Chapter 24 : To the Confucian Forest (5)

Chapter 24: To the Confucian Forest (5)

The next day.

“All of this?”

Wi Yeonho's voice sounded almost horrified, and Mun Eunji silently rejoiced.

“That’s right!”

“…You want me to split all of this?”

In front of Wi Yeonho was a mountain of firewood.

As he looked at the logs piled up higher than his head, Wi Yeonho shook his head in disbelief.

These were the firewood that the Great Scholarly Institute had diligently gathered to survive the winter. It was meant to last through the entire season for dozens of people, so of course it wasn't a small amount.

“It’s not that much!”

Wi Yeonho shook his head from side to side.

“Come on, it’s just not humanly possible to chop all this by the end of the day.”

“Why? Can’t you do it?”

“Of course not. Who could finish this in a day?”

Mun Eunji smiled sweetly.

“No can do. You have to earn your meals. Chop all of it by today, or leave.”

“…I guess I have no choice.”

Wi Yeonho trudged away.

“Where are you going?”

“To your father.”

Mun Eunji stepped in front of him.

“My father? Why?”

“Well, if I’m leaving, I should at least say goodbye.”

“Are you really leaving?”

“Of course. What else am I supposed to do? There’s no way I can chop all that in one day.”

Mun Eunji smiled faintly.

“That’s too bad. Then farewell.”

“Yeah, thanks. See you.”

Watching him walk away without resistance, Mun Eunji was suddenly gripped by an ominous feeling.

“W-Wait a second!”

“What?”

“What are you going to say to my father?”

“What else? I’m going to thank him and tell him I’m envious.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’ll thank him for letting me stay here, and I’ll tell him I’m envious that he can get a worker who can chop that mountain of wood in one day.”

For a moment, Mun Eunji’s face turned pale.

“Y-You!”

To be honest, I’m really curious. It’s pretty amazing that one person can do this much work. But, well... if that person were still around, I probably wouldn’t have been asked to do it in the first place, right? So I’ll just say I’m envious and be on my way.”

Mun Eunji’s face twisted in frustration.

“N-No, wait!”

“What now?”

“Father is busy, so it’s fine—you don’t need to say goodbye!”

Wi Yeonho shook his head.

“I owe him a debt. I can’t just leave like that.”

“No, but still…”

“Don’t worry. I’ll just say goodbye real quick.”

In the end, Mun Eunji surrendered.

“Fine, fine. Then you have a week to chop it.”

“A week?”

“Yes.”

“That’s a bit tight…”

“A week is more than enough! Don’t push your luck. I won’t give you even a day more.”

Wi Yeonho smiled lightly.

“Alright. Then I’ll get it done in a week. If I finish early, I can rest, right?”

“Sure! But if you don’t finish in time, I won’t let it slide!”

“Phew ~! Scary.”

Mun Eunji narrowed her brows.

She absolutely loathed that shameless smirk.

The way he moved, the way he spoke—every little thing scraped at her nerves. He was, without a doubt, a first-rate nuisance.

“Within a week! Got it?”

“Yes, yes, of course.”

Wi Yeonho walked off, beaming.

“…Where are you going?”

“To rest.”

“Rest? Why are you resting?! I told you to finish all that within a week!”

“I will.”

“Then where are you going?!”

“Don’t worry. I’ll have it done within the week. I’m just borrowing some rest time in advance, since I’ll be too busy later.”

“Hey!”

“You worry too much.”

Wi Yeonho chuckled and disappeared into his room.

Mun Eunji ground her teeth as she stared at his retreating back.

“He'd better finish it on time!”

If he didn’t, she would absolutely kick that annoying man out of here.

Mun Eunji repeated the vow over and over.

A day passed, then another, and then yet another—but Wi Yeonho showed no signs of working at all.

Unable to hold back any longer, Mun Eunji stormed into Wi Yeonho’s room.

“What in the world do you think you’re doing?!”

Wi Yeonho’s head slowly emerged from the cocoon of blankets he had wrapped around himself.

“…What now?”

“Are you not going to work?”

“I am.”

“Then why are you like this?!”

“There are still three days left.”

“You’re not planning to suddenly claim you can’t finish and just leave on the last day, are you?”

Wi Yeonho’s face turned solemn.

“Wow, that’s an option?”

“You’re unbelievable…”

Wi Yeonho chuckled.

“Well, if that happens, you can just kick me out then, right?”

“You think I’m doing this to drive you away?”

“Aren’t you?”

Flustered, Mun Eunji stammered.

“T-That’s not it.”

“Then we’re good.”

With nothing more to say, Mun Eunji could only stare at him.

Sure, he wasn’t wrong—but who just saysthings like that so bluntly?

“In any case, you better finish on time! If not, I will make you pay!”

“Yeah, yeah, I got it.”

Waving lazily as if it were a hassle, Wi Yeonho rolled himself back in the blanket and drifted off to sleep again. Mun Eunji glared daggers at him before storming out of the room.

“I will make you pay!”

After huffing and puffing for a while, Mun Eunji turned and walked off, the cold wind swirling around her.

Wi Yeonho opened one eye slightly.

‘She’s just dying to give someone a hard time.’

What a truly strange woman.

A week later.

“Oh my god…”

Mun Eunji stared blankly at the scene before her.

“How… how did he do all this…”

In front of her, the once-mountainous pile of logs had been split cleanly and stacked neatly in rows. Even if ten grown men worked nonstop for ten days, they would never have managed to finish it all.

Yet that infuriating man had somehow worked some kind of miracle and finished it all in just seven days and nights.

No, it wasn’t even seven days and nights.

She had seen with her own eyes that Wi Yeonho hadn't lifted a finger until just yesterday.

In the end, the actual time he had spent working couldn’t have been more than half a day.

And yet, in that mere half-day, he had done something this outrageous.

“What kind of person…”

Mun Eunji called over a passing servant.

“Hold on a second.”

“Yes, young lady. What can I do for you?”

“D-Did you see him chopping this firewood?”

The servant tilted his head with a puzzled expression.

“I didn’t see it myself, but…”

“Was this here yesterday?”

“There was nothing like this as of last night. Honestly, I thought you had bought firewood from somewhere else. I was confused because the original logs had disappeared…”

“…Got it.”

“Then I’ll take my leave.”

Mun Eunji stared at the pile of firewood with a stricken face, then turned away.

“What kind of trick did he pull!”

She snapped, her voice sharp, and rushed toward Wi Yeonho’s room.

“You—what the hell!”

Storming in with a slam, Mun Eunji opened her mouth to yell but immediately stopped.

“Where is he!”

There was no sign of Wi Yeonho anywhere.

The blanket he always wrapped around himself now lay like a shed husk, eerily empty.

Mun Eunji clenched her fists, glaring at the traces he left behind with an expression full of frustration.

She had been sure this time she could drive him out for good!

And yet in just one night, he had chopped a mountain of firewood that not even ten strong men working seven days and nights straight could have finished!

How could this be real?

“Aaargh! Infuriating!”

Mun Eunji screamed, unable to contain her irritation.

“Where is that man?!”

Wi Yeonho whistled.

“Ah, this is a bit awkward.”

A voice rose from below, stabbing at Wi Yeonho’s ears.

He smiled faintly.

“She really has a nasty temper.”

Leaning back at ease, Wi Yeonho looked up.

The blue sky stretched above him.

It was still chilly, but the rooftop, where the wind blew gently, wasn’t a bad place to be.

He didn’t like not being able to cover himself with a blanket, but it was more than worth it to escape the nagging woman’s eyes.

“But why is she so desperate to chew me out?”

Wi Yeonho let out a quiet chuckle as Mun Eunji’s furious shouting echoed up to him.

The girl who always looked so modest and proper in front of her father turned into a wildcat whenever it came to him. It was genuinely strange.

There could be all sorts of reasons.

She’d grown up in a place like the Great Scholarly Institute, so every one of Wi Yeonho’s behaviors might have rubbed her the wrong way. Or maybe, just maybe, the woman she showed now was her true self.

Her real nature, unable to reveal itself in front of her strict father, might have surfaced in response to the unpredictable variable that was Wi Yeonho.

“Doesn’t matter either way.”

Wi Yeonho lay back comfortably on the edge of the eaves. A cool breeze blew across and tickled the tip of his nose.

It was a luxury he never could’ve enjoyed back when he lived in a cave.

Warm meals and a cozy place to sleep.

And no Master hounding him for training—that alone made this life more than satisfying for Wi Yeonho.

But he knew well that he couldn’t live this way forever.

‘What am I supposed to see and feel, Master?’

He had seen many things since coming to the Confucian Forest, but nothing particularly moved him.

Even here, the so-called Confucian Forest wasn’t anything special.

Some people devoted their lives to scholarly pursuits, while others simply opened books without even knowing what they were doing.

Some did their utmost for what they believed to be right, but never once questioned if it was truly so.

What Wi Yeonho came to realize after spending time here was that they, too, were just ordinary people.

‘Nothing really strikes me.’

Wi Yeonho closed his eyes.

If he had nothing to gain here, then perhaps it was time to move on.

There was no guarantee that simply staying in the Confucian Forest would lift the seal his Master had placed on him.

“Where are you!”

Startled, Wi Yeonho flinched at the sharp voice of Mun Eunji calling out from below.

‘Well, I’ve learned one thing. You’ve got to be careful around women.’

If that counted as a realization, then so be it.

Quietly, Wi Yeonho crept higher up the eaves, hiding from Mun Eunji’s search.

The sun was warm today. It wouldn’t be so bad to take a nap on the roof.

“Ah, this is the life.”

Stretched out across the tiles, Wi Yeonho let out a soft whistle.

*         *         *

“Isn’t it true that he’s been doing well, at least without causing any trouble?”

“…Is that what you think?”

“Yes.”

The Divine Mad Dog let out a long sigh.

“If you think so, then sure.”

The Historian looked at the Divine Mad Dog with suspicious eyes.

“Because the real trouble starts now.”

“Starts?”

The Divine Mad Dog nodded.

“I told you, didn’t I? Trouble always follows wherever that kid goes. Who would’ve imagined that a peaceful institute would go through something like that overnight? And without even a hint beforehand.”

“What exactly happened?”

“Oh, nothing much. The Eastern Bureau got dispatched, the Royal Inspectorate got dispatched, there were links to treason, and the whole clan was nearly torn apart in a single night. That’s all.”

“Whaaat?!”

“Why so surprised? That’s just the usual when he’s around. That’s the bare minimum of chaos needed for someone to go, ‘Ah, so Wi Yeonho passed through here.’”

The Historian was speechless.

What on earth had happened in that quiet estate for such terrifying words to be thrown around like that?

“I’ve told you again and again.”

The Divine Mad Dog wore a bitter smile.

“Don’t expect common sense from that kid. You’ll always see more than you ever imagined.”

“…”

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