CHAPTER 7

"No traces of collusion at all?"

"Y-Yes, sir."

Deung Buhyung was sweating profusely.

He had expected to get at least something.

But the Ghost Intelligence Department had come up with nothing.

In fact, they had sent word that they would never take on a mission like this again—and then vanished without a trace.

He wanted to look into what had happened in detail, but the contact network had disappeared overnight, making access impossible.

That was the kind of organization the Ghost Intelligence Department was.

They took requests and carried them out using a thoroughly compartmentalized cell structure.

And the moment they sensed any threat to the organization, they vanished like ghosts.

In the end, Deung Buhyung gained nothing and only lost a large sum of money.

He couldn't even begin to guess why the Ghost Intelligence Department had disappeared overnight.

Cheon Semyeong pressed his temple firmly.

"So you're saying he really wiped out the Ghost Vegetables himself?"

Then, Yeon Jin, who had been quietly listening nearby, chuckled.

"Haha. That can't be. I don't know what kind of trick he used, but there must be something."

"What if he caught on?"

"Caught on to what, sir?"

"To the fact that we had people watching him."

"No way. If that were the case, with Sabigang's personality, he wouldn't have stayed quiet. He'd have caused a huge uproar in the academy, shouting about how an instructor was being spied on."

"Exactly. That guy's always been so inflexible you couldn't even have a proper conversation with him."

"Hm. True enough."

Cheon Semyeong nodded, seemingly convinced.

Yeon Jin quickly smiled and continued.

"Please don't worry too much. I took measures in case something like this happened, didn't I? With those trainees, we won't have to step in directly."

"Then the formal classes start tomorrow."

"Heh, yes. Personally, I'm quite looking forward to it. I wonder how Sabigang will respond."

At Yeon Jin's words, Deung Buhyung also regained his smile.

"Well then, I suppose I ought to go cheer them on. Hoho."

**

After a long time, Sabigang had taken a bath with heated water and returned to his room to dry his hair.

Vmmm. Vmmmm.

As if sensing his presence, Veritas, lying on the bed, let out a faint cry.

Sabigang trudged over and picked up Veritas in its scabbard.

"Stop whining. You've had enough to eat already."

But Veritas continued to tremble softly, unbothered.

"Tch, even if you're being stubborn, it won't change anything."

Sabigang tossed Veritas back onto the bed and sat cross-legged next to it.

On the way back, he had killed every beast he came across.

To appease the bloodthirsty Veritas.

But it seemed the beast's blood alone wasn't enough to sate it—it continued to emit faint cries.

'Well, for now, I'll just have to suppress it with mana.'

To do that, his body first had to grow accustomed to mana.

Sabigang let out a shallow sigh and shut his eyes and ears.

Silence.

He focused all his awareness on circulating his inner energy.

'I need to harmonize mana and inner strength as quickly as possible.'

Currently, the mana he had absorbed had settled in his lower danjeon in the form of inner strength.

Sabigang slowly circulated his inner strength through the meridians of his entire body.

Soon, the overflowing energy completed one full circulation through his meridians, leaving a refreshing sensation.

'The real problem starts now!'

He clenched his fist tightly.

It was time to convert his inner strength into mana.

He began drawing the energy flowing through his body into his heart.

It felt as if his entire chest was being armored, with the heart at the center.

'It's building. It's building up.'

Finally, at the moment all of his inner strength converged in his middle danjeon—

"Khut!"

Sabigang's body shuddered violently.

To an outside observer, it would have looked like he was having a minor seizure.

Moments later, he exhaled a deep breath and opened his eyes.

Beads of sweat dotted his forehead.

It was a training technique to convert a large amount of inner energy into mana in a short period.

Until recently, he had performed such exercises in the Demon Realm as casually as eating a meal.

As natural as breathing.

But now that he had returned to the past, he had to retrain and temper his body all over again.

Even so, he was adjusting at a remarkably fast pace.

The decades of experience he had built up were now paying off.

The reverse process—converting mana back into inner strength—was far easier.

'In that sense, the flow of mana is definitely more efficient.'

Sabigang rose to his feet.

Perhaps because Veritas had finally quieted down, it no longer reacted or complained.

'Should I call it a night and rest up for tomorrow's class?'

A faint sense of anticipation curled at the edge of Sabigang's lips as he looked out the window.

***

Deung Buhyung got up early at dawn and began sharpening his blade.

It was the time of day he liked best—and his only real hobby.

The more he honed the blade, the more it shone with a crimson hue.

Zahanakindo (Purple Mist Branded Blade).

A treasured sword he had received last year from the head of the Cheonhwa Merchant Group.

In exchange, he had recommended the group's young successor—also a graduate of Yongcheon Hall—to the Justice Alliance.

'Ahh, how beautiful.'

Deung Buhyung smiled contentedly as he gazed at the sharply honed blade.

Truthfully, he had never had a proper sword before.

So he cherished the Zahanakindo he had received from the merchant group dearly.

Shaak. Shaaak. Shaaaak.

'Sharpening a sword is like honing the heart. What a pure and elegant sound this is.'

After a while of polishing the blade, Deung Buhyung lifted the Zahanakindo once again.

'Ahh, so beautiful! Even my soul may fall captive to you.'

The Zahanakindo gleamed red in the early morning light.

Though it shone most brilliantly at sunset, its form was no less stunning at dawn.

As he gazed at it in a daze for a while, he noticed a group of trainees moving somewhere in the distance.

'Heh. So it begins, then?'

Suddenly recalling something, Deung Buhyung sheathed the Zahanakindo and stood up.

"This will be quite the entertaining observation session."

A sly smile crept across his lips.

**

A detached building tucked into the northeastern corner of Yongcheon Hall.

In front of it, the yard was overgrown with vegetation, and rocks were scattered around in disarray.

The door creaked, and the signboard was missing a nail, hanging crooked as if about to fall off.

It was once the Guest Pavilion, used to accommodate visiting guests to Yongcheon Hall.

But as the academy's reputation declined over the years, it had been used less and less.

Now, it stood empty, like an abandoned house.

"This is… our classroom?"

One trainee frowned deeply as he looked at the crooked nameplate.

The other trainees nearby also looked around, grumbling.

"What is this? There's nothing but weeds and rocks. How are we supposed to train in martial arts here?"

"Heh. As if you've ever trained seriously in martial arts."

"Shut up. You looking to die?"

"Oh? Wanna go right now?"

As a few trainees growled at one another, Sabigang walked up in front of the old Guest Pavilion.

Just then, someone spotted him and shouted.

"Hey, that's the instructor!"

The trainees instantly fell silent and turned their eyes toward him.

Sabigang stood in front of the Guest Pavilion and swept his gaze across the group.

These were the trainees assigned to his class.

He had already reviewed the roster, so he had a rough idea of who they were.

Special Purpose Class.

That was the official name of the class he had been assigned.

It might sound impressive at a glance, but in reality, it was filled with nothing but troublemakers.

Trainees who couldn't adjust to academy life, had no talent for martial arts, caused incidents through sheer misbehavior, or acted like they owned the place because of their powerful backgrounds—

In short, this class had been formed by collecting all the problem children who disrupted the academy's atmosphere.

Some had even been repeating their first year for several years.

Normally, a homeroom instructor is assigned, but instructors from various disciplines rotate through the classes to teach.

But for the Special Purpose Class, all lessons would be taught solely by Sabigang.

'This is probably their way of dumping all the responsibility on me. Heh.'

In other words, the academy had shoved all the unmanageable headaches onto him, planning to let Sabigang take the fall for everything.

'Well, I don't really mind.'

Sabigang examined each trainee's face before finally speaking.

"I'm Sabigang. I'll be your instructor from today onward."

"Why do we have to learn here, of all places?"

The one who spoke out abruptly was none other than Gok Bo-ok.

Beside him stood Yeon U-gyeong and a group of others, all glaring at Sabigang with hostility.

Of course, they weren't the only ones—most of the trainees gathered here clearly didn't welcome him.

A teacher openly looked down upon even by the students.

That had been Sabigang's reputation until now.

Sabigang chuckled lightly.

"Well… because you lot are hopeless trash."

The trainees blinked in disbelief.

Then, a wave of protests erupted all at once.

"What did you just say? Did he just call us trash?"

"Seriously? Is that something a teacher should say?"

"I don't know what's going on, but I'm not taking any lessons here!"

"Yeah! A teacher should act like a proper teacher!"

The scene turned chaotic in an instant.

Yeon U-gyeong, watching the uproar, smirked inwardly.

'What a joke. I don't know what tricks he pulled to become a lead instructor, but he's underestimating us far too much.'

Meanwhile, Sabigang waited silently for the unrest to subside.

Only after a good while did the trainees' grumbling quiet down.

Sabigang cleaned his ear and spoke.

"All done whining?"

"..."

"You're all louder than I expected."

"That's because the instructor didn't even explain—!"

One student tried to shout back but flinched and shut up.

He had been completely overwhelmed by Sabigang's gaze.

Sabigang spoke again.

"A good teacher guides without needing to resort to punishment. I believe that too. But… I also know I'm not a good teacher."

"W-What do you mean…?"

"It means if you don't listen, I'll beat you until you do. So behave yourselves. One thing's for sure—if you follow me, you will become stronger."

His gaze deepened as he finished.

'And I'll never lose those who follow me again.'

At that, the trainees could only gape with blank expressions.

Where did this arrogant attitude and baseless confidence come from?

Then, from one corner, a clear voice rang out.

"Instructor! I have a question!"

It was a polite and respectful tone.

Sabigang turned—and saw it was Yeon U-gyeong.

He smiled brightly and continued.

"There's a saying: 'A hundred days for the spear, a thousand for the blade, ten thousand for the sword.'"

"So?"

"Until recently, Instructor, you were teaching spear techniques. And not even as a lead instructor—you were an assistant. But now, overnight, you've become the lead swordsmanship instructor. Are you saying swordsmanship can improve that drastically in a single night?"

A pointed question.

The trainees stirred again, clearly agitated.

Sabigang grinned and replied.

"Normally, no. It's impossible."

"Then… are you saying you're not normal, Instructor?"

"Exactly. So consider yourselves lucky to be learning from me."

"But from our perspective, it's hard to accept. We'd like to know how skilled you really are in swordsmanship."

"So what?"

"We'd like you to prove it. If you did, it'd help us learn with more confidence, wouldn't it?"

Yeon U-gyeong gave a sly smile as he finished.

Sabigang looked straight at him.

This level of resistance was expected.

The other trainees all stared intently at Sabigang, silently agreeing with Yeon U-gyeong.

"And how do you want me to prove it?"

"Well, how about showing us a spar with the best sword trainee among us?"

Yeon U-gyeong smiled faintly.

Sabigang was just a former assistant spear instructor, after all.

And rumor had it that he'd only gotten that job thanks to backing from the Vice Lord of Bushin Pavilion.

'Who knows what strings he pulled to become lead sword instructor now—but he'll find out we're not so easy.'

Many of the trainees here were the later-generation heirs of prestigious martial sects.

Some were born with extraordinary talent, and many had already mastered advanced sword techniques passed down by their families or clans.

Age-wise, they weren't much different from Sabigang either.

'Go on, prove it. Show us you're even qualified to teach us.'

Yeon U-gyeong locked eyes with Sabigang.