Chapter 35
Chapter 35
The Iron Emperor — Chapter 35
Buru came running out as if to greet Jin-cheon, practically glowing with delight.
"Good work!"
"Mm."
"But what's that dust-covered bastard draggin' at yer heels?"
"A grave robber who's good with a sword."
"......."
Jin-cheon gave the brief reply and vanished into the barracks. Buru approached Gerard with curious eyes. Jin-cheon rarely offered praise, and that rarity had piqued his interest.
"Hey now, grave robber. What's yer name?"
"......?"
Gerard stared back blankly at the incomprehensible words.
A dwarf who shoots a bow — same stock, then. Did tall dwarves exist too...?
In no mood to be pleasant, Gerard spat out his answer gruffly.
"Gerard."
"What? What'd you say?!"
Thwack! Thwack-thwack-thwack!
"Kueeegh!"
No sooner had Gerard spoken than Buru started beating him without warning. Gerard, utterly clueless, felt his consciousness slip away. As Buru stood there huffing, Uru approached wide-eyed and asked,
"What're you doin' that for?"
"This bastard! I ask the son of a bitch his name, and he tells me 'damn you'!"
"Well, he had it comin', then."
It was an outcome born of a difference in intonation.
Risel merely wanted to dissect the brain of his absurd master. The man he had dragged in, calling him a grave robber, was none other than Gerard of Lightning — famous across the continent. Who was Gerard? A Sword Master, was he not? And yet one of Risel's own disciples had hauled him in like a dog and, the moment he said his name, beaten him like a dog.
The way everyone took everything in stride was expanding Risel's own perspective. Before Risel could even comment, Jin-cheon's order had already fallen: "String him up."
Sometimes Jin-cheon seemed coldly ruthless and wise, yet at other times he handled matters with such stark brevity that Risel was at his wits' end. The one stroke of luck, however, was that Gerard's translation bracelet meant Risel's late master's keepsake would no longer have to pass through Jin-cheon's hands.
But Jin-cheon's impulsive behavior did not end there.
"High what?"
"A High Elf."
"Hm. Where I'm from, we call them Celestial Maidens."
Come hell or high water, Jin-cheon was insisting on Celestial Maiden. On top of that, Uru's behavior was verging on something akin to the sort of perversion widely known across the continent...
"Human Wizard, have you by chance seen my cloak?"
"Your cloak?"
"It isn't anything critical, but I cannot find it."
"I shall look for it."
After arranging quarters for Haidia of the High Elf tribe and stepping away, Risel was able to locate the cloak without difficulty. His own disciples, Uru and Buru, were deep in conversation with the cloak in their possession.
"Fer real?"
"Fer real!"
Buru had his arms crossed and Uru's face was lit up — something was clearly off. Risel quietly listened to their exchange. Naturally, Haidia's cloak was draped over Uru's arm.
"So if I'm the one holdin' it, that's all there is to it?"
"Thaaat's right."
Even if an elf's cloak differed slightly in shape from a human's, there was no reason the two of them, as Risel had observed them thus far, would take an interest in such a thing. And yet the look on Uru's flushed face...
"Absolutely mustn't let it be seen till we've got three of 'em made. Got it? Two alone won't do. Gotta grab 'em with both arms and fly off."
"Look here. What if it's both arms and one on yer back?"
"Hmm."
Their incomprehensible deliberations grew deeper by the moment. Stumped by Uru's counter, Buru was tilting his head and waving a hand through the air.
"How 'bout four, then?"
"Four means one in each arm, one on the back, one clamped in the mouth. Wouldn't that work?"
"Then forget all that and just have a whole bunch of kids."
As Buru spoke with flailing arms, Uru grinned, lifted the cloak, and spoke.
"Still, this really is a winged garment, ain't it?"
Buru was explaining something to the bright-eyed Uru.
"Look. Where's a Celestial Maiden gonna put on a winged garment?"
"On the outside, ain't she?"
"So this one's worn on the inside?"
"Oh, right smart, that is. So it is a winged garment after all."
At all this talk of winged garments, Risel tilted his head. Haidia had clearly said it was not a magic item enchanted with Fly — only an ordinary cloak. Yet their conversation was taking a strange turn.
Their scheming seemed to have concluded; Buru clapped Uru on the shoulder and offered a parting word with a slimy grin.
"Work hard, now. Makin' four or five of 'em's quick work. Do 'em all in one go."
"That's right! I'll work hard at it!"
Somehow, their talk about children made Risel think it might be wise to keep Haidia separated from those two darling disciples (?) of his.
The next morning, Risel went to pay his morning respects to Go Jin-cheon. But Jin-cheon was nowhere to be seen, having already gone out somewhere. After searching briefly, Risel found him quickly enough. He stood before Gerard, who was hanging upside-down in midair.
"I will make you regret treating me — Gerard of Lightning — this way!"
"......."
Gerard, eyes glaring, was snarling threats at Jin-cheon. Risel walked over hastily, then had to break into a run.
"Aaaargh!"
SWISH!
"M-M-Master!"
Risel had stopped Jin-cheon from swinging his sword, expressionless, at the suspended Gerard. He could feel the sweat running down his back.
"Master, why in the world...?"
"If he's going to make me regret it, I should eliminate him first."
"......."
Gerard, the hair atop his head now shorn off, and the bewildered Risel were both at a loss for words at Jin-cheon's crisp, black-and-white logic. Even Gerard's abusive shouting quieted — perhaps startled by the sword that had just swept past him.
"Gerard of Lightning, if I may say so, is a widely recognized figure of renown on this continent."
"I."
"Yes?"
"I picked him up to use him, not to gawk at him."
Speechless, Risel fell silent. Jin-cheon turned his head back toward Gerard, then raised his sword and poked the hanging man with it as he spoke.
"Work under me."
"Ack! That draws blood!"
"I meant to poke you."
He called it a light poke, but there was no way skin could hold up against a sword tip. As Gerard yelped, Jin-cheon impassively prodded him again and continued.
"Agh! That stings!"
"You are already a defeated commander who lost the contest. Your only choices are death or entering my service. I've heard you serve no liege."
"Hmph."
At the demand to enter Jin-cheon's service, Gerard let out a scornful laugh even while hanging there. Jin-cheon's expression didn't change in the slightest as he went on.
"At the very least, your skill might rank within the top ten of our army — that is why I'm extending the offer."
"What?"
Gerard himself was one of only fifteen Sword Masters on the entire continent. And yet the man before him was claiming there were at least nine above him. It wasn't as if every master on the continent had been gathered here — such an outrageous claim reeked of a confidence Gerard could not fathom. And what followed was even more absurd.
"You are still unripe. If you come under me, I will turn that rawness into maturity."
"Heh. You're treating a full Sword Master like some pebble on the roadside."
"......."
The look in Gerard's eyes shifted to that of a wounded beast. When had he ever received such treatment? For a man to whom even the empire would guarantee a rank no lower than count, this talk of skill trampled every last shred of his pride.
Go Jin-cheon stood silently, watching Gerard's bitter smile. Unable to adjust to the heavy atmosphere, Risel could only eye them nervously. Then Jin-cheon's Hwandudaedo rose upward.
SWISH!
"Guhk! Damn it!"
Thud!
The moment the rope holding him was cut, Gerard crashed to the ground in an ugly heap and a curse burst from his lips. But once he got to his feet, he could no longer utter a single word.
Whooooooosh!
"......!"
Grrroooooooh.
The air in every direction quaked as if being torn apart. Risel's and Gerard's eyes flew wide open. Around the Hwandudaedo in Jin-cheon's hand, violent undulations began to take shape.
"A formless Aura Blade...."
"Non-attribute Mana!"
Both men's mouths fell open simultaneously.
Every Aura Blade carries a color based on its wielder's attribute. Gerard himself possessed the rare white Aura infused with lightning. But the Aura Blade rippling from Jin-cheon's sword showed no color at all. Nothing but a shimmering, transparent Aura Blade manifesting in the air. And its length — surpassing the one mir Gerard himself could produce — was approaching five mir.
Jin-cheon's lips parted slowly.
"Do you consider it something to boast about — this wasteful flaring of energy? Fool."
"......."
Jin-cheon's words struck Gerard as both despair and mockery. Gritting his teeth, Gerard shouted.
"Even if my skill falls short of yours, I am a knight to the core! If you cannot grant me the treatment befitting a knight, at least do not defile a knight's pride!"
Venom poured from Gerard. It was the last of his self-respect. Instead of answering, Jin-cheon quietly sheathed the Hwandudaedo in its scabbard and slowly began to speak.
"Every last one of you shouts about being a knight. What exactly is that?"
"Are you asking because you truly don't know?!"
"Yes."
Gerard felt certain Jin-cheon was mocking him. Risel, on the other hand, could tell that Jin-cheon's question was sincere.
"A knight is one who bears the duty of loyalty to his liege and the protection of the weak."
Once Risel's brief explanation had passed, a sneer crept onto Jin-cheon's face.
"Is that all?"
"'All'?! Do not insult knighthood!"
At Gerard's outburst, Jin-cheon erased the sneer from his lips, his expression returning to blank stone.
"Even a mongrel pup raised at home is loyal to its master and growls to protect those weaker than itself. Is that special? Then dogs are knights too."
"Why you—!"
"Follow me. I'll show you the knights you speak of."
Having said his piece, Jin-cheon turned his back and walked away.
Thud!
"Aagh!"
A man screamed as he rolled across the ground, merciless kicks raining down on him. His body was covered in pale dust, but the kicking and clubbing did not stop even as he struggled to rise.
"Pick up your sword again!"
"Hrrgh."
A curt bark lashed past him, and the hand clutching the sword rose slowly. Then, as if possessed by rage, the man let out a wild cry, raised his blade, and charged.
"Uryaaaaah!"
Watching the scene, Go Jin-cheon's eyes showed no change whatsoever, merely a stony indifference. He almost looked like a man entirely devoid of emotion.
"Those are knights."
"......?"
Go Jin-cheon's brief utterance — the first he had directed at Gerard while they watched together. But Gerard could not fathom it at all.
Before his eyes, young men who appeared to be raw recruits were rolling in the dirt, locked in close combat. Showing him that sight and immediately declaring them knights — it was only natural Gerard could not comprehend. Everything about them looked a mess at a glance. In what way were they knights?
"And."
Jin-cheon's words, offering no answer to Gerard's silent question, continued at their unhurried pace.
"Those too are knights."
Where Jin-cheon pointed, children were playing. Gerard simply watched in silence. After letting a few seconds of that silence pass, Jin-cheon faced Gerard and spoke as if pronouncing a verdict.
"Everyone here is the knight you spoke of."
"What do you mean by that?"
Leaving Gerard, who had calmly asked the question, behind him, Jin-cheon strode into the training yard. In an instant, the training halted and the soldiers swiftly formed ranks. The same men who had looked clumsy in the chaos of combat now snapped into formation in the blink of an eye — they seemed, to some degree, like proper elite soldiers.
Standing tall before them, Jin-cheon slowly raised a hand and pointed at a blue-haired youth.
"You. Why are you here?"
At the sudden question, the youth flinched briefly as if cowed, but he straightened himself and answered in a ringing voice.
"To live, sir!"
"Why?"
"Because if I live, I can kill the enemy."
"Why kill them?"
"To win, sir!"
"And the reason you must win?"
With each improbable question Jin-cheon fired, the youth seemed to regain his confidence, his answers growing bolder and freer of the earlier timidity.
"If we win, the unit survives. If the unit survives, we defend the nation."
"And what does defending the nation do?"
"It keeps my family safe."
Even under Jin-cheon's relentless questioning, the answers flowed from the youth's mouth without hesitation.
"You could live even if you surrendered. You could die in this war. If that's how it is, surrender — then you live, your family lives."
"That is different, sir!"
The youth's face flushed red, and Gerard found himself intrigued. As if wholly absorbed in Jin-cheon's questioning, the young man was shouting at the top of his lungs.
"What is different?"
"We lose our Free Will!"
"Ah!"
An exclamation of admiration escaped Gerard's lips before he knew it. The skill might be lacking, but the conviction was absolute. So this is how he has the confidence to speak to me, Gerard thought — because he has would-be knights like this.
"See that you do not forget."
"Yes, sir!"
The youth's voice spread across Jin-cheon's back as he turned and walked away. Gerard followed, a taunting edge to his voice.
"Hmph! Skill aside, the man's knightly qualities are remarkable. Is that what you brought me to see? That much can be heard at any kingdom's knight training academy."
"......."
At those words, Jin-cheon's feet halted. Without turning around, he shouted in a booming voice.
"Recruit from earlier!"
"Yessir!"
He must have been watching Jin-cheon closely, for the answer burst out instantly. But the question and answer that followed flipped Gerard's expectations upside down.
"Your assigned role?"
"Shield-bearer, sir!"
"Keep at it."
As if to say see?, they exchanged question and answer, and Jin-cheon resumed walking. Behind him, shrieks and curses resumed as the training raged on. Gerard followed, his eyes wide. Without even glancing back, Jin-cheon spoke to him.
"Until three months ago, those men were slash-and-burn farmers."
"......!"
The words seemed to stun Gerard, and his stride came to a halt. Jin-cheon paid it no mind, continuing on his way and speaking only what he meant to say.
"If you were a warrior who pursues martial artistry purely for its own sake, I might think differently. But this knight you keep talking about — if you are proud to drape yourself in such a hollow title, I won't detain you. But know this one thing. Everyone who takes up a sword does so for the same reason. Calling it knighthood does not make the meaning special. It is raising a sword to protect. It is building an army to win. And it is forging a nation to protect together."
"......."
"Quarters will be assigned to you separately. Rest as much as you need, and stay or leave as you please. However, once you leave this place — if we meet again, you had best consider us enemies."
With those final words, Jin-cheon left Gerard standing frozen, his face rigid, and continued on his way.