SAFBIAN Ch 51

Chapter 51

But—

…Huaaam.

Dori yawned, then quickly shut his mouth mid-yawn.

After several days of peace, his tension had finally begun to ease. On top of that, he’d been accepting the food Haban gave him without hesitation, and now he was full and drowsy from a food coma.

…Haaaam.

Dori yawned again.

‘Could it be… that we might reach the altar without incident?’

If no assassins appeared, then the spy wouldn’t reveal themselves either. They must have infiltrated Haban’s troops through strict screening and confirmation, so they would only move once confident.

‘Could the spy subplot have been cut just because I followed along?’

Or maybe the original storyline itself had changed and the spy had been removed altogether.

That would be nice, actually.

Still, it felt like he’d been tricked by the novel. According to the story, Haban had supposedly kept swinging his sword and pushed forward without rest to avoid missing the important ritual. Yet here they were—not even a single beast hanging from a tree, let alone any lurking assassins.

‘No, wait. Maybe it’s just because the schedule got relaxed due to using a carriage.’

In the Empire, Dongcheon held immense significance. Most of the Empire’s land was flat, and agriculture was the foundation of its economy.

So it’s possible the assassins mistakenly thought the Emperor had already departed and rushed ahead to the altar.

‘Though that seems unlikely.’

In any case, it was a relief that nothing had happened. But once one problem was resolved, another began to weigh on him.

‘Then… how am I supposed to escape now?’

Dori smacked his lips with regret.

The sun had started to set, and the dense tree branches and leaves blocked the sky, making the forest even darker. Deciding there was no need to push on in such conditions, Haban halted the carriage.

Originally, they were supposed to travel day and night without stopping.

But thanks to the leisurely pace with the carriage, the escorts and soldiers were full of energy. They busily cleared surrounding branches, lit fires, and prepared for camp.

“Let’s rest here for the night.”

Haban was the first to step down from the carriage and reached his hand inside. Dori, who’d only been rolling his eyes around, finally leaped down once Haban grabbed his leash.

Inside the spacious tent, large enough to be a room, a small fire was already crackling, and thick wool rugs were spread seamlessly across the floor.

That night—

The fox curled up in the center of the tent opened its eyes. In the dark, its vertically slit pupils gleamed.

‘…A sound!’

Swaa—swaa—the rustling of leaves in the night breeze was accompanied by a suspicious presence. Tap—something pushed off the ground, followed by the light movements of someone climbing a tree.

‘No way, is it really them?’

The assassins had followed Haban after all.

Dori jumped to his feet. But just then, Haban, who’d seemed to be asleep, gently patted his back and shushed him. As if he had known the assassins were outside all along, he remained completely calm.

“It’s fine. Just go back to sleep.”

What? He was awake? Then why isn’t he going out? How can anyone sleep in a situation like this?!

Dori kept turning his head as if to peer outside and pawed at Haban’s arm. The presence outside grew closer, and simultaneous movements could be felt—something was intercepting them.

Around the tent came a chilling clang, claaang! The sounds of blades clashing. Dori, overwhelmed with anxiety, began to stomp his paws.

“I told you, there’s nothing to worry about.”

Haban pulled the fox close and tucked him into his side. What if he ran out and saw something he shouldn’t?

The sound of blades piercing and splattering blood, followed by muffled screams, echoed through the tent. Haban covered the fox’s ears with his palm. Dori’s golden eyes, rolling and rolling, met his directly.

“Seems these fools woke you from your sleep.”

“……”

“Once we’re done clearing them out, shall we go for a walk under the moonlight?”

“…Kaang.”

“You really are a finicky little thing.”

Haban sat up and placed the fox, who was nibbling his claws, on his lap.

He stroked his pretty brow, his round crown, and his fluffy white back in turn, and the fox’s tail gave a weak twitch.

“…Huuung.”

The fox let out a grumble of discontent. He was clearly telling him to move his hand away from his chest, which it had naturally slipped toward.

‘Soldiers are out there fighting for their lives, and he’s playing around in here?’

Dori, whose nerves had been focused outside, gradually began reacting to Haban’s hand instead, growling softly in warning. He kept hitting with his tail to tell him to stop, but Haban wouldn’t let go—patting his belly instead.

‘Don’t go down there! I swear, if you go any lower!’

He bared his teeth as if he really might bite, and only then did Haban reluctantly withdraw his hand when Dori clamped down on his sleeve and tugged.

Dori quickly leapt down from Haban’s lap, curled into a ball, and hugged his tail.

“Come in.”

And just like that, the situation outside was truly over.

‘…Wait. Don’t tell me Haban was distracting me on purpose?’

When the fighting sounds were still ongoing, he wouldn’t let Dori go no matter how much he squirmed—but the moment he released him, everything outside went silent.

Still hugging his tail, Dori stared suspiciously at the tent entrance. At Haban’s signal, a part of the tent flap was pulled back.

‘Hhup!’

His sharp nose was the first to catch the metallic scent of blood.

The soldiers were probably drawing water from somewhere and washing off the blood, as he heard the splash, splash of water being poured, but the thick stench was unbearable, and Dori’s nostrils flared wildly.

“Your Majesty.”

‘Ack!’

The commander who entered to report had blood smeared across his chest. Startled, Dori leapt off Haban’s lap and hid behind his back.

There was no mention of treating wounds, so it must have been someone else’s blood. Still, witnessing the death of a living person was no easy thing.

“I believe Your Majesty will need to come out for a moment.”

“Hm.”

Haban stroked his chin in brief thought.

Thump, the fox bumped his head against his back as if saying, “Don’t go.” It seemed he was afraid of being left alone.

“No, I’ll hear it here.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

As if he expected that, the commander continued his report.

“There were twenty in total. Upon examining the corpses, we found that all of them had no tongues. They’d had them cut to prevent confession, and all carried poison capsules in their molars.”

Tsk. Should’ve just gone out to hear it instead.

The fox’s trembling was fully transmitted to Haban through their shared contact. He regretted not calming the fox and checking the bodies himself.

“Must be Moran.”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

The assassin group Moran, which had emerged out of nowhere, was infamous even among other merciless killers.

While most assassin organizations bought or took in young children from poor parents or the streets, Moran went further—they even kidnapped children to rapidly increase their numbers. Then they cut the tongues of those illiterate kids to prevent them from ever revealing information.

While understanding the need to protect client identities, this was clearly too extreme. Yet after years of indoctrination, the children grew up unable to escape the group.

Just like now.

“My apologies. The last one managed to scatter poison before we could stop him…”

It was said without a trace of hesitation—as if cutting him down was the only choice. This was the same commander who once gently fed apple slices into Dori’s mouth at the palace and peeled sweet potatoes for him. Now he felt distant.

‘They really… died…’

Dori rolled his eyes around and curled more tightly against Haban’s back.

The first time he met Haban, he’d thought he killed Seohon—but the man had lived. These assassins, though, must all be dead.

Some innocent soldiers or guards probably got hurt, so he shouldn’t feel sorry for the assassins. Yet Dori, who had come from the modern world, trembled in terror.

The small fox’s trembling vibrations were fully felt by Haban, transmitted straight through his back.

“Poison, huh… Any injured soldiers?”

“None, sir. We’re checking their belongings for anything else and will begin cremation once that’s done.”

Most assassins had no families. Even if they did, they never revealed their identities even to fellow members.

Rather than leave their bodies in unmarked graves to be dug up by wild animals, it was better to burn them all together.

“Understood. There’s little chance of more, but increase the number of lookouts just in case. Let the rest rest. You may go.”

Once the commander left, Haban waited for the fox to calm down. He even playfully pressed on the fox’s head, but the normally springy ears remained flat.

With no choice, he picked up the limp, dough-like fox in both hands. Dori looked utterly miserable.

“Shall we go for a walk?”

Shake shake.

Going out now would mean stepping right onto the scene where blood had just been spilled.

Even if it wasn’t his own paws but Haban’s that walked, it was dreadful. The smell of burning flesh hadn’t begun yet, so the bodies were likely still there. He didn’t want to see any piles of corpses.

Dori shook his head fiercely. Haban’s gaze softened even more.

“With how cowardly you are, you’d never survive hunting for food, would you? I guess I’ll have to take full responsibility for you.”

Haban put Dori down and pulled a cushion closer. Tap tap—he was signaling for him to come up. Dori pushed the cushion even closer to Haban and sat down on top of it.

“We’re leaving this place tomorrow morning. Try to get some sleep while you still can.”

Wasn’t he worried another assassin might come? How could he just lie there and close his eyes?

Had Haban always lived like this—constantly facing life-or-death situations? Dori stayed up the entire night, unable to sleep even a wink.