Chapter 195 — Do Not Go Alone
"Then do not go alone. Take someone with you."
"Yes? Why?"
"Because I do not know where you might run off to."
"Ahaha. No, Mother. I won't go anywhere."
His mother shook her head.
"Your blood is still hot."
"Oh, come now. It is not hot."
Now that he was home, it was no different from when he had been young.
He answered every word at once.
"Mother, that is not the issue. Not just anyone can go there."
"Why?"
"He is a mountain man. He lives in the mountains. And he has even set up formations to keep outsiders away, so I cannot take anyone with me."
"And then you plan to slip away somewhere else?"
"I will not slip away. I will not cause trouble either."
His mother clicked her tongue.
"You expect me to believe that?"
He had been a troublesome son who caused trouble wherever he went.
It had been frightening to let him outside.
Complaints from the neighbors had been common, and the teacher at the school had almost called his parents every day.
"No one can simply go up that mountain."
"Then could you not leave one slave at the foot of the mountain?"
"Oh, Mother, slaves are people too. I should not make one wait there endlessly."
In the army, he had been bothered by absurd orders that could not even be carried out.
At home, he was bothered by nagging.
Things that seemed perfectly fine to him became a problem every day.
Even so, he could not go against his mother's will.
"All right. I will take Dorogan with me."
"Dorogan has much work to do."
"I will ask him about this and that on the way."
"Very well. Do not wear armor."
It was nagging again.
"I came wearing it because I had nothing else to wear."
"Do they not have clothes there?"
"By the standards here, they are rags."
"Why do you have no clothes?"
"Because they are patched with animal hide again and again. They must look like tatters."
"Hm. In any case, do not wear armor. People will be startled."
"Ah, yes."
He quickly finished his meal and came out, and the youngest followed him closely.
"Why? Why are you following me?"
"I just want to see what you do, elder brother."
"Your brother must go to the mountain."
"Oryang Mountain? I know! I heard you talking earlier."
"Hmm. You cannot come with me."
"I am just going to watch."
"You really have nothing to do."
"I have more to do than you."
Yeongu thought his little sister was quite bold.
She did not yield a single word.
Had he looked like this to his mother when he was young?
She wanted to go with him.
But the world was rough.
He could not take even his little sister with him.
Yeongu lowered himself in the courtyard and met her at eye level.
"Little one."
"I am not little."
"Mm. You cannot come with me. The outside world is very rough. And there are many wicked men."
"Mm, I know. That is why one should not go out alone."
"Your brother has many things to do. So you cannot go with your brother."
"I know. You did many bad things in the army. So you are afraid of revenge, right?"
Fact and moral judgment tangled together.
Why had his mother given birth to such a late child?
Yeongu tried hard to explain.
"Mm. Many things happened in the army. It was war. But your brother does not think those things were wicked."
"That is what you think."
"I was loyal to the country, cherished my comrades, and served the people. The wicked ones were those who mixed selfish motives into it."
"What are selfish motives?"
"For example, there were men who stole military grain, and men who pushed those they hated into death."
"Ah, there were bad men like that? So what did you do?"
"I cut them all down. Hehe."
"You did?"
"Mm."
"Then would they stay still? If they ever get the chance, they will try to take revenge."
"You should have just killed them outright. Men who steal the country's money."
"True. I should have. But then it would have been murder."
"I see."
She was only ten or eleven years old.
Her words were clear, and her thoughts were quick.
He could not understand how such a child had come from their family.
Her name was Sohee.
As he changed clothes, she sat beside him and stared.
"What is that? That thin white thing?"
"It is heart-protecting armor."
"That is armor too?"
"It does not look like it, but the effect is the same. This has saved your brother's life several times."
"Oh. A rare treasure."
"Mm. It is thin, but it blocks arrows and blades."
"But it is small."
"It only protects the chest and back."
"Why not make it for the whole body?"
Yeongu laughed faintly.
"True. I wished that could be done, so I made the Jin army that way."
"That thing you wore outside when you came?"
"Mm. Full-body armor. It blocks everything."
"It looked splendid."
"Your brother is originally rather splendid."
"I meant the silver armor."
"Kh-hm."
After checking his arms, he took up his sword and bow.
With a low grunt, he bent the bow and set the string.
"You are taking the bow too?"
"Mm. I am used to it. When I carry this, it shortens the distance."
"That is hard to understand."
"It means I can bring down enemies from a hundred jang, even two hundred jang away."
"No way."
"It is true."
"I heard people who return from the army exaggerate a lot. A man who cooked rice in the army will claim he held an incredibly important post…"
Yeongu gave a faint laugh.
"Your brother does not exaggerate."
"Hmph. I heard they are all the same. They even say they killed hundreds with a single stroke."
Yeongu's gaze narrowed.
He had done about that much himself.
"I did, though…"
"In any case, it is better to have it."
"It looks dreadful to others."
"I will put it on the horse's back, then."
"Young master, everything is ready outside."
It was Dorogan.
Yeongu spoke toward the outside.
"A spare horse too."
"A spare horse as well?"
"Mm."
Yeongu hugged Sohee tightly.
"I will be back."
When he let her go, she asked, "You are coming back?"
Had he lost that much trust over the years?
"I should. Now I have nowhere else to go."
"You always said you would come back, and you did not."
"True. Your brother has become a liar."
"I know you had many things to do. But you cannot do that now. You are an adult."
"Yes. I will come back, unless something serious happens. I had many things to do. Truly many."
"Will there be none now?"
"That is true. I always thought there would be none now, and that things would be fine. That must be why I said I would return soon before leaving."
Sohee stared at him and moved only her lips.
"I know it was hard. Now you should settle in one place."
She was not a child.
There was an adult inside her.
"I know. I understand."