Chapter 88
Chapter 88
The Iron Emperor — Chapter 88
After six siege battles, the garrison of Vihanen Fortress had been reduced to seven thousand. Compared to Duke Perren's forces, which had been whittled down to twenty thousand, the losses were light, but the fortress, neglected for over a decade, was beginning to crumble here and there.
"We're running out of materials to repair the western wall!"
"Hoo."
Baron Silen Bels cradled his head in his hands at the knight's report. They hadn't been preparing for a siege from the start, so repair materials were never plentiful.
Moreover, what little stone they'd had was already used up defending the fortress, and the only materials they'd been using for repairs up to now were what the North Roselin army had fired into the fortress early on. Even those were gone after the enemy switched to magic attacks the moment cracks appeared in the walls. Baron Bels lifted his head as if he'd resolved something, and gave the knight an order.
"The corpses...."
"Yes."
A trembling voice.
The knight looked at Baron Bels with questioning eyes.
"Use the corpses to plug the holes."
"Huk!"
The corpses he spoke of could mean the enemy's, but in the current situation, where they couldn't take a single step outside the fortress, he clearly meant their own soldiers' bodies. That was why Baron Bels must have been unable to give the order readily.
"Go and fill every place you can fill with corpses, that's an order!"
"Y-yes!"
Flustered by Baron Bels's shout, the knight ran out. Tears trickled down the cheek of Baron Bels, who had covered his face with one hand.
He wept, devastated by the situation of turning his own soldiers' corpses into ramparts, and cursed his own incompetence....
"What?"
A soldier, his face caked with grime, asked back as if he hadn't heard properly.
"...The order came down. To fill the fortress breaches with corpses."
"Corpses...."
At the knight's quietly repeated answer, the soldiers' faces hardened. The knight's gaze rested on the pile of South Roselin soldiers' bodies heaped to one side.
"Are you insane! It's unfair enough that they're dead, and now you want to defile their bodies?!"
"This is outrageous!"
"How can you use the bodies of our own comrades...."
The soldiers' reactions were intense.
They were even using words they normally wouldn't dare. They were that incensed.
"...It's an order. Carry it out."
"We can't!"
"We'd rather open the fortress gate and die fighting!"
Even at the soldiers' rough words, the knight who'd issued the order just kept his mouth shut like a clam and closed his eyes. It was an order he himself couldn't accept, even as he delivered it.
"I'll go ask the Baron again my—"
Kyaung.
Step, step.
Just as a veteran soldier stepped forward in front of the knight and started to speak, a man with a huge build cut between the knight and the veteran. Behind him, the baby saber-tooth tiger that followed him everywhere passed by, yawning like a cub trailing its mother. Naturally, the conversation went no further and died out.
"Th-that fellow?"
The soldiers, as if knowing him well, just stared wide-eyed, watching the man's steps.
The large man's body came to a stop in front of the pile of corpses. A dark-hued iron staff befitting his size was strapped across his back, and his black hair, pulled tight behind his head, marked him as a northern mercenary.
"Leopard Head, what do you think you're doing!"
A bewildered shout burst from the veteran soldier. Yet, without a single word in reply, the man who had been looking down at the bodies snorted and spoke as if to himself.
"Heung, these fellows are blessed."
"What are you doing!"
"Heave-ho!"
Ignoring the veteran, the large man hoisted one of the stacked corpses onto his shoulder.
"Put Sean's body down this instant!"
Was the corpse slung over the man's shoulder someone he knew?
The veteran's voice rang out, thick with anger. Even so, the big man seemed to let the veteran's shouting go in one ear and out the other as he heaved another corpse onto his other shoulder. By now, the eyes of the soldiers who had been busily moving around were all fixed on the man carrying the dead.
"You homeless northern bumpkins are getting high and mighty just because your numbers grow!"
"Heung, listen to this nonsense."
"What!"
At the big man's retort toward the veteran, the South Roselin soldiers fixed him with icy stares. But that was all; they took no further action. The large man swept his gaze over them one by one and spoke.
"Homeless northern bumpkins?"
Northern mercenaries didn't even have a country.
They were called northern peoples, but they had no country at all. That was why, when referring to northern mercenaries, they were commonly called homeless northern bumpkins or orphans. The giant of a man, repeating the veteran's words under his breath, approached with the corpses still draped over his shoulders.
"Wh-what!"
Pressured by the huge frame, the veteran soldier involuntarily stepped backward. Wasn't this the man who had chosen only the most dangerous spots on the battlefield to fight and hold the line?
With an expression that was distinctly displeased, the giant stood there for a long moment, staring down at the veteran's face.
"Shall I count the bodies of the northern bumpkins who died protecting someone else's home?"
"...."
A question that broke the silence, and then another severed conversation.
The veteran's head slowly drooped toward the ground. During the siege battles, it was the northern mercenaries who had fought most fiercely and died first.
"Heung, forget it."
Leaving the South Roselin soldier with his head bowed, the man went back, stacked the bodies he was carrying onto the road, and then hoisted the corpse of a nameless northern mercenary. In contrast to the native South Roselin soldiers, not a single northern mercenary stepped up to protest his action of carrying their countrymen's corpses.
Once again hoisting two corpses onto his shoulders, the man turned his head and spoke bluntly.
"Caring for your comrades' bodies... that's good. Sure, it's good and all. Probably when you die and go to heaven, the comrades who went before you'll thank you for looking after their bodies. Sure."
"...."
It was clearly sarcasm. Yet the South Roselin soldiers could say nothing. The man shook his head at the sight and spoke again.
"Us homeless northern bumpkins here, we'll fight even after we're dead. So if we fight using their bodies as a rampart, I reckon they'll say we did right by them when we meet in the next world. Right?"
He looked over at the northern mercenaries gathered on one side and asked, as if seeking agreement. Instead of answering, they silently crowded over and, one by one, hoisted the bodies of their comrades. Unbothered by the stench of decay, each of them carefully slung the bodies onto their shoulders. The giant watched them, smirked, and didn't forget to toss one more remark at the South Roselin soldiers.
"These fellows who went first will probably thank us, right? Saying it was refreshing, even in the afterlife, to be bathed in the blood of those North Roselin bastards. We've got to bathe them in the blood of those North Roselin scum. These guys probably haven't washed properly with this damn war going on. So these fellows are the blessed ones. Heung! Now, I wonder who will bathe my body."
No one spoke as they watched the man stride away, snorting loudly.
As everyone kept silent, the northern mercenaries followed the giant, each carrying only the bodies of their own comrades.
"Come to think of it, this fellow Sean hated washing something fierce when he was alive, didn't he?"
"Basel."
Just then, the veteran called Basel hoisted the corpse of Sean, which the giant had set down. A soldier spoke mournfully at the sight. But Basel merely nodded slightly with sorrowful eyes and fell in line behind the northern mercenaries' procession. A murmur, maybe to himself, drifted out behind him.
"Let me take you to a nice spot, friend Sean."
One by one, they shouldered the bodies of their comrades and headed for the broken fortress wall.
"What was the name of that peculiar-looking northern mercenary from before?"
"My Lord...."
Baron Silen Bels came up behind the knight who had only been watching. The knight's voice trailed off at the Baron's sorrowful tone, and his eyes turned back to the giant of a man climbing onto the collapsed fortress wall.
"They seem to call him Leopard Head."
"Not only his hair but his eyes, too, were black. Just like the Demon King from the old stories."
Seeing the Baron's amused smile, the knight's expression brightened and he added one more remark.
"He hasn't sprouted wings like the Holy Empire bastards yammer on about, but on the battlefield, that fellow would be worthy of being called a Demon King by the North Roselin scum."
The knight smiled, recalling the usual unyielding martial prowess of Leopard Head. At the knight's words, the Baron looked again at the back of the man called Leopard Head and murmured.
"To us, he's an angel."
"Yes."
The line of soldiers moving to use their comrades as shields was not merely sublime; it was almost solemn. Probably, these soldiers carrying their comrades' bodies would also become part of the rampart once their breath stopped, just like the dead who were stacked there first. To fight even in death.
* * *
From early morning, Go Jin-cheon and the commanders under him were studying a map, preparing for war one step at a time amidst an endless stream of reports and questions. Even with dozens of topics flying back and forth, they were absorbed in analyzing the battlefield as if accustomed to it.
"Gauri...."
"So this isn't just some motley nation thrown together...."
The South Road Army commanders, present only as observers, not participants, could only stare blankly at them.
Questions that had lingered in their minds ever since the Gauri army's arrival.
'What kind of nation is Gauri?'
'Why was it unknown, despite having such elite troops?'
'Why do they boldly speak the name of their country, Gauri, yet not a single one of them reveals its location?'
'Is Go Jin-cheon truly their king?'
'Does a nation exist in this world whose ruler titles himself not King or Emperor, but Yeolje?'
Their heads couldn't escape the confusion. But one fact was clear.
'They are strong. An army so strong that 'elite soldiers' falls short of describing them!'
It was a common conclusion.
"The enemy reconnaissance unit covering the hilly area?"
"Composed of about fifty to a hundred men. The enemy commander wasn't a total fool; they were thorough in guarding areas to the rear where an enemy could conceal themselves and approach."
Buyeo Gi-yul answered Go Jin-cheon's question concisely. A scouting party composed of hunters from the Reganza Mountains had already gone and observed the enemy's movements.
"Hmm."
Jin-cheon nodded, looking at the spot on the map marking the only route where one could approach most closely without being seen.
"Their shift change times?"
Jin-cheon's next question came. But the answer came from Eulji Buru, who was standing to one side.
"We observed that shifts change every half-day."
"Hmm, good."
Jin-cheon's eyes sank into calm. As he closed his eyes quietly, the commanders watching him all fell silent as if by agreement. When the previously bustling hall grew quiet, the eyes of the South Army commanders naturally turned toward Jin-cheon.
As the silence stretched, one commander of the South Army, as if nervous, whispered a question into the ear of the commander next to him.
'They say there are five units of fifty to a hundred standing guard in the hilly area; what will he do?'
'I don't know. Taking them out isn't the problem, but can they kill a hundred men before an alert is raised?'
They naturally shook their heads. Just then, Jin-cheon's eyes snapped open and he spoke.
"Uru."
"Yes!"
"Go out immediately and select sharpshooters."
"Understood!"
Without a single question, Uru dashed outside. Jin-cheon turned his head to Giyul.
"Requisition all horses, including those hitched to wagons."
"Understood!"
His commands continued one after another.
"Buru."
"Yes!"
Buru answered vigorously, his eyes shining. Jin-cheon, seeing this, let a brief smile flicker at the corner of his mouth before issuing the order.
"Select soldiers who can handle a bow on horseback from among the troops and hastily form a mounted archer unit."
"Understood!"
Then, even the lower-ranking commanders were given their individual orders and ran outside.
"Hailon!"
"Yes?"
Hailon, who wasn't even a commander, answered Jin-cheon's call with a dumbfounded expression. Then, remembering his rude reply to Jin-cheon, he stiffened straight and answered again.
"Yes! Your Majesty! This lowly one, Hailon, awaits your command."
"...."
Jin-cheon stared blankly at Hailon, who had flattened himself prostrate like a frog.
"You."
"Yes! Your Majesty."
"I appoint you Seonin."
"Yes!"
Hailon answered Jin-cheon's command vigorously. But he ended up doing something rude, snapping his head up stiffly and asking back to Jin-cheon.
"Pardon?"
"I said, you are appointed Seonin."
"...Yes."
As Jin-cheon kindly (?) answered his question with an expressionless face, Hailon answered again with a dumbfounded look.
Seonin was the lowest official rank, but for someone from the slash-and-burn farmers, it was the first official rank he had received. At the very least, it meant his rank was equal to the Gauri army's official ranks. A little light had begun to shine on the future of Hailon, the lifetime soldier.
"Here is your first order."
"Understood!"
A thunderous reply burst from Hailon's mouth.
"Lead twenty scouts to monitor the siege. The moment it looks like the fortress is about to fall, report it immediately."
"Your Majesty, Supreme One of All Heavens, who embraces all people and all things! I shall pour my heart and soul into this first entrusted mission, ensuring I do not fall short of the trust this humble servant has been given!"
Hailon's deeply emotional voice echoed through the village hall. Jin-cheon nodded as if finding him praiseworthy, patted him on the shoulder, and offered encouragement.
"If you miss the timing of the collapse, you die."
"...."
Hailon had grasped a double-edged sword.