616.the next is Iki Island.
The heavy hush after occupation settled over the port.
Park Seong-jin's mind never loosened.
Tsushima alone does not complete the grain of war.
The decisive strike lies on Iki.
Only by taking Iki does the ankle sever, and the flow break.
He unfolded the map his adjutant brought.
North of the main island, the sea opened.
Fifty ri beyond that water lay Iki.
The adjutant said.
"From Iki to Karatsu on the mainland is also fifty ri."
Park closed his eyes for a moment.
Fifty ri.
By ship, it is a direct reach.
Karatsu follows immediately after.
He set the words inside his chest.
"Iki must be taken."
The problem was information.
Even Tsushima's own people could not speak clearly about Iki's inner flesh.
Their words split into branches.
"The island is small."
"The forest is thick."
"There is a large fortress on a rocky mountain."
Park looked down at the map and said.
"When information is empty, the blade-tip wavers."
So he called merchants who traveled to Iki,
prisoners who handled ships,
and refugees who had washed in,
and interrogated them dozens of times.
Testimony differed each time.
Park drew out one fact and held it up.
"It is closer to the mainland than Tsushima."
That single fact thickened the density of danger.
Some civil officials assigned to Tsushima's administration spoke cautiously.
"General, must we press on to Iki."
"Diplomatic shock may grow."
"The lords' power is large."
Park looked at them and said.
"You may return."
Confusion spread across their faces.
Park added.
"You are the ones who must govern the people."
"Return and set the administration straight."
It was separation, and it was consideration.
They bowed.
"We will restore order here."
Park said.
"Ordering an island is also war."
Two flows moved on Tsushima at the same time.
One was governance.
The Governor of Jinju moved fast.
Household registers, tax standards,
fisher and merchant organization,
local functionary appointments,
protective edicts for the people.
Tsushima's people asked carefully.
"Can we pay so little tax."
A clerk answered.
"It is the general's order."
"He cuts the reason to return to plunder."
The island's breath began to settle.
The other flow was military preparation.
Fleet composition.
Artillery redeployment.
Troop accumulation.
Resupply of materials.
Scout-ship operations.
Route analysis.
More ships than yesterday lay at anchor.
Oars being repaired.
Cannons being checked.
Hull planks being oiled.
The port filled with those sounds.
Park set a fingertip on the map.
Tsushima to Iki.
Iki to Karatsu.
The flow sharpened into a line.
The commanders said.
"Iki is close to the mainland."
"The danger of counterattack is large."
Park answered low.
"That is why we take it."
"The moment Iki falls, the southern pirates lose their breath."
With that, a watch-flag rose slowly on the port tower.
On the third day after Park's fleet left Tsushima,
winter's rough wind eased,
and Iki's gray shadow appeared beyond the horizon.
If Tsushima was long and slender,
that island sat more round and compact.
White surf struck its mid-slopes in places.
A dense forest wrapped the whole island thickly.
The adjutant whispered.
"General, there is a shallow inlet on the east."
"It looks like a village."
Park narrowed his eyes and said.
"Send scout boats."
"Confirm beyond what the eye catches."
Three light scout boats moved ahead with quiet oars.
All sails were lowered.
Only the sound of oars cutting water remained on the surface.
Soldiers covered their faces with black hoods.
The shore was strangely quiet.
As if Iki itself had drawn in one huge breath,
and held a short stillness.
The scout captain raised a hand and signaled.
"Many traces of boats along the shore."
"Not fishing craft. War vessels."
"A hidden camp behind the forest."
The adjutant asked, startled.
"The island is small. A camp can sit there."
The captain shook his head.
"A smaller island hides more."
When the report ended, Park pulled out prisoners from Tsushima who had been to Iki.
Their hands were still bound.
One dropped to his knees the moment he was dragged forward.
"Spare me."
"I will say everything."
Park asked.
"Who holds Iki."
The prisoner's throat trembled.
"There are fishermen and farmsteads."
"The real power is a warrior group called Tsuma-mori."
Park asked again.
"How many."
The prisoner swallowed.
"I do not know the exact number."
"They live by ambush and raid, and vanish into the forest."
"They split men between the mainland and the island."
He went on.
"There are fighters whose sword-hand is like a ghost."
"The others move as their underlings."
"There are merchants, but Tsuma-mori is the center."
Park drew lines on the paper.
Forest belt.
Hidden troops.
Coastal strike.
Mainland contact.
Blurred pieces hardened into categories.
A second prisoner stepped forward.
"A small fort stands on the north shore."
"It is ringed with palisade, and you must pass forest to reach it."
"It is high ground."
A third added.
"There is also a fort on the island's high mountain."
"Food, weapons, and men circulate there."
Park asked back.
"Brokered manpower."
The prisoner nodded.
"They bind different groups and make them move together."
"Weaker bands join."
"Experts are attached."
"The price is high."
Park wrote a single word.
"Experts."
He asked again.
"Affiliation."
The prisoner shook his head.
"They buy information too."
"They pull weather, and even the state of Goryeo lands, from travelers."
"Their accuracy is high."
Gathering what he had, Park told the commanders in a temporary council.
"First, most of the coast is cliff."
"Landing needs a shallow inlet."
"Second, forest is tight and paths are faint."
"Movement slows and ambush risk rises."
He continued.
"Third, there are hidden palisade positions."
"Hit-and-run is their main way."
"Build and dismantle are fast."
"Fourth, Iki is close to Karatsu."
"Support can arrive within half a day."
Faces grew heavy.
Park spread the map and said.
"Landing is the northeast inlet."
"The palisade fort is lodged in the north."
"It is the point farthest from the mainland."
He split the plan into three steps.
"Day one. Rapid landing at the northeast inlet."
"Ten guns clear the shoreline."
"Crossbow line suppresses the forest edge."
"Light troops go in."
"Day two. Remove their forest ambush bands."
"Warrior corps goes first."
"Elite spearmen press."
"Swordsmen cooperate from behind."
"Bow and crossbow keep pressure."
"Day three. Encircle the northern palisade fort."
"Encirclement is the main body."
"We combine psychological war, as on Tsushima."
"We blockade the sea to cut requests to the mainland."
A deputy asked.
"A frontal break looks possible."
Park answered cleanly.
"The island forest is a maze."
"Ambush is their craft in the body."
"We save our men and keep the road going."
He tapped the map again.
"As on Tsushima, we shake the inside and let it fall."
"Less blood flows."
"When the shape opens, the main force enters."
After scout reports, prisoner interrogations, and terrain analysis ended,
Park looked out over the quiet sea.
Then he said.
"Sail before dawn."
"Iki will be occupied."
The commanders answered together.
"Loyalty."
Waves struck Iki's shore quietly.
Beyond them, the forest held everything,
deep and black, moving like a slow breath.
When the wind eased, Song I-jeong spoke softly.
"General, I see a different grain than before."
Park let out a small smile.
"You see it."
"The old me broke roads by collision."
"I threw the body first."
Song I-jeong lifted an eyebrow.
"Then now."
Park said.
"I have subordinates. The weight is heavier."
No bravado.
No exaggeration.
Quiet, and solid truth.
Song I-jeong's mouth corner rose.
"It is a small island."
"Fewer variables, it seems."
"What grips your mind."
Park looked at the sea a moment.
Small ripples glittered.
Where that glitter ended, Iki's dark forest clung to the waterline.
Park said.
"It troubles me that they bought and sold information."
Song I-jeong asked.
"Grain ships. Departure times and places. That sort of core."
Park nodded.
"Yes."
"But Tsuma-mori has a different grain."
"They may have even our self-hidden weaknesses marked."
Song I-jeong's face deepened a shade.
"News that Izuhara fell has already spread."
Park said.
"Yes."
"They will have set their preparations."
Song I-jeong shook his head.
"They may think it ends at Tsushima."
"This place is far in the mind."
A brief silence slid between them with the wind.
Then Song I-jeong raised his right hand suddenly,
like a child lifting a hand in class.
Park saw it and widened his eyes with a laugh.
"Why."
Song I-jeong spoke with a serious face and a teasing spark.
"I will go first."
Park let out a light breath.
"It is sea."
"The danger is large."
Song I-jeong answered calmly.
"I have skill enough to bring this one body back."
"And you said there are experts."
"Then go together."
Park stared at him for a beat, blank.
Then he shook his head and laughed.
"You want it as much as I do."
"But the seat that bears this expedition holds my ankle."
"My insides writhe like a child with an itch, and I stay in place."
"Permission carries weight."
Song I-jeong pouted immediately and shook his head.
"As expected, my guess was right."
His face showed everything, and Park pretended not to see.
Park said.
"Song I-jeong."
"Yes, General."
Park went on.
"This expedition opens a road by calculation and preparation."
"The blurrier the enemy, the firmer the first step."
"We cross sea into a land where all sides can be enemy."
He paused.
Jiangnan battlefields.
Wide plains.
Fights with clear return roads.
They flickered past.
Park said.
"This board is harder than Jiangnan."
"Jiangnan did not hold only hostility toward us."
Song I-jeong nodded with a serious face.
"I understand."
"I know the weight of your responsibility."
"So I will move quickly and lighten the load."
Park laughed, embarrassed.
"That is the problem."
Wind slipped between them,
and the intimacy that remains only among comrades
hung like a presence.