In Search of a Nanny (3)
Thud.
"Have this."
"……"
"Ahem. This is all I have to offer you."
Gwangpae set down a roughly carved wooden bowl of water in front of the woman. In all his life, he had never once played host to a guest, but he did remember that whenever he himself had been the one receiving hospitality, the other party would usually bring out tea or wine.
Of course, there was no chance that a manor where men lived day to day on whatever came their way would have anything so refined on hand. The gesture was nothing more than a half-remembered notion thrown together for the sake of appearances.
Thankfully, the woman expressed her gratitude even for the single cup of water placed before her.
"Thank you. I'll drink it well."
"Excuse me."
"Yes?"
Heukpyo, who had abruptly called out to her from the side, was holding the baby in exactly the posture she had demonstrated and wore a puzzled look.
"Is it fine to just keep holding him like this?"
"……"
"Wouldn't it be more comfortable for him to sleep lying down, or…… something like that……"
At the oddly hesitant, creeping tone of his voice, the woman bit down on her lips to keep from laughing.
When she had first laid eyes on him, she had thought he looked exactly like a mountain bandit—so watching him awkwardly cradle a baby and fidget was genuinely amusing.
"The way you hold a baby changes depending on the situation. Before I leave, I'll teach you how to hold him so you can lay him down to sleep."
"Much obliged."
Heukpyo bowed his head as he answered her, earnest to a fault.
Aside from feeding time and diaper changes, it was Heukpyo who spent the most hours with the baby in his arms. Gwangpae was too busy groaning over deciphering the secret manual, while Seokdu and Baek Ryeong had each taken charge of the cooking and the laundry.
As a result, the baby often found himself wailing without ever understanding why, and no matter how they tried to soothe him and lull him back to sleep, nothing worked. It had been giving them all splitting headaches.
And now, to witness the novel sight of the baby sleeping soundly in his arms even though the Sleep Blood acupoint had never been pressed……!
"Ahem."
Gwangpae cleared his throat, seeking to restart the conversation that Heukpyo's interruption had cut short.
"You said you came to see the room yourself, rather than by the Hundred Men Association's referral?"
"Yes."
The concentrated gaze of the Dark Sky Four Monsters was a little intimidating, but the woman nodded with a somewhat calmer face than before.
"The notice said you were looking for someone to serve as a wet nurse or a surrogate. It said only those confident in their stamina should come……"
"……Stamina?"
"……Isn't stamina the bare minimum when you're hiring someone?"
"……"
"That way you can put them to lots of work, you see……"
"AHEM!"
Gwangpae cut off Heukpyo's floundering speech and resumed the conversation himself.
"You don't look all that old, but…… have you done much wet nursing since you were young?"
"Er…… no, I've never worked as a wet nurse."
"Then……"
"I've been in service since I was young, though—working as a maid and a housegirl here and there. I practically raised my younger siblings myself, too."
"Oh-ho, is that so? And did all of them grow up to be ordinary?"
"Er…… what do you mean by ordinary?"
"I mean, did none of them turn out to be Unorthodox or Ortho—ah, that is to say, did none of them become an especially wicked person, or an especially righteous one?"
"Ah…… n-no, I don't think so. They all grew up ordinary."
"Then that's fine."
Seemingly satisfied with her answer, Gwangpae nodded and spoke.
"Tomorrow…… no, if you're willing, I'd like you to start today, right now. As for the pay——"
"E-excuse me!"
"Hm?"
"Forgive me for interrupting, but……"
The woman cut him off urgently, took one slow, steadying breath as if to steel herself, and spoke.
"I…… I don't think I can work here, after all."
"……What did you just say?"
As Gwangpae's expression hardened and his voice dropped, the woman flinched, hunching her shoulders and stammering on.
"N-no, it's just…… it's too far from my home……"
"Don't concern yourself with that. If need be, we'll buy you a horse, or come and fetch you every time."
"And…… and…… I'd need quite a lot in wages, too……"
"Pay is nothing to worry about either. I may not look it, but I'm not short of money."
In truth, the concept of money was somewhat hazy to the Dark Sky Four Monsters.
Whenever they visited some suitable Unorthodox sect or gang, the members would hand over gold ingots of their own accord, telling them to spend it as pocket money—enough to keep them living comfortably for years at a stretch.
And on the rare occasion they needed a sum too large for the money in their hands to cover, all they had to do was pay a visit to whichever force in the region held the most wealth, and 'assistance' would flow freely.
"How much do you need? Name it, and I'll match it exactly."
"No, that's…… um……"
At Gwangpae's unexpectedly eager response, the woman bowed her head low.
How could she possibly say, to their faces, that she had no wish to work alongside men who looked dangerous at a glance?
Sensing her hesitation, Gwangpae spoke with a trace of frustration.
"Is there some other reason? Tell me anything at all. I'll resolve it for you."
"……It's not that I didn't notice."
"Hm?"
"You said you were looking for someone to care for the baby, so I…… I just assumed you weren't p-people of the martial world."
Unable to bring herself to say the words 'Unorthodox' or 'mountain bandits' aloud, she conveyed her meaning in the most softened phrasing she could manage.
"I-I'm sorry. I just…… don't want to work with dangerous people. N-not that I'm saying anyone here is dangerous, but……"
"You mean you'd rather not form ties with men around whom anything might happen at any time…… is that it?"
It was a question from Gwangpae who had understood precisely what she was trying to say.
At that, the woman wavered for a moment before finally bowing her head low.
"Hahh……"
Gwangpae let out a sigh and closed his eyes at her silence—which was, in effect, an answer.
Truthfully, he had known all along.
He had known why the women who came this far had all fled without ever setting foot inside the manor.
It was a den of Unorthodox martial artists who looked neither normal nor safe even at a passing glance. For an ordinary young woman to work in such a place could hardly be anything but difficult.
Just as she was stealing nervous glances at Gwangpae in the heavy silence——
"Well…… very well."
"……Pardon?"
"Go home. I can't force someone to work who doesn't want to."
"Ah……"
"B-Big Brother."
Heukpyo called out to him, flustered by Gwangpae's unexpectedly levelheaded reply.
Gwangpae understood perfectly well what that call implied, but he shook his head firmly.
"Haaaah……"
Heukpyo slumped his shoulders and let out a long sigh at this unmistakable refusal.
The disappointment was plain on the faces of Baek Ryeong and Seokdu as well.
Seemingly unwilling to let the heavy atmosphere drag on any longer, Gwangpae rose to his feet.
"I'll see you out."
"Y-yes?"
"Why so startled? You do have to go home, don't you?"
"Ah…… yes."
Having never imagined he would release her this easily(?), the woman rose to her feet with a dazed look on her face.
Then, as if something suddenly occurred to her, she hurried over to Heukpyo and spoke up.
"W-wait a moment…… hand me the baby, please."
"Hm?"
"You asked me to teach you how to hold him lying down, didn't you?"
"Ah…… right."
"I'll show you. Give him here, please."
"Th-thank you."
"Now, watch. You slide your arm in between his neck and his head like this……"
The stiffness of moments ago had vanished entirely; she was calm and meticulous now, teaching him each step with care.
Only after she had Heukpyo actually hold the baby and corrected his posture did she nod with evident relief.
"There. If you hold him like that, you'll be fine."
"Th-thank you very…… much!"
"Um, I have a question too…… no, wait, I also have something to ask."
"Er…… what is it?"
"Sometimes he spits up after eating."
"What position do you hold him in when you feed him? And what do you do afterward?"
"Well, we hold him like this and——"
After Heukpyo, Seokdu asked about the things he had been curious about, and Baek Ryeong followed with questions about feeding him solids.
Watching the woman answer every question about the baby with the same grave, thorough attentiveness, Gwangpae's gaze deepened.
"Y-you really didn't have to walk me all the way here."
"You said your home was far, didn't you? It's far too late in the day for a frail woman to be wandering about alone."
"I'm not that frail……"
"Well…… suit yourself."
She seemed timid and fragile, yet there were moments when she looked remarkably strong-willed.
Even now, she hemmed and hawed while still saying everything that needed saying.
Thinking her a rather fascinating woman, Gwangpae matched her pace and walked alongside her.
His heart wanted nothing more than to scoop her up and dash off with her, but every experience until now suggested that women did not much care for being moved about in that fashion.
And yet——
"Your home is rather far, is it?"
"I-I told you it was far, didn't I?"
"I nearly took that for an excuse. Frankly, I suspect it was exactly that."
"……I'm just not going to answer that."
"You don't deny it, though. Then I'll take it as the truth."
"Oh, honestly!"
Perhaps because the woman who had been so passive until now was getting irritated, Gwangpae burst into suppressed laughter all on his own.
She heaved a great sigh, thinking it was exactly the laugh she'd expected from a bandit chieftain.
"We're almost there now. See, up on that hill."
"You've been living in the mountains?"
"The mountains is…… that's what you'd call it when your sort lives in the mountains. I said it's on a hill."
"That's not a hill. That's a small mountain peak."
"……Think whatever you like."
Judging by her stiffening face and curt reply, she apparently did not care for the phrase 'living in the mountains'.
"Do you dislike living in the mountains?"
"……A little."
"Why? It's quiet, no one comes looking for you—what's not to like?"
"……We get teased for it. My younger siblings."
"Teased? Whyever would that be?"
"They call us poor."
"……"
"I mean…… it doesn't bother me, but when my little brothers and sisters get mocked, I can't exactly be happy about it."
Perhaps realizing she had answered a little too earnestly, she gave an awkward smile and changed the subject.
"How did all of you come to be raising a baby, anyway?"
"Someone I knew left him with us."
"Someone you knew, then……"
"He was a man I wanted to beat. At least, where I was concerned."
Past tense.
Gleaning from that word choice that something must have happened, the woman asked carefully.
"Was he…… a friend of yours?"
"Friend, my foot…… let's call him a friendly nemesis (惡友)."
"……I see."
Even as she answered, the woman believed Gwangpae was telling her a lie.
She knew nothing of who these men were or where they had come from, but at the very least, the way they had behaved with the baby moments ago was no way to treat a 'friendly nemesis' child.
How long had they been walking?
When a small house finally came into view in the distance, the woman stopped in her tracks.
"I'll go the rest of the way alone. Thank you for seeing me home."
"There's nothing to thank me for. I'm the one who insisted on walking you."
"I know. Even so, gratitude should be given where gratitude is due."
Good at her work, and courteous besides.
He thought it a shame on more counts than one, but there was nothing to be done about it.
After a moment's hesitation, Gwangpae slid a hand into the front of his robe and fished out a single pouch.
Swish.
"Take this."
"What…… is this?"
"What does it look like? You taught us how to mind the baby today, and you came all this way, didn't you?"
For her to have reached their manor at that hour, she must have left home in the very earliest hours of the morning.
Accounting for the time she would have wasted wandering, lost on unfamiliar roads, she may well have set out before dawn had even broken.
"I can roughly guess what you think of men like us…… but if there is one thing certain about us, it is that we repay our debts. You gave us help, so it is only right that we repay it."
"H-help? I didn't do anything that warrants receiving all this. And I only taught you because I wanted to……"
"Which is precisely why I'm thanking you. If it sits uneasy with you, think of it as a day's wage and take it."
"All right…… then…… I'll gratefully accept."
In the end, the woman carefully took the pouch Gwangpae held out to her.
Then Gwangpae turned away from her, and just as he was about to take his first step, he spoke.
"One more thing, if I may."
"Yes?"
"If we promised to take complete responsibility for your safety…… would you be able to come work at our manor then?"
"That's……"
"There wasn't a single one."
"……"
"We brought many women here, but you are the only one who ever held the baby even once. The only one who told us we were doing it wrong and showed us how it ought to be done."
He spoke with his back still turned, but there was no mistaking the sincerity in his voice.
When the woman found herself unable to say anything and simply held her tongue, he let out a small sigh and continued.
"You can see as well as I can—we haven't the confidence to raise a child well on our own strength. So, if your heart should change, come to the manor. Whatever terms you desire, we will meet them one way or another."
"……"
"Then…… I'll be going."
Perhaps thinking he had said far too much, Gwangpae stepped away with an embarrassed cough.
At that, the woman opened her mouth in a rush, as though trying to hold him back.
"Um——"
Fwoosh!
"……He's already gone."
The instant she thought he had taken a single step, Gwangpae had vanished from where he stood.
She stared for a while at the spot where he had been, then let out a short sigh.
They don't seem like…… terribly bad people.
And yet, the fact that they were dangerous was undeniable.
Hadn't her own parents—good, kind people—been stripped of everything by a pack of moneylenders who had worn friendly faces, until they took their own lives?
People who acted so good and decent could still, the moment money became entangled, turn around and stab you in the back when you least expected it.
……Starting tomorrow, I'll look for different work.
Dragging her feet with a heaviness she couldn't quite explain, she was struck by a sudden thought and opened the pouch she had received.
"……Huh?"
Inside the pouch, gleaming gold ingots were packed to the brim.