How Could That Girl's Name Be... (3): The Scholar's Promise
Kongji's expression was deeply wistful.
It was as if she had never wanted to voice those words herself.
"Tomorrow at dawn?"
"Yes."
"May I ask the reason?"
If it had been any other person, they would have felt astonishment or embarrassment.
But because I knew who she was, I asked calmly.
"His lordship of the household has already granted permission for this guest, so his daughter will not rashly drive me away."
"That is…"
Kongji only fluttered her lips and said nothing.
Then, after fidgeting, she suddenly slipped out of the room and said,
"I-I'm sorry… Please treat this conversation as if you never heard it…"
"Ah."
Before I could even grab her, it had happened.
After Kongji disappeared, I sat in place and guessed what she had been about to say moments earlier.
*Most likely it had something to do with the stepmother and Patji.*
Otherwise, a timid girl like Kongji would not have boldly entered my room on the very first day.
So what had brought her here?
*Fundamentally, the stepmother and Patji's personality-destroying behavior would have been aimed solely at Kongji.*
She must have known that.
When she went outside or when others were present, they did not treat her that harshly.
Therefore, the chance that they would harm me was extremely low.
"…Then why did she come here at all?"
Two possibilities came to mind.
First was that Kongji felt uncomfortable having me stay here.
But thinking of all the reactions she had shown until now… it did not seem likely.
And the second…
"…There is still something I do not know."
In other words, either this was a heavily altered original story, or the content I had in my mind was missing entirely.
In the latter case, there was some unavoidable part from the children's stories I had read as a child… but in the former case, the story would differ slightly.
In truth, even if I already knew every detail of the original Kongji-Patji narrative, I might never uncover how much of the altered part had changed.
*In reality, if that were the case… it would be better to view it as an entirely new work.*
A completely new story that only borrowed the names of the characters.
…Of course, in the current situation, speculating about that was unnecessary.
No matter how things had changed, my goal remained the same.
*Catch Kongji quickly and head straight for Hanyang.*
After all, there were still months left before the examinations began… so as long as I did not get lost, there would be plenty of time.
Since I had decided to do this, I had to complete it properly.
And so a day passed at Kongji's house.
*Knock knock.*
"My lord, did you cough?"
"…Yes."
"I have prepared breakfast."
I could not help but furrow my brows at Patji's voice, which had been ringing in my ears since morning.
It seemed she had decided to take full responsibility for me while I remained in the house.
*If I saw Patji's face and ate breakfast, I would definitely get sick.*
So I gently declined.
"It is fine. Besides, I usually skip breakfast, so do not worry about it."
"Eh? But…"
"Though I appreciate the thought, there is no need for you to come bother me with breakfast in the future."
"…Understood, my lord."
And I immediately packed a light bag and left the house.
From inside, I could hear voices discussing something, so I focused.
It was Patji holding onto Kongji.
"Even though you know, my lord…"
I could not quite make out what she was saying, but my spine suddenly grew icy.
So I bolted out and began wandering around the village.
I had risen early that morning to scout the village where many events would unfold.
"First, I confirmed the location of the gravel field, then the big house where the village festival would be held, or the valley, or the well."
All were representative sites from where Kongji was tormented.
The gravel field, as I had already seen, was where she was forced to weed with a wooden hoe, and the valley or well was where they made her pour water into a bottomless bucket.
On the day of the village festival, they would make her perform hard labor so she could not attend.
Since those were the main episodes, I had to check them in advance.
As a bonus, I also searched the village for places where Patji or the stepmother might find it easy to harass.
"There is no well, so it must be the valley. The valley is not far from the gravel field… but it is more dangerous than I thought."
The valley was not just a cute, babbling stream; it was deep enough that, if one slipped, they could drown.
If Patji were to chase her, she might even shove Kongji.
*Especially with that massive build, Kongji might be hurled away.*
But was the well any safer? No.
If Patji were so inclined, she could easily push Kongji down it.
*…Just Patji's size had been the problem after all.*
Thinking back, the locations themselves were not the real issue.
The real problem was the excessively muscular version of Patji, who looked pumped up far beyond the original.
"And the village festival will be held near the government office."
However, the government office was located on the opposite side of the village from Kongji's house.
And this village was quite large, so it took longer than expected to reach it.
"…So far, nothing particularly strange."
Overall, the feeling that the original story had been twisted was not strong.
After I finished scouring the village, I returned home and discovered Kongji was gone.
She must have gone on an errand or task.
Rather, this could actually be an opportunity.
Since Patji and the stepmother were away from Kongji, it would be easy to get an answer about yesterday's incident.
First, I confirmed it was not the valley.
Then…
I picked up the food I had left for myself and headed somewhere.
.
.
.
"Here it is."
"A scholar… sir?"
"You were weeding the gravel field with a wooden hoe again."
Startled by my sudden appearance, Kongji, who had been quietly hoeing, jumped up.
I sat casually on the large rock beside her.
"The weather is extremely hot, is it not?"
"Y-Yes…?"
"On days like this, things do not go smoothly, and even simple tasks make one irritated."
"…?"
"Yet you perform tasks that should be impossible while complaining about nothing at all. Is there a reason?"
Kongji only fiddled with the wooden hoe and stayed silent.
Looking at her now, Kongji was not just timid—she was severely withdrawn.
Having suffered repeated failures at the hands of the stepmother and Patji while confidence drained away… it seemed she could barely speak.
*All success begins with the belief that it can be achieved.*
Badly put, Kongji had a defeatist mindset.
But I could not blame her for that.
After all, the stepmother and Patji were the ones who had instilled it.
Therefore, the first thing I could do was help raise her self-esteem.
"Kongji-ssi, do you dislike me?"
"Y-Yes… Yes?! W-Why would I dislike the scholar…!"
"Yet yesterday you told me to get lost."
"Tell… tell you to get lost…! I was only thinking of you…!"
"Then."
I leaped from the rock and sat down lightly beside her.
Then, with a small smile, I said,
"Why did you run away after saying those words to me yesterday? Especially for my sake?"
"Uh, ugh…"
Startled by my sudden closeness, Kongji froze like a block of ice.
In her current state, it seemed impossible to make her open her mouth no matter what I did.
"Sigh. You make my curiosity rise, then give me nothing. Very well, shall we trade?"
"…Trade? What trade?"
"If you help me work this field, I will have plenty of time to answer your questions."
With those words, I handed her the metal hoe I had borrowed from Kongji's storage.
"Here, give me that shabby wooden hoe and use this."
"…This is my work. It would be too much for the scholar to do."
"You refuse to speak frankly but readily give your own opinion. Do not hold back."
With that, before Kongji could react, I swapped the hoe in her hand.
"Eh… Ah! M-My lord! Give it back…!"
"I will return it after we are done. Now, I will start from here, so Kongji-ssi, begin from the far end."
"That won't work…"
"Then start! By the way, the person who weeded the field more slowly will have their wish granted."
"Y-Yes…?! Ah, w-wait! My lord! It's underhanded…!"
"It is important to win, not to be underhanded!"
With those words, I placed my heungnip hat on the rock and began hoeing in earnest.
Watching my skillful movements, Kongji, who had been nervously shifting, was forced to run to the opposite end after I announced a wager.
A short while later, we began hoeing in silence.
Both started with metal hoes.
Clearly, using metal hoes allowed Kongji to weed the field easily.
I used another metal hoe borrowed from home, and the gravel smoothly yielded.
*Actually, if I wanted, I could have finished it in no time…*
But right now, recovering Kongji's confidence took priority over winning.
Watching Kongji pant as she hoed, I adjusted my pace to match hers.
After several hours, Kongji finally sat down with a thud on the rock, drenched in sweat.
"Hah… hah…"
"Kongji-ssi, you worked hard."
"The winner…"
"This… with such a narrow margin… I won."
"Ah…"
Kongji looked at the field with an expression that said, 'so that's how it is.'
She had originally planned to let me win, but her thoughts had changed.
The Kongji of today would not forget having lost even slightly.
Therefore… she needed to be reminded a little more deeply.
"Then I suppose I have received my wish, Kongji-ssi."
"That is… the scholar."
Before Kongji could say anything, I spoke first.
"My wish is that you eat this rice cake."
I held out the rice cake I had brought with me.
"…Yes?"