Chapter 51 - 5-2
Tenge Wolf was shaken when he heard that his younger brother was fighting a disastrous war.
That Geraha does not make mistakes was one of Tenge's beliefs.
—There is someone misleading Geraha.
Tenge clenched his back teeth, making them grind.
"Najitai." Tenge commanded the stocky youth who had brought the news. "Gather the retainers and follow me. From this moment, I am going to punch Geraha Wolf."
Tenge was sane.
He had sent a messenger to the Commander-in-Chief, Sinkuk Wolf, but the messenger returned immediately.
"Vice-Commander, the General says to just come at once."
The messenger was a boy of fourteen or fifteen. Tenge felt it would be pitiful to treat him harshly. "I understand. Tell him I am coming."
Taking Najitai with him, he headed on horseback toward Sinkuk's camp. It was a hill not far from the front lines. Several tents had been pitched. Sinkuk was by a bonfire. Tenge approached and spoke without dismounting from his horse.
"I have come to rescue my younger brother."
"Enough of this."
His cousin wore a faint smile on his lips.
"He is my younger brother—"
"I know."
"If Geraha is not here, we—"
"I have heard this many times."
"He clashed head-on with the main force of the Tawaru and was defeated. It is not even certain if he is safe. Someone must go. Sanga's army will soon agree to a peace treaty."
Sinkuk remained silent, his expression unchanging.
Tenge dismounted and entrusted the reins to Najitai.
"Shin-nii," he said, sitting cross-legged by the bonfire. "I like you, Shin-nii. You have always looked after us brothers while keeping a detached face. I will venture to say it. Shin-nii, I dare say it. Kosa should follow Geraha. I have no ambition. You should not have ambition either. We must consider that Kosa is already about to move to suppress the world. Geraha will bring a rule to this world that everyone can accept, and grant a freedom that everyone can accept."
"Why—" Sinkuk was looking at the fire. "How can you make such a face?"
"Face?"
"Why can you look at me with a face of pity? Tenge, yes. I was worried about you. You truly are a coward."
Tenge tilted his head. He had never been a coward. This was beyond surprising or unexpected. It was unpleasant.
Still wearing a calm face, Sinkuk sighed.
"Why do you make your younger brother do it?" The bonfire was reflected in his cousin's black eyes. "To bring a single rule to the world means to conquer every nation. Tenge, why do you not do it yourself? Why do you always use your younger brother as a shield?"
"That's not it."
"Stop opposing me while hiding behind your brother's back."
"That is preposterous. Do not say such things." Tenge flared up. "If only I could do it, I don't know how wonderful it would have been. I am merely helping. It is impossible for me, but Geraha—"
"Did Geraha ever once desire it?" Sinkuk stood up composedly.
Tenge, prompted by him, stood up as if jumping.
Sinkuk was no longer smiling. There was a furrow between his brows.
"Did your younger brother ever once say he wanted to take the world? He did not. He himself does not desire it. Do you not understand, Tenge? You are the only one delirious with fever. Even Geraha himself does not believe you. How can we believe you?"
"Geraha will take the world. Do you not believe it?"
"I don't believe it, I've told you many times I don't believe it!" His cousin clenched his fist. "Why do you think you can be believed? Tenge, I'll have you stop this as of today."
"Stop what?"
"That ridiculous favoritism for your brother!"
Tenge shook his head. "Geraha will take the world. Shin-nii, I am going."
"I feel sorry for Geraha," Sinkuk said. "He is a pitiful man. You act as his master, turning everything into a mess."
"Geraha—" Tenge searched for words as if speaking to himself. "Geraha cannot lead a normal life anyway."
"What do you mean?"
"Unless Geraha fulfills his destiny, he cannot be happy. He was born with something he must do. Unless he achieves that, he will suffer eternally. I am going to save him."
"You there!"
Yelled at by Sinkuk, Najitai trembled atop his horse.
"Do not let a single person follow Tenge."
"But—"
"It is the order of the Commander-in-Chief. Tenge."
By this time, Tenge had already turned his back to Sinkuk. He stopped his feet.
"If you go, I will strike you down."
"Are you sane—" He turned back, as expected. "Over something like this—"
"It is not 'something like this.' I will not permit the disruption of discipline any further. Every time you say 'my brother is the Great King,' it is the same as you criticizing me. Why do you not understand that? That is truly an groundless accusation. Can I not become the Great King, Tenge?"
There was a sense of incongruity in the fact that Sinkuk, who loved things to be orderly, had ignored the tribal chief Salakesh.
—Does this mean he revealed his true feelings?
Tenge took it as such. Shin-nii wants to be the Great King. He thought it was laughable.
"Shin-nii, the Great King is Geraha."
"Tenge, obey me. Serve me along with your brother. No one believes your words. If you go, I will strike you down. I am serious."
Sinkuk released the tension between his brows and returned an ambiguous smile to his lips.
Do as you please.
Leaving those words behind, Tenge left the army alone on his horse.
He rode his horse to his heart's content, and it was evening.
On the horizon blurred by the sunset, Tenge spotted the flickering shadows of several riders. One of the riders shot a signal arrow. The sound, similar to a whistle emitted by the arrow, reached Tenge's ears.
—Are they not pursuers?
Tenge pulled the reins and waited for the group of riders.
Those who arrived were the stocky Najitai and about twenty other riders.
"Is it you?"
"Tenge-sama."
"Of all people, are you the one who will strike me down?"
"No. I have been ordered by the Commander-in-Chief to persuade you."
"I will not listen."
"I know. I have no words of apology for the Commander-in-Chief, but we are retainers of the Wolf. We have come because we wish to accompany you."
Tenge let out a laugh. "Stop it. The Commander-in-Chief is serious. He intends to strike down Geraha and me."
"If that is the case, all the more reason to go together."
Looking at the faces lined up, they seemed serious.
"I gratefully accept those words," Tenge said. "We will merge with Geraha and return to Kandasyata in haste. With the cooperation of the tribal chief, we will raise an army and strike down Sinkuk!"
Although he was happy that they gave a cheer of "Ei-oh!", he was concerned that Najitai alone had a gloomy expression.
"Actually—" Najitai hesitated. "No, first let us prepare for camping. This is a matter that should be considered carefully."
As one moves south across the plains of the Tawaru, small hills made of rock begin to stand out.
Hiding in the shadow of such rocky hills, they all prepared to camp. It was a land of sparse grass and red soil, and it looked as if there was no firewood that could serve as fuel. However, it seemed that this area was once a river that appeared only during the rainy season. If one searched, dried branches and trunks could be found.
They made a fire with a flint and steel and created a bonfire.
They ate salty dried meat and drank tea. It was a black tea, fermented by adding mold to the tea leaves. In addition, Najitai had brought seedless bread as provisions. The staple foods of the Kosa people are, above all, meat and milk, and they normally do not eat things like bread. However, recently, wheat that has come in as tribute from various cities has been circulating.
"While searching for Tenge-sama, I met members of Geraha-sama's army."
They were said to be light cavalry. About five of them were on their way to Sinkuk's army. Najitai heard the story from them.
The Kosa cavalry fought bravely, but the Mukuri people they brought as infantry—
"That's enough,"
Tenge said. This was because soldiers who have been routed say all sorts of things.
"Ah, it is said that Geraha-sama performed the rearguard action splendidly."
"That's enough too. I know. What happened after?"
The retreating Geraha army headed for the camp. They waited for Geraha there, but the General did not return. The General and the soldiers who served in the rearguard returned one after another, but the General himself was not among them. The soldiers said that Geraha would not move from the highway leading to Gorium and Sadiin.
"Not move? Why? Was he left behind?"
Najitai nodded. "That is likely the case. By the order of the General given to the rearguard, the Geraha army moved the camp and has retreated as far as Parakitai."
Parakitai is the southern part of the Kandasyata plateau. It could be called a decisive retreat.
"What happened to those light cavalry?"
"I told them that we would report to the Commander-in-Chief and sent them back to Parakitai. I also told them that Tenge-sama might join the Geraha army."
"I see."
Even so, he didn't understand.
"What is Geraha intending?"
"That, it seems—"
Geraha Wolf sat in the shadow of a rock and did not move for nearly a day.
It was as if he himself had become a rock. His bones and muscles were creaking, and it seemed they would make a sound if he moved. Geraha paid no heed to that pain. He was directing his attention to a vague anger within his chest.
The perfect plan Geraha had devised was smashed brilliantly, and regarding that,
—I should be able to blame myself more.
He thought. However, the anger did not turn inward, nor was there any other person to blame. There was only a stifling gloom clogging his chest, and he had been in a bad mood the whole time.
Geraha had Astai lying on his lap.
Astai had been brought to Geraha lying face down on a horse, covered in blood from his chest to his waist. Geraha had washed his brother-in-law's wounds with his own hands. Trembling for fear of breaking his brother-in-law's body by applying too much strength, he tied the wounds with cloth. Astai was unconscious. Because his complexion was pale, Geraha held Astai Tokapu, wrapped in a felt rug, on his lap with his head facing down.
Radoba, who had become Geraha's retainer, said almost nothing and occasionally brought water. After putting water in Astai's mouth and wiping Astai's face with a cloth, he would leave the spot and leave them be.
However, as dawn approached and the horizon began to whiten, Radoba spoke.
"General, please get some rest."
"Radoba-oyaji. Astai-nii's breathing is not calming down."
When he looked up, Radoba's cheeks, covered in a beard, were trembling slightly. He twisted his caterpillar-like eyebrows, enduring something.
He was trying not to cry.
With that, Geraha understood. The vague anger that had been clogging his chest since last night was not anger.
—Not only my body, but even my heart has become dull.
This was sadness. This meant that he was sad. When he was young, being told terrible things was nothing. That thing he felt then was mere dissatisfaction. It was nothing more than a feeling of boredom. It wasn't this scary. Now it is scary. Even though it's scary, he can't do anything with his hands or feet.
Astai-nii's breathing will eventually stop. He didn't know when. It wouldn't be strange if it stopped right now, in this instant.
—I don't want it.
Geraha felt his body tremble.
He absolutely hated it. He thought he could not face such a situation. Even thinking about such a thing was ominous.
"Geraha-dono!" Radoba raised his voice. "Prepare yourself. Please, prepare yourself."
"I don't want it. Radoba-oyaji, I cannot move Astai-nii right now. I will hold out here until he recovers. We will endure together and surely return to Kandasyata."
"Geraha-dono, General, what about your soldiers!"
"If Astai-nii dies— if Astai-nii falls, we are finished here."
Overlapping Radoba's words as they began to swell, Geraha further added.
"If Astai-nii is not here, there is no future. If it is not to your liking, please go. I will not leave this place."
Geraha must have made a scary face. Fear flashed across Radoba's expression.
However, Radoba immediately snapped back with a stern face.
"Pathetic. Your true colors have come out."
"What?"
"The cowardice you were hiding. I say your true nature has emerged. Vice-Commander Astai will die in vain."
"—Oyaji, there are things you should and shouldn't say..."
"I do not blame you for losing the war. This is a story before that, about your resolve. Why can you not tell him that you will become the Great King? If you told him that you will become the Great King, the soldiers who died could have died within a great cause. Tenge-sama, too, poor thing."
"What about my brother?"
"Tenge-sama thinks only of you, without regarding himself. And yet, how pathetic you are. Are you not doing nothing but running away, saying 'I don't want it, I don't want it'? Even a child would have a straighter back!"
"Do not speak of my brother."
"I cannot help but speak. Look at Astai-sama. Astai-sama is the one to be pitied. He devoted himself solely to you becoming a full-fledged man. And yet, no matter how much time passes, it is this state. Geraha-sama, you have the power to answer everyone's wishes. You have it, and yet, you do nothing but act bashful like a maiden!"
"Oyaji. If you are disgusted by my cowardice and intend to abandon me, that is fine too. You may go now."
"I am going nowhere."
"What if I order you to go?"
"I will cling to you for the rest of my life!"
Geraha felt a full-bodied anger and suddenly noticed. The sadness that had been weighing heavily in his chest until a moment ago had vanished. Rather than dissipating, it had changed its form into anger.
Now, it was Radoba's face that looked sad. It was as if this man had sucked away Geraha's sadness.
The thing that had been blocking Geraha's chest returned to a dull gloom.
"I, you see, Oyaji," not because he was influenced by Radoba's words, but at this time Geraha spoke with courage, "to tell you my true feelings, I have no intention of becoming the Great King."
Radoba-oyaji hung his head despondently.
"I know," Radoba said. "Everyone here. All of your soldiers. All of the Kosa people, everyone knows your cowardice. That is why we want to be close to you. We have no intention of blaming you."
Geraha looked down at Astai. Although his complexion was white, the area around his eyes was eerily red.
"Oyaji. I cannot leave Astai-nii behind. The bleeding has stopped. If we work hard, we can surely save him."
"If you go that far—"
Hearing the sound of Radoba catching his breath, Geraha looked up.
Radoba was looking at the large shadow Geraha cast from the morning sun. Three black things, darker than that shadow, were crouching. Within Geraha's shadow, black lumps in the shape of people had appeared.
Of the three lumps lined up, the shadows on both ends seemed to be sleeping while sitting. The shadow in the middle was standing.
"The old man sorcerer," Geraha said. "What are you doing in a place like this?"
Geraha remembered the traveling sorcerer who had been in Salakesh's tent.
"I have come because I wish to save Geraha-sama," the shadow spoke.
Radoba looked as if he were about to collapse in terror, but Geraha was not afraid.
Now was not the time for that.
"The Tawaru are leading an army and coming this way. I have come because I absolutely wished to convey that to you."
"I see."
"There is no need for thanks. Please, flee."
The black lumps wavered like a heat haze, their outlines blurring.
"Say, old man," Geraha returned his eyes to Astai. "This person I am holding is a very precious person to me. Can you not save him somehow?"
"...That one, probably—"
"I want to save him no matter what."
The shadow began to stretch and shrink up and down. "It is not impossible to save him. However, it will not be for free."
"If you save him, I will listen to whatever you say."
The middle shadow stretched long and high. He was an old man like a snake.
"If that is the case, we shall shorten our lifespans by about ten years. Shall we save that person?"
But—
"Stop it, Geraha."
Startled, he saw that Astai had opened his eyes with a pained expression.
His eyelids were trembling slightly.
"Astai-nii..."
"Geraha. We are, even if defeated, the General and Vice-General. We must be the most dignified. If we bow our heads to strange things, it's bad for the soldiers. So, stop it."
Bright red saliva scattered on Astai's lips.
"Astai-nii, you don't have to speak. I will save you."
Tears that had not come for a long time overflowed from Geraha's eyes at this moment.
Probably, Astai-nii was already finished.
"We, Geraha, always felt good, slamming many bows, arrows, and swords into the enemy and winning refreshingly. Being with you, I always felt invigorated. You are, you know, like the sun. So, please stop doing things that are not refreshing."
"Astai-nii, I beg you—"
"Geraha, do what you like. Things you think you cannot forgive yourself for, you don't have to do them, no matter who tells you to. Just aim for things that are clear and things that put your heart at ease. You, you know, even if you cannot become the Great King, you are the Great King. You'll hate it, but you are the Great King. Do not bow your head to things that are wrong; just get by. Because you are ugly and your body is large, it is permitted for you to do that and be dignified."
At the end, Astai looked at the stretched black shadow and tried to say something.
He opened and closed his mouth, but in the end, it did not become words, and he closed his eyes just like that.
The stretched shadow shrank like the horn of a snail. He seemed to mutter something, but Geraha was not listening. Before he knew it, the three black shadows were gone.
Geraha felt the flesh on his lap lose the function of the heart.
He felt the blood inside the corpse flow to the limbs according to gravity.
Life vanishes. He knew it by having it on his lap. Life does not rise up, nor does it melt away. Physically, it simply vanishes without leaving any influence. The remaining body heat also scattered coldly and heartlessly.
Geraha was enraged by that heartlessness. Before he knew it, he was letting out a low growl like a beast. Saliva dripped from his slack mouth.