[Translator - Jjescus]
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Chapter 18: Slave and the Master (2)
When Zenri stood before Terdin, especially before Ram, he was acutely embarrassed about the state of his own body.
He was still in the clothes he had worn on the night he went to kill Mantum, without armor, and his pants were filthy with filth.
While he was imprisoned, he couldn’t control his excretions.
It wasn’t that they had stopped him from relieving himself, but he was in so much pain he couldn’t move and had to do it lying down.
The barbarians cleaned up after him but didn’t bother to change his clothes or wash him.
Zenri remained in that state.
His body was covered in wounds, his face was undoubtedly unrecognizable due to dirt, and his hair’s condition was obvious without even looking.
And the sll?
Now, with a nosebleed to add, could Ram even recognize him?
If not, how else could Ram see his master and sit still on his horse without moving?
Shouldn’t he imdiately dismount and prostrate himself, crying, ‘Young master, are you all right?’
As soon as Zenri regained his breath, he summoned all his strength to lash out at Terdin.
“How could you allow to be dragged away by these savages? If my father finds out, he will never forgive you, General Terdin.”
Terdin replied nonchalantly,
“I expected no thanks, but I didn’t expect threats to co first, Zenri Selken.”
‘What?! This old man!’
Zenri nearly shouted more at Terdin but stopped himself.
The general was undoubtedly the one who orchestrated this prisoner exchange.
For the sake of his future relationship with his father, Zenri couldn’t provoke him.
Yes, gratitude should have co first.
But apologizing?
That was out of the question.
Apologizing would dean a noble’s dignity.
Instead, Zenri turned his anger toward Ram.
“What is the aning of this? A slave sitting on a horse, looking down on ? Dismount imdiately!”
Ram didn’t respond.
Zenri raised his voice, looking around.
“And where is the horse for to ride?”
Zenri could easily imagine how impressive he must look right now.
A soldier, captured by the enemy and tortured, returning unbowed and shouting commands.
All in front of General Terdin, the supre commander of the nation’s army!
In the future, Terdin would surely praise his courage to his father, and his father would craft heroic tales of his son to spread among their vassals.
Perhaps even the king would hear of it.
Sure enough, Terdin accepted Zenri’s demand and ordered Ram,
“You heard him. Your master cannot walk while you ride. Dismount.”
Ram obediently got off the horse.
Zenri, emboldened, decided to expose Ram’s lies.
“This slave surely told you he cut off Mantum’s head himself, didn’t he? But that’s not true. I was the one who planned it!”
Though parched, Zenri’s words ca out smoothly, better than he’d expected.
“When an army captures a castle at the cost of thousands of soldiers’ lives, the credit doesn’t go to the soldiers but to the commander. Likewise, Mantum’s death wasn’t the doing of the one who swung the blade. It was mine! Yes, that’s right, General. Your thoughts are correct. You were deceived. It was I who killed Mantum, and this slave rely swung the sword on my orders. The victory in this war is mine!”
As expected, Terdin frowned upon hearing this revelation.
How enraged he must be, having been deceived by a slave for days!
Zenri continued, directing his words toward the barbarians.
“Look at him! He’s the one who killed your war god Mantum. And I was the one who commanded it. Do you realize the grave mistake you’ve made? Trading a re axe for a national hero like !”
A young barbarian, wearing an ornate helt, rely stared at him coldly.
Earlier, he had spoken a little of the southern common tongue, but it seed he wasn’t fluent or found Zenri’s words too complicated.
“Well then, General Terdin, take to the allied camp as a hero!”
Zenri confidently extended his hand to take the reins.
However, Ram handed the reins not to Zenri but to Terdin.
Terdin held them and stared quietly at Zenri.
Though displeased, Zenri extended his hand toward the general again.
“Let’s be fair and walk together,”
Terdin said.
“Fair?”
Zenri exclaid in disbelief.
Terdin neither dismounted nor acknowledged Zenri’s long speech about his achievents.
Instead, he gently turned the horse and said to the young barbarian chief,
“Jedrick, follow . Those two don’t talk much, so we should get going first.”
The young barbarian glanced down at Zenri curiously but said nothing and followed Terdin.
The horse Ram had been riding was taken by Terdin.
“Huh?”
Zenri gasped.
Only Zenri and Ram were left on the plains.
“Wait, what is this…?”
He called out, but Terdin didn’t respond.
Zenri’s voice scattered emptily across the plains.
“…nonsense?”
No matter how long he waited, Terdin didn’t return.
He had really left.
This wasn’t a joke.
Zenri was utterly flabbergasted.
He wanted to curse soone, but there was no suitable target.
The barbarians who had tornted him were already gone, and even if they were present, he couldn’t risk offending them.
Terdin, who should have treated the sole heir of the Selken family with due respect, had left, and Zenri couldn’t very well demand anything of him.
‘What’s going on? I clearly told them who the great hero was who killed Mantum. Could that old man not understand because I spoke too quickly?’
The only one left was Ram.
Zenri could say whatever he wanted to him—curse him, beat him in anger.
But what was the point?
What could a slave do?
What would a slave know?
No, I need to vent my anger! That’s what slaves are for!
“Take off that ugly helt, you bastard!”
Zenri shouted.
Ram obediently removed his helt and pulled back his hood.
Seeing his clean face only enraged Zenri further.
While his master had suffered, Ram had evidently eaten and rested well, his skin smooth and healthy.
“Let’s go, young master,”
Ram said politely.
“What, you bastard? Are you giving orders now?”
“No, sir.”
“Shut up! If you don’t bring a horse right now, I won’t take a single step.”
Zenri resolved to stay put until Ram brought him a horse.
He had no idea how Ram would find one in the middle of the plains, but that wasn’t Zenri’s concern—it was Ram’s problem.
Ram stood still, saying nothing, and Zenri did the sa.
The bite wound on his body throbbed painfully.
The barbarian healer had sprinkled powder, placed leaves, and even applied so kind of insects to the wound, but it seed their filthy thods had worsened it.
‘Doesn’t the army have soone to treat the wounded? No, I need to get ho quickly. Father’s physician once treated the king himself. I ne’d his care. But will I even make it back to Father’s estate in this state? I might actually die.”
Ram, oblivious to Zenri’s urgent thoughts, stood unmoving and silent.
Despite the ti apart, Ram hadn’t changed.
[Translator - Jjescus]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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He was still slow, incompetent, and frustrating.
‘Unbelievable! Even if you’re a soulless slave, a person should at least be able to think. If you can’t find a horse, shouldn’t you offer to carry and say, ‘I’ll carry you, young master’?’
Zenri couldn’t bring himself to ask to be carried, out of pride.
But if Ram offered, he could grudgingly accept. Y
et Ram didn’t offer, instead simply apologizing.
“I’m sorry. I can’t get a horse.”
“Find a way! Don’t you understand what I’m saying?”
“I’m sorry.”
"Are you saying you don't understand what I'm saying?"
"I'm saying there's no way to find a solution."
"Then what do you expect to do?"
"You must walk on your own."
"Do you want to die? Are you going to keep talking back to like this?"
Zenri thought about scolding him again, but at his next words, he fell silent.
"His Majesty is said to be coming today. If we don't leave now, we'll be late."
Though surprised, Zenri spoke as if he had expected it.
"Is that so? Then you'd better worry about what I'll say when I et His Majesty."
Zenri left Ram behind and began walking ahead on his own. However, he quickly realized his mistake.
Although the space was wide open, it was precisely because it was open that Zenri couldn't decide which direction to go.
He couldn't see where the allied camp was.
Whether it was because of his blurry vision or the faint morning mist, he couldn’t even see which way General Terdin, who had gone ahead, had gone.
If he had followed him imdiately, at least he could have followed the horse's trail, but the horse was already out of sight.
He was lost.
Yet, he did not panic.
Instead, he casually slowed down, letting Ram take the lead.
Ram, with his head bowed, walked past Zenri and naturally began leading the way without realizing it.
‘Fooling an idiot like him is hardly a challenge.’
Zenri glared at Ram's back with eyes full of anger.
"Yes, yes. Go ahead and leave your master behind again. How can you be so selfish? If soone is injured, you should at least slow down out of consideration!"
"My apologies."
Ram didn’t look back but slowed his steps slightly.
"You think I don't know? I know everything about you! I know exactly what you did to !"
Though the morning mist made it hard to see clearly, it was obvious they were heading south.
The direction of the rising sun to the east confird it.
Once the mist cleared, the allied camp would soon co into view.
At that point, Ram would no longer be needed.
"So, His Majesty is coming today? You should be worried. Do you know what I went through there? You abandoned there!"
Zenri continued walking, venting the rage bottled up inside him.
"When my father finds out, you'll face the most dreadful death you can imagine. Do you know how vile your death will be? They’ll feed you the sa filthy water they gave . No, just excrent would be better. Prepare yourself to eat nothing but my excrent for ten days!"
Zenri lifted his shirt, exposing his stomach.
"See this? Do you see this scar?"
It was from when the tribal leader, Ikarum or sothing, had threatened him with a sword and demanded military intelligence.
Zenri had confessed everything he knew, but the leader hadn't been satisfied.
Zenri had no idea what kind of answers he was expecting.
In fact, he didn’t even fully understand the questions.
How was he supposed to know the na of the assassin organization under General Terdin or how many mbers it had?
The only assassin he'd brought with him was a single slave.
That was it.
He'd said it countless tis!
Why wouldn't they believe him?
It was just a slave!
A slave from his household who used to carry loads, an idiot who couldn’t understand much and was ugly, too!
But no matter how many tis he said it, the tribal leader didn't believe him.
They thought he was lying.
"I'll carve ten tis this into your body."
Zenri pointed to the bruises on his forehead and shoulders.
These were from the barbarian guards who beat him for fun while he was confined.
"Do you see this? Do you? You'll be beaten a hundred tis more than I was."
Finally, he showed the largest scar on his body.
It was from a wolf bite.
A wolf had bitten him and thrown him into the air several tis.
The torn flesh still hung loose and flapped as he walked.
"Take a good look. This scar! A wolf did this."
Zenri emphasized the scar by slapping it roughly with his hand.
It was a mistake.
The pain was excruciating, but he didn’t let it show.
"Pay close attention, you slave. When I return to my territory, the first thing I’ll do is buy a wolf, raise it to the size of a house, and take it with wherever I go. I'll have it rip apart anyone who dares to defy ."
If there was one thing Zenri had learned from dealing with barbarians, it was about their wolves.
They also raised dogs, but those were almost unnoticeable compared to the overwhelming presence of the wolves.
The size!
The nace!
In fairy tales, wolves were portrayed as cowardly creatures that ate little girls in red cloaks, but in reality, they looked powerful enough to tear apart knights in full armor.
"I'll feed that wolf human flesh. It’ll beco a wolf trained to crave the taste of human blood. Just wait to see who it'll eat first."
When Ram didn’t respond, didn’t even look back, and just kept walking, Zenri scread in frustration.
"You’re going to die. You’ll die in the ugliest, most excruciating way possible!"
Even so, Ram neither stopped nor slowed down, only pressing on.
Zenri wanted to grab him by the neck and stop him, but Ram was too far ahead.
His strides were too quick, and Zenri’s pride wouldn’t allow him to call out to stop him.
‘This bastard doesn’t even listen to anymore.’
Zenri shouted sothing that Ram couldn’t possibly ignore.
"That slave girl’s na was Ran, wasn’t it?"
It was a na that would make anyone stop in their tracks.
Sure enough, Ram stopped.
That’s right, just as he thought!
[Translator - Jjescus]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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