Chapter 216 – Ivy Village
“We must arrive before sunset. Everyone wake up now.”
At Seojun’s words, everyone stood up one by one, carrying their heavy bodies.
While talking with Ian, everyone seems to have relaxed a bit after drinking plenty of water – bending their stiff necks and twisting their backs to prepare for the long march.
And with Seo-joon in the lead- I started walking along the path thick with bushes again.
The fog was thick and the road was rough, but the pace of the march was much faster than before.
I could clearly see where I was going, so I didn’t have to circle the road, and I didn’t have to match my speed to the sneaky cripple.
Seo-joon led the way quickly from the lead.
Write- Write-
The vines were knocked down by his cool sword, and the party followed him comfortably.
And by the time the sun went over the ridge and the deep blue darkness covered the reddish sky, they were able to face a tall wooden fence blocking the gorge.
“Wow…”
Ian opened his mouth in admiration.
It seemed to be about 5m high, and it seemed difficult to break it down with a tolerable impact as it was made of strong cedar.
As the party approached to a certain extent, from a distance, woah eyeeeee! And a shout came.
Flames rose above the wooden fence, and people wearing cotton yarn appeared in a row, grabbing bows and aiming at Seo-jun and his party. Some of them held long bamboo spears and waited behind the archers.
It was a threat that if anyone tried to climb the wooden fence by force, they would make a huge hole in their body.
Indeed, even a well-organized soldier is not lacking-.
Between them-, a man wearing a tiger skin appeared holding a torch.
He also had a thin cotton thread wrapped around his face.
The man asked.
“Who are these? We only take lepers.”
Seo-joon took a quick look at their faces and replied.
“If we wore a veil, we would be no different from you.”
At Seojun’s words, the man said wahahahaha-! He laughed out loud.
But the other lepers didn’t laugh at all. Standing upright, he maintained a vigilant attitude toward Seo-jun and his party.
The man laughed alone for a long time before grabbing his cotton thread and passing it over his head.
Behind Seo-joon, he heard the mercenary vomit.
“…But the reason for wearing a cotton thread must be different. We are all like this. This so-and-so has a rotten nose, and that so-and-so has sunken eyes. And most of us have our fingers amputated like this. If you ask who cut it, you could say it was cut by someone high up in the sky. That’s right, it’s a curse from the goddamned Holy Ghost~ That’s what I mean.”
The man giggled, showing one of his missing fingers.
The man’s appearance was rather hideous. His nose was crushed, his teeth were few and far between- and one eye was sunken. There was a lumpy boil on the cheek.
“In case you guys don’t know, I’d like to add-, we are lepers. They are those who suffer from leprosy. You know that leprosy is contagious, right?”
At the man’s words, Seo-jun glanced at the party behind him.
There was not a single one of them to take out.
When Seo-jun looked at the man again, the man shrugged his shoulders.
“Oh, be like me later and don’t regret it. Hey, open the door!”
At the man’s words, the tall wooden fence door began to open with a creak.
Seo-jun was the first to move his boots to the dark leper’s lair.
Following Seo-jun, the party hurried their hesitant steps one by one.
They entered and the heavy door closed again.
That’s right-
“`
Roaring-
The one wearing a veil brought a torch to Seo-jun. He seemed to want to take a closer look at his face.
Tsk-
The fire was hot, so Seo-jun held the torch far away with his hand.
Hehe-. Don’t be too surprised. I’m saying it because it’s been a while since I’ve seen limbs in good shape. Rest assured that we are not cannibals, and we will not eat your soft skin.”
At the words of the man in the tiger skin, Ian swallowed.
It was full of people holding weapons as sons-in-law.
Among them, there was a woman with black nipples exposed, and a boy with her small build.
They each held their bows and spears – as if they were guarding or escorting Seo-jun’s group, and walked around the area.
I couldn’t see their faces, so I couldn’t see their expressions or their eyes.
Ian didn’t know that not being able to tell where they were looking or what kind of expression they were looking at made him feel uneasy.
The man who led the way with a perch in the lead led them to a hut.
“It is a place where guests come and receive them. Usually, lepers who first visit Ivy Mountain stay here. To stay here for a few days and give you a chance to decide. Whether to set up here at all or to go a long way again. Ah- don’t worry too much. Ventilation was done, and the blankets and pillows were washed clean, so it wouldn’t be too bad to stay.”
At the man’s words, Seo-jun and his party shook their heads.
I couldn’t see the scenery of the village because of the fog and thick darkness, but judging by the smell tickling my nose, it seemed like they were growing corn and potatoes. And tea leaves too.
Seeing the occasional cries of pigs, cows, and chickens- it seems that they also raise livestock. It was a larger town than I thought.
“I’ll treat you to a meal after you unpack.”
Nodding his head, Seo-joon led the party into the cabin and loosened the clothes one by one. He carried something heavy on his shoulder all day, and his shoulders felt sore.
Since there are only two rooms, we split into male and female so we decided to sleep.
Since there were only eight men, he would have to sleep rather uncomfortably, but it was better than sleeping in the dew.
As she warmed up by wrapping her shoulders around him, Margery heard a muttering voice from inside the room.
“Live and live, I never thought I’d come into the ivy mountain-.”
“Why is that?”
Lily asked and she shrugged her shoulders.
“Because this is where you come to die. It is a place where lepers who have been abandoned by their parents- and abandoned by their sons and daughters and have given up on their lives come to visit-.”
“… That’s pitiful.”
Her Margery looked at her as if surprised by her Lily’s answer.
He seemed to admire her good nature.
“You···. Are you a really nice guy?”
“···Yes? Uh, I think Unnie is a good person too.”
The two looked at each other and smiled awkwardly.
Monica, who was looking at the two of them, clicked her tsk-tsk-tongue and muttered that she was doing her show.
As the party came out one by one, the man waiting outside nodded.
It meant sitting on the floor.
Seojun first sat down with his buttocks pressed together.
“Take it.”
At the man’s words- Younger lepers with veils wrapped around their faces handed each one of them something wrapped in a cloth.
When I unfolded the cloth, it turned out to be a ball of rice balls.
“It’s steamed rice with corn and potatoes.”
Crunching – The mercenaries immediately buried their heads and chewed hastily. Those who were suffering from anxiety also chewed like cats. Eating anything will give you strength.
“Eat, guys. I wouldn’t have put anything in it.”
After chinning the suspicious ones, Seo-jun also opened his mouth wide and bit into his rice ball.
The lotus leaf was wrapped and steamed, so the taste was quite good.
As Seojun started eating, the rest of the party also started eating one by one. Marjorie pondered until the end, then sighed deeply and began to eat.
“Geuhehe, the pretty lady is very suspicious.”
Margery blushed at the man’s words. He seemed to be saying it because it had been a long time since he had heard such compliments face to face.
“Are you the village chief?”
“The village chief…?”
When the mercenary, who was mumbling with a big bite of rice ball, asked the man, the man grinned and looked around at his son-in-law.
Those standing holding perches glance at the man.
“There is nothing like that here. Not everyone is fair. Everyone is the same leper. Me, and this friend here too.”
The man tapped the sturdy man standing next to him with his fist.
The man holding the spearhead was staring blankly at Seojun. Did he even harbor a sense of triumph?
“There is only one spiritual leader who guides us. Would you like to meet me?”
At the man’s words, the mercenary shook his head and pointed at Seo-jun with his chin. He meant that it was Seo-jun, not himself, who led the group.
The man looks at Seo-joon, asking what to do.
Seo-joon shoveled the remaining rice balls into his snout and stood up with a mumble.
Lily held on to Seo-jun.
“… Your shoulder hasn’t healed yet. Are you okay? Shall we go together?”
Seojun smiled lightly and kissed her forehead.
“It’s okay, I’ll be right back.”
When Seo-jun glanced at Ian, the guy shook his head with his determined eyes shining. From now on, it shows the will to not be careless.
Seo-joon followed the man and the others entered the cabin one by one. He yawned as if his stomach was full.
“Follow me.”
A man led the way with a perch.
The veiled lepers were scattered here and there at the gesture of the man. Only the man who had just been glaring at Seo-joon remained by the man’s side.
So Seo-joon followed the two of them up the dark slope.
And what he faced was a huge hut made of rice straw piled high.
“Come in.”
A man with a perch hanging from a hook at the entrance gestured toward the hut. When Seo-jun asked if he was going in with him, the man shook his head.
“He doesn’t like being sought after very much.”
She used to say that and took a step back.
Seo-joon glanced at the two men, then lifted the cloth covering the hut.
Inside, everything was dark.
When he put his head there, the rather cool air tickled Seo-jun’s cheeks.
Come in here-.
A woman’s voice was heard on the wind.
The voice had a strange magic power.
The kind that charms and attracts people.
Seo-joon walked slowly towards the voice as if possessed.
