Chapter 315
Chapter 315
The Iron Emperor — Chapter 315
"Connect the magic communication to Buru in Haian. Right now."
"Understood."
Jin-cheon, who had kept silent for a long while, sought out Eulji Buru.
"Gauri must not fall."
"Your Highness Alsein."
"Your Majesty..."
Alsein opened his mouth as if he had made a decision.
Under the current circumstances, the Gauri army's recall was entirely justified. Even if he ordered them to withdraw right now, no one could fault him. No—that would be the only way to at least save the Kingdom of Haian and the Kingdom of Malin.
That was why Alsein thought he should let them go with a clear conscience. As if reading Alsein's heart, Jin-cheon gazed at him without a word. For once, even Jin-cheon could not tell him to trust him.
"We will not fall."
It was simply a vow he uttered, as though to himself.
"The communication has been established."
"Has it come through?"
"Yes."
Risel, who had been dispatched on Jin-cheon's orders to raid the Empire Coalition's supplies and had returned at some point, entered with the communications wizard and personally connected the line to Eulji Buru.
Risel had rushed over without a proper rest even after toiling between Gauri, the Central Sea Naval Headquarters, and here on the Roselin front. The shadow cast over his face showed that he, too, was worried about Gauri.
"It's me."
As the image settled, Jin-cheon, who normally began speaking slowly only after the other party spoke first, uncharacteristically spoke up first. Inside the crystal orb, Eulji Buru stood fully armed in heavy armor.
He must have already received word.
[Your Majesty, Supreme One of All Heavens, your servant Taedaesaja Eulji Buru wishes to make a single request.]
"Speak."
Normally Buru would have first paid proper respects to Jin-cheon, but in this moment he dispensed with such courtesies. Naturally, Jin-cheon was not the sort to reproach him for that.
[From the personnel whose training is complete, excluding those still in training, we have selected five thousand volunteers.]
"..."
He was talking about the troops they had been training in the Kingdom of Haian to send reinforcements to the front. Through Jin-cheon's silence, Buru continued.
[We mobilized every cart we had and loaded all five thousand men aboard. Each man carries as much provisions as he can manage, so we do not plan to operate a separate supply unit. We also requested warhorses from the Kingdom of Haian and conscripted every horse that can run, gathering around three thousand.]
"What are you thinking?"
Jin-cheon, who had been listening, finally spoke.
These were exactly the measures that would be taken if the homeland were in danger, but from Buru's expression, Jin-cheon could tell that he wanted something.
[You must not recall the army.]
"Buru..."
At Buru's resolute tone, Jin-cheon's face hardened.
[Your Majesty, surely you know that if we withdraw now, there will be no second chance.]
"What do you mean?"
Alsein, who had been listening beside him, was taken aback by Buru's words. Next to him, Hwi-garam, his face rigid, quietly spoke.
"If we pull out from here, maintaining this front will no longer be possible. Yet to defend Gauri, we would need our main strength. The Haian Kingdom still lacks sufficient forces, and the Malin Kingdom cannot withdraw any more troops because of the Federal Empire's containment. If we withdraw our forces, the Holy Empire will push south without worrying about the Empire Coalition's army, because the war with the United Empire is merely a siege. And then there are those who will assert their own will."
"But what in the world is General Buru saying...?"
"War is momentum. If you lose momentum, you lose the war. Roselin may be devastated, but it is still alive. There is a clear difference in strength between the Four-Nation Alliance and the Three-Nation Alliance."
At Hwi-garam's words, Alsein nodded as though he understood. But while he understood, he clutched his head in both hands with a bewildered expression.
He must have felt as though his own kingdom was dragging all these people down.
The inability to protect one's country with one's own strength.
How utterly devastating a thing was that?
"I, too, shall go to Gaemun Mountain Fortress."
Risel, who had established the communication, uttered the words with a stiff face. If he went, it was only natural that even an army of tens of thousands would not dare to charge recklessly.
[You may not!]
"Hah...?"
It was Buru inside the crystal orb who had objected to Risel's intention. Risel shot Buru a reproachful look for voicing his opposition, but Buru carried on in a resolute voice.
[Uljeol, have you not been unable to rest properly because you were handling affairs for the Empire Coalition until just recently? If you come directly to Gaemun Mountain Fortress now, it is plain that you will not be able to recover your health.]
"But..."
[Master.]
At the word that reached his ears for the first time in a long while, Risel lost his words for a moment. It was a sound he had not heard since those old days when Jin-cheon had entrusted Uru and Buru to Risel as his disciples, telling them to learn the culture and knowledge of the continent.
[If, heaven forbid, you are injured, Gauri will lose the ability to maintain its long supply lines. Gauri has many warriors. But it has only one Archmage, and that is you, Master.]
Risel could offer no retort to Buru's words. If Risel were lost, Gauri's material supply lines would effectively grind to a halt. Was there not a saying that war is won on logistics?
Moreover, after continuously casting long-distance teleportation spells, Risel's condition was such that it would not be strange if he collapsed at any moment.
Even so, Risel believed he had to go. His judgment that his presence at Gaemun Mountain Fortress could buy more time had not changed. But it was not Buru alone who opposed him.
"Buru is right."
"But, Your Majesty..."
"What the Uljeol is already doing is more than enough. Anything more would be excessive."
At Jin-cheon's firmness, Risel could say no more. Seeing Jin-cheon prevent Risel from marching out, Buru spoke again.
[Your Majesty.]
There was strength in Buru's voice as he addressed Jin-cheon.
[The Daedaero is already making preparations in the capital. The Kingdom of Haian is also mustering troops...]
Buru kept talking through Jin-cheon's sustained silence. Amid the stillness, Buru spoke alone.
[This war will drag on for decades, just like the last one.]
Buru was speaking of Gauri’s past, of its wars against the Sui and Tang dynasties. His voice was neither heated nor deliberately calm.
As smooth as the flowing wind.
[Can we keep repeating the same foolishness like a pack of chicks?]
As if he had cast something aside.
[Is it not for the advance of Gauri over a thousand, ten thousand years that we are waging this war now? If we retreat now, that chance will never come again. No—we will surely collapse.]
As if he had made a vow.
[Believe in me and entrust this place to me.]
He swore an oath.
[I will absolutely defend it.]
Buru was now telling Jin-cheon never, under any circumstances, to turn the army around.
He was telling them not to move, even knowing the enemy's spears and swords were right before their noses.
"..."
[Did you not say so before?]
To Jin-cheon, who could not readily answer, Buru spoke with a smile.
[That this Eulji Buru knows nothing except war.]
"Yes..."
At Buru's jest, a faint smile began to form at the corner of Jin-cheon's mouth.
[Trust me.]
"Yes."
Jin-cheon's voice grew gradually clearer.
Inside the crystal orb, Buru was thumping his cuirass with his fist, pledging. That he would defend Gauri.
"If you let even a single whelp slip through behind you, I won't let it go!"
[You blockheaded bastard, just worry about yourself.]
Eulji Uru cut in.
It was a grave impertinence, but no one reproached him. After snapping at Buru inside the crystal orb, Uru looked at Jin-cheon.
The two brothers, who had been together since a time so distant even their memories were faint, gazed at Jin-cheon with those same dependable eyes as always.
'Trust us.'
They no longer spoke the words aloud, but the two of them were clearly shouting it. Jin-cheon closed his eyes for a moment. This was a judgment on which the fate of a nation rested. In the worst case, the Gauri mainland could be reduced to ashes.
The place where they had come and opened the heavens could turn to ruins once more.
The homeland that those who had lost their homeland had newly built might vanish for a second time. A suffocating silence wrapped around the chamber.
It felt as if a thousand years were passing.
"I trust you."
Those were the words Jin-cheon uttered as his closed eyes opened.
Inside the crystal orb, Buru tucked those words of Jin-cheon into his heart, rendered a military salute, and vanished. At those words, everyone except the Gauri warriors was aghast, but Jin-cheon raised his voice.
"There will be no withdrawal!"
"We obey!"
The Gauri warriors raised their salutes in obedience.
"Maintain the front and prepare for the war that will soon follow!"
Listening to Jin-cheon's cry, Alsein could not lift his head. It was because he could no longer hold back the overflowing tears.
* * *
"I will go myself."
Dae Mu-deok, clad in heavy Chalgap armor and speaking over magic communication, nodded slowly. A voice came from the crystal orb, sounding as though the speaker had expected this.
[Is that so.]
A rigid voice.
Mu-deok did not avoid Jin-cheon's gaze as it watched him from within the crystal orb. No—rather, he met it squarely, his chest held high.
"Buru's unit is said to have already departed. I, too, must set out as soon as my preparations are complete."
[I will not move from here.]
"Ha ha, a wise decision."
At Jin-cheon's stubborn expression, Mu-deok let out a pleased laugh.
[Then I entrust the rear to you.]
"I receive your command."
Everything had already been decided. Mu-deok was merely confirming it once more.
"We will march as soon as all preparations are complete."
"We obey!"
The warrior who had been standing at Mu-deok's side raised a salute and rushed out.
"Her Highness the Yeolhu arrives."
"Oh, dear."
At the voice from outside, Mu-deok's expression turned troubled. The thought had crossed his mind that she might insist on following.
Clank. Clank.
"Hmm..."
A groan escaped Mu-deok's lips.
Just as he had feared.
Eulji, who was entering, was clad in pure white Chalgap armor.
"Do not worry, I will not follow."
"Is t-that so?"
Seeing Mu-deok's twisted face, Eulji preemptively spoke with nonchalant ease.
Yet Mu-deok looked unconvinced. He was afraid she might follow after all.
"Do not make that face. I will not follow you. Even if my martial prowess is great, I know that in the end, worrying about me would tie up unnecessary manpower."
"Then why...?"
He was asking why she had donned armor.
"As of today, I shall no longer reside in the Yeolhu Palace."
"Pardon?"
To the bewildered Mu-deok, Eulji continued.
"From now on, I shall take up residence on the fortress wall. If the defensive line is breached and the enemy reaches this place, then I will be the first to face them."
"Your Highness..."
A last stand.
It was her own way of making a last stand.
She herself believed that following the army into battle would only hinder those who were fighting. Instead, she would give Mu-deok a reason why he absolutely could not lose.
"The first to greet Your Highness will not be soldiers of the Holy Empire, but Gauri troops singing songs of victory."
"But are you truly all right?"
At Dae Mu-deok's assurance, Eulji nodded while still posing a worried question. She was concerned about Dae Mu-deok's age.
No matter how renowned a warrior he was, having once guarded the side of the previous Yeolje, he was now past the age of seventy. Of course, his physical strength remained vigorous regardless of his age.
"There was a time when I was counted among the greatest warriors of Gauri."
At Mu-deok's words, Eulji, who had asked the question, scratched the back of her head with an awkward expression, as if realizing she had asked something unnecessary. In truth, one of the reasons Go Jin-cheon could always roam away from Gauri was precisely Dae Mu-deok's existence.
When he guarded the Yeolje's side, he protected a single person, but as a general, it was different. He was a man who could protect a whole nation.