Chapter 57: Those Who Are Worked to Death

There were five people I could call my own: Gajei, Hoden, Sian, Reton, and Birence.

They had become seeds and were clearly beginning to spread.

The most enthusiastic was Birence. He was the last to join. He moved restlessly as if to make up for that lost time.

Every day, his voice echoed loudly throughout the basement.

“Move faster! Hey, don’t dig too deep there. It’ll collapse!”

“Ah, understood. Should I dig here instead?”

“Good. That’s how it should be.”

Birence was not only the designer but also had a talent for being a foreman.

Construction work itself is grueling, and all those digging underground were thugs. They were men who belonged to organizations.

Even those men could not lift a finger against Birence.

‘They got hit because they were acting up.’

It wasn’t that there were no troublemakers. When Birence stepped up as my subordinate, quite a few men challenged him, unaware of the changed situation.

“Ugh, damn it. Do you think you’re some kind of Big Brother now? Huh?”

“You crazy bastard, how dare you step up here? Do you want to go back to how things were?”

Since he was making thugs who lived by their fists work, they naturally fought back.

Birence was someone who had made a name for himself even before he tried to rob the gambling house. Just because he had been imprisoned didn’t mean his skills had vanished. He didn’t even need to pick up a sword.

“I guess you won’t snap out of it until you get hit.”

“What?”

*Whack! Thud!*

He swung his fists without hesitation.

*Crunch!*

A punch delivered straight to the face took a molar as payment. What a sight it was to see a yellowed tooth soaring into the air!

“Aaaargh! My… my tooth…”

“Human beings call them teeth, though you’re no different from a beast.”

“You… you bastard!”

“Come at me, then.”

Numerous fists flew back and forth. Since Reton and I were watching, no one pulled out a dagger.

That was enough.

“Hahaha. You bastards!”

*Thwack!*

It wasn’t a back-and-forth exchange; it was a one-sided beating.

Birence swung his fists as if venting all the sorrow he had accumulated while being locked up. One man for every swing.

‘Impressive. As expected…’

As if proving that his innate body was powerful, he easily knocked down the thugs.

I had heard he was a handful even when he was caught at the gambling house, and that skill was being fully displayed now.

‘He’s a natural Martial Bone. If he were in the Murim, he would have been quite well-received.’

A Martial Bone equipped with Orc-like muscles. He was even smart.

Physicality is fundamental, but higher-level martial arts require intelligence, and Birence had it all.

Though he was currently the weakest because he had yet to receive any martial arts training.

‘He’ll get strong quickly if I teach him. He might even become Hoden’s rival.’

Birence was the one with the highest expectations.

Birence, who had practically forced all the thugs into submission, moved like a fish in water.

“Move faster, you punks! Oh? What’s with that look? Want another beating today?”

“N-No, sir!”

As if repaying what he had suffered, he squeezed the thugs who were working on the fortress expansion.

He also knew how to utilize the situation.

“Hey, Master Reton.”

“What is it?”

Before, Reton would have held his life in his hands, but that was no longer the case. Birence knew exactly what the situation was.

Looking at Reton with a cheerful smile, he said.

“Let’s use some of that strength.”

“I am not your subordinate.”

“But you are our Lord’s subordinate. Are you not?”

“Ahem.”

“From here to that inner area is 5 meters. Use your magic exactly like that.”

“Fine.”

Whenever necessary, he requested Reton’s help without hesitation.

“By the power of the earth, let all things be reshaped! DIG!”

*Rumble!*

“Whoa. Magic truly is something else. Hey, you over there!”

“Yes!”

“Hurry up and set the supports before it collapses! What are you doing? Bring the materials we prepared earlier.”

“Understood!”

“Reton, you do this part too! You promised to use it five more times today.”

“Ugh. This is the last one for today. DIG!”

*Rumble!*

By utilizing even Reton’s power in the right places, the expansion speed of the fortress became faster than I could have imagined.

It was at a point where I could grow it to a certain scale in no time.

‘The construction will be finished soon.’

There would be a limit since we couldn’t hollow out the entire underground.

However, the idea of having my own fortress built inside the Spiritual Land was quite attractive.

It was like the secret bases we used to make as children. It felt like I was doing that on a massive scale, the size of a castle.

It was thrilling.

‘Plus, it’s something new.’

In contrast to the highly motivated Birence, Reton lacked enthusiasm.

However…

“Reton. If your share of the construction here is finished, shouldn’t you move on to the next task?”

“Y-Yes! I’ll move right away.”

When driven by fear, he found the motivation he lacked.

“Go ahead and start the acquisitions. There were several spots with good locations.”

“Understood!”

His immediate task was to purchase commercial buildings in the business district.

‘Money shouldn’t just be spent. It needs to be earned.’

I had a significant amount of money in my pocket right now.

Even though I was spending quite a bit, I always had about 5,000 gold left.

But I couldn’t rely on this amount of money forever.

I needed to secure funds to arm the newly formed Iron Cavalry. I also needed a foundation to grow stronger, and money was required to lead my vassals.

Originally, money is hard to earn but easy to spend like water.

The fortress alone was costing a considerable amount of money as it continued to expand. While the labor was free, the building materials were expensive.

‘I have to use money to make money.’

I needed to earn money before the amount I spent grew larger. I was working Reton to the bone for that foundation.

At first, we would start by purchasing commercial buildings that were operating stably. After that…

‘I’ll create them as soon as I’m ready.’

I intended to create new things fitting for this world.

I had plenty of ideas. I could just take whatever came to mind, whether it was from the Murim or Earth.

It didn’t matter even if the technology was lacking.

‘It’s not like there’s no way to fill those technical gaps.’

There were countless ways to make money.

And it had to be Reton, not me, who moved to implement those methods.

“I’ll head out immediately.”

“Right. Go ahead.”

You could say Reton does the work while I make the money.

‘Though the ideas are mine.’

Vassals are best when they’re kept busy.

Gajei, Hoden, and Sian.

Instead of working themselves, the other three vassals were working their subordinates.

It was inside the underground training ground that Birence had prepared first.

It was difficult to create a single space underground where over a hundred people could move at once. Therefore, it was divided into three large areas.

‘It’s a perfect number.’

The number of people residing there had increased quite a bit in the meantime.

‘It keeps growing. We’ll probably fill up to 200.’

Currently, there were 157 people.

Shortly after the training began, the initial number of 124 had already increased.

There were many vicious people within the Spiritual Land. Since it was the underworld, many people of poor quality were visible.

In the past, I would have found them, subdued them, and handed them over to the Guard Corps. Now that I had created the Iron Fist, I subdued them and brought them to me.

“You have to consider that if you cause harm to others, you might suffer the same.”

“N-No!”

*Flash!*

A [Slave Stigma] was etched into those who were subdued without exception. A stigma that could not be removed unless they gave up their lives!

After that, they were sent straight to the Iron Fist’s training ground.

They were divided among the three vassals according to their talents, and the rest was as you could see.

Gajei applied exactly what he had learned from me to them.

“Collide! Can’t you even endure this much?”

“Aaaaargh!”

Gajei was someone who used to beat his own body while surrounded by a shield. He had learned the Iron Ground Three Cloths Art amidst pain.

He couldn’t use magic. Instead, he knew through his own body what kind of pressure was needed to learn external martial arts.

*Thud! Thwack!*

The pressure generated when bodies collided! He moved his subordinates to learn external martial arts within that pressure.

“More! More! Again!”

“H-Here I come!”

*Boom!*

The large men collided without rest.

Gajei was always at the center of the collisions.

Gajei’s body, which had already reached Stage 4 of the Iron Ground Three Cloths Art, was like steel. He was like a literal iron wall!

*Whoosh!*

“Don’t dodge!”

*Thud!*

He used his hardened body to beat his subordinates over and over again.

“Aaaargh!”

Originally, the Iron Ground Three Cloths Art was an external martial art learned through pain.

Though it was accompanied by excruciating pain, it was a martial art with the highest efficacy as an external technique.

At first, one would strike their body against the ground, but the best way was to be beaten harshly.

Even in the Murim, when teaching the Iron Ground Three Cloths Art, masters often taught their disciples by beating them severely.

It was a sort of desperate measure. The method of teaching by utilizing a strong body to the maximum was harsh, but the effect was good.

‘I didn’t even teach him, yet he’s doing it on his own.’

I had never taught Gajei such a method. Nevertheless, Gajei had instinctively mastered the method and was beating his subordinates.

“Aargh. My… my jaw!”

“Circulate your internal power!”

“Ugh.”

It was the method most suitable for the Iron Fist members who were holding on with sheer spite. They were becoming solid as they collided and were tempered.

‘Gajei. He has an unexpected talent for teaching. Anyway, that side is interesting.’

Hoden’s case used a completely different method.

In his own flexible way, he taught those beneath him.

“Use your head. You don’t get strong just by spinning your body. If you can’t handle it, you’ll break, you know? Try dodging this!”

“Eeeek!”

“Ugh!”

*Thwack!*

Hoden’s sword toyed with the members as if it were dancing.

*Swish! Thud.*

“Oh? You’re holding on?”

“I-I’m sorry.”

“I told you to dodge!”

He subdued them, hitting one, and sometimes two or three with a single sword.

Although he held a wooden sword instead of a real one, there was no way a sword hitting the body wouldn’t be painful. Nonetheless, Hoden did not stop and continued to swing his sword.

*Clang!*

“Oh? You blocked it?”

“I’m sor—”

“See if you can block this too!”

*Whoosh!*

A formless sword. A sword that revealed Hoden’s personality. Like him, it transformed flexibly and poked and prodded at the vital points.

Those who miraculously managed to block it repeatedly fell to the subsequent follow-up attacks.

‘He’s completely creating his own style.’

Among the three, I had not passed any martial arts to Hoden. Instead, I made him learn the sword through endless sparring with me.

I would sometimes radiate murderous intent as if I were going to kill him. I would make him swing his sword like a madman. There were times I worked him until all his strength was gone.

If I hadn’t assisted his recovery with magic, his muscles would have ruptured.

It was to make Hoden create his own swordsmanship.

‘Because that’s what suits him.’

His own sword, not one made by someone else, suited him. His freedom could only be given form by himself.

This wasn’t a method used only by Hoden. Whether in this world or the Murim, such swords existed.

A Battlefield Sword.

Practicality. The battlefield. It was the method of creating one’s own sword within that environment.

‘The Battlefield Sword.’

A sword forged on the battlefield.

It was said to be inferior to the swords of prestigious families, but sometimes, what shattered the swords of prestigious families was the Battlefield Sword that came from the field.

I had Hoden create that.

*Whoosh!*

“Here I come!”

He was gradually creating the form of his sword.

‘He just needs a little bit of help.’

It was an achievement earlier than I had expected. Also, it wasn’t bad.

I raised my voice and called out to him.

“Hoden!”

“You won’t be able to—oh? My Lord?”

“Gather the kids. We’re starting early today.”

“Ah…”

Hoden’s face was stained with despair.