BSW 254

They needed weapons.

Something that could kill many of them at once, like a cannon. When the creatures were full, cannons did little more than slow their movements, but now, they could be an incredibly useful weapon.

But everything had vanished. Only now did he feel he understood why the creatures had destroyed and hidden the weapons as soon as they crossed the river.

“There are no weapons.”

Tae-muk pressed his thumb and middle finger firmly against his eyelids and then released them. There were soldiers who possessed firearms, but those alone could not kill that many of them. And who knew how much ammunition was left? As he let out a sigh at the seemingly hopeless situation, Byeonguk spoke up boldly.

“I will go to the nearby town and procure some. If you give me a day—no, just half a day—I can be back quickly—”

But Gil-sang cut him off.

“We already brought everything from the nearby town. [Read on Read BL Novels]unauthorized copystolen contentRead on Read BL Novels -->We swept up every single weapon in this vicinity while bringing the soldiers along, didn’t we?”

“…….”

Byeonguk’s mouth slowly closed. Silence descended upon the military tent. The method and the answer had been found, yet they could do nothing because they lacked weapons. It was a frustrating situation. Everyone looked grim, rubbing their faces, scratching their heads, and sighing repeatedly. Tae-muk also pondered, covering the lower half of his face with his hand.

“There is a weapon.”

A slender, beautiful voice pierced through the silence. Tae-muk whipped around. Ho-eun was shakily pushing himself up. Tae-muk quickly supported him.

“Are you okay? Water, bring some water.”

At those words, Man-soo rushed out of the tent. However, Ho-eun gripped Tae-muk’s wrist tightly and spoke again, his eyes wide.

“A weapon. There is one. At the garrison.”

* * *

Two soldiers struggled to pull something out from between a mess of piled-up crates. A long protruding muzzle, a pungent scent of iron, a massive size, and a body that looked roughly like a cannon but was far thinner.

It was a machine gun. The very machine gun that the Yeonggam, while searching for medicine, had once slammed his head into while crying out in pain.

“Why is this here?”

Tae-muk spoke as if it were strange, looking at the machine gun with a crushed cabbage leaf stuck to its muzzle. Gil-sang, who had quickly run to his side, spoke with an awkward expression.

“People suddenly swarmed in and there was nowhere to put the luggage, so we just placed things here and there, and it ended up like this. I am sorry.”

“It is a stroke of luck. Had it been further down, the Devouring Ghouls would have destroyed this as well.”

Ho-eun took Gil-sang’s side in a composed voice. Gil-sang gave a slight smile toward Ho-eun as if thanking him. Tae-muk looked at Gil-sang and Ho-eun, then shifted his gaze back to the machine gun.

“Will this be able to pierce their heads?”

He glared at the thin muzzle of the machine gun. Ordinary guns could not pierce a Devouring Ghoul’s Helmet Bone. A machine gun had larger bullets than a rifle and thus more destructive power, but it was impossible to know for sure until it was actually fired. It would be a disaster if they trusted it only to find it useless.

However, Ho-eun answered firmly.

“It will pierce.”

Tae-muk looked at him again. He was puzzled by a certainty that made it seem as if Ho-eun had already tried firing it. But Ho-eun had never handled a machine gun. He likely had never even touched one.

Byeonguk, feeling the same doubt, asked.

“How do you know that, Young Master?”

“Previously, when the General saved the Mongolians, I once stepped on the Helmet Bone of a dead Devouring Ghoul.”

“You stepped on it? A Devouring Ghoul?”

Tae-muk frowned, as if asking what on earth he was talking about. At the time, Tae-muk had not permitted Ho-eun to approach the creatures, nor had he allowed them to approach Ho-eun. But Ho-eun lowered his eyes and continued calmly.

“There was a dead Devouring Ghoul nearby. I didn’t realize it was covered in soil and stepped on it, and it… broke.”

Ho-eun clearly remembered the sensation and the sound of the creature’s head shattering with a crunch. Should he call it a black pot, or a basket? Inside that shape, there had been a dark red mass.

At first, he didn’t know what it was and stared at it for a long time, but he realized it later. That was the head of a Devouring Ghoul, and what was inside was the brain.

At the time, he thought the creature must have been dead for a long while. But thinking back now, there was no way a Devouring Ghoul would be dead alone in a place with no people or soldiers. To die alone, it would have to be old, or sick, or otherwise… starved to death.

By deduction, he suspected that the creature had starved to death in a wasteland where there were no towns, villages, or people.

“What do you mean by… it broke…?”

Byeonguk momentarily forgot his etiquette and scanned Ho-eun’s body up and down. A Devouring Ghoul’s Helmet Bone was not something that broke just [Read on Read BL Novelsclass="wm" style="opacity:0;font-size:1px;user-select:all;">visit our site]by stepping on it. Especially with a small and thin body like Ho-eun’s, it wouldn’t have budged even if he had climbed on top and jumped.

“Exactly as I said. I stepped on something on the ground, and it broke. I didn’t kick it with all my might; I simply misstepped. At the time, I thought it was because it had been dead for a long time and had decayed, but perhaps it was a creature whose bones had weakened from hunger…”

Ho-eun stopped mid-sentence and flinched. In that moment, something he had forgotten came back to him.

Once, in the fir forest, he had stepped on something similar. It had been night and pouring rain, so he hadn’t been able to check. Perhaps that, too, had been the head of a starved Devouring Ghoul. That place had also been a barren land.

The clues had been there all along.

He felt like a fool for not noticing. As Ho-eun let out a deep sigh, the expressions of the other soldiers brightened.

“If it broke under the Young Master’s weight, bullets will go right through,” Byeonguk said with an excited face.

“At that rate, they’d die if I just flicked ’em with my finger,” Dong-ja giggled.

“Seong-im might be able to kill them too,” Gil-sang added, his eyes sparkling.

Watching the soldiers, Tae-muk nodded and asked.

“Fine. How much ammunition do we have for this right now?”

“Sixteen belts of 250 rounds, a total of 4,000 rounds.”

“That’s small.”

It was a woefully insufficient number to deal with tens of thousands of Devouring Ghouls. Tae-muk thought deeply with his arms crossed, then gave orders to the soldiers in turn.

“Find out the number of rifles and pistols. Along with the ammunition.”

“Yes!”

One soldier quickly turned and ran off.

“How many bows can we make if we remake them?”

“Since we have many soldiers, we can make them quickly.”

“Tell them to make them immediately. They don’t have to be as long and thick as before, just as fast as possible.”

“Yes!”

Another soldier ran off.

“There might be more weapons left abandoned at the garrison. Search every nook and cranny like you’re hunting lice and bring them all. Don’t leave out a single knife.”

“Yes!”

This time, two soldiers ran off. Then, Tae-muk glanced at the machine gun beside him and said.

“I need someone to handle the machine gun…”

At that, everyone looked at Ho-eun as if by agreement. Not only because Ho-eun was skilled with guns, but because they thought he might want to do it. However, Ho-eun simply stood still, neither affirming nor denying. Assuming Ho-eun was frightened, Tae-muk spoke in a soft, soothing voice.

“You’ll be firing from a distance. Gil-sang will protect you while you shoot. There will be some recoil, but it’s not difficult. Do you want to try?”

For some reason, however, Ho-eun shook his head.

“No. I think it would be better for someone else to shoot. There is something else I wish to do; would you grant me permission?”

“…Something you wish to do?”

Tae-muk raised an eyebrow at the unexpected words.

* * *

Tae-muk stood at the edge of the garrison, on a cliff where the mountain and the ground connected vertically. Perhaps because it was a cliff, a wind that felt a bit too cold for spring swept through. He brushed back his disheveled bangs.

Suddenly, something flickered beneath his gaze. Tae-muk quickly looked back. Soon, a subtle smile crept onto his lips.

“…They’re here, too.”

Two handfuls of azaleas were blooming at the edge of the cliff. According to Ho-eun, azaleas were fragile flowers whose petals fell in the wind, so it was surprising they were still intact. Swaying gently with the wind, they looked precarious yet seasoned.

If only he could show them to him.

“I’ll be back soon, so stay right there,” Tae-muk commanded, looking at the azaleas.

Don’t let a single petal fall. Just stay as you are. Try letting even one fall.

It was a gaze that suggested he would kill them if they didn’t obey visit our siteunauthorized copyclass="wm" style="opacity:0;font-size:1px;user-select:all;">stolen content]site -->the command. That was because the azaleas he had given previously had been too unsightly, so this time, he absolutely wanted to give him ones that were perfect.

As Tae-muk muttered while glaring at the flowers.

“Pardon?”

Byeonguk, who was beside him, asked.

“Nothing.”

His face instantly returned to an expressionless mask as he spun the sword in his hand. It was a sword he had ordered to be the largest, widest, heaviest, and sturdiest available.

It had belonged to another unit’s captain, and since he had died, it had become ownerless. The previous owner seemed to have cherished the sword; the blade was well-sharpened, and the handle was sturdy yet polished, bearing the clear traces of time.

“I hope this one lasts a while.”

Recalling the sword that had broken during a previous battle, Tae-muk frowned and then relaxed. Then, stolen contentstyle="position:relative;display:inline;">[unauthorized copy]style="position:absolute;left:-9999px;font-size:0;">[Read on Read BL Novels]Byeonguk spoke cautiously.

“I heard the soldiers of that unit sharpened the blade anew, knowing the Captain would use it. They seemed to consider it a great honor that the Captain would use their leader’s sword. So… it should be fine.”

It was a rather fanciful thing for Byeonguk to say—that a sword wouldn’t break because it contained good intentions.

“…….”

Tae-muk neither agreed nor disagreed.

Originally, on the battlefield, there was no distinction between my weapon and your weapon. In the heat of battle, situations arose where one had to use stones and dirt as weapons. Still, there was something poignant about using a weapon that a comrade had used. Even more so if that comrade was dead.

Tae-muk gripped the sword tightly, curling his fingers. Then, he looked down with disdain at the Devouring Ghouls gathered in a black mass far below. When the wind that had been shaking his hair finally calmed down.

“Tell them to move out.”

He ordered the departure.