Chapter 103
Chapter 103
The Iron Emperor — Chapter 103
"Hm."
Having blocked the cave entrance completely with grass and the like, they had gathered the remaining items they'd found inside the cave, including what looked like a gourd, relying on the small firelight.
"Looks like about three people. And from the state of the remains, it hasn't been very long. There's also a fair number of small animal bones, and given the broken bow and such, they were probably hunters."
"Daesaja!"
Yuwol's voice reached Ung-sam's ears as he stood lost in thought, looking at the roughly collected bones.
"What?"
"Looks like bear."
"Bear?"
When he went to where Yuwol was pointing, there was dried dung. Baron Gowin, seeing it, grimaced.
"We should be careful... It seems to be a Giant Bear."
"Giant Bear?"
At Ung-sam's questioning, Sir Beskin, who was standing to the side, examined the droppings and then spoke up as if certain.
"It would be best to avoid them. They are Giant Bears. It looks like at least four. Two might be manageable, but a pack is a problem."
"He's right. They could be nearby right now. They're weaker than an ogre but stronger than a troll, so there's no harm in being careful."
Sir Rabin, the younger brother, added to Sir Beskin's words. At the mention of them being stronger than a troll, the expressions of Ung-sam and his party changed rapidly.
"We can eat those, right?"
"......."
The face of one of the soldiers Ryu-hwa had brought lit up brightly as he spoke. Baron Gowin, looking at their faces brimming with joyful smiles, couldn't say a single word. These were probably the only people on the continent who would get this giddy over a creature said to be stronger than a troll.
"Quiet."
When Ung-sam cut in, Baron Gowin sighed with relief. He had thought Ung-sam was at least the one person capable of controlling these ignorant soldiers.
"Do you not realize we're being pursued?"
"Daesaja..."
Ryu-hwa looked at Ung-sam with a disappointed expression. But Ung-sam's face was resolute.
"Who said anything about waiting around for whenever they might show up? We have to form a hunting party and go hunt the Giant Bears right now. Move out!"
"Yes!"
"......."
At Ung-sam's command, Baron Gowin gave up on words entirely and lay down in a corner with his knights. Conversation has to work both ways, after all.
Whoosh.
Rain began to pour from the dark sky. The droplets quickly turned into such a downpour that you couldn't see in any direction, and inside the cave they could now light a fire without worry. They had blocked the light from leaking out, so there was no problem.
"You're not eating?"
"......."
Baron Gowin silently took the meat held out in front of him. Had they known in advance the rain was coming?
The moment they had dashed out, a family of Giant Bears had the misfortune of charging straight into this spot. And by the time Baron Gowin and his party realized the danger and came out with swords drawn, Gye Ung-sam's people were already humming to themselves, skinning the beasts.
"A little gamey, but it tastes good."
"Yeah."
Watching the Gauri soldiers chatting among themselves, Baron Gowin couldn't sort out his spinning head.
A Giant Bear was something even Sir Rainman or Baron Gowin himself could catch. But that was only possible for the upper ranks, even among knights. It took at least twenty ordinary soldiers just to hold a Giant Bear off.
Yet these men hadn't needed more than a few breaths to bring down three Giant Bears. What's more, doing it without the creatures even having time to howl was something beyond Baron Gowin's understanding.
Suddenly, he remembered what Ung-sam had said to him.
'A land no one can approach, guarded by more than ten warriors of Sword Master level or above, some two hundred knights nearing peak Sword Owner, and roughly two thousand Sword User-level elites...'
Those were the words he'd spoken when he said he wanted Baron Gowin's abilities.
'Gauri...'
The word rose in his mind.
"Ryu-hwa, come here."
Ung-sam's voice rang out, breaking Baron Gowin's reverie. Mong Ryu-hwa, who had been diligently eating with the soldiers on one side, stopped mid-bite and came up before Ung-sam.
"You called!"
"Did you drive a stake into your ears? Didn't I just call you over?"
"...Give me your orders."
Ryu-hwa, reading the expression on Ung-sam's face as if it were tied in knots, averted his eyes slightly as he answered. Ung-sam, looking at him with a sullen face, slowly began to speak.
"Why did you come?"
"To rescue you."
"Who?"
"Daesaja Gye."
"......."
Silence fell again. It seemed like a natural question and answer, but the situation was anything but.
"So, who ended up rescuing whom?"
Ryu-hwa, who had been holding his silence, spoke up with a slight mumble.
"...There was a small problem along the way, which is how things turned out like this."
"What problem?"
Ung-sam's question followed the moment the words ended.
Ryu-hwa's eyes carefully shifted toward the soldiers he had brought with him.
"Are you going to answer or not?"
At Ung-sam's prodding, Ryu-hwa fixed his gaze back on Ung-sam and carefully began to speak.
"So, while we were in disguise and heading this way, the Haian Kingdom figured out our identities, which is how we ended up being chased."
It was a bit short to call it an explanation, but Ung-sam's face remained sullen.
"How did you get caught in disguise?"
Ung-sam folded his arms and looked down at Ryu-hwa.
"We came wearing a magic item Risel made for the disguise."
"A magic item?"
When Ung-sam questioned him, Ryu-hwa nodded and explained.
"He said it's an item enchanted with a Transform— Transformation spell, I think. He said if everyone transformed, no one would recognize us. It actually worked, too."
"Is that so?"
Baron Gowin was surprised as he listened to their conversation. This was true not only for him but also for Sir Rainman and the brothers Beskin and Rabin.
To make the magic item they were talking about, one needed skill exceeding at least the 5th Circle. But "5th Circle" was easier said than done— while 3rd and 4th Circle were common, there were barely a hundred 5th-Circle wizards on the entire continent.
"Huh, that person knows how to make things like that too?"
It was only natural that Ung-sam didn't know, since he'd left before Risel had awakened. In the end, they had to explain that part all over again.
Ung-sam, who had been nodding along to Ryu-hwa's explanation, suddenly looked up as if a question had occurred to him.
"So how did you get caught? You said there were no real issues?"
At Ung-sam's question, Ryu-hwa's complexion visibly changed.
"Uh... well, it was thanks to a trap by the Haian Kingdom... What was it... Dis—? We got hit by that."
"Trap? Dis?"
The conversation, between people who had no way of knowing about magic, was going nowhere. Just then, Sir Rainman cut in and spoke.
"It would be Dispel. A kind of magic nullification."
"Is that right?"
"It is. They say Dispel magic can affect items depending on the difference in magic power."
At Sir Rainman's supplement, Ryu-hwa nodded his head vigorously up and down.
"That's right. That's how we got caught."
"I see."
When Ung-sam nodded in acceptance, a look of relief crossed Ryu-hwa's face, while in the eyes of the soldiers behind him, a glare of utter contempt swirled around.
"But to use Dispel, you have to target the subject. How would they have known you were transformed..."
"Well... I don't know."
Sir Rainman's seemingly casual question stopped Ryu-hwa's heart for a moment and drew another question mark in Ung-sam's mind.
Just then, from behind Ryu-hwa, like mosquito buzz, the sound of two soldiers talking leaked out.
[If he talks, it might get cut off. Right?]
[Yeah...]
But even though it was quiet, it was still enough to reach Ung-sam's ears. Ryu-hwa could hear it just as clearly.
Shrrng.
"......."
The firelight they'd kindled inside the cave reflected off the blade of Ung-sam's long sword as it rose to Ryu-hwa's neck.
"Are you going to tell me properly... or do you want to die?"
"I'll talk."
Ryu-hwa's judgment was swift.
And Ryu-hwa's thoughts flew back fifteen days.
* * *
Fifteen days ago...
"Oh! It was definitely worth volunteering!"
The soldiers, excited about something, passed through the city chattering ceaselessly with silly grins on their faces. While the grandeur couldn't compare to the buildings of Gauri, it was enough to make the soldiers, who'd been cooped up in the mountains, grin from ear to ear.
And among them all, one person was stirring things up like a fish in water...
"I'm so sorry. I assumed you were an unmarried maiden. My mistake..."
"Oh my, not at all. Ho ho ho."
The man leaning one arm on the inn counter, chatting with the young innkeeper.
It was Mong Ryu-hwa.
'That guy knew perfectly well she was a widow when he made his move...'
The soldiers watching this scene were pouting amongst themselves as if they didn't like it. Even though it was a transformation item, because the transformation was based on appearance, Ryu-hwa's slender yet subtly magnetic looks and behavior worked everywhere he went. It was exactly like a fish meeting water.
"Hut!"
"Oh my, what's wrong?"
When Ryu-hwa, who had been chatting away, suddenly sucked in a breath of air, the innkeeper's eyes went wide as she asked in surprise. Ryu-hwa stared piercingly at her, then spoke as if he couldn't believe it.
"How can this be... No matter how I look at it, you're beautiful!"
"Oh my, ho ho ho ho! You're too funny."
They hadn't even been in the inn that long, and the two were already patting each other and sticking close. Watching this, one soldier knocked back the last of his beer, set the mug down on the table, and clicked his tongue.
"Honestly. He seals the deal before I can even finish one beer."
"Seriously."
They tilted their heads and ordered another beer from the worker. They must have figured that at least eating was a gain.
In a room that wasn't very big, about four or five sturdy men including Mong Ryu-hwa were gathered. The sight of them talking in somewhat cautious voices was different from the lax behavior of the daytime.
"Even if we cast a wide net following the direction of the rumors, he probably hasn't crossed this line."
As Ryu-hwa explained, pointing at the map, the men nodded. The soldier across from him carefully posed a question to Ryu-hwa.
"For now, we don't have much choice but to move around the expected area."
Ryu-hwa nodded at the soldier's words, stretched, and spoke.
"Urrgh! Yawn. Well, that's probably best for now. If things get noisy, we can just go rescue him, and if he slips out quietly, even better. First, the best we can do is leave markers at places likely to be along his route."
"Understood."
Ryu-hwa, who had stood up and stretched, looked out the window and licked his lips.
"It's already night."
As Ryu-hwa smiled, gazing at the night sky, the complexions of the soldiers behind his back began to change.
"Everyone get some rest. I'm going to gather a bit more information through the innkeeper, you see."
With a faint smile, Ryu-hwa walked toward the door without even listening for the soldiers' replies.
Creak. Thud.
"......."
Only quiet silence remained in the room he had left.
"Seems like that third leg of his never gets a day off."
"Damn it all! How does it not even take that guy half a day..."
"I knew it from when he was scrubbing so vigorously in the bath earlier."
As soon as one person opened his mouth, they all stared at the closed door and each threw out a remark.
"Still, I'm jealous."
"......."
"...Yeah."
The room fell quiet again.
On this restless night, they were going to be staying up all night once again. Of course, Ryu-hwa would also be up all night, but...