Chapter 15 – Hunting Him Down
While he worked, Yeong-woo searched for him.
Even after the work ended, he searched.
Eyes bloodshot, he wandered everywhere looking for the man he meant to kill.
Some comrades helped him.
Others tried to stop him.
Men like that should disappear from the world he lived in.
Not for his own comfort.
For everyone's sake.
Park Cheol-gu sensed it.
And hid like a ghost.
He avoided Yeong-woo's sight at all costs, slipping into empty corners whenever there was a break.
When meals were served, he ate quickly and watched the line carefully.
During roll call he checked Yeong-woo's unit and position.
The rat was skilled at hiding.
Yeong-woo never caught him.
Even when comrades pointed him out, by the time Yeong-woo arrived he had already vanished.
It happened again and again.
The place was a narrow alley leading toward the hills behind the fortress.
Dilapidated houses stood along both sides.
Few people passed through.
Even during the day it felt deserted.
At night it felt haunted.
The kind of place where a ghost might step out of the dark.
Park Cheol-gu had been using it as a hiding place for several days.
He no longer dared sleep in the barracks.
At any moment someone might kill him.
He circled the streets carefully, leaving false trails before returning.
Then suddenly his spine went cold.
He stopped.
Lowered his body.
Looked around.
The feeling came sharply.
His skin prickled.
Killing intent spread through the air.
Park Cheol-gu ran.
He did not even look back.
His wounded leg from the spike pit dragged behind him as he limped forward.
He deliberately left traces of his movement,
then headed toward a crowded area.
Ping.
An arrow cut the air.
Where it came from did not matter.
Park Cheol-gu threw himself to the ground and rolled.
If the archer had aimed well, standing still would have meant death.
Two arrows struck the spot where he had stood.
He rolled into the alley and hid.
"Who's there?!"
He shouted, hoping to force the attacker to reveal himself.
No one appeared.
He cautiously peeked toward the direction the arrow had come from.
Nothing.
After watching for a long time, he circled away through the opposite street.
In the end, Park Cheol-gu went to Park Geun-su's quarters.
"What do you want?"
"They're trying to kill me."
"Let me hide here for a few days."
"No."
"You think they'll expect me to hide in your room?"
"I said no."
"Just a few days. I'll think of a solution meanwhile."
"What if I'm reinstated later?"
"Why treat me so coldly?"
It seemed he did not remember how he had treated others when he had been their superior.
Men who bullied their subordinates rarely remembered it.
Whether they truly forgot or merely pretended to forget, no one knew.
Park Cheol-gu had no shame.
Cruel among the cruel.
A mongrel among mongrels.
Even now he did not reflect on what he had done.
He believed that if he asked, someone would help him.
Because they should.
That kind of expectation came from a weak heart.
Park Geun-su decided to end it here.
"Do as you like."
"I'll even post a notice that you're hiding here."
"What?!"
Park Geun-su blew the whistle used to signal firing control.
An adjutant came running.
"Yes, sir!"
"Post a notice on the public board outside."
"Write that General Park is hiding in my quarters."
"Yes, sir."
"What exactly should I write?"
"Figure it out."
Park Geun-su slammed the door and left.
Respect followed power.
When the shell of authority cracked,
nothing remained.
Park Cheol-gu hurried toward Park Geun-su's quarters anyway.
The room had once been his.
Seeing it stirred a strange sadness.
He tried to enter.
Then stopped.
Soldiers stood in rows before the door.
Men who had been abandoned outside the gate.
"Ah…"
Park Cheol-gu swallowed.
So Cheol-ryong said calmly,
"Grab him."
So Cheol-un and several others slipped around behind him,
blocking his escape.
"What is this?!"
Cheol-ryong answered,
"Think of every possibility you can imagine."
"This is mutiny!"
"You'll all go to prison!"
"We'll kill you first and go afterward."
"Murder is punishable by death!"
Cheol-ryong laughed.
"Fine."
"We already died at the South Gate that day."
"We're only living a little longer."
Park Cheol-gu drew his hwando.
He had once been a lieutenant.
A warrior.
Even against many opponents, he would not fall easily.
"Come then."
The hwando was longer than usual.
Length alone did not create skill.
But he had once commanded troops.
Two men ran out from the administrative barracks.
They had hovered around Park Cheol-gu before.
One was a household slave.
The other a distant relative.
They were hard to distinguish.
Always together.
Never mingling with the soldiers.
Yeong-woo sighed.
Two more.
He had not expected that.
Cheol-ryong shouted,
"Yeong-woo, fall back!"
"Bow!"
"Got it."
Yeong-woo stepped back and drew his bow.
Cheol-ryong raised his hwando.
Cheol-un leveled a long spear.
Gyeong-taek planted a large shield.
Their comrades split into roles:
shield,
sword,
spear,
archer.
It was Unit Five, trained to fight together.
Cheol-ryong shouted,
"Yeong-woo, command us!"
"Ah, damn it, again?"
"That bastard still thinks he's a commander."
"Show him properly."
Three against ten.
But those three had once been officers.
Even if they seized the initiative,
skill still mattered.
Park Cheol-gu glared at them.
"Well, look at this."
He had expected that once one man fell,
the rest would scatter.
But they had formed a formation.
Four men took clear roles.
Several others formed a supporting line behind them.