WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ The Little Prince in the Ossuary

00044 #Internal Affairs (5), Camp Roberts

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"I'll get straight to the point."

Gyeoul said.

"Why do you think the Gyeoul Alliance should accept you?"

Elder Kang Yeong-sun smiled warmly. She wrote her satisfaction in her notebook.

「I never expected to be asked a question like this.」

「Thrown out without a word, or accepted without reason. Everywhere we've gone, I expected one or the other. Until now, it's always been the former.」

Easy enough to read between the lines.

"If you were expecting the latter, that's probably Jang Yeon-cheol-bujang's doing."

The old woman adjusted her grip on her pen. Her movements were precise, almost unhurried, but sentences filled the page faster than you'd expect.

「I don't think of it badly at all.」

「The reason we've survived this long is because of kind people like Jang Yeon-cheol-nim. Among them, Yeon-cheol-nim helped us more than anyone. I'm grateful from the bottom of my heart.」

「It's just that, sometimes, his consideration ran a little too deep.」

She meant that he hadn't seen disabled people as equals. Yeon-cheol had said it himself. That these were people incapable of independence. Not in the sense that the environment was hostile, that people only tried to take, that no opportunities were given. He had meant it as a fundamental truth.

"I understand. When a good person lives in a cruel world, that's what tends to happen."

She smiled again at that.

「So it isn't only courage that draws so many people to Han Gyeoul-nim.」

"You're flattering me. Anyway, would you answer my first question?"

Elder Kang Yeong-sun nodded.

「After being turned away from so many doors, there are things I've been waiting to say if given the chance. I thought about this a great deal before coming here.」

「Rather than speak about what each of us can do individually, I'd like to address the organizational benefits the Gyeoul Alliance and its leader, Han Gyeoul-nim, would gain.」

「I ask for your patience if this runs a little long.」

That was unexpected. He'd assumed she would talk about their individual skills, experience, character. In truth, Gyeoul had already thought through the organizational angle himself. He hadn't weighed the possibility of accepting disabled people out of vague idealism alone. He nodded.

"Take as much of my time as you need."

With a grateful smile, the old woman began filling the page with careful, deliberate lines. The first page read:

「The first is a softened reputation.」

「Many people from other groups are spreading bad rumors about Han Gyeoul-nim. The most common is "human butcher." Dozens of murders that happen every single day are being attributed to you.」

「Before meeting you today, even I was a little worried. Even though Jang Yeon-cheol-nim insisted it wasn't true. Aren't many of the people who've come to rely on the Gyeoul Alliance doing so at least partly out of fear?」

「If you accept us, that kind of reputation will settle considerably.」

「Wouldn't that make it easier for more people who've been hesitating to finally make up their minds?」

「Regrettably, few people see the disabled as equals. This is how everyone will read it: the Gyeoul Alliance took in those useless people. Han Gyeoul-nim is someone who knows how to care for the ones who have nothing.」

「Liu Bei[1], Emperor Zhaolie of Shu, built his kingdom on benevolence and virtue.」

「Win people's hearts.」

There was a quiet elegance to the writing, the kind that comes only with age. About half of it was what Gyeoul had already anticipated. Reading through, he asked.

"You must like Romance of the Three Kingdoms."

The old woman pointed to her own mouth, then wrote a single line.

「Given my circumstances, books have always been more comfortable company than people.」

"Ah."

He nodded and returned the notebook. She immediately started on the second page. She hadn't been exaggerating when she said she'd thought long and hard about this. Not once did she hesitate or cross anything out.

「The second is trustworthy people.」

「As I said, the reason we're still alive is thanks to kind people like Jang Yeon-cheol-nim. That means we can serve as a bridge connecting the Gyeoul Alliance to the good people scattered across other groups.」

「Some will move here just knowing we're among you. Other groups aren't exactly pleasant places to be. Those with good hearts are the ones paying for it.」

「Those who don't move will still hold goodwill toward the Alliance.」

「Ultimately, it's not so different from what I said first.」

Not so different, but it was something he hadn't quite thought through. Gyeoul had already made up his mind. Still, he was curious how far this gracefully aged woman had reasoned things out. He handed the notebook back, and she began filling the third page.

「The last is our eyes and ears, as disabled people.」

「This is only my conjecture. But, Gyeoul-nim, are you feeling the pressure?」

「The Gyeoul Alliance has grown at a remarkable pace, and that will likely continue for some time. Rapid growth always has its side effects. It's always the people that cause problems.」

「More and more of the Alliance will become opaque to you. Who to trust, who to filter out. Someone like Yu Yi[2] will inevitably appear to stoke your suspicions.」

「So here is my suggestion. Gather information through us.」

「There is an invisible wall between disabled and non-disabled people. Even the most well-meaning non-disabled person struggles to treat someone disabled as a true equal. The disabled are always, to some degree, isolated. We don't blend easily with others. Use that.」

Gyeoul finished reading and thought: the seventeen of them surviving intact wasn't simply a matter of good people helping them along.

"Who is Yu Yi?"

The old woman wrote her answer.

「A treacherous official who stoked Sun Quan's suspicions to gain power.」

"What's to say the disabled can't become a Yu Yi themselves?"

She set down the pen and shook her head. Gyeoul smiled.

"You're honest."

Elder Kang smiled back.

"Then I'd like to hear what each of you can do. And get to know you a little."

She nodded and handed over a profile sheet for the disabled community. She'd prepared it in advance. Gyeoul read through the dense contents. She'd even included her own assessment of each person's strengths and character flaws.

A few had useful experience and skills. Most striking was a polio patient who'd operated various heavy machinery for eleven years. An English teacher and an electrician too. A few had skills that were hard to put to use in the current world. A programmer, for instance.

At Kang Yeong-sun's sign language, the others drew closer. Someone guided the blind woman over. Gyeoul asked each of them a few simple questions, then made his decision.

"Alright."

He smiled again at the brightening faces.

"Welcome to the Gyeoul Alliance. I look forward to working with everyone."

Then he called for Yeon-cheol.

"Please help these folks get settled. Bedding, a place to stay. Introduce them around, too."

"Of course! Thank you! Blessings upon you!"

He seemed even happier than the disabled people themselves. He led the newcomers away, practically beaming. The Alliance members watched the whole scene with open curiosity.

Jin-seok was among them. A few words from someone nearby, and his face darkened. He came straight for Gyeoul.

He didn't come alone. Two people followed a few steps behind. They belonged to the group Jin-seok had been quietly assembling as a prospective squad leader. Unlike with Yura, these were all able-bodied men of appropriate age, all veterans. He'd gotten Gyeoul's after-the-fact approval. He seemed to think, since he'd be a squad leader soon enough, that much authority was rightfully his. Gyeoul had been fine with it.

Not right now, though.

"Jin-seok-ssi. Something the matter?"

"I just heard something strange. Is it true you've agreed to take in the disabled?"

"Yes, it is."

Something in the casual tone got under his skin. His expression soured.

"What on earth are you thinking?"

"Is there a problem?"

"Plenty."

A sigh.

"Those people are dead weight. If you have room to take in the disabled, you should be taking in people who can actually contribute instead. Our Alliance has abnormally few fighters for its size. If we took in seventeen able-bodied men, that's a full combat squad with room to spare."

"That's true."

"You're genuinely kind and remarkable, but sometimes you're too idealistic. I want to help the disabled too. If the chance came, I would. As an individual."

He paused. Gyeoul's face gave nothing away. Jin-seok pressed on.

"You didn't just help those people as an individual. You put a burden on every member of this Alliance. You need to separate the personal from the official. Conscience is personal satisfaction, nothing more."

"It isn't personal satisfaction."

Suspicion crossed Jin-seok's face. Gyeoul said, calm.

"As the representative of the Gyeoul Alliance, I considered the interests of the Alliance as a whole before making this decision."

"Can you explain what those interests are?"

"I could, but I'd rather not."

"...Why not?"

"Because you didn't follow proper procedure."

"Procedure?"

"Yes. Procedure. If it's about the combat squad, you're welcome to come directly to me. You'll be a squad leader soon enough, after all. But for anything else, you go through the two vice-captains first. That's their role."

That stopped him. Jin-seok blinked.

Gyeoul continued. "The membership screenings so far have all been handled by the vice-captains. The person who introduced me to the disabled community today was Vice-Captain Jang Yeon-cheol. Other Alliance members come to the vice-captains first when they have something to say to me. Yet you came straight here. Doesn't that feel like overstepping?"

It wasn't a rule anyone had formally set. As the Alliance grew, it had settled into an unwritten code. All Gyeoul had done was hand out titles, and people had built their own rules and order from there. Human sociality at work.

'The vice-captains had a role in it too. Especially Vice-Captain Min Wan-ki.'

Without that, the whole thing would have accumulated pointless hierarchies, coercion, unnecessary steps.

Making the unwritten code explicit, that was Gyeoul's job.

Jin-seok mumbled.

"I wasn't trying to disrespect them."

"I know. Everything is still new. Be mindful of it next time."

A moment for a smile. Gyeoul made one easily.

The natural warmth of it put Jin-seok at ease. He apologized and walked away, the fight gone out of him. The two behind him moved to console him.

The unwritten rule would spread through their mouths from here.

Footnotes:

[1] Liu Bei (劉備), posthumously titled Emperor Zhaolie (昭烈帝), is one of the most celebrated figures in Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Unlike the cunning Cao Cao or the aristocratic Sun Quan, Liu Bei's defining trait in the novel is his reputation for benevolence and winning the loyalty of the people through virtue rather than force. Elder Kang Yeong-sun is drawing a direct parallel to Gyeoul, suggesting he build his organization on the same foundation.

[2] Yu Yi (呂壹) was a powerful official under Sun Quan in the kingdom of Wu. He systematically accused loyal ministers of false crimes and exploited Sun Quan's growing paranoia to consolidate his own influence, driving several capable men to their deaths or exile before he was finally executed. He is a byword in classical Chinese historical narrative for the danger of a ruler who allows a scheming subordinate to become his primary source of information.

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