I Am the Youngest Disciple of the Martial Arts World’s Mastermind
Chapter 9
Chapter 9
I am the Youngest Disciple of the Murim’s Hidden Mastermind
Episode 9
It seemed his role was to show me around Cheongsanbong while simultaneously giving me one last chance to return to the world outside the jianghu.
I held his gaze for a moment, then pressed my hands together in a respectful gesture, my eyes wide with feigned admiration.
“You were doing something so wonderful, Great Hero Danhwi!”
“…Huh?”
Danhwi wore a blank, stupid expression.
Regardless of his reaction, I kept prattling on.
“I’m so glad I followed you here as your errand girl, Great Hero Danhwi. If I study hard under Master, I’ll eventually become as fast as you, right? And… just as cool?”
“Ahem.”
Danhwi jerked his gaze away from me to look straight ahead.
I could see his ears turning a bright, burning red. I smiled inwardly.
In the meantime, Danhwi suddenly cleared his throat repeatedly.
“A-hem. Now that I think about it.”
“Yes?”
“It’s not ‘Great Hero’ anymore…. It’s Sa, Sahyeong. You are to call me Sahyeong.”
Heh, I wondered what he was going to say….
I gave a bright smile and nodded.
“Yes! Danhwi Sahyeong!”
I wanted to find the other senior brothers and greet them right away, but I was guided to my room first because it was already so late.
The bedding was tiny, perfectly sized for a child’s frame as if it had been prepared specifically for me. As soon as I tucked myself into the fluffy blankets, sleep washed over me instantly.
I was sleeping soundly when I was jolted awake by the deep, resonant toll of a bell—Dong—.
“Yaaaawn….”
Before I knew it, it was early morning. Perhaps because the peak was so high, even the color of the morning sky looked ethereal.
Glancing around as I stumbled outside, a building caught my eye—the one Danhwi had briefly mentioned last night as the place where the cooking was done.
I noticed it because white smoke was curling up from that spot alone.
“……!”
What a delicious smell.
Perhaps for the security of the hidden mastermind, not a single common servant was to be seen on Cheongsanbong.
If that was the case, then the person cooking must be….
“Are you awake?”
“Yes!”
As expected, the physician who had looked after me was the one cooking.
With a physique the size of a black bear, seeing him in a white apron was quite the mismatch, yet he carried the seasoned aura of a professional chef.
It had been a few days since I’d quit, but I was still a former beggar.
And if there was one thing I’d learned during that grueling life on the streets….
“Did you sleep well?!!”
It was that you have to suck up to the person who feeds you.
First, I bowed my head low and delivered a thunderous greeting, sounding like a little gangster.
Then, I quickly scurried to his side.
“Is there anything I can help with? I’m strong!”
When I rolled up my sleeves, he spoke in a slow, deep voice.
“You do not need to help.”
“I’ll go wash some vegetables at least. Or should I bring more firewood?”
At my spirited questions, the physician paused for a moment and shook his head.
“Rather than that…. I am curious about your name, Little Miss.”
“Hmm.”
That title, ‘Little Miss’—I didn’t think much of it when I heard it once, but hearing it repeatedly made me a bit embarrassed.
It’s not like I’m a helpless infant who can’t speak. According to Master’s pulse reading, I’m already eight years old….
In the jianghu, an eight-year-old is practically a grown adolescent.
Or not.
I swallowed my embarrassment and answered quickly.
“I’m Sogae!!”
“Sogae…. So that is why you said you were with the Beggars’ Sect.”
“Yes…. Um, what should I call you, Sahyeong?”
When I asked with sparkling eyes, the physician momentarily stopped his busy cooking.
In the brief silence, only the sound of crackling firewood could be heard.
“…….”
Did I say something wrong?
He turned toward me slowly, looking at me as if I were a curiosity.
“How did you know that I, too, am a disciple of Cheong-ui Sanin?”
“Ah.”
That was true.
He had never once called the Master ‘Master.’
Furthermore, he even used polite formal speech with me.
One might have simply thought of him as a servant of Cheongsanbong, but inwardly, I had guessed he was another senior brother.
Because….
“Danhwi Sahyeong becomes very polite whenever he’s around you.”
I flashed a small smile.
He asked, his expression remaining calm.
“Is that all?”
“No. Also, the feeling when you were checking my body was very similar to the feeling when Master checked me. So I naturally assumed you learned from him….”
“Yes. That is correct. My medical skills were learned from Master.”
See? There’s no such thing as a setting without a reason.
As I puffed out my chest with a proud smile, he let out a faint smile for the first time.
“I am called Hyeonhak. Among the current disciples, I have been here the longest.”
So he was the Eldest Sahyeong. I nodded quickly and gave a clumsy fist-and-palm salute.
“Please speak comfortably to me, Hyeonhak Daesahyeong!”
“I am comfortable like this.”
“Really…?”
Hyeonhak continued speaking as he ladled out the soup that had begun to bubble.
“Yes. I do not treat only you this way; I treat all my other junior brothers with a humble attitude. It helps with the cultivation of my heart technique.”
“Aha….”
I started to think he might be an even more peculiar person than Danhwi.
But that was one thing. ‘Little Miss’ was just too embarrassing.
“Still, please call me Saje or Sogae!”
“I shall do so. It seems I have gained a youngest Saje.”
Suddenly, as he was setting a separate small dining table, he stopped and looked at me.
“……?”
Why? Does he want me to carry it?
As I took a step closer, Hyeonhak actually placed the small table into my hands.
“Whoa.”
It’s heavy. Whose is this? Master’s?
When I looked up at him, Hyeonhak spoke slowly.
“Now that I think about it.”
“Yes?”
“Did Cheong-ui Sanin not tell the youngest Saje to greet all of your senior brothers?”
“Yes!”
I had greeted Danhwi and Hyeonhak…. Judging by his tone, there were more.
Come to think of it, I hadn’t felt the presence of anyone other than these two.
As I tilted my head in confusion, Hyeonhak opened the door and pointed toward a detached villa located on a high point among the buildings on the peak.
“Your final Sahyeong is over there. He rarely comes out, so I prepare a separate table for him. It would be good for the youngest Saje to deliver this and greet him.”
“……!”
He gave me the location and a good excuse.
Hyeonhak Daesahyeong, what a wonderful person…!
A sense of respect welled up naturally.
Danhwi, who just spoke informally to me, is just a Sahyeong, but I should make sure to always call this man Daesahyeong.
“Thank you!!”
“It is nothing.”
The delicious aroma from the table in my hands tickled the tip of my nose.
Wow, if I were a normal eight-year-old, I might not have been able to resist lifting the cotton cloth covering the top to steal a bite.
“I’ll be back!”
I’ll clear the final Sahyeong with this!
I struggled up the high, steep stairs with the small table on my back. It was so difficult that beads of sweat poured down my face.
“Whew.”
Finally, the last step.
After barely finishing the climb, I set the table down and knocked on the firmly closed door.
“Um, excuse me. Huff, puff. Huff, puff.”
I heard a sign of presence from inside.
He’s there!
I tried my best to catch my breath from the climb and imagined.
‘What kind of face will he have?’
Hyeonhak Daesahyeong had a sturdy, bear-like charm, and Danhwi Sahyeong—regardless of his personality—possessed a beauty so radiant it would rank among the best in both my past and present lives.
Then the last Sahyeong must surely be….
‘Maybe a great beauty.’
Just as I was waiting, shifting my feet restlessly with such excitement.
Creak.
Soon, the door opened slightly.
“…What?”
And then, a young master with sleek, jet-black hair poked his head out.
His long hair was disheveled, his face was pale, and there were deep shadows under his eyes, giving him a frightening impression at first glance.
Nevertheless, his features, which couldn’t be entirely hidden, were indeed no different from the other senior brothers.
“…I asked what you are?”
He looked down at me with a frown; he looked only about five or six years older than me.
“Wow.”
I didn’t expect him to be this young! I quickly pushed the table forward and greeted him.
“Hello!!”
“……?”
However, he didn’t immediately take the table I offered and instead scanned me from head to toe with suspicious eyes.
What? How rude.
I won’t back down if he’s like this.
As I scanned him from top to bottom in return, I saw a large bell through the gap in the open door.
The bell I heard this morning must have been this!
“Wow, did you ring the bell yourself?”
When I poked my head toward it, the young master looked absolutely appalled as he snatched the table away and pushed my shoulder back.
“Ugh!! You’re so ugly!!”
Ug… ugly?
Stay calm. I shouldn’t be provoked by a child.
He shouted shrilly once more.
“Who the hell are you?!”
