Chapter 360
Chapter 360
Iron Emperor — Chapter 360
Chapter 126 — On a Silent Sea
"That is why I have called you here again."
Go Jin-cheon's voice was not particularly loud, yet it carried to every one of the forty thousand soldiers.
As if telling them to watch.
Gowin was listening to the exchange unfolding before his eyes, his own eyes wide as if he could not believe what he was seeing. The aura radiating from more than a thousand commanders was something no words could adequately describe.
It felt like blade-sharp killing intent, or perhaps a blazing will to fight.
But that such things could materialize so tangibly that they shimmered visibly before the eye was something he had never heard of nor witnessed.
Crackle. Crackle.
"What in the...."
Gowin could feel his entire body being compressed by something.
He had known from the moment he first saw them that they were strong. Even among the common soldiers, there were clearly some who surpassed him in strength.
Yet the current situation was something that could not be explained by mere strength alone.
But even so, one thing was clear.
This unknowable aura, and every word exchanged between Jin-cheon and those men, was making his heart beat with a strange and powerful thrum.
No—not only Gowin. All forty thousand soldiers felt the same way.
"Y-Your Majesty."
In that instant, Jin-cheon's gaze met Gowin's.
A faint smile played at the corners of his mouth.
The smile he wore now seemed heavier than the expression he had shown when enraged by the Holy Empire's provocation, heavier even than the look on his face the day he heard the news of Eulji Buru's death.
It was a smile that contained something—something they could never understand.
Gowin slowly, very slowly, turned his head.
"What is it that makes these men...."
It was not only Jin-cheon.
Yeon Hwi-garam, Eulji Uru, Gye Ung-sam, Buyeo Gi-yul, Samdopyo, Mong Ryu-hwa, and more than a thousand commanders all wore the same smile. Turning away from the bewildered Gowin, Jin-cheon asked another question.
"All of you who still haven't gotten married—raise your hands!"
"...Pfft."
Gowin, who had been lost in confusion, had to suppress the laugh that absurdly tried to burst through his lips. Out of more than a thousand people, only four raised their hands.
"...."
Jin-cheon himself grinned as he looked at the four raised hands and said one thing.
"Pathetic bastards."
At his words, Gye Ung-sam, Samdopyo, and Mong Ryu-hwa—who had raised their hands—dropped their heads low.
Beside them, Buyeo Gi-yul wore a mocking look. Only Hwi-garam, standing next to Jin-cheon, slowly lowered his raised hand and spoke.
"If I choose one person, there will be many who would grieve."
"...."
Jin-cheon could say nothing in response to Hwi-garam's remark. As Ung-sam and the others lowered their hands, Jin-cheon raised his voice.
"As time passes, the descendants we leave behind—!"
His thunderous shout shattered the silence of the world.
"Do you think they will look the same as we do now!"
At Jin-cheon's cry, everyone held their breath.
This cry was surely addressed to the thousand people before him. Even the Northerners, whose numbers had once vastly exceeded these men, had lost a great deal of their distinctive features.
Besides, were not the vast majority of these people men?
As far as Gowin knew, the only women who had come with them were the ten-odd who had accompanied Eulji. Naturally, everything would change after only a few decades.
"If that is so, then will our descendants in times to come not be people of Gauri!"
"They will not!"
A great answer came from far behind in response to Jin-cheon's shout. The man who gave it had neither black hair nor black eyes. Yet his reply rang out proud and unapologetic.
"They absolutely will not! The reason is that I am a man of Gauri!"
The man who had stepped one pace forward was none other than Hailon. Everyone was looking back and forth between Jin-cheon and Hailon.
Jin-cheon asked him.
"The reason!"
Thump!
Instead of an answer to Jin-cheon's question, a great resonant sound rang out.
Because Hailon's fist had struck his own chest. Twice, three times—he pounded his chest with great force.
"Here. We are the same here!"
Seeing Hailon's proud and unhesitating cry, Uru, who had turned to look back, grinned, showing his white teeth.
"Right. The kid's right."
Uru, nodding his head at Hailon's words, and the thousand and more Gaurians....
Not for a single moment after they accepted those people had they ever thought of them as outsiders. They had thought of them as people to stand beside and to protect. When the gazes of the thousand and more were turned toward the rear, Jin-cheon drew his Hwandudaedo.
Shiing!
The Hwandudaedo flashed as it was drawn, catching the sunlight and scattering it in every direction.
Having raised it high so that all who were gathered here could see, Jin-cheon moved his other hand toward the blade of the Hwandudaedo.
"Ah! Y-Your Majesty!"
Gowin stared in alarm. Before anyone could stop him, Jin-cheon had sliced his own palm on the Hwandudaedo. Red blood welled instantly from the cut. His bleeding fist remained raised in the air beside the blade.
The Hwandudaedo, and the fist gripping tight the bleeding hand.
"Look!"
A thunderous cry.
Jin-cheon shouted as if spewing blood—more fiercely than he ever had before.
"What we must leave behind is not this worthless blood!"
As if daring anyone to see, he opened his clenched fist and thrust it forward. Blood kept streaming from the split palm. And yet, not a single person approached him to wrap the wounded hand. They only gazed at him with eyes blazing like wildfire.
"What we must leave behind—!"
Slowly, he brought the bleeding hand to the white breastplate that covered his heart and pressed it there.
"Is this. Exactly this."
Red blood spread and soaked across the white breastplate.
Following Jin-cheon, one by one they brought their hands to their own beating hearts.
As if they were enacting a sacred ritual. Not only the thousand right before him but all the soldiers with hair of every hue and color—even Hailon among them—were unconsciously following suit.
Watching that sight, Jin-cheon fixed his gaze on the thousand before him and spoke.
"Shouldn't we show those youngsters standing behind us, who share the same hearts, the true strength of Gauri?"
He smiled a deep, profound smile.
"We'll become part of a legend—a legend carved into their hearts."
Only then did Gowin understand.
What Jin-cheon intended to do now, with the blood of those thousand at stake...
Why he had summoned these men to one place. The roar of forty thousand soldiers buzzed around Gowin's ears, whether or not they understood what the men before them were about to do.
"Move out!"
A moment later, the forty thousand soldiers began to move.
At the vanguard, Go Jin-cheon turned to Yeon Hwi-garam, Eulji Uru, Gye Ung-sam, and the trio following right behind him, smiled, and flung out a single remark.
"Let's go. To that place."
To the battlefield that summons blood and summons souls....
* * *
Countless flotillas were arrayed in formation, waiting for the order.
"At last...."
As Gerard gazed at the flotillas anchored and awaiting his command, the years behind him flashed through his mind. Seduced by a single line asking whether he'd like to race across the continent together, he had ended up even turning pirate—something he had never once done before.
Was that all?
He had gone to the Federal Empire and, staking his own name, had received an immense amount of support to build a fleet and crew—and then had simply taken everything and run.
"Commander-in-Chief, everyone is waiting!"
"Ah, is that so?"
At the sound of Jang Bogo's voice calling him, Gerard pulled himself out of the memories that had momentarily surfaced in his head.
At some point, the preparations for departure had been completed. Before his eyes, the captains of each squadron were lined up, awaiting his orders.
All of them wore excited expressions, unlike the days when they went out pirating.
Of course, on some faces, the unease of knowing they were about to fight an empire was plainly visible. Even so, no one was trying to leave this place.
They all knew perfectly well that once the imperial war was over, pirate-hunting would follow immediately. Perhaps because their various personal interests were entangled, every single one of them wore the look of someone who could not back down.
It was probably because they had families.
Family could sometimes be a tether around the ankle, but it could also become the very reason a man could not retreat. The homes these pirates had built had never come easily. That was why retreat was no longer an option for them.
"Everyone here?"
Gerard strolled before the row of captains and asked casually.
"Yes! Commander-in-Chief."
"Then let's go."
"Sir?"
Those who had been expecting some kind of speech before departure stared at him with blank faces. Gerard, who had been walking past them, seemed to register their reaction. He paused his steps for a moment and turned his head.
"What, is there something special? We go out, hit it big, and the ones who live get to survive and enjoy their shares, while the dead ones have their families strike it rich. Isn't that right?"
"...."
Seeing the pirates' dazed expressions, Gerard gave a short scoffing laugh, resumed walking, and left one last remark behind.
"Since when did we bother with departure ceremonies? Just because we changed the sign from pirates to Gauri Navy doesn't mean what's underneath changed. Stop fooling around and let's go. This is the score of a lifetime."
"Puhihit!"
"Damn, I got myself nervous for nothing."
The first to move at Gerard's words were none other than Santare and Walter. Starting with them, the pirates, reverting to their old familiar selves, began to head toward their own ships in a noisy clamor.
"Is it inborn, I wonder...."
Jang Bogo, who was watching them, looked at Gerard and laughed.
Whether it was intentional or not, Gerard's action had simultaneously loosened the tension the pirates had been carrying at the thought of fighting an empire while also drawing their combat power up to its maximum potential.