Weapon-Eating Bastard [EN]: Chapter 43

Weapon-Devouring Bastard – Chapter 43

Stepping out of my father’s office, it felt like it had been over an hour, but checking the time, only about 30 minutes had passed.

As I walked away from the office, I took a long breath, like someone who had been underwater for too long.

“Haa…”

“Such an overreaction. You spoke well for someone so nervous.”

“Did I say anything wrong? What did I say? Was it ‘fair and square’? Why did he say it wasn’t bad? Was it actually bad?!”

I couldn’t help but chuckle at Lee Seo-hyun, who was trembling and picking up her own words.

Just then, Butler Choi approached from behind with his usual impeccable posture.

“Did your conversation go well?”

“Ah, Butler Choi. Yes, it was fine.”

I replied awkwardly, watching Lee Seo-hyun muttering to herself, lost in her own world.

“Young Master, may I say something?”

“…Yes. I’m listening.”

Normally, the direct line of the main family doesn’t use honorifics with employees or household members, but Butler Choi was an exception.

Although he’s called a butler, he has served the Soongmoo family for a very long time and is practically my father’s secretary.

I felt an unknown sense of tension and focused on Butler Choi’s words.

“Do you perhaps enjoy mountain climbing?”

I shook my head at the sudden question.

“No. I don’t think I’ve ever been on a proper mountain climb.”

The only time I’ve climbed anything that could be called a mountain was during the quarterly evaluations.

“I quite enjoy it. When I was a bit younger, there wasn’t a famous or rugged mountain in the country that I hadn’t visited.”

I listened attentively as Butler Choi spoke with a hearty laugh.

Butler Choi was trying to say something.

Mountain climbing couldn’t literally mean mountain climbing.

“Once, I climbed a very steep mountain. There were no paths, so I had to make my own. If you were to climb such a mountain, Young Master, how would you approach it?”

I thought for a moment and replied.

“I would focus on looking only upwards. That way, I could reach the summit quickly and accurately.”

“Haha, indeed, you would climb quickly.”

Suddenly, Butler Choi’s voice lowered.

“But that’s not the way. Sometimes, you have to look back or to the side to see if you’re on the right path, and you have to examine the terrain to find your way. If you only look ahead, you can easily get lost and have to go a long way around. This is especially true for high mountains.”

Butler Choi stared intently at me.

An enigmatic statement.

I instinctively realized that the story about mountain climbing was a metaphor for something.

‘Is he talking about martial arts?’

Whenever I pondered about myself recently, a thought occasionally surfaced.

I have been repeatedly accepting new things before I could even digest what I had already gained.

It had been a long time since I had reviewed and solidified my foundation, or organized my power.

Most of my recent training has focused solely on adapting to new powers and becoming stronger quickly.

‘But I didn’t think that would be a problem.’

There were still many powers I needed to acquire, and what I had done so far was only the beginning of my future plans, so I didn’t have time to look back.

I had assumed that the problems would be resolved as I accumulated more training over time.

However.

‘Butler Choi is right. As time passes, I will once again only seek new things, without properly reviewing what I already have.’

The saying that you can get lost if you blindly rush forward comes to mind.

Perhaps now, before I go too far, is the time to look to the side and behind me to avoid walking down the wrong path.

I bowed deeply.

“Thank you for your kind words, Butler Choi.”

“Just think of it as an old man’s nagging. I only said it because I thought it might be of some help to you, as you’ve been having a hard time.”

I looked at Butler Choi.

Did he say it knowing something, or was it just a word of concern?

If it were the old me, I would have immediately thought the latter, but I couldn’t easily judge.

The image I had of Butler Choi, who I had always known to be gentle, wavered slightly.

“May I ask why you told me this story?”

“When I see you, Young Master, I am reminded of someone I know.”

“Who are you talking about?”

“There was a special person. Very beautiful and very strong. Someday, you will know them too.”

He didn’t seem like he would answer even if I asked more.

I quietly stared at Butler Choi, who was smiling calmly.

“Hey, Butler Choi. What are you talking about?”

Lee Seo-hyun, who had been muttering to herself for a while and came over from the middle, tilted her head.

Suddenly talking about mountain climbing, and then Lee Chul bowing and thanking him deeply, and then saying that this fierce guy resembles a beautiful person.

“Just an old man’s nagging, Miss. Haha.”

Butler Choi smiled broadly, finding Lee Seo-hyun’s tomboyish appearance endearing.

Before I knew it, we had left the building with my father’s office.

I bowed slightly.

“I’ll be going now.”

“Yes, take care. I won’t go far.”

“Butler Choi! Goodbye!”

I turned and walked away.

Then, I suddenly turned back and looked at Butler Choi.

The last rays of the afternoon sun were falling behind Butler Choi, who was still looking at us.

Was it an illusion?

Butler Choi, standing against the sunlight, looked unusually large.

* * *

Lee Tae-shin leaned against the window.

The figures of his son and daughter, walking along the straight main road of the main family estate, soon became a single dot and disappeared.

“The eighth one was discussing justice.”

Lee Tae-shin said, turning around.

Behind him stood Butler Choi, who had returned to the office.

Butler Choi smiled warmly, thinking of the eighth, Lee Seo-hyun.

“She has a pure spirit.”

“What do you think the ninth would have said?”

“I am sorry. I cannot easily guess.”

“The youngest said it was pathetic.”

Butler Choi sighed.

He could easily guess what the patheticness was about.

And if his guess was correct, it was something that could never be easily said to the absolute being standing by the window.

“If I didn’t have the same sentiment, I wouldn’t have forgiven him, even if he were my child.”

“Young Master probably didn’t intend to displease the Lord.”

“He himself would have known that he would have been severely scolded if he had.”

Butler Choi brought tea.

The soft fragrance of tea lingered in the office.

Lee Tae-shin said, holding the teacup.

“Inform the armory to release the Yonglin Armor by the end of today. It should be delivered to the eighth.”

“I will handle it as you command.”

“And tell the caretaker to prepare. The youngest wishes to enter the mountain.”

“Entering the mountain… are you perhaps referring to Cheonwi Mountain?”

“Yes.”

Butler Choi’s expression became subtle.

There were quite a few places that could be called sacred grounds within the Soongmoo family’s territory, but Cheonwi Mountain was particularly special.

Cheonwi Mountain was a secluded training ground for the direct line of the Soongmoo family.

Not just an ordinary secluded training ground, but a place said to have been created directly by the founder.

Therefore, it held as much value as a training ground as it did a symbolic and qualification-proving value.

“The time limit is one year. It’s not a place one can normally enter now, so that’s about the limit.”

“Even if it’s just one year, it’s an unprecedented event. There won’t be any complaints about the Lord’s command, but…”

It was a somewhat unreasonable handling method.

There would be no complaints against the Lord, but there could be complaints about Lee Chul, who was a bastard.

“If he’s a second-year student in the Cadet Corps, it’s mainly practical training and field deployment. Handle it as if he’s been given a special mission.”

“Understood.”

Butler Choi said that much and thought once again about the details of the Cheonwi Mountain entry authority.

Lee Chul would have known that it was an unprecedented event and that it could cause complaints.

Rather than enduring that, he could have simply requested decent equipment or elixirs.

‘But Young Master Lee Chul specifically requested entry authority…’

What value could it possibly have?

Being recognized as having lived the life of a Cadet Corps member without actually living it.

Moreover, while he was in the mountain, he would not be involved in any external problems due to the Lord’s command.

‘I see. Young Master.’

Lee Chul had not simply obtained the authority to enter Cheonwi Mountain, but had gained a temporal advantage of a full year.

“Haha.”

Butler Choi chuckled softly.

“The youngest Young Master had a plan. I think I said something unnecessary.”

“Unnecessary words?”

“I told him an old saying about climbing mountains.”

Lee Tae-shin nodded upon hearing those words.

He too had heard that story from Butler Choi’s predecessor a long time ago.

“For you to even pass on such words. Does the youngest one please you?”

“I merely offered a word of advice as someone who serves the Soongmoo family.”

Lee Tae-shin wore a strange expression.

Butler Choi was not someone who easily gave advice to others.

Even though the person who gave the advice didn’t think it was a big deal, it was quite rare in Lee Tae-shin’s eyes.

“What kind of child do you think the youngest one is?”

“He seems to be a generous and upright person, befitting the Lord’s bloodline.”

“Not such a cliché, but tell me your impression.”

Butler Choi hesitated for a moment.

But soon, he carefully opened his mouth.

“He seemed to resemble Yoo-jung a lot.”

Lee Tae-shin momentarily stopped moving.

“In what way?”

“He was, observing me.”

Butler Choi smiled gently.

“He looked at me as if I were some kind of goblin, and I was taken aback.”

“A goblin.”

At those words, Lee Tae-shin felt unusually cheerful.

Lee Tae-shin turned back towards the window and looked in the direction the youngest had walked.

A child who was unusually outstanding despite being a descendant of his blood.

An child who might have had a good rivalry with the eldest if he had been born 10 years earlier.

‘He trained at the Soongmoo Training Hall, and proved himself at the first Trial Gate during the Naming Ceremony. This time it’s Cheonwi Mountain.’

He is a child who shows a different side of himself the more you see him, and walks a unique path.

But when you retrace the footsteps he has taken, you get the feeling that the path is made up of symbolic things under some kind of plan.

Lee Chul has never deviated from the norm even once.

He is a child who calculates the things that follow, rather than recklessly starting things when handling them.

What is he aiming for this time?

* * *

As soon as I returned to my room, I leaned back deeply in my chair.

‘Hoo, it feels like I’ve been training for half a day, even though it’s only been a little over an hour.’

It couldn’t be helped, as I had spent quite a bit of mental energy talking to my father, and then there was the matter of listening to Butler Choi’s advice.

‘Still, I got the authority to enter Cheonwi Mountain, so that’s good. With this, I can advance the date to hold the Martial Arts Journey.’

The children of the Soongmoo family are recognized as warriors representing the Lee clan and the two characters of Soongmoo after passing three tests.

The Iron Thread Ceremony is the first, and the Naming Ceremony is the second.

And the last is the Martial Arts Journey.

Originally, the direct line of the Soongmoo family goes on a Martial Arts Journey after sufficiently experiencing actual combat as quasi-warriors after their Cadet Corps life.

The Martial Arts Journey does not have a set test like the Naming Ceremony.

There is only one thing: to accumulate remarkable martial power and return by the time you become an adult.

At this time, there was a space that all the direct lines of the Soongmoo family visited according to tradition before leaving for the Martial Arts Journey, and that was Cheonwi Mountain.

‘It was said to be a space created by the founder of the Soongmoo family to test descendants who were about to throw their hats into the ring.’

Originally, it is a tower that can only be entered after the Cadet Corps is over and you become a quasi-warrior.

However, with my father’s permission this time, I will be able to skip the second year of the Cadet Corps in the Tower of Training.

‘Besides… Cheonwi Mountain was a place I had to visit someday.’

I turned my head and looked at one side of the room.

There, a weapon storage was placed.

A sword with a black luster gleaming even though it had not been specially maintained.

Black Night, which I had chosen at the Iron Thread Ceremony and had never taken out since, was stuck there.

Knock knock-

Then someone knocked on the door.

“Young Master, it’s your nanny. Um, I received a call.”

The nanny entered with a subtle expression.