173. I never thought that would be today

“Ugh. How many of those are there?”

Dozens of fish threaded through Gyuha’s harpoon.

Embarrassed, Mateo alternately looked at the face of the harpoon and Kyuha with trembling pupils.

“No. How…?

Mateo was proud to be the best hunter of the Lacandon tribe, but hunting fish underwater with only a harpoon was no easy feat.

Even those from outside.

He must have never tried hunting, but seeing the fish lined up on the harpoon made it unrealistic.

“As expected, my older brother! I believed you.”

“Wow. Seok-do oppa was convinced that he had failed just a moment ago, but you can see how he’s changing his attitude.”

“It’s big. You have to stand up. Are you sure? You did it just in case.”

Jeong Seol-ah looked at the urgently changed Maseokdo and gave Kyu-ha a thumbs up.

“Thanks to you, I’ll be able to eat today too. Hohoho, by the way, look at the look on the face of that chief’s son. Are you completely mesmerized?”

“When I first entered the special forces unit as a graduate of a physical education college and got a chin-up applied to my classmate from Seoul National University, the expression on my face was exactly that.”

“I think I caught enough, but let’s stop now.”

Unlike the first time, Mateo rowed with a sullen expression.

When we arrived at the village, Cha Gyeong-seok, Min Bong-gi, and Eun-ha were playing with Lacandon children.

“Webbebebebebebebebe”

“Curry”

As a former comedian, Min Bong-ki makes funny faces and plays with children.

“Yumma. It’s against the law to use your face.”

“You can use your face, too.”

“Dude! How do you win the face of a comedian? Ahh. The world is unfair, this.”

It was Cha Kyung-seok who showed jealousy when he saw Min Bong-gi, a popular explosion among children.

Eunha earned favor by drawing pictures on her notebook or handing out stickers she had.

Three people who noticed a hunting group coming from far away.

“You worked hard! Did you catch some fish?”

At Eunha’s question, Maseokdo shook his head.

“What about the fish? Fish don’t live there. There’s only grass, but what?”

“So, are we going to have sweet potatoes and grass for dinner tonight?”

Jeong Seol-ah said triumphantly to the sullen Eun-ha.

“We have a survival expert, Mr. Song Kyu-ha. Look here!”

Jeong Seol-ah raised the harpoon with both hands threaded with fish the size of a man’s forearm as if he had caught it himself.

“Wow! What’s all this? How many? It’s even huge!”

The Lacandon villagers were also surprised and whispered among themselves.

“Could he catch them all alone?”

“Oh no way. Mateo must have caught it and shared it.”

“It’s been a while since I left, so grab it as much as I do. Mateo can’t do that either.”

Gyuha approached Raul and said.

“It’s the first day, how about we all eat together?”

“Oh! That’s good. We Lacandonians love festivals. I’ll tell the Chief.”

Such a welcoming place.

The Lacandon tribe provided food ingredients needed for cooking.

“This is partridge with iguana meat? Oh, there’s also armadillo meat.”

As if satisfied with the ingredients he hadn’t seen in a while, Gyuha started cooking right away.

The party’s eyes widened at the cooking method they had never seen before,

The Lacandons were surprised by the unfamiliar smell of the food.

A traditional Maya-style barbecue ‘Pork Cheok’, where thinly sliced pork and seasoned meat are grilled over charcoal.

Even Maya-style handmade corn tortillas made by grinding corn into dough and grilling over charcoal to eat meat, vegetables, beans, and corn.

Soon after, the amount of food that seemed to break the upper leg was completed.

In the village vacant lot, people already attracted by the smell gathered in twos and threes.

Elias, the Lacandon chieftain, also looked at the prepared food and Gyuha in amazement.

“No, how do you know these dishes? These are foods that have been passed down from our ancestors…”

“Let’s talk slowly and eat first.”

Hungry people grabbed their stomachs and began to hurriedly take away their food.

“So delicious!!”

“Because it’s the first taste I’ve ever tasted in my life? But it’s not addictive.”

A group of people who eat very hard.

The reaction of the Lacandons was also unusual.

“It tastes better than what mom makes…?”

“The tyranny I’ve had so far wasn’t tyranny.”

Chief Elias’ reaction was no different.

“This taste! The taste that my late great-grandmother used to make!? How could a foreigner cook like this?”

Chief Elias looked at Gyuha as if he were curious, without stopping.

Elias, feeling good after tasting the old food for the first time in a while, called out to the people.

“Thanks to the guests from out of town, we were treated to precious food today. Shouldn’t we, the Lacandons, be treated to something? In that sense, why don’t we bring out guavaju?”

“That’s right! You can’t just pass it over.”

“You spoke well. Chief Elias. On a day like today, you should eat and get drunk!”

After a while, two Lacandonian men came, whimpering, carrying a huge jar.

“This is the Lacandon people’s pride. It’s a rare drink that is only drunk on good days.”

At the words of Chief Elias, the party also cheered.

“As expected, alcohol can’t be missing at the festival.”

“Let’s drink! It’s alcohol, alcohol.”

Did they say that the truth is the same even though the language is different?

The party and the Lacandons burst into laughter just with their eyes and actions, and each enjoyed the festival in their own way.

As time passed, the atmosphere began to ripen and people who got drunk came out one by one.

Chief Elias, who was getting drunk, also asked his son Meteor with a red face.

“Isn’t the fish you hunted earlier Mateo your best record?

“Father. Actually, I only caught one. The rest were all caught by an outsider named Song over there.”

Elias, wide-eyed at the unexpected words, asked.

“It’s nonsense. They’ve never hunted before, so how can they catch fish like that with only a harpoon? Are you kidding me for being a little drunk?”

Mateo, who was frustrated by Elias’ words, beat his chest and protested.

“It would be hard to believe if I hadn’t seen it myself, but it’s true. He’s good at hunting fish. That guy.”

In the end, Chief Elias had no choice but to agree to Mateo’s sincere voice.

“Huh… If that’s true, he’s good at cooking and hunting. Why? They say he even speaks Mayan?”

“I know how to speak Mayan.”

“Uhhhhh! I’m surprised.”

Elias was taken aback by the sudden voice.

“Ugh. I was surprised. Wait…? But why do you speak Mayan?”

This time, Chief Elias widened his eyes as if he was really surprised.

“I’ve been studying the Mayan language for coming here.”

“It doesn’t seem like you’ve studied a little…? But how did you learn the Mayan dialect?”

Elias tilted his head at Gyuha’s Mayan accent, which was somehow strangely different.

“Whatever it is, it’s great. Heh heh heh. How come I don’t feel like an outsider when I look at you? I don’t know how it sounds when I say this, but maybe you’re like a member of my tribe?”

“Did my father feel that way too? I thought it was just me because I felt strangely familiar with Song.”

Gyu-ha, who was watching the two fathers and fathers chatting excitedly in Maya with a light smile, opened his mouth.

“Then will you let me meet the real chieftain?”

Elias, who was dancing the shoulder dance with excitement, asked back.

“It looks like you’re drunk. Isn’t I, the chieftain, Elise, right in front of you?”

“On the surface, Eliez is right, but the person I want to meet is the ‘priest of the stars’ who listens to the voice of God.”

As if the soul had fled at Kyu-ha’s words, Elias’ mouth was literally wide open.

“No. How did you!? He’s never been out of the world…?”

priest of stars.

He was the actual leader of the Lacandon tribe hidden in a veil.

Foreseeing the Spanish invasion in the 16th century, the entire tribe was forced to flee deep into the jungles of Chiapas.

Thanks to this, it was also the savior of the tribe that allowed the Lacandon tribe to maintain its existence until now.

“Who are you… who the hell are you?”

Elias asked with a straight face, as if when he became drunk.

The existence of the Star Priestess is the greatest secret only of the Lacandon tribe, which even the Mexican government does not know about.

It was something an outsider could never know.

“That’s what you’ll know naturally when you meet the priest of the star.”

At Kyuha’s words, the wrinkles between Elias’ forehead deepened as if he fell into a labyrinth.

In fact, from Kyuha’s point of view, there was no side to him.

To the Maya, the existence of a priest is as essential as the human brain.

But none of the Lacandons seemed to be a priest.

‘Then it must mean that it is hidden.’

As a conclusion after reasoning, he had taken a look at Chief Elias.

Elias, who had been sipping only guava juice with a heavy expression on his face, bit his lips as if he had made up his mind.

“Okay. I’ll take you to the priest. If you’re just trying to meet the priest out of curiosity without any purpose… you’ll have to be prepared.”

Feeling his own determination, Gyu-ha just nodded his head without any agitation at Eliez’s bluff.

The couple watching it from afar.

Guavaju was very much liked, but it was quite drunk.

“Where are you going with the chief Gyuha?”

Cha Gyeong-seok, who was drunk and looked at Gyu-ha with grim eyes, asked Maseok-do.

“Well, the two of you have been whispering since before. Didn’t you have your best friend already?”

“Every time I see him, I don’t understand. No, who’s in someone else’s country. That’s why he’s best friends with the chieftain of a primitive tribe.”

Eunha, whose tongue was slightly twisted, smiled and raised her glass.

“Ehehehehe I don’t know. The captain plays with the captains and then we play with each other~! Tada!”

After drinking a glass of guava juice, Cha Gyeong-seok said while wiping his mouth with his sleeve.

“Big. Uh. I’m drunk. But it’s really amazing.

“Brother. I only knew a song about a guava tempting a mango, but guava was a really delicious fruit.”

Seeing Cha Kyung-seok and Min Bong-ki talking like a joke, Jeong Seol-ah reprimanded them.

“Ugh. Eat in moderation. What are you going to do with a hangover tomorrow!?”

“All you have to do is boil ramen. Ramen.”

“I really want to eat ramen…”

“Where is the ramen here?

Jeong Seol-ah shook her head at the sight of the party turning into a great welcome party.

same time.

Elias took Gyuha to the depths of the village.

how long did it take Elias’ steps stopped in front of a cave.

A cave that gives off a shady atmosphere for some reason.

Elias shouted loudly toward the cave.

“Priest K’aak Chi. This is Elias! I have a guest!”

momentary silence.

all over

Soon, the sound of someone walking could be heard echoing from the other side of the cave.

“I received a fortune telling that a nobleman would come in the near future, but I didn’t know that it would be today.”

An old man with grayish-white long hair appeared in rags from the dark cave.

It was K’aak Chi, a Lacandon priest.

As if he couldn’t see, he closed his eyes and slowly approached Gyuha with his cane.

Kyuha with an unknown expression looked down at Kaakchi.

Kaakchi’s eyes flashed momentarily.

The black pupils were invisible, and the eyes were all milky white.

If it was an ordinary person, he would have frozen or even screamed at the incomprehensible pressure.

However, Kyu-ha looked at those eyes with no emotion.

A suffocating confrontation, like a snowball fight.

how much time has passed

Suddenly, Kaakchi’s whole body started to tremble, and in the end, he couldn’t even meet Gyuha’s eyes.

“I-I can’t believe it! It’s ridiculous. How!”

“Why, why are you doing that, priest?”

Kaakchi prostrated himself on the floor.

“Poem, how could a messenger of God!? I’m sorry I didn’t know.”

Elias’ eyes widened at Kaakchi’s words.