Then do it. And don’t waver. (5)
“Hmm.”
Im Sobyeong stared intently at Yu Hanbin, then nodded.
“I think he’s about ready.”
“…Ready for his funeral?”
“Now, now. What a joke.”
Baek Cheon stared at Yu Hanbin and laughed awkwardly.
‘I don’t think that was a joke.’
His sunken flesh made his cheekbones look especially prominent, shadows fell all the way down to the tip of his chin, and with nothing but skin left on his bones, he truly looked as if he might be going into a coffin any moment now.
“Well, I suppose… if one is to finish the Four Books and Three Classics in a mere ten days, this much sacrifice is only natural.”
“Ahem. He has not finished them. He has merely memorized them.”
“…Isn’t that the same thing?”
“…”
When Im Sobyeong shot Baek Cheon a look as though he were looking down on an insect, Baek Cheon’s neck naturally shrank back.
“Tsk. There is no completion in scholarship. Memorizing the Four Books and Three Classics from cover to cover should be considered no more than having just taken one’s first steps.”
Snap!
Im Sobyeong spread open his fan and spoke while lightly fanning himself.
“But, well… Are those first steps not the most important ones?”
“…How very impressive.”
“Haha. You state the obvious.”
Im Sobyeong’s nose rose so high it seemed to pierce the sky, but for now, they had no choice but to put up with his smugness. After all, it was true that he had accomplished something remarkable.
“Then may I rest a little…”
“Uh, yes. You can rest properly for about a day.”
“Th-Thank….”
Yu Hanbin, unable even to finish speaking, collapsed sideways with a thud. Watching him, Chung Myung clicked his tongue and asked Im Sobyeong.
“How is he?”
“…A prodigy.”
“Hmm?”
“Mm, perhaps prodigy is not the appropriate word. That refers to someone who has mastered learning unsuited to their young age. To be precise, I should call him a remarkable talent.”
“To that extent?”
“Well, even so, he’s still only at a pitiful level that doesn’t amount to even a quarter of my own abi… Ack!”
Im Sobyeong, kicked by Chung Myung, went sprawling flat onto the floor.
“Why, why did you hit… Cough! Cough, cough!”
“You really never know when to stop. Cut the nonsense and just get to the point, you bandit bastard.”
“Ugh….. At this rate, it would not be impossible for him to pass the civil service examination within half a year. Even if that proves difficult, as long as he does not set aside his studies, he will certainly pass the next one.”
Chung Myung’s head nodded of its own accord.
“That figures.”
There was no need to go so far as to talk about the blood of the Shandong Yu family. Though he had spoken that way, Chung Myung himself was not someone who believed that the talents of one’s ancestors were inherited unchanged by later generations.
It was simply that the man named Yu Hanbin, as Chung Myung had seen him, seemed to have that much in him.
“Then what remains now is his own will, is it.”
Just as Chung Myung was about to nod…
“What are you talking about? Do you have any idea how many things must be prepared for taking the civil service examination?”
“….Huh?”
Chung Myung turned to look at Im Sobyeong with a blank expression.
“Have you found a guarantor?”
“…A gu… guarantor? What’s that?”
Im Sobyeong’s face twisted violently.
“Don’t tell me you don’t know that one must receive a guarantor’s endorsement in order to take the examination?”
“What kind of exam requires a guarantor! Then what’s the point of even having an exam!”
“Ha……”
Letting out a deep sigh, Im Sobyong shook his head as though he had never expected anything to begin with.
“Tsk. Well, if we hurry from now on, we can probably still find a guarantor, so let’s leave that aside. Then surely you’ve at least registered him at the prefectural academy?”
“Prefectural……. what?”
“The prefectural academy! The academy!”
“So what is that?”
Im Sobyeong stared at Chung Myung with a blank face, then abruptly turned his head. The other disciples, who had been watching his expression, quickly avoided his gaze and pretended to be busy with something else.
“Prefectural academy. That, um… it must be something good.”
“Is it a Sage betraying his family*?”
“What kind of ignorant nonsense is that? It must be some kind of scholarly field.”
“Ah! That must be it. Wow, you’re smart?”
Im Sobyeong finally squeezed his eyes shut. What could he possibly expect from these ignorant Taoist bastards?
“So what is a prefectural academy?”
“A local government school! To begin with, the word ‘Confucian student’ refers to a student attending a prefectural academy, so how can people who know what a Confucian student is not know what a prefectural academy is! You ignorant Taoist bastards… Aaagh!”
Im Sobyeong, kicked hard by Chung Myung once again, screamed and went flying.
“But this bandit bastard, I’ve been letting you talk, and now look at you!”
“Th-That is not what I…”
Chung Myung charged at Im Sobyeong in an instant, grabbed him by the neck, and shook him violently.
“A man so well learned had nothing better to do than live off banditry? If Confucius had known, he would have tried to smash your head in with the Analects, so what are you acting so proud about, you bastard! I kept a bandit bastard alive because I thought you might at least have some use, and now you’re talking back? Die! Just die, you bandit bastard!”
“Kek! Keeek! I was wro….. kek! I’m really going to die!”
Tears of injustice gathered at the corners of Im Sobyeong’s eyes. He had simply been born a bandit, so what was he supposed to do about it?
“Tsk. Every last one of these bastards, honestly.”
Chung Myung flung Im Sobyeong aside, dusted off his hands and turned around.
“So? Are you saying he has to register at that academy or whatever it is?”
“Ughhh.”
Im Sobyeong, who had been wiping away the blood from his nose, that had already begun to trickle down, replied with an expression that said this had somehow become troublesome.
“That seems to have already gone somewhat out the window. Judging by the circumstances, it doesn’t seem feasible for this fellow either.”
“Then?”
“We have to use another method. Examinees who have not become Confucian students can only sit the examination after passing a preliminary test.”
“Then he can do that.”
“…..Pardon?”
“The one who knows what he’s doing should handle it. Prepare everything without a hitch.”
Im Sobyeong’s face went pale in an instant.
“I, I think I should about be returning to the mountains now. As you know as well, Dojang, I do have certain things I am responsible for…..”
Hearing that, Chung Myung smiled brightly.
“You seem to have forgotten what you said.”
“…..Pardon?”
“You’re not the one who decides whether something is possible or impossible. Isn’t that right?”
“…”
Despair settled over Im Sobyeong’s face.
❀ ❀ ❀
“Ughhh. What riches and glory did I ever expect to enjoy, getting myself into this?”
Watching Im Sobyeong grumble without end, Baek Cheon clicked his tongue.
“It is something you have to do anyway, so are you going to keep whining? A man who is the Nokrim King, no less.”
“I am whining precisely because I am the Nokrim King.”
“…And what is that supposed to mean?”
Im Sobyeong’s face twisted dramatically.
“If someone could live happily without complaints to begin with, why the hell would they put blade at their waist and head into the mountains? They become bandits because they can’t endure it!”
“Ah…….”
“And among those, the most vicious bastard becomes the bandit chief. So if someone has reached the level of Nokrim King, of course he’s bound to have endless grievances and complaints.”
“The problem is… that it actually makes sense.”
Yoon Jong, who was beside them, also shook his head as if he was fed up.
“You knew already that if Chung Myung called for you, nothing good would come of it, didn’t you?”
“…I knew.”
“Then why?”
“Just because.”
“Hm?”
Im Sobyeong looked up at the sky with a wistful gaze and said.
“I suppose I wanted to live as a Confucian scholar, even if only for a short while…”
“Nokrim King…”
Baek Cheon and Yoon Jong looked at Im Sobyeong with slightly sympathetic expressions. Come to think of it, this man really had dreamed of making his name known and rising in the world…
“And he said he would pay me.”
“Mm?”
“These days, Nokrim’s finances are tight too, so what good is it to sit around doing nothing? I have to earn something, even through work like this. Tsk, if I had known it would be this troublesome, I should have asked for more. Knowing Chung Myung Dojang’s personality, there’s no way he’d give me more money now that we’ve started. Ah well, it’s hopeless. Completely hopeless.”
“…”
The two of them shook their heads.
Meanwhile, the group arrived at the government office from which they had rescued Yu Hanbin not long ago.
“So we just have to go in here?”
“Yes. The examinations are overseen by the local branches. The preliminary examination is the same.”
Waving his fan lazily, Im Sobyong strode straight into the government office. The guards standing watch at the gate widened their eyes when they saw him.
“What business do you have here?”
“We have come to register for the preliminary examination.”
“You?”
“No, this child here.”
The guard stared silently at Yu Hanbin, then nodded.
“Go inside and wait a moment.”
“We shall.”
Im Sobyeong walked slowly through the main gate. Almost in daze, Baek Cheon, Yoon Jong, and Yu Hanbin also followed him into the government office.
“….Is it all right for a bandit to just walk straight into a government office?”
“Well, he is also a Geoin, after all.”
Come to think of it, it really was a bizarre status to have.
“More importantly, Nokrim King. Does that mean anyone can take the preliminary examination so long as they register?”
“Not quite. A guarantor is necessary even for the preliminary examination.”
“We do not have a guarantor, though.”
“Tsk, tsk. How can you be so slow to understand? Who do you think a guarantor is? Is it not a person of reputation and standing who can vouch for someone’s identity?”
“That’s right?”
“In other words.”
With a flourish, Im Sobyeong snapped open his fan, puffed out his flat stomach as much as he could, and snickered.
“It refers precisely to someone like me.”
“…He really is insufferable.”
Complaints arose at once, but Im Sobyeong merely shrugged as though he hadn’t heard a thing.
“Do not worry. I can act as the guarantor. They’ll roughly investigate his identity, and so long as there are no major issues with his conduct, they’ll register him.”
“…..A bandit vouching for someone’s identity. Is this really alright?”
“No, more importantly, what did you just say?”
“Pardon? What do you mean?”
“If there are no problems with what?”
“His conduct. It is nothing so grand. You could call it reputation, I suppose. They just briefly check whether he has committed any major crimes before… Hmm? Why are all of you suddenly breaking out in cold sweat?”
“Uh, then….”
Baek Cheon, Yoon Jong, and Yu Hanbin all began sweating profusely at the same time.
“I do not… think this will work.”
Conduct, he said. What nonsense was this? The youngster with the absolute worst conduct in all of Jinan had been none other than Yu Hanbin.
Seeing their expressions, Im Sobyeong narrowed his eyes. But before he could open his mouth and say anything, a clerk [서리(書吏)] with an annoyed expression came walking out from inside.
“All right, who is it that wants to register for the preliminary examination?”
Baek Cheon swallowed dryly and quietly pointed at Yu Hanbin.
“Th-This child.”
“Hmm… And you have found a guarantor?”
“That would be me.”
At Im Sobyeong’s words, the clerk looked him up and down.
“Are you, by any chance, a Geoin?”
“That is correct.”
Having formally confirmed his status, the clerk nodded.
“Then your qualifications are sufficient. Write down that child’s personal details and the Geoin’s personal details. I will check them, and if there are no problems, I will register him.”
“I have prepared them. Here.”
When Im Sobyeong took out a paper with the personal details written on it from his sleeve and held it out, the clerk accepted the paper and turned around.
“It will only take a moment, so please wait here.”
“Yes.”
When the clerk, showing no particular reaction even after seeing Yu Hanbin, hurried back inside with quick steps, Baek Cheon and Yoon Jong muttered with bewildered expressions.
“What is this? Why did that pass so easily?”
“Rather than saying it passed easily… perhaps he did not recognize him?”
“How could that be? It hasn’t even been half a month since he caused that huge commotion here.”
“That is the thing, Sasuk.”
“Hm?”
“In the past half a month, the kid’s appearance has….”
“Ah.”
Baek Cheon instantly understood the situation. Come to think of it, Yu Hanbin had practically become half the person he used to be in just ten days, so it would not have been strange at all if no one recognized his face.
“Ah, that’s true. His surname has changed too.”
“Exactly.”
“Then… to them, he might look like an entirely different person.”
“Probably.”
“This might actually go more smoothly than we expected.”
Should they call it good luck?
This would have been impossible if Im Sobyeong had not worked Yu Hanbin so harshly. Was this what they meant by a blessing in disguise?
Just as Baek Cheon thought this with a bitter smile.
“He is coming back out.”
The clerk who had gone inside quickly approached them. And the moment he saw him, Baek Cheon sensed that something was wrong.
The clerk looked as though some calamity had befallen him in that brief span of time. He did not even bother hiding his bewilderment.
“Impossible.”
“…..Excuse me?”
“I cannot register him. Leave.”
At those words, Im Sobyeong’s eyes widened, and he protested to the clerk.
“No, what do you mean by that? It is only the preliminary examination!”
“I said it cannot be done!”
“Then you should at least tell us the reason. Is his conduct the problem? Or is it his background? If not that…”
“I am telling you, it is nothing like that!”
“Then?”
Though Im Sobyeong pressed stubbornly, the clerk only waved his hands nervously.
“In any case, registration is impossible. That child will never be able to sit the examination, so give up.”
“No, listen!”
“Listen to me. That will be better for you and for that child as well. Do not so much as come near this government office ever again. Understood?”
At those ominous words, everyone’s expressions hardened.
________
*This is a joke based on them not knowing what 현학 (prefectural academy) is. “현자 배신가?” – they heard the first syllable 현, made up a word 현자 – a sage/a wise man and added gibberish.
________
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