Chapter 124 : Chapter 124

Chapter 124. Discussion on Chivalry (4)

“Brother Sama, what are your thoughts on chivalry?”

Right after my question ended.

Brother Sama made a contemplative expression.

I knew. That it was a question without context.

But it was also a question that had to be asked in advance.

The Brother Sama of this era and the Brother Sama I knew were the same person, but they could also be different people.

I had met Brother Sama in my past life after I had set out into the jianghu, which was twenty years later.

Was the twenty-year-old Brother Sama the same person as back then?

I tried to hide my mixed feelings of anticipation and concern and waited for Brother Sama's answer.

Before long, Brother Sama, who had finished his thoughts, opened his mouth.

“I have not given much thought to chivalry, so it is difficult for me to give you an easy answer.”

I thought it was just like Brother Sama.

That courage to answer that he doesn’t know what he doesn’t know.

“Then why did you shout so earlier?”

The vow to punish the wicked and to teach the unlearned.

In fact, from the moment I heard that shout, I had been reminded of Brother Sama from my past life.

That was why I missed him even more.

I was glad that even at this time, that man had such a will in his heart.

To my question, Brother Sama answered calmly.

“Because I believed it was the right thing to do.”

“It seemed like you shouted in excitement, but were you not embarrassed?”

“That is a contradiction. If one believes it is the right thing to do, how can one be embarrassed about it?”

Listening to his calm answer, a laugh escaped me.

“Hahaha. Hearing such righteous words makes me feel good. Hahaha.”

Those who only asserted their own thoughts were petty people.

Those who were so polite that they only followed others’ words and were busy flattering them were also petty people.

A person who is polite and considerate of others, but has their own convictions.

I liked such people.

“The madman’s madness is particularly severe today.”

People like that Tang Clan kid over there who only spouts nagging words were typical petty people.

Since I had been bad friends with a guy like that, I could also be called a petty person.

But at least I was a petty person who knew how to respect someone with a big heart.

“Oh dear. Come to think of it, it seems it is not polite to continue talking while standing. How about we move to another place first?”

At my suggestion, Brother Sama smiled bitterly.

“I would like to invite you to my house, but it is too small for ten people to enter.”

“Hahaha. What does space matter? What matters is who you are with. But before that, there is something we must do for a moment.”

“Something to do?”

“Shouldn’t we clean up this place and return the wealth they have scraped together to the residents here?”

Brother Sama’s eyes widened, and then he burst into laughter.

“Hahaha. The most important task remained. I will join you.”

We cleaned up the Azure Silver Gang and set out to find the wealth hidden in various places in the Azure Silver Gang.

Returning the found wealth to the residents was not difficult thanks to Brother Sama’s help.

After we were more or less finished, we followed Brother Sama.

A place just outside of Anui.

There was a small thatched house there.

As Brother Sama had said, it looked far too small for ten people to enter.

It didn't really matter.

“The weather is nice, so is there really a need to be cooped up in a room?”

Inside the crude fence that surrounded the small thatched house, we appropriately sat down on the ground.

At this, Brother Sama also sat down on the ground, and the group also sat down on the ground one by one.

This time, Brother Sama asked me a question first.

“Were you originally someone who did this kind of work?”

“What kind of work?”

“The work of punishing those who harassed the commoners and returning the wealth they had stolen.”

Before I could even answer, Seomun Ho suddenly shouted.

“That’s right! Great Hero Jin is truly a true chivalrous hero!”

Why was it?

Brother Sama was proud of doing what he believed was right, but every time I heard the word ‘chivalrous hero,’ a shiver ran down my spine.

Others also nodded in agreement or added comments.

“Th-That's right! H-brother p-punishes bad people!”

“We are also learning many things while being with Young Hero Jin.”

At the group’s answers, Brother Sama opened his mouth with an impressed expression.

“Heo. I never thought I would get to meet a chivalrous hero whom I had only heard about in the marketplace.”

“Ahem. It’s not something so grand. It was just because of my temper.”

“Of course. Your temper is no ordinary temper.”

I was at the point where I preferred to hear the Tang Clan kid’s nagging.

But as if they couldn't just let it be, the latter-generation disciples started bringing up all sorts of stories.

Starting with the story of the fight with the Dragon King Fortress, and a few of the things I had told them.

Brother Sama quietly listened to the stories of how I had cleaned up various trash like the Underworld, mountain bandits, pirates, and assassins.

I sneakily threw a question at him.

“What do you think, Brother Sama? Do you think my way is truly right?”

What would the Brother Sama of this era think of my actions?

I was quite curious.

At my question, the group looked back and forth between me and Brother Sama with puzzled expressions.

While everyone's attention was focused, Brother Sama calmly opened his mouth.

“I believe it was not the best way.”

“What does that!?”

As Seomun Ho was about to get angry on my behalf, I quickly stopped him.

“Let’s hear him out first.”

At that, the group closed their mouths and stared intently at Brother Sama.

Despite their gazes, Brother Sama calmly opened his mouth.

“The best way is to give them a chance to repent for their wrongdoings. However, this is a difficult task. People do not change with just a few words. Therefore, it is necessary to educate them continuously.”

“While we are educating them, if they commit evil deeds again, won't innocent people be harmed?”

“That is correct. To prevent this, a prison to confine and educate them is needed, and guards to teach and monitor them are needed.”

“It’s a realistically difficult task due to the lack of people and resources.”

“Yes. It is a difficult method in the current reality.”

“Then, is there a way to change that difficult reality?”

“It is difficult to change it immediately, but I believe it can be changed in the long run.”

“What is that way?”

“Education.”

I made an ‘as expected’ face.

On the other hand, most of the group were making faces as if they were asking what kind of crazy talk this was.

“Could you please elaborate?”

At my request, Brother Sama nodded and answered.

“The things that a person should do as a person. If benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom are learned from a young age, the number of those wicked people you mentioned will greatly decrease.”

At this, Seomun Ho couldn't hold back and asked back.

“Do you truly believe that all those wicked people will change just by receiving some education?”

I too had had such thoughts in the past, before I had a conversation with Brother Sama.

To Seomun Ho's question, Brother Sama shook his head.

“There is a saying, ‘the lowest of the foolish cannot be moved’. While Confucius was walking with his disciples, he met a man who was defecating by the side of the road and greatly rebuked him. And on another day, he met a man who was defecating in the middle of the road, but Confucius pretended not to see and passed by.”

“You mean to say that Confucius acted so contradictorily?”

At Seomun Ak’s question, Brother Sama smiled faintly. I also smiled faintly. Because I too had asked the same question in my past life.

“The disciple also asked Confucius about this. And Confucius replied, the one who defecated by the side of the road has at least a minimum sense of shame, so he can be taught and corrected, but the one who defecated in the middle of the road has no sense of shame at all, so he cannot be corrected.”

“So you mean there are people who won’t change even if they are taught?”

“Yes. But that is why education is even more necessary. Those who act without shame even after being taught by everyone. Such people will not change anyway, so wouldn’t it be right for them to be punished?”

“Ah…”

Only then did the latter-generation disciples let out faint sounds of admiration.

One of them, Pyo Daecheol, once again asked Brother Sama.

“Then, it seems Young Master Sama agrees with punishing the wicked itself.”

“It is said that one who is near ink will be blackened. If the wicked who do not change even after being taught continue to remain, won’t they eventually have a negative influence on their surroundings?”

“And so education is necessary to pre-screen such people.”

At my comment, Brother Sama nodded his head.

“That is correct. Also, if the number of educated people increases, the world will become better more quickly. I have heard that this world is very wide. It is impossible to punish all the wicked people in this world with the power of just one person.”

Why was it? It somehow felt like he was talking about me.

To be precise, about me before I had companions.

Even though I couldn't protect the entire jianghu with just this one body, I was the foolish man who had just wandered around alone.

I spoke to Brother Sama, conveying the feelings of that time.

“I agree with your words to some extent, Brother Sama. But that is too big of a picture. It will only bear fruit after several decades have passed.”

“If a person has a will, shouldn't they naturally look at the big picture of several decades later?”

I burst into laughter at those all-too-familiar words.

“Hahaha.”

Hypocrites, petty people, and swindlers would also utter such words on the surface.

But the Brother Sama I remembered was a man who died trying to keep that vow until the end.

There were more than enough reasons to respect him.

“If it can be done, the world would change a little. If you punish the wicked and give teachings, the children will grow up to be chivalrous heroes. If they then teach someone else, won't the number of chivalrous heroes continue to increase?”

And this was something I could not do.

I might be able to punish the wicked, but I could not teach children.

Nam Geon, Baek Hyang, Dang Sopyeong, and the latter-generation disciples I was currently traveling with were a different case.

Because they could travel and fight with me.

To live in one place and teach children, my temper couldn't stand it.

For some reason, as soon as my words ended, Brother Sama made a troubled expression.

“I haven’t specifically limited my thoughts to chivalrous heroes… Come to think of it, since becoming an official is close to impossible, it seems that for now, raising chivalrous heroes should be the priority.”

Words that were subtly different from my past life. That bothered me, so I asked back.

“What do you mean, it’s impossible to become an official?”

At my question, Brother Sama smiled bitterly and told me his story.

His father who had supported him with all his might and his life devoted to his studies.

“But I failed the preliminary examination. Perhaps it was just because my studies were insufficient. However, there was a story going around. A rumor that the successful candidates were decided from the beginning.”

“How could such…”

Someone in the group muttered in a devastated tone.

I too was filled with frustration.

This was a story I hadn't even heard in my past life.

Brother Sama had only said that he had put down his brush because he could not stand injustice.

At that moment, junior sister Baek Hyang’s voice was heard.

“Then where is your father now?”

Brother Sama answered with a bitter expression.

“He passed away a few days ago.”

“...Was it by any chance because of those Azure Silver Gang bastards we just killed?”

I had a thought that I should have come to find Brother Sama sooner, before chasing after Hyeok Ilso.

Should I call it fortunate? Or unfortunate? Brother Sama shook his head.

“He had been unwell for several years.”

After that, an awkward silence flowed for a moment. I asked Brother Sama.

“Could you perhaps tell me where your late father is?”

“Do you mean my father’s grave?”

“Yes. It is fate that we have come to know each other like this, so shouldn’t we at least pay our respects?”

As if agreeing with my words, the group also nodded their heads.

Brother Sama slowly turned his head and looked at the people around him, then smiled faintly.

“I was feeling guilty for sending my father off alone. I would be very happy if you would do so.”

***

Sama Hyeon, Jin Yuseong, and the group left the thatched house.

But they did not head straight for the grave.

They bought some turbid rice wine and a few of the foods that Sama Hyeon's father had liked in his lifetime from the marketplace.

And on the way to the grave site, Jin Yuseong suddenly asked Sama Hyeon.

“Were you not angry?”

Both about his father's incident and the preliminary examination.

“Of course I was angry. I also thought about burning down the whole world. But, for my father's sake, I couldn't do that.”

Sama Hyeon continued to speak calmly.

“What would change if I, who have nothing, went on a rampage? It would only end with me bringing shame to myself and my father. So I wanted to try to change the world. Using the knowledge I learned thanks to my father. Also, I wanted to protect people like my father.”

“So you came to make that vow as you did earlier.”

“That is correct.”

While they were having a calm conversation, they arrived at a small burial mound located in a secluded place on the mountainside.

“This is the place.”

Jin Yuseong placed the turbid rice wine and food he had brought before the late father and opened his mouth as if a person were there.

“Elder. I am someone who met Brother Sama for the first time today. But after talking with him today, there were so many things we had in common that it felt as if he were a close friend I had known for decades. So please think of me as your son's close friend and accept my drink.”

And then, he bowed to the burial mound with a very polite attitude.

“Elder. Brother Sama's knowledge and wisdom were so outstanding that there were truly many things to learn. So, with my meager strength, I am thinking of helping Brother Sama to change the world, even if just a little.”

Jin Yuseong, who was speaking to the burial mound as if making a vow.

Sama Hyeon just looked at his back.

No. He was gritting his teeth.

Before he knew it, tears were flowing down his cheeks, and Sama Hyeon wiped them away with his fist.

He was sad about the death of his father, which he had been trying to endure, and he was so grateful for the consideration of the man he had met for the first time today.

In the meantime, Jin Yuseong, who had finished his conversation with the late father, got up.

Following him, Baek Hyang, Nam Geon, Dang Sopyeong, and then the latter-generation disciples, all bowed to the burial mound in order.

Sama Hyeon's eyes were still welling up with tears, but the corners of his mouth were raised high.

He had been troubled by the fact that he had sent his father off alone, but it seemed his heart had become a little lighter now that it was bustling.