The end of the ten days was close enough to grasp.
One day until Operation “Lunar Eclipse.”
The preparations were already complete.
All that remained was to take them in hand and strap them to their bodies.
“Bido. This is your share.”
Mendel held out bread and jerky wrapped in cloth.
The knot had been tied twice.
So it would not come undone.
Bido hesitated for a moment, then received it with both hands.
“Ah… thank you.”
Erdin lifted a waterskin beside her.
“Here. I thought it would be good to have an extra.”
“Ah, this too… thank you.”
Before Bido could finish speaking,
Mendel stroked Bido’s head once.
The touch was brief and careful.
She did not leave her hand there for long.
“Be careful.”
“Don’t push yourself.”
Bido lowered her head.
“Yes. Thank you…”
Beside them, Yun approached cautiously.
His face looked as though he was choosing his words.
“Bido.”
When Bido raised her eyes,
Yun smiled very faintly, then quickly erased it.
“…Don’t try to do everything alone.”
“Today is a day we go together.”
Bido bit her lip once.
Then she nodded.
“Yes.”
One by one, the people rose from their places.
Straps were tightened,
knots were retied,
and footsteps followed.
It did not feel like heavy baggage was moving,
but a heavy silence.
Bido pressed once on the cloth bundle tucked against her chest.
The corner of the bread caught against her palm.
‘One day.’
The number rolled around in her mouth.
If someone spoke first,
those words felt as if they would sound like the last.
So everyone kept their mouths shut.
Only the sound of tightening straps
quietly continued in place of their tension.
—
The group gathered in front of the shrine.
Rangnan stood at the front.
Then, once, he looked over everyone.
“Then we go.”
Miryeong immediately followed up.
“No one’s missing, right?”
Rangnan said,
“We rest when we eat.”
“There will be nothing else.”
And then, their feet moved at once.
—
As their steps grew longer,
words began to leak out little by little.
The straps of their packs pressed against their shoulders,
and bread wrapped in cloth swayed quietly at their waists.
Gareun was the first to laugh.
“Bido.”
“You’ve grown quite dependable in these ten days.”
Miryeong shot back at once.
“What are you saying to a girl?”
Gareun shrugged.
“Mm…”
Instead of answering, Bido gripped the leather strap of her sword more tightly.
Her fingertips were a little cold.
“Can I…”
“…really do it?”
Miryeong spoke without even looking to the side.
“Don’t worry.”
“Don’t think too much.”
“Just move the way your body moves.”
Gareun tilted his head toward Bido.
“Bido. Miryeong isn’t tormenting you too much, is she?”
Miryeong’s ears tilted slightly backward.
A low growl sounded in her throat.
“Gareun. Be quiet.”
“Have you lost your instincts?”
Gareun immediately raised both hands.
“Ahem… got it.”
He closed his mouth and looked only ahead.
Kallen, who had been walking in front, looked back and said,
“Miryeong is right.”
“You’ve worked hard all this time.”
“You’ll be able to do it.”
Yeonhwa and Taejin, who were listening, nodded silently.
It was a brief agreement,
their heads dipping and rising.
Bido drew in a short breath.
It felt as though something caught in her chest had settled a little.
“…Thank you.”
Her voice was small, but she sent it out without letting it tremble.
And once more,
she adjusted her grip on the strap.
“I’ll do it.”
“I’ll try.”
So that she could hear those words herself.
Meanwhile,
Muryeong, walking beside Rangnan, asked in a low voice,
“Can the information be trusted?”
Rangnan answered without slowing his steps.
“Yes.”
“At the very least, Maho doesn’t lie…”
Muryeong asked nothing more.
Only the eyes with which he looked ahead grew harder.
Behind them, Aslo slowed his steps for a moment.
Then he turned his head and looked at Bido.
Bido felt his gaze and lifted her head.
Their eyes met for a moment.
Without a word, Aslo gave a very small nod.
It was neither comfort nor an order.
It was a gesture closer to acknowledgment.
Bido nodded in the same way.
There was no need for words.
Their feet were already headed in the same direction.
And so the party continued walking.
—
When the sun rose overhead,
the rhythm of their steps slowed a little.
Just as their breaths began to grow hot,
Miryeong spoke first.
“Rangnan.”
“I’m hungry.”
Rangnan slowed for a moment, then gave a short nod.
“We’ll rest briefly.”
The party stepped aside from the road.
Then they settled in the shade of low rocks
and set down their packs.
The sounds of straps being undone and cloth brushing followed.
Each of them untied the cloth they had packed.
Bread came out, and jerky came out.
Bido tore off a piece of bread and put it in her mouth.
It was dry and sour,
but the more she chewed, the more a slight sweetness emerged.
Miryeong took out a piece of jerky.
She tore along the grain with her fingertips
and, chewing quietly, spoke to Bido.
“Is it good?”
Bido said,
“Ah… it’s just all right.”
“Would you like to try some?”
Miryeong immediately turned her head away.
“No, I’m fine. It’ll only make my stomach hurt for no reason.”
For a moment, a soundless peace continued.
Then Kallen opened his mouth.
“Um… Muryeong.”
His gaze went to the enormous axe set down beside Muryeong.
A crude blade that looked larger than a person’s body.
“Were you perhaps… a dragon warrior?”
Muryeong did not answer.
His mouth did not even stop chewing the jerky.
Instead, Miryeong glanced at Kallen and said,
“Well, it’s complicated.”
“You don’t need to know.”
Kallen’s throat moved once.
He lowered his gaze with an awkward expression,
then this time turned toward Rangnan.
“Rangnan.”
“Then why does the Moon Demon use dragon fighting aura?”
The end of Kallen’s question grew cautious.
“Is he Haraya?”
At that moment, Muryeong’s expression crumpled ever so slightly,
and the eyes that had been looking at the ground lifted briefly, then sank again.
Rangnan said shortly,
“No.”
And after a beat.
The shade beneath the rocks grew even quieter.
“He is human.”
Without lowering his gaze, Rangnan added,
“I taught him.”
In that instant, everyone swallowed their breath at once.
After Rangnan’s “I” fell,
Kallen’s eyes shook wide.
Muryeong tightened his grip on the axe handle,
and Yeonhwa slowly set down the piece of bread in her hand.
Without raising his head,
Taejin only pulled his chin in more firmly.
Though no one made a sound,
those brief movements made the air heavier, like confirmation that it was true.
“What…?”
Kallen asked again.
“What do you mean, you taught him?”
Rangnan did not entertain the question for long.
“It doesn’t seem like a story to tell now.”
Muryeong shot Kallen a look.
Kallen’s lips moved as if he wanted to ask more,
but in the end he swallowed his words.
All that remained in the shade of the rocks was the sound of chewing and waterskin stoppers being closed.
And that silence
hung at the back of everyone’s neck until they began walking again.
—
The time spent walking again was long.
The fewer words there were, the clearer their footsteps became.
Over rock and earth and shallow grass, the road swallowed the road.
When the sun began to tilt,
Rangnan raised a hand and had them stop briefly.
“One mouthful each.”
In the shade of the rocks, each person untied their cloth.
Some hands tore bread,
and some hands ripped jerky.
A waterskin passed around.
One sip each.
The stopper was closed,
and the straps were tightened again.
There was nothing more than that.
The party immediately walked again.
As darkness settled, the outlines around them grew thin.
The path became more cautious,
and their breaths dropped lower.
Rangnan spoke from the front.
“It’s around here.”
The party went deeper in.
It was a place where the sound of the wind
and the rustle of grass all died at once.
Then Miryeong lifted her head.
“…That’s right.”
The tip of her nose moved ever so slightly.
“He’s…”
“coming closer.”
As the party slowed their steps,
two people slowly walked out from between the trees.
The first to appear was Raen.
Then Maho.
The moment Raen saw Bido, her face brightened.
“Wow, Bido! It’s been so long!”
Without the slightest hesitation, she rushed in and hugged Bido.
Raen’s thick tail swayed widely in delight.
“I really… kept thinking about you!”
“Have you been well?”
Bido stiffened as if her arms had been bound.
With a flustered face, she held her hands in the air,
then barely managed to place them on Raen’s shoulders.
“Ah… Raen.”
“Yes. I’ve… been…”
Raen was already hugging Bido even tighter.
Maho quietly looked at Rangnan and said,
“Are the preparations done?”
Rangnan asked at once as well.
“Yes.”
“Roan?”
“He still hasn’t moved.”
Maho answered briefly.
“There’s some distance, too.”
Rangnan looked around.
His eyes searched the darkness for terrain where they could rest their feet.
“Then we’ll have to camp here tonight.”
Maho nodded.
“Yeah.”
“Make sure you’re ready.”
As he turned away, he added,
“See you in the morning.”
Just as he was about to step toward the shadows,
Raen, still hugging Bido, jerked her head up.
“Maho! We’re sleeping here too!”
Maho frowned.
“What are you talking about?”
“Hurry up and come, Raen.”
Raen clung tighter to Bido’s arm and held her ground.
Raen’s tail went stiff.
Her tail got angry before her mouth did.
“No!”
“Tonight, I’m sleeping next to Bido!”
“You sleep alone, Maho!”
Maho let out a short breath.
“…Ha.”
Then, as if giving up, he waved his hand.
“Do whatever you want.”
Leaving only those words behind, Maho disappeared into the darkness.
Raen hugged Bido once more like a victor.
“There.”
“I’ll protect you tonight.”
Bido did not know whether she should laugh
or freeze, so she only let out a small breath.
Preparations for camp began.
But no one
thought of tonight as a “night of rest.”