BW C211

Chapter 211

Dongja emptied the newly served rice just as quickly. Hoeun couldn’t take his eyes off her. No matter how long she had gone without eating, how could that much food possibly fit into her stomach? She wasn’t small, but there had to be a limit to how much a person could eat…

As Hoeun stared at her like a scholar studying something, Dongja chuckled.

“What, do I look like a pig?”

“…Pardon?”

“I said, do I look like a pig? Eating this much—makes you wonder if I’m even human, right?”

At that, Hoeun’s eyes widened as if they might pop out. He shook his head vigorously—so much that the ribbon in his hair fluttered wildly.

“No, not at all. I only thought it looked nice, how well you eat. Was I making you uncomfortable by staring? If so, I’ll leave.”

He turned as if to get off the platform immediately, but Dongja grabbed his shoulder.

“Hey, it’s fine. Sit.”

Her grip was so strong he nearly got shoved into the floor. He couldn’t even rub his aching shoulder and only shifted slightly. Then Dongja sucked on her spoon and said something odd.

“I’m not actually eating because I’m hungry.”

“…Pardon?”

“I mean… I’m not hungry, but I have to eat.”

“…I see?”

“If I don’t eat a lot, my insides feel all empty… like something’s missing.”

“……”

Hoeun tilted his head, unable to understand. Was it like Taemuk, who used his power and paid for it with pain—did Dongja use hers and feel hunger in return?

Then she added,

“I think it’s because my parents always said eating a lot is best.”

At that, Hoeun smiled as if he finally understood.

“Ah, I see. That makes perfect sense. You should eat plenty. Especially someone like you, Noona—you could eat ten bowls and it still wouldn’t be enough. Seeing you eat so well would make your parents happy.”

He spoke with his usual bright expression. To him, the concern of parents over their child’s meals was something beautiful.

But Dongja’s eyes darkened.

“…Would it?”

“Of course. So please don’t skip meals. If you go hungry, your parents would worry.”

Still not noticing her change in expression, Hoeun spoke lightly. But Dongja began idly scattering rice with the tip of her spoon and muttered,

“You know, Young Master.”

“Yes, Noona.”

“My parents starved to death.”

“…What?”

Hoeun’s eyes shook violently.

Starved to death.

It wasn’t the fact that her parents had died that shocked him—there were countless such stories in Jeokudae—but that they had died of starvation.

In an instant, Dongja’s unusual sensitivity about food flashed through his mind. He had thought she simply liked eating. He hadn’t imagined such a painful reason lay behind it.

Swallowing dryly, Hoeun asked carefully,

“Because of the Shikgoe…?”

“Should I say because of them? Well… I guess you could say that.”

It was a vague answer.

If it was because of the Shikgoe, then it was because of them—what did she mean by could say that?

As Hoeun tilted his head in confusion, Dongja leaned forward, pulling closer to the table and lowering her voice.

“When I was little, Wae bastards invaded our town.”

“…Not Shikgoe, but Wae soldiers?”

Why Wae all of a sudden?

“Yes. Wae had fallen, right?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“But just because a country falls doesn’t mean everyone there dies.”

“Ah…”

“So the survivors came over here. Lots of them. It’s not far by ship.”

“I see.”

Hoeun nodded. The fall of Wae and its surviving people—it felt distant and unfamiliar to him.

“They usually came through the southern coast—places like Yeosu or Busan. Ah, I didn’t know that either. Gilsang told me.”

“Yes, he’s from Busan, so he would know.”

“Right. It’s close to Wae, so it makes sense. They were running from the Shikgoe—no time to go far.”

“Yes, that would be the case.”

“But sometimes, they came in through other seas and hid in the mountains. Mostly soldiers.”

“Soldiers…?”

“Yeah. They couldn’t accept that their country had fallen. Even while fleeing, they did a lot of bad things, so people here really hated them. That’s what the old man said.”

“……”

“Anyway, one of those groups came to my town.”

“And… you let them in?”

“The hell we did. They invaded.”

Dongja jabbed the air angrily with her spoon.

“They invaded?”

“Yeah. They took over our town.”

“Took over…?”

Hoeun trailed off. He couldn’t understand.

This was the Korean Empire’s land—how could people from another country simply take it?

That was impossible. It shouldn’t be allowed. Even if they had lost their country—how could they do something so barbaric?

“They just claimed it was theirs.”

“……”

Hoeun frowned deeply. He knew Wae had long coveted their land—but for something like this to have happened so recently…

If Wae hadn’t fallen, would that behavior have continued even now?

His hands clenched until they turned white.

“They were just like the Shikgoe.”

This time, Dongja didn’t use slang—she said it clearly. Her face had hardened.

“They didn’t tear flesh or drink blood, but they devoured us in other ways.”

“……”

“They killed all the Military Gods first, made sure no one could leave, killed anyone who tried to run—along with their families—took our homes, took the crops we grew, gave us almost no food, beat us whenever they felt like it…”

Her eyes darkened and twisted as she spoke of the past. Hoeun’s expression twisted along with them.

“…Then your parents… because of them…”

“Yeah. They barely gave us anything to eat. My parents gave all of it to me. When I was little, if I didn’t eat properly, I’d get sick.”

“……”

Hoeun felt his breath catch again.

He didn’t know what to say. He had heard so many tragic stories—but it never got easier. If anything, it felt harder each time.

As he lowered his gaze helplessly, Dongja laughed loudly instead.

“It’s fine, it’s fine. It’s all in the past. I don’t even remember their faces anymore.”

“Even so…”

Their deaths must still remain in her heart.

As Hoeun sighed, Dongja resumed eating as if nothing had happened. Watching her, Hoeun leaned slightly toward the table.

“Then how did you drive the Wae out? Did you become a Military God around then?”

“No. The Shikgoe did.”

“…What?”

“The Shikgoe ate them all.”

“What—?”

At Hoeun’s shock, Dongja scraped a grain of rice off her spoon with her teeth and continued,

“They stayed in our town for… let’s see… about three or four years. Then the Shikgoe came.”

“How?”

“They dumped the bodies of the people they killed outside the town. I think the Shikgoe followed that.”

“But then… the people of your town must have been attacked as well. The Shikgoe wouldn’t distinguish between people…”

“We didn’t lose many. It was our town. We knew every corner of it. Of course we knew where to hide.”

“Ah…”

Hoeun’s shoulders relaxed in relief. He even ran a hand over his chest.

Only the wicked had died. It was, in a way, justice.

Dongja rested her elbow on the table and let out a long breath.

“The Wae were all dead, but the town was a mess. They’d torn everything apart, so many people were gone, and the walls were destroyed because of the Shikgoe…”

“……”

“We couldn’t stay there. So before the Shikgoe came again, we packed up and moved to another town.”

“To another town? But you said the Wae had killed all the Military Gods. That means… only ordinary people left together? That must have been dangerous…”

“Yeah. We ran into Shikgoe again before even two days passed.”

“…Good heavens.”

Hoeun’s eyes drooped in dismay.

Then, as he opened his mouth—

“Then at that time, you became a Military God—”

“That’s when I met the Commander.”

Dongja said at the same time.