A Kind Goblin's Bird

Chapter 1

The capital of the Sun Dynasty, Yangan. Since it is a port city with over a million inhabitants, hundreds of ships come and go every day, and people from dozens of countries cross both sides. The city built by the former dynasty’s Emperor was beautiful with wide roads and lush street trees. The open atmosphere peculiar to the Sun Dynasty led to a revival of culture. In Yangan, women dressed as men and men also enjoyed splendid decorations, and Yangan became a luxurious city and were always crowded.

However, on that day when the misty rain fell, the atmosphere on Yangan was a little different. Even the most important market of Yangan, pedestrians were not the usual half. Women, children, and the elderly did not go outside, and even strong men glanced at the sky several times. It’s a bad day. People chatted. They don’t feel good on a day like this. A man running a cloth shop in an important time folded his arms. There are few customers, but it is unfavorable for customers to come on such a weather that the coming customers. A day that seems like an uninvited visitor. The merchants looked up at the sky anxiously, hoping for it to clear up.

“… … The Head of the Castle is putting this small man in trouble.”

And here, there was a man who was met by an uninvited visitor to suit the day.

Song Geun-ryang. He is the largest pharmacy owner in the city. Song Geun-Ryang was a man who was so resourceful that it was said that the medicinal herbs that he cannot obtain can only be found in the Imperial Palace. With a body that is neither fat nor thin, and puffy eyes, he read the letter of recommendation twice in a row and smiled bitterly as he narrowed his eyebrows.

The man standing in front of Song Geun-ryang was a young man who seemed to be in his twenties now. He has a sturdy body that will attract the attention of the gisaengs when he goes to the South Honam area. He probably learned to do martial arts. He looks like a white-faced warrior wearing a white coat, but there are seven masked warriors standing behind him. One of the men who covered themselves in black from his head to toe had only their eyes exposed, but their gazes were terrifying. What kind of house was the noble young master who brought these escorts with him and brought a letter of recommendation from the Head of the Castle? Song Geun-ryang clicked his tongue inside.

He can’t help it. He has no choice but to give him what he wants and get him out quickly.

Song Geun-ryang glanced at the servant standing in the distance, and led the man, “This way.” Then the servant noticed and quickly took over on behalf of Song Geun-ryang. After confirming that the servant was seated, Song Geun-ryang opened the small door to the main house for the man.

“I’m sorry for the shabbiness.”

The man didn’t say anything or if that was okay. Instead, he muttered a little, “I’m tired.” He looked like he wanted to sleep soon.

Each servant and maid they met while passing through the corridor gave a polite greeting to Song Geun-ryang and his guests. Neither Song Geun-ryang nor the customer gave a glance at the servants’ greetings. The guest walked behind Song Geun-ryang silently as he looked at the garden in the silent misty rain. Song Geun-ryang suddenly stuck out his tongue. Eight men were following behind him, but he couldn’t hear any footsteps. How great masters are they all?

They must be sword masters.

Song Geun-ryang guided the young master and his escorts to the guest room of the annex.

While the maids who quickly ran to prepare for the guest’s bed, such as laying the sheet in the inner bed, Song Geun-ryang sat across the tea table the maids had brought in between. Seeing that Deok-i, an employee who he had taught work for a long time, sent Geumguk tea*, it seemed that to Deok-i’s eyes the customer looked respectable.

(T/N: Chrysanthemum.)

“Guest. Where and how did you hear the story?”

When asked as he handed over a tea that he had to pay in gold as the weight of the tea leaf, the man emptied the tea cup at once and replied.

“Nothing to know.”

“Guest, I haven’t asked where or who the guest is. On an ominous day, the guest came with a letter of recommendation from the Head of the Castle, who is from a distant place, but I would like to do my best to you. So, why don’t you keep your courtesy as a guest?”

The man threw the teacup straight away. The teacup crashed against the wall and broke with a sound. Hiikk, while the maids forcibly swallowed their scream, Song Geun-ryang also flinched and bit his body back a little.

He shouldn’t have said that.

Song Geun-ryang swallowed a gulp. While his neck was trembling, the man only stared at Song Geun-ryang with his arms folded. A terrifying time has passed. It was a moment when he wondered how many times he would breathe, but for Song Geun-ryang, it was longer than ever.

Tsk. The man clicked his tongue. He opened his mouth as if he couldn’t help it.

“… … I heard from a drunk man with the surname Ho.”

“… … .”

“I can’t tell you more than that.”

If he asked more than that, the guest’s eyes were telling me that he would do his own way. It’s because the eyes of the guest who was only in his twenties shimmer like that, Won! Song Geun-ryang replied very obediently on the outside, feeling fed up on the inside.

“Oh, I see.”

“When will the goddess come?”

“It takes time. If you’re sleeping, she’ll get dressed up and come.”

“… … I don’t sleep a lot, is it okay?”

“This small man will take care of it. By the way, there.”

Song Geun-ryang glanced at the man’s escorts. It was brutal that seven warrior men were sitting in black outfits.

“Will the warriors stay here?”

“Isn’t it obvious ?”

“But, uh, the goddess is a bit sensitive… … .”

At Song Geun-ryang’s words, the man cried out.

“I don’t know how sensitive your goddess is, but my warriors aren’t interested in anything but my safety, so don’t worry.”

“I don’t mean like that,”

“They are here to guard me while I was asleep. Of course you’ll be next to me, so don’t talk to me.”

Song Geun-ryang looked at the man with the feeling of being twisted. He wasn’t worried about the goddess. It was so difficult for a man to know the existence of the goddess, but he only hated that seven more knew people besides the man.

But he can’t tell the man to give up his escort because he hates having someone who knows her face. It was not because of conscience, but because the man was scary.

“The warriors… … All of them are quiet people, right?”

“Are you serious?”

“This is the end of the matter, sir.”

Song Geun-yang said heavily.

The man looked down at Song Geun-ryang with an arrogant face. Their eyes met, but Song Geun-ryang did not avoid it. Even if he was beaten up, he needed to get a definite answer here. An uninvited visitor who came on an ominous day. Letter of recommendation that cannot be verified for its authenticity. Seven black warriors. His spine was chilly and felt not so good. If he doesn’t stop here, he’ll be in a great mask.

“Is it true that sleeping while listening to the song of the goddess will make your dreams come true?”

Asked the man.

“It is only in the dreams.”

It means that it is true. The man nodded at Song Geun-ryang’s answer.

“Then I have nothing more to do after today.”

It was a definite answer.

***

In the room where Song Geun-ryang left, seven warriors knelt down and sat down. The maids also left the room after completing their work one by one, and before long, only the man and warriors remained in the room. The man stared down at the three pills that Song Geun-yang had handed over.

The man’s eyes glanced toward the warriors. One of the seven warriors, the one sitting in the middle, met his gaze. He glanced faintly and the man immediately put his medicine in his mouth. Along with the tea, the medicine struck the man’s throat.

The man lay neatly and fell asleep. As the man’s breath slowly subsided, the warriors’ gaze were sharpened. They watched their surroundings and did not take their eyes off the man. Seven warriors dressed in black sat in a beehive shape not a few steps away from the bed.

About halfway through, three footsteps were heard in the distance. The footsteps gradually got closer. One of the three seemed to belong to a child, so the warriors’ gaze was puzzled. A child’s footsteps? Why would a child come to the annex? It was when the warrior exchanged their eyes. Three people reached the sliding door in front of the guest room. Two of them knelt down and one stood.

“The goddess wants to enter. Would it be okay to open the door?”

Asked the maid on her knees.

Is she the goddess? Is she saying that the goddess was a little child? The warrior looked at the sliding door at once. The person closest to the sliding door responded slowly, “Yes.”

It was not a child who opened the door and appeared. It was just a woman as small and skinny as a little child. Surprisingly, she looked pretty old. A face that looks around in the early or mid twenties. She was a woman who wrapped her skinny body in silk, like a dying twig. Perhaps because she didn’t have much time to dress up, her wet hair was stretched and tied loosely into one. It was a difficult appearance to be called a beautiful woman. Her eyes were big, but her cheeks were hollow and her complexion was haggard.

She looked at the warrior as if wondering that the woman was coming in, and glanced at the man lying on the bed. And she tilted her head.

“Who is the guest?”

The goddess had a voice with a clear resonant sound.

“Of course the one lying down.”

The maid retorted. Her words to the goddess could not be seen as respect. She said, “Ah,” as if she was accustomed to such treatment, and after she groaned, she walked. Passing by the warrior, the goddess sat between the warrior and the man and looked behind.

“Will you stay here?”

“Exactly.”

The warrior at the front replied. Seeing the warrior’s expressionless face, the goddess nodded her head.

“I would sing all night, would you mind?”

“It’s all right.”

“Once I sing, I can’t stop until dawn. So if you want to go out, just go out, and if you have anything you need, just go out and say it.”

“Yes.”

The goddess looked around inside the room. She looked at the warrior one by one. One by one, her gaze, looking closely, as if it were impossible to distinguish the men who had no part of their body exposed, except for their eyes. And stopped at the middle man.

Their eyes met.

The goddess didn’t say anything and just looked at him. Then the warriors’ gaze slowly moved to the man in the middle.

The goddess’ eyes flickered slowly. She kept looking at the man with her eyes as if she were seeing something strange.

“Your Highness, have you met before?”

The escort captain asked in a full voice.

In fact, they were the escorts of the man in the middle. The middle man was also an escort to the lying man. This man’s name is Sa Heon-young. In the Sun Dynasty, he was the only brother of the crown prince and was the head of the inspectorate. It was his job to rectify discipline by strictly cracking down on the injustices of the court and the government.

He went to the battlefield at the age of eight, and returned to Yangan at twenty-five and became the master of the inspectorate. Due to the large number of people he had met for thirty years in his lifetime, Sa Heon-young had to search his head for a while. However, would he not remember if he met a unique person like a goddess?

“No.”

There are very few people who know Sa Heon-young’s face, but the goddess is looking straight at him out of the seven warriors. It didn’t have a good feeling. It was when the escort captain’s eyes were slightly frowned.

The goddess began to sing her song.

Sa Heon-young was born in the imperial palace, but it was the first time he ever listened to such a song. A fantastic tune as if playing a dream in harmony with the pure tone. Nevertheless, it was wrapped around his ears just by listening to it once.

It’s a slow song. A song that felt like it doesn’t break. Sa Heon-young was drunk on the song for a while and then raised his head. The goddess was still looking at him. As their eyes met, the goddess smiled brightly.

Sa Heon-young looked at the woman. Is she a woman he knows? No, she’s a face he can’t remember. How could he not remember the woman singing this song? If he’s ever heard of it, it’s an unforgettable tune until the day he dies.

The woman sang. She continued singing without taking her gaze away from Sa Heon-young. It seemed as if she was speaking. Sometimes she clenched her fist and sometimes she pressed her chest with her palm. She even closed her eyes, but when she opened her eyes, she looked at Sa Heon-young. Nothing would be visible, but the seven warriors must have the same appearance as him, but she was looking at him as if they were different to him.

“Your Highness, that woman.”

Did you notice… … ?

While pretending not to,  but the six escorts were nervous. The face of Sa Heon-young is of the utmost secrecy, and very few even among the royal family know it. Even during escorts, only one escort leader knew Sa Heon-young’s face. But that woman seems to have recognized Sa Heon-young.

The moment everyone’s hands went to the hilt.

“Listen to the song.”

Sa Heon-young stopped it.

… … What?

In this situation, the escorts were absurd to listen to the song and looked at their master, but Sa Heon-young wasn’t giving any attention to the escorts. He was looking at the goddess. He stared at the face of the singing goddess. A woman who closed her eyes and smiled when their eyes met. The woman who smiled and continued her song seemed to say something. Moving her hand, she was talking passionately, but the lyrics of the song were a language that Sa Heon-young had never heard of. She kept appealing for something to Sa Heon-young as she sings an incomprehensible song.

Her eyes are pretty.

Sa Heon-young looked into the woman’s eyes and thought. Each time she opened her mouth a little and smiled, her eyes were finely folded. Not murky white nor dull brown eyes.

Her lips are also sensual.

The lips are small compared to the eyes, but instead they are thicker. It’s feminine lips. Her lips were pretty, as if she smiled every time she sang.

Her nose was elegant.

She was taller than he thought and the nose bridge was straight with no curve. Her little face had all the finest features in it. The longer the song was, the more difficult it was, and the cheeks were getting red.

The woman didn’t stop singing even when there was a red light in the window. Sa Heon-young raised his body, seeing the woman’s brown eyes shining brightly in the light.

“Your Highness?”

His Highness is very strange today.

The escort captain called Sa Heon-young with a depressed face, but he didn’t even respond. He stepped forward and knelt in front of the goddess and sat neatly. Then the woman opened her eyes wide without stopping her singing. The goddess looked down at Sa Heon-young without any expression, and the woman smiled lightly. The song was slow. The sound of the world turning into a sweet thing continues to swirl around Sa Heon-young’s ears.

For the first time in his life, Sa Heon-young left himself to his urge. He reached out and touched the cheek of the woman he had never seen before. Rather than wrapping it, it was the level of gently touching with the palm. It was difficult for him to understand why he did this, even for Sa Heon-young himself. He seemed to blame the song. When he saw the woman earlier, he thought she wasn’t a beautiful woman, but in the eyes of Sa Heon-young, this woman was terribly beautiful. He must have been drunk on the song. To this weird song.

The woman seemed puzzled, but she did not reject Sa Heon-young’s hand. The woman continued to sing while leaning her cheek on the hand of Sa Heon-young. Long and long songs never end. The world is wet as if it’s still raining fog outside.

“….Your Highness?”

As he turned his head at the whole tone, Sa Heon-young’s subordinate stood up from his place and looked at him with a face that did not understand the situation.

“Guest, did you have a good dream?”

The goddess turned her head and smiled brightly. Her cheek, which had touched Sa Heon-young’s hand, went away. Sa Heon-young almost reached out his hand without knowledge.

“… … Oh, well… … .”

The man muttered awkwardly, not knowing what to say. The man’s gaze moved to the other side when he couldn’t understand the situation even if he looked at Sa Heon-young’s gaze. The man glanced at the other escorts. What happened? The escorts shook their heads faintly. Don’t ask. I don’t know.

“Then, I’ll excuse myself.”

The priestess bowed to the man, and she looked back at Sa Heon-yeong. Then she smiled a big smile.

“Your eyes, they’re unique.”

“Yes?”

Sa Heon-young looked into the goddess’s face. Their faces became very close. The goddess nodded her head without avoiding his face.

“Hmm.”

Before long, she bowed lightly to the escorts including Sa Heon-yeong. The escorts were wary of Sa Heon-young’s. What kind of business does Sa Heon-young have? He is so stiff that neither the concubines were used to him. A man who drinks blood, eats human flesh, and has no rumors about a woman in the midst of all kinds of rumors on the battlefield. That was Sa Heon Young. Sa Heon-young, who is famous for being indifferent to any mercy, so what the hell is this?

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How did he stand out and do that?

The escorts desperately looked at the goddess’s face. When they looked closely, she wasn’t thinner than they first saw, but even to say she was a beautiful woman… … . they can’t say that she was a beautiful woman… … Oh, what’s wrong with him? As if he fell in love at first sight. It was when everyone was looking at Sa Heon-young with dumb eyes. The goddess stood up.

“Then I’ll excuse myself.”

The goddess laughed, and she passed by Sa Heon-young. At that moment, the escorts stopped breathing. Their breath was choked in fear that Sa Heon-young would grab the goddess and lay her down. However, Sa Heon-young did not reach out, and the goddess stepped out of the room. Sa Heon-young stared at her back with swallowing eyes.