Chapter 84 – Doubt (1)

In the evening, as the sun went down.

Two men stood side by side at the forefront of the procession as it rode over the hill on horses.

Anyone could tell that the two men were officials by looking at their blue robes and hats.

On the left, a tall man in his late 30s opened his mouth.

“We are moving steadily, so we should arrive at the Heavenly Martial Arts Academy by tomorrow.”

To this, a young man who rode on the right side replied.

“Yes, we should.”

The tall official with the beard was none other than Oh Muyang, an Imperial officer. He could be considered to be a deputy of that office.

The young man next to him spoke,

“Royal inspector. There has been a lot since we left the office, and it feels like we are heading to provide aid for an unfortunate event.”

“No. The academic situation is different, and I am grateful to have you helping me.”

“Hahaha. I am glad that you think so.”

Inspector.

That is right, he was the 7th Royal Inspector in the Imperial Office.

It was a position meant to supervise various places in each province and can be said to be of a higher rank.

This royal inspector was Yu Jin-sung, a Heavenly Martial Arts Academy graduate.

“Still, it feels fortunate that you, who are well versed with the academy, are coming along.”

“No. Even if I did graduate from there, things are bound to change with each year, so how can I handle it all? I will still try my best.”

“Right.”

Oh Muyang frowned while looking at Yu Jin-sung, who gave such an answer.

In a sense, this investigation could bring the academy down, and the academy was a place that Yu Jin-sung would be indebted to. Yet, this man was answering calmly, perhaps hiding his true feelings.

“But, your brother seems to have entered the academy as a freshman?”

“… yes.”

Yu Jin-sung gave a delayed answer to this. Oh Muyang smiled. He found out how to make Yu Jin-sung suffer.

Even if it was called an iron heart, it was natural to be worried if his brother was also in the academy.

“I am looking forward to hearing about the younger brother of the inspector. He must be as talented as you.”

“He is better than me.”

“Oh. I see. Hopefully, in just three years, I hope to see him show us results like you.”

“That is yet to be seen.”

“You will praise his talent but will not make promises about the future.”

“We never know how people change.”

At Yu Jin-sung’s answer, Oh Muyang smiled. Although he had excellent ways to solve things, this young man was not an idiot who would speak out.

And this was why he was suitable to be a royal inspector.

“Ah! But you have another brother. Didn’t your father adopt another child?”

At those words, Yu Jin-sung’s eyes darkened. He did hear the story about his father adopting a child during his exile.

However, as he was dispatched for work, he didn’t get to meet him. Their first meeting would be in the academy.

‘Was the child’s name Mumu?’

—

Mumu and his friends were having meals in the dorm hall.

The problem of staying in the academy was solved, and the kids were asked to do self-study. His meeting with the headmaster and Da Pil-hoo also went well.

“Mumu looks so happy today. Look at the rice he piled up.”

As Mo Il-hwa said, Mumu had brought back several cups of rice. It was no exaggeration to say he brought almost all the rice available for the meal to their table.

“Not just rice.”

As Hae-ryang said, Mumu had also brought side dishes of meat piled up. It was as much as ten people’s worth of food.

Mumu, who was shoving the rice into his mouth, said.

“I need to eat a lot of meat to avoid muscle loss.”

“Muscle loss. Huh. Well, fine, it is alright if you can eat that much and not feel nauseous.”

Surprisingly, Mumu would still get hungry after eating like that. He would put the food in his mouth and chew it 30 times, just like his father taught him.

His body was ingrained with the proper eating habits.

“Oh right. Come to think of it, both young masters look the same here.”

Hae-ryang looked at Mumu and Jin-hyuk. They both had the same posture and similar movements.

“Uh?”

Jin-hyuk frowned while looking at Mumu.

“Why are you so concerned about that?”

Mo Il-hwa smiled at that. It was cute to see this reaction on Jin-hyuk’s face each time he and Mumu were brought into the conversation.

‘… Huh?’

Moo Il-hwa felt taken aback. Why was she thinking of Jin-hyuk as cute?

‘Oh my! I must be going crazy! Remember why you’re here!’

This was bad.

She couldn’t realize what was wrong with her, she only had eyes for Yu Jin-sung, but she was being conscious of Jin-hyuk for nothing.

And Hae-ryang looked at her.

‘Hehe. Is this happening?’

And this boy was quick-witted.

Lately, each time Mo Il-hwa looked at Jin-hyuk, it felt like she was developing feelings for him.

‘Such a lovely sight, young love.’

It was a nice thing to see.

Jin-hyuk had Mo Il-hwa, and Mumu had the seniors.

Although they didn’t seem interested in that way, there were female seniors interested in Mumu, with Tang So-so, in particular, being obvious in showing it.

‘… this is fine, but when will my time come?’

Suddenly, he felt tears stinging his eyes. Meanwhile, Mo Il-hwa, not understanding her heart, changed the topic.

“Hmm. But starting today, for this time, the masters will do roll call.”

At that, Jin-hyuk nodded.

“Yes. It is impossible to handle such a large student body. Until the arson case is solved, the masters will take turns for the roll call.”

“Huh. Right. Didn’t the Southern Blade Dorm suffer a lot of damage?”

The Southern Blade Dorm was the only dorm among the four which suffered the most severe damage. There were no fatalities, but the fire spread to some rooms, and the damage was significant. Around 20% of the students also had difficulty breathing due to the smoke.

“Well, because of that, the students of that dorm will stay in the other three dorms for the time being.”

“Things will be crowded.”

“Right.”

“Ehh. Classes aren’t happening, and the dorms are crowded. I don’t know why this is happening only when we attend the academy.”

Mumu looked at Mo Il-hwa, who was grumbling and said.

“The more this happens, the more we can eat and train hard to not lose muscle.”

“…”

Right, this guy had his head filled with muscles. Mo Il-hwa put down her chopsticks and clicked her tongue. While they were doing this, someone approached them.

“Master Mumu.”

“Uh? Manager?”

It was Do Yang-woon, the manager of the North Heavenly Dorm. Everyone looked shocked at this.

And he said to Mumu.

“Can you give me a moment before heading to the dorm?”

—

Do Yang-woon headed to the west of the dorm site with Mumu.

The west was where the West Wind dorm was located. As they walked, Mumu asked him.

“So is it fine to become the witness for the manager’s and Guyang Seohan’s spar?”

“Yes.”

This was what Do Yang-woon came to talk about. Mumu felt puzzled at this request. Obviously, the man had died in front of them that night, but he seemed quite alive now.

“Have you had a conversation with the living senior?”

“It wasn’t a long one.”

“Why?”

Do Yang-woon sighed and said.

“He said I suggested the fight first but said that I avoided it and felt disappointed. He didn’t even want to talk much after.”

Because of that, he couldn’t speak.

And they wanted to figure out what happened.

“Did the manager suggest the spar then?”

“That is questionable.”

“What?”

“I got a letter saying to come for a spar.”

“Really?”

“Would I lie to master Mumu?”

“Then the letter?”

“… it disappeared.”

“Disappeared?”

Do Yang-woon was troubled because of this. He spent the night in the infirmary due to injuries and fractures. When he went back to get the letter, it was gone.

He searched the infirmary and even asked the physician if he had something on him, but they said they didn’t touch his belongings.

“All of the evidence about Guyang Seohan had vanished.”

“Right. That is why it is taking a while.”

“What is it?”

“That… I will tell you later. It is difficult to draw a conclusion as I am not sure.”

‘… maybe this incident was planned. The same goes for Hong-samae’s thing.’

Do Yang-woon was hoping that his prediction was wrong.

But if his guess was correct, then it was more than mere coincidence. Two people were waiting there when they arrived at the West Wind dorm. It was the Guyang twins.

“You?”

When Guyang Seohan looked at the two people approaching, he looked at his sister.

She said something about introducing someone, so he reluctantly came out, but now…

“You lied to me.”

“No. I didn’t lie.”

“What do you mean, you didn’t lie? I am in no mood to talk with him. I don’t even know what he is up to…”

“It is two jobs at the same time.”

“What?”

“See that there? That cute guy?”

The one she pointed to was Mumu. Guyang Seohan frowned, looking at him. He knew Mumu caught the arsonist with his sister the previous night.

‘Weren’t people saying that he was the man who passed the entrance test without learning martial arts?’

Actually, there was no one in the academy who didn’t know about that story. It was no exaggeration that Mumu was a celebrity here.

“… are you being honest?”

Guyang Seohan asked, looking at his sister.

On the surface, his sister looked like a cold beauty who could break the hearts of men, but she never seemed to show interest in any students. She didn’t even show interest in handsome middle-aged men like Mak Cheong-un.

“Is it true or false? Have you ever seen me lie to you?”

At those words, Guyang Seohan was shocked.

‘You like that guy?’

He couldn’t understand it.

Guyang Seohan can admit that Mumu was a pretty-looking boy, but he thought a real man would suit his sister better.

“There is nothing I can do if your tastes have changed, but will grandfather be fine with this?”

A guy who didn’t even know martial arts. Guyang Seorin smiled and said.

“You never know.”

‘The overflowing charisma.’

The appearance of Mumu soaked in the blood of the enemies he killed without mercy had instilled a weird perception of manliness in her.

Of course, she couldn’t say it since Mumu wanted to keep that incident a secret. At his sister’s strange attitude, Guyang Seohan clicked his tongue and moved forward.

“Well, I will know if I see it, anyway, don’t deceive me with words.”

“So what will you do? You’re going to just leave?”

“I will talk to him right now…”

“Talking is good. As a manager of the dorms, I didn’t want to deal with him, but Do Yang-woon, his story… is quite interesting.”

Guyang Seohan was puzzled at his sister’s serious voice.

What did she hear from the two to consider it something interesting?

“Letter.”

Meanwhile, Do Yang-woon approached them, and Guyang Seohan spoke irritatedly.

“I said I didn’t want to talk to you, so you go after Seorin?”

“You seem to be misunderstanding the situation.”

“Misunderstanding? What could I misunderstand? You asked me for a spar and made us wait for an hour. How dare you make fun of me…”

“I got one too.”

“What?”

“Before the roll call that night, I got a letter from you asking for a spar.”

At those words, Guyang Seohan lifted his eyebrows.

“What nonsense. Me sending you a letter?”

“I never received one before.”

“You think I can’t recognize your writing? You surely sent…”

“And where is that letter?”

Guyang Seohan frowned at the question.

“I threw it.”

“You threw it away?”

“Right. You broke the promise to spar.”

At that, Do Yang-woon asked in a doubtful tone.

“Didn’t it vanish instead of you throwing it away?”

Guyang Seohan’s eyes fluttered open at that question.

His surprise was because he had left the letter in his room and it had disappeared overnight. He thought some fearless idiot stole from him and had planned to find the culprit and stuff their mouth with poison.

“You… How do you know that? Don’t tell me you…”

“No, the letter I received from you vanished the same night. It was while I was receiving treatment in the infirmary.”

“Infirmary?”

Thinking back, Do yang-woon had injuries on him that night. And because of that, the incident enraged him more.

He was annoyed that he had been asked for a spar, but the man went to spar with someone else.

“Who did you fight with?”

Among the students, there weren’t many who could hurt Do Yang-woon. It was difficult for even the successors of the Four Great Warriors to do this.

Do Yang-woon took a deep breath and said,

“You.”

“What?”

“You made me like that.”

At those words, Guyang Seohan was shocked.

“What nonsense are you talking about? I went back without even getting a chance to fight.”

“That is why I brought Master Mumu as a witness.”

“Master Mumu? You… ha!”

Guyang Seohan snorted.

He did hear that Mumu was called master by Do yang-woon, but hearing it in person felt absurd.

This man would make any rival of his feel ashamed by saying that.

“Master Mumu.”

“Ah… I saw it too. At the special training center, I saw senior Guyang compete with manager Do Yang-woon, and you tried to kill him.”

“What? Tried to kill him?”

Guyang Seohan was baffled. He never showed up, but now they were saying he tried to kill him?

“Are you joking around with me?”

“We aren’t. We certainly fought, and I lost to you too.”

“Well, that sounds right, but I…”

“And while trying to kill me, you were defeated by master Mumu and committed suicide.”

“…”

Guyang Seohan became speechless.

The more they talked, the more absurd it became. And Do Yang-woon continued.

“Honestly, something felt strange from the moment you tried to kill me, but seeing that you were still alive after committing suicide in front of me felt more absurd.”

“Yah Do Yang-woon! What nonsense are you talking about? Why would I try to kill you and then do something like that?”

“I don’t understand either. This is why I wanted to talk with you.”

“Ha!!”

Guyang Seohan couldn’t understand this. He was seriously thinking that he was being made fun of.

“Yah. Do Yang-woon. You know what you are saying, right?”

“You don’t understand?”

“Right. First, it makes no sense for me to kill you, but despite being strong enough to kill you, I lost to him?”

Guyang Seohan pointed to Mumu and Do Yang-woon asked.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Does it make sense that I defeated you and got defeated by him? Someone whom I can take down very easily?”

“Even if it seems like that, why can’t that happen?”

“…”

Guyang Seohan frowned at Do Yang-woon’s words.

Was this guy being serious?

Judging by that reaction, it was as if Mumu defeating him wasn’t a strange thing.

Guyang Seohan snorted and spoke to his sister.

“Did you hear that too? Do yang-woon, this guy and me.”

“It is no joke, you cannot beat him with your skills, and you can never get away from him.”

“What?”

“Didn’t you hear me? Unless you decide to risk your life and fight with poison, you cannot have a winning hand over Mumu.”

‘!?’