Absolute Regression - Chapter 15
Episode 15 Because they are all equally ugly.
Seo Dae-ryong followed me out holding a dead crow with an expression of confusion.
“Hang it over there.”
When Seo Dae-ryong’s eyes asked me if I was serious, I said firmly.
“Hang it in the middle so you can see it clearly.”
I had Seo Dae-ryong hang the dead crow in the middle of the hallway where demonic forces frequented most.
Upon hearing the news, demonic forces came. Some had interesting expressions, but most frowned and swore.
“shit! “What is that?”
“Why bother risking an unluckily dead crow?”
“What is the unit price if you are an investigator?”
“Those unlucky Hwangcheongak bastards.”
“Tsk tsk, my dream was dirty today.”
“Isn’t that the perfect place to tear the body into pieces and hang it up?”
They wore military uniforms with numbers symbolizing each generation written on their chests. So I could tell. The demons in the area who almost collided with each other at the entrance earlier cursed the most.
Of course, he didn’t mention me outright, but Hwangcheongak was my curse anyway.
When the atmosphere became extremely hostile, one person could not stand it anymore and came forward.
“Isn’t this too much?”
His voice echoed through the hallway.
“Who said it? “Everyone here is equally ugly.”
While everyone was frowning, one man stepped forward.
“Jang Hao (張虎), the three great lords of the Demon Lord.”
Jangho was the largest among the demonic forces. The muscles that looked like they were about to burst out of his uniform and the long sword that split his face gave the viewer the creeps.
Seo Dae-ryong’s electric sound flew in quickly.
―Jang Ho, the three great lords, is known to have the strongest martial arts skills among the great lords. My personality is also not normal.
Indeed, Jangho’s presence was overwhelming among those present.
“What is our Lord Zhang dissatisfied with?”
“Do you know that I have to tell you that? “What are you going to do if you hang something ominous like this on people’s roads?”
“Isn’t it better than being thrown on the bed?”
“Don’t make people feel bad, catch the person who did that and punish them.”
I quietly looked at Jangho. He showed his determination not to back down even an inch. The powerful demonic energy he emitted came out and pressured Seo Dae-ryong. The thing that made me suffocate for an instant was worthy of being evaluated as the strongest of the demon masters.
“You have a point. Inspector Seo, take that down again.”
“yes.”
Seo Dae-ryong took down the crow he had hung. The demon soldiers who were watching laughed openly.
“I’m very scared.”
“Anyway, you have to be beaten to be obeyed.”
“How dare you not know where this is?”
I returned to the room, leaving behind them who were openly cursing and laughing at me.
Seo Dae-ryong asked as soon as he entered the room.
“Why on earth is the crow’s corpse mine? “I wish I could get off this easily.”
His face was red, as if his pride had been hurt.
“To find out who sent the letter.”
He asked with a puzzled expression.
“So did you find out?”
“huh.”
“yes?”
Seo Dae-ryong’s eyes widened as it was an unexpected answer.
“how?”
I looked at the crow and said.
“Thanks to these guys. So go out and bury me well.”
* * *
The full-scale investigation began the next day.
I gathered all three generations of Magun together in one place. The person who came forward during yesterday’s crow incident was Jang-ho, the head of the third generation, so his dissatisfaction was natural.
“What are you doing?”
“What are you doing? “Didn’t you hear that I came to investigate?”
“Then why are you investigating our third generation instead of the first generation?”
“That’s my heart.”
“Aren’t you holding a grudge over what happened yesterday?”
“What happened yesterday?”
Jangho bit his lip and glared at me.
“You will have to submit all records. “We will investigate not only his recent actions but also battlefield records.”
Then the three great demon armies began to murmur. Even an ordinary person would get a handful of dust if he intentionally brushed it off, but this is the devil. If I were to add a little joke, the nicest person here would be the leader of a black town over there.
Jangho shouted.
“No matter how much you do, you can’t do that.”
“there is.”
Boom!
Jangho smashed the desk in front of me.
“Hey, you’re free to get excited, but don’t forget that rebellion is a felony.”
Hearing that it was a crime of rebellion, several of the three great Majin rushed to stop Jang Ho.
“Please be patient, my lord.”
“This is not a person with whom you can interact well.”
I stimulated Jangho even more.
“We will investigate you first, as the major owner.”
“Good!” Let’s make a deal with me! “You guys are out!”
Demonic energy swirled around Jangho.
Then his subordinates calmed Jang Ho down.
“My lord! “You shouldn’t get excited.”
“Don’t worry, just go out.”
“yes.”
The subordinates looked at me with scary eyes and then went outside. I felt that his subordinates truly followed him.
When all his subordinates left, Jang Ho spoke coldly.
“You’ll regret treating me like this.”
The wound that split his face became even more hideously distorted.
I stared at Jangho quietly, then lowered my voice and asked softly.
“How long will you test me?”
For a moment, Jangho was startled.
“What do you mean?”
“You are the one who sent the letter, right?”
For a moment, Jangho’s eyes wavered.
“What are you talking about?”
But he was not good at lying. As his eyes and even his voice trembled, Jang-ho readily admitted the truth.
“How did you know?”
When he spoke softly while being excited, it was as if he had become a different person.
“Yesterday you stepped into a situation where you didn’t have to. “Isn’t that to avoid the Demon Lord’s suspicions?”
“you’re right.”
“Also, your three great warriors are the most disciplined. When you wore the crow, no one, except your subordinates, cursed or laughed at you. The same goes for the concern I had for you a little while ago. “For a person who runs an organization like this to know one thing when he sees one, it would have been difficult for him to overlook corruption within the organization.”
Actually, that’s not why I guessed it.
The reason I recognized that Jang-ho was the person who sent the letter was thanks to the telegram sent by Seo Dae-ryong when Jang-ho first appeared.
―Jang Ho, the three great lords, is known to have the strongest martial arts skills among the great lords. My personality is also not normal.
The moment I heard that electric sound, I remembered what happened before the return.
During this period, there was an incident in which the head of the Demon Army died. The reason I remember it particularly well was because I heard that the great lord who died at the time was the strongest among the great lords of the demon army. He was so strong in martial arts, why did he die? I remember having that question.
I was certain that the dead person was Jang-ho. He must have died at the hands of someone within the Demon Army while trying to resolve the issue by submitting a letter.
As expected, the person who submitted the letter was Jang-ho.
“I wasn’t sure if the letter would work properly, so I couldn’t write down the details.”
Hwangcheongak also suspected that he might be under the influence of Hyeolcheondoma.
“But I never imagined that this Confucius would come out to investigate.”
“How did you feel when you heard I was coming out?”
“It may be presumptuous to say this, but I thought it was ruined.”
I looked back at Seo Dae-ryong and said.
“Is honesty popular among young people these days?”
“This Confucius is younger than us.”
“Oh, that’s right.”
After smiling, he asked Jangho.
“What on earth is going on here?”
“The demon lord is using the demon lord for personal purposes.”
“how?”
The inside story of this incident that Jang-ho told me was much more serious than I thought.
“They are receiving money and sending their subordinates to assassinate them.”
“what?”
Even I, who is not surprised by most things, was surprised. I thought he was taking bribes from some local clan. Something that could never have happened was happening.
With experts like Demon Lords moving, how can they move with just one or two pennies? You will be making a lot of money.
Seo Dae-ryong asked in surprise.
“How is that possible?”
“Sometimes they use it on vacation or send it under the pretext of special training.”
“Even so, I don’t understand.”
Unlike Daeryong Seo, I have noticed one case where it is possible.
“The whole community participated.”
“How did you know?”
When I guessed right away, Jangho was surprised.
“They were the first to stop us. They were the ones who cursed the most when they saw the crow’s corpse. When something happens, they move together in unison. I told you earlier, right? They say you know ten when you see one. You can tell just by looking at the week. “How did you find out about this?”
“The soldier who killed the investigator in the previous investigation and then committed suicide is my friend. “The person who wrote the letter was that friend.”
“It wasn’t suicide, it was suicide.”
“you’re right. “He told me that he had written a letter a few days before he died.”
In my pre-return life, I was not aware of this incident. There was only Jang-ho’s death. Ultimately, this means that this incident was also buried without being revealed.
“How close of a friend were you?”
“It was my motivation to join the school. “It was like family.”
“Why didn’t you reveal it then?”
“At the time, after they murdered my friend and the investigator, they kept a frighteningly strict surveillance inside. “It was to the point where I couldn’t even breathe properly.”
“Who killed it?”
“I believe that the demon lord ordered it and the lord Godang himself moved it.”
If Jang-ho’s words are true, this was a huge corruption case involving the Demon Lord and the entire Demon Army region. Plus the murder of the investigator. It is truly the largest crime in the history of our school.
Did my father or Sima Ming really not know?
I’m sure you’ve noticed it to some extent. So he must have sent me.
He sent me to test whether I could stand up to the Demon Lord and handle this matter. Even though the opponent is a demon lord and could die… when I think about it, it’s too much.
It is not true that a father of wild animals raises his cubs strong by dropping them off a cliff. When the baby falls, it jumps down with its quick feet and catches it!
I looked at Jangho and said.
“You have a good friend.”
“He was a good friend. “If I had been a good friend, I would have stepped forward when he died.”
“That’s a foolish friend.”
Not all devils were trash.
Seo Dae-ryong, who was watching, also seemed to be moved. The investigator who died in the previous investigation was also a senior he respected.
Both of them were experiencing the pain of losing a close person in that incident.
Looking at these two people, I felt that there was hope in ‘Lost Magic Island’. The Church of the Heavenly Demon that I want is a place where people like this take on important responsibilities.
“Thank you for your courage.”
“I decided to trust this Confucius after seeing that he recognized me at once.”
“It was a good choice. By the way, is there any problem if I steal your battlefield records?”
“doesn’t exist. Even if you shake it off, not a single dust will come out.”
“Everyone has dust. Because you can turn things into dust that you don’t even think of as dust. Don’t worry. “I’m not going to shake it that much.”
I opened the door and went out. In the distance, the three great subordinates were waiting.
“Daeju Jang has decided to hand over all records on your behalf. So you can all go back.”
Jangho shouted and criticized my acting.
“We’ll see! “If I were without sin, I wouldn’t just stay.”
There was gratitude in his eyes. This is because he made his subordinates trust him more by telling them that he was being investigated on their behalf. The Jangho before his return is dead, but the current Jangho will not die.
Because that is the purpose of my return: to save people who should not die.
When I closed the door, Seo Dae-ryong spoke to me.
“This Confucius seems to be very different from the one I heard through rumors.”
“What are the rumors?”
“Just…”
“Just be honest. You’re spreading rumors, right? “It’s not what you think.”
“There is a saying that it is not suitable for the Heavenly Horse. sorry.”
“are you okay. “Maybe it’s a compliment?”
“yes?”
“Is it a compliment to be worthy of a heavenly horse? I think not. I think that governing our school through a reign of terror is an anachronistic idea. “Shouldn’t our school change now?”
When talking about change, Lee Chae flashed across Seo Dae-ryong’s eyes. However, he soon spoke in a somewhat gloomy tone.
“Change is easier said than done.”
“right. “It’s not easy.”
“If you become a Cheonma, will you try to change your school?”
of course.
If nothing changes, the only result waiting for us is that our family will be destroyed and our school will be ruined.
But instead of expressing his true feelings, he said something else.
“Actually, rather than becoming a Cheonma, I would rather play in the midfield or go on a cruise.”
Actually, these words were true to some extent. After killing Hwamugi, I plan to tour the central plains and have fun.
“Everyone is willing to sell their souls to become the Heavenly Demon…”
“What are you talking about?”
“I won’t deny it.”
“That’s because you are a power-oriented person.”
“Me?”
I suddenly asked him as his eyes widened as if he was being unfairly treated.
“Are you happy when you help someone?”
“…no.”
“Are you happy if you get promoted?”
“…yes.”
Soon, Seo Dae-ryong sighed and scolded himself.
“Oh, I was a power-oriented person?”
“Everyone has different conditions for happiness. Some people want money and power. Some people live quietly. And some people are narrow-minded.”
“Is it possible to be happy by practicing agreement?”
“Do you think it’s pretense?”
“yes.”
I have experienced such a person in my past life. A person who is so selfish that he puts on a disguise to hide it. So in the end, he is a person who even deceives himself. Although he was not good, he believed that he was walking the path of negotiation until the end.
When I see someone like that, I feel more uncomfortable than someone who openly reveals their ambitions, but I don’t intend to criticize him. Because that too is just a way of living.
“There are many people in this martial arts world who live by true principles. “There are people too big for your or my soy sauce-sized heart to fathom.”
He stared at me for a moment and sighed.
“I’m a power-oriented person, so… I’m not sure.”
I smiled while looking at Seo Dae-ryong. I don’t know how it will look to my peers, but at least to me, it looks cute like this.
“Stop reflecting on yourself if it doesn’t suit you. Go and get some records about Jangho. As I said before, shake it off moderately. And bring in more Hwangcheongak investigators. “It sets the tone that a large-scale investigation will begin from now on.”
“All right.”
I stood at the window and looked out. At that moment, in the building across from me, the Demon Lord was standing at the window and looking at me. Our eyes met, but I pretended not to notice.
Because what I was looking at was not the insignificant person, but the Cheonmajeon seen in the distance beyond.