Chapter 3
* * *
“Waaah!”
“Baby, why are you crying again……! What on earth are you so unhappy with, huh?”
Sowol stared blankly into the air, looking half out of his mind.
At the sound of crying that went on for three days and nights, Baekya had long since fled.
A month or so would pass by quickly?
Who on earth had thought such nonsense?
“Waaah! Waaaaah!”
“I got it. I got it. I was in the wrong. I don’t know what I did wrong, but please sleep for just one hour, no, half an hour……”
Pleading, Sowol patted the baby’s back and walked around the room in circles.
Only after a long while did the sound of the baby screeching at the top of her lungs begin to subside. It seemed she had run out of energy.
Sowol held his breath and looked down at the baby.
A steady, soft breathing leaked out.
Before long, the baby’s eyelids closed.
Joy washed over Sowol’s face.
She was finally asleep!
Right at that moment.
“Innkeeper! Are you running a business here or not!”
Startled by the shouting that erupted from downstairs, the baby began to cry again.
“Waaah!”
You son of a……
Sowol gnashed his teeth.
Setting the crying baby down in the basket, he rubbed his face aggressively.
Let’s calm down. I just need to put the baby back to sleep.
Don’t get angry, start with a deep breath……
“Why is there no answer! I asked if you’re open or not! I guess you have no intention of making money?”
Forget it, I’m killing that bastard first.
Sowol stomped down the stairs with bloodshot eyes.
“Are you the bastard who was yelling?”
The man called a bastard couldn’t readily answer.
It was hard to breathe under the killing intent emanating from Sowol.
Stepping back hesitantly, he stammered.
“A-Are you the innkeeper? I, I thought there was no one here……. Kagh, keo-hook!”
Grabbing the collar of the making-excuses man, Sowol lifted him high into the air.
With his feet suspended in the air, the man shut his eyes tightly.
‘I’m dead……!’
However, the expected pain did not come.
Instead, the sound of old wooden stairs creaking echoed.
Creak. Creak.
Only then did the man realize the fact that he was being dragged to the upper floor of the inn.
Thud!
Thrown down just like that, the man rolled on the floor while coughing up a storm.
“Cough, cough!”
Above his head as he caught his ragged breath, a fierce, chilling voice dropped.
“Put her to sleep.”
“……Pardon?”
“Put her to sleep.”
The man cautiously raised his head.
The baby inside the basket was crying loudly.
* * *
It was fifteen minutes later when the man came down the stairs.
Sowol, who was sitting slouched in a chair, asked.
“Did you put her to sleep?”
“Yes, Hero. She has fallen fast asleep.”
Answering politely, the man subtly stroked his neck.
Facing Sowol, the sensation of having his collar grabbed felt vividly alive again.
“How did you do it?”
“I was just holding her.”
“……Just?”
“Yes. I was just holding her.”
At the unbelievable sound, Sowol looked at the man blankly.
That simple “just” hadn’t worked, so he had stayed up for three days and nights straight.
Yet why did she fall asleep right away when that guy put her to sleep?
At Sowol’s fierce gaze, the man quietly backed away.
“May I be on my way now?”
“……Get going.”
When Sowol gestured with his hand, the man scrambled away in a flurry.
Sowol, feeling unfairly wronged for no reason, glared at the empty stairs before dragging his heavy body back upstairs.
The baby was sleeping peacefully.
“……Her sleeping face is gentle, though.”
Grumbling, he slumped down with his back against the wall.
His body felt as heavy as a thousand catties.
Just as he was thinking of closing his eyes for a moment like this, a sign of presence was heard from downstairs.
Creak. Creak.
The sound of the stairs creaking drew closer.
Sowol forced his heavy eyelids open.
When he stood up and opened the door, his neighbor Jang Wi was standing there.
“Brother Yeon, are you not doing business? There’s been no red lantern for several days…… Wait, what’s with the baby?”
Sowol, blinking his bloodshot eyes, spoke weakly.
“Brother Jang, save me please……”
* * *
It was fifteen minutes later when Jang Wi brought his wife, Wang Yeom.
“Oh my goodness, were you looking after such a newborn all by yourself, Mister?”
Appalled, Wang Yeom rolled up her sleeves and called together the village women.
“Oh my, what kind of state is this!”
The summoned women also clicked their tongues and began cleaning the inn.
As Sowol stood awkwardly, Wang Yeom pushed Sowol’s back.
“Looking at your state, you haven’t slept a wink. Don’t worry about the baby and go get some sleep.”
“……Thank you.”
Without declining, Sowol collapsed onto the bed.
The moment his back touched the bed, sleep poured over him.
However, he soon opened his eyes at Baekya’s call.
“……Hyung-nim, Hyung-nim! Auntie Wang says she’s leaving.”
It felt like he had only closed his eyes for a moment, but the sunset was glowing outside the window.
Barely pulling himself together, Sowol made his way downstairs.
The inn had become spotlessly clean beyond recognition.
The scattered items had all found their proper places, and cleanly washed diapers were neatly folded on one side of the table.
Beside the counter, a cradle he had never seen before was also placed.
Wang Yeom, who was coaxing the baby, turned to look at Sowol.
“Did you sleep well?”
“I owe you a debt.”
“What debt? Ah, I fed her milk twice. The baby is quite gentle.”
At Wang Yeom’s words, Sowol was lost for words.
If crying for three days straight was on the gentle side, he couldn’t gauge what a non-gentle baby would be like.
Whether she noticed Sowol’s inner thoughts, Wang Yeom said with a smile.
“She probably cried because the cloth used for diapers was stiff. I brought over the diapers Dan-u used, so use those from now on. And put her to sleep in the cradle.”
Pointing at the diapers and cradle, Wang Yeom handed over the baby and asked.
“By the way, what is the baby’s name?”
“She doesn’t have one yet.”
“She doesn’t have a name? Still, she needs a name to be called by. Why don’t you give her one?”
“I’m just taking care of her temporarily, so that’s a bit……”
Smiling awkwardly, Sowol looked down at the baby.
A name stays with a person for a lifetime.
It had to be given by the person who would raise the child, not Sowol.
“Why are you prying so much? Let’s go. Brother Yeon, we’re leaving.”
“Can’t I even ask? Can’t I ask this much?”
Wang Yeom, pouting her lips at Jang Wi’s scolding, turned around just like that.
“Thank you for today. Take care.”
“If it’s tough looking after the baby, call us. We can lay her down next to our Dan-u and watch them together.”
Sowol nodded his head without declining.
It was desperate for someone’s help to say he was fine.
* * *
Even after that, Wang Yeom stopped by the inn coming and going, teaching him one by one how to care for a baby.
Sowol also listened obediently to Wang Yeom’s words. In truth, since he knew nothing, that was only right.
After about seven days and nights passed, Sowol came to realize that the baby had her own ways of expression.
Bursting out into “Waaaaah!” crying was throwing a tantrum because she was hungry.
Grimacing and squirming was because her lying position was uncomfortable.
“Waaah!” meant she had relieved herself.
If Sowol couldn’t understand, Baekya solved it.
“Waaah……!”
“Hyung-nim, the baby is hot.”
“Hot?”
Half-doubting, Sowol moved the stove far away from the cradle.
The sound of crying subsided like a lie.
Fascinated, as Sowol looked down at the cradle, the baby, smacking her lips, beamed a bright smile.
“……She smiles too.”
Pausing, Sowol tapped the baby’s cheek with the tip of his finger.
Then, the baby tightly grasped Sowol’s finger.
Seeing the absurdly small hand, Sowol let out a chuckle.
“Look at this.”
Children who smiled seeing Sowol’s face were not common.
No, it wasn’t just children.
Most people avoided eye contact first when they saw him.
Yet this little thing was different.
Without a second thought, she held onto his scar-covered finger and burrowed into his arms without hesitation.
“……I don’t know if she knows nothing or if she has no fear.”
Muttering, Sowol tucked in the baby’s swaddling clothes.
Only then did he properly see the baby’s face.
Looking closely, her eyes seemed to resemble Number 83’s.
Sowol swallowed a bitter smile.
“Whew, yeah. What sin could you possibly have? It’s the fault of the monk who left you behind as he pleased.”
A child who lost her mother as soon as she was born and was pushed around here and there until reaching this place.
Even out of consideration for Number 83, he could take care of her for about a month.
Did she read his mind?
The baby smiled sweetly and put strength into the hand holding Sowol’s finger.
At that moment, the baby’s eyes gleamed with a golden light.
The copper coins on top of the counter trembled violently.
Clang.
The sound of coins clashing echoed through the inn.
Turning his head along with the metallic sound, Sowol froze solid right where he stood.
A bundle of copper coins was floating gently in midair.
Sowol’s mouth agape in shock.
“……Telekinesis?”
