Chapter 131. Scars (3)

I descended Limgosan with the children.

Should I call this fortunate?

Perhaps because they were children who had received assassin training, none of them had poor stamina.

Even while descending the mountain, none of them showed any signs of difficulty.

No.

Even after descending the mountain and walking for a long time after that, for over two shichen, not a single one of the children opened their mouths.

“……”

Even while dripping with sweat, they all just walked with unemotional expressions.

“Speak up if you’re tired.”

At my words, the children looked at each other.

Soon after, the girl who had identified herself as Choyeon answered.

“When you say ‘tired,’ what level are you referring to?”

“……”

I suppose this is what it means to have to teach them everything from one to ten.

Usually, it was normal for children to cry, complain, and throw tantrums at the slightest hardship.

Only then did the Tang Clan bastard, also seeming concerned about the children, ask them.

“Does anyone have sore legs or a sore back?”

“This much is nothing.”

As expected, an unemotional answer. The Tang Clan bastard frowned and approached the children.

“I’ll just perform a brief examination.”

Even as the Tang Clan bastard approached and extended his hand, the children remained expressionless.

A moment later, after examining all the children, the Tang Clan bastard let out a sigh.

“Haaah.”

“Is it serious?”

“By your standards, it’s not serious.”

“What are my standards?”

“Isn’t your standard ‘as long as they don’t die, it’s fine’?”

“……”

I couldn’t bring myself to say no.

“Anyway, it’s not so bad that they’ll be crippled right away. But normally, most children would be crying and making a fuss by now.”

I nodded and said.

“The sun is setting anyway, so it would be better to stay the night at that village up ahead.”

A village was visible in the distance.

“We should be arriving soon, so hang in there a little longer.”

The response that came back was, as expected, unemotional.

“Understood.”

After walking for another quarter of an hour, we arrived at the village.

Fortunately, it was a village with an inn.

Since there were nearly twenty of us, we had to rent out almost the entire inn.

Surprisingly, there was no major problem.

My junior sister grandly took out a silver ingot and presented it.

“Where did you get that?”

At my question, my junior sister smiled faintly.

“I took it when we dealt with the Dragon King Fortress, Senior Brother. It would have been conspicuous to give it all to the Azure Stream Escort Agency, anyway.”

Since those were my words, I had nothing to say.

We sat at the table and waited for the waiter to bring the food.

Soon, dishes were placed all over the table.

The children just sat in a proper posture, waiting.

Children who only moved when ordered.

Children who did not know how to express their own emotions and thoughts.

It was frustrating, but the sense of pity was even greater.

“Eat.”

Only after my permission was given did the children move their chopsticks.

Even though they were eating, the meal was so quiet it was chilling.

It felt like I was eating with assassins, not children.

Since I wasn’t the type to talk while eating, I didn’t pay much mind.

But my junior sister seemed to feel differently and asked the girl named Choyeon.

“Wasn’t it difficult walking all the way here?”

“It was fine compared to the training we received there.”

“Then what kind of training was difficult?”

Choyeon frowned as if it were a difficult question.

The girl, who seemed to be contemplating something, answered unemotionally.

“The most painful was the training to endure torture.”

Dang Sopyeong and my junior sister let out groans.

“Heoeo……”

“How could they……”

Nam Geon tilted his head, seemingly not recalling what kind of training that was.

At this, my junior sister whispered something to Nam Geon, and Nam Geon made a sorrowful face.

“I-I was also hit every day while training in the Iron Blood Golden Skin Art. I-it hurt a lot.”

Come to think of it, the one most accustomed to torture here was Nam Geon.

A thought suddenly occurred to me.

The children, wrapped in black from head to toe.

I thought that their clothes might be hiding a plethora of scars.

As my thoughts reached that point, killing intent naturally stirred within me.

“I hope that Moon Lord bastard finds us as soon as possible.”

I wanted to stick a knife in his body for every scar on those children’s bodies.

Despite our reactions, Choyeon’s expression remained unemotional.

“And the most difficult thing was the training to endure hunger.”

This time, even the Tang Clan bastard tilted his head.

“Why is that training necessary?”

I answered on the girl’s behalf.

“Think about the methods of assassins. They have to aim for when the opponent is off guard. To put it bluntly, there are cases where they just hide and wait for days. If they eat then, wouldn’t they need to go to the latrine?”

Well, it could have been training to cultivate patience, but I thought there might be this purpose as well.

“Heoeo. That could be. But how do you know so well?”

“I know because I’ve done it.”

In my past life, I had used any means necessary to hunt down trash stronger than me.

“……Were you also from an assassin background?”

As the Tang Clan bastard said, perhaps I was also a type of assassin.

But I shook my head.

“It just so happened that I did such things while cleaning up trash.”

I hadn’t gone so far as to train to endure torture like these children.

Most importantly, assassins did it because someone ordered them to or for money.

On the other hand, I did it of my own volition.

The nature was different.

***

The next day, we bought a carriage.

It was because of the children.

Although they had decent stamina from their assassin training, it wasn’t enough to keep up with us.

Except for Choyeon, who was the most skilled, and a boy of about her age.

Moreover, it was clear they would endure and walk even while their muscles developed problems.

What was surprising was that this was also thanks to my junior sister.

“There’s quite a bit of wealth left from the Dragon King Fortress. We can sell the carriage again later, so shouldn’t it be fine?”

How much did she take from the Dragon King Fortress?

Well, I decided to let it go since we could use it later when we needed to help someone.

After traveling by carriage for a few days, we arrived in Anui again.

When we arrived at Brother Sama’s thatched house on the outskirts of Anui, an unexpected sight unfolded before our eyes.

“You’re still here?”

The prodigies of the Seomoon Clan and the Pyo Clan were still there.

They made expressions like children caught doing something wrong.

Seomun Ak, as their representative, smiled awkwardly and answered.

“Ahahaha. W-we were talking with Brother Sama and lost track of time.”

More than ten days had passed, and yet they’d lost track of time.

“S-still, this place has people coming and going, so it wasn’t dangerous.”

“Yes. As you can see, a-aren’t we safe? Great Hero Jin.”

I shook my head at the prodigies’ answers, who didn’t know how scary the world was.

At that moment, Brother Sama stepped forward for the prodigies.

“Ahem. It is truly a pleasure to have Great Hero Jin visit again……. but who are those children?”

First the prodigies, and now even Brother Sama was calling me Great Hero.

It gave me goosebumps.

“I am not a Great Hero. And those are children who were being raised by an assassin group called Red Moon Falling Flowers.”

“What? A-an assassin group, you say?”

Brother Sama showed a startled reaction.

At this, my junior sister explained the specific situation on my behalf.

Starting from the ambush at Poyang Lake, in order.

“As my junior sister said, they were instigated by the Black Heaven Sect. So you are also in danger.”

It could be said that we were fortunate they had prioritized us.

No. Thinking back on it now, it seemed highly likely that they had been waiting for us to part with the prodigies.

After my warning ended, my junior sister continued the story about Red Moon Falling Flowers.

How we learned about them raising assassins in Limgosan, and how we raided the place and rescued them.

At this, Seomun Ho once again made a fuss.

“As expected of the Great Hero!!”

Seomun Ho was the most extreme, but everyone else was also looking at me with strange eyes.

I didn’t know the reason, but the Tang Clan bastard was again shaking his head beside me.

I decided to let it go as it wasn’t particularly important.

“Brother Sama. Deep scars are engraved on these children’s hearts. They suffered from terrible torture and training, and their emotions were being castrated.”

I told him what I had seen on the way here.

How they couldn’t express a single one of their emotions or thoughts. How they didn’t know what it meant to be tired, or what it meant to live like a human being.

“That is why I brought these children here. I thought that Brother Sama would be able to teach these children how to live like human beings.”

Brother Sama made a troubled expression.

But that was only for a moment. Instead of expressing modesty, he answered with a resolute expression.

“It is said that a man’s word is as good as gold. I have the ambition I revealed last time, so I will manage it somehow.”

I nodded and looked around at the prodigies before speaking.

“Then it seems it would be best for us all to leave for the Seomoon Clan or the Pyo Clan tomorrow.”

Brother Sama asked with a puzzled expression.

“Tomorrow, you mean?”

“As you teach them, it is highly likely that the assassins will target you, Brother Sama.”

“So that’s why you’re telling me to leave this place immediately.”

I nodded.

Originally, I was thinking of staying around Brother Sama because of this problem.

But thanks to the prodigies thoughtlessly remaining here, it had turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

Thus, I willingly clasped my hands in a fist-and-palm salute and bowed my head toward the prodigies.

“I know this is an imposition. But if possible, I would like you to protect these children along with Brother Sama.”

In fact, there was one more hidden intention here that I hadn’t mentioned.

Was it because I am also a petty person?

Even though I had brought them, I couldn’t completely trust those children.

I was anxious to leave those children by the side of Brother Sama, who had just started learning martial arts.

Still, with those prodigies, it seemed Brother Sama’s safety would be somewhat guaranteed.

At my request, the prodigies answered with a start.

“It’s no imposition at all, Great Hero Jin!”

“That’s right! Compared to the teachings we’ve received from you, Great Hero Jin, that’s nothing.”

“That’s right! Most of all, we also really wanted to help you, Great Hero Jin! That’s why we joined forces with Brother Sama and even the Twin Heroes Alliance……”

The last one, Seomun Ho, was stopped by his older sister, Seomun Yeong, before he could finish shouting.

“Mmph!”

Twin Heroes Alliance?

It was a name I’d never heard before.

It seemed they were trying to create some strange group among themselves.

As expected, they reacted like children caught planning something bad.

Somehow, it felt like they were the children, and the children I brought were the adults.

Seomun Ak hastily clasped his hands and opened his mouth.

“Ahem. Please forget my brother’s nonsense, Great Hero Jin. Also, we owe you our lives, Great Hero Jin, so this is no imposition at all.”

Well, it wasn’t strange for young prodigies to gather and strengthen their friendship.

Rather, my interest was drawn elsewhere.

“Come to think of it, you all are calling Brother Sama ‘Brother Sama’.”

At this, Pyo Daecheol nodded vigorously and answered.

“After staying here and talking, it was just as you said, Great Hero Jin. Brother Sama may be younger than us, but there was much to learn from him.”

Seomun Ho, who had finally escaped his sister’s grasp, shouted again.

“That’s right!! Hahaha. Just as there was much to learn from you, Great Hero Jin!”

Seomun Yeong stealthily whispered to Seomun Ho.

“Please shut that mouth of yours.”

They were truly a loving pair of siblings.

As if embarrassed by his younger siblings’ behavior, Seomun Ak coughed dryly again and said.

“Ahem. There is much to learn from Brother Sama, so now we all get along like sworn brothers. Therefore, you don’t have to worry about Brother Sama’s safety.”

Seomun Ak added with a serious expression.

“We will treat him with the utmost respect as a guest at our clan. If my father has a conversation with Brother Sama, he will surely accept him as a guest.”

As the situation seemed to be sorted out, I turned my body and said to the children.

“Come here.”

The children approached in an orderly manner.

There was none of the fussiness of children, nor was there any noise.

They looked like well-trained soldiers.

Was it because they had heard what these children had been through?

Both Brother Sama and the prodigies looked at the children with complicated expressions.

I said to the children.

“This is the person who will teach you how to live like human beings from now on. Therefore, you will address him as your master from now on.”

As soon as my introduction was over, Brother Sama coughed once and said.

“I use the surname Sama and the name Hyeon.”

“Yes, Instructor Sama.”

When Choyeon answered as their representative, Brother Sama made a troubled expression.

“Ahem. There is no need to call me instructor.”

“Then how should we address you?”

Choyeon and the children looked at Brother Sama with expressions of not knowing anything.

“……Address me as Master.”

As if embarrassed to say the word ‘Master’ himself, Brother Sama made an awkward expression.

Had he gotten quite close to Brother Sama? Pyo Daecheol, who was watching the scene, smiled faintly and said.

“Hahaha. It seems you’re no longer Brother Sama, but Teacher Sama.”

Teacher Sama.

For some reason, I liked that nickname.

The children standing still with expressions of not knowing anything, like baby birds. The troubled expression of Teacher Sama.

As I watched that scene, such a vision came to mind.

What would happen if Teacher Sama truly succeeded in healing the scars engraved on those children’s hearts?

Some would learn how to live like human beings and then return to their hometowns.

But wouldn’t some others remain by Teacher Sama’s side?

What if they became people who saved children who were unjustly dragged away by villains, just like themselves?

What if they became not assassins who killed innocent people for money, but chivalrous heroes who sought out and cut down villains?

Just imagining such a scene made the corners of my mouth lift for no reason.

“What, are you imagining killing people again?”

If only the Tang Clan bastard, who was ruining the mood beside me, wasn’t there.

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