Weapon-Eating Bastard [EN]: Chapter 7

Weapon-Devouring Illegitimate Son – Episode 7

The main house of the Soongmuei family was unusually serene, a stark contrast to the other buildings within the main compound.

In the silent atmosphere, where time seemed to stand still, only the gentle sound of wind chimes hanging from the eaves could be heard.

A young man was walking down the hallway of the main house.

His neatly swept-back hair and clear, kind eyes gave him a gentle impression.

His name was Lee Myung-jung.

He was Lee Tae-shin’s eldest son and the most likely candidate to become the next head of the family.

‘Father’s summons, huh.’

Lee Myung-jung stroked the handle of the sword hanging at his waist as he walked through the main house.

‘Could it be because of that?’

Everyone in the know was aware that the government had recently requested the Soongmuei family’s cooperation in reclaiming unexplored territories and stabilizing dangerous zones.

The Northern Expedition was practically an annual event, repeated with every change in government. Policies regarding unexplored territories were always a reliable way to boost approval ratings and gather votes.

But this time, something felt different.

‘When they sent the request for cooperation, I assumed they were going to organize another expeditionary force.’

Even if they didn’t launch a full-scale expedition, they usually did some kind of promotional campaign to show off their efforts, but this time it was quiet as could be, with no promotion whatsoever.

‘There’s something going on.’

Numerous unexplored territories remained scattered across the globe, and even in the dangerous zones where stabilization efforts were underway, sporadic monster attacks continued.

In particular, the largest unexplored territory in the world stretched across the Asian continent, covering northeastern China and Mongolia to southeastern Russia.

Dangling-.

Startled by the distant sound of wind chimes, Lee Myung-jung realized that he had arrived in front of the head of the family’s office.

‘Right, there’s no point in overthinking this alone. The answer will be in what Father has to say.’

Lee Myung-jung shook off his troubled thoughts and straightened his clothes and hair.

“Father, it’s Myung-jung.”

“Come in.”

“Yes.”

When he opened the door and stepped inside, Lee Myung-jung was surprised.

He could only sense his father’s presence, but there was another woman in the room besides Lee Tae-shin.

‘How?’

Even now, facing her directly, he couldn’t feel her presence.

It felt like facing a ghost or a hologram.

The woman tilted her head and flashed a bright smile.

Only then did Lee Myung-jung realize his rudeness and quickly bowed his head.

“Greetings. I am Lee Myung-jung, the first son.”

“Hello! Sweetie! Don’t you remember me? I saw you before, when you were this small!”

The woman gestured around her waist and smiled brightly.

“Excuse me?”

Lee Myung-jung raised his head and studied the woman.

Skin so white it was almost pale, slightly disheveled hair, and a perpetually smiling face.

Lee Myung-jung’s eyes widened.

“Could it be… Aunt Kyung-hwa?”

“Correct! Hello! You’ve grown up so well. I’m so proud, so proud.”

Lee Kyung-hwa stood on tiptoe and began to stroke Lee Myung-jung’s hair.

Lee Myung-jung didn’t know what expression to make, so he just gave an awkward smile.

It had been so long that his memories were vague, but he vaguely remembered that she had always been kind to him.

“Sit down.”

Lee Tae-shin spoke in a low voice.

Lee Myung-jung bowed his head briefly and sat down.

“An unusual phenomenon has been observed in the north.”

Lee Tae-shin got straight to the point.

“Seismic waves and magical power fluctuations have been detected in the King’s Nest.”

At those words, Lee Myung-jung felt his breath catch in his throat.

There was only one being in the unexplored territories that could be called a king.

A monster that was difficult to handle even with the combined power of humanity.

A monster of apocalyptic proportions that had destroyed countless civilizations.

Hearing Lee Tae-shin’s words, things that had been difficult to understand suddenly became clear.

“Are you saying it’s awakening?”

“It may awaken, or it may not. We’re going to find out.”

“This is too sudden.”

“There have been signs for nine years. It was as if it was reacting to something.”

Lee Tae-shin picked up the teacup in front of him as if it were nothing.

“This will be different from previous excursions. I will be away from the family for an extended period.”

Lee Tae-shin often left the family, sometimes for several months, sometimes for only a few weeks.

Only then was Lee Myung-jung able to understand another puzzling aspect of the situation.

“That’s why the government was so quiet about the expedition.”

“Yes. A secret request came. This request is to explore the King’s Nest.”

“What did they concede?”

“Twenty percent of the netanium mine’s shares.”

Netanium was a rare earth element that formed when ancient monster fossils mixed with fossil fuels like coal.

It was a mineral resource of immense scarcity and usability, a rare mineral with an extremely high price.

Twenty percent of that would be difficult to even put a value on.

With that level of compensation, the risk must be considerable.

“You should take the Spirit Sword Unit with you, in case something happens.”

“I will take a few of my hidden subordinates. Don’t worry.”

Lee Myung-jung pressed his lips together.

How many people in the world could speak so casually about an unexplored territory that would be insufficient even with a large expeditionary force, and a place where a king might have awakened?

“I will protect the family without incident while you are away, Father.”

“Yes, I believe you. You can consult the Elder Council Leader about requests coming from the government, and the Chief Manager about internal matters. And Kyung-hwa.”

“Yes, why?”

“Won’t you come with me too?”

Lee Kyung-hwa opened her eyes wide and blinked.

“I think I need you. There is no one in this era who knows as much about lost ancient technologies as you do. Maybe if you go there, you can get what you want too.”

Only then did Lee Myung-jung understand why Lee Kyung-hwa had been called to this place.

The only things she, who was considered to have some mental eccentricities, was interested in were the history of the distant past, which had no surviving records, and ancient martial arts.

However, if you stripped away the fantasy surrounding ancient times, they were just anachronistic technologies.

The modern technologies that had been refined and researched over countless hours were, of course, superior to those of the past.

‘But Father needs her….’

On one hand, he thought that Lee Kyung-hwa’s knowledge might have unexpected value.

On the other hand, he wondered if the situation was so dangerous that he had to rely even on Lee Kyung-hwa’s somewhat questionable knowledge.

“I’ll give you time to prepare for now. There are a few things I need to ask you before that, so clear your schedule.”

“Hmm.”

Lee Kyung-hwa seemed to be thinking for a moment, then carefully opened her mouth.

“Do I have to go?”

Lee Tae-shin asked, feigning surprise.

“Don’t you like ancient ruins? You will be able to find many traces that have not yet been revealed.”

“Um, um. But I don’t want to go, Brother. I don’t want to go.”

“Is there any reason?”

“I found something amazing. There was a cute baby.”

Lee Kyung-hwa giggled with a silly smile, like a child eager to play with a new toy.

“I gave him a present too… I can’t remember his name. Yeol, Yeol? Yeol-i! Brother’s son!”

“I don’t have a son named Yeol.”

Lee Myung-jung, who had been thinking for a moment, spoke up, his eyes wide.

“Are you perhaps talking about the youngest, Young-i?”

“Young-i? Ah! That’s right! I think that was his name. He’s small and very cute, but his eyes are a little scary. He came in from outside like Tae-hong, Brother!”

“What about that child?”

“He’s amazing. Something’s different.”

Lee Tae-shin stared at Lee Kyung-hwa.

“Did you see something?”

“Um, I don’t know. So I’ll stay with him. I think that would be more fun.”

After a moment of silence, Lee Tae-shin nodded as if he understood.

“Okay. Do as you wish.”

Lee Tae-shin readily respected Lee Kyung-hwa’s wishes.

Lee Myung-jung was deep in thought.

‘Young-i hasn’t even had his naming ceremony yet.’

It might sound like an excuse, but Lee Myung-jung hadn’t been able to find the time to visit his youngest brother.

He was training in two powers that were difficult to master even one, and he was constantly bombarded with requests.

His youngest brother, in his memory, was still the child he had seen at the old Iron Thread Ceremony [a ceremony to test a child’s strength and potential].

“Aunt, then are you planning to stay in the family for a while?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Then I will prepare a quiet place for you to stay. And… are you planning to meet the youngest right now?”

Lee Kyung-hwa nodded as if it were obvious.

“Then why don’t you come with me?”

“Okay!”

Lee Kyung-hwa smiled brightly.

* * *

Immediately after meeting my little aunt, Lee Kyung-hwa, I returned to my room.

“Young Master? What about training?”

“I came back for a moment. Nanny, can I be alone for a moment?”

“Yes? Ah, yes. It’s okay. I was just about to go out to prepare lunch.”

The nanny left the room, looking puzzled, perhaps because I had never returned in the middle of training since I started.

I hadn’t intended to stop training, but I had no choice.

The contents of the notebook that my aunt had given me were unusual.

‘It’s hard to decipher because of the bad handwriting… but this is magic, isn’t it?’

Since it wasn’t meant to be shown to others, it was disorganized, filled with old Chinese characters and unidentified symbols.

The parts that I managed to interpret were related to magic.

‘It’s not just magic. There’s also something about martial arts written here.’

The level was so advanced that it wasn’t easy to understand.

I began to think that the stories I had heard about Lee Kyung-hwa might be somewhat different from the truth.

‘This is… old-fashioned magic based on magic circuits [pathways for magical energy], isn’t it?’

I took out the jade dictionary from the bookshelf and began to decipher the notebook.

In the past, magic didn’t have the concept of a magic source [a concentrated point of magical energy] that stored magic, so it only utilized the magic circuits spread throughout the body.

In modern times, after experimenting with accumulating magic in the dantian [energy center below the navel], brain, and other parts, it was concluded that accumulating magic in the heart was the most stable and effective.

-But I’m curious. How could humans who lived before magic developed survive without becoming extinct?

It was a memo that Lee Kyung-hwa had written on one side of the notebook.

This was also one of the challenges for many modern historians.

How could ancient humans, who had less developed awakening [the ability to use magic], abilities, and knowledge of magic, survive?

There were many records left from the Middle Ages, but almost none from previous generations.

There were records left through ruins and artifacts, but many parts remained shrouded in mystery.

‘…What the heck is this? Amplification magic? Transformation magic?’

After reading the notebook for a while, my eyes lit up.

It contained information about the techniques of people in the distant past who wielded magic.

-Just because magic wasn’t as developed in ancient times, should we dismiss the technology of that time as outdated? Isn’t it simply lost?

They would have fought monsters more fiercely than in the modern era, when a stable society had been established.

The techniques of amplification and transformation magic are examples of this. There are no comparable concepts in modern times.

Are we just thinking of magic circuits as mere pathways through which magic flows?

‘This is difficult.’

Even in modern times, where magic is channeled through magic sources, no one disregards magic circuits.

Just because water comes out of a tap doesn’t mean the plumbing isn’t important.

‘Nevertheless… does Aunt think that the way we use magic circuits is cruder than in the past?’

At the end of the memo, there was a line written.

-Rather, the people of that era may have been better at handling magic itself.

It’s a pity. If there were just a few more records from that time, I might be able to reproduce it with the records I have.

Suddenly, the man in my memory came to mind.

‘Mujin’s magic!’

I immediately focused on my magic circuits.

Magic spread out from my magic source and flowed throughout my body.

Without allowing the magic to return to the magic source, I continued to operate solely with the magic circuits in that state.

Up to this point, it was exactly as written in the notebook.

From this point on, Mujin’s memories that I had absorbed intervened.

I grasped the magic operation of the man in Mujin’s memory that I hadn’t been able to understand before.

‘This is… it works!’

A missing piece of the puzzle had fallen into place.

Before I knew it, I was holding a sword in my hand.

Slowly, I took a step and swung the sword.

At that moment.

“Sweetie!”

Suddenly, the door burst open, and my aunt appeared in the path of my sword.

‘No!’

But the sword had already been swung. Because of the unfamiliar magic I was using for the first time, I couldn’t stop it.

Clang-!

Something intervened between me and my aunt.

A person’s hand blocked my sword.

Even though flesh and steel were colliding, a sound like metal breaking echoed through the room.

“Well, this is quite the boisterous welcome for my first visit to my younger brother’s room.”

A young man smiled and spoke to me.

The moment I saw him, I couldn’t help but widen my eyes.

“Brother?”

The one who had blocked my sword was the one who had taken me out of the family and one of the few benefactors who had helped me.

It was my first older brother, Lee Myung-jung.