Chapter 14
Chapter 14
The Iron Emperor — Chapter 14
Go Jin-cheon frowned, looking down at the unconscious old wizard.
"In this place, do beggars practice spellcraft?"
"Hardly. A spellcaster must have become a beggar."
Yeon Hwi-garam replied lightly as he stepped out from behind Jin-cheon.
Judging by the way he was dusting dirt off his hands, it was Jin-cheon who had thrown the stone. Beside him, Hwi-garam gazed at the fallen old man with an expression of interest and spoke.
"The spellcraft in this place is rather chaotic."
"It may be. The energy I sense here—is it not divided into distinct attributes, circulating separately?"
"Yes."
Where they had lived, energy was strongly harmonious, but the energy in this place had a strong individual character to each type. That was why the way this wizard employed it intrigued them. It wasn't that such spellcraft methods didn't exist at all.
"I see some resemblance to the spellcasters of Tang, but the energy they form within their bodies is not that, either."
"Those ones would refine a single energy and accumulate it within their bodies."
"Yet this one has clearly gathered five distinct energies inside his body. However, when he releases them, he seems to use only one energy at a time."
"Hm. So that is possible too, I see."
Hwi-garam was examining the prone old man here and there, handling him like a test subject.
"Once we examine him a bit more, the answer will emerge."
"For now... bring him inside, lay him down, and make sure he cannot do anything foolish."
"Yes."
When Jin-cheon gave the order, Darun approached, hoisted the old man onto his back, and carried him inside. Jin-cheon then turned his head and spoke to the two men who had just been through hell.
"What exactly happened?"
"Well, that... daeul mejisyeon-ga (this wizard) ogre blood to, uh..."
"Gurajaengi!"
"Yes, General, on my way!"
Watching Beron stammer, Jin-cheon resolved that he would have to teach these men the language thoroughly.
With Ung-sam interpreting, Jin-cheon heard what had just happened and nodded.
"Is this Gold a large sum?"
"Yes, General."
"How large?"
"A whole lot."
"..."
In the end, the value of currency had to be discussed once more through Beron. One Silver could buy an eighty-kilogram sack of wheat. One Gold was worth ten Silver.
Having grasped the units of currency, Jin-cheon spoke again.
"Are spellcasters common in this place?"
"Spellcasters?"
"That old man from earlier."
When Beron failed to understand and Ung-sam resorted to hand gestures, Beron nodded and explained. In the end, what Jin-cheon understood was that they were rare, knowledgeable, and expensive individuals.
"Hm-m. Is that so?"
Jin-cheon stroked his chin, wearing a strange smile.
"Nein? (What?) Going today?"
Beron strung together barely functional words, his eyes widening. It was because Jin-cheon had said he was returning to the village first. Preparations were still far from complete. They were already loading the goods they had purchased earlier onto the cart for departure. To the bewildered Beron and Darun, Jin-cheon tossed out a rough remark.
"I'll leave Gurajaengi behind, so there will be no issues with your safety."
"Don't you worry!"
"..."
Beron looked at Ung-sam, who was grinning beside him, and felt even more uneasy. Seeing that, Hwi-garam couldn't help but let out a chuckle.
"Beron, you may not know this, but even if every last guard we saw on our way in were to attack at once, Ung-sam would defeat them all with strength to spare."
Gye Ung-sam was a descendant of Baekje refugees, a man who had been a Ssaulabi. Because of that, when it came to the sword, he was an unrivaled existence among the swordsmen.
Baekje had been a maritime kingdom, and so his father had traveled the world from the western regions to Arabia and beyond—which was why Ung-sam knew many foreign languages. But how much could Beron and Darun possibly grasp of that?
Considering his conduct up to now, he was someone who inspired precisely zero confidence.
"Then I'll go on ahead. Ung-sam! The safety of the party is your highest priority. I am entrusting it to you."
"Yes, General."
And so, leaving their concerns behind, Jin-cheon and Hwi-garam departed after only a single day, their cart loaded with nothing but grain.
After they had gone, Herrison, who had been tidying the rooms, called out to Beron, who was seeing them off.
"Beron! The wizard has disappeared!"
"...!"
The wizard they had definitely laid down carefully on the bed had vanished. In that instant, the strange smile Jin-cheon had worn earlier and the last words he had spoken surfaced in Beron's mind.
The words had been: Finder's keepers.
The rickety cart was being driven along by Go Jin-cheon and Yeon Hwi-garam. In the late evening forest, the darkness descended unusually fast. The old wizard Risel Siaron, who had been sprawled on the cart as if dead, slowly opened his eyes.
"..."
Risel saw the darkness spread before him. Within the dark, where moonlight seeped through in intervals, the forest enclosed by abundant trees was both serene and grotesque.
"...Whasen! (What the—!)"
Thud-thump.
"Oh, you're awake?"
"What are you planning to use that old man for?"
"He's rare and expensive, they say."
Having thrashed his bound body and tumbled sideways off the cart, Risel could now tell that after losing consciousness during the day, he had been tied up and was being kidnapped by ruffians.
"Kkeu-heuk."
At the sound of sobbing from the back of the cart, Jin-cheon ordered Hwi-garam to stop.
"Stop."
"Yes."
"Kkeuu-heu-heu-heu."
"..."
Go Jin-cheon and Yeon Hwi-garam stood watching the old man who had begun weeping before their eyes. As if he couldn't understand it, Jin-cheon threw a remark at Hwi-garam.
"Why is he crying?"
"It is only natural to be sad when one is kidnapped."
"I picked him up."
"Kidnappers know how to say that sort of thing too. Well, when I do it, it's love; when someone else does it, it's a crime, as they say."
"..."
Jin-cheon's brow furrowed at Hwi-garam's retort, which conceded not a single point. Seeing that, Hwi-garam swiftly changed the subject.
"It is a bit strange, though. Before crying, the response would normally be 'Who are you!' or 'What do you think you're doing!' and so on."
"That's exactly what I was going to say."
"...Yes."
"Ahem."
Even with the two of them chattering away in front of him, the old man continued weeping endlessly, as if he were the most sorrowful creature in the world.
Risel was a case of the most ordinary kind: a passing wizard had recognized his talent and raised him as a disciple. While others took a year merely to sense mana, Risel had accomplished it in a single month, monopolizing his master's affection.
Half a year after beginning his 1st Circle training, he had mastered everything, confirming his master's conviction—the conviction that he was a genius who appeared perhaps once in a century. What others normally took two years to master after first sensing mana, he had finished in exactly half a year. He was twelve years old at the time.
Now, at the moment of his abduction, he was seventy-five years old—a 2nd Circle Walker.
When his growth halted at the 2nd Circle, his master began to worry. And after ten years passed, he became a forgotten figure in his master's mind.
In the world of magic, there is a saying: "Even a monkey can master the 2nd Circle if taught well."
Wherever he went, he was scorned, and while other wizards were treated favorably, he had to worry about his next meal. When conducting experiments, others were given materials and encouraged to proceed, but Risel had to beg to obtain his materials.
Even amid all that, he never abandoned his passion for magic. But now, it was over. The sorrow that, once he was dragged away, there would be no further path to conquering the 2nd Circle consumed him.
Sorrow flowed from his eyes without stopping.
'Damn it.'
He was a wizard worse than a monkey.
"Wipe your tears."
"..."
A white cloth was held out before his eyes, and the rope binding him was loosened. In the darkness, Jin-cheon and Hwi-garam's faces were hard to see clearly, but Risel knew one thing for certain: they could not understand each other's speech.
"Tch. If only we could communicate."
Jin-cheon wiped the old man's tears, his voice tinged with frustration.
"Oum sala di krei um taha, wolmaru willuga manawi poware na-wa-en-ega uwaenmaruwi pawamaru bunbun jweo-u. Geurel seulla, geureul bandeuno wonkeoni... mudakenasu. (O powers of mana that form the world, grant unto me a share of your strength. The smallest yet most needed of your powers I beseech... gather.)"
Realizing they could not understand him, Risel feigned wiping his tears while calmly reciting his incantation. When Jin-cheon and Hwi-garam made not the slightest move, he gained confidence and shouted the final activation word.
"Energy Bolt!"
"Ho-oh."
Along with the activation word, two spiral-shaped masses of energy formed and flew at Jin-cheon and Hwi-garam. All that escaped Jin-cheon's lips at the sight was a murmur of fascination.
Shwooosh— crackle-pop!
"Whoops."
"Block!"
The two energies had shot forward in spirals, but one was caught in Jin-cheon's hand and extinguished, while the other was extinguished before Hwi-garam.
"This is interesting."
"Kuh, ku-heok!"
"It tingles."
To Jin-cheon, who was shaking his hand as if his palm stung slightly, Hwi-garam spoke with a subtle smile, while Risel hacked and coughed as if he had choked on his own breath. Having caught his breath, Risel wore a dumbfounded expression, then raised a finger.
"Interpretation!"
"Huh?"
As the brief sound left Risel's lips, light shone from his ring. Then he immediately spoke to the puzzled Jin-cheon.
"Who are you people?!"
"Fascinating. How are you speaking our language?"
"How can you nullify an Energy Bolt without even using a Shield?!"
"That's what I'm wondering. He's speaking our language, isn't he?"
His question was directed at Hwi-garam.
This phenomenon was beyond the rules Risel knew.
In Jin-cheon's case, it might be possible if he were a Master-level swordsman, but in Hwi-garam's case, it had not even been a Shield. It was as if he had reversed the process of the Energy Bolt's formation, returning the mana to the atmosphere.
But Jin-cheon and Hwi-garam let his question go in one ear and out the other, absorbed in their own conversation. At their indifference, Risel once again turned to Jin-cheon and pressed him persistently.
"No, how can you extinguish it in such a short time and at such short range!"
"How do you know our language?"
When Jin-cheon spoke to him, Risel thrust his hand out wide in front of his face, showing his ring. Then he snapped bluntly.
"It's my item doing the work, so don't talk to me!"
"..."
Jin-cheon's face instantly crumpled. And the agitated Risel, as if forgetting his own situation, approached Hwi-garam and gazed at him with eyes full of fervent longing.
"Well, this is something."
"Was that magic? What is the formula?"
Both Hwi-garam and Jin-cheon could only wear expressions of disbelief. First he cried, then he launched something at them, and now he was pestering them to teach him—for Jin-cheon, who might have said he found the man but had effectively kidnapped him, this was a being who made him ponder how to handle the situation. Hwi-garam wore an uncomfortable expression and spoke.
"Hm, for now, you too appear to be a spellcaster, old man—surely you know that demanding to be taught another's secret techniques is nothing short of rude?"
"And kidnapping is not rude?"
"Keu-heum."
At the old man's words, Jin-cheon coughed loudly and moved to the front of the cart. Hwi-garam scratched his head as if at a loss, then raised his hand.
"First, we must deal with the uninvited guests. Shatter!"
KABOOM!
"Kyaaaak!"
The moment Hwi-garam's gesture turned toward the forest, a blast of light and sound erupted, and one side exploded outward.
Kalsuman could not collect his wits right now. It had been fine up to the point where, thinking he could score an easy payday for the first time in a while, he had brought ten men out. He normally did not do this sort of thing often. He knew that throwing away a steady source of income for a single moment of greed was a foolish act.
But this time, the goods the slash-and-burn farmers had brought in were quite substantial, and helpfully, only two fools had come out first by themselves. That way, even if they killed the two and took the goods, the rest would remain, meaning no problem for the next steady income while also netting a lump sum.
Kalsuman's humble plan evaporated in an instant when the forest on one side exploded at a gesture from one of the fools who had seemed so lacking. Two of his men, who had been hiding there with arrows nocked to their bows, had their bodies blown to pieces in the aftermath.
"Hi, hiiik!"
WHOOSH!
Craaack!
"Guak!"
What followed the explosion was a fist tearing savagely through the air. A soldier who took Go Jin-cheon's fist to the face as he charged into the forest was sent flying through the sky, letting out a grotesque noise. The instant two soldiers were airborne, the remaining men began to fight desperately for their lives.
"Dura! (Die!)"
A soldier whose hideous sword scar across his face twisted as he screamed charged forward, swinging a long sword. His attack, slashing down as if to cleave Jin-cheon in two, seemed on the verge of success.
"Hm!"
Clang!
"Heo-eok!"
But when Jin-cheon, with a short kiai, struck the blade flying at his head with the edge of his hand and sent it flying, the soldier stared at his broken blade with eyes of disbelief. That was the last reaction of his life.
"Hiik!"
"Where do you think you're going?"
Kalsuman, terrified by the monstrous strength of Jin-cheon—who had cut through the blade of his most skilled soldier with his bare hand and then crushed his skull with a follow-up punch—began to flee. But Hwi-garam was already standing before him, wearing a leisurely smile.
"Sallen shaoril! (Somebody save me!)"
When one surviving soldier turned his back and ran, Hwi-garam produced a paper talisman from his chest.
"Bind!"
At Hwi-garam's cry, the talisman rose from his hand and halted in the empty air. And the fleeing man's body lifted slightly off the ground and stopped, suspended.
"Shaorillwo! (Save me!)"
The soldier's voice was laced with terror, but Hwi-garam uttered another low sound.
"Extinction Fire."
Fwoosh.
No sooner had the words ended than the characters for Extinction Fire blazed red upon the talisman, and it was engulfed in flames.
FWOOSH!
"Keuaaaak!"
As the talisman burned, the same characters of Extinction Fire appeared on the body of the soldier suspended in the air and began to burn as well, and in mere seconds, just as the talisman vanished without leaving even ash, the soldier's body vanished too. It was the flame of Extinction Fire, which left not even ashes behind.
Flinch.
"This is..."
Kalsuman, who had been watching, collapsed as the strength left his legs, then shuddered violently. Unlike the chill night air, steam rose faintly from Kalsuman's crotch.
"He pissed himself."
"..."
It was a single remark from Hwi-garam, clicking his tongue.