Unrivaled Spear Demon
Chapter 12 - A Gentleman Dies for One Who Knows Him (3)
“Cheers!”
A feast was underway at the Hojeong Gate.
Countless tables were set up in the widest part of the inner courtyard, and food and drink were being served.
Hojeong Gate Master Ho Yeon-am raised his cup high.
“To the hero of this escort mission, Escort Leader Ju Yehwa!”
“Cheers!”
Many people raised their cups.
At the center of it all sat the escort guards who had successfully completed the mission, their faces beaming with pride.
“I really thought I was going to die this time.”
“I never imagined those bastards from the Black Way Guild would attack with such determination.”
“Still, it’s a relief we met the deadline. We were this close to paying a penalty.”
“To think I’d live to see the grounds of the Hojeong Gate again. It brings a tear to my eye.”
“We made it back in the end. Phew.”
Their hearts were heavy with sorrow for the dead, but the joy of having survived was greater.
Escort Leader Ju Yehwa raised her cup.
“We will carry the souls of our fallen comrades in our hearts for the rest of our lives, but for tonight, let us forget! Let us forget it all and enjoy the bliss of being alive!”
“Cheers!”
The escort guards raised their cups as well.
There were empty seats scattered here and there.
Faces that should have been filling those seats.
But this was a familiar feeling for those who lived by the sword.
A life where you part today with the faces you saw yesterday, and might part tomorrow with the faces you see today.
Perhaps because of this renewed sorrow for their way of life, the feast was even more boisterous than usual.
Just then, Ho Yeyang, who was personally serving food and drink, noticed something.
A boy with an expressionless face and shabby clothes.
Chui was sitting at the very lowest seat of the banquet tables.
There was no food or drink in front of Chui, yet the bowls of the other stablehands next to him were overflowing.
“…Those little brats!”
Ho Yeyang strode over, her face flushed with anger.
She shouted at the stablehands.
“Hey! How can you eat all the food by yourselves!”
At that, U Dong-won and the other stablehands jumped in surprise.
After a moment, U Dong-won stammered out an excuse.
“I-I was about to share. Young Miss.”
“If I see you discriminating over food like this one more time, I’ll be truly angry.”
“Of course not! We were just about to share! I swear!”
As Ho Yeyang glared, U Dong-won hastily scooped meat and rice cakes from his own bowl and dumped them into Chui’s.
The other stablehands, startled, also got up and portioned out food from their own bowls.
“…”
Chui remained silent, his face impassive.
Ho Yeyang gave his back a firm pat.
“I told you to come straight to me if anyone bothers you.”
“…”
Chui still showed no reaction.
Ho Yeyang then picked up a rice cake from the bowl and forcibly stuffed it into Chui’s mouth.
Munch…
Seeing Chui chew the rice cake, Ho Yeyang smiled brightly.
“Eat up. You’re skin and bones. Are the other boys starving you?”
Ho Yeyang took her eyes off Chui and glared.
U Dong-won and the other stablehands quickly buried their faces in their bowls, avoiding her gaze.
“I’ll be watching you from now on. Got it? Don’t you dare bully Chui.”
Ho Yeyang gave the stablehands a stern warning.
Just then.
“Hui-ya, come here.”
From a distance, she heard Ho Yeon-am calling her childhood name.
It seemed he had something to discuss with Escort Leader Ju Yehwa.
Ho Yeyang looked at Chui one last time and said,
“If you don’t have enough food, come to me. Understand?”
“…”
This time, too, Chui gave no reply.
Soon after, Ho Yeyang went over to where Ho Yeon-am and Ju Yehwa were.
The moment she left, U Dong-won’s expression changed.
“This bastard, how the hell did he sweet-talk the Young Miss to make her act like that?”
“Right. Hah, what a cheeky little brat. And so young, too.”
The other stablehands also scowled as they turned to look at Chui.
U Dong-won picked up a piece of meat with his chopsticks.
And threw it at Chui’s face.
“Here, pick it up and eat.”
“Heh heh heh. If you want a taste of meat, you’d better eat it. What choice do you have?”
“What? You got a problem with your seniors? Should’ve joined earlier if you don’t like it, hmm?”
“Wipe that look off your face. You want your life in these stables to become a living hell?”
The stablehands began to torment Chui.
Flick. Thwack. Splat!
Pieces of meat, bits of rice cake, and drops of liquor began to fly at Chui’s face.
* * *
…At that very moment.
Escort Leader Ju Yehwa was sharing a drink with Ho Yeon-am.
Ho Yeon-am and Sa Ji-won were heaping praise upon the escort leader.
“Thanks to you, Escort Leader Ju, the mission ended safely. The payment came through, and we can finally breathe a little easier.”
“Don’t worry about the families of the guards who didn’t return from this mission. I stake my honor on taking care of them to the very end.”
“I was only doing my duty. I am overwhelmed that you would think of my comrades’ families. Thank you so much.”
Escort Leader Ju Yehwa bowed her head to the master and mistress of the Hojeong Gate.
Just then, Ho Yeyang sat down.
“You’ve worked hard. Please, have a drink, Escort Leader Ju.”
“Thank you, Young Miss.”
Escort Leader Ju Yehwa raised her cup to receive the liquor Ho Yeyang was pouring.
As if suddenly remembering, Ho Yeyang spoke.
“Oh, about the guest you mentioned in the letter you sent.”
“I was just about to ask, Young Miss. I don’t see him at the head table. What happened?”
“Hmm. We haven’t had any martial artists visit the Hojeong Gate.”
“Oh, dear. It seems he didn’t visit the Hojeong Gate after all.”
Ju Yehwa’s expression clouded with disappointment.
“He was a young knight-errant who used a spear. Thanks to him, we were able to survive the attack from the Green Forest—no, the Black Way Guild. I desperately wanted to find him and thank him for saving our lives… It’s a shame he didn’t come to the Hojeong Gate.”
“Was this knight-errant truly that strong?”
“He was incredible. With just a single spear, he struck down countless members of the Black Way Guild. For someone so young, his prowess was truly astonishing. I was so impressed I even gave him my gold plaque.”
“If someone bearing your gold plaque had come, we would have treated them as a guest of the highest honor. But no one came.”
“It is a true pity. If only we could have taken in such a master as a retainer, the Gate’s prestige would have risen greatly.”
“I agree. It’s a shame just hearing about it.”
But dwelling on it would not bring back a connection that had already passed.
Eccentrics who enjoyed wandering freely could never be tied down by others’ wishes.
Knowing this well, Escort Leader Ju Yehwa forced herself to shake off her disappointment.
“If he didn’t visit Hojeong Gate, then there’s nothing to be done. I’ll just have to forget it all with this cup of liquor.”
“An excellent idea.”
Ho Yeyang smiled sweetly.
For a moment, Ju Yehwa was so struck by her beauty that she almost forgot she was holding a cup.
‘I’m glad I could see the Young Miss’s smile again.’
With this thought, Escort Leader Ju Yehwa raised her cup.
The Hojeong Gate, to which she had returned from the brink of death, was a place both deeply familiar and welcoming.
The people she trusted, relied on, and loved.
The walls of the estate, the buildings, the garden, the trees and stones, every single pebble felt dear and precious.
Escort Leader Ju Yehwa raised her cup.
Ho Yeon-am, too, encouraged the other escort guards and prepared for a toast.
“Say a few words for a toast, Escort Leader Ju! The hero of this occasion must speak!”
“Ahem, ahem. Then, though I am lacking, I will say a word!”
With her cup in hand, Escort Leader Ju Yehwa addressed everyone in the Hojeong Gate.
“May everyone present here receive their due joy, glory, and reward.”
Her gaze swept over everyone, from the honored guests at the head table, past the middle section, to the servants at the lowest seats.
The honored guests in silk clothes, sitting at the head table with pleased expressions.
The martial artists, eating and drinking politely with cheerful faces.
And the servants at the lowest seats, eating and drinking frantically, as if they might never see such delicious food again.
“Now, then. Cheers!”
“Cheers!”
Everyone brought their cups to their lips.
Escort Leader Ju Yehwa also tilted her cup, about to wet her lips.
At that very moment, something caught her eye.
It was the table of the stablehands, located at the very lowest end of the banquet.
“Hey, look at this bastard keeping his mouth shut, huh? You really want a beating?”
“Forget the food, you want a proper thrashing today?”
“This won’t do. Hey, you don’t get to eat this.”
“Hey, if we don’t give him anything, the Young Miss will scold us again. That little bastard will tattle on us.”
“Then you can eat these scraps. It’s just right for someone of your station, you punk.”
A boy being collectively bullied by the other stablehands.
Dressed in clothes that were particularly shabby compared to the others, his face was smeared with food scraps.
Wipe—
As the boy wiped the scraps from his face with his sleeve.
‘…!’
Far away, at the head table, Escort Leader Ju Yehwa’s eyes went wide as saucers.
The liquor that was about to go smoothly down her throat suddenly felt like a clump of sawdust.
“Gack!?”
Escort Leader Ju Yehwa spat out all the liquor in her mouth.
Splaash—
The liquor she spewed shot out and drenched Ho Yeon-am’s face.
“Ugh!? What is this! Escort Leader Ju! What’s wrong!?”
A startled Ho Yeon-am wiped his face and looked up.
But Escort Leader Ju Yehwa paid no mind to his reaction.
She was simply trembling, her eyes wide as if they would tear.
Staring at the lowest table of the feast, where Chui sat.
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