3
“My, I wondered just how things would turn out when Count Cyclaeus appeared! I certainly am glad that everything ended smoothly!” Polarth exclaimed as we rode in his totos-drawn wagon.
It was a box-shaped carriage made entirely from wood, so there was no concern of the driver eavesdropping.
“I suppose in all likelihood the meetings in the castle came to a close and they were all prepared to enjoy a celebratory banquet, only for Sir Cyclaeus to receive some sort of report. That man values dinner parties above all else, so I cannot imagine him leaving one to return to his manor otherwise. Thinking back on it, that Zasshuma man’s judgment that this matter absolutely could not wait until tomorrow turned out to be entirely correct, did it not?!”
Polarth seemed to be in something of a manic state now that he was freed from Cyclaeus’s intense gaze. However, I honestly still knew nothing about what this man was thinking or what his goals were. Still, since he referred to Zasshuma as “that Zasshuma man,” they couldn’t have been too close. I asked him about that.
“Indeed. Sir Kamyua is the only one that I have ties to. I only heard of that Zasshuma man’s name through him. And he said to take the man’s words as though they were his own.”
“Ah, so you helped us out because of your connection with Kamyua?”
“Yes, indeed. He’s a truly amusing man, is he not? It’s intriguing hearing the tales of his travels to various countries, and even when dealing with a noble he never resorts to flattery. He even earned the approval of the infamously straight-laced Sir Melfried.”
Honestly, Polarth himself really seemed to lack the characteristic arrogance I expected of nobles. It wasn’t as if this little interaction we’d had was enough for me to truly know the man, but he came across as earnest and lacking in any sort of hidden darker side.
Since Ai Fa was just sitting there in polite silence next to me, it had just been my voice and Polarth’s filling the inside of the carriage for a while now.
“Still, I can’t say I enjoy placing myself in the midst of such trouble lightly. Who knows what would become of me if I were to openly defy Sir Cyclaeus?! Yes, that was certainly the risk of a lifetime!”
“I really am grateful. If it weren’t for your help, it’s hard to say where I would’ve ended up.”
“Think nothing of it! Though I may be a noble, I’m merely a second son, after all! If I didn’t take risks like this now and again, I’d spend my whole life living in the shadows!” Polarth stated, bringing his flushed face in closer to mine. And as the carriage swayed, his plump cheeks jiggled along. “At any rate, it seems we’ll be sharing the same lot from here on out! And so, let’s help one another in order to carve out a brighter tomorrow! Can I count on you for that, Sir Asuta of the Fa clan?”
“Huh? Ah, yeah.”
What exactly was he expecting of me, there?
I mean, he saved me from that whole dilemma so I certainly was willing to do anything I could to help him... But I honestly couldn’t tell what he was thinking, which left me feeling a bit uneasy.
“Well, let’s keep the tricky stuff for some other time. After all, we should be arriving at the castle gates soon. You’ll be reunited with your precious comrades at last!”
The carriage had certainly already been running for a fair enough while now. But when I pulled back the curtain over the small window, I couldn’t even make out the buildings of the castle town.
“Ah, but isn’t the drawbridge up at night, so you can’t go in or out of the castle town?”
“No worries! All my faults aside, I am still a member of the Daleim house! Though I’m merely the second son, managing that much is no problem at all!”
“Really? I’m seriously glad to hear it.”
Ai Fa might have already been by my side, but I wanted to let as many other people as possible know that I was alright. Dora must have already long since headed home, but at the bare minimum I wanted to go see the inn owners and stop by the Ruu settlement.
“By the way, Lady Ai Fa... What shall we do about the clothing and accessories I loaned you? I don’t believe there should be anywhere to change between here and the castle gates,” Polarth said as he turned to face my clan head.
There really wasn’t so much as a hint of disdain toward the people of the forest’s edge in his gaze. And he fortunately didn’t seem to be shooting Ai Fa any lecherous looks either, which was definitely a relief.
“Then would you not mind if I waited till tomorrow to return them? Though I entrusted my comrades with my clothing, I would not feel at ease changing in this carriage.”
“Right, you may be a hunter of the forest’s edge, but you are indeed still a young woman! At any rate, I don’t mind in the least. However, I did borrow them from the manor’s treasure storage without permission, so it would prove quite troublesome were even a single ring missing.”
“Understood. I will make certain everything is returned to you.”
“Right! Please do!”
Polarth looked to be in quite a good mood, while Ai Fa remained perfectly expressionless.
After her tearful reunion with me, Ai Fa had regained her composition, once more seeming like she had nerves of steel. The area around her eyes was admittedly still a bit red, but with only a lantern to rely on for light, that wasn’t the sort of thing anyone would notice.
“Sir Polarth, we have arrived at the main gate,” the driver soon announced through the window, having brought the carriage to a stop.
“Right!” Polarth replied with a hearty nod, stepping outside.
Was he negotiating with the guards manning the gates? At any rate, after just a few minutes a gatekeeper with a massive spear peered vacantly into the carriage.
“I’ve indeed counted two passengers. Those two will be leaving the castle gates, while the rest will be returning shortly, correct?”
“That’s exactly right! Now then, go ahead and lower the bridge!”
This carriage was currently being guarded by three soldiers riding totos, but apparently once we made it past the gates, Ai Fa and I would be returning to the post town alone.
No wait, Donda Ruu’s supposedly waiting outside, right?
Just how angry would he be at me for this massive screwup? Honestly, I felt glad just to be in a situation where I could worry about such matters.
“Now then, time for your triumphant return!”
I had figured Polarth’s words were a bit overblown there, but at any rate, we were ready to move again. The drawbridge descended with a heavy clank, clank, clank and then the carriage resumed rattling along. And in less than ten seconds, it stopped again.
“We’ve arrived. I can’t imagine you would be in any danger, but please do take care on your way home. And give my regards to that leading clan head fellow, too!”
After Ai Fa and I each thanked Polarth, we descended from the carriage.
We were still atop the bridge at the moment. It was a big one, probably four or five meters wide, and had railings coming up to around chest height installed on either side. Since it was a drawbridge, it naturally stretched out over a deep moat.
Because the passenger door to the carriage was in the rear, I was facing toward the gate to the castle town, as well as the surrounding walls as I stepped out.
Those stone walls were as tall as a two-story building, or at least six to seven meters high. Though the sun had already completely set, there were countless flames lit atop the castle walls, making it easy to see just how imposing they were.
The castle gates were carved right into those walls, and looked like a massive pitch black cavern. Were the gatekeepers holding up torches and observing us? After all, I could spy some red flames flickering within that dark gaping mouth.
Glancing around, it seemed those flames continued to dot the top of the walls well off into the distance.
Those sturdy structures protected the castle at the heart of Genos, as well as the castle town inhabited by nobles and wealthy merchants. And they were also what had isolated me from my comrades.
So Jeeda climbed over those? That’s seriously impressive, I thought as Polarth waved to us from inside the carriage.
“Well then, we shall meet again in the near future! May the Daleim house and the people of the forest’s edge prosper together!”
The three totos-riding guards and the totos pulling the carriage then made a graceful U-turn and headed back over the bridge.
With that, the world outside the castle walls came into view, and what was revealed was a truly unexpected sight.
And at the same time, cheers exploded forth.
“Wh-What the...?”
It was such a storm of cheering that it felt like it might make my ears ring.
But that was no surprise, since there were dozens of folks awaiting us there on the other side of the drawbridge.
“Asuta...!”
“It’s Asuta! He’s really back!”
I could just barely make out those words.
“Let’s go. It will make the gatekeepers in the castle town uneasy if we force them to wait much longer to raise the bridge,” Ai Fa said, grabbing hold of my arm and walking briskly forwards. But even as she half pulled me along, I still couldn’t grasp the situation at all.
“Asuta...!” a figure shouted out, running up from the crowd. The slender girl of the forest’s edge wore her long black hair in braids... In other words, it was Reina Ruu.
“Oh Asuta, I’m so glad you’re alright...!”
Once again, the clothing from the forest’s edge that I had only recently changed into was soaked in fresh tears.
However, Ai Fa didn’t slow her stride in the least, so I ended up being pulled along by my arm, with Reina Ruu getting dragged along with me.
“Asuta! You’re okay?! Those nobles didn’t do anything weird to you, did they?!” a large man shouted out, grabbing onto me as soon we made it over the drawbridge.
As a grinding sound announced that the drawbridge was raising back up behind me, in my shock I exclaimed, “D-Dora? What in the world is going on here?”
“Do you really need to ask?! Good grief, you really are something else...” Dora said as he wept manly tears.
And at his feet, Tara was smiling and crying as she said, “Asuta!”
“All those with ties to you here in the post town were informed that I was borrowing the aid of a noble in order to enter the castle town. Of course, they were also strictly ordered not to speak a word about our plan until after the sun fell, so that the guards wouldn’t catch on. That much was necessary, to make certain that Cyclaeus and his daughter could not possibly slither out of this,” Ai Fa explained, as she was the only one still calm and composed. “And then, once the sun set, everyone came running here to the castle gates. That’s nothing to be surprised over. After all, everyone was thinking of you, Asuta.”
Now that I was getting a better look at the crowd, saying there were dozens seemed like underselling it, as there had to be over a hundred here... At the most, it might have even been 150 or so.
Half of them were people of the forest’s edge, while the other half came from the post town. And since a number of them were carrying torches, they were dyed in an orange light.
The majority of them were shouting with joy, and those who weren’t had tears in their eyes.
Sheera Ruu was there.
So was Lala Ruu.
And Vina Ruu.
Li Sudra.
Milano Mas.
Nail.
Naudis.
Yumi.
And a great number whose names I didn’t even know.
And from the crowd, two young boys slowly approached: Ludo and Shin Ruu.
“Asuta... So you’re okay?” Ludo Ruu questioned with a hearty sigh. “That’s a huge relief. I thought I’d end up regretting being so careless for the rest of my life.” Then while deeply hanging his head, he whispered, “I give my thanks to the forest...” That was the first time I had ever seen the boy look so meek and docile.
And then, there was Shin Ruu.
“Asuta...” he said as he staggered forward. When she noticed, Reina Ruu pulled back from me, still crying.
Shin Ruu was always so calm and composed, but now he grabbed hold of both of my shoulders and looked on the verge of tears.
“Shin Ruu...”
“I’m sorry... I just wasn’t strong enough...”
Shin Ruu was just a bit shorter than me, and so it wasn’t all that different from when Reina Ruu had hugged me as he wrapped his arms around me and sobbed. He was a man of the forest’s edge, but here he was weeping in public.
And wracked with the thought of how much guilt I had made the boy feel, I felt like I was going to start crying too.
“It’s fine. I’m the one who couldn’t protect himself, after all. Please stop worrying yourself, Shin Ruu.”
Even so, Shin Ruu just kept on sobbing for a good while longer.
Eventually, though, Lala Ruu walked over and slapped him on the back.
“That’s enough, don’t you think? And just so you know, if you keep weeping away like that tomorrow, you’ll get me angry at you.” And then, she looked my way and shot me a smile. “I’m glad you’re alright. And you look like you’re doing fine, Asuta.”
“Yeah. Thanks, Lala Ruu.”
Though her smile looked the same as always, Lala Ruu’s eyes were clearly red.
Meanwhile, folks from around town approached from behind her.
“Even my daughter managed to escape harm, but you went and got kidnapped, you damn fool,” Milano Mas grumbled angrily with a scary look on his face.
“Seriously. And to think, you were worrying about me,” Yumi chuckled with an indescribable expression.
“Asuta... I was just so careless... I don’t even know how to apologize for that,” Nail said, looking like he was about to break down crying, too. It was the inn owner’s belief that he should behave as emotionlessly as possible, so this was definitely the first time I had ever seen him this out of sorts.
“At any rate, I’m just glad you’re alright,” Naudis called out while flinching a bit from all the hunters of the forest’s edge shouting and hollering away.
Yes, both people of the forest’s edge and folks from the post town were all jumbled together there, celebrating my return. It truly was an extraordinary sight.
There couldn’t be that many folks out there who were as accepting of the people of the forest’s edge as Milano Mas and Nail, for example. But driven by the same shared feelings, they had all gathered together around me.
Thanks to my own carelessness I had fallen into a noble’s hands, and even afterwards I could only wait around to be saved, not even coming up with any effective plans on my own. I really was a total idiot, and yet they had all gathered here, laughing and crying, and some even getting angry.
The group of southerners raising up containers of fruit wine and laughing boisterously were surely the carpenters who had helped out Pops.
As always, the easterners had their hoods shadowing their faces to the point that you couldn’t tell what expressions they were making.
And the westerners were definitely the fewest in number, but there were still around 20 or so present. That included both regulars I often saw at the stalls, as well as folks like the cloth and metalware sellers.
Lastly, there were just as many people of the forest’s edge present, all laughing and swinging about torches and the like. There were men and women in the crowd, and both familiar faces and ones I didn’t recognize all that well. But all of them had bright, reassuring looks on their faces.
Also, looking closely into the background, there were over ten soldiers surrounding them at a distance, holding long spears. This was the sort of huge gathering that could easily end up on the wrong side of Genos’s laws.
Still, I ultimately just stood there like an idiot, not knowing what to do... Before long, though, three figures approached as if realizing that.
Two of them were massive, while the other wasn’t. It was Donda Ruu, Gazraan Rutim, and Rau Lea.
“Asuta, I’m glad to see you’re alright,” Gazraan Rutim called out, gripping my hand tightly.
“You too, Gazraan Rutim...? I really am sorry for worrying you.”
“Don’t be. Just seeing you alive and well is enough,” he shot back with a gentle smile.
And from beside him, Rau Lea leaned his face in.
“Geez, don’t go worrying me like that, Asuta. I mean, we were already right on the verge of our showdown with the nobles... Well, still, I guess it made things interesting in its own way.” Rau Lea was just the same as always, too. He had the same smile and air about him, and his pale blue eyes remained sharp like those of a hunting dog. “These past few days, we’ve been running all around the post town from morning till night. So you’ll need to feed us something awfully tasty to even the scales.”
“Right, sorry. I’ll make you as much food as you want.”
“I’m just kidding, dummy. It’s only natural to go running about like that for a comrade,” Rau Lea replied, reaching out and rustling my hair.
And then, there was Donda Ruu.
The man looked down at us with eyes like a wild beast and snorted, “Hmph, you don’t seem like you’re injured in any way. You’ll have to inform us of the details back at the forest’s edge.”
Then, not even giving me time to reply, Donda Ruu turned to face the crowd gathered there. And in a thundering voice, he shouted, “Asuta of the Fa clan has been safely retrieved from the noble’s manor! My apologies for the commotion we have caused in the post town over the course of these past five days! As one of the leading clan heads of the forest’s edge, Donda Ruu, you have both my gratitude and sincere apology!”
The townsfolk all shrunk a bit as they listened to those words. But they soon stood back up straight, and the cheers once more exploded forth.
“I’m glad you’re okay, Asuta!”
“Make us up some tasty food again, too!”
“If this made you sick of the town and you decide to hole up in the forest’s edge, then we’ll all come barging in after you!”
With that, I felt my chest tighten up and I couldn’t bring myself to respond. And so, I put everything I was feeling into a deep bow of my head instead.
At last, I had made it back to these people, all so very precious to me.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login