The Little Prince in the Ossuary

“I’d like to ask you straightforwardly,” Gyeo-ul began.

“Why do you think the 「Winter Alliance」 should accept you?”

At this, Kang Young-soon smiled happily. She wrote down her response in the notebook.

「I didn’t expect to be asked this question.」

「I thought we would get kicked out without getting the chance to speak or be accepted without being given a reason. Wherever I went, I thought it would be either. So far, it’s all been former.」

Her handwriting proved to be easy to read.

“If you expected the latter, it would be Jang Yeon-chul’s work.”

The old woman fixed her pen. It looked slow because of her neat movements, but the pace of writing was surprisingly fast.

「I don’t think it’s bad at all.」

「We were able to survive because of good people like Jang Yeon-chul. Among them, Yeon-chul helped me a lot. I’m deeply grateful.」

「But sometimes, he was just too considerate.」

It meant that he didn’t see disabled people as equal. Jang Yeon-chul had said it himself. They couldn’t stand on their own feet. It wasn’t the view that the surrounding environment was hostile, and it was impossible because they weren’t given a chance.

“I understand. If a good person lives in an imperfect world, he can be like that.”

She laughed again.

「It wasn’t just because of your courage that many people followed you.」

“It makes me feel shy to hear you say that. Anyway, can you answer the first question?”

Kang Young-soon nodded.

「There are many things that I thought I would tell you while I had experienced a lot of rejection. I thought a lot before I came here.」

「I’d like to talk about the benefits of the Winter Alliance and the organization of the leader Han Gyeo-ul, rather than the pretext of each of us being able to do something.」

「Please understand if it’s a little longer.」

This was completely unexpected. She thought she’d talk about their careers, skills, and personalities. In fact, as for the organizational benefits of the old woman, Gyeo-ul had already thought something. It wasn’t just because of a vague sense of justice that she reviewed the acceptance of disabled people. Gyeo-ul responded to this positively.

“You can write as much as you want. Take your time.”

With a grateful smile, the old woman carefully stretched her thoughtful words one by one. This was what the first chapter was about.

「The first is a reputation that has been refined.」

「Many people in other organizations are spreading bad rumors about you. The most common is that you are human butchers. Dozens of murders every day are being blamed on you.」

「Until we met today, even I was a little worried. No matter how much Jang Yeon-chul says it’s not you, we can’t help it.」

「If you accept us, that reputation will subside quite a bit.」

「If that happens, wouldn’t it be easier for more people who are hesitant to join the Winter Alliance?」

「I’m afraid there aren’t many people who see disabled people as equal. This is what it would look like to everyone. The Winter Alliance has brought such useless people with them. You are a person who can take care of poor people.」

「Yubi, the emperor of China, has established a Han dynasty with affection and virtue.」

「Get people’s hearts.」

It was elegant handwriting that contained years of experience. It also contained about half of what he had already expected. As he read, Gyeo-ul pondered.

“You must like the Three Kingdoms.”

The old woman pointed to her mouth and wrote a sentence.

「Because of the circumstances, I was more comfortable with books than with people.」

“Ah.”

Nodding, Gyeo-ul returned the notebook to the old woman. The old woman immediately began to write down the second chapter. Throughout the writing, there was no hesitation or correction.

「The second are reliable people.」

「As I said, we are still alive thanks to the help of good people like Jang Yeon-chul. In other words, we can be a bridge to connect the Winter Alliance with the good people of various organizations.」

「If they know that we’re here, there will be people who will change their homes. Other organizations aren’t very good places. I’m sure they hate where they are now because deep inside, they are good people.」

「In the end, it’s not much different from what I said first.」

Even if it wasn’t much different, it was something she didn’t think of. Gyeo-ul had already decided, but he still couldn’t help but at the foresight of this woman.

「Lastly, disabled people can be your eyes and ears.」

「This is just my opinion, but aren’t you feeling any pressure right now?」

「The Winter Alliance has grown surprisingly fast, and it will continue to be so for the time being. Fast growth has side effects. There will always be problematic people rotting your organization from the inside.」

「At your position, you won’t have the opportunity to know all your members personally. You don’t know who to trust and who to filter out. A man like Yeo Il will surely appear to encourage your suspicion.」

「That’s why I recommend it. Get information through our disabled people.」

「There is an invisible wall between the disabled and the non-disabled. No matter how good a non-disabled person is, it is difficult to treat a disabled person equally. People with disabilities are always, to a certain extent, isolated. They can’t get together easily with non-disabled people. I’m telling you to take advantage of this.」

Gyeo-ul thought about it after he had finished reading it. It couldn’t be just because of the help of good people that seventeen disabled people could survive safely.

“Who’s Yeo Il?”

The old woman then wrote down the answer.

「He gained power by instigating suspicions from Son Kwon.」

“How could you guarantee that disabled people will not be Yeo Il? “

Then, she shook her head to answer instead of writing. Gyeo-ul smiled. “You’re honest.”

Old Kang Young-soon smiled back. Gyeo-ul then asked another question.

“Now, I want to hear what each of you can do.”

The nodding old woman gave out personal details of the disabled community. She wrote it down in advance and brought it. Gyeo-ul read the details meticulously. There were even personal strengths and weaknesses that Kang Young-soon saw. Some had experience and skills that could be useful, particularly the Polio patients who dealt with various heavy equipment for 11 years, were quite impressive. There were also English teachers and electricians. Due to the world’s current condition, there were also a few people who had excellent backgrounds which were useless now, such as programmers.

The group behind her approached after seeing Kang Young-soon’s sign language. The blind man was drawn by another. Gyeo-ul asked them some simple questions before he finally agreed.

“Alright.”

Gyeo-ul smiled again at the expectant faces before him.

“Welcome to the Winter Alliance. I look forward to your kind cooperation.”

From there, he called Yeon-chul. “Help them settle down, provide seats or bedding. And show them around.”

“Okay! Thank you! You will be blessed!”

He seemed to be more pleased than the disabled as he led the new family around enthusiastically. In that sight, the “Winter Alliance” people showed deep interest. Among them was Park Jin-seok. After a few words of conversation, his expression deteriorated as if he knew the situation. He came straight to Gyeo-ul.

He didn’t come alone. Two people a few steps away were right behind him. As a preliminary combat team leader, they were members of the group that Jin-seok had already made. Unlike Yura, all of them were composed of military-served people of the appropriate age. Gyeo-ul received a post-approval. He seemed to think he had that much right because he would be a combat team leader anyway. Gyeo-ul thought he could accept it. Not now, though.

“Jin-seok, what are you doing?”

“I just heard a strange story. Is it true that you decided to accept disabled people?”

“Yes, that’s true.”

The vague answer seems to have stimulated Jin-seok. The young man asked again with a gloomy look.

“What the hell are you thinking?”

“Is there a problem?”

“There are a lot.”

Jin-seok sighed.

“They’re a bunch of burdens. If you can afford to receive disabled people, you need to receive people who can actually help. In our alliance, there are abnormally few people who can fight for their size. If you get seventeen of robust men, it’s enough to make a combat team.”

“That’s true.”

“You are very nice and wonderful, but you are often too idealistic. I want to help disabled people, too. If I have a chance actually to help, I will, as an individual.”

He shut his mouth for a moment to see Gyeo-ul’s reaction. When there was no antipathy from the young leader, he came up with the remaining words.

“You didn’t just help them from an individual standpoint. You took them in as a leader of an organization, burdening your other members. You have to distinguish between business and private. Conscience is just personal satisfaction.”

“It’s not personal satisfaction.”

Suspicion came quick to Jin-Seok’s face, but Gyeo-ul spoke calmly.

“As a representative of the Winter Alliance, I considered the interests of the whole alliance before making a decision.”

“Can you explain what the benefits are?”

“I can, but I won’t.”

“…How come?”

“Because you didn’t follow the procedure.”

“Procedure?”

“Yes, procedure. If it’s just about a combat group, you can tell me in person. Even if you’re a backup, you’ll be a combat leader soon. But you have to go through the two heads of department for other works. That’s their role.”

Jin-seok looked surprised.

“It was the department managers who conducted the screening, and it was Jang Yeon-chul who introduced the disabled community today. Other allies, if they have anything to say to me, go to the department heads first. But you didn’t follow the chain of command. Don’t you feel like your actions are beyond your power?”

It wasn’t a rule that someone had definitively set. However, as the size of the alliance expanded, it was an unwritten rule that naturally settled. They only got their titles, but they expanded their rules and order by themselves.

‘I’m sure they played the role, too. Especially Min Wan-gi.’

Otherwise, there would have been a lot of unnecessary hierarchy, coercion, and unnecessary procedures. It was the role of Gyeo-ul to make unwritten rules public. Jin-seok mumbled.

“I didn’t mean to ignore them.”

“I know. Not everyone is used to it yet. Be careful next time.”

It was a time that a smile was needed. Gyeo-ul had made them used to it. The natural gentleness made Jin-seok feel safe. He apologized and stepped back, humbled. To those watching them, their leader’s actions and judgment seemed comforting.

The norms would spread through their mouths.