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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 14
Chapter Title: You Just Answer (2)
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It didn't take long for the Fallen Ghosts Pavilion to transform into the Lower Five Gates' Qinghai branch.
The Lower Five Gates had always been a group that embraced all sorts of people, even including members who didn't know the name of their own sect. So for the Fallen Ghosts Pavilion, it was just a nominal change to the Lower Five Gates—nothing major would shift.
The finer adjustments, overall direction setting, and sorting out positions would be handled by this division leader by my side, and Haun was the type who handled things cleanly anyway, so he'd manage just fine.
"Young hero, please, just spare me..."
I'd figured as much, but Haun, now the branch leader, was buried under a mountain of paperwork, suffering.
"What can I do? Since you've become branch leader, you gotta work hard at it, right?"
"Isn't a branch leader position usually one where you slack off, listen to reports, and just toss out a 'Yeah, do that' now and then? But every day I read through these papers, and the next day another pile stacks up. I'm seriously gonna die here."
Well, completely converting one sect into another couldn't be easy. Every time this division leader went around inspecting every corner of the branch, saying "This needs fixing, that needs supplementing," it all turned into paperwork piled on Haun's desk.
If this division leader had been laid-back, it might've been better, but the guy was anything but ordinary in his diligence. Last time, he'd shocked me by counting every single chopstick in the branch during some asset audit.
"Eh, whatever. Hang in there. I'm gonna go stroll around town."
"Where are you going? If you made me branch leader, shouldn't you take more responsibility? Young hero? Where're you off to?"
I quickly slipped out of the branch, leaving Haun's cries of 'Don't leave me alone!' behind.
Whew, that was close—I almost got trapped in paperwork hell myself. Better to go into secluded training than wrestle with letters; that stuff's just not my constitution.
"Huh? Isn't that Sowol?"
A familiar voice made me turn, and there was Taeu waving at me.
"What brings you here?"
"I just finished training and was heading home when I bumped right into you."
Come to think of it, Taeu had kept up our daily mountain training routine even after I'd been too busy to oversee it lately. Impressive how diligently she'd stuck with it.
"Perfect timing. Come with me somewhere."
I grabbed Taeu's hand and headed toward what was now the Lower Five Gates' Qinghai branch.
"Huh? Is it okay to go in here?"
"Yeah. It's not the Fallen Ghosts Pavilion anymore anyway, and I'm tight with the boss here."
I skipped mentioning how I'd just chatted with that boss and barely escaped.
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The main gate now bore a plaque reading 'Qingyun Pavilion' instead of 'Fallen Ghosts Pavilion.' Even the building name had changed in a flash.
Taeu and I pushed open the somehow awkward-feeling gate and entered the building.
Worried, perhaps, Taeu kept glancing around suspiciously the whole way. But the people we passed didn't block us—they even stepped aside to avoid getting in our way.
"Hey, Sowol... doesn't it feel like everyone's avoiding us...?"
"Nah. They're all just nice folks here."
Their faces, drenched in sweat as they detoured far away, were pale with fear, but I decided to play dumb.
Deep inside, we spotted the division leader issuing orders to the chief steward.
"You look pretty busy, Division Leader Yi."
"Ah, if it isn't the Azure Righteous Sword himself. What brings you here?"
This division leader greeted me warmly, but the thick stack of documents in his hand caught my eye. Haun was in for some real suffering ahead.
"I've got someone to introduce."
"Uh, huh?"
I gave Taeu's back a light push. She alternated glances between me and the division leader, then bowed deeply and introduced herself.
"H-Hello! I'm Taeu, Sowol's friend."
"Pleased to meet you, young lady. I'm Yi Lingchan, leader of the Lower Five Gates Escort Unit. As a friend of the great hero, you're a friend of the Lower Five Gates—no need for formalities."
"B-But isn't division leader a really high position? How could I..."
"It's no light role, true, but since the Azure Righteous Sword has also ascended to division leader, there's no need to—"
"What? Sowol did?"
Taeu whipped around to me in shock before he could finish.
"Come to think of it, didn't I mention I'd joined the Lower Five Gates? I just took over as one of the five Escort Unit division leaders."
"Uh, uh."
Taeu stood there with her mouth agape, speechless. Same as Haun—watching these shocked faces was kinda fun. Might become a habit.
"Anyway, Division Leader Yi. Could you spar with her?"
"W-What? Me spar? No way, that's impossible..."
Before the division leader could reply, Taeu blocked me and flailed her arms.
"Think of it as training, Taeu. You know real combat matters most, right?"
"That's true, but..."
"A spar with the great hero's friend? That sounds like valuable experience."
The division leader accepted readily.
"Then it's settled?"
Dragging the flustered Taeu along, we headed to Qingyun Pavilion's training grounds.
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"I'll yield the first move, young lady."
Taeu, wooden sword in hand, faced off against the division leader.
After closing her eyes for deep breaths, Taeu slowly opened them. Gone was the trembling girl who'd said she couldn't do it—her gaze now burned with seriousness.
"Here I come."
No sooner had she spoken than her wooden sword flew at the division leader. It reached his nose before his foot could even shift, as if swung mid-leap.
'The first strike decides victory or defeat.'
That's what I'd drilled into her daily. If you cut off their breath with the opening blow, their techniques or skill level mean nothing.
Taeu came at him with that exact intent.
But the division leader was seasoned.
Thwack!
He lightly deflected the incoming wooden sword with his blade. Due to the speed, a slight trajectory shift threw Taeu's balance forward.
As she teetered on the verge of falling, the division leader swung his wooden sword down from above.
Whoosh.
From her unstable stance, Taeu dodged the flying sword with innate reflexes and flexibility, spotting it with her eyes. She spun her body low to the ground, then leaped back like she was soaring, creating distance.
"To dodge that attack... as expected of the great hero's friend."
The division leader now eyed Taeu with deeper seriousness—not mere curiosity, but as a fellow martial artist.
He settled into an even more solid stance to counter.
Taeu silently readjusted her grip on the wooden sword.
Tension hung thick, like they might charge any second—yet a silent calm enveloped them.
Taeu broke the silence first again.
The instant the division leader's weight shifted ever so slightly—too fine for the eye—her wooden sword shot toward him.
His focus locked solely on her sword. To block, his wooden sword moved.
Shadow Severing Art: Wind Hidden Step.
But Taeu had anticipated the block. While his eyes followed the feint sword, she pivoted swiftly, her foot lashing from his blind spot.
Whoosh.
A perfect blind-side strike. Yet in the next moment, her foot sliced empty air, and his wooden sword touched her throat.
"...I lose."
Taeu bowed, accepting defeat. The division leader returned the courtesy, gazed at her silently, then turned to me.
In sensory movement and technique, Taeu was close to him.
"Did the great hero teach you your arts, young lady?"
"Yes."
But victory hinged on overwhelming skill gap—and that he already knew her techniques.
The Shadow Severing Art was a Lower Five Gates technique. A division leader would know it well.
"This is a problem."
"Since it's out, how about taking Taeu into the Lower Five Gates?"
Even if no one recognized it, an outsider learning a sect's art was trouble in itself. Better if she joined outright.
"What? Me join the Lower Five Gates?"
"You're highly skilled, young lady, so no issue there—but why not take her into your own unit, great hero?"
Come to think of it, with full authority from the sect leader, recruiting for my unit was my call.
I turned to Taeu.
"Taeu, wanna officially be my subordinate?"
"Don't say it like I've always been one."
Taeu glared, then burst into laughter. Smiling still, she continued.
"But yeah. If it's your request, Sowol, I'll do it. Take care of me from now on."
I took her outstretched hand.
The first bond from this new life. Taeu, family-like to me, became my first subordinate.
I'd meet countless people and forge many ties ahead, but she'd be the only one I'd call family.
"I'll be a lousy leader, but looking forward to it."
In this second chance at life, I'd never lose the precious bonds I forged.
I vowed that, watching Taeu smile under the bright sun.
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"Division Leader Yi, got a moment?"
While Taeu rested after the spar, I called him aside.
"What is it, great hero?"
"Got a favor to ask."
I fixed him with an unusually serious look.
"I'll handle anything."
Sensing my gravity, he steeled himself like he'd stake his life.
"I'll be leaving Xining soon. So, look after Taeu for me. Teach her about the Lower Five Gates and help with her training?"
"Of course. I'd have done that anyway."
He relaxed, as if it were no big deal.
"She's like family to me. Take good care."
But I was more serious than ever.
I never wanted to endure family in danger again while I was away—like some dog's life.
"Understood. I swear it on my life."
Reading my intent, he placed a hand on his chest and vowed.
Still a damn diligent guy.
"Oh, and while you're at it, train Haun too. Can't have the branch leader weaker than the rank-and-file—ruins discipline."
"I've thought the same. Don't worry. It'll be perfect by your return."
His face lit with determination.
It was just 'check on him occasionally,' but he'd go all-in.
Felt a bit sorry for Haun, but he needed to toughen up.
For a while after, Haun's wails from daytime training and nighttime paperwork filled Qingyun Pavilion.