Weapon-Eating Bastard [EN]: Chapter 24

Weapon-Eating Bastard – Episode 24

As I headed to the academy’s training grounds, I saw many other students already there.

They were children from branch families, retainers, or external organizations allied with the main family.

“Hey, isn’t that him?”

“Yeah. The bastard. Lee Cheol, the ninth son.”

“I heard there was a fuss during the Iron Thread Ceremony and the Naming Ceremony.”

“It must have been luck. What can a bastard do?”

They thought they were whispering, but I could hear them perfectly well.

‘It’s been a while since I’ve heard this kind of talk.’

It was a situation I had experienced my whole life because of my illegitimate status.

Jealousy stemming from bloodline, a certain wariness, or outright disregard.

Before my regression, these words would have been incredibly painful.

But now, things were a little different.

“It’s hard to achieve such results in the Naming Ceremony with luck alone, especially if the Lord [family head] granted a reward.”

“True. I’m quite curious. A bastard who causes unprecedented incidents. Isn’t it interesting?”

The gazes and words directed at me weren’t entirely negative.

I felt a little awkward because of these unexpected reactions.

Then, the training ground became a little quieter.

“Oh, it’s the eighth young lady.”

It was my sister, Lee Seo-hyun, who still had a youthful appearance, not having lost her baby fat yet.

Everyone focused their attention on her arrival.

Lee Seo-hyun spotted me and flinched.

But she walked over as if nothing was wrong and waved awkwardly.

“H-hello?”

“Yeah, it’s been a while.”

Lee Seo-hyun, standing next to me, began to glance at me.

“Is there something you want to say?”

“W-what do I want to say!”

“Then wait quietly. It’s distracting.”

“Tch! How dare you, as my younger brother, be so presumptuous…!”

Lee Seo-hyun glared at me and turned towards me, but she flinched again, as if she had suddenly remembered something, and her anger died down.

“W-well, hey, there is something I want to say…”

Lee Seo-hyun wiggled her fingers.

“That, well, that’s it. Are you still worried about what happened at the Naming Ceremony?”

“Naming Ceremony? What are you talking about?”

“No, why, I said I was disappointed…”

After much deliberation, I barely understood what she was saying.

‘Is she talking about when I said I was disappointed when she challenged the Outer Examination Hall [a test of skill and aptitude]?’

It seemed she was worried about my misunderstanding her words back then.

It had been about two years since the Naming Ceremony.

‘She’s a cold-blooded person when she grows up, but she has such a cute side when she was young.’

The children of the Soongmoo Lee family were clumsy in their relationships, with a few exceptions.

It was because they were born to rule over others and lived a different life from most people.

“Why, you have a petty side. So, if you’ve been keeping it in mind, well, I misunderstood…”

Is it so hard to say one word of apology?

“It’s okay. I wasn’t even thinking about it.”

“R-really?”

“More than that, have you been well? I haven’t seen you since the banquet.”

“Of course! I’ve been doing well!”

Lee Seo-hyun’s expression brightened.

“You’re being taught by the Little Aunt [a term for a younger aunt], right? What kind of person is she? I heard she’s a bit unique. And you went to the Janggyeonggak [a library or archive], right? How is it there?”

It was around the time Lee Seo-hyun was pouring out questions that…

“Attention!”

Men in military uniforms lined up on the review stand of the training ground.

They were the instructors in charge of student training.

* * *

“We will now conduct class assignments. Prospective students should line up in front of the corresponding instructor from the left, starting with Class 1.”

The Soongmoo Lee family’s student training is conducted at the training center under the Council of Elders [a governing body within the family].

The training period for the student corps is a total of 3 years.

Lee Seo-hyun and I applied as soon as we turned 12, the minimum age, but most were older than me.

Students start with basic liberal arts subjects such as mathematics, history, language, and etiquette, and are educated in numerous subjects such as martial arts, magic, tactics, toxicology, and topography.

Depending on the situation, they are also投入 [thrown] into various actual battles and real-life situations, so in fact, less than half of them complete the course within 3 years.

That’s why class assignment is important.

Among the five classes divided by each grade, the bottom class, Class 5, is a class where last year’s repeaters and dropouts are gathered.

There are many group evaluations in the first-year student course, so it was advantageous in many ways to enter a higher class.

“Young Lady Lee Seo-hyun. You’re in Class 1. Congratulations.”

“Thank you.”

Lee Seo-hyun smiled and headed to Class 1 after receiving her assignment order.

“Lee Cheol… Young Master.”

The word ‘Young Master’ came out very late, as if she didn’t like using honorifics for me.

“Here.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

I received the assignment order given to me and came down from the review stand.

And the moment I read the contents, I couldn’t help but let out a sneer.

‘I thought it would be like this, but I didn’t expect them to be so blatant.’

Class 5.

I was assigned to none other than Class 5, which is called the garbage dump.

I had a rough idea of what happened.

‘The direct line’s student corps assignment is evaluated by the Naming Ceremony, and the Education Center is in charge of that evaluation.’

The Education Center is a department under the Council of Elders.

The influence of Madam Baek, the mistress of the family, or the old men of the Council of Elders reaches the Council of Elders.

It wouldn’t have been difficult to give a disadvantage to a bastard they didn’t want to see.

The instructor in charge of Class 5 slowly approached and said.

“Class 5 is this way. Young Master.”

“Okay. I’ll go now.”

As I moved my steps, I met Lee Seo-hyun’s eyes.

She was looking at me with an expression that she didn’t like something very much, as if she would step forward right away unless I did something.

I shook my head at her.

‘It doesn’t matter. I was going to apply for Class 5 even if I had been assigned to Class 1 anyway.’

I know that elites are gathered in Class 1.

The children assigned to Class 1 were born with amazing talents and would have grown up with the strong support of the forces they belonged to.

‘As such, those guys will receive higher-level education in Class 1 than any other class, and they will achieve higher results than anyone else.’

It wasn’t discrimination.

It’s just education that suits the level of the students in the first place, and it’s the result they achieved through that education. It’s just that the starting point is different.

In the process, they will build friendships and become each other’s political base in the distant future.

It was the reason why the common vested interests maintain power, and the reason why it is difficult for those from the bottom to break the glass ceiling.

‘But how many of those student corps graduates really stood out?’

I turned my head.

The students of Class 1 were standing in line with confident smiles.

I know the future of those guys.

Those guys will definitely become great people in the future.

They are evaluated as the heads of branch families or retainers, decision-makers of administrative departments or organizations affiliated with the Council of Elders, and some are evaluated as major forces in the four main military groups of the family called the Four Divine Commanders.

But that’s it.

Just that far.

No one has achieved more than that.

The reason they were strong is simple.

They had different blood and support from others.

Of course, they would have made desperate efforts.

They would have been thrown into various actual battles, not just called greenhouse flowers.

But they don’t risk their lives to fight.

They don’t know how to fight and win.

They will say they know, but that is not the struggle that Soongmoo Lee family talks about.

‘The glass ceiling is definitely solid.’

However, very occasionally, a variant appears that breaks that glass ceiling.

The one who does not stop fighting with himself and the world from the very bottom and challenges himself eventually achieves more brilliant results than anyone else.

I’m going to meet those people.

* * *

Lee Tae-shin moved his fountain pen during Lee Tae-hong’s visit.

Several approval documents were passed, and several discussions followed.

“I heard the eighth and youngest entered the student corps this time.”

“Yes, it’s been a little over a week.”

“The eighth would have naturally become Class 1, and the youngest is in Class 5… what happened?”

Lee Tae-shin looked at Lee Tae-hong with his usual expressionless face.

Lee Tae-hong opened his mouth with a slightly nervous expression.

“According to the evaluation report submitted by the Education Center… the first Trial Hall of Struggle is still under research, so there is a lack of grounds to rate the grade highly, and for hunting, the video recording device was frequently attached and detached, so the monster’s hunting scenes were not 이어지다 [connected], so the grade was evaluated lower.”

Lee Tae-hong closed his mouth tightly.

The words are logical.

But for a child who has achieved such achievements, even a child who has been given compensation at the family level, Class 5 was an absurd measure to anyone.

“That’s how it happened.”

Even after hearing that story, Lee Tae-shin calmly passed the next document.

Lee Tae-hong took off the magnifying glasses he was wearing and hung them around his neck, feeling frustrated, and said.

“Lord, no, Big Brother. I just want to ask one thing. Why don’t you take action even though you know? Even though he was brought from outside, isn’t the youngest also your child? Don’t you know that these things are happening repeatedly?”

A flat voice without emotional highs and lows.

It wasn’t scolding or giving a hint. It was really an tone as if he was lightly asking his younger brother.

If he stumbles on that level of obstacle, that’s it. Lee Tae-shin would probably think so.

Lee Tae-hong bit his lip.

“…I’m sorry.”

“Did that child rebel against this?”

“No. On the contrary, he accepted it too calmly. How much is that child’s inside… ?”

Lee Tae-hong felt a sense of doubt at the moment he answered that way.

How would his inside be? That guy? Did he accept it as something unavoidable and just stay still?

If it was that shrewd nephew’s personality, he would have caused another incident in this unfairness, but he wouldn’t have been quiet.

Then… why?

“Who is currently in Class 5?”

“Please wait a moment.”

Lee Tae-hong, who tapped on the business tablet, opened his mouth calmly.

“…There’s not much to be great about. Except for one from Soongmoo Hope Academy, there are a total of 20 people, mainly from retainer families or branch families. It consists of 7 new students and 13 repeaters.”

The student elementary class was made up of a total of five classes.

Class 1 is 배치 [placed] with only those who stand out among the students. It is the role of the direct line to become the head again even among such vested interests.

There is a lot to gain from being in Class 1 from a political point of view or from a point of view of building connections.

On the other hand, Class 5 is completely different.

‘Could it be that this guy… !’

Lee Tae-hong felt as if he had finally read the youngest’s thoughts.

He’s trying to make his own people.

The children in Class 5 are mostly those who do not have a family or have weak origins, or those who are neither here nor there.

It meant that they were outsiders who existed outside the already established vested interests.

“Isn’t it fun? That child broke everyone’s expectations every time.”

“…But it won’t be easy. The Class 5 students must be talented because they passed the entrance exam, but it means they are less than other classes.”

“I wonder what it will be like.”

Lee Tae-shin leaned back on the backrest and tapped his fountain pen.

‘He makes children who are not stained by the hands of the vested interests into forces. The purpose is good, but in the end, they are just children who have fallen behind and fallen behind.’

Originally, an awl comes out even in a pocket [talent will reveal itself].

If it didn’t come out and was 퇴출 [removed], it could be said that it was not an awl.

I wonder how the youngest will pick out the pearls from the student corps Class 5, which is called the garbage dump.

Lee Tae-shin was secretly looking forward to it.