The Precious Baby of the Bandit Leader Chapter 103

It was definitely an attack that had flown from atop the stone wall. 

 

“Father!”

 

“Stay back!” 

 

When Damho shouted in surprise, the captain quickly pulled his son behind him.

 

Swoosh—!

 

The captain immediately took out the bow hanging on his back, drew an arrow, and aimed. The moment thick with taut tension.

 

“Uncles?!”

 

Having run to where Damho and the captain were before Gaon, I tilted my head while looking up at the top of the stone wall.

 

They were definitely faces I knew!

 

“Y-Yeong?!”

 

“Uncle Dakddong!”

 

“You said Yeong? Yeong is here?”

 

“Oh my, I didn’t even dream it was Yeong…! Since a big, dark guy was coming, I just…!”

 

The Four Ddong uncles and their subordinates, looking flustered, seemed to panic for a moment before the wooden door hidden between the stone walls was suddenly thrown open.

 

The uncles who came running out of the door found me and shouted gladly.

 

“Yeong! Our treasure!”

 

“We were so surprised when you guys suddenly disappeared! You have no idea how anxious we were!”

 

“Waaah, we were so worried about our Yeong we almost died.”

 

The uncles hugged me tightly, shedding tears and rubbing their cheeks against mine. As I was sweating and pushing those uncles away with my small hands.

 

A low voice fell over my head with a familiar flow.

 

“Step aside.”

 

“M-move!”

 

“It’s the Chief!”

 

Sure enough, the uncles quickly stepped aside.

 

The Chief approached me with quick steps.

 

I opened my arms as if I had been waiting, and the Chief’s eyes, staring at me, contorted fiercely.

 

Lift!

 

He supported me with one hand, lifted me up into his arms, met my eyes, and carefully stroked my hair.

 

“Yeong, have you been well?”

 

“Dad!”

 

Tears seemed ready to burst out from gladness.

 

There were many twists and turns after going down, but I had been constantly worried about the Chief’s safety.

 

Just meeting him safely like this made me feel like my tension was completely released from relief.

 

When the Chief and I exchanged glad greetings like that.

 

“Chief Kim, it’s been a while.”

 

Suddenly, Damho’s father, the pirate captain, approached and greeted him.

 

The Chief slightly raised his eyebrows, turned his head, and stared at him. Then he frowned as if he couldn’t understand.

 

“Captain Kang…?”

 

“Hahaha! Fortunately, you were here! Because the mountain stronghold was burning, I was full of worry about your daughter!”

 

The Chief glanced at me.

 

Feeling shy for no reason, I tightly hugged the back of the Chief’s neck and buried my face.

 

“What is going on? Why are you here?”

 

“Ah, well… it’s a long story, but to start with the conclusion, my son saved your daughter! Hahaha!”

 

“What?”

 

As he excitedly patted his son Damho’s back and pushed him forward as if showing off, the Chief’s eyes narrowed.

 

“Hello. My name is Damho. I’m Yeong’s friend.”

 

Damho politely and confidently greeted the Chief with his two hands gathered around his navel, without showing any sign of shrinking back.

 

“…I see.”

 

The Chief accepted the greeting, but a somewhat complex expression was seen on his face.

 

“Friend…?”

 

“Huh? You said friend? To our Yeong?”

 

“Did you make a friend without even getting the Chief’s permission?”

 

“Let’s see here. Our Yeongie is much cuter anyway.” 

 

From behind the Chief, the Four Ddong uncles began to mutter. As if representing the Chief’s feelings, the grumbling grew louder.

 

“Enough.”

 

The moment the captain’s eyebrows twitched, the Chief firmly cut them off.

 

“Captain Kang’s pirate crew are people who have cooperated with us, exchanging goods for a long time. Treat them respectfully.”

 

At the Chief’s words, the captain grinned as if he liked it, and Damho also smiled slyly.

 

“Nice to meet you. To think you’re our Yeong’s first friend, I must treat you properly.”

 

“Hehehe! Just Yeong being my friend is enough for me! But thank you anyway!”

 

The Chief stared at Damho for a moment, then nodded a beat late and properly accepted his greeting.

 

And glanced back my way.

 

Somehow feeling like a ‘daughter who made a secret friend behind her dad’s back’, I rolled my eyes around for no reason.

 

“Escort them inside.”

 

The Chief gestured towards the inside, then politely spoke to the captain again.

 

“It’s a hastily relocated base so it’s shabby, but… it shouldn’t be too bad for a short rest.”

 

“Thank you. Both Damho and I had something to formally tell you anyway.”

 

The captain nodded and followed behind the uncles who came to guide them.

 

Damho, who gave me a quick wink from his side, soon ran off after his father with a laugh. 

 

Just as he was about to step inside following them, the Chief looked back at Gaon standing behind him and spoke in a low voice.

 

“Gaon, you have worked hard. Let us talk separately later about what the situation has been like. Since there have been many changes on this side as well.”

 

“Yes. Chief.”

 

Having finished speaking, the Chief strode inside with me still in his arms.

 

And I, too, was finally able to enter the secret base.

 

‘So there was a place like this…’

 

Living up to the name ‘base’, the scale was much smaller than the mountain stronghold, but because it was surrounded by dense trees, it felt like a fortress.

 

The occasional chirping of flying birds reminded me that this place was deep in nature.

 

The barracks made of cloth also looked simple but quite plausible.

 

I admired the Chief’s meticulous preparedness anew and glanced at him, then shifted my gaze back to the scenery of the base.

 

And just then.

 

“Uh…?”

 

The words slipped out of my mouth unconsciously. 

 

And rightfully so, because at the center of the base, a few people were captured and tied up tightly.

 

Their limbs were securely tied to prevent them from moving, and the ends of the ropes were anchored to a thick pillar. 

 

What was more surprising than anything else was…

 

The fact that they were not unfamiliar faces.

 

“Wh-why are the uncles…?”

 

I looked at the Chief with a tearful face and asked. Then the Chief quietly turned his body to block my view.

 

“Do not mind them. They are not things you need to see.”

 

“Huh? But Dad, they are my uncles……”

 

“No. They are no longer your uncles now. They… have decided to leave this place. So, do not worry about it. Understood?”

 

At those words, I widened my eyes.

 

What the phrase ‘those who are leaving’ meant, why the Chief used such a firm tone….

 

Only then did one possibility come to my mind as if the pieces of a puzzle were fitting together.

 

‘Come to think of it, before sending me and Gaon to the village, the Chief said he would root out the traitor.’ 

 

It wasn’t hard to guess.

 

The reason he sent me to the village was because of the possibility that the mountain stronghold would fall into danger at the hands of a traitor.

 

If so… those people tied up here right now.

 

“…It was those uncles.”

 

The traitors.

 

I mean, the ones who disliked me and were planning something.

 

At my softly muttered words, the Chief didn’t make any reply.

 

He looked as if he didn’t feel the need to explain in detail, but I wanted to know.

 

“But… how did you find out?”

 

The process of rooting out the traitor. 

 

According to what I heard from Gaon, they weeded them out by following Jeon Bongjin, who escaped from the mountain stronghold prison, and trailing the ones who tried to contact him.

 

But that couldn’t be all.

 

I couldn’t be sure that all the real traitors had been filtered out just by such a simple method.

 

So I asked again to hear it clearly. How on earth did he find out?

 

‘My life depends on this. I must know it properly.’

 

For me to continue living safely here, there could no longer be anyone left secretly trying to harm me.

 

People like Pilsuk who smile on the outside but harbor a knife on the inside.

 

And just then.

 

“I was the one who told him, Seolyeong.” 

 

A hoarse and familiar voice heard from behind my back.

 

Startled, I quickly turned my head. And my jaw dropped at the sight of a man standing there.

 

“U-uncle Jeon Bongjin…?”

 

The person standing before me was definitely that Jeon Bongjin, whom I thought had left!

 

“Haha. It seems I properly surprised you. You didn’t think I would return, did you?”

 

“Th-that’s…”

 

Flustered, I couldn’t even form proper sentences and stammered. 

 

‘What’s going on? I thought Jeon Bongjin left for the Yeongnam region… and they singled out the traitors by following those who tried to follow him. But why, why is he here again?’

 

While I was speechless in confusion, Jeon Bongjin slowly approached me.

 

And he held out a small flower he was holding in his hand.

 

“Take it. Because I came back because of this.”

 

He said with a benevolent smile on his face.

 

“No matter how much I thought about it, I felt I had to properly repay the gift you gave me.”