The Horse Tally
"Well, well. Not entirely oblivious, are you."
The man flinched and whirled around, scanning the darkness for the source of the voice.
"But your hiding is far too clumsy."
The man hurled himself forward and rolled across the ground, coming up in a fighting stance. Crouched low, he glared at Cha Gyeong-yeon with eyes full of disbelief.
Where in the world did he come from!
The man was a former armored soldier (gapsa)—listed on the military rolls, yet drawing no stipend. Men like him, gapso without pay, scraped by on whatever their families could spare or lived day to day off the streets as drifters. Suyang—or more precisely, Hong Dal-son—had gathered many such men into his service, and the man was one of them. He had prided himself on his martial skill, considerable by his own reckoning, and never once in his life had someone slipped behind him unnoticed. His face flushed crimson with humiliation.
"Embarrassed, are you?"
The man said nothing, only kept glaring at Cha Gyeong-yeon.
Cha Gyeong-yeon grinned. "To be fair, you nearly caught me a moment ago myself."
"...How long have you been following me?" The man finally opened his mouth.
"Since the tavern."
At that answer, the man's brow knotted. "So that's why something felt off. Who are you—a thief?"
"You could say that. I needed to have a word with you."
The man let out a scornful laugh. A bumpkin thief who actually knows how to mask his presence—so the lad's got more gall than he knows what to do with. Does he have any idea who he's dealing with...
There, he decided, the pleasantries would end.
Out of the darkness he came—no warning, no battle cry—sword raised as he charged. He closed the distance in a heartbeat and swung.
"Tsk. Not even a warning first."
The man twisted away, frowning. There had been no sensation of his blade connecting with anything.
"Still, not bad. I can't stand a man who talks too much before a fight—so I'll grant you that."
You insolent—! Anger boiled up, and the man's grip tightened on his sword. He was no stranger to brawls, so he understood perfectly well why Cha Gyeong-yeon was provoking him: goad your opponent into charging recklessly, then strike at the opening that anger creates. A common trick.
But the man underestimated Cha Gyeong-yeon. He saw nothing before him but a worthless cutpurse—and above all, Cha Gyeong-yeon's hands were still empty. The man spat on his blade.
"Fine, then. You're clearly one who can't die of sickness—you'll just have to die by my hand."
"By all means, if you can."
The man hurled himself forward again with ferocious speed. But so consumed was he with swinging his sword that he overlooked one crucial fact: though Cha Gyeong-yeon was unarmed, he had taken a flawless stance. In truth, Cha Gyeong-yeon had spread both hands wide toward his attacker, poised like a bird spreading its wings to take flight.
"Hyaaah!"
The man's blade came slashing down, but Cha Gyeong-yeon stretched one leg out to the side, bending his knee slightly to slip past the stroke. Then, the instant he sprang off that bent knee, he drove a kick into the man's flank as he passed—the man, off-balance from his failed strike, never stood a chance of avoiding it.
"Ugh!"
The kick landed squarely. The man nearly toppled where he stood but barely managed to keep his footing. Yet the impact left him gasping, unable to draw a proper breath—and Cha Gyeong-yeon did not miss the opening. With a strangled groan, the man tumbled backward onto the ground.
"Ghh..."
"Well? Any strength left to fight with?"
As the man struggled upright, he caught sight of Cha Gyeong-yeon grinning down at him. Without a word, he snatched up his fallen sword again.
"Still want to try?"
"You bastard!"
Two kicks to the ribs left every breath aching, his lungs ragged and uneven. All he could do was flail forward, swinging wildly. Cha Gyeong-yeon evaded it all with effortless ease.
"You might as well give up around now, don't you think?"
"Bullshit!"
The man stabbed his sword toward the spot where Cha Gyeong-yeon's voice had come from—but missed again. Two failures in a row left him seething and rattled at once; he lost his composure entirely and began hacking at the air in blind fury. Cha Gyeong-yeon wove between the wild strokes like smoke—until suddenly—
"Yaaah!"
Believing he'd found his chance, the man re-gripped his blade and lunged in with startling speed.
Ho-in, watching the fight from a distance, let out a short, sharp breath. Hong-wi's expression froze. This time, Cha Gyeong-yeon looked to be in genuine danger—one misstep and that sword would bury itself in his belly.
What they saw in the next instant was pure artistry.
Cha Gyeong-yeon's upper body snapped backward, his whole frame bending and rising with the supple grace of a willow branch. Before the eyes of the man—and of Hong-wi's entire party—he turned a full somersault in midair and landed light as a feather. Then, with his hands clasped behind his back, he even flashed the man a smile.
"Th-This is...!"
Both of the man's eyes flooded with bewilderment.
Cha Gyeong-yeon spoke. "Well, we seem to have confirmed each other's abilities by now—and my situation doesn't allow me to drag this out indefinitely."
"You're no ordinary thief, are you."
"Does it show?"
Without answering, the man raised his sword and charged once more. Cha Gyeong-yeon let the man slide past him—and, in the same motion, flicked out a leg to trip him. With a single strangled cry, the man pitched forward and crashed to the ground.
Cha Gyeong-yeon looked down at the fallen man and clicked his tongue. "Honestly. What an unlucky fellow."
They say unlucky men break their noses falling backward—but this man, of all things, had fallen onto his own blade, driving it deep into his own chest. No last words were needed. He was already dead.
Hong-wi and Ho-in came closer.
"Remarkable," Hong-wi said.
"It's nothing so remarkable," Cha Gyeong-yeon replied with a wry grin.
Ho-in put in, "If that's nothing remarkable, then what in the world counts as remarkable? Where did you learn it? I've had some training in the martial arts myself, but I couldn't hold a candle to your skill, elder brother."
"Spend enough time playing the peddler and you pick up some Subak; play the entertainer long enough and you pick up a few tricks. Given time, I might even teach you both a move or two..."
"Teach me! No—you must teach me! I formally request your instruction!" Ho-in cried out. He had trained a little himself, after all; he had the eye to recognize a master when he saw one, and eagerness enough for ten men.
Hong-wi said with a smile, "I'd be glad to learn a move or two as well. There are hard roads ahead of us—I cannot lean on those around me forever."
"Both of you—excellent!" Cha Gyeong-yeon laughed. "Who wouldn't be delighted when someone comes asking to learn? Though the road ahead is long, and this is hardly the moment. When the time comes, I'll teach you a few techniques—humble though they may be."
As he spoke, Cha Gyeong-yeon began searching the dead man's clothes. Hong-wi knelt down beside him. Checking the tag hung at the man's waist, Cha Gyeong-yeon said, "This one appears to be a low-ranking military officer. The Naegeumwi gapso number at most two hundred, so he can't have been one of theirs—perhaps one of the Owi? It seems Suyang's faction stuffed their own men into every post they could reach, and the quality has dropped accordingly."
"How can you tell the caliber of the gapso so easily?"
At Hong-wi's question, Cha Gyeong-yeon smiled knowingly. "There are ways of knowing."
Hong-wi nodded. This man, Cha Gyeong-yeon, seemed to be a man of considerable ability himself.
Meanwhile, Cha Gyeong-yeon drew a round iron tally from the dead man's breast and held it out. "Have a look at this."
Hong-wi laid it on his palm. Stamped in relief on the front were four horses. "A horse tally," he murmured. He turned it over. On the reverse, along with the date of its minting, was an inscription declaring it issued by the Sangseowon, the office in charge of the state's seals.
"With this, we could borrow horses at the relay stations."
"Yes... though if we do, there's a problem we'd need to think through."
Cha Gyeong-yeon frowned at the bridge of his nose as if wrestling with some thorny issue—then abruptly clapped his hands. "Ah—speaking of which, I nearly forgot. You can both ride, I trust?"
Ho-in, who had at least some training to his name, nodded. Hong-wi nodded as well. "I learned a little at the Sawisa."
Cha Gyeong-yeon smiled. "Good. Though we'll be riding our horses hard from here on out—rather different from the gentle mounts of the Sawisa. Fortunately, the horses themselves are splendid. Suyang is evidently not stingy with his men."
Riding hard... Hong-wi pictured the road ahead in his mind.
"You mentioned something about taking the main road earlier."
Cha Gyeong-yeon nodded. "It's a long way to the northern frontier. If we took mountain paths the way you came from Yeongwol, the horses would never hold out."
"But the gichal inspectors will be posted everywhere along the roads. What then?" It was Ho-in's objection.
"We avoid them where we can and accept the risk where we can't. And since changing horses midway will be difficult, we'll need to travel carefully."
"But we have the horse tally, don't we? We could change horses at the relay stations."
"We could—but the stations will also want to verify who we are."
Hong-wi hesitated, nodding slowly—then suddenly cried out. "Wait! I have this—it might help."
He held out the tally that Han Ga-ryeong had given him. When he saw it, Cha Gyeong-yeon let out a long whistle. "This is extraordinary. A tally bearing Suyang's personal cipher! With this in hand, the gichal inspectors won't dare give us trouble—and the relay stations won't hassle us either, once we present it. Where on earth did you get this?"
"I'll tell you in detail later. We should hurry."
Cha Gyeong-yeon nodded. "Agreed. Our road has just become a great deal easier. Let's be off at once!"
The three men mounted their horses. Fortunately, the animals offered little fuss despite the change of masters. Hong-wi's mount was a chestnut, which turned a clever eye toward him. Hong-wi stroked its neck gently to calm it. "Whoa, whoa."
The horse whinnied pleasantly in reply.
Cha Gyeong-yeon laughed. "As if it knew it was carrying a sovereign. Your training at the Sawisa hasn't gone to waste, I see. Do you need time to get reacquainted?"
"I shouldn't think so... though it has been a while since I last rode."
Hong-wi urged his horse forward slowly. Fortunately, the animal responded obediently to his every cue.
"Right, then—let's make haste!" Cha Gyeong-yeon spurred ahead first. Ho-in glanced at Hong-wi, and Hong-wi nodded back. "Let's go."
Before departing, Hong-wi turned once toward the southern sky, where Yeongwol lay. The face of someone he had left behind rose in his memory, and he bowed his head. A moment later, he wheeled his horse north and began to ride.
The three of them pushed their horses hard. And the farther they drew from Wonju, the more hope surged in their hearts. However cunning Suyang's faction might be, no one would dream they would dare take the main roads—much less that they would flee on horseback.
"Of course, word that a man and three horses have vanished will spread soon enough," Cha Gyeong-yeon said. "But at the very least, we've bought ourselves a night's worth of time."
Outside Wonju they were stopped at a checkpoint, but the tally Han Ga-ryeong had given them proved its worth. The inspector, glancing at it, seemed startled, drew back, and even bowed with genuine deference.
Just as the dawn sun began to rise, Cha Gyeong-yeon reined in. "By now we've covered a good hundred li or more. The horses have run all night—they need rest, and we should rest a while ourselves and get something to eat before moving on."
Fortunately, the horses' original owners had packed several days' worth of rations in their saddlebags.
Hong-wi, who had grown quite fond of his horse without noticing, dismounted and gave its neck a fond stroke. "The horses need something to eat too."
"You can swap them at the next relay station."
The three made a simple breakfast of dried beef and powdered grain. Ho-in lamented that with a cooking pot he might have made warm rice, but no such thing was to be found.
Hong-wi laughed. "Compared to starving our way through the mountains, this is a royal feast."
"Then while we catch our breath," Cha Gyeong-yeon said, "let me hear the tale of how you two made it as far as Wonju."
The two of them recounted the whole journey from Yeongwol to Wonju. Ho-in did most of the telling, with Hong-wi occasionally filling in gaps. Cha Gyeong-yeon listened with rapt attention, asking them to repeat the parts concerning Han Ga-ryeong several times over. When the tale was done, he nodded slowly.
"The elder Jeon Jung-jae promised to guide Your Majesty out of Yeongwol on the first day of the eighth month—so it took you well over ten days to reach me."
"We actually left the following day. Even so, it was a good ten days."
Cha Gyeong-yeon nodded again. "You must have taken quite the long way around. Had I been guiding you, three days at the fastest, five even by an easier but longer route, would have sufficed."
"Well... my sense of direction isn't the best," Ho-in confessed, his face going red.
Cha Gyeong-yeon roared with laughter. "No harm in it. Late or not, you arrived safely—which is the remarkable thing. What I told you at the tavern, at least, was the truth: the part about meeting the tiger of Chiaksan. The white fur was a joke, mind you. But face a tiger head-on and survival is nearly impossible."
He fell silent. He did not speak of the scene he had witnessed on the banks of the Han River years ago. Hong-wi, lost in other thoughts, said nothing either.
Cha Gyeong-yeon decided to change the subject. "Then again, perhaps your lateness was a blessing. If fortune had been crueler, the enemies waiting in Wonju might have numbered not three but a dozen or more. Among them there might have been a man who recognized Your Majesty's face. Had that been the case, you would never have left Wonju unscathed!"
Ho-in shuddered—and not from the cold.
Cha Gyeong-yeon smiled. "And frankly, I have to say I'm impressed. Your Majesty may be short on experience, but have you ever spent days upon days on mountain trails like this? The route you two took—I might manage it, but for beginners it is no easy road. With a bit more experience, you'd rival any seasoned hunter or mountain man."
He meant it. Though he didn't say so aloud, Cha Gyeong-yeon reckoned that even had old Jeon Jung-jae lived, the odds of Hong-wi's party arriving on time were less than even—the old man, after all, had hardly any more mountain experience than they did.
Had circumstances allowed, Cha Gyeong-yeon himself should have gone to Yeongwol. And yet Hong-wi had overturned all expectation.