By Zephyria 
150
A Hundred Steps
“Umm……”
Asleep, Ho-eun unconsciously rubbed his cheek against the warmth enveloping him. The rough texture of the wool wasn’t exactly soft, but it was familiar. Like the blanket he always slept under, the pillow he always rested on.
The warm body temperature, the bittersweet scent of tobacco, and the rhythmic swaying were so comforting. Ho-eun snuggled closer, rubbing his cheek repeatedly, finding the feeling so pleasant. But the owner of the embrace seemed to have mistaken it for restlessness.
Pat, pat.
A heavy hand began to pat his back. It was a gesture as if to say, sleep more, don’t wake up, but instead, Ho-eun gradually woke up.
“……”
Narrowing his eyes, he looked around with a dazed gaze. Darkness had conquered all around. It wasn’t night, but because he was covered in cloth. Beyond the cloth, he could hear the sound of hooves, clippety-clop, clop-clop, and the whooshing sound of the wind. Ho-eun soon realized what situation he was in.
“Ah……”
The journey to find a new garrison continued. They passed plains, crossed mountains, and entered a deep, long valley, where the wind blew so fiercely. Ho-eun had to struggle as if he were drowning. He couldn’t open his eyes, nor could he breathe. Sometimes, he was hit so hard by the wind that his upper body was pushed back.
Had Tae-muk heard about his ridiculous state? Tae-muk called Ho-eun forward and had him ride on his horse.
Ho-eun repeatedly refused, but Tae-muk embraced Ho-eun in front of him and covered him with the Crimson Rain Brigade cloak. A small tent just for Ho-eun was created. Thanks to that, the wind and the cold took a step back.
Ho-eun kept apologizing out of embarrassment and guilt, and before he knew it, he had fallen fast asleep. He wasn’t even aware of falling asleep.
It had been especially like that lately. In Tae-muk’s arms, in his warmth, he would helplessly fall asleep. It seemed his embrace had become that familiar. Perhaps he felt some kind of stability or coziness in his arms.
“……”
Still, falling asleep in a situation like this. How long had it been since he shook off his cold? He was really just a burden. Tae-muk must feel like he’d brought a piece of luggage instead of a Bondmate.
Ho-eun, who tightly closed his eyes, blamed himself.
Pat, pat.
The touch patting his back continued. It was a very pleasant touch, but he couldn’t bother Tae-muk any more. Clearing his throat deliberately, Ho-eun spoke in his usual neat tone.
“I, I think I fell asleep. I’m sorry. The wind seems to have died down, so I’ll go back to my horse now.”
But the hand that had been patting his back pulled Ho-eun tightly into his arms.
“Ugh……”
Ho-eun collided with Tae-muk’s chest with a thud. Soon, a low voice traveled down his chest.
“Stay still.”
“But……”
“Not now. I’ll let you go later.”
“……”
Ho-eun blinked rapidly. Why was Tae-muk doing this? Had he been hurt while he was sleeping? Was that why he was trying to stay close to him? Immediately becoming serious, he unhesitatingly groped Tae-muk’s body.
But Tae-muk’s body was fine. It was warm, but not hot, and there was no blood coming out. ‘Then why is he still holding me?’ he wondered, tilting his head.
Tae-muk’s hand, which had been pressing on his back, came up above his head. Then, he pressed Ho-eun’s head down. As if to prevent him from raising his head.
“……”
Ho-eun quickly noticed Tae-muk’s unusual behavior. Had something happened? But the outside was quiet.
Yes. It was too…… quiet.
There should be many soldiers following beside and behind Tae-muk, but it was very quiet. No one was talking. Where had they all gone? But he could hear the sound of hooves. Was it a situation where they couldn’t speak? Had a Devouring Ghoul appeared? But even so, the silence was strange.
After pondering, Ho-eun carefully rolled up the Crimson Rain Brigade cloak that hung down to his knees. Secretly, very carefully, away from Tae-muk.
Soon a gap appeared, and a cold chill rushed into the cloak, and white light struck his eyes. Ho-eun squinted for a moment at the glare, then looked down again.
Outside, white snow was piled up. Above it, he could see the legs of horses moving, clip-clop, clippety-clop. It was a landscape with nothing special. There was no blood, and the horses were moving at a moderate pace.
‘It doesn’t seem like a Devouring Ghoul has appeared,’ Ho-eun thought, and was about to lower the cloak when. In an instant, something like a black stain flashed across his vision.
“……”
It didn’t pass by that quickly, but he hadn’t been paying attention, so he didn’t see it properly. Before he could even regret it, black, red, crumpled, and mottled things appeared one by one, sometimes in groups, and sometimes in droves.
Ho-eun stared at it without blinking. Then he realized.
That it was…… a corpse. Or rather, traces of corpses.
He could see things like the upper part of military uniforms and military boots. They were the uniforms of the Daehan Empire. Torn, blood-soaked, and frozen things looked bizarre.
Sometimes he saw pieces of heads or limbs, or lumps of unrecognizable parts. Things that hadn’t rotted due to the snow and cold were stuck in the ground like stones.
Here and there were traces of weapons such as spears, swords, and guns. Weapons that were randomly stuck, fallen, and broken were truly heartbreaking. It was as if their struggle was being drawn before his eyes.
Sometimes the horses stepped on the corpses, and then the coldly frozen bones couldn’t bear the weight and collapsed with a soft, empty sound, like a broken gourd.
It was a rare occurrence.
The Crimson Rain Brigade does not step on corpses. Even if they can’t bury them, how could they step on them? So they would avoid them or go around them. But to step on them like this meant either there was no other way…… or there were so many corpses that they couldn’t avoid them, one of the two.
Seeing that Tae-muk was preventing him from seeing outside, it was probably the latter. The wide, wide space must be filled with countless corpses.
“……”
Ho-eun, swallowing his gloom, raised and lowered his shoulders irregularly.
“I told you not to look.”
Tae-muk pulled down the cloak that had been lifted up.
“……”
Ho-eun’s pupils convulsed anxiously. He didn’t know how many times he had faced corpses like this already. The closer they got to their destination to be used as a garrison, the more often he saw corpses. At least once a day, or even several times a day. Sometimes it was soldiers who had been massacred, and mostly it was ordinary people. They had also encountered collapsed towns and villages.
It was only natural, in a way, since they had come to the place where Devouring Ghouls appeared the most, but Ho-eun became a little more afraid each time.
It wasn’t that he was afraid of dying.
He was afraid that the Crimson Rain Brigade would become like that.
It is said that dying on the battlefield while protecting the country, protecting the people, and fighting against Devouring Ghouls is an honor, but from what Ho-eun had often witnessed, it was not very honorable.
It was often not a death in battle, but rather close to slaughter.
Of course, they were the Crimson Rain Brigade, and Tae-muk, the strongest God of War in the world, was their leader, so that wouldn’t happen, but he couldn’t help but feel depressed. Moreover, since he was the origin of the reason for coming here, he felt like he couldn’t bear it if something happened here.
Such a thing must not happen.
Absolutely, it must not happen.
“……”
Ho-eun, biting his lower lip, hugged Tae-muk’s waist. Tae-muk seemed to flinch for a moment, but soon embraced Ho-eun in return.
Ho-eun had an appetite for less than ten days out of the year. So it was only natural that he didn’t have an appetite for lunch today either. Seeing countless corpses on the way had made his already non-existent appetite dig deep into the ground.
With a dry face, he stirred the taro soup. The taro slowly swirled along with the spoon. Ho-eun stared blankly at it.
“Eat the rest.”
Tae-muk, who was sitting next to him, ordered.
“Ah……, yes.”
Startled, Ho-eun took a spoonful of the soup. The taro soup, with steam rising in clouds, was savory and salty, but his stomach wouldn’t accept it anymore. Ho-eun ate about three mouthfuls at Tae-muk’s glare and then put down his spoon again.
“……”
Seeing that, Tae-muk clicked his tongue as if dissatisfied. He was about to say something, unable to bear it, when.
“Young Master, do you have no appetite?”
Chilbok, who was walking around among the soldiers sitting haphazardly on the snowfield and distributing insufficient soup or rice, approached.
“No, it’s okay. It’s delicious.”
Ho-eun smiled faintly and shook his head.
“Don’t force yourself to eat. You’ll get indigestion again.”
Chilbok snatched the bowl from Ho-eun’s hand. Seeing that, Tae-muk frowned. He could have made him eat a few more mouthfuls if he had pressed him, so why was he taking it away? Just as he was about to snatch Ho-eun’s rice bowl from Chilbok’s hand.
Chilbok, bowing deeply, whispered to Ho-eun.
“Shall I get you a persimmon?”
“……Persimmon?”
In that instant, a light flickered in Ho-eun’s lifeless eyes. Chilbok smiled as if he knew it would happen.