Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 624

Lee Hyun-soo slowly closed his mouth, which had been hanging open.

‘Wow, what is this?’

The files he saw were, to put it simply, immaculate. No, at this level, it wasn’t just ‘immaculate,’ but ‘beautiful.’ That’s how perfectly organized the files Lee Hyun-soo was looking at were.

“…This?”

Lee Hyun-soo raised his head and looked at the person who had brought the files.

A man with half-gray hair and a beard, a perfect example of a middle-aged man. Knight Wiggins was smiling gently in front of him.

“D-did you do all of this yourself?”

“It wasn’t that difficult, Mr. Lee.”

Knight Wiggins shrugged.

“The hard work was done by Elena, not me. Converting Korean to English and creating the basic files is a very labor-intensive task. Organizing them is a simple matter. So, if you want to give credit for this work, give it to Elena, not me. And I also appreciate your English skills, which saved us the trouble of having to convert the files back into Korean.”

“A-appreciate? I should be the one who is grateful. I’m grateful that you took on part of the work, and that it’s so well-organized…”

Lee Hyun-soo looked at the files again and exclaimed in admiration.

‘What is this guy?’

Most of the experienced professionals he had met so far were mostly people whose skills weren’t even worth discussing. They would just repeat what they had learned, never think of improving inefficient parts, and try to brush off the inconveniences of the system under the guise of ‘custom’ or ‘tradition.’

People who would always say, ‘Why make work for people when we can just do it the way we always have?’

Lee Hyun-soo despised such people.

He wasn’t a good enough person to respect those who didn’t try themselves but complained about not being recognized.

However, the files he was looking at now were opening his eyes in many ways.

Looking at the perfectly aligned numbers, it felt like seeing a messy room that had been thoroughly cleaned, polished, and organized to a T.

“Did you usually do this kind of work?”

“That’s what a knight is. If you just listen to the title, it sounds very grand and like a position where you just have to look good, but in reality, it’s no different from being a handyman. You have to handle all sorts of tasks, so if you don’t develop a habit of organizing them systematically, you can’t finish your work on time.”

“So, you always did this kind of thing…”

“It was routine.”

Lee Hyun-soo nodded with an admiring look on his face.

It was a shame that he didn’t have time to be overwhelmed by the emotion of meeting a professional he could respect for the first time in his life.

“Then, if you don’t mind, could you help me with a few more things?”

“It’s possible. Of course, it’s possible. But you must know that there is a price for everything, right?”

“What kind of…”

“My daughter is currently suffering from excessive stress. Please prepare a pint of ice cream to stabilize her mood. Of course, it has to be the highest quality.”

“I’ll prepare a gallon, Knight Wiggins.”

Lee Hyun-soo was able to smile for the first time in a while. The amount of work he had been given was still murderous, but before Knight Wiggins helped him, he was handling a workload that was not just murderous, but would actually kill him.

Thanks to Knight Wiggins taking on the work, he might be able to sleep more than three hours a day for a while.

“I’m happy to help, but no matter how I look at it, your work seems abnormal and inefficient. You might think it’s more time-efficient to handle everything yourself rather than delegating tasks to others, but there is a limit to a person’s physical strength. It’s impossible to maintain concentration for more than 20 hours a day, even for an unmanned person.”

Lee Hyun-soo smiled bitterly.

He was already aware of the points Knight Wiggins was making. The problem was that Lee Hyun-soo had not yet been given the authority to secure manpower and form his own team.

If he told Kang Jin-ho, he might grant it without a second thought, but considering his relationship with Bang Jin-hoon and others, it was still too early.

“Thank you for the advice.”

“Hmm?”

Knight Wiggins nodded as if he understood Lee Hyun-soo’s reaction.

“I see. Yes, power struggles are always difficult.”

“But it seems like you’re handling it well, which is admirable.”

Looking at Knight Wiggins, who was smiling warmly, made him feel somewhat relieved. Being treated like a child by others in this way would normally be unpleasant, but considering Knight Wiggins’s experience and skills, being treated like a newborn was something he had to accept.

Besides, looking at the files that had been presented to him, even the small amount of pride in his heart disappeared.

“Thank you, Knight.”

“Yes… Is there anything else I can help you with?”

“Yes? As I said earlier, just with the work…”

“Not that.”

Lee Hyun-soo closed his mouth. Then, he quietly looked at Knight Wiggins.

Knight Wiggins’s eyes were the same as before. But to Lee Hyun-soo, they looked a little different. Until just now, they were just the eyes of a kind old man, but now…

“Knight.”

Lee Hyun-soo hesitated slightly.

Obscuring the conversation with an ambiguous attitude was one of his preferred methods of dealing with things, but such a reaction would be rude to Knight Wiggins.

Lee Hyun-soo decided to speak his mind. It was the least he could do for Knight Wiggins, who had reached out to him first.

“It’s not that I don’t have a way and am just enduring the current situation. However, everything in the General Assembly is under the influence of Kang Jin-ho. If he wants to maintain this situation, I will follow his lead.”

“That’s a strange thing to say. Surely the Lord has already announced changes?”

“Of course. But we can’t decide the direction of those changes as we please.”

“Hmm.”

Knight Wiggins looked at Lee Hyun-soo with interest.

‘He’s an interesting fellow.’

Or should he say, a peculiar fellow?

He thinks he is very rational and follows the principle of thorough rationality in his work, but he is also deeply immersed in the Eastern master-servant relationship.

Is he aware of his own contradictions?

Or is it something else…

“Let me ask you something.”

“Anything.”

“Was the Lord you know someone who would instruct you on every single detail of your work?”

Lee Hyun-soo hesitated for a moment before answering.

Knight Wiggins, as if understanding Lee Hyun-soo, continued without waiting for his answer.

“Following someone is a simple phrase, but the method is not so simple. There are two main ways. Either you passively handle the tasks you are told to do, or you actively step forward to pave the way for the person you are following. Which type of person do you prefer?”

“I…”

Lee Hyun-soo was about to answer that he was the latter. But he couldn’t say that.

‘Am I really the latter?’

The Lee Hyun-soo of the past was someone who could confidently say he was the latter. But the current Lee Hyun-soo had too many things holding him back to be confident in that answer.

“The Lord is not a very meticulous person. Even if he is a meticulous person, it is clear that he is not meticulous when it comes to work. So, let me ask you one thing. Has the Lord ever told you not to do anything that would disrupt the atmosphere of the organization?”

He asked the question assuming that it had never happened. And there was only one answer Lee Hyun-soo could give.

Kang Jin-ho had never said such a thing.

“But…”

“Look here.”

Knight Wiggins smiled gently.

“I don’t have much time. You have the weapon of youth, but I can’t be active for that long.”

“You look like you have enough for several decades?”

“Those several decades are not enough. There are so many things I want to do. That’s why I’m saying this. This organization is too large and inefficient. The command system is too complex and divided to handle the tasks the Lord wants to do immediately. It needs to be simplified.”

Lee Hyun-soo’s eyes became a little sharper.

“What for?”

“Hmm.”

Knight Wiggins shrugged and sat down. Then, he reached into his pocket and took out a cigar case.

“May I have a smoke?”

“Of course.”

“Have one too.”

“I will.”

“Is a cigar okay?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t particularly enjoy them.”

Lee Hyun-soo took out his own cigarette from his pocket. He hadn’t smoked much in the past few years, but with chain smokers on both sides of him and the extreme stress, he had started again.

“A cigar is something you have to smoke for quite a while once you light it, so you need to be relaxed.”

Knight Wiggins cut the end of the cigar and slowly lit it.

“For something like that, you seem to be in quite a hurry?”

“You can’t always be relaxed. Sometimes, things that should be done leisurely need to be handled quickly. For example, like the situation you are in right now.”

Lee Hyun-soo lit his cigarette without answering.

“I don’t like to beat around the bush. If I were that relaxed, I wouldn’t have left the Round Table and come here. Do you understand? I know why you’re uncomfortable with what I’m saying. It’s because you’re worried that I might try to control the General Assembly as I please.”

“I won’t deny that.”

“That’s a foolish thought. The General Assembly belongs to the Lord. Do you think I’m bold enough to control what belongs to the Lord? I don’t know how I look in your eyes, but in the Lord’s eyes, I’m just an insect that he can crush with his finger if he doesn’t like me.”

“To that extent…”

Knight Wiggins chuckled lightly.

“Unfortunately, I haven’t yet built the ‘bond’ that you have with the Lord. The Lord doesn’t see you as mere subordinates. You may be part of the family he envisions, but I am not. My relationship with the Lord is still just a simple contractual one.”

Knight Wiggins shrugged and continued.

“Of course, I have to build that bond from now on. Look here, the reason I’m telling you this is simple. I need to change this organization. I need to create a more efficient and proactive organization to prove my worth to the Lord. Realistically, the Lord’s current interest in me is just a curiosity about a different kind of martial art. If my martial art doesn’t greatly contribute to increasing the power of the General Assembly, that interest will quickly disappear. I can’t just rely on that, can I?”

Lee Hyun-soo nodded quietly and opened his mouth.

“Why did you choose me?”

“Someone who can communicate, and someone who has the ability and power to execute a plan once it’s made.

That’s all.”

Lee Hyun-soo, who had been quietly staring at Knight Wiggins with cold eyes, spoke one word at a time.

“What do you want from me?”

“No, that’s the wrong question. Tell me, Mr. Lee. What do you want from me?”

Knight Wiggins’s smile deepened as he quietly looked at Lee Hyun-soo.