Weapon-Eating Bastard [EN]: Chapter 29

Weapon-Eating Bastard – Episode 29

“From now on, we will continue sparring using the magic arts personally taught by the elders. Everyone, find a partner.”

I stood still as Choi Inha dusted off his hands and approached, building up his momentum as if facing an arch-enemy.

“I won’t hold back.”

“Welcome. I won’t yield the first move.”

“Haaap!”

Choi Inha charged in aggressively, his previously gentle demeanor nowhere to be found.

I defended against all his attacks, evaded, and conversely, landed my attacks accurately.

“Damn it!”

Perhaps frustrated by this, Choi Inha rushed in suddenly, swinging his fist.

Whoosh-!

The fist landed a split-second faster than before.

With only a hair’s breadth, I barely managed to block it.

“…That was good.”

“Hoo, hoo.”

Choi Inha breathed roughly and frowned.

“How long are you going to keep looking down on me like that, hoo… Let’s see.”

Once again, Choi Inha charged.

It was quite presumptuous, but rather pleasing.

The difference in capabilities between Choi Inha and me is clear. Nevertheless, Choi Inha is only thinking about how he can win.

If it were like when we first met, he would have immediately backed down when he recognized the difference between us.

‘He’s quite outstanding among the kids here. But overall, his talent is just about average.’

Choi Inha’s talent isn’t nonexistent, but it’s not exceptional either.

Choi Inha has grown very quickly in the past few weeks. But he has grown more brilliantly in other areas than in martial prowess.

His spirit has changed.

They say the eyes are the windows to the soul.

The burning desire in Choi Inha’s eyes surpassed any of the other kids in the upper class.

The determination and change from that time have continued until now, several weeks later.

Even with many cadets still rebelling and resistant towards me, Choi Inha tried to change completely and succeeded.

“Do it properly!”

I had been relaxing my grip, and he even scolded me like this.

Choi Inha heavily stamped his feet.

Simultaneously with a spinning kick, a kick imbued with magic was unleashed.

‘This is a feint.’

As expected, the kick didn’t connect as a strike but instead stepped on the ground. He lowered his body and came in for a tackle.

I secured Choi Inha’s neck under my arm and sat down.

It’s a very simple ground technique. As simple as it is, it was effective.

“Cough, cough!”

Choi Inha let out a painful groan and flailed his arms.

After resisting for a while, he tapped my arm.

“Kuh… I lost…”

I released my arm and stood up.

Choi Inha gritted his teeth with a resentful expression.

Even that appearance was pleasing.

After that, the training continued relentlessly.

Each cadet moved one space at a time, continuing the sparring.

I looked around the training ground.

‘They have changed. They have changed….’

The atmosphere of the sparring was intense.

It was hard to believe this sparring was being conducted by kids who haven’t even become adults yet.

Even if Class 5 is called a trash heap, the Sungmoo Lee family’s cadet corps was still a cadet corps.

‘But there are still some guys who haven’t come to their senses.’

Most have changed, but there are some who haven’t.

“…I’m next.”

A cadet with a scowl stood before me.

A cadet who always wears a dissatisfied expression. His name was Kim Boseong, I think.

He was a guy who participated insincerely in every training session I conducted.

“…I hate you.”

“I never told you to like me.”

“We and you, who were lucky enough to be born with the right blood, are different from the start. You were born with it, so you can do it… but we can’t.”

“Blood? Starting point?”

A sneer escaped my lips.

I guess he doesn’t know how bastards are treated in the Sungmoo Lee family.

“Shut up and come in.”

I flicked my finger, beckoning him forward.

* * *

Lee Gyeonghwa did not leave the Class 5 training ground even after the lecture was over.

‘Shall I watch what my baby is doing?’

She was stealthily watching the training ground, worried that Lee Cheol might see her and scold her for being distracted again.

‘Wow, our baby is ruthless!’

Just in time, Lee Cheol struck the opponent’s vitals after they fell.

It was clear that he was not holding back, even though the magic was limited to an appropriate level.

‘It’s like watching myself back then.’

Lee Gyeonghwa’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully.

Even though such aggressive training has largely disappeared as the times have become more peaceful, it seemed just right to Lee Gyeonghwa.

When she was a cadet, veteran instructors who had experienced the Great War were in charge of the cadets.

The education of that time was characterized by fierce desperation rather than efficiency or planning.

“…I really don’t like that bastard.”

At that moment, Lee Gyeonghwa overheard a cadet’s voice sneering unpleasantly.

“Even if he’s discriminated against a bit for being a bastard, he’s still different from us. His body is different, and he’s probably unlocked his abilities… he’s different from the start.”

“That’s right. We’ve been working hard all this time, but what does he know? How could a direct descendant know the sorrow of those who don’t have it?”

“I knew it from the start when that guy, who’s different from the start, started preaching old-fashioned mental fortitude. A gold spoon [born into wealth and privilege], indeed….”

Speechless, Lee Gyeonghwa blankly looked back and forth between the cadets and the training ground.

Then she approached them.

“Hey, kids?”

“Huh! Ch, Ch-! Ah, haven’t you left yet?”

“Are you talking about my baby… no, my disciple?”

The cadets didn’t know what to say.

After all, in front of them was an elder of the Sungmoo Lee family’s direct line. Moreover, they had insulted Lee Cheol, who was a direct descendant, even though he was a bastard.

Furthermore.

‘H, her expression….’

She thought she was a very cheerful and friendly elder, but Lee Gyeonghwa’s expression was dripping with coldness.

“S, sorry.”

“Tell me.”

“Th, that’s… I’m sorry. We just spoke a little too harshly. Please forgive us!”

That means the words were directed at Lee Cheol.

She couldn’t believe it.

How could they say such things to Lee Cheol of all people?

“What do you know to say such things to that child?”

Lee Gyeonghwa clenched her fist tightly.

She didn’t know why she was so angry.

She knew that they were just meaningless words.

She had heard such words countless times when she was a cadet.

She knew that these kinds of guys exist anywhere and anytime, and they don’t believe it no matter how much you show them or tell them.

She knew that the answer was to ignore them and move on, but Lee Gyeonghwa unknowingly opened her mouth and spoke.

At Lee Gyeonghwa’s rebuke, a cadet made a tearful expression.

“Even the young master… doesn’t know anything. We’ve worked incredibly hard too. But every time, you humiliated us as if we were nothing.”

It was Kim Boseong, a cadet who had just come up with an injury from sparring.

“Isn’t it natural that we’re different since we grew up in different environments?”

Was it because he was going through puberty? Was it because of the rebellious spirit that arose in the changing atmosphere of the class?

Kim Boseong unknowingly blurted out those words and soon realized that he had crossed the line.

He was just the son of a family with weak power, but he had stood up to a direct line elder.

Kim Boseong tensed up at the scolding that Lee Gyeonghwa would soon utter.

But the words Lee Gyeonghwa uttered were not a scolding.

“You really don’t know?”

“Yes?”

“Yes, maybe it’s better if you don’t know. If you knew how different that child’s day is from yours, you would know that your lives are nothing more than child’s play.”

Child’s play.

Kim Boseong and the cadets’ expressions twisted when the words that the youngest bastard always said came out again.

‘Just… what’s so different about that bastard….’

Kim Boseong clenched his fist tightly.

‘Okay, fine. I’ll take a look.’

In the end, his rebellious spirit exploded.

If he lives such a different day, he intends to capture it all in these two eyes.

He was going to see exactly how the well-off direct line lives. After seeing it clearly, he was going to press down the nose of the bastard who only spouts platitudes.

* * *

Kim Boseong was watching Lee Cheol carefully. During the cadet corps’ regular training hours, and while Lee Cheol was gathering the cadets separately to train them.

After all the training was over, Lee Cheol sat down and gasped for breath.

‘See, there’s nothing different. He keeps saying struggle, struggle, but in the end, he’s just born with something different from us.’

Kim Boseong was planning to follow Lee Cheol after the training was over.

If the guy who says he lives while struggling so much lives a life no different from other cadets, there would be nothing more ridiculous than that.

Kim Boseong gathered some cadets. To prove the protagonist’s weakness, witnesses were needed.

“But will it be okay? Still, wandering around the main family’s property as you please….”

“We’re cadets, so it’s okay. Besides, we’re not going to a dangerous place, and that bastard doesn’t even live in the direct descendants’ residential area.”

“Yeah, how long are we going to be swayed by that direct descendant?”

“I’ve never liked him. Let’s see for ourselves and argue with him.”

And so, a group of cadets secretly began to follow Lee Cheol.

As soon as the training was over, Lee Cheol walked somewhere.

It was where the researcher was.

‘…Well, that elder said he was his teacher, so maybe he’s going to train or something?’

The cadets waited for Lee Cheol to come out, each pretending to be doing something else.

Like that, 1 hour, 2 hours.

‘It’s already 9 o’clock…?’

Some of the cadets, tired and exhausted, were already dozing off against the wall.

“Ugh, Boseong-ah. I’m going to go now. I’m too sleepy because of the training during the day. I don’t even know what that guy is doing inside. There’s training tomorrow too….”

Like that, one or two people started to go home.

After that, another hour passed.

10:15 PM. Lee Cheol finally came out of the research lab.

Lee Cheol, who had looked so confident, had drooping shoulders and a face worn out with fatigue.

“Hoo… Let’s cheer up.”

Lee Cheol muttered like that and headed somewhere again.

‘He’s finally going home. See, there’s nothing different, right?’

But it wasn’t.

The place Lee Cheol was heading to was not the residential area but the training ground exclusively for direct descendants.

No matter what, they couldn’t follow him there.

A training ground in the middle of the night where silence had fallen.

The sound of constant training could be heard from afar.

“Kuaaak! Heo! Heo!”

They couldn’t hear anything but the sound, so they didn’t know what was happening, but Lee Cheol was screaming almost like a scream and swinging something around.

Like that, about 2 hours passed again, and the date changed.

Some of the cadets who were exhausted finally went home again.

“Boseong-ah. That bastard… no, the young master seems to be amazing.”

One of the cadets who had followed him gritted his teeth as if he was ashamed.

“Let’s stop. The young master didn’t say anything wrong either. Let’s work hard like Inha….”

“…I don’t skip personal training anyway. There’s nothing different.”

Kim Boseong clenched his fist tightly.

Lee Cheol’s body was tattered as he walked out of the training ground.

His whole body was wet as if he had taken a shower, and he staggered as if his legs had given out.

‘Just….’

Lee Cheol finally went into his residence. He was almost caught once or twice, but he deliberately followed him from a distance to avoid being seen.

“Hey, you there! Who is it?”

He was caught by a patrolling warrior several times, but he was able to get away with it by showing his cadet uniform and saying that he was following Lee Cheol.

“Young Master Lee Cheol goes out every night… I didn’t know he would even bring cadets with him.”

Every night.

Those words were like a thorn stuck in his throat.

“Ah, there’s a bit of a situation this time….”

Even though he received such a lecture, the cadets still followed Lee Cheol.

Lee Cheol, who came out of the training ground, finally returned to his room.

The time was already 1 a.m.

At that moment, no cadets were left.

Kim Boseong was looking up at Lee Cheol’s room alone.

‘The light… isn’t off.’

He couldn’t see in detail what he was doing, but judging from the fact that a woman who looked like a nanny was carrying a book and walking back and forth, he might be studying.

Another hour passed again.

“…….”

As if exerting himself, he twisted his tired body back and forth, endlessly staring at the light inside the window that wouldn’t turn off.

However, the light did not show any signs of turning off easily.

The sound of memorizing something and the sound of turning pages could still be heard.

“…Let’s go back.”

With difficulty, Kim Boseong turned around and looked at Lee Cheol’s room, which was plunged into darkness, as he reluctantly took steps that wouldn’t fall easily.

In the midst of the deep darkness that had fallen on the world, only Lee Cheol’s room was shining brightly alone like the moon in the night sky.

* * *

The cadet corps’ dormitory was completely autonomous without a single instructor, so even waking up had to be done on their own.

Perhaps because he had slept for a short time, his intraocular pressure was high, and it felt like his eyeballs were about to fall out.

Kim Boseong, who barely managed to get out with his heavy body, found Lee Cheol, who had come out earlier than him as always.

Was it because he had seen yesterday’s events?

He could see the unseen sides of that bastard, who always seemed confident and flawless.

‘He’s tired.’

Even if he had the Sungmoo Lee family’s direct bloodline’s innate body and profound magic, would it be okay to live a life of only sleeping 3 or 4 hours at the age of 13?

‘Why the hell? He’s a direct descendant of the Sungmoo Lee family.’

What about himself?

When he worked hard in the cadet corps and came back… he rested, watched TV, or played games.

He often did personal training, but he also enjoyed sleep, rest, and entertainment appropriately.

‘Why, why is he doing that? If he does that, he won’t have his own life.’

He was confused.

When he came to his senses, Kim Boseong was already standing in front of Lee Cheol.

“What’s wrong?”

He had no idea what to say.

“If you don’t have anything to do, prepare. It’s almost time for the instructor to come.”

“…Aren’t you tired?”

Kim Boseong suddenly asked that.

Lee Cheol, who frowned as if wondering what he was talking about, soon brightened his eyes as if he had noticed.

“You were one of the guys who followed me, right?”

He knew that?

That wasn’t important right now.

“Y, Young Master is a direct descendant, so you receive support, and your starting point is different, and….”

All sorts of rambling words came out.

Lee Cheol said with a calm face.

“I’ve been living like this since I was young. My sleeping time was a little longer before I entered the cadet corps. Of course, I’m tired since I can’t sleep for a few hours, right?”

“Why are you doing that?”

Lee Cheol’s life is too harsh and bleak. Why does he have to live like that from a young age?

“You know the answer too, right?”

Just in time, Lee Jeongho went up to the parade ground.

Kim Boseong blankly stared at that sight and gritted his teeth.