Chapter 123
Chapter 123: Bad things happen at the same time (2)
A bell rang, signaling for meal time.
“FOOD!”
“Let’s eat!”
The kids began cleaning up. They gathered bottles of lamb milk to one side and the other kids gathered eggs from the chicken pen. Catherine was with them with two eggs in her hand.
“Joonbum! I brought these for you!”
Catherine ran toward Joonbum who had just sat down at the table. There were bluish eggs in her hands.
“For me?”
“Yeah!”
“Why, thank you.”
Catherine blushed. Joonbum smiled and patted her head. Aina grinned at the sight. Joonbum nodded at Aina and she nodded back.
Aina thought, ‘I hated seeing that, but it just looks natural now.’
She was relieved to see such a friendly sight as she knew Joonbum had no other intentions.
“Catherine, did you know that it tastes good to have fresh egg inside this sujebi?”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
Joonbum cracked the egg open into the bowl. The hot soup cooked the egg right away from the inside. Catherine followed what Joonbum did and the other kids around them followed suit, as did the other Ainos.
“Oh!”
“This is different.”
“It tastes better!”
Everyone seemed to enjoy it. Breakfast was satisfying as it was relaxing. Catherine happily ate her food.
“Catherine, you know I will be leaving for a while today, right?”
“Yes! I know. I-I heard it will be long…”
Catherine nodded and answered hesitantly. She was biting her lips.
‘She sure is a noble.’
“Yeah, it will take a bit of time, but you should look after yourself while I’m away. Don’t cry like a baby when I’m not here, okay?” Joonbum spoke teasingly.
“NO WAY! I don’t cry like a baby! Hmph!”
“Haha. Okay, take care then, alright?”
“Okay. Don’t worry about me.”
“Promise? I will do whatever you wish if you keep the promise.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. But I won’t marry you or something like that.”
“WHAT! I won’t wish for that!”
“Good then. Haha!”
“OH! So Catherine doesn’t like Joonbum that much?” Sunsook jumped in, teasing Catherine. She blushed and everyone smiled. The time for the scouting team to leave was upon them.
*
Warhorses seemed to be agitated as the area was filled with a tense atmosphere. Knights were readying themselves with huge lances and soldiers were lined up behind them. The wind constantly blew at the flags. There was a similar number of knights and soldiers on the other side of the plain, facing them.
“They were quick. Damn Torian bastards.”
“The Torians are quick like rats.”
“What should we do? Should we fall back for now?”
The knights conversed with each other. Some wanted to fall back and some were eager to get some results.
“We’ll get scoffed at if we fall back like this.”
Tade Noah, the first son of Count Noah, spoke, and the knights frowned. However, those who wanted to fight looked like they were in agreement.
“But we can’t continue on like this…”
“OH! The FEARLESS Oden Bezua is afraid?”
Tade taunted Oden Bezua who gave the suggestion. He glared at Tade. They sort of had a rivalry between each other and everyone recognized this.
‘Here we go again.’
Kissia Herald sighed as the two began arguing. They were both friends just until a year ago, when they fought over a woman named Verona Winter. She was a daughter of Marquis Winter and she showed up on a party for her fifteenth birthday, the ceremony of adulthood. They both fell in love with her and began to court her. Oden was the winner and Tade became jealous. Their friendship quickly fell apart and now they were left with anger and jealousy toward each other.
“Back off coward! I will take those who will join me in the glorious battle! Come! Valorous knights of Galia!”
A few men stepped out in response to the call.
“I will!”
“I will join.”
“I need to show-off.”
“We can’t just go back like this.”
“I don’t want to get blamed for wasting money over this war.”
Knights began to speak and they began joining Tade. A fortune had been spent to send them to this war. Just invading a few small towns was not enough.
“We will take prisoners! It will be our victory if we do. It will make us heroes!” Tade shouted. The knights agreed. Even Oden seemed to change his mind. He was only twenty years old. Tade’s taunt fired up his mind to prove himself.
“LOOK! Oden, are you going to run away like a dog?”
Oden scowled at Tade.
“When did I say that I was going to run?”
“OH? So you will join us, then?” Tade teased.
Oden shouted in anger, “I never want to join YOU in the fight but I am with all of you if you all want to battle.”
Tade looked at him.
‘Let’s see what will happen.’
A battle horn was blown and the soldiers began to advance slowly. As they came closer, they began to shout and charge at each other. There were no tactics. Knights and soldiers alike charged forward, trying to hack away at each other. Knights fought with knights and soldiers fought with soldiers.
“For GALIA!”
“Tade! Knight of Galia is here! Who will fight me!”
Knights began shouting their names and charged into the battlefield. The knights from Toria did the same in return.
“I am Don Verita of Toria! Fight me!”
A knight charged on his Galim. Tade charged too. They both began to thrust their spears at each other. Others were fighting at the same time. The area was filled with dust clouds were kicked up from the ground and it was now hard to make out who was who.
“HAH! Knight of Galia is weak! Do you only know how to ambush?”
Don Verita taunted Tade and he grew angry. At the same time, Tade imagined Oden’s face instead of Don’s.
‘Oden! You bastard!’
He was overlapping Oden with the knight he was fighting.
‘How dare you take her away from me!’
“YOU!!!”
Don was surprised at the sudden charge from Tade. The spear tore into the surprised Don and penetrated his body.
“Ugh… You…”
The Galim darted off as Don fell down.
“Dammit…”
Tade became pale. He had no intention of killing his opponent. He was trying to capture him as a prisoner, but his anger made him lose his mind. A dead knight was not like the death of a soldier.
‘Dammit Oden! It’s all because of you!’
Tade searched for his breath as he looked around. He found Oden at a distance, showing his back. Tade threw his spear into the air at once.
“UGH!”
Oden fell with a spear in his body. As soon as he dropped to the ground, the Galim’s hooves trumped on his face, bring him down. His body was trampled all over by the hooves of the Galims.
‘Good.’
It was more than good. It felt satisfying to fulfill his revenge. His anger and jealousy left him and he came back to his senses.
‘Oden was killed by a knight from Toria.’
Tade began to make up a cover story.
‘I killed a Torian knight as revenge! I DID IT! And she will be mine!’
Tade’s eyes were filled with lust.
“ODEN has been killed by the Torians! REVENGE!” Tade shouted. All the knights were shaken by the news.
“YOU ANIMALS! KILL THEM ALL!”
“REVENGE FOR ODEN!”
“DON IS DEAD! THAT KNIGHT FROM GALIA KILLED HIM!”
The knights were now fighting more viciously, actually trying to kill each other. It was always a fight to capture each other as prisoners for a prize and not to kill. This war was supposed to be a training ground for young and upcoming knights, but it was now a battlefield of death.
At the end of the day, many corpses were laying around. A few who survived moaned, but they soon fell silent.