BW C198

“……”

At that, Taemuk, gripping his mother’s skirt, turned his head sharply. And he saw it. The lord shoving his father’s back. He pushed so hard that a thud! echoed heavily through the courtyard.

“Ugh!”

His father, who had all his attention on the Shikgoe, failed to avoid the lord’s hand and toppled forward. Rolling across the courtyard mixed with snow and blood, he reached the Shikgoe’s feet in an instant.

At that moment, Taemuk seemed to sense it. That his father would die.

“Father!”

Taemuk tried to run toward him. But his father shouted loudly enough to make the courtyard ring.

“No! Muk, you must not come! No! Don’t come—!”

He could not finish. Because the Shikgoe went thud! and stepped on his father’s head.

After that, it was obvious. A series of cruel, grotesque, disgusting, and sorrowful scenes. Crunch, crunch sounds were heard, and something spilled out in streams. It was torn, and it was chewed.

His father, who had a large build and had always taken on hard labor, took quite a long time to be eaten, perhaps because of his size.

“……”

Taemuk watched all of it without blinking. His father’s body steadily shrinking, the snow blowing so fiercely that his vision dimmed, and behind that, the lord, the mistress, and even the Young Master fleeing using his father’s body as a shield.

His mother belatedly embraced Taemuk and covered his eyes with her skirt, but Taemuk had already seen everything.

“Taemuk’s father……”

Calling his father in a trembling voice, his mother suddenly drew in a sharp breath. At that moment, Taemuk felt her legs stiffen.

She grabbed Taemuk, lifted him up, and immediately turned and began to run.

“Let’s go, Taemuk. Let’s go.”

Over her shoulder, Taemuk blankly looked at the house growing distant. The courtyard covered in blood, the heavy yet quiet falling snow, the Shikgoe standing among it, and the flesh of his father caught in its mouth. Everything was unreal.

It felt like a bad dream.

That sight slowly grew distant. Then, when his mother went out the gate and turned the corner, everything disappeared.

And so, Taemuk left the place he had lived in all his life—or the place that had not been his home.

“Aaaah—!”

“Uaaah—!”

“Kyaaah!”

Outside the house was even more chaotic. Inside, there had only been one Shikgoe, but outside there were dozens rampaging. People’s screams rose everywhere, near and far.

“We have to run. We have to run.”

As if casting a spell, his mother repeated the same words as she ran holding Taemuk.

She just ran. Without knowing where to go, with the will to live, and the will to keep him alive.

Running across ground soaked with snow and blood, she fell several times and slipped several times. But she did not cry out in pain and sprang back up each time and ran again.

“Mother……”

Taemuk only clung tightly to her neck. He did not know what to do, and there was nothing he could do. Because he was eight.

Then at some point, his mother avoided a Shikgoe blocking the road and entered an alley. But there was a Shikgoe there as well. A huge one stood slanted, almost blocking the path, tearing into a person. Holding the person’s waist with both hands, it bit from the head—crunching, chewing, devouring flesh and bone alike. Fortunately, the one absorbed in eating did not notice them.

“……”

His mother held her breath, pressed the back of Taemuk’s head firmly with one hand, and slowly stepped backward.

“It’s okay, Taemuk. It’s okay. Mother will protect you. Mother……”

Her voice trembled slightly but was still gentle and soft. Taemuk hugged her neck a little tighter. Being held like this and hearing her voice, he was not afraid at all. Even though his father was gone, it felt like it would be fine as long as his mother was there.

But that relief was too early.

Grrk……

The Shikgoe, tearing flesh and twisting its head, discovered his mother. His mother was caught in its red eyes. It swallowed the blood sloshing in its throat.

Kaaaaak!

It threw away what it was eating and rushed toward her.

His mother clenched her teeth and ran. But how fast could a woman run—one who had spent her life cooking for others, one who had gone hungry all day? The Shikgoe, whose legs were as long as her height, came thundering and quickly caught up. Then—

Kiiiiiieeek!

It swung its hand toward her. Thud. Struck as if hit by its palm, his mother was lifted into the air. Taemuk, held in her arms, flew together with her.

“Taemuk…… Taemuk……”

Even while falling, she held him tightly. Because of that, when they hit the ground, Taemuk was not injured. But the impact was fully transmitted.

His head shook from the impact, and his nose stung. A strange heat rose from his lower abdomen. As Taemuk blinked irregularly and shook his head—

Krrk, khk, grrr……

The Shikgoe approached again, more slowly this time.

His mother, groaning on the ground, hurriedly stood up and tried to run forward. But she had not even taken two steps before she tripped over someone’s corpse and fell flat.

But she did not give up.

“No, no. Not Taemuk……”

Holding Taemuk with one hand and supporting herself on the ground with the other, she began to crawl. But that movement was slow and pitiful, like a wriggling grub.

Thud. The Shikgoe finally reached right in front of her and let out a long sound, baring its blood-soaked teeth. It looked as if it were smiling. As if the crawling mother amused it.

Soon, it reached its hand toward her. His mother hugged Taemuk and flipped her body over. Taemuk clung tightly to her as well.

And just as its claws were about to touch her head—

“Ugh…… ugh…… huu……”

A man drenched in blood staggered past in front of the Shikgoe. His face was empty, as if he had experienced something extremely shocking and tragic. With each step, his knees buckled greatly, and thick traces were left behind his footsteps.

Grrk……

As if bewitched, the Shikgoe turned its head following the man. It let out a strange growl and suddenly grabbed the man with its large hand and brought him to its mouth.

“Aaaah…… aaah……”

The man made sounds that were neither screams nor sobs as he was torn apart. The Shikgoe shook its head left and right, tearing his body, and buried its face into it frantically.

In that moment, his mother, eyes wide open, stood up again. But once again, she fell after only a few steps, even though there was nothing in front of her.

Pulling her leg up to her chest, she slightly lifted her skirt. Her ankle was twisted into a strange shape. Where the heel should be, the toes were, and where the toes should be, the heel was.

At that moment, the expression disappeared from her face. She seemed to realize then that she would not be able to escape with Taemuk.

“M-Mother, are you okay?”

Taemuk asked, wiping her cheek, damp with snow, sweat, and tears.

“Of course, I’m okay. Let’s go. Hurry, let’s go.”

Forcing her body up on her twisted ankle, she limped and ran. Even so, she did not let out a single groan. It was as if she did not feel pain. Perhaps her will to protect her son had overtaken the pain.

Around her, people ran in all directions. Because the Shikgoe rampaged without regard for direction, no one knew where to go. His mother ran, then walked, then even spun in place. Even then, the Shikgoe devoured people wherever it could.

“……”

Taemuk felt her breathing grow rough. Her panic and confusion were transmitted fully through her chest pressed against him. And at some point, Taemuk also began to sob.

He felt uneasy. As if an even greater tragedy was waiting for them.

“Taemuk, it’s okay. Don’t cry, don’t cry. Mother is here. Okay?”

Even while wandering unsteadily on her swollen, purplish foot, she comforted him. At the touch of her hand patting his back, Taemuk stopped crying, then cried again.

At that moment—

Clatter, clatter.

The sound of hooves was heard. It was not a common sound. There were few households in this town that owned expensive horses.

Taemuk, who had been burying his face in his mother’s shoulder, turned his head.

As expected, the lord was coming. Holding the Young Master in his arms, while the mistress was nowhere to be seen.

“…My lord……”

His mother also seemed to have seen him and called out softly. Without thinking, she ran straight toward the horse.