Chapter 22
Chapter 22
The Iron Emperor — Chapter 22
"That bastard's at it again."
"Drives me crazy. Is he trying to charm the kids again?"
"Isn't it obvious? He's working both of them at once."
The Axemen walking past shot him envious glares. Still, they weren't without their own chances. Seeing this, other children had begun to fuss. Buru, picking up on the restless murmur, smacked Giyul on the back of the head and dragged him by the ear.
"You little bastard—here too you're pulling that 'oppa becomes appa' line! You really think that works?"
Smack!
"Ow! General, I swear my intentions are pure!"
"Pure, my ass. Your purity rotted clean away!"
Just then, a soldier ran up behind Buru, who still had Giyul by the ear, and called out.
"General!"
"What is it?!"
"Daesaja Go Jin-cheon says to give all the food we brought to the slash-and-burn farmers."
"All of it?"
"Is that wise?"
"What is?"
At Go Jin-cheon's curt reply, Yeon Hwi-garam forced an awkward smile and glanced sidelong at the soldiers handing out the provisions.
"The food. I meant is there really a need to go this far right now?"
"For the uneasy, a smile and a meal are the best medicine."
"I suppose that's true."
Hwi-garam's gaze fell on the soldiers doing their utmost to wear smiles.
Uru approached Risel, who was lost in thought, and spoke.
"Master, what are you doing?"
"Ah, General Uru."
At Uru's words, Risel pulled himself from his musings and looked up. Then, as if having reached a decision, he fixed Uru with bright eyes and asked him a question.
"Where in the world did you come from?"
"Huh?"
"I mean the master, and all these soldiers with him."
"We came from Gauri."
"......."
Risel felt his blood pressure spike. But as if his years on this earth had not been for nothing, he calmly rephrased his question.
"This place called Gauri—where is it located?"
"Well... y'see, we came by ship, and the direction..."
Uru muttered as though racking his brain. After the time it would take to drink a cup of tea had passed, he nodded vigorously as if certain at last, and spoke to Risel.
"You know our encampment?"
"Indeed."
"From there, you just take a boat and go about three days."
"......."
If you sailed for three days on a lake, where would you end up...? Still on the lake...
Seeing Uru's beaming smile that seemed to ask, "I did good, right?" Risel heard the breaking point of his own anger shatter inside his head.
"You muscle-for-brains moron! Even an orc would be smarter than you. Apart from shooting a bow, you're good for absolutely nothing! Let's see you drop dead today! Hell Fire!"
"Master, spare me!"
"Shut it! First, you get beaten half to death, then we start the lesson over! Media Strike!"
Just as Risel's fury was erupting at Uru and a whole festival of spells was about to unfold, a voice reached his ears.
"Master, what are you doing?"
"Power Word: Ki..."
Whoosh!
Risel, who had been flailing his hands at empty air in a delusion all his own, quietly lowered them when Uru asked the question aloud, looking at him strangely. Imagination was merely imagination. Letting out a weak sigh, Risel readjusted to reality and spoke.
"General Uru, as you know, there is no way out of this lake. So what do you mean that a three-day journey leads to this place called Gauri?"
"It's the honest truth. While we were breaking through a stormy sea..."
Only then did the explanation Risel had wanted begin to flow. And when Uru's account was finished, Risel found he could ask no more questions.
'To think they broke straight through a wall of water standing in the sea and arrived at a lake in the Reganza Mountains...'
Though Risel was a 2nd Circle wizard, his knowledge was by no means inferior to that of the continent's sages. In some respects, it was greater.
More than the childhood memory of having been called a genius, the fact that he was the only one on the continent who had failed to master even the 2nd Circle at the age of seventy-five had made him miserable.
Because of this, rather than giving up, he had trained and meditated on magic even harder, groveling and begging to learn while other wizards studied in comfort—an experience no one on the continent could dismiss. But no one recognized that truth.
The 2nd Circle.
This accursed circle had for over sixty years concealed his true worth. Prejudice had. That said, Jin-cheon hadn't brought him along because he saw his exceptional qualities. He had simply picked him up.
One of the things Risel studied was the question of where all teleportation was calibrated from. Current warp and teleportation were fixed by coordinates—the coordinates uniquely memorized by the earth. There was a hypothesis that these too must have a center, but not a single soul had ever tried to learn more about it. What an era of war demanded was attack magic and lethal magic.
Risel was a figure utterly unnecessary in the present age. His efforts to raise his circle had shifted from training toward a quest for truth, changing his method.
He had wandered in pursuit of truth for forty years. And he had come here chasing a new purpose: to find the center of the coordinates. That was why he had drifted into the Reganza Mountains. A place no one else came to.
Even among monsters, those of the Reganza Mountains were swift, strong, and silent.
Why?
The center of all coordinates pointed toward this place.
In short, somewhere in the Reganza Mountains, there would be a point that served as the center of the coordinates. The goal of inquiry he had forgotten was resurfacing. And then there was that word he had once heard.
That the Dimensional Wall stood at that center...
"Then... did these people cross the Dimensional Wall...?"
Risel's low murmur slipped out quietly.
"The Daesaja is returning! Raise the gate!"
Clang-clang-clang-clang-clang!
"Raise it!"
Kee-kee-kee-kee!
From the watchtower, soldiers' shouts and the clamor of bells mingled and rang out, and without delay the gate began to be drawn upward.
"Deputy Commander, go out and greet him."
"Yes, Captain of the Guard."
When Dae Mu-deok came out and gave the order, the deputy commander rode out with a number of cavalrymen.
Clop-clop, clop-clop.
As the expeditionary force returned with roughly fifty riders at the head of the column, all the former slash-and-burn farmers came out to watch with wondering eyes. Among them were anxious gazes from women who had formed new households with soldiers who had gone on the campaign, and children also cheered at the sight of the heroes in their hearts.
"Captain of the Guard!"
"What is it?"
"Three men are approaching on foot from the forest."
The news that arrived before the gate had even closed was the return of Ung-sam, Beron, and Darun.
But somehow they were returning empty-handed and looking like beggars, without the extra horses and supplies they should have brought. The camp hastily sent riders to meet them. In Ung-sam's case, there were sword marks slashed here and there, but none of them appeared to be serious injuries.
PATTER-PATTER-PATTER!
"Generaaaaaaaaaal!"
The moment he reached the entrance, the beggarly Ung-sam left the exhausted Beron and Darun behind, ran forward, and threw himself prostrate on the ground.
"......."
"General! A grave matter! Word is they have already mustered troops and marched out from the city with the intent of rounding up the slash-and-burn farmers of the Reganza Mountains. You must rally your forces at once and prepare for their attack!"
"......."
"There is no time! Your servant Gye Ung-sam ran without a single day's rest to deliver this news!"
"......."
At last, two deep furrows formed between Go Jin-cheon's brows as he listened in silence from atop his horse. And to this report welling up from Ung-sam's loyal heart, delivered as though wrenched out with blood, he replied with a single line.
"Gurajaengi. Don't beat the rear drum."
Khee-hee-heeng.
"Huh?"
Jin-cheon's beloved mount let out a long neigh as if mocking him, then moved its feet again and walked past Ung-sam. As he passed the dumbfounded Ung-sam, Buru clicked his tongue.
"Don't know what the rear drum means? It means you're late as hell. We just finished capturing the bastards and hauling them off. Tch, tch. Go change your clothes. You look like a beggar."
"......."
Ung-sam's rare display of loyalty ended as a belated drumbeat.
"Hawk?"
"Beron...? How is it you're here?!"
Like Ung-sam, the beggarly Beron had collapsed to the ground, overcome by the relief of being home. Just then, from inside a wagon parked to one side, he met a face he recognized.
The man called Hawk was even more surprised than Beron. Finding a friend in the encampment of these terrifying soldiers was utterly unexpected.
"Is that so? Your village..."
"It is."
Despite having raced through the forest with Ung-sam, the army's raid had been swifter. Beron patted the shoulder of Hawk, who had fallen into dejection.
A little later, Hawk looked upon his own village folk cheerfully talking and laughing with the strange soldiers inside the encampment, and asked, puzzled.
"We are not slash-and-burn farmers anymore."
"What do you mean?"
"We are now the people of Gauri."
"Gauri?"
Seeing Beron's face shining with what seemed like pride, Hawk grew even more mystified.
To the bewildered Hawk, Beron began to recount in detail all that had happened in the meantime.
"I will now report."
"Mm."
Hwi-garam's report on friendly casualties began.
Of the expedition force's 821 men, zero dead, two seriously wounded, twelve lightly wounded—negligible losses. Of the enemy force of 611, 321 dead, 112 seriously wounded, 61 lightly wounded, and 117 taken alive.
It was a resounding victory. The fact that enemy casualties included more serious than light injuries was proof of how fearsome the Gauri army's way of battle really was.
"The seriously wounded?"
"The serious wounds involve broken legs and sword cuts, but fortunately it appears they will recover fully with convalescence."
"Mm."
At Hwi-garam's report that the serious wounds were, even so, fortunate, Jin-cheon nodded and spoke.
"Replenishing our troops is difficult for us right now. See that they receive special care."
"Yes."
"Tonight, we will break out drink and food, and let the soldiers rest thoroughly. And find out what befell Ung-sam."
"Yes."
That night, a celebration was held to mark the great victory.