16. Yeongsan Sect (8)
Yeongsan Sect (8)
16. Yeongsan Sect (8)
"Well then, we'll be off."
"We'll be off."
Cho-ryeong echoed my farewell to the women who had come all the way to the main gate to see us off.
"Junior Sister, do you remember what I said?"
Son Yeong checked one more time, still worried.
"Don't worry, Senior Sister Son."
Cho-ryeong puffed out her small chest and answered boldly, but Son Yeong's concern didn't fade.
"One moment, Junior Brother. You'll need a daoist robe to wear soon. When you go to the village, please buy some white cloth and black cloth as well. I'll sew the robe for you."
This was Senior Sister Lee, speaking to me just as I was about to hoist the carrying frame. This woman really could do everything. She even knew how to make clothes by hand?
"Yes, I understand. Is there anything else you need?"
"Senior Sister Son will buy the rest next time."
"Then we'll be off."
It was my eighth day since joining the Yeongsan Sect. I was finally stepping out through the main gate. Master had forbidden pleasure houses and the red-light district, but there were no other restrictions. First, I'd stop at a fabric shop in the village to buy blankets and cloth, and at lunch I'd wet my throat with some wine for the first time in a while—my steps were already light at the thought.
Come to think of it, I'd found the single drawback to a sect where everyone from my master to my senior sisters was a beautiful woman. In an ordinary male sect, on a day like this I could have treated my senior brothers to a pleasure house, raised our closeness in one stroke, and relieved my lust at the same time. Still, this sect had far more advantages than drawbacks. If restraining myself ever became unbearable, I could ask permission to go out alone and visit secretly. For now, the prospect of just enjoying wine had already put me in a good mood.
Cho-ryeong trotted excitedly behind me with steps as light as mine. She was moving quickly along the mountain path, but if she pushed herself this hard from the beginning, she'd probably tire later. I understood Son Yeong's concern. This wasn't an overnight trip. A same-day round trip meant almost eight hours of walking through the mountains. Whatever scraps of martial arts Cho-ryeong had learned, a short-legged child would struggle to keep up, and matching her pace would tire me more than usual. The others rarely left the sect and probably didn't know how exhausting mountain travel with a child could be. Son Yeong did, which was why she'd worried so much.
"Senior Sister Cho, have a seat here."
When I set down the carrying frame and spoke, Cho-ryeong's eyes went wide.
"Sit?"
"Don't you want to take a ride?"
"Uh... I was told not to act spoiled."
"This isn't babying, so it's fine."
"Really?"
"Of course."
At that, eyes brimming with excitement, she carefully seated herself on the carrying frame. When I lifted the frame onto my back and stood, her sudden high vantage point made her absolutely delighted.
"Whoa! It's so high up, Junior Brother!"
"Hold on tightly. If you fall, you could be badly hurt."
"Okay!!!"
A booming answer, just like a little child. The further eras advance, the more precocious children become. In my past life, when I was about this age, I was a total little shit, through and through—but by the time I'd become an adult in that past life, twelve-year-olds didn't seem like kids at all. In this era, earlier than those days, twelve-year-old Cho-ryeong was a little squirt who perfectly fit the words "little child." Chatting away behind me, keeping me from getting bored—Cho-ryeong. If I'd come alone, it would've been pretty dull.
"Junior Brother."
"Yes, Senior Sister Cho?"
"Senior Sister Jeong is really pretty, isn't she?"
"Of course."
Whether she was another woman or a child, a beautiful person still looked beautiful.
"So later, is Junior Brother going to take our Senior Sister Jeong as his bride?"
"That seems like it'd be hard."
"Why? Senior Sister Jeong is seriously pretty."
"That's exactly why it's hard. The prettier the woman, the more remarkable the man who suits her has to be."
"But aren't you remarkable too, Junior Brother?"
"Senior Sister Jeong would be the greatest beauty anywhere she goes, but me, I don't stand a chance."
Sadly, a woman's value depended far more on youth and beauty than on wealth or martial prowess. Jeong-hyang might be living in miserable poverty inside Yeongsan Sect now, but the moment she went down to the village, wealthy merchants, scions of prestigious families, and young experts would line up for her.
"Aw. Then what about Senior Sister Son?"
"Senior Sister Son is out of my league too."
"Why? You two are the closest, aren't you?"
"Senior Sister Son probably likes strong men."
She never stopped swinging her sword even when she could barely eat. There was no reason to think she had received more food than the others, so every training session must have left her suffering even worse hunger. She loved martial arts that deeply. Her ideal man was surely a great martial expert.
"Aren't you strong too, Junior Brother?"
"I'm weak. So later, when you become a master, Senior Sister Cho, you absolutely have to protect this junior brother of yours."
"Ugh, you're teasing me because I'm a kid."
Innocent, but not stupid. Abandoned in front of the Yeongsan Sect's gate as a baby, always having to rely on someone's care, Cho-ryeong knew better than anyone that she was a child.
"Then what about Senior Sister Lee? Master says a woman like Senior Sister Lee is the absolute best as a bride."
"If I took Senior Sister Lee away, the whole Yeongsan Sect household would starve to death, wouldn't they?"
"Hehehe. That's right, Junior Brother. So don't take our master and senior sisters away—not until I'm all grown up. When I'm grown, I'll be your bride."
It was the classic thing a little kid said about marrying her father or older brother. Just as I thought of her as a little sister, perhaps she'd begun to see me as an older brother. She had surely grown up receiving plenty of affection from Master and her senior sisters, but there was no chance those dead bastards had treated her well. Perhaps I was simply the first man who'd ever shown her kindness.
"The senior sisters I can't say, but Master is a no."
"Why?"
"Because she's my master."
"Then who is our master going to marry? Our master is really kind and pretty too, you know."
At Cho-ryeong's childish complaint, I found myself thinking about Master's future for the first time. She could manage while I remained here, but she was someone who'd struggle to survive alone as a martial artist. No matter how young and pretty she looked, she was already thirty. This wasn't the twenty-first century. In this world, she'd reached an age at which marriage was nearly out of the question. Someday I'd leave, and if her marriageable disciples were fortunate enough to marry into good households, how would Master live afterward?
"Hehehe. I really like coming out with you, Junior Brother."
Having tossed me a weighty dilemma, Cho-ryeong was already talking about something else. With her childlike, rapid topic changes, I chatted with her until, before I knew it, we had arrived at the village. Most of the Yeongsan Sect's disciples were poor country bumpkins, but I was a country bumpkin with means. It wasn't even that big a town, but this was the Central Plains after all—a bustling village beyond anything you could compare to the Jilin I'd lived in. On top of that, we seemed to have timed it well: today was market day.
Perhaps the enormous crowd had frightened her. Cho-ryeong clutched the hem of my trousers and followed cautiously. Admirable, Senior Sister. She was far more sensible than my younger sister in my past life, who once ran off alone in a large park and got lost. Then Cho-ryeong stopped and stared longingly at the stalls lining both sides of the road. Was that it?
"Senior Sister, aren't you hungry?"
"I-... I'm fine."
"I'm hungry, though."
I approached a stall, bought three sugar-coated fruit skewers and one meat skewer, and handed her two of the sweets.
"C-... can I really eat this?"
"Of course. Weren't you saying you'd marry me later? I don't like skinny women."
It wasn't really about my taste in women. Children were cutest with round, plump cheeks. Like a rabbit nibbling a carrot, Cho-ryeong put a piece of candied fruit into her mouth and wore an expression of indescribable bliss.
"O-... oh my goodness. Junior Brother! This is delicious! It's so delicious!"
"Enjoy it, Senior Sister."
As I popped the meat skewer into my own mouth and savored the rare delicacy, Cho-ryeong's face went through a myriad of expressions. In no time she'd completely devoured one. With a troubled look, she eyed the remaining one with a conflicted gaze.
"You can't take it back to the sect. It'll melt before then."
"It will? What a waste. Our senior sisters would have loved it so much..."
In an instant, Cho-ryeong went from blissful to downcast.
"We'll buy something else to bring back for the senior sisters. Hurry and eat it. If it melts, it'll be gone."
"It will?"
Sure, a little melted sugar wasn't going to make it disappear, but at my words Cho-ryeong hastily wolfed down the second sweet.
Candied fruit: fruit coated in hardened sugar. I'd tried it once out of curiosity, but it didn't suit my palate at all. When I offered my own skewer to Cho-ryeong, she looked at me anxiously.
"This one is yours, Junior Brother."
"I can't eat sugar-coated fruit."
"Then why did you buy three?"
"Instead, I'm going to order some wine for myself later. You can't drink wine either, Senior Sister Cho, so have this extra one."
After a small inner struggle, Cho-ryeong accepted the sweet I offered.
"Thank you, Junior Brother. I'll definitely treat you to something delicious later."
"I'll look forward to it."
I asked the skewer vendor for directions to a fabric shop and went there. I ordered six blankets and mattress pads—not fancy, but warm and soft. The bulk was larger than I'd expected, and I started worrying whether I could carry them with the frame, but they told me that blankets were high-quality goods normally bought once and used for decades, so an order of six all at once like this would be delivered right to the Yeongsan Sect within a few days. I was relieved.
Then the cloth. White cloth and black cloth for the daoist robe I'd be wearing from now on. Catching sight of Cho-ryeong beside me, looking around at everything with wonder, I remembered that the women's clothes were practically rags, so I added red cloth, blue cloth, green cloth. Anyway, after placing a huge order and paying twelve silver taels, the shop owner's lips practically shot up to the heavens. I'd come with a rough idea of the market prices, but even simple cloth and blankets like these were tremendously expensive compared to food in this era without developed industry. Just this alone was already far more money than what the Yeongsan Sect had requested from the Baek Clan Estate.
I stopped by the butcher and bought two geun of beef and four geun of pork. I wanted to buy more, but without a refrigerator in this place, buying too much only meant it would spoil. Lee Eun-ha would probably make something delicious with this meat. And as I'd told Cho-ryeong, I bought fruit and such for Master and the senior sisters, and with that, all errands were done.
I went to the inn I'd visited with Son Yeong, ordered three meat-heavy dishes and two bottles of peach blossom wine, and passed the time pleasantly for the first time in a while.
"Oh, this. When people from the Yongrim Escort Agency come, pass along that it's a letter from Baek Eun-hyeok."
After giving the server ten Hongwu Tongbo coins and a letter to send home, I hurried back toward Yeongsan Sect before sunset. The blankets and cloth were expensive goods, so the shop had no ready-made stock and would deliver them later. I carried Cho-ryeong on the empty pack frame on the return journey, enjoying a mild buzz from the wine while chatting with her. We reached Yeongsan Sect earlier than expected, before supper.
In front of the main gate, just as Cho-ryeong had once waited for Son Yeong, this time it was Son Yeong with a worried face, anxiously awaiting us. She spotted us and was utterly startled.
"Junior Sister Cho! What are you doing!"
"Senior Sister Son. I asked her to. I wanted to try this at least once."
I'd sent her along as a guide and here she was sitting on the carrying frame—Son Yeong's face was complicated.
"Junior Sister Cho. I told you absolutely not to make things hard for Junior Brother."
"It wasn't hard at all. You saw me carrying the sacks of rice when we first came here, did you not? Surely our Senior Sister Cho doesn't weigh more than a sack of rice."
At those words, Son Yeong had nothing to say. Cho-ryeong discreetly gauged the mood, then climbed down from the frame and into Son Yeong's arms.
"I'm back, Senior Sister Son."
"Uh... yeah. Good work, Junior Sister Cho."
"Senior Sister Son, you know what? Junior Brother bought me sugar-coated fruit. It was so delicious I thought my tongue was going to melt."
Having personally visited the Baek Clan Estate and traveled with me for some time, Son Yeong knew just how wealthy I was. She seemed to be wrestling with whether to tell Cho-ryeong, who'd been treated to sweets, that she shouldn't have, or whether to just let it go.
"Did you say thank you?"
"Yes, I did, Senior Sister Son."
At Cho-ryeong's blissfully smiling face, Son Yeong, too, ended up smiling softly.
"Oh my, I like sugar-coated fruit too, you know. We're both senior sisters—aren't you playing favorites a little too much, saying only Junior Sister Cho is cute?"
Jeong-hyang emerged with a light joke. That a peerless beauty like her—the sort you'd normally struggle to even speak to—would greet me so warmly was surely a privilege unique to the Yeongsan Sect.
"I bought fruit to bring back instead. Once the weather turns colder, I'll buy sugar-coated fruit then."
Thank goodness I had remembered the fruit. Of course, even a world this absurd didn't have plastic bags. When I handed Jeong-hyang the basket we'd bought at the market, her face filled with delight. Senior Sister Lee, the household expert, gasped when she saw the meat wrapped in paper. In an instant, the little Yeongsan Sect filled with noise and laughter.
What more was there to life? Pretty women, a cute child, a hot spring to wash away the day's fatigue, and the occasional drink and delicacy. Was this not enough to call life happy?