The Former Absolute Supreme Chapter 37

Chapter 37: To the Alliance (2)

Guards appeared around Jegal Hyeon.

A few of them were even familiar faces to Baek Socheon. Though they were few in number, as the Grand Strategist’s personal guards, they were among the very best.

“It’s been a while.”

“Welcome.”

On his way back from the Divine Transformation Gang’s main headquarters, Baek Socheon had stopped at the nearest Po River Branch and sent a written message to Hyuncheon Pavilion. Even so, he had never expected Jegal Hyeon to come here in person.

“Please, come inside.”

“It’s hot. Let’s talk out here.”

“Very well.”

The two men sat on the wooden platform in the courtyard.

Baek Socheon respected Jegal Hyeon. During the last war, they had built a deep trust in one another. Jegal Hyeon believed that the Black Heaven Alliance had only been stopped because of Baek Socheon, while Baek Socheon believed it had all been possible because of Jegal Hyeon.

“So? How has life been here?”

“You already know, don’t you?”

Jegal Hyeon smiled.

“Indeed. I know everything.”

Every single day, he received reports about everything related to Baek Socheon and what was happening in Wencheng.

“Whether here or there, people are all the same. There are good people, and there are bastards.”

Jegal Hyeon nodded in agreement.

“Still, Wencheng was a special case. If Pavilion Master Baek hadn’t come here, a major problem would have arisen later.”

“I was fortunate.”

“It truly was fortunate.”

What if enemies raised here in the rear had attacked them from behind while the war was raging? Or worse, what if they had trusted those people and entrusted them with important missions? The thought alone was horrifying.

“The Black Heaven Alliance Leader came to meet me personally because he was confident.”

“Confident that he’d win the war.”

Baek Socheon nodded.

After a brief silence, Jegal Hyeon asked,

“Do you have any alcohol?”

“I thought you’d quit.”

“I’d like a drink for the first time in a long while.”

Jegal Hyeon had quit drinking while the war was at its height. Even after the ceasefire, he had never touched alcohol again. But sitting here with Baek Socheon today made him crave a drink.

“Please wait a moment.”

Baek Socheon brought out some liquor, and the two shared it.

“It tastes good after so long.”

“I’m sorry it isn’t anything special.”

“Not at all. Since I don’t know much about fine liquor anyway, the only thing that matters is who I drink with.”

Perhaps because it had been so long, Jegal Hyeon’s face turned red after only a few cups.

“Pavilion Master Baek, return to the Main Division.”

“…”

“I need you.”

“Has the Alliance Leader approved it?”

“He entrusted the decision to me.”

Baek Socheon had asked whether permission had been granted, but the answer was that the matter had been left to Jegal Hyeon. It was difficult to interpret. Even so, he could tell the Alliance Leader had hardly approved of it wholeheartedly.

After a brief pause, Jegal Hyeon spoke again.

“Very well, I’ll be honest. The Alliance Leader didn’t say much about calling you back.”

As always, the Alliance Leader had neither openly approved nor opposed the idea.

When Jegal Hyeon had gone to settle the matter, he had said this to the Alliance Leader.

—Please allow me to bring Baek Socheon back. I will take responsibility for every consequence that follows.

The Alliance Leader had probably found his actions displeasing. He already knew the sword had been taken from Baek Socheon, yet Jegal Hyeon was asking to bring him back. In a way, it could even have looked like defiance.

But Jegal Hyeon had already made up his mind to bring Baek Socheon back.

As the Black Heaven Alliance’s provocations grew increasingly severe, he felt Baek Socheon’s absence more keenly than ever, and the void he had left only continued to grow.

Reading the written message Baek Socheon had sent this time only confirmed it.

The Martial Alliance needed him.

No, to be precise, Jegal Hyeon needed him.

—Please trust my judgment, Alliance Leader.

Even after going this far, he still had faith. The Alliance Leader might dislike what he was doing, but at the very least, he could not cast him out under the current circumstances.

Though he would probably resent him even more because of it.

Jegal Hyeon finally revealed how he truly felt.

“I have no confidence that I can wage this war without you.”

The words had come with difficulty. To earnestly seek out someone who had lost his Internal Energy like this was, in itself, proof that he had lost confidence.

“I won’t be of any help.”

“Even without Internal Energy, you’ve fought through a war before, haven’t you? Please help me. I know this request is shameless.”

If he had been this desperate, he should never have sent him away in the first place.

He himself was no different from everyone else in the Martial Alliance. He had merely watched the Alliance Leader’s mood before finally coming here now. It was a truly selfish thing to do.

But now, urgency had overwhelmed his shame.

Though Baek Socheon had yet to agree, Jegal Hyeon continued explaining the details.

“If it were up to me, I’d appoint you as Deputy Pavilion Master or Commander of the Iron Sword Corps immediately, but the situation within the Alliance makes that impossible.”

The truth was, simply bringing him back was already causing enough upheaval.

“Instead, I’ll create a new organisation under Hyuncheon Pavilion. Come and lead it. Making it a Corps is impossible, but a Squad should be feasible.”

Then came an extraordinary offer.

“You’ll have full authority over personnel, along with independent operational authority and immunity.”

It was the sort of arrangement that would inevitably provoke complaints from every other organisation over fairness. As the Pavilion Master of Hyuncheon Pavilion, he would bear full responsibility for all the consequences.

He was willing to shoulder that political burden just to bring Baek Socheon back.

How could Baek Socheon fail to realise that Jegal Hyeon was staking the reputation he had built over an entire lifetime?

After silently taking another drink, Baek Socheon finally spoke.

“Very well. I’ll return.”

“Ah… thank you. Thank you very much.”

Jegal Hyeon’s face brightened immediately.

It truly felt as though he had gained an army of a thousand.

“If I may, I have one request.”

“Go ahead.”

“Please grant me access to anywhere you yourself are permitted to enter, Pavilion Master.”

In other words, he wanted access to every place the Pavilion Masters could freely enter.

The most obvious examples were every archive within the Ten Thousand Books Repository and the lowest level of the Martial Alliance’s underground Thunder Prison, where even visitation was forbidden.

Those places were accessible only to officials of Pavilion Master rank or above, and back when Baek Socheon had been Deputy Pavilion Master, he had come and gone from them freely.

There were martial manuals he wanted to examine again.

And there was someone imprisoned in the Thunder Prison whom he wished to meet.

“Agreed.”

Yes. If he wasn’t prepared to make concessions of this magnitude, there would have been no point in bringing Baek Socheon back in the first place.

There would undoubtedly be fierce opposition.

But that was his burden to bear.

Jegal Hyeon rose to leave.

“I’ll return first and wait for you. I hope to see you at the Alliance before long.”

“Travel safely.”

Jegal Hyeon departed.

Left alone, Baek Socheon remained seated on the wooden platform, gazing at the moon hanging in the sky.

A sigh escaped him before he even realised it.

“Hoo…”

Jegal Hyeon wanted him to return and join the war.

But Baek Socheon thought differently.

‘I don’t need to win the war.

I need to stop the war itself.’

Whoosh! Whoosh!

At one corner of the training ground, Beon Saeng was swinging his sword.

Sweat poured from him, but he refused to give up and continued practising the forms.

The martial art Beon Saeng had learned came from a martial arts hall.

As a child, he had wandered from place to place as an orphan before eventually being taken in by a small rural martial arts hall.

Life there had been difficult, and he had endured countless hardships while constantly watching others’ moods.

Even so, he had at least been able to learn martial arts.

After growing up, he had finally managed to pass the Martial Alliance Entrance Examination and enter the Martial Alliance.

When he finally finished a round of training, he noticed Baek Socheon watching him from the distance.

“Big Brother!”

“You’ve been working hard.”

“It’s nothing compared to your training, Big Brother. But these days, after getting back into training, whether I get stronger or not, I’m just so happy.”

“You’ll be happy until the day you die.”

“It’s not a bad way to live. Better to burn brightly than live a long, dull life.”

As Beon Saeng prepared to resume training, Baek Socheon splashed water on him.

“That’s enough. Put out that flame for a while. Bring Branch Leader Lim to my house. I have something to discuss.”

“I’m returning to the Main Division.”

At Baek Socheon’s words, Lim Chung and Beon Saeng stared in shock.

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“When are you leaving?”

“In a few days.”

“That soon?”

The two men were deeply shaken.

They had overcome the crisis involving the Divine Transformation Gang, and they had thought peaceful days finally lay ahead.

Yet just as things had begun to look up, they were suddenly faced with farewell.

It struck like a bolt from the blue.

“You won’t have to worry about any revenge from the Divine Transformation Gang. So don’t concern yourselves.”

Silence fell.

So many thoughts raced through their minds that neither knew what to say.

Beon Saeng finally blurted out the simplest, most instinctive thing.

“Big Brother! How can you do this? Where are you going, leaving us behind? Please don’t abandon us! Take us with you!”

“All right.”

Silence filled the room.

Blinking in confusion, Beon Saeng asked,

“…What?”

“I said we’ll go together.”

“We can come too?”

“You can. But only if you’re willing to give up the life you’ve built here. Once we get there, neither of you will be a Squad Leader or a Branch Leader anymore. You’ll both have to start over as ordinary martial artists. Can you accept that?”

Silence settled over them once more.

After a long pause, Beon Saeng spoke first.

“If you’re willing to have me, Big Brother, I want to follow you.”

Then he looked toward Lim Chung.

Unlike himself, Lim Chung had a family.

Beon Saeng would simply be stepping down from Squad Leader to ordinary martial artist.

But Lim Chung would be giving up his position as Branch Leader to become an ordinary martial artist.

And he had a wife and children besides.

It was by no means an easy decision.

Beon Saeng had assumed he would never be able to come.

Because of that, he felt guilty.

He would be abandoning the life they had shared to follow Baek Socheon.

It almost felt like betraying him.

As expected, Lim Chung could not answer immediately.

While he hesitated, Beon Saeng asked another question.

“But… my martial arts are weak. Won’t I just become a burden if I follow you?”

“You’re mistaken about me. I’m not such a noble person that I’d willingly carry around useless baggage.”

“Then why are you taking me?”

“Because you’re trustworthy.”

“…!”

The surge of emotion lasted only a moment.

“And you’re just enough of a pushover. Soft-hearted enough to be worked to the bone.”

“Aren’t you revealing too much of your recruitment strategy?”

“It’s fine. That’s hardly your only weakness.”

Though Beon Saeng looked speechless on the outside, inwardly he was delighted.

Because of the first reason.

Because Baek Socheon had said he was trustworthy.

Beon Saeng turned to the still-hesitating Lim Chung.

“I’m sorry for deciding on my own, Branch Leader.

…No, Big Brother.”

He was certain Lim Chung would stay behind.

But, as always, life was full of surprises.

“If I can bring my family, then I’ll come as well.”

Baek Socheon nodded.

“You can.”

“Really?”

“You can.”

“Won’t they become a burden?”

“Family isn’t a burden.

They’re your strength.”

At Baek Socheon’s firm answer, Lim Chung was overcome with emotion.

“Big Brother!”

He was overwhelmed with joy.

At the same time, he felt ashamed and guilty.

Baek Socheon had spoken the words he himself should have said.

In a gentle voice, Baek Socheon continued,

“I know what you’re worried about. Don’t worry. Trust me. If you’re destined to die over there, then you’d die staying here too.”

The words carried a deeper meaning, one that pointed toward the coming war.

Regardless, at that very moment, both Lim Chung’s and Beon Saeng’s lives changed completely.

And the changes did not end there.

“Come with me.”

Baek Socheon led them outside.

“If I’m going to work you to the bone, then you’ll have to be useful.”

“Don’t tell me…”

Beon Saeng’s eyes trembled.

“That’s right. I’ll teach each of you a few sword techniques suited to your level.”

It was a gift for willingly giving up the lives they had built.

Baek Socheon had survived twenty years on the battlefield.

He had already reached the level where he could create sword arts perfectly suited to people like them on the spot.

He drew the sword from Beon Saeng’s waist.

Shing.

Beon Saeng and Lim Chung widened their eyes, concentrating with all their might, determined not to miss even a single movement or a single word.

After quietly studying the sword for a moment, Baek Socheon spoke with a profound gaze.

“When a martial artist grasps the hilt of a sword, he also grasps its blade.

Never forget that.”

It was advice born from the depth of his long years of experience.

Though neither of them fully understood what he truly meant, they engraved those words into their hearts.

“We’ll remember them and never forget, Big Brother.”

One day, they would surely understand exactly why he had said it.

Next, Baek Socheon had Lim Chung demonstrate his swordsmanship.

There was no need for Beon Saeng to do so again, since Baek Socheon had already watched him training earlier.

After seeing Lim Chung’s swordsmanship as well, Baek Socheon taught each of them a different sword art consisting of seven forms.

He created them on the spot based on their abilities and the sword techniques they had originally learned.

Naturally, these sword arts were on an entirely different level from anything they had known before.

“I only just created them, so they have no names.”

“If you’ll permit us, we’ll name them ourselves!”

“Do as you like.”

Baek Socheon corrected every detail of their stances with precision.

Whenever they had questions, he answered them and explained everything thoroughly.

Whenever martial arts were involved, Baek Socheon became an entirely different person.

His usual roughness vanished.

So did his relaxed demeanour.

Only martial arts existed before him, and the two men were completely drawn into his passion.

As they learned, both of them found themselves wondering the same thing.

Had learning swordsmanship always been this easy?

Every word he spoke entered their minds effortlessly and made perfect sense.

Only after having them perform the techniques again did Baek Socheon finally say,

“If you truly master these sword arts, then at the very least, you won’t end up getting beaten wherever you go.”

“Big Brother… thank you so much.”

Both men bowed deeply at the same time.

For them, this was nothing short of an extraordinary blessing.

“Don’t thank me yet. This could still get you killed.”

This time, Beon Saeng answered with a seriousness unlike his usual self.

“If that happens, it’ll only be because I made the wrong choices. Because I failed to retreat when I should have, or because I neglected my training and couldn’t execute the forms properly. If I die, it’ll be because of that. It would have nothing to do with you teaching me today. You probably don’t realise this, but… this is the most moving moment of my life. No one has ever shown me such great kindness before.”

Beon Saeng’s eyes brimmed with tears.

He had grown up an orphan and struggled through life entirely on his own.

For the first time, someone had shown him overwhelming kindness.

“This is exactly how people become pushovers. Someone shows them a little kindness, and before they know it, they’ve given away their youth… and eventually their lives. That’s how the world and organisations use young people.”

“If it’s this kind of kindness, then I don’t mind becoming a pushover.”

“One day, you will. So…

Never let yourself be won over by the kindness of people who only want to use you.”

Baek Socheon tried his best to shatter Beon Saeng’s emotional moment.

But today, at least, Beon Saeng’s emotions were as indestructible as the Invincible Vajra Technique.

“Yes! Just this once, I’ll let myself fall for it!”

Baek Socheon chuckled.

“Looks like I reeled in a proper sucker.”

Lim Chung and Beon Saeng both burst into bright laughter.