The Precious Baby of the Bandit Leader Chapter 69

Pirate Damho.

 

He was a pirate with monstrous strength who became crippled due to an unfortunate accident.

 

His innate talent as a martial artist was such that no one could surpass him.

 

However, for a pirate who had to spend his entire life at sea, being lame became a fatal weakness. 

 

Eventually, he lost his qualifications as a captain and was relegated to a lowly pirate.

 

Perhaps due to the sense of deprivation from that, he became deeply fascinated by naval tactics and began studying them.

 

‘Come to think of it… the incident where Damho becomes crippled…’

 

Isn’t it this exact incident right now?!

 

I stole a glance down at Dam-ho’s foot, which I had barely managed to extract from beneath the pile of rocks. 

 

If he had been trapped for a long time without anyone’s help, there was a high chance that tissue necrosis would have progressed.

 

In that case, becoming crippled would have been the natural course of events.

 

Inadvertently, I had ended up changing one of the character settings from the original work.

 

‘What exactly was Damho’s role in the original work again?’

 

I calmly tried to recall what his role was in the original work.

 

‘…If I had to say, he was the protagonist Park Dohyul’s first and last friend.’

 

And, he was also the catalyst that led Park Dohyul to decide on rebellion.

 

In fact, one could say that the relationship between Damho and Park Dohyul was even closer than that with the female lead.

 

It was to the point where there were even requests from readers in the community asking to pair Damho and Park Dohyul together.

 

‘How did the two of them meet again?’

 

In the original work, Park Dohyul, who succeeded in passing the state examination, still couldn’t escape his father’s shadow.

 

Having lived his life obediently following only his father’s words since childhood, breaking out of the mold was never easy for him.

 

Then, a mission was given to such a Park Dohyul.

 

It was to find a way to punish the foreign forces constantly invading from the eastern strait.

 

This too was an order from the Prime Minister, who knew his son was a genius in military strategy.

 

Heading to the coast like that, while examining the terrain and formulating a strategy, Park Dohyul happened to meet Damho by chance.

 

The two of them engaged in a heated debate on naval tactics at a tavern, and somehow ended up becoming best friends… or so the story went.

 

The problem came after that.

 

Park Dohyul and Damho joined forces, and following Park Dohyul’s instructions, who had devised a tactic considering Damho’s physical defect, Damho succeeded in bringing back the enemy commander’s head.

 

Because of this, Damho was praised by countless people and hailed as a hero.

 

However,

 

Damho, who returned to the royal court with the enemy commander’s head… received something other than a reward from the King.

 

“Execute that b*stard. Right now!”

 

“That b*stard dared to plot treason! Are the people in the streets not clamoring that he has the makings of a king?!”

 

It was none other than death.

 

Damho, who was Park Dohyul’s one and only friend. There wasn’t even a plausible reason for his death.

 

Simply for the reason that he had achieved victory in battle.

 

The current King had harbored a strong inferiority complex for a long time over the fact that Kim Gangdu had led the war to victory and become the people’s hero.

 

And Damho was an existence that reminded him of that man.

 

Eventually, as the price for making a name for himself, he had to meet a miserable end.

 

Damho’s death strongly shook Park Dohyul.

 

He, who had lived according to his father’s will, felt an uncontrollable rage for the first time.

 

He lost a precious person.

 

The only person who had brought back the enemy commander’s head for him.

 

That sense of loss made Park Dohyul awaken.

 

So… the Damho in front of me is, in the end, an ‘existence that awakens Park Dohyul through his death.’

 

Thinking about it like that, I felt sorry for him for some reason.

 

“What. Why are you looking at me like that? You don’t believe I’m a pirate?”

 

Damho, feeling my gaze, narrowed his eyes and asked.

 

I quietly shook my head, pondering what I should do for this pitiful supporting character of the original work.

 

“No. I believe you. You look like a pirate.”

 

“What does looking like a pirate even mean?”

 

“Hmm, like you’d be good at swimming in the sea?”

 

“Hey, I think you’re misunderstanding something, but pirates don’t necessarily have to be good at swimming…?”

 

“Fine, fine. Anyway, come over here and sit. Hurry.”

 

“No, I don’t think you know, but… Ack?!”

 

Struggling, I pulled Damho with my two small hands and sat him down on a rock. 

 

Earlier, I was just too busy pulling his leg out from the rock to properly check the wound.

 

‘If it’s to the point of becoming crippled, the condition must clearly be serious.’

 

I abruptly grabbed the hem of his pants and pulled it up.

 

“Ack?! What are you doing?!”

 

Flustered, he tried to stop my hand, but I was obstinate.

 

“Tsk! Stay still.”

 

“Hey, are you crazy….”

 

“Ah! I told you to stay still!”

 

Trying hard to ignore the struggling Damho, I examined the wound meticulously.

 

“You, why are you doing this…!” 

 

“…It’s bad. Just wait. I’m going to treat it for you.” 

 

At my words, Damho, who had been desperately trying to pull his body away, flinched.

 

“You’ll treat it? Right now? Here? You?”

 

“Yup! This rain won’t stop easily. We’ll probably have to stay here until tomorrow morning, you know? If we leave it alone until then, the condition will get worse. I happen to have brought medicinal herbs, so wait.”

 

I hurriedly walked over to fetch my bundle.

 

Watching my back as I did, Damho muttered as if dumbfounded.

 

“No, that’s not the issue… why do you even have medicinal herbs… and how is a small kid like you going to treat it?”

 

“This is why kids who live by the sea are no good.”

 

“Wh-What?”

 

Feeling urgent, I brushed it off roughly and answered casually while carefully taking out the herbs.

 

“If you live in the mountains, you quickly learn these kinds of things!”

 

“I live by the sea, but I’m not an idiot, you know?”

 

“Stay still. If you move, the herbs will fall off.” 

 

I skillfully took out the dried herbs and placed them on a wide, flat stone. Then I brought another stone and started crushing them.

 

As the juice seeped out from the herbs, I gathered it with my fingertips and formed it into a round ball.

 

And then I gently placed it on Damho’s wound.

 

“Ugh, hey! It hurts, you know? Isn’t this a poisonous plant? Back at the sea, when we get hurt, we don’t do it like this….” 

 

“If you came to the mountains, shouldn’t you listen to a mountain person!?”

 

“No… yeah….”

 

When I spoke firmly, Damho flinched. Then he soon relaxed and followed obediently.

 

‘Phew!’

 

I added a piece of cloth to let the herbs soak in, attached a splint, and wrapped it up neatly.

 

I safely finished the treatment. Only then could I finally feel relieved.

 

‘Now he’ll avoid ending up a cripple.’

 

Even if he was a supporting character, as long as I knew the future, it was hard to pretend not to know.

 

“It’s done now. Leave it like this for a bit, and when the rain stops, return home carefully. Don’t use this leg too much for a while. Got it?”

 

“…..”

 

Whoosh—.

 

The sound of heavy rain still echoed outside. It looked like it would continue to fall until tomorrow morning.

 

I tried to jump up as if my task was finished.

 

And right then.

 

Grab!

 

Damho snatched my hand.

 

“You really are an interesting kid, just as I heard?”

 

A sense of unease flashed past at the sight of him smiling with a strange glint in his eyes.

 

“Huh?”

 

“A tiny body like yours, yet you’re good with a slingshot, you know about herbs, and you carry a sturdy rope… and all sorts of other things.” 

 

Damho tilted his head and looked at me, then chuckled.

 

“This is perfect. Someone like you would suit me well. You, when you grow up, marry me.”

 

“…What kind of bulls— is that…?”

 

I spat out the thought that came to mind without a moment’s hesitation. But Damho laughed heartily without caring at all.

 

“If you don’t want to, let’s be friends first!”

 

As I paused at the unexpected proposal, Damho started chatting in an even louder voice as if he was excited.

 

“Because I know a lot about the sea, and you know a lot about the mountains! Don’t you think it would be really fun if we join forces?”

 

“…In what way?”

 

I genuinely couldn’t understand. What exactly would be fun?

 

I stared at him with a cold gaze, but Damho wasn’t discouraged at all and proposed with an even wider smile.

 

“I’m saying we should form an alliance! An alliance of the sea and the mountain! A so-called, Sea-Mountain Alliance!”