Chapter 19

Chapter 19. Messenger Ungus (2)

“Ah!”

Umkton’s foot was suddenly lifted into the air, and he ended up standing upside down in midair. His foot had stepped into the snare laid as a trap, leaving him dangling upside down from a beam.

THUD!

A club flew in and struck Umkton’s torso.

“Ugh!”

He screamed and shouted.

“Help! Is anyone there?!”

However, his voice was buried beneath the sound of the waterwheel turning and the flowing water, so nothing could be heard outside. Unless someone came to this remote water mill in the middle of the night, no one would know what was happening here.

The club flew toward his stomach again. With a dull sound, his body bent.

“Gah!”

He swung his hands, trying to block the black shadow beating him, but it was no use. In the darkness, the club struck his body again and again.

“Ghhk!”

Umkton let out a pained scream and flinched.

“S-spare me. I was wrong.”

At last, Umkton clasped his hands and begged the masked black shadow.

“I’ll never go after Undine again.”

He naturally assumed the black shadow was Unbelin, Undine’s husband.

Even so, the black shadow did not stop beating him with the club.

“Ugh... spare me....”

Only when Umkton’s screams died down and he was on the verge of fainting did the beating stop.

“Ptooey!”

The shadow untied the rope binding Umkton and disappeared. Umkton crawled as if dragging himself and barely managed to return home.

“What in the world happened?!”

Umbeji was enraged when he saw his son covered in blood.

“Who dared make my son look like this?!”

Umkton gasped for breath and trembled violently.

“I didn’t see his face... but it must have been Unbelin.”

He held out the letter he had received. Since he had gone out after receiving a letter written by Undine and then suffered that disaster, it had to be the work of her husband, Unbelin.

“Unbelin. I won’t let that bastard get away with this.”

Umbeji immediately ordered Unbelin to be brought to him.

“What is this?”

Umbeji’s tribe warriors suddenly stormed in and dragged away Unbelin, who had been sleeping, without any explanation.

When the village grew noisy in the middle of the night, people gathered in front of Umbeji’s house from dawn to find out what had happened.

“Umbeji. Why did you drag my son away without reason? Release him at once.”

Untet, who had run over after hearing the news, clenched his fist and protested to Umbeji.

As if he was the one who should be angry instead, Umbeji’s eyes flashed, and he rushed at Untet and grabbed him by the collar.

“Without reason? Your son beat my son nearly to death, and you say there’s no reason?”

Umkton had his whole body bandaged and was leaning on a crutch because of his broken leg.

“Look at what your son did. Do you still expect him to walk away unharmed?”

Seeing his son’s bruised blue face, Umbeji seemed to grow furious all over again and shoved Untet hard.

However, considering the authority of the great chief, he could not simply swing his fist at him in front of the gathered crowd. Though the authority of the great chief was absolute, it was the Rong tribe’s custom that if he lost the people’s hearts or the line of policy changed, he could be replaced at any time.

“Unbelin would never have done such a thing.”

Untet looked Umbeji straight in the eyes and spoke firmly. He believed his son would never have done something he had not permitted.

Unbelin, who had been dragged out tied with rope, also denied the crime.

“I was asleep at the time. It wasn’t me.”

“Why do you believe Unbelin did it?”

Trying not to lose his reason, Untet calmly questioned Umbeji.

Umbeji held out the letter written on parchment.

“Who else would send a letter in Undine’s name? Unbelin must have done this because he bore a grudge against my son over his wife.”

Untet accepted the letter and read it.

“I didn’t write it.”

Undine clasped both hands and spoke tearfully, as if wronged.

“I don’t know letters. How could I write a letter? Please release my husband.”

She pleaded that there was no basis whatsoever for the assumption that she had written the letter.

However, Umbeji did not budge.

“If it wasn’t you, then Unbelin must have written it. In any case, who else would have the nerve to touch my son if not someone from your tribe?”

Umbeji did not seem to have any intention of letting Unbelin go quietly. He intended to repay Untet’s son with even more than what his own son had suffered.

“We will decide fairly whose words are right.”

To the Rong tribe, deciding fairly meant fighting and concluding that the side that won was right.

“Umkton is injured and cannot fight, so someone else from our tribe will fight in his place.”

Umbeji sent out the strongest warrior in his tribe.

If Unbelin could not face him and win, he might be injured or killed, and he would also be saddled with the crime of beating Umkton.

Aslaf watched the entire situation from within the crowd.

‘Hah, so this is how things turn out.’

Ungus luring Umkton with a forged letter and taking revenge had been within Aslaf’s calculations. From the start, his goal had been to make Ungus write a fake letter.

However, he had not expected Ungus to forge a letter in Undine’s name. The sparks were about to fly onto Unbelin, causing him to suffer unfairly.

“Isn’t catching the real culprit more important? I will examine the letter and try to find the true culprit.”

Aslaf went to Untet and said he would try to find the culprit.

He had intended to investigate and reveal that Ungus had written it anyway, so if he bought time, he could stop Unbelin from being punished unjustly.

However, Untet shook his head heavily.

“No. This fight cannot be avoided.”

Even in a situation where his son might die, he spoke with superhuman patience, showing no anxiety.

“I knew that one day, the time would come when Unbelin would have to fight for his own honor. This is that time.”

Among the Rong tribe, fights like this to determine right and wrong happened often.

Unbelin was released from his rope and given a sword and shield.

The warrior of Umbeji’s tribe also came forward with a sword and shield.

“The time has come, my son. Fight to the end for the honor of the tribe. Our ancestors are watching you.”

Untet spoke to his son with a calmness that was almost cold. Those words meant that even if it led to death, he must never surrender. The prestige of the tribe depended on Unbelin’s actions.

“I will win.”

Unbelin clenched his teeth and nodded, as though he had been waiting for the day he would fight Umbeji’s tribe.

Umbeji’s tribe and Unbelin’s tribe had been old enemies for centuries. Over that time, many young men from both tribes must have shed blood in fights.

His opponent was the strongest warrior of Umbeji’s tribe. Even among the tall Rong tribe, he was so large that his head rose above the rest. With arms like logs, he lightly swung an axe.

However, Unbelin was also one of the finest warriors in his tribe.

At first, Unbelin seemed to be pushed back by his opponent’s strength.

“Hyah!”

His opponent charged while swinging his axe like a windmill. The sound of the wind alone was enough to chill the spine. However, Unbelin dodged with the flexibility of a fox.

Aslaf had hunted with Unbelin many times, so he expected Unbelin would not lose easily. However, he did not know how strong the enemy was, so he watched with sweaty hands.

He tried to read Untet’s expression, but Untet’s face was as stiff as an ancient tree, and Aslaf could not tell what he was thinking.

CRASH—!

Unbelin’s sword pierced his opponent’s shield.

While Unbelin was trying to pull his sword from the shield, his opponent’s axe flew at him. However, Unbelin quickly blocked with his shield. The shield split in two and broke apart. Now Unbelin had to fight without a shield.

“Hyah!”

Unbelin kicked his opponent away and took his stance again.

His opponent pressed him fiercely, but Unbelin did not hurry. It was as if he were waiting for his opponent’s strength to run out.

Sure enough, as time passed, his opponent showed clear signs of exhaustion, sweating as he carried and swung the heavy axe. However, Unbelin merely breathed a little faster before returning to normal and showed no change.

For the diligent Unbelin, who spent all day running around the mountains hunting, a fight of this level did not strain his stamina at all.

‘Well, Untet’s tribe, diligent even among the Rong tribe, boasted the strongest defense.’

Aslaf recalled how he had once admired the endurance of Untet’s tribe, who had withstood more than five hours of arrow attacks from the Yeon tribe in a battle long ago.

His anxious opponent forced an attack. Unbelin did not miss the opening. While the axe cut through empty air and his opponent staggered, Unbelin’s sword stabbed into his leg.

“Ugh!”

His opponent’s leg seemed to lose strength, and he knelt while bleeding. Fighting any further was impossible.

“Wow! Unbelin won!”

“Unbelin! Victory!”

The crowd, who had secretly hated Umkton, applauded and chanted Unbelin’s name.

“Th-this! Damn it.”

Umbeji’s face turned pale. He anxiously clenched and unclenched his fists, but there was nothing he could do. The match had already been decided.

Umkton, who had come out on a crutch, also glared at Unbelin as if he wanted to kill him, but there was nothing he could do.

“Unbelin is victorious. As he said, Undine did not write this letter, and the one who beat Umkton was not Unbelin.”

Umbeji reluctantly handed down the judgment.

After hearing the judgment, the crowd nodded and dispersed.

No one objected.

‘Ungus.’

Aslaf discovered Ungus among the crowd. He was grinning, seemingly pleased that his revenge had succeeded.

Since he had beaten Umkton as much as he wanted and resolved it by pinning it on Unbelin, he must have felt immensely proud of himself.

‘Laugh all you want. This is only the beginning.’

After returning home, Aslaf asked Iwan to bring the alcohol he had brewed.

“Bring the strongest alcohol.”

After receiving the bottle, Aslaf went to Ungus’s cabin.

“You’ve come, Young Master Aslaf?”

“The liquor happened to have ripened well.”

Aslaf set the bottle on the table. Ungus smacked his lips and took out cups.

“It looks like Umkton’s bones broke. Seeing him come on a crutch.”

Aslaf opened the bottle and poured it into Ungus’s cup.

“They say it wasn’t Unbelin. Then was it you?”

“Oh no, it wasn’t me. How could I dare lay a hand on the son of Great Chief Umbeji?”

Ungus could not hide his grin, but he flatly denied it.

“Then who was it?”

“Well, who knows? It’s not as if Umkton only has one or two people who bear a grudge against him.”

“They said a letter came in Undine’s name. Who could have written Undine’s letter? It seems there’s no one else who could have done it if not Unbelin. It’s only natural that Great Chief Umbeji suspected Unbelin.”

Aslaf deliberately guessed wrong, saying that although Unbelin claimed innocence, it seemed to be Unbelin after all. Then Ungus clapped and laughed, pleased that his scheme had worked.

“Exactly. Anyone can see it must have been Unbelin. Still, since he won, there’s nothing to be done. We have to acknowledge it wasn’t him.”

Cups went back and forth one after another, and Ungus gradually grew more cheerful.

Around the time he was pleasantly drunk, Aslaf casually let the topic slip.

“The Rong tribe writes only names, so how would anyone know who sent it? Letters in the Empire are sealed with the sender’s seal, so who sent them is clear, and there’s no worry of forgery. With an Empire letter, you can clearly tell who sent it.”

“Hmph. That isn’t true.”

The arrogant Ungus finally opened his mouth. He bragged and struck his own chest.

“A very long time ago, I delivered a letter stamped with a fake seal, and no one knew.”

“Oh, come on. The Empire’s seals are so elaborate. Say something that makes sense.”

Aslaf deliberately laughed softly and treated him like a fool who knew nothing. However, Aslaf’s heart was beating incredibly fast. Ungus, who had kept his mouth shut even though Aslaf had tried for more than half a year to find out, was finally opening up.