Chapter 348. The Victory Banquet
Next came the Goryeo contingent.
No one had deliberately divided themselves into separate groups, yet people had naturally gathered in small clusters.
Around the Kim brothers there was the composed air of civil officials, while around Park Geunsu lingered the rough energy of military men who had just returned from battle.
Youngwoo staggered forward.
His face was flushed red, and the effects of the wine had reached his eyes as well.
Even so, his intention to observe proper courtesy remained clear.
"Loyalty. Yi Youngwoo, Commander of the Divine Tiger Guard's Liaodong Expeditionary Force—"
Park Geunsu waved both hands.
"Oh, enough. Stop that. You're drunk."
He caught Youngwoo by the arm and pulled him down beside him.
Youngwoo swayed slightly and followed without resistance.
Park Geunsu clicked his tongue at the sight.
"How much did you drink?"
"My body started giving up somewhere after twenty-something cups."
"You've gotten weak."
"I haven't had much rest lately."
Park Geunsu's expression softened.
He gripped Youngwoo firmly by the shoulder.
"You've been through a lot."
Youngwoo shook his head and smiled.
"Rather than hardship, I thought a man should stake everything at least once in his life.
"I worked without regret. Truly, without regret."
Park Geunsu fell silent for a moment.
His grip tightened.
"I see."
Youngwoo's vision had begun to blur slightly.
Through that haze, he saw the men seated in the higher places.
Kim Busik and Kim Buui.
Youngwoo straightened himself and offered an explanation first.
"My master offered me wine, and I have already had several dozen cups. I fear I may fail to observe proper courtesy."
A faint smile crossed Kim Busik's otherwise stern face.
"What can be done? It seems you will have to drink several dozen more cups here as well."
Youngwoo brought his hands together and bowed.
"Thank you."
Kim Busik raised his cup.
Despite the severe and rigid appearance of his face, the hand offering the wine was gentle.
"We have much to discuss."
Youngwoo bowed his head.
"I will listen carefully."
Kim Busik's smile deepened slightly.
"Today is not the time for that discussion. Today belongs to Commander Yi. Tomorrow, at an early hour, let us speak of important matters."
Youngwoo straightened.
His body swayed a little from the wine, but his voice remained clear.
"Loyalty. I will await your summons."
Kim Buui raised his cup as well.
Beside him, Park Geunsu lightly pushed Youngwoo on the back.
"Take it. Today is not a drinking party you can escape from."
Youngwoo accepted the cup with both hands.
The eyes of the Goryeo commanders gathered upon him.
The atmosphere was different from the unfamiliar distance he had always felt in Gaegyeong.
Today, these commanders looked at him with the faces of men who had crossed the same battlefield.
The senior officers of the Goryeo army praised Youngwoo's efforts one after another.
Kim Busik nodded with his usual composed expression.
Kim Buui returned his salute formally.
Several other commanders approached, clasped Youngwoo's hand, and struck him on the shoulder.
Most of their words were close to formal courtesies.
But the strength in their hands and the look in their eyes were different from before.
Whenever Youngwoo went to Gaegyeong, something unpleasant seemed to happen.
A single word would become tangled.
A single glance would pierce his chest.
People at court watched him as though measuring him, while military officers found his rapid promotion difficult to accept.
At such times, Youngwoo often felt as though the entire world had turned its back on him.
The ties he had formed since childhood seemed like old ropes worn and frayed by time, too weakened to bear weight even when he held them in his hands.
Why had they kept him at such a distance?
Perhaps his limited education had been one reason.
His speech was too rough to fit comfortably among learned men.
His promotions had come too quickly to be welcomed among senior officers.
Some must have seen him as merely fortunate.
Others may have thought him a man who had simply caught the eye of the king and powerful generals.
The shorter the path from Nangjang to Jungnangjang appeared, the less visible were the blood, sleepless nights, and responsibility beneath that path.
Today was different.
At Hubodagang, he had fought in the name of Goryeo.
He had led Balhae soldiers straight toward the central army of the Liao emperor.
The Goryeo army had followed behind him.
The forces of Park Geunsu and Kim Buui had pressed the Liao left wing.
Kim Busik had seen it.
The other commanders had seen it.
Youngwoo's achievements could no longer be covered over by talk of rumor or luck.
One commander took Youngwoo by the hand.
"You worked hard. Today, you upheld the honor of Goryeo."
Youngwoo bowed awkwardly.
"We won because we fought together."
Another commander struck him on the shoulder.
"Today's merit belongs to you. Do not refuse it. Accept it."
Low laughter rose around them.
Youngwoo smiled reluctantly.
The cold wall he had always felt in Gaegyeong seemed to have lowered, if only a little.
It had not vanished entirely.
But at least here, today, the commanders of Goryeo welcomed Youngwoo as a man who had shed blood on the same battlefield.
Today, at least, things were different.
Men who had once diminished one another over small offices and thin justifications now greeted Youngwoo as fellow commanders who had crossed the same battlefield.
In clasped hands, pats on the shoulder, and offered cups, there was an awkward but unmistakable acknowledgment.
Youngwoo suddenly remembered the struggle for power he had witnessed at Seonchullyeong Fortress.
Men baring their teeth over a minor command.
Eyes that measured position before merit.
Words that placed dignity before responsibility.
The senior military leadership in Gaegyeong had never entirely escaped that same shadow.
Their offices were high and their words impressive, yet their capacity as men was small.
Even before a great war, they had first looked after their own positions and their own dignity.
That was why the atmosphere today felt so unfamiliar.
The blood and dust of Hubodagang had, for a brief while, bound them to the same place.
Questions of who had risen first, whose man another was, and which faction each belonged to receded.
What remained were the eyes of survivors looking at one another.
For that brief moment, even the Goryeo army looked like a single army.