SAFBIAN Ch 54

Chapter 54

‘How did the assassins find Haban so easily?’

That was what puzzled Dori.

After learning that there was a risk of ambush even during the day, the carriage was abandoned the very next day. It was too slow and clearly gave away Haban’s location.

In addition, Haban changed into the same clothes as the other soldiers so he wouldn’t be easily distinguished. He even rode a plain horse with no decorations.

As if he had foreseen such a situation, everything had been prepared in advance.

‘That’s exactly why it doesn’t make sense. At a glance, Haban shouldn’t look any different from the others, right?’

In the original work, it was written that Haban and the soldiers pushed through a rain of arrows. In other words, the attack wasn’t focused solely on Haban.

Even so, the assassins accurately found Haban and shot their arrows at him. There had to be some other reason for that.

Just as Dori tilted his head in confusion—

Swoosh!

An arrow tore through the air.

“Watch out!”

Haban pressed down on Dori’s crown, lowering his body.

The arrow narrowly missed, flying past with tremendous force and embedding itself deep into a tree trunk. Dori, lying flat against the speeding horse, looked back at the retreating arrow.

A massive tree trunk.

An arrow flying in.

Why did that scene feel so familiar? It felt like something that had happened before.

‘…Ah! Come to think of it, when I first met Haban, an arrow came flying like that and I hid.’

That’s right. It had happened like that. The chills that had shot up to his scalp when he realized that the arrow had come from Haban. And how lucky he had been—he had almost been hit in the ankle.

Recalling that, the arrow felt like it had been aimed directly at him.

No way… Or could it?

Hmm…?

‘That’s it! It was because of me!’

As his thoughts flowed naturally into memory, Dori suddenly realized something. Amidst a sea of dark green uniforms, he was the only one holding a fluffy white bundle.

Surely, one of the soldiers on horseback was a spy.

If that person had left some kind of clue, and the pursuing assassins had seen that clue, then even if Haban kept changing positions, they’d know the person holding the fox was the Emperor.

Which meant, Dori was practically a bullseye for the assassins. Haban was risking that danger just to ride with him.

‘But if I noticed it, wouldn’t others have noticed too? Why didn’t anyone stop Haban?’

Having reached his conclusion, Dori let out a disgruntled cry.

Haban’s gaze briefly flicked toward him before returning to the front, but Dori was too busy with other thoughts to care.

‘Maybe I shouldn’t have come along to help Haban. I feel like I’ve just become a burden…’

Feeling stifled, Dori bit and chewed at Haban’s robe.

It was a subconscious act, since he couldn’t scratch with his claws. But perhaps misunderstanding that the fox was uncomfortable, Haban grabbed the reins with one hand and wrapped his other around Dori’s rear.

‘What are you doing! That’s dangerous!’

Startled, Dori pressed himself tightly against Haban’s chest and stomach.

‘I may not have a driver’s license, but I do know you’re supposed to keep both hands on the wheel!’

With absolutely no intention of falling off the horse together, Dori burrowed deeper into Haban’s arms.

Unlike the assassins who charged in all at once, the arrows were fired one by one from hiding, each aimed precisely at their target. Especially in narrow paths, they were hard to avoid.

Fortunately, both Haban and Dori made it through without injury, though their hearts were pounding.

‘There must be a way. A way for me not to stand out.’

Dori quickly began to think.

‘The biggest problem is my fur color. Is there no way to hide it?’

At the next resting spot, having quickly emptied his bowl, Dori once again fell into deep thought while nibbling on some dried fruit he’d received as a treat.

At that moment, one of the soldiers who had just returned from scouting glanced at the fox and approached the captain of the imperial guard.

Though his title was Emperor’s Guard Captain, it was actually Jipyeong who had been protecting the fox. To avoid agitating the timid creature, he had stayed a few steps away. Now he asked the soldier,

“Any findings?”

“Nothing unusual.”

“I see.”

But the soldier lingered instead of leaving, so Jipyeong turned his head.

“Is there something else to report?”

“Isn’t it strange?”

The soldier didn’t dare point his finger toward where the Emperor sat, so he gestured vaguely with his eyes toward the fox next to Haban.

“That fox. It must be its first time riding a horse, but it’s unusually calm.”

The fox, who had just finished licking his front paws clean after eating the dried fruit, suddenly turned to look. The reaction was incredibly swift. Sensitive to presence and with sharp hearing, it almost felt as if the fox had understood the conversation.

Jipyeong merely lifted his chin slightly.

“I see.”

“To be honest, I was worried it might start struggling before long. Since His Majesty is carrying it, it’s not something one can ignore.”

“Useless worry.”

Looking down at the fox sprawled on the ground and lazily flicking its tail, Jipyeong chuckled.

No one among them could ride better than Haban, nor were they more skilled in martial arts. In other words, when Haban held the fox, it was safest.

‘But I wonder if that fox knows that.’

Meanwhile, Dori had been perking up his ears ever since the conversation turned to him.

Though the conversation wasn’t anything special, the way the soldier looked at him was unpleasant, especially compared to the respectful tone he used with Jipyeong. It was made worse by the fact that their eyes had met several times.

‘I already have so much to think about I feel like my head’s going to explode.’

He needed to find a way to hide his fur from arrows, and identify the suspicious person among the similarly dressed soldiers. His head was spinning.

At that moment, a flash of insight struck him.

Looking back and forth between the similarly dressed Jipyeong and the soldiers, Dori suddenly jumped up and bit into Haban’s robe.

Haban looked down as if asking what was wrong.

“You’ve already eaten three bowls, so it’s not hunger.”

The fox shook his head.

“Then, are you sleepy?”

His tail flapped furiously in protest. The fox’s white fur, unbrushed, floated in all directions.

“If it’s neither…”

Haban closely observed the fox’s actions.

Licking the robe with his tongue, then clawing at it with his paws. He may look like a white fox, but if one thought of him as a person, the answer wasn’t hard to guess.

“…You want this robe, don’t you.”

At that, the fox let go of the robe and began hopping up and down. His twitching nose expressed his delight at being understood.

Haban clicked his tongue in disbelief.

“Getting more and more spoiled. Jipyeong, bring me another robe.”

The captain of the guard, who had moved away when the fox suddenly tugged on the Emperor’s robe, sighed when he saw the delight in Haban’s eyes.

He was uneasy at how the fox seemed to understand human speech.

‘Though the one I understand least is His Majesty.’

Even this journey had been unusual.

To bring the fox, Haban insisted on using a carriage. Despite protests from Geumhu about the urgency and Jipyeong’s concerns over danger, Haban had dismissed them all, saying they would be on horseback from the middle anyway.

Haban had predetermined all the rest stops and villages they’d pass, and ordered the necessary supplies to be prepared. Any tents and tools used were to be left behind, to be collected by a later unit following behind.

Though there had been minor changes, things had proceeded almost exactly according to Haban’s plan.

‘As if he had seen it all in advance.’

Jipyeong shook off the absurd thought and fetched the robe hidden in the bushes. It was the same outerwear Haban was wearing.

Dori’s eyes sparkled as he ran toward the robe.

‘Put it down here! Here!’

Then, he tapped the ground with his snout.

When Jipyeong spread out the robe, Dori quickly climbed onto it, bit one of the sleeves, and began rolling himself in the center.

Though crude, the white fur from his neck down was now hidden.

Dori, clearly pleased, looked proudly at Haban.

‘With this, I won’t be spotted. How’s that?’

“Hmm.”

Haban gave a meaningful smile. Just as Dori tucked his head in to fully hide, a conversation started between Haban and Jipyeong.

“Your Majesty. What is the fox doing? It looks like glutinous rice wrapped in a lotus leaf.”

“It’s asking to wear it.”

“…Pardon?”

“Everyone’s wearing the same thing. I suppose it got jealous. It’s just a spare, so what does it matter?”

“Well, that’s true, but…”

Dori peeked his head out.

Haban’s affectionate gaze and Jipyeong’s disdainful eyes—being on the receiving end of such contrasting reactions gave him a strange feeling.

‘I didn’t want it out of envy…’

Having put so much thought into his clever plan, he now looked like a greedy fox. Especially since Jipyeong had a bundle of trinkets he carried around at his waist.

‘As long as the result is good, it doesn’t matter. Looking a bit suspicious now will be forgotten once I part ways with Haban.’

Dori squirmed back into the robe and curled up. Just one more layer, but it felt so warm and cozy. The darkness and tight space made it feel like he was back in a fox den.

With a full belly, the fox buried his head into his tail.

The sweet rest didn’t last long. When Haban stood up, the others, who had been lightly eating and resting, quickly followed.

‘They’re leaving it all again?’

Dori smacked his lips at the sight of all the bundled up items being left behind. If only he could take them when they escaped after saving Haban.

Soon, on horseback, a fox dressed in similarly colored clothing clung to Haban’s chest.

As suspected, the white color had been the target. The arrows became more cautious. With the Emperor’s position constantly changing, the assassins couldn’t aim at one spot.

Even so, Dori curled up tightly and stayed close to Haban, moving as one with him. Occasionally, Haban would laugh, making them both jostle, but the arrows no longer felt threatening as they had before.

And so, several days passed in the blink of an eye.

At last, the final path toward the altar.

Today was the day.