Chapter 149
Chapter 149
Iron Emperor — Chapter 149
Chapter 44: Homecoming
The journey back to Gauri proved less difficult than expected. The procession of forty thousand troops, a supply contingent numbering thirty thousand, and twenty thousand refugees was certainly large enough to draw attention, but it was overshadowed by the shocking defeat of North Roselin.
Above all, it was possible because they moved in divided groups to minimize exposure.
"Just a little further and we're home! Our Sara's gotten so much prettier, hasn't she?"
As Eulji Buru fiddled with a trinket and hummed, Eulji Uru, riding beside him, scolded him.
"You daft bastard, you've gone completely soft!"
"You just now figuring that out? I'm a doting fool."
"Pfft-hahaha."
Uru burst out laughing at Buru's cheekiness. And they weren't the only ones.
"Hmm-hm-hm, once we cross this pass~."
"......."
"One, two, three......."
Samdopyo's face was twisted into a grimace, as if he'd just seen something he shouldn't have, as he watched Buyeo Gi-yul humming a tune and counting small trinkets.
"Tsk, you're not some lass—what's with hauling around a whole pile of trinkets?"
"Heh, this one's for Sein's daughter Reni, this one's for Syeobeon's daughter Serin, this necklace is for sweet little Malina, and this bracelet is for......."
Ignoring Dupyo's grumbling, Giyul was holding each item up one by one and muttering strange (?) things, seemingly delighted about something. Letting out a sigh, Dupyo looked in another direction.
"Let's see. This is for Madam Debora, hmm...... and this should go to Winiel at the watermill. Huh? Where did I put the earrings for Madam Ellehain?"
Over there, Mong Ryu-hwa was pulling various items out of a saddlebag and sorting them.
"Tsk, that one and this one, both the same."
Through his deeply furrowed brow, Dupyo's eyes caught sight of Gye Ung-sam coming up from the rear. Ung-sam was dozing on horseback. Feeling an inexplicable sense of kinship, Dupyo found himself riding over to him without realizing it.
The buoyant mood among the Gauri soldiers continued.
The soldiers of the Hawk Corps were brimming with anticipation for the new home they would settle. The news that all their families had safely transferred to Gauri was a tremendous hope for them.
They had even been half in disbelief when they heard that the red-light district had also been relocated to Gauri and was preparing for a fresh start. Quite a few of those women had promised a future with some of the men once this war was over.
They never imagined anyone would go so far as to look after such matters.
But the Gauri soldiers knew exactly how their comrades felt. And among the troops marching with them, the South Road Army, composed of men from South Roselin, also had eyes full of expectation.
The refugees following behind them simply wished for this arduous march to end quickly so they could settle down.
"Wait a minute!"
"What?"
"This direction...... something feels......."
A Hawk Corps soldier was tilting his head and looking around. It had started once they entered the seemingly endless mountain range. He had kept his mouth shut, thinking he might be mistaken, but as the column moved deeper into the forest, he began to feel a growing unease about their direction.
"The Reganza Mountains!"
"Gasp!"
The cry from someone spread like an epidemic.
Monster Heaven.
The Forest of Death.
And yet another name for it: the Dragon Mountains.
These facts were more than enough to instill terror in the Hawk Corps, the South Road Army, and the refugees.
"Why are we going in here?"
"Mommy, is this a scary place?"
Whether the column knew of the people's anxiety or not, it pressed on into the mountains without stopping.
"Let's muster just a little more strength."
"Yes, mister."
"You're supposed to call me father, you rascal."
As Hailon walked along holding the children's hands, a man in shabby clothes cautiously approached and spoke near his ear.
"Um...... Sir Soldier."
"You there! Calling Lord Hailon a mere soldier—he's a man who has attained the rank of Bujeol!"
The reply came not from Hailon but from a soldier nearby. However, the man, who had no way of knowing what the rank of Bujeol meant, simply flinched in alarm and bowed his head repeatedly.
"Oh no, I've committed a capital offense! Please spare my life!"
"You there! There's no shame in not knowing—why are you browbeating him? Please get up; I'm not offended."
"Do you truly forgive me?"
When Hailon offered a kind smile, the ragged man hesitantly raised his head. After giving him an easygoing smile, Hailon patted the man's shoulder and opened his mouth.
"So, why did you call for me?"
"Yes, Lord Bujeol. It's nothing, really. Is it absolutely necessary to pass through this place to get to our destination?"
"It isn't."
The man's face brightened at Hailon's denial. But only for a moment.
"The center of this mountain range is our destination."
"Gasp!"
At Hailon's nonchalant reply, the man sucked in a breath and stopped dead in his tracks. He wasn't the only one. The refugees nearby who had been listening in all stopped in shock.
"Please, spare us!"
"Oh no!"
Hailon was actually taken aback by the refugees suddenly bursting into loud wails.
Hailon himself was originally a slash-and-burn farmer who had lived inside these very mountains, but these people were different. They had spent their lives never even glancing this way, knowing it only as a byword for dread and terror, so their horrified shock and lamentation were hardly unreasonable.
"What on earth is wrong with these people?"
"We've heard that no one survives in the Monster Mountains. What, then, is to become of us?"
When an old man answered Hailon's question with an anxious face, Hailon finally seemed to understand why they were so fearful and weeping.
"Goodness. Never mind other monsters—if even a single ogre shows up, it'll be chaos."
"Hiccup!"
When Hailon chuckled and made that remark, the refugees' faces turned pale. Even a child who had been crying for no apparent reason stopped weeping and began hiccupping.
Kwoooooo!
"Huh?"
Speak of the devil.
The roar resounded the instant Hailon finished speaking.
Just as Hailon had said, the previously peaceful camp began to descend into chaos.
"It's an ogre!"
As a soldier's shout rang out, dozens of soldiers began sprinting forward. But the expressions on the charging soldiers' faces radiated not fear, but something akin to madness.
"If I catch it, the hide is mine!"
"What nonsense are you spouting!"
Among the soldiers racing forward as if competing, you couldn't spot anyone who looked like a knight no matter how hard you looked.
A short while later.......
Kwoo-weeeeerk!
The sound of an ogre having its throat cut echoed through the forest, shaking it.......
"Damn, lucky bastards."
"Heh heh heh."
Then, soldiers could be seen dragging the ogre along as if it were mere livestock. Of course, these soldiers were the ones who had crossed dimensions, but to the refugees, the South Road Army knights, and the Hawk Corps troops, they appeared to be nothing more than common soldiers.
"How is that even possible......."
A refugee stared at the scene with eyes full of disbelief. But that was nothing.
"Kkwe-eek!"
"Squeal! Squea-ea-eal!"
The sight of Gauri soldiers running around brandishing clubs and orcs fleeing for their lives while screaming in terror was at least somewhat comprehensible.
"Moo-ooh-ooh!"
The image of a minotaur, the moment it was caught, being beaten half to death on the spot and then, for good measure, having both forelegs bound and a nose ring driven through its snout, even looked pitiful.
"Moo!"
......At times, it even felt familiar.
It didn't take long for terror to turn to bafflement, bafflement to pity, and pity to indifference. With the Gauri soldiers running wild like kids in a candy store and the archers demonstrating their skills, the exhausted refugees began to feel something close to happiness as they were provided with meat every day.
Of course, with nearly a hundred thousand people on the move, no wild animal dared approach. But the ogres captured along the way proved sufficiently useful.
"Remove the gag!"
"Jab!"
The moment the gag tied around the ogre's mouth was loosened, the spear blade that simultaneously poked its hindquarters took quick effect.
"Kwoo-aaaaar!"
The ogre's Fear cry.
The Fear of an ogre, called the king of the forest, was enough to momentarily freeze the legs of any fleeing animal. The archers who dashed in afterward came out carrying game in each hand. In this way, they were hunting while also providing invaluable assistance to the refugees' on-site adaptation training.
The Reganza Mountains could no longer be an object of fear, nor a shadow of death.
And never before had the Reganza Mountains been so unavoidably noisy.
"Mis...... no, Father!"
A child with clear, sparkling eyes called out to Hailon. Now free from any financial worries, Hailon saw the questioning look from one of the many children trailing behind him and answered in a kindly voice.
"Yes!"
"They say these are the Dragon Mountains—have you ever seen a dragon?"
"Hoho."
It was a question typical of a child.
In truth, the fear surrounding the beings called dragons was bound to be vague. It was simply passed around in stories, but for ordinary people, it didn't strike as deeply as terror of an ogre. It merely felt like a legend.
Hailon, who had let out a laugh at the child's question, wore a thoughtful expression for a moment before turning his head toward the children. Before he knew it, other children were also waiting for Hailon's answer.
"Well, I have seen one!"
"Wow!"
"Really?!"
The children's eyes sparkled as they burst into exclamations. Hailon paused briefly for effect before continuing in a slow voice.
"Its eyes are fiercely glaring! Its teeth, each as big as a full-grown man, are sharp and jut straight out."
"Gasp!"
The children stared at Hailon's exaggerated description with such fascination that they were even drooling, and the other adults watched the scene with amusement.
The adults, after all, knew that Hailon's words were not true. In fact, the last recorded appearance of a dragon on the continent was a thousand years ago.
"Now that I think about it, the last place they appeared a thousand years ago was this mountain range, wasn't it?"
"Was it?"
The adults, who had been watching Hailon telling a long, animated story complete with hand gestures to the children, were only now re-registering that this place was indeed the Dragon Mountains.
"But do they really exist?"
"Who knows."
Even the adults as they walked along had once been like these children, listening only to their parents' explanations and letting their imaginations run wild. To them, it was nothing more than a legend that didn't truly hit home.
Go Jin-cheon personally toured the procession with his commanders. It was something he always did, and he never missed a day of inspecting the column here and there.
"Hmm?"
Off to one side, children had gathered in a large group, shrieking and cheering by turns. At the center of the spot Jin-cheon gazed at with interest, Hailon was making comical faces and telling stories to the children.
"Hoo-hoo, that fellow has become quite adept at handling children now."
"Indeed."
Yeon Hwi-garam followed behind Jin-cheon and smiled at the sight.
When people gather, it's only natural to be curious as to why. Jin-cheon was no exception and moved his footsteps closer.
A child who was not Hailon's but seemed utterly captivated by his story raised an arm straight up and asked.
"Do they breathe fire, too?"
"Well, of course they do!"
When Hailon nodded, the child launched into an animated conversation with a friend nearby.
"What story is being told with such relish?"
Hwi-garam approached together with Jin-cheon, wearing a relaxed smile.
At Hwi-garam's question, Hailon first offered a military salute, then laughed sheepishly and said.
"Well...... the children asked me to tell them about dragons."
"Dragons?"
"Yes."
When Hwi-garam asked in return, Hailon answered with a slight bow. Jin-cheon, standing beside Hwi-garam, added a word.
"They call yong 'dragons' in this place."
"Haha."
As Hwi-garam burst into laughter, a child opened her eyes wide and spoke up.
"Sir Knight, they say dragons are the strongest in the world! If you laugh like that and the dragon finds out, there'll be big trouble!"
"That's right! They're dozens of mir in size, with teeth as big as a grown human! And they breathe fire, too!"
"They say a dragon might appear here since this is the Dragon Mountains......."
The children poured out words to Hwi-garam as if competing with one another. He didn't seem to mind it and smiled continuously.
"What does a dragon look like?"
When Hwi-garam stroked a child's head and asked playfully, the child began to speak clearly, enunciating every syllable.
"Well, it has big, glaring eyes, and they say its neck is long. Its front legs are short, but its back legs are big, so it can stand and walk on two legs."
"It looks just like a lizard, then."
"Oh no, this is bad! I told you, you mustn't talk about them like that!"
The child was startled by Hwi-garam's remark and spoke as if issuing a warning. Then she slowly continued.
"It has two horns on its head. And they're divided into types by color. Red, Blue, Green, Black......."
Just as the child was folding down her fingers and listing them one by one, Jin-cheon's voice popped out.
"Is there a dung-colored one, too?"
"Ah! You mean gold."
"......."
The child who had answered Jin-cheon's question tried to continue, but another question flew toward her.
"Do they have wings as well?"
"Yes!"
"And they fly well through the sky."
"Yes!"
"......."
The child, who had been answering vigorously, sensed that Jin-cheon, who was asking the questions, wasn't looking at her but was gazing up at the sky.
"In that case, that thing up there must be a dragon, I suppose."
At Jin-cheon's words, the children and the people shifted their gaze skyward and laughed.
"Hehe, as if!"
"Haha......."
Kwoo-oooooooh-!
A Dragon Fear that shook the Reganza Mountains poured down from the sky.