Chapter 752: The Scenery of Home (2)

“Shin Jong!”

“How dare you be rude to Senior Sister......!”

The other fellow disciples were horrified.

“No, do not blame Junior Brother. What he said is not wrong either.”

The other fellow disciples were horrified and glared at Shin Jong.

But Miho calmly nodded.

“I failed to consider how you all felt. If that offended you, I shall apologize.”

“......Well, I did not say it because I wanted an apology.”

“Shin Jong, you......!”

And.

I felt a strange current flowing between them.

‘They are blaming Shin Jong, but.......’

The other four pointing out that Shin Jong.

But.

It seemed they too felt that the fault for this matter lay with Miho.

They were only pointing him out because his attitude had been rude.

I could guess the reason to some extent.

‘......This place is their home alone.’

It was not just those five.

Even Seohwan had tried not to let anyone into this land until he was threatened by me and the Legion members.

A world destroyed after a long war.

The last remaining fragment of that world, and their home.

They must have had many memories, and their attachment to it would be beyond imagination.

But.

Miho had tried to share her memories and recollections of such a place with me.

‘It must have felt like their last remaining home was being taken from them.’

Just as there are memories one wants to share, there are also memories one wants to leave as only one’s own.

This land must have been an area they did not want to share with others.

But for some reason, Miho had wanted to share those memories with me.

‘There is no way she did that without thinking...... probably.’

If it had been done by some foolish person, I would not know.

But Miho was the greatest martial scholar of this Cheonsan Martial Hall...... in other words, a scholar.

I too had interacted with her in the process of learning martial arts, and knew that she was an extremely wise person.

There was no way such a woman had failed to anticipate that others would dislike what she had done.

And yet, she had gone out of her way to do it?

‘......And here I thought I came thinking there would be no particular problem.’

This visit to the martial hall, which I had expected would be uneventful.

I began to think Miho’s thoughts might have been different from mine.

“You said you came to find out what you could do, Commander.”

While I was thinking that.

Miho spoke while straightening the hair of that tiger man...... Cheonho.

“As I told you, Senior Brother Cheonho was someone who stood before ascension. And that is not all. These four who still lie here are precisely those who, excluding Master, possessed the greatest skill in our sect.”

“I suppose so.”

“The imperial family, the Heavenly Heart Alliance, the Black Demon Alliance, the Great Light Sect....... Even the greatest forces in our world did not dare treat them carelessly.”

It seemed this martial hall itself had been treated specially in their world.

But even among them, these four seemed to have been treated with particular distinction.

Should I think of it as something like...... the Four Heavenly Kings?

“The being that descended in the north surely possesses transcendent power, but I heard that right now it is trapped by the limitations of a body.”

And only then.

I was able to understand at least part of the reason Miho had brought me here.

“If the strength of the Legion, and the strength of these four, were added together.”

“.......”

“No. Even if only the strength of Senior Brother Cheonho alone were added, many things would change.”

Miho looked at me and spoke.

“These may be the very people included in the range of things the Commander can do.”

Among the enemies our unit had fought, the most powerful ones.

The grand duke, and that leech as well.

They were beings we could not defeat with our pure strength alone.

The grand duke was defeated through the contract that stole that blood.

The leech was defeated because we were the rightful successors of this land.

The amount of power I could feel from Cheonho was similar to those two.

Besides, according to my experience.

‘Their true skill is stronger than the power felt from their bodies.’

No matter how sharp one’s senses may be.

The power that can be confirmed just by looking is limited to that of the body.

Things like the amount of mana or the density of muscle.

But this place was a martial hall where those who trained in martial arts gathered.

Their true ability came not from the body, but from technique.

That was why they were far stronger than the level of mana emitted from their bodies or the visible level they had as awakened.

If this man’s strength really was similar to that of the grand duke.

Then with the method I had thought of, and this man’s strength.

By combining the two, it might be possible to subjugate that enemy in the north, which was still bound by the limitations of a body, but.

“That will be difficult.”

I shook my head and said.

***

“The way I wake you people is through a debuff...... a method of suppressing your physical abilities. In fact, most of you still cannot do it without that method, can you?”

“That is correct.”

“The strength of these four is too great. Even with my cooking now, waking them will be impossible.”

To begin with.

I had been periodically sending food to this martial hall so that the other martial artists could be awakened.

All the food sent like that had been debuff dishes made with everything we had.

If they were people who had failed to wake even with those dishes, then even a dish made now with all my strength would not make a great difference.

“The weakest one at least...... that rabbit-eared one might be possible. But even if she were awakened like that, her physical abilities would be greatly suppressed.”

With their martial skill, they would be helpful even with such weakened bodies.

But it would be impossible for them to provide a decisive level of help.

It would only mean the beastkin, who were currently seven, would become eight.

Nothing more, nothing less.

“But.......”

Perhaps unable to give up even so.

Miho looked at her own hand and said.

“Commander, you must know as well.”

“Mm?”

“When we first met you, we were in a state where we had suffered severe internal injuries.”

When their world was destroyed.

This martial hall had been a battlefield that resisted the invaders until the very end.

A battle that ultimately ended in defeat.

All those who had participated in that battle had suffered great wounds.

‘The reason Seohwan could keep his eyes open even without the help of my cooking was not because he was weak.’

It was because his wounds were so serious.

He had been weakened enough to escape the seal.

“But as time passed, our internal injuries were gradually brought under control, and with the Legion’s treatment, they were almost completely healed.”

“Huh?”

“That is not all. While teaching the disciples of the Legion, Seohwan and I also trained our martial arts. In the process of teaching, we too gained many things.”

The wounds had been recovering.

The martial arts had been trained.

In other words.

“As time passed, Hwan and I grew stronger than we had been when we met you, Commander.”

A seal that gradually weakened as time passed.

Even when I first met them, it had seemed as if not much time remained before the seal was released.

Normally, after some time passed, they should have become free from the seal’s influence even without eating my cooking, but.

“From a certain point onward, we began strengthening the intensity of the bad food even more.”

“......!”

Even so, they had ordered and eaten stronger debuff dishes.

What this meant was simple.

‘These two were becoming stronger faster than the seal was weakening.’

I recalled the orders that came into the Legion cafeteria.

Certainly.

The debuff intensity of the bad food requested by these two had gradually been increasing.

Because their own strength had grown stronger, they had requested greater debuffs in order to become free from the seal.

“......No, wait a second.”

But.

After remembering that much, I recalled a certain change that had happened recently.

“It seems you have noticed, Commander.”

The order requests coming into the Legion cafeteria.

I remembered that their contents had changed a little.

“Since some time ago...... we have no longer needed to eat your bad food, Commander.”

“......!”

“To be precise, since we became affiliated with the System.”

As if trying to confirm the power of her own body.

Miho clenched her hand tightly.......

“This world no longer restricts our power.”

“......!”

At those words of hers.

I answered with a little surprise.

“W-wait. You stopped eating my bad food? I definitely remember that the required amount of debuff decreased, but requests for bad food supplies were still coming in.”

Because of that.

I had not expected that they had become free from the seal.

“Ah, I did not say we did not eat it. We no longer needed to eat it, but we continued ordering and eating it.”

“What? You said you no longer needed the debuff, so why.”

“Because it is delicious.”

“.......”

“At first, we began eating the food in order to avoid the seal, but after becoming used to eating it every day...... it was not easy to quit.”

In other words.

From a certain point onward, they had not been eating bad food for the purpose of avoiding the seal.

They had been eating bad food for exactly the same reason everyone else ate bad food.

“For those who belong to the System, the seal does not activate.”

In any case.

What mattered was that after they had gone through [Awakening].

The seal of this world, which activated against powerful enemies, had not been aimed at them.

In other words.

“That is probably...... the same for these four as well.”

If the others also came to belong to the System.

Their complete power.......

No.

It might become possible to borrow power made even stronger by the support of the System.

“We too never thought such a thing would be possible. But...... the one who made it possible for us to belong to the System was you, Commander.”

Miho looked at me with eyes filled with lingering attachment.

Eyes that, for some reason, contained great desperation.

“If waking them through a debuff is impossible, is there no way to make them belong to the System and wake them......?”

“.......”

“It would be impossible for anyone else, but...... if it is you.”

Miho seemed to want to succeed in this no matter what.

At first, I thought it was simply a wish that those four fellow disciples would also open their eyes.

Or perhaps that she wanted to succeed in this as a method to solve the problem in the north.

But.

‘It is a little different.’

I thought that was not all.

Because.

The desperation contained in those eyes was not merely about wanting this to succeed.......

‘Fear of what would happen if this did not succeed.’

They were eyes mixed with a strange fear.

That was what they were.

Well.

She was looking at me with eyes like that.

I too wanted to somehow tell her that it was possible, but.

“......I’m sorry.”

Even so.

I could not lie.

“I did modify the System, but whether someone meets the changed awakening conditions or not depends on the individual. It is not something I can do anything about when it comes to people who are asleep.”

“Is...... that so.”

“Thank you for thinking of a method, but...... I do not think waking these four is ‘something I can do.’”

Miho had been looking at me with eyes full of lingering attachment.

But.

“......I understand.”

Soon, she nodded.

And then.

She rose from where she had been sitting while stroking the faces of her four fellow disciples.

“Then let us go to the next place.”

“The next place?”

“I have introduced you to most of the martial hall’s locations, so only one place remains.”

With those words, she looked elsewhere.

And only after seeing that gaze.

I was able to roughly guess the reason she had wanted to wake those four.

“Jeochil...... It seems that child is indeed working diligently, unlike him.”

What she had truly wanted.

Was not to wake those four right away.

“Master’s residence.......”

“.......”

“I will guide you to the Dragon Heaven Pavilion.”

But to make it so there would be no need to go to that next place.......

That was what it had been.

***

“Senior Sister!”

“Even so, going that far is......!”

When Miho said she would guide us to the Dragon Heaven Pavilion.

The five beastkin immediately objected.

Seeing that, I thought.

‘......As expected.’

Miho had been fearing something since earlier.

No, it was not only Miho.

‘Those five are the same.’

The monks of Myoyangsa had originally been coming near this place to deliver food and supplies.

But these people had refused that help.

For some reason, they disliked outsiders approaching the area near this martial hall.

Despite that, when they guided us inside the martial hall, there had not been any great objection.

So I had wondered what they were afraid of.

But now I finally understood.

‘Dragon Heaven Pavilion.’

Miho, and those five as well.

I did not know the exact reason.

But it was clear they were afraid of what would happen when I visited that place.

“Do not worry. The Commander is not someone who would cause trouble.”

“From Senior Sister’s position, working together with the Legion, perhaps that may be so. But we still cannot trust that man to such an extent.”

But.

If that was the case, then from the beginning, all they had to do was not guide me inside this martial hall.

Miho too, if she was that afraid of what would happen after going to that Dragon Heaven Pavilion.

Had no need to go out of her way to say she would guide me there.

“Even if that is so, is it not the same?”

Even so.

The reason Miho brought up those words was...... simpler than I had thought.

“Have you forgotten Master’s words?”

“.......”

“Th, that is.......”

At those words from Miho.

Their expressions twisted.

‘......Master’s words?’

I did not know what their master had said.

But those five beastkin could not make any rebuttal at all against that one short sentence.

“I will guide you. Please follow me.”

When the five beastkin could not make any objection.

Miho calmly began guiding me somewhere.

“......Because Master was of a nature that disliked commotion, he did not belong to any force on the ground.”

As she did so.

Miho began speaking of the past.

“Even so, he enjoyed interacting with strong people.”

“......Did you not say he disliked commotion?”

“Yes. I know what you are thinking. The world below the mountain was noisy, so he disliked going down, but he wanted to enjoy interacting with strong people...... and so, there was one rule he set.”

Even while following behind Miho.

The five frowned and sighed.

“When someone came to seek him out, do not stop that person.”

“Huh?”

At those words, I let out a hollow laugh.

It sounded nice to say something about a person of skill worthy of acknowledgment.

But I had heard that their master had been one of the most prominent figures in their world.

Their world was one that valued martial skill.

And he was a person counted among the highest in such a world.

There must have been many who came to visit, and those who came to challenge him must have been even more numerous.

There must also have been many problems caused by them.

To create a rule like that while accepting all of it.

‘......The Martial Pavilion, the library Miho manages. It had an enormous number of martial arts books taken from others.’

What kind of personality their master had.

I could roughly guess.

“Ah...... of course, it was not as if there were no conditions at all.”

“Mm?”

But.

It seemed their master had not been a completely unreasonable person.

“There were conditions to that as well.”

It seemed he had not truly accepted every person who came to visit without any conditions.

Well, if that had been the case, there would have been no need for a place like the Sword-Laying Pond at the entrance.

“When someone with sufficient qualifications came to seek him out...... only then, do not stop that visitor.”

“Sufficient qualifications?”

Only after hearing Miho’s following words.

I understood why these people, who disliked so much that I was heading to Master’s residence.

Could not stop me.

“Someone who has defeated more than half of the disciples, or else received their acknowledgment.”

“.......”

There were thirteen disciples of the martial hall in total.

Among them, two had acknowledged me and joined the Legion.

And among them, five had been defeated by me.

The disciples who met the condition were seven.

“We cannot stop your visit, Commander.”

Right.

Without even knowing it myself.

“The Commander is someone Master would want to see.”

I had ended up entering the ranks of people.

Their master would want to meet.