Chapter 103
“…”
“…”
“…?”
As we continued Staring blankly at her, the Imugi asked with a look that seemed to say, 'What’s wrong?'
“…Why?”
She still had a piece of candied fruit in her mouth.
Rather than answering her question directly, I asked the Haomun Leader as if talking to myself.
“…Haomun Leader, an Imugi inner Core is definitely a good elixir, right?”
“…Of course. An Imugi Naedan that is hundreds of years old would have an effect at least equal to, if not greater than, a Great Restoration Pill.”
Hearing the conversation between the two of us, Dongryong stealthily placed his hand on his Saber.
“…If you two can subdue the Imugi’s arms and legs, I will immediately cut open her belly and take the inner core…”
“Wait! Hold on!! What are you guys talking about?”
Hearing our whispers, the Imugi shrieked in panic.
“Y-you’re going to take my inner core? You’re not being Serious, right? I can’t become a dragon without it!”
As the Imugi shrank back as if to say absolutely not, Dongryong-i adopted a polite attitude and spoke to her.
“…Yongyong, could we maybe just get 300 years' worth of your inner core?”
Pfft.
Fuck.
I almost laughed in the middle of this heavy atmosphere.
And rightly so. It wasn’t like haggling over a few coppers for a common Street snack; what the Hell was 300 years' worth of an inner core? Fuck.
Naturally, giving away just a little bit of her inner core was impossible, as the Imugi bared her claws and screamed.
“Does that even make sense?!”
Haaaaak-!
Her pupils slit vertically as she hissed.
Even I thought this was going too far, so I calmed Dongryong-i down.
“Hey, alright. Dongryong. I don’t think this is it. She’s trained for hundreds of years to become a dragon; we can’t just snatch it all away.”
“…If the Leader says so.”
“Plus, if you kill an Imugi recklessly, it becomes a ghost, so we can’t.”
“…What’s that about?”
“It’s a thing. Anyway, this option is rejected too.”
It was true that I was momentarily tempted when I thought of the Imugi Naedan. But this was far too cruel to the Imugi, so I decided to reject it.
“Then there’s no other way…”
“…”
Hearing that the Imugi Naedan was a no-go, Dongryong’s spirit broke once again. He must have thought of the Imugi Naedan as the last resort.
The others were the same.
Great Restoration Pill, Gongcheongseokyu, Gongcheongseokyu.
They were all names of elixirs only heard of in legends, so it must have felt hopeless.
It was the same for me.
In my entire life, I had never even seen those two elixirs, let alone consumed them. There was no way I could obtain them.
[Right…, it’s definitely impossible to obtain…]
…
Why do I keep feeling this nagging sensation?
Especially whenever I heard the word Gongcheongseokyu, my brain would twitch in response, which felt incredibly bothersome.
I had this feeling as if I had heard a hint about Gongcheongseokyu somewhere before…
To resolve this nagging feeling, I raised my hand and asked the Assembly.
“Wait, by any chance…”
“What is it?”
“Has anyone heard any stories about Gongcheongseokyu being discovered in the Jianghu over the past ten years?”
“…”
Everyone remained silent, as if they had never heard of such a thing.
The first to break the silence was the Haomun Leader.
“Actually, the Haomun is a place highly sensitive to rumors. Naturally, the position of Haomun Leader requires one to keep an ear out for rumors. All of that is information and money, after all.”
“Oh, right. So, has the Haomun Leader heard anything about Gongcheongseokyu?”
The Haomun Leader seemed to ponder, resting her chin on her hand, before answering.
“…At least for the past ten years, there haven’t been any rumors circulating about Gongcheongseokyu. To begin with, it’s an elixir whose very existence is questionable…”
Her expression was firmly set. If the Haomun Leader was saying that much, then there truly hadn’t been any recent talk of Gongcheongseokyu.
[Strange. Then why…]
Why did Gongcheongseokyu keep lingering in my mind?
[It feels like I’ve heard something about Gongcheongseokyu in the past…]
Could it be? Did it appear in the Original Novel?
I groaned for a moment, trying to trace back my memories. But it had already been over twenty years since I read the Original Novel.
No matter how hard I tried to recall, I couldn’t remember the exact details.
“Hmm…”
“Ahem.”
“Hm?”
As I kept my eyes closed in silence, I heard a fake cough from beside me.
I opened my eyes to see the Haomun Leader.
“Great Hero. Of course, I know the importance of the first agenda item… But it is difficult to come up with a solution right away. How about we move on to the next agenda item for now? The Green Forest still has many problems to solve.”
“Ah…, right.”
I felt a bit sorry for Bangsam, but there were several other problems facing our Green Forest.
“…Let’s move on to the next agenda item for now. The second agenda item is about how we should hold the funerals for the deceased Green Forest Members…”
I pushed aside the nagging feeling about Gongcheongseokyu for the moment and continued the meeting.
* * *
The meeting concluded somewhat successfully.
And…, right around the time the meeting ended, Bang Sam-i woke up.
Hearing that news, we all ran to Bangsam’s Quarters.
It was because we were worried that Bang Sam-i would fall into deep despair upon hearing the shocking news that he would never be able to use Martial Arts for the rest of his life.
However…
“…Ah, is that so?”
“…Huh?”
…Bang Sam-i himself was nonchalant, as if our worries were unfounded.
“Ah, man. What a waste of everything I’ve learned so far. But well…, my dantian is shattered, so what can I do? I just have to live with it.”
“…Are you really okay?”
At Dongryong-i’s question, Bang Sam-i nodded with an expression that seemed to wonder why he cared so much.
“I was just getting used to acting as a Pavilion Attendant anyway. I’ll just do that for the rest of my life.”
“…Bangsam.”
“Ah, come on, some of our Subordinates died outright. It wouldn’t do for an Executive to be sad over something like this. I’m okay, really.”
Bang Sam-i’s face as he said this was incredibly peaceful, as if he was truly okay.
However…
“Ah, go take care of your work. Let me rest alone for a bit. I’m really okay.”
[Liar.]
…I could immediately tell that Bang Sam-i’s words were a lie.
One can deceive others with one’s expression. But…, inside Bang Sam-i’s body, twisted energy was howling.
I could see it with my own eyes.
The energy was running wild and going crazy through his shattered dantian.
And…, even if he said he was okay, everyone here probably knew that he wasn’t actually okay.
“…Alright, get some rest.”
Even so, for the sake of Bang Sam-i’s pride, we didn’t make a fuss and left the room.
As we stepped out the door, everyone’s expressions remained dark.
“…Leader.”
“Yeah, Dongryong-a.”
“If you ever hear that an elixir has been found somewhere, please call me…I’ll go even to the ends of Hell.”
“…Understood, so you go get some rest too.”
A deep sorrow underlay Dongryong-i’s voice. If that continued, it would eventually lead to inner demons.
But if we ultimately couldn’t fix Bang Sam-i’s body, Dongryong-i would stay in that state.
The other Executives were the same.
Given the current atmosphere of the Green Forest, even things that should go smoothly wouldn’t.
To resolve all of this…, we had to fix Bang Sam-i’s body.
[But the method is too Tricky. That’s the thing…]
Anyway, why have I been feeling this nagging sensation ever since just hearing the word Gongcheongseokyu?
I kept trying to recall the reason, but time just passed without any particular results.
* * *
Before we knew it, January was coming to an end, and the last cold spell of this winter blanketed our Green Forest.
During that time, we held funerals for the deceased Green Forest Members, cleaned up the mountain, and reopened the paths.
Everyone returned to their daily life.
However, the atmosphere remained heavy because there was still no way to fix Bang Sam-i’s body.
The Haomun Leader had set out to find an elixir, but as expected, there were no major gains.
[Gongcheongseokyu…, Gongcheongseokyu…]
I was still repeating Gongcheongseokyu to myself until then.
[I definitely…, feel like I heard where it was… Is it knowledge from the Original Novel after all…?]
If I could just remember where it was, the chances of fixing Bang Sam-i’s body would increase. That was why I racked my brain trying to figure it out, but as expected, it didn’t come to me easily.
It was then.
“Ahhh…, I’m late…!”
I saw Bongchun rushing around in a flurry right in front of me.
Bongchun-i was in Charge of managing the Demonic Path guys at the Foot of the Mountain, and it seemed he was later than the time at which he was supposed to head down.
Bongchun-i hurriedly packed his bags and approached Yongyong-i, who was resting under a tree.
“Yongyong-a, could you give me a ride to the Foot of the Mountain just this once? I’m so late…”
“What? Don’t you know today is my rare day off?”
“I’ll buy lots of candied fruits on my way back, so please…”
At the mention of candied fruits, Yongyong-i stealthily raised her body.
“If it’s urgent, I should help…”
Just like that, Yongyong-i transformed into an Imugi, put Bongchun-i on her back, and headed down to the Foot of the Mountain.
I watched that sight and muttered.
It was then.
“Yongyong-i and Bongchun-i, huh…”
“The Dragon-Phoenix Gathering?”
“Hm?”
At the sudden interjection, I turned around to see the Youngest standing there, smiling brightly.
“The Dragon-Phoenix Gathering? What’s with the sudden nonsense?”
“Ah, sorry. It sounded like you were muttering something about the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering…”
“Not the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering, I was talking about Yongyong-i and Bongchun-i.”
Only then did the Youngest nod, saying he had misheard.
“But speaking of the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering, they say it’s opening soon. Sometime around when the first flowers bloom after winter ends, or so…”
“Has it already been that long…”
The Dragon-Phoenix Gathering was a tournament where the Rising Stars of the Righteous Faction competed in martial prowess.
In the Original Novel, it was also the event where the Protagonist claimed victory and leveled up his specs.
“But well…, that Dragon-Phoenix Gathering doesn’t really have much to do with us…”
We were the Unorthodox Faction, and no one was participating in the first place. I was about to say it had nothing to do with us, but I suddenly froze.
The Protagonist definitely wins the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering and levels up his specs. And the direct reason for that spec-up is precisely…
“Ah.”
Only then, feeling as if a flash of lightning had struck my mind, I kicked off my seat and stood up.
And the place I immediately headed to was the Haomun Leader’s Quarters.
Clack-.
“Haomun Leader!”
“Yes, yes! Great Hero! I am right here!”
I knew it was bad manners to throw open a grown woman’s room without permission like this, but I had no time to care about such things.
Like a man who had found the light, I shouted at the Haomun Leader.
“I figured it out! Where the Gongcheongseokyu is!”
“…Pardon? How did you…”
The Haomun Leader had a face full of questions, but, excited, I grabbed her shoulders and spoke.
“The Dragon-Phoenix Gathering!”
“…Pardon?”
“The Winning Prize of the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering is Gongcheongseokyu!”
I finally remembered.
Where had I heard the word Gongcheongseokyu?
It definitely appeared in the Original Novel that the Protagonist won the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering, received the Gongcheongseokyu, and raised his realm.