“Y-yeah! You!”
The boy hesitantly stepped out from behind the haystack. His shy demeanor didn’t quite match the bold way he shouted.
“Oh, hello?”
As always, the friendly Yu Kang took Hwarin’s hand, waved it, and greeted the boy. The boy flinched in surprise before shouting again.
“Where are you from? I’ve never seen you before.”
Yu Kang moved Hwarin’s hand, which he was holding, to point across the river. Hwarin found this amusing and giggled.
“We’re from waay over there. What about you? Do you live here?”
“Y-yeah! This is my home!”
‘A bandit’s child?’
“If you came from waay over there, you’ll be going back, right?”
“I suppose we will.”
The boy’s face fell at Yu Kang’s unhesitating reply.
“You need a friend, don’t you?”
Come to think of it, there were hardly any young children here. There were infants on their mothers’ backs and some older children, but none seemed to be the same age as the boy before them.
“No! I don’t need anything like a friend!”
“Hmm?”
“I’m looking for a sibling!”
As he said this, the boy’s eyes sparkled for the first time. He was sincere.
“A… sibling?”
“Yes! So, um, will you be my brother?”
Yu Kang’s eyebrows furrowed at the somewhat contradictory words. Perhaps taking that expression as a sign of refusal, the boy hastily added.
“If you become my sibling! I’ll show you my treasures! I’ll make a special exception and show you!”
“What kind of treasures?”
“You can only see them if you become my sibling!”
“Hmm.”
Yu Kang stroked his chin. Then, as if a good idea had struck him, he smiled brightly and once again took Hwarin’s hand.
“Alright!”
“Really?!”
“In return, give me a tour of this place. I haven’t been here long, so I don’t know my way around. If you show me around, I’ll think about being your sibling!”
‘Aha.’
He’s using the boy as an excuse to check the fortress’s layout. It seemed he intended to grasp the entire structure of the river fortress in advance, in case they needed to escape. Yu Kang looked back with a proud face, and Seolhwa gave him a nod.
“Alright!”
The boy didn’t seem to mind either.
Besides…
‘They were about to give us work, but they saw the boy approaching and went back.’
A woman who had been told something by a bandit approached with a bucket, but then turned back. The boy’s business took precedence over the task she was about to assign. In other words, the boy’s status within the river fortress was high.
‘Come to think of it, I believe Maeng Deungho had a child.’
Chattering away, the boy guided them through various parts of the river fortress. His claim that this place was his home wasn’t a lie; he knew the structure of the fortress inside and out. Yu Kang walked ahead, holding Hwarin in one arm and the boy’s hand with his other, while Seolhwa followed a step behind them.
‘Black Killing Ghost, Maeng Deungho.’
A man who was as good as the right hand of the Six Blood Lords. Maeng Deungho was known for his cold personality and cruel methods, earning him the name Black Killing Ghost. But behind that moniker, a rumor circulated about how he had gotten it.
If memory served, it was because he had committed merciless slaughter for the sake of his child. Seolhwa approached the boy. The boy saw her and took a surprised step back.
Seolhwa knelt to meet his gaze, a gentle curve on her lips.
“By the way, what’s your name?”
“Why… do you ask…?”
“You said you need a sibling. If we become siblings, we should share the same surname. We should at least know what that surname will be, right?”
The boy’s brow twitched. The desire to keep it a secret warred with the urge to tell her.
“If I like the surname, I might think about it more positively.”
“Jin Soyak!”
“…What?”
“My name! It’s Jin Soyak!”
Seolhwa’s brow furrowed slightly.
‘Jin Soyak?’
Not Maeng?
‘Was he not Maeng Deungho’s son?’
Even so, it was true that his status within the fortress was high. He greeted the bandits they met familiarly, and not a single one said anything to them for idling with the boy.
‘Is he the son of the vice-master?’
Seolhwa’s eyes narrowed as she looked at Jin Soyak. She felt like she was missing something important.
Jin Soyak led Seolhwa’s party around the river fortress until dusk. The boy, who had at first been meekly introducing the fortress, seemed to get more and more excited, even bringing out games he had always wanted to play. In short, they had played all day.
Of course, in the midst of it all, Seolhwa and Yu Kang were busy secretly assessing the fortress’s tight security and structure.
“Ah, that was really fun!”
Soyak stretched his arms with a satisfied look on his face. He couldn’t remember the last time he had played so excitedly in this fortress, where there were no other children his age. As if belatedly realizing his own excitement, Soyak yelped and lowered his arms.
Then, with an embarrassed expression, he looked back at Seolhwa’s group.
“It was a… a little fun. Thanks to you.”
Yu Kang, who was following behind Soyak while holding Hwarin’s hand, hummed and narrowed his eyes.
“A little? You looked like you were having a great time.”
“No…! It was really just a little fun!”
“Really? I had a great time playing with you, Soyak!”
Soyak jumped back in surprise. His cheeks quickly turned reddish. He spun around, hiding his flushed face.
“Want to follow me? There’s one last thing I want to show you.”
The place Soyak took them was behind the Fortress Master’s tent. As they went around the Fortress Master’s tent, Soyak placed a finger on his lips.
“You have to be really quiet from now on! Only I know about this place, so no one else can find out!”
Yu Kang and Seolhwa instinctively looked at each other. After nodding, the two quietly followed Soyak. The Fortress Master’s tent was backed by a log fence.
As they looked up at the tall fence, Soyak whispered lowly.
“This way!”
In front of him, where he was squatting, was a hole just big enough for a child to pass through. The bottom of the logs had rotted away, creating a passage to the outside. Jin Soyak went through the fence first, followed by Yu Kang and Hwarin.
Seolhwa, after extending her senses to count the number of people inside the tent, was the last to pass through the hole.
Rustle.
Outside the hole was a dense thicket. A hand suddenly shot out from the bushes.
“This way.”
It was Yu Kang. He took Yu Kang’s hand and pushed through the thicket into a small space large enough for five or six children to sit around. On the opposite side stood a large, thick tree, and Soyak was squatting at its base, digging at the ground.
“Looks like he hid something there.”
Dig, dig.
In the quiet night, only the sound of Soyak digging could be heard. The boy, who didn't even know how to use inner energy, paid no mind to his fingertips getting stained with dirt. A moment later, Soyak pulled a cloth bundle from the ground.
He dusted the dirt off the cloth and carefully untied the knot with gentle hands. Seolhwa’s group naturally gathered around the cloth bundle and looked at the items wrapped inside. A palm-sized hollow bamboo toy, a book, a red knot, a jade plaque, and a few beads.
They were not particularly special items.
“These are my treasures.”
The boy looked at the ordinary items as if they were the most precious things in the world.
“My dad gave them to me as presents for my birthday.”
Seolhwa unconsciously glanced at Hwarin.
‘Birthday…’
Hwarin was looking at Soyak’s treasures with sparkling eyes.
“You know, my dad is really great. He’s super busy every day, but he never misses my birthday and always plays with me!”
Hwarin’s sparkling gaze shifted to Soyak. Soyak, sensing his chance, hurriedly continued.
“He’s incredibly strong! And he has tons and tons of subordinates! He’s tall! And also… he’s really cool!”
It was all praise for his father.
“Wow.”
Hwarin’s eyes sparkled as she marveled at his praise.
“When I wake up, he asks me if I slept well every morning! And before I go to sleep, he pats me like this!”
Soyak took Hwarin’s hand and pressed it gently against his own head.
“Woah.”
Hwarin’s small mouth repeatedly formed a circle.
“So? Isn’t my dad the best?”
“Yes.”
“Then Hwarin… will you be my sister…?”
Hwarin blinked her round eyes. Soyak quickly pushed the bundle towards Hwarin.
“I’ll give all of this to you.”
“I have a question!”
Yu Kang shot his hand up and asked.
“Why are you looking for a sibling? Don’t you need a friend?”
‘That’s right.’
Seolhwa also looked at Soyak with curious eyes. From the very beginning, Soyak had been looking for a ‘sibling’. Even though the child was so happy just to have someone to walk around with, in a place with no one else his age.
If he was lonely, wouldn't it be normal to look for a friend? Why did he insist on a sibling?
“A f-friend…”
Soyak couldn’t speak easily. He fidgeted with his fingers, hesitating to answer, just as he had been wary when they first met.
“A friend… won’t do.”
The child’s voice, when he finally spoke, was heavy.
“A friend… can’t become a child for my dad… My dad… he needs a child…”
“Your dad needs a child?”
Sniffling, Soyak lifted his head, the bridge of his nose red. The boy had a determined expression, as if he had made up his mind about something.
“I’m going to die soon.”
“!”
“The physician said so. He said I was born with a strange constitution and won’t live for long.”