As Prophet - Chapter 8



Only Krnovel

Episode 8. I want to learn more about the world.

“Whew, that’s right… … . The magistrate has been transferred three times. He was a local official all the time. He had the opportunity to become a high-ranking official in Hanyang, but he was transferred to another place every time.

That’s how it is originally. If there’s a powerful person who can help Hanyang, it’s easy to solve, otherwise there’s no way. What should I say… … If someone’s help is desperately needed, it’s not based on ability and achievement, but on relationships between people, especially if it’s something dirty like bribery, it’s really unfortunate.

“If you recommend someone for another reason, you are taking away the opportunity of the person who should have been in that position rightfully, but the politicians of Hanyang don’t seem to know that. They promote people they like, people they know, people who can help them, and form factions, and through that they try to open up channels of communication and establish public opinion and lead politics.”

“Oh, that’s hard to explain.”

“There is no reason for the magistrate to go to Hanyang.”

“Because it’s not political? You didn’t bribe high-ranking officials in Hanyang.”

“That’s right. I suggested that he do something, but he didn’t seem to care. My face turned red as I brought it up. I thought it would be a good thing if he could bribe his superiors to get transferred to a better place and get a higher salary… … Heh heh.”

“What did you say?”

“He said, ‘I don’t have any thoughts.’”

“Haha, that’s as expected. But they tried to mess things up by sending someone.”

“They must have tried to disparage him as an incompetent local official who couldn’t even safely send Segok.”

“I don’t know who they are, but I’m talking about coming into their sights. And they must have figured out that I’m someone they absolutely can’t bring up.”

“I thought you were a great person, a good person, and that you could do more, but it’s too bad. I wish you were a little smarter, but you don’t seem to be disappointed at all. I don’t know if you’re just saying that or trying to make it seem that way, but you don’t show it at all… … . But when I told you about your accomplishments, you were really happy.”

“What did you say?”

“First of all, he said that he was most happy that he could no longer cause trouble to the people by collecting taxes again.”

“You are a truly respectable pastor.”

“That’s right. That’s right. But it’s a shame.”

“I don’t think it’s necessary to go up. Wouldn’t it be better for the people if the shepherd was a local official?”

“How wonderful it would be if I could go up and make more people comfortable.”

“Hmm, that’s true… … but there’s another difficulty here. If you elevate someone who is not lacking in the five organs to the position of Daejeong, you’ll face many difficulties. If you do that, you’ll be qualified, but if you don’t, then elevating them will actually lead to ruin.”

“How could you know that?”

“It’s ability.”

“Not an achievement?”

“Yes. Ability and opportunity work together to achieve success. You can do well even without ability. If you evaluate and raise yourself based on that, you may face difficulties.”

“Ability… … Ahem. How do you know that?”

“Isn’t that why greetings are difficult? That’s why we try to raise or change them by evaluating them easily based on performance. Performance can be influenced more by conditions and situations, that is, by chance.”

The conversation went off track. The spleen changed the direction.

“Then how about black?”

“Are you talking about martial arts?”

“That’s right. When I see you achieve success at such a young age, I really can’t tell if it’s ability or condition.”

“You are too kind. My son is still humble.”

“What do you mean by inferior when you’re so good at it?”

“If you don’t get over the hill, it’s like you haven’t gone to the other side. It’s just a small difference. That’s why sometimes someone wins, and sometimes the opposite happens.”

“It’s beyond the realm… … ahem.”

The spleen shook its head. When I first started studying and when I was going up, I thought I could go up infinitely. As with everything, martial arts have a particularly large difference in slope. Anyone can easily hold a sword, and maybe even swing it, but to form a formula with it requires a bit of brain power and the body to follow. Cutting people is another matter, and fighting against several people alone is even harder. The difficulty increases every time, and at some point we have no choice but to stop.

There are many factors, and some of the causes overlap, but there are very few people who can go all the way. No, it is a very small minority. No, to be precise, there are many cases where there is no such person throughout an era.

“Yeah, is it the black ability or the condition? Don’t say ‘both.’”

“At first it’s circumstances, but later it’s ability, effort, and chance.”

“It’s said that ability is more important than circumstances.”

“I think that even effort and chance are the same.”

He added the word ‘I think’ to make it more euphemistic, but I could read his thoughts to some extent. It was a word that allowed me to understand him, who was plain but in some ways very unique.

He had never acknowledged it before, but at some point he realized that his martial arts skills were superior to his own, and as time passed, he realized that the difference was unimaginable. He was a priest, but not a priest… … No wonder the Master said that he had surpassed him when he sent him down.

We see this kind of genius that we rarely see in everyday life. We see ourselves as lacking, unable to catch up with the efforts of ordinary people, and thus dependent on his good will to be with him.

“But why do you need worldly experience? I think it’s too late to ask.”

“I only live in the mountains.”

“Was it the Master’s will, or the priest’s idea?”

“I accepted the Master’s suggestion. He said that social difficulties could lead to many difficulties in the future.”

“Do you agree?”

“Yes. It’s been less than two years, but I’ve seen, learned, and felt quite a lot during that time.”

“Can you be more specific?”

“Well, there are too many.”

“for example?”

“I have hit a wall in my studies many times.”

“How many times? I can’t get out of the wall I’ve hit once… … .”

“It seems to be different for each person.”

“Is that so?”

“I think social difficulties are a way to resolve conflicts. Most problems are resolved on their own and I tend to endure them on my own. I think it would be better to say that I endure them rather than resolve them. However, when it’s lunchtime, I can’t tell everyone not to eat because I don’t feel like eating.”

“yes.”

“Even though I have to eat less because of studying, we share the food together and spend time together. It was a process of acknowledging the value of what my body needs, that is, what others need.”

“That’s hard to explain.”

“It’s hard for me to explain. It wasn’t just about doing what we were told, it was a time of reconciling our differences.”

“Ahem. I guess I started talking too early. Let’s talk about that next time.”

As the spleen hastily pulled out, the guy smiled brightly and admitted it again.

“Maybe I can put it more simply.”

“Above all, have you learned everything about the world?”

The question was how long you would stay here. It was not a question of how mature your studies were. However, Dalcheon responded with a different answer.

“I have no use talking about my shortcomings, and I dare not speak of them for fear of causing trouble… … I still need to study the world more.”

“Hahaha, that’s not what I meant. In the first place, studying the world is not enough even if you study until the end of your life. How much more so, perfecting it? Isn’t that what it means to live in this turbulent world with that kind of mindset?”

“Yes.”

“Then you need to think a little about how long you will continue to study the world. The world can be poisonous to someone like you. They say that a lotus flower blooms in the mud, but is that really true? If you put yourself in an environment that is not suitable for studying, your dream of becoming a great scholar may become even more distant.”

Was resignation too much reflected? It was something that I couldn’t overcome in the world, like a dark shadow that fell over my life path. If I try to do this, it won’t work because of that, and if I try to solve that, it won’t work because of something else. Like a hamster wheel, the warp and weft of time come and go, endlessly intertwined, but a worthwhile tomorrow never comes.

“It’s a ridge… … .”

Dalcheon sighed as if asking a question and couldn’t finish his words. It’s our dream. It’s a wish that we dream of, but we who live in the present forget and live our lives. If someone asks, and if there’s a certain opportunity, it’s like a face in the mirror that we can barely recall. Was that my dream? It’s like the fodder of a cow that we ate a long time ago, that we can barely recall when we sigh. A dream is something that we hang a flag on a high castle, but don’t usually look back at.

This is not something a mountain person says to another mountain person, but something a person who has forgotten the mountain says to a mountain person who still has potential. It may have been because of his usual thought that it would be better to quickly return to the main mountain and study.

“That’s right. Isn’t our goal the ridge? I may have given up on it a long time ago, but it’s a possible future for you. I think it’s better to go back early and focus on your studies than to rot away in a place like this for a long time.”

“You’re not doing this because I find it annoying, are you?”

“Whew. It was like that at first, but that stage has long since passed. It’s nice and trustworthy to have you by my side, but I think that a mountain man like you doesn’t need to rot away in a place like this. Even if you regret the time you wasted now after a long time has passed, it won’t be too late. There is a time for studying… … .”

A white line was drawn under Dalcheon’s red lips. The smile that he always showed was refreshing today.

“Okay then. If the death penalty doesn’t bother me, I’ll learn more about the world.”

“What are you learning? There are people like that, so that’s it.”

“Isn’t it because I have the same kind of consciousness structure hidden inside me that I can see that? Isn’t that what we call a negative example? I need to learn more… … .”

“There is nothing to learn.”

“I’ll stay a little longer.”

“Just think of it as helping with the execution. I don’t feel good about getting involved in such a complicated and dirty matter.”

“Thank you for your concern.”

I pretended to throw a lottery ticket and spun around in my seat. The spring breeze blew bitterly over memories mixed with regret and self-loathing that my dream had been to climb a mountain a long time ago.

* * *

It was about five days after I heard that the Segok Ship had arrived at Gyeongchang in Hanyang that I heard the news of the Imjin War.

“What’s going on?”

“They say that the Japanese in Sampo caused a riot.”

“Ahem. Always trouble there.”

“This time, it seems a bit too much. They attacked Busan and killed the inspector Lee Woo-jeung. They attacked Jepo and kidnapped the inspector Kim Se-gyun. The son of the lord of Tsushima Island came with troops and said there were over 5,000 rebels. They say hundreds of civilians died.”

“It’s not uncommon for dozens of people to cause a ruckus… … but this has gotten bigger.”

“The troops of Gyeongsang Province and the left province will be mobilized. Former provincial governor Hwang Hyeong and former defense commissioner Yu Damnyeon have been sent down as defense commissioners of Gyeongsang Province.”

“What about us?”

“I have to go.”

“Loyalty.”

The spleen grinned. The guy saluted as if he had been waiting for chaos to break out.