By Zephyria 
45
Ho-eun emptied two bowls of porridge. Chilbok had given him the porridge in a bowl so large it could be used for washing one’s face, and he ate all of it and then another bowl. It was the first time he had eaten so much in his life. If his parents had seen him, they would have clapped and cheered, wondering what kind of celebration it was.
He didn’t know why, but the porridge went down smoothly. Was it because Chilbok sat right next to him, watching him with concern? Was it because Dong-ja and Man-soo took turns coming to offer him their porridge? Was it because Gil-sang brought him an overcoat, saying the day was chilly? Or was it because, for some reason, Tae-muk was eating porridge next to him?
Anyway, he felt great after eating so well for the first time in a while. His vision was clear, and his body was full of energy.
It wasn’t just Ho-eun who was full of energy. The other soldiers also looked noticeably better. It was all because they had eaten a bowl of porridge each. They had eaten porridge as a snack, not for breakfast or lunch, so they were very full. On top of that, they had lazed around all morning and even taken a nap, so their faces were glowing.
Dong-ja said that the nap you take during the day is the sweetest, and the laziness you indulge in during the day is the most carefree.
The improvement in Ho-eun and the soldiers’ condition was all thanks to Tae-muk. At first, he wondered why Tae-muk had ordered so much porridge to be made, since it would take a long time, and why they were suddenly taking a nap, but he thought it might be because he didn’t want the soldiers to dislike him.
“…”
Ho-eun, who was riding a horse, craned his neck and looked at Tae-muk’s back in the lead. His back, clad in military uniform, looked broader and stronger than usual today. The corners of Ho-eun’s lips lifted almost imperceptibly.
It seemed he had misjudged Tae-muk. He might be a little mean to him, but he wasn’t a bad person. He was a general leading this large unit. He knew how to handle soldiers and earn their trust, a truly remarkable person. From the start, a hero who saved the country couldn’t be a bad person.
Looking at it this way, Tae-muk perfectly matched the image of the God of War he had vaguely longed for. No, he exceeded it. He killed Devouring Ghouls with his bare hands, he was tall, he was manly and taciturn, he had a good voice, he was handsome, and…
Now, he just had to do well.
He just had to become a Bondmate worthy of him.
Ho-eun clenched the reins tightly and made a determined expression.
“Aren’t you tired from just moving all day?”
Gil-sang, who was next to him, asked. Ho-eun looked surprised for a moment, then shook his head. It seemed he was concerned because he had been sick in the morning. He was truly a kind person.
“No. I’m fine.”
“We’ll be at the garrison soon, so please bear with it a little longer. We might arrive tonight if we’re early.”
“Garrison? Today?”
Ho-eun’s eyebrows shot up at the mention of their destination, which he had forgotten. Gil-sang nodded.
“Yes. At the garrison, the bedding is comfortable, and the food is much better. Oh, and you can take a hot bath. You won’t have a bad time staying there.”
“Hot water…”
Ho-eun’s eyes widened at that moment. Leaving aside the bedding and food, he really longed for a bath. Washing in the cold river was more arduous than he had thought. Soaking in hot water would melt away all his fatigue.
“What is the garrison like?”
Ho-eun asked absentmindedly. But as soon as he asked, he was startled. He quickly shook his head.
“Ah, I, I misspoke.”
It must have been right after they had set off. When they hadn’t yet left Hanyang, he had asked Gil-sang where they were going.
‘We’re going to the Crimson Rain Brigade garrison.’
‘Where is that?’
‘That’s… I can’t tell you.’
He had hidden the answer with a troubled expression. He had completely forgotten about that. He wasn’t yet a member of the Crimson Rain Brigade. He hadn’t felt out of place even though he had been wearing the military tunic by himself. He must have been mistaken in thinking that he had become one of the Crimson Rain Brigade just because he had slept, eaten, and talked with them for a few days.
How foolish.
Ho-eun pulled his chin in and squeezed his eyes shut as if he had been hit on the head, then opened them. Gil-sang smiled softly and said,
“It’s on a plain beyond the mountains.”
“A plain?”
“Yes. It’s in the middle of a wide plain with no mountains or trees.”
Ho-eun tilted his head, imagining a tent standing alone in the middle of a plain.
“Then… isn’t it too conspicuous?”
“That’s right. You can see it from far away.”
“What if Devouring Ghouls attack?”
“They’ll see it.”
“Yes?”
“They’ll see us, and we’ll see them. We’ll know when and where they’re coming from right away. That’s why it’s easy to defend.”
“Ah…”
Ho-eun didn’t fully understand, but he nodded anyway. He figured there must be a good reason. Anyway, a wide plain with no mountains or trees. He had only lived in the capital, which was surrounded by mountains or walls, so he couldn’t imagine it well.
Still, he was excited at the thought that a new world would unfold. Even though it was also a battlefield, the fact that it was a ‘destination’ excited him. The only places he had ever considered as destinations in his life were hospitals and herbal medicine shops.
A garrison. If he went there, this constant moving would end. What would he do in his free time? Would he plan strategies and train? And what about the remaining time? What would Tae-muk do then? Would he stay with him? Then, could he become closer to him?
“…”
Ho-eun, with sparkling eyes, stared ahead. Today, the Taegeukgi and the Crimson Rain Brigade flag seemed to be fluttering even more vigorously.
The gentle downhill slope continued, and soon a flat terrain began. The dense trees became sparse, and the grass that had been up to Ho-eun’s knees became shorter. Around that point, Ho-eun realized that he had completely crossed the mountains.
Then, as the sun turned reddish, a footpath appeared.
A footpath.
It was clearly a trace of people. And soon after, an even clearer trace of people appeared.
Regularly rising and falling ridges and furrows, a narrow ditch with water trickling through, and crops planted evenly above it.
It was a field. The field stretched left and right along the footpath. Judging by its size, it seemed that at least dozens of people had worked on it.
Ho-eun looked at Gil-sang with an excited expression.
“Corporal, there’s a field. Do people live nearby?”
Gil-sang nodded in affirmation.
“There’s a small village nearby. We passed through it when we went to the capital.”
“A village?”
“Actually, rather than a village…”
Gil-sang trailed off.
“…”
Ho-eun waited for him to continue. But Gil-sang didn’t add anything more and closed his mouth. Ho-eun wondered what it was if not a village, but he didn’t ask further. He was just too excited.
A village. He had never been to another village before, so he was looking forward to it. What would it look like? What shape would the houses be? What kind of clothes would the people wear, and what kind of speech would they use? He was looking forward to everything.
He looked around the field, searching for people. But for some reason, there wasn’t a single person in the vast field.
He was puzzled, but it wasn’t strange. Farming tools and baskets were neatly arranged on one side. Judging by that, it seemed it wasn’t working hours right now.
And before long, thatched-roof houses began to appear.
“Oh…”
Ho-eun was a little surprised.
He was surprised that the thatched-roof houses were ‘visible’.
Hanyang was surrounded by high walls on all sides to prepare for the invasion of Devouring Ghouls. He had heard that other towns were also building similar defenses. He had seen in the newspaper that small villages or hamlets that couldn’t build walls had either disappeared or moved to nearby towns because they couldn’t withstand the attacks of Devouring Ghouls.
Why were the thatched-roof houses here so defenselessly exposed? Now that he thought about it, the field was the same. It was spread out in the open without any defenses.
Ho-eun, belatedly feeling something was wrong, frowned. He saw a fence surrounding the thatched-roof houses. It was made by piling up and hardening mud, and crude wooden skewers were stuck haphazardly into the top. It was only as tall as Ho-eun and didn’t look very sturdy.
It definitely couldn’t stop Devouring Ghouls. There was no need to jump over it; it looked like it would collapse with a casual bump.
“…”
He felt strange. He didn’t know why he felt strange, but something felt stuffy and unsettling.
The Crimson Rain Brigade went around the village’s fence, keeping it to their side. Ho-eun felt disappointed by that. He had been hoping to see the village.
Ho-eun, feeling disappointed, craned his neck and looked inside the fence. He could see a few thatched-roof houses standing haphazardly without any order. They were all old and shabby. They were the kind of houses that were hard to find in Hanyang, where new modern things were coming in every day.
Walls with mud spread unevenly, making them bumpy, roofs with straw sparsely covering them, tattered paper windows, an outdoor fireplace, and a small platform for jars that didn’t seem big enough to hold anything.
The quiet village looked peaceful at first glance. There were no screams or bloodstains. There were no signs of Devouring Ghouls.
And… there were no people either.
They weren’t in the field either, so where had they all gone? Had they gone to work in the field far away? But even if they had gone to work, shouldn’t there be old people or children?
The more he looked at the strange village, the more Ho-eun fixed his gaze beyond the fence and asked Gil-sang.
“How can there not be a single person in the village?”