episode_0396

***

There was a tavern at the entrance to the mountain.

Some may ask who decided the entrance to the mountain.

However, because naming the nature created by God and sharing its uses was the privilege of only humans, everyone called that place the entrance.

The wooden gate, which was attached to a fence made of fir trees, was shaking in the wind.

It was now the beginning of spring, when flowers were carefully lifting their peaks, but the lingering winds of winter that had stayed in the fields were temporarily settling at the beginning of the mountain along with the guests of the tavern.

In the tavern, six men were sitting on a table. Four of them were fighting, and two were drinking some distance away.

Those involved in the fight were bundle merchants who were on their way down from Hanyang after unloading their goods.

“What, are you interested?”

A man who was drinking glanced at the fighting board, and the man who was shuffling his cards spoke up.

Normally, I would have gotten angry and asked what he was looking at, but after seeing the behavior of the man across from me, I decided to speak up.

It was because he was clearly a nobleman.

“Oh, I just took a look. Haha.”

Perhaps embarrassed that he was caught staring, the man chuckled and lifted the bottle.

“Master, would you like one more drink?”

Is that right? After all, the nobleman was right. The merchant sighed in relief.

If I offended a drunken gentleman, it was clear that something annoying would happen.

“Okay, follow along.”

The nobleman seemed to have no interest in the battle, and just stared at the alcohol filling his glass.

Clear liquor fell from the spout of the bottle with a gurgling sound.

A crescent moon was reflected on the clear surface. It was such an exquisite sight that anyone who knew the arts would have written a poem about it.

“Wow… Isn’t it really romantic to see the moon shining on a glass of wine?”

The attendant who poured the drink spoke, but the nobleman only chuckled.

“The plague in my glass, do you think I am worth two hundred?”

The nobleman swore with his curled tongue.

“I- Master. Didn’t the old man tell you to be careful with your words?”

“Even if I am careful with my words, I am still a bad son to my father. He’s just an idiot who fell into the trap of learning. They said my prenatal dream was a dragon, but I guess it wasn’t a dragon but a loach.”

The nobleman took another sip of his drink.

“Master Mongryong. You don’t need to worry too much. When has the old man scolded you for your academics? Didn’t he just tell us to keep to the standards of humanity?”

Despite what the servant said, the nobleman named Mongryong continued to drink alcohol. The redness of my face was comparable to that of ripe persimmon.

“Bangja… I appreciate the comfort, but I don’t think it will make me feel better. Pour some more alcohol.”

Mongryong said this to Bangja.

Bangja sighed and picked up the bottle. He lightly shook the bottle he was holding from side to side.

“I think I drank it all.”

“Then I guess I can order one more bottle.”

“This is already my fifth bottle. Master.”

Bangja tried to dissuade him by putting down the liquor bottle next to him, but Mongryong was adamant.

As a servant, it would be disrespectful to say anything more. Bangja did not hide his confused expression and called his wife.

“Jumo, please give me another bottle of alcohol here.”

“Sorry, but it’s time to clean up now…”

A woman with a stern look said.

“You’re cleaning up your seat?”

As Mongryong spoke with his still sloppy pronunciation, the woman looked at him with a troubled expression.

“That’s because the night is Sangun’s time.”

At Joo Mo’s words, the merchants who were fighting also cleared their place and began to enter the room.

“Sangun? You mean a tiger? A tiger comes down here?”

Mongryong asked back.

“That’s right. It’s open and close to the village, but it’s definitely the entrance to the mountain, so it’s best to be careful.”

“Hmm- I want to drink more…”

“Master, you have to climb a mountain, but if you drink too much, you will have a hard time tomorrow.”

Bangja, who received a glance from Joo Mo, cleaned up the place and took the mongryong.

Mongryong stood up from his seat, led by the hand of an attendant.

“I failed because I couldn’t even drink as much as I wanted. I failed. I failed.”

The drunkard’s lamentation did not stop even as he went to his room.

When all six men entered the room, Joo Mo cleaned up the place.

After checking the fence, the mother-in-law closed the door.

The door shook in the wind.

***

“Bangja.”

Mongryong, lying in the room, called the servant’s name.

“…….”

“Bangja. Are you sleeping?”

“I don’t sleep.”

“…Maybe I’m better off now.”

“Can’t we prepare again?”

“Do you think so?”

“That’s true in my humble opinion…”

“Okay. Go to sleep.”

“Yes, yes….”

Bangja was worried about Master’s condition. But that worry didn’t last long, because fatigue and drunkenness quickly drove me to sleep.

It was after one hour that Mongryong, who had fallen asleep similarly to Bangja, woke up to urinate.

He looked around the room with half-open eyes, but couldn’t find the bedside table.

“Ugh….”

His spirit, still struggling in the sea of intoxication, was different from usual, and eventually led him to open the door.

“It’s cold.”

My body shivered from the chilly wind of the night. He closed the door to keep his attendants out of the cold.

After sitting on the bench for a while and looking at the moon, I felt the urge to urinate again and put on my shoes.

“You can just press roughly.”

Mongryong remembered the bad smelling toilet, opened the old shaking door and went out.

There was no one watching anyway. There would be no problem even if I lay down in the grass.

I pulled down my pants and aimed the drink at the grass, and the drinks I had just started flowing out.

The falling stream of water hit the grass and made a sound.

“Ugh… It’s cold.”

After finishing urinating, Mongryong pulled up his pants and looked down to see if there were any splatters.

When he looked up after checking his clothes, two bright yellow lights appeared before his eyes.

“…Huh?”

Those were his last words.

Something heavy rushed through the night, snatched Mongryong and disappeared into the mountain.

The mountains at night were the territory of the mountains.

***

Bangja woke up to the sound of a rooster crowing, announcing a new day.

Bangja, who was pressing his head, which was aching from the previous day’s hangover, looked to the side.

An empty bed.

Bangja tilted his head and stood up.

Leaving behind the discomfort of his matted hair and stuffy mouth, he wandered around the tavern.

“Master?”

I called Mongryong to see if he had gone to the toilet, but it was one of the merchants who came out of the toilet.

Bangja’s heart sank. An ominous feeling began to build up.

“Master!”

The man who kicked down the door called the owner’s name.

“Master! Master Inho!”

The servant cried out the master’s name, but the master’s whereabouts were unknown.