Weapon-Eating Bastard [EN]: Chapter 23

Weapon-Eating Bastard – Episode 23

As always, I was in the training grounds, working up a sweat under the sun.

“Ahem, your focus is wavering.”

My aunt, with her hand on my back, spoke sternly.

Though usually scatterbrained, my aunt was serious and strict when it came to training in mana arts.

Woooong-

I refocused on my mana arts.

Gathering the remaining energy from the Amethyst Rock Honey and Nectar that I hadn’t fully processed, I drew it into my mana core.

How much time passed like that?

“Hooah. Let’s call it a day.”

My aunt removed her hand from my back and wiped the sweat from her brow.

After briefly regulating the mana within my body, I opened my eyes as well.

“Amethyst Rock Honey, huh? I’ve been watching for days, and it’s still amazing. It’s incredibly pure. It was a legendary elixir that only appeared in ancient texts. How did you even eat it?”

“I say it every time, I just got lucky.”

“Hmph! If you don’t want to talk about it, just say so!”

“It’s not that……”

That was the only way I could answer.

I really didn’t have a clear memory of what happened then.

“Well, you need fate to acquire an elixir like that. But it was foolish to eat two elixirs without preparation. You should always prepare thoroughly before taking even one elixir. Don’t do that again.”

“Yes, I understand. I ended up consuming them in the heat of the moment.”

Even thinking about it now, it was a dizzying situation.

It was a situation where you couldn’t be sure what would happen even with full preparation, but I consumed two elixirs in the worst physical condition.

“That aside, there’s something I don’t understand. If the Amethyst Rock Honey had the effects described in the records, your mana should have increased much more… Frankly, the increase in your mana is significant, but not to that extent?”

“Could it have been used to restore my body?”

“Even considering that, it doesn’t make sense. And you couldn’t even use recovery magic because you were unconscious, right? If external injuries were instantly healed by eating elixirs, why would potions be made?”

“That’s true, but……”

My aunt tilted her head and crossed her arms.

“Could the undigested energy have been lost? Hmm, I don’t think so… There must be a reason. Maybe the Amethyst Rock Honey wasn’t as potent as the records said. Or maybe it’s because of that mana grass or mana booster you mentioned.”

“Perhaps that’s the case.”

I couldn’t tell my aunt, but there was one thing I suspected.

‘It’s probably because of this.’

I felt a wriggling energy near my heart.

A mysterious energy different from mana.

The Dark Qi.

The amount of Dark Qi had exploded since the Naming Ceremony.

It only used to increase after absorbing weapons, but it suddenly grew in size, which could only be explained by the Amethyst Rock Honey.

“By the way, Aunt. How is your work going today?”

“Th, that is……”

“You didn’t skip work, did you?”

“I, I’m going to work. But there’s a morning drama I was following, so I was just watching that……”

“No, you need to be diligent to achieve results.”

“B, but Hamin is Minjae’s daughter!? And her dad has leukemia!”

I couldn’t understand what she was talking about.

With a firm expression, I led my aunt.

“Watch the replay and go quickly.”

“I’m working weekends without pay, can’t I take a break!”

“Are you perhaps trying to break your promise?”

“Y, you sly little brat! I went out of my way for you!”

“You went on a rampage in the conference room on your own. I negotiated with Father to get you out of what could have been a severe disciplinary action.”

“How dare you! Don’t talk back when an adult is speaking!”

“I think they call adults like that ‘kkondae’ [a Korean slang term for an older person who is condescending and insists on outdated ways] these days.”

“Eeeek! Eeek!”

My aunt stomped her feet on the ground.

Recently, my aunt had accepted a position as an elder and was working as a researcher in the family’s research department.

As compensation for the Trial of Combat, I had asked for permission to appoint my aunt as an elder and accept her as my teacher.

There were two problems.

First, elders had to produce results regularly, and second, my aunt was awaiting disciplinary action.

-Do you think your aunt can handle the given tasks? Besides, she won’t want to.

-She will be able to demonstrate her abilities as a researcher. And I will persuade her.

I succeeded in persuading my aunt with a bit of coercion, and my father replaced her disciplinary action with unpaid work for half a year, including weekends.

‘Father must have been concerned about Aunt wandering around like a vagrant, so it worked.’

Even as compensation for the Trial of Combat, it would have been impossible if Father didn’t approve.

The elders of the Soongmoo Lee family are granted immense authority, so complex procedures and qualifications are required.

“Hmph! Getting scolded by my nephew. I’m sad.”

“That won’t work, so go to work.”

“Ugh!”

I pried off my aunt, who was trying to cling to me like a leech, and said,

Requesting my aunt’s position as an elder as compensation was for her sake, but it was also necessary for me.

‘The support the family gives to elders is enormous. If Aunt establishes herself, it will help me too.’

After a long struggle, my aunt gave up on her own and trudged away.

“Then, little one. Are you going again today?”

“Yes, today is the last day.”

“What are you trying to find by rummaging around like that?”

“There’s something I need to look into.”

My aunt was talking about the access to the Janggyeonggak [a library or archive within the Soongmoo Lee family compound].

Three days is long if it’s long, and short if it’s short.

It was barely enough time to read a mana art manual or a talisman. Even if I read them, I wouldn’t need them right now.

“Well, I’m sure you know what you’re doing.”

My aunt trudged away.

I smiled lightly and walked with my aunt.

Another reward I received from this Naming Ceremony.

Today was the last day of the three-day access to the Janggyeonggak.

* * *

The Janggyeonggak was located near the research center.

With no windows and a seemingly sturdy three-story building, it was guarded at a level comparable to Bigo [likely referring to a high-security area or person].

“…It’s the last day.”

The warrior controlling access to the Janggyeonggak said, taking my pass.

“As I explained again, documents cannot be taken out, and simple notes are allowed, but you must not copy them. The notes must also be inspected. Also, if you damage the documents, you will be subject to appropriate disciplinary action……”

“I heard it yesterday, so it’s okay.”

“…Yes, I understand. Then you may enter.”

Only after a search of my belongings and a lengthy explanation could I enter the Janggyeonggak.

The Janggyeonggak was exactly like a library.

Numerous documents were divided into categories and placed in archives throughout the space.

The place I headed to was the bookshelf with mana art manuals and records of the past.

‘I need to find out about the Dark Qi.’

I had already searched through a vast number of books, but I hadn’t gained any significant information for two days.

If I still couldn’t find out by today…….

‘That in itself is like finding out information. The fact that there is no information even in the Janggyeonggak of the Soongmoo Lee family means that it cannot be easily found anywhere in the world.’

Dark energy, weapon absorption, mana increase, undetectable by anyone other than the owner, neutralizing Monster Fear…….

I entered keywords through the device installed in the bookshelf, deleting them one by one to check the keywords.

‘Is this the last of what I haven’t read yet?’

Since reading the original was not allowed, I displayed a copy and translation of the ancient document on the screen in the reading room.

Like that, I checked the documents one by one again.

While gathering information in the Janggyeonggak, I discovered an interesting book.

It was a book that contained the existence of Mujin.

It was an ancient document made of bamboo slips from so long ago that the exact era could not be estimated.

After reading the translation, there was a mention of a ‘weapon that freely changes its form’ and the activation phrase that could make one the owner of the weapon.

‘Did my third brother obtain Mujin after seeing this?’

I stopped reading the translation.

[……It was like the six domestic animals raised by the earth and the ocean, and it plunged many countries into lamentation…… It was wrapped in dark energy, and even the many monsters feared it, and spears and swords did not work…….]

[The country’s brave generals were all defeated, so there was no one to oppose it under the heavens.]

Some of the words were blurred by the passage of time, so they could not be read properly.

Unknown sentences that could be read as describing a person, a monster, or even a natural disaster or a spiritual object.

‘Dark energy, the fact that monsters feared it…….’

Could it be referring to the Dark Qi?

[After fighting for hundreds of days and nights, the country fell into lamentation…… Many heroes sacrificed their lives to seal it in the Northern Mangwi Mountain…… They defeated it…… The king praised their achievements and bestowed fiefs.]

[The heroes were moved by the king’s grace and made a sword, named Mujin. They presented this to the king.]

After that, it was again a list of blurred words.

‘Could the dark energy be…….’

Why?

It might be a serious leap, but I felt like it was the Dark Qi.

‘Could Mujin and the Dark Qi be related?’

If so, I could understand why the giant figure, presumed to be Guisusan, had said that ‘those things’ had come out into the world at the moment I ate the Amethyst Rock Honey.

‘Mangwi Mountain. Mangwi Mountain, huh…….’

The place names of ancient times are quite different from those of today, so it seemed like I would have to do a lot of legwork to find out.

‘Still, I found a trace.’

Mujin and the Dark Qi.

There are still only questions, but I have found a thin thread.

* * *

Several seasons had passed.

For a while after the Naming Ceremony, there were no special events.

The eighth, Lee Seohyun, seemed to be called here and there, but the only schedule for me, a bastard, was endless training.

And as I devoted myself to training, time passed, and I turned 13 years old.

“…Young Master. I don’t know if this is really right. The budget from the family includes the cost of maintaining dignity and the salaries of the staff who work hard for you.”

“Nanny, that means I should use the minimum amount necessary.”

“I wouldn’t say anything if you were buying something else…… but buying used weapons……”

The budget that had been allocated to me in my previous life had increased significantly.

With that budget, I instructed my nanny to buy up all the training weapons that each warrior squad was using and planning to discard.

“It’s not a waste of money. It’s very necessary for me.”

It’s really necessary for me.

The nanny sighed and slammed the ledger shut.

“It starts today, right?”

At the nanny’s question, I adjusted my collar and nodded.

“Yes, it starts now.”

The nanny had another emotional expression.

She was a very emotional person in this desolate family.