I can’t do this anymore. Truly. (3)
“Well, he’s such an impudent brat, you see.”
The constable scratched his head, watching their reactions.
Baek Cheon let out a deep sigh, as if the ground itself might cave in. Seeing Seok Hanbin sprawled inside the prison cell, his eyelids so swollen that it was hard to even recognize him, there was no way he could keep himself from sighing.
“Even so, beating a child like this is…”
“We barely struck him a few times. You would not believe how much he kept whining that he was going to die.”
“Tsk.”
When Baek Cheon clicked his tongue, the constables drew their necks in.
When some young Taoist had first come looking for them, saying they should release Seok Hanbin, who had been locked in prison, they had naturally laughed it off.
Judging by the rather expensive-looking sword he wore at his side, he did seem like some punk who had rolled around Gangho for a bit, but this was not some deep mountain valley. What reason would they have to fear a martial artist they had met inside a magistrate office?
But their confidence was shattered to pieces by a single sheet of paper the Taoist casually held out.
The true nature of that paper was none other than an order personally signed by Lord Song.
Of course, Lord Song was not an official, so the word ‘order’ was not exactly appropriate, but when had the world ever run according to principles like that?
If Lord Song put his mind to it, even the County Magistrate could be replaced, so what nerve would constables like them have to stand their ground before Lord Song’s order? They could only shut their mouths and guide him.
‘But how in the world?’
‘How would I know?’
“Release him first, please.”
“…..Yes.”
The constables swiftly opened the door of the prison cell. Baek Cheon slowly shook his head.
❀ ❀ ❀
“No, so you’re saying you came out just like that?”
“What else?”
“You should have taught them a lesson. How could they beat a child until he fainted?”
“Then what, was I supposed to fight the constables? People who receive their salary from the government?”
“…That’s not what I mean.”
“And they really didn’t beat him until he fainted.”
Tang Soso corrected Jo Geol’s words.
“It seems less like he fainted from the beating and more like he fainted from exhaustion. It looks like he hadn’t eaten properly for days and had only been running away. He probably went down after a few blows.”
“Hmm.”
Jo Geol glanced back at the boy he was carrying on his back.
“Still, even so. If they caught him, that should have been the end of it. Why did they have to beat a child they’d already locked up in prison?”
“Exactly. That made me angry too.”
“The constables aren’t there so they can beat people for personal reasons. It’s not as if he could have committed some other crime in there.”
“That’s what I mean.”
Baek Cheon clicked his tongue, then suddenly tilted his head.
‘Something feels off…’
Baek Cheon soon realized the source of that uneasy feeling and sharply turned his head.
Flinch.
Under his gaze, Chung Myung instinctively froze for a moment, then started moving again. Awkwardly, creaking, so unnaturally anyone could see it.
“What is it?”
“W-What?”
“Why are you so quiet?”
“….I don’t know what you’re talking about?”
Baek Cheon’s brow furrowed sharply.
“The child you were looking for came back beaten up. Whether you scolded the kid for getting beaten, or cursed the constables for beating him, there’s no way you would just stay still like this.”
“W-What! Why are you suddenly picking on an innocent man? Am I always loud or something? Do I have to keep talking nonstop every single day?”
“Yes.”
“Yeah.”
“That’s usually how it is.”
“I even prepared earplugs.”
“…You little…”
Baek Cheon realized that Chung Myung’s reaction was excessively unnatural. No, calling it realizing was a little embarrassing. Anyone with eyes could tell, there was no way not to notice.
Even Baek Ah, who was beside Chung Myung, was suddenly pretending not to know anything and whistling.
“Seeing even Baek Ah act like that makes it even more suspicious.”
“Wait a second. A weasel just whistled?”
“It’s definitely strange. Just a moment ago, it was throwing a fit and demanding jerky.”
“No, I’m telling you, the weasel whistled, didn’t it?”
“What did you do? Tell us honestly.”
“……Why does no one think this is strange?”
As Yoon Jong stared into empty air and lamented sadly, Hye Yeon silently patted his shoulder.
Jo Geol, who had been looking Chung Myung up and down with suspicious eyes, turned to Baek Cheon as if to change the mood.
“Anyway, if you hadn’t stepped in, Sasuk, things could have gone very badly.”
“Hm? Mmm.”
“Isn’t that right? They were beating a child who isn’t even fully grown yet that brutally. If he’d been locked up there a few more days, who knows how badly his body would have suffered?”
At those words, the other disciples nodded as well.
“It’s true he committed a crime, but even so, beating him like this really isn’t right.”
“I’m telling you, if Sasuk hadn’t gone and negotiated with them, this would have turned into a bigger problem.”
“It might have.”
When Yoon Jong agreed with him, which was quite unusual, Jo Geol brightened.
“But Sasuk, how exactly did you get an order telling them to release him?”
“Hm? Well, things just happened to work out. Haha.”
“How modest of you.”
Jo Geol grinned, the corner of his mouth lifting.
“Honestly, I had no idea you were this capable, Sasuk.”
“You’re amazing.”
“When he got dragged off to the magistrate’s office, I wondered what we were going to do and everything went dark before my eyes. But to think that, in the middle of all this, you would negotiate with Lord Song. At such times, you really are bold, Sasuk.”
“That’s true.”
The disciples nodded vigorously in agreement. Baek Cheon, however, merely smiled awkwardly.
“Then I suppose the major problems are more or less settled for now.”
Jo Geol shook his head.
“Phew. We didn’t really do anything, but I’m ridiculously tired. Maybe it’s because I suddenly had to worry so much.”
“So am I.”
“Me too.”
“The sun has gone down too, so how about we find an inn around here and rest?”
“That would be best. Let’s go, Sasuk.”
“Ah, about that.”
“Hm?”
Baek Cheon turned to look at them with an extremely awkward smile.
“Well….. You asked me just now, didn’t you? How I negotiated with Lord Song.”
“…..We did?”
The voices of the disciples, sensing something ominous, grew stiff little by little as well.
“Well… The truth is, I didn’t meet Lord Song in person. But somehow, how should I put it? He was rather straightforward? No, rather than saying it like that. He was… a neat person.”
“What does that mean?”
“Well… Since this whole thing started because of money. They said there was no need to argue over the details, and that all we had to do was pay back the money.”
The disciples’ eyes narrowed to slits.
“So?”
“So I paid it back.”
Baek Cheon took the money pouch from inside his robes and turned it upside down. The few specks of dust left inside drifted through the air.
“…It came out exactly enough, almost unbelievably.”
“…”
“So now… we’re broke.”
Across the blackened sky, a lone crow flew past, cawing ominously.
❀ ❀ ❀
His body felt heavy.
It was not simply a little sluggish. It was a heaviness that felt as if his body had been driven into the ground.
Wasn’t it only natural? Even if he had merely been locked in a damp, chilly prison cell, his body would have suffered, and on top of that, he had been beaten enthusiastically by the constables. It would have been stranger if he were fine.
Even now, just look. This crisp feeling at his fingertips…
‘Hm?’
Crisp? Not damp?
The chill felt similar, but it wasn’t the damp kind. It felt like dry ground that might rustle underfoot, and the air was cool and dry too.
‘Have my senses been messed up?’
It seemed that was not the case. Because before long, unfamiliar voices began to reach his ears.
“You gave them all the money we received for travel expenses?”
“W-What else was I supposed to do? You all agreed that we had to save the child first, didn’t you?”
“If we can save him, then of course we should. But if you spend all our travel funds, how are we supposed to get back to Shaanxi?”
“….To be honest, it’s not as if we ever really traveled while spending money in the first place.”
“Even so!”
“I told you, I panicked in the moment. They told me to get lost if I wasn’t going to repay it in his stead, but it’s not as if I could just get lost.”
“There he goes again, acting on impulse and causing trouble. I bet he waved the money pouch around, didn’t he?”
“I didn’t wave it.”
“You did hold it up, didn’t you?”
“…”
“Right, of course you did. Aigo, how frustrating.”
Seok Hanbin quietly opened his eyes.
He saw a group of black-clad people(?) pointing fingers at one another.
“What are we going to do now, what! We don’t even have a place to sleep, so we’re stuck camping out here!”
“..For now, couldn’t we sleep today and think about it tomorrow?”
“Primordial Heavenly Lord.”
“And that man is our Sasuk?”
“Heaven has abandoned Hwasan.”
“Isn’t he a spy from Jongnam? Otherwise… Aaaagh! Why did you hit me!”
“That one deserved it.”
“Honestly, I think he ought to be hit a bit more.”
Seok Hanbin blinked. But to his astonishment, not a single person paid any attention to him.
“Hm?”
After the scuffle had gone on for quite some time, finally one woman, who had turned her head while still fuming, discovered Seok Hanbin and brightened.
“Are you awake?”
“…”
“Here.”
While Seok Hanbin was struggling to think of something to say, a large bowl was held out in front of him.
“…Porridge?”
“Eat. Your body’s been through a lot. As slowly as you can. Your strength will come back.”
“…”
“Let’s talk after you eat first.”
“No, this porridge is….”
“Hey.”
Seok Hanbin flinched.
The woman, wearing a faint smile, pointed at the bowl of porridge again.
“Eat.”
“Yes.”
He did not know why, but he could not refuse. It felt as though doing so would be good for his personal safety.
Even while Seok Hanbin gulped down the bowl of porridge, the black-clad people before him kept growling at one another, as if they had so many grievances.
“Th-Thank you for the meal….”
Crash.
Seok Hanbin lifted his head again, and then dropped the bowl he was holding. And it was not because he lacked strength.
“Th-That!”
“Hm?”
“That weasel from before!”
Baek Ah, who was perched on Chung Myung’s shoulder, glanced over at Seok Hanbin, then calmly scratched its own ear with the hind leg.
“Don’t pretend you don’t know! You’re the one from earlier!”
Scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch.
After scratching the ear a few times, the weasel lifted its head and looked at him with bright, round eyes. And then…
Kkyu?
“Don’t try that nonsense with me!”
“Whoa, whoa!”
“Why is this kid suddenly acting like this?”
Seok Hanbin, bursting with indignation, lunged at the weasel, but Jo Geol and Yoon Jong quickly got a hold of him.
“Now, now. Looks like his mind still isn’t quite right.”
“That’s not it, that weasel!”
“Yes. It’s your first time seeing a weasel wearing clothes, isn’t it? I understand why you’d be shocked. We were very shocked at first too.”
Seok Hanbin struck his own chest in frustration.
But there was no way for him to explain this injustice. How could he possibly tell such an unbelievable story – that he had followed a weasel’s instructions only to be betrayed and beaten by constables?
Even if he could not tell that story, however, there was another obvious thing he could say.
“No, who the hell are you people, and why are you all gathered in my house and camping out here?”
From his perspective, it was a perfectly reasonable question and protest.
But those who heard his protest instead looked at Seok Hanbin with expressions of disbelief.
“What nonsense. Can’t you tell by looking? We’re Taoists.”
“Idiot.”
“The kid does look a bit slow.”
Seok Hanbin unconsciously grabbed the back of his neck.
“Taoists? What kind of Taoists go around wearing swords! Where in the world are there Taoists like you!”
“Ah, that is……”
Baek Cheon stepped forward with a gentle smile and explained.
“We are rather special Taoists, so we carry swords.”
“What kind of nonsense…”
“Whether it is nonsense or not, hear me out first and then make your judgment.”
Baek Cheon looked at Seok Hanbin with a confident expression.
In truth, he had been waiting for this. No – if he were to be honest with himself, he had always wanted to properly say this at least once. These very words.
“Have you heard of Hwasan Sect?”
“H-Hwasan?”
Seok Hanbin’s eyes widened. Seeing that reaction, Baek Cheon unconsciously clenched his fist slightly.
“Th-That…”
“Heheh. Yes. That very….”
“What’s that?”
“….Hm?”
“I’ve never heard of it in my life.”
“…Huh?”
Baek Cheon’s eyes shook violently.
________
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