The Swords I Raised Are Too Strong - Chapter 88

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

Chapter 88. Politics (2)
“It’s been a while.”
Kang Mu-jin greeted me with a subtly sharp tone.
‘Technically, it’s only been a few days….’
So much had happened in those few days that I found myself nodding awkwardly in agreement.
“Things just unfolded that way.”
“An emperor who built an empire, became sovereign, and single-handedly slew three million Chinese soldiers—.”
His words carried barbs.
He was truly Seol-ah’s father.
I genuinely appreciated people like him—so straightforward and unyielding.
“—do you really need to convene the State Council?”
No matter how I change.
Even if I ascend to the same level as my Swords and become an absolute existence.
He will treat me consistently.
Regarding me as a vicious wolf eyeing his daughter, and sometimes raging like now, saying I’m running wild on my own.
If I ever stray from the path, he would shoot his words at me without hesitation, even if it cost him his life—.
That kind of person is what I need.
“This is not a world that one or two Transcendents can solve alone.”
“Wouldn’t Korea have already become nothing more than China’s ‘raw material’ without even that one Transcendent?”
He was angry with me.
“Shin Si-woo, why do we matter? Lately, I find myself thinking about that often.”
Knowing his nature well.
Before meeting with Patriot, I had invited the Korean Government first, including Kang Mu-jin.
Of course, the atmosphere felt heavier than I’d anticipated….
‘They all look like they’re at a funeral.’
At the anger of the next President Kang Mu-jin, the officials who came with the Government all lowered their heads with expressions of dread.
A gray world unfolded.
The only ones maintaining color within it were me, Kang Mu-jin, and—.
“Si-woo! Apologize quickly. Fighting three million alone… Your father just speaks harshly, but do you know how worried I was?”
Seol-ah as well.
Only these three people in total.
“I apologize.”
I was a Transcendent, but I was not mad.
I still maintained what could be called ‘humanity’ properly.
My Swords became family to me after I lost my parents.
‘Family….’
And Seol-ah and Kang Mu-jin were like family to me.
I was grateful that those close to me worried about me.
So I bowed my head quietly.
“Thank you.”
“I got a bit emotional, so I spoke harshly… but truthfully, we’re grateful to you.”
“That’s right, Si-woo. You’ve been through a lot.”
Given how exceptional my Swords are, I don’t actually recall suffering much.
Still, it was true that I stepped forward willingly to face China, so I nodded quietly.
‘In truth, China is now merely sustenance for my Swords.’
I definitely felt myself drawing closer to ‘Transcendence’.
Just as I had when devouring what King Sejong had accumulated.
My standards of judgment were gradually surpassing those of ordinary people.
‘My mouth waters…’
When I thought of potential enemies, my first instinct was to wonder how much stronger I’d become by defeating them.
When had I become this way?
Yet it wasn’t entirely bad, and living like this felt better.
So I spoke.
“This will likely happen often from now on.”
“You won’t get hurt, right? Not just me—Seol-ah was worried too.”
“I apologize to your sister as well.”
“Don’t worry about it! I’m just accepting it as how things are now.”
As the mother and daughter unleashed their barbed words, my heart grew heavy.
It felt like being scolded by my father-in-law.
Though that wasn’t actually our relationship.
“Do well going forward. Our government will always be on your side, Si-woo.”
With the Vice Minister and department heads lined up behind him, this conversation felt slightly awkward…
‘Is this what politics is?’
Suddenly, I noticed Kang Mu-jin’s shoulders were unusually puffed up with pride.
The other officials maintaining their gray neutrality in the background were watching his back with ‘awe’.
Were they astonished by his boldness in speaking to a Transcendent?
As I pondered this, someone murmured softly.
“To show such spirit before one we should revere… hup!”
The moment my gaze fell upon him, he trembled like an aspen leaf.
‘Revere?’
A faith rising at tremendous speed.
I had an intuition it was connected to this.
Unable to resist my curiosity, I asked directly.
“Why have the Korean people begun to have faith in me?”
It wasn’t just one or two.
Millions were clearly praising me.
The very fact that I could hear the world’s voice regarding ‘faith’ meant it had to be at least that scale.
“You didn’t know?”
“Know what…?”
Kang Mu-jin explained about WorldNet.
A patch to Hunminjeongeum.
The blessing of a quasi-AI bestowed upon the entire nation.
And….
[Powerless humans have but one thing to offer to those exalted ones.
—With reverence and sincerity.
Praise and worship to prove your loyalty.]
An extraordinary message, as though it were a hymn to Shin Si-woo himself, poured forth to the entire nation.
“At first it appeared only before the eyes of those who questioned it. But… once the number exceeded a million, the AI apparently went rogue on its own, periodically displaying such messages to the entire populace.”
Words carry power.
Written characters carry power too.
“I’ve always trusted you, so nothing changed for me, but the majority of citizens felt a peculiar exhilaration the moment they saw those words. Moreover, since there’s nothing particularly wrong with them, everyone obeys willingly.”
Hunminjeongeum, created by King Sejong.
It was entirely possible.
I wasn’t sure why he, the Constellation of the Patriot, was praising me.
—Thud!
Just as our conversation concluded, a report arrived from the Transcendent Knight Order commander.
—By Your Majesty’s command, I have brought the Patriot and four Constellations into custody.
I ordered them brought forward.
Now it was time to understand King Sejong’s true intentions.
* * *
“The righteous prosecutor Kang Mu-jin! You’re, you’re acting as President?!”
The Patriot is a coward.
Yet he possessed enough patriotism to overcome his fear.
He convulses at the sight of me.
Kang Mu-jin seemed somewhat worried about the Patriot too, biting his lower lip differently than when he addressed me.
“You put a former president in a coffin and threw him into a Gate… and set up Shin Si-woo!!! Ughhhh!”
Right after the Patriot grabbed the back of his neck.
I too, like Kang Mu-jin, bit my lower lip.
‘He’s going to make a fuss about this damn situation.’
The Patriot—an irreplaceable force who projects overwhelming firepower twenty-four hours, three hundred sixty-five days to protect South Korea.
I couldn’t even fathom how he’d react, backed by King Sejong as he was.
The moment such concerns crossed my mind.
“Sleep.”
King Sejong murmured.
Then the Patriot’s eyes rolled back and he collapsed.
Thump—.
King Sejong….
No, King Sejong spoke with an expression of liberation on his face.
“I consumed a hundred years in trials to perfect these two characters.”
He surveyed everyone present, then added quietly:
“Now then, let us speak freely between ourselves.”
Indeed, humanity’s greatest intellect, they say.
I subdued the Patriot using a method I never could have imagined.
‘He simply put him to sleep through physical means.’
I’m not sure what the Constellations’ discipline entails, but it’s clearly not standard practice.
Yi Sun-sin, Yulgok Yi I, and even Cheok Jun-kyung.
The other Constellations were staring wide-eyed, their gazes darting between King Sejong and the Patriot.
“First, allow me to clarify the situation.”
Everyone—myself included, along with government officials—was filled with questions.
King Sejong read the flow of confusion and explained the chain of events in a way we could easily understand.
“Shin Si-woo, Your Majesty… No, you are not one to oppress others by wielding such authority.”
King Sejong was fundamentally different from the other Constellations.
“Kang Mu-jin, Chief Prosecutor. Your very countenance speaks volumes. You are certainly not one meant to remain merely a chief prosecutor. The Patriot must have suppressed you, forcing you into that position.”
I’d heard in passing that he spent roughly 200 years in the [Tower], and it seemed he had studied Earth extensively.
Including matters of South Korea’s political situation.
“I spent 100 years simply understanding and reflecting the Patriot’s words. Then another 100 years struggling to break free from his influence and pursue my true purpose.”
Thus, King Sejong came to a realization.
“Shin Si-woo, you are no benevolent rival. I felt it acutely just now when facing China. You are a being beyond my reach, even at my level.”
It seemed the Patriot had spoken of me as though I were his rival.
Since King Sejong had already discerned the truth himself, there was little need for me to correct anything.
However…
“That black Jesus the Patriot spoke of—he alone stands on a similar tier as you.”
At this point, I interrupted him.
He knew far more than I expected.
“Does Hunminjeongeum tell you such things?”
The magnificence of a super-high-performance AI.
Now I understood why my parents worried about my future when I was young.
It was absurdly capable.
That’s what I thought—
“Min-jung is a personality entity I created by teaching her my way of thinking. There is one more, but… ahem.”
Upon hearing King Sejong’s explanation, I was astonished once more.
1. Hunminjeongeum’s AI functions are performed by quasi-personality entities.
3. After returning to Earth, the information obtained through access to the [System] is judged and organized according to King Sejong’s way of thinking, then presented to us as results.
After returning to Earth, the information acquired by accessing the System is judged and organized based on King Sejong’s way of thinking and presented to us as the result.
In other words.
“That phrase about how I should have faith in you—what was your intention?”
King Sejong was the one who made my faith blossom.
As I stared at him intently, King Sejong slowly opened his mouth.
“Shin Si-woo, truthfully, from my perspective, you are the most incomprehensible being. In some ways, even more so than the Patriot.”
“Me?”
No matter what, I never expected to be described as surpassing the Patriot.
The reason itself was utterly absurd.
“Yet you continue to use formal speech with me, and I notice you don’t seem particularly displeased by it?”
How many people among South Korea’s citizens would dare speak casually to King Sejong?
“And yet, you possess the cruelty to feed China’s armies to the Demon, while erecting such magnificent structures to display imperial majesty and authority, and still you show mercy.”
I had nothing to say in response to that.
China’s armies will continue to be fed to the Demon going forward.
Imperial majesty and authority…
Well, it’s something I need in moderation.
‘I know the answer to this.’
Cruel yet merciful.
A being that harbors such contradictions.
That’s why—an Empress.
In my case—
“That is what an Emperor is.”
“Does an Emperor truly require formal speech from a mere king like myself?”
“It’s more convenient this way.”
An Emperor doesn’t need to hear formal speech to be an Emperor.
I’ve lived my entire life this way, and it suits me better.
Isn’t the true essence of an Emperor to act as I please without any obstruction in doing so?
“I see.”
At my explanation, King Sejong broke into a bright smile.
When you think of a king, it feels rigid and constrained, but seeing him in person, he’s quite open-minded.
“It seems my thinking was still rigid after all.”
He spread out the Hunminjeongeum before him and began writing something, then nodded for a long while.
Then he broached the main topic.
“You all must have much to say, but I hope you’ll allow me to speak first.”
King Sejong spoke to me with earnest tone, bowing his head.
Somehow, that posture felt even more desperate than when he had begged for his life.
The reason was—
“If I tell you I’ve lived alone with only the Patriot for 200 years, I believe you’ll understand.”
At his sincere words, I found myself speechless.
For 200 years, the Patriot was his only conversation partner?
I had never once thought of his Constellations in that way.
First of all…
‘I would have gone mad.’
Yi Sun-sin obsessed with aircraft carrier captains, Yulgok Yi I infatuated with special forces, Cheok Jun-kyung intoxicated by beam swords.
There was a reason why each of the other Constellations had lost their minds in their own way.
‘Perhaps the Constellations weren’t created by the Patriot after all.’
Recalling the eccentric nature of the Constellations, I wondered if they might have been born artificially as Constellations.
However, upon seeing King Sejong this time, my perspective shifted.
‘Perhaps the Constellations are actually enduring trials inflicted by the Patriot.’
That’s what I think now.
The other Constellations may have been ‘corrupted’ by the Patriot through their prolonged ordeals.
‘Let me hear more for now.’
I turned my attention to King Sejong’s words.
His opening statement was truly violent.
“I have come to understand, observing this Earth. All Transcendents are mad.”
He spoke while gazing at the Patriot, who slept with snores.
I immediately objected.
“Not all Transcendents lose their minds.”
“Perhaps, but the degree varies for each. I simply have not yet witnessed the aspects of your madness.”
King Sejong possessed keen observational skills as well.
“Look—among the politicians behind us, at least two display peculiar reactions.”
I had a sense of who he meant, but I chose not to reveal it.
“Transcendents as a phenomenon, Gates as a calamity, and the existence of Demon Worshippers and Demons themselves. What puzzles me most is why any common people remain at all.”
King Sejong posed the question.
“Why bother feeding such useless beings?”
Indeed, befitting the Patriot’s Constellation.
Two hundred years had thoroughly unraveled his sanity.

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