The Grand General's Chamber — Two Paths
That day, Park Seong-jin went to see Lee In-jung, who had just been appointed Grand General of the Signal Guard.
He now stood unmistakably at the core of the Goryeo army.
Above the Signal Guard there was only a single Supreme General; in practice, Lee In-jung was the army's center.
He was still young, and his road ahead remained wide.
The weight of the army and its expectations gathered upon him at once.
On the way, Park Seong-jin stopped by the market and purchased red ginseng.
It kept well and was known for its deep medicinal value, and he paid a proper price.
He thought such a gift was rare.
It felt sufficient to convey his intentions.
When he entered the camp, a familiar subordinate hurried toward him.
"The General is at headquarters. Did you not hear he's been made Grand General?"
"I just heard," Park replied with a surprised smile—though the news was already known to him.
Feigning surprise was courtesy to the messenger.
At the center of the long barracks stood a detached building.
That was the Grand General's residence.
He waited, hearing that a meeting was underway, and was about to rise when the door opened.
Lee In-jung stepped inside.
"Oh, our young commander has come."
Park Seong-jin bowed deeply.
The greeting shifted at once from military formality to a civilian courtesy.
"Greetings."
"Greetings? It feels like only yesterday we were fighting side by side."
"Haha."
They laughed like old comrades.
Those who fight together grow close as if decades had passed.
"Have you rested at all?"
The gentle smile felt like that of an elder brother.
"I slept for a few days. Ate, slept, ate again, and slept some more."
"That's how it should be. You're skin and bones. You worked hard."
"Thanks to you, Senior Brother, we returned safely."
With those words, both recalled the same memory—the night they decided to withdraw, and the uncertain hours when they did not know if return was possible.
"I am considering your promotion. What do you think?"
"…I am still lacking. I want to study more."
The answer carried not only refusal, but resolve.
"Your father was a Captain. Fourteen seok."
"You inherited that post."
It was not abundant, but sufficient to sustain a life.
"I submitted your merits upward. You could go higher."
Park Seong-jin steadied his breath and bowed.
Above Captain lay Deputy Commander, eighteen seok.
Though still young and unlikely to take command immediately, the path would open through a deputy's post.
A soldier's road lay clearly before him.
At his age, it was an exceptional offer.
Scenes from the battlefield passed through his mind.
The moment when the White Lotus forces surged like waves.
The volley of arrows released by the crossbow units.
The trembling where his shoulder pressed against a comrade's.
He had survived within that fear.
And now he stood where he could lead from the very front.
"You can do it," Lee In-jung said, certainty in his eyes.
Park Seong-jin lifted his head.
"Senior Brother."
"Speak."
"Thank you."
"But I want to study more."
"Oh? Study."
"This time, I want to go all the way."
"Until I have pushed this learning as far as it will go."
"If I accept promotion now, I will never move freely again."
"Of course, if I remain idle, even a fourteen-seok post may be pushed aside."
"Even so, I want to live without regret."
There was no wavering in his voice.
Lee In-jung fell silent.
He remembered his own youth.
He had loved learning, but believed the world required armies to be protected.
That choice had made him who he was.
"Do you not desire the world?"
"I do."
"But—"
"But what?"
"When I stood before death, I realized something."
"What I regretted most was not having learned more."
"Next time, I wanted to have the strength—by my own hands—to stop ten, a hundred, even a thousand."
"Worldly ambition comes after that."
Lee In-jung nodded.
"Desire for the world and study face different directions."
"Then I choose study."
Those words were not light.
Lee In-jung looked at him quietly.
He himself had chosen the world.
This boy had chosen learning.
A quiet envy stirred within him.
He rose and placed both hands on Park Seong-jin's shoulders.
"Impressive."
"And enviable."
"It is a road I could not take."
"I hope you do not become me."
"Thank you."
"There will be time until the next mobilization."
"Will you return to Mount Guwol again?"
"Yes."
"I congratulate you on your great path."
"Study all your life, become a sage, and go as far as ascension itself."
"Thank you."
Park Seong-jin took a red-wrapped bundle from his robe.
"What is this?"
"Red ginseng."
"I bought it on the way."
"With what money?"
"I had some left from demobilization."
"And your face looked rougher than before."
"Haha, am I old enough to look like that?"
"It just felt that way."
"I do not accept bribes."
"It is a student's gift to his teacher."
Lee In-jung looked at him for a moment, then burst into laughter.
"You speak well."
"Very well. Thank you."
Evening light colored the pillars of the camp.
The boy of war chose the path of learning.
The general of battle remained, bearing the weight of the world.
Their final words were quiet, yet left a resonance that divided their lives into two paths.