By Zephyria 
“…….”
Ho-eun practically shoved his clothes into the chest. The garments his parents had painstakingly sent him felt incredibly cumbersome today. In his haste, he crammed them in haphazardly, not caring if they became tangled or wrinkled.
He was anxious. Since they were departing at dawn tomorrow, he had to finish packing everything today.
The Crimson Rain Brigade had decided to stop the Devouring Ghouls in the vicinity rather than going all the way to Hanyang. While they suspected Hanyang was the destination, there was no certainty that the creatures wouldn’t stop at other towns along the way. Since they would be hungry, they might stop at other towns just as one would raid military granaries for food.
Hanyang was important. It was the capital of the Korean Empire, where the Emperor resided, and where Ho-eun’s family lived. Even so, he couldn’t simply abandon other towns just to protect that one place. Many people lived in those other towns as well.
For the first time in a while, Ho-eun thought of the children of Ramjae Town. Jeong-i, Jeong-woo, and the girls. He remembered how desperately he had struggled to protect them. He couldn’t drive them toward death again just to save Hanyang.
That was why he agreed a hundred, a thousand times over with Tae-muk’s decision to block the Devouring Ghouls at the front lines.
However.
“Sigh…….”
He couldn’t help the suffocating feeling in his chest. He let out countless sighs as he packed. His hands kept trembling, so he squeezed them tight. Occasionally, he would space out and look around the house.
This is the last time I’ll be in this house.
He had only stayed here for a single season—winter—but perhaps because it was such an exceptionally long season, he felt a strange sense of emptiness and void. It seemed he had grown attached to the house in that short time.
He felt as if he were being kicked out of his own home; he wondered if it was just an illusion.
As Ho-eun stared blankly at the main room where he had lain with Tae-muk every day.
“Young Master. Shall I help you?”
A youthful voice drifted from behind. Ho-eun whipped around. Chilbok was standing beyond the veranda.
“Oh……. No, it’s okay. You must be busy too.”
Ho-eun shook his head with a dry smile. There was a lot of luggage in the kitchen. Pots, rice, jars of fermented paste……. There were likely many bulky and heavy items. He couldn’t leave a single thing behind, either. He couldn’t shamelessly ask for help.
Yet, Chilbok took off his shoes and stepped up into the room. Winter had passed, but he was still wearing the wool socks Ho-eun had given him some time ago.
“We’re all packed.”
“Already?”
Surprised, Ho-eun’s eyes widened. Chilbok spoke with a hint of pride.
“Aw, it’s not like this is our first or second time packing. It’s a breeze.”
“Impressive. I still have a long way to go…….”
Ho-eun gave an embarrassed smile, looking at the chaotic state of the room. In truth, this was the first time he had packed his own bags. When he left home, his mother had done it, and when he left the first garrison, Chilbok and the other soldiers had packed for him. He felt ashamed that he couldn’t even do something as simple as this on his own.
“Goodness, how can you put these precious clothes in like that? They’re all wrinkled, completely wrinkled.”
Speaking in a tone that sounded somewhat like a mother, Chilbok knelt beside Ho-eun. He then began to carefully unfold and fold the haphazardly crumpled clothes. His touch was truly meticulous and deft.
“I’ll iron them all for you once we arrive, so don’t wear them right away. Understood?”
“It’s okay if they’re a little wrinkled.”
“No, it’s not. Wrinkles like these would be a stain on your dignity, Young Master.”
Chilbok spoke firmly. Ho-eun let out a hearty laugh. Watching Chilbok move diligently, he stopped trying to dissuade him and began packing again.
He put clothes in the chest, then the blankets, and next, his notebooks and books. One book slipped out and fell.
『Record of Ten Thousand Illusions』
It was a book he had bought in Myeonghwa Town a long time ago. It had also been a very long time since he had looked at it. Ho-eun stared at it for a moment, then placed it back on the floor. He felt he didn’t need to take it. Ho-eun piled the 『Countermeasures Against Eating Monsters』 on top of it and called out to Chilbok.
“Chilbok.”
“Yes?”
“Aren’t you scared?”
“Of what?”
“The Devouring Ghouls.”
Ho-eun was scared. Whenever he recalled the creatures—nearly a hundred thousand of them, so many they covered the earth—he felt goosebumps and his jaw trembled. Whether the blood had stopped flowing or not, his fingertips grew cold, forcing him to repeatedly clench his fists.
Chilbok, on the other hand, showed no such signs. Ho-eun knew he was mature for his age, but it was still surprising. At the same time, it was worrying.
“I am scared,” Chilbok replied without a change in expression. His hands were still busy folding clothes.
“Then how can you act like it’s nothing? There are so many Devouring Ghouls this time. Maybe…….”
Maybe we’ll lose. No, there’s no possibility of winning. Ho-eun couldn’t bring himself to say the words and cast his gaze downward. But Chilbok simply shrugged and spoke.
“We might lose.”
“……Huh?”
Ho-eun’s eyes widened, startled by the bluntness of the statement. However, Chilbok spoke composedly, like an old man who had seen everything in the world.
“Well, it’s not like we’ve only lost once or twice…….”
“It’s not…… just once or twice?”
“Of course. No matter how great the Crimson Rain Brigade is, do you think we’ve won every single time on the way here? We’ve lost many times. It was even worse before you arrived, Young Master. The Captain wasn’t as strong as he is now.”
“……I see.”
Ho-eun replied in a sunken voice. His already heavy heart grew heavier. It felt so burdensome that he wanted to vomit it all out. But Chilbok continued in a clear, crisp voice.
“But that didn’t make the Crimson Rain Brigade disappear.”
“…….”
“Many older brothers and sisters passed away. But the Crimson Rain Brigade remains intact.”
“…….”
“So, it’ll be the same this time.”
Having just finished folding a piece of clothing, he looked at Ho-eun and beamed. It was a smile meant to comfort him. It was also a smile that eased his worries. Thus, Ho-eun couldn’t help but smile back.
“……I was worrying over something foolish.”
Even if they lost, it didn’t necessarily mean the end. Indeed, despite the tragedy in the fir forest, weren’t they preparing for another battle? The Crimson Rain Brigade would continue to fight and continue to move forward. Even if there were defeats in between, as long as they fought again, it would not be the final defeat.
Ho-eun took a deep breath. Then, he began to pack diligently once more. However, the corners of his mouth, which he had forced upward, slowly lost their strength and eventually drooped again.
After all, defeat was painful, sad, and terrifying. Someone would get hurt, and someone would have to lose someone else.
As Ho-eun let out an unconscious sigh, Chilbok, who had been glancing at him, called out softly.
“Young Master.”
“Yeah?”
“Instead of worrying, why don’t you try looking forward to it?”
“……Looking forward to it?”
“Yes. If the Crimson Rain Brigade wins this time, the Eater Bugs might disappear entirely.”
“…….”
Ho-eun’s mouth parted slightly at those words. A spark of light entered his dull eyes.
“That’s true. I didn’t think that far.”
He hadn’t dared to estimate that they would win. But if they did win…… this long war would end. A world would come where no one would be eaten anymore, no one would have their homes stolen, and no one would have to live hiding behind walls.
Thinking of that, his heart suddenly began to race. With a faint smile on his lips, Ho-eun spoke in a deliberately bright voice.
“Then shall I look forward to it? Hmm……. Chilbok, what do you want to do if the Devouring Ghouls disappear?”
Ho-eun expected Chilbok to list many things. I want to eat delicious food until my stomach bursts. I want to do nothing and just sleep all day. Things like that.
“…….”
However, Chilbok kept his mouth shut. He lowered his head deeply. Surprised, Ho-eun leaned his face in front of him and asked again.
“Why? Is there nothing you want to do?”
Chilbok hesitated, then spoke in a voice that seemed to crawl out of his throat.
“School…….”
“School?”
“I want to go to school.”
“…….”
Ho-eun froze at the unexpected answer. It was a moment where he felt ashamed of himself for imagining things like eating and sleeping.
“I want to make friends there, play ball, and be praised by a teacher.”
“…….”
“They say if you’re good, they give you a stamp that says ‘Very Well Done.’ If you collect ten of those stamps, they give you a new notebook.”
Chilbok spoke without lifting his head, as if he were incredibly shy. Yet, his cheekbones were slightly raised with anticipation and excitement.
“…….”
Ho-eun gazed silently at Chilbok. Had Chilbok never attended school? If so, at what age had he joined the Crimson Rain Brigade? No, was it even a formal enlistment? Tae-muk had manifested as a God of War despite being excessively young, but Chilbok was just an ordinary boy, neither a Bondmate nor a God of War.
As Ho-eun could only wonder without asking further, Chilbok spoke with a nonchalant expression.
“The day before I was supposed to start school, the Eater Bugs invaded my town.”
“Ah…….”
“So my older brothers and sisters all went to school, but I was the only one who couldn’t.”
“…….”
“I really wanted to go…….”
Ho-eun could imagine it easily. How much the young Chilbok must have looked forward to his first day of school. A younger version of him, sharpening pencils with tiny hands, packing notebooks, asking his older brothers and sisters about school over and over, and unable to sleep until late at night.
“But it’s also because I didn’t go that I survived. My brothers and sisters were eaten while they were at school.”