The Precious Baby of the Bandit Leader Chapter 70

“I refuse!”

 

Rumble—!

 

At my clean refusal, Damho looked like he was about to cry.

 

Perhaps taking a blow for the first time, he hurriedly asked with a sullen expression.

 

“Why? I’m a pirate! People of the sea must definitely repay a favor!”

 

“If you want to repay a favor, you shouldn’t form an alliance… just repay it!!”

 

“Huh?”

 

“Since I saved your life, help me out later! Then we’re even!” 

 

I’m an adult who takes what she can get!

 

I prevented him from becoming a cripple, no less, so isn’t it okay to receive this much?

 

As I smiled brightly and boldly demanded compensation for my labor(?), Damho tilted his head.

 

“Later? How?”

 

“When I’m in a crisis or something and ask for help, you help me without asking questions or making excuses! How about it?”

 

“Uh, so… like….”

 

“If you don’t want to, then never mind.”

 

Well, honestly, it’s not like I’d ever need to receive help from you.

 

‘It’s fun teasing this kid.’

 

Could you say I felt a bit mischievous seeing Damho not knowing what to do?

 

I continued with a detached expression, pretending to politely decline. 

 

“I won’t blame you for not repaying the favor. I’ll just think, ‘Ah, pirates really have no sense of loyalty’… but….”

 

“No…!”

 

Damho, who had been trembling like a puppy that needed to go, finally opened his mouth as if he had made up his mind. 

 

“I cannot abandon the pride of a pirate! Fine. Since you saved my life, from this moment on, I and my pirate crew will unconditionally help and support you, the daughter of a bandit. I swear it.” 

 

At Damho clenching his fist and speaking quite resolutely, I smiled, my lips twitching.

 

“Why—why are you laughing?” 

 

“Pfft, hahaha! I was just joking, but you’re being so serious?”

 

“Huh? A joke? It was a joke?”

 

I stood up and brushed off my backside. 

 

“Yup! It’s a joke. Ah, I’m going to make a proper fire now, so could you help me find some dry branches or leaves? Don’t go too far since your leg hurts! Let’s say you’ve repaid your favor with this!”

 

He looked like he wanted to say something more, but Damho eventually nodded his head up and down silently.

 

Only then did I look at the ground and wander around looking for leaves.

 

A short while later.

 

“Huh?!”

 

Swoosh, Damho, who had suddenly approached from behind, lifted me up.

 

Just as I, startled, was about to scream, Damho gently set me down somewhere.

 

It was on top of a soft rock lined with soft leaves. It seemed he had made a place to sit while I was looking for branches.

 

“Sit here. Cover yourself with this.”

 

Drop. A soft fur was draped over my shoulders.

 

I noticed that it was fox fur.

 

“Where did you get this…”

 

“It’s mine. I dropped it over there.”

 

Giving a short explanation, he walked briskly toward the cave entrance.

 

He picked out and gathered the driest of the branches and leaves that had been swept in from outside, then returned to me and gathered them in one place.

 

Fwoosh—!

 

Damho started a campfire using the torch I had made. It felt like the air became much warmer.

 

Thump—!

 

Then he came back and sat next to me.

 

“How is it? Have I repaid my favor a little bit with this?”

 

As he spoke with a bright smile as if asking for praise, I let out a chuckle and nodded.

 

“Yeah. Yeah. Good job.”

 

“Hehehe. Great!”

 

Just when I thought he was smiling cheerfully, Thrust! He held out his hand.

 

“Hm?”

 

“Give me the leftover herbs you used earlier.”

 

Lowering his head, he fixed his gaze on my knees this time.

 

“You’re hurt. You too.”

 

“No, this is…”

 

“Hurry up— okay?”

 

As he pestered me, looking at me with sparkling eyes as if pleading, I eventually handed over the herbs.

 

“Here you go.”

 

“Excuse me for a moment.”

 

Carefully rolling up the hem of my skirt, Damho began to meticulously crush the herbs with a stone.

 

Whether he had closely observed what I was doing earlier, he seemed to be copying me exactly.

 

Snap, crackle.

 

The campfire in front of us was burning, and the rain was drizzling outside.

 

In such an atmosphere, sitting still and watching what he was doing…

 

‘I’m getting sleepy…’

 

As the tension slowly released, drowsiness began to wash over me.

 

Nod, nod.

 

Unable to bear my heavy eyelids, I soon fell into a light sleep.

 

Whoosh. I felt a hand gently supporting my head as it tilted in my sleep.

 

“Mmm, Dad…”

 

The Chief’s face suddenly popped into my mind at the warm heat. Just as I subconsciously tried to lean into that sensation, my consciousness slowly faded.

 

* * *

 

Whoosh—.

 

Gaon was facing a valley that had swollen to a terrifying degree.

 

As if there was a hole in the sky, the rain was still pouring down in torrents.

 

Crossing the valley right now was no different than madness.

 

However.

 

“There are traces of her passing through. It seems she already crossed before it started raining.”

 

Although almost washed away, under the lush trees in the mud, there remained small footprints that anyone could tell definitely belonged to a child.

 

It was clear evidence that the child had crossed the valley.

 

‘She really intended to leave this place completely.’

 

Hah. Gaon let out a short sigh. To be honest, he still couldn’t believe it.

 

The fact that the child had crossed the valley and ran away.

 

‘After saying all that stuff about being family… you’re going to leave without even seeing my face?’

 

No. I can’t accept this.

 

Gaon pressed his lips tightly together.

 

Then, he held out his hand without hesitation. His subordinates handed him a rope made of twisted straw.

 

Gaon tied it securely around his waist.

 

“Tie this end tightly over there and pull if something happens to me.”

 

“First Comander, crossing the valley now is too dangerous. It would be better to go around toward the upper part….”

 

Checking that the rope was securely tied to the tree, he shouted down his subordinate’s concern.

 

“That would take at least another full day. Who knows what could happen to that child in the meantime. Just tie it quickly.”

 

Even at this very moment, that child might be crying somewhere in the rain.

 

What Gaon was most worried about above all was a landslide. Just the fact that the tiny child was wandering in this heavy rain was enough to drive him crazy.

 

An overwhelming sense of despair rushed in when he imagined her being crushed under a pile of dirt and getting hurt.

 

Splash—!

 

Gaon jumped into the water without hesitation. He pushed forward, fearlessly cutting through the waterway.

 

Putting strength into his feet, he took one step, then another. When he had taken a couple more steps like that.

 

Rumble, crash—!

 

At the roaring sound of collapsing, Gaon instinctively whipped his head around. A large rock and a pile of dirt were rushing down menacingly from upstream.

 

‘A landslide!’

 

He immediately looked at the tree where he had tied the rope. It was swaying precariously, looking as if it would be uprooted at any moment.

 

“A-Aaaagh!”

 

“Aaaagh!”

 

The subordinates who had been watching him shouted and tried to support the tree, but it was not enough.

 

Gaon quickly tried to turn back.

 

But it was too late.

 

Along with the fierce current, the pile of dirt and rock rushed fiercely, swallowing him up.

 

Whoosh—!

 

He was swept away by the waterway just like that.

 

Gripping the rope tightly, he threw his body to dodge the falling rock, but.

 

‘The rope broke?’

 

The moment the rope snapped with a crack, unable to bear the weight, Gaon’s body was swept away by the rough current.

 

‘No. I have to save that child… at this rate…’

 

He gritted his teeth and flailed his arms and legs, but it was no use.

 

Just when he was gripped by despair, thinking this was the end.

 

Snatch—!

 

His body was firmly caught by something. His movement of being swept away came to an abrupt halt.

 

Gaon barely managed to raise his head in the water.

 

What was holding him was the rope tied around his waist.

 

The rope, which had definitely been broken, was taut, and as he followed the line with his eyes.

 

“First Commander!”

 

There was Gaeddong, covered in mud.

 

Behind him, Dakddong, Malddong, and Soddong were holding each other’s hands in turn, forming a human chain.

 

“We came to find Yeong too!”