Chapter 271
Chapter 271
The Iron Emperor — Chapter 271
The soldiers grumbling as they left the workshop soon stopped in their tracks at a single clueless question from one of their comrades.
"Damn it, never mind."
"No, I just........"
"I oughta smack him!"
As the man at the center of his halted comrades' stares turned his head to evade them, his voice shrinking to a mumble, a few of them swore. But something had begun to tease their sense of smell.
"Meat?"
"Oh hell yeah, that smells insane."
"Wait, why would there be meat?"
Baffled by the rich, savory aroma of cooking meat, some of the soldiers wrinkled their brows and grumbled.
"Those nobles from Gauri, remember? So they're probably throwing a party or something."
"If there's any food scraps left over, they'll mix 'em into tomorrow morning's soup."
"Yeah, if we're lucky we might taste a little meat tomorrow morning, you think?"
"Eheheheh."
The soldiers moved off, holding onto a faint hope that some scraps might find their way into the next morning's soup.
When the soldiers, heading to the castle square for their evening meal, stepped into the square, their eyes flew wide open.
"Wh-what the hell is this? Clen, look at this."
Across the broad square, campfires had been lit here and there, and over them all manner of meat was roasting on spits. Beside every single campfire sat an unmistakable barrel of liquor.
"Whooaa!"
"They must've brought this down here for us to eat!"
Already happy from the smell alone, the soldiers flared their nostrils and swallowed hard again and again.
"Huh? Those guys are already eating?"
"What?"
One soldier pointed. A small group had already gathered and was tearing into meat. The soldiers looked around with startled eyes. They saw only attendants; the soldiers who had arrived behind them were just milling about, catching the scent.
"That's a Gauri soldier!"
"He doesn't have black hair."
"They say some people naturalized into Gauri during the Roselin War. I saw it was true during the last war."
"Hey, you there! Get over here, quick! Or you're gonna get yourselves thrashed for stuffing your faces!"
One soldier who couldn't stand watching any longer rushed over and made a fuss at the Gauri soldiers.
"Huh? Thrashed?"
"If you get it, then get up before the nobles show up."
When an older Gauri soldier turned around with meat still in his mouth, the soldier grabbed his arm as if telling him to get up at once. But his backside was so heavy it didn't budge an inch.
"Heh heh, it's fine. Here, this one's cooked perfectly."
Plop.
"Hurk!"
The soldier flinched in shock at the chunk of meat placed onto his hand. He'd become an accomplice. Holding the appetizing meat in one hand, his face went pale as he looked toward his comrades.
The moment his comrades saw him standing there holding the meat, they yelled at him.
"You crazy bastard! We sent you to stop 'em and what are you doing! Grabbing meat before the Baron even gives a speech!"
"I-I didn't grab it!"
Flustered by his comrades' words, the soldier waved the hand holding the meat back and forth. But just then, a rescuing voice rang out.
"Hey! The rest of you get over here too! He says he's not making a speech. Just told us to eat!"
When the Gauri soldier who had sliced off the meat and pressed it into his hand shouted loudly, the soldiers who had been hesitating let out cheers and rushed the food.
"You coulda said so sooner!"
Releasing a sigh of relief, the soldier plunked down onto his rear and brought the meat to his mouth. Then the older Gauri soldier poured liquor from a barrel, handed it to him, and laughed.
"You gotta ask to know. But if somebody was already sitting here eating before you, you oughta figure it out yourself."
"Heheh, thanks. But you look pretty old, mister. I heard Gauri doesn't have many people, so they even draft old men as soldiers?"
"I'm old, but I can still pull my weight!"
He bared his forearm and flexed, and thick muscle bulged out.
"Whoa, impressive! You guys have a drink too!"
The soldier, admiring the muscle, turned to offer drinks to the other Gauri soldiers around him and laughed heartily. But their reactions felt a little odd. Their expressions looked like they were forcibly suppressing laughter.
"No, I'm telling you to have a drink, so why are you all........"
"Puhahahah!"
"Keuh-haha!"
The laughter that finally erupted left the soldier who was handing around drinks bewildered. When the laughter showed no sign of stopping, the older Gauri soldier barked at them. Then he looked around and muttered.
"Stop laughing, you bastards! Tch, but that Paul fellow said he was going to change into comfortable clothes....."
"Paul?"
The soldier tilted his head at the familiar name.
"His Lordship the Baron is coming out!"
The moment the attendant's voice rang out among the soldiers eating, they all scrambled to their feet.
"Everyone, keep eating as you are. You don't have to stand!"
Baron Paul's voice seated those who had been about to rise. Dressed plainly, much like a common soldier, Baron Paul moved among them, tapping soldiers on the shoulder.
'It can't be, right?'
The soldier holding the cup reassured himself that his unease couldn't be real, and slowly turned his head to look at the older soldier beside him.
"Hey, over here. Baron Paul!"
"Lord Hailon!"
Clink.
The cup slipped helplessly from the soldier's hand.
'God has forsaken me.'
And so the soldier went still, frozen as if under a petrification spell.
At first the soldiers had been stiff and rigid. But who was Hailon? The fact he came from slash-and-burn farmers never left him. He quickly blended in with the soldiers, and as he made drinking bets with a few of them, their walls came down quietly.
Watching the scene, Baron Paul too soon forgot his station and began to get swept up in it.
"Cheers!"
"Chyeerss!"
Having somehow even learned the word "cheers," the soldiers downed their drinks alongside Hailon and then poured them over their heads.
"This is what they call drinking etiquette, spread by Her Highness the Yeolhu herself!"
Of course, it had been Buru who taught them that, but the statement wasn't strictly wrong.
"But was the fighting really that fierce at Kaemunsanseong Fortress, sir?"
"What 'Kae'! It's Gaemunsanseong, Gaemunsanseong! As long as I'm here, nobody breaks through!"
"Heh heh heh!"
"And I'm gonna smash those Holy Empire bastards to pieces this time too!"
"Haha......"
"Ugh......"
The soldiers who had been gathered around and enjoying themselves suddenly fell quiet. They had all been crushed under the weight of the name "Holy Empire."
"What's this? What's wrong with you lot?"
Hailon looked around and scowled at the soldiers hanging their heads low.
"What's this, you call yourselves men and you're already pissing your pants scared of the Holy Empire!"
"A-aren't y-you, General, b-blowing hot air because you're afraid too?"
One soldier answered Hailon in a trembling voice. Thanks to the drink, he'd said something he wouldn't normally dare dream of saying.
Baron Paul started to rise in alarm, but Hailon stopped him with a glance, then picked up his cup and stood. Countless soldiers were watching him. Hailon slowly raised his cup and shouted.
"Afraid? Of course I'm afraid! How could I not be afraid when they come swarming like a pack of wild dogs! But what's even more terrifying! What's more terrifying is surviving after you lose the war and your nation collapses! That pain! The moment the fence protecting you is gone, the loneliness when you're left all alone! That's what scares me more!"
As Hailon's cry echoed, some soldiers' shoulders flinched. They were the ones who had probably felt Hailon's words on their own skin, back during the previous war when they lost their families and watched their very nation crumble.
"The utter sons of bitches! There's nothing worth eating here, and they still keep coming and coming!"
"Fuck."
At Hailon's curse, someone muttered a swear without even realizing it.
"I guarantee you. Any bastards that crawl in here, I'm gonna kill every last one! I definitely won't let 'em live! When seventy thousand North Roselin bastards came, I was shaking like crazy, but after beating the hell out of them I just got annoyed!"
"Heh heh heh!"
As Hailon's crude, colorful speech rang out, the soldiers started snickering and laughing. Someone swore out loud and followed Hailon's cursing. Hailon downed the drink he had been holding up in one go and continued.
"Right now, it isn't just Roselin! We already fought alongside Gauri during the unification war! Isn't that right!"
"That's right, sir!"
"And now Haian and Marlon are on our side too! What's there to be afraid of!"
The soldiers' faces began to ease little by little. They began to feel that they weren't alone.
"Most of all, the very fact that I am here is proof that Gauri and Roselin are brothers!"
"Waaaaaaah!"
Hailon hoisted a barrel of liquor and wove his way among the soldiers, pouring drinks into their open mouths. Some went up their noses and into their eyes, but the soldiers floundered to catch it as if it were the water of life itself.
"Let's kill the Empire bastards!"
When Hailon, holding the barrel in one hand, spread both arms and shouted, the soldiers echoed him.
"Let's kill the Empire bastards!"
"Let's slaughter the Empire bastards!"
The moment fear is forgotten, it becomes a grudge, and the moment a grudge is held, it becomes madness.
At least for that moment, the soldiers were no longer afraid of the Holy Empire. Hailon made the rounds with another barrel and emptied it, then hurled the empty cask toward the moon and shouted from the depths of his soul, his cry making every heart tremble.
"Come! O season of war and blood!"
Chapter 88 — Declaration of War
The season of raging blizzards was passing.
The chill that had seemed to freeze all the way to the bone was beginning to be driven away by the rising sun and warm breezes.
The snow that had turned the world white was slowly melting away to become nourishment for the earth, and the new sprouts heralding spring were peeking out one by one.
Those sprouts would likely grow all the better from now on. Nourished by crimson blood........
Buuuuuu!
A deep horn call echoed, and the very ground trembled.
The time was still the last edge of winter, the entrance of spring.
A crystal orb that should by no means glow began to shine.
"Oum Sala Umtaa........."
Beads of sweat were already seeping from the brow of the communications wizard activating the communication crystal orb. Even though it was a very easy casting, the reason he was sweating............ was war.
The sound of someone racing toward him breathlessly reached the ears of Mong Ryu-hwa, who was humming a tune, elated by the first sunshine he'd enjoyed in a long while.
"Urgent report, sir!"
"Damn it!"
Ryu-hwa sprang to his feet at the sight of the wizard running toward him urgently. Hoping his own guess was wrong.
"An urgent communication has just come in from the Roselin Kingdom!"
"Is it the Holy Empire, as expected?"
"It is not yet confirmed, but there is word that a great army of roughly one hundred fifty thousand is assembling on the Theodore Plains."
At the wizard's message, Ryu-hwa quickly asked in return.
"Anything else?"
"That is all the news for now. They say Roselin has already begun transitioning to a wartime footing."
"I understand. You, go back!"
Without even thinking of writing a report, he sprinted in the direction of the Yeolje Palace. It had been expected, but this was a slightly early provocation.
Mong Ryu-hwa's footsteps racing toward the Yeolje Palace were faster than ever before. Even the soldiers guarding the palace did not offer their usual salute at his urgent demeanor—they seemed to have expected something—and quickly opened the doors for him.