My Father Is the Number One Under Heaven - Chapter 81

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 81. Something Black and Large
“…So anyway! You won’t believe what happened at the academy today!”
Yulli was bouncing up and down with such enthusiasm, eager to share whatever it was.
“Sua and I were just playing when Dohun suddenly popped out of nowhere and went ‘Boo!’ to scare us, so we both screamed, and then Sua got so mad she yelled at him, and he just bolted—his back as he ran away was hilarious!”
“Is that so? Our Yulli had a wonderful time at the academy today?”
“Yes! It was so much fun! I love Sowol Academy so, so much!”
As Yulli broke into a broad smile, Yeo Unhwi and Peng Seoyeon couldn’t help but smile in return.
It was a relief.
That such a place existed, and that Yulli loved it so.
And so Yulli’s academy life began in earnest, filled with joy.
Yulli looked forward to each day at the academy so eagerly that attending Sowol Academy had become a source of genuine happiness.
The other children were all kind and fun, and the teachers were gentle and warm.
Even the lessons were adjusted so that Yulli, who had started partway through, wouldn’t fall behind.
It was, in every way, perfect.
Until one day.
Strange things began to happen to Yulli.
“Hmm?”
Just as Yulli stepped out of the academy after lessons, her head suddenly snapped around.
She could have sworn she’d seen something black and large flash past from the bushes in the corner.
But by the time she turned to look, it had already vanished.
“……?”
Yulli’s head tilted thoughtfully.
Had she imagined it?
But this wasn’t the first time—or even the second time—that something like this had happened recently.
No, it had been happening nearly every day.
“Could it be a ghost?”
With a serious expression and her small hand on her chin, Yulli came to what seemed like a reasonable conclusion.
But then she shook her head.
“No, no.”
She didn’t think it was a ghost after all.
Her friends had said that when a ghost appears, your skin prickles with dread, but Yulli felt nothing of the sort.
Should she go check?
It was a choice that showed the boldness Yulli had displayed when she first met Peng Mugang, smiling brightly even then.
So when Yulli had decided this and was about to approach the bushes,
“Yulli!”
Peng Seoyeon, who had just arrived to pick up Yulli, called out to her.
At that call, Yulli immediately turned away from the bushes and ran to Peng Seoyeon.
“Mother!”
Yulli soon threw her arms around Peng Seoyeon with a bright smile.
The black, dark thing she’d glimpsed in the bushes slipped from her mind entirely.
Soon after, Peng Seoyeon and Yulli climbed into a carriage and headed toward the Peng Residence.
And watching Yulli’s departing figure, the black, dark thing let out a quiet sigh of relief.
***
“Chief, this place really does rake it in, doesn’t it?”
Forest Path.
Several large, rough-looking men were walking along, jingling their money pouches and cackling to each other.
“It’s nothing like that village we were in before—how we managed to survive out in that backwater is beyond me! Moving here was the right call, Chief! We really made the right decision following your lead!”
“Ha-ha-ha! That’s right? See, I had a plan when I said we should move. This place has no watchmen shaking people down.”
“Really? How come, with such a goldmine of a place?”
“Word has it there’s some famous martial family around here.”
“Oh? Well, doesn’t that mean we should be careful, Chief?”
“Careful of what? How well can they really fight? Martial arts and all that nonsense—one punch from this fist of mine and they’ll all go down.”
Khe-khe-khe.
The men laughed together, egging each other on.
Having lived only in the countryside their whole lives, they’d never properly encountered a true martial master.
“Those scrawny little runts pretending to be martial artists and acting all tough—it’s pathetic. Real strength comes from muscle, doesn’t it?”
The leader of the ruffians thumped his own muscles proudly.
“So there’s nothing to worry about. If they get on our nerves, we just throw a punch. And if things go south, we just run. Nothing to it, right?”
“Right. When you put it that way, everything you say makes sense, Chief.”
“Exactly? Khe-khe.”
As they walked along chattering, a beautiful academy came into view in the distance.
“Oh? An academy, you say… Good. We’ll hit that next.”
“Pardon? Is that wise? It’s still a place where children study.”
Crack!
A fist flew hard into the face of the man who’d hesitated.
“Ugh! Argh!”
The thug leader watched the fallen man with a hollow laugh.
“You bastard. What’s this weak talk coming out of your mouth? Huh? Since when did you get righteous?”
“No, boss, that’s not what I—”
“Listen up, brother. The dirtier you are, the more money you make in this world. You hear me?”
“Yes, boss. I’ll keep that in mind. I must have been out of my head for a moment.”
“Right. That’s the spirit.”
Pat, pat.
The thug leader clapped his hands and turned his body toward the academy, grinning wickedly.
“Let’s go then. See how much we can squeeze out of that place. Kids cry and wail, you just kick them in the ass and move on. Tsk tsk!”
That was when it happened.
Whoosh.
Someone put an arm around the thug leader’s shoulder.
“Hey there. Got a minute to talk?”
“Huh? What? You bastards dare— Eek!”
“Hm? What was that you said? ‘Dare’?”
It was a truly terrifying presence.
One of them had the rough, wild aspect of a feral boar, and his frame was easily twice as broad as the thug leader’s.
In that moment, even a man of considerable size looked small.
And beside him stood what appeared to be sharp-featured twins, alongside a woman whose eyes gleamed with something unsettling.
Where had such frightening people suddenly come from?
The very aura they gave off was different.
“Why, why, why are you doing this?”
“Ah, nothing much. Just curious—what were you lot planning to do to that academy over there?”
“Eh? No, no! We weren’t planning anything, really—”
“Hmm. But we just heard you. Can’t have you lying to us like that. Tell you what—there’s an open ground just beyond here. Let’s go there for a bit.”
“Why would we go to an open ground—”
“Why? So we can have a deeper conversation.”
“N-no! We’re fine, really!”
“I’m not fine with it. Come on.”
Shrieeek!
And how much time had passed?
The thugs who’d been terrorizing people with such swagger now knelt side by side on the open ground, hands raised.
They’d been beaten so thoroughly that their faces were a mottled purple, swollen beyond recognition.
It was a pitiful sight.
Normally, once someone passed out from a beating, you’d stop—but these people kept going, fetching water from the riverside to splash on them and then continuing.
Terrifying creatures.
These weren’t human beings.
“Listen to me.”
“Yes!”
“If I catch even a whiff of you lot hanging around this area again, today’s lesson will look gentle by comparison. Understand?”
This was gentle?
“Answer me.”
“Yes!”
“Make sure you do.”
“Yes! We understand!”
“Good. Now get out of here.”
They scrambled to their feet and took off running like madmen.
Every part of their bodies ached and throbbed, but that hardly mattered.
All they could think of was the gnawing dread that they might be called back—and how desperately they needed to put distance between themselves and those people.
When the thugs had finally receded from sight,
“Think they understood the message?”
“Generally, they catch on at this level.”
“That’s a relief, then. Phew! How dare those bastards show their faces anywhere near our young Yulli! Argh, I’m getting worked up again. Should I go drag them back?”
“Enough. That’ll do. You’ll kill them if you keep going.”
“That’s right. Let’s just say that today we proved ourselves worthy by protecting Yulli’s academy.”
Roar!
Dark, massive forms. The members of the Baekrang Corps let out a triumphant howl.
All those days coming here to patrol the moment Miss Yulli said she’d be attending the academy had finally borne fruit.
Ah, Lord Peng. How could you let the young lady venture into such a harsh world!
The Baekrang Corps members twisted their bodies in anguish.
That was when it happened.
“What are you lot doing here?”
Gasp!
A familiar voice came from behind them.
A voice that should absolutely not have been heard at this moment.
But they couldn’t ignore it, so they creakingly turned their heads, and sure enough, there stood Yeo Unhwi with an exasperated expression.
“I thought you all looked rather busy lately.”
“Ah, well. Lord Yeo.”
“Training’s been pretty relaxed for you these days, hasn’t it? I was already thinking it was time to ramp up the intensity, so this works out nicely.”
“Oh, no, Lord Yeo! It’s not that—we’re doing this for Miss Yulli’s safety!”
“Yulli’s safe without you.”
“But Lord Yeo, you’re busy yourself, and just assigning one or two guards is hardly reason to let your guard down, Lord Yeo! The world is terribly dangerous! It’s too much for young Yulli!”
“Right, yes. Someone who repeats every word of that argument to the letter is sneaking around here watching over Yulli, so don’t worry.”
“What? What do you mean—”
The Baekrang Corps members exchanged confused glances, tilting their heads.
Someone else was secretly coming here to watch over her?
***
Meanwhile.
Yelp!
The ruffians, thoroughly beaten by the Baekrang Corps with faces swollen like balloons, finally stopped their frantic flight and gasped for breath, their tongues hanging out.
“Huff. Huff. What are those terrifying brutes?”
“Beats me.”
“They looked really scary, I tell you.”
“I’ve never seen anyone look that menacing in my life. Ugh.”
The ruffians trembled at the mere thought of them again.
They’d heard there were no rival gangs in this city, but to encounter thugs like that—it was finished.
The thought that they needed to leave this town took root in their minds.
Still, they wouldn’t have minded shaking down just one more person before they went.
They hadn’t fully come to their senses yet.
Then,
Thud.
“Huh? Can’t you look where you’re going? You should be—wait, huh?”
The ruffians who’d bumped shoulders grimaced and glared at whoever they’d hit.
But,
Wait, wait, wait?
The man across from them was so massive that even these fairly substantial thugs had to look up to meet his eyes.
And the moment they glimpsed his face, the ruffians couldn’t help but crumple to the ground.
There stood a man—a tiger. Yes, a giant tiger who had simply taken human form, looking down at them with a terrifying gaze.
And his expression was thoroughly menacing.
“Who the hell are you?”
His eyes barely flickered, yet the ruffians nearly soiled themselves in terror.
Yelp!
“We’re, we’re, we’re sorry!”
“We’re so sorry!”
The men bowed their heads frantically until their faces nearly touched the ground, then scrambled to their feet and bolted away.
“Ahhhhh!”
What kind of insane city was this?
They made a decision.
Never again—never would they show their faces here.
And,
“Hmm. Like this… it won’t do. It won’t do at all.”
Beyond the wall of the Sowol Academy, Peng Mugang, who had been secretly watching Yulli, paced restlessly, lost in thought, utterly indifferent to the ruffians he’d just sent running.
Everyone seemed to be equally worried about Yulli.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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