Night passed, and morning dawned once more.
Before the pale light spreading over the roof of the inn had fully unfurled,
the delegation had finished preparing to move again.
The baggage was once more arranged on the carts,
and the wounded were moved into place one by one.
The medical officer checked Bido’s bandages again right up until the moment of departure.
Bido had her eyes open, her face a little clearer than the day before,
but she still could not raise herself on her own.
When the cart began to move, she let out a shallow breath,
then quietly closed her eyes again.
The pain deep in her chest had not subsided,
and the jolting of the road still would not easily release her body from its grip.
The delegation set out on the road again.
Once they left the village, the scenery began to change little by little.
Traces of the forest grew farther and farther away,
and in their place, fields and low hills where the wind swept through unhindered stretched along both sides of the road.
Here and there, cultivated land and narrow waterways came into view,
and in the distance, signs of human hands began to appear more often.
The road, too, had been packed a little more evenly than before.
But the procession’s pace never managed to quicken.
It was not only Bido; there were other wounded as well,
and the blue oxen were exhausted from the long journey that had continued for days.
Each time the carts rattled, they had to be handled with greater care.
Miryeong, Wolryeon, and Jincheong took turns keeping watch beside the carts,
while Raymond moved between the front and rear, constantly checking the flow of the procession.
Aila spoke less than before and spent most of her time keeping watch over their surroundings.
Toward sunset that day,
the delegation stopped briefly by the roadside to rest.
They did not even build a large fire.
No one intended to stay long.
After they shared water and dry rations,
and gave the blue oxen a brief chance to catch their breath, night came again.
Even in the darkness that followed the short rest, their vigilance did not slacken.
And another day passed.
The next morning.
Even amid the jolting of the cart, Bido was able to keep her eyes open a little longer than the day before.
She was still pale, and her face stiffened if she drew even a slightly deeper breath,
but she had recovered enough to try to lift her hand and take the water herself when the medical officer offered it.
Miryeong said nothing as she watched Bido,
but her gaze had softened, if only very slightly, compared to the day before.
The road gradually began to reveal the face of a place near the border.
There were not many travelers coming and going, but old markers set up along the roadside, low stone pillars,
and outlines resembling outposts in the distance began to come into view one by one.
When Aila saw that scenery, she grew even quieter,
and after exchanging a few brief words with the clerk beside the carriage, Raymond stepped forward.
“At this pace,”
Raymond said, looking ahead.
“We will arrive within the day.”
At those words, the air within the procession shifted slightly.
No one rejoiced aloud,
but simply knowing that the end of the road, which had seemed stalled, was beginning to show itself again
was enough to subtly change the expressions on people’s faces.
Yet mingled in that was not only relief, but tension as well.
From here on, they were no longer on a forest road, but before the border of another nation.
Time flowed slowly once more.
The day stretched on, and as the slanting sunlight dyed the fields red,
Raymond, who had been walking at the very front, slowed his steps.
Miryeong soon followed his gaze and looked ahead as well.
Far in the distance, at the end of the road, a structure of no small size loomed darkly.
It was unlike the simple entrance to a village.
A border facility built of stone and timber,
a thick gate spanning the front,
and fences and watch posts extending long to either side slowly revealed themselves in the waning light.
It was the border.
When Raymond stopped first, the procession following behind him slowed one by one as well.
The sound of heavy wheels scraping along the dirt road faded,
and the blue oxen exhaled low breaths as they came to a halt.
Several guards were already moving in front of the border facility.
Perhaps because the sun had nearly set,
they too seemed at first to take the group for a late merchant caravan.
But as the procession drew closer, their expressions changed little by little.
A slow procession.
Several carts.
And escorts silently scanning their surroundings.
There was too much tension in the air for them to be considered an ordinary merchant company.
Soon, a voice flew from the direction of the outpost.
“Halt!”
Two soldiers standing in front lowered their spears at an angle and blocked the road.
Two more came down from the rear outpost and took position.
It was not outright hostility, but their caution was clear.
Raymond stopped walking and slowly raised his hand.
“We are a delegation from the Republic of Arku. We are on our way to the Duchy of Carmen.”
The guard at the very front narrowed his brow.
“A delegation?”
His gaze moved from Raymond’s attire to the carts behind him.
Raymond took out the sealed document he had already prepared and showed it.
“We encountered trouble on the way. We will explain formally.”
“First, I ask that you verify our passage.”
The soldier did not immediately take the document, but looked over the entire procession once more.
Then he turned back and shouted.
“Adjutant! You need to see this!”
The door to the outpost opened,
and a man whose armor was a little neater than the other soldiers’ slowly walked out.
He did not hurry out.
If anything, he seemed to be deliberately slowing his pace.
The man stopped in front of Raymond and looked first at the sealed document.
Only then did he examine the carts and the escorts in turn.
“An Arku delegation.”
His voice was low and dry.
Only then did the man take the sealed document from Raymond’s hand.
After checking the seal with his fingertips, he jerked his chin at the soldier beside him.
“Bring a torch. We’ll inspect the carts as well.”
At the brief order, the air before the border grew taut once more.
Two soldiers carrying torches approached the procession.
Only then did Miryeong step one pace closer to the cart.
The soldier with the torch peered through the window of the front cart and his expression hardened.
“Adjutant. There’s someone injured here.”
Only after those words were spoken did the gazes of the other soldiers change.
The adjutant approached the cart by several steps, his brows slightly drawn together.
After checking inside the first cart,
he soon shifted his gaze toward the second.
Beyond the window, long, prone figures showed darkly.
“What is that?”
Raymond stepped forward.
“The fallen.”
At that short answer, the air before the border froze for a moment.
The adjutant’s gaze returned to Raymond.
“…What happened?”
“We were attacked.”
Raymond’s voice was low, but clear.
“We were obstructed several times on the way here.”
“The final attack was too organized to be considered the work of a mere band of bandits.”
“As a result, we have wounded and dead, and our escorts have suffered no small losses.”
The adjutant did not answer at once.
Instead, he examined the carts once more.
The bandages and bloodstained cloth revealed beneath the torchlight,
and the covered bodies, were realities that could no longer be hidden.
Raymond continued.
“We are an official delegation of the Republic of Arku.”
“We came by this route according to diplomatic procedure.”
He lightly raised the document in his hand.
“Therefore, we cannot be treated the same as an ordinary merchant caravan before the border.”
“If formal verification is necessary, we will comply.”
“But apart from that, we demand the treatment and measures due to a delegation.”
The adjutant’s eyes sharpened slightly.
“Treatment, you say.”
“Immediate measures to stabilize the wounded.”
“A place to lay the fallen.”
“And measures to ensure that the delegation can safely enter the border and make an official report.”
Raymond paused for a beat,
then added in a lower voice.
“We were attacked outside the border and came this far in this condition.”
“Leaving us standing at the gate like this is a humanitarian issue, but it may also”
“lead to a diplomatic matter between Carmen and Arku.”
At those words, one of the soldiers standing nearby instinctively exchanged glances with another.
The adjutant pretended not to notice and silently stared at Raymond.
“Are you threatening me?”
Raymond did not change his expression in the slightest.
“No. I am stating the facts.”
A brief silence passed.
The sun had nearly set,
and the torchlight was casting people’s faces into sharper relief.
From within the cart came the faint sound of an injured person’s rough breathing,
and the blue oxen, as if exhausted, shifted their hooves one at a time.
At last, the adjutant turned his head and spoke to the soldiers.
“Do not open the gate yet. But proceed according to the treatment due a delegation.”
At that single sentence, the soldiers’ postures shifted subtly.
They had not relaxed completely,
but at the very least, they were no longer treating them as merely a suspicious procession.
The adjutant looked back at Raymond.
“We will verify your documents and head count.”
“Tell us the number of wounded, the number of dead, and all escort personnel.”
“Once verification is complete, I will report upward regarding temporary passage and accommodation.”
Raymond gave a short nod.
“Very well.”
Then Miryeong, who stood beside him, spoke in a low voice.
“Don’t drag it out. If it gets any later, the injured won’t be able to endure it.”
The adjutant’s gaze briefly touched Miryeong.
Her tone was not polite, but it was not a lie either.
He looked at the carts once more, then reluctantly answered.
“We’ll finish as quickly as possible.”
Miryeong said nothing more.
She merely remained by the cart,
watching the closed border gate and the movements of the soldiers with cold eyes.
Meanwhile, Raymond called the clerk over.
“Take out the records.”
The inspection before the border was no longer a simple stop,
but was now moving into the procedures for an official delegation.