BSW 49

49

Ho-eun stood blankly inside the dim military tent. It was Tae-muk’s tent within the encampment, but even as he stood there, he couldn’t remember where this was or how he had gotten here.

‘Save… me…’

‘Please save me… Please, save me…’

‘Save me… Save me, save me…’

The man’s voice filled his ears completely. The image of Tae-muk shooting his bow and the image of Tae-muk carelessly kicking the ragged corpse kept flickering before his eyes.

Ho-eun suddenly touched his brow. He felt as if Tae-muk’s arrow had pierced his brow just as it had pierced the man’s. Then, he lowered his hand and looked at his palm.

“…”

His hand, marked red with rein calluses, was trembling. Not just his hand, but his whole body was shaking. He felt constantly afraid, scared, and anxious.

“Ha…”

Ho-eun, squeezing his eyes shut, sighed.

Why did Tae-muk do that?

Why would the nation’s hero, the hero who killed Devouring Ghouls and saved the people, kill a man?

Come to think of it, he had never seen Tae-muk save anyone except for the soldiers and himself. Well, it was only natural since he hadn’t met anyone— Ho-eun stopped short.

“…”

He had met the man alive in the bamboo forest. His leg had been bitten, but he was definitely alive. Now that he thought about it, he was the only one who had tried to save him. At the time, he thought everyone was too busy fighting the Devouring Ghouls. But was that not the case?

Then, was Tae-muk prioritizing killing Devouring Ghouls over saving people?

Well, even if he conceded that much. The Crimson Rain Brigade’s mission was to exterminate, not to protect. Tae-muk had a duty to kill Devouring Ghouls.

But… he killed a man, not a Devouring Ghoul. A person who could have been saved. A person who was alive.

“Haa…”

Ho-eun sighed again. He tried to understand Tae-muk in any way he could, but he couldn’t comprehend it with his upright and righteous thinking.

Just as he was scrubbing his face hard enough to make the tip of his nose red.

Flap.

Without warning, the curtain on one side of the military tent was flung open. And.

“…General.”

Tae-muk, with a cigarette in his mouth, appeared. He was frowning deeply and was only wearing pants without a Durumagi. Instead, he was wrapped in bandages all over his body. The bandages were soaked with blood, and some of them couldn’t hold all the blood and it was dripping down his skin. The bandages were lumpy because of the eaten flesh.

Also, his hair was soaking wet as if he had been doused with water. If the water droplets at the ends of his hair weren’t transparent, he might have mistaken it for blood.

“You…”

Tae-muk’s eyes widened for a moment when he saw Ho-eun. He also slightly raised the corner of his lips. It was like he had found something he had forgotten. It was also like he had discovered treasure in a wasteland.

His eyes flashed with a unique light. It wasn’t a human’s gaze. It was that of a beast, or a Yaksha. A strong energy was emitted, as if he would open his mouth wide and bite off Ho-eun’s head whole.

Ho-eun took a step back without realizing it. Tae-muk closed the distance in the blink of an eye. He threw the cigarette down without hesitation and stomped on it. And then.

“Take it off.”

He gave a bewildering command.

“…Excuse me?”

Ho-eun asked back as if he had misheard. Then, Tae-muk took another half step closer and said.

“Take it off. Now.”

Tae-muk’s voice was trembling finely, as if convulsing. It was definitely his voice, low and deep, but somehow it didn’t sound like he was the one speaking. It was as if something other than him had taken up residence in his body.

Ho-eun, frightened, took another step back. Then, Tae-muk grabbed his wrist tightly.

“Where are you going?”

“Ah…”

Ho-eun groaned softly. The arm Tae-muk was holding hurt as if it would be crushed. He had been grabbed by him more than once or twice, but this was the first time it hurt this much. He realized that Tae-muk had been controlling his strength every time he touched him until now.

“L-Let go, please.”

“No.”

It was a strange answer. Not that he disliked it, not that he wouldn’t allow it, but that it couldn’t be done. As Ho-eun struggled to pull his arm away, Tae-muk’s other hand reached for the strings of Ho-eun’s clothes. Surprised, Ho-eun pulled his body back, leaving his arm in Tae-muk’s grip.

“Don’t.”

“Why. What I promised was only until the encampment.”

Ho-eun frowned slightly at the incomprehensible words. He couldn’t understand what he had promised… Then, he remembered something Tae-muk had said a while ago.

‘If you don’t want to get your ass kicked here, you better just suck it.’

‘I’m being lenient because you’re a nobleman. Be grateful.’

Yes, they had had such a conversation. He, frightened, had pleaded to be spared until the encampment, and Tae-muk hadn’t answered that he would, but he hadn’t taken off Ho-eun’s clothes while coming all the way here.

And this was the encampment. Now, according to Tae-muk’s words, the time had come to ‘get his ass kicked.’

Ho-eun’s eyes turned pale as he thought of that. Just as he was about to say something, Tae-muk warned him with a glint in his eyes.

“If you say you don’t like it again, I’ll rip out your tongue.”

Ho-eun froze at the growling voice. In the meantime, Tae-muk grabbed and tore at the strings of Ho-eun’s Military tunic as if to rip them off. The strings tore halfway with a tearing sound, and his clothes opened. It was just an outer garment, but his body felt cold.

“…”

Ho-eun thought as he looked at the dangling strings.

Was Tae-muk originally like this?

Was he desperately trying to find only the good things about him?

Because his God of War had to be a good person. Only then would there be justification for him leaving home. Only then could he continue to stay here. Only then could he, who was utterly useless, delude himself into thinking he was saving the country. Was that why?

No. No.

There was no way his judgment was wrong.

Tae-muk must have had a reason. An unavoidable reason to kill the man. A reason that the ignorant him didn’t know. A very reasonable and justifiable reason that he couldn’t help but accept.

Having thought that far, Ho-eun grabbed Tae-muk’s wrist. But Tae-muk was hot. He was always hot, but he was hotter now than ever before. It was like holding a ball of fire, and he almost dropped it.

But Ho-eun endured. And he opened his eyes wide, looked him straight in the eye, and said clearly.

“I have something to ask.”

“Later.”

Tae-muk answered without even looking at Ho-eun. Then, he tried to take off Ho-eun’s Military tunic. Ho-eun stopped his hand and shook his head.

“No, it has to be now.”

“…”

But Tae-muk didn’t even answer this time. Ho-eun’s large Military tunic fell behind his shoulders. But he couldn’t take it off completely because of the strings that tied the sleeves. In that instant, a blood vessel bulged in Tae-muk’s temple. He gritted his teeth and simply tore off the sleeve strings with a snap, snap. There was a lot of irritation in that touch.

“Why did you kill that man?”

Ho-eun tried to ignore the touch and asked politely in a composed voice.

“Who.”

Tae-muk asked back irritably. Ho-eun gasped. He had only killed one person today, so why was he asking who? Perhaps, had this happened before? Was the person he killed not just one person?

Thinking that, his head went completely cold. The person he was looking at seemed like an evil spirit, not Tae-muk.

“I’m talking about the nobleman who was collapsed in the village.”

At those words, Tae-muk’s breath stopped abruptly. It seemed he had finally recalled the person he had killed. Ho-eun, who had also stopped breathing, focused on Tae-muk. It was to listen wholeheartedly to the words he would answer in the future. He wanted to listen and understand.

But the corner of Tae-muk’s lips curled up. Like a snake. Ho-eun felt goosebumps on the back of his neck at the slow sneer.

Tae-muk bent his back and met Ho-eun’s gaze. And without blinking, he asked in a somewhat languid tone.

“Why. Are you angry because he’s a nobleman like you?”

“That’s not important.”

“That’s the most important thing.”

It was a sentence that deviated from the topic. It didn’t matter whether the man was a nobleman, a commoner, or a slave. At least, it didn’t matter to Ho-eun. He shook his head firmly.

“No. Before he was a nobleman, he was a person.”

“They’re noblemen before they’re people.”

“What on earth…”

What words. Ho-eun frowned deeply. But Tae-muk laughed, as if something was funny.

Ho-eun was angry at that sight. He approached Tae-muk without fear. No matter what situation unfolded in the future, this was a problem that clearly had to be addressed. Only then would he be able to treat him in some way.

“I know it was a difficult situation. I know that Devouring Ghouls were lurking, and that you were trying to use him as bait.”

Ho-eun had been replaying the events in the village all the way to the encampment. Why didn’t Tae-muk save the man?

The conclusion he came to was that the man was bait for the Devouring Ghouls. He had been left with his ankle cut off in an area with thatched-roof houses, and the Devouring Ghouls were lurking nearby. Perhaps they were planning to attack and devour anyone who tried to save the man. So, he couldn’t save the man right away. The Crimson Rain Brigade soldiers could have been hurt.

Yes, he understood that far.