The Precious Baby of the Bandit Leader Chapter 15

“No…!”

 

A familiar voice.

 

‘It’s the Chief!’

 

In that instant, as if by magic, a heavy weight lifted from my heart.

 

Along with hands that lifted me up high, the chief’s face came into my blurry vision.

 

“What’s going on here!”

 

As he shouted, I completely lost consciousness.

 

* * *

 

“It’s just a simple cold.” 

 

“It’s just a simple cold, and yet it’s hurting you this much?!”

 

“C, Chief, please stay still.” 

 

I groaned in pain and, due to the loud voices back and forth, woke up from my sleep.

 

‘This is…’

 

Despite the dizziness, I glanced around.

 

It seemed that I had been brought back to the chief’s barracks for the time being.

 

The problem was that, even though I had returned to a familiar and comfortable place, it was still unbearably cold.

 

“This is serious. Her fever is very high.” 

 

The chief placed his hand on my forehead to check my condition.

 

The monk who had treated me last time approached, checked my pulse, and then reported to the chief.

 

“This is strange. Last time, the fever went down after giving the medicine, but this time it isn’t. It seems… we’ve passed the stage where medicine can help.”

 

“I’m sorry, Chief… I should have taken better care of her… I didn’t expect the fever to get this bad…” 

 

Pilsuk, who had been staying nearby, bowed her head and wiped away her tears.

 

‘Am I… going to die like this?’

 

I was just a tiny baby, barely seven months old.

 

In a place where the concept of vaccinations doesn’t exist, a baby catching a fever would be extremely dangerous.

 

The fact that there was no medicine meant there was no way to treat it.

 

‘Still… spending time with the chief… wasn’t all that bad.’

 

Panting, I took in the chief’s face with my eyes.

 

Thinking that this moment might soon be my last.

 

And then.

 

“Chief! I have something I must convey to the Chief!”

 

“Please, just let me see him once! Please?”  

 

A familiar voice came from outside.

 

‘Is that Uncle Gaeddong’s voice…?’

 

Struggling to open my blurry eyes, I looked toward the door.

 

“Let them in.”

 

With the chief’s permission given, Uncle Gaeddong rushed in, breathing heavily.

 

“B, baby…” 

 

Seeing me in critical condition, he covered his mouth, tears welling up in his eyes. Then he bit his lip tightly and looked at the chief with a solemn expression.

 

“What did you come to say? Time is critical right now, so speak quickly.”

 

“I know the reason why the baby is sick.”

 

For a moment, Pilsuk’s expression twisted sharply. Yet, Uncle Gaeddong didn’t stop.

 

“I saw the Second Commander put poison in the baby food!”

 

“What?”

 

When the chief looked at Pilsuk, she glared fiercely at Gaeddong.

 

“What nonsense are you talking about? Do you want to die by my hand?”

 

Uncle Gaeddong flinched.

 

But then he glanced at me and clenched his fist.

 

“I have evidence!”

 

He continued his testimony.

 

“Evidence?”

 

When the chief asked urgently, Uncle Gaeddong nodded.

 

“Yes. I saw it just two days ago. I noticed something being added to the baby food, and at the time, I thought it was just something good for health. But… seeing the baby get this sick, I became certain it was poison. So, I went back and retrieved the pieces of poison that the Second Commander had discarded.”

 

Flinch. Pilsuk’s eyebrows twisted noticeably. 

 

Uncle Gaeddong rummaged through his pocket and held out a piece of a leaf, which the monk took under the chief’s gesture.

 

“Chief! You’re not going to believe him, are you? It’s nonsense. There’s no way I would do such a thing. I…!”

 

“Tell me. Is it poisonous weed?”

 

The chief didn’t even glance at her. His gaze was fixed solely on the monk, as if piercing him.

 

The monk swallowed hard and then barely managed to open his mouth.  

 

“Yes, this is… a rare poison that causes symptoms identical to a fever and can lead to death.”

 

“….!”

 

Once the monk confirmed it, Pilsuk abruptly fell silent.

 

The chief looked back at Pilsuk with a confused expression.

 

And the confusion in his eyes quickly transformed into anger, sadness, and confusion.

 

“I clearly said that I trusted you.”

 

“…C, Chief.” 

 

“Is it true that you did such a thing?

 

Pilsuk trembled, falling silent for a moment, then suddenly lifted her head.

 

She bit her lip tightly and then, with difficulty, managed to speak.

 

“I, I didn’t mean to kill her…” 

 

“You used poison, and yet you’re saying you didn’t intend to kill her?” 

 

“I just heard that it causes symptoms similar to a cold! The last time she caught one, she got better quickly… I thought if I used only a small amount, she’d just feel a little sick and that would be it.” 

 

She desperately tried to explain herself, but the chief’s expression had already hardened into a cold glare.

 

“Stop. Don’t say any more. I don’t want to hurt you in front of the child.” 

 

“C, Chief!” 

 

“Lock Pilsuk up in the cave prison.”

 

At the chief’s command, Gaon and Dupil promptly approached her.

 

Their expressions were cold as well, and it wasn’t a comforting sight.

 

This was undoubtedly an act of defiance, and there was no chance of turning back.

 

Swish—!

 

But Pilsuk seemed to shake off the hands grabbing her arms, then suddenly shouted aloud.

 

“How can you do this!!”

 

A single tear rolled down her cheek.

 

“You told us not to be swallowed by revenge. You told us to live our lives, remember!”

 

Pilsuk swallowed back tears and raised her voice. 

 

“Then tell me—what about the lives of those who died?”

 

“…”

 

“My sons—only four and five years old—what were their lives even for? What could their lives possibly have been for…!”

 

“Enough.”

 

“I chose to follow you, Chief… because I believed that you shared the same intent as I did! A ‘humane life’? For a mother who has lost her children, there is no such thing.”

 

“Deputy Chief, First Commander!”

 

While Uncle Gaeddong and the monk, not understanding the meaning of Pilsuk’s words, just rolled their eyes in confusion.

 

The chief quickly summoned Dupil and Gaon, and they stepped forward from behind to cover Pilsuk’s mouth and restrain her.

 

“I know the child is innocent! But my own children were innocent too. Every time I looked at that child, it felt like I was being thrown into the fires of hell!”

 

“Once the child recovers, she will be punished properly. Gag her and drag her out.” 

 

“E, euph…!”

 

The chief gave the order in a voice full of murderous intent; his expression showed not a trace of mercy.

 

After Pilsuk was dragged out,

 

The chief reached out, grabbed the monk by the shoulder, and demanded fiercely.

 

“Can this be treated? Where is the antidote for this poison? Tell me—quickly!”

 

“Ev, even if I told you, we couldn’t get it.” 

 

“What are you talking about?”

 

“There’s nothing but snow and ice everywhere—where could we possibly find the herbs? Even in the villages, there isn’t a single root; people are melting snow to drink and fill their stomachs. Maybe if we went all the way to Hanyang… but this child doesn’t even have a single day left.”

 

The fever made their words gradually sound faint and distant.

 

Even so, the chief’s desperate expression felt unusually vivid to me.

 

“Are you saying there really no other way?”

 

“There is just one thing that comes to mind… b. but I, too, am not certain about it.”

 

“Speak.” 

 

At the chief’s stern command, the monk cautiously began to speak.

 

“You must feed the child a leaf of the Snowmelt Flower (Seolhaehwa) that blooms at the edge of the ice cliff. I read in an ancient medical text that a single flower blooming at the cliff’s edge has the power to neutralize all poison. But no one has ever climbed the ice cliff, and all who tried never returned… so…” 

 

“I will climb.”

 

The chief answered immediately before he could finish his sentence.

 

“I will climb the ice cliff myself.”

 

* * *

 

The first time he saw the baby.

 

For the first time, the Chief truly felt his heart pounding uncontrollably.

 

“Byaaaa…”

 

Honestly, the baby wasn’t particularly cute.

 

In fact, the baby looked so pitiful that it was hard to tell whether it was a human child or a young animal.

 

The light brown hair, soaked from the snow, stuck haphazardly to the baby’s forehead and cheeks.

 

The entire body was frozen stiff, the skin pale and lifeless, making it a wonder the baby was still alive.

 

Still, strangely, he couldn’t take his eyes off of her.

 

Frozen, round cheeks stained with snot and tears.

 

The weight of life, seemingly a mere handful.

 

And the baby’s fluttering heartbeat, felt through the hand that touched it.

 

Thump, thump, thump.

 

Something so tiny seemed to be alive, as if pleading to be saved.

 

‘Is this… a baby?’

 

The Chief tilted his head slightly and examined the baby closely.

 

‘How can it be so small?’

 

He couldn’t bring himself to hold the baby firmly in his hand.

 

It felt like it would break.

 

He felt that if he left even a single mark on the baby’s soft, delicate skin, still carrying the scent of milk, he would never be able to forgive himself.

 

A pure, untainted soul untouched by the countless filths of this world.

 

The fact that those eyes, holding that pure soul, were fully fixed on him… felt overwhelmingly intense.

 

‘Why?’

 

He couldn’t understand it himself.

 

Why did he feel such a powerful pull toward this child?

 

Towards a mere snot-nosed toddler he had just seen for the first time.