Chapter 34: Recruitment (3)

By the time we reached the main headquarters of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult after a two-day journey, the sun had already set.

And no sooner had I arrived at the headquarters than my Master summoned me. The official story was that he was treating me to dinner for all my hard work.

But—

“Hahaha. So, tell me about your trip.”

As expected, Master brought up work during our dinner.

My stomach was rumbling, but I put down my chopsticks and got ready to give my report.

“I found a few areas for improvement, Master.”

"Oh? More than what I expected."

I explained what I had seen in Kuqa County. I told him about how the Branch Leader had gone berserk from the side effect of his Demonic Art while teaching children.

"It seems we need to punish the Branch Leader of Kuqa County."

"There's no need for that. The Branch Leader of Hejing County didn't go berserk, but it was obvious they were struggling just as much."

"Hmm. Now that you mention it, others who went on audits to different counties reported similar stories. They said the Branch Leaders were having trouble teaching large groups of children."

“Yes. If it were just one or two cases, it would be an individual problem, but when similar problems occur in multiple locations, it means there's a systemic issue.”

"Then, what solution did you come up with?"

"First, we need criteria for selecting the teachers. There's no need for the Branch Leaders to personally teach children how to read. It's not a task that requires martial arts proficiency or experience, is it?"

"That's true."

"So, we should select teachers based on the side effects of the Demonic Arts they've learned. We should exclude those who've learned arts that cause anger, depression, or obsessive symptoms, and instead choose those with mania or emotionally numbed tendencies."

When Master nodded at my explanation, I continued.

"Of course, that alone won't be enough to completely control the children. And that issue could cause mental strain on the teacher, leading to problems."

Since everyone who cultivated Demonic Arts suffered from mental illnesses, there was no telling what terrible things might happen if they were pushed too far.

Therefore, they needed to be managed in a systematic way that wouldn't overwhelm them.

"So, we need to give some flexibility in children's education. Since children have limited attention spans, we should have three quarters (45 minutes) of class followed by one quarter (15 minutes) of break, and only conduct two sessions like this."

(The measurement used on this is called kè (刻). One ke is usually defined as roughly 14 minutes. But I rounded them up and translated them into quarters for an easier reading experience.)

This concept was borrowed from modern education systems.

Even in modern times, elementary school students have 40-minute classes with 10-minute breaks. High school students have 50-minute classes with 10-minute breaks.

I just adjusted it to quarters since the concept of minutes doesn't exist here.

“Additionally, each lesson should cover only one line of the Thousand Character Classic, which is four characters, repeated twice. So, only eight characters per day.”

“Isn’t that too little?”

"Even with just eight characters per day, they can complete the Thousand Character Classic in 125 days. If we speed up a bit at the end, they could go through it three times in a year."

We also discussed what to do if a child misbehaved.

I told Master how to deal with misbehaving children as I told the Branch Leader of Kuqa County. You don’t discipline them yourself. You just send them home and let their parents deal with it.

"Hmm. So you're trying to reduce the mental pressure on those teaching the children."

“Exactly.”

Master nodded in understanding and asked, "So, after about two hours of education, the children are sent home?"

I shook my head.

What I had explained to Master so far were the solutions I had first thought of when I saw the Branch Leader going berserk in Kuqa County.

And thanks to the damn side effect of the Soul-Stealing Heartless Sword, I had a few more ideas.

"After the two hours of education, it would be good to conduct basic martial arts training and external strength training."

"!?"

For the first time, surprise appeared on Master's face.

“Are you suggesting we teach commoner children Demonic Arts?”

"Not Demonic Arts, Master, but basic martial arts and external training. Children who learn exercise and basic breathing techniques from a young age will greatly benefit when they do physical labor later in life. Also, this increases our chances of discovering talented individuals."

“Oh? So you’re saying we teach them basic martial arts and select those with talent to learn Demonic Arts.”

“Exactly. We plan to teach them the Thousand Character Classic for a year, followed by a year of the cult’s doctrines, giving us two years to observe them. During these two years, the Branch Leaders in each region can identify and report exceptionally talented children to the cult.”

To use a modern analogy, the current talent development system of the Demonic Cult was similar to elite sports training.

And I was trying to make it more accessible, like a community sports program.

The more children practice martial arts, the higher the chance of discovering talented ones.

“Hmm. Then, in addition to a simplified doctrinal book for children, we’ll also need to prepare basic martial arts and external training methods for them to learn.”

“There’s no need to worry about that. I’ve brought about twenty deserters from the military who have trained in martial arts.”

This was why I deliberately brought along those bandits after learning they were army deserters.

Demonic Arts were overpowered techniques. The threshold requirements for Demonic Arts were lower than the usual martial arts and provided rapid growth in martial prowess.

However, the terrifying side effects they brought with them made them unsuitable for children to learn.

In contrast, military martial arts likely had systematic basic-level techniques organized for teaching conscripts.

Moreover...

"If there are regions where none of the cult’s Branch Leaders are suitable to be instructors, we can dispatch these men."

They were all-around talents when it came to teaching children, especially compared to the mentally unstable demonic cultivators.

And finally...

“Children have limited attention spans. If we focus solely on education and training, problems may arise. So, after about half an hour of training, it would be good to have some playtime as a reward for good behavior.”

With that, I unfolded the booklet I had prepared that was filled with illustrations and explanations.

A ball made from an animal bladder, coated with glue, and reinforced with twine or dried grass.

And games of kicking this ball around or throwing it to hit each other, in other words, soccer and dodgeball.

This was the final concept for the “school” that had crystalized in my head, born from a weird mix of my modern memories and my Demonic Art’s side effect.

It was a place that taught kids martial arts and sports, provided basic character education, and offered them games for playtime.

It’s the one ray of hope for working parents trying to raise kids with boundless energy who won't sleep unless they run around all day.

It's an institution that has started to spread all over the world, even to America.

That is—

Taekwondo academy.

* * *

Afterward, Il-mok and the Heavenly Demon continued their conversation over dinner.

It was time to discuss the details regarding the system Il-mok had proposed.

For example, what rewards should be given to Branch Leaders who successfully identify talented children, and what penalties should be imposed on those who recklessly recommend children just for the reward?

After this excruciating meal where he barely knew if he was eating or not due to the endless work talk, the Heavenly Demon dismissed Il-mok and returned to his office.

While Heavenly Demon was lost in thought at his office after sending Il-mok away, a visitor came to see him.

“The Divine Guardian requests an audience with the Heavenly Demon.”

The Sacred Order was the group in charge of guarding the Demonic Cult’s major facilities and high-ranking figures. And its leader was one of the Cult's most skilled martial artists.

The Heavenly Demon stroked his beard and looked up at the newcomer. "What brings you here at this late hour?"

"I came urgently after hearing stories from Kwan Mu-yeol and Jang Hwi, who were assigned to guard Young Master Il-mok this time."

"Hmm. I'm curious what stories you heard."

The Divine Guardian explained that Il-mok was attacked by the Kuqa County Branch Leader and encountered bandits.

"Additionally, Young Master Il-mok was previously attacked by the First Disciple when he went berserk. Therefore, for Young Master Il-mok's safety,  I really don't think leaving his protection to a single servant girl is enough, O Supreme One.”

The Heavenly Demon nodded in agreement.

'Indeed. Since Il-mok is bringing about changes, we need to prepare for dangers.'

He had thought Il-mok would be safe since he'd only begun cultivating Demonic Art four months ago, but somehow, incidents kept happening around him.

The incident with Wi Jin-hak, the issue with the Hyeokryeon Family. They all stemmed from the changes Il-mok was bringing about.

And changes naturally lead to conflicts.

"Then, who do you plan to assign?"

“I was thinking we should assign the two men from this last trip to be his permanent bodyguards. They’ve already spent four days with him, so the Young Master should be comfortable with them by now.”

Heavenly Demon nodded at the Divine Guardian's suggestion.

"Do so."

* * *

After meeting with Heavenly Demon, the Divine Guardian returned not to his quarters but to the Sacred Order, as if he had more work to do.

While he was there, reading and checking several letters...

"Enter."

Despite the lack of any presence, the Divine Guardian spoke into the empty air. The door cautiously opened, and a figure entered the room.

The room was dark, and the only source of light was a candle on the desk that did little to push back the shadows.

The Divine Guardian looked at the man whose face was completely hidden in the darkness.

“Starting tomorrow, you’re being assigned as the Eighth Young Master’s personal bodyguard.”

“I will obey your command.”

Confirming the man's bow from within the shadows, the Divine Guardian continued.

“Your real job is to watch his every move and report everything back to me. You will determine whether he’s just a harmless kid we can ignore or if he’s going to be a problem we need to eliminate down the line. And if we do have to get rid of him, you need to come up with a way to do it that can't be traced back to us.”

He could have had his man kill Il-mok during the trip but that would have directly implicated the man and risked exposing himself as well.

And there was another reason he'd held back…

‘Knowing the Heavenly Demon, it is highly likely that he has made separate preparations in addition to the two I assigned.’

The chance that there was a hidden protector he didn't know about was why he decided just to watch and wait.

They needed to find a way to handle it without exposing themselves.

It wasn't impossible. Not when they had a man on the inside watching his every move.

And they had done it twice already.

There was the Fourth Young Master, whose exceptional talent they had exploited by leaking information to the Orthodox Faction of the Central Plains, leading to his death, and the Fifth Young Master, whom they disposed of by faking Qi Deviation because he had noticed their trail.

The cover-up wasn't difficult since the Second and Seventh Young Masters had died due to their own recklessness without them having to deal with it.

Recalling those memories, the Divine Guardian asked the man in the darkness.

“Speaking of which, you’ve spent the last four days with him, so you should have some understanding of him. What are your impressions of the Eighth Young Master?”

The man in the darkness recalled what he had seen in Hejing County and answered.

“To put it nicely, he’s skilled at improvisation and manipulation.”

The way he had captured all the bandits and then said he killed them all without changing expression.

And the way he had seamlessly manipulated the villagers into repenting, even though he was supposed to be there for an audit, came to the man's mind as he frowned.

The memory of Il-mok extorting hospitality from the Branch Leader in Kuqa County, and his sly behavior towards them, also surfaced.

“And to put it badly, he’s like a con man.”

His so-called improvisation and manipulation were nothing more than an endless stream of lies. Every time he opened his mouth, a lie would come out.