episode_0026

Someone once said that the mouth is the door to disaster and the tongue is a knife that cuts the body, but there was nothing wrong with that.

“Are you done?”

“···No, not yet.”

“Still?!”

“It’s not going well because you keep moving even when you’re still asleep.”

“But it tickles!”

What crime did I commit to be punished like this?

The crime of using your mouth carelessly?

Yeah, maybe so.

I thought I would have taken care of it on my own if I had just left it as it was, but I didn’t expect it to be my child’s and it was frustrating to see someone secretly upset because I thought it was So-ah’s, so I committed the crime of confessing that it wasn’t So-ah’s but that I bought it for you. Maybe you’re paying for it.

He moved his hand once again and gathered the flowing black hair into one piece. Then, I tried docking it with the headgear I was holding in my other hand… but this time, it was no easy task.

I don’t know if it’s because it was originally made to target people with hair longer than a certain level, or if it’s just a problem of not being able to move my hands freely, but this time, as always, thin hair was scattered here and there among the decorations. Because it was flowing down.

Could it be that the feeling of the flowing liquid grazing the back of my neck was so itchy that it was unbearable?

“Wow…”

Jojo, who was busy looking at himself in a mirror made of copper, made a low noise and slightly arched his neck. It looked just like a frightened meerkat, so without even realizing it, I ended up ruffling its flowing black hair with my hands.

“Oh, I can’t do it. I don’t know. Ask someone else to do it for me.”

“Why!”

“No, if you’re going to ask for a favor, you should ask someone who has done it before. Is it right to ask someone who has never tied your hair before to tie your hair?”

“Yeah, but…”

I wanted to say something more, but my words were so close to the point that I couldn’t find anything to refute. Jojo’s lips were sticking out as if he didn’t like the situation.

“Uh, I’m a patient~ Patients shouldn’t do things like this~.”

“Hmph, usually I’m always busy wondering if I’m all better or something, but I only do this when it’s like this.”

“But it’s true that it hurts, right?”

After saying that, I lay down on my back, and Jojo reached behind my back and retrieved the headdress that was hanging in an awkward manner between my hair. Then, I placed it on my palm and literally started to ‘appreciate’ it.

Although it was made quite well, in the end it was just an ornament to be worn on the head. After squinting at Jojo’s appearance as if he was looking at some kind of rare relic, I suddenly remembered something and opened my mouth.

“Hey.”

“What.”

“But shouldn’t you go back soon? I heard your grandfather is coming.”

Jojo’s face, which had been frowning slightly as if he was not happy about having his ‘watching’ time interrupted, became stiff as he was spinning the headdress on his palm and laughing heartily.

As I was looking at that, I realized once again what kind of existence the grandfather suddenly appeared in the little boy in front of me one day, but I couldn’t pick up the words that had already been thrown out of my mouth a long time ago.

Because of that, it was probably a moment where only an awkward and heavy silence lingered in the room, unlike the moment before.

“···I’m going. I’m already trying to go back now.”

With a quiet voice, JoJo stood up from his seat. It was in the midst of this that an unfamiliar voice came between us.

“There is no need for that. I came here myself.”

It was a voice that was old and thin, but still powerful.

*****

‘how···.’

How did it end up like this?

I felt a tingling sensation rising from my thigh and glanced at the person sitting across from me. Then what caught my eye was an old man with a physique so strong that it was hard to believe he was a castrated eunuch.

To exaggerate a bit, the hand holding the teacup was almost the size of a bear’s paw. It may be that I feel that way more because I am now in the body of a child.

Whoop ㅡ

Is it because he has been assisting the emperor at close range for a long time? I could feel the elegance in every gesture. Even the gesture of sipping tea or the way he returned the teacup he was holding on the table was like that.

No, so why did you ask to see each other separately?

To be honest, I didn’t have any guesses. There… I didn’t have anything to say.

“Okay, did you squint enough?”

“···.”

“Then I guess I can ask you now, do you understand why I said I would see you separately?”

Although he has now retired from the front line, he was once the person who stood closest to the emperor, who was called the living power. There was no reason for such a big man to ask a child who was only five years old to stand alone.

“···I think it’s because of Aman.”

“That’s right, it’s because of that kid.”

so? No, if a five-year-old said that, shouldn’t we as adults add something more?

It must have been a moment when I was thinking that thought as the conversation suddenly stopped.

“Do you know what kind of person I am?”

“Aren’t you Aman’s grandfather?”

“That’s right, it’s not wrong, but you probably know better than anyone else that I didn’t ask that.”

The air that seemed to strangely press down on my shoulders from before became even heavier. Does this mean that you should answer straight and not spin your head unnecessarily?

“···I heard it was Mr. Bijeonghoo.”

“That’s true, that’s true, but… in the end, the essence of this Jodeung is the eunuch’s meddling.”

I didn’t know how to react to the other person’s remarks, which in some ways seemed like they were belittling themselves. So he kept silent, but maybe he didn’t care about my reaction anyway? Cho Deung picked up the teacup that was cooling on the table, took another sip of tea, and continued speaking.

“Do you know how I was able to get to where I am now?”

“···If you tell me, I will listen carefully.”

“Because no matter who the opponent was, he always made sure to count.”

“···.”

“So… I’m worried. What should I give to you who saved my only granddaughter’s life? ”

The lights were talking to me now. If you have the bill, show it to me.

Of course… of course I kept silent. I immediately realized that this was some kind of test.

“If you want to take up a government position, I can recommend you based on your filial piety. However, it may happen after I get a little older.”

“It’s okay.”

“What about gold?”

“It may seem poor to our elders who have always seen only the best, but in fact, our family can make a decent living.”

“Then, can you at least add a woman?”

No, what is this guy talking about to a five-year-old?

Honestly, it would be a lie if I said I wasn’t even slightly shaken, but the absurdity was greater than that.

“···I think you forgot for a moment how old I am.”

“I know. Isn’t it five this year?”

“But the woman…”

“If you’re going to tell a lie, do it in front of someone you can relate to. Do you think I don’t know that you were momentarily shaken? ”

“Kuhm···.”

“Where on earth did this monster come out? I was proud to say that I have seen all kinds of strange and strange things in my life, but I have never seen a child like you.”

So what do you really want?

A strange question followed.

That’s why I gulped and swallowed without realizing it. That’s because I realized it the moment I heard those words. Now is the time to speak up.

“···I want to learn martial arts.”

“Just attaching a bridge is not that difficult.”

“What I really want to learn is not the widespread martial arts… but Uicheon Martial Arts. I want to learn Uicheonmu.”

Uicheonmu is said to be a martial art that can reach the sky.

Based on this world view, it is one of the four major sagi martial arts and the home martial arts of the Jo family.

At my comment about it, a smile spread across the face of Cho Deung, who had a grandfatherly face that seemed a bit strict but seemed like a good person. Even so, I couldn’t rest assured.

That thing that is currently sitting on Cho Deung’s face does not mean that he is happy, but it is closer to something that one would make when looking at something very laughable.

“I won’t ask where you picked up that name, but… you are too greedy. It’s too much.”

“You said you always counted correctly.”

“The way you say that now, I guess you already know that your demands are excessive.”

“Then how about doing it this way?”

I swallowed again while receiving a look that seemed to be telling me to say something. For a moment, the thought of using a hint arose in my head to tempt me if I couldn’t decide, but I shook my head and shook it off. If you think about the case of the lion or the human, there was no guarantee that the current hint would definitely work on the other person, perhaps after it was strengthened a little more.

Moreover, isn’t the person I’m dealing with now a monster in politics who enjoyed power in the imperial palace called Bokmajeon for decades and even succeeded in retiring? So maybe… we might already be prepared for that.

That’s why I chose it.

“···I will become the sword of Aman and Cao Cao.”

The correct method, not the expedient method.