Chapter 3 …
“What do you mean, ‘like a hero’?”
Although he spat out the words with a laugh, he seemed to be in a good mood.
“It’s true, though.”
I spoke while looking at the scenery before me.
“Don’t you think the scenery is so pretty?”
“Is it? …It feels desolate to me.”
At my words, His Lordship’s voice sounded unimpressed.
Tsk, honestly. What does he know?
The tall, sharp, bare branches that seemed to pierce the sky. The snowy mountain landscape with white snow piled on each branch… It was a bit gloomy because the sunlight didn’t come through well, but still.
“It feels like a gift from you, Your Lordship.”
If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have been able to see a view like this.
In the original story, my life was just being trapped inside the temple, subjected to horrific experiments disguised as training, until I lost my sense of self.
“Thank you. For taking me away. For letting me see such a wonderful sight.”
“…It’s nothing much.”
His Lordship glanced down at me and said,
“Look forward to it. You’ll get to see many sights more wonderful than this in the future.”
“Heheh. I’m excited.”
I, who had escaped my predetermined fate, and my life that had changed because of it.
Just imagining the wonderful scenery that awaited me in the future made my chest swell up like a balloon!
Wonderful scenery! A new life!
Holding my swollen chest with those cheers, what came into view as we descended the mountain was…
“This, this place is…”
What is this?
“We have to stay here for a while. There’s something I need to take care of.”
I stared blankly at the scene before me, my mouth agape.
“What is it? Is this hell…?”
“Hmm. A hell of a situation did break out here, yes.”
I thought we were going to the castle now?
The place we arrived at was a small village.
Houses were shattered here and there, smoke was rising, and several temporary barracks were set up on one side.
People who looked like soldiers were moving about incessantly, and there was a pungent smell of something burning. It was a complete war zone.
In other words, it looked like something had happened, and it had happened thoroughly.
I shook my head in disbelief.
No way. It can’t be, right?
“Alright, you can go into that barracks you see over there.”
But His Lordship, with a completely unfazed expression, put a final end to my hopes.
“Hey, don’t go near where the fire is. …It’s not a good sight for a child to see.”
What… What does that mean!
I screamed inwardly, clutching both my cheeks.
My, my wonderful scenery…
My new, happy life that was coming!
Deep in the Pacheonsan Mountains, at the Cheonsugwan Temple.
Baek Ri sat with a hardened face.
An expressionless, wax-like face.
Faced with the temple lord’s chilling countenance, the priest standing beside him had to secretly gulp down dry saliva.
“It seems that personality of yours hasn’t changed a bit even after ten years.”
Abruptly, a voice devoid of warmth echoed through the quiet room. It was a voice that felt even sinister.
Baek Ri gently closed his eyes. As the image of Seol Doha, who had been looking at him nonchalantly with a raised eyebrow, came to mind, he unconsciously clenched his jaw.
A single stroke. With one sword energy, he had shattered the temple gate, which was even protected by a barrier.
That force. Under his overwhelming pressure that seemed to look down on him, he couldn’t even move his body for a moment.
“Do you know the legend of Garyeo Kingdom?”
“Y-yes?”
“A thousand years ago, for them, the gods personally bestowed the blood of a dragon upon five people, granting them great power, or so it’s told.”
At the sudden statement, the priest was at a loss for words and looked to Baek Ri for his reaction.
“They are the five great families of Garyeo Kingdom. The people of Garyeo revere and admire them as those blessed by the gods.”
“……”
“The gods really did something amusing. No wonder they are acting so recklessly and out of control these days.”
Tsk, tsk, he clicked his tongue repeatedly.
“Y-yes……”
He didn’t like the arrogant look in Seol Doha’s eyes as he looked at him.
But what made him even angrier was…
“…What should we do about the child?”
That’s right. Nayeong, that preposterous girl.
The fact that she had broken through all of his subordinates’ surveillance, appeared before him, took Seol Doha’s hand, and left this place.
“She was the only child showing results from the training. We can’t just let her go like this…”
“Of course, we cannot.”
Baek Ri spoke coldly.
She was a piece he had created with all his heart and soul. Success was clearly just within reach.
And yet, that thing dared to escape his grasp. Moreover, she fell into the hands of the Seol Family, not his.
“We must get her back.”
His wax-like face lifted the corners of its mouth like a mask.
“Didn’t he tell us to come collect the price?”
So, he had to make them pay the price for daring to interfere with him, just as that arrogant one had said.
“How did that child manage to do such a thing?”
Baek Ri’s eyes narrowed.
Was she about ten years old now? She was a small, young child.
And those who stood in her way were all adults. Grown men.
Although she was clever and quick, no matter how exceptional a child she was, she shouldn’t have been able to escape from among such people at her age.
“E-everyone’s story is the same. They said when they tried to stop the child, their bodies suddenly froze momentarily and their legs got tangled.”
The priest by his side reported once again.
“…I see.”
It’s puzzling.
How could that have happened? Did that child have some special…
“No way.”
Baek Ri’s eyes widened. Subsequently, his mouth opened, and the corners of his lips twisted upwards grotesquely.
‘Has the fruit of the training appeared?’
Had his prized success, who endured his experiments, finally unlocked the power of sorcery?
Once his thoughts reached that point, anger, ecstasy, joy, and greed became jumbled together chaotically on his face.
“Aha… Ahahaha!”
A laugh resembling madness echoed through the room. At the sound of that laughter, the subordinate standing nearby bowed his head even deeper and held his breath.
“Ha, really.”
Suddenly, the laughter stopped, and in an instant, silence filled the room.
“What a preposterous little girl.”
In the quiet, Baek Ri opened his mouth indifferently, as if making a casual remark.
“To try and escape my grasp using the power I gave her.”
Slowly, his facial expression changed.
“How audacious, isn’t she?”
Before he knew it, the cold madness had disappeared from his face, leaving only the benevolent and devout face of a priest.
Who could look at this face and think it belonged to the man who was just laughing maniacally moments ago?
His now softened voice spoke with satisfaction.
“My precious child has finally become useful. It seems it’s time to teach her some manners.”
“Kid, wake up and eat.”
At those words, I opened my eyes.
Then, an old bowl and the hand holding it came into my view. It was His Lordship.
“Uung……”
I blinked my sleepy eyes, which wanted to close again, and wobbled as I sat up.
“Open your eyes, you sleepyhead.”
“…I’m not a sleepyhead.”
“You slept until the sun was high in the sky, how are you not a sleepyhead? Wipe the sleep from your eyes before you talk.”
His Lordship clicked his tongue, put the bowl down beside me, and casually wiped the sleep from my eyes.
“I can do it myself……”
“Stay still. Sleepyhead.”
“Eeeeng.”
Well, if you insist… I decided to just obediently stay still as His Lordship commanded.
His Lordship, having glanced at my face, tapped my forehead without hurting me and said,
“That’s why I told you to sleep early yesterday.”
At that, I let out a deep sigh.
‘How could anyone sleep in that situation!’
Last night, we left the temple and arrived at a village within His Lordship’s territory.
I heard that this village had recently been attacked by ghosts, causing chaos, and they were still in the process of cleaning up.
Right now, the village houses were all broken, and temporary barracks were set up everywhere. The place I slept was His Lordship’s barracks.
“Sleep here. It may not look like much, but it’s the best place available.”
Saying he couldn’t let a child sleep alone in a dangerous place, His Lordship let me sleep in his barracks. He even gave up his own bed to me.
‘Even for me, taking the master’s own bed is a bit…’
“I’m fine. You should sleep in the bed, Your Lordship!”
“It’s fine. Go to sleep now. If you don’t sleep, you won’t grow tall.”
Then, he really just lay down roughly on any spot on the floor and fell asleep like that.
“Snort, hrgh.”
Even snoring…!
‘The master of the barracks is lying crumpled up on the floor sleeping, how could I possibly sleep comfortably seeing that!’
In the end, tossing and turning with a strange sense of guilt, I only managed to fall asleep at dawn.
The funny thing is, once I closed my eyes, I actually slept like a log…
‘Ahem, how embarrassing…’
Well, I’m a growing child, it can’t be helped!
I decided to just conclude it at that.
For such a wrongly accused late sleeper, His Lordship personally brought out a meal.
“Eat.”
“Okaaay.”
The meal was simple. Round, white rice balls. Inside was something like salty soy sauce braised meat.
His Lordship watched me, blinking his sleepy eyes as I took big bites of the rice ball, and let out a slight laugh before finishing his own rice ball in just two bites.
“After eating, stay here and be good. Don’t wander around anywhere recklessly.”
“Where are you going, Your Lordship?”
“To work. There will be soldiers guarding the outside here.”
“Are you going to catch the ghosts in Pacheonsan?”
Pacheonsan was a place where ghosts appeared.
This village was close to the mountain. Since a disaster had occurred, it seemed they intended to subdue and clear out the mountain completely.
“Right. How did you know?”
“Heheh. I just know, that’s all.”
Just as I thought.
His Lordship spoke, feigning seriousness.
“So, be good. Understood?”
“Why?”
“Don’t you know how dangerous Pacheonsan is? Absolutely do not come towards the mountain. What if my subordinates miss even a single ghost? That would be a big problem.”
“Psh.”
I just laughed at that. What kind of nonsense is that?
“How could that possibly happen with you and your soldiers, Your Lordship?”
The self-proclaimed, and widely acknowledged, greatest military power of Garyeo Kingdom! His Lordship was a man called the Sword of Garyeo.
The army he led, the ‘Jeongmyeol,’ were also incredibly skilled individuals, each and every one of them.
Their exploits were mentioned multiple times in the novel.
At my words, His Lordship was silent for a moment. Then, he slowly raised an eyebrow, looking straight at me. What is it?
“You…”
“Yeees?”
“You talk as if you know us very well?”
“…Yeees?”
“Now that I think about it, it seemed like you already knew who I was from the first time we met too.”
…Huh?
His Lordship’s black pupils narrowed as he stared at me persistently. As if trying to dig out some secret.
In an instant, his expression became much cooler.
I unconsciously rolled my eyes.
Hmm. It seems I’ve made a mistake. What should I do?
