WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ The Little Prince in the Ossuary

Chapter 75

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After the Rain (5)

Many people said disabled and non-disabled people were equal. But few people’s actions matched their words. Not because they were especially evil, but because it was simply hard.

What was so hard?

‘It is hard not to feel pity.’

That was what Gyeoul thought.

Compassion was part of human nature, a feeling of pity toward someone seen as worse off than yourself. So feeling sympathy for someone also meant seeing them as lacking compared to you.

Good people discriminated against disabled people because they were good, and bad people discriminated against disabled people because they were bad.

Jang Yeon-cheol was a typical example. He called disabled people “disabled friends.” The term carried the sense that non-disabled people had a duty to care for disabled people out of friendship. That goodwill was admirable. But a true egalitarian would say this instead: Why are disabled people your friends?

Gyeoul said to Elder Kang Yeong-sun,

“Please point it out if I make the same mistake. I am worried I might offend someone without realizing it.”

The graceful old woman smiled and moved her pen.

「That intention is enough. Even Confucius said he only reached complete propriety in all his actions at age seventy. Expecting a sage’s old age from Little Captain-nim would be asking too much. I only feel sorry toward Vice-Captain Jang Yeon-cheol-nim.」

When it came to Jang Yeon-cheol’s prejudiced attitude toward disabled people, Elder Kang felt sorry for him instead.

Jang Yeon-cheol was kind-hearted. If someone pointed out his prejudice, he would feel ashamed and try to fix it, and if you respected him, that was what you should do. But the elder did not do that. Instead, she advised Gyeoul to use his prejudice. At the time, the old woman had convinced Gyeoul with a single line.

「The larger the shadow of prejudice, the easier it is to hide inside it.」

The disabled members had volunteered to become Gyeoul’s eyes and ears. That was easier when people’s guard was down. For that, it was better for disabled people to be seen as pitiable...

It was what the disabled members themselves wanted. They wanted to discover new possibilities in their disabilities and feel fulfilled by contributing to the community through them.

“If Vice-Captain Jang knew the circumstances, he would not take it badly. It is contradictory, but you could also see it this way: we are repaying a wrong built from prejudice with prejudice. More than anything, there are many people we should feel sorry toward besides Vice-Captain Jang. We are deceiving everyone. We are compromising because this is realistically necessary, and because in the end it is for everyone too. So please do not worry about it.”

The elder answered with a smile instead of writing.

Gyeoul began reading the memo Elder Kang Yeong-sun had handed him.

Covert internal surveillance had been the role of one disabled member, Lee Hoon-tae, but the others had not stayed idle either. Maybe because they had gone through hard times together, their sense of solidarity was strong. Thanks to that, the amount of information reaching Gyeoul kept growing.

He spent longer on the section about religious activity inside the alliance. Something in it bothered him. It was a record of one worship service from a small Christian gathering.

「The Lord loves us. The Lord seeks to save us. But who is saving us right now? Who is loving us? Is that person not the Lord’s will remaining by our side?」

「There is nothing in this world that is outside the Lord’s providence. From the moment of creation to the day of judgment, do you believe all history and all events lie within the Lord’s plan? Then do you believe that the boy named Han Gyeoul, the Son of Man, is the Lord’s grace come in human flesh?」

「You must believe. You must believe. The Lord awakened us through miracles. Without grace beside him, how could a boy accomplish so many great deeds? How could he save people through prophecy, and how could new miracles occur wherever he goes? Is his very being not truly God’s will?」

「The Son of Man still does not know himself. He does not know he must receive the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Because no one has told him. Because no one has said, where is he who was born king, we have come to worship him.」

「This is the mission given to us. We are the ones to be chosen.......」

The handwriting was crooked, as if the writer had hidden themselves while writing on site. The recorder also devoted space to the crowd’s fervent reaction: tears, cheers, applause.

The boy shook his head.

“At this rate I should just convert to Islam or something.”

The old woman across from him covered her mouth and laughed. Then she moved her pen across the paper.

「Do you have no intention of becoming their savior?」

“Please stop joking. There are more downsides than upsides.”

That was true. Religious communities tended to grow conservative. Because they believed there was an ultimate answer to every question, they denied everything outside it. Biblical inerrancy and sharia were representative examples. Of course, religious communities could still be rational. But that was a hard hope to place on a community that believed in a savior’s return.

And playing messiah was not easy either. More than the difficulty of doing it, he felt a deep emotional resistance. It was too far from the way of life he wanted to protect.

The elder held up her notebook.

「I think your ability to say that is one of your admirable qualities, but I do not think we should leave them alone. If we neglect this, I worry more people will be swept in. As you already know, there are very many people inside and outside the alliance who are deeply drawn to you.」

“I am not sure....... I will keep it in mind for now. I have other problems to solve first.”

He needed to meet the central figure of that gathering first. Did that person truly believe what they were saying, or were they using Gyeoul’s name to gain profit and influence? The response would differ depending on which it was. If things got urgent, he could even fight fire with fire.

The elder wrote a new question.

「What is that problem?」

Gyeoul thought for a moment, then told her about the letter from the unnamed Baizishan and the difference in opinion between the two vice-captains. It was something that had to be handled quietly, but hiding it simply because it was secret had no meaning. The elder and the boy already shared a much bigger secret.

“What do you think after hearing this? What do you think I should do?”

At that question, Elder Kang Yeong-sun wrote a little more slowly than usual.

「It is very hard for me to say which side is better. I am not qualified to advise.」

“Not qualified? Why do you say that?”

「Because I am from the generation that lived through the Korean War.」

When Gyeoul tilted his head, the elder added a few lines of explanation.

「Even now, I still see war in my dreams. Fear carved into my bones. These days a new fear has been added, but the new one does not take the old one’s place. And in one corner of those nightmares, fear of Chinese communist troops definitely remains.」

「That is why. I may hate Chinese people. Of course I feel that I do not, but as long as my dreams are still trapped in that old war, would that influence not surely remain in my unconscious?」

In other words, because this matter involved Chinese people, she was not confident she could judge objectively. Gyeoul gave her a gentle smile.

“Then I can listen with that in mind. I just want to hear as many opinions as possible before making a decision. So you do not need to overthink it. Please speak freely.”

The pen paused for a moment. The elder sat upright and thought for a long time. Soon, her resolve began to flow into lines of writing.

「As someone who received much help from Vice-Captain Jang Yeon-cheol-nim’s goodwill, I feel ashamed to oppose helping others regardless of the reason, but Vice-Captain Min Wan-ki-nim’s opinion seems more valid to me.」

「Among them are people who committed crimes for a long time. People say hate the sin, not the sinner, but this case is different. As I see it, the problem is not their crimes themselves, but the grudges formed because of those crimes.」

「The person who wrote the letter said members of Wo Shing Wo and Shui Fong were discriminated against inside the Triad. Their families were effectively held hostage, so from the Triad’s perspective, how useful those blades must have been. That means there must be a lot of blood on them.」

「So if the alliance accepts and protects them, would people who hold grudges against Wo Shing Wo and Shui Fong not also hold grudges against alliance members and Captain-nim?」

Gyeoul objected.

“If it is that kind of grudge, it already started when we joined hands with the Triad. Because of the Gyeoul Alliance, other Chinese organizations cannot do anything to the Triad.”

Kang Yeong-sun began writing her reply before he even finished.

「That is slightly different as well. Until now, we were a third party exerting indirect influence. Once we accept the Baizishan faction, we become direct parties to that grudge.」

「Also, they need to create a hostile relationship with us as a way to maintain their own organizations. People will keep leaving because life in the Gyeoul Alliance looks better, or to escape internal power struggles. That is different from simply disliking us or feeling resentment.」

Gyeoul weighed her opinion.

“In a way it is the same line of thought as Vice-Captain Min Wan-ki-nim’s objection, but you raised points I had not considered. Thank you for the good advice. I will think more about what you said.”

The elder smiled warmly.

After that, Gyeoul carefully read the remaining memos, organized them, and stood up.

“It is late, so please get some rest.”

The boy bowed respectfully to the elder and left the alliance headquarters tent.

Even though the sun had already dipped below the horizon, the construction site was still busy. As he returned greetings along the way, Gyeoul kept turning one thought after another over in his head all the way to his quarters.

Until now, there were probably many Chinese people who thought life was better in the Gyeoul Alliance, but none who actually wanted to seek refuge there. They likely saw the alliance as a Korean place. The stateless people who came in at Amalia’s request were only five. So the difference in nationality had been an invisible wall.

If he accepted the Baizishan faction, that wall would collapse. That was Jang Yeon-cheol’s argument, and honestly it was what Gyeoul wanted too. Other Chinese groups would naturally hate it. Elder Kang Yeong-sun had said as much. They would replace the wall of nationality with a wall of grudges.

How effective that would be was still uncertain.

In the worst case, Chinese groups might try to kill the Baizishan faction somehow, if only to stop chain defections. Maybe they would not stop there. They might want to warn Gyeoul too. Do not interfere in our affairs.

They would probably not pick a direct fight. That was not much different from suicide. But what if it was indiscriminate terrorism targeting the Gyeoul Alliance?

Suddenly, Gyeoul remembered the time he had gone to meet Li Qinzhen. 「Survival Instinct」 and 「Combat Sense」 had warned him about the firing lines of projectile weapons, likely bows or sling-type weapons. On top of that, with construction underway everywhere lately, materials for making weapons were easier to get.

‘This might be usable.’

Ordinary blades were one thing, but the U.S. military itself would not tolerate full-scale projectile weapons. That was a serious threat to base security. The Chinese knew that too. Unless things became dangerous, they would not try to use them for real.

Unless things became dangerous.

============================ Author’s Note ============================

1. Sorry for updating every other day. The writing got completely blocked. It took ten hours just to get past one line, and another five hours to fill half a page.

This is all because of the vicious criticism from bad readers who hate the author.

You know who you are. Those of you who said the author looks like Won Bin, does that not prick your conscience?

Of course, I also remember the kind readers who said I do not look like Won Bin.

I will never forgive you.

2.

Q. RGZ95-nim: @ You seem happy you finished your deadline before your friend. Better prepare the next update too @[email protected]

A. Yes, this author is on deadline every single day. Hahaha.

...?

Strange. This novel is definitely supposed to serialize 3 to 5 times a week...

Q. Dohwawon-nim: @I want more childlike innocence

A. Me too. I get no chance to build up innocence, I just spend it every day, so as an innocence life-form, this author is facing a death crisis...

Q. Lorigaseulpeohae-nim: I thought the cough was some kind of foreshadowing, but I guess it is all cured haha

A. At my age, would it not be weird if a cold got better that quickly? :)

If this author catches a cold once, it lasts about three months.

Q. PAM-nim: What? The deadline is easy? In a few months you will realize, “Why did I run my mouth back then? Deadlines are this painful.” By the way, if it is a hero alliance, should not it bulk up a bit more?

A. As I already said, for this author every day is basically a deadline.

It is already 3 a.m. now. Uaaaah...

Q. Blatar-nim: By the way, is WhiteBean a man or a woman?

A. Beans are bisexual flowering plants with both pistil and stamen in the same flower. So WhiteBean-nim is probably... no, this feels like defamation.

Q. Ketaro-nim: @I have decided. From now on I will press recommend on every previous chapter every day whenever possible. Why? Because! I! am! enjoying! it!

A. I have decided. From now on I will play one Overwatch match every day whenever possible. Why? Because it is fun!

...that is the author’s dream.

I bought it and still have not played it for four weeks. Hahaha.

Q. Qvex-nim: @Author, do you like fried dumplings?!

A. Of course I do. I like it even more if you lock me up somewhere and give them to me.

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