The Precious Baby of the Bandit Leader Chapter 13

Tuk.

 

He carefully placed me on the rock and slowly stepped back.

 

“My apologies, Chief.”

 

Then, with precision, he knelt down before the Chief.

 

Pilsuk, standing beside him, also quickly bowed her head to the Chief in respect.

 

The Chief scanned First Commander Gaon and Second Commander Pilsuk, and after a moment of silence, spoke.

 

“I am.”

 

He exhaled the breath he had been holding, then opened his tightly shut eyes and continued speaking.

 

“I remember that day clearly. Therefore, I understand your anger. I also remember the order I gave. I understand that, for those of you who have followed me all this time, it would be hard to accept a reversal of that order. Yet, even so, I…”

 

The Chief turned his head and looked at me intently.

 

He clenched his fist tightly, as if recalling very distant days.

 

“I intend to revoke the previous order.”

 

“….!”

 

“Chief!” 

 

Pilsuk opened her mouth, but the Chief raised his hand to stop her and continued speaking.

 

“In the past, you and I learned from countless deaths. Those deaths made us who we are today. Both you and I remember that. However, after meeting this child, I came to remember one thing.”

 

The Chief’s eyes contorted suddenly. He glanced at me with a trembling gaze for a moment, then let out a hollow laugh, as if the air had been let out of a balloon.

 

“Death, and the things we learned before it.”

 

“What is that?”

 

To Pilsuk’s restrained question, the Chief quietly answered, almost as if reciting.

 

“These are things you already know. They are also the things we have learned from the moment we were born. From our mothers, fathers, grandfathers, and grandmothers—we learned them as naturally as breathing.” 

 

“….”

 

“That is life itself.”

 

At the Chief’s words, Gaon slowly lifted his head.

 

“If someone is hurt, to feel sorrow for them. To not deceive or harm others. If someone is hungry, to share what you have. To respect, empathize, take responsibility, and—even if imperfectly—help, strive, and live.”

 

“….”

 

“And… if there is a young child abandoned and dying before your eyes, it is only right to care for them.” 

 

The Chief quietly looked at me. Despite his fearsome appearance, the soul behind his eyes felt bright and radiant.

 

“That is the human life that you and I have all learned, and the most fundamental principle of morality.”

 

“….”

 

“Do not let yourselves be swallowed by vengeance and forget the life you must live. Remember that you are alive now, and you must continue to live from here on.”

 

The Chief reached out and gently placed his hand atop my head.

 

“But it’s not that I’m saving this child.”

 

His hand quietly stroked my head, still maintaining eye contact with me.

 

“This child saved me. She will save you.”

 

With an endlessly warm touch.

 

Thud—!

 

No sooner had the Chief finished speaking than First Commander Gaon and Second Commander Pilsuk knelt down.

 

“My apologies, Chief.”

 

“We failed to understand the will of the Chief, as vast as the sky. Our apologies.”

 

As the two commanders bowed their heads in apology, the chief cast them a brief glance.   

 

Raising her head from where it had been pressed to the ground, Pilsuk pleaded earnestly.

 

“I will willingly accept any punishment. Chief, please—give me one more chance. I will make sure to take proper care of the child.” 

 

“I, too, will gladly accept any punishment.”

 

Sigh. The chief let out a deep breath. 

 

“That’s enough. I understand your resentment. I, too, am not without turmoil whenever I face this child. I should have explained myself before it came to this.”

 

At those words, Pilsuk bit her lip and held back her tears. 

 

Then the chief turned to her and spoke softly.

 

“If it’s too hard for you, you don’t have to look after the child during this expedition.”

 

“C, Chief…” 

 

Pilsuk lowered her head, her hands trembling uncontrollably.

 

“No, please, trust me—just this once. You know better than anyone my loyalty and devotion. I will personally take responsibility for caring for the baby while you are away on the campaign.”

 

The chief hesitated for a moment, then quietly nodded.

 

“I will trust you.”

 

I watched the chief and swallowed hard.

 

It occurred to me that he might be someone different from what I had thought.

 

A frightening and authoritative face.

 

But unexpectedly, a bandit chief who’s good at taking care of a baby.

 

There were definitely parts that I found unexpected, but still—aren’t they the leader of a group that exploits innocent commoners?

 

Since he’s someone who leads a criminal organization, I thought I shouldn’t truly get close to him.

 

I had only thought of him as a means to escape from this place….

 

‘Something feels off.’

 

This person is truly, really… a strange person.

 

Once again, my chest tightened, and I twitched my fingers and toes.

 

After he left, I had a feeling that I’d somehow feel a bit empty.

 

* * * 

 

“It’ll take about ten days. During that time, make sure nothing happens to the mountain fortress.”

 

“Yes, Chief.” 

 

After the commotion died down, just as when we first met, the bandits prepared to leave for the village to carry out their theft.

 

Some were pulling carts, while others were mounted on horses.

 

‘I hate to say it, but it really is quite a sight.’

 

It goes without saying that, being winter, they were wrapped in the furs of various animals.

 

The leader, too, was firmly wrapped in tiger fur on his upper body and had a large sword strapped to his waist.

 

Against the backdrop of the sky dotted with falling white snow, it was quite an impressive sight.

 

I was held in Pilsuk’s arms, watching everything as he prepared to leave.

 

“Bhu!”

 

Once he had finished all his preparations, the chief approached me. 

 

He bent down and met my gaze. His eyes softened. 

 

“Wait just a little while. I’ll be back soon. You’ll eat your food, sleep well, and stay safe without wandering outside, won’t you?”

 

“Abu! (No problem!)” 

 

Ah, don’t worry about that!

 

I quickly raised my hand and gave a thumbs-up.

 

Then the chief’s eyes seemed to widen in surprise, and he soon let out a small laugh.

 

“As expected, you really are a strange child.”

 

To me, you look even stranger.

 

When I looked at him and gave a wobbly smile, the chief reached out, ruffling my hair as he patted it.

 

I squeezed my eyes shut and then opened them, and by the time I did, the chief had already stepped back from me.

 

“I’ll be back.”

 

With that greeting,

 

‘Greetings…’

 

Suddenly, it felt strangely new to me. 

 

It was because it was the first time I had ever heard someone say, “I’ll be back.”

 

‘Comeback safely.’

 

I had repeated those words to myself once—back in my previous life.

 

I had once imagined what it would be like if the day came when I could say those words to someone.

 

I had wondered what it would be like if the day came when I could wait for my family to come home—not days when I feared my family… coming back home.

 

Swish.

 

I cautiously raised my hand.

 

And waved, waved, waved. As if to bid them farewell. 

 

‘Comeback safely.’

 

I blurted it out in my heart.

 

Without a trace of fear.

 

A greeting I had never once been able to give, even while living so intensely in my previous life.

 

…And so, after the chief had left. 

 

I was left behind with Pilsuk and Uncle Saddong! 

 

“Second Commander! Should I bring you the baby food?” 

 

“Step back.”

 

Uncle Saddong and the others rushed over as soon as the chief had left.

 

Pilsuk casually put me down in the crib inside her barracks and then coldly issued a warning to them.   

 

And then, at last, I came face to face with her.

 

“…”

 

Pilsuk’s expression, silently staring down at me, was chilling beyond description.

 

‘…It’s painful.’

 

I knew this face. In my previous life, the bereaved family of my father used to look at me with the same expression.

 

‘I don’t know what expression to make.’

 

Swallowing hard from a vague sense of unease, my shoulders trembled.

 

“I, you.”

 

“…?”

 

“I still hate you.”

 

She stared at me intently, then blurted out the words, sharp as a dagger.