Chapter 313
Chapter 313
Iron Emperor — Chapter 313
The knights who had entered the forest to sweep the area with light hearts now furrowed their brows. It wasn't that they were worried about failing to capture the enemy—it was that the operation clearly carried substantial risk. Worse, traps like these posed a considerable headache for knights clad in full plate armor.
"No helping it. The 4th Knight Order will breach."
"Yes, sir!"
The knights' answering shout echoed. Unlike before, caution was etched on their faces as they drew their weapons and advanced into the forest within the encirclement.
Drip.
A red droplet fell onto a white petal.
"Damn. Looks like this is as far as we go."
A quiet voice came from the top of a tree.
"Heheh. Still, we did more than enough. Look at those bastards—hundreds of them wrapped around us, and they still can't get in."
On a thick branch sat the soldiers of the Gauri scout unit, laughing as if amused, yet their condition was hardly laughable. Every man had an arrow lodged somewhere, and blood soaked through their leather armor from cuts all over.
"D'you think those two made it out?"
Hawk murmured wearily.
"Don't you worry. When those bastards put their minds to running, there's no one in these Reganza Mountains who can catch 'em."
"That's right, heh—cough."
As Hawk chimed in with his subordinate's banter, blood flew from his mouth along with the cough.
"Damn. Salty and a little sweet."
"Pfft."
The surviving scouts shook with suppressed laughter when Hawk smacked his lips over the blood splattered on his hand, as though it were too good to waste.
THUD!
Ack!
"Got one!"
In the distance, the crash of a log striking home and another brief death cry rang out, and the scouts let out gleeful murmurs. But Hawk's face was dark.
"Shall we get ready to do it again?"
As the three subordinates who had been resting alongside him slowly rose, Hawk raised a hand and spoke with a grave expression.
"That low, heavy sound just now—that's the sound of steel plate armor."
"Captain, a knight got caught earlier too, so what's—"
One soldier began to brush off Hawk's words dismissively, but his comrade stopped him and pricked up his ears.
As if by agreement, even their breathing faded into silence.
"Shit. Did we stir them up too much?"
"Why?"
When the listening soldier let out a deflated murmur, his curious comrade asked with a tense face.
"The footsteps are heavy and the numbers are few. Captain, I think the knight order itself has come out directly."
"Seems that way. There were three or four smaller traps around the log trap, and I didn't hear a single one go off."
When Hawk picked up the soldier's assessment and added his own thoughts, the other two men wore bitter smiles.
"Dammit. I was planning to open a restaurant when I got assigned to the main fortress this time."
"A restaurant, huh. A guy who can't even make watery soup is talking about running a restaurant."
"Idiot, obviously I'll have to hire a cook. A pretty, decent widow. Pffft."
They traded jokes even knowing the situation had hit rock bottom.
"Well, we held out this long with monster traps. That's one against a hundred, I'd say. Ain't that right?"
"Heh heh heh."
For Gauri, which always had to be ready for monsters, it was only natural to keep the means to set monster traps prepared throughout the mountains. Those who remembered those preparations lured the Holy Empire soldiers into them and achieved better results than expected.
"Then for our final act, let’s find out whether our blades can cut into a Holy Empire knight."
"Ooh hoo."
At Hawk's smiling joke, the three remaining scouts laughed. Then they hurriedly and quietly melted away to their appointed positions.
The Reganza Mountains, which had been in such prolonged upheaval, recovered their stillness. But the crimson bloodstains beneath the green forest seemed to imprint the image of the Gauri scouts' tenacious and desperate resistance.
"Is it finally over, then?"
As the returning knights came into view, Marquis Bello von Luchia spoke reproachfully. Count Chiera Pelloman, perhaps judging that they had taken far longer than expected, could say nothing. He lowered his head and strode quickly toward the knights.
"Did you capture them?"
Since they hadn't taken a single prisoner so far, the question of prisoners took priority over the matter of the delay. But the faces of the knights who had to answer Count Pelloman's question were not bright. Just as Count Pelloman was about to ask again, the guard knight stepped forward and spoke.
"We were able to capture one man."
"And?"
The question meant: Then why the grim faces? It didn't look like mere apology for being late.
"Two of our squad members were killed, and one was seriously wounded."
At the report of knight casualties, Count Pelloman's face clouded over.
"How many enemies were there?"
He asked again, in a slightly sharper tone that plainly signaled his displeasure. The guard knight could not answer readily, then opened his mouth in an even quieter voice.
"Counting the ones we killed, there were four in total."
"......."
In that instant, Count Pelloman lost his composure and erupted.
"Are you telling me to believe that right now?"
"I'm sorry."
"What?"
Under Count Pelloman’s rebuke, the guard knight lowered his head further. Watching their exchange, Marquis Luchia approached and spoke in a grave voice.
Around the marquis, the air felt as if a chill frost had settled.
"In the process of subduing the Gauri scouts, the knight order's losses..."
"I am asking why the losses occurred."
"I'm sorry."
At Marquis Luchia's even frostier question, Count Pelloman bowed his head, no different from the guard knight.
"One man died caught in a trap. Another death and one seriously wounded occurred in the process of capturing the enemy."
"Was the enemy's martial prowess exceptional?"
At Marquis Luchia's cold question, the knight shook his head.
"Their resistance was fierce, but it was manageable. However, we never imagined the foe would use himself as bait to drag us into a trap..."
The knight’s words trailed off. They had grown careless, thinking their quarry nearly caught, when a cluster of spears shot up from the ground and turned one knight and the enemy into pincushions. The other man had been left so gravely wounded that it would not have been strange if he died on the spot.
"Bring the one you captured alive before me."
Marquis Luchia, issuing the command, looked unwilling to hear any more excuses. A moment later, the Gauri soldier, dragged by two knights gripping his shoulders, was brought forward in a state barely fit to be seen.
"State your unit, rank, and name."
When Count Pelloman began the interrogation, the blood-drenched man lifted his head with great effort. One ear had been cut off entirely, and a sword wound across his forehead was deep enough to expose bone.
And yet, the man was smiling.
"I am Hudson Hawk, Gwajeol of the Great Gauri Empire."
"Gwajeol?"
One of Marquis Luchia's eyebrows rose. The interest born of unfamiliarity.
"What level is that rank?"
This time Marquis Luchia posed the question directly. Hawk spat out the mouthful of blood that had pooled in his mouth and grinned, revealing teeth stained red.
"Rude bastard. I outrank you, so show some respect when you speak. Keh keh keh!"
"You—to His Grace the Marquis!"
"Stop."
At Hawk's curse-laced reply, the knight who had dragged him there raised a scabbard, but stepped back at Marquis Luchia's restraint.
"Well, regardless, it seems you are the leader of the scouting party."
"Pfft."
Instead of answering Marquis Luchia, Hawk let out a laugh.
"Cough! Cough! Cough!"
In the middle of laughing, Hawk's back bent like a shrimp as he loosed a violent fit of coughing. At the sudden reaction, Count Pelloman quickly barked an order at his adjutant.
"Summon the wizards, immediately!"
The truth was, Hawk's condition was such that it would not have been strange if he died at any moment. But he could not die now.
There was still too much they hadn't asked.
"Hup!"
Behind Count Pelloman, who was calling for the wizards, someone let out a startled gasp. Count Pelloman reflexively reached for his weapon, but a flash of light flared before his eyes.
'Urgh... You're telling me to just stand still before my sworn enemy?'
Before the screaming Hawk, Go Jin-cheon's expression was utterly resolute.
'Revenge.'
'Is a right given to humans.'
The memory of those distant days came alive.
'Are you human?'
Jin-cheon had asked if he was human.
'One noble's life is worth ten of you worms. Now then, if the remaining nine of you volunteer to die, the rest can be kept as slaves.'
'Just kill me! Only me!'
At that moment, Hawk truly would have been glad to die if it meant the others would be safe. When he woke again afterward, Beron's smile had been the first thing he saw.
'From the start, it was a test of whether you had the bare minimum will, so it seems he never intended to kill you. Only, General Buru insisted it had to look real...'
Beron had laughed in disbelief.
'Ttongchim, of all things.'
The image of Buru jamming a massive axe handle into his anus flashed through his mind.
'Peace does not come because you huddle down and wait. Merely living in hiding is no different from when we were slash-and-burn farmers! Now is the time we must prepare to advance. Now we are weak, but by the time our descendants set foot upon the world, this current march of ours will remain as a glorious memory.'
Yeon Hwi-garam was shouting toward the new recruits under his command. And behind him, Jin-cheon stood as immovable as a colossal mountain.
Hwi-garam turned his body once more and spoke thus to Jin-cheon, bearing the soldiers' will.
'Your Majesty, Supreme One of All Heavens who embraces all people and all things, please watch over these men. Be the sword in their hearts on the road ahead, and the sturdy shield in their hearts against the enemy’s spears and blades!'
Events that had passed more than ten years ago came to mind as vividly as if they had happened just now.
A faint smile formed on Hawk's lips.
'Gauri’s sword, its bulwark, its shield—my Yeolje, who showed me the path of humanity when I had merely dragged myself through each day like a beast.'
Hawk’s life was fading, but he spoke in a voice so quiet it was barely audible and yet perfectly clear.
"My Yeolje... in the next life as well..."
As though his strength had finally given out, nothing more followed.
"Just now..."
The faces of the Holy Empire knights had turned ashen blue.
"Was I hearing things?"
When someone murmured in disbelief, the knights realized it had not been a hallucination. Not only they, but the others nearby had heard it too.
"How can this be...?"
Marquis Luchia, who had been sheathing his bloodied sword, had stopped moving and stood with a rigid face. The ashen lips of a knight trembled as he voiced the unthinkable truth.
"A head already severed... spoke..."
Hawk’s severed head lay on the ground with a broad smile still on his face.
Click.
"Clean it up."
Marquis Luchia, after a moment of frozen stillness, finished sheathing his sword, gave the brief command, and turned away. But despite the Marquis's order, no one stepped forward readily.
The peaceful smile of the dead man struck them as pure terror.
Chapter 105 — Crossroads of Choice
Marquis Bello von Luchia, after holding his silence for a moment, seemed to reach a decision and called for Count Chiera Pelloman.
"You summoned me."
Count Pelloman saluted as Marquis Luchia gave his order.
"We divide the troops. Immediately."
"Divide the troops, you say?"
At the sudden order, Count Pelloman's eyes betrayed bewilderment.
"All combat units, excluding the supply unit, are to carry one week's rations each and race toward Gaemun Mountain Fortress."
"If we do that, the enemy..."
"We must also consider the possibility that we’ve already been discovered. At this distance, even if they know, it’s too late for them to prepare. Count Pelloman, time is what matters in this war. Go at once, pass the order along, and separate the supply unit from the strike force."
"Understood."