Awaiting The Dawn

28.5: Traveling Merchants

It was a great day.

The sky was blue, only light clouds with no threat of rain. 

The sun was a little bright, but it wouldn't sour Kichi's mood. After all, it was his turn to ride Chul. No more walking for him!

...At least until Eun-ae's shift came. And then Daichi's. But then it'll be Kichi's next after that!

"No fair!" He yelled at Eun-ae who was sitting on the cart pushed by Bom, carving into a block of wood with a knife. "You're the one who made a big deal outta adding extra weight for Bom! Get off and walk like the rest of us!"

She didn't even look up. "Says the guy on Chul's back. And the same guy who kept taking naps on our merchandise."

"Oh come on, that was one time! When are you ever gonna let it go? When I die?"

At a sudden gust of wind, she adjusted her thick braid out the way. "With your luck, I don't think even falling off a cliff or drowning in the sea will kill you."

Kichi almost fell off his horse, rubbing his suddenly cold arms. Some rogue strands of hair was itching his face so much that he wanted to cut his hair short for once. "Stop saying scary stuff!"

She deliberately hummed in the same way Auntie Hana would before making a threat. "Want me to predict your death and bet if it'll happen?"

"You're so damn petty sometimes. The exact opposite of my darling little brother."

"Older by ten minutes." Daichi's expression was blank as he retorted Kichi, gray eyes fixed on the two horses.

Kichi winked at his stoic brother, the only one currently walking. "But I'm still the oldest here. And as the oldest, I hereby order her to join you on foot."

"I'll get off the cart if Daichi tells me to." Eun-ae stuck her tongue out at Kichi and then turned to flutter her eyes all sweet to Daichi.

Of course it was a losing battle. He took her side.

That was how it went when poor Kichi was stuck with his sister-in-law and brother.

.

.

Pretty much immediately after getting to the next town, they set up shop. Eun-ae went off to gather some new materials for her wood carving, stealing Daichi away.

Compared to his brother who became a warrior of the clan at seventeen and trained with his spear every night, Kichi was like a twig who couldn't even block a punch.

Even Eun-ae, a year younger than him, could knock Kichi down with just a fist.

And they still left Kichi with the stall! Where anyone could make trouble and steal their goods! Those damn dragon tail-brained idiots!!!

Of course he kept his cool on the outside, refusing to scare off customers. He successfully charmed the passing folk into buying their items.

He sold one of Eun-ae's combs for four hundred rin, a pot of their clan's signature herb and ginger wine for five hundred rin, and a carved accessory box for seven hundred rin.

Kichi might not be strong, but he was a merchant just like his parents. Without having to worry about any rain to ruin business, he guarded the stall until Daichi and Eun-ae came back.

When they did, he took a short break before returning to the stall they set up.

Without him, they wouldn't make nearly as much profit!

"Yes, they all cower at my shrewdness! Muahahaha!" He felt a strong pain on the top of his head. "Ow! What was that for?!"

Eun-ae held her fist up, pulling up her sleeves that concealed her toned muscles. "Get back to work."

She was making that scary 'do as I say or suffer' face.

"Fine, fine." Kichi grumbled under his breath. "Just a joke."

Updated Note: 

If you're reading this, everything in the other notes is irrelevant/outdated. Basically, this upload was an April Fools post for 2024 where I announced that I was taking a short break before we get to the Awa arc. 

Well, we've got to the Awa arc, starting next chapter. I made sure Chapter 29 was published on May 29 because I have humor.

Notes: This is nonsense.

-April fools! As soon as I found out the date was on a Monday, I thought it'd be a nice chance to display some characters. They're mentioned a bunch of times in previous chapters, so I wonder if anyone remembers them 👀 

-For anyone even mildly curious, Kichi and Daichi's parents are the merchants who saved Hisa's father, and Hisa travelled with the twins and Eun-ae for her first month after leaving the village.

-The twins are 27 years old, and Eun-ae is 26.

-I like Kichi the most, but Daichi is Hisa's favorite between the brothers. Of course we both adore Eun-ae, the one who made Hisa's comb that's featured in [Jade of Thanks] and [A Fire of Feelings]

-The horses Bom and Chul are brothers, just like Kichi and Daichi. Bom is used to transport their wares, and Chul is usually ridden in shifts between the brothers and Eun-ae.

-Starting from her early teens, Hisa started coming up with a variety of curses against the dragons and gods, many of which involve food. You can find them come up whenever Hisa feels especially frustrated or unlucky. Kichi was the main participant of the creative process.

-This is just a side! Not at all required since we won't be seeing Kichi, Daichi, or Eun-ae for a long while. But it was fun, and I'm sure I made someone mad today. Mwahahahahaha!!!!!

-When I went back to this after a few months I laughed to the point of tears since the first thing I saw was the horse. I completely forgot I added that there.

So heyyyy. I'm going to take a short break from uploading chapters for a bit. 
Well, I say a break, but it's more like a few weeks delay so that I can get my bearings and work on more chapters. Expect the Chp 29 on April 29  ;D

We're heading right to Awa, so please strap your seatbelts while I take you for a ride—when I make my ✨glorious✨ return of course~

Feel free (but not pressured) to comment if you have any c̶o̶m̶p̶l̶a̶i̶n̶t̶s̶ suggestions, or questions.

Or praise (I'm kidding). I love praise (I'm not kidding).
Praise is good (Praise yourself <3). 

Or read the manga👍 (even tho I have not gotten past chp 86 because I'm NOT emotionally prepared)

(Besides general exhaustion and having a life on top of my lovely fic, I planned the break to stall. I need more time to get Awa revised and organized. The drafts are horrific, and that's just the lucky first half that even has a draft made so far. We don't even meet Jae-ha until chp 32 🥲 He does get a funny introduction.

The Awa Arc is ridiculously long and requires a lot of planning. Sooo fun, I say sarcastically. It's why I needed to make chp 26 in a time crunch and rush to get 27 and 28 to where I want it. Not fun.)

Things In The Awa Arc You Can Look forward To:

-Hisa's trauma from her visions

-Panic attack (no joke not planned just happened somehow)

-Hisa gets a hug. Finally. She's touch-starved.

-Our protagonist Hisa tries to obtain character development

-Does this fic save the child who died in the cannon?

-LET'S GO! WE'RE GETTING GREEN DRAGON

-Oh no we're getting another vision flood

-Yoon x Hisa having cute moments

-We take a nap on deadly cliff

-We join the pirates

That's basically what I've got so far.