BSW 252

“…….”

Tae-muk opened his mouth to answer in the affirmative, then slowly closed it again. Narrowing his eyes, he ran a hand through his hair, which was stiff with dried blood, as he pondered something. He glanced back at the soldiers moving busily behind him.

The encampment was still a disaster. The soldiers were steeped in confusion and terror, wandering aimlessly, not knowing what to do.

It meant they needed Tae-muk. He knew he couldn’t soothe every single one of them, but he also knew that his mere presence in their sight had an effect.

As Tae-muk opened his mouth to speak again after his deliberation, Ho-eun—anticipating a refusal—pulled on his hand and complained with a gentle persistence.

“Please stay by my side for just a moment. I won’t hold you for long.”

He knew the soldiers needed Tae-muk. But… in Ho-eun’s eyes, Tae-muk was just as much of a wreck as they were.

How much blood had he spilled in this battle, how many pieces of flesh had he given up, and how many soldiers had he lost? Every single one of those losses would have settled as a scar in his heart. He knew that while wounds on the body could be healed, those in the heart could not.

Still, he had to be comforted. He had to be soothed.

“…….”

Tae-muk gazed silently at Ho-eun. Then, his handsome lips curled into a smirk.

“Then shall we stay together for a little while?”

“Yes. Just a little while.”

Just a little while. No more, no less—exactly that much. It was just as the two of them began to walk, hand in hand.

“Captain!”

Someone called out to Tae-muk from a distance. At the sound, not only Tae-muk but also Ho-eun looked back. Four soldiers were standing there. They were the ones Tae-muk had ordered to secretly scout the foot of the mountain.

Standing straight before Tae-muk, they saluted simultaneously and then reported what they had seen one by one.

“The cannons are destroyed. The muzzles are practically crushed, so it seems difficult to repair them for use.”

“The arrows brought by the reinforcements have disappeared. We had hidden them separately in different spots, but they are all gone.”

“The grenades gathered in the crates have also vanished.”

Tae-muk frowned at the reports that everything was either broken or gone. Ho-eun turned pale.

“…….”

To think that so many weapons had vanished. The Crimson Rain Brigade’s weapons had long since been spent, but the weapons brought by the newly joined units had been significant. They had been carefully gathered to be used in the right place at the right time, and some had been divided for emergencies, yet all of it was gone. It was shocking.

Had the Devouring Ghouls realized the weapons were a threat? And how did they handle so many weapons? Did they eat them? Or did they wash them away in the river?

“…….”

Ho-eun felt his body grow cold. He felt hopeless. How were they to continue the battle like this? No, would they even be able to continue?

He chewed his lower lip. His chest felt so tight it was nauseating. In a situation where he couldn’t see a way forward, he felt as if he might vomit. He instinctively rubbed his chest, and in that moment, a wave of dizziness hit him.

It was an inexplicable dizziness. Whether it was due to mental pressure or because his body could no longer withstand the fatigue—or perhaps both.

“Ah…….”

As Ho-eun swayed as if about to flutter away, Tae-muk quickly caught him by the waist.

“Ho-eun. What’s wrong?”

“It’s… it’s nothing. I’m just a bit… tired, tired…….”

Ho-eun rubbed his eyelids hard. But now, even stolen visit our sitecontentour site" style="display:none;" aria-label="visit our site">visit our sitehis vision was flickering. His sight was blurring. It was the moment he shook his head and strained his eyelids to regain consciousness.

Suddenly, he felt a warmth on the bridge of his nose, and something began to pour down. Just as Ho-eun instinctively tried to wipe beneath his nose, Tae-muk’s hand reached him first.

“Fuck…….”

Tae-muk spat out a coarse curse. His hand was drenched in red blood. Ho-eun had suffered a nosebleed.

“I’m sor… sorry.”

Ho-eun apologized and tried to wipe his hand. He wasn’t flustered by the nosebleed. Rather, it was a miracle that he had endured ten days of continuous battle with a body like this.

He was simply embarrassed. Why did his nose have to bleed at this particular moment? There were soldiers everywhere wailing with limbs torn off, and others weeping while holding the corpses of loved ones. He had no intention—not even a shred—of causing worry or receiving treatment for something as trivial as this.

Fearing someone might see, Ho-eun quickly covered the lower half of his face with his palm.

“Set up a tent. Set up a tent now!”

Tae-muk ordered the soldiers while supporting Ho-eun.

“Yes, sir!”

The soldiers answered curtly and rushed off. Then, Tae-muk scooped Ho-eun up in his arms.

“Ho-eun, just hang in there.”

“…….”

Ho-eun tried to say he was fine, but he couldn’t. His vision was growing dimmer and dimmer. The strength drained from his limbs. All his senses were dull, except for the distinct, metallic taste of blood entering between his teeth.

Eventually, Ho-eun’s hand dropped limply. His head tilted sideways without any strength. A single streak of bright red blood flowed down his white cheek.

“Ho-eun. Ho-eun, wake up.”

Tae-muk, now pale himself, shook Ho-eun gently. But Ho-eun did not answer.

“Yeonggam! Yeonggam, where are you!”

As Tae-muk tried to run toward Yeonggam while holding Ho-eun.

“Captain!”

Someone called Tae-muk again. Before Tae-muk could even turn his head, the person rushed over and skidded to a halt on the blood-soaked ground. It was Gil-sang.

“What. What is it.”

Tae-muk glared at him with eyes sharpened by irritation. Ho-eun was the priority right now; neither Gil-sang nor his report mattered. But Gil-sang spoke as if shouting.

“Byeonguk has returned!”

Tae-muk pulled the blanket up to Ho-eun’s chin. Then, he carefully brushed the stray hairs from his forehead.

Fortunately, the nosebleed had stopped, but Ho-eun continued to grow paler. It got to the point where Tae-muk lifted him to check if there were any hidden wounds. His breathing was thinner than usual. So thin that it wouldn’t have been strange if it stopped at any moment.

According to Yeonggam, it was because his mind and body were utterly exhausted, which only made Tae-muk more irritated. Ho-eun was always suffering from things that couldn’t be seen. If only he could slather on some medicine, he might feel more at ease… For now, Chilbok said he would brew some herbal medicine, so he would have to feed him that and keep watching.

“Stop getting sick…….”

Tae-muk whispered, gazing down at Ho-eun’s small face. Then, unconsciously, he rubbed the philtrum of Ho-eun’s nose with his thumb. A faint trace of blood remained, and it sat poorly with him.

He wanted to erase it, but he refrained for now, knowing that rubbing too hard would surely make the tender skin turn red. Still, unable to help his dissatisfaction, he glared at the spot.

“…….”

A thin hand was reached out beside him. It held a damp handkerchief.

“…….”

Tae-muk turned his head. Seong-im was kneeling there.

“Thanks.”

With a low word of thanks, Tae-muk took the handkerchief and carefully wiped Ho-eun’s philtrum and the corners of his mouth. Soon, the stains on the fair face vanished. Only then did Tae-muk’s sharply arched eyebrows soften.

Tae-muk continued to watch Ho-eun for a while. It pained him to feel that the longer the battle dragged on, the more Ho-eun seemed to lose his vitality. At the same time, anger surged.

Because of these fucking monsters, my precious Ho-eun is…….

Gritting his teeth, he tidied Ho-eun’s blanket once more and slowly turned around. Then, he looked up at those before him.

“…….”

About a dozen soldiers stood in a line, led by Byeonguk. Every single one of them was in a state so wretched it was uncomfortable to look at. Drenched in blood and mud, clothes torn, hair disheveled… They said they had encountered Devouring Ghouls on the way. They had likely clashed with one of the groups of ghouls swarming toward this location.

Scanning them slowly, Tae-muk asked in his characteristic low voice.

“Why is it only you?”

Byeonguk’s mission had been to convey the situation to Hanyang and bring back reinforcements. Hanyang was the unauthorized [visit our site]copycapital of the Korean Empire, where the King lived and where ‘noble’ yangbans swarmed, and consequently, a large number of skilled Gods of War were gathered there. If they had come, it would have been a great boost to their strength.

But those before him were only soldiers of the Crimson Rain Brigade. Even then, three or four of the men who had gone with him had not returned, meaning they had actually returned in smaller numbers.

Under Tae-muk’s cold gaze, Byeonguk, who had a large wound near his cheek, lowered his head as if ashamed.

“They said… they cannot send soldiers from Hanyang. They said it is because they must protect Hanyang in case the Crimson Rain Brigade loses.”

It was news of utter bitterness. It was no different from saying, ‘We must survive, so we will abandon you.’ Gil-sang, Seong-im, Dong-ja, and Man-soo, who were nearby, let out deep sighs or muttered curses. But Tae-muk.

“Puhaha…….”

He burst into laughter. He had never expected units led by elegant yangbans to personally grace them with their presence here. He laughed because those ‘noble’ bastards were so predictable it was ridiculous.

After chuckling for a while, his expression slowly hardened. He had a wicked thought that he should have just paved the way for the ghouls to go straight to Hanyang, regardless of the Amnok River. He thought of the countless soldiers who had died on the riverbank to protect that dog-like Hanyang, to protect the country.

Tucking his tongue, Tae-muk pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and asked.

“So, you just came back like this?”

He wasn’t interrogating him. Tae-muk knew Byeonguk well. Even if he couldn’t bring reinforcements, he wasn’t the type to just come back empty-handed. He was the type to stuff at least one grenade into his pocket if he had to.

Sure enough, Byeonguk snapped his head up.

“I brought something.”