Chapter 94 Change-1

Chapter 94: Change-1

Upon returning to the Thirteenth Division with Cheolgwi’s body, an emergency squad leaders’ meeting was immediately convened.

Originally, the meeting was scheduled for tomorrow morning to welcome back Seolpung, who had returned today, but given the gravity of the matter, it simply couldn’t be postponed.

And Seolpung, attending the meeting, was utterly shocked upon seeing the face of one of the gathered squad leaders.

“…My squad leader?!”

He then laughed heartily and extended his hand to Seolpung.

“Hahaha! We meet again! Didn’t I tell you we’d meet soon?! Hahahaha!”

He was none other than Zhen Changjian, the sword master who had fought alongside the Zhengxie Sect against the Mountain Sword Sect.

He, who had been a squad leader of the Eleven Flying Dragons, was attending the squad leaders’ meeting of the Thirteen Dragons.

Seolpung asked him with a dazed expression.

“What? How?”

“Hahaha! I applied for transfer to the Thirteenth Division the moment I returned. Well, the approval hasn’t come through yet, but it will eventually. What else is there to wait for? So I came straight here. Hahaha!”

Seolpung’s jaw dropped at those words.

“Wait, so that’s why you rushed back like that?”

“That’s right. This is why. From now on, call me the Fourteenth Dragon of the Thirteenth Generation. Ha ha ha ha!”

Seolpung was so dumbfounded he could only let out a hollow laugh.

After repelling the invasion of the Zhengxie Sect, Je Won-yeong had hurriedly returned to the Eleventh Division while the Thirteenth Division members waited for Seonwoojin and Biseaeng.

It seemed that was likely to apply for a transfer to the Thirteenth Division.

Even so, to arrive at the Thirteenth Division before the Seventh Squad members had returned—truly, he was a man whose boldness knew no bounds.

Je Won-yeong tapped the sword of the squad leader standing beside him, Jianchang Jianlong Saguunil, and said.

“I’d always wanted to serve alongside this fellow Gunil. But that bastard Mayugyeom kept me from doing so. Now that Mayugyeom is gone and a crucial reason has arisen, I couldn’t delay even a moment longer.”

“…An important reason?”

As they spoke, the thirteenth unit commander, Heon Yeong-bo, cleared his throat and said.

“Right then, let us begin the meeting. I was going to introduce the new squad leader to Squad Leader Chil, but it seems unnecessary now.”

He then looked at the Grand Leader, Pungyang, and asked.

“While we’re on the subject, before we discuss the new mine, may I first speak with Team Leader Seolpung about the team member reassignments?”

When Feng Yang silently nodded in response to his question, Heon Yeongbo turned to Seolpung again and said.

“While you were away, thanks to Elder Geomseong, many changes have occurred. Other matters can be discussed later, but I must first mention the personnel replenishment. There has been a large-scale recruitment drive. As a result, all other teams have been filled to capacity with ten members each.”

Then, after glancing at Squad Leader Oh Doksu-kwang, he continued.

“Well, we did suffer another large-scale casualty this time, you see. Hmm. Anyway, amidst all that, there were two new recruits who insisted they absolutely had to be assigned to the Seventh Squad. So we’ve been holding them in reserve without assigning them to a squad until now.”

Hearing Hyeon Yeong-bo’s words, Seol Pung asked with a puzzled expression.

“They insisted on being assigned to the Seventh Squad?”

“Yes.”

“Who exactly are they?”

Hyeon Yeong-bo then shouted toward the door.

“Come in!”

And the people who entered were two women—or rather, a man who looked like a woman and a beautiful woman with a languid expression.

Seolpung stared at them for a moment, then his eyes suddenly widened.

“Ah, you?”

Then the handsome young man smiled warmly and rushed over.

“Team Leader Seolpung! How have you been?!”

That young man was Ma Mengyun.

He was the son of Ma Jong-hwan from the Life-and-Death Sect, whom Seolpung had saved after falling for Sunwoo Jin’s persuasion(?) during a previous vacation.

Recognizing him, Seolpung smiled warmly, yet asked with a look of surprise.

“Mang-un, is it you? What brings you here? What about the old master of Gweui?”

“I applied to the Dragon Ascension Academy with Father’s permission. He said I should be of service to those who helped us. He also said I needed to become more manly.”

“Ah, I see. Welcome.”

Seolpung greeted him with a bright smile.

His martial arts were still lacking, but his joining the ranks, inheriting Gweui’s medical skills, could only be beneficial.

After exchanging brief greetings with Ma Mengyun, Seolpung turned his gaze to the woman standing to one side, watching him with a languid expression.

She was a woman Seolpung didn’t remember.

No, there was no way women could have remained in Seolpung’s memory to begin with.

He could count on one hand the number of women he’d ever spoken to in his life.

But she seemed to know Seolpung.

With her characteristic languid expression and dreamy gaze, she looked at Seolpung and said,

“I’ve finally found you. Seolpung, the Storm Dragon.”

Those words left Seolpung flustered.

Found me at last? Me?

Seolpung cautiously asked with a puzzled expression.

“You know me…!”

In that instant, the face of a woman he had met long ago suddenly flashed through Seolpung’s mind.

With a languid, dreamy expression, wielding a blade as fierce as a black dragon…

Startled, I cried out.

“No way?!”

Then she smiled faintly and asked.

“Do you remember now?”

Her languid, dreamy expression now came back to me clearly.

She was undoubtedly Yawunxiang, the one who had fought Seolpung at Heuksangbang.

The peak master the Black Sect disciples called Yeomjak, the Blood-Stained Sword, Ya Yunxiang.

The very one Xuefeng had shattered the Black Chamber’s brain prison for, yet could not bring himself to kill…

Flustered, Xuefeng stammered out his question.

“H-how… how did you get here?”

Ya Yunxiang replied with a languid smile.

“I came looking for you, Xuefeng.”

That languid smile was so seductively alluring it made Heonyeongbo, standing beside her, swallow hard.

Seolpung, who had turned pale at her mere appearance, still didn’t know.

that the surprises for him at this meeting were far from over…

***

We gathered in the Seventh Squad waiting room, awaiting Squad Leader Seolpung’s return from the meeting.

While we waited, I explained about the Iron Demon to the team members.

Then the team members spoke up.

“This is troubling. The mere increase in the number of Jukgwi is dangerous enough, but now they’re monsters that even Ganggi can’t control? Everyone, be careful. When moving through the forest, try to stay with Jo-jang, Seonwoo Gongja, or Cheongyeon whenever possible.”

As soon as I heard about the iron-clad monsters, I was the first to worry about everyone else.

“Skin that can’t be pierced by steel? That’s incredible! It’s practically invincible, isn’t it?!”

Despite it being about our enemies, Bae Jong-gwan was the one who got excited about the tough skin first.

Lady Cheon Ju-eun and Bi Sa-yeong were lost in thought, their expressions filled with worry.

The presence of the Iron Demon seemed to unsettle them greatly.

I spoke to them as if to soothe their unease.

“Still, isn’t it fortunate that we know how to respond? If we prepare well, we should be able to stop it without much damage. Don’t worry too much.”

Then Biseyoung sighed and said.

“The more I think about it, meeting Old Man Seok was truly a stroke of luck. If I’d known things would turn out like this, I should have at least shown him proper respect.”

At his words, I just gave an awkward smile and nodded.

“Exactly.”

I had told everyone that learning about the Iron Demon’s weakness was thanks to Old Man Seok Gyeong-dal.

It was only natural, since I couldn’t say it was due to memories from a past life. The problem was that Captain Jo, Lady Cheongyeon, and Biseaeng had met Old Man Seok with me.

I’d roughly explained that Squad Leader and Miss Cheongyeon were fighting the enemies, and that Biseaeng had woken up first while still in meditation…

‘Honestly, that’s utter nonsense.’

That simple-minded Bise-yeong probably didn’t think deeply about it, but anyone who gave it even a moment’s thought would immediately realize how utterly ridiculous that story was.

How could she possibly pick out only the countermeasures against the Iron Demon amidst such urgency?

So unless it was Biseoyoung, there was no way Lady Cheongyeon wouldn’t sense something was off.

So I glanced at Lady Cheongyeon to gauge her reaction, but she was lost in her own thoughts.

That someone who absolutely couldn’t have been unaware remained silent—perhaps she had simply decided to pretend not to notice.

Her consideration struck me as especially kind.

Just then, Squad Leader Seolpung opened the door and entered.

“Captain!”

“Did the meeting go well?”

“Any new developments?”

Then the squad leader nodded with a strangely complicated look on his face.

At that moment, I could feel his gaze sweep bitterly over me and Miss Cheongyeon.

I was a bit puzzled.

“Well, there are several things to discuss. Some good news, and some disappointing news too.”

His unexpectedly subdued expression drew everyone’s attention to him.

Then the squad leader began to speak.

“I’ve already relayed the intel on the Iron Fiend to the other Dragon Squads as an emergency. Seems none of the other squads have reported anything about it yet. It would be nice if we were the first to encounter it, but who knows. For now, our squad has decided to secure Hwagol Mountain as quickly as possible and form a search party centered around the squad leaders. Once I relay the meeting details, I’ll join them immediately and depart.”

At those words, I silently nodded.

In my past life too, the Iron Fiend had first appeared in our Thirteenth Division.

So, barring other changes, it might have been possible to block the Iron Demon with far fewer sacrifices than in the past.

After saying that much, the squad leader hesitated briefly before continuing.

“And… there’s some good news too.”

“Good news?”

“Yes, after Jin and Hae Soja, and Cheon Soja, we finally have new recruits. Two of them, no less.”

The unexpected words from the squad leader made the squad members burst into cheers.

“Waaah! New recruits?!”

“Wow! Finally, we’re getting more people. What are they like?”

“Are they guys? Or girls?”

Team Leader Seolpung gave a slightly bitter smile at the team members’ enthusiastic response and answered.

“One man, one woman. And the man is someone several of us have already met.”

“Huh?”

“Someone we’ve met?”

“Who?”

But Squad Leader Seolpung didn’t answer.

“We’ll talk about the details when we meet him in person.”

Seeing the team leader unable to muster a bright expression despite the good news of a new recruit joining, I suddenly asked.

“But you didn’t bring the new recruits over right away?”

Just as it was in my day, it was customary to bring new recruits here immediately after their teams were assigned.

Therefore, it was standard procedure for the team leader not to relay the news that a new recruit had arrived, but to bring them directly here for an introduction.

His heavy expression since earlier seemed connected to the reason for this.

The team leader let out a small sigh and nodded.

“Right, we had something to decide among ourselves first, so we decided to bring him a little later.”

He then looked at me and Miss Cheongyeon and said.

“Our thirteenth generation’s newly appointed squad leader, Swordmaster Je Won-young, is here.”

The squad leader’s words came completely out of the blue, utterly unexpected.

“…Huh?”

“Who came?”

“Je Won-yeong? That guy?!”

Seeing our stunned reactions, the squad leader gave a wry smile and nodded.

“Yes, it’s that Je squad leader who was with us at the Mountain Sword Gate. He applied for a transfer immediately after returning. And…”

The squad leader’s eyes shifted to the expressionless face of Young Lady Cheongyeon.

“He requested you as the new deputy squad leader for Squad Four.”

“…What?!”

“What?!”

We were even more shocked than when we heard Je Won-young’s name.

He requested Lady Cheongyeon as deputy leader?

Didn’t that mean Lady Cheongyeon would be going to the fourth division?

But that wasn’t the only surprising thing.

The squad leader continued speaking.

“And… Lady Dang of the Third Squadron has requested to be the new deputy squad leader of the Third Squadron.”

“…What?!”

I gaped in utter shock.

Miss Tang requested me as her deputy squad leader? Does that mean I have to transfer to another squad?

Then Biseaeng urgently asked.

“Do we absolutely have to comply with that request?”

At his question, Squad Leader Seolpung sighed deeply and replied.

“It’s not that we absolutely must. But it’s also true we have no grounds to refuse. The fact that excessive manpower is concentrated in our Seventh Squad is undeniable. Not to mention Jin and Hae, who are already at the peak of their abilities—even you, So-ja, and Sa-yeong possess the skill to lead other squads. Even Jong-gwan and Cheon are more than capable of serving as deputy squad leaders elsewhere.”

“Ah…”

We couldn’t find a counterargument to the team leader’s words.

That was undeniably true.

“In the case of Jin or Lady Hae, even if they don’t become deputy squad leaders this time, they might soon be appointed as squad leaders of other squads or even transferred to other Dragon Wings. After all, talents who’ve reached the pinnacle are rare.”

At the squad leader’s words, we all looked at each other with blank expressions.

I too looked at Squad Leader Seolpung with a complex expression, then suddenly turned to look at Lady Na.

To be separated from Captain Seolpung, my benefactor and spiritual pillar, and from Lady Na, whom I have cherished since my past life.

My heart grew heavy.