"Good work, elder brothers!"
"Right. Put this away."
Yu Kang caught something thrown at him in one swift motion. When he realized the thing that landed perfectly in his arms was a child, his face went pale.
"Who is this child...?"
"That's none of your business. Tie her up in the storeroom. Gag her too, she'll be noisy when she wakes up."
Yu Kang stared intently at the child sleeping soundly in his arms. An air of nobility, impossible to hide, flowed from the child's pristine face and expensive clothes. She seemed to be the child of some noble martial family.
'I feel like I've seen this face somewhere...'
"Ah, I'm hungry. Is the food ready?"
"Yes? Yes! It's all set! Today, we have stir-fried meat I bought from the market!"
"Kyah, it's been a while since we've had some greasy food. Today's a good day."
The men chuckled and entered the cabin, while Yu Kang watched them before heading to the storeroom. Entering the storeroom, he laid the child on a sack of rice and placed a soft straw mat at the base of the ship's pillar. He even covered it with fresh straw to ensure nothing dirty remained.
Just as he held the rope to tie the child's hands and feet, looking at her with a troubled expression.
"What are you doing?"
Yu Kang, startled, looked behind the stacked rice sacks in the storeroom. A figure emerged from the dark shadows. It was Namgung Seolhwa, appearing from behind the rice sacks, who knew when she had snuck in.
"Na, Namgung young lady...?!"
Seolhwa glanced at the unconscious Hwarin and the straw rope in Yu Kang's hand.
"When did you become a river bandit?"
Yu Kang flinched, trembling. He hid the rope behind his back and laughed, "Haha."
"Ah, it's not like that..."
"If I had known you'd become a bandit, I wouldn't have asked you to deliver a message."
A cracking sound came from Seolhwa's fingers. Yu Kang flinched again and said urgently.
"I- I delivered it! To the Sect Leader!"
"And?"
"Huh?"
"Then why are you here doing this?"
A faint killing intent emanated from her smiling form. The atmosphere felt as if one wrong word would get him killed.
"Hey, I can explain everything! I can explain! So, for now, could you please... withdraw your killing intent...?"
"Haha," he laughed, waving his hands, the straw rope still in them.
Seeing Seolhwa's gaze fixed on the dangling rope, Yu Kang hastily threw it to the ground.
"I can really explain everything! I'm innocent!"
"Alright. Speak."
"!"
As the killing intent subsided, color returned to Yu Kang's face. Yu Kang began to recount in detail how he ended up with the river bandits. How he was attacked on his way to Namgung under the Sect Leader's orders.
How he jumped into the river while fleeing from them, and when he awoke from unconsciousness, he was on a bandit ship. How he wasn't wearing his Mount Hua martial robes, so his identity was hidden, and to avoid his attackers, he begged the bandits to take him in as their youngest member.
"I was planning to escape when we got far enough from my destination, but as you can see, I've ended up all the way here...?"
Seolhwa glanced at Hwarin. Yu Kang quickly added.
"I didn't know they were going to kidnap your sister! Really! I was planning to run away this morning, but something felt off. I overheard them talking about kidnapping a child, so I stayed just in case. I had to help if something happened."
"Then why were you about to tie her up?"
"I wasn't really going to tie her up. I was just pretending to work hard so it would look plausible if the elder brothers came to check. You have to escape when their guard is down so you're discovered later."
He meant that his plan was to wait for the ones who brought the child to come check, pretend to tie her up, and then escape.
"But it looks like they're not coming. I guess the elder brother bandits trust me a lot."
He shrugged, flashing a good-natured smile. His personality seemed affable, but to think he could be on 'elder brother, younger brother' terms even with bandits. His social skills were truly surprising.
"Anyway, this worked out well. It was a burden to escape alone with an unconscious child. I'm glad you're here. Let's hurry and get out of..."
At that moment, with a deep rumble, the ship swayed from side to side. Seolhwa instinctively grabbed Hwarin's shoulder to keep her from falling off the rice sack, and Yu Kang supported Hwarin's legs.
"This is bad."
Yu Kang's face turned pale.
"I think the ship has set sail. They said they were staying for another day? This won't do. I'll draw the elder brothers' attention, so you should get out quickly. Before the ship gets further from land. Hurry!"
"We leave together."
Seolhwa's gaze was resolute. It was a will that she would not escape unless they went together. After a moment of hesitation, Yu Kang nodded.
"Let's go quickly, before the ship gets too far from land."
Once the ship reached the middle of the river, it would be difficult for even Seolhwa and Yu Kang to escape easily. Moreover, they had to take Hwarin, who knew no martial arts, and it was too much for her young body. Yu Kang swiftly lifted the sleeping Hwarin into his arms.
Just as the two were about to leave the storeroom.
"Wait."
Seolhwa grabbed Yu Kang's arm.
"Why?"
"It's already too late."
Seolhwa's gaze turned towards the storeroom entrance. 'Two masters of the Supreme Realm.' There are many masters on this ship.
It would be strange if there were only riffraff, since they planned to kidnap a child of Namgung. 'I can't subdue all the bandits on this ship by myself.' And then there's Hwarin, who doesn't know martial arts.
If they tried to escape recklessly, Hwarin could get hurt. 'In that case...' Seolhwa looked back at Yu Kang.
Yu Kang also seemed to have sensed the approaching presence, his face pale. Just as Yu Kang put Hwarin down again and was about to hastily tell Seolhwa to hide, Seolhwa suddenly grabbed his wrist.
"W-what...!"
Seolhwa brought Yu Kang's hand to her own neck and lay down on the straw mat they had spread out.
"Ugh!"
Pulled by the force, Yu Kang fell forward helplessly. Suddenly, it looked as if Yu Kang was subduing Seolhwa, choking her with one hand. The door burst open at the same time.
"What the!?"
Two bandits who were entering with chuckles stumbled back in surprise at the scene in the storeroom.
"Kuk... let... go...!"
Seolhwa groaned as if she were being choked, and only then did Yu Kang understand her intention.
"Elder brothers! I've caught a little rat!"
Yu Kang released his hand from Seolhwa's neck, swiftly turned her around to a sitting position, and instead held both her hands from behind, pressing her down.
"This one was stealing rice from the storeroom! She was touching your precious food, so I took her down in one blow!"
The slightly surprised bandits looked at each other and chuckled. One of them, wearing a bandana, crouched in front of Seolhwa.
"Well, look at this troublesome little rat. Do you even know where you've crawled into?"
Seolhwa shook her head with a terrified expression.
"Kekeke, this place, you see, is a place that has taken much but has never had anything taken from it."
"... What?"
"It's a bandit ship, is what I'm saying."
Seolhwa's face was painted with shock. Seeing her surprised expression, the bandits found it even more amusing and chuckled.
"I- I really didn't know! Please spare me! I'll do anything if you let me live! Please...!"
"You, what can you do?"
The bandit roughly grabbed Seolhwa's cheek and lifted her face. Yu Kang, holding her hands from behind, could be felt flinching slightly.
"I'll do anything you ask! I'm good at cleaning, and I'm good at laundry too!"
At that moment, a rustling sound came from behind them. Along with the thought, 'Oh no!'
"Mamaa... huuuh... Mamaaaaaa...!"
Hwarin burst into tears. The two bandits scowled deeply and glared at the child. Seolhwa abruptly raised her head and said.
"I'm also good at taking care of children!"
The bandit glanced down at Seolhwa. Then, as if annoyed, he clicked his tongue and gestured with his chin for Yu Kang to let her go.
"You're good with kids?"
"Yes...!"
"Then, make her stop crying right now."
"What?"
"You said you're good with kids! Make her stop crying! I can't stand whining brats!"
"Yes, yes!"
Seolhwa quickly approached Hwarin. Meanwhile, Hwarin was crying even louder, "Waaah-" "There, there, be a good girl." - Hwarin. It's sister Seolhwa.
Hwarin abruptly stopped crying and opened her eyes.
"Seo..." - No. You can't say my name here, nor can you call me sister.
Hwarin's eyes blinked. She was still young, but she was a child who had built a pellet crossbow by herself. She must be disoriented and find it hard to understand the situation, but fortunately, she didn't speak rashly. - I'll explain everything in a little while.
So stop crying. Just wait a moment.
Understand?
Her crying stopped.
Hwarin nodded.
Then, from behind, sounds of admiration, "Ooh," could be heard.