Sect Master’s Guide to Babysitting

Under the cold glow at the crack of dawn, the once abandoned Redwood Estate has been renewed with a new purpose. Crates of wood, nails, and different kinds of tools have arrived at the first ray of sunlight. Probably the Murim Alliance's concept of basic support. 

Heuk Cheon stands at the courtyard, scanning the various kinds of musty hammers, saws, and chisels with a glare that could only be expressed as the look of light horror. Sure, he used to be the most fierce sect master once upon a time but home renovations was in an entirely new domain of pain and suffering. 

"I am able to destroy armies," he thought to himself while holding a rusty steel saw. "And yet I cannot even figure out which part of this tool is the part that is supposed to do the cutting."

Behind him, Lee Jin-Ho tried his hardest to stop a chuckle. Jin-Ho's peaceful, respectful conduct had made him the groups not so official "foreman" of the renovation, even if he inhibited only a sliver more practical knowledge than Heuk Cheon. 

"Should we start by substituting the most decayed window frames?" Lee Jin-Ho suggests as he looked through the supplies with a surprisingly excited attitude. 

"We can, if you want." Heuk Cheon replied back, as he was still glaring at the saw as if it might jump up and fight him. 

Despite the lighthearted scene, a moment of seriousness was still floating in the air. With the children arriving in a few weeks, time was the most important. The orphans could not be allowed to explore this deathtrap of a place, with its crumbling floors and doors that is one push away from breaking down.

With an almost exaggerated display of action, Heuk Cheon tried to nail a fresh wooden plank in front of a broken window. His first try did not hit the nail at all, and ended with a CLANG against the very window frame he tried to fix. It nearly shook the whole estate. He stopped in his tracks, with his cheeks turning red in embarrassment, he risked looking at Lee Jin-Ho watching in the sidelines.

"Uhm... maybe try being a little more gentle next time?" Lee Jin Ho advices him, although he almost broke out laughing as can be seen from his eyes.

Whispering to himself, Heuk Cheon tried a different grip and started to swing again. This time he actually hit the nail but it got hammered in a weird way. The wooden plank stuck out all weirdly, it looked like a half opened trapdoor more than a proper fix. 

In that moment, one of the Murim Alliance's assigned escort guards that was still stationed there to spy on Heuk peeked in from the hallway. When he saw the ex-demon lord having a tough time with basic carpentry, his eyes brightened in what could only be expressed as dumbfounded triumph. He was quick to stifle a smirk and ran way before Huek Cheon could feel him looking. 

"This is embarrassing," Heuk Cheon grunted, throwing away the hammer. "I didn't sign up to be a carpenter. Where are the trusty subordinates when I am in need of one?" 

"We will get better as time goes on, Master Heuk," Lee Jin-Ho tried to reassure him in a gentle manner. "We must, or the kids might hurt themselves trying to walk through the busted down floorboards."

The thought of small brats falling down into the basement was enough to bring Heuk Cheon into a flow state. With a tired sigh, he went and picked up the hammer once again and forced himself to continue. 

As soon as they were making a little bit of progress, although it was kind of messy and slow. A sudden noise came from the iron gates in front of the estate. One of the escort guards yelled, "Stop! Who are you?" in a weary tone. 

Heuk Cheon and Lee Jin-Ho looked at each other and went over quickly to investigate. When they reached their destination, they saw a tall man with broad shoulders and wearing a ragged black robe with the Blood Raven Sect symbol embroidered on the chest. Although messy, he stands proud with his arms folded. 

"I am here to see the Sect Master," the man stated his business, voice deep and resonant. "I have heard that he was uhm... staying in this place."

"The former Sect Master," Heuk Cheon corrected the disciple from behind the escort guard, and stepped forward. "Who are you? and what are you hoping to accomplish by going here?"

The man knelt with one knee to the ground to show his undying sigh of respect. "Seo Ryung, your loyal follower. There was rumors that you were in a terrible situation. And that you were forced to answer for your sins by taking care of some brats."

A slight annoyance can be seen from Heuk Cheon's face. "Do you have a problem with that?"

"Never, Master." Seo Ryung answered swiftly, although a movement from the corner of his mount can be seen as being confused. "I came here to help you. I owe you my life, remember? That day of war when you spared me-" 

"Alright enough." Heuk Cheon speaking over him, in order to not remember that awkward memory. "If you really are here to help me then you can start by fixing that roof with lots of holes."

And so it began, an odd show. Two Murim Alliance escort guards, the ex-demon lord, one caretaker, and a rough around the edges Blood Raven disciple all working hand in hand to fix this sorry excuse of an estate. Although there was a slight bit of tension. After all, the Blood Raven Sect used to be the Alliance's mortal enemy. However, everyone had no choice but to cooperate with one another. 

Lee Jin-Ho was in charge of cleaning and minor repairs, silently giving advice to the others.

Seo Ryung, showing off more brute strength than skill, was in charge with heavy carpentry and moving wood around.

Heuk Cheon swayed between giving a death stare to wobbly wooden planks and trying to not hit his thumb with a hammer. 

Every now and then, a comedic hindrance would happen. Like the time Heuk Cheon accidentally stepped on an exposed nail and shouted loud enough to disturb the birds from the nearby forest, or when one of the escort guards nearly fell off the room after a fierce gust of wind manifested. 

"At least no one has died yet I guess," Lee Jin-Ho made a joke as he was doing first aid on the escort guard's busted knee. "That is a victory on itself."

Heuk Cheon didn't find it unusually entertaining but a slight grin was tugging at his lips.

When the middle of the day struck, they stopped to eat lunch together in the courtyard. Rice balls and pickled vegetables was delivered to them by their local suppliers. Planks of newly cut wood and sawdust scattered along the ground, however enough progression have been made to the estate that it no longer looked like a deserted place where ghosts could live in every crevice. 

"When the first time I heard that you were sentenced to build and run an orphanage," Seo Ryung said in the middle of eating, "I thought that it was just some odd joke by the Murim Alliance. But looking at this, I never would have imagined that we would be slaving away together like this."

"Do you think that I imagined this?" Heuk Cheon answered back, although his tone didn't have the usual aura it had. 

A cozy silence was felt by the group as they finished their humbling lunch. Even the escort guards seemed to have been less on guard now. But they are still cautious, however not really at the same degree of hostility they have been showing from the start. 

While the sun moved towards the western horizon, Lee Jin-Ho went back first to organize the tools they used safely inside the storeroom. Seo Ryung and the escort guards was sweeping the sawdust and debris from the courtyard. Heuk Cheon was left alone looking outside by the estate's fence. 

It was at that moment when he felt something. A slight bit of killing intent, so little that he almost disregarded it as his mind playing tricks on him. His senses, sharpened by the years he spent in the martial world, went on full awareness. He surveyed the forest beyond the fence, he still has yet to see anything besides the swaying trees. 

Perhaps its a wandering furious beast? he thought to himself, his heart was pounding with the excitement he has not felt since his sect's ruins. Or maybe its a spy from his numerous rival clans, he thought curiously about his new problem. 

He inhaled steadily, allowing the waving dust of the courtyard fill up his nostrils. The sense of being in danger fell back as soon as it was felt. But the memory of that situation stayed. An uncomfortable remembrance that, no mater how silly or boring his sentence seems now, his legacy have casted a long shadow. 

"Master Heuk?" came from Lee Jin-Ho's voice appearing from right behind him. "Is everything alright?"

Heuk Cheon exhaled. "Yes," he said while turning his attention way from the fence and the forest. "It was just a passing thought." 

For a single second, he thought to himself if he should notify the others about what happened. But he knew that he lacked any evidence, he instead chose to keep it from them. If something or someone was eyeing him, they would most likely appear from the shadows soon enough.

When nightfall hit, the group felt the fruit of their physical labor in the form of their hurting muscles. Candles and lanterns brightened the manor's main chamber, showing significant improvements. Newly fixed windows, kind of okay floors, and a kitchen that did not look like it was an infested dungeon that's filled with a bunch of rats. 

They all gathered around a shaking table for dinner, the vibes were surprisingly enough a bit relaxed. Even the two escort guards from the Murim Alliance was talking back and forth with Seo Ryung. All the while, Heuk Cheon was staring at the twinkling light of the lantern. His mind was crammed with a mix of satisfaction and anxiety. 

He was able to feel a weird warmth sensation manifesting in the middle of his chest, the start of camaraderie. It was a feeling he would rarely acknowledge during his time as the most feared Sect Master. But here it was, flaming silently like a single candle in the void of darkness. 

"It is quite strange, Master," Seo Ryung whispered while looking at Heuk Cheon's contemplative gaze. "You almost look like you are contented."

Heuk Cheon gave him a death stare that vowed to give retribution if he had said those words out loud. But still, a slight hint of a grin started to form at his face. 

"Do not confuse yourself with exhaustion and contentment," he stated while drinking a cup of water like it was an alcoholic drink. "I am just conserving my energy for when the real challenge arrives, the horde of little brats."

The table went into silence, and the group all remembered that in a couple of weeks, the estate would be cramped with orphans. Children who may or may not be traumatized, mischievous, and or quietly showing signs of martial potential. It was a thought that humbled them, and the laughter they shared quieted down for a while.

But just as the tension could get worse, one of the escort guards made an overreacting sigh.

"May the heavens help us," he wished. "If fixing a couple of walls almost killed all of us, what is going to happen if we were to take care of children?"

Everyone at the table bursts into laughter, wild, weird, and with a hint of knowledge that they all had no idea what was waiting for them. Even Heuk Cheon could not hold back a slight chuckle. 

And so, a feeling of unitedness manifested amidst the poorly made bowls and flickering lanterns. Tomorrow, they would continue slaving away to make Redwood Estate a place suitable for little brats. And if some hidden threat truly was sneaking around in the darkness, Heuk Cheon was resolving himself to be ready at any given time. 

He thought to himself, if he was able to wield a sword, he could learn how to use a hammer. And if he was able to master using a hammer... then maybe he would be able to take care of some young brats. It was a silly concept, but then again, his whole life had been taken away from him. 

All of them had no idea about what the next days could possibly bring them. But for now, in the fluttering glow of the light of the lantern, a slight bit of hope was felt once again in this abandoned estate. Hoping that Redwood Estate might become for than a place of punishment. Maybe, soon enough, it could become a proper home. For Heuk Cheon, and for the parentless brats.