Aslo and Muryeong were waiting in front of the cart.
The air in the forest trembled, ever so slightly.
Muryeong raised his head.
“It’s Miryeong.”
Muryeong immediately ran off.
Soon, Miryeong appeared between the trees, walking with difficulty.
Her steps were so unsteady it was hard to believe they had ever been straight;
now her body seemed to lag behind her.
The moment Muryeong reached her, he wrapped an arm around her and supported her.
Soon, the three of them gathered in front of the cart.
Muryeong said,
“Aslo. Miryeong.”
With that, he grabbed the cart’s handles.
“I’ll pull the cart.”
Aslo supported Miryeong and said,
“We’re moving to the point Rangnan mentioned. Hurry.”
Miryeong forced the words out.
“Damn it… my body still won’t listen….”
Her breath caught.
“I can’t… smell properly either….”
Looking at her, Muryeong said in a low voice,
“Miryeong. Your Idrin is a mess right now. For now, leave your body to Aslo.”
Miryeong tried to grit her teeth in frustration,
but even that lacked strength.
The three of them moved as quickly as they could.
The cart wheels creaked as they scraped along the dry dirt road.
Each time the covering cloth swayed, the weight inside shifted with a low lurch.
At first, Miryeong leaned against Aslo and was dragged along more than she walked,
but after catching her breath a few times, she began to walk little by little on her own feet.
Even so, she was far from recovered.
Her steps lagged by a beat,
and it felt as if her body was “following” after her.
When they arrived at a deeply shaded forest a short distance from Arku, Miryeong sank down onto the ground.
Her breath leaked out raggedly.
“…Ha.”
Miryeong gasped for air as she spoke.
“I feel like I’m being worked way too hard lately.”
Aslo answered curtly.
“Miryeong. There’s no one in the Eunwoldan with detection abilities as sharp as yours.”
Miryeong tried to laugh hollowly, but her breath caught.
“…What’s the point?”
Her voice cracked.
“Right now… it feels like I’m in complete darkness. I can’t tell anything.”
At present,
smell, sound—
even the sensations of her own body were unclear.
Aslo walked over to the cart.
Then, slowly,
he began taking down the odds and ends piled on top.
Muryeong silently helped as well.
When they pulled back the covering cloth,
a wooden barrel lined with cloth inside was revealed.
One barrel of explosives.
And even that was less than half full.
Aslo looked down at the barrel and said,
“This is strange.”
He chose his words for a moment, then added in a low voice,
“With this little gunpowder… at most, it could only break down one door.”
Muryeong looked at the barrel and asked,
“Was the information wrong?”
Instead of answering, Aslo raised his head.
“Who knows….”
At that moment—
an explosion erupted from the direction of Arku.
The ground rumbled low.
It felt as if something pressed once against their chests,
and the birds in the forest all took flight at once.
The three of them looked that way simultaneously.
Beyond Arku’s walls in the distance,
black smoke was rising.
Aslo said very quietly,
“…We’ve been had.”
That was when it happened.
Muryeong turned his head.
“…Someone is approaching this way.”
“Members of the unit?”
Aslo spoke uneasily.
“It could be, but….”
Miryeong raised her head.
“I… can’t smell anything right now.”
Muryeong was silent for a moment.
He listened to the approaching footsteps,
the sound of metal rattling,
separating them one by one.
And then he reached a conclusion.
“…It isn’t the Eunwoldan.”
Muryeong’s voice sank low.
“…We’re surrounded.”
Aslo and Muryeong reached for their weapons at the same time.
And Muryeong pushed Miryeong behind him.
The sound of underbrush being pushed aside.
The sound of metal striking metal.
Soon, armored figures walked out from between the bushes.
It was the Arku guard.
They seemed to have already formed ranks.
Before the three could even change direction,
spear tips rose in a half circle and slowly closed in.
In that instant,
Aslo spotted someone standing behind the soldiers, dressed in the robes of an imperial priest.
The red tint in his eyes was gradually fading.
The priest wore a faint smile at the corners of his mouth,
as if everything had gone exactly according to plan.
Aslo glanced toward the cart.
Only now did he see it.
Among the baggage,
beneath the cloth, a small unfamiliar piece of metal.
As if someone had “dropped” it—
no, as if it had been deliberately hidden there.
Aslo thought,
‘They followed that.’
“They really were here….”
Someone on the guard’s side muttered through gritted teeth.
“Those bastards dared to attack Arku…”
Angry breaths leaked out from all around.
The man who appeared to be the captain stepped forward.
“Silence!”
He drew his sword and said,
“You, Eunwoldan. You are under arrest on suspicion of bombing the council!”
The spear tips lowered further,
coming closer.
“Throw down your weapons and surrender.”
“Resist, and we’ll cut you down here.”
Then, behind Muryeong’s back,
Miryeong spoke in a very small voice.
“Hey… Muryeong.”
Her voice cracked.
“Take care… of me.”
And then Miryeong sprang up as if throwing herself forward.
The moment the soldiers reflexively looked that way,
Miryeong gathered the wind with a pained expression.
The air bent once.
A powerful gust—
swept through the thinnest part of their forces.
The soldiers fell,
stumbling as their spears tangled together and dragged one another down.
Aslo and Muryeong did not hesitate.
The instant the wind cut off as if extinguished,
Miryeong’s legs gave out.
Muryeong caught the falling Miryeong in his arms and rushed out,
while Aslo lowered his body and followed from the opposite side.
Chaos descended in an instant.
Amid the collapsed formation,
the guard could not respond immediately.
“What are you doing! After them!”
the guard captain shouted.
Only then did several of them belatedly begin to run.
The guard captain gritted his teeth and added,
“The rest of you, secure the cart! It’s evidence. Be careful when you touch it!”
As the soldiers surrounded the barrel,
the priest walked up beside the guard captain.
The guard captain hurriedly showed his respect.
“Thanks to you, Priest, we found the culprits. Thank you.”
Then he asked with a suspicious expression,
“…But how did you know they were targeting the council?”
The priest bowed his head and said gently,
“All is the will of the Sun.”
—
The two of them ran swiftly.
Aslo glanced to the side.
Miryeong, held in Muryeong’s arms, was limp.
She was clearly still breathing, but her eyes would not open.
Aslo spoke as if through gritted teeth.
“Muryeong. Take Miryeong and return to the Eunwoldan first. I’ll draw their attention.”
Instead of answering, Muryeong nodded.
Then he overtook Aslo,
lowering his body as he ran deeper into the forest.
Aslo stopped at the point where the path split.
It was a narrow clearing where bare earth showed through.
A place where footprints would be easy to leave behind.
He turned around, caught his breath,
adjusted his grip on his sword, and waited for the pursuers who would be coming after him.
—
The entrance to the Eunwoldan was in an uproar.
Bido raised his head.
Hurried, clashing footsteps, someone’s low shout.
The next moment,
Muryeong appeared at the end of the passage.
In his arms—
Miryeong hung limp.
“Lady Miryeong…?”
Bido’s voice cracked.
Muryeong did not answer.
Without stopping for even a single step, he ran straight inside.
Bido followed reflexively.
Raen did the same, hurrying after them from behind.
—
Miryeong’s room.
Muryeong stopped in front of the bed.
Then carefully,
very carefully, he laid Miryeong down.
Miryeong was breathing.
But she seemed unconscious.
Her forehead and nape were wet with sweat,
and her face was fixed in an expression that seemed to be swallowing pain.
Bido was still clumsy at reading another person’s Idrin flow.
Even so—
he could tell now.
This was not a normal flow.
As if a stream of water were surging backward,
something inside her body had been forcibly twisted.
“Lord Muryeong….”
Bido swallowed his breath.
“Why is Lady Miryeong… why is she like this?”
Muryeong did not answer for a long while.
Instead, he only looked at Miryeong’s face before saying quietly,
“…She needs to rest.”
Before those words had even ended,
Bido’s hand moved on its own and settled over the back of Miryeong’s hand.
Cold.
Bido clasped her hand tightly.
Not with force—
but with the feeling of holding on.
Then,
Miryeong’s expression eased ever so slightly.
Her breathing
grew a little deeper.
Bido felt the change.
As if tangled threads were finding their proper places again,
there was a sensation of the flow being “sorted” from his fingertips.
Bido realized
what his hand was doing right now.
So he focused.
The edges of Bido’s vision blurred hotly.
Something rose up from behind his eyelids.
Raen swallowed his breath.
Muryeong’s gaze fixed on Bido’s face.
Bido’s eyes—
were dyed red.
Miryeong’s breathing no longer broke.
Her sweat-soaked forehead began to dry little by little,
and her pale skin slowly,
slowly regained its color.
Muryeong muttered inwardly,
‘…Stabilization.’
Then he soon spoke as if gritting his teeth.
“I’m going to Rangnan.”
Those words meant, “I’m asking you to take care of her.”
No—
they were closer to, “I’m leaving her to you.”
Muryeong left the room.
Raen remained by the door, silently watching the situation.
Bido could not let go of her hand.
Because beneath his palm,
he could feel Miryeong’s flow being corrected little by little.
Sweat ran down Bido’s forehead as well.
His breathing grew short.
His fingertips tingled.
Then,
Miryeong’s eyes slowly opened.
“…Ah.”
Her voice was so small it was barely audible.
“Where···”
Miryeong’s focus settled on Bido’s face.
“Bido…?”
Bido swallowed a breath that threatened to burst out.
“Lady Miryeong….”
His voice trembled.
“Are you all right now…?”
Tears gathered in his red-dyed eyes.
At that moment—
Bido felt the very center of his chest drop with a thud.
It was different from relief.
His heart beat a moment late, in a strange way.
As if something
was trying to open its eyes in a very deep place.
Bido had no time to think about that sensation.
Right now, Miryeong had woken up.
That one fact alone held his entire body in place.