Episode 51
“……?”
There was a man.
He was somehow familiar, yet he looked utterly shabby.
His eyes were lifeless, and unkempt stubble sprouted sparsely on his chin. His complexion was pale, and his cheeks were so hollow that he looked as though he had starved for days.
“…Who?”
Roki asked in earnest. He could not remember him at all.
For Roki, unless someone was a truly memorable figure, they were not worth remembering.
The man looked at Roki and burst into tears, shouting.
“I-it’s me! Yuan! The peddler Yuan! Did I not guide you to the monastery where Father Alex resides not long ago?”
Only then could Roki recall.
He was the peddler who had guided him to the monastery.
But why was he here…?
“You are safe! Thank goodness! Thank goodness!”
Yuan grabbed Roki’s hand and wept miserably.
***
Yuan, Roki, Ash, and Saelreot headed to the only inn in the Hareuma Territory.
The inn was shabby and miserable, as if it directly reflected the state of the territory.
Upon entering, they saw round tables arranged near the counter.
Candles barely illuminated the interior, and aside from those spots, everywhere else was dark, untouched by light.
Unlike the other surrounding buildings, the inn had a second floor, but there were only about four rooms at most, and there seemed to be no guests—just one or two locals drinking and bemoaning their lot.
When Roki stepped inside, the rotten, crumbling floor creaked.
It looked as though a sturdy grown man could smash through it with a good strike.
The innkeeper, surprised by guests appearing so suddenly, carefully guided them to a table. He too seemed to be struggling, as business clearly was not good.
They ordered a simple meal, but what came out was a limp vegetable soup and bread so discolored one might wonder if it had gone stale—all of it poor value for the price.
Roki picked up a piece of bread, shook his head, and held it out to Yuan.
“Please, eat your fill.”
“Th-thank you!”
Roki had actually harbored a romanticized image of inns, but that hope soon turned to disappointment.
He had imagined scenes like in games, where countless adventurers gathered to talk, drinking and laughing raucously, but there were no adventurers to speak of—just a few locals sitting around chatting. It was dismal rather than lively.
“…How miserable.”
When he voiced his impression, Yuan replied with a bitter smile.
“These are hard times for everyone, after all.”
Yuan, Roki, and Saelreot sat at a round table, while Ash went up to the assigned room.
Yuan wiped his reddened eyes with the back of his hand. Then he forced the food Roki had bought into his mouth, chewing it with effort.
It seemed he had not eaten in several days.
Seeing that, Roki grew curious.
The peddler named Yuan he had seen before had been thin, but he had not looked this shabby and haggard.
The same man who had once laughed it off even after being stripped bare by bandits was now looking at Roki with restless, anxious eyes like a patient suffering from depression.
“E-excuse me… I’m sorry. Might I take the leftovers with me…?”
He was begging like a street beggar. Pride was completely gone. His eyes were filled with nothing but terror and despair at starvation.
Roki nodded at such a Yuan.
“Thank you! Thank you! I will remember this kindness forever!”
Yuan bowed his head repeatedly.
‘…What happened?’
What in the world could have happened to turn someone so positive into such a wretched state?
Roki hesitated, but on the off chance, he asked,
“What happened?”
At Roki’s words, Yuan, who had been packing away the food, flinched.
He clenched his hand and struck the table.
“…Hngh.”
And he burst into sorrowful tears. Saelreot, sitting beside Roki, fidgeted, seemingly flustered.
Yuan slowly opened his mouth in a tearful voice.
“The village… burned down.”
The village burned?
“How…?”
Yuan, stained with exhaustion, let out a long sigh.
“I-I do not know either. I left the village with some merchants, but I had forgotten something, so I went back with my wife… Everything was burned. All that remained was ash. The villagers were all…”
Yuan wrapped his hands around his head and gripped it.
“…Dead. It seems bandits raided us. Everything of value in the village had vanished.”
“…Bandits?”
Just mere bandits?
A priest like the one Roki had seen should have been able to repel a few dozen bandits with ease. And not a plague, but bandits?
If it had been the Worm Plague, he could understand, but losing to mere bandits made no sense.
‘…Not that it particularly concerns me.’
Still, it strangely nagged at him.
“What happened to the priest?”
“…….”
Yuan trembled as if enraged. He displayed a murderous glint in his eyes that ill-suited his features.
“Father Alex is the one who raised me since I was an orphan. These days, with the East-West War of the Kingdom of Ronia underway, he was a good, respected… truly wonderful man who took in those who had lost their way, giving them shelter. And those damned bastards…!”
Yuan ground his teeth fiercely.
“They cut his throat and hung him from a wooden post. Moreover, they wrote ‘I am a cultist’ in his blood. Damned bastards! They deserve divine punishment!”
“…….”
“Murderous bastards! Sons of bitches!”
Saelreot looked at Roki as Yuan cursed.
“That human old man. He is dead?”
“…….”
Roki continued his conversation with Yuan without answering her question.
“So that is why you came here?”
“…Yes, the Hareuma Territory is the only place I could settle given my situation. I came with my wife, but… the future is pitch black.”
“Your wife?”
“She is with an acquaintance I know.”
“I see.”
“Traveler, do you know anything? About… why the village burned!”
Roki shook his head at Yuan’s words.
It had happened right after he left; there was no way he could know. Besides, even if he did, telling the man in front of him would do no good.
“I see? I was supposed to send the mail Father asked me to, but I never thought it would be his last will….”
Yuan took out the letter, and Roki looked at it and asked,
“You are sending it?”
“I am sending it to the Holy Church. I do not know the details, but he said he was putting everything in order.”
“…….”
Yuan stood up from his seat.
“I have talked your ear off. I will surely repay this kindness someday! Then, traveler, please take care.”
“…I wish you luck as well.”
Yuan left the inn.
Saelreot, who had been listening to the two’s conversation, stared at Roki.
“……?”
“That human old man, what happened to—”
“…Go to your room first. Thank you for helping out.”
At those words, Saelreot bowed her head. She knew Roki was reluctant to speak.
‘Is that human old man dead? Still… he was a good human.’
Saelreot was walking to her assigned room on the second floor with a sulky face when Ash appeared from across the hall.
His face and hair were damp as if he had washed up. But what caught Saelreot’s eye was his hands.
Ash’s hands, which had been clean before arriving at the inn, were covered in dark bruises.
“What happened to your hand…?”
Ash looked at his hand and spoke as if it were nothing.
“It is nothing an Ain like you need worry about.”
His tone was strangely irritable.
Ash seemed to realize this himself and closed his mouth.
“…What?”
‘And here I was asking because I was worried…!’
Saelreot was about to tear up and walk past him.
Ash looked at her and spoke.
“S-sorry. Ain.”
Saelreot stopped without looking back.
“…I have a name. It is Saelreot, not Ain.”
“Yeah, Saelreot… Do you have any intention of converting? That Nordin over there seems to have converted. If you convert too, your treatment on the continent will change.”
It was something Ash said out of ignorance.
Saelreot knew all too well that Ain were not treated as human to begin with, regardless of conversion.
Saelreot turned around and looked at Ash.
“No.”
With a single word, she stuck her tongue out at him.
With that, she headed to her room at a quick pace.
Ash made a disappointed expression at the sight.
“What a shame. I was willing to take her in since she is quite a talented individual… As expected, an Ain is still an Ain, huh?”
Her medical skills would be of great help to him. Perhaps she could even cure the dementia of the King of Ronia—his father.
“I suppose it would be fine to keep her as a concubine or slave later.”
Keeping an Ain by his side was dangerous. He could incur the Holy Church’s wrath.
But if he kept her formally as a concubine or slave, they would likely turn a blind eye.
‘Though that is a story for when I can clear up the misunderstanding with the Holy Church.’
Ash looked down at Roki at the counter below and smiled.
“He is just a Nordin. There is a gap in status between him and me, so that Ain will naturally follow me as well.”
The continent is a dangerous place for an Ain.
Therefore, he would be able to protect her more safely than that Nordin could.
Ash slowly approached Roki.
He ordered a drink from the innkeeper at the counter and sat down next to Roki without permission.
He intended to win Roki over.
Not just the Elf, but this Nordin was also quite the talent.
If he obtained both, it would be quite reassuring in his current situation.
“Nordin, I have something to say. Let us have a talk to—mmph?!”
But before he could finish, Roki’s hand stopped him.
Roki’s hand clamped over his mouth with enough force to almost crush it. Then he glared at Ash with murderous eyes.
“Hey, brat.”
“……?!”
Ash was terrified by Roki’s gaze. His heart constricted, and a chill ran down his spine as cold sweat trickled down his back.
Roki’s grip gradually pressured Ash.
The innkeeper behind the counter dropped the glass he was pouring in shock, and the locals drinking at the inn looked at the two in alarm.
Ignoring the reactions around them, Roki tilted his head at Ash.
“I do not care what comes out of your mouth. I do not care if you judge others. But if you speak like that to my companion, you had best remember that I may very well treat any deal between us as if it never existed.”
Ash’s eyes went wide.
It was as if Roki had heard his mutterings.
“If you like her, think and act from an equal position.”
‘How?! He heard what I said on the second floor…!’
He felt ashamed that his innermost thoughts had been exposed.
It was as if he had confessed to feeling love for an object.
That was what it meant for royalty to harbor affection for an Ain.
And anger welled up.
He had merely wanted to protect her. What was wrong with that?!
“Where I stand, words that demean my companion are the same as words demeaning me. Do not forget that.”
At Roki’s low voice, Ash nodded tremulously, again and again.
Only then did Roki release him.
Ash rubbed his jaw, checking for any injury, and glared at Roki.
“You are going too far. Even if it was a slip of the tongue, I am a noble. A little more respect….”
“…Shall I crush your jaw so you cannot speak?”
“…….”
Ash shut his mouth instinctively. And his pride was wounded by the realization that he had been frightened, so he rose from his seat.
“…I am tired. I shall turn in.”
Ash gritted his teeth and went up to the second floor.
“Pathetic.”
The guard at the frozen lake had been right.
Not all, but some nobles looked down on those beneath them.
Roki shook his head as he watched Ash’s retreating figure.
***
Crack….
Chomp….
The sounds of bones breaking and raw flesh being torn apart could be heard.
The young man wore an expression of terror.
Despair, frustration, terror, and pleading. The youth, his head severed and planted in the ground, stared ahead, embodying all those emotions.
What the now-dead youth was looking at was the sight of refugees who had been hunted and killed.
Countless packs and wagons were strewn across the earth. Corpses lay everywhere.
And those corpses had become food for the crows and….
The Wights.