Night Prince

Operation Fighter

Chop! Chop! Crack!

As if the scene was on repeat, the man chopping the big blocks of wood into more manageable firewood pieces added them to the stack that had accumulated greatly over the past hour. The welts forming on his hands were largely ignored, for Joo Myeok was used to it.

Working with wood was nothing compared to the heavy armoury and weapons he had to make from scratch back at the palace. But alas, it was his duty as the royals' silversmith and he took his role seriously.

Thud, thud, thud, thud...

The repetitive sounds of stone slamming against a stone bowl was quickly followed by the distinctive sounds of grinding as Kwang Beom worked to reduce the plants to powder form.

Unfortunately for them, after their run-in with the unknown assailants, they were running alarmingly low on medical supplies. Thankfully, they have found a few more plants in the vicinity. All they needed was the time to replenish their supplies.

But medicine wasn't the only thing they were running low on.

The royal entourage has truly hit a new low.

They lost their royal horses. Their carriage was in shambles. And their supplies were being drained day by day with the unplanned stop they had to make while their prince recovered.

The only silver lining in this dark cloud that was looming over them was the fact that they have chanced upon a relatively secluded wooden hut. Even though the hut was a little shabby, with parts of its' wood, rotting at the sides, it did its' job as a shelter for their temporary stay.

"Looks like it's trout again tonight." Pyo Chi Su announced listlessly, whereas Eun Dong – the precious boy – was holding up the muddy-brown trout that they have caught together.

The boyish grin on his face, coupled with the child-like excitement in his eyes was almost out of place in the dreary hopelessness punctuating the air. Yet, in times like these, such childlike optimism was very much needed.

It would suffice to say that without Eun Dong, the royal entourage's collective morale would amount to a negative. 

Sighing heavily, Pyo Chi Su let out another disgruntled grunt as he plonked himself down on a rock, bringing out a dagger to gut the trout for their dinner. Eun Dong followed suit, whistling a happy tune as he stabbed the trout and expertly removed its' organs.

"Do you have to do that!?" Pyo Chi Su spoke with mild annoyance, referring to Eun Dong's whistling.

In his opinion, that noise was only getting on his nerves.

At the Captain's outburst, Eun Dong stopped, the happiness in his eyes quickly replaced by hurt as he averted his eyes from the man. Sniffling slightly, Eun Dong scooted further from the Captain, turning away from him as he continued to gut the trout.

"Give him a break, Captain Pyo. You don't hear us complaining about your whining." Joo Myeok came to the boy's defence.

Spluttering hard, Pyo Chi Su was practically livid at Joo Myeok's counter. Unfortunately, winning an argument was not Pyo Chi Su's strong point, and the man was left speechless as he gaped at Joo Myeok.

"You really ought to apologise to Eun Dong, Captain. You wouldn't want to come across as a self-entitled bully now, would you?" Kwang Beom's eyes turned into mere slits as he studied the Captain seriously.

This time, the man felt absolutely cornered. What did he ever do for the whole group to gang up on him?

But perhaps a teeny-weeny part of him felt a tad bit bad for making Eun Dong upset. Just maybe...maybe he was taking out his frustrations on him unintentionally.