Chapter 261
Chapter 261
Iron Emperor, Chapter 261
The experiments to test the limits of wizards ceased after Kairos's sacrifice. That said, Risel, having heard Kairos's words, solemnly agreed, and it was true that countermeasures against the Magic Corps had become urgent.
"Countermeasures."
"......."
At Go Jin-cheon's question, Kairos, who ought to have replied somehow, could not utter a word. If even Risel were removed from the equation right now, there would be no countermeasures. Yet it was also true that Risel alone could not handle both logistics and combat. His supply duties were an absolute necessity.
"As the one entrusted with the Great Gauri Magic Corps, isn't that a little short on answers?"
Eulji Buru spoke in an unfriendly tone. Kairos cursed his own tongue. Because of a single remark that day, he had become the head of the newly established—no, hastily cobbled together—Magic Corps. Naturally, Risel ought to occupy that post, but with the burden of logistics already on his shoulders, piling on more duties was impossible.
"......."
Jin-cheon did not blame Kairos for keeping silent. Buru had grumbled out of sheer frustration, and the truth was, right now they simply had to cobble together a solution by any means.
In truth, even though the corps was hastily assembled, the only wizard next to Risel in skill at this urgent moment was Kairos.
"Is magic possible from atop a moving chariot?"
"You mean a war chariot?"
Kairos, who had been hanging his head like a guilty man, lifted it.
"Yes."
"It is possible. In fact, there were cases in the past where wizards were mounted on chariots and deployed. However, those cases achieved little practical effect. Because you are exposed on all sides, you become an easy target and are often singled out."
"So it is possible......"
"......."
He suddenly began to feel a sense of unease.
When a wizard first rode a chariot, its power was widely known, but it had no choice but to vanish quickly. Chariots, forced to stick out in order to attack, naturally became the highest-priority elimination targets. That was why wizards normally took to the sky to attack—it was all for safety.
"For now, I'll give this matter a little more thought."
"Understood."
At Jin-cheon's words, Kairos hastily answered, as if afraid Jin-cheon might change his mind. With an expression he had kept locked away for ten years, Kairos felt Risel's gaze on him and looked back with a tragic air.
'Now I understand the Archmage's hardships.'
Misery loves company.......
That was how they felt.
As Jin-cheon came out of the tent, Gowin approached and stood behind him. His face was brimming with things he wanted to say.
"You're worried."
"I am."
For Gowin, who had felt the Holy Empire's power from childhood, this time was unavoidably grim. Yet Jin-cheon did not reproach him for it.
"If war can be avoided, avoiding it is best."
"......."
Gowin silently listened to Jin-cheon's voice.
"But you'll probably be made to feel it in your bones: if all you do is avoid it, nothing will come of it."
"Indeed."
For a moment, the bygone days of the Haian Kingdom came to mind.
"At first, I couldn't make sense of this continent."
"In what respect, if you don't mind my asking?"
At Jin-cheon's calm tone, Gowin lifted his head and focused on his words. It was because he hoped to hear something that might stir a sense of expectation.
"The fact that, across the continent's long history, three empires still hold out."
"Isn't that because their power is so overwhelmingly great?"
Gowin spoke as if it were obvious. But Jin-cheon slowly shook his head from side to side. A clear denial.
"There is no such thing as immortality in this world. Do you know the history of our Gauri?"
Gowin, too, knew that Gauri had come to this place from another world, though he did not know the exact route. Granted, this was a fact known only among the upper echelons. For the common people, tales akin to legends of descending from the heavens were drifting about.
"I have not heard it properly."
At Gowin's answer, Jin-cheon turned his head and looked at him.
"Do you know how the world develops?"
"Well, by the upright rule of a sovereign."
"Wrong."
Jin-cheon's lips began to curl up. At the same time, his eyes began to gleam. A gaze steeped in certainty.
Jin-cheon's lips lifted.
"War."
"Pardon?"
Having expected something else, Gowin could only counter-question with a bewildered expression. War creates destruction.
"War breaks everything, but conversely, it also becomes the driving force that creates something that never existed before."
"I cannot comprehend it."
"Why do we wage war?"
At Jin-cheon's question, Gowin pressed his lips together briefly and wore an expression of deep thought.
"Greed, I suppose."
"Correct."
Jin-cheon's face showed satisfaction at Gowin's concise but many-layered answer. War is greed. The hungry wage war to keep their bellies from going empty, and the full wage war to grow a little wealthier.
"Then to win a war waged for such greed?"
"You need a strong army."
"And how do you make a strong army?"
"Training as real as battle, and fine weapons......."
Gowin's voice trailed off. He was beginning to feel something.
"To win a war, you forge iron harder, you craft armor to protect your body from the enemy's weapons, you make wagons sturdier to move and maneuver as fast as possible, you build castle walls stronger so they won't collapse......"
Jin-cheon's explanation was simple, but Gowin could grasp it.
"And when the war ends, those things will flow into the lives of the common people."
"Exactly. Because you must be desperate to win a war, development must be far more ferocious than it is in peacetime. But the empires of this continent stopped too quickly, as if a balance of power froze them in place. As if something was missing."
"I should learn about Gauri's history."
"Go to Mu-deok. You'll be able to lift the shadow that hangs over your face."
Gowin thought that Gauri's history held some kind of key. Gauri's superior weapons, the methods of drilling its people—these aspects were distinctly different from the continent. A desperation that exceeded even the skill of the dwarves, who were called the finest craftsmen. That desperation must have existed in Gauri.
Gowin's footsteps away from Jin-cheon quickened.
"He who knows war well prepares war well."
Left alone, Jin-cheon murmured quietly.
Chapter 84 — Sea Story
Gerard, who usually whiled away his time napping or fishing, was hurrying his steps that day. The place he reached, rushing frantically, was the pier.
"Huff, huff, huff!"
Just from how he was catching his breath, it was obvious without seeing that he had run hard. A crowd had already gathered at the pier.
"Atten-tion! Commander-in-Chief!"
"Yeah, yeah, at ease."
Gerard, absently waving off the soldier's salute with one hand, walked slowly forward wearing a face full of smiles.
- It has been a long time, Master.
"Heh-heh, you worked hard, Pale."
It was the merman Pale, bound to Gerard by a soul pact.
Taking his hand, Gerard did not ask about the results of his reconnaissance; he simply let his delight show. They had, after all, spent a great deal of time together, yet the sense of closeness Gerard felt now was something that had only truly been kindled over a very few minutes. Was it because he felt sorry for all the time he had ignored him?
Gerard brought him to his quarters, prepared all sorts of food, and poured drinks.
"You drink?"
- I drink, Master.
"That's good. Though I never heard of sirens brewing liquor. Anyway, let's have a drink."
Gerard chuckled and filled Pale's cup to the brim.
"To your safe return. Cheers!"
- Cheers?
At Gerard's toast, Pale tilted his head. The word was unfamiliar.
"Ah, cheers means you drink the whole thing in one go so nothing's left in the cup. Hehehe."
- Cheers.
At Gerard's explanation, Pale smiled faintly and clinked glasses. It seemed he, too, liked how warmly Gerard was behaving. As they exchanged trivial talk and drinks, Gerard suddenly grimaced at the sight of the already empty bottle.
"We finished it already? Hey, out there!"
- Master. Wait. I will bring out some good liquor.
"You?"
- You may look forward to it.
At Gerard's skeptical question, Pale rose with a meaningful smile. Gerard burst into loud laughter.
"Heh, good, I'm looking forward to it! Be quick about it!"
Pale raised a hand as if to say "just wait," then walked out the door. In the room from which Pale had vanished, Gerard tipped the dregs of the cup onto his tongue as if they were too precious to waste, smacking his lips. Then he leaned back in his chair and turned his head toward the window.
"What the hell! Living like this isn't half bad."
Ever since Pale had gone off to pursue the Holy Empire's fleet, Gerard had stopped hunting in order to woo sirens. He had simply come to think that living this way, enjoying himself, wasn't so bad after all. The more you cling, the farther what you want recedes. That was something Gerard had come to learn lately.
And the interesting thing was, after he had settled his mind that way, the level of his swordsmanship, which had been stagnant for so long, had risen higher. Perhaps that was why, although at any other time his face would have been pleasantly flushed with drink, it now looked serene.
"Back already?"
When he heard footsteps outside the door, Gerard called out in an expectant voice.
"What're you doing! Quit dawdling and crawl in here already!"
Creak.
As if answering Gerard's voice, the wooden door groaned open.
"You're insane."
"......."
The door opened, and a man with a gruff voice entered.
Gerard froze, a smile still stuck on his lips. The face that had been carrying a grin just moments ago crumpled. Because of the visit of a presence he had never expected.
"What brings you here in person?"
"To collect."
"......Damn it."
The man who answered curtly, as if it were perfectly natural, was none other than Go Jin-cheon.
"'Damn it,' he says......"
Jin-cheon closed his eyes for a moment, as if savoring Gerard's muttered words, and one corner of his mouth lifted.
"Heh-heh, how refreshing. It's been a while since I heard that word."
"You've kept me shut up in this place all this time, and now that you finally show your face, your first word is 'collect'?"
"Like a fish, you mean."
Gerard raised an eyebrow at Jin-cheon's cryptic analogy, his rebellious streak surfacing at once.
"Flapping around before you die, you're saying."
"......Huuu."
The decisive remark made Gerard barely suppress the heat climbing up the back of his skull, and he slowly opened his mouth.
"Let's go at it, for old time's sake."
"Heh-heh."
At Gerard's fresh challenge, Jin-cheon smiled with relish. Wasn't it Jin-cheon's nature never to dodge a fight when it came?
Go Jin-cheon and Gerard went outside and headed for the training ground. Jang Bogo and the naval commanders, who had already heard of Jin-cheon's arrival and were hurrying over, sensed the menacing mood between the two and silently fell in behind them.