Chapter 78
Chapter 78
The Iron Emperor — Chapter 78
The next morning, Go Jin-cheon emerged from his barracks and made his way toward the place where the villagers had gathered. Though none of them had entirely shaken off the shock of the previous day, for the most part they seemed to have recovered a measure of stability.
"We pay homage to Your Majesty, Supreme One of All Heavens who embraces all people and all things!"
"Mm."
At the opening salutation led by Eulji Buru and Uru, Jin-cheon gave a curt nod and mounted the temporary dais.
"We will be garrisoned here. I will state this clearly: we will do you no harm. Our enemies are North Roselin and the Holy Empire."
"......."
The villagers watched Jin-cheon with an expression that was half unease, half bafflement.
"South Roselin can no longer serve as your shield. From this point forward, I will be that shield. For the duration of their stay, you will extend your full cooperation to my soldiers."
It was a command, not a request for persuasion, yet none of the villagers could voice a reply. Putting everything else aside, Jin-cheon held the sword-hilt—and at the very least, those who remembered the sight of the Holy Empire's troops being smashed to pieces could not help but harbor goodwill.
Wasn't the enemy of one's enemy an ally? And on top of that, these men had exacted vengeance on their behalf and saved their lives. The villagers were uneasy, but they were in a position where they had no choice but to trust.
"Furthermore, from now on we will move across every region of South Roselin, rescuing others like yourselves who have been cast into the flames of war, and we will send them here continuously. Treat them as family. If you need extra hands, request aid through the soldiers here. Those who wish to receive military training may also request it. Avenging yourselves now may be difficult, but one day I will give you the opportunity. This applies equally to children and women."
Murmur. Murmur.
"Dismissed."
Jin-cheon kept his own words brief, then stepped down from the dais and returned to his barracks.
He could not personally escort every person he rescued while dragging along a mass of civilians. Yet at the same time, he could not abandon the objective that had brought them here: the People Replenishment Plan. This location had therefore been chosen as the solution. They would use it as a base where Giyul would concurrently oversee the training of new recruits, executing a plan to gather civilians and transport them all at once through the Holy Empire.
This place lay reasonably deep inland, and during their journey here, Jin-cheon had ensured that no one knew they had established a stronghold. That was owed to Jin-cheon himself, who had left behind no evidence, not only in South Roselin but even when entering Holy Empire territory from the Reganza Mountains.
The method by which these troops had reached this spot without leaving a trace was simple.
Erasure of evidence.
If Yeon Hwi-garam had been with them, he would have found a way to move without being detected. In Hwi-garam's absence, however, their own methods were blatantly obvious.
The Hwi-garam method: move without being noticed.
The Buru-and-Uru method: if you're noticed while passing through, beat down everything that notices.
The Jin-cheon method: before you ever pass through, sweep the entire surrounding area clean in advance.
They had used the Jin-cheon method to race all the way here. Which meant, at the very least, that there were no enemies in the vicinity who posed any danger.
"Sure 'nough, ain't no trouble 'round these parts."
"That it ain't. Less'n you count them looters, the troops from the Holy Empire's territory don't look like they stray much past the border."
"Mm."
As Eulji Buru and Eulji Uru reported, Jin-cheon nodded, examining several documents and maps.
Now that the work of turning this place into a base of operations was complete, all he had to do was raid the villages overrun by North Roselin's remaining troops and bring the villagers to safety. If a village wasn't suffering under a North Roselin offensive, Jin-cheon had no reason to go out of his way to enter it. Even if they tried to explain, the villagers would plainly see them as just another band of looters.
Only the right blend of grievance and rescue would make Jin-cheon's plan fall neatly into place.
From the perspective of the South Roselin people being rescued, it was a cruel calculation. But if they were to appear out of the blue one day and proclaim, "We have come to deliver you!", who in the world would respond with, "Oooo! Our saviors, lead us!"? War-torn or not, people didn't work that way.
If what he needed were simply prisoners, he could round them up and herd them along—but what Jin-cheon required was not captives; it was a populace. Prisoners were already plentiful among the North Roselin troops they captured and the occasional Holy Empire soldiers who committed banditry in the surrounding area.
In the current circumstances, the people of this village were neither welcoming nor overtly evading or rejecting them. The villagers were not ignorant of the importance of soldiers during wartime, and having endured sheer despair before these men arrived, they were simply complying.
"Giyul."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
In the midst of a gathering of several commanders, when Go Jin-cheon called Buyeo Gi-yul, Giyul's figure snapped upright into a posture of rigid attention like a raw recruit. He looked vaguely haggard—an appearance shared by Mong Ryu-hwa at his side.
"You will remain here and take charge of training the new soldiers, as well as the personal security of the civilians we send."
"As commanded!"
"Ryu-hwa."
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
This time it was Ryu-hwa who sprang to his feet like lightning and snapped to attention.
"As discussed earlier, you are to return to our homeland and support Gye Ung-sam's escape. If matters go awry, you are nevertheless to confirm the body without fail."
"As commanded!"
As Ryu-hwa rendered a military salute, Jin-cheon swept his gaze over the rest of those present and resumed speaking.
"The remaining members of the Gwimadae and one hundred light cavalry assigned for escort will move with me, beginning tomorrow night."
"As commanded!"
"You are dismissed."
With a base now established, Jin-cheon set out in earnest on the operation to gather a populace, taking only Eulji Buru and Uru as his escort.
And so the night wore on.
Chapter 20: Samdopyo Running Wild — Why They Became the Demon Tribe
"What the hell are you people?!"
"General, have we been wasting our time here?"
The men gaped at one another.......
They were precisely Gye Ung-sam's group and the four men who had been fleeing from the Holy Empire's forces. The strangers, with black hair and blue eyes, and Ung-sam's group, whose hair and eyes were both nearly black, stared at each other with open wariness.
"Hell. Anyway, friend, let's clear out. We're all being chased just the same."
"All right."
The guarded looks remained, but the existence of a common enemy made cooperation possible under the circumstances. Ung-sam's party judged that, being unfamiliar with the terrain, they could secure useful assistance, while to the others, Ung-sam's group's martial prowess was an attractive asset.
With swift efficiency, they scavenged the supplies needed for their flight from the dead soldiers and the guard post where the men had been stationed, then ran at full speed for a full day and night. Having put enough distance behind them to deem themselves safe, they sought out a small cave at the foot of the mountain for a rough overnight camp and paused to catch their breath.
"Come to think of it, we haven't even exchanged names yet, have we?"
Catching his breath, Gye Ung-sam turned his eyes toward the other men, who were doing the same on one side of the cave, and offered a smile.
"Ah, I'm called Keun Namu."
"Keun Namu?"
"Yes."
Despite Ung-sam's casual, downward tone, the man who appeared to be the leader of the four answered courteously. Ung-sam extended his hand and gave his own name.
"Gerard."
"Wha—Gerard of Lightning!"
"No......, just Gye Ung-sam......."
Judging from the men's fervent reaction that an alias was no longer necessary, Ung-sam revealed his real name. His companions followed suit, introducing themselves one by one.
"Samdopyo."
"I am Gang Yuwol."
"Mu Handae."
"I am Geolgeol Jungsang."
"Gwan Muru."
At the sound of their true names, not aliases, a subtle tremor passed through the eyes of the men opposite them. Ung-sam did not miss the shift.
"And you?"
"Ah! I'm...... Malgeun Gang."
When Ung-sam lifted his chin slightly and asked, the man behind Keun Namu hastened to give his name, and the others quickly introduced themselves in turn.
"I'm Chang-gong-ui Mae."
"Baram Namu."
Even after the introductions, Ung-sam's group regarded the form of these names with suspicion. Plainly, names in this world were not lifted wholesale from nature like these. But a moment later they let the thought go. Even the names in the western borderlands that lingered in Ung-sam's memory had struck him as bizarre.
"Let's get some food in us first."
"Indeed."
At Ung-sam's urging, they each produced the provisions they had gathered, stuffed them into their mouths, and chewed. The fare was nothing but dried-out chunks of bread and scraps of jerky, but even this was more than they could have hoped for. Fugitives on the run could hardly afford to light a fire. Once they had eaten their fill, more or less, Ung-sam approached Keun Namu and spoke.
"It seems you too are mistaken for the Demon Tribe."
"That's so. In truth, almost all persecution of our kind has disappeared in the Haian Kingdom and the northern regions—outside the Holy Empire, that is. Or I should say, it had disappeared. But then, all of a sudden, the Demon Tribe appeared in the capital, practically massacred the Holy Empire's envoys, and fled. After that incident, even we......."
"......."
Listening to Keun Namu's account, the men of Ung-sam's group—who had been the ones to ask the question—flinched in unison. Noticing their reaction, Keun Namu let his words trail off, swept his eyes over them, and then stammered on.
"Th-the...... Demon Tribe numbered six, they say. One who fought with a sword like a saber......."
—Flinch!
Ung-sam's whole body reacted on the instant.
"A huge man who wielded an iron staff......."
"Cough!"
The sound of Samdopyo clearing his throat.......
"And one who carried a bow imbued with demonic power—a fear...... fearsome bow. All six, I heard......."
Gulp.
The sounds of swallowing.
Was any further explanation truly necessary?
Keun Namu's group stared piercingly at Ung-sam's group. Ung-sam's group, for their part, were busily turning their heads to avoid meeting their eyes. In a way, wasn't Keun Namu's group's misfortune precisely the doing of Ung-sam's group?
"It was you."
"Tch. You done laid it all out, what's left to check......."
"Dupyo, keep quiet."
As Dupyo spoke, his hand stealing toward his iron staff, Ung-sam raised an arm and blocked him. Keun Namu's group, who had tensed in that instant, looked at Ung-sam.
"I'm sorry about this. But rest assured—we're not the Demon Tribe, whatever those might be."
"We are aware of that. We have no intention of reporting you or anything of the sort."
Keun Namu answered Ung-sam's words quickly. At that, a chill crept into Ung-sam's voice.
"That's fortunate."
In that instant, Keun Namu felt that all their lives had nearly been forfeit.
A moment of silence passed.
Keun Namu cautiously addressed Gye Ung-sam.
"But how did you end up being chased like this? It's clear enough that the Holy Empire's people call anyone with black hair or eyes a demon, but it's been hundreds of years since they've carried out a large-scale manhunt—truly hunting people down like this."
"......."
Hearing Keun Namu's words, Ung-sam fixed a glare at Samdopyo, who was making a show of doing something else—ostensibly feeding the saber-tooth tiger cub, Meow-meow.
Grind.
—Flinch.
The sound of Ung-sam's teeth grinding grated unpleasantly, and Dupyo's massive frame seemed to shrink conspicuously smaller and smaller.
This had all taken place before they were chased.......