[1] Meet the Magic (1)

“Eung-aeng. Ugh.”

Vincent woke up frowning. The cry of a newborn baby was heard in the quiet mountain where even the birds slept.

“Eung-aeng. Ugh.”

Even as she brushed her messy hair and rubbed her sleepy eyes, the sad story of the baby continued.

“God, what did I do so wrong?”

Vincent got out of bed and looked back at his wife, who had fallen asleep. I hoped she was having her happy dreams. If she hears this, she will be in trouble.

The Vincent couple, who had been married for 7 years, had no children. She had visited her clinic at great expense, but all she said was that she couldn’t figure out the cause.

“There is such a thing as inner compatibility. It’s just that. Neither Olina nor you seem to have any problems, so try it several times. chuckle!”

Vincent also burst out laughing at first. It was also true that Geumseul improved thanks to the doctor’s prescription.

However, after 5 years of marriage, I had no choice but to admit it.

He couldn’t have children.

His wife, Olina, never once expressed regret. But sometimes, when she looked at the other house’s children with a lonely expression, Vincent couldn’t be so resentful of his lower body.

“It’s not like some Ssangnum’s Shiki is salting people!”

Due to the nature of their job as hunters, most of them build houses in the mountains. This is because you have to check traps every hour and you need a base camp in the mountains to track wild animals for days and days.

No one is looking for the hunter’s house at this hour. Unable to deny the possibility of a thief, Vincent took a single-edged ax and went out the door.

“who is this! The one who makes noise at night!”

Vincent shouted so that the mountain roared. He returned with no one answering and only his shouts echoing.

It could have been a merchant who handles special products, but no matter how much I looked around, I couldn’t find a common torch.

Vincent became even more nervous and gripped the ax handle tightly. Then he moved slowly, following the baby’s cries.

The sound was coming from the stables.

The possibility of being a thief is high. I’ve heard in the slash-and-burn village that people who plunder property targeting people living alone in the mountains are rampant.

“You rotten bastard! I’ll cut you up!”

In the worst case scenario, you will have no choice but to see blood.

With that determination, Vincent opened the stable door. At the same time, he looked inside with the excellent senses of a mountaineer.

Purr.

Hearing the horse’s peaceful galling calmed me somewhat. Because animals don’t lie.

The stable where the two horses were sleeping was narrow and small. So there was nowhere to hide. Surprisingly, there was no sign of anyone entering.

“But what about the cries?”

Vincent moved quietly and looked at the straw mats. Her newborn baby, a couple of months old, was crying.

I hid the ax behind my back in an unknown sanctity. Then, thinking that this was disrespectful, I threw it into a corner and crawled to the baby.

“Eung-aeng. Ugh.”

When I opened the wrapper with my clumsy hand, there was a baby as pretty as a moon. An innocent baby who knows nothing and has just touched the air of the world.

Vincent’s eyes trembled. Then he shook his body as if he had been struck by lightning and, unable to control his emotions, bolted out of the stall.

“who is this! who’s kidding! Abandoning a child, you rotten bastard! Come out quickly!”

An echo echoed as if several people were speaking.

“come out! really not coming out? How could you abandon a child! you really are a bastard! know?”

He pressed again, but no one answered.

“You really threw it away! No more chances! Just show up in front of me later! I’ll turn your face into rice cake!”

Vincent shouted in the loudest voice of his life. This is because, in the distant future, when he recalled this day, he did not want to leave any regrets behind.

Vincent went back into the stable. He was exhausted from crying, so the child fell asleep. Holding the baby in his trembling hands, he gently put his ear to his small chest.

heart was beating

“Honey, what’s going on?”

His wife, Olina, came into the stables panting. It was so loud that Vincent’s voice made him completely sleepless.

Vincent stared blankly at his wife as if speechless, then showed her the child sleeping in her arms.

“What is that child?”

“that is… … It must be our child.”

* * *

Early summer, when the greenery was rampant.

Vincent hummed and hurried along the path where the cold stream flowed. A large elk slung over his shoulder, but as a giant, his movements were light.

As they approached the house, their gait quickened. The faces of the precious family members were already in my eyes.

“Sirone, Dad is here!”

“dad!”

A 12-year-old boy burst into a big smile and ran to the front door. Unlike the rugged, rock-like Vincent, Sirone has grown into a beautiful boy, as if God had given special care to him.

Her hair flowing like golden threads, her blue eyes, and her sharp nose even though she was still immature made her look like a doll. Whenever he sees his son, Vincent snorts and puts strength on his shoulders.

Holding Sirone in his arms, he buried his face in his son’s neck and took a deep breath. His son’s body odor cleared away the tiredness of the long hike.

“Yes, my son. my treasure. How have you been?”

“yes. I helped my mom cook and read a lot of books.”

cooking and books.

Feeling the incongruity between the two words, Vincent was embarrassed. But he didn’t show it, and let out his wild laugh.

“Are the books that good?”

“No, that… … There is nothing else to do.”

Seeing his son hide his emotions as if he had done something wrong, Vincent felt sorry and sorry.

In fact, he knew too. That the heaven-given miracle child is unusually clever.

Olina could read a little, but she was a mountaineer’s wife anyway. Even so, Sirone groped for the letters he knew only with his learning, and now he has reached the level of reading a book by himself.

So it hurt even more.

A hunter’s son cannot study.

Herbalist’s children become herbivores, and hunter’s children become hunters.

Even the most insignificant job has its secrets and tricks that cannot be conveyed bare-mouthed. Hunting skills were all poor Vincent could pass on to his son.

But Vincent couldn’t help but keep his mouth shut. Twelve years old is too young to tell you about the unfairness of the world.

“No, good job. No matter what you do, you have to learn how to succeed. When Dad goes to the city this time, I’ll buy him a book.”

“are you okay. You’ve bought a lot so far. And, in fact, there was nothing at all.”

Vincent laughed at his son’s bluff. He bought books discarded by the aristocrats at a bargain price at an antique shop, unable to afford practical books that cost money because they were too expensive. I don’t know, but it wasn’t a book that a child could digest.

Vincent felt heartbroken and torn at the son’s mentality of worrying about his parents’ livelihood first.

“okay! How are you anyway? Shall we go to the woods with Daddy? It’s important to learn, but a man who doesn’t know anything needs to have stamina. Dad will teach you how to chop wood today.”

“wow! Then will you give me an ax too?”

“Chuck! of course! Let’s cut down all the trees in the mountain with Daddy today!”

Vincent gave Sirone an axe as if he had been waiting. Compared to housekeeping, it is more expensive, but it is much more useful than a book. Because the ax allows you to make money.

With an honest heart, he hoped that his son would become a mountaineer. However, Sirone was dwarfed by his peers, so it seemed unlikely that he would be able to do the tough stuff. So he was thinking of improving his stamina from now on.

‘Your face is flowing and your hair is outstanding. Could it be that he was the son of a noble?’

Vincent hurriedly erased the question in his head. Every time he thought about it, he felt like he had been given a gift that overflowed his heart.

‘Sirone is my child. He is not a child brought from a stable, but a child with my own blood.’

After making that promise, Vincent took Sirone’s hand and left the house.

His logging area was one kilometer away from the cabin.

There are many mountaineers nearby, so if you work outside the designated area, fights may break out. In severe cases, it even led to knife fighting.

“ruler. I will give you a demonstration, so watch carefully and follow along.”

Vincent spat on the palm of his hand and then began chopping the tree with relief. Shortly after the thump thump, a straight tree cracked over.

The number of strikes with an ax was a measure of a woodcutter’s skill. Vincent was not a woodcutter, so he knocked him down with an ax 10 times, but that alone was a great skill.

“If you dig the same place several times in this way and then tilt the tree, it will not be able to withstand the weight and will fall over. can you do it?”

“Yes, I will try.”

Vincent chose a tree that Sirone could dig. Facing the tree, Sirone spat in his hand, just like his dad did. Even though he had only seen him once, the position and posture of holding the axe and even the habit of rubbing his palms were identical.

Vincent laughed heartily, thinking that he was also clever.

However, when he tried to swing the axe, his posture was sloppy.

It’s not something you can do with just your head. Strength and stamina must be supported. The weight of the ax was considerable, and strong muscular strength was required to wield it enough to cut through the wind.

The reason Vincent came out to cut wood was because Sirone was smaller than her peers.

If you are destined not to become a scholar, you must at least develop your strength. Because no woman would try to get her wedding to a man who couldn’t make money.

“profit! urg!”

Sirone gritted his teeth and swung the axe. However, each time he swung, his hitting point was different.

Vincent, who was worse off, gave me a trick.

“You can’t use up all your strength. Instead of reducing the force just a little, try increasing the accuracy.”

Sirone quickly absorbed Vincent’s advice. But this time, the strength was so weak that it showed no signs of breaking.

Was my son this weak?

Vincent was a bit sullen.

“Whoa, that’s hard.”

“It’s okay, Sirone. No, I’m sorry. To be honest, I know this doesn’t suit you. But the hunter’s son, inevitably… … .”

Vincent was speechless with a broken heart. How heartbreaking is the heart of parents who have to convey the harsh reality to their children.

“You are such a clever kid. Smarter than the herbalist’s son, Baron, and the fruit seller’s daughter, Stella. There is no need to be intimidated by the fact that you are weak. my greed for you… … .”

Tears welled up in Vincent’s eyes. But Sirone didn’t care about that and asked while pulling her father’s collar.

“More than that, Dad, how can I dig a tree well?”

Vincent was slightly embarrassed.

But the embarrassment was short-lived, and when Sirone showed interest in chopping wood, a sense of exhilaration flooded in.

“Do you really want to learn this?”

“Yes, please teach me. fun.”

My son’s words gave me courage again. Vincent was about to plant and took Sirone to examine the grooves of the tree.

“Now look at this groove here. Strength comes naturally when you become an adult. But in fact, it doesn’t require a lot of strength. What matters is the command. Earlier, it was said to hit the same place, but if you twist the angle a little more than that, you will receive a much greater force.”

“Oh, I see.”

Vincent opened his eyes wide and stared at the groove his son had made. He was pretty amazing. It’s hard to believe he’s a beginner, so he hit exactly the same spot.

If it was this way, it would be difficult to fall down the tree unless it was a fairly strong bone.