Chapter 31
Chapter 31
The Iron Emperor — Chapter 31
Gerard had always boasted about himself as Gerard of Lightning or whatever, and in truth, he actually was a celebrity. He called himself a treasure hunter, but he was better known as a free knight. He was the one and only Sword Master among the unbound free knights.
His reason for being here was simple. A side job. In times of war like this, it was usually best to lie low. But after lying low for a while, he'd found himself a little short on living expenses. And it wasn't a good time to sell off the treasures he'd already found... so Gerard had decided to pick up a little pocket money through a side gig.
What he'd first gotten wind of was the fact that Baron Alvin was leading soldiers and mercenaries into the Reganza Mountains.
For Gerard, who had roamed the continent, this wasn't even a post-meal workout. He'd acquired the mansion's blueprints and then simply dug a tunnel as a bit of busywork. His plan had been to drift in, pick up some spending money from inside the mansion, and drift right back out. So why had he ended up smashing through a wall?
Gerard's digging had been flawless.
With a solid grasp of the blueprints, he didn't make mistakes. The problem was that the mansion itself was shoddily and fraudulently built. And what followed that was a hail of arrows and Gerard's surrender.
The reason a Sword Master like him had been captured so easily was, in truth, his own confidence in his skills. Surrendering had been the combined result of his confidence that he could escape at any time and Gerard's own professional ailment. And a treasure hunter's professional ailment is only too obvious, isn't it?
Curiosity.
Whack!
"Ughk!"
There was, however, a ruthless hand that cracked across the back of Gerard's head as he wallowed in such delusions—and it was Jin-cheon's. Gerard's eyes flew to Jin-cheon, full of indignation, but Jin-cheon's back was already turned. Gerard's desperate shout slammed against that retreating back.
"Why'd you hit me?!"
"Watch your tone. And..."
"Gnnh."
As Gerard glared at Jin-cheon like he wanted to devour him through the pain wracking his skull, Jin-cheon's solemn voice pressed down.
"Next time there's something important, mention it ahead of time. Like just now."
"......."
Gerard wanted to scream, And why should I tell you anything?!—but he couldn't afford to forget his current circumstances again. And, he'd learned one thing: a piece of information about the man who seemed to be the leader.
'He holds grudges over the pettiest things.'
Gerard made a mental note.
Almost all of the soldiers had emerged from the mansion, and Risel came out last after one more look around.
"Master, I was hearin' a clangin' sound earlier—what was it?"
"Risel..."
Risel's awkwardly forced dialect scraped at Go Jin-cheon's ears. Risel had come out after already having picked out everything expensive.
"Nothing much."
"Hmm?"
Risel, who'd been nodding along at Jin-cheon's words, rounded his eyes when he saw the suits of armor that had been reduced to lumps of iron. But he quickly nodded once more and spoke up to Jin-cheon.
"Ya thought that through real well. They'd be a pain to sell and nothin' but dead weight anyway."
"Oh?"
Jin-cheon, who'd secretly been expecting to hear more complaints about how wasteful it was, smoothed the furrow between his brows at Risel's words and arched one eye slightly.
"What we need right now is goods and iron, not money. With war breaking out, money's only gonna lose value. The country's scraping up every bit of iron it can and sending it to the Empire, so wouldn't it be better to turn this armor into scrap? Besides, one suit of Dwarf-made armor made from this would sell for even more."
"Hm."
At Risel's words, Jin-cheon gave a soft, matter-of-fact nod. Gerard, naturally, understood none of this and could do nothing but roll his eyes—though had he understood Risel's words, he'd have been kicking up another storm about the back of his head or whatever.
"And what might that feller be?"
"Hm."
Spotting Gerard in his distinctive attire among the prisoners, Risel had asked out of curiosity. At the question, Jin-cheon narrowed his eyes slightly, then tossed out an answer as if it were nothing.
"A grave robber."
"Pardon?"
"Grrk!"
"Why is a grave robber here?"
Risel's counter-question and Gerard's groan—having understood Jin-cheon's word—came out at the same moment.
"We're ready!"
"Then we pull out at speed. The Signal Arrow."
FWEEEE!
The Signal Arrow tore through the sky and soared. The troops that had been occupying each of the city gates all began their withdrawal simultaneously.
"Move out!"
"Hyah!"
Neeeeigh!
THUD-THUD-THUD!
A column of twenty wagons and a hundred and twenty cavalry was streaming out of Baron Alvin's empty mansion. And the other roughly thirty cavalry who'd been scattered among the intersections throughout the city were each making their own way out.
"We ride as fast as possible!"
THUD-THUD-THUD!
Just like on the way here, a forced march began. It wasn't even close to the gray light of dawn yet, but Go Jin-cheon's unit, already amply laden, was drawing farther and farther from the city.
It was only around then that the city's people began trickling out, one by one at first, to stare at the ruin that was now Baron Alvin's mansion. Among them were those who spat curses, those who grimaced at the gruesome corpses, and a murmur about whoever had done this eddied through the city.
What was certain was that, while Baron Alvin—who'd bled the city dry—had vanished, another pig would arrive to take his place; and also that the poor had come into enough grain to survive the winter.
And so, before the eyes of the city's residents, the first steps of their progress were made.
"Arrrghghghgh."
Clatter-clatter-clatter!
"Agh-gh-gh-gh-gh!"
Clatter! Bang! Clatter!
For Gerard, this swift progress was proving to be poison. The wagon shook without giving him a moment to catch his breath, preventing Gerard from keeping his mouth shut for a single instant. Then, a dull thud reverberated from the wagon, and Gerard's ordeal took a turn.
Creak!
"Halt!"
One of the deputy commanders following at the rear shouted a long call, and a single rider dashed toward the head of the column. The wagon's wheel was failing.
"Well, look at that."
"What happened?"
"Heh-heh, tsk, tsk, tsk."
The column stopped, and a soldier inspecting the wagon's condition clicked his tongue. Never in his life had he seen a wagon so poorly and shoddily built. The soldiers of Gauri (Goguryeo), where wagons had advanced early on thanks to a thriving trade, couldn't help but click their tongues at the rattling wheel.
"Even the Tang soldiers could make 'em better than this, heh."
"Ain't that the truth. Anything round's a wheel in these parts, I guess."
"Hm, this is gonna be trouble. Report it to the general, then come back."
"Yes, sir."
"Hmph!"
Wham!
In the end, the deputy commander, having decided on emergency repairs, sent a soldier off again. Even after that, as if still displeased by the wheel, he kicked it with all his strength and heaved a sigh.
The result of sending that soldier was that the column was granted a rest. Having already put some distance between themselves and the city, with no enemy to pursue them immediately, they could afford to stop their gallop and take a break.
During that brief respite, the soldiers were taking out water and drinking, while Gerard merely and quietly gauged the situation.
'Hmm, what to do...'
Gerard began to sink into deliberation.
His first concern was that a force of this size had appeared without any rumors whatsoever, which was strange. On top of that, the second thing that plunged him into concern was that their destination was the Reganza Mountains, a place everyone shunned.
At first it had been simple curiosity, but now suspicion was taking the lead.
His third concern was the Gauri army itself. The cavalry Gerard could see wore scale mail that reached down to their ankles, and their horses' entire bodies were likewise wrapped in scale mail. They ought to have been slowed under the weight, and yet the sight of those small-framed horses running without rest was as fascinating as it was beginning to breed a certain dread.
'One wrong move and escaping's going to be tough.'
One suspicion always breeds another.
The energy he felt from the soldiers also struck Gerard as peculiar. A Master himself, Gerard couldn't accurately gauge their level of skill. It wasn't so much that their skill exceeded his own; rather, the mana he sensed from them felt unfamiliar.
'Heh, my worries just go on and on, don't they.'
Suddenly finding it absurd that he, who'd always been so bold, was doing nothing but worry, Gerard let out a snort of a laugh. Then, as if deciding to pack away his curiosity for now, Gerard looked down at the ropes binding him.
"Everyone off for a moment!"
When the prisoners were ordered to dismount so the wagon could be repaired, Gerard naturally started scanning his surroundings.
'No opening. Dammit, I've never seen an army like this.'
Gerard, who'd been checking for even the slightest gap, spat a curse at the solid sight instead. But the strong feeling that escaping would only grow harder the more time passed led Gerard to look down once at the ropes binding him, and then, as if his mind was made up, to look toward the place where his luggage was.
"Hooo."
Having gauged the distance, Gerard let out a sigh, drew up his mana, and severed the ropes in one burst.
"Hup!"
SNAP-SNAP-SNAP.
A soldier who'd been watching the scene raised his scabbard and moved to subdue Gerard. But Gerard was quicker.
CLANG!
Clang!
"He-yah!"
Gerard's form shot through the air toward a different wagon. The one where his backpack was loaded.
WHIZZ-WHIZZ-WHIZZ!
"Hup!"
Thwip-thwip-thwack! Thwip-thwack!
Twisting his body away from the fierce energy flying toward his legs, Gerard couldn't suppress his shock even as he landed on the ground. It was because he'd dodged the incoming arrows by a hair's breadth. But that was after Gerard had succeeded in getting his hands on his backpack.
"Interpretation!"
Flash!
The bracelet Gerard pulled from the bag radiated light.
For someone who roamed the continent, an item enchanted with interpretation magic was a necessity.
"Keep the rest of the prisoners from getting stirred up, and dismount and subdue that man!"
"Bingo."
Hearing voices become intelligible for the first time as the magic took effect, Gerard grinned. Then, as he moved his hand back toward the bag, Gerard's expression turned subtle.
"Form a defensive formation around him—prevent him from grabbing anything he could use as a weapon."
"Oh, now what to do?"
"Ah—!"
Ssssssshhhht.
A surprised cry rang from one soldier. What Gerard had drawn from that small bag was a single long sword. Gerard raised the long sword and leveled it toward the soldiers.
"A sword! Everyone on guard!"
"Heh heh, so shall we try escaping now then?"
Gerard, looking at the soldiers' startled eyes, gave a reciprocal smile and then launched himself into motion.
SWISH!
"Get him!"
Gerard, who'd thrown himself toward a Dark Armored Ghost Soldier that had looked comparatively slow, now realized his judgment had been wrong.
SHK-SHK-SHK!
Clang!
"Oh-ho now!"
The Dark Armored Ghost Soldier he'd thought sluggish already had a Hwandudaedo in hand and had effortlessly deflected Gerard's long sword. And around that Dark Armored Ghost Soldier, two more drew their Hwandudaedo and closed in as if backing him up.
"......."
When the three Dark Armored Ghost Soldiers pulled their Hwandudaedo and stared back at him expressionlessly, Gerard's fighting spirit ignited.
"Oh-ho! Let's see you handle this!"
SWISH!
Gerard's sword strike, drawn so fast it left only an afterimage in the eye, seemed as though it would cleave a Dark Armored Ghost Soldier's body.
CLANG!
"Hup!"
The moment his confident blow was deflected, an airy, deflating groan slipped from Gerard's mouth.
"Haa-yah!"
"Euuu-yap!"
Swish-swish-swish!
"Son of a—!"
Gerard spat the curse, then no longer had the leisure to keep his mouth moving. It was because the two streaks of flashing light that chopped down from either side had plunged Gerard's senses into confusion. But he was a swordsman counted among the ten best on the continent. Though startled for an instant, his body was already slipping clear of the trajectory that the two Hwandudaedo were carving.
SWISH! CLANG!
"Whoof—what the hell are you people?! What knight order is this?!"
"......."
After shouting one question with his face flushed red, Gerard had no choice but to rethink things. The unease he'd felt while observing earlier had now become reality.
The path to escape had already vanished. The three Dark Armored Ghost Soldiers who'd drawn their swords right in front of him were trampling on his pride, plain and simple. And the fact that these men in their black scale mail with white breastplates covering only the chest weren't the only ones in such attire—that made Gerard's escape plan decisively grim. A curse came out reflexively.
"Dammit."
SWISH!
"Hap!"
Clang-clang-clang!
Even so, Gerard's sword strikes flew in with even sharper intensity. But the encirclement that the three Dark Armored Ghost Soldiers had formed while parrying his blows one after another showed no sign of disarray.