Chapter 86. Pet
***
Mamorota died.
One of the ten-man captains of the Gray Wolf Squadron, Bato, was still remaining without withdrawing even at that moment. Whether enemy or ally, everyone else was leaving the battlefield, but he could not leave. Perhaps it was a sense of duty to at least watch Mamorota's end by himself. That kind of feeling existed.
"You, your experience points are fewer than I expected."
The opposing leader, whose bangs had fallen enough to cover his eyes, said that toward Mamorota's corpse.
Naturally, a corpse did not answer.
He raised his head and swept his gaze around once. Seeing that everyone was scattering in all directions, each busy saving their own lives, he indifferently turned his head here and there again.
Then, naturally, his gaze came to rest on Bato.
His body stiffened. Even without fighting, it was an obvious fact that that man was stronger than himself, and Bato felt it better than anyone.
However, Dong Bong-su did not look at him for long. He probably had no interest.
Dong Bong-su soon lowered his head and examined Mamorota's wolf, Kaiji. To Bato, it looked already dead, but perhaps it was not.
No, was it definitely not? When Kaiji, who had been on the verge of death, met Dong Bong-su's eyes, its one remaining eye, whose eyelid had been drooping as if weighed down by a thousand catties, was dyed red and suddenly rolled open. Hostility. Eyes filled with nothing but that.
"Yeah, if you're going to become my pet, you should at least be like that."
Dong Bong-su said, raising the corners of his mouth wickedly. Just like Mamorota, Bato also had no idea what his words meant.
His hand moved strangely in midair. If it looked like he was pressing something, was that Bato's imagination?
Uuuung -.
Suddenly, a bizarre sound rang out, and an unknown, faint violet auspicious energy spread over Kaiji's entire body. It was a sight Bato had never seen even once in his life. One thing was certain: the energy emanating from that auspicious light was extremely sacred.
Completely the opposite of the smile on Dong Bong-su's lips.
It was such an inauspicious aura that even the Gray Wolf Bato was riding unconsciously took a small step backward.
'Is it one of those strange martial arts he used earlier?'
There was no way to know. That kind of simple speculation was all he could do.
Having watched Mamorota's end, Bato no longer had any reason to remain here. If he stayed here any longer for no reason, wouldn't he just end up being killed by Dong Bong-su?
However, he could not easily leave his spot. He did not know the cause, but he just felt like he had to stay in this place a little longer. Rather, he had the feeling that if he left, he would die.
Bato decided to just stay there. Even though there was a very uncomfortable presence nearby.
'Hm?'
When the auspicious energy disappeared, Kaiji stood up from its place. He had thought it was dead, but now that he looked at it… it was far too lively.
What was that auspicious energy?
That was not the only thing that had changed. In its eyes, the hostility toward Dong Bong-su had already disappeared.
It… how should he put it? There was nothing. If something remained, it was only indifference. A meaningless gleam like something you would see in the rotting eyes of a corpse, with not even a speck of emotion to be seen.
Dong Bong-su stared intently into Kaiji's eyes like that, then stroked its head and said,
"I like this like this too. It's just like me."
After finishing everything there, Dong Bong-su stood up from his spot. Then he looked somewhere. No, that was not it. Looking closely, he was not looking at Bato, but at somewhere far behind.
Bato unconsciously turned his head and looked back. It was the road he should have taken long ago.
The road heading to Guisui Fortress. The rest of the Gray Wolf Squadron members, excluding him, were hurriedly returning.
And Lee Ja-song's main force, which had been heading here, was changing its advance route and advancing as if to surround Guisui Fortress.
To Bato, it looked like the Gray Wolf Squadron members would still arrive at Guisui Fortress just a little faster. Maybe they could barely make it inside the fortress? If only the gates were opened...
"A futile hope."
Startled.
Before he knew it, Dong Bong-su had come right up behind him. Even in that situation, Bato instinctively reached his hand toward the hilt of his blade, but soon had to stop.
Because Dong Bong-su was already holding his hand.
And, as if that were possible, he was mounted on Kaiji.
Kaiji was a northern monster that no one except Mamorota or Timur Khan could ride. How had he tamed it? It had been an enemy, and in the short time of just one sikgyeong?
But what was allowed to him was not questioned.
"Do you understand what I'm saying?"
He must be asking if he knew the Han language. Bato immediately nodded. His father had been a merchant belonging to the Ortogh (the Northern Plains' large merchant group). As with any frontier merchant, most of their clients were Han merchants. Naturally, the basics of trade were Han language, and it was only natural for children who would inherit that profession to learn Han as well.
Dong Bong-su spoke again.
"Timur Khan has already abandoned you."
"...?"
"The moment you left the fortress, you were abandoned."
"What does that...?"
"I would have done the same."
Words he could not understand at all. But they were convincing. Well, what else could he do but believe them? His life was already in that man's hands.
"You just need to help me with one thing."
It was a short sentence, but Bato understood. He did not know what it was, but if he helped with that one thing, his life would be spared.
Bato nodded again.
Dong Bong-su pulled the reins and turned Kaiji's head back again. His back was visible, but Bato did not move at all. He was the one who had killed Mamorota. An opponent a small fry like himself could not possibly deal with.
Chalbeujak, chalbeujak.
The sound of Kaiji's feet stepping on the ground where blood had formed streams was sticky.
Soon, Dong Bong-su and Kaiji arrived at the place where the last trebuchet-type cannon was. To Bato, the trebuchet-type cannon did not look intact. It was clearly the one Mamorota had smashed the launching frame earlier. Still, perhaps it had not been completely broken, as it was hanging from the joint end, but stubbornly still stuck together.
Dong Bong-su picked up the ropes rolling around on the ground, propped up the broken part, and tied it with rope. It was not perfect, but Bato thought it would be able to fulfill its role for a few shots at least.
Chalbeujak, chalbeujak.
Dong Bong-su drove Kaiji and moved again. This time, it was toward the hill of corpses.
He touched the foul-smelling masses of corpses without any hesitation. Then, just like before when the trebuchet-type cannon had disappeared, the corpses disappeared.
Now it was not even surprising. It was just considered a strange technique. After all, he had heard that if you went out to the Central Plains, there were plenty of people who used unimaginable martial arts. Perhaps that man was one of them?
Bato unconsciously touched various parts of his own body. Unlike Dong Bong-su, nothing changed, though.
After collecting all the corpses, Dong Bong-su returned again to the place with the trebuchet-type cannon.
He went straight to the cannon bag containing stone shots, which was attached to the front of the trebuchet-type cannon.
Then he pulled over the yellowish rope attached to its end, tied it around Kaiji's neck, and tied the other half around his own torso, then dismounted from Kaiji.
Finally, he looked at Bato and said,
"Come here."
Bato approached him without much reply. He knew that now was the time to do what he wanted him to do.
"When I and this guy get on the launching frame, cut the rope then."
Without knowing what Dong Bong-su was saying, Bato nodded again.
Kkigik -.
After hearing the answer, Dong Bong-su suddenly began to pull the rope with all his strength.
Kaiji also matched him, straining and pulling the rope.
Then, the extremely heavy cannon bag, whose weight could not even be guessed, was lifted up into the sky, and the launching frame, which was the launcher, began to come down.
"........"
At first, Bato had thought that the thing Dong Bong-su wanted help with was pulling the rope to lift the cannon bag. But it seemed that was not the case.
Kkiiik -.
When the cannon bag was pulled up to the highest point, Dong Bong-su tightly tied the end of the rope to the launching post stuck in the ground. They had finished what fifty soldiers would do with just the two of them, but Bato was not particularly surprised. For some reason, it just felt natural.
Tting- tting -.
Like a musician checking the strings of an instrument, Dong Bong-su lightly flicked the middle part of the rope with his finger. He was probably checking whether the rope was pulled tight enough to be fired.
The sound cut off shortly. The vibration of the string was so small that anyone could see it was pulled extremely tight.
After pulling the string a couple more times, Dong Bong-su mounted Kaiji again and climbed onto the end of the launching frame. Kaiji was so large that its front legs reached the middle part of the launching frame, but it was not to the extent that it would cause a problem for launching.
Now, Bato seemed to understand well what Dong Bong-su wanted. And also that he had to do this to live. However, he could not imagine what would happen to Guisui Fortress by doing this.
Even so, he had no choice but to do it. Even if he did not, Dong Bong-su would cut all those ropes one way or another. Then shouldn't he at least save his own life?
"Cut it. Right now."
Whoosh. Daenggang -! Pyung -!
At last, Bato brought his blade down toward the rope, and Dong Bong-su flew toward Guisui Fortress.
Bato watched that scene, then quietly mounted his Gray Wolf and disappeared into the distance.
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