~Chapter 10~
. In Search of a Wet Nurse (3)
Tak.
“Take this.”
“……”
“Ahem, this is the only thing I can offer as hospitality.”
Guangpae set down a roughly carved wooden bowl filled with water in front of the woman.
He had never once in his life treated anyone as a “guest.” But he vaguely remembered that whenever he was treated as one, the other party would usually serve liquor or tea.
Naturally, in their ramshackle manor where they lived without much thought for propriety, there was no such thing as tea or wine. On a whim, he had simply tried to imitate the gesture.
Thankfully, the woman accepted even a plain cup of water with gratitude.
“Thank you, I’ll drink it well.”
“Um, excuse me.”
“Yes?”
Suddenly, Black Panther, who was holding the baby in the exact same posture the woman had taught earlier, spoke up.
“Is it fine if I just hold the baby like this the whole time?”
“……”
“Wouldn’t it be more comfortable for the baby to sleep lying down… I mean…”
For some reason, his voice grew more timid and awkward as he spoke, making the woman bite her lip to keep from laughing.
When she first saw him, she thought he looked exactly like a bandit, but seeing him awkwardly fumble while holding a baby like that was… oddly amusing.
“The way you hold a baby changes depending on the situation. Before I leave, I’ll teach you how to hold the baby as if laying it down.”
“Much obliged.”
At her reply, Black Panther even bowed his head slightly in thanks.
Aside from feeding and changing diapers, he was the one who held the baby the most.
Guangpae was groaning over deciphering the secret manual, Seokdu was in charge of meals, and Baekryeong handled the laundry.
As a result, he often faced situations where the baby cried for no reason, and no matter how he tried to soothe or rock it to sleep, it rarely worked.
But now—without even pressing acupoints—the baby had fallen into a deep sleep. It was an entirely new experience!
Ahem.
To steer the conversation away from Black Panther’s interruption, Guangpae gave a fake cough.
“You said you came because of the notice, not through the Baek Clan’s introduction?”
“Yes.”
The intense gaze of the Black Heavenly Evil Star was a little overwhelming, but the woman managed to nod, calmer than when she first arrived.
“It said you were looking for someone to serve as a wet nurse or caretaker. That only those with strong stamina should apply…”
“…Stamina?”
“Isn’t stamina a basic requirement when hiring someone?”
“……”
“That way you can make them work more…”
“Ahem!”
Guangpae cut off Black Panther’s puzzled muttering and continued the conversation.
“You don’t look very old… have you had much experience working as a wet nurse?”
“Uh… no, I’ve never actually worked as a wet nurse.”
“Then…?”
“I did a lot of servant and maid work since I was young. And as for my younger siblings—they were late-born, so I practically raised them myself.”
“Oh? I see. And did those children all grow up normal?”
“Uh… what do you mean by normal…?”
“I mean, they didn’t grow up into particularly wicked people, or into saints either?”
“Ah… n-no, I don’t think so. They grew up normal.”
“Good enough.”
Satisfied with her answer, Guangpae nodded and spoke again.
“Tomorrow… no, if possible, I’d like you to start today. The pay will be—”
“Um, excuse me!”
“Hm?”
“Sorry to interrupt, but…”
The woman cut him off urgently, took a slow breath as if to steady herself, and spoke.
“I… don’t think I can work here after all.”
“…What did you just say?”
Guangpae’s voice dropped low as his expression hardened, making the woman shrink and stammer.
“N-no… it’s just… my house is very far away…”
“Don’t worry about that. If necessary, I’ll get you a horse, or we can escort you every time.”
“A-and also… I’d… need quite a lot of pay…”
“Don’t worry about pay either. We may not look it, but we’re not without money.”
In truth, Guangpae’s grasp of money was vague.
Whenever they visited some mid-sized sect, people would often hand over gold willingly as “spending money.” That alone could last them years.
And whenever they needed a truly large sum, they simply went to the richest local power and received as much “assistance” as they required.
“How much do you need? Tell me, and I’ll match it.”
“Ah, no… it’s just…”
Seeing Guangpae unexpectedly take the lead, the woman lowered her head.
How could she bluntly say she didn’t want to work alongside such dangerous-looking people—right to their faces?
As she hesitated, Guangpae pressed again, sounding slightly impatient.
“Is there another reason? Tell me. I’ll resolve it.”
“…I thought it wasn’t the case.”
“Mm?”
“When I saw you were looking for someone to look after a baby… I thought you wouldn’t be martial artists.”
In the end, she couldn’t bring herself to say “bandits or outlaws” and instead softened her words as much as possible.
“S-sorry. I… don’t want to work with dangerous people. N-not that you all are dangerous, of course, but…”
“You mean… you don’t want to form ties with people who might encounter trouble at any time?”
Guangpae’s words struck true, and after a long hesitation, she lowered her head in silence.
Haa…
Her silence was as good as an answer. Guangpae closed his eyes and let out a sigh.
He already knew.
Why all the women who came until now never set foot inside their manor, and simply turned away.
From the outside, it was clearly the den of irregular, dangerous martial artists.
For an ordinary young woman, working there would never be easy.
As the heavy silence lingered, with the woman stealing glances at him, Guangpae finally spoke.
“Well… I understand.”
“…Excuse me?”
“Go home. One can’t force someone who doesn’t want to work.”
“Ah…”
“B-brother…”
Black Panther called in dismay, but Guangpae firmly shook his head.
Haaah…
Black Panther dropped his shoulders with a deep sigh, his regret plain.
Baekryeong and Seokdu also wore disappointed expressions.
Not wanting to drag out the heavy atmosphere, Guangpae stood up.
“Come along.”
“Eh?”
“Why so surprised? You need to get home, don’t you?”
“Ah… yes.”
She seemed taken aback that he let her go so easily, but she stood as well.
Then, as if remembering something, she quickly approached Black Panther.
“W-wait. Let me see the baby.”
“Huh?”
“You wanted me to show you how to hold the baby lying down, didn’t you?”
“Ah…”
“I’ll show you. Hand him over.”
“T-thank you.”
“Okay, look. Put your arm between the neck and head like this…”
Her nervousness vanished. Calmly and carefully, she demonstrated step by step.
Then she had Black Panther try himself, correcting his posture before finally nodding with satisfaction.
“There, that’s the right way.”
“Th-thank you… very much!”
“Um, me too… I mean, I want to ask something too.”
“Uh… what is it?”
“Sometimes, after feeding, he throws up.”
“How do you hold him while feeding? And what do you do afterwards?”
“Well, I just hold him upright like this…”
Seokdu followed with his own question, then Baekryeong asked about baby food.
The woman answered each question carefully and thoroughly.
Guangpae’s gaze deepened as he watched her.
“Y-you really didn’t have to escort me this far.”
“You said your home was far, didn’t you? It’s not safe for a frail woman to wander alone so late.”
“I’m not that frail…”
“Well… let’s say so.”
She seemed timid and weak, yet at times surprisingly resilient.
Even now, she was timid but still spoke her mind.
Guangpae thought she was a rather curious woman, and walked beside her.
He felt like just scooping her up and sprinting away would be faster—but from experience, women didn’t seem to like that sort of thing.
Still…
“Your house is pretty far.”
“I-I told you it was.”
“I thought you were just making excuses. Honestly, you did mean it that way too, right?”
“…I won’t answer that.”
“So that means yes.”
“Ugh, really!”
“Ke-ke-ke.”
Her rare flare of annoyance amused him, and Guangpae chuckled under his breath.
The woman sighed sharply, thinking his laugh sounded exactly like that of a mountain bandit.
“We’re almost there. Up on that hill.”
“You live in the mountains?”
“No, you live in the mountains. I live on a hill.”
“That looks more like a small mountain peak than a hill.”
“…Think whatever you want.”
Her curt reply showed she didn’t like being called a mountain-dweller.
“You dislike living in the mountains?”
“…A little.”
“Why?”
“Because my younger siblings get teased.”
“…?”
“They call us poor.”
“……”
“I don’t really mind… but since my siblings are teased, it can’t be good.”
Realizing she had spoken too seriously, she forced a smile and changed the subject.
“How did the four of you end up raising a baby anyway?”
“An acquaintance left him with us.”
“An acquaintance…?”
“He was someone I wanted to defeat.”
Past tense.
That alone told her something must have happened. She carefully asked:
“Was he… your friend?”
“Friend? Hardly… let’s call him an ‘evil companion.’”
“…I see.”
But she didn’t believe it.
She didn’t know their past, but the way they treated the baby clearly wasn’t how one treated the child of an “evil companion.”
After walking a bit more, a small house came into view.
“From here, I’ll go alone. Thank you for walking me.”
“No need to thank me. I offered to.”
“I know. But still, gratitude should be given where it’s due.”
She worked hard, and she was polite too.
It made it all the more regretful. But there was no helping it.
After a pause, Guangpae reached into his robe and pulled out a pouch.
Swish.
“Take this.”
“What… is it?”
“What do you think? You taught us how to care for the baby, and came a long way.”
To have reached their manor at that hour, she must have left home at dawn.
If she’d gotten lost along the way, perhaps even before sunrise.
“You may think ill of people like us… but at the very least, we always repay favors. You helped us, so it’s only right we repay you.”
“F-favor? I didn’t do anything worth such…”
“You did. Even if you insist otherwise, just treat it as a day’s wage.”
“Then… thank you.”
She accepted the pouch cautiously.
As he turned to leave, Guangpae spoke again.
“By any chance…”
“Yes?”
“If we guaranteed your safety completely… would you be willing to work at our manor?”
“That’s…”
“No one else has.”
“……”
“We brought many women. But you’re the only one who even held the baby once… the only one who corrected us when we were wrong.”
Though his back was turned, his sincerity was clear in his voice.
She fell silent, and he sighed softly.
“As you’ve surely seen, we don’t have confidence we can raise this child properly. So if you change your mind, come to the manor. Whatever conditions you want, we’ll match them.”
“……”
“Well then… farewell.”
Perhaps realizing he had spoken too much, he coughed awkwardly and started walking away.
“Um…”
Whoosh!
“…He’s already gone.”
The moment he seemed to take a step, he vanished from sight.
She stared at the spot he had been, then let out a short sigh.
“They don’t… seem like truly bad people.”
But still—they were dangerous.
Hadn’t her parents, too, trusted smiling loan sharks, only to lose everything and take their own lives?
No matter how kind they might seem, once money was involved, who knew when they might turn on her.
“…I’ll just look for other work starting tomorrow.”
Her steps felt strangely heavy.
Then suddenly, she remembered the pouch in her hand and opened it.
“…Huh?”
Inside, it was filled with gleaming gold ingots.
