Chapter 68. Interview
***
"Ear ghost?"
It was the voice of an uninvited guest.
Dong Bong-su, who had returned to his lodging after coming back from the Eight Directions Armory, stopped in his tracks when he heard someone's voice coming from inside his house. Considering that no one here would dare enter his lodging without permission, the identity of the uninvited guest could not be a Wanderer.
Just as Dong Bong-su thought, the ones who had intruded into his lodging without permission and were waiting for him were military officers and soldiers belonging to the Datong (大同) General Office, sent under the orders of Lee Ja-song to take Dong Bong-su with them.
"You'll have to come with us to the General Office for a bit, ear ghost."
It was extremely rude, considering they had occupied someone else's house without permission and then came out to say that to the homeowner, but Dong Bong-su did not really mind. In Datong, officials such as military officers were employers, and Wanderers like himself were insignificant employees. Of course, that was only as long as they did not swing their swords at him. Since it was not a matter directly related to his life, he had no intention of making an issue out of such small rudeness.
Without saying anything, Dong Bong-su followed behind the military officer and headed toward the Datong General Office.
A short while later.
Dong Bong-su arrived at the Datong General Office.
After going through a brief body search, he was able to enter inside the General Office. He had gone hunting many dozens of times, but this was his first time entering the inside of the General Office.
The interior of the General Office was as magnificent as its towering walls. Passing through a huge gate that must have been over ten meters tall, a long road paved with square flagstones (板石) that looked as if they had been carved out of rock stretched out before him. On both sides of the road, large halls were lined up in a row, and at the very end stood a three-story palace in the style of ancient China.
The military officer led Dong Bong-su toward that three-story palace.
When they arrived in front of the entrance, there was a large signboard hanging from the beam.
'North Datong Hall (北同殿). Is this the building where the General's office is?'
Just as Dong Bong-su thought, North Datong Hall was the core building of the Datong General Office. The Northern Grand General (北方大總管) resided here and oversaw all affairs of the northern frontier.
Soon, all the soldiers withdrew, and only Lee Ja-song's adjutant remained, leading Dong Bong-su into North Datong Hall.
'why does the General want to see me?'
Who had summoned him was obvious. The problem was the reason. Several possibilities came to mind at once, but it was hard to pinpoint exactly which one it was. He would have to meet the General to find out.
Passing the entrance and walking down a long corridor, they came to a staircase at the end. Dong Bong-su followed the adjutant up to the third floor. There, a single huge room appeared. In fact, rather than a room, the entire third floor itself was the General's office.
In the center of the office was a large, angular table that looked to be about fifteen meters long and five meters wide, probably for meetings.
Right in front of the staircase stood two lightly armored military officers who looked like the General's bodyguards, standing with swords at their waists.
Along the wall to the left of the staircase, various weapons such as swords, spears, and halberds were hung at regular intervals, and on the opposite wall, helmets and armors were neatly arranged in matching sets. At the far end, facing the staircase, was a luxurious tiger-skin bed with a silk-twisted canopy hanging over it, and on the wall beside it hung a huge map that covered almost the entire remaining space.
Finally, what caught Dong Bong-su's eye was a handsome middle-aged man standing in front of the map. He was smacking his lips out of habit while looking this way.
Dong Bong-su could tell without difficulty that he was the General.
'The General has been replaced, huh.'
It was a face he had never seen before. Dong Bong-su had seen the previous General a few times from afar during hunts. He was neither this young, nor did he like Dong Bong-su. So he had never assigned him troublesome tasks. Thanks to that, things had actually been more comfortable...
The moment Dong Bong-su realized that the General was a new person, he seemed to understand why he had been summoned.
Following the adjutant, he approached the new Governor-General.
The two guard officers who had been guarding the staircase came right up behind Dong Bong-su, as if preparing for any contingency. If Dong Bong-su showed even the slightest sign of doing something suspicious, they would probably draw their swords immediately.
But the contingency they were worried about would not happen. If Dong Bong-su had such intentions, everyone here would already have become victims of that contingency.
"Are you ear ghost Kang Dal-hee?"
When Dong Bong-su came to stand near the end of the table in the middle, the newly arrived Governor-General, Lee Ja-song, spoke.
"That's right."
Dong Bong-su answered briefly. Too briefly. The adjutant who had brought him frowned, but did not step in. That was because Lee Ja-song raised his hand to stop him.
"You're quite a stiff fellow."
" .... "
Lee Ja-song became even more interested when Dong Bong-su looked unexpectedly young and ordinary.
He stood up from his seat, passed the table, and walked right up in front of Dong Bong-su. Since they were about the same height, their eye levels were almost the same.
However, Lee Ja-song could not see Dong Bong-su's eyes. They were hidden behind hair that had fallen down from his forehead.
Lee Ja-song raised his hand and brushed aside the bangs that were covering Dong Bong-su's forehead and eyes.
Then, Dong Bong-su's emotionless eyes were revealed. In some ways, they looked extremely languid, and in other ways, they felt extremely deep and empty. But that was purely a matter of interpretation. To put it more precisely... they were just ordinary, nothing-special eyes.
Lee Ja-song stared quietly into Dong Bong-su's eyes for a full quarter of an hour. Even so, he could read nothing from them.
'What is this? Does someone like this really exist?'
Suddenly, a chill ran through his body. There was no reason. A shiver just suddenly wrapped around his entire body.
Lee Ja-song slowly lowered his hand and avoided Dong Bong-su's eyes.
Then he turned his body and went to sit on the chair at the end of the table.
He took a deep breath once and then spoke. He had originally wanted to ask many questions, but now there was no need to ask anymore.
"I'll speak frankly. If I give you one thousand five hundred soldiers, can you command them well?"
Dong Bong-su did not answer immediately and quietly looked at Lee Ja-song.
A shiver ran through Lee Ja-song's body again. Even though he could not see Dong Bong-su's eyes because they were hidden by his hair, his body was reacting.
Dong Bong-su stared at Lee Ja-song's eyes for a moment, then opened his mouth.
"I understand."
Yes or no. It should have been one of those two. Saying "I understand" was something that could only be said if there had already been a decision to give the order.
"I haven't said yet that I'm assigning you anything. So why are you answering like that?"
"I merely gave you the answer you wanted."
At Dong Bong-su's reply, Lee Ja-song leaned his back against the chair and opened his mouth once, then closed it.
Then, after a short while, he opened his mouth again.
".....A frightening fellow."
Lee Ja-song's evaluation of Dong Bong-su changed in a short moment from "a stiff fellow" to "a frightening fellow." However, his words were so quiet that no one heard them.
Of course, Dong Bong-su could not hear them either. But he knew what had been said. Because he could read it even without hearing.
"......"
The eyes of Dong Bong-su and Lee Ja-song clashed in the air once more. But Dong Bong-su's eyes were again hidden by the hair that had fallen down. Once again, the one who looked away first was Lee Ja-song.
"You will be the mercenary captain for this hunt. Then let's meet again the day after tomorrow. You may go."
As soon as Lee Ja-song finished speaking, Dong Bong-su left North Datong Hall immediately without saying a single word.
"As expected, he is an insolent man. I don't know if it's really okay to make someone like that the mercenary captain."
The adjutant said. Then Lee Ja-song returned the back he had been leaning to its original position and spoke.
"Is that all you felt, adjutant?"
"Pardon? What do you mean by that ...? "
"No, never mind. You may leave now."
"Yes, then. If you need me, please call me again anytime. Salute!"
The adjutant saluted and then went straight down the staircase.
After the adjutant left, Lee Ja-song leaned his back again, lifted his head, and repeatedly opened and closed his mouth until a smacking sound came out.
"I just saw him a moment ago... but i can't remember.... "
Muttering words whose meaning was unclear, Lee Ja-song sat there in that posture for a long time.
***
Creeeak.
Even though it was quite late, the old door of the lodging welcomed Dong Bong-su's return as always.
As usual, he lightly set the table and had a late dinner.
He eats.
He eats rice.
Humans eat rice.
Humans must eat rice to live. To Dong Bong-su, eating was still the only act that made him aware that he was human.
While eating, Dong Bong-su began to organize today's events.
-Participate in a new hunt as mercenary captain
-The Eight Directions Armory workshop chief finally succeeded in making iron essence
Dong Bong-su drew all of these things in his head as if they were a kind of quest.
First, the rewards he could obtain from participating in the hunt were experience and proficiency. It did not matter whether he was the mercenary captain or just a mercenary.
Click.
He opened the status window. The achievements of the past year were faithfully reflected in changes to his stats.
The yellow gauge bars showing basic attributes such as Strength, Agility, and Intelligence, and the dependent attributes that changed accordingly, such as Stamina, accuracy, evasion, attack power, defense, martial arts attack power, martial arts defense, elemental resistance, and true energy/internal energy, had grown explosively longer.
In particular, his level had reached 29.
Whether there was a level cap or not, and if there was, what it was, Dong Bong-su did not know, but compared to when he first came to this world—when he was level 1—he had become incomparably stronger. His status was also much better than that of a mere household; he was now a free Wanderer.
His appearance had also changed drastically. When he first went out on a hunt and leveled up, he had thought that he might return to his original skinny body, but ...
That was not the case.
Leveling up only healed injuries and other abnormal conditions. The body that had changed due to exercise, nutrition, and natural growth was left as it was.
A fairly tall height. Shaggy hair covering his eyes. A body that had gained a moderate amount of flesh and was filled with lean muscles. And smooth skin from which the various scars and marks that Sosam had had were gone.
Now that he had become a young man, no one would be able to think of him as Sosam, who had once been a Horse Stable Hireling.
After looking through his various stats, Dong Bong-su finally checked the level gauge bar. The portion that needed to be filled until the next level-up was so small that it was hard to distinguish with the naked eye. However, this was almost no different from when he had checked it before leaving for the last hunt. In other words, he had now reached the limit of the experience he could gain from hunts.
'Is it time to leave?'
[Read more chapters on my website: https://revengernovel.com/ or https://ko-fi.com/reaper87 ]