Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1212

As I’ve said countless times, war is harder to clean up than it is to start. Fighting isn’t difficult. Winning might be hard, but the act of fighting itself is just a matter of grabbing your weapon and charging in. However, cleaning up a battlefield ravaged by war and returning it to normalcy requires a lot of manpower, money, and mental fortitude. But right now, the Assembly was temporarily free from such concerns. Seven people were gathered at the harbor, watching the large ship disappear into the distance. Kang Jin-ho, Bator, Wiggins, Jang Min, Bang Jin-hoon, and Lee Hyun-soo. And the last person… ‘Why am I here?’ Akitori looked around at everyone, his face crestfallen. When you think about it, he was a defeated general, and the people in front of him were essentially the occupying forces. No matter how hard he tried to puff out his chest, he couldn’t seem to muster any strength. “Why is this bastard still here?” It was Bang Jin-hoon who opened fire. Bang Jin-hoon took a satisfying drag of his cigarette, blew out the smoke, and glared at Akitori. “It’s awkward to send him back with them.” “Hey, it’s not like we have oil to spare. Why not just put him on the ship and send him back? Why leave him here?” “Then he might die.” “That’s his problem.” Akitori lowered his head, his face dejected as he watched Bang Jin-hoon spew out his animosity. “It’s not my business if he dies, but then we’d have to pick someone else to manage Japan. That’s too much of a hassle.” Akitori glanced up at Wiggins. ‘He seems kind of gentle…’ It seems he was mistaken. But the craziest one among them was Lee Hyun-soo, who was meticulously translating this trivial conversation. He couldn’t understand why he was translating even the insults that didn’t need to be heard. One thing was for sure, he had a twisted personality. “What are you looking at, you bastard!” Bang Jin-hoon raised his voice, and Lee Hyun-soo excitedly raised his voice as well. They were definitely not right in the head, the pair of them. “But can we trust this bastard?” Bang Jin-hoon asked cautiously, and Kang Jin-ho nodded. “We can trust him.” “You can’t trust the Japanese. They’re famous for being two-faced. They act all clean and proper on the outside, but they’re thinking something else on the inside!” Akitori was furious. Every time he heard those words, his stomach churned. No, is that a bad thing? Isn’t it better to at least act nice on the outside than to be a mess both inside and out? Akitori felt a surge of anger, but he suppressed the rising curses. It was because it wouldn’t be good to cause trouble with them in the future, and more importantly, because Kang Jin-ho was watching him. “Ah, well, that’s that.” Bang Jin-hoon opened his mouth. “Why did we gather here? We sent all the kids back.” At Bang Jin-hoon’s words, everyone looked at each other. The gazes that had been wandering around finally landed on Kang Jin-ho, but even Kang Jin-ho looked clueless. “We gathered because we were told to?” “Who gathered us?” “It wasn’t me.” “Me neither?” Then, a man raised his hand. “I gathered you.” Lee Hyun-soo. He smiled brightly with a gentle face. But the others looked like they wanted to spit on his smiling face. “Put your hand down.” “Before I break it off.” Lee Hyun-soo’s hand slowly went down. “So…” Bator stood up from his seat, veins popping out on his forehead. “You, not the master, ordered the directors around as you pleased?” “P-please calm down and listen to me!” “I don’t think there’s much difference between listening and hitting, or hitting and listening.” “There’s a clear difference!” Bator said without loosening his fist. “Oh, so you have a reason good enough to not get hit?” “Of course! If we go back to the Assembly like this, everyone will just go back to their own business, won’t they?” “••••••Huh?” “Bator will go back to training!” Bator frowned slightly. He was already eager to quickly resolve the shortcomings he felt in this battle. As soon as he returned, he was planning to lock himself in the training grounds… “Wiggins will go back to his research!” “Hmm.” “It’s obvious what Elder Jang Min will do. And Director Bang will go to the hospital! The hospital!” “…Hey, I think my case is a little different.” “Please understand, Director Bang. What can we do?” Bang Jin-hoon suppressed the rising old animosity. ‘I should have taken that bastard down once.’ He was once firmly in the top three of the people he wanted to tear apart in the world, but he let it slide, thinking it was for the best, and now he’s become a man with no fear. “Anyway, it won’t work this time. It’s not that I don’t want to work. If you leave without cleaning up this time, we’ll lose all of Japan that we just took.” “Ooh.” Bator nodded. Indeed, this made sense. Japan was a tempting land, but it was just as difficult to manage. More than anything, the Japanese had animosity towards Korea. Just as Japan never falls out of the top of the list of countries that Korea hates the most, Korea never falls out of the list of countries that Japan hates the most. How could they accept that Korea was ruling their territory? ‘We’ve suppressed them firmly for now, though.’ Their souls had fled at Kang Jin-ho’s momentum, so they wouldn’t even dream of rebelling for a while. But people are never like that. If they sit, they want to lie down, and if they lie down, they want to sleep. Surely, as time passes, there will be those who cannot accept the reality of being ruled by Korea. Bang Jin-hoon gestured with his chin towards Akitori. “So that’s why you recruited this guy. The Guild Master said we can trust him?” “We can trust him, right? The Guild Master said so. But that guy is a bit incompetent now.” Everyone looked at Akitori. Akitori, who didn’t understand the conversation in Korean, blinked at the sudden attention. “But he seemed like a pretty good fighter over there?” “That’s not the point. The problem is that the Guild Master not only uprooted the pillars of Shin’nichikai [a Japanese martial arts organization] but also sprayed herbicide on the ground to completely eradicate them. What good is it if that guy is the second-in-command of Shin’nichikai when he’s the only one left?” Everyone’s gaze turned to Kang Jin-ho this time. Kang Jin-ho, receiving the accusing looks, frowned slightly. “I feel a bit wronged…” “You should have killed them moderately.” “Hey, it’s not like you’re a butcher… what’s with that, Master?” “Guild Master, please know your limits.” “Demon Lord, you are great!” Everyone ignored the last remark and sighed. When you think about it, it’s not a normal problem. Now Japan has to be managed. But this management is not easy at all. They have to effectively control a territory twice the size of Korea and suppress the riots and rebellions that may occur from time to time. It’s a completely different problem from Korea. The martial artists of Korea have no resistance to being affiliated with the Assembly. So if there’s a problem, they try to reform the Assembly, not create their own organization and fight against it. It was a difficult problem to oppress those who had no sense of belonging and use them as their limbs. “It’s a difficult task. But that doesn’t mean there’s no way. First of all, there are two good things.” “Two?” “Yes. First, the Guild Master, for some reason, let them all live, and second, Director Akitori surrendered to us.” “Is that a good thing?” “Of course. For complete domination, we need to give the carrot of not killing those who obey. Absolute fear is not eternal. The leash that controls people is not fear, but practical benefits.” “Hmm.” “Those who returned alive will tell everyone that if they bow their heads and offer what they have, they will be spared. And if Director Akitori reigns over them, we can absorb the benefits from Japan without much effort.” Bator looked at Akitori with a new gaze. ‘Come to think of it…’ What if China ruled Mongolia? Rather than having Chinese people directly rule Mongolia, it would be less resistant to put a Mongolian who is friendly to China in charge. The result is the same, but the feeling is different. ‘It’s like a monkey’s paw.’ But it’s not monkeys but humans who are more susceptible to that monkey’s paw. “So, in the end, we have to give this guy power.” “Yes. That’s what I think.” “But how? Shin’nichikai is now neutralized, isn’t it?” “Most of the ordinary martial artists have been wiped out, but there are still members left. So, we just need to supplement them with strong people who can be their strength.” “So how?” “That’s why I gathered the directors, because I’m worried about that.” Lee Hyun-soo sighed. “In the long term, there’s no problem. We can appropriately integrate the scattered groups and bring the useful ones into Shin’nichikai. It’s not difficult if we guarantee clear benefits. However, it’s a bit of a problem right now.” Lee Hyun-soo wiped his sweat and continued. “Someone has to go to Japan.” “Who?” “That’s the hard part. The person who has to go to Japan with Akitori this time has to be the de facto ruler of Japan for a while. This is a much more difficult task than you think.” Lee Hyun-soo said firmly. “We need a few things. They must have absolute loyalty to the Guild Master so they don’t betray us. They must be extremely powerful to suppress any rebellion immediately. And they must be cruel in nature to make sure no one dares to rebel again. And above all!” Lee Hyun-soo paused slightly and looked around at everyone. “They must have experience leading an organization. With absolute charisma.” When Lee Hyun-soo finished speaking. Everyone’s gaze was fixed on one place. Kang Jin-ho? No. “…What.” Jang Min looked around at everyone with a disgruntled face. “What are you looking at?” Bator chuckled. “There he is.” Wiggins nodded. “There he is.” Bang Jin-hoon chuckled. “I thought you were explaining with a person in mind. There’s a perfect person right here.” “••••••Huh?” Jang Min, understanding the situation, distorted his face. “You idiots! I am an elder of the Order! I lead the Order, assist the Demon Lord, and the followers…” “Jang Min.” “Yes, Demon Lord!” At Kang Jin-ho’s call, Jang Min immediately prostrated himself on the spot. “Go for a while.” “Yes, sir! This Jang Min will perfectly fulfill the Demon Lord’s command!” Bator clicked his tongue at the sight. “A person should have consistency.” Jang Min was inconsistent when it came to Kang Jin-ho.