Chapter 100
Chapter 100
Iron Emperor — Chapter 100
Squeak. Squeak.
The sound of a rat squeaking echoed through the pitch-black darkness. It was a rat's cry, but the fact that it echoed revealed this was a sealed space enclosed on all sides.
Rattle.
"Mealtime. Keel keel."
Click.
With that unpleasant laughter—maybe mockery, maybe a nervous tic—a small food slot at the bottom of the door opened and a bowl of watery soup with hard bread was shoved inside.
"My lord, your meal."
Someone spoke anxiously.
"Rainman, you eat first."
"My lord..."
A tired but dignified voice.
It was Baron Gowin. After separating from Gye Ung-sam's group, he had been imprisoned in the Capital Guard's underground dungeon. Normally nobles would at least be placed under house arrest in their own residences, but Baron Gowin was not afforded even that privilege.
'Will you not dream again?'
Ung-sam's voice echoed in Baron Gowin's ears.
"A dream..."
"Pardon?"
"No, it's nothing. Ha ha."
When Sir Rainman approached, thinking Baron Gowin's murmur had been meant for him, Baron Gowin silently waved a hand and laughed hollowly.
"I should eat..."
"My lord..."
Baron Gowin's lips twisted, and he spoke in a self-mocking voice as he looked at the dried-up bread. At that sight, Sir Rainman hung his head and bit his lip.
Crunch.
"This could kill a man rather than feed him."
"My lord..."
When Baron Gowin bit into the hard bread and cracked a joke, Sir Rainman looked up at him. A faint smile lingered on Baron Gowin's lips. At that composed smile, Sir Rainman felt his heart ease.
"Heh heh heh."
"Ha... ha ha ha ha!"
The laughter of Baron Gowin and Sir Rainman echoed for a long while within the grim prison.
Baron Gowin's charges were rebellion and attempted subversion of the state.
It was exactly as Baron Gowin had predicted. The central nobles of the kingdom, who found him an eyesore, had framed him. It was clear that from the moment they summoned him to the capital, the central nobles had intended to eliminate Baron Gowin completely. Before they could do that, the twenty thousand elite troops Baron Gowin had raised were an obstacle.
Not only had Baron Gowin poured his family fortune into them, but it was common knowledge among the common people that he had personally refused unreasonable orders to protect his soldiers' safety. The respect for him, who had served as a shield for his troops even as his title was demoted from Count to Viscount and finally to Baron, was immense.
That was precisely why, after ordering Baron Gowin to investigate the Alvin Domain, they swiftly rammed through the Council of Nobles' troop dispatch motion and sold the soldiers off to the Holy Empire. Coincidentally, this allowed the Holy Empire, amidst its tense relations with the other empires, to avoid depleting its own forces while also dodging direct criticism on principle.
As soon as everything was decided, the twenty thousand elite soldiers boarded transport ships and departed for the Holy Empire, and Baron Gowin was summoned to the capital. The excuse was a report on the investigation into Baron Alvin's death—an investigation they had never cared about in the first place. Baron Gowin had never imagined they would go so far as to sell off their own kingdom's soldiers.
Before Baron Gowin arrived, the best they could hope for was to fabricate a few documents to at least strip him of his noble title and banish him to the provinces. No matter how rotten the Haian Kingdom had become, he was not someone they could treat recklessly, given the high trust he commanded among the younger nobles and warriors.
And in the midst of all this, the demon incident involving Gye Ung-sam's group had conveniently erupted. The central nobles showered treasure upon Priest Palo II of the Holy Empire, who was bedridden, and secured confirmation that the accused had sold his soul to demons.
The absurd accusation of selling his soul to demons was perfect. It was a flawless noose that no one could defend against. Of course, a wizard could ascertain the truth, but their judgment could also be bought.
The whole thing was a rigged game. All that remained to Baron Gowin now were a false charge, disgrace, and the four knights under his command who had ridden across battlefields with him. Even among his close aides, the only one spared was Sir Sunian, the youngest of the Beskin brothers, who had been dispatched along with the twenty thousand elite troops.
And even he would clearly meet a wretched end, whether from orders that guaranteed death on the battlefield or a miserable life afterward.
The entire situation was sheer despair for Baron Gowin. It was as if everyone had forgotten him. The nobles would eliminate him once no one cared anymore that he was imprisoned. But Baron Gowin chewed his hard bread and desperately endured in the dark prison.
What kept him going was Gye Ung-sam's final remark.
'I will return.'
Baron Gowin held firmly to that belief.
Thud.
"..."
A strange noise caught the ear of Baron Gowin, who had been deep in meditation.
Clatter.
"Special meal for ya. Keel keel keel."
What the jailer presented was a sack. Sir Rainman approached and opened it.
"Ugh!"
"What is it?"
"Those bastards!"
Inside the sack was rotten, putrefied meat. The jailer's cackling voice rang out.
"Keel keel keel, isn't fresh meat a waste on a body that's gonna die soon anyway? Just think of it as a donation to this poor jailer, eh?"
The meat that was supposed to be cooked for them had clearly been swapped for spoiled meat. The problem was the meat itself. The fact that meat, when only hard bread had ever come before, had suddenly arrived meant that the time to take Baron Gowin's life was drawing near. And the jailer's words confirmed it.
'So this is how it ends.'
It was lamentable. Sir Rainman could say nothing and simply stared at Baron Gowin with a worried expression. The mocking laughter of the jailers echoed endlessly, grotesque and unsettling.
"Keel keel keel keel!"
"Keel keel keel keel!"
"Shut up! You bastards!"
Enraged by the jailers' laughter, Sir Rainman shouted.
'Jailers?'
Baron Gowin cocked his head.
Slice!
"Huh!"
A beam of light leaked through the door. A solid line drawn diagonally across it. The line began to widen. Then, with a flood of bright light, the door split in half and fell away.
Thud!
"Whoa there, can't be making too much noise."
Someone carefully caught and lowered the severed upper half of the door. The laughter grew louder.
"Keel keel keel keel keel!"
"Wh-who!"
Startled by the sudden burst of light, Rainman cried out. The laughter continued to erupt, and a dark silhouette moved behind the halved door. Baron Gowin squinted, and a low voice escaped his lips.
"Good to see you... Sir Gerard."
There stood the members of Gye Ung-sam's group, one of their blades held to a jailer's throat in a deadly tickle, and the jailer himself, weeping fat tears while laughing hysterically.
"My lord, how is your health!"
"Beskin! Ravin!"
Sir Beskin and Sir Rabin, who had apparently been rescued before Baron Gowin, greeted them with haggard but bright faces. Baron Gowin turned his head and looked at Ung-sam, who stood to the side.
"Glad to see you. Apologies for the delay."
"Heh."
Ung-sam and Baron Gowin's hands clasped firmly. After a brief exchange of sentiments, they began to move toward escape. Behind them, the jailer who had been cackling with laughter lay on the floor foaming at the mouth and trembling uncontrollably. Too much laughter can be poison.
SWISH!
"Gahk!"
Mu Handae's short blade silently slit a guard's throat. As the guard's body collapsed without uttering a sound, his vocal cords severed, Sir Rainman retrieved the sword the guard had been carrying. The fact that the prison was located in the heart of the capital had ironically created an opening.
'Who would dare break out of prison in the middle of the capital!'
This common, indolent assumption had allowed them to provide the answer.
'We will!'
With Gang Yuwol at the head, Gye Ung-sam and the rest of the group scaled the wall.
"Huh?"
Thwip! Thwock!
Thump, thud.
Two soldiers who had come out on patrol at precisely that moment gaped at the figures coming over the wall, but Yuwol's arrows had already punched through their throats. Yuwol swiftly approached them, drew a dagger to muffle their mouths, and severed their carotid arteries completely.
"Over!"
As Yuwol signaled with a circling hand, the remaining men vaulted over the wall. They vanished at a rapid pace.
Their escape was discovered after dawn. When the relief shift couldn't find the previous shift, they searched everywhere and finally uncovered the breakout. The Capital Guard's footsteps rang out in chaos, and the gates throughout the capital were instantly sealed as communication magic relayed the alert.
At that very moment, Gye Ung-sam's group and Baron Gowin's party were gathered in a dugout shelter, enjoying a long-awaited reunion over rich meat and wine. The knights, in particular, were diligently stuffing their faces with the piled-up food, whether to restore their physical strength or calm their stomachs.
Baron Gowin, having apparently already finished his meal, leaned against a dirt wall, savoring wine from a brass cup.
"Nom, nom. Tch. But about one of your comrades, the big one..."
Sir Rainman, food still in his mouth, began to pose a question to them but then trailed off. As he hung his head as if speaking the words was a sin, Ung-sam finally realized what was on Rainman's mind.
"Do not worry. That fellow is probably off somewhere in South Roselin, living the high life without a care."
"What?"
"The twenty thousand elite soldiers that Baron Gowin raised."
At Ung-sam's words, Baron Gowin's movement to bring his wine cup to his lips halted. His eyes met Ung-sam's.
"Wouldn't giving up now render all the time spent until this moment meaningless?"
Ung-sam's sweet words stirred Baron Gowin and the three knights. Since the youngest of the Beskin brothers was also in that situation, their eyes could not help but sharpen. Baron Gowin brought the halted brass cup back to his lips.
"Even if we find them, there's no way to reach them."
It was a cold but powerless voice.
As Baron Gowin said, even if they found the soldiers, they would be on a battlefield in the Holy Empire or South Roselin. How could they possibly extract them? And even if they were extracted, they would have nowhere to go.
Sir Rainman carefully set down his duck leg and offered his opinion to Baron Gowin.
"My lord, if we surrender to the southern army of South Roselin..."
"No. They're holding on for now, but they won't last long. As time passes, even if North Roselin screws up, their severed rear will eventually be brought under control. Or they could just pretend madness and sell off land they can't control to the Holy Empire."
"They wouldn't!"
Sir Beskin's mouth fell open at Baron Gowin's explanation. But Sir Rainman nodded. Military mobilization was possible for the Holy Empire as long as they were given a justification. Selling land for that justification, or calling innocent people slaves and selling them off, had been frequent occurrences in the previous era of conquest.
"Do you trust me?"
"...Sir Gerard."
"No, why would you suddenly say something like that..."
The attention of Baron Gowin's entire party focused on Ung-sam.
"Daesaja."
"I'll take care of it."
One of Baron Gowin's eyebrows arched upward.
The words were clearly delivered in a whisper, but in an unfamiliar language. Ung-sam faced Baron Gowin.
"What if I said you would be treated according to your ability?"
"What do you mean?"
"I am saying I want to buy your ability, Baron Gowin."
At Ung-sam's words, silence fell upon the dugout.
"A nation with unassailable territory, guarded by over ten martial artists at the Sword Master level or above, two hundred knights who have reached the peak of Sword Owner, and two thousand elite Aura Users..."
"What in the world..."
"Wouldn't that be sufficient?"
Baron Gowin's eyes wavered. The other three knights were still gaping. They could not imagine Ung-sam lying in this situation. But the numbers Ung-sam had just recited were nearly impossible even for an empire. Setting everything else aside, there were only fifteen Sword Masters on the continent.
It was unbelievable.
Calculations raced through the knights' heads: if the elite numbered that many, the common soldiers must number at least in the tens of thousands. Of course, the numbers Ung-sam had given were the entirety of them, but there was no particular need to shatter their imaginations by explaining separately.
For now, what Ung-sam had said was the truth. Overinterpreting it was their mistake. As if to drive the point home, Ung-sam's lips parted again.
"Gerard of Lightning is alive."
"No!"
"And he is with us."
Their capacity for shock perhaps exhausted, the three knights stood frozen like statues. Unlike the astonished knights, Baron Gowin calmly studied Ung-sam before speaking.
"The Federal Empire?"
"No."
"The Maritime Empire, then?"
"Absolutely not."
"Then..."
Cutting off Baron Gowin's question about his backing, Ung-sam spoke.
"The Great Gauri (大 高句麗)!"
"Gauri..."
A name he remembered. The very name Ung-sam had shouted before they parted ways. Looking into Baron Gowin's shining eyes, Ung-sam was convinced that if just one more thing went well, everything would be resolved.
'Samdopyo, I'm counting on you!'
Ung-sam thought of Samdopyo, assuming that by now he would have located the twenty thousand soldiers.
* * *
Toss.
"Ngh. Ah, why's my wound suddenly aching?"
Scratch scratch scratch.
Samdopyo, who had been scratching a wound he'd received in battle, suddenly blinked as if remembering something.
"The twenty thousand soldiers... I need to find them..."
Muttering while lying down, Dupyo rolled over again.
"Right now, it's rest and recovery. Heh heh heh."
Yawn!
A young saber-tooth tiger, Nyang-i, curled up in a ball on Dupyo's belly, yawned as Dupyo lay flat on his back staring at the ceiling in a comfortable pose.
It was a lazy afternoon.