Chapter 74
Chapter 74
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 74
Chapter Title: An Unexpected Assault
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A gorge so dense with trees and foliage that the sky was invisible.
A man tripped over some rock moss, and in turn, the people following behind him tumbled down in a chain.
Thud!
“Arghhh!”
“Watch out!”
“Hey, look where you’re going!”
“Ow, tsk tsk. Hey, you okay?”
The procession, gathered in groups of three or five, stretched on endlessly. Most were caravan members, but there were no small number of outsiders who had paid to hitch a ride to another region.
“Can you get up?”
“Yeah. Thank you.”
One man grabbed the arm of the fallen woman and helped her to her feet. Her hair was tied up high and covered with a hood—a typical Hawan Kingdom woman’s attire.
A caravan member shouted as he reorganized the disorganized line.
“Keep moving straight ahead! It gets worse the further back you are!”
“Yeah, yeah. We’re going. When the hell are we getting out of this?”
“We haven’t been in long. It’ll take at least a week.”
“The wheel’s caught here! Push from behind!”
It wasn’t just people moving. Boxes not loaded on carts had to be dragged with ropes one by one, and rare beasts in cages, foreign furniture, and heavy raw gems were definite burdens on the procession.
The woman dusted off her hands and grumbled inwardly.
‘Ugh. Seriously... I’m the idiot for getting all excited and eating that meat.’
She vowed never to eat Kakantir’s offered meat again, no matter what. Su clenched her jaw and fiddled with the gula powder in her pocket. It had been two days since departing the Hawan Kingdom. She had learned firsthand how a caravan march worked.
‘Meals three times a day. Dinner is always a stew made from whatever was left over from previous meals.’
She had packed gula powder, which caused food poisoning symptoms, and even venom from a yellow scorpion. Her goal was to tie the procession down in this gorge as long as possible with it. If they turned back entirely, even better.
“The sun’s already setting.”
Being near the frontier, darkness crept in frighteningly fast once the sun dipped. The deputy leader checked his watch and clicked his tongue. At this rate, they might not get out in a week.
“Hold it! We’ll rest here for the day. Prepare dinner. Don’t stray too far, and set up your own sleeping spots.”
“Ughhh. I’m dying. I’m dead.”
“Who the hell ordered this crap? Damn it!”
“Who else? Probably some noble whose name we don’t even know.”
At the order to rest, everyone dropped their loads and groaned. Su, as an outsider, had no stretcher, but the caravan members were each handling items as big as themselves or bigger.
“Um...”
Su cautiously approached the meal prep area. The huge pot was filled with all the leftovers from today.
“Is there anything I can help with? I know I paid, but everyone looks so exhausted...”
Inside, she wanted to scream that no one should eat that crap, but Su put on her gentlest, kindest smile. This was exactly why Kakantir had chosen her.
‘Kakan knows you have a strong sense of responsibility. It’ll be cold and grueling work. The other warriors have hot tempers and might not endure, but you’re different.’
‘And above all, you’re the fastest on your feet in the Cheonryeo Tribe, aren’t you? It’s a solo mission, so if things go wrong, don’t respond—just escape. No one else fits but you.’
He was insane. She had fallen for Ian’s sweet talk and now suffered like this. Going to the Hawan Kingdom was one thing, but traveling with a caravan was hell on top of hell.
“Help out? Hmm.”
“Please don’t mind me.”
“Then hold this for a sec?”
The caravan member eyed Su suspiciously but accepted her offer, too exhausted to care. Anything was better than those guys over there scratching their groins.
“It’s not too heavy?”
“Not at all... well, a little, but it’s fine.”
“Wait a bit.”
Su smiled awkwardly as she steadied the pot. The cooks glanced at her briefly before busying themselves with dinner prep.
She slipped one hand into her pocket and pulled out the gula powder. Then she casually dumped it into the pot.
The member who had brought the seasonings eyed her curiously.
“You can set it down. You were still holding it?”
“Oh.”
‘This bastard... you told me to hold it.’
Su suppressed a frown and smiled. The man marveled at her strength, then roughly stirred the contents with a ladle. The gula powder mixed into the mishmash stew.
“Time to serve! Who’s on duty today?”
“Dunno. You do it again.”
“You bastard, I starved last night too!”
“I’ll do it. I’m not that hungry.”
“What? You?”
With Su rolling up her sleeves to help, the member handed over the ladle, baffled but glad. Serving duty meant you ate only after everyone else, so no reason to refuse.
Clang clang clang!
“Come on, line up single file!”
“Who’s that?”
“An outsider who joined from Hawan.”
Su greeted everyone amiably as she stirred the pot vigorously. If she spotted clumps of undissolved gula powder, she’d carefully mash them with the ladle.
“Hey, it’s a bit bland.”
“Yeah? Hold on. Want some of this?”
She even sprinkled extra gula powder for those complaining about the taste. The man ate a spoonful with the powder and widened his eyes.
“...This!”
‘Gasp, did he notice?’
“W-Why? What’s wrong?”
“The seasoning’s perfect. Thanks.”
He gave a thumbs-up and walked off. Su sighed pitifully and kept stirring. Everyone needed to get sick so she could return to the desert...
“Haha! Dinner tastes like honey today!”
“Can’t I get seconds? Urp.”
Oblivious to Su’s thoughts, the weary group’s laughter echoed through the forest. A wolf howled in the distance—auuuu.
* * *
Merelrof Territory.
“Mommy, I’m hungry.”
“Here, hold this. Don’t chew. Dinner’s soon.”
At the child’s whine, the mother pulled out some dried meat. The kid sucked on it once or twice before instinctively chomping down on the savory treat.
“You little rascal, I said no chewing!”
“Waaah!”
The child burst into tears at the mother’s sharp scolding.
It wasn’t just this house. The neighbors, front and back—all the same. The cost of last year’s historic crop failure was this severe. Trade with foreign lands was their main economy, but still...
“We’re screwed.”
“Yeah. Never seen anything like this since I grew hair.”
“Didn’t it happen last year too?”
“Not this bad. The river ran red with blood and all hell broke loose. Shouldn’t we demand compensation from Bratz?”
“Dream on. Didn’t you hear? Some Merelrof local tried to kill Ian. Relations are awkward now.”
A record crop failure. The food stockpiled for famine was nearly gone. They couldn’t even beg the Merelrof Count for mercy. Upsetting him might mean higher taxes.
“Bratz folks said gula tastes great...”
“Wanna turn into a beast? I’ll roast you myself. Heh heh!”
“No, seriously. They had an advisor from the palace who ate it all the time. News is slow in this backwater. Apparently all the royals and nobles up top are eating gula now.”
“You idiot, you believe that?”
“That’s why they’re paying to collect it.”
“Well...”
He wanted to retort, but nothing came to mind. They were gathering weeds for money, even planting them everywhere. Sounded like rumors since outsiders were blocked, but...
“Whatever, gula or not, I just hope the caravan shows up soon. Or we’ll be sucking our thumbs.”
Everyone nodded in deep agreement. When the caravan came, they could provide lodging and facilities for money and food. And buy more food from them.
It was annual tradition, so every cold wind, they gazed north—toward the Hawan Kingdom.
Clop clop!
Then it happened. A horse galloping down the main village street. By his clothes and feathers, clearly a foreigner. He reined in and asked the territory folk.
“Where’s the road to the manor?”
“Straight up the left path. Are you from the Hawan Kingdom caravan?”
“That’s right.”
His expression looked grim. The locals grabbed the departing man.
“What’s up?”
“The caravan’s stuck in the gorge. Everyone got food poisoning from something they ate—can’t move. Doctors are overwhelmed, so I came ahead. Make way.”
The man hurried to the manor for help. The dazed locals watched him go. One phrase stuck in their minds.
“Stuck in the gorge?”
If so, when would they arrive? Would they even? All eyes turned anxiously to the Merelrof manor.
Meanwhile.
“What? What did you say?”
The Merelrof Count couldn’t believe it and kept asking. Over a hundred in the caravan. All hit by mass food poisoning?
“Dinner seems to be the culprit. Started with a few, but it spread until... over half are bedridden.”
Quite the sight—people collapsed in that dense forest. The count stroked his beard to calm his shock.
“Tsk tsk. That’s why I said stop boiling up pig slop all at once!”
As if he knew caravan hardships, crossing seas and traversing lands. Food poisoning happened often enough on the march, but rarely this severe across the board. Usually just a bit of stomach upset.
“Anyway, send doctors. Our meds ran out in a day.”
“How will you pay for treatment?”
“Caravan members via the caravan, outsiders personally.”
“Whereabouts?”
“Here.”
“That’s far. We’ll charge double for travel.”
The count eyed the map greedily. They’d barely passed the mountain entrance.
“The caravan leader said do as you will. Survival first. But we sent word to Hawan Kingdom too—better hurry.”
“Right. Wait a moment. Hey! Steward!”
“Yes, master.”
“Summon all doctors except the elderly who can’t walk.”
Soon, the steward reported the doctors gathered. The count sent them off with escort soldiers.
Horses carrying the doctors streamed out of the territory. The folk watched their shadows with troubled hearts.