Chapter 46
Chapter 46
Iron Emperor — Chapter 46
"Nel, you're unexpected."
"Huh? What is?"
"I figured you wouldn't follow."
Nel, trailing right at Million's heels, grinned and answered the question.
"'Cause they're awesome."
"What?"
"Those people."
"Ha."
At the simple, crystal-clear answer, Million let out a chuckle, then quickened his pace. Out of the village's 580 people, 191 had joined up — Million included.
"Has everyone joined?"
"Yes."
Go Jin-cheon turned his gaze and looked over the slash-and-burn farmers who had climbed onto the wagons. Mid-scan, Million entered his field of view. Jin-cheon rode over in that direction.
Clop, clop, clop.
At the sound of Gangsoe's iron hooves, the farmers turned their heads to look, but they promptly busied themselves with keeping their eyes fixed on the ground. They already knew that Go Jin-cheon was this group's leader.
"Million Sailor."
"Huh? Yes!"
The moment Jin-cheon called his name, Million started and answered. He'd had no idea Jin-cheon would even remember his name. Just as Million managed to collect his dazed expression, Jin-cheon tossed a single remark at him.
"You'll handle any personnel joining us from now on. Gerard."
"Yes, sir!"
Gerard came running at Jin-cheon's call, and Jin-cheon jerked his chin toward Million as he gave the order.
"If there's anything he doesn't know, assist him."
"Me, sir?"
"......."
"Understood."
Pressed by Jin-cheon's silence, he answered fast and then ran over beside Million. Once Gerard was next to him, Million asked in a low voice.
"By the way, do you know who that person is?"
"Well, that's......."
At Million's question, Gerard laughed awkwardly. The answer came from Jin-cheon. They might have been whispering, but Jin-cheon wasn't the sort who would miss it.
"The Yeolje of Gauri."
"......Excuse me?"
"Your king."
"......."
When they didn't catch "Yeolje," Jin-cheon explained it in plainer terms, then turned his horse and rode away. Million's eyes went wide, and he stared at Gerard. Gerard laughed awkwardly and replied.
"Well, I mean — if Gerard of Lightning is standing right here, is it really that shocking?"
"Who is?"
"Me."
"......."
At Gerard's answer, Million turned his head away as if dismissing the remark. Then he gathered the villagers and began explaining what to watch out for on the long journey.
While the soldiers were forming up for the march, Go Jin-cheon summoned his subordinate commanders.
"Buru."
"Give me your command."
"Come close."
Eulji Buru saluted, and Jin-cheon beckoned him over with a gesture. Once Buru had darted his eyes around and stepped closer, Jin-cheon spoke in a low voice.
"After you drive the pigs back to our village, do not rejoin the main body. Come back here instead."
"Here, you say?"
"Yes."
"Why, if I may ask?"
At Jin-cheon's words, Buru tilted his head, and the others fixed their attention on Jin-cheon as well. As if to settle their unspoken questions, Jin-cheon slowly opened his mouth.
"If we leave, do you think this place will hold out?"
"That will be difficult."
"Right. On top of that, Million was their combat commander, and he is coming with us. In the end, with the people who remain, there won't be anyone qualified to lead them."
"Mm."
At Jin-cheon's reasoning, the commanders nodded. Uru, standing to the side, rolled his eyes and threw out a question.
"Then do you mean we should protect them?"
"No."
"Then there's no reason to stay, is there? What's the point of waiting around?"
"There is something to do."
Jin-cheon cut Uru's question off bluntly and then addressed Buru as if charging him with a task.
"When the orcs attack again and defense becomes difficult, seize the orcs and then haul every last person back to the village. This time, the price of their lives is slavery."
"Got it."
"I already gave them one chance."
Jin-cheon's eyes settled coldly. Risel and Gerard could see the cool but meticulous calculation of the lord they had chosen to serve. Jin-cheon added one more thing to Buru.
"If they resist, you may kill them."
"Yes."
Seeing how he even tested the people thoroughly when selecting them allowed Gerard and Risel to guess at the fundamental reason this army could not help but be strong.
"Gerard."
"Yes, sir."
Jin-cheon turned his head, called Gerard over, and gave him a different order.
"Coordinate with Million to issue arms to the young men and conduct physical conditioning while on the move. However, keep them out of actual combat — let them watch our battles and absorb them. Hwi will handle distributing the gear."
"Yes, sir."
"Thoroughly prepare for injuries, and extend every possible comfort to their families. Make absolutely sure they understand that the sweat they shed while running means greater comfort for their own families. That is the purpose of their training."
"Yes, sir."
After hearing Gerard's reply, Jin-cheon looked over the commanders in turn and spoke again.
"For the rest of you, going forward in battle, focus your utmost attention on the soldiers' safety. I will not tolerate casualties, especially wounded. Execute combat operations that will make the newly joined personnel regard us with awe. If that isn't feasible, prioritize killing the pigs over capturing them."
"Yes, sir!"
"Your Majesty, your servant Yeon Hwi-garam would like to say something."
"......."
Among them all, the only one who unabashedly used phrasing that followed Dae Mu-deok's style and got under Jin-cheon's skin was Hwi-garam. Throughout Jin-cheon's silence, Hwi-garam kept his head lowered and pretended not to notice as he asked the question.
"If we start to run short on numbers, what do we do?"
"That's right, I'd say."
Uru seconded Hwi-garam's concern. Jin-cheon glanced sidelong at Uru and spoke curtly.
"About twenty of the pigs you put to sleep ended up as chow, I heard?"
"......."
It seemed to be part of his nature — once in a while, Jin-cheon would bring up something from the past and embarrass a person with it again, and unexpectedly so. Then a follow-up remark came, like a dagger driven home.
"Learn from Buru. Pig feed, for the time being, will be supplied by the pigs."
"Urk."
To Uru, who privately felt he was at least a bit sharper than Buru, those words were devastating. Jin-cheon ignored Uru, who had a look on his face like he'd lost the will to live, and tossed another remark toward Hwi-garam.
"The pigs we're short."
"Yes."
At the mention of the shortfall, Hwi-garam bowed his head. And into his ear flowed a crystal-clear answer.
"Breed more."
"......."
"Roughly dose them with aphrodisiac and pen them all up together. If you've decided to make use of them, throw away any guilt. Besides, I've heard they eat people and work them too."
"Yes."
At Jin-cheon's concise, unequivocal words, Hwi-garam had no choice but to accept them.
After all, with orcs, the gestation period was said to be about five months, and if they only needed to be strong enough to labor, two months would do it. Adulthood, of course, took longer. In the end, if they were genuinely short, they would have to do exactly as Jin-cheon said. What they didn't know, however, was this: every single one of the orcs they had was male.
"Then everyone, move out."
"As commanded!"
The commanders' voices boomed out, and with the expanded numbers in tow, they began to move.
"Then we'd better head out too."
Watching the main body grow distant, Eulji Buru murmured in a low voice. Buyeo Gi-yul let out a long cry toward the unit.
"Maaarch!"
"Off to drive the pigs! Yah!"
"......."
Cutting in over Giyul's call, Buru kicked his horse and rode out.
The march began in earnest. Those who stayed watched the ones leaving and voiced their worries over whether their choice had been right, and those leaving, too, could not help but keep looking back at their village, anxious about their new lives.
Chapter 13 — The Difference Between Demon Beast and Domestic Livestock
When the Gauri unit and the displaced people returned a month later, their numbers had swelled. Eulji Buru's force, which had been deployed around the villages of those who wished to stay, rescued them just as they were on the verge of annihilation under orc offensives. In accordance with Jin-cheon's orders, they swept up every last one. Those who had voluntarily left their homes moved alongside Go Jin-cheon's force, shared their daily lives, and were eventually able to settle.
In total, the populace gathered from a circuit of fifteen villages was larger than expected — nearly four thousand. The displaced people Buru rounded up numbered even higher, at over six thousand.
Though their count was greater than the Gauri army, they were unable to muster even the will to resist, and for an entire month they provided labor to build housing in the city for those who would settle.
Then, when Jin-cheon's main force returned, joy and sorrow diverged sharply between those who were living as slaves and those who had followed Jin-cheon's unit. Saying "slave," however, meant something different from the slavery they knew. There was no legal issue with their status, but an inequality existed in the acquisition of goods: they lived on rations distributed through collective farms.
But the original Gauri soldiers' reaction was different.
They did not look warmly upon cowards. There was no one who couldn't feel it, yet no one said a word. They understood, at least, that it was the result of their own choice, and though they were called slaves, it was these same soldiers who had saved them.
And so, unlike when they first settled, the population of this city centered on the lake approached fourteen thousand.