The Minor Sect Leader, Kang In-ho – 1

The blaring sound of instruments assaulted my ears.

I hurriedly followed the Heavenly Demon, who was far ahead, and the sight of people lining the sides of the road, cheering, was a little scary.

Think about it, people you’ve never met smiling brightly and welcoming you.

The uncomfortable kindness made my stomach churn.

Whether she knew my feelings or not, the Heavenly Demon strode ahead, plopped down on the head seat of the banquet hall, and patted the seat next to her.

“Why are you dawdling like that? Come and sit down.”

“…Yes.”

I tried to ignore the pouring gazes and sat next to her, and she laughed heartily.

“Alright, everyone, take your seats.”

As soon as she finished speaking, the Black Heaven Cult’s People moved in an orderly fashion and took their seats.

The way they found their places seemed like they had designated spots.

After the commotion in the banquet hall subsided, attendants came to where we were and poured wine.

Clear wine filled my glass with a gurgling sound from a gourd-shaped bottle. I blankly watched the wine fill my glass.

The attendant, having finished pouring the wine, bowed politely to me and left.

-Poke

Feeling an elbow nudging my side, I turned to look.

“Now, give a toast.”

The Heavenly Demon, already holding her glass, urged me to give a toast.

“A toast?”

Seriously?

“Yes, a toast. Today’s banquet is for you. Shouldn’t you, the protagonist, give a toast?”

“No, even if you suddenly tell me to…”

Embarrassed, I looked around, but everyone was focused on me without moving.

“Haa… haa… damn it.”

It was too much attention to back out. I had no choice but to stand up, raise my glass, and mumble in a mosquito-like voice.

“To, to get drunk….”

“To get drunk!”

A loud voice followed my lead.

At the same time, laughter erupted from here and there, and the sound of wind instruments rang loudly.

Various sounds blended together, echoing through the mountains and sweeping through the banquet hall.

“Where on earth did that bizarre phrase ‘to get drunk’ come from? Hahahahaha.”

“S-Silence!”

I felt my earlobes turning red and sat down heavily, and the Heavenly Demon chuckled and said to me.

That’s how the banquet began.

As if my embarrassment wasn’t important, the atmosphere of the banquet was free and lively.

Individual tables were set up in the area where the Cult’s People’s important figures were gathered, filled with various kinds of food, and as soon as a plate was empty, it was quickly filled again.

“……”

At first, the Heavenly Demon was watching my actions, but after drinking some wine, she started chatting with those who seemed to be her close aides, and it seemed like she didn’t care about me at all.

I sipped my wine like a bump on a log, picked up a newly served meat dish with my chopsticks, and put it in my mouth.

“Spicy.”

A tingling spiciness spread throughout my mouth, and that’s all I muttered.

“The food is… spicy?”

But why is the atmosphere getting so heavy?

The Heavenly Demon’s ominous voice from the next seat immediately pulled me out of the drunken swamp.

I hurriedly turned to look, and the Heavenly Demon was grinding her teeth.

Her tightly clenched fist was trembling, as if she had been greatly insulted.

Her anger was evident, and no one in the banquet hall missed it.

The same silence as before I gave the toast flowed.

“Youngma, I clearly told you to convey it, didn’t I?”

That’s how the questioning began.

“I’m sorry. I clearly told the Young Cult Leader that she couldn’t eat spicy food, but…”

Youngma, who had been drinking wine until just now, was already kneeling and bowing her head to the ground, answering her.

“Is that so? Chief Manager. Did you hear Youngma’s words?”

“I heard them. I told the cook, but it is my fault for not checking properly.”

“I see. Then the cook who didn’t do it properly after hearing everything is at fault. Bring him here.”

It was supposed to be a banquet, but why did it become an execution ground?

The cook in the kitchen was soon caught by the Cult’s People.

The eyes of the Cult’s People gleamed fiercely, with the feeling of ‘How dare you serve spicy food to the Young Cult Leader?’

Ten steps away from the Heavenly Demon’s seat.

The dragged-out cook fell to the ground as he was, blaming his ignorance and begging for mercy.

But the Heavenly Demon was unyielding.

“How lightly did you think of me to make this kind of trashy food?”

“No, Cult Leader. I just forgot.”

“Forgot? Fooorgot?”

Her eyes widened, and she slammed the table, causing it to split and the food to fly into the air.

“Then can I forget and pluck out your eyes and arms?”

“M-Mercy…”

Seeing the cook trembling and begging, I felt a lump in my chest.

What am I? Is a person’s life supposed to go back and forth like this because of what I said?

What’s the big deal about some spicy food?

I picked up my chopsticks and shoved the meat dish on the plate into my mouth.

The Heavenly Demon’s gaze was fixed on me at the loud clattering sound.

“What are you doing?”

I didn’t answer, put all the food in my mouth, and chewed it.

With a few chewing motions, I swallowed the lump of meat beyond my throat, and the spicy energy tingled my nose.

Holding back the slight tears that welled up, I said brightly to the Heavenly Demon.

“I thought it was spicy at first, but I was wrong.”

I handed the empty bowl to the cook who was kneeling and said.

“It was really delicious, cook. Can I have another bowl?”

A gamble in front of the Heavenly Demon.

It was based on the calculation that the Heavenly Demon would turn a blind eye to my childish behavior.

But putting it into practice was another matter.

Praying inwardly that the pounding of my heart wouldn’t leak out, I continued to maintain a smiling face.

“Haa… it’s anticlimactic. Cook.”

“Yes! Cult Leader!”

“Bring that dish to the Young Cult Leader. Make it a little less spicy.”

“A, I understand.”

“Alright, be careful next time. There won’t be a second time.”

“Thank you! Thank you!”

Watching the cook rush out, I let out a sigh of relief.

“Now, let’s start the banquet again. Raise your glasses.”

With the toast that followed again, the banquet hall returned to its original state.

Martial Arts Alliance.

Namgoong Soyeon, who had been knocked down by the Heavenly Demon’s kick, arrived at the Martial Arts Alliance with the help of her colleagues.

Her usually bright face was covered with a gloomy rainy season, because she had been pushed back by the Heavenly Demon without being able to use her hands, even though she was confident that she would fight evenly.

“Surely… surely… we fought evenly last time.”

The last time they fought, it was even. No, there was even a moment when she overwhelmed the Heavenly Demon.

But why did this happen? She was confused.

She was slow to react even when her colleague’s arm was pulled out and her neck was cut off.

Even though she aimed for the back of Inho, who was trying to fly away, she was countered instead.

The Heavenly Demon’s Martial arts had increased in a short period of time? It was an absurd hypothesis.

From the beginning.

“From the beginning… were you holding back on me? I didn’t feel your strength?”

The higher the achievement of Martial arts, the more difficult it is to hide its strength.

The smaller the difference, the easier it is to notice.

But the Heavenly Demon hid her Martial arts enough for Namgoong Soyeon, who had reached her peak, to be mistaken.

The fact that she didn’t notice meant that the gap between her and the Heavenly Demon was like heaven and earth.

“No way…!”

The few memories of defeat began to gnaw at her heart.

She may have lost in mock battles, but this was her first defeat in actual combat.

She was praised as a Martial arts talent who would appear only once every few hundred years. She couldn’t accept this humiliation.

“Hurry! Bring the Elixir!”

“Thunder Sword, calm down. It’s a pity about Geumgwon’s death, but if you’re this emotional, nothing will work out!”

Her colleague’s words, who was trying to stop her, didn’t reach Namgoong Soyeon’s heart.

She gnashed her teeth and burned with revenge against the Heavenly Demon.

“I will definitely cut down the detestable Heavenly Demon who mocked me! Killed Geumgwon! And stole Gang Gongja! I will definitely cut her down!”

Even if she had to use some forbidden technique, definitely!

She cried out like that.