Chapter 187
Chapter 187
The Iron Emperor — Chapter 187
For a force numbering over five hundred, their steps through the forest were exceedingly cautious. It seemed deliberate—the grass stalks tucked into their leather armor and the green grass dye staining it announced that they were moving through this place in secret. The emblems visible through the camouflage meant to blend with the forest were engraved with the crest of the Unified Roselin royal house.
"Damn it all, this is driving me crazy."
The grumble slipped from the lips of a soldier advancing at the head of the column. They were moving through the woods that ran alongside the main road. Anyone hearing of it would find it absurd. For men tasked with reconnaissance to not even be skirting the forest but instead advancing along the main road under camouflage—it was pure farce. And yet, they had no other choice.
The route they were taking was exactly the path the Haian Kingdom expeditionary force had followed under Gauri army escort. The very road the Gauri army had guided them along when rescuing them from monster attacks was now becoming the invasion route for the Unified Roselin army.
"Nervous or not, we can't go deeper into the forest, now can we."
The man walking at the head of the column answered the one who had just grumbled, his voice tinged with a sigh.
"Hell. Stray even a little from this road and the big monsters come charging out..."
"Can't be helped. The wizards say the reason the Gauri army uses this road is because it's the territorial boundary between all the large monster species."
"Our job's reconnaissance anyway..."
The soldiers' grumbling scattered quietly into the forest.
In truth, they had tried to detour through the forests around the hidden road through the Reganza Mountains. But what awaited them there was a paradise of large monsters the likes of which are rarely seen. These were no mere orcs, goblins, or kobolds. At minimum there were trolls, and commonly minotaurs and ogres—the kings of land monsters. And on occasion, twinhead ogres appeared as well, reducing a reconnaissance force of over seven hundred to five hundred.
In the end, the wizards stepped forward and analyzed the cause, revealing that this very road was the boundary between each monster's sphere of power. Once that was clear, they also understood how the Gauri army had been able to move safely, and so they revised their original operation, settling on conducting reconnaissance by hugging the road as closely as possible.
No matter how much this was a war they had begun while underestimating Gauri, war was war for the common soldier. And so their trembling anxiety was only natural.
Thud.
"What was that sound?"
As they walked cautiously, the sound of something collapsing reached their ears. And it came from the direction of the lead element.
An ominous premonition flickered through the soldier's mind, and it became reality.
"Wh—when?"
The soldier's eyes went wide and an incredulous murmur escaped him. If a man only looked away for a moment at a noise up ahead, and without sensing any presence at all found a dagger lodged in his own heart—anyone would react just as this soldier did.
SLASH!
"Grk."
As if unwilling to grant even time to voice that reaction or question, another flash sliced through his gullet. Red blood sprayed from the soldier's throat as he slowly crumbled to the ground. The final image burned into that soldier's eyes was an underbrush sprouting arms.
'Ready!'
An arm thrust out from the underbrush rose into the air.
The moment that arm dropped, the forest moved.
* * *
"What!"
Marquis Mandonel's sharp voice shook the command tent. The target of his reprimanding tone was a knight who looked utterly bedraggled, his head hanging low.
"You expect me to believe that out of seven hundred, scarcely ten returned alive!"
"Heugh."
The knight shed tears helplessly. He had not returned alive by his own strength. The moment the forest moved, the soldiers advancing stealthily had been cut down defenselessly, and the commanders leading the force had all been sniped in the very first exchange. The fate of a headless army was obvious.
"You incompetent fools!"
Marquis Mandonel's face flushed crimson. From where they sat to one side of the command tent observing, the military observers from the Three Great Empires continued to click their tongues. The more searing their gazes felt, the hotter Marquis Mandonel's fury blazed.
"Marquis Mandonel. I believe the proper order would be to first examine the letter they have brought."
"Hm. Understood."
When Viscount Mabel, the military observer from the Holy Empire, spoke in a languid tone, Marquis Mandonel suppressed his churning displeasure and looked to the letter clutched in the hand of the bedraggled knight before him.
"He—here, I was told to unfold them in order."
As the knight spoke, handing over three envelopes in sequence, Marquis Mandonel's brow furrowed and he opened the first envelope.
"......."
Marquis Mandonel's face grew grave.
As he stood staring at the unfolded first letter, his expression rigid and silent, the military observers, finding it strange, rose from their seats and approached him. And the moment they took the Gauri letter from Marquis Mandonel, they too found themselves unable to speak.
"......I simply cannot."
Viscount Ishie, the military observer from the Maritime Empire, began to speak in a hollow voice.
"I can't make sense of this writing."
"Hrrm."
"Damn these barbarian tribes!"
That letter was recorded purely in the written language of Gauri. Naturally, there was no one present who could read it.
"In that case, there's no point even looking at the other two, is there!"
When Viscount Mabel of the Holy Empire spoke in a baffled voice, Marquis Mandonel wordlessly unfolded the second letter. For good or ill, he still had to look at them, did he not?
"Grrkh!"
The hand of Marquis Mandonel holding the second letter began to tremble violently. Seeing his face flush as well, Viscount Poling of the Federal Empire took the letter and brought it to his eyes.
[You barbaric lot.
Do you truly believe it makes any sense that men who would wage war do not even know the language of their opponent? Thinking you might be so ignorant, I have recorded the same contents as the first letter here in your language and deliver it thus—see that you read it clearly.
First: Upon receiving this letter, you are advised to immediately disarm all armed forces and withdraw from the territory of Gauri. However, you are granted leave to take only your food and water.
Second: Should you return to your homeland, send an envoy in apology for your foolishness. In that case, I am prepared to honor you as a vassal state of the Gauri Empire.
Third: As reparation for this present disturbance, let your envoys bring with them fifty thousand continental gold coins when they journey to our capital.
I grant you a deadline of eleven days. Be grateful for my magnanimity and withdraw—this I command once more. — Go Jin-cheon, 29th Yeolje of Gauri]
"......."
For those who passed the second letter around in turn, a profound silence settled over them. Their one common feature was faces gone crimson and hands trembling violently.
Fury swept through the command tent.
"How dare these insolent wretches call themselves an empire!"
The military observers radiated murderous intent, as if they would tear someone limb from limb on the spot, while Marquis Mandonel seethed with the humiliation of having become a laughingstock and fury at this preposterous letter.
"Not a single blade of grass shall remain!"
Marquis Mandonel's voice dripped with killing intent. And then the final third letter caught his eye.
Rrrip.
Tearing the envelope open roughly, Marquis Mandonel unfolded the last letter.
[With this, your choice is made.
Henceforth, the Gauri Empire shall not recognize the existence of Unified Roselin, and the price for your invasion shall most certainly be exacted in your blood.
I welcome you to hell on earth.]
He had clearly anticipated their choice already. No—the letter Go Jin-cheon had delivered via the knight had contained terms that could not possibly be accepted, and held nothing but mockery of their declaration of war.
Who would proclaim themselves an empire before the eyes of the empires?
Who could possibly be this arrogant...?
With neither side willing to back down, hell on earth was preparing to unfold once more.
Five days passed after Go Jin-cheon's letter was delivered.
"What in the world is going on?"
Marquis Mandonel's rigidly frozen face was turned toward his staff officers. Under his reprimanding glare, they could do nothing but keep their heads down. The reason for Marquis Mandonel's fury was the reconnaissance units' failure to return.
According to the original schedule, they should have been returning one by one starting three days ago. But a day passed, then two, and now into the evening of the third day, not a single unit had come back.
Of the seven hundred-plus soldiers who had gone on reconnaissance along the main axis of advance, scarcely ten had returned. Marquis Mandonel felt the war beginning to sour before it had even started.
"Your Excellency, Marquis Mandonel!"
Suddenly a commotion arose outside, accompanied by the breathless voice of a messenger. The thought that the awaited reconnaissance units had returned flashed through his mind, and Marquis Mandonel strode quickly out of the command tent.
"The encampment sentries have discovered one of the soldiers dispatched on reconnaissance!"
"One?"
A man's ominous premonitions often manifest in reality.