“And so…”
The general rose from his seat, cold sweat slicking his brow as he delivered his report. “Currently, the number of non-combatants accepted into the Great General’s Headquarters is excessive. The fact that they are hindering our mobility has become a significant issue.”
“Non-combatants?”
The Grand Young Master’s voice sliced through the report. “Are you referring to the people of this land, those who trust and follow His Imperial Majesty, as non-combatants? Speaking of them as if they were mere luggage?”
“Th-that is…!”
The general stood rigid at attention, unable to even meet Yeon Sohyeon’s gaze.
“Surely you are not speaking of the very people you have a sworn duty to protect?”
“O-Of course not!”
Another bead of cold sweat rolled down from beneath the general’s helm.
Tap. Tap.
The Grand Young Master remained silent, the rhythmic tapping of his finger against the desk stretching the moment into an agonizing eternity. The generals held their breath, the tension in the room so thick it felt suffocating. Just as some were about to gasp for air, the Grand Young Master spoke again, seizing the very pulse of the room.
“Indeed, that must be it. It certainly shouldn’t be.”
“Th-that is correct!”
Relief washed over the room, instantly replaced by a burning thirst. The attendees, desperate to wet their parched throats, reached for the kettles on their desks regardless of rank, but found them long since dry. There was no water to be found, leaving them to merely moisten their cracking lips with spit.
“Don’t tell me…”
Even while interrogating the standing general, the Grand Young Master’s sharp gaze missed nothing. He turned to those tilting the empty kettles. “Are you waiting for someone thirstier than you to go fetch water? Or perhaps…”
His voice dropped to a low, dangerous register, eyes flashing. “Now that you have become generals, are you implying that you are too important to fetch your own water in the military camp?”
A twisted sneer curled the corner of the Grand Young Master’s mouth. “If you were to rise any higher, I suppose you’d wait for someone to draw water in white porcelain and gently pour it into your mouths for you?”
“N-No, sir!”
At his biting sarcasm, several generals sprang from their seats, grabbed the kettles, and dashed outside. The only sound to puncture the silence was the glug of water being poured by those who had scurried out to refill the pitchers.
No one dared to speak. They followed the Grand Young Master’s lead, remaining silent until every cup was filled. In that suffocating atmosphere, the hands tipping the kettles began to tremble uncontrollably.
“Hand tremors?” The Grand Young Master’s comment followed without fail. “Do you expect to wield a sword on the battlefield with hands that shake like that?”
“I will correct it!”
Correct what, exactly? Even those shouting the reflexively apologetic response likely didn’t know what they were saying. The Grand Young Master let out a short, dismissive snort.
“The decision of the Great General Regent to accept the displaced people who have lost their homes is correct.” His gaze returned to the general who was still frozen at attention.
“W-We also know that it is the morally right action, but—”
“I am not speaking merely of morals,” the Grand Young Master said, cutting off the general’s squeezed-out excuse instantly.
The standing general looked at him, but instead of an immediate answer, the Grand Young Master waited half a breath. It was a necessary pause, a moment for the assembly—who had been distracted by the water kettles—to grasp the flow of the conversation and refocus.
“General Ho Tae. As you said, they may appear to be non-combatants right now.”
Tap, tap. The Grand Young Master’s finger drummed against the desk as he continued. “But when the post-war period arrives, the situation will change drastically.”
Understanding dawned on the faces of the more scholarly officers in the room, and they nodded in agreement.
“The Grand Young Master is correct.”
“Eventually, the side with more women and children will recover its population faster.”
“Exactly.”
The Grand Young Master nodded at their concurrence. “Population is the foundation of everything. Agriculture, industry, commerce… Without a population to support them, growth is impossible.”
His gaze locked on General Ho Tae. “Therefore, while they may look like a burden now, if you consider the future, they are a resource more precious than gold.”
He gestured to Moyong Woonjeong, who sat beside him. “That is the strategy of the Northern Great General Regent, a vision that looks toward the future.”
The generals nodded, their heads bobbing as they belatedly realized the wisdom.
“I see…”
“Indeed. So that was the intention…”
Watching the scene unfold, Moyong Ho clicked his tongue inwardly in awe. Sister definitely drew a firm line to support the Grand Young Master, but…
Gaining recognition from the hardened, bone-weary core of the military leadership was an entirely different matter. It wasn’t something anyone else could do for him. That was why, when the Grand Young Master first brought up the topic of document formatting, everyone assumed he was simply nitpicking to establish discipline.
But the reality was different.
“Why are you just staring blankly instead of receiving it?”
The Grand Young Master turned his eyes, and the officer caught in his gaze rushed forward to take the document held out to him.
“G-Grand Young Master. This is…?”
As he asked, holding the document where the ink hadn’t even fully dried, the Grand Young Master replied, “I looked at the ledger and found some numbers that didn’t quite match up. That document is an order for an investigation. Go personally and uncover the corruption through an on-site inspection.”
Though the Grand Young Master had been rifling through the stack of papers, no one imagined he was actually absorbing their contents. It was only natural they were shocked.
“Pardon…?”
Yeon Sohyeon’s thunderous rebuke fell upon the bewildered officer. “Why aren’t you leaving immediately?! What are you doing?!”
“I-I am leaving right now!”
Normally, the generals would have burst into laughter seeing someone bolt out as if their tail was on fire, but they had no such luxury now. Toward those very generals, the Grand Young Master’s next command fell.
“Next.”
“N-Next is…!”
The general next in the reporting order shot up from his seat as if stung by a ground wasp and began his report. The faces of those whose turns were approaching hardened like death row inmates awaiting execution.
“Next!”
Those whose turns had passed couldn’t even feel relief, knowing not when the Grand Young Master’s sharp questions might fly at them again. Everyone buried their heads in their documents, eyes straining to follow the meeting.
“Next!”
The generals’ adjutants were practically running around to keep up with the frantic pace of the proceedings.
“Whoops!”
An adjutant checking documents collided with a servant and tumbled to the floor, yet no one could spare even a shred of attention for such a minor accident.
“Next!”
Watching the spectacle from the back, Moyong Ho swallowed dryly. What in the world… He isn’t picking fights for no reason. He isn’t being stubborn. And he isn’t using his rank to crush them into submission.
Every order was logical. Every question was rational. And yet…
“Why are you so sluggish?! Are you waiting for the sun to set and the meeting to end?!”
“If you haven’t grasped the affairs of your own domain, why are you sitting there?!”
“Does food even go down your throat right now?!”
With the Grand Young Master’s rebuke added like a rhythm between the exchanges—
“I apologize!”
“I will correct it!”
He was wielding the heavyweights of the Great General’s Headquarters without leaving a single opening for antipathy to creep in.
“Next!”
Moyong Ho broke into a cold sweat as he hurriedly presented the documents for the new agenda item to Moyong Woonjeong. Even for him, born into the direct lineage of the Moyong Clan and educated in all manner of subjects since childhood, the speed was overwhelming.
From the beginning… He no longer had the composure to marvel. The Grand Young Master never intended to blindly nitpick documents just to establish discipline!
Drip.
His sweat fell onto the document, smudging the ink.
He didn’t even need to do that in the first place…!
He felt it deep in his bones—why his sister had handed over full command authority to the Grand Young Master the moment he arrived.
“Next!”
***
One shichen passed. Then two. By the time the sunlight stretched long and dyed the conference room crimson, the meeting finally neared its end.
“…That is all.”
“Good.”
The last general finished his report and slumped into his seat like a raw recruit after his first day of drill.
“Is that the last one?”
“Yes, sir…”
It was as if he had completed a grand tour. The Grand Young Master had finally finished reporting and verifying every general, every camp, and every stronghold. If there was one surprising thing, it was that despite the palpable exhaustion of the senior officers, their eyes were still alive.
“Everyone followed well. You’ve worked hard.”
It was entirely possible because the Grand Young Master had held them in the palm of his hand, testing them by exquisitely controlling the intensity in real-time, running the meeting right at the edge of their limits.
“…Not at all, Grand Young Master.”
“You have worked hard, Grand Young Master.”
Just as everyone was inwardly sighing in relief, thinking it was wrapping up on a warm note, the Grand Young Master spoke again.
“Then, it is time to address the more fundamental problem.”
“……!”
“……!”
The generals, who had been stealthily organizing their papers, froze like stone statues, their lost gazes wandering frantically through the empty air. The adjutants, who had practically collapsed on the floor, looked as if they were about to faint.
“Who here will state the most fundamental problem of the Northern Great General’s Headquarters?”
He had traversed the vast distance from Luoyang, fought a battle against Dread King’s diplomatic corps, and even after a meeting that left the generals utterly exhausted, he showed not a single sign of disarray. The Grand Young Master, maintaining his upright posture, swept his gaze across the assembly.
“No one?”
While everyone looked at him not as a human, but as a monster, Moyong Woonjeong, the Northern Great General Regent, smiled bitterly at them and spoke.
“…The most fundamental problem is the food shortage.”
As she opened her mouth for them, the generals let out blatant sighs of relief, but at her next words, their faces hardened again.
“The enemy is plundering friendly tribes and villages. They are taking the young warriors and intentionally generating massive numbers of refugees.”
“You mean it isn’t simple looting, but part of a strategic maneuver?”
“Yes.”
The Grand Young Master stroked his chin. “…It’s a method the ancestors of the northern tribes used for sieges in the past.”
Yeon Sohyeon, well-versed in the history of warfare across all ages and places, could not fail to recognize it. “A tactic to exhaust the defenders’ food supplies by generating a mass of refugees.”
Moyong Woonjeong nodded heavily. “Whether for humanitarian reasons or practical ones, as long as we continue to accept refugees, the current food shortage will inevitably accelerate.”
She bowed her head as if ashamed. “The Grand Young Master even sent Dong Gahyu, the Northern War Merchant, and I tried everything I could, but… it was a problem beyond my capacity to solve.”
In truth, it wasn’t an issue of her capacity. The merchants were the first to pull out, the Moyong Clan—which should have silently supported the Great General’s Headquarters—was in the midst of internal strife, and most of the northern clans were merely watching the situation, terrified of Dread King. The Northern Great General’s Headquarters was currently isolated on a lone island without allies.
Generals and adjutants alike looked down at the floor, silence heavy in the room.
“If that is the case,” Yeon Sohyeon spoke as if it were nothing. “Let us solve the food problem right now.”