When the Black Moon Rises - Side Story 17
Side Story 17
After stopping by to inform Jung Chihwa of their departure so she wouldn't make a wasted trip, Baek Giha and Sehwa walked among the people for a while in their transformed state.
Perhaps because they had seen anxious faces when they first arrived in the human realm, the words about things being put in order hadn't fully registered.
"Everyone really looks bright."
The complexions of those bustling along the wide road were surprisingly not dark at all.
The market already seemed to have recovered its former appearance, and most importantly, food supplies didn't seem lacking in the slightest.
Besides those busy buying and selling goods, many others were diligently repairing fences or re-laying roof tiles. A merchant group with large carts lined up, seemingly preparing for a long journey, was also visible. Watching the vibrant people, Sehwa smiled faintly.
"They are truly diligent people. That's why it was a bit fun when I was in the human realm."
Baek Giha also smiled quietly at her words.
"Right. I liked this vitality of humans too. That's why I was here."
"Here? Ah, you mean when you were in the human realm?"
Come to think of it, how had he been in the human realm back then? It was wartime then too.
"Didn't you get into a fight with the Ju clan guards when crossing into the human realm?"
"I was already a Divine Beast then. Divine Beasts aren't caught by barriers, so I secretly crossed the gate."
"Why did you do that? Even if you came to the human realm to rest at other times, why were you here during the war?"
"Um......."
She didn't think it was a difficult question, but surprisingly, he swallowed his words and hesitated to answer.
As Sehwa watched him, slightly puzzled, Baek Giha's gaze suddenly fixed on something he had just passed. Startled, Baek Giha stopped, and Sehwa turned her head to follow his gaze. The bustling street was full of people moving busily, making it impossible to tell what he was looking at.
"What is it? Is there something there?"
Baek Giha narrowed his eyes as if trying to confirm what he had seen, not averting his gaze.
"Why? What are you looking at? Is there something you want?"
"No, it's not that. .........It's some kind of toy, no, maybe an ornament, but it's a bit strange............ It must be an ornament, right? Surely they don't actually use that, right?"
Ornament? Toy?
"What did you see?"
"No. Um, I just saw it because it seemed well-made. It must be an ornament, of course. Let's go."
Saying so, he gently wrapped his arm around her shoulder and started walking, but Baek Giha's steps didn't last long.
His legs faltered once more as if he had seen something strange again.
What is it? She turned her head again following his gaze, but with so many different items laid out on the street, she couldn't tell what he was looking at this time either.
He tilted his head again for a moment as if assessing something, then moved on.
Even after that, Baek Giha's gaze often lingered somewhere in the market.
If he liked it, he would have bought it, but since he didn't, he must have just seen something peculiar. Thinking that, yet seeing it happen repeatedly, Sehwa grew frustrated and grabbed his hand.
Canceling the plan to slowly look around the capital, she quickly headed towards the outside of the city walls.
As soon as they left the city walls, Baek Giha transformed into a Divine Beast in a secluded spot.
Fertile lands teeming with life force. They flew lightly past the autumn leaves coloring the land densely and the ripening crops.
The destination, said to take two days by human steps, was reached in less than an hour with the Divine Beast's ability.
Then, just before Sugwanchon came into view, they landed in a secluded spot. Baek Giha, having changed his form, immediately looked around as soon as his feet touched the ground.
"They said it would be visible as soon as we arrived, but I don't see it. That rabbit rock."
"The village entrance is still far away. Are you looking for it already?"
"We don't know the range humans consider 'near the entrance'. This could be considered near too."
Finding his enthusiasm amusing, Sehwa finally laughed out loud.
"Do you like daughters that much?"
"Yes, a daughter."
"What will you do if it's a son?"
"A son is good too. But you."
"Me?"
"You... resemble your mother a lot."
"Well, she's my mother. But why does that matter?"
"So. That's why."
"?"
"I didn't get to see you when you were young."
You're already so lovely, cool, and cute now, I wonder what you were like when you were little.
"If a daughter is born, she'll look just like you. She'll surely be incredibly cute."
I might not even let her marry. I'll never accept a son-in-law weaker than me. I understand why Father-in-law said that. Even fifty is a bit early for the marriageable age.
Flabbergasted by his serious, nonsensical words, Sehwa laughed a little again.
Meanwhile, they had already arrived in front of the village's wooden statue.
Didn't they say security outside the capital was extremely precarious? But Sugwanchon was as neat as the capital, as if it had never been in disarray.
While rural villages in the human realm usually didn't have walls, this place had a rather large, roughly stacked earthen wall encircling the entire village.
Inside the wall, far off, women sat in a circle, trimming wild berries with knives, constantly bursting into laughter.
Watching the scene for a moment, a large man, firmly gripping a farming tool in one hand, approached them.
"What is it? Coming in? Do you have identification tokens?"
"Here."
Baek Giha took out the identification token given by Seong Ik-gwon from his bosom and held it out.
"What? You're not even a nobleman, why the informal speech right off the bat?"
Only then realizing they were currently concealing their identities, Baek Giha laughed awkwardly.
"What brings you to this village? Just passing through?"
"We are."
"Why ask! It's obvious they're a couple. What other purpose would a young couple have for coming here?"
A village woman who had approached unnoticed slapped the gatekeeper's back, saying he was needlessly scaring them. Her eyes, full of welcome, scanned Sehwa and Baek Giha.
"But it's strange. Usually, people want sons for the first three children, so young people like you newlyweds rarely come to this village."
Baek Giha replied in a tone that absolutely disagreed with that opinion.
"A son is good too, but the firstborn should definitely be a daughter-."
"Huh? It's not the bride, but the groom who wants it? Oh my, I know what you mean, I know. You want a daughter who looks just like your pretty wife. Something like that, right? I know that feeling well. My husband was like that too."
"But that rabbit rock, is it really effective?"
"The effect? It goes without saying. This village used to make a living from that. But when did you two marry? You look young, did you marry early? Your belly doesn't seem to show at all yet, how many months has it been?"
The woman continued speaking before Baek Giha could even finish his answer.
"But the groom is really handsome. What does he do? How did such a handsome groom and pretty lady marry? How did you meet? Do you both have siblings? Are they all married? No, look at me. You must be tired from walking all the way here, yet I kept a pregnant woman standing like this. Come sit here quickly and rest a bit. Aren't you thirsty? Where did you come from? Have you eaten?"
Grabbing Sehwa's hand abruptly, the woman led her to the bench where she had been sitting.
Ah, here's a female Manyong.
Baek Giha familiarly grasped that the woman's questions weren't actually seeking answers.
"Here, sit here. And give me your hand, your hand."
Taking out various things from the baskets of the surrounding women, the woman placed them in Sehwa's hand. Thinly sliced dates, round cherries and apricots, plump wild strawberries, etc., piled up densely in her hand.
"Is your village like this too, newlywed? They say the celestials' divine power is so great that spring berries, summer berries, autumn berries, regardless of season, are weighing down the branches like they'll break. We eat until our stomachs burst, pick them all, trim and dry them, yet it seems half will rot away."
At those words, another woman trimming berries chimed in.
"Really, thank goodness for the celestials. Even people who were so thin they looked like they'd die any second are all healthy like this. It's just sad for those who passed away first. If only they had held on a little longer."
"Why bring that up again? Hurry up and fan the persimmons instead."
"The wind is so nice, why keep fanning? Does fanning make something that takes a fortnight to dry, dry in two days?"
The women, who seemed to be arguing, burst into laughter among themselves as if it were just a joke.
Sehwa, unable to adapt to the atmosphere, didn't know what to do with her hand full of something and just rolled her eyes.
Baek Giha lifted a dried persimmon from her hand and placed it between Sehwa's lips.
"Since you received it anyway, try eating it. It looks sweet."
"Ah, yes. It's very delicious."
At Sehwa's words, the women added cheerfully.
"I conceived in the spring, and I craved this so much back then. Grain prices started soaring, and we had either sold or eaten everything we had. So I couldn't get it anywhere. It became such a regret that I said if I just survived this drought, I would dry and eat persimmons to my heart's content."
"Right, right. But the land was all dry like sand, so even if the drought ended, I thought it would take ten years for food prices to drop again and to see persimmons. But what's this? The celestials revived everything like this."
Seeing Baek Giha putting berries into Sehwa's mouth piece by piece, the woman piled more berries onto her hand again.
The berries, piled up more than she had eaten, rolled off the side of her hand.
"How can you manage with such a small appetite? When you're carrying a child, you just have to eat a lot and well. That's how both baby and mother stay healthy."
Feeling that the women were forcing Sehwa to eat too much, Baek Giha interjected to change the subject.
"Ah, but if you conceived in the spring, has the child been born now?"
The expression of the woman who kept piling on berries momentarily darkened slightly.
"Um. There was nothing to eat or drink during that drought. Even if not for that, it was too hot, and many people died, and my child went with them."
"Oh......."
Startled, Baek Giha was about to apologize, but the woman waved her hand first.
"It's alright. Was I the only one? Back then, people were dying in every other house. My next-door neighbor lost both mother and child during a difficult birth, and because of the times, those left behind didn't even have the strength to cry."
"......."
"Well, I have other children left, so I can't just grieve. Those who live keep on living like this."
Although the woman said so, Baek Giha's complexion, stiff with apology, showed no sign of easing.
Translator's Note: Sorry for the long delay! It's really hard to obtain raws through KakaoPage especially without any means of purchase due to regional restrictions, so I've to wait everyday before getting a chapter. I was also busy with some personal stuff and then got engrossed in different novels and completely forgot about this one. I'll make sure to finish this one by next month.
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