Mercenary Black Mamba

Mussang's cold eyes were fixed firmly upon Bak Inbo. The definition of the noun 'forgiveness' is 'to overlook someone's wrongdoing or fault without criticizing or punishing'. It means forgiveness belongs in a highly subjective area between the relevant parties.

Someone beyond such moral boundaries utters the word 'forgiveness' too hastily. 'Forgiveness is the true revenge.' 'No human has the right to blame others.' To even dare to make such outrageous claims is insanity. When they are wronged themselves, they wouldn't mention forgiveness quickly.

Forgiveness demands a contrite apology to express remorse. Hegel said the etymology of the word 'forgiveness' is the same as 'resignation'. Without first obtaining an apology, forgiveness is hypocrisy and illusory placation through defeated acceptance of being wronged without retaliation or vengeance. To put it gravely, the last resort for the weak is forgiveness. When one had the power to avenge oneself, one didn't need to resort to forgiveness.

"Are you telling me to forgive your wife and daughter, who haven't offered a single word of apology?"

Mussang asked slowly.

"..."

Bak Inbo found it challenging to answer. He had seen the same eyes when Utak wronged him more than a dozen years ago. Then, those eyes harbored rage or, instead, ridicule. The pesticide bottles were shattered entirely, and a fragment had slashed his forehead. The same eyes had glinted amongst the lethal blue pesticide and red blood that had covered his face. Jang Pilnyeo, ordinarily stoic, had hurriedly ran out of the barn with Utak.

"Uncle, do you remember Aunt Bak-sil?"

Mussang asked in an abrupt burst of nostalgia. Bak-sil was the sister of Uncle Samchul. She went through an ordeal in the South Seas as a comfort woman and returned to Korea 20 years after the Liberation. The left half of her face distorted, and her nose collapsed and caved in. Her hobbling gait did not help her ugly appearance. Nevertheless, she would wield her fist at the sky and yell with all of her might.

She returned home after all the years, but adults shunned her, deeming her unclean like an accursed leper. Children called her names like 'evil hag' and ignored her too. Her only friend was his mother. The women in the town would gossip that the witch and the prostitute had become friends.

When Mussang left Jipeun Dari, Bak-sil drowned herself in the Nakdong River in summer. She couldn't endure being shunned by her townsfolk and relatives. She belonged to the dark history of Jipeun Dari, where many people shared the same surname.

"The woman who made quite some noise in the town?"

Bak Inbo was bewildered by the mention of an undesirable character. He could not read Mussang's intent, who suddenly mentioned the unpleasant incident.

"Do you also think she was a prostitute?"

"Well, even though she didn't intend for it, she was a whore to the Japanese…."

Bak Inbo looked at Mussang and couldn't finish his sentence. His nephew could have ended up as a judge or a prosecutor had he not been expelled. The perpetrator, Jang Pilnyeo, ruined his life by framing him for rape. He didn't feel like he could judge anyone.

"That's a shame. Every adult in the town thought so. I am not blaming just you, Uncle. I still remember the words Ms. Bak said, shedding tears, next to my mother. After being dragged to Palembang in the South Seas, she had to take dozens of Japanese soldiers per day. If we allocate 10 minutes per soldier, it adds up to seven hours. Since most Japanese men suffer from premature ejaculation, it would have been shorter. When she got malaria and requested a day off. she was kicked in the face with a boot and had her face collapse. She is a victim, condemned to hell against her will. Was she a prostitute? Could she ever forgive the offenders who brutally deprived and fleeced her of her femininity, youth, and beauty? Do you remember what her will said?"

Mussang stopped talking and stared at Bak Inbo. Bak Inbo's tongue felt prickly. How could he forget? The incident had distressed aggrieved the whole town.

[I am killing myself because I couldn't avenge myself when I still lived. I resent the Japanese as much as I resent my relatives. What did I do wrong? Why should I be pointed at and called morally reprobate? The elders of my family sent me to be a whore to the Japanese soldiers to avoid delivering goods to the Japanese government. They are worse than the Japanese soldiers. I will become a ghost and haunt the Bak family who didn't heed a word I said and only insulted me.]

When the suicide note was discovered, Jipeun Dari was distraught. Bak-sil was Bak Inbo's cousin in the 10th degree and a year younger than him. There were nine people that Bak-sil would have referred to as elders. After her suicide, the people who were possibly targeted by her grudge gathered money and hired a shaman to console her soul. There was quite a commotion.

Bak-sil was a victim of the circumstances of the era. She had no power, so she had to be dragged to a faraway foreign country and had her being ravaged. She survived everything and returned home, but no one treated her as a human being. Bak-sil had protested to claim her innocence through her suicide, but no one heeded it either.

All it led to was the gloomy atmosphere and air in the town. Whenever someone died or a disease spread, rumor said that it was Bak-sil's deed. A shaman was hired. Everyone only cared about their family and sought to evade the ghost's wrath. Most humans are selfish and self-centered, but the Baks in Jipeun Dari were extreme in their levels of haughty arrogance or vain conceitedness. That's why Mussang dismissed the relatives in Jipeun Dari.

Bak Inbo then understood why Mussang mentioned Bak-sil. His nephew had criticized him for neglecting his role as the head of the family. He also said he had to go through the ordeal because he was as powerless and helpless as Bak-sil.

"I know what you mean. I find it hard to ask you to forgive my wife, who even touched Jinbo's remains. But that woman is mentally ill. Will you kill a lunatic and be labeled a murderer? Hwaja ended up as a drug addict and is missing. Please understand how distraught I must feel like her father."

"Justice always takes the side of the strong. Your wife was never a weakling."

Mussang remembered the most devastating and vexatious moment of his life. He still remembers every word of the verdict.

[The defendant is guilty of seducing and afflicting sexual violence upon a minor. He is responsible for a lot of things. Considering that he is repentant, has no criminal records, and has settled with the victim, I sentence him to two years in prison. However, the sentence will be reprieved for four years, starting from the effective date of the verdict. I forbid the press from divulging his name to protect his identity.]

That was the verdict read by the judge of the appeals court. He still vividly recalled the calm, aloof face of the judge reading the verdict, sitting on his high seat. Before he could feel resentful, he was dumbstruck. It was illegal for them to jail him for 200 days without any verdict. If Yuan Haowen hadn't bribed the relevant officials, the reprieval would never happen.

Had Kang Min-seok been a judge's daughter, would he have given them a reprieval and protected his identity? He was more than willing to behead him if there were such a judge. He hated hypocrites more than criminals. Mussang could have ended up like Auntie Bak-sil had he not had his strength and resolve.

Bak Inbo felt a sense of deep sorrow. Considering Mussang's personality, his wife and daughter were already dead. He wasn't concerned with his wife but with his nephew and daughter. He didn't dare to see his nephew killing his daughter. Even though she ended up a mess, she was still his child. If his nephew killed her, his family could be considered wholly ruined.

"Bloodshed in the family ends up a perpetual burden on your heart. My wife's family is about to collapse. If she married a Bak, she should be a Bak, but she remained a Jang. When her family collapses, that will be it for her too. I am quite petty indeed. When a person reaches 50, they are supposed to know the world's workings. Let alone that, I abused my young nephew and couldn't keep my wife. I have lived a life in vain."

An expression of futility descended upon Bak Inbo's face. An evil plan lit up in Mussang's head. He was not like the helpless Auntie Bak Malnyeon. There was an apt punishment for psychopaths.

"You will witness no bloodshed."

"Thank you."

Bak Inbo's face lit up with cheer.

"Death may be a better fate."

"That's not my business."

The target was not spelled out clearly, but Bak Inbo answered in joy. He didn't want Mussang's soul to be hurt by the violence he may afflict. Bak Inbo pressed on the intercom.

"Ayeong, bring that thing in."

Jeong Ayeong handed him a faded envelope and exited the room.

"Take it. My days are numbered. I have a multitude of regrets. This is one of my greatest regrets."

"What is this?"

"This is some money I prepared for your schooling and living expenses. I had heard late how you barely survived the mine in Mungyeong. I had the money prepared then, but I couldn't hand it to you because I had no courage. Considering your personality, you wouldn't have taken it even if I gave it to you, would you have?"

"You know me well!"

Mussang laughed heartily. When he left Jipeun Dari, he vowed never to do with the whole place.

"Each year, I added some money. Now it is a significant sum. It should sustain you until you graduate. I don't know how much you made being a mercenary but take it as my apology."

Bak Inbo thought Mussang was going to college with his money as a mercenary. What face would he make if he knew that he was as rich as to be able to make a scholarship for thousands of students and pay for their tuition and lunch?

Mussang lowered his gaze at the time-weathered envelope. Even though their relationship was strained, he was still his relative. He wasn't moved emotionally, but his heart warmed nevertheless.

He had once stubbornly insisted that his father release the hare caught in the trap his father had installed. When he saw the fearful round eyes of the animal, his pity subdued his appetite for the meat.

"Your mother needs meat…." His father, perplexed, had released the hare. Instead, one of the familiar rabbits that Mussang fed each day went into the pot. When he impulsively spared the hare, he had to pay for it with one of his rabbit friend's life. He didn't know if his father intended it or he needed meat, but the lesson had stayed with him to this day.

It was all he needed to forgive his uncle. When he used Dimensional Sight and Magic Eye, he could see the bacteria swarming greedily about food. The pores on Jinsun's face looked like caverns, and the sebum and keratin were glaringly revealed. Some leniency was required for smooth sailing in this world.

Mussang looked at his uncle's dry face and then his bony wrist. In the past decade, the white envelope had turned yellow. The yellow, stained envelope was evidence of his uncle's sincere motives. He had a million hares in Novatopia. He could forgive one domesticated rabbit.

"I will use it well."

Mussang took in the envelope. With that, he found that he could finally forgive his uncle.

"Thank you. It may sound strange, but everyone makes mistakes. What matters is how quickly one becomes aware of the mistake and how one makes reparations for wrongdoing. We are family. A native tribe in Indonesia cut off a finger to mourn their lost family. They are subduing grief with physical pain. What has passed is in the past. Let us let go of the past pain and head for the future. We need to find your mother. If you have some compassion, please empathize with my anguish."

Bak Inbo mumbled as if to express a degree of sympathy. Those were heartfelt words of an old, tired, and sick man in the twilight years of his life. Yet, his uncle regained his humanity close to his death.

'Could Teacher have anticipated this?'

The teacher had said that a family matter needed time to be adequately resolved.

"Uncle, I will find my mother. Your job is to take care of Utak. He is the eldest grandson, after all."

Mussang politely refused his uncle's offer to have lunch together and left the building. He needed time to declutter his head.

"Could you give me a minute?"

When he was about to exit the entrance, Jeong Ayeong ran up to him, out of breath. She was out of her uniform and was in casual clothes, holding a purse. She seemed to be leaving work early.

"Mussang, let's have some soju with some roasted gizzard."

Mussang stared at Ms. Jeong with a confused face. He had seen a French woman who offered to sleep together at first glance but never seen any woman who asked to share a drink as soon as they met.

"Why?"

"I know you are someone of momentous gravity, high standing, towering status."

Jeong Ayeong kissed the air around him, smacking his lips. A glamorous woman flirting and teasing didn't seem repulsive in the least.

"Aren't you being too direct?"

"I have been too reticent all my life and am still single at this age. With no love life, at least my career should flourish."

"Alright then. Dinner's on me."

Mussang laughed out loud. She was pretty playful. She and Emil would make quite a smashing couple. They had a simple dinner with blood sausage stew in Dongseong Street and moved elsewhere.

Jeong Ayeong hailed a taxi in the Tools Street in Nowon-dong. The roasted gizzard place, with a sign that said 'Aunt Deoksan,' was frequented by Bak Inbo when he was running Hyangsim Travel.

Jeong Ayeong entered first, sliding open the door. The place was small, barely 33 square meters wide. It only had six tables which were made from modified cable barrels. It was a shabby place but had a familiar, cozy and quaint ambiance.