Fugitive (2)
The fugitive said to me, strutting about proudly.
"You'll have to give it your all. If you don't want to lose your famous nickname to me."
"Hoo."
I let out a sigh.
Fine, whatever. As long as he's satisfied.
He'd realize soon enough that he'd just made a fool of himself, so there was no need to point it out right now.
No matter how much I explained it, would it even get through to him properly?
"Hahaha. I'm late, I see. In that case, may I get a share too?"
"Go ahead."
And if I burst his bubble now, I wouldn't get my free meal.
No matter how much money I had, a free meal from a willing sucker with no strings attached was something I had to take.
The next morning.
We came down to the inn's first-floor dining hall for breakfast.
"Did you sleep well?"
"Yes. The bedding is so comfortable, as expected."
"That's our inn's pride and joy. Hahaha."
At that moment, the fugitive came down wearing a hood.
His martial art had turned the top of his head blue, so he was hiding it.
The fugitive was something of a celebrity, after all.
Thanks to that, none of the inn's guests recognized him.
"Good morning."
"Yes."
Last night, he'd had to pay quite a bit for dinner. He'd treated quite a few people to free meals.
Our group was included among them.
"Let's sit over there."
We took our seats. It was a spot screened off, not easily visible from outside.
Of course, we'd paid extra, but a group wearing swords could intimidate the other guests.
As we waited for our ordered food, a voice came from behind.
"We ate well last night for once."
"Yeah. Got to eat fancy stuff we never expected. Ate so much I don't even want breakfast."
"Then why'd you come down? Sleep more."
"Still gotta eat something to get through the day."
"True."
"By the way, I heard something yesterday about a contest to build up one's reputation as a swordsman or something?"
"Ah, so that's why he bought dinner last night?"
"Must be."
"Should've milked him for more."
"Still, we got a good free meal thanks to that idiot."
"And he was thrilled, thinking he'd built up his swordsman reputation."
"What? Aigoo!"
At those words, the fugitive's face darkened dramatically. Few could stay calm hearing themselves called a fool.
He'd realized his own stupidity faster than I'd expected.
"You bought dinner last night, so I'll cover breakfast."
He bit his lip at my words, then asked me,
"What did I do wrong?"
Oh...
Maybe he wasn't as dumb as I thought.
To ask me that directly.
I explained straightforwardly.
"The swordsman reputation I envision comes with desperation. Yesterday, among the people at this inn, was there anyone going hungry?"
"..."
The fugitive couldn't respond.
This inn we were staying at was upscale, with prices to match its facilities.
No one starving would even consider staying here.
"That's why it was pointless."
"Then why didn't you tell me last night?"
"Words needed by someone don't help those who can't feel the need, and just breed resentment. If I'd advised you then, you'd have dismissed it as petty jealousy."
"..."
Just then, our ordered porridge arrived, ending the conversation.
I turned to glance at the people gossiping about the fugitive.
Their attitude wasn't ideal, but I had no intention of scolding them.
Liking freebies was human nature.
But one thing to remember: nothing in this world was truly free.
It always left at least a faint debt in the heart, and that would inevitably come into play somehow.
That's why I was buying the fugitive breakfast.
And breakfast was cheaper than dinner.
We hit the road again.
To reach Boryong Mountain, home of the Jegal family, the fastest route was to cross the river from Kaifeng and take the land route.
Kaifeng was a bustling city, so the official roads were well-maintained.
As we followed the road, we saw people gathered in one spot, buzzing.
What was going on?
We approached.
"What happened?"
One of them replied,
"A carriage up ahead rolled off the cliff."
"What?"
The road we needed to pass was carved into the hillside.
Wide enough for two carriages to pass, even.
"The horses suddenly went berserk, they say."
Beside them, people who seemed to be with the carriage were wailing or stomping in grief.
"Then shouldn't we rescue them quickly?"
"But the cliff is too steep."
I glanced down the cliff.
Definitely...
Unless you were a skilled martial artist, going down would be tough.
As I looked below, voices from the crowd reached me.
"Falling from this height? No way anyone's alive."
"Right."
"Tsk tsk, such a shame."
Huh? Wait.
I flinched at the faint energy I sensed below.
Someone was alive.
Others might not notice, but my sensitivity to energy from the Taeeum Binghae Divine Art let me feel it.
This was unmistakably human energy.
Human and animal energies were fundamentally different.
"Someone's alive."
"Pardon? What do you mean?"
"There's a survivor."
The guards looked shocked and asked back.
"I-Is that true?"
"Yes."
I immediately took off my outer robe and handed it to Palgap.
"Gasp! You're going down that cliff now?"
I nodded at Palgap's question.
"Yeah."
"It's dangerous."
"Of course it is. But if we can save them, we should."
A Myeongjong warrior spoke up.
"I'll follow."
"You sure?"
"The skill to climb Huashan cliffs hasn't rusted away yet."
"Then I'm counting on you."
"We'll come too."
I shook my head at their words.
"Only the Myeongjong warrior and Jin Yu warrior follow me. The rest wait here."
"Understood."
People from the fallen carriage approached me with desperate expressions.
"Please."
"We're begging you!"
Then the fugitive said,
"Unfortunately, I'll yield this turn to you."
What the hell?
Yield? In saving a life?
This bastard's pissing me off.
I said coldly to him,
"Don't confuse priorities."
And began descending the cliff.
The fugitive watched Eun Seo-ho descend the cliff.
He'd planned to yield this turn to Eun Seo-ho.
He'd gotten advice that morning, and wasn't it fair to take turns?
So he'd said he'd yield, but Eun Seo-ho's face hardened.
In that instant, the fugitive felt a bone-chilling fear, like his whole body was freezing.
A presence he'd only felt from his deceased master, now emanating from Eun Seo-ho.
And he said coldly,
Hearing that, he could only be stunned.
Saving the person came first; the contest later.
Only then did he realize his mistake.
He'd been so fixated on the contest that he'd forgotten what mattered.
His late master's words came to mind.
"You have excellent focus for achieving goals. But you become so tunnel-visioned that you ignore your surroundings. No matter how important your goal, don't overlook what truly matters because of it. You'll regret it."
He'd made the same mistake again.
He felt ashamed.
Thud.
I landed lightly.
Finally at the site where the carriage had fallen.
Jin Yu warrior and the Myeongjong warrior followed me down.
The first thing visible was the coachman's corpse.
Even in death, he'd gripped the reins tight; his neck was broken.
The horse was dead too, throat pierced by carriage debris, blood everywhere.
I hurriedly searched where the survivor's energy came from.
"Inside the carriage! Clear the wreckage!"
"Yes!"
We quickly cleared the debris. Then we found a man and woman's corpses.
Bodies bloodied from the massive impact.
But they'd held each other so tightly that even the crash hadn't separated them.
Something was visible between them.
A hem of clothing different from theirs.
"Found it."
Did they hear me?
Their embrace loosened, revealing a child inside.
A boy of two or three.
So the dead couple were the parents.
Honestly, in a rolling carriage crash, ordinary people couldn't do much.
Only the trained could.
In that frantic accident, the father and mother had instinctively protected the child.
"The child's not breathing."
As Jin Yu warrior said, the unconscious boy wasn't breathing; his face was blue.
No external wounds thanks to his parents, but the shock from the fall must have been severe.
I quickly held the child and infused Taeeum Binghae Divine Art energy to force his meridians open and circulating.
Holding him was better for stability than laying him down, given his age.
And finally.
"Waaah!"
The child regained consciousness and burst into tears.
He'd live.
Hearing the cry, cheers erupted from above the cliff.
"You can relax now."
"Truly fortunate."
I looked at the wreckage and corpses with a bitter expression.
What would become of this child without parents?
But I shook my head.
Predicting the child's future was pointless.
No law said parentless meant unhappy.
Their desperate will to save the child had drawn me here, perhaps.
If the child endured this misfortune and grew bright, the parents would be happy in heaven.
This child I'd saved.
I'd make it so, even forcibly.
"This looks tough right now, so I'll cover your eyes. It'll feel stuffy, but I'll uncover soon."
The child nodded at my words.
I took out a handkerchief and covered his eyes. Then to the guards,
"Let's recover the bodies."
"Yes."
I sent a sound transmission to Seo-u warrior.
Soon, a sack tied to a rope descended from above.
We placed the coachman and couple's bodies in the sack, tied it secure, and sent it up.
We checked for valuables or items to take from the carriage, then strapped the child securely to me and climbed back up.
Thud.
As we reached the top, someone extended a hand.
Looking up, it was the fugitive.
"Grab my hand."
I took it without refusing.
I didn't need the help, but refusing offered aid felt wrong.
Then a woman rushed up, sobbing.
"Thank you so much for saving our young master."
"The wet nurse?"
She wiped tears and nodded.
"Yes. We're from the Beijing Seulgyeong family. The deceased are the second young master and his wife."
"I see."
I unwrapped him and draped my jeogori over the child before handing him over.
He was shivering from the cold.
"Here."
"Thank you so much."
She bowed repeatedly.
I uncovered his eyes; seeing the wet nurse, the child cried and clung to her.
The others thanked me profusely too.
"Thanks to you, we recovered the young master and lady's bodies."
"You recovered my brother's body too. Thank you."
"...?"
"The coachman was my brother."
"I see. He never let go of the reins to the end. He fulfilled his duty; you can be proud."
"Sob!"
Then someone asked,
"Could you be Eun Seo-ho, vice leader of the Eunhae Merchant Group?"
"Yes."
The crowd praised me in unison.
"As expected! That's why they call you Seonhyeopmirang!"
Ugh!
I wondered when that would come up.
"Young master! You need to put on your jeogori."
"Thanks."
I quickly donned my jeogori and outer robe.
To hide my embarrassment, I cupped my fists in greeting and tried to leave.
"Then I'll be going."
But a warrior stopped me.
"Please wait a moment. Someone from the family will come soon. Accept our gratitude."
"No need."
I shook my head.
"I'm in a hurry. And if the child grows up happy, that'll be the greatest reward."
"..."
"Even in that situation, the father and mother held the child tight to save him."
They burst into tears again at my words.
I continued,
"If the child ever feels guilt or debt for surviving alone, tell him this: It's proof your parents loved you. Use that love as soil to grow straight."
I looked at the child.
"Trees face storms not because of their fault, just as you did nothing wrong."
And grinned.
"If he still doesn't get it, send him to me."
I mounted my horse, but the fugitive stared at me with fervent eyes.
What? Why's he looking like that?
It's scary.