danmok Muyeol. And he had not imagined that the source of the matter that had plunged him into anguish was Danmok Muyeol.
Passing by Danmok Muyeol, Tang So-cheol was lost in deep thought by himself.
‘I heard the Azure Sea Sect enjoyed a power that the emperor himself would not envy in Qinghai, so where did all that money disappear to? I arrived without being too late… Could it be that the bastards from the underworld stole the money before that? If I had known, I should have checked the places where the money might have been as soon as I got to the Azure Sea Sect…’
It wasn't as if the harvest had been nonexistent.
He had managed to secure a good number of weapons, as well as silk, porcelain, paintings, and calligraphy. However, compared to what Tang So-cheol had been expecting, it was a drop in the ocean.
The ironic thing was that the three people who had been delayed by him were now suspecting him because of it.
They too found it strange that the wealth of the Azure Sea Sect had disappeared and believed that Tang So-cheol had gone first and spirited it away.
Tang So-cheol, having no time to confront them, ignored them all and left, but the problem never left his mind.
However, no matter how much he agonized and moved about busily, the disappeared money would never fall into his or the Sichuan Tang Clan's hands.
……
At the news that the Principal and several Head Instructors would be leaving the Martial Arts Academy, the atmosphere in the Academy became unsettled.
The Head Instructors and candidates gathered in small groups here and there, talking about what would become of the Martial Arts Academy. However, there was no one who knew for certain about the Academy's future. Moreover, they didn't even know why the Principal and the Head Instructors were suddenly leaving.
On that day as well, all the Head Instructors and candidates were proceeding with the curriculum with troubled hearts.
Then, someone spotted Cheon Ha-seong's arrival.
“Head Instructor Cheon. No, I mean…”
The fellow Head Instructor, who had casually called him Head Instructor Cheon as usual, soon recalled that Cheon Ha-seong's status had changed.
The husband of the Young Supreme One.
The son-in-law of the Cult Leader.
Thinking that he had suddenly become a person they could not carelessly make eye contact with, he shut his mouth.
Cheon Ha-seong, knowing this, approached him.
“You can continue to call me Head Instructor Cheon, Senior. I am sorry for not having been able to come to the Martial Arts Academy until now. From now on, I will work hard to make up for my absence.”
At that, the Head Instructors sneakily gathered around him.
“Do you… know anything about the matter of the Principal and the other Head Instructors, Head Instructor Cheon?”
Although Cheon Ha-seong had told him to call him Head Instructor Cheon, it seemed he was saying it as a test, not being confident if it was really alright to do so.
“Yes, the people who were deemed unsuitable for the Martial Arts Academy in the Cult Leader's eyes have been sorted out. The direction of the Martial Arts Academy will change a little from now on. And the time when you could call me Head Instructor Cheon was just until now.”
“…?”
The people thought he must have been offended after all.
They also reproached themselves, thinking that no matter how much Cheon Ha-seong had told them to call him Head Instructor Cheon, it was absurd to speak informally and call the Cult Leader's son-in-law that. As they were hurrying to apologize, Cheon Ha-seong's words continued.
“From now on, I will become the new Principal of the Martial Arts Academy and will try to change it. I will need all of your help.”
The Head Instructors wore bewildered faces, wondering what was going on, while the candidates felt a sense of excitement and anticipation.
Among the candidates was Cheok Gyo-woon, and even he had not heard the story Cheon Ha-seong was telling.
He thought that it seemed there was no end to the interesting things that were happening.
“Until now, the candidates who have entered the Martial Arts Academy have mostly had to pass through on their own, with the martial arts and skills they have trained in. But from now on, the function of an educational institution will be added to the Martial Arts Academy. It will not be completely different from before, but if individual quality was important before, the role of the Head Instructors will now become greater.”
Even as they listened to Cheon Ha-seong's explanation, the people tilted their heads, as if they didn't quite get a feel for it.
“From now on, we will make it so that more candidates can pass the Martial Arts Academy. We will make it so they leave with skills equal to or better than those who have passed the Martial Arts Academy before.”
“And the Head Instructors will be teaching us to do that?”
When a candidate asked, Cheon Ha-seong nodded.
It seemed the Head Instructors were also starting to grasp his meaning.
“What happens if we are not qualified?”
A Head Instructor, as if thinking it would not be fitting to continue speaking informally to him now that Cheon Ha-seong had called himself the Principal, automatically spoke respectfully and asked.
“From now on, the role of the Head Instructors is truly important. If you think you cannot do it, you will have to quit. But if you have the will to do it, I will help you. Even if your martial skill is not high, if you have academic depth, that too will be helpful to the candidates. It would be good if you can help with things like pharmacology or medical arts, and the same goes for knowing how to handle unusual weapons.”
The Head Instructors got a general idea of what they had to do to survive in the Martial Arts Academy from now on. And they each nodded, as if thinking of their own strengths.
“I look forward to working with you all. The goal of the Martial Arts Academy is to create stronger martial artists for the Divine Cult.”
Cheon Ha-seong said that and paused for a moment. The people who heard his words must have known that the goal of the Martial Arts Academy had changed.
The reason people had come to the Martial Arts Academy was because passing through it was considered essential to becoming a member of the Divine Cult's leadership.
So for a long time, the goal of the Martial Arts Academy had been to become a member of the leadership.
But now, Cheon Ha-seong had said it was to create stronger martial artists for the Divine Cult.
Cheon Ha-seong, seeing the people thinking about the meaning of his words, spoke again.