Chapter 32
“To think you actually drew first place….”
The woman wearing the goblin mask looked at Song Do-hyeon in disbelief.
As she had explained earlier, the number of customers visiting the market had increased dramatically recently, so they had no choice but to greatly increase the number of lucky pouches as well.
With thousands of slips of paper being handed out every day, no one knew the exact odds of winning.
There was, however, one thing that was certain: until now, no one had ever drawn first place.
Because the one and only first-place prize was still there.
“Ah, right. This isn’t the time for this.”
The woman belatedly came to her senses and rummaged around inside her clothes.
“I have to give you the first-place prize.”
Soon, she carefully took out an item. It was small enough to fit in the palm of her hand.
“The first-place prize is… a goblin talisman!”
“A goblin talisman?”
Song Do-hyeon looked down at it with a subtle expression.
It was a single piece of paper about the size of his palm. Drawn on it was a goblin that looked exactly like the statue erected at the entrance of the market.
Crooked horns and exaggerated facial features.
The drawing somehow had a sense of vividness to it. Around it were densely packed characters imitating the writing on a talisman, but although their forms looked convincing, they were closer to meaningless scribbles whose meaning could not be understood at all.
It was the work of someone who had a fair amount of skill at drawing, but absolutely no talent for Chinese characters.
The woman continued.
“Whenever you need the goblin’s help, put this talisman somewhere clearly visible.”
She explained the talisman’s effects with exaggerated gestures.
“Then poof! The goblin will appear and help you.”
After hearing the explanation, Song Do-hyeon looked down at the talisman again. There was cold cynicism in his gaze.
“……That is the first-place prize he came up with?”
“Yes. That’s right. It’s not particularly impressive, is it?”
Song Do-hyeon gave no answer.
He merely looked at the talisman with an indifferent gaze.
“…….”
A brief silence passed.
Under normal circumstances, he would not even have given it a glance.
He did not believe in luck in the first place, so there was no way he would believe in some cheap superstition like this.
Yet for some reason, the goblin drawn on the talisman caught his eye.
Swish.
Eventually, Song Do-hyeon tucked the talisman into his clothes. Then he casually pointed ahead.
“Please continue the tour.”
“Ah, yes. Yes.”
Prompted by Song Do-hyeon, the woman resumed the tour.
“This is the shop selling pumpkin taffy, and over there is where they sell things for children. If you go farther inside, there’s also an area where summer goods have been gathered. And then….”
The farther they went into the market, the atmosphere gradually began to change.
The boisterous noise slowly faded into the distance, leaving only the quiet sound of the two people’s footsteps echoing.
The lanterns also became noticeably fewer, until they had to walk almost as if feeling their way along the path, relying only on the moonlight.
After walking for quite some time, traces that had yet to be cleared away began appearing here and there: fire-blackened pillars, collapsed walls, and other remnants of the destruction.
The young woman wearing the goblin mask scratched her head and spoke awkwardly.
“There isn’t really much to see from here. The renovations aren’t finished yet, so it’s mostly just abandoned buildings.”
“I see.”
Song Do-hyeon nodded.
Certainly, there must not have been enough time to decorate all the way into the inner parts.
The woman cautiously asked, reading his mood.
“Shall we head back?”
“Let’s do that.”
The two naturally turned around.
“…….”
Once the tour was over, there was not much else to say.
An awkward silence flowed between the two. But it was not an uncomfortable silence.
In a secluded alley, merely knowing that someone was beside him gave him a strange sense of reassurance.
Then the woman cautiously opened her mouth.
“How is being a haengsu? Is it something you can manage?”
“I do it because I have no choice. There’s nothing particularly enjoyable about it.”
“Really?”
Perhaps the answer was unexpected, because the woman stopped for a moment and looked at Song Do-hyeon.
“That’s surprising. I thought everyone liked this work if they were a haengsu of Mansang.”
“I did.”
The ambiguous word made the woman look at him with a subtle expression.
“Until recently, that is.”
Song Do-hyeon continued his confession in a low voice.
“I devoted my entire youth to this place.”
Song Do-hyeon briefly looked up at the night sky.
A hint of emptiness passed through his eyes.
“I sacrificed even my time to eat and sleep. I truly devoted everything to it. I never refused anything if it was for the merchant guild. Even things other people were reluctant to do.”
A bitter smile crossed Song Do-hyeon’s lips.
“I thought that if I simply worked hard and achieved good results, someday they would recognize me. Recognize all the effort I had put in.”
He quietly continued.
“But I was wrong.”
The corners of his lips twisted ever so slightly.
“No matter how hard I worked for more than ten years, I was still inferior to some guy who came rolling in out of nowhere overnight.”
“……!”
The woman wearing the goblin mask’s eyes wavered for an instant at the words clearly alluding to someone.
But because her eyes were hidden behind the mask, Song Do-hyeon could not read her expression.
“It was truly bitter.”
Song Do-hyeon’s gaze once again drifted into empty space.
“They held me up as a candidate for the next Daehangsu. And now look at them, all taking his side…”
His voice trailed off.
“Thanks to him, all the effort and achievements I had accumulated became meaningless. Even the more than ten years of my life…”
After those words, another long silence followed.
“…….”
The woman wearing the goblin mask looked at him with a complicated expression.
Her lips seemed to move slightly behind the mask. But in the end, she said nothing. She did not try to comfort Song Do-hyeon lightly.
That was the best consideration she could offer him.
“I’m talking nonsense.”
With the atmosphere becoming awkward, Song Do-hyeon cleared his throat sheepishly.
Perhaps because he was speaking to someone wearing a goblin mask, words he normally could not say came spilling out so easily.
The woman did not miss the opportunity and continued asking questions.
“More importantly, what kind of person is Haengsu Im? I haven’t met him even once yet…”
“Hmm.”
Song Do-hyeon thought for a moment before opening his mouth.
“He’s a truly despicable fellow who thinks nothing of treating people like fools.”
“What? Haengsu Im?”
As though she had just heard an insult directed at herself, the woman hurriedly came to Hayun’s defense.
“That can’t be right. The Haengsu Im I know is always polite and kind, from what I’ve heard…”
“Kind? Don’t make me laugh. He’s a devious man who is completely different on the inside from what he appears to be on the outside.”
“Haengsu Im is devious? Isn’t it the opposite?”
When the woman questioned him, Song Do-hyeon scoffed.
“Don’t be fooled by his polished appearance. I’ve been on the receiving end of his tricks more times than I can count.”
Song Do-hyeon narrowed his eyes as though recalling his ill-fated relationship with Im Ha-seong.
“He’s just some ridiculously junior fellow, yet he’s so ill-mannered… I’ve never once seen him back down even a single word.”
“Hmm, couldn’t there be a reason for that? Perhaps, for instance, someone started an argument with him first.”
The woman continued taking Hayun’s side.
“What reason could there be?”
But Song Do-hyeon did not particularly react to her words. He simply continued voicing his own thoughts.
“He sometimes approaches me quite warmly, but how am I supposed to know what he’s really thinking? The way he smiles so sweetly makes it seem like he’s approaching people just to bewitch them…”
“Hmm, I see. So my smile was that charming.”
The woman wearing the goblin mask muttered to herself without realizing it.
Song Do-hyeon immediately looked at her with a puzzled expression.
“What did you just say…?”
“Ah! Did I say something wrong?”
The woman hurriedly waved her hands and came up with a flimsy excuse.
“N-No, I mean, I was saying that Haengsu Im’s smile must be that charming. You said it yourself earlier, didn’t you? That Haengsu Im has such a polished appearance.”
“Hmm.”
Fortunately, the excuse seemed to work, and Song Do-hyeon immediately withdrew his suspicion.
“Of course. There’s no way that could be.”
Their physiques were similar, but their voices and personalities were completely different.
Above all, the voice coming from behind the mask right now was the clear, crystalline voice of a woman, like jade beads rolling across a surface.
‘There’s no way that guy’s voice could be this beautiful.’
Still unaware of Hayun’s true identity, Song Do-hyeon continued the conversation.
“And he’s also extremely light.”
“Light?”
The woman tilted her head slightly to the side.
“What do you mean? Do you mean he’s a lightweight as a person?”
“That’s right. His personality and his body are both extremely light.”
A strange smile appeared around Song Do-hyeon’s lips.
“He was so terrible at drinking… He’d collapse before he could even drink ten cups.”
“……!”
The expression behind the woman’s mask stiffened.
“And his drunken behavior was quite severe, too… He’d suddenly show up and start lecturing me.”
Song Do-hyeon let out a small, hollow laugh.
“What an arrogant bastard.”
The woman was glad she was wearing a mask.
Because it meant he could not see her expression.
“Ah, I remember.”
Then Song Do-hyeon suddenly muttered.
“His one good point.”
He paused for a moment before gently closing his eyes.
“His scent….”
Song Do-hyeon recalled the fragrance he had smelled from Hayun at that time.
“He smells good. It’s… a subtle fragrance, almost like the scent of plum blossoms.”
Song Do-hyeon unconsciously rubbed the back of his neck.
It still felt as though the scent from that time lingered there.
“That’s his only good point.”
Song Do-hyeon opened his eyes, bringing his recollection to an end.
“Hm?”
And immediately, he whipped his head around.
He had not noticed it when he was not consciously paying attention, but once he became aware of it, he realized that a familiar scent had been lingering for some time.
“Come to think of it, you also…?”
Song Do-hyeon hurriedly looked toward where the woman wearing the goblin mask had been standing.
“Huh? Where did she go?”
But all that remained there was her faint fragrance, as though she herself had vanished like a goblin.
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