Chapter 26

Chapter 26.

“Two days. That is the time you have.”

Kairon recited it in a low voice. A blade-like chill lay in his voice.

Instead of answering, Rian did not take his eyes off the sea of light staining the horizon as if to smother it. The red river created by thousands—no, even more—torches was flowing slowly and surely toward them.

Kairon was the first to turn away. Without saying anything more, he set his foot on the old wooden ladder of the watchtower.

Creak, creak.

The sound rang out through the cold night air, as though the ladder were screaming under the weight of a single man. A moment later, Rian also pulled his gaze away from that red river and followed silently behind him.

When he descended beneath the watchtower, the dawn air seeping deep into his lungs felt even colder. The dew that had fallen through the night had soaked the ground damp. From far away, the wounded soldiers’ faint groans and curses came riding on the wind.

Kairon walked toward the command tent and spoke with his back turned.

“Once day breaks, go to the supply depot. I will tell them to prepare the bare minimum under my name.”

Rian answered with a brief nod.

There was no further conversation. The two of them parted wordlessly toward their respective tents, as though they had been strangers from the beginning. Kairon into the darkness of the command tent, and Rian into the noisy silence of Squad Three.

The inside of Squad Three’s tent was sunk in darkness. But it was not completely still. Between the rough breathing of the sleeping squad members, groans and restless rustles, as if from men suffering through nightmares, leaked out without end. The smell of blood, sweat, and fear that could not be erased was steeped thickly in the stale air.

Rian moved toward his own cot without making a sound, like a cat. He lay down on the creaking wooden cot, but he had no intention of trying to sleep.

He did not close his eyes. In the darkness, he stared blankly at the tent’s old ceiling.

‘Thousands of torches.’

Even without closing his eyes, the overwhelming army of lights that had filled the horizon surfaced clearly on his retinas. A sight like a giant predator slowly opening its mouth. Within it, he had to find the hearts he needed to cut out.

Rian quietly stroked the parchment he had tucked inside his clothes. The rustling touch of the paper once again confirmed his will through his fingertips.

***

By the time the eastern sky began to change from ash gray to a faint blue, the reveille trumpet sounded, sharply tearing through the entire base.

Here and there came the sounds of men getting up along with curses. While the other soldiers began moving busily, scratching at their disheveled hair, Rian had already finished all his preparations.

He slung his oak longbow over his shoulder, picked up his old pack, and left the tent.

Despite the early hour, several soldiers were already lined up in front of the supply depot to receive supplies. Their faces were haggard from standing watch all night.

As Rian approached them, a small murmur spread among them like a ripple. The gazes that flicked toward him held neither reverence nor curiosity. It was primal fear and wariness, as though they had come face-to-face with a beast whose true nature they could not identify.

His eyes met one soldier’s head-on. The soldier flinched in shock and lowered his head with an appalled expression, as though a curse might be passed on to him.

Rian ignored their reactions and walked straight to the supply depot window.

The old quartermaster sitting beyond the window stopped flipping through the ledger and raised his head. The moment his deeply carved wrinkles and suspicion-filled eyes saw Rian, they narrowed.

“What do you want?”

Open hostility stood in his voice like a blade.

“I came to receive supplies under Sergeant Kairon’s orders.”

Rian’s voice was dry and emotionless.

The quartermaster snorted and swept a suspicious gaze over Rian from head to toe. It was the gaze of someone looking at an insect.

“Got proof?”

Without a word, Rian took out the small wooden token Kairon had given him and pushed it inside the window. It was a crude piece of wood engraved with the sergeant’s seal.

The quartermaster picked up the wooden token and scrutinized it for a long while before reluctantly rising from his seat. He disappeared into the darkness inside, muttering something in dissatisfaction.

Clatter, thud.

The sound of objects being handled roughly came from within. A short while later, the quartermaster returned and tossed a leather quiver and a small sack onto the window ledge.

“Here. Twenty arrows, four days’ worth of hardtack, and one canteen. That is all.”

His tone made it sound as if he were doing Rian a favor.

Without any reply, Rian picked up the quiver. Then he stopped right there and began taking out the arrows one by one to inspect their condition.

His touch was unbelievably meticulous and precise. With his fingertips, he checked the sharpness of each arrowhead, then rolled the shaft between his thumb and forefinger to see whether there were any slight bends. Finally, he carefully checked with his eyes whether the fletching at the end of each arrow was attached properly. He looked like an artisan who had handled nothing but bows and arrows for decades inspecting his tools.

As if he disliked the sight of Rian doing that, the quartermaster clicked his tongue. His eyes were filled with contempt that said, ‘Insolent rookie bastard.’

The soldiers standing in line behind him watched the scene with bated breath. Along with fear, a question they could not understand surfaced in their eyes.

‘That guy, where is he really going alone?’

‘He’s still fine after what he did yesterday...... He really is a monster.’

Only after inspecting all twenty arrows did Rian seem satisfied, and he slid them neatly back into the quiver. Then he packed the hardtack and canteen carefully into his old pack as well. There was not a single trace of hesitation or wasted motion in any of his movements.

At that moment, he felt a gaze.

When he turned his head, Den was standing at the tent entrance, clutching his bandaged shoulder and staring hard at him. On his face, anger, helplessness that must have tormented him all night, and confusion, as though he had encountered a being he simply could not understand, were all mixed together.

Rian’s gaze met Den’s for a moment. But his eyes reflected no emotion at all, like still water. He immediately turned his head as if nothing had happened. As if he had seen a stone by the roadside.

At that indifference, Den unknowingly bit down hard on his lower lip. More than the wound in his shoulder, the place deep inside his heart ached viciously.

After finishing every preparation, Rian gave the quartermaster a light bow of the head. It was not a sign of gratitude, but a signal that the procedure was complete. Then he turned without hesitation.

***

The northern gate of the base was firmly closed. Two guards stood there, rubbing their sleepy eyes while holding spears.

When Rian walked toward the gate without hesitation, the guards saw him and instantly tensed. They exchanged glances and stepped in front of Rian.

“Where are you going, recruit?”

One guard asked in a voice full of wariness.

This time as well, Rian silently showed Kairon’s wooden token.

For a moment, bewilderment flashed across the guard’s face. He looked back and forth between the wooden token and Rian’s face several times. When he whispered something to the comrade beside him, the other guard also wore an expression of disbelief.

“......Open the gate.”

In the end, the guard who had spoken first gave the order in a low voice.

CREEEAK, THUD!

With the heavy sound of iron, the massive wooden gate slowly began to open. Through the gap in the gate, the bluish light of dawn, the desolate field, and the dense forest beyond it revealed themselves.

Rian walked outside the gate without looking back even once.

His small but solid back slowly disappeared into the blue dawn light.

THUD!

As soon as he had vanished completely, the sound of the gate closing firmly once more echoed heavily behind his back. It sounded like a declaration of severance from the world.

Perfect isolation.

And complete freedom.

Rian stood still there for a moment and inhaled the smell of the forest deep into his lungs.

The briny scent of soil and wet leaves mixed together. And the faint smell of beasts, carried on the dawn wind from far away. It was the smell of raw life itself, completely different from the smell of blood and fear inside the base.

At that moment, he felt something stir awake inside his body. The senses of the dead archer Elias had begun to rule the nerves and muscles throughout his body.

He no longer walked like a conscript.

He naturally lowered his center of gravity and moved as if seeping into the edge of the forest, muffling his footsteps. His gait was less like stepping on the ground and closer to brushing over it like flowing water.

Rian’s eyes swept over everything around him. His vision now went beyond simply seeing objects and read the information contained within them.

From the direction and shape of the dew gathered on branches, he read the flow of the wind. Seeing the faint tracks left on the damp ground, he instinctively grasped what kind of beast had passed through and roughly when.

He abandoned the path the soldiers had cleared for scouting. Instead, he moved along a narrow, secret path known only to beasts.

The way he glided between bushes and trees made him look like a part of the forest that had been there from the beginning. Even the sound of his collar brushing against branches was almost inaudible.

Rian stopped periodically and listened.

Birdsong, the sound of insects, the sound of leaves brushing in the wind. From within all those sounds of nature, he precisely filtered out unnatural noise. Birdsong suddenly cutting off, the presence of small beasts fleeing in fright. Every one of those things was a signal announcing the presence of enemies to him.

***

It was around the time the sun rose to the middle of the sky and poured warm light through the leaves of the forest.

Rian leaned his back against a thick oak tree and took the map out from inside his clothes. Through half a day of covert movement, he had already entered deep into enemy territory. He checked his current position and the surrounding terrain against the map.

The messenger team’s expected route, marked in red ink on the map, was not far away.

He carefully tucked the map back inside his clothes and began moving toward the highest ridge nearby. It was a steep climb, but his breathing did not waver in the slightest. His steps were light and stable.

When Rian reached the top of the ridge, he immediately lowered his body and examined the surroundings.

Below his field of vision, the narrow road the imperial army used as both a supply route and a communication network stretched long like a snake. Thick undergrowth grew on both sides of the road, and large boulders were lodged here and there.

‘From here, I can see the entire road.’

The hunting ground was set. Now it was time to secure the best hunting position.

Rian searched for a spot with the clearest line of sight to the road, while also allowing him to hide his body completely. His gaze stopped at one point halfway down the ridge, where a large boulder and dense undergrowth blended together exquisitely.

He moved silently again. Like a wolf patrolling its own territory, he carefully shifted over to that place.

After taking position in a gap between the rocks, he took out the dry twigs and leaves he had gathered along the way from his pack. Then he stuck them in front of and around his body to reinforce his camouflage.

Now he had become part of the boulder and the undergrowth. Unless someone looked closely from only a dozen or so paces away, no one would be able to notice that a person was hiding there.

Rian quietly set his bow on his knees, drew out the straightest and most perfect arrow, and laid it horizontally in a gap between the rocks beside him, within reach of his hand. So that he could pick it up and nock it on the string at any moment.

He opened his canteen and merely moistened his burning throat. It was an action closer to rinsing out his mouth than drinking water.

He took out a piece of hardtack, soaked it thoroughly with saliva so it would not make a sound, then slowly chewed and swallowed it with his molars.

All preparations were complete.

Rian leaned his body fully into the gap between the rocks and fixed his gaze on the road below.

His breathing grew slower and slower, and his heartbeat calmly settled. Every noise around him receded, and only the sound of the wind brushed past his side.

Now he waited.

Until the prey walked into the trap on its own feet.