BW C183

Chapter 183

“Yesterday’s operation ended in failure.”

Byeonguk opened the report while pointing to a location on the map—where the cliff and the plain aligned in a straight line. But before he could say much more, Taemuk cut in.

“I wouldn’t call it a failure.”

“Yes?”

“It’s just… we checked, and it wasn’t it.”

As he spoke, Taemuk flicked a glance at Hoeun—worried the one who had devised the plan might feel discouraged. But Hoeun was wholly absorbed in scribbling something into his notebook, apparently unaware that Taemuk was even looking at him.

“Ah… yes. That’s true.”

Feeling awkward on his own, Byeonguk nodded and continued after swallowing once.

“Upon checking, the shikgoe that lost their leader appeared to return toward their base. However, after a certain amount of time, they scattered in all directions, and those directions did not seem connected to any encampment.”

“……”

“Other groups of shikgoe may behave differently, but as things stand, the likelihood that leaderless ones return all the way to their base seems low.”

Byeonguk looked at Hoeun. Hoeun set down his fountain pen, straightened his back, and nodded once before speaking.

“Yes. I think the same. Even if we continue the same operation, I don’t think we’ll gain any meaningful information.”

“Agreed. It seems we need to devise a different strategy.”

Byeonguk concluded his report.

“Hmm….”

Gilsang, who had been listening quietly, made a low sound in his throat. Dongja went, “Pff…,” and thunked her forehead against the table, while Mansu rested his chin in his hand and scratched his scalp vigorously. Just hearing another strategy already made their heads ache.

After a brief silence, Taemuk—who had been rocking his chair back and forth by pushing against the floor—spoke in a flat tone.

“Then how about following one of the antenna ones this time.”

“What?”

“We kill everything except the antenna one. Wouldn’t it react differently? Those bastards have brains.”

He tapped the side of his own head with his index finger. Byeonguk nodded in agreement.

“Ah—yes. That could be the case. They’re the ones that control the others, and they’ve never been observed moving alone. There’s a chance they might return to the base.”

“What do you think?”

Taemuk asked Hoeun. Hoeun, who had been writing again, looked up in surprise. Rolling the pen between his fingers, he thought for a moment before answering cautiously.

“Hmm… but the antenna shikgoe are intelligent. If they realize we’re following them, wouldn’t they avoid going back to their base?”

“Why?”

“Well… if I were fleeing and realized I was being chased, I don’t think I’d run back to our encampment. Leading enemies there could get others hurt.”

At that, Taemuk’s brow furrowed deeply.

“Why would you be running away?”

“I’m just saying—if, hypothetically.”

Taemuk’s voice had dropped to a threatening low, but Hoeun’s gentle tone let the threat slide right past him. He continued, addressing the others.

“I don’t know whether shikgoe feel loyalty to one another, but they probably wouldn’t want their base to be destroyed.”

“Yes, what Young Master Hoeun says also makes sense. They could lead us into traps or dangerous terrain.”

“Then what the hell are we supposed to do….”

Mansu groaned, propping his chin on the opposite hand and ruffling his hair. Dongja lay facedown, unmoving—one might’ve thought she’d fallen asleep. At that moment, Gilsang leaned forward toward Taemuk and Hoeun.

“Then why not try it with the dumber ones?”

“The dumber ones?”

Hoeun echoed.

“Yes. Leaf-type or sprout-type ones aren’t smart enough to use traps or bait. That’d be less risky, wouldn’t it? And when we follow them, we scare them good. Stick close, fire arrows so they almost hit, shout a lot. Make sure they don’t have time to think—just run.”

Intrigued, Hoeun hummed softly, pressing the back end of his pen against his chin as he thought. After a moment, he nodded.

“I think it’s worth trying. The antenna shikgoe should definitely show a different reaction.”

“Yes. I agree.”

Byeonguk reinforced Hoeun’s opinion. Taemuk smoothly steered the meeting forward.

“Alright. Then first we need to find leaf-types and sprout-types.”

At that, Dongja—who’d been face-down the entire time—slowly turned just her head toward Taemuk.

“But all the shikgoe around here were already investigated ages ago. You could scour the place blindfolded and find none. You killed them all yesterday, Captain.”

“Dongja. Sit up properly.”

Taemuk said with a slight frown. Instead of snapping upright, Dongja rubbed her face against the table and muttered.

“I’m hungry… no strength ‘cause I’m hungry….”

“Dongja overslept today and missed breakfast. Please forgive her, Captain.”

Mansu wiggled his shoulders in an almost cutesy way. Taemuk recoiled, pulling his chin inward with a grimace, like he’d just witnessed something unspeakable. Across from him, Hoeun and Gilsang chuckled quietly.

“Then we’ll have to go farther out. If we’re only looking for leaf- and sprout-types, we might be wandering for days.”

At Gilsang’s added comment, Mansu’s exaggeratedly raised cheekbones drooped instantly.

“Ugh… it’s cold though….”

Dongja patted his arm in consolation. Taemuk watched the two with thinly veiled disdain before slamming his palm onto the table.

“We leave tomorrow morning. We’ll need to move fast, so pick a hundred of the best runners among the military gods, and a hundred of their inin.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Understood.”

“Yessir!”

Byeonguk, Gilsang, and Mansu answered loudly. Then Taemuk leaned back into his chair, waving his hand lazily with a thoroughly annoyed expression.

“Meeting’s over. Get lost.”

At that, Dongja sprang up as if reborn.

“Over? It’s over?! Hell yeah—let’s eat! Food!”

She yanked Mansu up from his chair and slung her thick arm around his shoulders, dragging him out of the room. Mansu went, “Whoa—hey—,” then ended up wrapping his arm around her waist, grinning as he followed.

“Yeah! Let’s eat!”

As the two burst out, their humming drifted back in—no sign whatsoever of fear about tomorrow’s expedition. After them, Byeonguk, Gilsang, and the remaining officers each saluted Taemuk and left.

Soon, only Taemuk and Hoeun remained in the spacious room. Hoeun, who had been fidgeting with his notebook until everyone was gone, called out softly.

“Um… General.”

“Yeah.”

“C-can I go with you tomorrow?”

“…….”

One of Taemuk’s eyebrows lifted. Hoeun swallowed dryly and began listing his reasons in a gentle, careful voice.

“I might not be much help, but, um, you’ll be exerting yourself a lot, so you might need me. And I also want to see with my own eyes how the leader shikgoe move—”

“…….”

Taemuk stared at him. A faint smile hovered on his lips, but Hoeun—too nervous—didn’t notice.

“I won’t get sick. I’ll wear thick clothes, and I’ll take my medicine three times a day. I won’t give you anything to worry about, so please take me with you. Okay?”

Taemuk took in Hoeun’s pale cheeks, his fluttering lashes, straight nose, rounded nose tip, and plump lips—one by one. Then he answered, as if Hoeun had asked something obvious.

“Of course you’re coming. We don’t know how many days it’ll take.”

Being apart from Hoeun for even one day was unbearable. Thinking about three, four, maybe a whole week made his vision go blank. He might just lose his mind and shove his head straight into a shikgoe’s maw.

“Really?”

A smile slowly bloomed on Hoeun’s lips. Then he scrunched his eyes and laughed like a child, hee-hee. There wasn’t a trace of fear about the expedition—only excitement.

“Yeah. Really.”

Answering casually, Taemuk grabbed one leg of Hoeun’s chair and dragged it toward himself. The chair scraped loudly across the floor. When Hoeun was close enough, Taemuk wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled him down onto his thigh, crushing the small body into a tight embrace and burying his nose into Hoeun’s thin shoulder.

“Fuck… finally just the two of us….”

Taemuk stroked him over and over—smoothing down his daenggi-tied hair, wrapping an arm around his back, kneading his waist. He even sniffed shamelessly, as if savoring Hoeun’s scent. And then, softly near his ear, came a sound like a flower bud bursting open.

“General.”

“What.”

“Do you like me that much?”

Taemuk, eyes closed as he indulged in him, slowly opened them and looked at Hoeun. Hoeun was smiling brightly. After staring for a moment, Taemuk answered shortly.

“Yeah. I do.”

So much it’s insane. So much it drives me mad.

He rubbed his lips all over Hoeun’s pale cheek, kissing along the delicate jawline, down the neck, wrinkling the neat collar of his jeogori to kiss bare skin beneath.

“G-General, don’t—don’t do that. It tickles.”

Hoeun giggled, shrinking his neck. Taemuk held onto the squirming body mercilessly, savoring him while thinking—

I need to finish this quickly and come home.

No—I should just kill every shikgoe in the world.

And then, in a peaceful world, live holding only Hoeun in my arms.