I Prayed for a Murim Reincarnation, But I Was Born as the Youngest Imperial Prince - Chapter 43
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Chapter 43
Ji Hyun wanted to hand down a ruling as quickly as possible and receive a proper bribe.
But it bothered him quite a bit that Seonwu was staying at the inn.
‘Hmm, of course, the ruling is my authority as the County Magistrate…’
Though how dare that bastard do anything about an official court ruling…
Still, when he thought about that terrifying junior disciple fellow, he figured it might be better to hand down the ruling after the two of them left.
In the meantime, most of the scattered Baekwol Sect members gathered again.
Observing how the situation was turning, they confirmed that their Munju had gone under the protection—no, into the custody—of the court, and they flocked to the jail as well.
Watching this, Seonwu’s impression was to wonder if the jail was some kind of sanctuary.
“Good grief, so it can be used like this too.”
However, when a dispute arose between Wulin martial artists and one side was at a disadvantage, unless they were going to abandon their entire foundation and flee far away, the court’s jail was a very good place to take temporary refuge.
Of course, that was assuming the authority of the court was alive and well.
As it happened, ever since the current emperor founded the nation, the military might and majesty of the Imperial Court were truly piercing the heavens.
Seeing them voluntarily enter the jail while paying bribes was like, what should he say.
‘Uh, is this that emperor-style prison life or something?’
He felt like he had seen something similar to this in his past life.
Was it that the big shots and the nobodies got different treatment even if they entered the same prison?
Of course, no matter how good the jail was, it wouldn’t compare to the sect where they used to live, but the Baekwol Sect’s satisfaction was high just from being able to eat, sleep, and recuperate with a peaceful mind while avoiding those two terrifying senior and junior brothers.
‘[Review] If there was a service, I’d give it a full five stars.’
It was absurd.
‘Still, thinking about it again, is this better than a place like Mexico where the court is ignored and the lives of the people are worth less than a fly’s?’
Of course, it wasn’t desirable for Unorthodox Factions and corrupt officials to hold hands and rip people off, but it was better for at least a minimum level of order to be alive.
If Lee Jun had reincarnated together with him and seen the situation turning out like this, what would he have said?
‘He definitely would have criticized my beloved Wulin again, talking about legal stability or whatever. That jerk.’
Still, it would be nice if he were alive and well.
When his mother collapsed after losing their house deposit to voice phishing, and he himself had no way to afford the hospital bills and was about to take a leave of absence from school to work logistics or delivery part-time jobs, he managed to settle it somehow thanks to that fellow’s help.
Anyway, that was that, and the Magistrate Judge would take care of this jail suite business on his own.
One more reason for Ji Hyun to be dismissed from office had been added.
[Right?]
While Dan Suyeong was away, Seonwu struck up a conversation with the Demon-Subduing Divine Dragon Sword, who was at least someone he could talk to.
Then the sword grumbled.
[Do you only speak when you yourself want to talk! This is not fair. I too have the right to speak to my master, so this should naturally follow the principle of reciprocity.]
[Hey, hold on a second.]
Thinking things shouldn’t go on like this, Seonwu cut the sword off.
[If you want to keep talking in the future, cut down on your words a bit.]
Come to think of it, this was a sword he would have to ask to fight alongside him in a future emergency anyway.
If he ignored it when it loved to chatter like this, it didn’t seem likely to fight well even if he told it to fight only when it was actually needed.
‘Even from my perspective, neglecting it and only pulling it out when I’m desperate is far too one-sided.’
That was actually a way of thinking based on the influence of his past life, rather than that of a prince.
If it were his four older brothers above him, they wouldn’t have cared at all about leaving their subordinates to do their own work normally and only calling them exactly when needed.
Since when did a prince or a king have to deal with subordinates individually?
Of course, the Demon-Subduing Divine Dragon Sword was more capable than an ordinary subordinate…
But even so, if it fought alone, it was merely a sword on par with a master of the Transcendence Realm.
When even the Great Generals who had reached the Realm of Creation bowed their heads before them as kings, the idea that a king should consider the position of a mere Transcendence Realm or something similar did not exist in his four brothers’ heads.
But under the influence of his past life, Seonwu thought the sword’s complaint made some sense.
So, while waiting for Dan Suyeong, he carried out a sort of negotiation with the Demon-Subduing Divine Dragon Sword.
[Are you bored because you have no one to talk to all day long?]
[Would it just be all day long! Do you know how long I waited inside there by myself until you pulled me out of the vault?]
[Uh, by any chance, decades?]
[Yes! Even though your father, Tianlong Dadi, discovered me, he said my punishment wasn’t over yet and just put me straight into the vault! If he wasn’t going to use me himself, how great would it have been if he bestowed me upon a general under his command! If I were to speak of myself, early on…]
[Uh, um…]
To have an ego but be unable to speak to anyone inside a scabbard for decades, only talking to oneself.
‘I can understand the feeling of words bursting out whenever there’s a chance.’
Come to think of it, the Siamese cat that Lee Jun raised was also an incredibly talkative cat for some reason.
Every time he went to play at that fellow’s apartment with a view of the Han River, it meowed so much.
It cried to the point where he wondered if its throat would go hoarse.
[Alright, fine. Twice a day, for fifteen minutes each. I’ll engage with you at least twice like that. But if you pour out words frantically like right now, even I get terrified listening to it. I know you have a lot of built-up words, but let’s have a normal conversation.]
[Is that true? Will you really engage with me twice a day for fifteen minutes each?]
[Yeah, once while eating breakfast. Once while eating dinner. Of course, when the situation is urgent, it might be delayed a bit, but if nothing special is happening, I’ll engage with you at least twice.]
In fact, he could do it more.
What would there usually be to talk about while traveling through Wulin?
Except for when using martial arts, most of the time is spent just exchanging words while moving around.
In that regard, Dan Suyeong was rather on the quiet side, so the Demon-Subduing Divine Dragon Sword was just right for chatting.
It was just that right now, it poured out so many words that his ears felt like they were going to bleed from listening.
Though in reality, it was a voice pouring into his mind.
[So don’t just pour out words frantically, and let’s actually have what you call a conversation.]
[Oh, you are kind! You’re different from your father!]
[Let’s not insult my parent?]
[Ahem, of course Tianlong Dadi is great. In any case, he drove the demonic monsters summoned by the previous dynasty out of the border and is controlling the climate of Zhongyuan to prevent disasters. But he was too indifferent to me.]
[That’s true. You must have been bored.]
Although it was a conversation exchanged only through willpower that no one else could hear, it was actually a conversation that would terrify an ordinary subject.
How dare anyone say the Emperor was indifferent for neglecting a talking sword?
It was an agreement possible only because it was Seonwu.
[I beg of you, absolutely do not put me back in the vault. I want to at least sightsee the world together like this!]
[But you don’t have eyes or ears, so can you actually perceive anything?]
[I hear and feel through my Qi sense.]
‘Since sound is also a vibration, does it get transmitted?’
Without a sense of hearing?
But scientifically speaking, a sword that speaks because an imugi is trapped inside is already not in that realm anyway.
Seonwu just accepted it.
[Alright. Let’s travel together. Though we’re already doing that.]
[So, how are you going to handle this matter?]
[You seem to have been watching with interest?]
[Yes, anything is more fun than just being in the vault! You said you’d have your guard call the Magistrate Judge? Then Ji Hyun will surely…]
[Yeah, dismissal. What’s left now is just about how much additional punishment to hand down in addition to the dismissal.]
[Ghahaha! On the other hand, that Ji Hyun is probably jubilant right now, thinking about how much more bribe money he can pocket once you just leave.]
[Anyone is free to dream.]
Even if it was a dream that would soon shatter.
[So, what’s next?]
[The Baekwol Sect was too malicious. Even if a power vacuum occurs without them, that spot will have to be filled by others.]
[Oh, then how much will you punish them?]
[That’s the dilemma. Since I gave my word, I’ll spare one of the four… They all sang like canaries, but since the Third Hall Master sang the most, I should spare this guy.]
[Then what about the ones below them?]
The ones below them.
Of course, it wasn’t that the crimes of the organization members who did as they were told were light.
If all two hundred people were executed, too much blood would flow from that as well.
And accomplices were originally supposed to be punished a bit more lightly than the principal offenders.
[I’m thinking of giving those guys a bit of a thrashing and substituting the rest by having them protect this county well from now on.]
[Hey, if that’s the case, isn’t it a waste to just kill the top leadership too?]
[Letting them off to do well in the future and leaving them here is too generous.]
[I don’t mean it that way, don’t you know about serving in the army in white clothes?]
[Admiral Yi Sun-shin?]
[Who is that?]
At the sword’s counter-question, Seonwu cleared his throat.
[Ahem, there is such a general. Anyway, you know about serving in the army in white clothes.]
[Send them to the Great Wall that guards the border and tell them to roll around there for about ten years. Instead, normally if a master of the Peak Realm or High-Ascending Realm engages in military service, they receive pretty good treatment, but since those guys are criminals, there’s none of that!]
[Oh?]
Seonwu’s eyes sparkled.
He thought the sword was just talkative, but perhaps because it had lived a long time, it possessed wisdom.
[That’s good?]
Indeed.
They had certainly ruined many people’s lives out of greed for money.
If so, execution would be a punishment, but that would be the end of it.
Rolling around at the border while suffering was a prison in itself, so wasn’t that a better conclusion than execution or jail?
Above all, the border of this country was not a borderline where one’s body was just uncomfortable but there was no fighting.
Even now, they had to stop demonic monsters from continuously raiding.
Right now, even for Dan Suyeong, who became his guard, the trigger was his father utterly losing in that defense operation as a general.
[That’s right. If we make masters of the Peak Realm and High-Ascending Realm labor for free, that many ordinary soldiers defending at the border can survive and be discharged, right?]
[Exactly. Ahem, how about it? Is my wisdom not quite useful.]
When Seonwu took a liking to the idea, the Divine Dragon Sword bragged.
[Indeed. Once you think of it, it’s nothing major, but I hadn’t thought of it yet.]
Penal battalions were something not operated in democratic nations.
‘But in this case, it’ll be useful.’
In front of demonic monsters, even bastards like these would fight…
Above all, since their families remained here, they would also serve as a kind of hostage.
There was nothing unfair about the families who had enjoyed wealth and power together with the unjustly earned money becoming hostages.
Thus, Seonwu decided on everyone’s punishment.
In addition, he promised to give the Demon-Subduing Divine Dragon Sword a certain amount of conversation.
In fact, because he was actually bored while waiting for Dan Suyeong, he conversed with it even more than that.
And the conversation with the sword was quite useful.
[Ohho, so you mean it’s been more than five hundred years since you fell to this land?]
[Yes, in your terms, this body fell during the Tang Dynasty.]
[It’s not quite a thousand years… but it’s been quite a long time?]
[Naturally.]
[For something like that, you aren’t very well-versed in history?]
[That’s because those rotten bastards didn’t use this body and kept me stuck in the vault!]
Seonwu expressed his condolences at the Divine Dragon Sword’s grumbling.
‘The past emperors are the problem.’
If they had just released it into the Jianghu…
No. If they had done that, a bloody history might have occurred as people fought each other to become the master of this sword.
Because it was left in the Imperial Vault, the Wulin martial artists avoided killing each other over it.
[If they weren’t going to use me themselves, they should have given me to a general at least.]
[Mhm, well, I can understand.]
[What do you mean you understand!]
[No. I mean I can understand your suffering.]
Seonwu subtly shifted his words.
[Right? It’s been over seven hundred years since I came down to this land, but the time I spent roaming outside because I had a master isn’t even a hundred years.]
[So you don’t know as much history as I thought.]
[Ahem, even so, I did witness the moment the Song Dynasty perished.]
[How was it?]
[It was tragic. Those things that couldn’t fight so well when going to reclaim the old territory in the north actually held out really fiercely and for a long time in a defensive war.]
[Indeed…]
Exchanging this and that kind of talk, Seonwu waited for Dan Suyeong to return.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————