In Search of a Nanny (4)

"……So what you're saying is."

Heukpyo stood with his arms crossed, head cocked at an insolent angle as he stared Gwangpae down. On any ordinary day, Gwangpae would have answered that look with a kick, but now he was stubbornly avoiding his gaze, eyes glued to the secret manual in his hands.

"You're telling me…… you have no money left? You gave it all away to that woman, the nanny or whatever she is?"

"……Forget the nanny. She said no, didn't she?"

"And that's exactly the problem!"

Heukpyo leaned in close to Gwangpae, eyes flashing wide.

"You're the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠one who said we needed a nanny, aren't you? And then you go and hand over every last coin for finding the next one? Well? Explain that to me!"

"You little—! What's so hard about earning money? You just go out and rake in more, don't you!"

Gwangpae finally tore his eyes from the manual and raised his voice in warning, but Heukpyo didn't back down an inch.

"Oh, is that right? And how exactly do you plan on raking it in? Are we in Guangxi or Guangdong here? It's not as if unorthodox scum are lined up from horizon to horizon, prostrating themselves the moment they lay eyes on us!"

"What town doesn't have unorthodox folk? Worst case, we pay a visit to some underworld gang and offer to back them up!"

"Oh my, aren't you confident? Then by all means, go collect! Even those kinds of people need someone to fight with before they come asking for backing! What exactly are you planning to do in this peaceful backwater of Jiangxi, where everyone just eyes each other and—!"

BAM!

"Ugh!"

Kicked across the room at last, Heukpyo crashed into a corner, but as if this was one thing he absolutely refused to concede, he scrambled back to his feet and pressed on.

"Don't try to solve everything with violence and give me an answer! What are you going to do now? We're running low on rice as it is! How are you buying rice, and how are you finding the next nanny?"

"Hnngh……."

Under normal circumstances, Heukpyo would have let it go around here. The fact that he was pushing this far meant he was taking the situation seriously. In the end, it was Gwangpae who wilted first, letting out a groan.

"Fine, fine, enough. Tomorrow I'll go see the Hundred Men Association myself."

"Why? You going to ask those guys for money?"

"They're underworld folk too, so they'd lend it out, no? I'll borrow enough for the time being and pay it back later. Simple."

"Borrow? Do you have any idea what the interest rates of underworld gangs are like?"

"How high?"

"Uh…… well, that's……"

……The truth was, Heukpyo had no idea either. All he knew was that the rates were obscenely high, enough that ordinary folk rarely dared borrow at all.

"……Ask them when you get to the Hundred Men Association, then. Anyway, the money problem is your responsibility, Elder Brother. You handle it."

"Agh, I said I got it!"

"……By the way. Is the nanny really not coming back?"

With his exchange with Gwangpae more or less wrapped up, Baek Ryeong, who had been standing off to the side, asked in a low voice.

"Honestly, it's a bit of a waste. You did pay her all that money—shouldn't we press her to work at least a year or so?"

"No pressing. What would we do with someone forced into the job?"

"She only refused at first because she was frightened. Promise a generous reward, and she might reconsider. After all, she needs money too—why else would she have come all that way?"

"I said enough. I already dropped a hint that she could come find us if she ever changes her mind. Leave it at that."

"……Understood."

Baek Ryeong let out a small sigh at Gwangpae's answer.

Seokdu, too, mumbled under his breath, his enormous frame looking strangely deflated.

"……Have to ask again how to hold the baby and feed it."

"Didn't I teach you that just now?"

"How am I supposed to remember after seeing it once?"

"……"

"I'm no genius…… whew……"

……Seokdu.

……Genius or not, nobody forgets what they learned today by the same evening.

And it didn't look all that difficult, either.

Gwangpae debated whether to voice this, but in the end simply sighed and leaned his back against the wall.

"Well…… someone good will come along eventually."

"……Yes."

"……"

"Whew……"

Even after Gwangpae's forced words of optimism, the Dark Sky Four Monsters could only heave weary sighs of regret.

Crunch, crunch. Crunch.

BANG!

"Hm? Elder Brother. What brings you out at this hour?"

Gwangpae was up and preparing to go out at an unusually early hour. Heukpyo, strolling the manor courtyard with the baby as he did every day, turned to him in surprise.

"It's not even noon yet. Is something the matter?"

"You little…… have you forgotten already? You told me to solve the money problem, didn't you?"

"Ah, so that's why you're up?"

Heukpyo gave an awkward smile and scratched the back of his head with one hand.

"Eh, never mind. Honestly, I only said that out of frustration at your incompetence—spending all that money and still failing to bring in a single person. I'd never seriously expect you to take responsibility for the money."

"……Is that an insult or a comfort?"

"A comfort. Don't dwell on yesterday too much. I'll handle the money myself."

"Yourself? How?"

"Mount Baiyun is a fairly big mountain, no? Surely there's a bandit hideout or two hiding in a place like this."

"……You're going to rob bandits?"

"Think of it as a kind of territory fee. They're the ones doing bad things on the mountain we live on."

To the bandits themselves, this logic would have been enough to make them clutch the backs of their necks and topple over. After all, they'd been the ones to settle there first.

"……Extorting tribute from bandits isn't a bad thing, then?"

"It's fine. Don't the righteous sects raid bandit strongholds and seize their wealth all the time? No different whatsoever."

……How to put this.

Every point was somehow both completely wrong and not entirely wrong at once. Didn't the orthodox types seize loot like that and divide it up as relief funds or whatever?

'……I'd better not stand in his way.'

The Dark Sky Four Monsters' finances had mostly been Heukpyo's domain all along. Among them, he was the only one with any worldly sense and a head that actually turned over.

"Well…… do as you like."

"Yes. Going back to sleep?"

"Since I'm up anyway, I might as well pore over the secret manual a bit."

"The manual? Any progress?"

"Some, roughly. I've got the basic idea of how the fundamental forms circulate in my head, but I'll need to work through them with my own body before the feel of it really settles."

"Then try it with your body."

"I haven't mapped it out completely yet. Botch the circulation and I could end up in qi deviation. Anyway, I'll leave the money to you."

"Yes. Go on in."

And so Gwangpae, having wrapped up a rare pleasant exchange, was just turning his steps back toward the inner room when—

Thud. Thud. Thud.

"Ex-excuse meee."

"……Hm?"

"Hm?"

A woman's voice, suddenly ringing out from the direction of the gate, turned both Heukpyo's and Gwangpae's heads at once.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

"Um…… could you please come out for a moment?"

The woman called out once more from beyond the manor gate, took a small breath, and stepped back. If yesterday's memory served, standing too close to the gate brought no good. In a moment, sure enough—

BOOM!

Vrrrmm.

……Yes. This.

With a deafening crash the gate blew wide open, and the gust of wind sent her hair billowing refreshingly about her face.

Ta-daht.

"A-hem. What can I do for you?"

Blast it, it's shattered again! AGAIN! Heukpyo wailed inwardly as he gazed at the gaping hole where the gate ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠used to be.

Heukpyo's misery went entirely unnoticed as Gwangpae stepped in front of the woman.

It was the very same woman who had come to them yesterday to serve as their surrogate. As though he'd divined her reason for returning, Gwangpae twitched the corner of his mouth, eyes brightening.

"Since you've come back, I take it you've had a change of heart about the work—"

"Here."

Clank.

The woman strode up to Gwangpae and abruptly thrust out a pouch.

It was the money pouch he had handed her just yesterday.

"What…… is this supposed to be?"

"Take it back. What kind of person dumps a huge sum like this on someone out of nowhere?"

"Didn't I tell you? That's your reward for helping us that day."

"At this amount, it's not a reward—it's a bribe. Who pays this much money for that tiny bit of help?"

"Hohh……"

Gwangpae blinked, nonplussed by her reply.

Hearing the commotion, Baek Ryeong came ambling over from inside the manor, rice paddle in one hand, where he'd been cooking.

"What's all the noise out—oh?"

"Hello again. Nice to see you."

"So you've decided to work here after all?"

Baek Ryeong's eyes lit up as he asked the very same question as Gwangpae.

"Perfect timing. Come inside and help with the baby's—"

"No. She came to return the money."

Heukpyo, who had by now torn his eyes from the ruined gate, cut Baek Ryeong off.

"Look here. I don't know what sort of impression you have of us…… but do we look like third-rate underworld thugs who snatch back what they've already given?"

"I-I never said anyone was snatching! I'm the one returning it of my own—"

"Same thing."

Heukpyo lumbered toward the woman, his features contorting into a scowl.

"My point is—nobody asked you to return it, so why come all this way on your own two feet to give it back? And it's not some trifle, it's money."

"N-no, but…… it's, it's money…… I can't accept it……"

Cowed by Heukpyo's aggression, the woman's voice shrank to a crawl. Heukpyo took another step toward her and raised his voice.

"That's exactly it! It's not like we gave you garbage—we gave you money! Why on earth can't you accept it! You came here because you wanted to earn money, didn't you!"

"N-no, that is……"

"If you have no money, take the money and do the work! If you've got that much money, don't come looking for work in the first place! None of it adds up! None—hack!"

"……I apologize for him."

Gwangpae seized the back of the advancing, incensed Heukpyo's neck and hurled him off to one side, then cleared his throat and spoke.

"It wasn't meant as any sort of threat. I'm simply curious…… why return the money? We truly have ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠no need of it back."

"I, I…… meant to earn that money by doing the work. I can't accept a sum this outrageous without having done anything to deserve it."

"So again—why?"

"Because I didn't come here to beg."

"……"

Gwangpae's mouth opened and shut, at a loss for words in the face of her answer.

A timid woman, desperate for money, had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠come to the very people who terrified her most and—trembling the whole while—tried to hand their money back.

Was her pride simply colossal, fear notwithstanding? Or was she just a fool?

He turned the possibilities over in his mind, but in the end Gwangpae heaved a deep sigh and gave a warning.

"You won't regret this? We truly gave it out of gratitude."

"Yes, I won't regret it. Take it."

"……Suit yourself, then."

In truth, even though Heukpyo had promised to handle the money, Gwangpae had been carrying a quiet guilt over having spent it all himself—so he accepted the pouch she held out.

"There. Satisfied now?"

"Thank you. And, um…… there's one more thing I came to say."

"What now?"

"Well…… by any chance…… do you actually need me?"

"……Huh?"

At the woman's question, the eyes of Heukpyo and Baek Ryeong—who had been listening in on the whole exchange—went round as saucers, along with Gwangpae's own.

"I-if I'm not truly needed, I'll go back home. But…… if you wanted me badly enough to give me that much money…… th-then I think I could do the work."

"Oho……!"

Why the sudden change of heart?

But in truth, no one else would have satisfied them—she was the only one—so Gwangpae beamed from ear to ear and nodded his head vigorously.

"Of course you're needed. So you'll do it, then?"

"……Yes. But there are conditions."

"Hm? Conditions, you say?"

"Yes, they're……"

It seemed to take courage to say it, for the woman slowly closed her eyes and let out a trembling, deep breath before slipping a hand into her coat.

Then she drew out a rustling sheet of paper and held it out to Gwangpae.

"I…… wrote them down beforehand."

"You wrote them down?"

Tilting his head, Gwangpae accepted the paper and unfolded it. Heukpyo and Baek Ryeong, dying of curiosity, pressed in beside him and read the conditions aloud together.

"Huuh?"

"Huh?"

"Whaaat?"

From the mouths of the three men who had read the contract burst three different exclamations, each laced with equal parts disbelief and bewilderment.