Chapter 22
Eventually, it was late at night when Cho Yun managed to escape the drinking party. The drunken Weijong had fallen asleep with his forehead on the table. After using his light internal power to dispel the faint intoxication, Cho Yun straightened his clothes and walked outside.
‘Did I get too engrossed? Sa-yeong and Cheon-o should be doing well on their own, though.’
Descending the stairs with a somewhat urgent heart, he began to hear the uproarious laughter of people from half-way down. Just in case, he had wrapped the children in a protective aura and had been sensing their presence continuously, but he was still worried since he couldn’t see them.
And upon witnessing the scene on the first floor where the dining hall was, Cho Yun was at a loss for words.
“Is he really eating more over there? Can he fit that in?”
“Hey, kid. Can you eat more? Want me to get you some?”
“……Then the oiled noodles you gave me earlier, please.”
“There you go! None of you have beaten me yet! If you want the money, come and take it. Are you giving all this money to me?”
“Damn it! I swear I saw the ball going in there, where did it disappear to?”
“Isn’t this a trick?”
“I’m telling you, if any one of you hits it, I’ll give it all back! Don’t you know who I am? I’m Im Sa-yeong!”
“This time I’ll take it! Me!”
“Are you sure? You said you spent all your wages today – what are you betting next?”
“I’ll bet everything, even strip down, but I will hit it!”
The first floor was utter chaos.
Sa-yeong, whom Cho Yun trusted, led a group of middle-aged people in a grand gambling game. Even the waitress, who normally would have rebuked such ruckus in the guesthouse, was blinded by the gambling frenzy.
Next, the cook in charge of the guesthouse’s kitchen was preoccupied with Cheon-o, who was eating like mad. Considering the amount an eleven-year-old child could eat, the table where Cheon-o sat was piled high with empty dishes. There was also quite a crowd observing the spectacle of how much the kid could eat.
Lastly, Sa-hyeon, who was his biggest concern, was relatively quiet. But alongside his sister, overturning five wooden cups to play a dice game, he was collecting money, managing bets, and stirring up excitement among people.
‘No matter what, kids without guardians try all sorts of things…….’
Isn’t this too much?
He was momentarily stunned at the completely different sides of the children from what he usually saw.
The first to notice the frozen teacher was Cheon-o, who was inhaling food with a basin-sized bowl.
“……Master, you’re here?”
Seeing Cho Yun, Cheon-o wiped his mouth and spoke. Almost simultaneously, Sa-yeong and Sa-hyeon, who were on the other side of the dining hall, turned their gaze towards Cho Yun. The noisy hall fell silent in an instant.
“Ah, that, uh, Master! This is, well, just a game I played with the kids…… Hey, put the money down now!”
“Uh, huh!”
Sa-yeong, startled to see his teacher at the bottom of the stairs, stuttered like a child caught doing something wrong and hurriedly tried to make excuses. He nudged Sa-hyeon, who was just standing there gaping, with his elbow to clue him in.
Cho Yun looked quietly at the kids, huddled as if waiting for a stern rebuke, and the adults, eyes wide open, before he calmly bowed.
“Thank you for looking after the kids while I was away. It seems like they had a good time thanks to you. Sa-yeong, Sa-hyeon, return all the money except for the initial stake.”
“Uh…… yes, Master.”
The children, slightly taken aback by Cho Yun’s words, hesitated for a moment before they began to distribute the money quickly. It didn’t take long for the piled money and flour to return to their original owners. Meanwhile, Cho Yun expressed his gratitude to the cook busy in the kitchen, gathered Cheon-o, and moved towards the siblings.
“Consider the initial amount as a tip for the kids and thank you. Since it’s late, we will take our leave now. If the owner wakes up and looks for me, please inform him I’m staying at Cheongpung Inn. Sa-yeong, Sa-hyeon, Cheon-o, come, give them your thanks.”
“Uh…… Thank you, everyone. We had a lot of fun.”
“T-thank you.”
“……It was delicious.”
As the kids bowed their heads, the people who were a bit absent-mindedly watching the rapid resolution laughed heartily and waved them off.
“Thanks to the young lady, everyone had fun. Buy some soup with the money you won!”
“Yeah, yeah. Think of it as pocket money!”
“We had a great time too! See you next time!”
“Wait, no. If we do this again, I’ll end up really stripping down and going home naked. My wife will kill me!”
Leaving behind the uproarious laughter, the children, waving happily, left the guesthouse. Though it had been quite dark for some time, the crowd didn’t seem to have lessened. Cho Yun took the hands of the relatively younger two and had Sa-yeong walk ahead.
“Master, aren’t we going to get scolded?”
Walking lightly ahead, Sa-yeong turned back and asked. Cho Yun, reflecting on how much Sa-yeong had grown at fifteen years old, seventeen by Korean age, and almost ready to enter high school, said.
“Scolded?”
“We gambled. Usually, we’d get in huge trouble for that.”
Of course…… you would’ve. In the original world, you would have.
But the common sense here was different. Living like a modern human would make it easy to starve to death in this world. Cho Yun, thinking deeply, pulled Cheon-o’s hand a bit closer to him. A person who had been walking from afar, intending to bump into them, staggered and cursed as he passed.
“There’s nothing I can’t criticize. You guys made too big a fuss.”
Cheon-o turned his black eyes to stare intently at the person who passed by. Cho Yun was a bit frightened and gripped the hand, he was holding tightly, as if telling him to look ahead.
“It’s not that there’s nothing to be cautious about. There are a lot more narrow-minded, unreasonable adults in the world than you think. What if someone holds a grudge for losing money? How can you predict who will take three kids lightly and try to threaten them?”
“So that’s why you told us to return the money?”
“Yes. Moreover, since the majority were porters from a trading group, it would’ve caused problems to leave bad feelings with people we might see again.”
Though the exact destination wasn’t confirmed, holding grudges was never beneficial. Even unfair grudges needed to be avoided when raising children. The world had a lot more unreasonable people.
Sa-yeong, feeling the pocket that held the coins, asked another question.
“Then why did you say we could keep the initial winnings?”
“No matter if it was a trick, you earned that money with exceptional skill. If I made you give everything back, it wouldn’t have been fair. You should keep an amount that you can handle.”
Gambling always starts with curiosity, the second time with confidence, and from the third time out of spite. The first money is always a small, disposable amount, so it seemed fine for the kids to keep it.
“I won’t stop you from doing it, but you should always make sure you understand your own abilities and only do as much as you can handle.”
Children tend to show more interest and obsession in things that guardians completely forbid. Moreover, they would become more stealthy to continue doing those things.
To prevent this, it was important to allow some leeway rather than strictly enforcing prohibitions.
‘If you prohibit reading novels, they’ll end up obsessed with genre fiction when they grow up. If you prohibit comic books, they’ll grow up to be otakus. You can’t completely block what they’re really interested in.’
Feeling a persistent gaze, Cho Yun looked down for a moment. He saw Cheon-o looking up at him intensely before turning his head. Cho Yun gently patted his small head.
“I’m saying this to all of you. Understand?”
“……Yes, Master.”
Well, as for you, there’ll come a time when there’s nothing you can’t do. You’re destined to become the reigning overlord of killing, torture, betrayal, and conspiracy.
Thinking lightly about it, Cho Yun took the child’s hand again. At that moment, Sa-hyeon, holding his other hand, pointed somewhere and stopped.
“Si-sister, there’s a snack…….”
“Oh? Master! I’ll go there with Hyun for a moment!”
“I’ll wait here, so take your time.”
In front of a guesthouse brightly lit up, snacks were being sold late into the night. Sa-yeong and Sa-hyeon laughed joyfully and ran to the stand, but Cheon-o stood close to Cho Yun, holding his hand.
This child doesn’t dislike snacks. Cho Yun asked softly.
“Go along with your sister and come back. They won’t buy only for themselves.”
“It’s okay. I’m full.”
……Right. After eating that much, you would be full. Remembering the pile of dishes on Cheon-o’s table, Cho Yun easily understood.
“You ate quite a lot before. Do you have a stomachache or feel bloated?”
“I kept eating because I didn’t feel my stomach filling up. Was I being a burden?”
……Ah. I can see why. Considering that I have been refining all sorts of medicinal ingredients into his meals every day, he must have felt replenished and strengthened with each bite. With such benefits, he would naturally feel lacking with just normal meals. Cho Yun gently stroked the hand he was holding with his thumb.
“You saved a person, so it’s no burden. However, from now on, it would be better if you eat within three bowls to avoid a stomach ache.”
“Yes, Master.”
Ah, how cute. How could such a child become the ruling lord of murder, torture, betrayal, and conspiracy? It’s all due to poor upbringing. How could they grow up right when taught to fight and not allowed proper sleep from a young age?
Cheon-o might not always laugh or be overly bright, but he was an endearing child. His manner of nodding his round head in response made Cho Yun’s heart melt despite not showing it outwardly. Contrary to concerns about his empathy, Cheon-o showed a habit of thinking deeply before speaking and was modest in asking questions when unsure, accepting advice without stubbornness. It was sweet and pitiful how mature yet still small he was.
Although, his learning pace was monstrous.
It felt like in a few years he would have absorbed everything Cho Yun could teach. Hence, Cho Yun was pouring all of his extensive knowledge of medicine into him as well. Concerned that he might be overworking with all the studying, he ensured that Cheon-o rested and played regularly. Despite this, Cheon-o was improving daily.
Not wanting to encourage competition between children with age and rank differences, Cho Yun avoided letting them spar. It seemed like Cheon-o had already surpassed Sa-hyeon. With a significant age gap and a naturally persistent nature, Sa-yeong wouldn’t easily yield to Cheon-o for now.
Sa-yeong and Sa-hyeon might still see Cheon-o as a barrier, but they would continue to do well. Weren’t they the kids bringing loads of snacks for their master and little brother even now? Cho Yun headed to the inn with a heart full of pride and satisfaction.
The children had truly grown well.
