WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 126: Year One After Regression (2)

──────

After that, Han Bada could be seen sitting beside Han Su-jeong in a Han-ga Academy classroom, learning English from Namgung Eok.

"How are you?"

"I'm fine, thank you!"

A few days later, when Namgung Eok ran into Han San, he gave his assessment.

"He's a truly bright child. He learned the alphabet in a single day and grasped grammar without much difficulty."

Han San puffed out his chest.

"He's my little brother. Of course he's impressive."

"Mm." Namgung Eok dismissed the doting older brother with a cough and got to the point. "That said... could you refrain from using English from now on?"

"Sorry?"

"The English pronunciation you use from time to time... well. It could have a rather bad influence on the children's education. Your brother is especially bright, you see... Young Han San, please try to understand."

"Wh-why...?"

Han San looked dejected. Still, when it involved his brother, he didn't make trouble for no reason.

"All right. I'll only use English where the children can't hear me."

Namgung Eok looked half relieved and half as though something were caught in his throat. In truth, he wished this young man would never speak English again.

And that he would never make puns again, either.

'Other than those two things, he's such a perfect young man...'

No, were there really only two things?

'I wish he would do something about those strange clothes he occasionally wears. And I wish he would stop treating murder as one of the obvious options by saying things like [Then should we bury them where nobody will see?] in the middle of a perfectly normal conversation, and...'

Namgung Eok shook his head with a sigh.

'Enough. Young people have their own paths to walk.'

Wasn't it already a great enough virtue that he had stopped him from speaking English in front of the children?

"Then I'll go prepare for class."

"Yes, Principal!"

At this point, Han San thought the orphanage and school matters were nearly wrapped up.

They weren't. There was still a little more to settle.

When he stopped by Inje, Go Tae-chon, the head chef of Han-ga Restaurant's Special Mackerel Division, approached him hesitantly.

"Um... Sajang Han... sir? Jin-dong wants to try attending that school you're running too, you see. Of course, I'll pay the tuition..."

Choi Seo-bang, the kitchen assistant, also sidled over.

"Could Manbok perhaps attend too...? Of course, he's almost grown and already working, but I'd be grateful if he could learn for even one year..."

As they spoke, Go Tae-chon and Choi Seo-bang looked at each other.

Even though they had worked together for several months, their relationship was honestly nothing special.

Yet the same thought passed through both their minds.

'There's a school nearby where we can send the children... and our circumstances have improved some, too...'

'Honestly, when I heard it used to be an orphanage crawling with beggar brats, I thought it was a terrible idea... but the sajang even enrolled his own brother there...'

Separating the orphanage from the academy had naturally created the effect of [The food from my restaurant is safe enough to feed my family].

Whatever the reason, Han San burst out laughing and welcomed them.

"Come on, why are you being so careful? Of course they can attend. Manbok too. Didn't I raise your wages, Uncle Choi? You should be able to manage four years of tuition for one child. Even if you're short, I'll give you a hefty employee family discount."

If the children of Sebeom Valley received an education, highly skilled people would eventually pour forth from his own land.

Even without that calculation, the seventy-four-year-old at heart thought it was simply, unquestionably a good thing.

'Children should play and learn.'

They would end up working whether they wanted to or not once they grew older.

Until then, he sincerely hoped they could spend their irreplaceable youth as children should. Having lived through Korea's modern history firsthand, he truly wished it for them.

"Hm, let's see. It shouldn't only be your children... Hold on."

When Han San visited Sebeom Valley, he conducted a complete survey.

"Who wants to go to school?

You remember those kids who came and played at the festival last time, right? It's the school they attend..."

In this era, especially in slash-and-burn villages, an opportunity to receive a proper education was precious. Middle Hamlet and Lower Hamlet, which had steadily developed under Han San's leadership, could now easily afford their children's education.

The response was explosive.

"Me! I want to go too, San hyung!"

"Me too! Me too!"

Requests poured in from the parents as well.

"Can my child attend too, Sajang?!"

"Goodness, an employee family tuition discount! You're truly a young master of virtue!"

There were even prospective students from parts of Upper Hamlet.

"Um... Sajang Han? Could Hyeok perhaps..."

Naturally, Han San didn't refuse. He accepted everyone who wanted to come.

The one thing he hadn't expected was for Shin Cheol-min, Yun Cheom-ji's sixteen-year-old maternal grandson, to smile bitterly and decline.

"I really want to go too, but... I have a lot to do."

Shin Cheol-min now lived in the old estate where Yun Cheom-ji had resided. He glanced at the detached men's quarters in one corner of the yard before continuing.

"There's work around the house, and work for the village too...

I'm truly grateful for the offer, and I'm interested in the school. But I don't think now is the right time."

Han San raised an eyebrow.

He looked at the boy who was only sixteen yet already served as one of Upper Hamlet's leading figures, then spoke.

"Hey. Don't overdo it. You're still just a kid."

"..."

"If you need help, tell me anytime. Don't suffer in silence until you get sick."

The boy who had been a young politician among Baekbeom's followers in Han San's previous life opened his mouth, closed it, then smiled faintly and nodded.

"...Thank you, San hyung."

"Mm."

Han San didn't press him further. It would have been rude to stick his nose too deeply into someone else's family affairs.

And so.

Han San returned with nearly all the children of Sebeom Valley.

Naturally, there wasn't enough room in the dormitories.

Namgung Eok sighed.

"It seems we'll have to build quite a few more dormitories."

Han San grinned.

"Leave putting up the buildings to me. This is a remote corner, so land is cheap."

"A remote corner..."

"Oh. When we build the dorms, let's have the children help out a little too. It'll be a chance to see whether they're learning civil engineering properly."

It was an era before the term child exploitation existed, and Han San, the only person there who had lived in an era where it did exist, didn't consider it child exploitation either. So a dreadful sight unfolded near Han-ga Academy's dormitories, with little children wandering around the construction site carrying bricks.

"Use your glutes, not your back or knees!"

"What one person can't carry, two can! What two can't carry, three can!"

Of course, Han San wasn't some kind of demon.

The fact that people occasionally suspected him of being one was something the seventy-four-year-old at heart found deeply unfair.

Whenever the children joined the work, Han San personally stepped in to direct them.

"Your hard hat is your head! Just as you don't leave your head behind, don't leave your hard hat behind either!"

He strictly enforced construction-site safety equipment rules.

"The only joint you may put to work is your hip joint! Every other joint! Your knees! Elbows! Shoulders! Treat every joint like your master!"

Having once been old, he also gave practical, heartfelt advice on how to use one's body.

"This is more fun than studying!"

"Me too! I like being with Chairman hyung!"

The children who found greater satisfaction in physical work than in reading enjoyed themselves as though they were on a picnic.

Of course, there were those on the other side too.

"I-I'm tired..."

"How did we end up... why are we doing this...?"

The students currently at Han-ga Academy weren't all former beggar-gang orphans or children from Sebeom Valley. Some students from Methodist families who had attended Mogok School before it closed still remained.

Most of those students were introverted. They were the type who, in a future elementary school, would stand around the goalposts chatting when told, "You lot play soccer among yourselves this period."

Naturally, being told to carry bricks and mix cement could only make such children groan.

But then.

"Everyone! Listen to my brother and do it together!"

Han Bada, whose civil-official aptitude was probably eighty points higher than his military-official aptitude, comforted and led them.

The children, who weren't regressors, naturally couldn't recognize the irony of Han Bada, who had become a teacher in Han San's previous life, now working hard as a budding laborer. Still, they were moved by something else.

"Isn't he the chairman's actual little brother?"

"Really?"

The fact that someone like him had come here, put on the same work clothes, and rolled around in the dirt alongside everyone else meant something even to the children.

Even the former beggar-gang children who had initially disliked Han Bada began to see him differently.

"Hey! San hyung's real little brother! Your skin's so pale that I thought you were some soft scholar, but you're not bad!"

Han Seok-bong, one of the leaders among the beggar-gang children, approached and spoke. Perhaps because of the spiritual fortune brought by his new name, he had shown talent in calligraphy. Sadly for someone named after a famous calligrapher, he preferred physical work.

Han Bada stopped Han Su-jeong, who was quietly moving to stand in front of him, then stepped forward and puffed out his chest before Han Seok-bong.

"You're all my little siblings, aren't you? I can't slack off in front of my little siblings."

Han Seok-bong paused, then glared at him.

"You little brat! I'm older than you!"

Han Bada didn't blink.

"I'm my brother's first little brother, so all of you are my little siblings!"

"You...!"

Han Seok-bong ground his teeth but couldn't do anything further.

He would feel bad toward San hyung, his benefactor, if he touched Han Bada. And he was afraid of what that unhinged girl, Han Su-jeong, might do.

There were several reasons, but the biggest was something else.

'Since he's the first little brother, we're all his little siblings...'

Didn't that mean he was acknowledging all of them as San hyung's little siblings?

And Han Bada, San hyung's own brother, had said it himself.

Something tickled inside his chest, but Han Seok-bong was at precisely that awkward age when he couldn't honestly admit such feelings.

"Hmph! Anyway, keep working hard!"

"You too!"

And so.

Three dormitories were built, with child labor serving as one of the pillars supporting the construction.

"We will teach children from villages worthy of that name."

One was Tiger Dormitory, centered on the children of Sebeom Valley.

"We will teach the children with the deepest faith."

One was Eagle Dormitory, centered on children who had originally attended Mogok School.

"We will teach those children equally."

One was Badger Dormitory, centered on the former beggar-gang children.

And then.

"We will teach only children of the purest bloodlines."

Serpent Dormitory, which would primarily take in the children of Japanese settlers, would be established as well.

It would be much later that all four dormitories competed each year for the top rank at Han-ga Academy. Still, even with only three dormitories at present, one fact was certain.

The British Empire, currently enjoying its greatest prosperity since its founding and enthusiastically looting cultures, had unknowingly had a piece of future culture stolen from it.

Again, no one could hold a man who regressed before seeing the nineties responsible, so this theft should be considered nothing more than fate's mischief.

The calendar turned.

That day, the regressor stood before Meokbawi Valley with his arms folded. Hajama Ayame stood beside him.

"Miss, thank you."

"Mhm. It was our promise!"

"Still. Well, then..."

Han San raised his head and looked ahead.

While the school dormitories were under construction, the area around Meokbawi Valley had also been cleared bit by bit.

Before Meokbawi Valley, where only the main construction remained, elite miners brought in from Hongcheon's Sohlim Mine through Ayame's connections had unloaded heavy equipment.

'At last.'

It had been a long road.

He had done so much, truly so much.

The days ahead would be just as long, carrying even more work within them.

Yet with this sight before him, Han San knew he could handle those coming days and tasks too. He pressed down the swelling in his chest and said,

"Let's begin!"

The Meokbawi Valley construction project to prepare for the Great Flood of the Gap-sul Year officially began in earnest.

It was April 7, 1934.

Exactly one year had passed since Han San regressed.

Footnotes:

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried