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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 96
Chapter Title: A Brother's Wish
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"Th-that's right! You guys!"
The boy hesitantly emerged from behind the straw pile. He seemed shy, which was at odds with his presumptuous shout.
"Oh, hi?"
Yugang, always friendly, greeted the boy, holding Hwarin's hand and waving it.
The boy startled, then shouted again.
"Where are you from? I've never seen kids like you before!"
Yugang moved Hwarin's hand, which he was holding, to point across the river.
Hwarin giggled, finding it amusing.
"We're from way, way over there. And you? Do you live here?"
"Th-that's right! This is my home!"
'So, a pirate's family.'
"If you came from way, way over there, you'll go back, right?"
"I guess so?"
At Yugang's unhesitating answer, the boy looked dejected.
"You need a friend, don't you?"
Come to think of it, there were hardly any young children here.
Babies carried on backs or moderately older children were visible, but there seemed to be no peers of the boy's age.
"No! I don't need friends!"
"Hmm?"
"I'm looking for a brother!"
As he said that, the boy's eyes sparkled for the first time. He was sincere.
"A bro... brother?"
"Yeah! So, will you be my brother?"
Yugang's eyebrows furrowed at the somewhat contradictory words.
Perhaps mistaking his expression for a refusal, the boy hastily added,
"If you become my brother! I'll show you my treasures! I'm only showing them to you specially!"
"What kind of treasures?"
"You can only see them if you become my brother!"
"Hmm."
Yugang stroked his chin. Then, as if a good idea had struck him, he smiled brightly and grabbed Hwarin's hand again.
"Alright!"
"Really?!"
"Instead, show us around here. I haven't been here long, so I don't know my way around yet. If you show us around, I'll think about being your brother!"
'Oh?'
So, he's using the boy as an excuse to scout the layout of Surochae.
It seemed he intended to grasp the entire structure of Surochae beforehand, just in case they needed to escape.
Yugang looked back with a satisfied expression, and Seolhwa nodded.
"Alright!"
The boy didn't seem to dislike the idea either.
Moreover...
'The woman who was about to be given a task by the pirate saw the boy approaching and turned back.'
A woman, who had been carrying a bucket and approaching after the pirate said something, turned back.
This meant the boy's business took precedence over the task she was given. In other words, the boy's status within Surochae was high.
'Come to think of it, Maeng Deungho had a child, didn't he?'
* * *
Chattering away cheerfully, the boy guided them through various parts of Surochae.
The claim that this was his home was no lie; he knew the layout of Surochae inside and out.
Yugang walked ahead, holding Hwarin with one arm and the boy's hand with the other, while Seolhwa followed a step behind them.
'Heuksalgwi Maeng Deungho.'
He was practically the right-hand man of Yuk Hyeolju.
Maeng Deungho was known as Heuksalgwi for his cold personality and ruthless methods.
However, a rumor accompanied the moniker Heuksalgwi, stating that he earned it by committing merciless slaughter for his child.
Seolhwa approached the boy.
The boy saw Seolhwa and recoiled in surprise.
Seolhwa knelt down to meet his gaze, her lips curving into a gentle smile.
"By the way, what's your name?"
"Th-that's... why...?"
"You said you need a brother. If you become siblings, you'll share the same family name, so you should know what family name you'll have, right?"
The boy's brow twitched. The urge to keep silent and the impulse to speak were clashing.
"If I like the family name, I might consider it more positively, too?"
"Jin Soyak!"
"...What?"
"My name! It's Jin Soyak!"
Seolhwa's brows furrowed slightly.
'Jin Soyak?'
Not Maeng?
'Was he not Maeng Deungho's child after all?'
Even so, his high status within Surochae was undeniable.
He greeted the pirates they met familiarly, and no one said anything about them fooling around with the boy.
'Is he the vice chief's child?'
Seolhwa's eyes narrowed as she looked at Jin Soyak.
She felt as if she was missing something important.
* * *
Jin Soyak led Seolhwa's group around Surochae until dusk.
At first, the boy quietly introduced Surochae, but as he grew more excited, he brought out games he usually wanted to play.
In short, they played all day.
Of course, Seolhwa and Yugang were secretly busy observing Surochae's strict security system and layout during that time.
"Ah, that was really fun!"
Soyak stretched out his arms with a satisfied expression.
He didn't know when he had last had so much fun in Surochae, where there were no peers his age.
Perhaps realizing his excitement belatedly, Soyak quickly lowered his arms, saying "Hmph."
Then he looked back at Seolhwa's group with an embarrassed expression.
"It was... just a little fun. Thanks to you guys."
Yugang, who was following behind Soyak, holding Hwarin's hand, narrowed his eyes and hummed.
"Just a little? You looked really excited."
"No...! It was really just a little fun!"
"Really? I had a lot of fun playing with Soyak!"
Soyak was startled and stepped back. 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 Surochae chief's barracks.
As they circled the chief's barracks, Soyak placed a finger to his lips.
"From now on, you have to be really quiet! This is a place only I know about, so no one can find out!"
Yugang and Seolhwa instinctively looked at each other. The two nodded and quietly followed behind Soyak.
The Surochae chief's barracks leaned against a log fence. As Seolhwa looked up at the tall fence, Soyak whispered softly.
"This way!"
In front of where he was squatting was a small hole, just big enough for a child to pass through.
It was a passage to the outside where the bottom of the log had rotted away.
Jin Soyak went outside the fence first, followed by Yugang and Hwarin.
Seolhwa, who had been using her senses to count the number of people inside the barracks, was the last to pass through the hole.
Rustle.
Outside the hole was dense undergrowth. A hand suddenly emerged from the bushes.
"This way."
It was Yugang.
Holding Yugang's hand and pushing through the bushes, they found a small space where five or six children could sit in a circle.
A large, thick tree was visible on the opposite side, and Soyak was squatting at the base of that tree, digging into the ground.
'He must have hidden something there.'
Thump, thump.
In the quiet night, only the sound of Soyak digging in the dirt could be heard.
The boy, who didn't even know how to use internal energy, didn't care that his fingertips were stained with soil.
A moment later, Soyak pulled a wrapped bundle from the ground.
He brushed the dirt from the cloth bundle and carefully untied the knot.
Seolhwa's group naturally sat in a circle around the bundle and looked at the items wrapped inside.
There was a palm-sized Kongjuk, a book, a red knot, a jade pendant, a few beads – nothing particularly special.
"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 gifts every year for my birthday."
Seolhwa unconsciously looked at Hwarin.
'Birthday...'
Hwarin was looking at Soyak's treasures with sparkling eyes.
"You know what? 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 turned to Soyak.
Soyak, sensing his moment, eagerly continued.
"He's super strong! And he has tons and tons of subordinates! He's tall! And... he's really cool!"
It was all praise for his father.
"Wow."
Hwarin's eyes sparkled with admiration at his boasting.
"Every morning when I wake up, he asks if I slept well! And before bed, he pats me like this!"
Soyak grabbed Hwarin's hand and gently pressed it onto his own head.
"Whoa."
Hwarin's small mouth continuously rounded in awe.
"How is it? Isn't my dad really great?"
"Yeah."
"Then Hwarin... will you be my sister...?"
Hwarin blinked her round eyes.
Soyak quickly pushed the bundle towards Hwarin.
"I'll give you all of this."
"Question!"
Yugang asked, raising his hand high.
"Why are you looking for a brother? Don't you need a friend?"
'That's true.'
Seolhwa also looked at Soyak with curious eyes.
Soyak had been looking for a 'brother' from the start.
Even though he was a child who enjoyed just hanging out because he had no peers his age.
If he was lonely, wouldn't he usually look for a friend? Why did he specifically want a brother?
"Fr-friends..."
Soyak couldn't speak easily. He fidgeted his fingers, hesitating to answer, just as he had been wary when they first met.
"Friends... won't do."
The boy's voice, when it finally emerged, was heavy.
"Friends... can't be a child to my dad... My dad... he needs a child..."
"Your dad needs a child?"
Jin Soyak sniffled, lifting his head, 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 doctor said so. My body was born with a strange constitution, so I won't live long and will die soon."
