Chapter 140
Chapter 140
Iron Emperor — Chapter 140
"Damn... foals?"
The horses that met the eyes of the knight riding at the head of the column looked small. But as long as they could run, that was enough. Waiting in the South Roselin camp, where they even laid traps to kill them, meant waiting for nothing but death anyway.
"You Northern vermin!"
He hurled sword-strokes filled with rage at the black-haired horse-handler who had come into view.
SWISH!
"Huh?"
A searing heat flashed through his waist.
Clang.
He saw the upper half of a sword fallen at his feet. But rather than further words, only a sound of disbelief escaped him.
"Uh... uh...."
Thud.
He could only be dumbfounded.
With his own eyes, he saw his lower body, severed from his torso. And through the blood gushing from the cross-section of his lower half, the two moons hanging in the sky were being dyed crimson.
"Swords!"
"Everyone be careful!"
The knights who witnessed a torso and lower body cleaved apart in a single stroke felt a chill of dread and shouted warnings.
CLANG-CLANG-CLANG!
The sound of steel clashing against steel rang out from all directions.
"Damnation! Demonic bastards!"
A North Roselin knight screamed as he watched the blood draining from his comrades' bodies embroider the dark night sky.
"Grrk."
Thud.
"That's all of them."
Steam still rose gently from the straight sword held upright. Was it because it met air cooler than the inside of a body?
The blood, as if not yet having lost all its warmth, was still breathing out hot vapor.
Curses burst from the mouth of the man gazing at the corpses of North Roselin knights sprawled everywhere.
"Damn it. We still haven't had a single drink, and this kind of shit happens!"
"Cleaning this up is gonna take more time."
They scowled.
"Honestly, everything has to get in our way."
The elite among the elite of the mightiest Gauri army.
They were soldiers of the Black Armored Ghost Cavalry.
The basic equipment set for the Gaema Cavalry, that is to say the Gauri Iron Cavalry, was enormous. Moreover, the maintenance that equipment required after battle was so extensive that ordinarily several attendants had to be attached to a single cavalryman. That, of course, was the same for the knights of this land.
However, when the Gauri army first crossed over to this continent, barely more than its combat troops had made it through, so even these elite soldiers had to personally check their equipment and horses late into the hours when ordinary infantrymen were tilting back drinks and resting.
"Tch. Gotta clean the sword again...."
A quiet, irritated voice followed.
The knights who had charged in this direction at the very end had literally thrust their heads into a tiger's mouth while fleeing a wolf.
"Those...."
Marquis Baikal, who had personally led a knight order and ridden out upon receiving the report that North Roselin knights had broken out en masse, wore an expression of disbelief.
"Hoo."
Beside him, Baron Bels let out a sigh. Was it relief that all the escapees had been caught?
"......."
The way he looked at the wide-eyed Marquis Baikal was not that of a man relieved that half the escaped captive knights were dead and the other half were now being beaten within an inch of their lives.
"I was told those who broke out were knights of North Roselin. How is it they are slain before they can exchange even three or four cuts?"
"......."
At Marquis Baikal's words, Baron Bels kept silent, offering no explanation.
"And beyond that, is it normal for them to be struck down and beaten to death like that before they can even reach the wounded?"
"......."
Marquis Baikal's eyes showed disbelief. He was astonished because their attire was not the dress of knights.
The sight of knights that South Roselin soldiers could not even lay hands on being trampled to death by the wounded, and furthermore being slaughtered by soldiers who were guarding horses, was utterly beyond his comprehension.
Of course, he could not even imagine that the men around the horses were troops boasting the mightiest martial power. Usually, anyone tending horses that late at night had to be considered a stable-hand or an ordinary soldier. Yet their sword-strokes were shockingly swift.
"That is Gauri...."
It was as though Baron Bels' low, subdued voice from a few days ago was echoing in his ears once more. The stories the baron had told him afterward were things he would never have believed if he had not personally witnessed the feats of the Gauri people.
And one thing was clear.
This was precisely the strength that South Roselin needed right now. It was not something one could thoughtlessly approach and settle with a title such as baron or viscount.
"......."
Baron Bels, looking behind him, saw Marquis Baikal momentarily lost in thought and unconsciously found himself gazing toward the rear of a column he could not even see.
'Why....'
Baron Bels too recalled the scene from days ago and was seized by doubt. The image that flickered through his mind was of Gauri soldiers enthusiastically trampling fallen knights with legs wrapped in bandages.
'Why did so many soldiers pretend to be wounded?'
After that, what he had observed with meticulous care was the fact that many soldiers were feigning illness—using an arm that was supposedly injured to eat their meals, for instance.
Suddenly, Go Jin-cheon's voice circled inside his head.
'The things called mercenaries get paid too, so it's not as if we waged this war like madmen without any compensation.'
The words struck him like a dousing of cold water.
'Don't tell me... even medical expenses!'
Baron Bels shook his head. No matter what, the man who styled himself sovereign of a nation would not have his soldiers feign illness because of money—or so he thought.
Baron Bels did not yet know Jin-cheon.
Chapter 41 — Show of Force
After the welcoming ceremony concluded, Marquis Baikal and Baron Bels wore troubled expressions in the presence of the central nobility.
"It would be best to grant him the rank of count and thereby display the magnanimity of the South Roselin royal house."
"Ho-ho-ho, precisely. If you do so, he will surely devote his utmost loyalty to Prince Alsein, we believe."
"If that is the thinking of my lords, I shall gladly confer the rank of count."
"......."
What Marquis Baikal found upon arriving was that they had already reached their conclusion regarding the Gauri army.
The conclusion was to bestow upon Go Jin-cheon a glorious seat among the South Roselin nobility, yet Marquis Baikal could not shake an inexplicable sense of unease.
"May Baikal speak a word to His Highness Prince Alsein?"
"Oh! Do speak."
The face of Pamilion Alsein Roselin, the prince who had borne the fate of the kingdom upon his shoulders at the age of sixteen, was brighter than ever before.
"Regarding the reward for the Kingdom of... Gauri, which aided us in this battle, a bit more prudence is advisable...."
"Ahem, Marquis Baikal. Kingdom of Gauri—what are you saying! If everyone who led an army and called himself a king truly became a king, the world would be full of them!"
The one who caught Marquis Baikal's words was Marquis Rui Terikan.
Were it not for this war, he would have spent his remaining years in peace, but in the current situation he was one of the two pillars, alongside Marquis Baikal, upholding South Roselin.
"Marquis Terican, even so...."
"Ho-ho-ho, Marquis Baikal. However much we may be momentarily driven back by the wicked schemes of North Roselin and the Holy Empire, this is a kingdom with a six-hundred-year tradition. If in a moment of hardship we acknowledge every rabble such as that, we shall surely become a laughingstock to other nations."
Marquis Terican's words were not wrong. But through Baron Bels, Marquis Baikal had heard details of the fighting strength of this place called Gauri until his ears were calloused. And he himself had also confirmed a fair portion of it with his own eyes.
Into the ears of the troubled Marquis Baikal came the voice of yet another noble.
"Marquis Baikal, is that not so? I ask you, has anyone ever heard of a nation named Gauri coming into being? And they will not even inform us of its location—is that not, in itself, the mark of a fictitious kingdom?"
"But...."
Gauri had thoroughly withheld its location even from Baron Bels, and that fact was now becoming the reason their persuasiveness was crumbling before these men.
From Gauri's standpoint, even if it was the rugged Reganza Mountains, there was nothing to be gained from making their location known. Was it not still a country where even the framework was not yet properly established, never mind a proper nation? The very objective of this war had been to gather a population, after all.
Seizing on the tail end of a fellow noble's remarks, Marquis Terican spoke again.
"And Marquis, might that Gauri lot not have seized one region of our South Roselin and proclaimed themselves a nation? Given these circumstances, it would not be unreasonable to apprise them of their situation and demand they submit their army in tribute."
"Mm."
As the nobles' words continued in this vein, Marquis Baikal began to wonder if he was being overly nervous. Then, suddenly, the existence of Siaron Risel came to mind.
"They also have an Archwizard among them."
"What!"
"An Archwizard!"
"Is that true!"
Astonishment suddenly infused the voices of the nobles.
At a time when Archmages effectively no longer existed, the presence of an Archwizard—the symbol of the 6th Circle—carried enormous weight. South Roselin itself had only one, did it not?
Marquis Baikal, as if gaining strength from the shifted atmosphere, continued.
"Moreover, the Hawk Corps, as already stated, is a force that does not fall far short even when measured against the Eastern Army. Baron Levion Gowin, who leads that Hawk Corps, is a man acclaimed as Haian's one and only knight. He has become a vassal of Gauri. You must therefore reconsider."
"Hm."
Unease shadowed Prince Alsein's face. Marquis Baikal's words were too significant in their own right to simply dismiss, yet believing them outright was something he could not comprehend.
"Then what did they seek to gain by interposing themselves in this battle?"
"That...."
At Marquis Terican's question, Marquis Baikal found himself without words.
Intervening on the losing side of a war was incomprehensible behavior. Of course, from the Gauri army's perspective its justification was rushing into a burning house to carry out whatever was useful, but who could have guessed that?
After a moment of silence, Marquis Terican quietly opened his mouth.
"His Highness Prince Alsein should show greater generosity. Marquis Baikal is not one to speak falsely, and an Archwizard's status alone warrants a rank above count. Therefore, the rank of count should be withdrawn."
"Indeed."
Marquis Baikal accepted Marquis Terican's words with a nod.
"Then what would be best to do?"
In answer to Prince Alsein's question, Marquis Terican cautiously spoke.
"That is...."
The aged nobleman spoke slowly.
* * *
While the complicated ceremonial formalities came to an end and Marquis Baikal met with the prince of South Roselin, Go Jin-cheon and the remaining commanders were drinking tea in a splendid hall.
"Remove all translation items."
Go Jin-cheon spoke quietly. At the sudden unintelligible sound, the Eulji Brothers cocked their heads slightly, but each complied without a single word of complaint.
"Daesaja Gye."
When Jin-cheon called Gye Ung-sam, who was behind him, Gye took one step forward and rendered a military salute.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"You translate."
"I obey!"
This was Jin-cheon making the easy way deliberately difficult.
Levion Gowin and Siaron Risel tilted their heads as if they could not understand.
"Are you wondering why I took the translation items off on purpose?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. This humble subject is too dull to grasp the reason."
At Gowin's answer, Jin-cheon let out a short laugh and spoke.
"Am I the one who's desperate?"
With those words, Jin-cheon finished removing the translation ring from his finger. Gowin smiled quietly at Jin-cheon's answer.
It was behavior unthinkable for the Haian Kingdom. At this moment, the diplomatic advantage belonged to Gauri. Though South Roselin, of course, would not think so.