Chapter 79: So Am I

TL: FoodieMonster007

He moved to flip the table, but a stream of qi flowed out and pressed it down.

He looked up and saw the Blood Heaven Blade Demon.

The Blood Heaven Blade Demon sent a telepathic message to the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader.

[Control yourself. If that table flips, it won't be the bottom of the table that's exposed, but the bottom of the Cult Leader's dignity.]

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader sensed the warning came from goodwill and took his hands off the table. The Blood Heaven Blade Demon's gaze seemed to say, I understand you, to some extent.

Geom Mugeuk spoke to the shackled man again.

"Since you've been bound here for so long, I thought you might want something made from these shackles."

The shackled man did not refuse and requested one item.

"Then please have a fan made for me."

"Will that be enough?"

"It is more than enough."

I entrusted the shackles to Jang Ho.

"Take these to Artisan Gwak at our Cult's smithy. Have him make a fan with ribs of Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron. With the rest, have him forge eight throwing knives, one for each person gathered here today. Let's each take one to commemorate this occasion."

The eight knives included one for the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader and the shackled man.

At that, Seo Daeryong spoke.

"I don't know if I'm worthy of receiving such a precious throwing knife, whatever the others may think."

"Me neither," Lee Ahn chimed in.

"I feel the same way," Jang Ho added.

"Instead of being humble, work yourselves to death to repay me!"

At my joke, they all bowed their heads, looking humbled.

"Thank you so much."

In contrast, the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader's reaction was cold.

"Why are you including one for me?"

"I want to commemorate this day."

"What if I don't want to commemorate it?"

Just then, the shackled man sent a telepathic message.

[Just accept it. I know you're agitated because of me, but doesn't the Cult Leader still have the great task of advancing into the Central Plains to achieve?]

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader felt incredibly grateful to the shackled man. He was trying his best to the very end. He was the only one failing to meet expectations.

"I was joking. Give me one too. Those shackles hold meaning for me as well."

"Yes, of course."

"By the way, you're truly remarkable. A throwing knife made of Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron would be difficult to acquire even in the Central Plains. To think you'd give one to everyone."

"They are people that precious to me."

"There's no guarantee those precious people will remain precious later on, is there?"

"This isn't a gift given with the future in mind."

"Then?"

"It's a gift of gratitude for everything they've done for me until now."

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader was left speechless by Geom Mugeuk's words. The Blood Heaven Blade Demon seemed to understand his feelings, pouring him a drink.

"Didn't we say it earlier? We can't handle ascending dragons. It's best to just let them go with an easy heart."

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader silently emptied his cup.

The drinking party, teetering on the verge of an explosion, continued.

As they exchanged a cup or two, everyone became drunk.

"Detective Seo. Please stop drinking. At this rate, you'll be clinging to the Master's pant leg again today."

Despite Lee Ahn's attempt to stop him, Seo Daeryong shouted.

"I'm perfectly fine!"

"But your tongue is already getting twisted."

"I told you not to worry! I'm not drunk."

Seo Daeryong seemed to have a lot on his mind lately and began to drink heavily. Lee Ahn, who had been trying to stop him, also started sipping the alcohol she had abstained from throughout her training.

Geom Mugeuk glanced at Jang Ho. Jang Ho gave him a look that promised he would take good care of the two.

"Shouldn't it be the other way around? You getting drunk, and those two stopping you."

"That's what I'm saying."

"If they show any sign of drunken antics, give them a good punch with that big fist of yours."

"That's not so easy either. The aura of those two has been extraordinary lately."

Of course, Seo Daeryong still had a long way to go. In Lee Ahn's case, however, it could not be said that she would unconditionally lose to Jang Ho. The Soaring Sky Sword Art was a martial art that could kill Jang Ho if he let his guard down.

Watching this scene, the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader spoke to the Demon Supremes.

"The world has turned upside down. It's become a world where you have to cater to your underlings."

This was not a comment about Lee Ahn and Seo Daeryong, but a lament regarding the shackled man. Then he asked Geom Mugeuk.

"What do you think, Second Young Lord? If you become the Cult Leader, do you intend to run the cult while being mindful of your subordinates' moods?"

Instead of answering, Geom Mugeuk asked the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader a question.

"Do you know the characteristic of incompetent people?"

"Isn't it because they're incompetent and lazy?"

"That could be it, but there's a more common characteristic."

"What is it?"

"They lack tact."

For a moment, the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader's expression hardened. It was clear he was about to say something that contradicted Geom Mugeuk's words.

"Are you telling me to be mindful of my subordinates? Will the cult run properly that way? What if we get devoured by those bastards from the orthodox sects?"

"You have to be mindful to know what kind of person your subordinate is. You have to be mindful to know what's in their heart. I refuse forced loyalty."

"Enough!"

In the end, the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader flipped the table.

"……"

As the table overturned, everyone stared at him with shocked faces. Alcohol and food splattered on their clothes, but no one paid it any mind.

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader shouted.

"It's a pretense. He's just putting on an act for you. You talk like that, but if you had a subordinate who didn't listen, you'd secretly drag them away and kill them. He's not being mindful of his subordinates right now, he's being mindful of you. He's putting on a show because he wants you to take him with you."

His words echoed thunderously. To others, it was a sudden outburst. For him, it was an explosion of pent-up frustration.

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader had resisted the urge to flip the table several times. However, the dam of his patience broke the moment he heard Geom Mugeuk's final words about 'forced loyalty'.

This was because he had been blaming himself lately. He even felt victimized, thinking that the shackled man, and perhaps his other subordinates, all offered him forced loyalty.

Only silence filled the room.

Staring at the bottom of the overturned table, the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader gritted his teeth.

Damn it! What am I supposed to do? This is who I am. What am I supposed to do when I hate hearing that kind of talk! Damn it!

The overturned table signaled the end of the long, drawn-out confrontation.

"It seems I was rude. Please forgive me. It's late today, so I will visit again tomorrow to apologize."

Along with Geom Mugeuk's apology, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon and the Flower Sword Supreme bade their farewells.

It was an act that should not have been committed in front of the Demon Supremes. The two of them had every right to be angry, but they showed no sign of it out of consideration for Geom Mugeuk.

Jang Ho gathered the shackles, Seo Daeryong, and Lee Ahn, and followed them out.

Geom Mugeuk expressed his gratitude to everyone with a smile. This meeting would never have happened without them.

They parted ways at the entrance. No one spoke about the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader.

Jang Ho, Seo Daeryong, and Lee Ahn went to the Alluring Inn, saying the three of them would have another drink. The Blood Heaven Blade Demon and the Flower Sword Supreme returned to their residences, claiming to be tired. Geom Mugeuk also headed for his own quarters.

The shackled man stood up.

The sight of the shackled man walking toward him was utterly unfamiliar to the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader.

The shackled man picked up a fallen bottle from the floor and drank straight from it. Then, he offered the bottle to the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader. The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader took the bottle and drank.

Perhaps they could have sat face to face like this, drinking together, long ago. What had he been so afraid of?

"I kept you in shackles because I was afraid you would kill me. No, to be more honest, I was afraid that I would kill you."

"That's not it."

"It's not?"

"The Cult Leader simply had no thoughts about it."

"What?"

"The reasons you just gave are thoughts you've only had recently. Before that, you lived without thinking, didn't you? You kept me bound simply because you bound me in the first place. Out of inertia."

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader could not refute it. Just as he said, he had lived without much thought. He had only recently realized what a huge problem these shackles were after getting involved with the Second Young Lord.

Despite this, the shackled man comforted the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader.

"It's alright. Everyone lives like this."

"What's alright about it? You're trying to leave because of this."

"That's not why I'm leaving. It's not because you kept me in shackles."

"Then why? Do you think you can change the world if you're with the Second Young Lord?"

"I have no such dream of changing the world."

"Then why? Just why!"

The reason was something the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader had never expected.

"I'm going because I couldn't predict anything."

"What?"

"Together with the Cult Leader, I handled all matters related to the murim situation in the Outer Regions."

"You did."

"In that process, I failed to predict a single thing related to the Second Young Lord."

"But you did, didn't you? You said he would come, and he came. You also predicted he would demand the sacred artifact."

The shackled man shook his head.

"Those were meaningless predictions. Many reports about the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult flew in from the Outer Regions. A significant number of them were about the Second Young Lord. Each time, the Second Young Lord defied all my predictions. I didn't know he would kill the Demonic Army General, nor did I know he would kill the Soul-Stealing Demon Supreme. I certainly didn't know he would draw in the Blood Heaven Blade Demon. I didn't know he would bring all the people under his command today. I didn't even know he would ask for the shackles."

"How can this be? Yes, that's right. Perhaps the Second Young Lord is smarter than me, and I might be treated poorly if I go. He might be disappointed, thinking, 'What? I brought him in as a Strategist, but he's not as great as I thought.' But I still have to go and see for myself. I have to go see just why I couldn't predict his moves, just what kind of person he is to be able to act this way. I've become genuinely curious."

It was the first time the shackled man had spoken so much.

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader could tell. He could no longer hold him back. He asked one last time.

"Will it really not work out with me?"

"It will. Let's go together."

"You crazy bastard, what do you mean, 'go together'?! What will my subordinates think of me? Do you think they'll follow me as I go under that greenhorn Second Young Lord?!"

"Then let's abandon everything and go."

"What?"

"Pass the Cult Leader position to your successor and come with me. We'll live a new life."

All sorts of curses came to the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader's mind, but a sense of defeat overshadowed his anger.

"Without the title of the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader, what use would I be to anyone?"

"Without that title, you'd be quite a cool person. You've lived a mediocre life, bound by that title your whole life. I'm not the only one who has lived in shackles."

"What are you talking about."

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader threw the bottle he was holding, shattering it.

"You want me to step down from the Cult Leader position myself? This position where I can kill anyone I want with a single word, eat whatever I want, and summon all sorts of beautiful women?"

"And are you happy?"

"Of course I'm happy! No, let's say I'm not that happy. So what? Will I become happy if I step down from this position? Is happiness, which I didn't even have as the Cult Leader, going to just walk up to me on its own?"

"I don't know about that. You have to find it yourself."

"You're trying to ruin me. You're desperately trying to make me miserable."

"Maybe I am."

"Damn it! I'll just kill you and be done with it."

"It's too late for that."

"What?"

"If you were going to kill me, you should have done it before the Second Young Lord came. If you kill me after the Second Young Lord freed me from the shackles, what do you think his feelings toward you will be? He'll blame himself for my death, and that will turn into hatred for the Cult Leader. If that happens, the Cult Leader will never be able to leave the Outer Regions. For your own sake, Cult Leader, you can't kill me."

"Damn it!"

"Accept it as fate."

"Don't talk to me about fate! What kind of fate discriminates between people like this?"

"Cult Leader, you are the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader. The one who reigned by discriminating against everyone in the Outer Regions. How can the word 'discrimination' come from your mouth?"

After a long silence, the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader spat out.

"I've lost. Yes, I've lost to you clever, well-spoken people. Go."

He meant it sincerely.

It was the moment he gave up on the shackled man.

"Go and suffer to your heart's content. Regret the day you left me until you die. Go, just go. I'm letting you go because I'm sick of this."

Finally, the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader had truly released the shackles.

Just then, the shackled man placed something in front of the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader. To his surprise, it was a key that looked identical to the one that could unlock the shackles.

"What is this? Don't tell me… is this the key to the shackles?"

The shackled man nodded. The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader was aghast. Geom Mugeuk's subordinate had taken the key that had been on the necklace along with the shackles, yet here was another identical key.

"I had it forged a few years ago."

"How on earth? No, then why didn't you run away?"

The shackled man did not tell him why.

"If you could have unlocked the shackles, you would have had a chance to kill me too. Why didn't you?"

"It's probably similar to the reason you didn't kill me even when I cursed at you. The Cult Leader said it, didn't he? That I'm the person who understands and knows you the best. So am I."

The moment he heard those words, the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader's heart surged with emotion, and his eyes grew hot.

This was why. This was the reason this farewell was so difficult and regrettable.

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader looked down at the key and spoke.

"To present this at this very moment. I'm a loser to the very end."

At that, the shackled man performed a deep bow on the spot. Then, with the most respectful expression and words he had ever shown, he offered his farewell.

"That's not true. The fact that you didn't kill me, and that you're letting me go so readily now… To me, at least, the Cult Leader was a cool person. The reason I've lived this long, even though I could have run away and wanted to die several times, is perhaps because I grew fond of you, Cult Leader. I will never forget the grace you've shown me by releasing me today. I will look forward to the day we can be together again, Cult Leader."

And with that, the shackled man left the room.

Left alone, the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader slammed his fists on the floor again and again.

He felt relieved, yet regretful. Empty, yet also happy, and sad.