44.
The trumpet tore through the air.Short, sharp, and familiar.At that single blast, the movements of the people in the yard stopped.The woman lifting the pot lid froze her hand, and the children stiffened, watching the adults' faces.
The rooster's crow cut off.A dog barked a moment later.Park Seong-jin stopped the hand that had been wiping his blade.Sunlight gathered on the sword tip brushed past his face.He lifted his head and saw the signal smoke rising toward the military camp.
"Dispatch rider! Dispatch—!"
From far away, a rider came shouting as he galloped in.The horse ran at full speed, covered in dust.Foam clung to its neck, a speed that left no room to look back at pain.The rider's eyes were bloodshot and red.When the horse skidded to a stop as if crashing into the wall, he shouted without even catching his breath.
"It's the Northern Yuan army! Naghachu's main force is advancing south!"
Seong-jin's heart sank once.The words "main force" stuck in his ears.Yesterday's battle had been only a prelude.As hard as it had been, it was merely the opening.
Shouts burst out in every alley."Full mobilization!""All units return immediately!""Check crossbow equipment!""Leave ended! All personnel return to camp!"
Seong-jin immediately closed his scabbard.The word "all" included himself.The blade that had held sunlight just moments ago sank into darkness.As he closed the door of the west annex, he looked toward the main house.
His eyes met the woman standing at the edge of the porch.She bowed her head without a word.And said, so quietly it was almost inaudible,
"You're going… to fight again?"
Instead of answering, Seong-jin nodded.He tightened the front of his coat and looked up at the black smoke flowing over the rooftops.The smoke drifted north with the wind.From that direction, the army was coming down again.
Morning sunlight spread over the wall.The winter air was cool, the sky pale.The wind brushed by thinly.
Seong-jin stood at the door holding a small bundle that could barely be called luggage.Everyone in the household had come out.The adults bowed their heads, the women could not lift their eyes.The children were unusually quiet.Before those gazes, Seong-jin lost his words for a moment.It lingered—the feeling that they were looking at him like someone they would not see again for long.
"I've… been greatly indebted to you."
The words came rough and awkward.He started to bow, then stopped.It did not feel right to offer formal courtesy while wearing a sword.
Then the old man stepped forward.With a face carved deep with wrinkles, he bent his back toward Seong-jin.
"Please return alive."
It was closer to a prayer than a greeting.From behind, a woman approached and held out a thin cloth bundle.Inside were dried meat, two rice balls, and a small cloth pouch.
"It's nothing.""It's difficult to accept."
The woman continued, her head still bowed."Because you were here… this house was a little less frightening."
At those words, Seong-jin could not steady his breath.He felt he should say something, but his mouth would not open.
Then a child ran out.It was the same child who had offered the jerky earlier.The child pulled out a small stone from his pouch and pressed it into Seong-jin's hand.
"This."It was a small, smoothly worn stone."It's a lucky stone. My father gave it to me.""Your father…?""He passed away last year."
Seong-jin looked down at the child for a moment."So you're giving it to me?"The child nodded."You have to come back."
Seong-jin gently stroked the child's head.The warmth passed to his fingertips and lingered.He turned away.He did not look back.The farther he walked, the more his eyes stung.
As he rounded the end of the wall, the morning light burst dazzlingly.He clenched the stone again inside his pocket.The warmth left on its surface had not yet faded.From afar, the trumpet sounded again.
Seong-jin looked up at the sky.White clouds drifted slowly.Human hearts stayed behind, and war urged the steps forward.
"I'll come back."
They say you shouldn't make promises in war.There was a superstition in camp that words take root, or turn unlucky in reverse.He himself did not know whom the words were meant for.
"Naghachu…."
The name rolled low inside his mouth.
The vibration of warhorses and iron descending across the northern snowfields reached his feet.He paused for a moment, then turned his direction.The sweet taste of the child's jerky still lingered on his tongue.Soon it settled like ash.
Seong-jin ran toward the camp.Behind him, the winter sky split long and wide.
====---*
"You're back. Rest well?""Reporting in. Returning from leave.""Good. From now on, it'll be busy as hell again. They're coming. The main force."
The tone was light.There was no smile on the face.
Hwang Hyeon-pil immediately raised his voice."Unit Two, equipment check! Fit new strings to the crossbows, divide steel bolts into three bundles!""Affirmative!"
The soldiers' replies shook the cold air.
Inside the fortress had already hardened into full wartime posture.The parapet that had collapsed had been reinforced overnight with stonework, and crossbow positions were adjusted again.New trenches and firing slits continued along the walls.Between them, soldiers carried sand and stone.
Yesterday's quiet was gone without a trace.Seong-jin checked his crossbow with familiar hands.He drew the string, aimed carefully with an empty shot, and released.The fletching of the steel bolt fluttered in the wind.The sky was pale, the wind unusually cold.It looked like snow might fall again.
Then, from the headquarters, the trumpet sounded briefly.The signal for the commander-in-chief's appearance.
All officers and squad leaders assembled before the main road.Baek In-gun rode out to inspect the ranks.His white armor caught the light and flashed silver.Under his eyes lay the fatigue of the night, but his gaze was cold and clear.
"Reorganize the lines."His voice echoed through the fortress."Naghachu's main force is advancing south. They will reach the front of Liaoyang Fortress by today."
The soldiers held their breath.Baek In-gun paused and swept his gaze across the camp.Then he spoke again.
"Break them. Pursue them. If this fortress falls, there is no country."
The short words pressed down on the air.Even breathing sank.That silence itself was the order.
"Affirmative!"
The voices of over a thousand men filled the fortress.Seong-jin lifted his head.Not long ago, he had been a soldier who only reacted to commands.Now, he was a soldier who knew the position he had to hold.
Hwang Hyeon-pil shouted beside him."Unit Two, move to the West Gate! Take charge of left-wing defense!""Affirmative!"
Seong-jin ran with the soldiers.They took position atop the newly built stonework beyond the once-collapsed parapet.It was a place the flames had touched before.Between the stones, burn marks still remained.
As he set up his crossbow, he muttered quietly,"So it begins again."
Oh Jin-cheol grinned."You thought it'd end?""Yes. For a moment.""That's a soldier's illness."
Oh Jin-cheol added low,"For us, it never ends. It ends only when we die."
The wind blew.White powder scattered beneath the wall.A sign of snow blowing in from the north.
That night, under the sky of Liaoyang Fortress, hundreds of signal fires were lit.Light climbed the walls, and the ringing of metal continued through the night.In that glow, Seong-jin briefly remembered the warm sunlight of the civilian house.
And as if nothing had happened,he gripped his crossbow again.