BSW 241

Dong-ja looked out over the pitch-black plains with an anxious face. It had been a long time since night fell. Dawn would break soon. Once that happened, escaping would not be easy. The Devouring Ghouls would discover them.

Of course, even if that happened, Ho-eun could be protected. That much was certain. But the others… No matter how capable Dong-ja was, she didn’t have ten bodies; she couldn’t protect the hundred or so people remaining at the garrison.

That was why Dong-ja had made her choice. To protect the hundred or so Crimson Rain Brigade comrades behind her, she decided to abandon the other comrades who were dying, spurting blood, below.

“But…”

Ho-eun gnawed on his lower lip. This was his first experience with a ‘retreat’ since joining the Crimson Rain Brigade, and it was quite shocking. Facing 100,000 Devouring Ghouls, he hadn’t expected they could defeat them easily, but a retreat still felt unthinkable.

As he stood there blankly, lost in thought, Dong-ja shouted.

“Young Master! If we don’t leave now, Man-soo and Chilbok will all die!”

At that, Ho-eun stared blankly at Dong-ja. The thought of Man-soo and Chilbok dying suddenly Read [stolen content]on Read BL Novelssnapped him back to his senses. He nodded as if his head were dropping and pushed himself up.

“Yes. I’ll… I’ll go.”

It was Tae-muk’s order and Dong-ja’s judgment. Regardless of how Ho-eun felt, it was right to follow.

Dong-ja swept away the now-unnecessary tent as if folding a blanket. Then, grabbing Ho-eun’s wrist with one hand and holding her spear in the other, she sprang up.

Ho-eun shivered slightly at the rushing, chilly wind. Even though it was spring, the night air was cold. Still, thanks to that, his mind became clear, as if he had washed his face with cold water.

Dong-ja strode boldly through the pitch-black darkness. As she did, she picked out the Crimson Rain Brigade members hiding here and there, gathering them behind her like a tail. Soldiers with intact limbs carried the wounded on their backs, while others gathered the supplies.

The sight of the soldiers moving in a frantic, breathless rush looked exactly like people fleeing in the middle of the night. In truth, it wasn’t any different. Screams continuously pierced their ears, but they fled while pretending not to know, pretending not to hear.

“Haa, haa…”

Ho-eun, stumbling across the mountain, let out a ragged breath. Traversing a mountain consumed by the night was by no means an easy task. There were [[visit our site]class="wm" style="opacity:0;font-size:1px;user-select:all;">Read on Read BL Novels][Read on Read BL Novels]several moments where he nearly lost his footing at the sound of soldiers’ screams or the howls of Devouring Ghouls.

As Ho-eun looked down with a face twisted in a mix of worry and guilt…

“Young Master, hurry.”

Chilbok, who was walking in step beside Ho-eun, tugged firmly on his fingers.

“Ah, right. Sorry.”

Ho-eun quickly stepped closer to him. Yet, Chilbok himself kept glancing down. He did so even though they had already circled halfway around the mountain and could no longer see anything.

How long did they wander through the darkness? The group finally arrived at the back of the mountain. By then, it was just before dawn. A chilling deep blue began to drape like eaves over the pitch-black sky, and the field of vision brightened, albeit faintly. Thanks to this, walking became much easier.

“Haa, haa…”

Stopping for a moment, Ho-eun wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead. In that instant, a dry wind blew—whoosh—striking him square [Read on Read BL Novels]in [stolen content]the face. Ho-eun brushed his face with a sigh.

There was an unfamiliar scent in the wind. The wind blowing from the river had been full of a damp, watery smell, but the wind here smelled only of earth. The screams of soldiers and Devouring Ghouls were no longer audible. It was utterly silent.

They had merely circled a mountain, yet it felt as if they had crossed over into another world.

Ho-eun felt sad. He felt sorrowful and aggrieved. It felt as if this world was pretending not to know about the Crimson Rain Brigade’s fierce bloody battle.

“Young Master, are you alright?”

Chilbok asked worriedly as Ho-eun struggled to catch his breath. Just as Ho-eun was about to nod, forcing the corners of his mouth up…

Something flickered across his vision over Chilbok’s shoulder. The moon was gone, the stars were gone, and the sun had not yet peeked out, leaving the sky empty; yet, in that void, something the size of a pinky nail was floating.

A bird? What kind of bird floats alone like that?

Ho-eun narrowed his eyes. But for some reason, the bird didn’t move. It [Read on Read BL Novels]drifted slowly up [stolen content]and down, but it didn’t move forward.

Ho-eun craned his neck forward and stared at the strange bird. Then, his eyes suddenly flashed, and he pulled a telescope from his side. He aimed it at the object floating in the sky to examine it.

“Young Master?”

Confused by the inexplicable behavior, Chilbok took a step toward him.

“Just a moment, Chilbok. Just a moment…”

Ho-eun slowly turned the end of the telescope to adjust the focus. And the moment the blurry vision became clear and a blue object appeared…

“Sister!”

He shouted for Dong-ja. Dong-ja, who was leading the people at the front, whipped around. Meeting her gaze, Ho-eun pointed to the sky and yelled.

“A kite! A kite has gone up!”

Kites had different meanings depending on their color. A black kite signaled the appearance of Devouring Ghouls, and a blue kite… meant that soldiers who had gone far away had returned—that Gil-sang had returned. He, who had gone to escort the Mongolians, had come back.

Aside from evacuating the Mongolians, Gil-sang had another mission. He had to notify the nearby towns of the Devouring Ghouls’ invasion, call for reinforcements, and bring necessary supplies.

It had taken longer than expected, but he had come. He had come for them.

Ho-eun followed the void where the kite flew, scanning downward with the telescope. In the meantime, as dawn broke, the visibility became clearer, making it not difficult to find signs of people.

Beyond the wide plain, past the mountain where Ho-eun stood, another mountain rose, and behind it, clouds of sandy dust were fluttering upward. As he stared intently, black figures began to appear one by one.

“They’re here…”

Those rushing forward on horseback, dressed in military uniforms, were clearly soldiers of the Korean Empire. Occasionally, there were those wearing worn-out hanboks or everyday clothes. Between them, the Taegeukgi flags fluttered vigorously. And at the head of that group was a familiar face.

“Sergeant…”

It was Gil-sang. Seong-im was visible as well. Ho-eun inhaled a breath overcome with emotion. As he did, he recalled the conversation he had with Gil-sang a few days ago when he was preparing to leave.

‘Will… will other units really come to help us?’

‘Come? Do ye think they won’t?’

‘…Yes. It’s dangerous. There aren’t just one or two Devouring Ghouls, there are 100,000. It’s a task where they have to risk their lives, and victory isn’t even guaranteed… Even so, will they come?’

Ho-eun had spoken out of genuine anxiety, but Gil-sang had instead burst into laughter. Then, with eyes flashing with clarity, he had said:

‘It’s already been ten years since the Captain created the Crimson Rain Brigade. And before that, he was with the Red Unit for several years.’

‘…’

‘How many units do ye think the Captain visit our siteunauthorized Read on Read BL Novelscopyour site -->has helped during that time? How many towns do ye think the Captain has saved?’

‘…’

‘All of ’em. All. Every single one.’

‘…’

‘If ye count by the number of lives, ye couldn’t even begin to tally ’em. No matter how small the village, there’s always one or two people who owe their lives to the Captain.’

‘…’

‘So they’ll come. Don’t ye worry.’

Even after hearing those words, he had been half-doubting, but they had truly come like that. Everyone had rushed here in a single bound, saying they wanted to repay Tae-muk’s kindness and save the country.

“…”

Ho-eun bit his lower lip. He felt that the bloody decade-plus that Tae-muk had spent killing Devouring Ghouls and saving people on the battlefield was returning to him like this. His nose tingled. As he sniffled, swallowing something that could have been mucus or a sob…

“Aigoo, they’re finally here, they’re here.”

A voice mixed with laughter was heard. Ho-eun whipped his head to the side. Man-soo was standing leaning, with one foot resting on a rock.

“How many people do you think came?”

Ho-eun asked, looking back at the reinforcements. It felt quite shameless to think this before fully savoring the feeling of gratitude, but it couldn’t be helped. Even at this moment, down below, the soldiers of the Crimson Rain Brigade were having their flesh torn apart.

Man-soo narrowed his eyes and looked at the reinforcements. Ho-eun quickly handed him the telescope. Man-soo moved the telescope slowly from left to right, then soon gave an estimated number.

“Hmm… about five thousand?”

“Five thousand…”

It was small. It was too small a number. Although it was five times the size of the Crimson Rain Brigade, it was still small. Because there were 100,000 Devouring Ghouls. Even if they added up all the ones they had killed over two, no, three days and called it 10,000, there were still 90,000 left. It meant five thousand was nowhere near enough.

Could they win? Could they be victorious?

As Ho-eun brushed his forehead with a grim face…

“Don’t worry too much. More will come.”

Man-soo said as he returned the telescope. At those words, Ho-eun snapped his head up.

“More?”

“Yeah. It’s not like all the Korean Empire units are right next door; it takes some time to get here. Just look at the distance from Busan.”

“…”

“Still, they’ll come one by one, unit by unit. Eventually, the time will come when those Eater Bug bastards are 10,000 and we are 100,000.”

“…”

Despite the hopeful words, Ho-eun’s face did not brighten. It was because he couldn’t believe it. It wasn’t that he doubted the patriotism and sense of duty of the Korean Empire’s soldiers. Rather… well…

The military is a strict hierarchy. And at the top of that hierarchy, generals from the yangban class usually sit. He worried whether they, those ‘yangban,’ would follow the request of the Crimson Rain Brigade, where Tae-muk served as general.

Tae-muk was a Senior First Rank official and one of the greatest generals in history… but in the eyes of the yangban, he would ultimately be a commoner of low birth. A low-born who could be ignored and treated carelessly.