Chapter 19
Chapter 19
The Iron Emperor — Chapter 19
"Huff, huff. What the hell did I, huff, do to deserve this? Huff, huff."
"Haa, haa. It seems we've crossed into something's territory."
"Hurk, hurk!"
Behind Gye Ung-sam, who held his sword loosely at his side, Beron and Darun were gasping for breath.
"What territory?"
"Well, whew. It looks like we've wandered into monster territory."
"We need to get out of here fast...."
"Kkik!"
A sound suddenly cut into their conversation, and everyone's eyes turned in one direction.
"Kkikkik!"
WHIZZ!
Tok. Roll.
"......."
A small pebble flew and bounced lightly off Ung-sam's head. The monster, which barely came up to his knees, was a baby goblin. Ung-sam's face instantly twisted into a scowl.
"You wretched little shit, even a runt like you is getting on my nerves!"
"W-wait!"
Boom!
"Kkiiiiiiii~!"
Despite Beron's attempt to stop him, Ung-sam's rage-fueled kick sent the baby goblin sailing through the air. Watching the baby goblin fly off with a long shriek, Ung-sam fumed and shot back at Beron.
"Beron, what'd you call me for?!"
"Ah, I was trying to tell you that baby goblins are only raised in goblin villages, so we shouldn't touch them and need to get away fast... but it seems I'm too late."
Rustle.
"Kkik!"
Rustle, rustle.
The underbrush on all sides began to move, and Ung-sam and the two men's faces went ashen.
"Yeah, looks that way."
"You should've held me back...."
The goblin horde that had surrounded them on all sides wore expressions of pure fury, and at a rough count, their number exceeded a hundred.
"Run!"
"Hiiiiik!"
"Aaaaargh!"
"Kkiiiiii!"
"Kkik!"
Rumble, rumble, rumble.
At Ung-sam's impeccable command, they began running for their lives before they had even caught their breath, with hundreds of goblins hot on their heels.
"Burn it all!"
"Aaagh!"
"These damned things are like a swarm of bees...."
"Kyaaaagh!"
Baron Alvin grimaced at the screams ringing out from all around.
Under normal circumstances, he would never have dispatched troops into such dangerous, rugged terrain. But this time was different. An official writ had arrived demanding conscription for the imperial war.
As a powerless kingdom, they had no choice but to obey. But Baron Alvin's domain sat at the entrance to the Reganza Mountains, and because it had many specialty goods, commerce thrived and there were many wealthy merchants — which meant he was short on troops to levy.
The temptation of large bribes from merchants to exempt their sons from conscription was irresistible. Then, just as the problem weighed on him, the gate captain was found dead at the mountain's edge, and a scheme came to mind. The slash-and-burn farmers.
He immediately summoned the soldiers on gate duty and ordered them to track the slash-and-burn farmers who came in for covert trade. Eventually, they found the safe paths the farmers used. When he marched his troops in and raided the village, he found it far larger than expected, which pleased him greatly.
At the same time, the thought that if he'd rounded them up sooner, he could have profited enormously from all this labor soured his mood.
"Ah, to hell with it. I'll just sell them off as slaves."
"My lord."
"Oh. What's the situation?"
As he muttered to himself, a domain knight in plate armor approached. Being a small domain, he only had four knights, but they were sufficient, and his overflowing coffers let him hire skilled mercenaries.
"We've driven the slash-and-burn farmers to one side. Aside from the forty or so who resisted and were cut down, we've captured nearly all of them."
"The smoke is acrid."
"Haha, my lord. We have to set fires like this so the ones hiding in the secret passages come running out, don't we?"
"Well, true enough."
Baron Alvin glanced at Tilluman, who was laughing as he looked at the bodies of those who had burned to death while fleeing, and inwardly frowned. But the haul was good, so he smoothed away his distaste and turned his gaze to the refugees being led out in bonds.
"The village we stopped at this morning was nothing but ruins. Shame it had been destroyed. At least this one is making up for it."
As Baron Alvin spoke with regret, Tilluman chuckled softly and whispered.
"Don't worry, my lord. From the looks of it, there are more villages around here."
"Ho ho ho. Then let's get out of this foul-smelling place first."
"We've finished up here, so you should indeed withdraw, my lord."
"Let's do that."
Satisfied smiles on their faces, Baron Alvin and Tilluman began to withdraw at a leisurely pace, leaving the burning slash-and-burn village behind them.
"General, there's nothing in the area."
"The main force will begin a quiet advance. The scouts are to widen the perimeter and keep searching."
"Yes, sir."
Once the soldiers had dispersed, Jin-cheon raised a hand and gave the order quietly.
"Advance!"
The soldiers advanced into the area where the acrid smell hung heavy, and their eyes met only the ruins of a village. From half-burned corpses draped over huts to dismembered bodies impaled on the palisade, it was a sight too gruesome to behold with open eyes.
"Prepare for possible ambushes. We'll rest here for a moment."
At Go Jin-cheon's low voice, everyone nodded and passed the word along. Though corpses lay right beside them, none seemed particularly bothered, and they calmly settled in to rest against walls or rocks. Seeing his soldiers taking up positions here and there, Jin-cheon summoned the soldier beside him.
"Bring Risel here."
"Yes, sir."
A short while later, Risel approached with a wrinkled grimace. This kind of carnage was unfamiliar to him. At least Risel was a man of considerable experience, so he could keep it to a grimace.
"You summoned me?"
"As you can see, these bodies were killed by military weapons. And given that everything has been thoroughly destroyed, I'd say it was regular army... What do you think?"
"Hmm."
Risel considered for a moment, then picked up an arrow that had fallen on the ground and spoke.
"Am I right?"
"I share your assessment."
"I see."
"Judging by the crest stamped into this arrowhead, it looks like a baron's private troops. Military supplies are distributed to each noble house, you see."
The forged arrowhead was engraved with a small crest. Risel added further explanation.
"There were likely mercenaries mixed in as well. When I lived in the city, I heard that Baron Alvin sometimes falsified his troop numbers to siphon funds. So, for a raid on a village of this size, he probably gathered mercenaries too."
"Mm."
Jin-cheon nodded at Risel's relatively precise analysis. After a moment, Jin-cheon threw a question at Risel.
"As I understand it, they've rarely come to capture the slash-and-burn farmers here. Do you have any idea why they've done this now?"
"Hmm."
Risel's face took on an expression of organizing his thoughts, then he lifted his head.
"The reason they never bothered to look into this place before was, first, the monsters here are ferocious and numerous, so sending troops would cause heavy losses. Second, the city at the entrance to the Reganza Mountains is a commercial city that never needed much labor. But now, I believe the variable of war is driving them to round people up."
"War?"
"Yes."
At Jin-cheon's counter-question, Risel bowed his waist and continued.
"I believe they are conscripting men needed for the war. The more commercially developed a city, the more common the practice of buying serfs or slaves and sending them in place of one's own sons, along with bribes. This seems to be in the same vein."
"That's madness. Do they expect to win with conscripts like that?"
"Actually... I think this kingdom doesn't care whether it wins or loses."
"What?"
As Risel's explanation went on, a deep furrow formed between Jin-cheon's brows. Sensing that he was displeased, Risel carefully spoke again.
"This kingdom borders two great empires and faces a maritime empire across the sea, so it has always been helplessly caught between their mutual checks and the demands of whichever side is stronger. So whenever the empires went to war, it survived by supplying troops to both sides. Fortunately, the three empires have been evenly matched and never clashed directly, which is how this kingdom has managed to endure so far."
"......."
"That is the reality of this country, the Kingdom of Haian."
Jin-cheon couldn't understand Risel's words. But one conviction took firm hold.
"They've already given up on being a nation."
A land that no one guarded.
That was Jin-cheon's conclusion.
"We've found signs of them. We've confirmed they've made camp not far from here. They have about twenty cavalry and the rest are infantry, roughly six hundred. And about two hundred and fifty people who appear to be the victims abducted from here are penned in carts."
"Mm."
Hwi-garam approached quietly and reported, and Jin-cheon nodded, shutting his eyes.
"What shall we do?"
"Rest until midnight."
"Understood."
As Hwi-garam rendered a military salute, Jin-cheon added one more word.
"Collect the bodies and throw them outside the village. It'll be a nuisance if monsters are drawn in by the smell. Better to toss them these corpses as bait."
"Yes, sir."
Resting inside an already-ruined village might seem revolting, but such a place was actually safer. The enemy would have fewer defenses here.
After all, no one would ever imagine a large force like this hiding in a place where only slash-and-burn farmers had lived. Nothing could be done for the dead, but feeding their bodies to the monsters was the wise thing to do. It meant less trouble with monster skirmishes and gave the soldiers' bodies a proper rest.
* * *
Awuuuuuuuu~!
"......."
At the head of the column, Hwi-garam silently raised a hand, and the swordsmen held their breath and stopped. No insect sounds, only the occasional howl of a wolf that added to the eeriness. Hwi-garam's eyes were cold and utterly still.
"Siyanan. (Creepy.)"
"Ssi-enmaru mundo dan barugo. (Couldn't even get a taste of women.)"
"Nawa-en daeulkkara arudoga bullunnadego. (My prick's been aching since a while ago.)"
The mercenaries on watch were chuckling among themselves, swapping crude jokes.
"Kikikik... Kurgh!"
Thump.
Shushuk.
"Hut!"
Pfft, pfft, pfft.
"Ghuuhhh."
Thud.
The guard, startled as something punched through the first joking mercenary's throat, tried to adjust his grip on his sword — but a breath of wind brought three or four arrows that all pierced the back of his neck. In the end, he let out only a breath of wind before slowly collapsing.
"We've secured the retreat path. Signal."
"Yes, sir."
Flutter, flutter.
As several birds took flight in the quiet forest, Jin-cheon knew the retreat path had been secured. He looked back to see fifty-odd cavalry and four hundred soldiers with their eyes gleaming.
Shring.
With a cold metallic rasp, the Hwandudaedo slid from its scabbard and reflected the moonlight.
Was that the signal?
All four hundred soldiers stripped off the black cloths wrapped around the edges of their weapons, and in a moment, like fireflies, they began to gleam under the moonlight.
"Loose!"
Twaaang!
WHIZZ-WHIZZ-WHIZZ!
No sooner had the light flashed than Uru's arrow led a volley that blanketed the sky. The slaughter had begun.