Weapon-Eating Bastard [EN]: Chapter 18

Weapon-Eating Bastard – Episode 18

When I opened my eyes, I found myself in a misty, humid world.

The damp fog enveloped me like a blanket.

‘Why am I in a place like this?’

The tamer…

Mount Gui…

And what about the other monsters?

Throb!

Every part of my body seemed to ache, yet I felt strangely numb. I felt like I was burning up, but also shivering.

Booooooom-.

The fog trembled with a distant reverberation.

I slowly opened my eyes and turned my head.

There, a giant eye was staring at me.

A large, deep eye, like looking into a lake, was fixed on me.

‘So, it has come to this.’

A stream of unknown words echoed in my hazy consciousness.

It wasn’t as if I could hear the sound directly, but just by looking into the eye, I could perceive countless words.

‘Those things are too dangerous for a human to possess. How did both come to be within one being……’

‘But it protected you from your enemies, so that too may be a decree of fate.’

‘I do not know if it will be a blessing or another disaster for the world. I had hoped you would not awaken. I would rather now……’

As if responding to the voice, the darkness within me surged out from my body like unraveling threads.

As if telling it not to approach any further.

The darkness rose fiercely, like a wild beast baring its fangs.

Ripples formed in the lake-like eyes.

The owner of the giant eye hesitated, lowered its thick eyelids in anguish, and then gazed at me again.

And something dropped in front of me with a thud.

‘Feed it.’

Not eat, but feed it.

What lay before me was a unique honeycomb emitting a subtle purple light.

Inside the large honeycomb, which was difficult to hold, was a dense honey.

‘It is not you who should eat, but you must feed it to that. Then your body will naturally be healed……’

As if drawn by the sound, I put the honeycomb into my mouth and swallowed it whole, not leaving a single bit.

I felt like I couldn’t move a single finger, yet my body moved so easily.

‘An era has opened. Become stronger, child of man, so that you are not swallowed by the era.’

I felt a heavy sleepiness washing over me like a mist rolling in at dawn.

I stared blankly at the owner of the giant eye, disappearing into the fog as if seeping into it.

Finally, I slowly closed my eyes.

* * *

When I regained consciousness, the first thing I felt was a throbbing, dull pain.

“Ugh…….”

A groan escaped me as I tried to sit up.

I lay there, still with my eyes closed, and began a physical examination.

‘The amount of mana……’

The first thing that caught my attention was the exponentially increased amount of mana.

More than twice the amount I had gathered so far.

And that wasn’t all.

Compared to the damage to my musculoskeletal system from various injuries, my mana system was far more solid than before.

‘Nectar isn’t a potion or an elixir, there’s no way it could recover this much…… Could it be…’

I recalled the being I had encountered in the fog-filled space.

The giant eye resembling a lake.

‘Could it be Mount Gui?’

I didn’t know it then, but at that moment, that eye felt like Mount Gui’s.

In a moment that I couldn’t tell if it was reality or illusion, the owner of that large eye gave me a large honeycomb with a mysterious color, like it contained the sunset.

‘Honeycomb, purple…… Could it be Amethyst Honey [a rare, high-grade elixir] that I consumed?’

My mind snapped to attention.

The item I had desperately wanted to obtain at Jeokcheong Island.

A special honey hidden deep within the cliffs where the guardian spirit was located near the dragon’s domain in the innermost center, and was a spiritual medicine known to have been consumed by painters in the past.

‘In addition to common effects such as physical enhancement, increased mana, and opening the mana circuit… it was said to grant immunity to poison and curses.’

The highest-grade elixirs, such as Amethyst Honey, are treated as mysteries of nature with spiritual power in themselves.

It is only after dozens or hundreds of coincidences that the highest-grade elixirs such as Amethyst Honey are created, and they do not reveal themselves to those who are not destined to encounter them.

‘Amethyst Honey is much more precious than most of the elixirs that my brothers spend a fortune to consume. I succeeded. Honestly, I thought I might not be able to get it if I didn’t have luck.’

I clenched my fist.

Just by obtaining the enormous amount of mana and immunity to poison and curses that Amethyst Honey brought, I had achieved most of the goals of the coming-of-age ceremony.

“Oh! You’re awake!”

At that moment, the face of a little girl came into my view.

“……Hwa?”

“Ugh, this guy keeps calling my sister by her name.”

Hwa grumbled and sat down next to me with a thud.

I flinched involuntarily as I looked at her.

‘I feel a little sorry. Originally, she was supposed to get the Amethyst Honey.’

I carefully tried to get up, but Hwa pressed down on my chest.

“Lie down. You seemed to be checking your body earlier, how’s your condition?”

I pushed her arm away and stood up indifferently.

“A few strands of the mana circuit are severed, my internal organs are a little twisted, there are some cracks in every bone, and my muscles are torn. It’s not that bad.”

“What!? That’s not that bad?!”

Hwa was genuinely worried about her half-brother’s common sense.

I read Hwa’s expression and scoffed.

‘In my past life, she was a girl who would run around after just staunching the bleeding even if one of her arms was cut off.’

Of course, my condition was serious, but it was much worse before I consumed the elixir.

Amethyst Honey and Nectar.

If I didn’t have either of them, I might have had aftereffects.

“But why are you here?”

“How could I stay still when you caused such a commotion?”

I recalled Mount Gui, who had fired a breath into the air at the last moment.

I felt a new sense of emotion when I thought that I had avoided it.

“How many days have I been unconscious?”

“Humph, if you had been passed out for days, would I have been next to you? It hasn’t even been two hours. The test has been temporarily suspended. All the martial artists guarding the island have been put on the highest alert level……”

Two hours?

There’s no way it’s been two hours when my body has recovered to this extent after absorbing Amethyst Honey and Nectar.

I thought it had been at least a few days.

The moment that thought occurred to me, I remembered something important that I had forgotten.

“Wait. Where is the tamer?”

“Ah, calm down a bit. The situation is over. The Blue Sword Unit and the First Brother came directly.”

“First Brother?”

“Maknae!”

At that moment, a shout came from behind.

It was the First Brother’s voice.

The First Brother, who ran quickly, looked at me and had a blank expression.

“I apologize, Brother. Please forgive me for not being able to stand up and greet you. I can’t help it because of my body.”

The First Brother looked down at me and his expression twisted.

“……Hwa. Could you excuse us for a moment?”

“Yeah, sure. Understood.”

“Stay with the Blue Sword Unit until the search of the island is over.”

“Yes, understood.”

Hwa glanced at me and the First Brother and quickly left the spot.

When we were left alone, the First Brother asked with a stern face.

“Are you alright?”

“I can’t say I’m perfectly fine, but I’m alright.”

“Now that you’re conscious, get mana treatment first. I brought a potion too. I didn’t perform mana treatment because your mana technique is unique, just in case.”

“It would have been okay to receive it, but I’m okay with the mana treatment, so I just want to get the potion.”

The First Brother nodded.

“If you had died, I would have erased the tamer and all the organizations related to him from the world, even if it were some giant power. I’m glad you’re alive.”

It was a somewhat frightening statement, but I could feel the deep affection in those words.

I just laughed lightly.

“As a member of the Soongmoo Yi family, what you showed was truly an example of a brave warrior. However…”

It was a complimenting tone, but in an instant, the First Brother’s expression turned cold as if he were scolding me.

“As your brother, I can’t see it in a good light. It was recklessness. You could have died in vain. This time, you’re not going to say it’s because of your position as a bastard, are you?”

“That’s part of it, but… I didn’t want to compromise with myself in this kind of crisis.”

The evaluation of me that would circulate in the family because I hid was also a problem, but I was even more afraid of the impact that one compromise would have on me.

-Shouldn’t I get help in this kind of crisis?

That one compromise.

Rationalizing the request for help to go the easy way because I know it’s dangerous and has little chance of success.

It’s okay to compromise in problems with others.

But the moment you compromise even once in a problem with yourself, that one time will increase to ten times, a hundred times.

“Yeah, I knew you would think that way. But this time it was really dangerous.”

“I didn’t expect Mount Gui. I’m sorry. If I had known there was Mount Gui, I would have waited.”

“It’s a relief that you know how to distinguish between recklessness and confidence.”

The First Brother, who had been staring at me for a while, let out a long sigh and sat down in front of me with a thud.

“Let’s get you treated first.”

The First Brother handed me two 300ml flasks filled with blue liquid from his chest.

“It’s a high-grade potion. It’s a genuine product from the Magic Tower, so it will work quite well.”

High-grade potion.

The price wouldn’t be cheap, but I accepted it without a word.

“Thank you.”

I opened the potion and drank it.

I could feel the wounds all over my body healing as it was absorbed into my stomach in an instant.

I applied the remaining bottle to the areas where there were external wounds with my hand.

Chiiiiik-.

It won’t heal instantly, but it will all be healed overnight.

I don’t know about mid-grade or low-grade, but a high-grade potion would have that much effect.

After roughly finishing the treatment, I looked up at the First Brother.

The First Brother shook his head.

“This is a terrorist incident. You must have at least the rank of unit leader or higher to obtain related information. Wait for the announcement.”

“Big Brother, I took care of the tamer. I have the right to the information you heard.”

“Hoo, I knew you would say that.”

The First Brother sighed and continued.

“The tamer’s name is Nishiyama Shogo. He was a quasi-Grade 5 sorcerer who used to be part of the Japanese Onmyoryo [Bureau of Divination]. He was expelled for trying to obtain forbidden sorcery, and it seems he became a wanderer.”

“I knew he was a wanderer. Only a quasi-Grade 5… How did he tame Mount Gui?”

“The person who instigated him handed over high-level inscriptions and magical tools, and it seems he activated them when Mount Gui was asleep. The intention was to deal with you under the guise of a monster’s actions. That’s all I’ve found out so far. There will be appropriate compensation when you return to the family.”

I felt a sense of incongruity in the words that were quickly finished.

“You haven’t found out who’s behind it yet?”

“The tamer is close to being in a dying state right now, so we can’t get any information. We can only interrogate him further after the treatment is over.”

I was lost in thought for a moment.

Several questions came to mind and disappeared. I matched my own answers to those questions and grasped the situation.

‘So that’s what happened.’

I stared at the First Brother’s eyes and opened my mouth.

“I wasn’t the main target.”

“…….”

“You were the target, Brother.”

If you think about it that way, the questions are answered.

“What are you talking about?”

“You’re pretending not to know.”

It was a guess, but I unraveled a story that was practically a conviction.

I performed surprisingly well in the Iron Thread Ceremony and achieved good results in the group training, but I am still just a powerless bastard.

There is no reason or value for external forces to touch me, and there is no reason to cause trouble at the family’s big event, the coming-of-age ceremony, even within the family.

So why did they target me, and why at the coming-of-age ceremony?

‘It’s not Father who’s leading the family right now, it’s the First Brother.’

For the First Brother, the position of acting family head is a testing ground.

Father may not think so, but that’s how it appears to the family members.

But what if the acting family head doesn’t even notice that an outsider has infiltrated the family’s important ceremony and is late to respond?

It’s a complete disaster.

The First Brother, as the next candidate for the family head position, will leave a big stain.

“The reason they used the tamer wasn’t to deal with me by disguising it as a monster’s doing, but it was a double trap to make it look that way. The tamer wouldn’t have been able to escape even if he had succeeded. In the end, he had to be caught to tarnish your reputation, Brother.”

I didn’t say it, but there was one more reason.

That’s me.

I am a pretty good scapegoat.

If the legitimate son dies, things will get bigger, but what if the bastard dies?

Moreover, it is also known that I am close to the First Brother.

It may have been an attempt to get rid of me before I became the First Brother’s man.

“Yes, you’re right.”

Lee Myung-jung looked at his younger brother with an expression that he didn’t know whether to admire or be embarrassed by.

‘Was I this smart when I was young?’

It felt like he was facing even the old and experienced elders.

Lee Myung-jung thought it was a mistake that he didn’t hide it from his younger brother more thoroughly.

“Are you okay? Now that it’s already happened, you’re going to take a loss, Brother.”

“It’s okay. You avoided the worst-case scenario by dealing with it in time, and we captured the tamer. It will be somewhat flawed, but it won’t make a big difference with that alone.”

The First Brother shook off his seat and stood up.

“I can’t leave the family for long. The test facility will be opened tomorrow, so make sure to get good results.”

The First Brother smiled and stroked my head.

I understand the reason for trying to hide information from me.

The fact that I was swayed as a bastard, the fact that I almost lost my life because of it.

And the fact that the family, which outwardly promotes the spirit of justice and Soongmoo, is so full of infighting, he doesn’t want to show it to me, a young child.

I felt like laughing at that clumsy affection.

‘It’s okay to stop here. Rather, I’ll get a reward.’

But.

Is it okay to end like this?

Am I supposed to be satisfied with being swayed by someone I don’t even know?

Tak!

I grabbed the First Brother’s hand that was stroking my head.

‘I can’t just finish it with being taken advantage of.’

A clever plan flashed through my mind, and I slowly opened my mouth.