Chapter 18
For the first time in her life, Dongbaek made a purchase on credit. As she securely tied the nicely wrapped shoes to Bidan’s saddle, she let out an exasperated sigh.
‘Wow, I must’ve been possessed or something.’
Watching her, Jao also spoke sarcastically with disbelief.
“What’s with the kid’s shoes? Are you crazy?”
“Yeah, I think I am crazy.”
Dongbaek agreed. At first, she only meant to quietly watch over the little girl’s small adventure from afar… but those small, drooping shoulders as she turned away kept haunting her mind. Before she knew it, she had blurted out that she would buy the shoes.
But it wasn’t even her own money, so what did it matter? Zhang Rang must have more money than he knows what to do with. He wouldn’t blame her for spending this much. Dongbaek brushed off her impulse purchase without much concern.
“You bought those for that little girl from earlier? What nonsense.”
“Where do you even learn to talk like that… Anyway… where is that child from earlier?”
“Not sure? Oh wait, she was just in front of that candy stall until now? Let me look from above.”
A startled Jao flew up high. The girl had definitely been there until Dongbaek finished paying for the shoes. She had disappeared in that brief moment while he was talking to Dongbaek.
Flying high into the sky, Jao quickly scanned the Luoyang marketplace with his eyes. Tsk, being a kid, she’s so small that she’d be hard to spot. Jao clicked his tongue.
That’s when Jao noticed an unusual group. A horse crossing through the Luoyang marketplace. Upon closer inspection, Jao saw the girl in question dangling from the side of the man riding the horse.
“Hey, I found her. Looks like she’s been kidnapped?”
“…Kidnapped?”
“Yeah. Some thug who looks like a bandit is carrying her under his arm while riding a horse.”
“Haaa… Lead the way.”
Somehow, she had expected this. Wasn’t this why she had been following the little girl in the first place? Dongbaek sighed and swiftly mounted Bidan.
Jao had expected this response from Dongbaek too. While she might not seem like it, she was always overly concerned about people who caught her eye. From watching over the child to suddenly buying expensive shoes—clearly, Dongbaek had taken a liking to that girl.
Moving well ahead of Dongbaek, Jao began guiding the way toward the kidnapper. Dongbaek stroked Bidan a couple of times before digging her heels into the horse’s sides.
-ˋˏ ༻❁✿❀༺ ˎˊ-
Though the marketplace was crowded with people, Dongbaek paid no mind. Bidan, though young, skillfully weaved through the crowd at high speed, barely missing people. Rather, people stood dumbfounded watching Dongbaek pass by with such remarkable skill.
However, no matter how swift Bidan was, the marketplace was lawless. While they managed not to trample anyone, some people were inevitably bumped. But what could be done? Just by looking, she appeared to be from a noble household.
Among those Dongbaek happened to bump into, one well-built man watched with disapproval as she raced lawlessly through the market.
“How dare they ride a horse at such speed in this crowded marketplace…!”
“Looking at your build, you seem quite strong, but let it go. Can’t you see they’re clearly from a noble family? If you rashly confront them relying only on strength, you might end up in serious trouble.”
A passing peddler interjected. Though the peddler’s words were wise, they couldn’t stop the man.
“They look young, and if they don’t realize their mistake now, who knows what kind of ruffian they’ll become later. Someone needs to teach them a lesson…!”
“H-hey, young man!”
The man seemed to have made up his mind as he started walking in some direction. It was the way Dongbaek had disappeared on horseback earlier.
“Tsk, this isn’t something that can be solved with strength.”
The peddler who had advised the man clicked his tongue in concern. At this rate, a perfectly fine young man might end up executed. Hearing the peddler’s muttering, another fellow peddler commented,
“But you never know. Looking at how well-dressed that rider was earlier, they probably aren’t from a pushover family either. Don’t worry about it. Since when did our concerns ever make rice cakes fall from the sky?”
The peddler nodded at his colleague’s words. Indeed, since when had they started delaying their journey worrying about others’ business? Following his colleague’s words, the peddler hurried to continue on his way.
-ˋˏ ༻❁✿❀༺ ˎˊ-
Dongbaek quickly drove the horse out of the city. Now, they were in the forest.
“Just a bit more! That young horse is quite fast indeed. We’ve almost caught up!”
“Ah, don’t be ridiculous! We almost slipped just now!”
As they entered the mountain, undergrowth blocked Dongbaek’s path. But it didn’t affect Bidan’s speed.
That’s when—
“Hey, you there, boy!”
A deep voice called from behind. Startled, Dongbaek pulled on the reins to stop Bidan and turned around. Far, very far away, she caught sight of someone approaching on horseback. They were coming toward Dongbaek at high speed.
The person who approached appeared to be a young man just over 20 years old. The man, who had barely managed to catch up with Dongbaek’s speed and was now panting, was a stranger she had never seen before.
“Who…?”
“I’m the one you, ran into, and passed, earlier. What kind of, horse is, this fast?”
His words came out broken between heavy breaths. The man looked at least two heads taller than Dongbaek. He was quite large even for an adult man. Dongbaek flinched momentarily at his intense gaze. But true to her thick-skinned nature, her face remained outwardly unmoved.
“Ah, the person I ran into earlier…. I’m sorry, but I have urgent business.”
“Hey, where do you think you’re going?”
The man’s hand reached out to grab Dongbaek’s nape. But Dongbaek was in a hurry, and Bidan understood her heart well. Before the man’s hand could touch Dongbaek’s clothes, Bidan quickly moved its legs.
Dongbaek drove the horse forward, judging that saving the girl from earlier took priority over the man’s words. Jao, who had been flying ahead, flapped his wings and asked as Dongbaek caught up.
“What did that guy want?”
“Don’t know. Seems I bumped into him when I was rushing.”
“He looked sturdy. But probably nothing to worry about.”
“Yeah. That’s why I just left.”
The man seemed unwilling to give up, continuing to chase Dongbaek from behind. But Bidan was a superior horse among superior horses. It was already surprising that he had managed to keep up this far. The man’s horse gradually fell behind.
Spotting that their target had stopped, Jao glided low near Dongbaek’s ear and whispered.
“Just a bit further. They’ve stopped.”
“Okay.”
Dongbaek grinned and spurred the horse. As Jao had said, after going just a bit further, Dongbaek’s target came into view. Whispering sounds could be heard through the hanging foliage.
Dongbaek tied Bidan nearby and crept toward the location. She reached for her waist. She could feel the cold swords hanging at both sides of her waist. Dongbaek took a deep breath. The cold sensation from her fingertips gradually traveled up to her head, cooling her thoughts and calming her.
Although she had followed because a girl might be in danger, this would be her first real fight with actual swords. The moment Dongbaek steps forward from this spot, one person would likely die, and since Dongbaek was Alice, it wouldn’t be her dying here—it would clearly be the other party. This would then become Dongbaek’s first kill.
While she was conflicting over this, she heard the girl’s tearful plea to her kidnapper.
“Please let me go… I won’t tell my father anything. Please?”
“What I want is money. I’ve finally caught something that’ll fetch a high price, you think I’d let you go? Let’s see, where should I sell you to get the best price…”
Dongbaek steeled her resolve. She lightly gripped, then released the sword handle, took a deep breath, and slowly walked forward. Since she hadn’t particularly tried to move quietly, the rustling of leaves was quite loud.
“Who’s there!”
The man who had kidnapped the girl shouted alertly at the sound of leaves. But seeing that the newcomer was a boy who hadn’t yet reached adulthood, the man gave an incredulous laugh.
“Ha! What’s this? A kid?”
The girl Dongbaek had been looking for was tied up and crying. Her severely trembling figure was pitiful to see. Dongbaek clicked her tongue and drew her sword.
Shing. The sharp blade gleamed in the autumn sunlight. The thug, who hadn’t realized the gravity of the situation until then, stood up with a smirk.
“Well, well, what’s this? Another expensive one walked right in. Must be my lucky day.”
“It’s not luck—it’s death knocking on your door.”
“What?”
As Dongbaek adjusted her grip on her dual swords while making the sarcastic remark, the man’s face reddened with anger.
Meanwhile, the girl, having regained her senses, quickly moved away to a safe distance. Though large almond-shaped eyes were brimming with tears, she continued to glare at the man with resentful eyes.
Dongbaek decided she needed to end this quickly, as it would become troublesome if the man who had chased her earlier intervened. She slowly approached the man one step at a time.
-ˋˏ ༻❁✿❀༺ ˎˊ-
Thank you for reading! ♡
