A few days had passed, and someone had come to see Lee Jun-Kyeong.
"Long time no see."
The man had come down to the base of the Nar.
“We've decided on the settlement,” Liu Bei said.
Apparently, the reconnaissance had ended as behind him were two Hunters. They were the two that Liu Bei had called his brothers, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei.
“Where did you decide on?” asked Lee Jun-Kyeong as he opened his eyes.
“Beijing.”
“Beijing?”
Beijing, otherwise known as Bukkyeong in Korea, was the former capital of China. Lee Jun-Kyeong tried to remember what that place had looked like as Beijing was one of the places that he had passed on the way to Utgard from Mt. Baekdu.
‘There are some monsters, but…’
It was definitely a place that hadn’t undergone absurd disasters as Qingdao or other places. Furthermore, since it was the capital, there were likely to be some geographical advantages or other resources that could be restored for use.
“It’s not a bad choice,” Lee Jun-Kyeong commented.
“As expected, you had to have passed it to come to this place, so you understand its situation well.”
When Lee Jun-Kyeong expressed his agreement with their settlement, the complexions of Liu Bei and his brothers brightened.
“There’s another reason for it as well.” Liu Bei added, “Aren’t you from Korea?”
“...?”
Lee Jun-Kyeong looked at him quizzically.
“Although you had wanted us to strengthen our stronghold and just endure what is coming, but…we…”
The three of them brought together their fists and palms, offering Lee Jun-Kyeong a salute. It was one of the salutes that were a part of the Chinese etiquette greetings, known as po-gwon.
“If you call us, we will always come to your aid. Beijing is a location not too far from Korea. Although we are still weak, we will work diligently so that, one day, we can repay the favor you have shown us,” Liu Bei said as they saluted respectfully.
Lee Jun-Kyeong felt goosebumps at the sight of their respectful salute. He could feel a wave of emotion stemming from the respect he was given.
Liu Bei promised, “China never forgets any grace.”
Everything that Lee Jun-Kyeong had done wasn’t something that he had thought about beforehand, and it wasn’t that he had acted with a plan from the very beginning. Things had just turned out to become something that ended up benefiting everyone.
Because of that, Lee Jun-Kyeong was embarrassed by how the three brothers were acting, but it wasn’t a bad feeling to receive a sincere thank you from them.
“I understand, thanks,” he responded.
“Good. Then, when do you think you will be ready? We're almost ready to go."
They had agreed that once Liu Bei had decided on a settlement, Lee Jun-Kyeong would go there to help. Furthermore, Beijing was on the way back anyway.
"Three days. Let's leave in about three days,” Lee Jun-Kyeong said as he nodded happily.
"Then…we apologize for disturbing your training."
It was a well-known fact among them that Lee Jun-Kyeong had been learning something from Thrymr. Liu Bei bowed his head in farewell and turned around to leave.
However, Lee Jun-Kyeong called out to him before he left, "Wait."
“What do you need?”
Liu Bei and the others turned around with happy expressions.
Lee Jun-Kyeong had called out to them, thinking that it was a good time to experiment with his Galdr.
“What do you think about a round of sparring?”
***
“Have you grown attached already in this short time?” Lee Jun-Kyeong asked quietly.
"Attached…" Won-Hwa thought for a moment and replied, “It’s difficult to say that I haven’t. At least, if you call it a love-hate sort of attachment, that is.”
Lee Jun-Kyeong had returned from training Galdr. He was now having a conversation with Won-Hwa as he hadn’t been able to converse with the physician earlier.
“But, now that I’m about to leave, it’s making me feel a little wistful, is all,” Won-Hwa concluded.
It was the day that the Chinese and Lee Jun-Kyeong and his party would leave Utgard. All the preparations had been made for their journey to the settlement.
The road to Beijing would obviously be an arduous one as they would be taking along the ordinary people.
Despite that, the people were rejoicing.
It was time, time for them to take back their city and their country.
“I didn’t know that you thought of this city of giants with a form of attachment,” Lee Jun-Kyeong responded after Won-Hwa’s surprising answer.
Won-Hwa, however, shook his head.
“It’s not that I have any affection for Utgard. Everything that happened here…it seems I don’t have many good memories about it. There were patients who suffered every single day. No dreams, no hopes, no future…and…”
Anger flashed over Won-Hwa's face for a moment.
“To think the King of Utgard was the one who slaughtered the people…I had no idea.”
“...”
Lee Jun-Kyeong struggled to convey any words of consolation on the heavy subject.
“There is nothing else that I regret about this place,” Won-Hwa continued. “It’s just that I now have to leave these people as well.”
.
“...”
“Isn’t that the truth? I thought that you were trying to take me along with you, isn’t that right, Mr. Lee?” Won-Hwa said as he smiled at Lee Jun-Kyeong.
Lee Jun-Kyeong smiled wryly. "That’s correct."
This was the very subject that Lee Jun-Kyeong had come to discuss with Won-Hwa. Basically, he wanted to take Won-Hwa with him.
In his future path, Won-Hwa’s ability would be of great help. Furthermore, it would be difficult to replace the physician with anyone else. He hadn’t come to this place in order to find him and just get treatment.
"I will follow you,” the physician replied.
“Would that really be okay? Doctors are needed everywhere, especially for the Chinese, who are only now just finding a settlement to lay roots in,” Lee Jun-Kyeong asked.
Won-Hwa turned his gaze elsewhere.
“Master Hua Tuo is a better doctor than I am.”
“...”
“He may not be able to offer great treatment to the Hunters, but to ordinary people, he is a greater physician than me. No, than anyone else.”
Hua Tuo was the old man that Lee Jun-Kyeong had initially thought was Won-Hwa. He knew Won-Hwa was right. From what he had seen for a while, it was clear that the old man specialized in healing the ordinary people who weren’t Hunters.
“Things will be fine with him around. Furthermore…”
Won-Hwa smiled at Lee Jun-Kyeong.
“If I follow you, Mr. Lee, wouldn’t it become possible for me to bring you back to China in the guise of wanting to see my hometown again?”
Apparently, Won-Hwa was banking on Lee Jun-Kyeong’s aid again with his presence if the Chinese or China ever found itself in crisis again.
Lee Jun-Kyeong laughed out loud.
“It looks like you’re not losing out at all, then.”
***
Thud, thud, thud.
The ground was shaking, and a great change had begun in Utgard.
The Chinese residents who had been occupying the human residential area were leaving through the gates of the fortress Utgard while the giants and their ice drakes that were escorting them were carrying their baggage.
In the midst of that clamor, Lee Jun-Kyeong’s party also joined.
“Fenrir, help them a little,” Lee Jun-Kyeong requested. However, the wolf snorted as if it was bothersome.
“I heard that there were some corpses along the way of the ice drakes that had died in the battle…”
“Howl!!”
Fenrir immediately turned into a wolf and headed toward the place where they were distributing the baggage.
"Goongje! Goongje!"
The princess was likewise carrying some baggage.
Finally, the Chinese were ready to leave Utgard, the place where they had stayed for quite some time.
Thud! Thud!
There was one particularly loud sound among the footsteps of the giants.
“Jugyung.”
“Thjazi.”
Thjazi seemed to have recovered quite a bit with Won-Hwa’s help, so he had come out to meet Lee Jun-Kyeong and his party.
Many of the giants bowed slightly in his presence.
Although it was little by little, he was clearly gaining their respect.
Everyone knew that Thjazi had a sincere heart for the giants, and slowly but surely, he was being acknowledged and accepted as their chieftain.
Thjazi looked over at Lee Jun-Kyeong.
"Go well,” Thjazi said, his farewell not as simple as it seemed
Although they had only met for a short time, Thjazi was one of the few giants with whom Lee Jun-Kyeong had a bond with.
“If you come again, I’ll try to be there to welcome you,” Thjazi said playfully as he laughed.
“I may not be able to greet you back if you come out, though,” Lee Jun-Kyeong responded back with a straight expression.
The two looked at each other and smiled.
Then, he tossed out something he had been curious about.
"I have a question for you. No matter how much I think about it, I still don’t quite understand how Thrymr is leading the Nar as a faction separate from Utgard.”
Utgard was currently in a dangerous situation.
On the outside, the giants were strong, so it wasn’t that the monsters were a big deal.
However, there had been an incredible amount of damage to the warguard due to the lack of resources, the civil war, and even the rebellion.
Knowing that, Thrymr had still insisted on independence at a time when it wouldn’t have been enough even if all the giants had joined forces.
If Thjazi had killed the giant, as Thrymr had asked, then the Nar would have also been able to join with the frost giants and create a stronger Utgard.
However, Thjazi hadn’t, and Thrymr had chosen independence.
'Thrymr.'
The giant had said that the reason he couldn’t join Utgard was that he had to become its enemy in order to unite the fortress. Furthermore, there was also the issue about the fact that the traitors had been covered in the blood of their own kin and wouldn’t be able to enter Utgard again.
However, Lee Jun-Kyeong couldn’t understand it.
“At this point, wouldn’t it be better to unite regardless of what had happened and survive?”
Just like the Chinese, the giants would be a part of the cataclysm that was soon to come.
They had to survive.
Therefore, it was a normal conclusion for them to gather and join forces.
Even if they had been traitors, or even if they had been true enemies to their own kind, the current situation didn’t allow for luxuries.
However, Thjazi said firmly in response, “Thrymr is making decisions for the sake of the giants. Furthermore, that is what it means to be a giant.”
The giant spoke with sincerity toward Lee Jun-Kyeong, who was leaving this place for the last time.
“Us giants, with strong fighting spirits and a strong propensity for battle, can only grow when we have an enemy.”
The premise of an enemy, once again.
Thjazi had told the same story as Thrymr.
"Monsters are just prey for us, and among those we have fought so far that could even qualify to be our enemies…”
Thjazi's eyes bored into Lee Jun-Kyeong.
"There is nothing but you humans."
"…!"
"Giants need enemies to grow, and if Thrymr had become one of us, then for enemies…” Thjazi said, trailing off.
“I guess they would have to be humans,” Lee Jun-Kyeong concluded.
“That’s right.”
Whether it was Thrymr, or Thjazi…
“This is out of consideration for you humans. No, for you, Lee Jun-Kyeong. Whether it is that you humans win, or us giants, the moment that we become enemies, there will be many sacrifices.”
Thjazi’s eyes watched the Chinese as they exited the fortress.
“Also, this is a tribute to the race you call humans that aided us.”
Lee Jun-Kyeong finally understood it. To be a giant, it really was a difficult existence.
Even within the human race, there were many differences ranging from the civilizations down to even the culture. It made sense that it wasn’t easy to understand their ways, who were fundamentally different from the very beginning in race, and even in worlds.
‘I don’t have much of a choice but to accept it, I guess.’
Thjazi furrowed his brow as he looked down at Lee Jun-Kyeong.
"Thank you."
With a short phrase, Thjazi turned and walked away. A short farewell was the best farewell.
Then, Lee Jun-Kyeong walked over to where his party was.
“Let’s go.”
Jeong In-Chang, the princess, Fenrir, Hyeon-Mu who was on the bracelet…
All of a sudden, there was a new member of the party as well.
“Understood.”
Won-Hwa.
Thus, Lee Jun-Kyeong and his party started walking within the ranks of the Chinese.
‘How regretful.’
However, Lee Jun-Kyeong felt that it was a pity that he hadn’t been able to see Thrymr once more. Like Thjazi, Thrymr had become a distinct presence to Lee Jun-Kyeong. He was now his own master.
Smirk.
"Why are you smiling?" Jeong In-Chang, seeing Lee Jun-Kyeong's expression, asked.
Lee Jun-Kyeong looked somewhere.
Jeong In-Chang looked in that direction, but there was nothing there.
No, it’s nothing. It’s just that I don’t have anything I regret anymore,” Lee Jun-Kyeong responded as he walked away.
In the place where Lee Jun-Kyeong had been standing was a figure dressed in black.
It was a colossal giant who couldn’t hide his stature under any circumstances who stood there, watching the procession for a while.
1. Korea and China have very similar martial greetings (gongsu insa, ??). The key difference between the two is that the Chinese gongsu insa is held at the chest level, and the Korean is at the belly button. Also, in the Chinese version, one only bows slightly, while the Korean one has varying degrees of how deep the bow is based on who you’re greeting.
A few days had passed, and someone had come to see Lee Jun-Kyeong.
"Long time no see."
The man had come down to the base of the Nar.
“We've decided on the settlement,” Liu Bei said.
Apparently, the reconnaissance had ended as behind him were two Hunters. They were the two that Liu Bei had called his brothers, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei.
“Where did you decide on?” asked Lee Jun-Kyeong as he opened his eyes.
“Beijing.”
“Beijing?”
Beijing, otherwise known as Bukkyeong in Korea, was the former capital of China. Lee Jun-Kyeong tried to remember what that place had looked like as Beijing was one of the places that he had passed on the way to Utgard from Mt. Baekdu.
‘There are some monsters, but…’
It was definitely a place that hadn’t undergone absurd disasters as Qingdao or other places. Furthermore, since it was the capital, there were likely to be some geographical advantages or other resources that could be restored for use.
“It’s not a bad choice,” Lee Jun-Kyeong commented.
“As expected, you had to have passed it to come to this place, so you understand its situation well.”
When Lee Jun-Kyeong expressed his agreement with their settlement, the complexions of Liu Bei and his brothers brightened.
“There’s another reason for it as well.” Liu Bei added, “Aren’t you from Korea?”
“...?”
Lee Jun-Kyeong looked at him quizzically.
“Although you had wanted us to strengthen our stronghold and just endure what is coming, but…we…”
The three of them brought together their fists and palms, offering Lee Jun-Kyeong a salute. It was one of the salutes that were a part of the Chinese etiquette greetings, known as po-gwon.
“If you call us, we will always come to your aid. Beijing is a location not too far from Korea. Although we are still weak, we will work diligently so that, one day, we can repay the favor you have shown us,” Liu Bei said as they saluted respectfully.
Lee Jun-Kyeong felt goosebumps at the sight of their respectful salute. He could feel a wave of emotion stemming from the respect he was given.
Liu Bei promised, “China never forgets any grace.”
Everything that Lee Jun-Kyeong had done wasn’t something that he had thought about beforehand, and it wasn’t that he had acted with a plan from the very beginning. Things had just turned out to become something that ended up benefiting everyone.
Because of that, Lee Jun-Kyeong was embarrassed by how the three brothers were acting, but it wasn’t a bad feeling to receive a sincere thank you from them.
“I understand, thanks,” he responded.
“Good. Then, when do you think you will be ready? We're almost ready to go."
They had agreed that once Liu Bei had decided on a settlement, Lee Jun-Kyeong would go there to help. Furthermore, Beijing was on the way back anyway.
"Three days. Let's leave in about three days,” Lee Jun-Kyeong said as he nodded happily.
"Then…we apologize for disturbing your training."
It was a well-known fact among them that Lee Jun-Kyeong had been learning something from Thrymr. Liu Bei bowed his head in farewell and turned around to leave.
However, Lee Jun-Kyeong called out to him before he left, "Wait."
“What do you need?”
Liu Bei and the others turned around with happy expressions.
Lee Jun-Kyeong had called out to them, thinking that it was a good time to experiment with his Galdr.
“What do you think about a round of sparring?”
***
“Have you grown attached already in this short time?” Lee Jun-Kyeong asked quietly.
"Attached…" Won-Hwa thought for a moment and replied, “It’s difficult to say that I haven’t. At least, if you call it a love-hate sort of attachment, that is.”
Lee Jun-Kyeong had returned from training Galdr. He was now having a conversation with Won-Hwa as he hadn’t been able to converse with the physician earlier.
“But, now that I’m about to leave, it’s making me feel a little wistful, is all,” Won-Hwa concluded.
It was the day that the Chinese and Lee Jun-Kyeong and his party would leave Utgard. All the preparations had been made for their journey to the settlement.
The road to Beijing would obviously be an arduous one as they would be taking along the ordinary people.
Despite that, the people were rejoicing.
It was time, time for them to take back their city and their country.
“I didn’t know that you thought of this city of giants with a form of attachment,” Lee Jun-Kyeong responded after Won-Hwa’s surprising answer.
Won-Hwa, however, shook his head.
“It’s not that I have any affection for Utgard. Everything that happened here…it seems I don’t have many good memories about it. There were patients who suffered every single day. No dreams, no hopes, no future…and…”
Anger flashed over Won-Hwa's face for a moment.
“To think the King of Utgard was the one who slaughtered the people…I had no idea.”
“...”
Lee Jun-Kyeong struggled to convey any words of consolation on the heavy subject.
“There is nothing else that I regret about this place,” Won-Hwa continued. “It’s just that I now have to leave these people as well.”
.
“...”
“Isn’t that the truth? I thought that you were trying to take me along with you, isn’t that right, Mr. Lee?” Won-Hwa said as he smiled at Lee Jun-Kyeong.
Lee Jun-Kyeong smiled wryly. "That’s correct."
This was the very subject that Lee Jun-Kyeong had come to discuss with Won-Hwa. Basically, he wanted to take Won-Hwa with him.
In his future path, Won-Hwa’s ability would be of great help. Furthermore, it would be difficult to replace the physician with anyone else. He hadn’t come to this place in order to find him and just get treatment.
"I will follow you,” the physician replied.
“Would that really be okay? Doctors are needed everywhere, especially for the Chinese, who are only now just finding a settlement to lay roots in,” Lee Jun-Kyeong asked.
Won-Hwa turned his gaze elsewhere.
“Master Hua Tuo is a better doctor than I am.”
“...”
“He may not be able to offer great treatment to the Hunters, but to ordinary people, he is a greater physician than me. No, than anyone else.”
Hua Tuo was the old man that Lee Jun-Kyeong had initially thought was Won-Hwa. He knew Won-Hwa was right. From what he had seen for a while, it was clear that the old man specialized in healing the ordinary people who weren’t Hunters.
“Things will be fine with him around. Furthermore…”
Won-Hwa smiled at Lee Jun-Kyeong.
“If I follow you, Mr. Lee, wouldn’t it become possible for me to bring you back to China in the guise of wanting to see my hometown again?”
Apparently, Won-Hwa was banking on Lee Jun-Kyeong’s aid again with his presence if the Chinese or China ever found itself in crisis again.
Lee Jun-Kyeong laughed out loud.
“It looks like you’re not losing out at all, then.”
***
Thud, thud, thud.
The ground was shaking, and a great change had begun in Utgard.
The Chinese residents who had been occupying the human residential area were leaving through the gates of the fortress Utgard while the giants and their ice drakes that were escorting them were carrying their baggage.
In the midst of that clamor, Lee Jun-Kyeong’s party also joined.
“Fenrir, help them a little,” Lee Jun-Kyeong requested. However, the wolf snorted as if it was bothersome.
“I heard that there were some corpses along the way of the ice drakes that had died in the battle…”
“Howl!!”
Fenrir immediately turned into a wolf and headed toward the place where they were distributing the baggage.
"Goongje! Goongje!"
The princess was likewise carrying some baggage.
Finally, the Chinese were ready to leave Utgard, the place where they had stayed for quite some time.
Thud! Thud!
There was one particularly loud sound among the footsteps of the giants.
“Jugyung.”
“Thjazi.”
Thjazi seemed to have recovered quite a bit with Won-Hwa’s help, so he had come out to meet Lee Jun-Kyeong and his party.
Many of the giants bowed slightly in his presence.
Although it was little by little, he was clearly gaining their respect.
Everyone knew that Thjazi had a sincere heart for the giants, and slowly but surely, he was being acknowledged and accepted as their chieftain.
Thjazi looked over at Lee Jun-Kyeong.
"Go well,” Thjazi said, his farewell not as simple as it seemed
Although they had only met for a short time, Thjazi was one of the few giants with whom Lee Jun-Kyeong had a bond with.
“If you come again, I’ll try to be there to welcome you,” Thjazi said playfully as he laughed.
“I may not be able to greet you back if you come out, though,” Lee Jun-Kyeong responded back with a straight expression.
The two looked at each other and smiled.
Then, he tossed out something he had been curious about.
"I have a question for you. No matter how much I think about it, I still don’t quite understand how Thrymr is leading the Nar as a faction separate from Utgard.”
Utgard was currently in a dangerous situation.
On the outside, the giants were strong, so it wasn’t that the monsters were a big deal.
However, there had been an incredible amount of damage to the warguard due to the lack of resources, the civil war, and even the rebellion.
Knowing that, Thrymr had still insisted on independence at a time when it wouldn’t have been enough even if all the giants had joined forces.
If Thjazi had killed the giant, as Thrymr had asked, then the Nar would have also been able to join with the frost giants and create a stronger Utgard.
However, Thjazi hadn’t, and Thrymr had chosen independence.
'Thrymr.'
The giant had said that the reason he couldn’t join Utgard was that he had to become its enemy in order to unite the fortress. Furthermore, there was also the issue about the fact that the traitors had been covered in the blood of their own kin and wouldn’t be able to enter Utgard again.
However, Lee Jun-Kyeong couldn’t understand it.
“At this point, wouldn’t it be better to unite regardless of what had happened and survive?”
Just like the Chinese, the giants would be a part of the cataclysm that was soon to come.
They had to survive.
Therefore, it was a normal conclusion for them to gather and join forces.
Even if they had been traitors, or even if they had been true enemies to their own kind, the current situation didn’t allow for luxuries.
However, Thjazi said firmly in response, “Thrymr is making decisions for the sake of the giants. Furthermore, that is what it means to be a giant.”
The giant spoke with sincerity toward Lee Jun-Kyeong, who was leaving this place for the last time.
“Us giants, with strong fighting spirits and a strong propensity for battle, can only grow when we have an enemy.”
The premise of an enemy, once again.
Thjazi had told the same story as Thrymr.
"Monsters are just prey for us, and among those we have fought so far that could even qualify to be our enemies…”
Thjazi's eyes bored into Lee Jun-Kyeong.
"There is nothing but you humans."
"…!"
"Giants need enemies to grow, and if Thrymr had become one of us, then for enemies…” Thjazi said, trailing off.
“I guess they would have to be humans,” Lee Jun-Kyeong concluded.
“That’s right.”
Whether it was Thrymr, or Thjazi…
“This is out of consideration for you humans. No, for you, Lee Jun-Kyeong. Whether it is that you humans win, or us giants, the moment that we become enemies, there will be many sacrifices.”
Thjazi’s eyes watched the Chinese as they exited the fortress.
“Also, this is a tribute to the race you call humans that aided us.”
Lee Jun-Kyeong finally understood it. To be a giant, it really was a difficult existence.
Even within the human race, there were many differences ranging from the civilizations down to even the culture. It made sense that it wasn’t easy to understand their ways, who were fundamentally different from the very beginning in race, and even in worlds.
‘I don’t have much of a choice but to accept it, I guess.’
Thjazi furrowed his brow as he looked down at Lee Jun-Kyeong.
"Thank you."
With a short phrase, Thjazi turned and walked away. A short farewell was the best farewell.
Then, Lee Jun-Kyeong walked over to where his party was.
“Let’s go.”
Jeong In-Chang, the princess, Fenrir, Hyeon-Mu who was on the bracelet…
All of a sudden, there was a new member of the party as well.
“Understood.”
Won-Hwa.
Thus, Lee Jun-Kyeong and his party started walking within the ranks of the Chinese.
‘How regretful.’
However, Lee Jun-Kyeong felt that it was a pity that he hadn’t been able to see Thrymr once more. Like Thjazi, Thrymr had become a distinct presence to Lee Jun-Kyeong. He was now his own master.
Smirk.
"Why are you smiling?" Jeong In-Chang, seeing Lee Jun-Kyeong's expression, asked.
Lee Jun-Kyeong looked somewhere.
Jeong In-Chang looked in that direction, but there was nothing there.
No, it’s nothing. It’s just that I don’t have anything I regret anymore,” Lee Jun-Kyeong responded as he walked away.
In the place where Lee Jun-Kyeong had been standing was a figure dressed in black.
It was a colossal giant who couldn’t hide his stature under any circumstances who stood there, watching the procession for a while.
1. Korea and China have very similar martial greetings (gongsu insa, ??). The key difference between the two is that the Chinese gongsu insa is held at the chest level, and the Korean is at the belly button. Also, in the Chinese version, one only bows slightly, while the Korean one has varying degrees of how deep the bow is based on who you’re greeting.
