Chapter 4

Chapter 4

“Hmm…”

“Hmm…”

Dan Woo-hyun swallowed a groan as he stared at the items laid out in the yard. Before his eyes, all kinds of wild greens picked from the mountain and a roe deer lay strewn about.

As he swallowed a groan while staring at them, Hwa So-mi also let out a groan in the same posture. It was as if she were imitating Dan Woo-hyun.

“How should we eat this so that word spreads of how delicious it was?”

“For So-mi, I think seasoning the wild greens and roasting the roe deer is the best.”

Hwa So-mi answered very easily.

Since there was no one who could cook in the first place, the fact that they had to either roast it or eat it as it was did not change.

Wasting time thinking otherwise was also a waste.

It meant that rather than spending time like this, just eating was the best.

“But isn't the amount a bit too much?”

“Mmm… then where should we put it?”

Dan Woo-hyun did not eat that much. On the contrary, So-mi, who was at the age where she should eat plenty, ate a lot.

The haggard appearance, looking like a wooden puppet when he first saw her, was nowhere to be found, and she had now filled out quite plumply.

It was thanks to the efforts of Dan Woo-hyun, who caught and fed her things like fish, wild boar, and roe deer for every meal.

However, the amount of ingredients before them was substantial. Unless So-mi's stomach was as huge as a chimney and she swallowed the entire roe deer, some was bound to be left over.

Perhaps because he had played the role of a beggar for some time, throwing away food felt like a waste.

If he sliced it thin and dried it in a place free of beasts or birds, it would undoubtedly make for quite an appetizing snack, but…

“There is no place to put it.”

“We can't just leave it outside, either.”

Hwa So-mi shrugged her small shoulders. Dan Woo-hyun also nodded.

Building the house large was fine, but now that they had obtained ingredients like this, there was no space to store them.

It was because he had not built a storehouse.

“It can't be helped.”

In the end, Dan Woo-hyun picked up a hammer and nails.

He intended to build a storehouse in a corner of the manor.

“Are you building again?”

“Hmm…! How can a fine manor not even have a single storehouse?”

“That is true. Hehe, then I will help too!”

Hwa So-mi grunted as she lifted the items one by one.

Although tools to work with and wooden nails were all they had, they seemed quite heavy for a child, as she repeatedly swallowed groans.

Dan Woo-hyun chuckled as he watched her.

Well then, shall we try building a storehouse first?

Tap tap, bang bang.

Hwa So-mi, who turned seven this year, was watching Dan Woo-hyun with a look of wonder. The sight of Dan Woo-hyun holding a hammer and beginning to make something was reminiscent of a goblin.

And that hammer was a goblin's club.

When held and swung in his hand, there was nothing he could not create.

Hwa So-mi thought.

He must have been a carpenter before becoming a beggar. Although he himself denied it, she believed that her thought on this was absolutely correct.

Perhaps he was embarrassed.

Otherwise, how could he make all sorts of things so well?

Even now, he held large pieces of timber in his hand and tossed them around lightly.

It was timber that looked so heavy that not to mention Hwa So-mi, even if her parents were alive, they would not have been able to lift it easily.

Yet he moved them and built with them as if it were nothing.

It was truly miraculous.

It had been about two hours since he started hammering, and the shape of the storehouse was already nearing completion. How many people in the world could make such a thing in such a short time?

‘Amazing, our mister!’

Looking at it, she felt proud in her heart.

She realized once again that her choice had not been wrong. When her parents were alive, her father also made many things. But even though most of them were simple things, there were far more times when he failed.

In that sense, Dan Woo-hyun was truly a genius.

Hwa So-mi, who had been smiling brightly, suddenly hardened her expression.

Her heart still ached when she thought of her parents.

Although she was temporarily disheartened, she quickly regained her smile.

Because Hwa So-mi was not alone now.

Looking at Dan Woo-hyun in front of her, she smiled broadly without realizing it.

Around the time she was having such thoughts, the storehouse was finished before she knew it. He had made windows for good ventilation and put in a main door, creating a decent space.

“Wow… it's cool!”

“Haha, it turned out better than I expected.”

Dan Woo-hyun was also proud. Now they had a place to store and organize most of their goods.

The manor looked even more respectable.

He prepared the dead roe deer and organized the wild greens before putting them inside. When he closed the door and came out, his heart felt refreshed for some reason.

“But…”

“Hmm?”

“What are we eating?”

Hwa So-mi tilted her head. They had put all the food inside the storehouse.

Although taking them back out was no trouble at all, today she wanted to eat fish rather than meat or fresh greens.

Understanding her feelings, Dan Woo-hyun smiled and spoke.

“Shall we go fishing for the first time in a while?”

“I'd love to!”

Hwa So-mi smiled brightly.

* * *

“……”

Dan Woo-hyun thought.

He wondered if there really was such a thing as a being blessed by heaven.

To others, he too must have appeared that way. He was born with a genius for martial arts, a quick understanding, and a mind that could apply it.

Although he possessed all the greatest talents that any martial artist would inevitably envy upon hearing of them, now he felt as though he had somehow lost.

And to none other than Hwa So-mi.

He had first made her a fishing rod.

And since they needed bait, he caught earthworms. Digging the ground and catching earthworms was nothing to him.

Before he knew it, about ten earthworms were wriggling in the container he held.

However, that was not the problem.

The moment Hwa So-mi dug the ground, earthworms swarmed. It seemed the small container was already filled with nearly a hundred earthworms in no time.

At first he thought it was simple luck, but thinking about it carefully, it seemed that whenever they went fishing, Hwa So-mi always started with a large number of earthworms.

That much could just be how it was.

Perhaps, by mere coincidence, there just happened to be many earthworms only where So-mi dug. But from the moment they began fishing, that thought changed completely.

“Ah! I caught another one!”

The fishing rod Hwa So-mi was holding now was made from a crude branch. If a big one bit, it was only natural for it to break or for the line to snap, but this child had never had it break even when a massive fish was hooked.

Even after an hour, Dan Woo-hyun had only caught three.

Even then, because they were too small, he released two of them, and the remaining one was barely the size of a palm.

Yet Hwa So-mi had already caught more than fifteen.

She had not experienced a single snapped line or lost hook, and most of the fifteen fish she caught were of impressive size.

It was as if the fish were letting themselves be caught by this child on purpose.

Unlike Hwa So-mi, Dan Woo-hyun had already broken three fishing rods, and whenever he felt a bite, the fish escaped during the hookset, or the bait was taken the moment he pulled it up.

Dan Woo-hyun, who had pride of his own when it came to fishing, realized through Hwa So-mi today what fishing luck truly meant.

No, it was far beyond simple fishing luck.

Even when they climbed the mountain, it was Dan Woo-hyun who hunted the roe deer, but the wild greens were entirely thanks to Hwa So-mi.

In fact, Dan Woo-hyun could not even recall teaching Hwa So-mi what edible wild greens looked like.

Yet, though she seemed to pick them at random, she had brought back several times the amount Dan Woo-hyun had gathered before he knew it.

It was safe to say that all the wild greens currently in the storehouse had been dug up and picked by Hwa So-mi.

'This child is blessed. Her luck is simply too good.'

For example, let's say one picked up twenty stones from the ground and threw them high into the sky. No, let's actually throw them. They were not things that would cause serious injury, but they would still hurt quite a bit if they hit.

Dan Woo-hyun threw twenty small stones into the sky.

They flew up high and then poured down like hail.

Tap, tap, tap.

The stones rained down on Dan Woo-hyun's head as well.

They hit his shoulders, head, and his entire body evenly.

But what about Hwa So-mi, who was nearby?

“Huh? What is it?”

She was not hit even once. Since they were scattered in all directions, it was normal for at least one to graze or hit her, but a gust of wind that blew the moment the stones were thrown high pushed away the stones falling toward Hwa So-mi's head.

‘Incredible…’

She was truly nothing less than a being blessed by heaven.

“You were born with good fortune.”

“Yes?”

“No, it is nothing. We have caught enough, so let us go back.”

“Yes!”

Hwa So-mi jumped up from her seat. Watching her grunt as she lifted the bucket of caught fish, Dan Woo-hyun chuckled and took it from her.

Hwa So-mi bowed her head politely.

It was likely her way of showing gratitude. Dan Woo-hyun, who had never received such manners from anyone before, was still unfamiliar with it, but he was gradually getting used to it now.

“Look at this! This! It's a butterfly, a butterfly!”

Watching the butterfly fluttering around, she laughed brightly and chased after it. He was deeply worried that she might trip, but he just silently watched her play.

The child chasing the butterfly soon stopped in one spot.

As if she had seen something, she squatted down there and reached out her hand.

She seemed to have lost interest in the butterfly.

“What is this?”

So-mi pointed without hesitation to something hidden in the bushes. Dan Woo-hyun, who was watching from beside her, twitched the corner of his mouth and let out an awkward laugh.

“Wild ginseng.”

“Wow… Wow!”

She was a truly remarkable child.

* * *

A rumor began to spread.

That a manor had suddenly been built near Dongting Lake.

When rumors circulated that such a large manor had appeared in just a few days, many people dismissed it as a lie and laughed.

Because they knew very well how rough and hard the ground in that vicinity was.

Aside from the hard ground, large rocks were embedded here and there, so to build a manor, every single one of them had to be removed.

And because the trees and bushes around were so overgrown, they even had to cut down the trees one by one to do anything.

A manor was built in such a place?

People simply laughed it off.

However, there was a place that could not do so.

The government office that managed the area near Dongting Lake.

County Magistrate Hong Won-chang looked at the patrol officers with a puzzled expression.

“Is that true?”

“We are not certain… but rumors are circulating for now.”

Hong Won-chang swallowed a groan, going "Hmm." It was possible for someone to settle on ownerless land. However, the vicinity of Dongting Lake was all state-owned land, and nothing was allowed to be built without the permission of the government office.

If this rumor was true, it was not something that could be easily overlooked.

Of course, it was likely an absurd lie.

“How ridiculous. A manor was built in just a few days? It is not as if a ghost built it.”

“I think the same… but I felt I should report it for now…”

The two snorted and laughed as if it were absurd.

No matter how much they thought about it, it made no sense. It seemed to be a wild story fabricated by those who loved to make things up.

However, they had obtained a good opportunity to escape from work after a long time.

Hong Won-chang stood up from his seat with a smile.

“Since I am curious as well, let us go see.”

“Will you be alright?”

“Haha, if there is a ghost, I should catch it and bring it back. Who am I? I am none other than County Magistrate Hong Won-chang. Hahaha!”

Looking at Hong Won-chang laughing heartily, the man bowed his head. Securing the position of county magistrate was by no means an easy feat.

Therefore, it was only natural for Hong Won-chang to display such confidence.

“Then I shall escort you immediately.”