Chapter 78
"Heave-ho!"
"Ugh-yah-yah-yah-yah!"
"Arrrrghhh!"
Once again today, sounds that were hard to distinguish between screams and battle cries filled the training grounds where the White Wolf Unit always practiced.
This place, which used to be sparsely populated, had now become a bustling spot thanks to the White Wolf Unit's daily training sessions.
And so, today too, training continued as always.
What was unique was that now, whether Yeo Un-hwi was present or not, the hellish intensity of the training was consistently maintained.
In fact, even though the training time had doubled compared to before, there were no longer scenes of people collapsing and saying they were dying after training like in the past.
Whether they had adapted to the pain, or their stamina had improved, or perhaps both, what was clear was that they were all getting better than before.
How much time had passed?
The White Wolf Unit members were taking a short break in the shade, wetting their throats.
"Whew. I'm alive. Haha!"
Gu Tae-san, who had just taken a refreshing gulp of water, laughed cheerfully.
Along with his boisterous laughter, his large body shook like the mountain his name suggested.
"By the way, is the Commander not coming out today?"
"Ah. It seems the Commander is going out for some fresh air with his family today."
As O Chae-mu, who had just taken a drink of water next to him, answered, Gu Tae-san burst into laughter.
"Hiya! Come to think of it, our Commander is Young Lady Seoyeon's husband, right! Haha!"
It wasn't just Gu Tae-san.
These days, they all kept forgetting that fact.
Perhaps this meant that the White Wolf Unit members were now seeing Yeo Un-hwi for who he was as a person.
Not as Young Lady Paeng Seo-yeon's husband or the Paeng Family's son-in-law, but as Yeo Un-hwi the individual and their Commander.
"I'm envious. So envious!"
Gu Tae-san was unusually talkative today.
"I should hurry and find a partner too, and have a pretty daughter like Young Miss Yul-i."
At his words, the twin brothers Gi-su and Gi-sang, who were next to him, frowned deeply.
"That might be quite difficult. Just raise them with love."
"Right. You should wish for something possible. How can you hope for a daughter like Young Miss Yul-i with that face? Do you have no conscience?"
Stung by the twins' biting words, delivered without a moment's hesitation, Gu Tae-san flared up.
"Hey, are you two insulting my future child right now? What did the baby do wrong!"
"Of course the baby did nothing wrong. The fault lies with your face, brother."
"That's right. The child is innocent. It's your face that's very much at fault, brother."
"Hey, you two who look like vicious criminals have no right to talk!"
"Huh. Vicious criminals? At least we look human. Aren't you more like a wild boar, brother?"
"W-Wild boar? Hey!"
Gu Tae-san stood up with a face flushed with anger.
Seeing this, the Gi-su and Gi-sang brothers hastily backed away.
"Hey, Gi-su, Gi-sang, you brats, you haven't been disciplined enough lately, have you? Come here. Today I'm just going to smash both your legs!"
"Tae-san."
"Brother, don't try to stop me!"
"No, raise them with love, they said."
"E-Even you, brother..."
"That's right. Empty your mind and raise them with love. With love. What more could you want?"
Following O Chae-mu, Paeng Do-hwan and Do-gyeong were nodding their heads as well.
Gu Tae-san suddenly felt like crying.
Why is everyone treating me like this?
What's wrong with my face!
While the White Wolf Unit members were consoling Gu Tae-san to become a wonderful father full of love, Yeo Un-hwi had arrived at the market with his family.
"Wow!"
Yul-i's mouth gaped open at the size of the market, which was too large to take in at a single glance.
The market was incredibly lively.
The faces of both the passersby and the merchants who had set up shop were all bright.
Yul-i's eyes sparkled at the vibrant atmosphere.
"Yul-ah, do you like it?"
"Yes, I like it!"
Paeng Seo-yeon smiled warmly at Yul-i, who couldn't take her eyes off the market streets as she answered.
Paeng Seo-yeon had decided to come to the market for Yul-i, who had been noticeably bored lately.
So when she suggested going out together after a long time, Yeo Un-hwi gladly postponed his schedule for the day and came along.
Both Yeo Un-hwi and Paeng Seo-yeon suddenly realized how long it had been since they had spent time like this, just the three of them.
Thinking back, they hadn't had many memories of spending time with family since leaving Sodam Village and coming to the Paeng Family.
There had been incidents, and recently Yeo Un-hwi had become even busier with the White Wolf Unit's affairs.
Of course, he wasn't busy solely with the White Wolf Unit's matters, but Paeng Seo-yeon had no way of knowing that fact.
Anyway, on this rare family outing, both Paeng Seo-yeon and Yul-i looked especially excited today.
"Fresh steamed dumplings here! Buy your dumplings!"
"Fresh vegetables! Buy your vegetables! They're very fresh!"
Steam rose from the dumplings in the market street, and the vegetables and fruits nestled between them each displayed appetizing colors.
Yul-i, who had become quite excited, shook her mother's hand vigorously.
Seeing Yul-i like this, Paeng Seo-yeon smiled brightly.
Paeng Seo-yeon was just as thrilled.
Suddenly, she was reminded of the market in Sodam Village.
Although this market was much larger in scale and had more goods, for some reason, as they walked through it, memories of that time came flooding back.
They were such good memories.
I wonder if everyone is doing well.
While they felt nostalgic, both Yeo Un-hwi and Paeng Seo-yeon were happy to have such good memories.
Then,
"Hey, hey! Over here!"
"Oh no! Our team lost! Let's do it again!"
"Alright! But we'll just win again, you know? Nyah nyah!"
In one corner of the market, they saw children around Yul-i's age playing together.
The children were kicking a ball made of straw back and forth, clearly having a great time.
Yul-i stared at them blankly.
"Hm?"
Then, when one of the girls made eye contact with Yul-i, she smiled broadly and waved.
Yul-i, startled at first, soon smiled back and waved as well.
Soon after, the children all ran off together to the opposite side of the alley and disappeared from view.
But Yul-i's gaze remained fixed on that spot.
Watching this, concern seemed to appear on the faces of Paeng Seo-yeon and Yeo Un-hwi.
"...We've been too negligent with Yul-i."
As evening fell and they watched Yul-i sleeping soundly, Paeng Seo-yeon spoke.
Yeo Un-hwi nodded at his wife's words.
They had only thought about returning to the Paeng Family for the safety of their family.
Shamefully, it was true that they hadn't considered anything else at all.
Specifically, the matter of Yul-i's friends.
In Sodam Village, there were a few children around Yul-i's age, and Yul-i had gotten along quite well with them.
But since coming to the Paeng Family, although Yul-i's food, clothing, and shelter had improved immensely, she had been without friends all this time.
Grandfather, grandmother, uncle, mom, and dad all loved Yul-i dearly.
The White Wolf Unit members and the people of the Paeng Family also adored Yul-i.
So they thought it was fine. Even without friends.
Certainly until they saw Yul-i watching her peers playing in the market today.
And they realized.
That Yul-i needed friends.
"Isn't there a way we can help Yul-i make friends?"
At Paeng Seo-yeon's words, Yeo Un-hwi thought for a moment before speaking up as if something had occurred to him.
"What about sending her to a school?"
"A school?"
Paeng Seo-yeon's eyes widened at Yeo Un-hwi's suggestion.
"Yes. I made many friends there when I was young too. You study and naturally make friends at the same time."
"A school..."
It was certainly an idea they hadn't considered.
"But which school should we send her to? We don't know how many schools there are in the Hebei region or which ones are good."
Her parents probably wouldn't know either.
In the case of Paeng Seo-yeon and Paeng Seo-jin, their father and mother had hired capable teachers to tutor them separately at home.
As that was common practice for most prestigious families, the concept of a school felt completely foreign to Paeng Seo-yeon.
But hearing Yeo Un-hwi's words, she thought there might be no better place for Yul-i to make friends.
Now it was time to research and decide which school would be suitable.
However,
"We lack too much information. We can't just send her anywhere."
Yeo Un-hwi responded to his wife, who was deep in thought.
"Hmm. Information... I'll look into that."
Jin So-baek, the Leader of Haomun, was very skilled at hiding his emotions.
He rarely showed surprise and maintaining his composure at all times was one of his greatest strengths.
But,
"...Are you joking right now?"
Jin So-baek, the Leader of Haomun, had a blank expression on his face.
His emotions were clearly visible on his face, quite openly.
This was because it was the first time he had ever encountered such a request for information at Haomun.
The new commission from Yeo Un-hwi, who had returned in less than half a month, was:
"You want us to compile a list of the finest schools in Hebei?"
"That's right."
Despite Jin So-baek's dumbfounded reaction, Yeo Un-hwi nodded shamelessly.
"If possible, it would be good to include evaluations from various perspectives. How far they are from the Paeng Family, the depth of knowledge and character of the teachers there, what kind of children attend and what the atmosphere is like, and so on."
"Are you serious? You want us to find out all that?"
"I'm completely serious. In fact, I'm very curious to see what kind of information you can gather."
"I haven't agreed to do it yet."
No, how could we? We have our pride as Haomun.
Moreover, to ask the Leader of Haomun himself to do such a task? Is this person really in his right mind?
"A thousand taels."
"Pardon?"
"I'll pay you."
"You'll pay a thousand taels for this request? You're joking, right?"
"You seem to like jokes, but I don't."
"So you're serious?"
For such a trivial errand? He's offering a thousand taels? Really?
Yeo Un-hwi nodded.
"We'll do it, customer."
Jin So-baek, the Leader of Haomun, threw his pride far away and grabbed Yeo Un-hwi's hand.
"When do you need it by?"
"I'll give you a week."
"We'll have all the schools in the Hebei region ranked and organized, including the teachers' levels and personalities, the school atmospheres, distances from the Paeng Family, and the advantages and disadvantages of transportation, all prepared and sent to you within two days."
"Excellent."
"Money makes the world go round, doesn't it? How would you like to pay? Upfront like last time?"
"I always pay upfront."
"You're very straightforward. We'll make sure you don't regret the trust you've shown us."
"I think our future transactions will be enjoyable."
"Could they be as enjoyable for you as they are for me, customer?"
The middle-aged woman who had unintentionally witnessed this transaction and the five warriors guarding Jin So-baek from the shadows felt like they wanted to hide in a mouse hole.
They had just witnessed Haomun turn into an organization that runs errands in an instant.
Hahaha!
Somehow, the atmosphere between the two had changed quite a bit since their first meeting.