Chapter 449: A Moment of Pride Over a Word of Thanks

TL: FoodieMonster007

Father began to clean the fish.

Hwi watched from a short distance, fidgeting as my father's skilled hands removed the fish's innards and scraped off the scales.

"I'll do it, Cult Leader," Hwi offered.

"It's fine."

At that moment, I couldn't resist chiming in.

"Even your loyal attempt to stretch the fish couldn't overcome my fishing skills, sir."

I had won the great fishing showdown against my father.

"It's the natural outcome. It's not as if you can't kill an opponent with a treasured sword just because you're holding a wooden sword, right, Father?"

Father shot a glance at Hwi.

Can't you do something about that mouth?

Hwi just smiled awkwardly at the expression.

Father was serious about his cooking. As if to prove it, he extended his hand toward the carriage again.

"What is it this time?"

The leather pouch opened and something else flew out from inside. It was a collection of small jars. To my surprise, they were jars of spices.

I was moved once again. Father had even brought spices in preparation for cooking during this vacation trip.

The meal my father prepared was truly magnificent.

"This is delicious. It's honestly more delicious to me than anything the professional chefs have made."

A sense of proud satisfaction was visible on my father's face. For some reason, he seemed happier with praise for his cooking than for his martial arts.

That night, we made camp. We lit a bonfire and lay down, but I couldn't let the opportunity for mischief pass. Unlike the first night, I laid my bedding a good distance away from my father.

Father glanced over at me.

"Didn't you say you'd endure the fishy smell and sleep?"

"Did I say that?"

"Perhaps the smell will lessen if your nose disappears?"

Father picked up the dagger he had used to clean the fish. By the time he turned toward me, I had already moved my bedding right next to his and was lying down.

"Aren't you sleeping?"

Father smiled faintly. In that fleeting smile, I could feel that he was enjoying himself. He lay down beside me. The distance between us was much closer than when we had gone hunting.

"Actually, I can't smell a thing."

"I know."

As if dispelling the effects of alcohol, my father had already used his energy to dissipate the fishy smell into the air. Lying down, I turned my head to look at him. He was silently gazing up at the night sky.

What was he thinking about right now?

What else would he be thinking about? A revenge match, of course.

"Let's have one more round of night fishing."

I laughed out loud. If he had been defeated in martial arts, my father would never have held on to it. But fishing was different.

"Are you serious?"

"This time, for the most fish caught. But we'll switch rods. I never liked that old man, the East Sea Fisherman, from the start."

This was my father. He didn't seek better conditions because he lost. Instead, when he asked for another round after a loss, he was willing to accept a disadvantage. I loved this side of him so much.

"Alright."

Father and I got up and grabbed our fishing rods. He took the one I had made, and I held the one from the East Sea Fisherman. It was light yet fit perfectly in my hand. It was a masterpiece, after all.

"Hwi! You might be sick of it, but tomorrow's breakfast is fish cooked by my father again!"

The next morning, my father was cleaning fish.

The night fishing had also been my victory. It was as if I caught a fish with every cast. I caught so many that I kept only enough to eat and released the rest.

"The fishing rod of the East Sea Fisherman in my hands is akin to the Heavenly Demon Sword in your hands, Father."

I teased him on purpose. If I didn't, his pride might genuinely be hurt.

"I know you lost on purpose. Because if you left the cooking to me, you'd have to eat a terrible breakfast. Right?"

The dagger in my father's hand stopped. In the distance, Hwi shook his head, signaling me to stop. If that dagger came flying my way, it wouldn't just be carrying a fishy smell.

As I shut my mouth, my father's dagger began to move again.

"Today, it's grilled."

I announced loudly.

"I'll start the bonfire."

And so, we had grilled fish, personally cooked by my father, for breakfast. You might say all grilled fish is the same, but don't say such things if you've never eaten fish grilled by the Heavenly Demon. Father's fish-grilling skills were also top-notch.

As we were finishing our meal, our gazes turned toward the same spot. We had sensed someone approaching.

Father stopped Hwi as he was about to get up.

"Stay put."

Father had already assessed the person who was not yet even in sight. A moment later, someone appeared. The man, who limped as he approached, looked to be on the verge of collapse.

"Water, please give me some water."

Seeing us, his tension seemed to break, and he collapsed onto the ground. Three martial artists encountered in a remote place should have made him more wary, but he was in no state to assess the situation.

I gave him water first. His clothes were torn and his appearance was a mess, as if he had been wandering through the mountains. His injured ankle, in particular, was badly swollen.

"How long have you been starving?"

"Three days? Four? I'm not sure."

I shared my rice and the remaining fish with him.

"Chew it carefully."

"Thank you."

Consumed by hunger, he ate the food without hesitation. After he ate, I examined his body. Father watched me silently.

"You've injured your leg."

The man then explained to me.

"I hurt it when I missed my step in the mountains."

"It looks like it'll be hard to get to a village with that leg. Let me take a quick look."

Fortunately, the bone wasn't broken. I treated his sprained ankle and made a splint with a tree branch. His expression relaxed as much as my skills allowed.

"Thank you, thank you so much."

The man was finally relieved. He had escaped the fear that he might die.

"How did you get lost?"

"I was looking for medicinal herbs."

No matter how I looked at him, his attire didn't seem like that of an herb gatherer.

"Is someone in your family sick?"

"No."

His circumstances were completely unexpected. The man's name was Lim Gye. He said he ran a school where he taught children in his village.

"Father worked as a martial artist for the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult and retired this year."

This place, not far from Headquarters, was the territory of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult. He said his father had never learned proper martial arts, so he had spent his entire life as a low-ranking martial artist before retiring. And as it happened, this year was his father's sixtieth birthday.

Lim Gye wanted to make his father happy by inviting the Manager of the Branch his father had belonged to for his birthday. He thought his father would be truly delighted if the Branch Manager came to congratulate him at the sixtieth birthday celebration.

"But they said it would cost fifty taels to invite the Branch Manager."

"Who did?"

"There's someone in the village who has connections to the Branch Manager. That's what he told me. He said it costs money to invite a person of renown to a banquet. The price depends on their reputation. It also depends on how long they stay. He said it would cost fifty taels for the Branch Manager to stop by for a moment to offer his congratulations."

I glanced at my father and asked.

"How much do you charge, Father?"

A smirk formed on my father's lips at my playful question.

Would my father move for a hundred thousand taels, or a million taels? He was someone you couldn't hire even for ten million taels. In that sense, if this trip were to be valued in money, the amount would be truly beyond imagination.

"The Branch Manager probably won't come even if you give him that money."

At my words, Lim Gye asked in surprise.

"What do you mean?"

"If it's revealed that a high-ranking official of the cult made a private move for money, he could not only be kicked out of his position but also end up in prison. There's no way he'd move for fifty taels."

"Ah, I see. I've spent my whole life studying, so I'm ignorant of the ways of the world."

He bowed his head. He seemed to be just that, seeing how he immediately believed my words. Did he even know who he was talking to before trusting me?

"That person will take the fifty taels and later say something like, 'Something important suddenly came up for the Branch Manager.' What will you do then? Will you go and complain? Even if you do, will he return the money?"

The world is full of people who cheat honest people like him out of their money.

"You think that if you have a good heart, others will too. But reality isn't like that, is it?"

Lim Gye's sigh deepened.

"Father worked hard his whole life for his family. I wanted to do something for him, but time just passes, and it's not as easy as I'd like."

"Even so, is there really a need to go out of your way to invite the Branch Manager? Even if he came, he wouldn't be congratulating you sincerely."

"That's right. The Branch Manager probably doesn't even know my father's name."

That was the reality. A Branch had hundreds of martial artists. How would he know a low-ranking subordinate?

"Then why?"

"Whenever my father has a drink, he says it like a habit. 'Though I live as a low-ranking martial artist, though I'm just a subordinate. Though my role isn't big.'"

In those words, I could feel the regret of a man who wanted to boast in front of his child just once but ended up unable to.

"So I wanted to have a high-ranking person come so he could boast just once in front of me. I wanted him to be able to speak proudly in front of family, relatives, and the villagers. I thought that was the way to honor my father, more than just saying he worked hard."

How could I not understand his heart? In wanting to do something for his father, he and I, on this journey, were not so different.

"I heard that a hundred-year-old snow ginseng is worth well over a hundred taels. I knew something so precious was unlikely to catch my eye, but I couldn't just stay at home."

Tears welled up in his eyes.

"I should get going now. Today is my father's sixtieth birthday party, and I almost wouldn't have been able to attend if I hadn't met such kind people. You are the benefactors of my entire life. Thank you so much."

He bowed his head in thanks several times before leaving.

Fortunately, Lim Gye returned home without being too late.

"Orabeoni! What on earth happened?"

He had said he would be gone for a few days, but his sister had been worried about her older brother's unusual behavior.

"I'm sorry. Things just turned out that way."

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. What about the birthday preparations?"

"Our aunts came and helped."

His father, Lim Hak, saw him and said gruffly.

"You're back, that's all that matters."

He hadn't known it before, but as he got older, he could feel his father's heart. His father's worry and relief.

I'm sorry.

He thought that perhaps his wandering in the mountains for days was for himself, not for his father. To ease his own mind. To be able to say, 'I tried this hard.'

Family and relatives gathered, and neighbors were invited too. However, his father did not invite anyone from the Branch. He didn't invite them at all, saying it would be a burden to his old colleagues.

He could feel his father's worry. Who would be interested in the sixtieth birthday party of a retired, low-ranking martial artist? If he invited them and no one came, it would be hard to endure that humiliation in front of his children.

And when many people gather, there is always someone like this.

"Looks like no one from the Demonic Cult came, huh?"

He was the Manager who ran the martial arts academy in the village. He was someone who couldn't act carelessly when his father, even as a low-ranking member, belonged to the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult. But now that he was out of the cult, the man's gaze and attitude had changed.

"I didn't invite them on purpose. They're busy with work, it would just be a bother."

"Or is it that you invited them, and they didn't come?"

It wasn't that the man had ill will toward his father, but he was just someone who was naturally good at saying negative things. You know the type, right? The kind of person who says things in a way that makes you feel bad.

Still, he could have held back today. But Lim Hak couldn't show his displeasure. The man was the Manager of a martial arts academy who had properly learned martial arts.

"It's a joke, a joke. Why so serious? You've gotten timid in your old age."

He was unpleasant to the very end.

It was right at that moment. The door opened, and a group of guests arrived. As the sword-wielding martial artists streamed in, the hall fell silent.

Recognizing them, Lim Hak was stunned.

"Branch Manager!"

To everyone's astonishment, his former colleagues from the Branch and the Branch Manager himself had come. Not only Lim Gye, but all the villagers were shocked.

"Martial Artist Lim, I hear it's your sixtieth birthday. We came to congratulate you."

At those words, Lim Hak was so surprised and flustered he didn't know what to do. His juniors who had worked with him came to congratulate him. Among them were some he was close with, but even those he wasn't very close to were there.

"Please, sit here."

"No, you're the man of the hour today, so you should take the seat of honor."

The Branch Manager was courteous. While Lim Hak wondered how this man knew to come and why he was being so respectful, he also felt a great sense of elation.

It was in front of his son and daughter. The villagers were watching too. The Manager of the martial arts academy who had spoken so carelessly was watching the scene with a thoroughly intimidated expression.

"If you have any problems in the future, feel free to contact me anytime."

"Thank you, Branch Manager."

While overjoyed, Lim Hak couldn't understand the situation. He had served under several Branch Managers during his time as a low-ranking martial artist, but he had never once had a private conversation with any of them.

It was the same with this Branch Manager. This was a man who probably didn't even know his name, wasn't he?

The secret was now revealed. The Branch Manager, also with a puzzled expression, spoke cautiously.

"I don't know how he knew, but he sent this."

The Branch Manager carefully took out a small box from his robes. Seeing his trembling hands, Lim Hak grew tense as well. What on earth was that?

"Here, take it and open it."

Lim Hak, taking the box in a daze, opened it. To his amazement, inside was a hundred-year-old snow ginseng.

"To give such a precious gift!"

Lim Hak's hands, holding the box, trembled. Lim Gye, as well as the villagers, came closer to get a look at the hundred-year-old snow ginseng.

But the real surprise for Lim Hak was yet to come.

"It's not my gift."

At the Branch Manager's words, Lim Hak unfolded the paper that was inside the box with the ginseng. After reading the contents, Lim Hak's eyes widened. Lim Gye had never seen his father so shocked.

Standing next to him, Lim Gye saw the contents and let out a scream. The villagers were also terrified.

Lim Hak put down the box and performed a deep bow. Lim Gye bowed with him.

Tears streamed from Lim Hak's eyes, falling onto the back of his wrinkled hands. He had lived a hard life ever since joining the cult at seventeen. To feed his children, he had endured no matter how much it hurt, living through hellish hardships. He had actually crossed the threshold of death several times.

And the short message written on the note washed away all the toil of his past days.

To you, who has devoted yourself to our Cult, I offer my heartfelt thanks.

- The Heavenly Demon Divine Cult Leader, Geom Woojin.