I'll go in alone.
Meanwhile, as darkness fell, Soun and Yang Johwi had climbed a tree positioned where the enemy camp was clearly visible.
Smoke from cooking fires rose into the evening air, and the savory scent drifted toward them, stirring the appetite.
Yang Johwi swallowed hard.
They had not eaten a warm meal for several days.
They had been surviving on dried meat jerky and grain powder.
There was nothing more tempting than the smell of rice cooking.
"Even ten-year-olds get to light fires and eat hot rice… tch."
A camp housing five thousand men was no small thing.
Outer defensive units were positioned along the perimeter.
The supply corps and command center stood at the center.
Between them were several carts piled high with weapons.
Fires burned in many places where soldiers prepared their meals.
Below the tree where the two men hid, two soldiers cautiously approached.
Even during rest time, leaving the camp was forbidden.
"Who are those bastards?"
"The kind of slackers you find anywhere."
"Shall we see what they're up to?"
"Knock them out, change clothes, and go inside."
"Inside? You mean into that?"
Yang Johwi's eyes widened.
He shook his head vigorously, even his shoulders trembling.
"No! Even if they're a rabble, that's still five thousand men. How do you walk into the middle of that camp? No. Absolutely not."
He shook his head again, waving both arms.
That was something he wanted no part of.
Soun smiled calmly and handed him the long halberd.
"Then guard this place. And say nothing. I'll go in alone."
Relief flickered across Yang Johwi's face at not having to follow.
Still, he tried to sound bold.
"How can I let a kid go in alone…"
He called Soun a child and played at being a guardian.
"Just stay here. I can't stand not knowing what they're saying. I'll be back."
Before Yang could respond, Soun dropped lightly from the tall tree.
He rolled once and sprinted forward.
He intercepted the two approaching soldiers and struck them down with swift blows.
Stripping them and binding them took little time; he had done such things often in Anyang Fortress.
He did not forget to gag them.
After changing clothes, Soun picked up a spear from one of the dull-looking soldiers and headed toward the camp.
There was a sentry posted between each tent.
With soldiers moving busily about, he passed through without serious inspection.
There seemed to be little real vigilance.
The atmosphere was loose.
He moved toward the largest tent at the center.
No one stopped him at first.
"Who goes there? Halt!"
As he lingered near the inner area, a sentry challenged him.
The closer he came to the center, the tighter the security became.
Soldiers stood in ranks.
The air smelled more distinctly of the military core.
"I'm just passing through."
"Go around."
"Why?"
Soun asked with disarming innocence.
Though he stood among enemies, he did not appear as one.
"Hah. They've even dressed children in uniform and dragged them here. This country won't end well. Hey! This is where the commanders are meeting. Go around!"
"Commanders? Oh, I see!"
He turned away and sharpened his senses.
At first, the voices inside were faint murmurs.
Gradually they grew louder.
Soon they became clear.
Distance lost meaning.
When he stilled his mind and focused, every word drifted to him distinctly.
"We cannot advance without a commander. How can we lead troops without one? We must remain here and await orders from above."
"What orders? Either someone will be appointed or a new commander sent. That's all. This is open ground. Vulnerable to ambush. We should at least move to a place with walls. We must reach Anyang County."
"And if something happens on the way? Without a command structure, we'll be slaughtered. Those rats clinging to our rear have already cost us dearly. If we hadn't moved supplies to the center, we wouldn't even have dinner tonight."
"They number fewer than five hundred. However brave they are, they're just scraps sewn together from scattered remnants. Why fear them? I'm tired of this meeting."
"That one was formidable. He took our commander's head in a single stroke. I saw it clearly from afar. With such a warrior among them, we cannot dismiss them as merely five hundred. And they are all cavalry. We cannot catch them."
"This campaign sits ill with me. What wrong has General Jin Mugwang committed? Label anything rebellion and it becomes rebellion. Why should we serve to the death? Lose and we're beheaded as defeated generals. Win and we're beheaded as rebels. Who cares for men like us who stake our lives on a blade? Let's pass the time and withdraw. Why fight so hard?"
"Watch your tongue."
"I tried to avoid coming. But General Jang insisted I was needed. Promised something in return. Now look at this. All for nothing."
"If we fail to strike Jin Family Estate, we lose our heads anyway. We strike first, then see what comes. Not now."
The argument circled.
They worried about their own survival.
They attacked Jin Family Estate to preserve themselves.
Soun thought deeply.
There might be another path.
He sensed no genuine will to fight in their words.
Not merely a rabble—there was scarcely even the spark of battle spirit.
He sat where the central tent was visible in the distance and smiled faintly.
He had come intending to kill at least one more man.
Now he walked slowly back toward the outer perimeter.
It seemed unnecessary.
The sentry who had challenged him earlier called out again.
"Why are you wandering around? Can't find your own tent?"
Soun nodded.
A young boy soldier in ill-fitting armor nodding awkwardly—it was convincing.
"You'll freeze out here. Be careful."
He passed silently.
At the outermost perimeter, another sentry asked,
"Where are you going?"
"To relieve myself."
"Tsk. You're just a kid… It's dangerous. Don't go too far."
"Yes."
He realized something.
Wherever people lived, life was similar.
The hardship lay in not knowing where one belonged.
Within clear boundaries, people followed their own logic, their own ways.
He returned slowly to Yang Johwi.
The sentry's concern struck him unexpectedly.
They were people too.
Living and dying at an emperor's command.
Men who could not shape their own fates.
Killing them would not resolve anything.
Others would be sent in their place.
Again and again.
He had believed that if slaughtering them would solve the matter, he would do it.
But they were the same as he was.
Some even worried for him.
He felt confused.
Things could not be simplified.
He had believed that dividing the world into us and them, enemy and ally, and striving with all one's might was the proper way to live.
But if his striving destroyed another's striving, what then?
The sentry who told him not to go far had spoken out of concern.
The one who thought he was a lost child pitied him.
They were the same.
Was war destiny?
Were men merely instruments of a higher will?
But was this truly war?
It felt like a conflict that could have been avoided.
Was the emperor's ambition excessive?
If that ambition were restrained, would all this vanish?
Lost in thought, Soun returned to Yang Johwi.
"How was it?"
"They're arguing whether to hold here or move to a walled town. No plan to withdraw."
"No attack until a new commander arrives?"
"Yes. They'll stay or retreat to a nearby city and fortify. Report that to General Lee Hui."
Yang Johwi studied him.
"Something happen?"
"Yes. I found reasons I cannot become cruel. Starting with whether they are truly enemies. They're just lives like ours."
"And you think like that on a battlefield? That kind of thought leads to death."
"I know… But I can't ignore it. I've reached one conclusion at least. We cannot slaughter them simply because they are called 'enemy.' I need more time. Time to think…"