LS Chapter 6 .2 (part 1)

“It’s a fake. But still, we need to show it to the leader, so keep it safe.”

“Got it. And by the way, I captured one of the leader’s sons alive.”

“Where is he?”

Bart handed the fake bow to Tu and walked in the direction Miron pointed to.

At the innermost part of the Rainwood Tribe, where the leader’s hut was likely located, a man with his limbs bound looked at Bart with eyes full of fear. His face was covered in tears and snot from how much he had cried.

“Please… Please let me live.”

“…”

Bart stared at the man begging for his life with no emotion. He then took out a dagger and approached.

“Tell me about Namta.”

Miron pushed the man to the floor and pressed his chest down to restrain him. Then, he stretched his right hand out and pinned it to the ground. Bart stepped on the back of his hand and asked.

“I-I don’t know! I don’t know. I’m not a warrior, so I don’t know about that… Ahhh!”

Without hesitation, Bart cut off three of the man’s fingers. Red blood flowed gently down the sharp dagger.

“What was the deal with Namta?”

“I-I really don’t know. I don’t even know who Namta is. What my father and brothers do is not something I get involved in… Aaaahhh!”

Once the remaining fingers were cut off, the man’s hand looked strangely stubby. Bart stood up and swung the dagger through the air, making a few drops of bright red blood fall to the ground. Miron stretched the man’s left hand to the side and pinned it to the floor, and the man screamed as if having a seizure.

“Wait, wait a minute! I don’t know who this Namta is, but someone did come, someone did come. He brought a lot of precious things… He seemed to be asking for something, but I don’t know exactly what.”

“Hmm…”

As Bart placed his foot on the back of the man’s left hand, the man quickly continued.

“And! And, it was probably something related to battle. After that man came, my father collected the Rainwood powder. That’s all I know. Please, let me go. Please, I beg you, let me go.”

“The deal.”

“That’s all. It’s really all I know.”

As Bart lowered his body and brought the dagger closer to the man’s left hand, he struggled for his life.

“Rumor! The rumor is that the man made deals with several battle tribes.”

“What kind of deal?”

“I don’t know what kind of deal. I just overheard my father talking about it, that’s all.”

“Details of the deal.”

“I-I don’t know. I really don’t know anything more… Aaaahhh!”

Bart cut off the man’s thumb from his left hand.

“Think carefully again.”

“Please, please… I really don’t know… Ughh… Hahhh…”

The man’s eyes rolled back, showing the whites, and his pants grew damp. Trembling uncontrollably, the man’s head dropped with a dull thud, lifeless.

Bart quietly looked down at the unconscious man and clicked his tongue softly. As he suspected, this whole situation was a trap set by Namta. It seemed Namta had been in contact with the battle tribes. Whether or not it was Namta who dealt with the Rainwood Tribe didn’t matter. What mattered was that Namta was involved. What on earth was he scheming?

“The whole tribe must’ve moved to collect the Rainwood powder.”

As Bart stood up, thinking to himself, Miron nodded and answered.

“Since it’s a small battle tribe, it seems likely.”

That meant everyone in the Rainwood Tribe must know about the Rainwood powder. After the Mounted Tribe won battles, they would only take hostages who were not warriors or had not been involved in the fight.

Bart stepped out of the hut and gave Miron his orders.

“Don’t leave anyone alive. Kill them all.”

As Bart stepped out, he glanced down at his bloodied hands. Even after wiping them with cloth, the stains remained. Realizing the mess he was in, he clicked his tongue again.

Not only did it take longer than expected due to dealing with the warriors, but making the powder for the horses had also delayed things. Plus, with the leader of the Rainwood Tribe dragging his feet, it was now a day later than Bart had anticipated. Wiping the blood off his knife, he spoke to Miron as he walked toward him.

“Clean this up, and take anything valuable as loot. And disregard what happened earlier.”

“Understood.”

“I’ll be waiting for you when I return.”

Bart mounted his horse before Miron could even answer and took off.

Since the Red Tribe was relatively close to the Rainwood Tribe, he reached it without stopping. When he saw the entrance of the Red Tribe in the distance, Bart stopped his horse and looked up at the sky. The sun was beginning to set, casting a reddish light across the sky and the land.

Bart, while looking over his arms and legs, wiped his face with his hand. The strong smell of blood had faded, swept away by the wind and dust, but the bloodstains remained. He tried to recall if there was a nearby creek, but he couldn’t remember. Washing the blood off would be nice, but he couldn’t afford to waste time looking for a stream.

Bart sat atop his horse, waiting for the sun to completely set and for the black sky to cover the land.

To Bart, the smell of blood was more familiar than the scent of flowers. In every memory he had, the scent of blood accompanied him. Organs spilling out from a torn belly, body parts rolling away from severed bodies. Walking over corpses and puddles of blood on the floor, leaving sticky footprints. All of this was familiar to him, but not to Yujin.

As time passed and the surroundings darkened, Bart dismounted and walked toward the Red Tribe. Once at the entrance, he brushed the dust and bloodstains from his arms and legs. This much should be enough to hide it.

He remembered the moment in the Riazai Tribe when Yujin had been huddled in a corner, trembling. He also recalled how Yujin had been crying and gagging after staining his hands with the blood of beasts.

Tap, tap, tap, tap.

Hearing the hurried footsteps, Bart lifted his head to see Yujin running toward him from afar.

The last bit of the blue light, which had clung to the edge of the twilight, sparkled for a moment in the air before it vanished. Yujin’s hair shimmered, and a greenish glow settled on his face as he smiled.

With a soft thud, Yujin’s light body landed against Bart’s chest, and he lifted him into his arms.

He almost asked, “Did you wait long?” but stopped. Instead, he gently stroked Yujin’s small head as it nestled against his chest.

* * *

“Yujin, what are you doing here?”

As Pupa approached Yujin, who was gathering laundry, he asked. Yujin smiled faintly, as if it was nothing.

“Just gathering the laundry.”

“You’re not in charge of the laundry, so why are you here? Is Chi-chi sick again?”

As Pupa naturally helped Yujin gather the laundry, he added the question, but Yujin shook his head.

“No, I’m just doing it because I want to.”

Carefully folding the laundry to avoid touching the dirt, Yujin answered, and Pupa shook his head.

“By the way, Aunt asked me to tell you she understands.”

“Really? That’s a relief.”

“Did you ask her for something again?”

“It’s not like that.”

“Then why are you taking care of the dawn chores for half a month?”

“How did you know about that?”

Yujin smiled awkwardly, and Pupa sighed loudly, kicking the dirt with his foot. Yujin knew that Pupa was worried about him, but as he had told him, this was something Yujin chose to do on his own.

“You really… Never mind. If you ever need help, just ask.”

“Thanks, Pupa.”

Yujin, holding the freshly dried cloth in the sun, headed toward the area where the warriors’ huts were clustered. He first stopped by Tu’s hut, placed the dried cloth there, and then continued walking toward Miron’s hut when he heard Kappa’s shout.

“This isn’t what we agreed on!”

“Agreement? What agreement?”

Namta responded with a sneer, and Kappa glared at him. One of Namta’s followers chuckled, and Kappa, in a fit of rage, charged at him. But it was a one-against-many situation. As expected, Kappa was soon subdued and kneeling before Namta.

A sharp sound rang out, and Namta grinned smugly.

“What makes you think you can tell me what promises to keep?”

Thwack!

“Do you think you’re something special just because I occasionally tolerate you? Huh?!”

Thwack!

Namta slapped Kappa’s cheek repeatedly. Yujin, watching the scene from a distance, quickly turned his gaze away and hurried on his way.

Kappa, who had been an ordinary person, used to torment commoners by boasting that he was a warrior, but in reality, he was only a warrior candidate. The fact that he couldn’t even participate in training showed that he wasn’t truly a warrior. Moreover, he hadn’t even taken part in the selection trials. But strangely, Kappa believed he was destined to become a warrior. And the longer his hopes went unfulfilled, the more vicious he became toward those weaker than him.

Yujin stopped by Miron’s hut, placed the laundry that had dried in the sun, and set down some roasted meat on one side. He then checked the charcoal and cleaned out the ash from the stove. After tidying up Miron’s hut to some extent, Yujin headed toward Chi-chi’s hut.

“Chi-chi, how are you feeling?”

Chi-chi, lying in bed and curled up, slowly sat up to greet Yujin.

“I’m feeling much better.”

“That’s a relief. Rest a bit more.”

Yujin began tidying up the clothes, bowls, and charcoal scattered inside the hut. He added fresh charcoal to the stove and warmed up the inside of the hut.

“…Yujin, thank you.”

“It’s nothing. I’ll bring more charcoal tomorrow. Also, I think Aunt will come by tonight.”

“Aunt?”

“Yeah. She said she’ll bring some porridge with good herbs for pregnant women.”

“…Why?”

“Why, you ask? It’s for you and the baby.”

Yujin answered while looking at Chi-chi’s slightly protruding belly. Chi-chi, carrying Kappa’s child, had not been feeling well lately. The biggest problem was that she couldn’t eat properly. Whatever little she managed to eat, she would often vomit. While it was a common symptom for pregnant women, Chi-chi’s case was a bit severe.

There were herbs to soothe her stomach, but those were only distributed to the wives of warriors, making it nearly impossible for commoners to obtain. Commoners couldn’t even meet with a healer, and even if they did, they would still be unable to get the herbs. In the end, Yujin was able to get the herbs through Aunt by taking on the dawn chores for half a month.

“Thank you. Really, thank you.”

“Thank you, you say. Don’t worry about that. You should focus on getting your health back. You’ve gotten so thin lately.”

Yujin glanced at Chi-chi’s forehead, which was bruised. At first, he would ask if she was okay, but now it was even hard to ask that. She had been beaten again before the bruises could even fade, and before one injury healed, another would appear. The only thing Yujin could do for Chi-chi was to get the herbs by taking on the grueling work in exchange.

“Do you want me to bring you some leftover meat from the kitchen? You did eat the dried meat with herbs last time, right?”

“…”

“Just in case, I’ll bring some. Don’t give it to Kappa like last time, okay? You eat it, alright? You’re really going to get yourself in trouble at this rate.”

As Yujin spoke, Chi-chi’s face contorted in an unusual way. He wondered if perhaps she was feeling unwell.

“Chi-chi, what’s wrong? Is your stomach really upset? Do you want to see a healer?”

“…”

“Does something hurt? I can help, you know. Tell me, what’s going on?”

Chi-chi, who had been silent at Yujin’s questioning, suddenly burst into tears and lowered her head.

“Yujin, it wasn’t on purpose… it just happened… I just…”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“I really didn’t know. I never imagined that Kappa would remember that.”

Chi-chi, muttering strange words and rambling, seemed to be in a precarious state. Yujin sighed quietly to himself as he tried to comfort her, but the more he did so, the louder her crying grew. Chi-chi’s face turned pale, as though she was about to faint. Yujin, feeling that something serious might happen, was about to reassure her, when suddenly, Kappa barged in, roughly opening the door.

“Who’s this? Some little whore?”

Kappa, whose face was swollen and lips torn, sneered at Yujin. Yujin stood up and, speaking gently to Chi-chi, said:

“Take care of yourself. I’ll come again next time.”