Chapter 29
“I shall personally sever the neck of that wild beast!The man was holding up Taejo’s Royal Sword, a treasure of the royal family.
‘Being this self-willed is really… a living cultural asset…’
However, it wasn’t entirely impossible.
With that massive sword, he might actually be able to cut off the bear’s head.
In that instant, another question immediately popped into Ji-young’s head.
Does that man even know how to use a sword?
“Royal Cuisine Master! Throw the snacks from the satchel at it!”
‘……Huh?’
Snapping out of it at Yeonsangun’s shout, Ji-young realized the bear was charging straight at her.
Regaining her composure, Ji-young grabbed the strap on her shoulder and hurled the entire bundle at the bear.
- Thud
The bundle hit the bear’s face, and the snacks inside, like ume cookies, scattered onto the ground.
At the same time, the sweet honey scent coating the snacks wafted into the air.
Perhaps due to its highly developed sense of smell, Ji-young clearly saw the bear falter momentarily at the scent.
“Royal guard Shin Su-hyeok, Gong-gil! Now!”
No sooner had the words left his mouth than a red overcoat and a Navy robe flew out from either side like projectiles.
In an instant, two blades plunged deep into the bear’s flanks.
This wouldn’t kill the massive brown bear, but it would hold it in place for a moment.
[Krrrraa!]
Letting out a roar that seemed to shake the heavens, the brown bear heaved its massive body upright.
The force of its desperate struggle was so great that the two men who had plunged their swords into the bear’s body had their feet lifted off the ground.
‘A-At this rate, those two are in danger!’
Just as Ji-young thought that, what caught her eye was,
His Majesty, silhouetted against the moonlight, leaping with a massive sword raised high.
“How dare you!”
And,
A metallic flash plunged down vertically like a thunderbolt.
- Flash
The instant Yeonsangun’s feet lightly touched the ground,
At the same time, the bear’s massive body collapsed as if a giant tree had fallen.
- Thud
A great reverberation shook the entire mountain like an earthquake.
It was the sound announcing the end of the most magnificent creature in this mountain, the brown bear.
“Your Majesty, is your body unharmed?”
Royal guard Shin Su-hyeok rushed over in a flurry, but Yeonsangun paid him no heed.
He simply stared at the fallen bear with a look of awe.
“Finally… I can fulfill another one of my dreams.”
“Your Majesty?”
“Now that I have obtained such magnificent bear paws.”
“Bear paws… you mean…?”
“The finest ingredient that even the ancient sage Mencius so loved! And from a bear of this size, it must be the highest quality! What do you think, Royal Cuisine Master?”
At those words, Ji-young was momentarily speechless.
Bear paws. Specifically, the left front paw of the bear.
One of the ‘Eight Delicacies,’ a term for eight rare and precious foods, and a symbol of rare cuisine that often appeared in stories from the Spring and Autumn period, was this very bear paw.
So, there was no doubt that the bear paws of this massive brown bear were the finest ingredients.
‘C-Could it be… that the King fearlessly approached the bear from the start… aiming for the bear paws…?’
While Ji-young was wearing a dumbfounded expression, Gong-gil, who was putting his bamboo sword back into its scabbard, casually tossed out a comment.
“Well, I roughly guessed, but it’s as I thought.”
“Huh?”
“His Majesty. His skill in performing the Cheoyongmu was, even to my eyes, which have made a living as a clown my whole life, top-notch. It’s not for nothing that they say dance and martial arts are connected. I roughly guessed that he would have some knowledge of swordsmanship.”
They danced together like that every morning. It seemed Gong-gil had already grasped the King’s nature to some extent.
“I-Is that how it works?”
“Besides, from what I’ve observed, His Majesty is a person who exerts twice his strength when there’s something he wants to eat…”
“Ah……. Yes…….”
At this point, there was nothing more about His Majesty that could surprise her.
He was a man whose every action was marked by eccentric behavior that defied common sense.
So, that meant the King, who had set out on a secret excursion in disguise, met a massive bear, and with the single-minded determination to eat bear paw cuisine, took up Yi Seong-gye’s sword, a treasure of the royal family, and personally cut down and captured the bear.
“But, it seems there’s something even stranger going on.”
Gong-gil strode up to the fallen bear and began to feel around the back of its massive head with his hands.
“What are you doing now?”
Just as Ji-young was wondering about Gong-gil’s strange behavior,
“……As I thought.”
Gong-gil pulled something out from the back of the bear’s head.
It was a large needle that looked to be at least a hand span in length.
“This was stuck in the back of the bear’s head.”
“……In humans, that would be the aphasia point.”
Shin Su-hyeok, who had been silently watching the scene from the side, added a comment.
“It’s an acupoint that controls the heat going to the head. With such a large needle stuck in that spot, it’s no wonder its aggression and appetite were soaring like crazy.”
“T-Then the fact that the bear suddenly attacked us was also…”
Hearing that, several suspicious points seemed to be explained.
From the bear’s abnormally aggressive behavior to its overly sensitive reaction to the scent of the snacks Ji-young had thrown.
“W-Who on earth would do such a cruel thing…”
“One thing is certain, this large needle couldn’t have gotten stuck here on its own.”
As Shin Su-hyeok opened his mouth with a grim expression, a heavy silence descended for a moment.
If that were the case, it meant that someone had deliberately stuck the large needle into the bear to make it attack the group.
If so, it was a chillingly terrifying scheme.
If they were attacked by a bear during a secret excursion, there would be no evidence left of any assassination attempt.
“I-In that case.”
“……We can only assume that information is leaking from the palace.”
Su-hyeok wrapped the large needle in a cloth and tucked it into his chest, his thick eyebrows twitching.
‘Clearly, someone threatening His Majesty’s safety is hiding nearby.’
It was at that moment.
That they sensed movement nearby.
“Who goes there!”
Royal guard Shin Su-hyeok barked, drawing his Saber like lightning.
No sooner had the words left his mouth than a torch appeared from the darkness.
No, not just one.
Two, three, four,
Before they knew it, the number of torches visible around them began to increase rapidly.
It didn’t take long for Yeonsangun’s group to realize that they were completely surrounded by people holding torches.
* * *
Sajeongjeon Hall, Gyeongbok Palace.
“……His Majesty is unwell and will not be holding court for the time being, so please submit your agenda in writing.”
Bearing the brunt of the officials’ cold gazes, Royal Secretary Im Soong-jae personally locked the doors of the throne room.
Soong-jae’s role in the court was to thoroughly conceal the King’s absence, who had left on a secret excursion, from the eyes of the high-ranking officials.
Soong-jae could vaguely sense why Yeonsangun had personally set out on a secret excursion in disguise.
‘There is someone in this court who is trying to find the Sealed Box before His Majesty.’
If that object fell into the wrong hands, a terrible bloodbath would surely ensue.
Since it was not uncommon for His Majesty to be absent for several days for hunting or excursions, all he could do was hope that His Majesty would safely find the Sealed Box while he bought time by making excuses.
And there was another important task assigned to him.
“D-Director General……. When did you arrive?”
A man with a gray face was standing behind Soong-jae, having somehow entered.
Director General Park Won-jong.
A man who exuded a cold, sharp aura like a blade just by his presence.
Perhaps it was because he was a martial arts laureate and the strongest martial artist in Joseon, recognized by all.
Or perhaps it was his nature.
At the age of thirty-five, he had risen to the position of Director General, a second-rank military officer at the pinnacle of Joseon’s military affairs, and he also commanded the Gyeomsabok, said to be Joseon’s elite guard.
From the aura he exuded, he could not be an ordinary person.
“……I heard that His Majesty has left on a secret excursion.”
Director General Park Won-jong’s low voice, close to a metallic rasp, naturally carried an air of intimidation that overwhelmed the other party.
Trying not to be intimidated by that aura, Soong-jae responded with an effort to appear calm.
“He ordered me not to tell anyone. However, he ordered the Director General to personally lead the Gyeomsabok and prepare for departure.”
“…….”
The Director General stood there for a moment, thinking.
If it was for the safety of His Majesty alone, the Royal guard would be sufficient.
Park Won-jong himself knew very well what it meant that he had been ordered to prepare the Gyeomsabok.
“I shall obey the command.”
Soong-jae turned his head at the cold voice, but Director General Park Won-jong was already gone.
* * *
Yeonsangun’s group was surrounded by people holding torches.
In their hands, they each held crude farming tools such as sickles and plows.
They were dressed in ragged peasant clothes, but their faces were full of sharp wariness.
“Who are you people?”
“W-Who are you people?”
To Shin Su-hyeok’s question, which was laced with hostility, the strangers retorted without hiding their wariness.
It seemed that they would have to explain first for the situation to progress.
“We are travelers passing through. We have no intention of causing unnecessary trouble.”
“Then what is the reason for you people carrying weapons?”
“If you look at that fallen beast over there, it might explain things a bit.”
At Su-hyeok’s gesture, a large and small murmur arose among the torch-bearing crowd that had gathered to see the massive bear.
After a while, the oldest-looking person in the group stepped forward.
“I am the Village Chief of a mountain village near here. The thing is, since last night, the brown bear, a sacred animal of the mountain, has turned ferocious and has been attacking people. For that reason, I gathered the able-bodied men of the village to catch it.”
“If that’s the case, you don’t have to worry. We’ve already caught it.”
At Su-hyeok’s words, the old man looked at the fallen bear once more and nodded.
“……Our people were prepared to be injured, but thanks to you, we’ve been spared a great deal of worry. I am truly grateful.”
The old man bowed politely, expressing his gratitude.
“It’s already late at night, and if you are travelers passing through this mountain, how about staying in our village until morning and then departing? We don’t have much to offer in return, but we can provide a place to avoid the night dew and a simple breakfast.”
He seemed to have noticed the state of Yeonsangun’s group, who were exhausted from fighting the bear.
When Su-hyeok turned around and asked for permission, Yeonsangun yawned and nodded.
“Well, I’ll need a kitchen to cook the bear paws. Let’s go to the village quickly.”
Again, again, even in this situation, he was talking about those bear paws… Ji-young couldn’t help but sigh.
But when she thought about it, they hadn’t rested properly since the commotion at the tavern and had been walking ever since, so they needed a place to stay somewhere.
Moreover, they had lost their horses in the bear attack.
It was already difficult to carry their luggage, such as food and weapons.
‘Once we enter the village, maybe a solution will arise.’
Ji-young had no choice but to have such hopeful expectations.
* * *
A mountain village located somewhere on the border between Gyeonggi Province and Gangwon Province.
Ji-young, who had spent the night and woken up early in the morning, slowly took a walk around the village.
The land was more barren than she had thought, and the villagers’ livelihoods were more impoverished than she had expected.
‘Even if the soil isn’t fertile, I didn’t expect the standard of living to be this poor…’
The Village Chief had given up his own house to treat the guests, and they had been able to sleep well without being cold last night because he had stoked the fire in the stove.
Moreover, he had even heated bathwater for them in the evening, so it was fortunate for Ji-young that she was able to wash herself for the first time in a long time.
But that was all.
The only thing that stood out in this mountain village, which she had looked around the next morning, was the trace of severe poverty.
The houses were all bark houses with roofs made of tree bark.
Even rice straw was precious in mountain villages where rice farming was not possible.
All that was served for breakfast was dark buckwheat porridge with soy sauce and a few seasoned wild vegetables.
“It’s such a poor village that I’m ashamed that there’s nothing to offer.”
The Village Chief, an old man who had served the meal, trailed off as if he was embarrassed. Gong-gil spoke up cheerfully.
“Oh, what are you saying? This is a feast……. I’ll enjoy the meal.”
“Then, I’ll gratefully accept it.”
Shin Su-hyeok also expressed his gratitude stiffly and picked up his spoon.
A girl who looked to be about seventeen or eighteen, who seemed to be the old man’s granddaughter, smiled bashfully at the sight.
So, the only one who was sulking in that place was Yeonsangun.
“……Did I not say that I would eat bear paws?”
“W-Well, they’re currently being boiled in the kitchen, but it’s a dish that takes a lot of time to cook…”
“It doesn’t matter. I will wait. Originally, delicacies are best enjoyed after waiting.”
Haa……. She didn’t know he would throw a tantrum about food even after coming all the way here.
He really was an annoying person.
“Then do as you please, we’ll eat first.”
Ji-young said that and picked up her spoon, but at that moment, a hurried voice was heard from outside.
A villager had come to find the Village Chief, panting for breath.
“Village Chief, something terrible has happened.”
“What is it?”
The Village Chief, who had opened the old paper door and stuck out only his upper body, saw the face of the villager, who was sweating profusely.
“A clerk has come from the district office. He says today is the last day to pay the Defense tax.”
Ji-young could instantly sense the Village Chief’s expression hardening to an ashen color.
