Chapter 13. Heat
by Foreigner · 2026-08-26
The first village was at the foot of the mountain.
There were about twenty houses.
Six of them were broken.
Bedrun placed down two mountain pigs.
The village chief came out.
He was an old man of about seventy.
"Garrison captain."
Bedrun: It's meat.
......
Bedrun: Two of them.
The old man saw it.
And he said nothing.
He didn't say anything for a long time.
Gihun understood why the old man wasn't speaking.
Toban was like that.
If someone is not used to receiving, they don't know what to say when they do receive.
In the second village, alcohol was served.
They called it Loaiju.
Gihun didn't drink.
Hereid drank.
Greon also drank.
Bedrun only had one glass.
Hereid: Captain, why only one glass?
Bedrun: We have to go back.
Aron: We can sleep here tonight, can't we?
Bedrun: We have to go back tomorrow.
A day passed in the third village.
In the fourth village, Erarion began.
Erarion: So at that time, three mountain pigs came out at the same time, you know? I was on the right side then, and the biggest one was looking right at me. I thought, ah, it's targeting me. So what did I do? I lowered my posture. Because such beasts recognize from high places, you know? So while I was lowering my posture, Lord Greon pushed with his halberd, but it didn't budge. It was too thick. The mountain pig's skin is so thick.
The villagers were listening to that.
About twenty people were sitting around.
Erarion: At that time, my brother Aron.
Erarion took a brief breath.
It was the first time he took a breath.
Erarion: That person over there.
Gihun shook his head.
Erarion: We have come twenty meters.
Aron: ......
Erarion: Twenty meters.
"How fast did you come?"
Someone asked.
Erarion raised one finger.
Erarion: Once.
"What?"
Erarion: I blinked once and you were already here.
Gihun rubbed his face with his hand.
Aron: That's a lie.
Erarion: No, it's not?
Aron: It took me two blinks.
The villagers laughed.
Gihun listened to their laughter for a long time.
That night, Gihun sat at the edge of the village.
Bedrun came over.
Bedrun: Aron.
Aron: Yes.
Bedrun: Are you not sleeping?
Aron: I will sleep well.
Bedrun sat next to him.
Bedrun: Those people.
Gihun said.
Aron: Are they collecting taxes?
Bedrun: They are.
Aron: They were all robbed by the orcs.
Bedrun: Still, they are.
Aron: ......
Bedrun: The my lord doesn't seem to want to collect them.
Bedrun said.
Bedrun: Then there’s nothing to pay to the country.
Gihun briefly calculated that.
He stopped midway.
Because he couldn't find an answer.
Aron: Brother.
Bedrun: Yes.
Aron: Can I learn how to do this later?
Bedrun looked at him.
Bedrun: You’re a noble.
Aron: ......
Bedrun: It’s not about learning or not; it’s what you do.
Gihun did not respond to that.
On the morning of the third day, they set out on the way back.
Two Sampiks were left.
It was half a day to the castle.
The weather was nice.
Erarion kept talking.
Hereid interjected one by one to his words.
Greon was in front, and Bedrun followed behind.
Gihun was in the middle.
The middle was comfortable.
At noon, Greon halted the horse.
Greon: Captain.
Bedrun: Yes.
Greon: Over there.
Dust was rising from the front.
It was a group of horses.
There were about ten.
Hereid: Oh, aren’t those the royal soldiers?
Hereid said.
Hereid: Look at their attire. It bears the royal insignia.
Bedrun narrowed his eyes.
Hereid: ......Indeed.
Hereid: They have finally arrived.
Hereid laughed.
Hereid: It took them twenty-five days.
Bedrun: ......
Hereid: It seems they have come to escort my lord.
Gihun was watching them at that moment.
Gihun's eyes were fixed on a branch a hundred meters away.
The distance was three hundred meters now.
'.......'
Gihun observed three things.
First.
They were fully armed.
They were wearing helmets.
No cavalry would wear helmets and travel three hundred li in this weather.
Second.
There were no attendants.
Those coming to escort a prince would have supply carts following them.
Third.
Their weapons were already drawn.
Aron: Brother.
Gihun said.
Bedrun: Yes?
Aron: Those people have drawn their swords.
Bedrun turned his head.
Bedrun: What?
Aron: They have drawn their swords.
Bedrun: I can't see them.
Aron: I can see them.
Bedrun remained silent for three seconds.
Then he shouted.
Bedrun: Disperse!
The ten soldiers stopped twenty meters ahead.
One of them lifted his helmet slightly.
Soldier: Is this the party of Lord Aron?
Bedrun answered from atop his horse.
Bedrun: That’s correct.
Soldier: ......
Bedrun: Who are you? State your affiliation.
One of them did not respond.
Instead, he spoke to the rear.
Soldier: Attack.
Bedrun's command came in three seconds.
Bedrun: Hereid to the right! Greon to the left! Aron and I will break through the center!
Bedrun: Erarion!
Bedrun: Run into the forest!
Erarion has fled.
That was quick.
Gihun fought a person for the first time that day.
He killed about a hundred monsters.
A considerable number of wolves, trolls, spiders, ogres, and three hundred orcs, including an orc lord.
There were no humans.
When the first one came, Gihun dodged it.
After dodging, he didn't counterattack.
'.......'
His body froze.
The second one came.
Gihun dodged that one too.
He parried the third one with his sword.
After parrying, he didn't go in again.
Bedrun: Aron!
Bedrun shouted.
Bedrun: What are you doing!
'.......'
Gihun knew what he was doing.
That was not an orc.
There was a human face beneath the helmet.
Gihun saw that face.
It was a man in his thirties.
He had a beard and brown eyes.
Something came from the side.
Gihun saw it.
It was a mace.
Gihun ducked.
The mace passed over his head.
From his crouched position, Gihun saw his horse fall.
Two swords came in simultaneously, and Gihun rolled his body, placing the horse between himself and the attack.
The horse took the hit instead.
'.......'
'I'm sorry.'
Gihun ran.
This time, his body did not freeze.
It was the leader.
Gihun turned his body in mid-air.
While turning, he drew his sword.
'You go out as much as your body turns.'
It was Kim, the instructor.
The sword passed by.
After landing, Gihun saw what he had done.
There were two people now.
Gihun froze in place.
His arms trembled.
His legs trembled too.
It wasn't trembling; he just couldn't move.
'.......'
There was no sense of reality.
It felt like a scene from a movie.
It appeared flat.
And in those few seconds, Hereid died.
It was to the right.
Hereid was facing one, and another one came from behind.
Hereid was watching the one in front.
A sword pierced his back.
Gihun saw it.
He couldn't move even after seeing it.
One came from behind Gihun.
Gihun didn't even know that.
Greon threw a halberd.
It lodged in his stomach.
At that sound, Gihun regained his senses.
Gihun doesn't remember well what he did afterward.
He knows he swung his sword.
He couldn't see in front of him.
The water was filled.
Gihun swung while making a sound.
Bedrun: Aron!
Aron: ......
Bedrun: Stop it! It's over!
Gihun stopped.
After stopping, he collapsed.
He couldn't breathe.
His limbs kept trembling.
Gihun hadn't cried for twenty-two years.
Because he was an orphan.
An orphan had to be stronger than others, and to appear strong, one shouldn't cry.
That was something he decided when he was ten years old.
Now, that was no longer the case.
He didn't want to cry.
But tears came out.
Bedrun and Greon quietly came beside him.
They didn't say a word.
They waited.
When Gihun calmed down a bit, Bedrun went towards Hereid.
And after a moment, he punched the ground.
Bedrun: Dammit!
Greon sat next to Hereid.
He sat and closed his eyes.
Greon: Garrison captain.
Bedrun: ......
Greon: He's dead.
Greon's voice was the same as usual.
That made it worse.
Gihun sat on the ground and saw it.
It was Hereid.
He was the one who bragged about catching a fish while drinking yesterday.
He said that fish was the biggest.
'.......'
Gihun knew that name.
It was one of the sixty-two.
Greon searched the corpse.
As a former mercenary, his hands were quick.
Greon: Captain.
Bedrun: Something.
Greon: He's not a royal soldier.
Bedrun looked that way.
Bedrun: The attire is royal attire.
Greon flipped the shield.
Greon: There's no emblem.
Bedrun: ......
Greon: Not even one.
Greon picked up a sword.
Greon: And this is it.
Bedrun: What is that sword?
Greon: This is not the royal family's attire.
Bedrun: ......
Greon: It's what mercenaries use.
Bedrun received that sword.
He took it and looked at it.
Bedrun: Then these guys.
Greon: They are mercenaries.
Bedrun: Why are they wearing royal attire?
Greon did not answer.
It wasn't that he couldn't answer.
It was because he didn't like the answer.
Erarion: Captain!
It was Erarion.
He had come out of the forest.
He was pointing towards the castle with his finger.
Erarion: Um... um...
Bedrun looked in that direction.
Soldiers were coming out from the castle gate.
They were coming this way.
Their attire was the same.
It was the same attire as those lying at their feet.
Bedrun stood still for three seconds.
And he understood.
That they had come out from inside the castle.
That alone was enough.
Bedrun: Hereid would take care of it later.
Bedrun spoke.
His voice was the same as usual.
Bedrun: We are going to the forest.
Gihun couldn't move.
Bedrun lifted him up.
He sat him on his horse and got on in front of him.
Bedrun: Let's go!
The four entered the forest.
Gihun looked back from the horse.
The castle was visible.
It was an eight-meter tall castle wall.
The castle gate was still blocked.
There was a person standing on top of it.
Gihun saw their faces.
Not a single familiar face was there.