episode_0017

“Why does this accommodation still look like shit even when I look at it again?”

“Sure.”

Even after returning to the accommodation, it still had a shabby appearance. Classic maxims such as ‘One God, One God, One God’ (日新又日新) and ‘A great friend is the best’ seemed to have no connection with the village lodgings. Sanyeo occupied the bed and asked me while lying down.

“So, why did you give me time to think? I thought you would make the decision right then and there. Because I was putting pressure on you mentally, you were able to get the answer you wanted quickly.”

I shook my head at Sanyeo’s words.

“Because it’s a plan that can be ruined at a moment’s notice. We need to allow the other party to make decisions carefully. She’s a woman who writes ledgers. I’m sure my brain will work well when it comes to calculations.”

I said, tapping my temple. Sanyeo unconsciously tried to imitate my actions, but when she felt her hands being raised by the handcuffs, she pouted her lips. I lowered my hand and continued.

“If you were to weigh between Munju, who doesn’t treat you well, and me, the choice you would make is obvious.”

Sanyeo blinked and asked back.

“How can I trust you?”

I shook my head and laughed. Sanyeo saw me smiling and shrugged her shoulders. It seemed like she was just asking this question.

“What will you do if you don’t believe it? He is the only one who understands the financial flow of the Hongryun faction, and if I just wanted money, he would understand that there would be no need to invest in such a trivial play while all his students were drinking. Is there anything else other than believing? If you tell a crazy man who cuts off his leg because he’s scared that his daughter who did nothing will leave him, that a suspicious person has come to visit, will he cut off your leg this time? She has no choice. Do you just live like this? Do you trust me? This is it.”

Sanyeo was smiling silently. I didn’t like the expression on his face, which seemed like he was listening to my story seriously, but also as if he was listening to my nephew’s playground adventures. I stopped talking and looked at her.

“What is it? What is that expression?”

“It’s an expression of thinking about the fate of heaven.”

Sanyeo spread her handcuffed hands wide and made calyxes. I laughed out loud at the absurdity of her behavior, and pushed her down with my foot and said,

“Come to the side. I’ll sleep too.”

She pushed her hips back and stood up. Then he opened his eyes and spoke in a teasing tone.

“Oh my, are you planning on sleeping in the same bed with me?”

Of course, I wasn’t lucky enough to be subjected to such obvious teasing. I ignored her coy gaze and said, pulling the blanket over me.

“Then you sleep on the floor.”

Sanyeo seemed to be pressing down on the blanket with her body weight, but when I applied strength, she immediately relaxed her body and made it easier for the blanket to be pulled away.

“Have a night out.”

I said, covering myself with the blanket.

“Let’s sleep quickly. I have to go again tomorrow night.”

“Yes. Yes.”

It seemed like Sanyeo had no intention of continuing this joke. When I didn’t accept it, she fixed the remaining pillows and laid down side by side. I closed my eyes, listening to her soft breathing as a lullaby.

******

The woman’s name is Seon Seon (仙姑).

Munju took the name of Seonjeon from Ha Seon-go (何仙姑), one of the Eight Immortals. He wanted to bring a miracle to the world and become a smart person like her.

“Ha… .”

However, the old days of hoping for each other’s well-being and a bright future have already become as meaningless as the immortals in folk tales. Her father, who was confident that she would become a good person, turned into a vicious person who became the leader of the Hongryun faction and committed evil acts.

After his wife left, he developed a disease that made him suspicious of his family, so he cut the tendons in Seongseon’s legs, making it impossible for him to walk, and he often belittled her talent, which he praised when she was young, and insulted her for being incompetent.

The moment when I had to endure one-sided swearing and obsession without being able to move.

What soothed her heart. Jayoung was a simple young man who worked in this clan.

Jayoung was a man who grew up in this rural village and worked there since the Hongryun Sect first formed. Ja-young, who was a slovenly boy when he first entered the clan, became a worker who did his part in his own way, and his strong arms and simple personality captured the hearts of the female servants.

Ja-young was always concerned about sentencing. Although he couldn’t pay any attention to him because his father had gone crazy, Ja-young, who always showed him a smiling face and treated him kindly, made him worry about the sentence.

However, Seongwon never thought about his love story or marriage with Jayoung. Because that was impossible as long as my father was alive. It was obvious that if Moon-ju found out while being close to Ja-young, Ja-young would be beaten to death, and her life, which was at least free to breathe, would become even more hellish.

“Lady. What troubles… . Do you have any?”

As Seongwon sighed, Jayoung, who was carrying luggage, carefully asked a question. He had sweat on his forehead and his clothes were dirty. Senseon looked around once and then looked at Jayoung and said.

“No. It’s okay.”

“If anything happens, please tell me. I will do my best to help you.”

Jayoung said that and pounded her chest. In the past, I would have admired that confident look. My heart would have gone. Jayoung was like a shade found on a plateau. You can lean back for a moment and regain stability, but you cannot settle there.

In the face of the wall of reality, Seonjang could not show affection for him or ask him for help. Because I know Jayoung can’t do anything. Because he knows that it is impossible for a village man who has never learned martial arts, written or written letters, and has never been outside the village to support himself when he cannot walk.

Because I knew that even escaping from this village was impossible.

“It’s nothing. I was just lost in thought for a moment.”

“It’s amazing and amazing that she always seems to think things I don’t know about. Since I don’t know how to read, I get dizzy just looking at the book you’re writing.”

Jayoung said that while scratching her head. Ja-young wasn’t the only one like this. All poor rural people who had difficulty visiting coffins lived like self-employed people and died as farmers or workers.

In Seonjong’s mind, Jayoung’s image and the unknown man who appeared last night overlapped.

[I need the buildings and influence of this sect. And you are a person who understands the flow of money by writing down the ledgers of this sect, and knows what transactions have been made so far. And no matter what the lord thinks of you, you are the rightful and only heir of this sect.]

He spoke about the future in a strong voice, confident that it would make him better off than he was now. His arms were strong with prominent muscles, and his relaxed appearance and energy radiating from his body made me feel that he was a person who had learned something.

However, he was also a suspicious person whose identity was unknown.

“Ah, then I have to go to work, so I’ll go.”

While Seonjong was thinking, Jayoung turned around and said she would go back to work. Seonjong called Jayoung without realizing it.

“Hey, Jayoung.”

“Yes, yes! Lady!”

Jayoung’s eyes sparkled at the fact that Seonjong had called her. Senseon thought that Ja-young looked like a puppy whose name was called.

And suddenly a thought occurred to me.

perhaps.

Still, even if it wasn’t such a suspicious request, wouldn’t it be possible to live in a different way with Ja-young? If I hold on a little longer, wouldn’t it be possible to see another option?

Even if life is difficult now, wouldn’t it be possible to go in a different direction if we live by relying on self-reliance just a little bit?

It was the moment when she was about to say something to Jayoung.

A shadow passed before my eyes.

At the moment when I thought I had seen something in vain, the shadow took on the shape of a person and became a giant wearing a uniform.

A man in a uniform came between the two and kicked Ja-young in the side and shouted.

“What are you doing, you bastard! Didn’t you hear me tell you to go to work?”

“Evil!”

Ja-young, who had not learned martial arts, flew away helplessly even with a simple kick. Seeing him rolling around on the floor, Seonjong could only blink and not even scream. The man, who was one head taller than Jayoung, looked down at Jayoung and said.

“This bastard says he’s good at his job, but then he’s acting like a bully… . Do you think that if you work here for a few years, you will become the owner of something? Huh?”

“Oh, no… .”

The man pushed Jayoung’s head with his foot, and Seonjong shouted because he could not stand the man’s behavior.

“Stop it! Do it in moderation!”

The man pushed Jayoung, who was coughing, once more with his foot.

“Qu… !”

The man also saw Ja-young stand up in a hesitant posture and then turn around with even her ears stained red. He spoke without even looking at the sentence.

“Lady. Can’t you see that we’re educating the slave now? It’s not the lady’s business to interfere.”

The sentence was silent. Jayoung stood up in a hesitant position, holding her side, and the man gestured to Jayoung and said.

“Hey, get out.”

Jayoung bowed her head to the man. The man shook his head because he received the expected greeting, and only then was Jayoung able to run away.

The man said as he watched Jayoung limping away. His attitude felt more like he was facing an annoying annoyance than when he was dealing with Moonju’s daughter.

“Lady. Don’t be such a big ass bitch. How nice it would be to just quietly write down a ledger or dictation. Yes?”

The sentence did not swear or become agitated with insults.

Her heart actually grew cold.

The words of the man I met last night echoed in my quiet heart.

[I understand that you don’t trust me, but are you really going to live like this?]

I can’t live like this.

It was foolish to hope for even a moment.

Here.

It’s hell.