Ms. Jea’s Appearance. Could She Be a Stalker?!
Ms. Jea had created a situation where such a trivial misunderstanding could arise. She stepped between me and the noble I was arguing with, and when the noble recognized her, he said,
“I pay my respects to Princess Gwangmyeong.”
It seemed Ms. Jea’s honorific title was “Gwangmyeong.” Thinking that the title suited her personality quite well, I helped the old man to his feet and said,
“I don’t think this is something you should involve yourself in, Ms. Jea.”
“I stopped by the job office, heard what happened, and came looking for you just in case.”
“…I see.”
I couldn’t understand why it felt like she kept hovering around me, but she was still a princess. To the pleasure house staff, whether she was a princess or an ongju, she was simply royalty and not someone they needed to worry about much. But the official, even as he called her Princess Gwangmyeong, was clearly looking at her with a condescending gaze.
I briefly wondered if Ms. Jea’s father might be a weak royal with little power.
“This is not a matter in which Your Highness should interfere.”
“No. This man is my… lifesaver. So I have more than enough reason to interfere.”
“Is that so?”
The official looked at me as if surprised. Then, glancing back and forth between me and Ms. Jea, he explained the circumstances. After hearing everything, Ms. Jea looked at me awkwardly. It seemed her way of thinking probably wasn’t all that different from the official’s.
And I could tell from the way she looked at the old man that it really wasn’t very different, which displeased me a little.
I wasn’t some philanthropist, but I was the kind of person who wanted people to act like people. And this wasn’t something a person should do.
But did that mean I would save every state slave in the world?
That, too, was impossible. So, within the range my hand could reach, and wanting to make things a little easier for those who had some connection to me, I spoke.
“You know my circumstances, don’t you, Ms. Jea?”
“I do. But our country has its own circumstances and national laws. We can’t ignore them.”
Just as my head was beginning to go blank from frustration, the old man pushed me away and said,
“This person has nothing to do with me. Please punish this Soennae, who has done wrong, and generously let the matter pass.”
The old man knelt down and begged desperately. Rage surged up in me, and I nearly lost it. This was the world he had learned in order to adapt here, in his own way.
I was about to say something out of anger, but the old man raised his hand, grabbed my wrist, and shook his head.
“This is my matter. It is my fault, so please allow me to resolve it.”
The old man restrained me with everything he had. Faced with that gaze and desperation, I had no choice but to step back, furious though I was. And then the official bastard stepped forward with a triumphant expression, as if it were only natural.
As if telling me to watch, he began slapping the old man across the face. His face swelled, and blood sprayed. Had a tooth broken?
I saw something stained red fly swiftly through the air. Just as I was about to step in, unable to endure it any longer, Ms. Jea grabbed the official’s arm.
“Enough. Isn’t this enough? You’re not thinking of killing someone just because he blocked your path a little, are you?”
“Someone? Ptui. What changes if one beast dies?”
“Under national law, state slaves are regarded as the property of the nation. Surely you’re aware that your actions right now are sufficient to constitute damage to property?”
“As if he’s worth more than a few coins. Well, since Your Highness wishes it, I’ll stop.”
The bastard spoke while looking at Ms. Jea with a sly grin. I wanted to grab him by the collar and smash his face in right then and there. But the old man, somehow getting back up and kneeling again, looked at me and shook his head. Don’t do it. Don’t cause any more trouble. Faced with that gaze, I had no choice but to take one step back.
Still, as I glared endlessly at the official’s face, trying to carve it into my memory, the official said to me,
“That gaze of yours is insolent. One day, you’ll suffer greatly for it.”
That was my line, but Ms. Jea stepped in and said she understood, then sent the official away.
“This place has its own laws and customs.”
Ms. Jea’s rebuke. I had plenty to say, but this was not the Republic of Korea, so I stayed silent. Then the old man also struggled to his feet and said to me,
“I am only grateful that you tried to help, but I would say it was unnecessary meddling.”
The old man spoke carefully. Looking at him, I asked,
“You’re a citizen of the Republic of Korea, aren’t you?”
“!!”
The old man nodded, looking a little startled. So I told him that I, too, was a citizen of the Republic of Korea, and that I had luckily managed to resolve various situations. For a moment, he looked at me with envy.
“Isn’t that how life is? The word ‘hardship’ doesn’t exist for no reason.”
“Has life… not been difficult?”
“It has been. But even if I struggle, what will change? I thought I’d adapted well enough by now, but it seems I don’t have long left to live.”
The old man’s words kept slurring because of his broken tooth, and it pained me. If I hadn’t gotten involved, it might have ended with him being beaten only moderately. The fact that he had been beaten even more because I interfered made me feel guilty.
“I’m sorry. Because I butted in for no reason, you had to suffer more.”
“Don’t say that. Still, it’s good to see someone from home.”
The old man carefully extended his hand. Realizing he meant to shake hands, I took it without hesitation and said,
“Even now, wouldn’t you consider becoming a citizen?”
“A citizen, you say? Of course I’d love to, but since you’ve come here, you must know. And since you’ve seen it, you must understand as well. The life of a slave in this world is harsh. We are lucky enough to live as gate state slaves and are relatively well-off, but the lives of other slaves are harsher than this, if anything. They are not better.”
I wondered just what kind of treatment they received for him to say that. But even now, I wanted to correct what I could within reach of my hand. So I began speaking to persuade the old man,
but he kept refusing, saying, “It would all be a debt,” so I made him one proposal.
“In order for me to live here, I need a house, and there are many things I don’t know. So let’s compromise on the condition that you help me.”
“My price is not worth the value of an Awakened one. It is also enough money to hire a good steward and manager. Your kindness is too much. Why are you trying to look after a finished life like mine?”
“What finished life? These days on Earth, they say someone turning sixty is still young.”
The old man laughed at my words. I hadn’t asked exactly how old he was, but it was nice to see his good-natured smile. I thought of the long years he must have lived through in hardship.
The old man had said it had already been sixteen years since he came to this world, to the Daehan Empire. In all that time, as a state slave, he had been unable to pay off his debt.
Then the situation of others was obvious without needing to ask.
So, through continued persuasion and Ms. Jea’s help, I somehow managed to change the old man’s mind.
“You are saying you will give me freedom for such a small matter?”
“It isn’t freedom, exactly. The condition was that you would belong to me.”
The old man laughed. In the end, we discussed it as him becoming attached to me, with the condition that he be released from state slavery, and I was able to get his consent. I thought the old man’s stubbornness was truly something.
When I asked if he had any other family, the old man said he had never had one.
“Why not?”
It was Ms. Jea, not the old man, who answered my question.
“When a state slave forms a household, all children born from that household inherit the status of a state slave. It seems he was worried about that and hated the idea.”
“That is correct, Your Highness.”
The old man bent at the waist to show respect. Even when Ms. Jea repeatedly tried to stop him and told him not to, he could not straighten his back.
Thinking that the gazes around us were probably making it even harder for him to straighten up, I almost dragged him along as I said,
“Let’s go first. To find your freedom.”
And so, after walking around with the old man and returning to the job management office, I paid the sum in one lump payment and was able to return his citizenship to him.
Only then did the old man say he had finally recovered his proper name, and he began to laugh and cry. Beyond the teardrops falling onto the identification card clutched tightly in both hands, I could see his name.
“You are Bak Manuk.”
“Yes. Yes, that’s right. At last, after being a state-slave wretch… I have found my name.”
Seeing the old man sob so sorrowfully made my heart ache for no reason. And the fact that I had spent money like water because I thought it was the right thing to do? I did not regret it.
Then, when my eyes met Ms. Jea’s, who was looking at me as if she couldn’t understand me, she asked,
“It was someone else’s life, wasn’t it?”
“He didn’t feel like someone else.”
“Because he’s from the same homeland?”
“No. Because he’s human. Honestly, I want to save everyone around me. But that, in its own way, would probably be presumptuous, and I couldn’t take everyone into my arms anyway. Everyone has their own life. But at the very least, I wanted to do what I wanted to do.”
I meant it. And I had to ask about that official bastard.
“What does that scoundrel from earlier do?”
“Ah, he’s the Minister of War.”
If he was the Minister of War, I figured he was someone connected to the military. Thinking that must be why he had such a violent and filthy temperament, I asked his name.
“It’s Gim Sihyeok.”
I repeated the name Gim Sihyeok to myself and firmly resolved not to forget his face. Only then did Bak Manuk come to his senses, stand, and bow his head deeply to me in thanks.
“I will spend my life repaying this grace, Isan-nim.”
“Um, you can leave off the ‘-nim’…”
“How could I? You are my benefactor.”
I tried to refuse again and again, but Bak Manuk ultimately refused my refusal. In the end, I had no choice but to allow him to attach the “-nim,” and so, together with Ms. Jea and Bak Manuk, I began going around the city for the time being with the goal of finding a place to live.
We looked around several estates that way, and then Bak Manuk finally recommended one place.
“It is a little on the outskirts, but if managed properly, there would be no place more splendid. Would you like to see it?”
Following Bak Manuk’s words, we began climbing a mountain a little. And halfway up the mountain slope, a fairly old and worn-looking estate appeared. Recognizing where this was, Ms. Jea said,
“This is an estate that was managed by the government office, isn’t it?”
“That’s right. High-ranking officials would sometimes come here for rest, but at some point, it began to be abandoned. And the following year, I understand the government put it up for sale.”
Ms. Jea nodded. The fact that she knew it as information, whether from rumor or otherwise, made her credible. So while listening to the explanation, we were looking around the estate when a man who seemed to be the manager came running over in a fluster and asked us,
“Who are you? This is a building managed by the government office, not a place just anyone may enter at will.”
“I heard it was for sale, so I came to see it.”
At my words, the employee hurriedly composed his expression and began speaking in a courteous tone.
“Is that so? In that case, why did you not seek me out in advance? May I ask which family’s young master you are?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Because this is property managed by the government, ordinary people cannot purchase the building… Perhaps?”
At his cautious question, Ms. Jea stepped forward and said,
“I am Princess Gwangmyeong of Ansan County. Do you need to confirm my identity?”
It was a sudden action, but Ms. Jea blocked me from stepping forward. Then, at the words Princess Gwangmyeong, the manager was startled and began trembling as he hurriedly said,
“I-I d-d-did not recognize…”
“It’s all right. That can happen. I would like to purchase this estate. What procedures are necessary?”
“Why would you go so far as to buy such an old estate…?”
“Must I explain my reasons as well?”
The employee, flustered by Ms. Jea’s somewhat charismatic presence, hurriedly said no and was seen running off somewhere.
Watching Ms. Jea, I raised my thumb in approval, but Bak Manuk urgently grabbed my hand and clung to it. Then, stealing a glance at Ms. Jea, he whispered to me,
“You should not make that gesture.”
“Why not?”
“That is… a kind of…”
And then I heard the explanation. Bak Manuk said it was literally a sexual gesture, the sort used to suggest spending the night together, and I felt my mind go blank.
Faced with this utterly insane situation, I had no choice but to take in Ms. Jea, whose face had turned bright red.