The Best I Can Do
The war stories I'd heard from the Crown Prince yesterday wouldn't leave my head. I'd thought about war myself, of course. As he'd said, in these grand historical novels, war was a cliché, and I'd set my sights on becoming a military officer with that in mind. But hearing about it with all those modern weapons in play made me realize just how complacent I'd been. Mortars. Machine guns. Brass casings. I could clearly picture the enemy forces dying helplessly before modern firearms. It was so vivid, I could almost smell the blood.
The Crown Prince hadn't dragged me to the warehouse yesterday just to force that scene on me. He'd given me a choice. Would I be the hero entangled in the deaths of hundreds of thousands on the front lines? Or a hypocrite in the rear with not a drop of blood on his hands?
"My lord. We've arrived."
"......"
"My lord."
"Huh, what? Why?"
"We've arrived."
Takji, who'd been leading the way, had to call out a few times before I snapped out of it. Before I knew it, I was standing in front of a fine tiled-roof house. This was the one King Sejong had granted yesterday for Eori and me to live in. The three slaves who'd gotten out of the cart with us were following behind.
"My lord. Are you all right?"
Eori, who'd been beaming as the slaves called her "madam," came over and asked. I looked at her worried eyes and shook my head.
"Yeah, just had some things on my mind."
"Shall we head back and rest, then?"
"Nah. It's our house. We gotta take a look at least."
I brushed off Eori's concern with a headshake, pulled out the key, and unlocked the padlock on the grand front gate—now our front gate. The key turned smoothly with a click, and the lock sprang open. Eori and I pushed open the gate and stepped inside, hearts fluttering with excitement.
The layout was just like Yi In-su's place. Servants' quarters flanking the gate, the main women's quarters facing the courtyard across from it, and the men's quarters laid out perpendicular to the gate.
"Whoaaa...!"
Eori's dark eyes sparkled with joy. Bursting with excitement, she dashed past me, exploring every corner of our house.
"Wow! My lord! Wouldn't it be great to plant a persimmon tree in the courtyard? Oh! There's even a cauldron left in the kitchen!"
Watching Eori innocently tour our home lightened my heart a bit. I let her scamper around for a moment, then turned to the slaves.
"Uh, um. Yeah."
The slaves granted by King Sejong were one man and two women. The man was a born government slave, a total pro. The women were sisters, three years apart, who'd become government slaves as babies due to family troubles.
"Sh-should we, cl-clean...?"
It was my first time with slaves, so my orders came out a little awkward.
"Madam. Where should we start cleaning?"
"Just... everywhere? As much as we can for now."
"Aigoo, madam. Speak casually to us. We feel uncomfortable otherwise."
"Uh, uh. R-right. Got it. Clean up, please."
"Yes, madam. We'll get right to it."
The male slave, Uncle Malbok, headed off to start cleaning, with the sister slaves Geum-ok and Eun-ok following. At twelve and nine years old, having them do chores pricked my conscience a little. As I debated calling them back, I glanced down at Takji, who was standing quietly beside me.
"What are you doing here?"
"Pardon? Are you going to make me clean too?"
"Yeah."
"No thanks. Why should I? I won't. Even if I live like a servant at the elder's house, I'm no slave."
"Ten nyang a day."
"Where do I start, sir! Just say the word!"
"You and your rotten pride."
"Hehehe! For ten nyang a day, I could trade it in for shiny new pride with change to spare!"
Takji laughed like a total sycophant, even rubbing his hands together. I ruffled his hair like I was smacking him and pointed at the sisters heading off.
"Go help them out."
"Huh? No, I like this one girl. Why make me?"
"Who said anything about matchmaking? Hurry up and help. The kids'll have a hard time cleaning a stranger's house alone."
"I'm a kid too!"
"A money-grubbing kid like you? Go help already."
"Hehe! Don't forget my ten nyang at the end! You promised!"
Takji bolted excitedly toward the sisters. That left me alone in the courtyard, and thoughts of war started creeping back in. Even during the first real battle at the Burat Rebellion, I hadn't felt this heavy. Of course not—I'd been on the defending side, the underdogs. But the war the Crown Prince was planning was different. I'd be like those barbarian prisoners that day, overwhelming the weak with superior firepower and burning them out.
"Haaaah...!"
I genuinely regretted reincarnating into this Joseon-era historical novel. Knowing full well the massacre to come, all I could do was choose whether to join in or not.
"Did I come to this Joseon in a novel just for this? What a letdown..."
I muttered something I'd only heard in the modern world and let out a hollow laugh. Maybe it wasn't hollow—maybe it was just me mocking my own powerlessness.
"My lord?"
"Huh? Yeah?"
I was staring up at the clear blue sky when Eori's voice pulled me back. She'd come to stand beside me, looking down with a worried face.
"Are you really okay? Are you feeling ill?"
"I'm fine. Just thinking, that's all."
"What thoughts could make you look so tormented?"
"Tormented? Me? Don't I look handsome?"
"Eeeh, well, you do look handsome."
"Just say no."
"No, you don't."
"Hey."
"Heeheehee."
Eori's innocent smile chased the war thoughts away, if only for a moment. But the weight in my chest lingered.
"Eori."
"Yes? My lord?"
"Uh, well."
I'd called her because she's pretty, but that didn't come out easily. Instead, I circled around to the thought that had been nagging me since last night.
"Suppose there's a tiger in the house."
"Pardon?! For real?!"
"No, not really there, just hypothetically. Say there's a tiger in our house."
"Y-yes. But why bring it up so suddenly?"
"Okay. Say there's a tiger in the house. Not right now, but it'll definitely harm us later. And we have matchlocks at home? A hundred of them? So we'd shoot the tiger with those hundred guns, right?"
"Of course, wouldn't we?"
"Ah, yeah. Even I think so."
It was too obvious a question as I said it. I paused, then tried another example.
"Okay, say there's a tiger in the forest. The villagers decide to burn the forest to catch it. What should I do? Join in burning it? Or just watch?"
"Wouldn't that be pitiful?"
"Right?"
"Don't other animals live in the forest too? They'd be so sad."
"Yeah, true. The tiger doesn't live alone."
Another flawed analogy. I racked my brain for a better one. That's when Eori straightened me right up.
"But burning the forest seems too much."
"Yeah?"
"Yes. Someone like you could take down the tiger with one shot from a matchlock, right? Then no forest animals die in flames, and the tiger goes painlessly."
It hit me like a smack to the back of the head. War would break out no matter what I did. Since it was coming anyway, the best I could do was minimize the casualties. There were over ten years until the war the Crown Prince foretold. I could rise through the ranks, become the commander, and lead to victory with minimal sacrifice.
That was the best I could do.
"Eori!"
"Kyaa?! M-my lord?!"
I couldn't hold back my joy and pulled her into a hug. Burying my face in her soft, warm chest, I whispered sincerely.
"Eori. Thank you. Without you, I'd have suffered alone."
"I-I'm glad I could h-help my lord...!"
"Yeah. Really, thank you. I mean it. Without you, I really..."
If I hadn't sorted this out, I'd have tormented myself even after the war. Eori had blown my worries away—I was so grateful.
"Urk."
A retching sound came from somewhere. I didn't need to look up from Eori's arms to know it was Takji.
"M-my lord. We're watching...!"
The cleaning slaves were seeing this too. But I didn't care. I just tightened my arms around her.
"Mmm. Don't like it? I'm staying like this."
"Ah, no, my lord, really...!"
Eori finally gave up and wrapped her arms around my back, hugging me back. I savored her warmth for a good while before letting go.
"All right! I'll help too! What should I do?!"
With my worries resolved, I was pumped and headed toward the cleaning slaves. Uncle Malbok, who was mopping the floor, waved his hands frantically.
"Aigoo! Madam, just sit tight!"
"He's right, my lord. You sitting still is the best help."
"You, come here. Time for a smack."
I turned toward Takji, who was chiming in. As Eori hurriedly tried to slip away, footsteps approached from outside the gate.
"Ahem! Come here!"
I recognized the voice.
"Y-yes! Coming!"
Takji dashed to the gate while I paused. The newcomer, guided by Takji, was Elder Yi In-su.
"Hahaha! You've really made it big!"
"All thanks to you, sir."
"What nonsense? It's all my doing!"
"A little, maybe."
"Hahaha! Such an insolent rascal!"
Yi In-su, with his servant, surveyed my house, which resembled his own. Then, as if struck by a fun thought, he asked,
"Si-jin. Do you know who lived here before?"
"No idea. Who?"
"Someone you know."
Someone I knew from Hanyang? Yi In-su was here. The Crown Prince lived in the palace. The eldest young master was in low-rank official housing.
"No clue. Whose house was it?"
"Jeong Su-dal, the guy who was a junior official in the Ministry of Works."
"Who's that—wait."
The name sounded like an otter, but a catfish face popped into my head. I recalled the bastard who'd starved the barbarian prisoners and sparked a riot.
"That bastard?"
"Haha! That's the one! He incurred His Majesty's wrath, lost his post, and he and his family became government slaves."
It was sad for the innocent wife and kids, but that catfish bastard? Not one bit. If anything, I regretted it. Damn! If I'd known he was a slave, I'd have tracked him down somehow! Wait—no, it might not be too late!
"Uh, can we, like, trade slaves?"
"Trade? You think slaves are goods?"
"Aren't they?"
"No, you fool! Have you ever seen such impudence? Slaves are people! People!"
Ah, no, I knew that. But since it's Joseon, I figured they were treated like property. They get bought and sold, so why not?