In the early morning, as dawn dew settled,
a messenger arrived at the Imperial camp before Arku.
The messenger caught his breath and handed a sealed document to the adjutant,
and the adjutant headed straight for Adel’s tent.
The moment Adel received the document, he broke the seal.
A brief report.
But every sentence was heavy.
Search failed.
Night raid.
Supply losses.
The paper was thin,
yet the words kept catching at his fingertips.
‘Failed.’
Only after Adel read that word once more
did he realize he had been holding his breath.
Outside the tent came the sound of someone moving equipment,
and it sounded farther away than usual.
As if only this tent
was moving a step behind time.
Adel pressed down on the edge of the report.
It felt less like holding down ink
than pinning his own judgment in place.
It was not lacking.
It was orderly as well.
And yet,
before an “unknown enemy,” order was always the first thing to collapse—
he had seen that far too many times.
The air inside the tent sank in an instant.
“…It isn’t lacking.”
Adel murmured low.
Then he folded the paper.
“But they didn’t know the enemy.”
He rose from his seat.
Then he headed straight for the operations commander’s tent.
“Ah, Sir Paladin.”
The commander hurriedly stood and paid his respects.
Adel did not waste time on greetings and handed over the report.
The commander took it and read down the page, then furrowed his brow midway through.
“This is…”
Adel said,
“Prepare a supply convoy.”
The commander raised his head.
“To support the search party?”
Adel nodded.
“Food and supplies, and two knights. Attach an escort unit to the wagons.”
The commander’s lips stiffened.
His difficulty showed at once.
“Sir Paladin… if we pull out wagons now, this camp won’t last three days.”
“Our reserves are thin. Procurement from Arku is also—”
The commander tried to continue, then closed his mouth once.
He knew that if he said any more here, it would sound not like “opposition,” but like “fear.”
“Sir Paladin.”
He chose his words carefully.
“Arku will not cooperate. They will demand justification, not a price.”
“And justification… always calls for blood.”
Adel turned his head.
He cut him off before the words could lengthen.
“That is why we do both at once.”
The commander hesitated.
“Request supplies from Kaldren. Force procurement in Arku.”
“Whether by paying the necessary price, or attaching a justification.”
“This place will hold even if it grows thin. But if the search party goes hungry, whether today or tomorrow, it’s over.”
The commander shut his mouth for a moment, then let out a small sigh.
“…Understood.”
Adel said no more.
Instead, as he walked out of the tent, he left one sentence behind.
“From now on, we change the plan.”
—
Before anyone knew it, it was noon.
Loose, weary breaths spread through the reconnaissance outpost.
Each person was stretching their body, tending their equipment,
and trying to shake off fatigue, if only for a moment.
Then the door opened.
Sienna entered, caught her breath, and spoke at once.
“Rangnan. The Imperial camp is forming a supply convoy.”
“It looks like they’ll depart around sunset.”
“There are three wagons, and at least two knights seem to be accompanying them.”
When Sienna’s report ended, the room briefly emptied.
Not of words,
but with the silence of everyone imagining the same scene at once.
Raen unconsciously swallowed once.
Three wagons.
Two knights.
Everyone felt the moment those numbers turned into “intent.”
Bido tightened his grip on the necklace,
then, startled by himself, loosened his fingers slightly.
The cold metal remained in his palm,
making him feel his heartbeat even more sharply.
Miryeong unconsciously looked toward the opening outside.
An angle where the noon sunlight did not enter.
And yet the fact that it was bright outside felt strangely ominous.
Rangnan’s eyes narrowed.
“…They seem to be in a hurry.”
Sienna continued without stopping.
“According to what another team member confirmed, the search party near the abandoned houses forced a search at dawn.”
“But they didn’t last long and withdrew. They’re said to be stationed at their campsite now.”
Rangnan nodded.
Then a brief calculation passed.
“If we can disrupt the supply convoy…”
Muryeong cut in shortly.
“It’s an opportunity.”
Miryeong immediately took the opposite side.
“Still, wouldn’t it be dangerous?”
At those words, Bido’s hand clenched around the necklace.
Before his relief had fully cooled, his chest tightened again.
Rangnan reached a conclusion.
“It has value. However, the objective is strictly disruption. We don’t go deep.”
Muryeong answered in a low voice.
“They’ll be riled up. It won’t be easy.”
Miryeong nodded as well.
“Right. The Empire won’t be stupid either. It could be a trap.”
Rangnan looked at Sienna again.
“We do not move rashly. Sienna, keep watching.”
“Troop numbers, number of wagons, draft animals, whether knights are accompanying them—get it as accurate as possible.”
Sienna nodded and went back out.
Rangnan moved and spread out the map.
His fingertip pointed to the road.
“This operation is an ambush. Both Miryeong’s team and Muryeong’s team will be deployed.”
Rangnan’s fingertip slowly swept over the map.
He pointed to one road, traced down along the shallow valley line beside it, then came back up again.
“No matter where the supply convoy comes from, they’ll eventually take this road.”
He stopped his finger.
A point where the road bent once and narrowed.
“This is the throat. If three wagons line up, just one stopping will block the rear.”
The moment Rangnan’s fingertip touched the throat,
the road on the map suddenly looked not like a “passage,” but like a “leash.”
The narrowing curve,
the shallow valley beside it,
the muddy stretch just right for a wheel to sink into.
“Wagons look strong when lined up,”
“but the moment they stop, they become weak.”
Rangnan added briefly.
“If the front stops, the rear stops,”
“and if the rear stops, the middle suffocates.”
Muryeong looked down at the map and nodded silently.
Miryeong kept her arms crossed, her gaze fixed.
Marin moved the positions of the rope knots into her mind,
and Ria and Rion already had flames burning in their eyes.
Rangnan continued.
“The objective remains the same. Not annihilation. Disruption. Delay them, make them unusable. Anything more is greed.”
He lifted his gaze and swept it once over everyone.
“And one rule.”
A brief silence.
“If two or more knights appear at the front, withdraw immediately.”
“Miryeong gives the withdrawal signal. One whistle, and everyone disengages.”
“Today, we are not going to fight. We are going to steal time.”
Miryeong let out a low breath.
“It could be a trap.”
“That is why we need rules even more.”
“First, Miryeong, you will command on site.”
“Ed. You shake up the rear. Use smoke and sound to scatter pursuit, and erase our traces at the end.”
Miryeong and Ed nodded.
Rangnan moved his finger.
“Muryeong. You block the front. Hold down one knight, but don’t draw him in too deeply.”
“What we want is not a ‘duel,’ but ‘a few breaths.’”
Muryeong answered shortly.
“Understood.”
Rangnan immediately looked at Jincheong.
“Jincheong. Get under the wagons and damage the wheels and axles.”
The corner of Jincheong’s mouth lifted ever so slightly.
“And then fire goes in.”
“That’s right.”
Rangnan turned his gaze.
“Ria, Rion. You two are the fire.”
“But don’t burn the wagons whole.”
Ria narrowed her brow.
“Then where?”
“Get Jincheong’s help. Plant the fire underneath the wagons.”
Rangnan spoke firmly.
“The fire should not be a ‘conflagration,’ but a fire that ties up the soldiers’ hands.”
“When people swarm to put out the fire, it creates an opening for the others to move.”
Ria nodded.
Rion drew in a short breath and rubbed his fingers.
Rangnan looked at Marin.
“Marin. Stop them with your rope.”
“Whether you lock the wagons together, bind the oxen’s legs, or pull at the wheels—just make them stop.”
Marin touched the end of her rope and answered briefly.
“Once they stop once, the second time is easier.”
Lastly, Rangnan looked at Wolryeon and Rageu.
“Wolryeon. You provide cover. Change the flow with one shot at the necessary moment.”
“Rageu. Support their vision from the high ground, and relay signals to Miryeong.”
Wolryeon and Rageu nodded without a word.
Rangnan caught his breath and finished.
“We are not going there to leave traces.”
“We are going to muddle the traces and return.”
“However, if anyone is injured, prioritize retrieving the wounded over the objective.”
He pointed with his finger to a small mark in the forest on one side of the map.
“The rendezvous point after withdrawal is here.”
“No one moves with more than two people together.”
“Aseullo, Hureuta, and I will be waiting at the midpoint of the retreat route.”
“If anyone sticks to you, we cut them off there, and I’ll decide what’s needed.”
“Do not leave any trail back to the outpost, no matter what.”
Then Bido spoke cautiously.
When Bido opened his mouth, Raen half rose as well.
“Rangnan, I also—”
Rangnan’s voice lowered.
“No. You stay. If you’re exposed, it’s over.”
At those words, the air in the room stopped for a very brief moment.
But no one argued.
Bido, unable to say what he had wanted to in the end, clenched his necklace.
Raen’s hand stopped in the air, then quietly grasped only the end of Bido’s sleeve.
When the wind brushed through the gap in the tent,
the “throat” on the map seemed to narrow once more.
Breaths grew shallow.
Rangnan fixed his gaze.
“Today is not simply a battle with the Empire.”
“Today is an operation to make the Empire’s morning heavy.”
That day’s operation
was already beginning before the sun had even started to sink.