Weapon-Eating Bastard [EN]: Chapter 5

He was the one who always cared for me, an outstanding manager, and a person whose martial prowess was by no means weak.

My uncle, Chief Manager Lee Tae-hong, was such a person.

But the answer was already decided.

“It’s alright, Uncle.”

I cannot have my uncle as my teacher.

Although I don’t know the exact date, in my past life, I lost my mana circuit to someone.

The incident at the Iron Thread Ceremony was unavoidable, but receiving direct instruction from my uncle would only further provoke anyone seeking to attack me.

I didn’t want to attract attention while I was still unprepared.

“…What?”

“I know you have a lot of work to do for the family, Uncle. I don’t want to cause you any trouble.”

My uncle frowned, looking disappointed.

“Trouble? I’m just offering to spend some time with my nephew. There’s no need to be so difficult.”

“I heard that the government requested cooperation regarding the uncharted territory project recently.”

Lee Tae-hong’s eyes wavered.

“How did you know about that…?”

“I overheard the bodyguards talking. I don’t know much, but they said the administration is extremely busy. And the administration is where you work, right, Uncle?”

Lee Tae-hong sighed.

A new government was established this year, and every time a new government comes in, their policy is to stabilize the uncharted territories in the north.

Nothing has been decided yet, or rather, precisely because nothing has been decided, the Soongmoo Lee family’s administration was incredibly busy.

That’s why he could only visit his nephew now, even though he wanted to come much sooner.

“Besides, in principle, you shouldn’t serve a teacher until after the Rite of Naming. If I receive instruction from you, Uncle, it will put you in a difficult position.”

“Tsk! Do you think they would say anything to me when they themselves are breaking the family rules?”

“They might not say anything outright, but it will still be awkward for you.”

I smiled and looked at my uncle.

My uncle sighed deeply.

“Are you alright with this? All your other siblings are receiving training from all sorts of elixirs and good teachers.”

“I don’t think we should abandon a principle just because no one else is following it. And… I will prove myself even without elixirs or teachers.”

“Huh…”

Lee Tae-hong could only exclaim as he looked at his nephew speaking so confidently.

‘Is this child really nine years old?’

Lee Tae-hong felt someone’s face overlapping with the clear eyes looking at him.

And the moment he remembered who he was seeing in that face, Lee Tae-hong opened his mouth without realizing it.

‘Big brother. Yes, it’s like seeing big brother.’

People with such eyes are rare.

And all those few people have left great marks on the world.

Lee Tae-hong smiled faintly and said.

“But I’m worried about not doing anything for you, Uncle. Is there anything I can help you with?”

I took a breath.

I had been waiting for those words.

“I would like to see the underground of the armory.”

The armory.

The space where the Soongmoo Lee family’s numerous treasures are stored.

And among them, the underground…

“The underground of the armory is where weapons that have been sealed for various reasons are kept. Are you aware of that?”

“Those weapons are withering away there without ever finding their owners. Those weapons must have their own stories… That’s so pitiful.”

I spoke with as much childlike innocence as possible.

My uncle narrowed his eyes and examined me for a moment.

“Do you want to see it simply because you feel sorry for them?”

“I will be using many weapons in the future. Those weapons will leave many stories with me. I want to see them so that I can cherish the weapons that choose me. I think I can learn how to handle my weapons in the future.”

“Huhu, what a kid.”

Lee Tae-hong chuckled.

It was the first time he had heard such pure words that seemed his age, and the reason was even admirable.

“It’s good to see you having such admirable thoughts. Alright, I’ll help you with that.”

“Thank you!”

“But there are also monster-grade weapons that devour their owners mixed in there. I can’t let you into the rooms where those are sealed.”

Ordinary, Masterpiece, Sacred Object, Celestial, etc.

Among the many grades that assess weapons, it is difficult to classify Sacred Objects and Demonic Objects by grade alone.

In particular, Demonic Object-grade weapons contained dangerous mysteries that devoured their owners, as my uncle said.

“Yes, I don’t like those either.”

“The regular inspection is tomorrow, so tomorrow would be good. It’s usually a one-hour job, but I’ll make it about two hours for you. Would that be enough?”

I nodded with a bright smile.

My uncle ruffled my hair roughly.

‘Alright.’

I clenched my fist.

Now, I am ready to find ‘that item’.

* * *

To those who seek extremely rare or absurd items, people often say:

-It must be in the Lee family’s warehouse.

-They say the Lee family’s warehouse has all the treasures of the world.

As these words are used as idioms, the Soongmoo Lee family’s armory held treasures comparable to those of the Vatican or the Magic Tower, which are national-level mega-organizations.

And as such, the Soongmoo Lee family’s armory boasted tremendous security.

A massive building equipped with numerous state-of-the-art devices and numerous secret techniques.

It looks like a simple modern building, but its exterior is covered with geometric patterns.

This massive building, consisting of one basement floor and six above-ground floors, was the Soongmoo Lee family’s armory.

“Are you that excited?”

My uncle smiled at me.

I must have shown my excitement without realizing it. I laughed awkwardly.

“Of course. I’m entering the armory.”

“Well, our family’s warehouse is quite impressive, isn’t it?”

Behind my uncle and me, the family administration’s staff followed. Their gazes were not very pleasant, but no one dared to show it in front of my uncle.

I looked up at my uncle.

‘I didn’t realize it before…’

I was newly aware of how great my uncle was, performing his duties as the family’s chief manager despite being a son of a concubine.

I knew better than anyone how difficult it was to reach a high position as a son of a concubine in the Soongmoo Lee family.

“Stop.”

Clang-!

As soon as we approached the large wall surrounding the armory, the guard commander guarding the entrance thrust out his spear.

“Please state your identity and purpose of visit.”

“It’s the regular inspection. Chief Manager Lee Tae-hong, the head of the military supply department, and the staff of each warrior squad. And the youngest master Lee is here for a tour. A total of 14 people.”

As my uncle handed over the documents, the guard commanders took the documents and disappeared inside.

‘It’s probably a weekly occurrence… How thorough.’

Only after some time did they tilt their spears aside.

“All documents and papers have been verified. Please enter.”

Originally, there would have been a search of belongings and additional searches here, but it was skipped because of the regular inspection.

‘Alright. I was aiming for this.’

I took a long breath, feeling the item I had placed inside my baggy coat.

“Young Master. I’ll have my secretary escort you to the entrance. The card key is for entry, and the talisman is for passing through various magical security measures. You will entrust the card key to my secretary, but you must keep the talisman with you.”

My uncle seemed worried about me, who was still young, and repeatedly instructed me, assigning his secretary to me.

“This way, young master.”

The secretary guided me in a blunt tone.

As I slowly descended underground, I smiled bitterly.

‘…It feels new.’

Footsteps echoed loudly on the beige linoleum floor.

The faint smell of metal and the smell of sword oil used to maintain weapons filled the hallway.

I had been excited until I came in, but as soon as I entered the armory, my excitement subsided and I became calm.

The first and last time I had entered was when I returned the Azure Star, which I had been chosen at the Iron Thread Ceremony, just before I was expelled from the family.

I wondered how many stairs I had gone down.

Eventually, a huge iron door appeared in front of me and my uncle’s secretary.

“Young master. We have arrived. I will be waiting at the entrance. If anything happens, please call out loudly.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Creak-.

As the card key was placed on the firmly locked iron door, the underground armory was opened with a heavy sound.

“Hmm.”

It smelled musty in the basement.

It was not for nothing that this place was called the tomb of weapons.

In a space that seemed to be at least 200 pyeong [approximately 7,200 square feet], numerous weapons and relics were densely stacked in a sealed state.

‘Shall we begin?’

The reason I came all the way to the armory was to find ‘a certain weapon’.

The Black Night I chose at the Iron Thread Ceremony was something I couldn’t use as it was now.

‘It’s not just that I need a usable weapon… but rather, the ability of that weapon is necessary for me now.’

The weapon had been stored in the family for so long that its origins were unknown.

Its appearance was that of an ordinary dagger, but it had several special aspects, so it was sealed in the underground armory until its secrets could be identified.

Until the third brother discovered it.

‘There must be hundreds of them, so it will be difficult to find one here, but…’

At that moment, a black aura arose from my hand.

It’s not that difficult for me, who can read the memories of weapons.

It just takes time.

And the two hours I was given was enough.

‘Let’s start.’

The black energy that stretched out wrapped around the nearest dagger.

Time passed quickly.

Among these numerous weapons, I read the memories of numerous daggers and moved forward.

And there were unexpected gains as well.

‘To think the Great Thief Bone Family was destroyed because of our family.’

I grabbed a gleaming dagger and shone my eyes.

The Bone family, which was a family of thieves, disappeared without a trace one day.

But in fact, they had not disappeared.

They infiltrated the Soongmoo Lee family’s armory, which was called impregnable, in order to raise the family’s name, and paid the price of annihilation.

‘The Bone family’s dagger technique.’

I put the dagger back in its place.

I wanted to absorb everything, but I didn’t want to waste time. It was enough to read only the end of it.

‘A dagger from a different race, there’s all sorts of things in the armory, as expected.’

As I explored the weapons, an hour had already passed.

‘This isn’t it either.’

I put down the dagger, which must have been the tenth.

Clatter-.

At that moment, a heavy object fell to the ground and rolled, as if it had been caught on my collar.

It was a small piece of iron that was so old that it was rotting.

It was so rusted that it was hard to believe it could be like this. A much larger amount of rust than its volume filled the surface, so it looked more like a piece of wood than a piece of iron.

‘It’s incredibly rusted. Can it even be like this?’

I stopped trying to put the piece of iron back on the stand.

If I remove the rust here and restore the handle a little more…

I need to check it out.

I slowly raised my energy.

“Huh?”

A foolish sound flowed out.

The black energy, which always obeyed my control, fell out in clumps and dug into the dagger.

I felt dizzy and my consciousness gradually faded.

And I lost consciousness.

* * *

When I opened my eyes, what unfolded before me was a world entirely dyed red.

Even the sky was dyed red, as if bleeding. The moment I turned my gaze and looked around, I felt my mind go blank.

It was literally a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.

Numerous corpses, both human and monster, were everywhere.

‘What the hell is this?’

The air was heavy. The thick stench of blood, to the point of wanting to vomit, dug into my nose.

It was so different from the memories of the weapons I had seen so far.

Whether what I am seeing now is the memory of the owner contained in the weapon.

Or whether I myself am standing here.

Like a scene in a dream, all the scenes lacked a sense of reality, but at the same time, all the sensations felt on my skin were so vivid.

-Hoo…

At that time, I heard a low breath in my ear.

I turned my head to where the breath was coming from.

There was a man there.

Alone in the middle of a mountain of corpses, covered in blood.

The man was wearing an old-fashioned outfit that could only be seen in a museum and was weakly drooping a chipped long sword.

Thud-!

The ground shook.

The sound alone made my spine tingle.

I forced myself to turn my head and look at the source of the noise.

A monster wrapped in a hazy mist.

With every step it took, the ground trembled as if screaming, and the breath it exhaled reeked of poison, rising with a foul odor.

The moment I faced that monster, I almost stopped breathing.

‘What the hell is that…!’

It felt like being thrown into the abyss of the deep sea.

The breath I inhaled was painful. The air surrounding my body pricked and poked at my body as if it were a blade.

Even I, who was lacking, could tell for sure.

That it was on a different level from ordinary monsters.

An overwhelming presence that made the surrounding air chilling.

Beings that made even nature fearful.

I knew such beings.

‘An end-of-the-world-class monster…’

The primordial beasts that were said to have popped out of the Blue Hole in ancient times.

The ancient horrors that had swallowed countless civilizations, now said to be in a deep sleep.

The man looked at the monster and moved his sword.

‘No. You’ll die.’

That monster was truly the end itself. I couldn’t imagine a person defeating that.

But.

Swoosh-!

A moment of flash.

There was no loud noise or violent vibration.

There was only a streak of light that crossed the world.

But the world was split.

A long diagonal line was drawn on the monster’s body, which was approaching the man, and it collapsed as it was.

I stared intently at the man, forgetting to even close my eyes at the unbelievable sight.

At that time, the man’s head turned towards me.

-…?- [A questioning look.]

The man was looking at me.

Flint!

I stood frozen, unable to move even a step, and only stared at the man.

-What are you?-

Slowly.

Very slowly, the man approached me. The sword that had split such a powerful monster moved silently.

And.

* * *

“Huff!”

Thump-.

I sat down, breathing roughly.

The piece of iron fell from my hand, making a dull noise.

‘What was that? What was that scene just now?’

The feeling of the heavy air pressing down on my entire body still seemed to remain. With every breath I took, the smell of blood seemed to linger at the tip of my nose.

Just now, did I see a memory, or did I actually experience it?

It was hard to believe that I was in a cold basement; my whole body was so wet with cold sweat.

Throb-.

At that moment, the piece of iron that had fallen to the ground vibrated heavily.

The rust that had been stuck to the surface was melting away on its own. The yellow lump of iron soon radiated a bright energy like a new one.

Its shape was clearly that of a dagger.

‘Could it be?’

I lightly pricked my finger with the blade of the dagger and drew blood.

And.

“I will become the master of all diseases.”

Like a wizard chanting a spell, I uttered a short phrase with magic.

At that moment.