Chapter 40
“Sunset. The test is over.”
When the sun disappeared and the moon’s time arrived, an Amma Corps instructor’s voice announced the end of the test.
With the declaration, several martial artists entered and began moving the injured.
Those who had completed Ammajeong’s basic training were valuable assets of the Sacred Moon Divine Cult.
If they could be saved, Ammajeong would save them.
The response here made that policy obvious.
Bijo and Cheon Gangwol were carried away side by side on stretchers.
Both looked like they would be spending quite some time in bed.
Fortunately, no one in our group had suffered serious injuries.
I was only slightly tired.
The others had only minor wounds.
A real battle usually came with injuries.
To these people, wounds of this level were barely worth mentioning.
Some Golden Wound Medicine was enough.
Everything seemed to have ended perfectly.
But...
“How could you forget that?”
“M-Myeonghwa. You shouldn’t yell at Young Master...”
“R-Right. Young Master must have had some reason...”
“Exactly! Young Master definitely had a plan!”
“He must have!”
“...”
After regrouping, I could not properly raise my head.
I had a mouth, but no words came out.
The reason was not anything complicated.
It was simply one tiny mistake.
“You forgot to take Bijo’s flag! Then what exactly did we do all that for?!”
While trying to look cool in front of my younger brother, I had forgotten to take the flag from Gangwol’s hand.
I only realized it when the instructor came to calculate the score.
No.
More importantly...
[Why? Did you think you were dealing with a villain?]
After saying something that cool...
How pathetic would it have looked if I had turned back, crouched beside the unconscious Gangwol, grabbed his hand, and pulled the flag away?
Even villains had standards.
“W-Well... you could say it was all experience. And we still placed first anyway! Hahaha!”
“...So you didn’t actually have some hidden plan.”
“You really forgot...?”
“Haa...”
“Young Master can make a serious mistake too!”
“Exactly! A very serious mistake, but mistakes happen!”
Fortunately, we still ranked first.
We protected our own flag for two points.
We captured Cheon Gangwol’s flag for one point.
Three points total, placing us first.
Cheon Gangwol captured Bijo’s flag, giving him one point and second place.
Bijo had zero and finished last.
The result itself was exactly what we wanted.
Still, I had no excuse.
“No, really. There was a reason behind all of it...”
All I could do was offer increasingly pathetic excuses.
My people were generous enough to assume I had some deep intention.
Unfortunately, the panic on my face proved otherwise.
No wonder...
Gangwol had looked at me so emotionally while being carried away.
Apparently, he had misunderstood too.
Maybe he thought I had deliberately given him enlightenment and even handed him points.
At this rate, I might actually hear him call me “Big Brother” someday.
“Anyway! Everyone did well. Better than I expected. Most importantly, no one was seriously injured. I’m proud of that.”
I quickly changed the subject and wrapped things up.
My group members still looked unconvinced.
But soon an Amma Corps instructor arrived and told us rewards would be delivered tomorrow.
That immediately brightened everyone’s mood.
When the instructors arrived the next day with our reward, everyone was openly smiling.
“Group Leader Cheon Sowol, step forward.”
“Trainee Group Leader Number 137, Cheon. So. Wol.”
“This is one of the rewards from the test. There are enough for every member of your group. Distribute them and make sure everyone takes one.”
“Thank you! Sacred Moon Ascends, Light Fills the Heavens!”
“Sacred Moon Ascends, Light Fills the Heavens. The other reward requires you to move somewhere else. Another escort will arrive shortly, so wait here.”
“Yes!”
“Any further questions?”
“I’d like to know how the other groups did!”
“The other groups? Ah. You mean the groups in the opposite area. Jaehee’s group finished first. Mahapji was second. Gu Yangson was third.”
I accepted the large wooden box and asked my question.
The answer surprised me.
Mahapji had not placed first.
When I showed my surprise, the instructor smiled slightly.
“You seem surprised.”
“A little.”
“You expected Mahapji to finish first?”
“Yes.”
“So did we. His ability was more than enough. But he was unlucky. That is all I can tell you. Wait here for the escort.”
“Loyalty. May the Sacred Moon be with you.”
“May the Sacred Moon be with you.”
Positive evaluations of a person usually followed similar patterns.
The same was true for combat ability.
Apparently, the instructors also considered Mahapji exceptional.
Despite that, he had finished second.
Maybe that was why the instructor had been unusually generous with information today.
I did not get every answer I wanted.
Still, the information was valuable.
A little disappointed, I turned around with the reward box.
Behind me were five baby birds practically holding their mouths open.
Every eye was fixed on the box.
“Come on. Let’s look together.”
Tap tap tap tap tap!
The moment I brought it forward, everyone used movement techniques faster than anything they had shown in battle.
Only after six faces gathered together did I open the lid.
A familiar medicinal smell spread out.
The Black Wolf reacted first.
Awooooo!
It howled happily at the scent it had not encountered in a while.
Whenever it reacted like that, there was usually one answer.
Something filled with pure condensed energy.
This time was no exception.
Inside the box were familiar-looking pills.
Demon Essence Pills.
“Pills?”
“Oh! The pills we got in the Ammajeong stone chambers were pretty effective too!”
“That’s right!”
“The last one increased my internal energy by around five years. This should help too.”
Their reactions were strangely calm.
If you had never eaten a truly valuable elixir, it was hard to recognize one.
Everyone thought these were the same ordinary pills they had received earlier.
Only one person reacted differently.
“This is a Demon Essence Pill.”
