As Prophet - Chapter 44



Only Krnovel

Episode 44. An Absurd Protest

“Why? Why don’t you continue the tax law?”

I told him to rest because he looked tired, but Baek I-jeong kept asking me questions about that as well.

“Take a rest!”

There is no need to respond to each person and blush. It is better to keep your distance. If you wanted to study swordsmanship, but your attitude becomes distorted because you are dissatisfied with something, it is better to back off.

He tells her to rest and stands up, but she follows him. Feeling uneasy, he stops and tells her to rest without even looking back. Baek I-jeong flinched at his stiff attitude, turned his head to look somewhere else, and sat down on one side.

But there was another problem. I had a bow, but I didn’t have an arrow of the right length. I was thinking of putting a long arrow on it and shooting it, but I thought the target came first. Dalcheon staggered over to where the carpenters were working.

The carpenter was erecting the pillar by grinding it. It was amazing that the pillar stood upright without anything to hold on to. It was quite windy because it was high up, but it didn’t fall over.

“How is work going?”

Of course, that’s not what I’m curious about.

“Of course. I am setting up a pillar.”

“Oh, yes.”

“why?”

“Well, there’s something I need first.”

“Please speak.”

“You must be busy.”

“I thought you were making a four-legged stand earlier, but do you need a target?”

Dalcheon smiled shyly.

“Yes. I know you’re busy, but I have no shame in asking you to do this.”

“The kids will use it?”

The carpenter stopped his sword not far away and pointed to the children listening to his explanation.

“yes.”

“Then just make it small. I’ll make it properly later, so let’s make it simple for now.”

“thank you.”

“How far apart should we place it?”

“150 is too much, and even 100 would be difficult. Since it’s my first time, please make it short, around 50 pages.”

“Fortunately, I have some boards. But since I don’t have much, I’ll make them small. I’ll make three of them, one with fifty, one with hundred, and one with fifty, right?”

Dalcheon’s mouth grew as wide as a bucket.

“Oh, thank you.”

Still, he checked the distance to the four-legged dwarf. After checking the distance on foot, he drove a small stake in. He pulled back his hair, checked the distance, and went to the place where the children were studying. The children happened to be resting at that time.

“How is it?”

“The kids are smart. They’ve already learned the entire order of the exam.”

It won’t happen overnight. I squatted down in front of the children who were resting and asked about their family situation. I asked about the number of siblings and the size of the battery, but no one answered properly. It’s impossible for a child of that age to know the situation of his own family. I told them to stand up and made them walk around, touched their arms and legs, and nodded.

“Is it hard?”

“No, it’s fun.”

This guy is a brat.

“This, um… … should take 10 years.”

“I will do it.”

Dalcheon smiled brightly.

“Okay. Let’s rest a bit and practice shooting in the afternoon.”

“Are you talking about a bow?”

“yes.”

“Does that have to take 10 years too?”

“Well, it takes less than a sword. But it’s a lot of things. You have to do things like just shooting, shooting from horseback, and even turning around and shooting.”

No matter what you say, the kids laugh out loud. It’s fun. How much fun is it at that age to do things like swords and archery? Dalcheon thanked Mukhyeong.

“Thank you for your effort.”

“What, it was kind of fun.”

“Ahem, right?”

“I discovered a few things I was doing.”

“Oh, how many?”

“It’s just embarrassing. That I failed to properly follow even one tax law.”

“It’s called a reverse teacher. You learn by watching what the kids do. Teaching them will help them find their own mistakes faster and will raise their level.”

As the two faced each other and smiled brightly, Baekgajang’s slaves brought food. Dalcheon exhaled deeply.

“That one also needs to become independent now… … . I can’t be indebted to you forever.”

“Once the house is built, then you can bring in a slave.”

“I should do that. I need to earn money… … .”

Dalcheon is still worried about the construction and operating costs of the school. He is worried and doesn’t know much, so it seems like the difficulties will be even bigger. Mukhyeong smiled brightly.

“If you ask the Grand Princess… … .”

“Are you the Grand Princess?”

He shook his head repeatedly.

“I don’t know about anything else, but you should never accept help from those in power. You will have to do something bigger later. And you may even be asked to do something illegal. Because those in power prioritize profit over good and evil and right and wrong.”

“You are being too condescending. The Grand Princess I saw was not like that.”

Dalcheon examines the Five Elements and the Nine Palaces. There are things that I can estimate with my knowledge, and things that I cannot. The question of who will become king is one of those things.

Predictions that do not fulfill my true nature are eating away at my life. I have to give more than I wanted. That is what fortune telling is. It is a kind of unequal exchange that requires giving more than that. Some people do not know this and are obsessed with fortune telling, probably because they value what they gain more than what they lose.

If you ask with all your heart, you might be able to find out. But you didn’t want to go that far. As far as Dalcheon knew, the prince was someone who would secure power by force. The Prince’s Rebellion would not end as a thing of the past. There were many devices in place to prevent this, but history repeats itself. Regardless of the circumstances, considering his age, a rebellion could occur within five years. It’s not good to get close to someone like that. That’s why you avoided him, but now it’s ridiculous to ask for help because you’re in need. You shouldn’t do it. Help isn’t help. It’s a price.

“The food is coming. Let’s all gather together and eat.”

Mukhyeong rang the bell that was tied to the outer pole of the barracks. When the ding-ding-ding sound rang, everyone left what they were doing and ran over. In today’s terms, everyone, including professors, students, and workers, ate together. No one questioned this kind of non-separated meal. For the mountain man Dalcheon, it was a natural thing. The distinctions in the world are based on the needs of the place, and when you leave there, they mean nothing.

* * *

A few days later, three or four more students joined. This was because of the news that those who had entered first had told them. The evaluation of studying, which seemed like just fun in the eyes of the children, had an unexpected effect.

It wasn’t just about swinging a sword. I learned the basics of the Paldan Geum training that the mountain people practiced, and it was very systematic. The news that the children who rode horses for the first time as the basics of horseback riding told was enough to attract the attention of the neighbors. After studying the 『Elementary Learning』 that was about a poem long, I even thought that I didn’t need to go to a private school.

The problem was that a child who was already attending another private school had moved. It was a small private school run by a talented person who had failed the college entrance exam in the past and had not been able to adapt to society. A few days after opening, a young teacher came to visit. It was closed that day, so he came in the morning and asked for Dalcheon.

“I came to find the governor.”

The worker who was carrying the lumber downstairs told the story, and when Dalcheon came down, he immediately tried to grab him by the collar. But Dalcheon was not one to be grabbed by the collar. He escaped the clutches of the failed candidate by just taking two steps.

“Huh!”

The teacher’s gaze was directed at the new student in the school. The boy who had been swinging his sword vigorously in the training hall stopped his swordsmanship, lowered his head, and hesitated. This kind of thing should not cause trouble for the child. The adults should solve it. Dalcheon, who noticed it right away, guided the teacher.

“I have a rough idea of ​​what’s going on. Would you like to come inside and talk?”

“How can you take away a student? Where in the world can something like this happen?”

The hair on the back of the angry medallion twitched. He was clearly young, but he was imitating an old man.

“Okay, okay, please sit over here.”

As Dalcheon guided him a few steps ahead, the instructor followed him. His eyes looked like they were going to devour him.

“You speak as if I were a thief who stole something.”

“It’s worse than that.”

“I’ll just tell you the truth. Three people came here the day before yesterday. They said they wanted to study here. So I told them to do so.”

“Two of those children attended our school.”

“Oh, I see. I didn’t ask for details. I didn’t know that such a thing existed.”

“If you had known? If you had known, would you have done things differently?”

“Hmm, now I have to think about it.”

“Are you giving people medicine right now?”

“That’s not it, I have no experience with this kind of thing… … Hehe. Anyway, it looks like I unintentionally took the teacher’s disciple away.”

“Yes. What will you do?”

“I think the parents are the ones who decide on the child’s education. Why don’t you go and talk to them?”

“Are you saying that you should do it yourself?”

“Then what should we do?”

“I want you to kick that kid out.”

Dalcheon closed his eyes. There was nothing to think about. I couldn’t ask a child who came to learn to leave. It was too much to ask. Dalcheon bowed politely once more and then spoke.

“I won’t go that far. It’s the child’s parents’ decision.”

“I combined the children’s favorite games to make them have fun. I made them abandon the private schools that taught the teachings of the ancient sages. How could this not be presumptuous?”

“The saint I serve is a bit different… … That is, I do not serve scholars from the Song Dynasty as saints.”

Dalcheon calmed the instructor’s anger with a calm tone. He made it clear that this was a completely natural thing to do and that it was the parents’ choice. He was furious, but his energy gradually subsided. However, he couldn’t back down like this. The instructor bit his lip and glared at Dalcheon.

“So you’re saying that even if I persuade the parents to take him back, you won’t say anything?”

“No. I will try my best. But I don’t think I will do as well as you, sir.”

“You are a man of no words. I will report this to the magistrate and set things straight.”

(There was a neck, but it was too big, so I made it with strings.)

“I don’t think it’s a good thing to take a private dispute to the government… … .”

“Why? Are you scared of going to the present?”

“I’m not scared, but… … . Hmm, I’m worried that things might get worse.”

“That’s what you mean by scary.”

“I would just recommend suturing along the appropriate lines.”

“Sutures… What do you mean by that?”

“There’s nothing we can do since it’s the parents’ decision. I think it’s more important to crack down on it in advance so that other children don’t get away with it… … .”

“It will make parents make different decisions.”

“Oh my.”

The medalist stood up angrily and walked away grumbling.

In the afternoon, two officials from the government office came to the school building. They must have other things to do, but they did it really quickly. I could tell from their attitude that something was wrong.

“What’s going on?”

“Is this the place where they open a school so arbitrarily and deceive the people?”

It would be the general’s usual method of first trying to establish military discipline. However, Dalcheon’s answer is amazing. He has a stupid and innocent expression and answers differently.

“No, that’s not the place. You’ve come to the wrong place.”

Baek Yi-jeong, who came out after him, snickered. I was also Hyeon’s secret agent, so I know how to rule the servants.

“Isn’t this Yangju Academy?”

“It is true that Yangju Academy was established, but it did not open the academy arbitrarily, nor did it mislead the people.”

“Are you trying to make a pun?”

“I said no, because I was playing with words.”

“Oh, well, let’s go together anyway. There’s a cow up to the government office.”

“What is it about?”

“Do I know? If you tell me to bring it, I will bring it.”

“But why did you say things like ‘do it carelessly’ and ‘do it recklessly’? Isn’t that because you already know the content?”

“Ugh.”

When he tried to make the boy laugh by threatening him, it didn’t work, so he made a sound and explained the situation. The schoolmaster had offered a cow, and that’s how it was offered.