Chapter 15
Chapter 15
The Iron Emperor — Chapter 15
Tap.
Flinch.
"Hrrrm."
Something was poking around Kalsuman's face and head.
Go Jin-cheon had picked up a spear shaft dropped by one of the soldiers, and every time he prodded Kalsuman's face or skull with an indifferent expression, the man flinched in terror.
Tap-tap-tap.
Flinch, flinch, flinch.
"Grrrm."
Whether because Kalsuman's earlier treatment of him was burned deep into his mind, Jin-cheon kept tapping his head with the shaft, and in perfect sync, Kalsuman kept flinching.
Tap.
Flinch.
"Enough playing. We should get moving."
"Hm."
The moment Yeon Hwi-garam spoke up beside him, the hand of vengeance (?) directed at Kalsuman came to a halt. Unable to understand a word they said, Kalsuman had no choice but to stay on high alert at every single movement.
Rustle.
When Jin-cheon pulled a scrap of paper from his clothes, Kalsuman's face went rigid, and the wizard Risel—who had been holding his breath through the swift slaughter—felt his eyes brighten. Jin-cheon laid the paper on his palm, looked at Kalsuman, and spoke in a low voice.
"Extinction Fire."
Whoosh!
The paper ignited right before Kalsuman's eyes. Having vividly remembered the earlier spectacle, Kalsuman felt his very soul draining from his body.
Thud.
"..."
Jin-cheon looked down at the ash on his palm and at Kalsuman, who had quietly slumped sideways, and frowned.
"As I thought, I can't do it."
"Heh. Do you think just anyone can perform sorcery?"
"Guess not."
It had been nothing more than a crude imitation—a simple Samadhi True Flame. Risel felt his rising expectations crumble as he listened to their exchange. Hwi-garam walked over to Kalsuman, who had collapsed on his own, and checked his breathing.
"His heart has stopped."
"Hm."
In the end, Kalsuman's imagination had run too far, and he had simply died—quietly, peacefully.
"Well then, shall we continue our conversation from earlier?"
When Yeon Hwi-garam approached with a smile, Risel found it difficult to answer carelessly. That was because he felt terror watching the man who had beaten soldiers to death with his bare hands, and watching Hwi-garam, who—without using magic—had completely annihilated a person using mana.
Above all, Risel knew Hwi-garam's strange magic was on a level above his own. Seeing him wield such power with only activation words and no incantation convinced Risel that Hwi-garam might not even be human—that he might be a dragon, the supreme master of magic.
"Hm, you've suddenly gone quiet. First, I apologize for forcibly abducting you. If you truly find us that displeasing..."
"N-no, not at all. You brought me because you need me, I'm sure. If you have work for me, please simply give the order."
"Well now."
"..."
When Risel changed his tune, speaking with hardened resolve and a complete one-eighty in demeanor, Hwi-garam could only let out a hollow laugh. Because contrary to his words, Risel's legs were trembling badly—visibly, severely.
Still, with things resolving easily enough, they tidied up the bodies as best they could, loaded weapons, armor, and anything else of value onto the cart, and hurried back onto the road.
The journey after that was smooth. From time to time, orcs or goblins would attack, but Hwi-garam handled them on his own. Risel, who otherwise stayed as quiet as a mouse, would dash around at a single word from Hwi-garam so frantically his eyebrows nearly flew off—to the point of becoming a burden.
Rattle, clatter.
"Hrrrm, we're nearly there."
Jin-cheon, who had been lounging in the back of the cart, sat up and spoke. Unlike when they had departed, most of the palisades were being replaced with stone walls. Though barely fifteen days had passed, the fortifications were rising remarkably fast.
"The Daesaja has arrived!"
"Open the gate!"
Risel was astonished that such a well-developed settlement was being built here in the Reganza Mountains. And as they passed through the gate, he was further astonished to see soldiers who shared Jin-cheon's and Hwi-garam's appearance, and who possessed the discipline of a finely honed blade.
"Hwi-garam, arrange a place for this old man to stay."
"Yes."
Entering the encampment, which was gradually taking the shape of a proper village, Jin-cheon gave the order to Hwi-garam. Then he dismounted and headed straight back to his own barracks.
"Let's go."
"Yes!"
At Hwi-garam's words, Risel answered in a loud voice and followed with quick, short steps. He was growing more and more uneasy.
"You've returned, Daesaja."
"Mu-deok. You've been well, I take it."
Jin-cheon nodded to Dae Mu-deok, who had rushed out to greet him.
"But you've returned earlier than expected?"
"Well, there was something expensive, so we moved a bit faster. The rest will arrive in a few days."
As soon as he entered the barracks, Jin-cheon answered Mu-deok, who had come hurrying in, in brief terms, then sat down on the cot. When Mu-deok continued standing there, hesitating, Jin-cheon sensed something odd and spoke.
"Did something happen?"
"Er, well, it's a bit..."
Mu-deok's demeanor practically answered, Something happened, of course it did, and Jin-cheon grew even more curious. The next words out of Mu-deok's mouth were, essentially, You'd better see for yourself.
Hee-hee-hee-hee-hiiing!
Kyu-hee! Kyu-hiiing!
"..."
In front of the pasture where the horses had been turned loose, Go Jin-cheon and Yeon Hwi-garam stood at a loss for words, while Dae Mu-deok stood beside them wearing an awkward smile.
"I assume my eyes aren't deceiving me."
Pff-hee-hee-hiiing!
Kyu-hee-hee-hiiing!
Jin-cheon's beloved war horse, Gangsoe, was vigorously engaged in production activities and letting out joyful whinnies. In itself, that wasn't a problem. Before they had left, one of the concerns had been that the war horses might go wild during their rutting season—but seeing them diligently performing production activities was not a problem. The problem was only the creature crying out beneath Gangsoe.
"Can you explain what that thing is?"
"Er... it is a species of wild beast called a Pukel."
"Pukel?"
The voice belonged to Risel, who had been trailing Yeon Hwi-garam like an attendant.
He knew well enough the unwritten rule that one must cooperate as fully as possible with a dragon's amusements, so he had judged it necessary to curry favor with Jin-cheon as well—the man Hwi-garam served as if he were his superior.
Hearing Risel's answer, Jin-cheon frowned as he watched the animal called Pukel crying out underneath Gangsoe.
* * *
Some days earlier, Gangsoe and the other war horses of Gauri had been steeped in discontent. All the mares they'd had, plus the newly arrived mares of this region—the ones with the long, slender legs—had been taken elsewhere, leaving them with nothing to look at.
"Pffrrrr."
Clatter, clatter!
Knee-hee-hee-hee-hiiing~!
In the end, the incident occurred.
A female scent had drifted from somewhere, and Gangsoe, racing at full speed, had leaped. Having felt his body grow lighter ever since coming to this place, Gangsoe regarded a palisade of this height as nothing at all.
"Pffrrrr!"
Clatter-clatter-clatter!
"Catch him!"
The moment Gangsoe vaulted over the palisade, the soldiers chased after him to catch him, but with nothing in his sights, Gangsoe charged ahead, driven by a single-minded purpose (?).
Clatter-clatter!
"Gah! Wa-wanruya! (Wh-what is that!)"
Old Man Hans, who had been driving his cow toward a newly cultivated field, shouted in alarm at the sight of the war horse bearing down on him with ferocious momentum. It was Gangsoe. Unbelievable though it seemed, Gangsoe was unmistakably charging straight toward Old Man Hans.
"Hoo-hee-hee-hee-hiiing!"
"Aagh!"
As Gangsoe's fierce cry resounded and he lunged at him, Old Man Hans hurled himself sideways with all his might. Then, in the next instant, he saw Gangsoe soaring over him. He could see, aside from its four legs, a fifth leg—bulging and surging with vigor—and then the sound that followed.
"Mooooo!"
"Gasp!"
The moment Gangsoe cleared Old Man Hans, he bolted madly toward the cow.
It was a female cow.
"Mooooo!"
Thud-thud-thud-thud.
"Hee-hee-hee-hee-hiiing!"
Clatter-clatter!
Instinctively sensing the threat to her chastity, the heifer ran for her life, while Gangsoe—his excitement overflowing to the point of detonation—gave chase.
"Hee-hee-hee-hee-hiiing~!"
Clatter-clatter-clatter!
"Moooo!"
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud.
The frenzied pursuit fortunately ended as an attempt, thwarted just before the deed. With eyes gleaming, already mounted, Gangsoe was seized by ten soldiers and dragged away.
"Ah, goddammit! Put the damn horse armor on him!"
"Yes, General."
Buru, who had been forced to step in and exert his own strength even with ten soldiers, swore roughly and ordered the horse armor to be put on. As if that alone hadn't cooled his anger, he kicked Gangsoe and bellowed at the top of his lungs.
"What are ya now, a cow? A cow! Damn it, a horse oughta act like a horse!"
"Hee-hee-hiiing!"
Even while being kicked by Buru, Gangsoe let out a long whinny as though lodging a protest.
That night.
Another incident occurred.
Crash!
"What was that noise!"
When the sound of something breaking rang out, the soldiers rushed over at once. The noise had come from behind the horse enclosure. And there, the soldiers felt a sense of utter futility.
"..."
"...Did a horse really do this."
"A horse that's a horse should act like a horse."
"Forget the un-horse-like horse. We gotta go report the horse that escaped."
Staring at the large hole torn through the horse enclosure, the soldiers exchanged deflated remarks. They had put the horse armor on him, and he had used it as a tool to smash right through. Gangsoe was simply too powerful to be called an ordinary horse.
"Kyu-hik!"
"Kyu-hee-hiiing!"
In the basin of the Reganza Mountains, not even orcs or ogres ventured recklessly. It was the territory of the Pukel herd—creatures found nowhere else but here.
In appearance, they had horns on both sides like a cow and an additional horn at the center of the forehead. Their bodies were larger than a cow's, yet they had long legs. And the Pukel herd, which operated in tight-knit group formations, could trample even a swarm of orcs—simply charging through at their tremendous speed and leaving them all dead in their wake.
Against ogres, it was no different. Since ogres did not form packs, they were even less of a match. That was why this basin in the Reganza Mountains, untouched by human hands, remained the Pukel's last sanctuary.
"Kyu-hiiing!"
Thud-thud-thud.
"Kyu-hee-hee-hiiing!"
Thud-thud—boooom!
An injured Pukel was hurled aside. Once the tremendous collision passed, the fallen Pukel rose, tucked its tail, and slipped back into the herd.
With a white mane like a lion's and three horns rising from its head, it looked unusually magnificent. In keeping with the Pukel's strict herd behavior, the herd leader was determined through a ruthless contest of strength. And now, the moment had arrived for an overwhelmingly powerful new leader to be born.
"Kyu-hee-hee-hee-hiiing! Kyu-hee-hiiing!"
The victor's cry echoed across the basin. And as if in answer, the calls of the Pukel herd resounded.
"Kyu-hee-hee-hiiing!"
"Kyu-hee-hiiing!"
"Kyu-ee-hiiing!"
"Eee-hee-hee-hee-hiiing!"
"Kyu-ee...?"
And in that moment, the Pukel celebrating their new leader had no choice but to turn their heads at an unfamiliar cry that abruptly cut in.
THUD-THUD, THUD-THUD, THUD-THUD!
"Eee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hiiing!"
Wrapped head to hoof in dark-steel horse armor, with three horns rising from his helm, Gangsoe gleamed even brighter in the moonlight's reflection. The heavy sound that shook the earth trembled the wetlands, drawing ever closer.
"Kyu-hee-hee-hiiing!"
The Pukel herd began to stir. A black Pukel—plainly, this was something they had never seen before. Moreover, aside from the horns, its cry resembled that of the horse species. Yet it was also different: smaller in bulk than the horses the Pukel knew, but its build was as solid as a Pukel's own.
"Kyu-hee-hee-hik!"
"Kyu-hee-ik!"
But their confusion did not last long. They could tell that this new Pukel charging toward them was different from themselves. Centered around the newly crowned Pukel Leader, over two hundred Pukel were forming up. Yet Gangsoe's ferocious cries were more than enough to rattle their formation.
THUD-THUD, THUD-THUD, THUD-THUD!
"Oo-hee-hee-hee-hiiing! Kkee-hee-hiiing!"
The weight of the horse armor fused with Gangsoe's charging power into a single accelerating mass, and he plowed straight toward the formation.
"Kyu-hee-ik!"
"Kyu-hee-hee-hee-hiiing!"
Had they sensed his momentum?
The Pukel cries spread as though chasing away fear. The Pukel might be wild beasts, but Gangsoe was a supreme war horse—born on the battlefield, raised in the chaos of spears and swords. And here, in the Reganza Mountains, Gangsoe's divine prowess began to shine.
B-B-B-B-BOOOOOM!
"Kyu-ee-ee~!"
"Kyu-ee-ee!"
Pff-fwoooosh!
The moment Gangsoe's body slammed into the formation, the Pukel groans rang out, and the herd split apart as though cleaved in two. Gangsoe rampaged unchecked in every direction, his might blazing brilliantly. Under those blood-red eyes, the Pukel began to feel true terror.
"Kyu-ing!"
"Pff-hiiing!"
At last, the Pukel Leader stepped forward. Before the Pukel Leader, who spewed short snorts, Gangsoe did not charge in immediately. Instead, he blew snorts of his own, refusing to be outdone. Gangsoe, too, could instinctively sense his opponent's strength.
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud.
"Kyu-hee-hee-hee-ik!"
"Kkee-hee-hee-hee-hiiing!"
Thwack-BOOM!
A dull crash echoed, announcing their collision. The horns aimed at Gangsoe's throat glanced off his full-body barding—and that already signaled defeat. As the Pukel Leader swept past after attacking, Gangsoe's rear hooves drove into its flank.
THUD!
"Pffrrrr!"
"Kyu-ing."
Silence.
The contest had been settled in a single exchange.
A mournful sound escaped the Pukel Leader, and Gangsoe, satisfied with victory, approached the fallen Pukel, exhaling rough breaths.
"Pffrrrr."
"Kyu-hiiing."
Reaching the fallen Pukel, Gangsoe gently licked her mane. The Pukel Leader shrank back as if embarrassed. The Pukel Leader was female. At the end of a true contest, the two discovered love... transcending species. And the rest of the Pukel herd blessed the union that followed.
For Gangsoe, their new leader.
Three days after Gangsoe and the Pukel Leader's honeymoon ended, the great migration of Gangsoe and the Pukel began. Once again, the sound of a palisade shattering was heard—and what emerged was the Pukel herd, with Gangsoe at its head. On top of that, the Pukel herd, being a kind of matriarchal society perhaps, had a high female ratio. Of the two-hundred-odd Pukel, over a hundred and sixty were female.
Of course, there had been some resistance from the male Pukel, but it was only that—resistance. An interesting phenomenon was that Gangsoe and the war horses were in a welcoming mood, while the horses native to this world were frozen with terror. In the end, however, the war horses' madness subsided... and their wild rampages only intensified.