SAFBIAN Ch 9

Chapter 9

 

Dori was afraid of Haban. Seeing the cold smile disappear from his lips and his mouth slowly twist, he swallowed dryly.

W-What are you going to do to me?

“Catch him.”

Haban ordered curtly, not forgetting to add, “Without injury.”

Growl!

Dori bared his teeth, tail bristling. His whole body trembled, but it was an instinct to hide his fear from his opponent.

Just then, an arrow that had been watching from afar shot forward like it had been waiting for this moment.

“Yelp!”

Dori curled his body tighter and flattened himself against the ground. He braced himself for the searing pain that would come with his flesh being pierced—but he felt nothing.

No way… Did I die instantly? After a life full of bad luck, my one stroke of fortune is… death?

“You bastard!”

Thwack! At that moment, a loud noise rang out, and Dori lifted his head.

“Are you out of your mind? What if His Majesty had been hit?”

Jipyeong struck the back of the man who had fired the arrow again.

“H-His Majesty, you say?”

The man who had been hit stammered as he looked around with an expression of injustice.

Among them, the most skilled in martial arts was Haban. There was no way he couldn’t dodge an arrow from this distance.

But everyone knew that Jipyeong was just taking out his anger on a convenient excuse, so they quickly averted their eyes from their comrade.

“Get your head straight. He’s a precious white fox—if the fur gets damaged, it’s worthless.”

“Yes, sir! But… are you going to skin it right away? Seems a bit wasteful. If we raise him and let him breed, we could get more pelts.”

The man who shot the arrow grumbled as he mounted his horse again. The horse, which had enjoyed a brief rest, whinnied in protest at the renewed weight on its back.

Dori felt like crying too.

Fur? Pelt? In other words, they’re going to kill me?

…What do I do. …Did I make the wrong choice?

It was already hard enough to escape on two legs, and he’d stayed in fox form because he was afraid things would unfold like in the original story.

…Would it be better to turn into a human now?

Dori hesitated, paws shifting nervously. While dodging the approaching group, he had somehow ended up close to Haban.

Lowering his head and cautiously rolling his eyes, he met Haban’s gaze. From the start, Haban hadn’t looked away from Dori, as if uninterested in the noisy commotion around him.

“I didn’t think you’d actually exist.”

Words with an unclear meaning slipped from his lips, which had parted after being closed tight.

One step, two steps.

Haban approached slowly and reached out his hand toward the fox. His open palm gestured slightly, as if inviting him to come.

Dori’s heart pounded wildly. He didn’t know whether it was from fear or the running, but he was frozen in place by Haban’s gaze, unable to move.

Without a word, Haban suddenly raised his arm high.

He’s going to hit me!

Dori squeezed his eyes shut.

In the original story, Dori would get slapped by Haban for no reason at all, so this was a reflexive reaction.

He clenched his teeth and trembled, when a strong hand gripped his chin and turned it side to side.

“Did it graze him?”

Ah, it hurts!

When pressure was applied, blood welled from a thin crack on Dori’s cheek. It was so minor he hadn’t even realized he’d been wounded.

“Jipyeong.”

“Yes?”

Haban straightened his back after briefly bending down. Looking up from the fox at his feet, his presence felt even more imposing.

“Step aside.”

“…Pardon?”

He asked back, not understanding why, but his body moved instinctively. Dori followed Jipyeong’s movement with his head as he stepped aside.

Thud.

“Ugh!”

The moment Haban moved, the man who had fired the last arrow let out a dying scream and toppled from his horse. The force was so great, it was hard to believe it came from a sword swing below.

The man collapsed on the ground but quickly dropped to his knees. The mood, which had briefly lightened with jokes, instantly froze over.

“……”

Though Haban said nothing, the man prostrated himself immediately, and Jipyeong stepped back. None of the mounted men dared to step forward.

To cast aside someone who’d just been with them so casually… Dori couldn’t even think of running anymore—his feet were frozen, and he only trembled.

Srrk.

A sword was drawn from its sheath.

Wait! You’re just going to kill someone like that? Really?

Of course, in the original story, Haban had nearly unchecked power and would often cut off people’s heads without hesitation.

But that was fiction. It was justified by the era, but seeing someone die right before your eyes was something else entirely.

Besides…

Then, what about me?

If he could kill a person so easily, what would a fox matter? He’d probably only care about the valuable fur.

The blade pointed toward the man’s neck gleamed under the sunlight.

In the end—

Plop.

The fox, barely hanging on, fainted on the spot.

While Haban swung his sword, Jipyeong picked up the limp, unconscious body. The fox hung limp like a snow-white blanket soaked in water, from head to tail.

Flop, flop.

When shaken, the body felt lighter than expected.

“Not much to eat here. Should we just drain the blood now instead of taking it all the way to the palace? We could skin it here.”

The fox remained unconscious, unaware of whose hands held its life.

Jipyeong looked down at the spotless fox fur with satisfaction. He was confident he could skin it more cleanly than any average hunter.

Haban pulled his sword from the ground and thought briefly.

It couldn’t be that. What he was hoping for and seeking wasn’t some beast like that.

But… it wasn’t completely impossible either.

He’d already searched the entire mountain thoroughly. Since he relied only on memory, the exact date and place were uncertain, so he’d even set up nets circling the base of the mountain.

After all that trouble and still finding nothing, then maybe…

Haban flicked the blood from his blade and sheathed it, answering indifferently.

“Call the carriage.”

“Sir?”

“There are a lot of questions today. Have you become stupid in just one day, or is this rebellion? Call the carriage and summon Physician Yun.”

Haban snatched the fox from Jipyeong’s arms. He untied the cloth from the reins and bound it to the fox’s legs, then leapt onto his horse in one smooth motion with the unconscious beast in one hand.

It would take time for the carriage to reach the imperial hunting grounds. For now, horseback travel would be faster.

The fox in his arms breathed faintly.

Clack, thud. Clack, thud.

The young physician opened each drawer of the medicine chest, took out herbs by the handful, and began grinding them in a mortar.

A bitter scent soon filled the room. All were rare herbs used exclusively by the Emperor, and the boy’s hands worked carefully.

Soon, a dark, murky paste was applied to the white fox’s cheek. Though the wound was the size of a fingernail, the paste was bigger than a thumb, but no one blamed him.

Haban stared into the iron cage without sparing a glance at the focused physician.

“What did Physician Woo say?”

“My teacher said the fox merely fainted. He said it hadn’t eaten enough, to the point its bones and skin stuck together. It seems to be a young fox, and may have come down the mountain searching for food.”

“And the other injuries? The arrow must have grazed him.”

“It was so light, and the bleeding already stopped, so it will disappear in a few days. It seems to be healing well, so medicine isn’t strictly necessary, but I applied some just in case.”

“Then why hasn’t it regained consciousness yet?”

Haban asked in a cold voice, taking his eyes off the fox.

The fox had been lying limp on the red cushion for two days. Covered from neck to tail in a brightly colored patchwork cloth, which didn’t suit its white fur—clearly the physician’s doing.

Haban’s irritation reached its peak.

“Your Majesty, look. He’s so small—perhaps he was bitten by a snake? It’s not that the venom was strong, but that his body is so small it affected him more.”

“You sure like turning your incompetence into excuses. Then wouldn’t even a small amount of venom be serious for something that size?”

“Fortunately, the first aid was timely, and only a small amount of poison was absorbed. The bandages are only there because the fox keeps licking the wound in its sleep—no need to worry.”

Haban said nothing for a moment as he looked at the young physician, who answered crisply and precisely.

Jipyeong scratched his head in frustration and stepped up beside Haban.

“Your Majesty, you really must go now.”

“Tsk.”

“Your Majesty.”

“I know, shut up.”

As the atmosphere grew cold, the physician quietly excused himself to go fetch some herbs for a decoction. Haban’s somber eyes turned once more toward the caged fox.

The poison had been completely removed, and there were no other injuries. In fact, it had recovered surprisingly well in just one day. So why hadn’t it regained consciousness?

The small back rose and fell rhythmically. Its forepaw lifted slightly, as if running in a dream.

Haban reluctantly took a step toward the fox and reached out. He paused, then slowly stroked the fur with his palm.

The shallow motion of breath, the warmth.

It wasn’t an illusion or hallucination.

Haban curled his fingers into a fist and turned away in irritation.

Some said he was lucky to be abandoned in front of the orphanage. At least he didn’t have to sleep in the rain or go hungry, they said.

That was only half true.

He could sleep under a roof, but he was always hungry. The funds and donations meant for the orphanage always ended up in the director’s safe.

The director’s son, who had narrow eyes and a fat nose just like his father, loved playing king among the orphans. He bullied a few kids to show off his strength, and especially hated him because of his eye-catching looks.

Every time he hid to avoid punches and kicks, he thought: If someone ever truly loved me, I’d give them everything I have without regret.

In the end, he never met such a person.