"Master."
"What is it?"
"Three years is short."
"It is."
Before they knew it, three years inside the Sigongjin had almost passed.
"But Yuhwa."
"Why?"
"Do you really have to sit on my lap?"
"Yes."
Tang Yuhwa was sitting on top of Baek Yoonjun, who was sitting on the floor.
"Am I being treated as a chair on the last day?"
"A chair isn't this warm."
"Well, that's true. Since people have body heat."
Although Baek Yoonjun was the type to have a fit when a person's body touched him, perhaps because it was his disciple Tang Yuhwa, he sat there without any particular feeling.
"Master."
"What is it?"
"Being like this feels like we've gone back to the old days."
"It does."
Baek Yoonjun recalled the not-so-distant past.
The days when Tang Yuhwa stayed at his residence and trained.
Although they were days when he was led by Tang Yuhwa's hand down the mountain to treat people almost every day.
'I miss it.'
Recalling that time, Baek Yoonjun felt his heart grow faint.
'Memories... I guess.'
Baek Yoonjun found this kind of emotion strange.
"Master."
"What is it?"
"Are you sad that I came down from the mountain?"
"I am."
Baek Yoonjun answered Tang Yuhwa's question honestly.
Perhaps because that was unexpected, Tang Yuhwa raised her head and stared at Baek Yoonjun.
Although her face was not very different from usual, an emotion that seemed slightly surprised was present.
"Why are you being honest?"
"Can I hide it from you?"
Since Tang Yuhwa's breath touching his face was burdensome, Baek Yoonjun stealthily raised his head.
'Although I was cooped up in the mountains for a long time, for some reason, the time when Yuhwa or Sowol stayed is memorable.'
Recalling the past, worries flooded in, perhaps because of his homebody introvert nature.
'Come to think of it, I wonder if Sowol is doing well? It seems she's doing well, but I'm worried.'
A worry about Baek Sowol that came up along with Tang Yuhwa.
'What if she learns something strange from a strange group? It seems the kid is already acting like a proper eighth-grader, talking about being the Heavenly Demon or whatever.'
Once the worry started, it poured out endlessly.
It was Baek Yoonjun, who could not hide his nature anytime, anywhere.
"Master."
"What is it?"
"You don't have to worry."
"About what?"
"She's doing better than you think, Master. Although she has a tendency to be a bit hasty."
Baek Yoonjun realized what Tang Yuhwa was talking about.
'Is it about Sowol?'
He still couldn't figure out how on earth Tang Yuhwa knew Baek Yoonjun's question and answered it.
'Well, it's a common thing for her to read my thoughts.'
But since it was a common occurrence, he just let it be.
"Master's thoughts are simple. Since you thought of the time in the mountains while being with me, wouldn't you also think of the person who was with you before that?"
Moreover, Tang Yuhwa even explained how she had figured out Baek Yoonjun's thoughts.
Hearing it like that, it was quite plausible.
Of course, although it was plausible, there was a problem.
"What if you're wrong?"
"If I'm wrong, then I'm wrong. It's not like Master will do anything to me."
"That's also true."
Baek Yoonjun admired Tang Yuhwa's shameless confidence.
A confidence he could never have.
It was an emotion that Baek Yoonjun could not understand at all.
Rustle.
At that moment, Tang Yuhwa buried her head deep in Baek Yoonjun's chest.
Seeing her bring her ear to the vicinity of Baek Yoonjun's heart, it seemed she was trying to listen to his heartbeat like before.
Baek Yoonjun looked at that sight without a word and then quietly opened his mouth.
"Can you hear it well?"
"I can hear it well. Just like Master's pea-sized liver, his heart also seems to be pea-sized."
"Well, a person can have a small liver."
"That's right. I can't even imagine a Master with a big liver."
At Tang Yuhwa's words, which saw him accurately, Baek Yoonjun felt a faint longing.
'Come to think of it, there was a kid who kept looking at me even after I was cooped up in a corner of my room.'
At the very faint emotion, Baek Yoonjun's thoughts headed in a strange direction.
'Could it be that this kid is the reincarnation of that kid?'
He didn't know why on earth such a thought came out, but.
'Come to think of it, this kid's way of speaking is also something you'd only see on the inter, isn't it? Could she really be a reincarnator like me?'
Baek Yoonjun quietly decided to verify that thought.
"Republic of Korea."
Baek Yoonjun muttered very timidly and also clapped his hands timidly.
Then he stealthily observed Tang Yuhwa's reaction.
"Master, what are you doing?"
"...It's nothing."
Slightly disappointed by Tang Yuhwa's indifferent reaction, Baek Yoonjun turned his head.
'Well, would reincarnation be common?'
Moreover, it was a reincarnation with memories.
Baek Yoonjun thought that such a situation would not be common.
'Come to think of it, in things like novels, humans who retained their memories of their past lives lived well based on those memories.'
Baek Yoonjun pondered the advantages of having his memories of his past life.
The conclusion was.
'Is there none?'
There was none in particular.
He didn't know the current era well, nor did he have any great knowledge.
'At least, the fact that I vaguely remember the things that kid told me is an advantage, I guess.'
Thinking so, Baek Yoonjun shook his head.
'If I hadn't retained my memories of my past life, I wouldn't have lived trembling like this because of the martial artists.'
Having realized that there were no advantages no matter how much he pondered, Baek Yoonjun became dejected.
'Sigh, whether I have memories or not, wouldn't I be the same?'
Having become calm beyond dejection, Baek Yoonjun quietly stroked Tang Yuhwa's head.
"Master."
"Huh? Sorry. Was it uncomfortable?"
Thinking that she was uncomfortable because he was stroking her head, Baek Yoonjun was about to take his hand off, but Tang Yuhwa quietly held Baek Yoonjun's hand and shook her head.
"It's not that."
"Uh, then what is it?"
At Tang Yuhwa's touch, Baek Yoonjun resumed stroking her head.
For some reason, it felt like stroking a small fox, not a person.
"Master, do you remember when you saved me?"
"That time? It was a mess."
Baek Yoonjun recalled the time when he first met Tang Yuhwa.
The image of Tang Yuhwa, who was boldly spraying poison in the middle of a group of assassins, came to his mind.
'She was bold then too.'
At Tang Yuhwa's appearance, which was unchanged from now, Baek Yoonjun shook his head.
He wondered how she could be so confident.
"How are you always so confident?"
Hearing Baek Yoonjun's question, Tang Yuhwa quietly raised her head.
Baek Yoonjun, who met the sullen Tang Yuhwa's eyes, turned his head as before.
"Master."
"What is it?"
"I wasn't confident then."
"What?"
Surprised by the unexpected words, Baek Yoonjun recalled the situation at that time again.
His impression was not particularly different from before.
"I was scared then."
The more Tang Yuhwa's words continued, the more confused Baek Yoonjun's mind became.
"But there were children, so I was desperate. I wanted to save even one more."
While Baek Yoonjun was confused, Tang Yuhwa's words continued calmly.
"At that time, Master appeared."
Tang Yuhwa quietly stood up.
"The first time I saw Master, he looked very scary."
"Me?"
"Wouldn't a person who cuts down all the assassins as soon as he arrives be scary?"
"Well, I had no intention of letting villains live..."
Baek Yoonjun scratched his head awkwardly.
Kill villains.
That thought still remained unchanged.
'If I let them live, I don't know when I'll be retaliated against.'
Baek Yoonjun rationalized his thoughts and nodded his head.
Then he turned his head and met Tang Yuhwa's eyes, and Baek Yoonjun stealthily turned his head.
"But as I spent time with Master, I got to know the person that is Master. Timid and weak-hearted."
"It's not wrong, but..."
Since it wasn't a very good thing to say, Baek Yoonjun mumbled while looking elsewhere.
At that, Tang Yuhwa followed him and met Baek Yoonjun's eyes.
Baek Yoonjun turned his head again, but each time, Tang Yuhwa followed him like a ghost and made eye contact.
'It's embarrassing to keep avoiding.'
In the end, Baek Yoonjun gave up on avoiding her eyes because of his timid nature.
'Why do you keep looking at my eyes so burdensomely?'
Since Baek Yoonjun had no common sense of talking while looking at a person's eyes, it was just burdensome.
"Master."
"What is it?"
"I'm glad that you are my master."
Baek Yoonjun shut his mouth, not understanding the meaning of those words.
Wondering if she was teasing him, but since it seemed to show some sincerity, he quietly kept his mouth shut, and then.
"Right. I'm also glad that you are my disciple."
He answered with similar words.
Woong.
At the same time as Baek Yoonjun answered, the space distorted, and a moment later, the two were left alone in the middle of the blacksmith's where they had been.
'What a shame.'
Baek Yoonjun felt a deep sense of regret.
No matter what anyone said, his nature was that of a homebody introvert.
Since his instinct itself preferred an isolated space.
"It's a shame."
Tang Yuhwa muttered something similar to Baek Yoonjun's thoughts.
"Hmm?"
Baek Yoonjun was surprised.
No matter how he looked at it, Tang Yuhwa was an extrovert.
Therefore, he didn't think she would like an isolated space.
"What's a shame?"
"It's been a long time since I was alone with Master. It's a shame that it's over."
At that answer, Baek Yoonjun automatically nodded his head and felt his chest warm up.
Perhaps because of that, he said something impulsive, which was unlike him.
"When we go back, how about coming back to my place?"
"That's not okay. Master has a characteristic of running away when approached."
Baek Yoonjun didn't understand Tang Yuhwa's words and tilted his head, but he just let it be.
'Since she doesn't seem to have any bad feelings.'
Having moderately sorted out his emotions, Baek Yoonjun cleared the place.
"Let's slowly clean up and go back."
"We should."
The cleanup was over quickly.
After finishing the cleanup, the two left the blacksmith's and returned to the inn.
"Then I'll go rest a bit."
"Right. Rest."
Baek Yoonjun, who had parted with Tang Yuhwa at the inn.
'Should I wash up a bit?'
He wanted to wash up.
Having made up his mind, Baek Yoonjun quietly approached a nearby waiter and spoke to him.
"I want to wash up, can you heat up some water?"
"Oh my, sir! Are you going to wash up? It's also good to wash up leisurely in your room with heated water, but."
At Baek Yoonjun's request, the young waiter immediately turned into a merchant.
"How about trying the large communal bath that we have newly prepared in our inn this time?"
"A communal bath?"
"Indeed! You can wash up comfortably in a large bath like noble sirs!"
"Hoh?"
"Our master is very interested in the culture of the Western Regions, so he prepared this facility this time, and it's absolutely amazing!"
At the waiter's recommendation, Baek Yoonjun's memories of his past life came to mind.
'Is it like a public bathhouse? A public bathhouse in this era is strange.'
Although he felt a very strange feeling, he was convinced by the thought that came to mind soon after.
'Come to think of it, Greece and Rome were also in the old days, but they had bathhouses, right? So it could exist.'
Having finished his thoughts to some extent, Baek Yoonjun pondered.
'It's strange, so I want to go and see it, but what if it's teeming with people?'
Fortunately, Baek Yoonjun's worries did not last long.
"If you go now, there are no people, so you can soak your body leisurely, not envying the Son of Heaven in the distant imperial palace!"
At the waiter's words, Baek Yoonjun felt like trying the communal bath.
Following the waiter's guidance, Baek Yoonjun, who had arrived at a large room in the corner, quietly opened the door.
"Hoh."
A large bath that came into Baek Yoonjun's eyes.
A bathtub the size of a common bathhouse in a neighborhood he had seen somewhere was in the middle, and around it, tools for washing the body were provided.
'This is high-class for this era.'
Although it was inferior to the small bathhouse in a neighborhood that Baek Yoonjun had seen in his past life, considering the era, it was quite splendid.
'Did they draw the water in advance? The temperature also seems appropriate.'
Satisfied with the temperature of the water, Baek Yoonjun took off his clothes and washed his body.
'Oh! Not soap beans, but soap, they certainly paid some attention.'
Baek Yoonjun admired the culture, showing off his few pieces of knowledge of this world to the fullest.
'Soap beans were cheap soap made from the fruit of the soap bean tree, and soap was high-class soap with fragrance, right?'
Baek Yoonjun soaked the soap, which had a faint fragrance, in water, applied it generously to his body, and washed it off with water.
After that, he soaked his body in the large bath and stretched out his legs.
'Wow, it's nice to be able to stretch my legs while soaking my body in hot water.'
The bathtubs of this era that Baek Yoonjun had seen were about the size of a round wooden tub that one person could enter, so he could not enjoy the luxury of stretching his feet.
Although it was a very small difference, Baek Yoonjun was very satisfied.
'Being alone is a big part of it.'
It was good to be able to stretch his legs and soak his body leisurely, but Baek Yoonjun was very satisfied because there were no people.
But was it that his thoughts had become a seed?
Creak.
Someone opened the door of the bathroom where Baek Yoonjun was and came in, and their eyes met head-on.
"Hi, hiiyaaaak!!"
The being who had met Baek Yoonjun's eyes screamed, startled as if it would faint.
(End of Chapter)
Reviews
All reviews (0)