Side Story 13
How long had he been listening to the rattling of the carriage? Yeon Ji-ho, who had momentarily fallen asleep, woke up with the morning sunlight seeping in from outside. Turning his head slightly to the side, he saw Ganesha soundly asleep with his head on Shango’s knee.
“…Ji-ho nim, are you awake?”
“Good morning, Shango.”
Yeon Ji-ho greeted him with a smile, though he added that it might not actually be a good morning. Indeed, it was difficult to call it a good morning while being dragged away with hands and ankles bound by the Hwangseong Knights.
Nevertheless, Yeon Ji-ho appeared rather relaxed. He rotated his wrists, which were numb from being tied all night, within the limited range of motion to get his blood flowing, then said while gently stroking Ganesha’s head:
“Will we arrive at Hwangseong soon?”
“Judging by the time, probably soon…”
“Then let’s let Ganesha sleep until we arrive.”
Yeon Ji-ho chuckled softly as Ganesha rubbed his cheek against his hand in his sleep as soon as he stroked his head. Looking at Ganesha naturally reminded him of Seho.
Three-year-old Seho was sociable and affectionate, but he was an unusually timid child. As a result, he would sometimes cling to Yeon Ji-ho or Set, forcing Yeon Ji-ho to be strict with him for the sake of his upbringing.
Perhaps because Set’s own childhood had been difficult, he often softened at the sight of Seho, rushing to comfort him whenever he cried.
Yeon Ji-ho, who always felt apologetic towards Seho, wanted to be kind to the childlike Ganesha. He remembered Ganesha’s general background from what he had read in “The Star of Hadad.”
“…Ji-ho nim, Ganesha is not that young.”
“Really? How old is he then?”
“Except for Chronos, he’s the oldest among us.”
“…”
While it was easy to be confused by his child-like appearance, speech, and behavior, Ganesha was a pureblooded beast-folk. Among those who lived much longer lives than humans, Ganesha was considered an adult in terms of age.
“But he still misses his mother just the same.”
Yeon Ji-ho simply couldn’t remove his hand as Ganesha rubbed his cheek against it, searching for his mother in his dreams.
Ganesha, being beast-folk, had lost his mother to hunters at a young age. Unable to integrate with his tribe because of this, he had lived on the fringes and ended up mixing with humans. Despite his mother being killed by human hunters, he did not hate humans.
After all, it was also humans who had taken care of the family-less Ganesha.
As Yeon Ji-ho gazed down at Ganesha, the carriage door suddenly flung open. A man who appeared to be a member of the knight order shouted inside amid the flood of light.
“Hey, everyone get out!”
At those words, Yeon Ji-ho carefully grasped Ganesha’s shoulder and shook him awake. Ganesha raised his tied hands to rub his eyes, then lifted his head slightly to look up at Yeon Ji-ho.
“Let me sleep a little moooore…”
“Ganesha. Do you still have the candy I gave you yesterday?”
“Candy?”
Ganesha, who had been drowsy, immediately sat up at the mention of candy. He hurriedly checked his back pocket to ensure the candy Yeon Ji-ho had given him was still there. Yesterday, he had tried to eat all the candy at once, but Yeon Ji-ho had whispered that there was no more candy available, so he should save it.
As Ganesha stood up, Yeon Ji-ho and Shango also rose from their seats. But when they found it difficult to walk due to their bound ankles, a knight stepped into the carriage and cut the ropes around their ankles.
“Ouch…!”
However, not being particularly skilled in swordsmanship, the knight’s blade had not only cut the rope but also made a small cut on Yeon Ji-ho’s ankle. Yeon Ji-ho let out a brief groan, more startled by the cold touch of the blade than from pain, and Shango reacted strongly.
“Urgh!”
Disregarding his bound wrists, Shango grabbed the knight by the collar and lifted him up. As the knight dangled in the air, his throat constricted, Shango growled lowly.
“Do you want to die?”
“Gack, ugh, uh…!”
The knight felt the fear of death at those words filled with killing intent. However, it was short-lived; the sound of others approaching from outside could be heard, probably wondering why those inside hadn’t exited the carriage. Without hesitation, Shango threw the knight he was holding onto the floor.
Soon, other knights approached the carriage, and the knight who had been thrown to the floor hurriedly stood up, pretending nothing had happened. He seemed embarrassed to have this seen by others.
Yeon Ji-ho’s group, with their ankles now free, slowly moved out of the carriage. Shango turned to look at Yeon Ji-ho behind him and whispered softly.
“Are you alright, Ji-ho nim?”
“Yes, the wound is shallow, and the bleeding has already stopped. Don’t worry.”
Despite Yeon Ji-ho’s words, Shango couldn’t hide his concerned expression. In Set’s absence, he felt he needed to protect Yeon Ji-ho in his stead.
“…If anyone else acts disrespectfully, please command me.”
“Shango-ssi, I told you. Things are different now.”
Yeon Ji-ho just laughed off Shango’s concern. The wound, while present, wasn’t large, and Yeon Ji-ho already had a plan in mind.
Finally, as Yeon Ji-ho was about to step out of the carriage—the knights had already descended and were waiting for them to exit—he glanced outside and saw they were in front of a desolate prison, seemingly intending to escort them to an underground dungeon.
“Ji-ho nim, when you say things are different, you mean…”
“Like this.”
With those final words, Yeon Ji-ho, who had been obediently heading outside, suddenly slammed the carriage door shut. The confused voices of the knights outside could be heard, but they didn’t seem particularly anxious, probably thinking those inside were trapped anyway.
Meanwhile, Yeon Ji-ho whispered softly:
“I want to go to Hwangseong.”
Simultaneously with the small whisper, Yeon Ji-ho kicked open the carriage door. What unfolded before them was not the interior of a desolate underground prison. As Yeon Ji-ho had said, it was the heart of Hwangseong.
Even though he had seen this sight several times already, Shango’s mouth opened slightly in amazement at Yeon Ji-ho’s ability. Meanwhile, Yeon Ji-ho was calmly walking through the door to the outside. Ganesha also followed behind him with pattering steps.
As soon as all three had exited, the door that had appeared in the air closed. Now the carriage would be completely empty.
“Ji-ho nim, do you no longer need the ‘wardrobe’?”
“That’s right, any door works now. And when exiting to the other side, I don’t even need a door.”
It was an increasingly impressive ability. Though Shango was uninformed about magic, he knew that teleportation magic was considered a top-tier spell even among magicians.
But Yeon Ji-ho’s ability wasn’t just simple teleportation; it was gate magic. A gate that would take dozens of ordinary magicians months to barely create. Although the Asterra Empire had gates in each district, using them required a fee that commoners couldn’t even imagine.
Shango boldly predicted that if Yeon Ji-ho had been born in Asterra and could freely use his ability, he would have become enormously wealthy.
“But Ji-ho nim, why did you come to Hwangseong?”
There was a question in Shango’s voice. And for good reason—if Yeon Ji-ho had used his ability to escape from the Hwangseong Knights, it would have been right to go to the farthest place from here, but instead, he had connected the door deep into Hwangseong.
“Ah, about that…”
The place where they were standing now was in the middle of a corridor in Hwangseong. A place where outsiders could never intrude, where only the emperor and his servants could barely pass through.
Standing there, Yeon Ji-ho looked at the opposite side of where he was standing. There was a familiar silhouette.
It was then that Shango, sensing the presence, moved forward to block Yeon Ji-ho. Shango began to glare at the figure, grinding his teeth.
“…Ji-ho?”
The person standing at the end of the corridor was Hadad.
Yeon Ji-ho smiled softly and continued what he had been about to say. It was a small voice that only Shango, who was nearby, could hear.
“Because I need to wake a sleeping god.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
