Chapter 79
Chapter 79
The Iron Emperor — Chapter 79
Clip-clop, clip-clop, clip-clop.
Gye Ung-sam and his group, who had been enjoying a dreamlike rest in Baron Gowin's domain, had decided to accompany Baron Gowin as his escort on his journey to report at the capital. It was less an escort and more that they were simply traveling together. It was what they had wanted in any case. As they had been ordered to assess the political situation in Haian firsthand, they inwardly welcomed the arrangement.
After all, traveling with Baron Gowin secured their identities, did it not?
Baron Gowin was a military commander who had earned distinguished service in the Haian Kingdom. However, the central nobles of civil official lineage, fearing Baron Gowin's growing power, had demoted him to the provinces.
Baron Gowin loathed how figures with connections to each of the empires would flaunt their factions and manipulate every state affair of the Haian Kingdom. No, on this point, every military officer in the Haian Kingdom felt the same way.
The battlefields where they took up arms were always foreign battlefields, never the Haian Kingdom's, and the earth where soldiers fell and died was foreign soil. Even the commanders might return home as corpses, but common soldiers could not even return as a handful of ashes.
Baron Gowin was a man who despised weakness.
Yet Gye Ung-sam and his group were strong. So he coveted them. In truth, he knew his vessel was not large enough to keep them under his direct command, but he thought they would follow his intentions. He decided that he could take his time persuading them. The problem was the torrent of reprimands and insults from the civil officials that would pour down on him once he returned to the royal palace.
"Hmph, it's so peaceful."
Kyaang.
"What, do you want something to happen?"
Samdopyo was teasing Nyaangi, the saber-tooth tiger cub, by poking its nose with a bored expression, and the beast resisted as befitted a predator. Seeing this, Ung-sam scowled and snapped at him. Dupyo tilted his head aside and picked up Nyaangi.
"No, isn't that right? Isn't it, Nyaangi? Heh heh heh."
"......."
Unlike his bear-like appearance, Dupyo was acting sly, and Ung-sam repeatedly gripped his sword sheath and let it go.
"Sir Gerard!"
It was Rainman who prevented this sign of bloodshed. Because they were tasked with the rear of the column, Rainman had ridden back from the front on horseback to reach Ung-sam.
"What is it?"
Ung-sam looked at the approaching Rainman with a curious expression. Rainman usually did not personally come to him during a march.
"Yes, I believe we will be entering a city today."
"The city! Kwa-ha-ha, drink, drink!"
"Ha ha ha."
"......."
As expected, it was Dupyo who responded to Rainman's words. Seeing Dupyo suddenly shouting about alcohol and bouncing with joy, Rainman burst into merry laughter at his honest reaction, and Ung-sam silently chewed on his anger at his simple-mindedness.
"Anyway, it's a good thing. We've been camping out for nearly a week, so my body was feeling a bit stiff. This works out well."
"Yes. Then I shall return to my post, Sir Gerard."
Rainman politely saluted Ung-sam and rode back to the front of the column.
Rainman and the other knights always treated Ung-sam with every courtesy born of heartfelt respect. For he was a Sword Master, the goal of all knights.
"Dupyo! You and I will talk when we arrive."
"......."
Dupyo, who had been fooling around with Nyaangi perched on his head, quietly shut his mouth at Ung-sam's words, which dripped with murderous intent.
'Guess I'll have to stick close to Baron Gowin. Heh heh.'
Dupyo had already mastered the art of survival.
As evening fell, Baron Gowin's column began to enter a small city. Rainman's explanation described it as a sort of gateway city leading to the capital, overseen by Baron Haiheiman.
"What does that say?"
"Shut your mouth if you don't know."
Samdopyo tilted his head at the large inscription on the city gate. His speaking ability had been trained to near perfection, but there hadn't been enough time to learn the written language. Ung-sam wanted to plant his fist right into Dupyo's constantly chattering mouth, but given the eyes around them, he merely shot a single remark at him.
But was Dupyo's tactless blabbering something ordinary?
"If I don't know, I gotta ask. If I knew, I wouldn't be askin'."
"Should I bury you in the ground...?"
As murderous intent flickered and gleamed in Ung-sam's eyes, Dupyo spurred his horse and began slowly drifting away to the side.
"Geez, always sayin' he'll bury me. What am I, some kinda seed? Dig a hole and bury me. Jeez, if you don't know somethin' you could just say so...."
"......."
Even while grumbling and refusing to back down from Ung-sam's single remark, Dupyo was drifting toward the front where Baron Gowin's column was, dodging the impending wrath. Ung-sam slightly turned his head and reached out a hand toward Yuwol, who was following behind.
"The bow. I'm going to skewer that bastard's trap."
"Giddyup!"
Clop-clop, clop-clop.
The moment Ung-sam's words fell, Dupyo and his horse bolted toward the front.
"I shouldn't have brought anyone above deputy commander rank in the first place...."
Ung-sam was grinding his teeth.
"Have the soldiers see to it that the horses are stabled immediately."
"Please go inside and don't worry, Baron."
When Baron Gowin, having arrived in front of a fairly large inn, issued further instructions with an expressionless face, Rainman inclined his head slightly. Behind them, Gye Ung-sam and the five others followed.
"This inn is quite large."
"Hm? Ah, Sir Gerard."
When Ung-sam spoke up with an admiring tone, Baron Gowin greeted him with a small smile at the corner of his mouth. Of course, a smile also tugged at the corner of Ung-sam's mouth as he looked at him.
Though Ung-sam had been revealed to be a powerful figure, there was little change in Baron Gowin's demeanor. He welcomed him this way, of course, but during the entire journey, he had never left his position while maintaining the column formation. He wasn't the type of virtuous commander who went out of his way to coddle his soldiers, but at least he was a man with his own principles.
For a figure as powerful as Ung-sam, it would be normal to try to get closer to him by striking up conversation during the journey, yet Gowin deliberately placed Ung-sam in a position matching his ability.
At least since he had joined hands with Ung-sam, Baron Gowin abandoned the wariness in his eyes and showed trust. Ung-sam even felt a little sorry toward him for that.
"First, I've had hot water drawn for you. Let's meet again after you've refreshed yourself."
"Let's do that."
"Then, I'll go up... No? Why is your younger brother's face...."
Baron Gowin, who had been chatting with Ung-sam and was about to go upstairs, suddenly asked with a face full of doubt. There was Samdopyo, his face a swollen mess, being supported by Gang Yuwol.
"Ah, it's nothing. He must have dozed off and fallen from his horse."
At Ung-sam's nonchalant words, a resentful look swirled in Samdopyo's eyes.
It was true he fell because he dozed off.
But he was not so poor a rider that he would fall from the saddle merely because he was dozing. He was from a horse-riding people, after all. The real problem was that both his stirrups and reins appeared to have been severed at the same time by something sharp.
Ung-sam approached Dupyo, patted his shoulder, and threw out a single remark in a warm voice.
"Hmm, you're badly hurt. Go up quickly, soak in hot water, and rest. Alcohol would be too much in your injured state. Understood?"
"Al, alcohol is—!"
"Ah, you don't need surgery. Just don't drink alcohol."
"......."
Baron Gowin smiled at the sight of Ung-sam's brotherly affection and slowly headed to his own room, while Dupyo, understanding the hidden meaning that Ung-sam would definitely perform surgery if he brought up alcohol again, limped off to his quarters like a rain-soaked bear. Ung-sam looked at Dupyo's retreating back and added one more remark.
"Rest! Well! My dear! You-ounger! Bro-other! I'll send your meal to your room separately."
"......."
At Ung-sam's grotesque smile, the rest of the party resolved that they had better heed Ung-sam's words more carefully.
Kya-woong.
"......You damned runt."
Kyaaang~!
"Hoo, you petty bastard of a general."
Samdopyo heaved a sigh, his immensely broad back looking somehow deflated. As if reading the mood, Nyaangi looked at its owner and whimpered pitifully.
What was drawing the sigh from Dupyo right now was the meal steaming before his very eyes. The meal delivered to Dupyo after his bath was a nutritious meal for the sick that Ung-sam had specially ordered from the kitchen.
A nutritious meal... In polite terms, that's what it was called; in plain terms, it was a single bowl of watery gruel.
Sluuurp.
Clack.
"......."
One mouthful.
It was called a bowl, but for Dupyo it was a single mouthful.
Growl.
"......."
That single mouthful was woefully insufficient to soothe his stomach. As if to emphasize the point, his belly let out a violent growl.
Dupyo's eyes narrowed.
Crunch.
The sound of grinding bones came from his clenched fist. Then, his hand slowly began to reach for his favorite weapon, the iron staff, which stood against one wall.
"I am the one they called Rebellious Samdopyo."
Dupyo's eyes gleamed as he gripped the staff. Even his prayer held a solemn beauty in Samdopyo's mind. He would not regret his decision. Quietly tucking Nyaangi into his chest, Samdopyo slung his bundle over his shoulder.
Clunk.
"Heh heh heh."
Through the opened window, he could almost see a beckoning hand calling to him.
* * *
"......."
"Uh... We're departing tomorrow morning, so he'll be back by then."
"......."
What Gang Yuwol saw when he went to fetch Samdopyo for breakfast was an empty bed. The previous day, Gye Ung-sam had put Dupyo in a private room to let him enjoy the privileges of a patient. Though from Dupyo's perspective, it had been isolation.
Ung-sam stood wordlessly, and the party members around him cautiously spoke up, but their voices did not register in his ears.
"I wondered why that bastard was so big. Now I get it."
Ung-sam's voice was low.
The rest of the party could read the fury buried within it.
"That whole body of his was just guts and nerve. Literally."
"......."
Shiiing.
"Guess I'll have to check for myself when he gets back."
Ung-sam drew his long dao, wore a grotesque smile, and licked the blade with his tongue. The rest of the party felt the sweat on their backs turn cold in an instant.
"Ah, makes my ears itch. Hey, boss! What's holdin' things up here!"
"Coming!"
At Samdopyo's loud voice, the man who seemed to be the restaurant owner shouted loudly and came running with the food.
"Here you are! And this is on the house."
"Woo-ha-hat! I like you, boss. Huh? We're missing one thing though?"
"Excuse me?"
When Dupyo, who had burst out laughing, blinked, the owner tilted his head. Hadn't he clearly brought three servings of stir-fried lamb and added one roast duck on the house?
"Alcohol!"
"E-excuse me?"
"Ah, come on, man. Great food like this needs alcohol to wash it down. And it'll cure the hangover from yesterday's drinking too."
"......."
The owner was at a loss for words as the man who had barged in the previous evening and single-handedly polished off enough alcohol for twenty grown men was demanding more first thing in the morning. When a keg of alcohol was brought out a moment later, Dupyo began to gulp it down with a joyful expression.
"Are you truly sure it's all right?"
"Worry not. With two Holy Knights here, you need not worry about my safety, so wait without concern. It is a priest's mission not to rest even a single moment if it is to spread the grace of the Lord God far and wide."
"Ah... Yes."
Priest Palo II of the Holy Empire, wearing a benevolent smile, slowly turned and exited the splendid inn. The man who appeared to be a nobleman watched his retreating figure with a disapproving glare.