104 The Hidden Truth
No single informant knows everything.
A merchant in the steppe gets information from the tribes he passes through and trades with, and it is often limited to that area.
Of course, you can also get information from other regions.
In the grasslands, it took time, but eventually, information came and went through people from here to there.
And one day many rumors flow from end to end.
But that flow took a long time.
By the time news of someone getting married arrives at the end of the meadow, it may be after giving birth to about three children.
Sometimes the truth was transformed into an absurd thing and wandered around. A dog becomes a tiger, or a dragon becomes an ant.
In the end, in order to obtain some information, it is necessary to obtain information from various regions, collect the contents, and appropriately cut or add to it.
A special agency in the border area gathered information from merchants passing through the grasslands and concluded that a total of seven tribes were united.
“The biggest tribes are the Black Rocks and the Howling Winds. The Black Rocks have received considerable aid from the Empire, and the Howling Winds have been raiding Imperial villages for years.”
The official of the special agency said with a hard face.
He seems to have quite a bad feeling about those two tribes.
Meals arrived while officials continued to report.
Attendants and servants pushed carts of food through the crowd of people scattered all over the expanse.
Rudy chose a large room in the Yeongju Hall, emptied all the furniture outside, and made it his headquarters for countermeasures.
Instead, several tables and chairs were brought in and placed in the countermeasure headquarters.
In the large space, the officials of the special agency, Rudi’s entourage, and the centurion are camped.
Of course, there was also Goruka, the guide.
Goruka seemed surprised to hear that he was also included in the countermeasure headquarters.
However, the operation cannot be carried out properly without a guide.
Instead, Rudy secretly attached two demon creatures to Goruka.
If contact is made with anyone outside the task force, one will come and inform Rudy.
I couldn’t give detailed orders to the demonic creatures, but that was possible enough.
The attendants who brought meals set down the food bowls on tables lined up against one wall. It’s kind of like a buffet.
A gurgling sound rang out from the ship of the official who was reporting on the allied forces of the barbarians.
Rudy’s party, as well as the officials of the special agency who greeted Rudy and guided him around the border area, didn’t have a proper meal because they were in a hurry.
Rudy is hungry too.
“Everyone eats. I’m going to starve to death.”
At Rudy’s words, the people inside the headquarters laughed.
The officials of the special agency, who had become accustomed to Rudy’s style over the course of a few days, had loosened up a lot from their initial icy attitude. Suddenly, he has a comfortable attitude like Rudy’s aides.
But Goruka is still cautious. People just stood still and watched as people approached the table with plates.
“Goruka, come here too.”
When Rudy called, he came a bit nervous.
“What do you like? Are there any foods you shouldn’t eat in the meadow?”
“No. It’s almost like an empire.”
“Yes, I’m glad.”
Rudy puts food on a plate and holds it out to Goruka, who is a bit surprised.
“This is the hospitality of guests in the grassland, right? The person with the highest status at that place offers a meal.”
“You knew.”
“Just a little bit.”
“thank you.”
Goruka bowed her head slightly and accepted the plate.
We sat at an empty table and chatted about a few small things.
Goruka was a surprisingly good talker. We talked about the customs of the grassland in a fun way, with examples.
Strangest of all was the custom of supreme hospitality, in which the chieftain or the highest-ranking member of the tribe sent his wife or daughter to the guest’s bed.
It is said that if you are rejected, the atmosphere can become very bad because you think you have lost face.
It didn’t happen often, it seemed to only be done in special cases, such as when the opponent was a king or the chieftain of a tribe they had just formed an alliance with.
But no matter how rare it is, I don’t understand how he could push his wife into another man’s blanket.
“If the opposing tribe surrenders, that may happen. It is okay to be aware that you will be treated in the meadow from time to time.”
Goruka said and laughed.
When the atmosphere improved to some extent, Rudy kept asking what was on his mind.
“I received reports that you have a grudge against the Black Rock, is it true?”
Goruka put down the plate he was holding and looked straight at Rudy.
“Yes. I am an informant for the Empire because of that.”
“So, Goruka, what do you want to do with the Black Rock? If our direction and direction diverge, what decision will we make?”
Goruka grinned.
“If your Majesty follows the Law of the Grassland, it will not contradict my purpose. I want to kill them all. My goal is to cut off the heads of all men so that not a single seed is left.”
“So earnestly that you won’t regret it even if you can’t go back to the meadow because of that?”
“Yes. As long as I can annihilate the Black Rock, I will not resent being betrayed or killed by Your Majesty.”
Rudy smirked as he shoved the food off the plate he was holding into his mouth.
“surely.”
After grilling in your mouth, the taste of the meat topped with sauce seeped into the tip of your tongue.
Rudy chewed on the soft meat and swallowed.
“I think you’re right. You shouldn’t leave the man alive when you’re at war with the meadow.”
“…”
Goruka said nothing and raised the plate again.
***
The Imperial Majesty is a strange person. I thought so many times, but the more we were together, the more I felt that way.
He looks like a harmless and ignorant child on the outside, but there are times when he suddenly gives goosebumps when he talks.
I’m a child, but I’m not like a child.
He was obviously smiling brightly, but his words were very confusing.
However, if it is insidious or shady, it is not. It was just like a strong man brandishing a sword without any warmth in his hand.
If there were only a few of these boyish men in the border cities, the Steppe Peoples would never have touched the Empire.
In the grasslands, the weak subjugate the strong.
No resentment would remain even if he lost his life in battle, except for those who betrayed him from behind or stabbed him in the back with shallow water.
The reason Black Rock is resentful is that it steals things and women from other places without a proper war or battle.
The Black Rock acts at the precarious boundary between custom and rule. Greedily desired other people’s things and easily trampled on them.
Goruka ate enough food to move her body lightly, then set the plate down.
My father was a merchant but a very strong fighter.
He is good at bows and swords. The horse also ran faster than anyone else.
It was strong enough to withstand some danger even when alone in a rough area, and fast enough to throw away things and run away when many enemies appeared.
He was not someone who would die easily.
I was able to find it because I knew that. Otherwise, I would have missed it even with the body in front of me.
My father was stabbed in front.
At first glance, it seemed like a fair fight.
But when I looked behind me, my clothes were torn around the waist. When I lifted it, a small wound came out.
At first glance, it looked like it had just been slightly scratched by something sharp.
Goruka had heard about a certain grass from his father.
The grass did not die even if eaten, but it paralyzed the human body. It is said to be jittery.
You hardly know about it in the grasslands, but I heard that there were people who used it long ago in the empire.
When the juice of the grass enters through the skin, it instantly paralyzes the body. It is difficult to notice because there is no change in skin color or signs.
There was no evidence that the liquid from the grass was used.
However, Goruka knew that the Blackrock chief’s son obtained it from the Empire long ago.
I heard that the chief’s son saved it when he went to the empire as an envoy.
Goruka learned the language and culture of the empire at the request of her father.
Because his father wished, he went to the nearest imperial city from the border city and learned the lifestyle of the empire while wearing the clothes of that country with the money his adoptive father worked hard to save.
He stayed in a small room upstairs in a tavern, and one day he met a man who claimed to have sold a rare drug to a barbarian messenger.
Seeing Goruka, who was despised as a savage, the man put a sneer in his eyes and followed Goruka, arguing with him.
He rants about a foolish savage who gave him expensive jewels in return for a bottle no bigger than a knuckle.
[I was an ignorant guy like you. Ha ha ha ha ha.]
The fool he spoke of was the son of the Blackrock Chief.
You will have to be careful enough about that drug.
After warning the boy emperor of the empire about the drug, Goruka wrote down a list of items needed to enter the steppe.
In order to enter the meadow, food preparation is the most tricky.
These days, because of the drought, there are cases where the water in the wells here and there has dried up.
When I told the imperial officials that I needed to bring enough water, they showed me a small, flat object.
will see it for the first time
When I asked what it was, he said it was a magic tool that produced water.
The officials put magic tools in the barrel and muttered something strange.
At that moment, the water suddenly filled up and I thought I would pass out.
For a while, I stared at the water bottle in silence.
‘With just a few of these magic tools, I wouldn’t have to worry about the lack of grassland.’
But it’s something I’ve never seen before in this border area. It’s probably valuable. It must be difficult to get into the hands of the steppe people.
The words my father said to me when I was a child lingered in my head.
[If you don’t know that such a thing exists, you can’t even want it. The world surrounding the meadow is changing. Someone has to turn their eyes to the outside and see the changes coming to the meadow. Otherwise, we, the people of the steppe, may one day really fall into uncivilized savages.]
I was a little interested in the Empire.
***
It is early in the morning in the meadow.
The chieftain of the Red Hawk tribe looked up at the sky. The black sky is gradually changing to a pale color.
After a few days, they finally enter the land of the empire.
Ordinarily, when the warriors set out to plunder, the tribe, including women and children, remained in their original habitation on the steppes.
But this time, seven tribes united to plunder. So it’s a bit different than usual.
Allied forces in the grassland gathered all their residences in one place.
I didn’t say it openly, but it was because the black rock and the roaring wind were worried that there would be a traitor.
Originally, the Red Hawk tribe had no intention of participating in this raid.
Border cities have strong and high walls, making them difficult to invade.
Villages in other regions were too small to be plundered by 7 tribes unitedly, not knowing if one tribe plundered them.
Even if they plunder, they cannot share enough. There were more losses than gains.
It seems that the women are starting to move. The door to the tent opened and women started coming out from here and there.
From a young girl aged 10 to a wife with multiple children, they moved in the same way as usual.
But anxiety was evident on the women’s faces.
Women from other tribes who have pitched tents some distance away also carry buckets of water.
The neighboring tribe has fewer members than the Red Hawk. I heard that it was a place where they voluntarily participated.
But the red hawk is different. Half were forced.
The chieftain looked up at the sky again. The sky is a bit cloudy, but it won’t rain. It hasn’t rained lately.
‘If only it wasn’t for Goruka.’
Goruka’s mother, who wanders the tribes and sells various goods, was a red hawk.
To be precise, she is his daughter.
He was a smart and lovely child. He was so talented and good looking that even marriage talks came from the same tribe as well as many other tribes.
The child was intended to be given to a merchant who enters and exits the Red Hawk Tribe. I thought that if I went to the man who could see the future, it would be good for the tribe and my daughter would be happy.
However, marriage talks came from the chieftain of the black rock, asking her to be his son’s wife.
At that time, I was very worried about what to do.
Black Rock is famous for short-lived women. They didn’t value women. Not only at night, but also during the day, they are overworked to such an extent that they die easily.
The daughter didn’t say much, but the wife cried for days and days, saying that she would rather die together than send her to such a tribe.
The chief himself did not want to kill his daughter by marrying her to Black Rock.
However, the Black Rocks are a larger and tougher tribe than the Red Hawks. It was obvious that a war would break out immediately if he refused the official marriage talk. Maybe it was a marriage talk aimed at.
A dishonorable banishment was an unintended method.
The story was secretly conveyed to the merchant and the wedding was held. It wasn’t the right way, but there was no other way.
Most of the tribe was aware of the situation, but all were silent. Because everyone knew what the outcome would be for daughters who were married to the Black Rock.
As soon as the daughter gave birth to a child in the tribe, he was accused of having an affair with another merchant and kicked him out.
Fearing that the Black Rock would find out, he gave nothing to his daughter. He sent the newborn baby with only one baby clothes embroidered by his wife.
The secret son-in-law, a merchant, was waiting far away from the tribe and took his daughter.
Occasionally, I heard rumors that the daughter-in-law is living happily. I heard that Goruka, the grandson, went to study in the Empire.
He knew that his son-in-law was working in secret to keep the rumors of his daughter and grandson in his ears. If it weren’t for that, small rumors wouldn’t have come in so quickly.
When he found out that his son-in-law had died and that his daughter had been dragged to the Black Rock, he wanted to step out as well, but he couldn’t do anything.
A person exiled from a tribe is not a member of the tribe. Even if she was a daughter, she was not a daughter.
However, it seems that he noticed the truth somewhere.
On the black rock side, Goruka said that he resembled his adoptive father, and at first glance, he gave off that kind of atmosphere.
You dare to deceive us, you have been insulted, it is war.
It looked like he intended to go that way.
Inevitably, the Red Hawk also joined the plunder.
I’m not exactly sure what the black rock is.
Perhaps, after taking advantage of the Red Hawk Warrior, they may be trying to start a war between the tribes again using the past as an excuse.
The Red Hawk chief looked the other way.
With the red hawk in the middle, there was a cow tribe on the right that voluntarily participated, and a black rock tent on the left.
It is stuck in the middle.
‘What will happen now.’
The Red Hawk chief turned and went into the tent.
You need to sharpen your sword and attach a point to your arrow to finish preparing for the battle. Maybe I had to sharpen the weapon that would fly towards my grandson with my own hands.
＜ The hidden truth ＞
＜ Departure ＞
