Ch.226Episode 42. The Righteousness of Education (End)

Several days had passed since the father-daughter duel between Yeon Muhee and Yeon Hwaryong.

The graduation ceremony was over, but I was still serving as an instructor. There were still students in the special class who needed to graduate.

“I’m dying, oppa…!”

“Use your ability instead of wasting time talking. You got caught by Muhee.”

“I did not!”

Gu Yeonhwa responded indignantly to my words.

Look at this shamelessness. Getting beaten with a scabbard as soon as the duel turned into close combat.

“At this rate, you might stay behind Yeon Muhee forever.”

“Gack! I don’t want that!!”

Yeonhwa’s flames scorched the dueling ground, releasing heat. Meanwhile, Jeong Iyeon fiercely lunged from a blind spot.

Clang!

I deflected the sword with my fist and kicked Iyeon. She quickly blocked with her shield but couldn’t offset the impact and fell over.

“Ugh!”

“Stand up straight.”

Compared to facing four opponents simultaneously, dealing with just two felt rather dull.

The graduated Muhee and Yu Ari were currently staying at our house and had begun their hero activities.

Though the Association kept pleading for their cooperation, the two acted like rivals, operating independently and competing over who could achieve better results.

Every time the Association contacted me, I would scold them to go home and listen to what the Association people had to say, but they would only agree momentarily before falling back into the same pattern.

“Now, come at me again—”

“Are you training them?”

“…Huh?”

I gestured to Iyeon to wait as I turned toward the voice. There stood Yeon Hwaryong with an expressionless face.

Unusually, he wasn’t carrying his sword today.

“Mr. Yeon Hwaryong…?”

“I came to talk. If you’re busy, I can wait.”

I couldn’t understand why Yeon Hwaryong had suddenly appeared. Muhee hadn’t mentioned anything about it either.

“Not at all. Yeonhwa, Iyeon. Both of you take a break.”

“Ah, yes.”

“Running away because you’re scared!”

“We’ll see about that when you come back.”

“Eek…!”

Gu Yeonhwa flinched when I pointed at her threateningly. Jeong Iyeon, caught between us, giggled as she erased her sacred artifact.

“What brings you here?”

I walked down from the dueling area to stand before Yeon Hwaryong.

“We shouldn’t talk standing… Let’s go to the spectator seats.”

“Yes.”

I willingly followed him up the steps to the spectator area.

After walking to a position where others couldn’t overhear our conversation, he plopped down on one of the seats.

“What’s the matter?”

I asked as I sat beside him.

“It’s about the duel we had a few days ago.”

Yeon Hwaryong exhaled what could have been either a sigh or a deep breath, then spoke impassively. I responded with a smirk.

“Was losing so badly that shocking to you?”

“I wasn’t shocked!”

“Yes. Since you say so, I’ll believe that.”

When I shrugged with a smile, deep wrinkles formed on Yeon Hwaryong’s face. He must have found my attitude quite irritating.

“Huff… You haven’t changed at all.”

Suppressing his temper, Yeon Hwaryong shook his head.

“They say people die if they change suddenly. Anyway… what about our duel from a few days ago is bothering you enough to come find me?”

I was only joking to lighten the mood, not genuinely mocking him.

After all, I clearly realized from the last duel that Muhee was still a step below Yeon Hwaryong.

He hesitated for a moment before speaking quietly.

“…Even though I was careless, I didn’t expect Muhee’s level to be threatening enough to challenge me. She was much fiercer and more precise than when she took the certification exam.”

He could say this because he didn’t know how ruthlessly I had trained Muhee.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Muhee had spent the past year solely focused on defeating Yeon Hwaryong.

Looking back now, I felt proud of Muhee for steadfastly persevering through it all, even though it was her own choice.

“You must have contributed greatly to bringing her to that level.”

I neither acted humble nor denied it. After all, I was the one who built up her physical strength and guided the direction of her swordsmanship.

“Seeing that, I have to acknowledge you as an excellent educator. You produced remarkable growth in Muhee over the past two years.”

“Is that so.”

“Especially when I saw that final technique… in some sense, it made me think my own teaching methods might have been wrong…”

He spoke softly, almost murmuring.

It seemed that after the duel with Muhee, he had begun to question his educational philosophy somewhat.

That was fortunate.

Unlike Muhee’s worries expressed in front of the dormitory, change was definitely coming.

“What was that final killing technique?”

“That’s a company secret, so I can’t tell you.”

Yeon Hwaryong let out a hollow laugh, as if finding it absurd.

“So you taught her that?”

“That… yes. That’s right.”

“I see…”

He nodded slightly in acknowledgment and then stood up, as if signaling the end of our conversation.

“Perhaps it was fortunate that you were the one to teach Muhee.”

“I’m grateful you think so.”

“But I don’t intend to accept defeat. The last duel was merely the result of my carelessness. Next time we fight, I absolutely won’t lose.”

Honestly, I think Yeon Hwaryong is superior in both technique and ability if they fought at full strength, but his confidence that he would never lose seemed complacent.

After all, even if he was better in other techniques, he couldn’t properly react to the Yeonhwaseom technique.

“That’s a bit unsightly, isn’t it? Even if you lost to Muhee, you’re still ranked third, so wouldn’t it be more gracious to…”

“Shut up. I’ll challenge Muhee to another duel soon. I’ll show you properly then.”

Requesting a duel first is something only the loser would say.

I thought that but didn’t voice it. I should preserve his pride after all.

“I’ll be going now.”

Yeon Hwaryong turned to leave the way he came.

I remained seated, watching his back. The family surname ‘延’ was visible.

Seeing that reminded me of what Muhee had said in front of the dormitory after the duel.

“Mr. Yeon Hwaryong.”

“What?”

His footsteps halted. Looking him straight in the eye as he half-turned, I asked:

“Do you not regret what you did to your family?”

“Regret…?”

“If you hadn’t insisted on violent methods, wouldn’t you still have a happy family with Muhee and Jin Subin instead of becoming estranged?”

“Even if you raised Muhee, I don’t think you’re in a position to comment on other people’s family matters.”

His eyes turned fierce. I thought his killing intent alone might be enough to kill someone.

But I had wanted to hear this answer all along.

In the original story, he was killed before giving an answer, so there was never a chance to properly hear his true feelings.

“Please answer.”

Muhee would surely be able to let go of the responsibility she carried in her heart if she heard this answer.

“…”

As I persisted, Yeon Hwaryong’s eyes narrowed. He seemed to be examining my intentions for asking.

“I… don’t regret it.”

“!”

“Throughout my life, I’ve never regretted my actions. I’ve only accepted the results.”

“…”

How pathetic.

I felt empty realizing that the answer I wanted to hear was just this.

I was contemplating whether to punch him in the face when Yeon Hwaryong continued.

“…But I’ve realized one thing this time. That your teaching method was better than mine.”

“Didn’t you just say that earlier?”

“Until now, I believed violence was supreme when it came to learning. It was indeed much faster because it engraved lessons into instinct.”

“Even so, your violent approach to teaching cost you your family’s trust. Do you truly believe that kind of learning has value?”

“…Well. I’m not sure about that.”

I expected him to answer firmly that it did, but surprisingly, he gave an ambiguous response. The smile on his face seemed self-deprecating.

“Even if I lost my family because of my narrow-minded methods, I don’t intend to rationalize it now. What I did was clearly wrong, as you said. But I don’t plan to fix it at this point. They wouldn’t want that either.”

“I see.”

It was disappointing, but he didn’t seem willing to change his mind.

If so, there was no point in continuing the conversation. No matter how much I intervened, Yeon Hwaryong wouldn’t apologize to them.

“If that’s all you wanted to say, I’ll be going now.”

I didn’t respond.

“…Still, it’s fortunate that she found a good teacher in the end.”

With those final words, Yeon Hwaryong walked down the stairs. I remained seated until his footsteps could no longer be heard, then leaned back against the seat and looked up at the ceiling.

“Sigh…”

I never thought I could change him according to my will from the beginning. I’m not an omnipotent god—how could I manipulate people as I please?

Nevertheless, if I had one small wish, it was that he would feel at least some remorse toward his family and reflect on his actions.