Chapter 327
Chapter 327
Iron Emperor — Chapter 327
"Daehyeong Cheon Yuhwa and seven hundred fifty others have returned."
Avilrun spoke in a subdued voice as he entered leading the wagon train. Hearing the report, Eulji Buru quietly approached the lead wagon and lifted the blood-soaked Samjoko Flag.
"The bastard's face says he died real happy."
Buru studied Cheon Yuhwa's face for a moment, then let out a short laugh and covered him again.
"Move them aside and cremate them."
"Great General!"
At Buru's curt order concerning comrades who had returned as cold corpses, Avilrun raised his voice and stepped closer.
"Gandengi, quit puffin’ yourself up."
"They gave their lives for us!"
"Right. So you think they'd be happy if we dug holes in the ground right now to bury 'em."
"But still...."
At Buru's words, Avilrun started to say something, then closed his lips. Buru's clenched fist had veins bulging as if about to burst.
"Our job ain't to grab shovels and bury these fools. It's to rest, even a little more, so we can send that many more enemies to join 'em. You get me?"
"Yes."
"Even lighting a fire for 'em's a damn luxury. Look around. Every last one of the bastards lyin' dead out here was brave as they come."
"......Yes."
"Move quick."
When Buru turned away after those final words, blood was beading and dripping from his fist.
* * *
"We cannot make contact."
"Is that so."
At the wizard's report, Dae Mu-deok's eyes slowly closed.
"They most likely reached Gaemun Mountain Fortress safely. You know what kind of man Great General Buru is."
Officers from the guard retinue approached Dae Mu-deok and each offered a word. They all said to trust Buru.
"True."
Mu-deok opened his closed eyes and nodded.
"Doesn't the wizard's report that the magic-communication jamming around Gaemun Mountain Fortress still hasn't been eliminated mean they are still holding firm?"
"True."
Listening to his officers' replies, Dae Mu-deok reflected that if magic had brought some ease, it had conversely created this kind of gnawing anxiety.
"The morning before last, Taedaesaja Buru clearly stated that his force would strike the enemy's supply lines and immediately break through into Gaemun Mountain Fortress. That is likely what happened."
"Indeed."
"The remaining distance to Gaemun Mountain Fortress is three days' march. We must cover two days' distance in a day and a half."
"Will that not be too much?"
Though the situation was urgent, arriving with exhausted soldiers would be meaningless. It might only add to the body count.
"To reach a point half a day from Gaemun Mountain Fortress as quickly as possible, rest thoroughly, and then enter the battlefield, we have no choice but to push this hard."
"Understood."
"Then it is late. Everyone, get some rest. Wizard, connect the communication to His Majesty."
At Mu-deok's calm command, the others filed out of the barracks, leaving only the wizard chanting incantations toward the crystal orb.
* * *
[Then this general shall take his leave.]
With Dae Mu-deok's last words, the light in the crystal orb went out.
"They're holding out well at Gaemun Mountain Fortress."
At Yeon Hwi-garam's composed remark, Go Jin-cheon slowly nodded. But with no way to know the detailed state of the battle, they could not hide their frustrated feelings.
"At the latest, we should have word in a day or two."
"I expect so."
The mention of a day or two meant the dispatch that would be sent from Gaemun Mountain Fortress.
"The soldiers' condition."
He was asking whether there was any unrest.
Easing Jin-cheon's tacit worries as much as possible was precisely Hwi-garam's job.
"Aside from the stirrings at the very start of the campaign, they show no sign of agitation whatsoever. Had we by any chance turned the army around, the unrest would have been severe, but precisely because we did not, some soldiers are in fact reassured."
"I see."
"On that point as well, the fact that Taedaesaja Buru himself headed to the front seems to have had a great effect."
"Heh. I see."
A laugh escaped Jin-cheon's lips. Just as he trusted Buru, so too did the soldiers of Gauri trust him. Through all the wars fought so far, the conduct of Gauri's leadership had now become an article of faith.
Because the Gauri soldiers, the parties directly involved, stood as solid as deeply embedded boulders, the soldiers of the other kingdoms were regaining their stability as well. No — perhaps it was unfair to the soldiers at Gaemun Mountain Fortress who were even now shedding blood, but here the atmosphere was far removed from the ferocity there.
"What of the Empire Coalition's movements?"
"The news will have reached them by now, so won't they make a decision soon enough?"
"I expect so."
"Right now is the time to trust, and to sharpen our swords."
Nodding as if in agreement with Hwi-garam's final words, Jin-cheon gazed out at the black sky visible between the tent flaps.
Under that sky, the soldiers of Gauri would even now be waging a desperate war....
"......Heh."
Jin-cheon, who had momentarily imagined Buru commanding soldiers on the battlefield, soon shook his head clear and let out a hearty laugh.
"We'll be lucky if he hasn't started a drinking party."
* * *
"Kahaha! Drink up!"
A drinking party, untimely as it was, had broken out in Gaemun Mountain Fortress.
At its center, Buru was roaming about holding a large cup. Over the campfires scattered here and there among the soldiers, meat was cooking, exuding a savory aroma.
"Empty your cups!"
Everyone was carousing as if the war had nothing to do with them. Despite the cups being knocked back one after another, not a single face showed intoxication.
"We're outta drink! Go fetch more!"
"Right away!"
When Buru bellowed, a soldier who had only just shed his boyish look came running, picked up the empty liquor crock Buru had set down, and scurried off.
"Hup!"
The place the soldier ran to was the well. Reaching it, he lowered the bucket and hauled up water. Then he poured the drawn water into the empty crock until it was full. The water thus filled was then poured into the soldiers' cups. And in the midst of it all was Buru, lurching about as if drunk.
"Great General...."
Geom Muhyul, his entire body wrapped in bandages, sat off to one side, cup in hand, staring at Eulji Buru and murmuring.
'We're throwin' a feast.'
'What do you mean?'
'Look. Didn't those Holy Empire bastards send us all these cows and horses? We butcher 'em, fill the soldiers' bellies, break out the drink, and feast!'
Like an excited child, Buru wore a broad smile and spoke with exaggerated gestures, spreading his arms wide.
'But the drink is....'
There was no need to say, "This is wartime, so drink is not allowed." When it came to war, there was no way Buru would say such a thing thoughtlessly. Besides, there was no drink left to begin with. The liquor they'd been giving the wounded to dull their pain had long since nearly run out, and what little remained had been poured out long ago for fire attacks.
'Take a look. The body don't need to get drunk.'
'What do you mean, Great General?'
To Muhyul's questioning, Buru thumped his chest and shouted.
'In here. Right here! Ain't it enough if the heart gets drunk?'
Having shouted that, he went around like a jester, pointing at the water and calling it liquor, weaving among the soldiers, staggering like a drunkard and pouring water into their cups. And he did it by going around in person, without missing a single soldier.
What filled the cups and went into their bellies was water, yet it was intoxicating their hearts as if they had truly drunk liquor. Cutting through Muhyul's musings, Buru slung the crock over his shoulder and climbed onto the half-collapsed fortress wall.
"You've all worked damn hard!"
Whether from the firelight or the drunkenness of the heart, Buru's face was flushed bright red as he shouted to the soldiers.
"Everyone fill your cups to the brim!"
Buru’s roar carried to the soldiers clustered below the wall.
"They're filled!"
"Gandengi’s got the loudest voice, doesn’t he!"
When Avilrun answered back, Buru called out his nickname with a beaming face. Avilrun stuck out his lips and hollered in reply.
"Sir, please stop with the Gandengi, Gandengi! I'm scared the Holy Empire wizards'll come charging in with swords, wanting to get a look at my Gandengi!"
"Quit talkin' crap. Is your Gandengi inside your belly? Just tell 'em not to touch and to look at the Gandengi that's stickin' out past your belly, and that's that!"
"Great General!"
"Puhahaha!"
"Keeheehee!"
At Buru's jest, Avilrun's face twisted as if he'd chewed dirt, and laughter burst from the soldiers.
"The drink taste too bland?"
"No! Tastes great!"
The soldiers answered Buru's jovial question with wide grins. Watching their smiles, Buru hoisted the crock on his shoulder high into the air.
"The only bastards who'd grin while chuggin' plain water are you lot."
"Keekeekeek!"
"You're the same, General!"
Soldiers who ordinarily wouldn't have dared even to look at him were each firing back a word without backing down. Probably because they were good and drunk. Not from the plain water disguised as liquor, but drunk on the man named Buru, pouring out laughter like a madman atop the ruined wall.
"Everyone raise your cups."
The soldiers lifted their cups for Buru to see. Their faces, perhaps unwashed for days, were smeared with soot, dried blood, and dirt. Yet in this moment they were all grinning ear to ear, as if something was wonderfully good.
"Starting tomorrow, it's gonna be busy. We're gonna fight like crazy. Likely for some, the drink tonight will be their last."
On Buru's face, as he spoke of death, the smile paradoxically never once faded.
"So what if ya die?"
He widened his eyes with exaggerated surprise and posed the question to the soldiers. The soldiers simply listened in silence, smiles on their lips. Buru slowly brought the crock to his mouth and continued.
"You saw the bastards who came back dead earlier today, didn't ya? I feel like I wanna die smilin' like them. Don't you?"
"Waaaaah!"
"Everyone down it in one go! And tomorrow we fight happy!"
He did not bother explaining why they had to fight, or why they had to risk death. Everyone who remained here had their own reasons.
Was there any need to go on about reasons?
What mattered was simply enjoying this moment for the sake of tomorrow.
This gathering was a feast for those who kept death at their side.
The water trickling down the corner of Buru's mouth was coldly rousing their weary bodies and spirits.