Chapter 21 – Mu-rim Creampie (1)

With three full backpacks, jewel-encrusted rings, a gold toad the size of a fist, the Iron King’s Heart Sutra, and a pretty packaged supply of lubricant, they were ready to head back to the village.

Hong Yeon-hwa still didn’t cling to him like she used to, probably still embarrassed about her mistaken assumption.

But maybe she didn’t want to completely let go. She held onto just his sleeve, a little ways behind him, and it was cute in its own way.

Almost mischievously, he suddenly twisted her wrist and caught her hand that was clinging to his sleeve. He had wanted to see her flail around helplessly, but…

Right before she could grab onto him, Hong Yeon-hwa’s wrist bent softly.

Pavabat.

And then, somehow, he found himself with his wrist twisted in her grasp.

“Huh?”

“Uh…?”

It was an unconscious action on both their parts, and they both seemed surprised.

But he had said they could go to Seoul as long as they held hands, right? So it was okay now that they were holding hands.

Hong Yeon-hwa seemed to come to the same conclusion, as she didn’t explain or let go of his hand. Instead, she just loosened her grip so he wouldn’t feel uncomfortable.

Paeng So-so, who had been watching them from the side with a blank expression, came out when he saw that they were holding hands. Feeling embarrassed for no reason, he brought up the topic that had been on his mind.

“Ahem. By the way, Paeng So-jo also fought with us. Is it okay if he doesn’t take anything?”

He could understand not wanting to take the Heart Sutra, but he didn’t think Paeng So-jo would refuse anything else. Was it because he was from the Five Great Clans and didn’t have any financial difficulties?

Paeng So-so smiled wryly and shook his head.

“It’s okay. But, if it’s possible, could I ask for just one meal?”

Grrrr-

A loud growling noise interrupted them.

He looked over to where the sound came from and saw Paeng So-so covering his stomach.

He must have been hungry and not paying attention to their lovey-dovey behavior.

“It’s no problem to get you a meal.”

It was just one meal.

After that, everything happened in a flash.

Chapter 22 – Mu-rim Creampie (2)

After safely arriving at the village and handing over the kidnapped women to the authorities, they decided to turn in their loot and collect their reward. The amount was much larger than they had anticipated.

Since it was difficult to give everything in physical form in such a small village, they received half of the reward in vouchers. This gave them a considerable amount of financial freedom. Of course, they couldn’t just live a life of leisure, but they would be comfortable for the next two or three years.

He had originally planned to earn enough money to travel to the island where the Yongbong Association was held, but things had turned out better than expected.

Their last stop was an inn.

Things had gone completely differently than he had expected, but they had successfully completed their first Mu-rim mission, so they should celebrate. They had also promised to buy Paeng So-so a meal.

***

Chop, chop-

Beef ribs, stir-fried beef, flower-shaped jelly, spicy beef soup, beef and vegetable soup, braised pork, grilled beef, raw fish, and more.

The table was filled with meat dishes of all kinds, and Paeng So-so’s chopsticks moved busily back and forth.

Chop, chop-

They had started out with casual conversation, but as the food arrived and they started eating, the pace picked up until they reached their current frenzied state.

Hong Yeon-hwa, who had been eyeing the mountain of meat in front of her, suddenly became timid and moved closer to him, whispering in his ear.

“Just in case, don’t touch the food. There might be some suspicious substances mixed in.”

“I don’t know…aren’t you just hungry? You were practically scarfing it down earlier, and you even ate my share when I wasn’t paying attention.”

“Did you do the same thing to me?!”

“Hmm…let me think. There were a lot of things that happened, so it’s surprisingly clear in my memory. Oh, right. No matter how much we killed, he just kept swallowing it down like water. Do you remember eating my share too?”

“That…! I don’t know! I don’t know anything!”

Hong Yeon-hwa covered her ears like a child, even though she clearly knew what he was talking about. It was obvious that she was worried about how he would react to her behavior, just like how she had been scared by his earlier behavior.

I would never scold Hong Yeon-hwa for something like that.

He picked up a piece of tangsuyuk, a dish similar to sweet and sour pork, and fed it to Hong Yeon-hwa.

“No matter how hungry you are…mumumum.”

Hong Yeon-hwa reflexively tried to speak, but then she chewed and swallowed the food before opening her mouth again.

“As a true lady…munch munch…I always maintain my dignity…gulp. That’s what I believe.”

Hong Yeon-hwa, who had enjoyed every bite of the food, looked at him with sauce on her lips and a serious expression.

“Let’s have some dongpae-yuk instead of tangsuyuk this time.”

And she opened her mouth slightly like a baby bird waiting to be fed.

Is this the dignity of a celestial being…?

The celestial beings I knew were completely different…

Well, she’s cute, so it’s fine.

He brought a piece of dongpae-yuk, a dish made of braised pork, and fed it to Hong Yeon-hwa, who happily accepted it with a smile.

He continued to feed her one bite at a time until he suddenly realized that the sound of her chewing had stopped.

He turned his head in confusion and met Paeng So-so’s interested gaze.

“Oh, that’s…I haven’t been able to eat properly for the past few days…I showed an unsightly side in front of the spirits.”

Is she pretending not to have seen it?

In modern times, it might not be a big deal, but in this era, the sight of him and Hong Yeon-hwa was quite scandalous.

He accepted Paeng So-so’s consideration with gratitude and continued the conversation.

“If you’re hungry, you might do that. By the way, what do you mean you haven’t been able to eat properly for the past few days?”

“That’s…I don’t have any money, so…”

“What?”

“Um…I have various circumstances, so I can’t get money from home…”

Wait a minute. This feels familiar. I’ve seen this in novels and comics in my past life.

Daughter of a prestigious family. Various circumstances. Can’t get money from home.

This is totally…

“Did you run away from home?”

“What?! No?! Of course not?!”

Even Hong Yeon-hwa was surprised by her easily understandable reaction.

“Did you try to get the reward money by pretending to be a normal bandit instead of a member of Nokrim because you were so desperate for money?”

“How did you…?!”

I guess I was right.

Well, if she’s from the Odae clan, she probably knows more about Nokrim than I do. Naturally, she would know about their capabilities as well.

But I was a little curious when I saw her alone in the mountain cabin…it was just a mistake caused by her greed for money.

“If you were so desperate for money that you were going to starve for a few days, did you take some of the loot from the Nokrim earlier when we divided it?”

Paeng So-so played a significant role in this incident, but so did Hong Yeon-hwa. However, Paeng So-so’s contribution was also significant.

She was the one who found the way to the mountain cabin, and she was the one who kept the hostage under control, allowing them to easily rescue the kidnapped women.

He had asked if she wanted to take something since they could give her at least one or two items, but…

Paeng So-so had a serious expression and shook her head.

“I couldn’t take it. I don’t want to owe anything to anyone.”

She was a strange girl.

“If those two benefactors hadn’t been there, I would have been captured and become a material for a terrible event to earn a lot of money.”

“Well…I can’t deny that.”

It was a situation of defeat.

“I can’t demand anything from those who protected my personal and family honor and also protected my family’s martial arts.”

“Protected your family’s martial arts? What’s that?”

“Well, think about it carefully.”

This time, it was Hong Yeon-hwa who answered my question instead of Paeng So-so.

“Would you just tie up someone who has reached the peak of martial arts? Even if you seal their inner energy with acupuncture, there is a limit. So, it’s better to cut off their meridians and break their dantian to make it easier to manage.”

“Manage…?”

“And then, they would try to find out about Paeng-ga’s martial arts by any means necessary. Think about what it means for Paeng-ga’s martial arts to pass to Nokrim.”

“Is it because of the exposure method?”

At my words, Paeng So-so smiled even more bitterly and nodded her head.

“That’s all true. I even thought about taking my own life before it happened…but then Eun-gong appeared. So, how can I ask Eun-gong to share the credit with me?”

If she says so, there’s nothing more to say. Instead…

“…If you just eat meat, it’s not good, so how about some alcohol?”

“If you give it to me, I’ll gladly accept it.”

I decided to feed her generously this time. After all, even if we combine all the food expenses today, it’s only enough for one person to eat a meal or not.

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.

.

.

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Clang!

The sound of the glass hitting the table echoed loudly.

“It’s not my fault! The world is wrong!”

Paeng So-so exploded in anger with the slurred speech of a drunk person.

Huh?

Did I feed her too much?