The World’s Greatest is Dead - Chapter 454

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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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The Heavenly Supreme Has Died – Episode 454
“Shall I prepare a meal for you, Young Master?”
Chongwan asked me as I was unpacking my belongings.
“A meal… Is it possible to prepare one at this moment?”
“My goodness, of course it is. If you wish it, Young Master, I should prepare it at once.”
“…Ah, haha… Then, if you could just prepare something simple, I would be grateful.”
“Since we have guests, I suppose I must exert myself after all this time.”
Though Chongwan was an elderly man, he often took to cooking like this.
It was unavoidable, as the Chef came and went unpredictably.
To such an extent that I occasionally cooked myself. Bang Seo-jin and Bang Yoo-seong were hopelessly clumsy with their hands.
I sometimes wondered if it was right for the clan’s blood relatives to prepare meals directly.
‘But with the household in this state, what does it matter?’
Since I possessed memories from my past life, I didn’t find it particularly bothersome or tedious. Besides, Bang Seo-jin and Bang Yoo-seong were much the same way.
I simply did it because I knew how to prepare food properly.
“Let us do it together after all this time.”
“Ah, no. Young Master, you’ve traveled a long distance—please rest well. This old man will handle it. If need be, I can ask the First Young Master.”
“…”
His words were quite strange. Did it make sense to ask my older brother to do it?
But Chongwan had always been that way. He was an old man who was particularly cold toward Father and my brother.
To be precise, it would be more accurate to say he discriminates in my favor.
‘I suppose…’
In this mad household, perhaps it was because I alone was the sane one.
“No, I want to do it. Let us work together. I’ll help.”
“…If you say it that way…”
Chongwan broke into a warm smile.
It stirred a faint echo of old memories.
***
The Bang Clan’s kitchen was cramped. Most of the household members barely ate rice to begin with, and with so few servants, there had been no reason to build it large.
“We still have all the ingredients, though?”
“We restocked everything not long ago. And we’ve used all the provisions the Young Master brought as well.”
“Ah.”
The foodstuffs I’d brought seemed to have been put to good use.
I picked up a knife for the first time in ages. Not a speck of rust—Chongwan had maintained it well.
Since I’d handled it so often before, I felt a strange nostalgia for it.
“By the way, where’s Father?”
“The Lord of the Clan said he was stepping out to Hyeon for a moment and would return, but he hasn’t come back. It’s been about seven weeks now.”
“….”
Seven weeks for a quick trip? That sounds more like he’s vanished. But that man was capable of such things.
‘In the past….’
He’d once claimed to be going out for leisure and disappeared for an entire month.
This sort of thing happened often enough.
Clink. Clink.
I boiled thin noodles and prepared the broth—a dish of utmost simplicity. Beside me, Chongwan was stir-frying a dish absolutely brimming with vegetables but remarkably sparse on meat.
“Ah, Chongwan.”
As we cooked side by side, I asked him something.
“Yes, Young Master. Is there something you wish to know?”
“I found out that I’m descended from the Jegal Clan. Did you know about this?”
“….”
Chongwan’s movements paused briefly. He clearly knew.
“My… so you’ve finally learned of it.”
“…It doesn’t seem like it was being hidden particularly carefully, was it?”
Cheon Rijin-an. Judging from my maternal grandfather’s reaction and the circumstances around me, it didn’t seem like something worth concealing.
The reason I hadn’t known until now was probably.
‘Shame.’
The Jegal Clan was ashamed of what happened between my Father and Mother. If they’d hidden it for that reason, well, such things happen.
I didn’t feel particularly uncomfortable about it either.
‘There’s no room to dwell on such matters.’
My life had been relentlessly demanding—so much so that there was no space for trivial concerns to take root.
“Does the Lord of the Clan know of this?”
“Yes. He knows.”
“…I see.”
“I even visited the Jegal Lord of the Clan while I was at it.”
“…Ha!”
Chongwan was greatly startled at the mention of seeing Cheon Rijin-an.
“The Jegal Lord of the Clan as well… nothing unfortunate happened to him, I trust?”
“Unfortunate?”
Well, something did happen, actually.
‘…I spent far too long processing those letters.’
Because I had entrusted my own work to myself, the schedule had become quite grueling. I also recall often being given tasks like this. Sometimes it seems like I might be to his liking, but then seeing things like this makes me uncertain.
“I’ve been doing well.”
“…That’s a relief. I worried greatly. I heard you suddenly left the Martial Arts Alliance and became a martial artist of the Cheongwol Sect.”
“People’s affairs are things you think you understand until you don’t.”
“…Hehehehe.”
Splash. I poured the boiling broth haphazardly over the thin noodles. Just then, Chongwan’s dish was also completed.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes.”
I picked it up and headed out. The group had already gathered.
“Please, eat.”
Is everyone here? I don’t see the Eunwol Sword.
“Where did that bastard go?”
I asked Dok-ryong, who was sitting.
“He said he had something to do and would go take a quick look around.”
“…Something to do? What business could there possibly be in Yeolyeong?”
It bothers me, but since he’s already left, there’s nothing I can do about it.
Bang Yoo-seong isn’t here either.
I didn’t pay much attention to that. How long would that man stay in the house anyway?
“Let’s eat first.”
I set out the thin noodles and placed several side dishes. Life returns to Yoo Yeon’s expression.
I recalled how she kept searching for thin noodles. Perhaps because of that, I had put a larger portion in her bowl.
“Let’s eat.”
Mealtime begins. At that moment.
“…Is this supposed to be a meal?”
Gungwi, sitting in the corner, mutters. Her voice happens to be particularly loud.
“Yeah, it’s a meal.”
“But there’s only these side dishes…?”
“Stop complaining and eat. You should be grateful for free food. You talk too much.”
“….”
Pop. I can see the veins bulging on Gungwi’s forehead. She seems bothered by the casual speech and irritated by being scolded. But what can I do? I can’t treat her with courtesy in that state.
‘We came to an agreement anyway.’
It was a unilateral declaration, but it was still an agreement of sorts.
“You’ve brought an interesting child. A foreigner, no less….”
“She seemed like a lost child. Since she appeared mentally troubled, I picked her up for now.”
“Ah….”
Chongwan looks at Gungwi with pitying eyes. She’s suddenly become someone with a headache. Gungwi grips her chopsticks as if to break them, but her frail body cannot even manage that.
There’s nothing left but to quietly eat her food. That was exactly Gungwi’s pitiful state.
Yun Yeon was busy swallowing the thin noodles as if possessed.
The others ate their food without much comment. The food quality should be decent. I was rather confident about it, after all.
The light meal ended, and by the time everyone had settled in for their first day of rest.
“Well then….”
Just before dusk gave way to night, I stepped outside.
“Let’s go.”
It was time to handle the most pressing matter. My destination was the mountain behind the Bang estate.
I walked toward it.
Whoooosh—!
The wind blew in. That distinctive scent of gathered trees and grass swept past my nose.
Whether fragrant or vibrant, I felt something in between.
Familiar, if anything. I had often climbed here during my time at Yeolyeong.
“Mm.”
I climbed the mountain path. It wasn’t particularly high. The location had been chosen simply enough that even as a child, I could traverse it.
The last time I’d climbed was before heading to the Alliance—was that a year ago?
I could feel my physical condition had definitely changed since then.
‘Light.’
Incredibly light.
No labored breathing even with a little climbing. I had the strength to reach the summit in one go.
I was experiencing firsthand how much I’d changed. Absurdly so.
Not long after shifting my thoughts and continuing up the mountain, I arrived at my destination.
A small cave nestled near some rocks. I approached slowly, feeling the dampness.
“…Ugh, it’s cramped.”
It hadn’t been this narrow originally. My body had grown larger from the rebirth, making it difficult to squeeze through.
I forced my way in somehow. The interior was dark. Bringing a lantern would have been proper, but there was no need for that now.
Whooom—!
Wol-an opened, and my vision brightened. The interior became visible.
“…Ah, I should have cleaned this up before leaving.”
I sighed at the sight before me. Dust lay thick everywhere. It was my fault for not managing it properly before I left.
The moment I pulled cloth from my pocket and was about to approach.
“…What on earth is this?”
“….”
A voice from behind froze my body. I immediately turned around, and there stood an unexpected figure.
“Gungwi….”
“….”
It was Gungwi. She stood behind me, staring ahead with a dazed expression.
‘When did she follow me?’
I hadn’t sensed her. The problem was that I hadn’t felt her presence.
‘I climbed too slowly.’
I should have increased my speed, but since it had been so long, I’d climbed leisurely like taking a stroll, which seemed to be the issue.
‘Tsk.’
Still, how could I not sense Gungwi following me?
“What… what in the world is this?”
Meanwhile, Gungwi was blinking rapidly at what lay before her. Seeing her reaction, I turned my head with indifference. There was nothing to be done about being followed, so I let that matter slide.
I had work to do.
“What do you mean? Can’t you see for yourself?”
“If I could understand it, I wouldn’t be asking.”
“…Hmm…”
I reached out and wiped my hands clean with a brushing motion. There wasn’t much dust, but the dampness was pervasive, so there was quite a bit to wipe away.
If she were to ask what this was…
“It’s an altar, of course.”
“…An altar, you say?”
“Yes. An altar.”
A small wooden space. In the center of the damp cave sat something resembling a wooden coffin, bound tightly with rope. Talismans were woven into that rope.
“This is supposed to be an altar…?”
An altar should be far larger and more orderly. If it were meant to enshrine something, this place would never suffice. Why would anyone deliberately place it here instead of in the heart of a proper forest?
Gungwi’s expression made it clear she couldn’t comprehend it. But that wasn’t even the important part.
An altar placed in such a location. That alone was strange enough.
“…Just what… what are you enshrining here?”
What entity does this altar serve to enshrine?
An altar exists for the purpose of enshrining something.
What deity could possibly be enshrined in this absurd space? That was what Gungwi was asking. Hearing the question, I let out a soft laugh.
“…Enshrine, you say.”
Well.
“I revere no one.”
A deity is not something worthy of reverence. At least, not by my standards.
“If I must speak of what is being upheld here…”
The true meaning of this altar’s existence is singular.
“I enshrine myself.”
An altar for myself.
A framework to divide and manage a soul too burdensome for this small body to bear alone.
That was what this altar truly was.

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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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