I Became A Married Man in Another World
Chapter 21
021 I Can Use Healing Magic Now
The hammer in his hand was quite heavy.
Whether the Hunter who originally lived in this house was a large man, or whether hammers in this world were naturally heavy and large, it didn’t feel small even in Juhwan’s substantial grip. It would be just right for Juhwan to swing.
Recalling the gait Gus had taught him, Juhwan distributed his body weight and settled it into his legs.
It had only been a single day, but the movements Gus taught had seeped into his body remarkably well. Though not yet perfect, they would allow Juhwan’s massive frame to move with agility if a fight broke out.
As the Village Chief and the men drew closer, Juhwan lowered his waist slightly, preparing to spring forward at any moment.
However, as soon as the Village Chief reached the vicinity of the house, he burst out in a roar at the men lying on the ground.
“######.”
It sounded like a string of insults—you bastards, you idiots, you fools. He appeared to be quite furious.
‘So those guys acted on their own.’
Juhwan felt a slight sense of relief. If every man in the village was the type to lay hands on someone else’s family and property on a whim, it would have been difficult to continue living on this mountain.
Juhwan shifted his gaze to the men standing behind the Village Chief.
Unlike the Chief, their faces were somewhat stiff. It seemed the state of the fallen men was more gruesome than they had expected.
Since it was a small village, perhaps they were relatives or had grown up together since childhood.
With a grim expression, Juhwan glared at the men behind the Chief.
The village men quietly avoided his gaze without a word. They didn’t seem to sympathize with the Chief’s anger, but they appeared to agree that the fallen idiots were in the wrong.
It seemed that even in this world, stealing another person’s property or violating their wife was considered a crime.
If that were the case, the Village Chief and the villagers who had plundered the Hunter’s house should also be criminals. Was this a society where the weak had to endure injustice in silence? Considering they even decided who someone should marry, perhaps that was only natural.
Juhwan clicked his tongue inwardly. He could practically see how much oppression Riji and Dorothy must have lived under. Still, he supposed it was a relief that it wasn’t a state of complete lawlessness.
As Juhwan stood tall and imposing, the Village Chief stepped forward and said something in an apologetic, defensive tone.
Perhaps hearing the Chief’s voice, there was a sign of someone trying to open the door from inside the house.
While keeping a wary eye on the Chief and the men, Juhwan caught Riji’s eye through the gap in the door. He shook his head, signaling her not to come out, and then the door closed again.
The Village Chief watched the exchange between Juhwan and Riji quietly before flashing a groveling smile. After continuing with what seemed like a few more apologies or excuses, the Chief held out a bundle of fabric he had been clutching under his arm.
It seemed he wanted to settle the debt for the fallen men’s crimes with this. Or perhaps it was also meant as hush money for the fact that they had stripped the house bare.
If someone committed a crime, would they face a trial if reported? He doubted a place like this had a courtroom, but perhaps one could petition the local lord who ruled the area, or the villagers might gather to hold a trial.
“….”
Juhwan frowned for a moment but quietly accepted the fabric.
In any case, it would be troublesome to completely burn bridges with the villagers right now.
There was a saying that dead men tell no tales; if he, an outsider, became too much of a burden, the entire village might risk everything to attack him.
If he were alone, it might be different, but in such a situation, it would be difficult to protect Riji and Dorothy.
‘It’s better to end it here.’
When Juhwan accepted the fabric, the Village Chief’s face showed visible relief.
A thought briefly crossed his mind that perhaps the fabric was given out of fear that Juhwan might leave the mountain.
To these people, a Hunter staying on this mountain might be a necessity. He needed to learn the language as soon as possible; being completely ignorant of the situation was frustrating beyond belief.
The Village Chief barked an order, and the village men hoisted the fallen ones onto their backs. He had expected them to at least bring stretchers, but the villagers had come empty-handed.
He wondered if stretchers didn’t exist in this world yet, or if the village was simply too poor to have made any.
As their bodies were moved forcefully despite their broken bones, the injured men seemed to be in agony. They let out shrill screams.
If they died like that, it wouldn’t be Juhwan’s fault, but the fault of the village men. It would be because they moved them without any precautions, causing the bones to pierce their internal organs.
The villagers surely knew that, yet the men silently went about their business even as the screams grew frantic.
Perhaps they already considered them dead men who wouldn’t survive. This world seemed far more cruel and cold-blooded than he had imagined.
Under Juhwan’s watchful eye, the Chief and the men descended the mountain.
The Hunter, Gus, watched them for a moment before grinning and raising a hand to Juhwan in farewell. Gus followed the village men down at a leisurely pace. The screams faded away along with the figures of the people.
Before he knew it, the sky had turned dark. The men descending in the distance lit torches. In the gathering dusk, the blazing torches flickered as if dancing, passing between the trees.
Juhwan watched for a while as the lights grew smaller and more distant.
Only after confirming that the Chief and the men were far from the house, reduced to tiny dots, did Juhwan turn around.
As he entered the house, Riji, who had been standing in the corner hiding with Dorothy, came running toward him.
Her trembling, anxious expression softened when she saw him. The two of them clung to him, breathing sighs of relief. Their two small breaths touched Juhwan’s body, vanishing like downy feathers, only to touch him again.
Seeing Riji and Dorothy find peace in his arms made Juhwan feel a sense of relief himself. I am glad that I can be the embrace that makes them feel safe. The thought made his heart feel full.
As Juhwan leaned down to pat both their backs, a loud growl erupted from Dorothy’s stomach. Hmm, the child’s internal clock was accurate regardless of the situation.
Dinner that evening was pieces of grilled wolf meat, the surface of which had begun to dry and toughen.
Dorothy seemed to eat more than half of it. Her little belly puffed out like a tadpole’s, and eventually, she even seemed to have trouble breathing.
Dorothy, who only had half her clothes, rolled around like a cat in the warmth by the hearth, while Riji busily sewed a child’s garment out of old women’s clothing she had cut up.
The urine-stained clothes had been washed in water with a bit of ash and hung up inside the hut. Until those clothes dried, Dorothy was half-naked. Since the child had nothing else to wear immediately, Riji seemed to be in a hurry.
*
As the darkness deepened, the stars in the sky seemed to sparkle even more brightly. Even though this place was located on the lower part of the mountain, the sky felt close enough to touch if he reached out. He wondered if he would get used to this over time. For now, it still felt incredibly alien.
Nights in the winter mountains are quiet. In the darkness, where even the sound of insects was absent, only the crackling of burning logs echoed softly through the house.
After a day of extreme ups and downs like a rollercoaster, Dorothy had fallen into a deep sleep early in the evening. The child’s small, round belly still hadn’t gone down. Liking the feeling of being full, the child had fallen asleep with a satisfied smile.
He had worried that today’s events might leave a bad memory for the child, but occasional small giggles escaped her lips as she slept. She seemed to be having a good dream. That was good. Truly good.
Beside the crackling fire, Riji, having finished the child’s clothes, spread out the fabric they had received today and was observing it calmly.
To Juhwan’s eyes, it looked like rough, coarse, and not particularly good cloth, but Riji seemed to like it. She stroked it with her hand over and over, checking for any snags or mold.
That was already the third time.
She would take out the rolled-up fabric, unfold it to inspect it, and then fold it back up.
And a moment later, she would be back by the fire, taking the fabric out to look at it again.
He hadn’t expected her to be that happy.
“….”
He was glad he hadn’t picked a fight for no reason when the Village Chief offered the fabric. It was a very good thing he had taken it quietly.
However, the fact that any item was so precious to Riji and in this place made him feel a bit sad for some reason. If only he could have brought something, anything, with him when he crossed over from Earth, instead of coming over naked. He really felt like he should give Santa a punch when they met.
He watched Riji stroking the fabric for a moment before heading to a corner. He sat down on the floor with his legs crossed.
Since killing the wolf, he had been constantly trying to manifest fire through magic.
He tried conjuring images and used every word he could think of related to fire or magic.
But they were all duds. There was no sign of anything happening.
Now, all that was left was magical cultivation.
He didn’t want to be doing this sort of thing at his age, but he had no choice.
Magic might be similar to the martial arts cultivation found in wuxia novels. Honestly, if even this didn’t work, he would be out of options.
Juhwan straightened his back and closed his eyes. Calming his mind, he took a deep breath in and out.
Just as he had read in wuxia novels, he steadied his spirit and gathered energy in his dantian. He focused all his senses, trying to feel the energy moving within his body. It wouldn’t be easy.
Juhwan quietly inhaled and exhaled, struggling to sense the energy around his navel.
“….”
He felt nothing. It didn’t feel like there was anything inside his body.
Honestly, with his eyes closed, he would have to feel with his hands just to know where his navel was; searching for something like a dantian with his eyes shut was nonsensical. He began to doubt if people were telling the truth when they said they could manipulate the energy in their bodies and circulate it throughout. He couldn’t feel a thing.
Juhwan let out a long sigh and opened his eyes.
“!”
He was startled. Riji was sitting right in front of him, watching him quietly. She tilted her head as if his behavior was strange. It was cute.
She seemed a bit worried because he was doing something out of character. Riji raised a slender finger and touched Juhwan’s forehead. Seeing her keep her palm there, it seemed she was gauging his temperature.
“….”
I’m not sick, Riji.
He gave a bitter smile. He wanted to use it somehow, but it wasn’t easy. Perhaps there was a level-up system like in games or novels. There was no one to ask, and it was frustrating. He really had to hit Santa twice when they met.
The campfire cast shadows on Riji’s small, pale face.
As the light flickered like waves, the blue bruises hid in the shadows and then reappeared.
A woman’s fragile body leaves bruises more easily than a man’s. The area where she had been hit during the day had turned even more purple by evening.
He should have found out who hit her and just killed the bastard.
Unable to calm his rising temper, Juhwan’s expression briefly turned fierce.
Riji flinched. Juhwan smiled again so she wouldn’t be frightened and gently touched the bruise with his finger. He stroked it softly, making sure not to hurt her.
If he had magic, he could have wiped away a bruise like this in an instant.
Anger began to seep back into his relatively calm mind. He couldn’t understand men who hit women. Where on such a small body was there even room to strike?
A sigh escaped him in his pity. His own wound from the wolf bite was healing bit by bit even without doing anything special, yet when he actually wanted to use his power, it was nowhere to be found. It was foolish.
As Juhwan gently stroked the bruise several times with his finger, Riji gave a small laugh. She tapped Juhwan’s leg as if telling him not to worry, that it didn’t hurt.
“It’s okay.”
As Riji said that, she leaned her bruised cheek into Juhwan’s palm like a spoiled child. Her small face was completely enveloped by his large palm. Warmth traveled between the two through his palm for a moment.
Suddenly, his attention turned to the fact that the surrounding air was cold. Juhwan was fine, but for Riji, this corner would be quite chilly.
Juhwan pulled his hand away from Riji and gently lifted her up. He was about to stand up when he suddenly thought that Riji’s face looked clean. Not in the sense of being beautiful, but literally clean.
‘The bruise…’
Startled, Juhwan checked her other cheek. He thought he might have misseen.
But both cheeks were clear. The bruises that had been deep purple just a moment ago had vanished completely.
Could it be that the magic cultivation from earlier had actually worked?
‘That’s crazy… That nonsense actually worked.’
Juhwan placed his finger gently on Riji’s clear face.
My god, it worked. He could treat wounds. Belatedly, his heart realized the truth and began to fill with joy.
