Episode 39
Priest Alex scattered the agricultural fertilizer he had been holding across the field.
“Phew… The weather is nice. Up until the day before yesterday, it rained so much I was worried, but thank goodness!”
He looked at the green plants that had grown safely.
Among them hung unripe, wrinkled bell peppers. Gazing at them fondly, Alex smiled.
“Grow well.”
He had just carefully touched a pepper when—
“Father! Father!”
At the clear voice, Alex turned his head in surprise.
Not far from the field where the peppers grew stood a clean monastery that looked newly built, and numerous children were running about and playing there.
From a child playing knights to a child reading scripture, to a child sprawled out taking a nap… they all looked full of life.
Among them, one girl approached Alex with a basket.
“Father! Father! Look at this! I picked this many!”
Seeing the girl smiling so brightly, Alex couldn’t help but furrow his brows without realizing it.
“Ah, you shouldn’t do this. Emma! These aren’t ripe yet.”
“Huh?”
Seeing the bewildered girl, Alex shook his head.
The fruits of several months of effort had been ruined by the girl’s good intentions. He was disappointed by that, but he didn’t say anything to the girl.
Instead, it was a good opportunity.
It was time to teach the girl properly about peppers.
Alex smiled as he patted her head.
“Look. They’re only the size of your palm, right? The color is yellow too. If they grow bigger and change color, they can become tastier and more nutritious peppers.”
“Huh? I—is that so? It can’t be helped, then. These can’t be eaten, right? Then I should throw them away!”
“…….”
Rather than wilting, strength actually entered her voice.
At that sight, a vein bulged on Alex’s forehead.
“Emma! Did you do this on purpose…!”
“Ah, no! It’s absolutely not because I hate peppers! It’s just that they’re bitter and the texture is weird when you chew… and there’s a strange smell… I just… have a bit of trouble… eating them.”
“…That’s just hating them! *Sigh*… I simply don’t understand how you can say such delicious peppers taste bad!”
Alex shook his head.
“Wait just a little. I’ll pick you a tasty pepper you’ll fall in love with! Let’s see… Ah! There’s a well-ripened pepper here!”
Alex smiled broadly and carefully cut one off with pruning shears, offering it to Emma.
“Here, try it. Emma!”
“…….”
“…Emma?”
Alex looked ahead in puzzlement.
He couldn’t see her. The girl who had been there moments ago was gone.
Where he had held out the pepper, nothing existed.
“……?”
Alex’s eyes went wide as he looked around.
The children who had been full of life moments ago were nowhere to be seen.
The once-clean monastery had fallen into disrepair; yellow mold bloomed across its shabby walls, and portions had collapsed.
The field that had been green was withered, and the pepper Alex was holding had dried up and shriveled.
“…Ah.”
A nostalgic longing swept over him, and Alex realized one fact.
That here… there was nothing anymore. That only he remained alone.
“I—it’s dinner time! I’m quite hungry, so I should… go… and… eat.”
Alex spoke with a trembling voice, shaking his head.
Returning home, he blanched the withered peppers in boiling water, sliced them, placed them on the table, and sat in a chair.
He blinked and looked at the several plates on the table and the tasteless, bitter pieces of pepper upon them.
“…Oh dear, I’ve prepared too much again.”
‘I must be going senile! How much time has passed, and yet I’m still… not… used… to… this….’
He said so in his heart.
Please, get used to it.
But from another side, an opposite whisper was heard.
Please, don’t get used to it.
If he got used to it, he would forget the children. If he didn’t get used to it, he would continue to miss and remember the children.
Either way, there was no peaceful life for Alex.
“…I must steel my heart!”
Alex poked a piece of pepper with a fork and put it in his mouth.
It wasn’t over yet. There was hope. So he had to endure a little longer.
Even if it tormented him.
“…Ah, as expected… it tastes… good! These peppers!”
Alex smiled.
It tasted good.
He had merely blanched them in water, yet they tasted so wonderful! Magnificent!
There was no salt or seasoning to speak of. No sauce at all. The bland and bitter peppers also had the “worst” texture when chewed. Yet he ate them silently.
He thought they were delicious himself.
He… had no choice but to think that.
He had to do so.
Otherwise, when the children returned, he wouldn’t be able to prove that peppers were delicious.
“Aah, why did the children… dislike… such… tasty… things? Haha. Ha…haha….”
With a sob, tears streamed from the corners of his eyes.
It was painful. He wanted to be rid of this loneliness right away if he could.
But it wasn’t “time” yet.
Knock! Knock!
Alex started at the knocking sound, hastily wiped his tears, and sprang up from his seat.
“Ah! That’s right. I asked Yuan to deliver daily necessities a few days ago!”
The gloomy air from moments ago vanished without a trace. He stood up energetically and hurried to the door.
A smile formed unbidden at the joy of having a visitor.
“I asked you to have dinner together last time, but you refused saying you were busy? Today, I must insist we have dinner together!”
Filled with anticipation, Alex opened the door.
“It’s been a while! Yuan! Let’s have a meal together today…!”
Alex, who had been speaking, closed his mouth. And his eyes went wide in disbelief.
“……?”
It was a small girl.
A girl with bronze skin and crimson eyes. A girl with soft silver hair stood before the door.
With her petite frame deep in a hood, she looked even more frail.
“Ah….”
Alex was at a loss for words.
The girl slightly lifted her head to look at Alex, tilting her head.
Her curious gaze suggested she didn’t know what his reaction meant.
Alex unknowingly reached out with a trembling hand and murmured.
“Em…ma?”
The girl… looked so very much like the girl he knew.
***
“Wow! I was startled! A huge crow suddenly jumped out of the forest, so I thought it was a monster, didn’t I?”
A man in his mid-30s pulling a cart with a donkey laughed heartily.
The cart was packed with all sorts of miscellaneous goods, leaving almost no space to sit.
In that cramped space sat a man wearing a crow mask and a girl in a hood.
“It’s cramped, isn’t it? Haha! Still, isn’t it better than walking?”
“…….”
Ignoring the words of the sundries merchant named Yuan, who kept talking, Roki looked at the girl sitting right next to him.
Whether the girl sensed Roki’s gaze, she flinched and merely lowered her head, taking no other action.
‘…Has her wariness faded?’
After escaping the forest, Roki had discovered a path.
It was a path naturally formed by countless people traveling. That meant if he followed it, he would find a village or city where people lived.
Even then, Saelreot, who had been following him, maintained a distance of about 5 meters, perhaps still wary.
Before, she had maintained roughly 10 meters or shown an attitude of observing from the trees, but after the previous incident, she seemed to have realized he meant no harm, and as the days passed, she shortened the distance.
Thus, during their subtle journey, they received help from a passing sundries merchant.
At first, he had simply asked to be guided to an inn in a nearby village, but the merchant Yuan waved his hand with a smile.
—A place to stay? Hmm… I’m afraid it’ll be difficult! These days, this country is at war with itself or something, so they dislike outsiders. Moreover….
Yuan pointed his finger beside Roki. Precisely, it was directed at Saelreot, who was walking a short distance away.
—Your wife looks very exhausted, so you should stay somewhere proper! I happen to know a monastery well, so let me ask there!
Saelreot seemed flustered by Yuan’s words, but Yuan pushed Roki half-forcefully onto the cart with the kind of bright smile only seen in rural villages and beckoned for Saelreot to come too.
In the end, the two found themselves on the same cart in a daze.
Roki should have shown some reaction, but he missed the timing, as it was too abrupt.
The moment he got on the cart, she too had been led by Yuan’s hand and naturally ended up sitting next to Roki.
“Wow! You’ve saved me! The person living at the monastery suffers greatly from loneliness, you see. That person would gladly welcome you.”
Looking at the brightly speaking Yuan, Roki maintained silence for a moment.
This place was the Kingdom of Ronia, nearest to the frozen lands, currently divided into west and east with a civil war waging over the throne between the First Prince and the Second Prince.
The aftermath of war easily affected neighboring countries.
Frequent wars worsened a nation’s power and economy. As public order grew unstable, those who lost their livelihoods easily fell into depravity.
It was becoming commonplace to see bandits, looters, and deserters roaming about. Yet the Yuan before his eyes treated Roki and Saelreot with kindness and without wariness, as if he knew nothing of such a ruthless world.
“…You’re kind.”
“Huh? Ah, I hear that often. Thank you!”
“Don’t you usually keep your guard up around outsiders? Someone dressed as strangely as me should be even more disliked.”
“Well, indeed! It is strange! Very much so! A crow mask… isn’t it too ominous?”
“…….”
Yuan was far too honest.
“Still, you know, bandits are well aware that there’s nothing to gain from raiding such countryside. No money, no goods! All we have is our bodies.”
Yuan smacked his lips.
“So what we worry about more than bandits are slave hunters who kidnap people, or plunderers. If we fall into their hands, we have no hope.”
Looking at the smiling Yuan, Roki spoke.
“And yet you help us? You have too little wariness.”
“Well, I hear that often! ‘You’re just the right personality to get scammed!’ they say. I suppose that means I’m quite naive, doesn’t it? Haha!”
He was positive.
Depending on how you looked at it, it was a good personality, but in a world like this, it was a personality that invited danger.
“Actually, didn’t I meet bandits not long ago? They took everything then without leaving even a single pair of underwear! Haha! Thanks to that, I’ve been working day and night lately to cover the deficit! But I learned my lesson! If you meet bandits, leave the goods and run! That way, at least you’ll still have your clothes! Haha!”
…He was pathologically optimistic.
Roki made a dumbfounded expression inside the crow mask and opened his mouth.
“And yet, what is your reason for helping us?”
Someone who had suffered a terrible experience was bound to be wary. If he truly met vicious bandits, he could have been kidnapped and sold as a slave.
At Roki’s question, Yuan smiled.
“Ah, that’s because there is a teaching handed down since ancient times by His Holiness Ajellan.”
“……?”
“From Chapter 625 of the Teachings of the Apostle: If someone is in a difficult situation, help them unless it is an evil deed. Then their hearts shall be saved… or so it is said! It’s something the priest often says.”
‘So he follows the teachings of a religion?’
Roki had vaguely heard about the religious influence on this continent.
But to think it was to this extent.
“Moreover, the crow is quite familiar.”
‘Familiar?’
At his words, Roki couldn’t help but be puzzled.