Chapter 3
Chapter 3
The Iron Emperor — Chapter 3
KOOOO! CRACK-BOOM!
"Lower the sails!"
"Whoa—!"
"You want to die? I said tie the line to your body!"
CRASH! WHOOSH—splash!
As if the heavens themselves mourned Gauri's doom, the sky poured down tears without mercy.
CRUNCH—BOOM!
"Aaaagh! Save me!"
"Grab the rope!"
When even the mast snapped, the sailors who had braced themselves against it were swept wholesale into the sea. From every direction, piercing through the roar of the waves, the voices of the sailors defying nature rang out without pause.
"Turn the bow to starboard! What are you doing—if we don't ride the wave we're dead!"
"These waters are full of reefs! Fleet Commander, we have to hold position here and endure until the wave passes!"
With the storm completely blinding their vision, the captain was worried about the reef beds. Riding over the waves, the ship could easily capsize on a reef. But the fleet commander's decision was resolute.
"No!"
"But—!"
"You fool! If we stop here, we'll all be annihilated anyway. Can you not see these waves! We might hit a reef—true—but by the same chance, we might not. Stopping, however, means we all die for certain! Order the oarsmen to increase speed, and inform the general to have the soldiers bail water from the lower hold!"
"Aye!"
The captain raised no further objection to the fleet commander's decision. Leaning on the lifeline he trusted more than his own life, he moved to carry out his orders. After the captain departed, dark clouds gathered on the face of the commander who had just moments before been so resolute.
'The waves I can accept, but I've never seen visibility so bad you can't see your own hand in front of your face.'
The sight-obscuring veil before them was staggering, as if a drawn curtain had fallen across their eyes. Just then, the lookout's trembling voice cut through the fleet commander's thoughts.
"S-sir!"
"What do you see?"
"A wall—a wall, dead ahead!"
"What?"
KOOOO!
The words made no sense, yet the fleet commander could read the terror within them. A moment later, he approached the lookout and shouted in a voice that shook.
"Turn—turn the ship around!"
"Fleet Commander, it's too dangerous! We'll capsize!"
"If we don't turn, we may all die!"
"But—!"
Consumed by fear, the fleet commander kept shouting. Voices rose from all sides calling it reckless—but then, all at once, every voice stopped. They, too, had seen it. A wall of the sea, towering like a fortress rampart in the middle of the ocean.
Its top was impossible to make out, and not even a gap to slip through could be seen to either side. It was nothing like a wave or a tidal surge—truly, a literal, endless wall of water. And their ship was charging straight toward it at full speed.
"Fleet Commander!"
"Wh-who? Ah—Daesaja."
The captain, who had gone below to request soldiers' aid at the hold, had returned together with Go Jin-cheon. The captain found himself unable to continue speaking at the sight before them, and Jin-cheon, too, felt a tremor run through his eyes. But only for a moment. He gave the fleet commander an order in a firm voice.
"Fleet Commander, there is no path regardless. If we cannot turn the ship, we have no choice but to break through."
"But—!"
Cutting off the fleet commander's hasty objection, Jin-cheon posed a question.
"What is that wall made of, do you suppose!"
"Seawater..."
Jin-cheon's unwavering voice once again reached the dazed captain's ears.
"If it's water, we break through it."
"But we have no idea how thick it is!"
"Just think of it as a bigger wave. Can't you break through it? Are the sailors of Great Gauri incapable of even this? This is war!"
"...."
The Jin-cheon reflected in the fleet commander's eyes was already a beast on the battlefield. Soon, what came from the fleet commander's lips was not an answer, but a command.
"First Mate, relay the orders."
"Aye, Fleet Commander!"
Gulp.
The sound from the captain's throat rang louder than the rain and the crashing waves. And then the fleet commander's order thundered louder than the storm itself.
"The order is full-speed breakthrough! Command the oarsmen to row at full power! Signalman, relay to the other ships! We advance straight ahead. If we slow down, we die!"
"Aye!"
"Raise the signal flags!"
Confirming that the orders were racing through the fleet in an instant, the fleet commander turned to Jin-cheon and spoke.
"Daesaja, please leave this to us and go below."
"Mm."
From the fleet commander's body, as he stood before Jin-cheon the Daesaja, the scent of war—the kind one breathed only on the battlefield—now rose. And Jin-cheon, at that familiar scent, drew the faint outline of a smile.
"Everyone, hold fast! We're breaking through!"
"Raaaaah!"
"Yaaaaah!"
As if charging headlong at an enemy ship, the sailors' voices pierced the waves and resounded.
CRASH-CRASH-CRASH-CRASH-CRASH!
FLASH!
BOOM! CRACK! KABOOM!
The moment they pierced the wall of the sea, the heavens bellowed with a tremendous roar, as though enraged at the humans defying nature—and the ships shot through nature's barrier like rays of light.
Chapter 2 — Where Is This Place!
Human defiance against nature....
The instant they broke through the wall of the sea, everyone on deck was silent. They simply kept their eyes shut.
"...."
"...."
Silence.
As if the world had suddenly changed, stillness descended. The rain that had been savagely lashing their faces was gone. Only the stinging sunlight beating against their faces remained.
Yet not a single person opened their eyes. Was it fear of the outcome of their defiance against nature? Or unease at the quiet that had fallen so abruptly....
Shhhh-aaaaah.
Into the ears of the captain, whose eyes were still shut, a gentle ripple of waves flowed. The sunlight he felt on his face was unmistakably real.
"...!"
"Ah—!"
"This... can't be...."
When the fleet commander and his sailors cautiously opened their eyes, what filled their vision was an impossibly blue sky, gentle ripples on the water, and warm, embracing sunlight. Under ordinary circumstances they would have savored the sunshine and calm water with delight, but not now. Some even felt as if they were dreaming. Was this a dream—or had the storm just moments before been the dream...?
"Huh? F-Fleet Commander!"
"Uh? Ah, what is it?"
"Ah, that's, well...."
Into the ears of the fleet commander, still bewildered by the sudden peace, came the lookout's utterly dumbfounded voice. The lookout could not manage further words and simply raised a pointing finger.
And in the direction he was pointing, there was land—forest green was visible. Only then did the fleet commander's pupils begin to dilate.
"What! We should've still been far from any land...?"
"No, Fleet Commander, that's not— I mean..."
"Uh... uh? Urk!"
Following the lookout's pointing finger as he turned his head, the captain's mouth began to produce increasingly bizarre sounds. And then a strange cry, as if speaking for all the sailors who had only just now grasped the situation, rang out across the deck.
"What the hell is this!"
"What's this? Look at that, the typhoon up and died? Sure got quiet all of a sudden, and that's mighty fine. So why're ya yellin' when ya oughta be happy!"
It was Eulji Buru's voice, coming from behind the dumbstruck captain. Even so, the captain could not speak and only stared blankly dead ahead. When the captain acted as though he hadn't heard a word—practically ignoring him—Buru's expression soured and he stepped up alongside.
"You little bastard, you've got some nerve! Ignoring me?"
"Over there...."
But instead of an excuse, a finger rose from the fleet commander. Buru followed its tip with his gaze. At the finger's end lay wide, spreading forest and earth.
"We already got here? If ya saw land, ya oughta put her ashore quick, not stand around lookin' brain-dead. Arrow stuck in yer skull, is it?"
"...."
Seeing once is better than hearing a hundred times.
Ignoring Buru's rough voice entirely, the fleet commander slowly moved his finger to the left. Buru's gaze naturally followed—and an exclamation burst out of him.
"Well now, well now, nice view."
"...."
Maybe because he hadn't set eyes on land in so long, Buru was enjoying himself thoroughly, tracing a full circle with his gaze along the commander's silently pointing finger.
"Land's mighty wide, ain't it. Do a full turn on the spot and it's still land all around."
"...."
But Buru sensed something strange in his own words and looked at the fleet commander, who still hadn't found his voice.
"...Lookit this. Since when'd the sea get this tiny?"
"...."
Buru's own mouth had, somewhere along the way, fallen open—but what came out of it was nonsensical babble. To turn in a full circle and see nothing but land in every direction...
"A lake."
"Ah! General."
"What'n the hell is this place!"
Go Jin-cheon and Yeon Hwi-garam, who had come out before anyone noticed, had already grasped the situation to some degree. They had realized the place where they now found themselves was not the sea, but a lake. At that, Buru, now fully understanding the situation, erupted with a roar.
"Captain, have ya gone mad! You been goin' around in circles inside a lake for days? This bastard won't come to his senses till his head's off his shoulders!"
"Buru, quiet for a moment."
"Hwi, can't you tell from what this bastard just did?!"
Even with Hwi-garam's restraint, Buru was spraying spit and ready to devour the captain whole. But the one who stopped the scene was Jin-cheon.
"Captain, what is certain is that we departed from the sea. Yet this place..."
"It's a lake, ain't it!"
"Unless one is a blind fool, anyone with eyes in their head can tell that where we started was the sea, and this place is a lake."
"......That's right."
At the mention of blind fools, Buru quietly shut his mouth and pretended to examine the surroundings instead.
"General, what shall we do?"
Hwi-garam asked cautiously.
"Bring the ships to shore. What is certain—even with one glance around—is that this is a lake, and that where we departed from was the sea. Whatever the case, we are far removed from our point of departure. Clearly, a lake of this size cannot be found anywhere in the region we set out from."
"At the very least, then, we are definitely out of danger for now."
When Hwi-garam added that, as if in agreement, Jin-cheon gave a slight nod and spoke.
"Even that I do not know for certain, but there is no fleeing from this place—so we must set foot on land."
"Yes. Fleet Commander, as the Daesaja ordered, have the fleet make landfall."
Hwi-garam bowed his head to Jin-cheon in courtesy and then relayed the command to the fleet commander. The fleet commander snapped to a military salute and accepted the order.
"Aye, understood. Signalman, relay the landing order to the entire fleet!"
"Prepare to land—orders received!"
With the long-ringing call and response as the start, the ten ships of the fleet cautiously made for land. With no clear course of action, staying bottled up in one place was dangerous.
"Buru."
"Yes."
"Go into the cabin, bring Eulji and the handmaidens out, and let them get some fresh air."
"Got it."
As Buru hurriedly left his spot, Jin-cheon's face darkened.
'Just where in the world is this place....'
Only a sigh no one else could hear escaped him.
"Careful lowering it!"
"Slowly—get the horses down first!"
On land, horses and materials for establishing a camp were being unloaded, while the cooks bustled to prepare a meal. Having been unable to eat properly due to the storm, the cooks' hands moved with unrivaled speed.
"Buru, Uru. Come here."
"Yes."
Buru, his axe already strapped to his back, came running up with his eyes darting about and stood before Jin-cheon. Uru, perhaps because he had solid ground underfoot again, also seemed to have recovered considerably from vomiting everything up over the side.
"The two of you take the soldiers and scout the surrounding area. And Hwi."
"Yes."
"You take the remaining soldiers—those not already engaged in work—and form a military camp centered on this position, in case of any unforeseen attack."
"Understood."
Once the men quickly dispersed, Jin-cheon moved his steps toward a tent set up to one side to see Eulji, the Son of Heaven. Over ten handmaidens, the wet nurse, and Dae Mu-deok were resting in that tent.
"Captain of the Guard."
"Yes, Daesaja."
When Jin-cheon entered the tent and called Mu-deok, he quickly rose from his seat and bowed his head. Jin-cheon answered his greeting with only a slight nod and then spoke.
"Captain of the Guard, would you ascertain the present headcount for me?"
"As you command."
No sooner had Jin-cheon's order fallen than Mu-deok hurried out of the tent.
With Mu-deok gone and only Jin-cheon remaining, the handmaidens left behind did not know what to do with themselves in his presence. It was understandable—the oppressive pressure of a man who had spent his entire life on battlefields was too much for the handmaidens to bear directly. Yet Jin-cheon was not the sort of man to miss that their behavior was too cowed to be explained by that alone.
"Hweeeng... Uwaaah, uwaaahh!"
Into that awkward moment, whether by coincidence or not, Eulji suddenly burst out crying.
"Your Highness."
"I am not 'Your Highness.'"
"Ah, understood. Then could you step away for a moment......."
At the wet nurse's sudden expulsion order, Jin-cheon's face twisted into a frown.
"What?"
"It seems the baby has wet the diaper."
"Then change her. What is the problem?"
At Jin-cheon's brisk and concise reply, the faces of the wet nurse and the handmaidens visibly clouded over.
"I shall do it myself."
"Ah—!"
Sensing something amiss, Jin-cheon took Eulji into his arms and began to undo the baby's swaddling. A moment later, as he untied the cloth diaper to change the baby, his hands abruptly stopped.
"...."
"Hng."
Jin-cheon's face flushed crimson with rage, while the faces of the wet nurse and the handmaidens, who let out short gasps, turned pale as corpses.
Because inside the unfastened diaper, what should have been there was missing.