Born As The Daughter Of A Lowly Concubine [EN]: Chapter 242

After what felt like an eternity of being bothered by the men, Cheonho finally managed to break free and return to me just as I finished my cup of tea.

‘He kept glancing over here, probably worried,’ I thought.

There were always staff members present in the arcade, so there wasn’t much to worry about.

Due to the potential for accidents, the archery range was more heavily staffed than other areas.

“I apologize for leaving my post.”

“It’s fine. You weren’t far away.”

“Still…”

Cheonho seemed subdued, probably because Soi was glaring at him silently from behind me.

Hmm. Soi has been following me for a while and has gained some experience, so she’s become a bit intimidating.

The maids at the residence whisper about it.

“It seems like it’s the first time Cheonho has met someone he knew from before. He could have stayed longer.”

“No. I was worried something might happen if I took my eyes off you.”

Cheonho shook his head firmly.

Without looking back, I could picture Soi behind me nodding in agreement.

I changed the subject.

“Are those people hunters?”

“Well… they are former *Chakhogun* [elite soldiers specializing in hunting] who were colleagues of my uncle. As far as I know, they retired a while ago. They might look like ordinary neighborhood men, but their skills are… decent.”

His expression didn’t look so decent.

“That’s too much.”

“I know, right? That young one has always been hopeless.”

The men who had stealthily followed Cheonho muttered behind him, but Cheonho pretended not to hear, which was a little funny.

As I chuckled, the men behind Cheonho seemed to notice and poked him in the back, asking in a low voice.

“Hey, by the way, who is this young lady?”

“Be careful what you say, she’s a very precious young lady.”

At those words, the men who had been acting friendly suddenly trembled with excitement.

“Wow. You’ve landed yourself a good position.”

“I don’t know if I should say that…”

Cheonho gave a vague answer with a subtle expression.

*Does he have a complaint about this job?*

Cheonho shook his head, misinterpreting my gaze.

“Don’t worry about it. They’re not people the young lady would know.”

Unnecessarily firm.

The men behind him also looked fed up and muttered among themselves again.

“That rude fellow.”

“Well, he’s always been good to young children…”

Cheonho doesn’t seem to have a good reputation with the older men.

“Cheonho has always been good to kids, huh?”

As I showed interest, the men seized the opportunity and subtly pushed Cheonho aside, answering my question.

“Of course. He might seem a bit cheeky, but he’s always been good to kids younger and smaller than him.”

“He would go and help kids carrying heavy things or handling their prey, and teach them.”

Cheonho, who was listening from the side, had a disgruntled look on his face.

“Of course, I should help children since they are children. It would be more creepy if I was only nice to you old men.”

“…That’s true.”

The men nodded in agreement.

Well, that’s also true.

*Come to think of it, when I was kidnapped, he heard that a child had been kidnapped and rushed to help without even knowing who it was.*

The men subtly spoke to Cheonho again.

“Maybe that’s why the kids miss you so much after you left.”

“Probably because you guys bully them.”

“Hey, we didn’t bully them that much.”

“You guys are violent, and when you teach, you only tell them to learn by watching, as if you’d get hurt if you explained it. And you scold them when they fail.”

It was a common teaching method of this era.

“So, you taught each of them individually?”

“If you explain it well, there will be fewer failures. Because they are scared, they can’t even say they don’t know and hesitate, which causes accidents. Think about how much leather and meat is wasted because of that.”

“Humph. Do you think they’ll listen just because you’re nice to them?”

“Growing up under old men who curse and yell, the kids don’t listen, and they just curse and yell too.”

“A man should curse a little! Always acting so high and mighty.”

“…That’s why you’re not popular.”

“What!”

“I’m saying you’re not popular with the children, why are you getting so angry about it now?”

*This guy, he knows how to be sarcastic.*

But why are they fighting over differences in educational methods here?

For reference, Siyoungwon’s educational method was designed to maximize efficiency, so it didn’t suit those men very well.

They had to teach quickly and send them to the field as soon as possible. Anyway, there are things you learn on the job.

But this town probably doesn’t know that field well, so it’s different.

“Hee.”

I was quite intrigued, and a sound of admiration escaped my lips, causing the two men to stiffen.

“…”

“…”

The two men seemed to finally realize my presence and stopped talking.

I spoke to them in turn to end the meaningless argument.

“Cheonho likes kids.”

“I don’t particularly like them. It’s just that they are much smaller and weaker than me. Hmm. Actually, even if they are the same age, most of them are smaller and weaker than me.”

Wow, confident but a bit annoying.

“Then did everyone come here from other regions?”

“Ah, yes. That’s right, young lady.”

The former *Chakhogun* answered with delight when I spoke to him again.

*Even so, it doesn’t seem like Cheonho’s relationship with them is that bad. It wouldn’t hurt to know them.*

Even if they are not *Chakhogun* now, considering the hiring conditions of *Chakhogun*, these people were not ordinary people.

“What’s there to see here?”

“Everyone knows about Siwolgak, Siyoung Park, and this arcade. Besides, we can read the newspapers. The newspapers keep mentioning this place. Anyone who has read the newspaper even a few times would want to come here.”

“Really?”

“Yes, they say they will definitely visit once with the money they have saved up.”

That’s usually what they say about visiting Mount Kumgang [a famous scenic mountain in Korea].

I always included promotional pages when printing the newspaper, so it seems it was worth it.

In the future, should I look for celebrities among the regulars and get recommendations?

It was Cheonho who poured cold water on the heartwarming customer review time.

“Don’t trust them too much. They just came to have fun. Besides, they give out lottery tickets when you buy food here. It might be worth trying for fun.”

“Hmm. They draw once a month.”

Currently, they are only distributed to people who buy food, but they plan to conduct a demand survey and switch to sales.

“Ah, then you must have come from other regions, does the food here suit your taste?”

“Of course. It was delicious.”

“What do you like the most?”

“The food sold in the restaurant is good, but I like the sweets sold here.”

“Me too.”

I thought they liked sweets because they were a bit old, but in this era, sweets were just rare.

While full-fledged food and alcohol were prohibited in the arcade, tea and sweets were exceptions.

People who play mind games like Go or chess need sugar, those who move their bodies like archery need hydration, and those who gather for meetings need refreshments.

They couldn’t sell *Gamran Jeonbyeong* [a type of Korean honey cake] like Siwolgak, but they sold simple refreshments.

I called the clerk who was waiting for customers to call.

“Did you call?”

“Yes. I’ll pay for it, so bring enough drinks and snacks for these people to eat.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“!”

The men’s eyes widened at my large order.

“Since you say you know Cheonho, I’ll buy it. It would be nice if you could eat as much as you want since you came all the way here.”

“T, thank you, young lady!”

“Wow. The young lady is very generous.”

The men surrounded Cheonho with gratitude and asked for job referrals.

“Cheonho. Can you introduce me to that young lady? You’re her bodyguard, right?”

“…I’ll introduce you to my uncle later. But why did you really come all the way here?”

“Ah, I came after seeing the newspaper. They said they give prize money if you’re good at archery. I’m pretty good at archery, aren’t I?”

“There are many people who are good at archery in Hanyang [the capital city].”

“Aren’t you being a bit too much?”

“I’m just telling the truth.”

Cheonho was cold, but listening to the conversation, I realized something.

“Ah.”

That’s right. *Chakhogun* specialize in strong bows, but of course, their accuracy would be high too.

*Should I put some restrictions on the qualifications in the future?*

If those who passed the military examination came, it would be a massacre of the common people. Usually, they have too much pride to participate in something like this, but you never know.

*By the way, Cheonho is quite sarcastic.*

Come to think of it, he confessed everything about Siyoungwon’s work to me last time. Compared to other people, he was quite obedient to me.

Not long after I ordered, the refreshments I ordered arrived, and the men quickly devoured them before grabbing their bows again.

“I’ll show you my archery skills since I got a free meal today!”

“Ooh!!”

As the men boasted, everyone’s accuracy was above average, so the atmosphere around them heated up.

“Hey, cocky kid! You seemed a bit dull earlier, should I teach you a thing or two?”

“Even if I’m dull, I’m not at the level where I need to learn from you.”

“Are you backing out?”

“Of course not.”

Why do old men want to tease kids like that?

“Don’t do that, go and play with them.”

“No, that’s a bit…”

“You’re not really worried about losing, are you?”

Cheonho had a sullen look on his face as if asking why they were doing this to him, but he reluctantly stepped forward and grabbed a bow.

“Anyone who misses the target is disqualified.”

“Yes, yes.”

Although he had a listless face, when Cheonho stepped forward, a few more people stepped forward. They didn’t want to lose to a young kid.

*There’s even someone covering their face with silk.*

It seems uncomfortable, is it okay?

Of course, it was a useless worry. As expected of people who came out with confidence, they were all hitting the center every time they shot.

“Who do you think will win?”

“Isn’t it the old man who looks experienced?”

“I saw that the big kid was shooting well earlier.”

“I’ll bet on the guy covering his face.”

It seemed like betting had started in the back, but I pretended not to hear it.

“Soi, aren’t you going to shoot more?”

“I did enough earlier. Don’t you want to try, young lady?”

Soi asked cautiously, but I shook my head.

Seeing the arrows full of power sticking into the target, I didn’t want to shoot.

“Hmm. I seem a bit tired these days, so I’m okay.”

At my words, the people around me burst into laughter.

It must be funny to hear a young-looking girl say that.

*I’m working so hard to manage this place that my back is breaking.*

Still, I’m glad the sales are good.

I knew to some extent from the reports, but I liked that there were many people here and, above all, that women were actively shooting or chatting together.

This was thanks to the fact that there were many female employees and promoters from Siyoungwon, so it wasn’t burdensome to come here.

I heard that there are many couples who secretly date here while pretending not to. According to the staff, they saw several people exchanging glances while pretending to watch Go [a strategy board game].

*Should I increase the number of sports games?*

And I think we need to crack down on unhealthy relationships.

While I was worrying about management, one of the employees approached Soi and whispered something.

And Soi relayed the message to me again.

“Young lady, just a moment…”

“?”

The manager wanted to see me.

“Hmm. I’ll go.”

The moment I got up with my answer, the surroundings stirred.

Of course, it wasn’t because of me.