Clashing with the Fourth Squad (1)
The hunting dogs barked wildly. “Woof woof woof! Woof! Woof woof woof!”
Around the bandit camp’s barracks, two members of the Fourth Squad were dragging a pair of straining hounds toward the cages when they spotted Hyunwoo returning from outside the mountain stronghold. Their gazes were openly displeased.
Given how often Hyunwoo had been clashing with their leader lately, it was only natural they wouldn’t look at him kindly.
“Boss, that bastard’s been slipping out every morning and evening these days, don’t you think?”
“You noticed it too? Every time I see the prick, he’s either coming back into camp or heading out.”
“Maybe he’s stashing some treasure out there in secret?”
“You idiot. If it was treasure, would he go check on it every single day? You hide it good and only visit once in a while.”
“Then what the hell is he doing?”
Far off, Hyunwoo suddenly turned his head in their direction. The two men cleared their throats and quickly looked away, pretending to calmly lead the noisy dogs toward the cages.
“Should we tell the squad leader?”
“About what?”
“You know. If we dig around, maybe we’ll find something big. There’s gotta be a reason he’s running out there every damn day.”
“A woman, maybe?”
Their eyes narrowed into sly crescents, gleaming with lewd interest.
“Now that you mention it, that pretty-boy face of his probably gets him plenty of tail.”
“You think he’s already slept with every woman in the bandit group?”
“Boss, I’ve been asking around lately, but I haven’t heard any rumors like that yet.”
“What? None?”
“Doesn’t look like he’s touched any of them.”
“Is that bastard impotent? With a face like that, he’s living like a damn monk? Ugh, pathetic. If it were me, I’d have already flipped up the female boss’s skirt.”
“Hehehe. Just hearing it gets me excited. Gotta taste the female boss’s insides before I die, you know?”
The two men continued their foul, gutter-mouthed conversation with gleeful energy.
“If he really is hiding a woman, I get first dibs. I gave up the first turn last time.”
“Like hell you do. The squad leader will decide the order, you moron. You think throwing a tantrum will get you anywhere? Besides, we don’t even know yet. It might not be a woman.”
“If it’s not treasure and not a woman, then what?”
“Hmm……”
One of them thought hard, then suddenly flicked the other on the forehead.
Thwack!
“Ow!”
“How the hell should I know? Why are you asking me?”
“Then instead of guessing between ourselves, let’s go tell the squad leader and have him look into it. Find out why that Hyunwoo bastard keeps going outside so often.”
“Think we should? Yeah, that sounds good.”
The two men, perfectly in sync, cackled as they hurriedly dragged the hunting dogs away.
After two full weeks of effort, the traps and snares were finally complete.
They had been set up for Dana’s safety, but on another level, I felt like a fisherman who had cast his line into the sea. There was the thrill of the hunt, too. I was secretly curious what random prey might get caught.
Unfortunately, that curiosity had turned into a daily habit of going out to check them. Just like the excitement of feeling a bite on the line, I had developed a taste for checking my traps. The suspense of wondering what might have been caught kept me up at night during the first few days.
When nothing was there, I’d scratch my head and turn back. But if a rabbit or raccoon or anything at all had been caught, my fists would clench without me realizing it, a rush of joy surging through me.
While I was learning the joys of hunting and spending my days in a daze, I had grown a little closer to Dana. Today, after checking the traps, I returned to the cave and started organizing the four-drawer cabinet.
There wasn’t any special reason for suddenly tidying the drawers. Lately, after becoming more comfortable with Dana, I no longer left right after meals. Instead, we’d spend a little time together—like having tea. During those short moments, I would either talk nonstop or clean up the cave for no particular reason.
Still, being with Dana, who wasn’t a bandit but an ordinary person, put my mind at ease. For the time we were together, I could forget, even if just briefly, that I was a bandit.
In short, spending time with her was healing the heart that had been rotting away bit by bit from this bandit life.
Since she barely spoke, organizing the drawers gave me something to do.
All the items in the cave had been left exactly as Phelton had kept them, but I had never really looked inside the cabinet drawers before. I opened them one by one and examined the contents.
Most of it was junk—adhesive tape, cigarettes, pens, and the like. In the third drawer, I found several pencil sketches of people.
Among them was an unfinished drawing of my own face. It was only half done, but I could feel Phelton’s heart in it. A wave of emotion hit me, and a warm smile rose to my lips.
I set my portrait down and looked through the others.
“Marcus, Harry, and… hmm? Who is this woman? And who’s this man?”
Besides the sketches of Marcus and Harry, there were portraits of people I had never seen before. I didn’t know who they were, but I could make a rough guess.
Judging by the numbers written in the bottom-left corner of each portrait, one thing was clear: they were all dead.
Parald Fucker (Ftz. 320. 12. 13 — 336. 8. 30)
Isabella Sarimari (Ftz. 313. 5. 21 — 338. 3. 3)
George Furkenberg (Ftz. 301. 6. 15 — 339. 6. 1)
Ftz was probably short for Franz. People always said the current year was Franz Calendar year 340.
“Could they have been former members of the Fifteenth Squad…?”
It was just a guess, but it felt right.
I set the three portraits down and picked up the ones of Phelton and Harry. Their drawings didn’t have the year of death written yet. It felt better to record it properly rather than leave it unknown, so I took out a pencil and filled them in one by one.
As I wrote the numbers, I had to swallow the lump in my throat over and over.
Phelton (Ftz. 305. 11. 2 — 340. 7. 16)
Harry (Ftz. 308. 2. 9 — 340. 7. 16)
After finishing, I stared blankly at the numbers 7 and 16 for a long time. Really, I still couldn’t believe it. It had only been two months ago.
“Huh…?”
Maybe it was because I hadn’t thought about Phelton and Harry in a while, but my eyes grew hot and tears finally spilled over. They fell so heavily I couldn’t stop them. I tilted my head back, staring at the ceiling, and wiped my eyes with my sleeve.
“What the hell am I doing…”
What a pathetic sight in front of Dana. I looked at her with tears still clinging to my lashes, forcing a smile as if nothing was wrong.
“Dana, have you ever lost someone precious to you?”
“……”
Dana slowly blinked, meeting my gaze. She stayed like that for a moment, then, without warning, a single tear rolled down her cheek.
I was startled. So she had lost someone precious too. Family? Friend? Spouse? Questions flooded my mind, but what surprised me more was how quickly the tear had fallen. It was almost admirable. That person must have been truly dear to her.
“Everyone carries at least one painful memory. I asked a pointless question. Sorry.”
I gathered the sketched papers and quickly put them back in the drawer. Dana wiped her tears with the back of her hand. Thankfully, she didn’t cry like I had. She let one quiet tear fall and stopped. I had been worrying about how to comfort her after making her cry, but she handled it herself. I felt secretly grateful.
After that, to lift both my gloomy mood and hers, I turned into a chatterbox again. Talking a lot really did make me feel refreshed inside. In contrast, Dana kept her lips tightly sealed.
Wasn’t it frustrating for her? From the way she had shed that tear earlier, it seemed she had a heartbreaking, sorrowful story. If she kept living without saying anything, she’d end up with depression someday. Stress needed to be released right away—like how I did it, through talking.
“I’ll be going now.”
I fastened the shackle around Dana’s ankle, left the cave, and headed back toward the stronghold. A thought suddenly occurred to me.
Maybe the reason Dana didn’t speak was because of the shock of losing someone precious. She had once said she had nowhere to return to. Perhaps that precious person had been her family? She looked around my age, so she probably wasn’t married. Maybe her parents or siblings.
“Long time no see, Hyunwoo!”
As I entered the stronghold entrance, Freyr was standing there with both hands in his pockets, smiling. Had he been waiting for me this whole time?
“Where have you been?”
“Just went out for some air.”
“You’ve been going out a lot lately.”
“Have I? Didn’t notice.”
I gave a short reply and walked past him into the stronghold. Freyr followed behind. So he hadn’t been standing there for no reason—he really had been waiting for me. Did he have something to say?
With both hands still in his pockets, Freyr hopped along and fell into step right beside me.