Flower Buds of Fire

We cut down on sleep and headed to Namwon.

Unlike the merchants who took only three days for a round trip, it took us three full days to reach the border of Namwon.

Sometimes we crossed mountains, and sometimes we descended steep hills with our hands, so we were a mess.

There were many dangerous moments in the process.

I had to snatch Bangja when he almost lost his footing on a cliff, and we had a staring contest with a wild boar.

“I didn’t know Young master would go this far.”

Bangja said, watching me chase away the wild boar by boldly approaching it.

If I had to pick one of the most dangerous moments, it was meeting the Jang tribe.

While descending a mountain I didn’t know, Bangja and I chose a rather reckless path.

In fact, it couldn’t even be called a path. It was a place where the road had been cut off in the middle due to a landslide the previous year.

Choosing a perfectly good alternative route would clearly take a long time to go around the mountain, so I deliberately chose the dangerous path.

The incident where Bangja almost fell off the cliff, which I mentioned earlier, also happened here.

At the end of the steep slope, we groped our way down, and there was a dense forest. It was a scene that immediately reminded me of a campsite in a remote area.

Bangja and I, gauging our direction by the sun, passed through the trees.

That’s when the Jang tribe appeared.

Although they hadn’t mastered Martial arts, the Jang tribe members poked their heads out one by one, bypassing my detection of presence.

It was unique that they all covered their faces with thin cloths.

“Eek! Jang tribe!”

Bangja screamed, seeing the long, horizontal ears, and immediately prostrated himself.

I wondered if he thought that if he covered his eyes, others wouldn’t see him either.

“Please, I don’t taste good. Please, spare me.”

Bangja curled up as much as possible, trembling and muttering with a blank look.

“I didn’t want to meet them.”

I was reluctant to meet the Jang tribe for a different reason than Bangja.

If I, not the original owner, made new connections, variables would arise.

And that variable would slowly grow in size without me knowing, and then appear at the most crucial moment.

‘Please, let nothing happen. Just pass by.’

The Jang tribe members, each holding a bow in their hands, slowly approached us.

If they came just a few steps closer, the faces inside the veils would have been visible, but the Jang tribe member at the front maintained a subtle distance.

For some reason, the golden eyes of the Jang tribe member who had once saved me from a tiger came to mind.

“Dan tribe. Are you going down the mountain?”

A voice came through the cloth.

“Dan? Are you talking about me?”

“Yes. Are you going down the mountain?”

At the Jang tribe member’s words, Bangja, who had been prostrating, cautiously got up.

His face was covered with dirt and wet leaves. I clicked my tongue inwardly at the sight.

“We were going down the mountain. I had urgent business, so I chose a rough path, but if we’ve trespassed on your territory, we’ll pass by quietly.”

Raising my hands to show that I had no intention of resisting, they all lowered the bows they had half-raised.

The Jang tribe member at the front scanned me up and down.

“I see. If you want to go down before sunset, you must hurry.”

“I’d appreciate it if you could tell me the direction or a shortcut.”

Saying this while looking at the setting sun, the Jang tribe member nodded.

“Go towards the place where there are fewer trees. The closer you get to the village, the fewer trees there will be.”

The Jang tribe member reached out and pointed in a direction.

“Thank you.”

I expressed my gratitude by bowing my head.

“…Are you really letting us go? Without any conditions?”

Bangja, unable to believe the situation, asked again.

The Jang tribe members didn’t particularly react to Bangja’s fear-filled fuss.

And so, we were able to descend the mountain following the direction the Jang tribe member had told us, and we arrived at the border of Namwon before sunset.

“Really, thinking about that time still makes my liver shrink.”

We arrived at an inn looking like beggars, got a room, and washed ourselves in a nearby stream.

While eating dinner and laying out our bedding in the room, Bangja was constantly reliving the events in the mountains.

“It’s a relief they were friendly.”

I was worried that they might attack us right away for trespassing on their territory, but it was truly fortunate.

“Doesn’t it seem like they’re more moderate than the rumors say?”

“You were trembling in fear of the Jang tribe, and now you’re saying that?”

Glaring at Bangja, he laughed, avoiding my gaze, as if remembering his disgraceful behavior at the time.

“W-well, now that I think about it, they all seemed to have pretty faces.”

“A piece of cloth is covering their faces, how would you know?”

“Hey, you can roughly tell, can’t you?”

Bangja said, as if feeling wronged.

“What, you used to say they killed the Japanese with evil sorcery, and now you’re saying the Jang tribe is pretty?”

Scolding him for the sudden change of attitude, Bangja shrugged as if he couldn’t help it.

“No, I’m just saying that after experiencing it firsthand, they’re not as scary as I thought, Young master.”

“Yeah, yeah. I got it.”

Turning my back to him as I lay down on the bedding, Bangja grumbled and turned off the light.

An inn where only the sound of night bugs can be heard. The people at the inn who were sitting on the porch and drinking had all gone to bed, so it was quiet.

“Young master.”

“Yeah.”

“You still haven’t regained your memories?”

“No. But I was able to remember a lot thanks to you.”

Under the pretext of having lost my memories, I was able to ask Bangja many things.

Bangja told me in detail what kind of person ‘I’ was in this world, what kind of people my parents were, and what kind of reputation I had.

Even considering the owner’s bias, I could tell that they were people with fairly good character.

“What about Chunhyang?”

I also learned through Bangja’s mouth how I met Chunhyang and how I courted her.

“Not yet.”

“She’s said to be imprisoned… Shouldn’t we check if Chunhyang is doing well first?”

Byeon, the new magistrate of Namwon who replaced my retired father.

I have to find a way to approach Chunhyang without being noticed by him.

“Yes, it seems right to see Chunhyang before informing my parents. If they knew I was getting involved with the new magistrate of Namwon, they would definitely stop me.”

Judging by his personality, which I heard from Bangja, he would definitely stop me, saying not to go against the will of the country.

“But I’m afraid Chunhyang will be disappointed.”

“Huh? In what way? If Young master shows his face in person, Chunhyang will surely be moved.”

Bangja laughed as if it were absurd.

“I failed the civil service exam, and I look like a beggar?”

“Has Chunhyang ever liked Young master for such things?”

“Is that so….”

“Anyway, Young master’s memories need to come back. I’m really worried.”

Memories that will never return.

Along with the sound of insects chirping, a fragrant floral scent entered the room.

The insects that came in through the gap in the door circled the room and then landed on our faces.

“Young master.”

Bangja said in a subdued voice, unlike before.

“Yeah.”

“I really think Young master and Chunhyang are a good match. I thought you were a match made in heaven.”

I had heard that story endlessly while coming down the mountain.

“Isn’t there a saying? That people of the same level should meet.”

“Isn’t Chunhyang of humble birth?”

I know she’s the daughter of the retired courtesan Wolmae. Of course, status doesn’t mean much to me.

“I’m not talking about the status that the world has set. I’m just talking about a person’s character, something like that. That person’s existence. Don’t you know?”

Bangja asked for agreement.

“Yes. As you say, I wonder if Chunhyang is an existence that matches my level.”

I gave a perfunctory response.

“Haha, that’s all you need to know.”

Bangja replied in an excited voice, as if he was in a good mood.

And not long after, he started snoring loudly.

How noisy.

A sleepless night. At the border of Namwon.

The sound of insects chirping and the scent of flowers were fragrant.