Chapter 150
Chapter 150
Iron Emperor — Chapter 150
Side Story — Iron Valentine's Day
"Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!"
"Keu-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!"
Time had passed, and February the fourteenth arrived — the third year since the Gauri crowd (?) had come to this other world. From early morning, the grating, guttural duet laughter of the Uru and Buru brothers rang out.
Go Jin-cheon, working in the Imperial Hall, found it odd and summoned the two of them. And they said...
"Ehehehe, today's Valentine's Day."
"It is the day the celestial maiden and Sara give us something called chocolate."
"Valentine's Day? Chocolate?"
Go Jin-cheon knew nothing of this. He dismissed the brothers and summoned Risel.
"So this Valen... whatever day—what is it? And what's this chocolate, or is it chili sauce?"
"Ah! Today is Valentine's Day."
"Yes, right. So what is that day?"
"Long ago, the Emperor of the Holy Empire forbade marriage across the empire to conscript soldiers. A man named Valentine defied the Emperor's order, united young men and women in love, and was captured and executed. This day was established to honor his heart, which valued the love of the young."
"Hm... so that's what it is..."
"Yes. In commemoration, February 14th became the day a woman gives chocolate as a gift to the man she loves."
I see... so that was it... Jin-cheon nodded along, but Risel continued.
"March 14th is White Day. Conversely, it's the day a man gives candy to the woman he loves."
"...Understood. You may go now."
So this world has all kinds of odd customs... Go Jin-cheon was ready to let it go at that. But a short while later, when he finished his work and stepped outside, his mood and thoughts began to change.
The moment he came out, he saw Yeon Hwi-garam hauling a cart. The cart was loaded with wrapped chocolates.
"What is that?"
"Chocolate."
"Who gave you that much?"
"The village maidens gave it to me. They say eating too much chocolate rots your teeth, so it's become a problem."
"...Right..."
'The man was always popular,' Jin-cheon thought, and he felt a powerful urge to just confiscate the whole lot. The curious thing was that his temperament never let him leave anything alone — he genuinely wanted to know what this chocolate stuff tasted like.
But... he was not petty enough to steal a subordinate's gifts. Still, his mood began to sour from that moment on.
"Kyaa! Giyul oppa! Please take my chocolate!"
"Mine too!"
"Hey!! Out of the way, you wenches!! I was here first!"
"Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha... If you don't line up, I won't take them."
"...."
Jin-cheon watched Giyul collect chocolates from so-called "lolis" and simply let it go, figuring that was just how Giyul was. He'd invested consistently, so wasn't it only natural for something to come back?
"Ah... General, please accept this."
"Mine as well. It is a token of my heart."
"If offering such a thing is not impolite..."
"Ha-ha-ha, not at all. Not at all, honored ladies..."
Mong Ryu-hwa had even prepared a sack and was collecting chocolates from widows.
Right... that one also invested heavily, so I suppose that's his return...
"Father, please accept this."
"Thank you, Father."
"Oh yes, my precious darlings~."
Jin-cheon also noticed Hailon receiving chocolates from the countless girls he considered his daughters. They shared no blood, but he was no different from a father to them, so Jin-cheon considered it well-deserved.
Yes, there is such a thing as love between parent and child.
Up to this point, Go Jin-cheon understood.
"Hey, Dupyo. Is there a woman giving you chocolate?"
"Come on... General Gye, what are you saying... For your information, I'm actually very popular!"
"And what about you, General Gye? Did you receive any chocolate?"
"Ha!! W-why, you bastards, what do you take me for... Here, look. This."
"Whoa! It's huge!"
"Isn't that what they call obligation chocolate?"
"What obligation... Hey, you son of a bitch! Since when do men and women have 'obligation'! It's love!!"
"Could it be he was embarrassed he didn't get any, made it himself, and is bullshitting us..."
"What! Dupyo, you bastard!!"
Not only Gye Ung-sam but even Samdopyo, who looked like a whole block of granite, had his hands on chocolate and was munching away.
Throughout that day, as Jin-cheon wandered the military camp, he kept seeing soldiers eating or receiving chocolate during their breaks.
Right... today is that kind of day... And yet, why... why does my stomach churn?
"Heh-heh-heh, Duke Gerard. Do you know what day it is?"
"I do, Sir Gowin. And how much did Sir Gowin receive?"
"Ho-ho. Though I say it myself, I'm rather popular with women... And Duke Gerard..."
"Ha-ha-ha. I'll have to get by on chocolate as emergency rations at sea for a while."
"Oh, how did you amass so much... no, you drew this much popularity from women?! Truly, the Gerard of Lightning... as fast as a thunderbolt."
"And Sir Gowin, as befits the Hawk of the Battlefield, appears to have snatched the hearts of women. Ha-ha-ha."
"Ho-ho-ho."
Watching Gerard and Gowin's boasting, Go Jin-cheon turned his lonely steps back toward the inner palace.
In the inner palace, Jin-cheon caught sight of a middle-aged woman hurriedly handing chocolate to Risel before rushing away.
Ah... even you, Risel...
Feeling that something was fundamentally unjust, Go Jin-cheon returned to his quarters and probed the palace maids with subtle questions.
"Do you women... know what day it is today?"
"...What day is it, Your Majesty?"
"It is called Valentine's Day."
"Yes... though I believe there is no such day in Gauri..."
The palace maids from Gauri could not possibly know about Valentine's Day. Even if they had known, they would have believed that as maids of the palace, they must not thoughtlessly bestow their feelings on anyone.
"...They say it is the day women give something called chocolate to the man they love..."
"Yes... does such a day exist here?"
"Ho-ho-ho. It seems not a single woman loves me."
"Your Majesty, how can you say such a thing?"
"Please put us to death. For failing to perceive Your Majesty's feelings..."
"We shall prepare this chocolate even now..."
"Enough! Does that not make me look as if I am begging! Do you mean to make me miserable! All of you, get out!!"
Go Jin-cheon, whose stomach had been churning all day, finally exploded.
That evening, the Grand Council convened...
Unlike Jin-cheon, who had a deep furrow like the character for "river" carved between his brows, everyone else wore beaming smiles. The Uru and Buru brothers were even worse.
Go Jin-cheon glanced at Dae Mu-deok.
Yes... Dae Mu-deok was a man who stubbornly strove to uphold Gauri customs and laws, to the point of being called a "hard-headed conservative."
"...Why do you look at me so, Your Majesty? Has something gotten on my face?"
"...."
The chocolate smudge at the corner of Dae Mu-deok's lips gave Go Jin-cheon an infinite sense of betrayal. Unable to endure it any longer, he slammed the table with his palm — bang!
In that instant, the faces of everyone in the hall, which had been beaming, hardened.
"What is so wonderful that all of you are giggling and grinning..."
"...."
"The road ahead stretches ten thousand li. We still have a long way to go before Gauri can put down roots in this world... so what is so wonderful that all of you are giggling and grinning?"
"...."
"Did we come here to play around?"
"No, Your Majesty!"
Uru and Buru shot to their feet to answer.
Still unable to relax his expression, Go Jin-cheon continued.
"Our strength still amounts to barely a single handful. And yet it makes sense to be giggling and grinning over the customs of an enemy nation — is that what you are telling me!"
"We have committed a sin worthy of death!"
"Forgive us for failing to perceive Your Majesty's feelings!"
Now everyone in the hall rose and bowed their heads.
Only then did Yeon Hwi-garam and a few others realize why Jin-cheon was going so overboard.
So he didn't get a single piece of chocolate...
Just as the atmosphere in the hall had grown so grim, a sudden peal of girlish laughter rang out as Eulji entered with the palace maids. Instead of rouge, Eulji had smeared chocolate all around her lips, and she approached Go Jin-cheon with a giggle.
In that moment, Dae Mu-deok felt his heart freeze solid.
Ah... to commit such provocation in so serious a situation...
Was Jin-cheon about to cleave Eulji in two with a single stroke...
"Heh-heh-heh... present."
"Hm?"
"Balentine's Day..."
As Eulji spoke haltingly, she pulled a small, paper-wrapped lump of chocolate from inside her sleeve. It looked like a leftover piece she had been eating, but it was more than enough to bring a quiet surge of emotion to Go Jin-cheon's heart.
The child... didn't eat it all, and thought of me...
"...Yes, thank you. Now go play with the maids."
"Mhm!"
With another peal of laughter, Eulji departed. The hall, which moments before had been as dark and gloomy as the Demon King's fortress, was now bright as if it had entered a heavenly realm. The strains of soft and beautiful music seemed to drift from somewhere.
Go Jin-cheon's face lit up as though he had never been angry at all.
"Ahem. So, what I meant to say was... do not behave rashly... attend to your duties, and take care of what needs taking care of... that was all I wanted to say."
"...."
"Do you understand, or do you not?"
"We shall obey Your Majesty's command!"
As a single voice rose from everyone, the utterly satisfied Go Jin-cheon unwrapped the chocolate and popped it into his mouth. Savouring its sweetness, he spent the last remaining hours of Valentine's Day in perfect contentment and happiness.
But Jin-cheon never learned.
That in a dark corner, the Solo Squad—a group formed around several men—was pouring out bitter indignation because the Yeolje they had trusted so completely had betrayed them...
"Life's not worth living... and the liquor tastes like nothing at all."
"Dupyo, why are you acting so unlike yourself..."
"And what about you, General Gye?"
"You really have to ask that..."
Meeting side by side in the deep shadows where no one could see them, Gye Ung-sam and Samdopyo said nothing for a while, then let out a synchronized sigh. What remained of the chocolate in their hands rolled onto the ground, and the bottle in Dupyo's hand passed back and forth between them.
"Dupyo."
"Yes, General Gye."
"Let's utterly destroy the Holy Empire."
"I'll turn it into a wasteland... no, I won't leave even a trace. I'll even dig them out of the history books!"
"Yes, the nation of the bastards who created a day like this — we must wipe it clean from the world!"
The true children of darkness burned with fury against the world... against the Holy Empire.
For a world where singles go to heaven and couples go to hell!