Cooking with Wild Game (LN) - Volume 17 - Chapter Ep

Group Performance: The Redbeard and The Wanderer

“Hey, you! Where the frick did you come from?!”

The moment that Kamyua Yoshu took a single step into the bar, he was bombarded with malicious glares and shouts from all around.

The bar was in a desolate village along an old road that saw little use, just a bit removed from the main highway running north and south. It most certainly wasn’t a classy establishment either. There seemed to be rooms for lodging up on the second floor, but there surely couldn’t be many travelers who would want to spend the night in a place as lonely as this.

If you followed the highway north for half a day, you would reach the town of Behett, and half a day south would bring you to Genos, so neither of them were all that close. Travelers with any common sense would push their totos from morning till night in order to sleep in a large safe town.

However, it was quite lively in the bar. Though there wasn’t a huge amount of seating, there were a whole fifteen men packed in there, and every single one of them seemed skilled and had wild, intimidating appearances. As he looked around at those men, Kamyua Yoshu tilted his head a little and replied, “Huh? I mean, if you’re asking where I came from, I just followed the path.”

“That’s impossible! We have lookouts outside keeping watch! Are you...a spy from some noble?”

“Of course not. At least for now, my blade hasn’t been promised to the lord of any land,” Kamyua Yoshu answered with a smile from under his deep hood. “You see, I lost my totos partway through a trip. I can’t imagine you see many folks passing through a remote area like this without a totos, so your lookouts or whatever probably just missed me.”

“You’re quite the fast-talker... How about you pull down your hood.” The large man who stepped forward and said that was especially brawny, even among this crowd. “You aren’t some weirdo from Sym, so there’s no need to wear something that shady this late at night, now is there? If there’s really nothing fishy about you, then let us see your face.”

“Ah, I don’t mind doing that at all,” Kamyua Yoshu replied, holding out his right arm while his left hand grasped his cloak over his heart. “But before I do so, allow me to swear on my soul that I am a child of the western god Selva.”

“Oh? I can’t imagine anyone would mistake a chatterbox like you for someone from Sym.”

“Right. Not that I’d have any problem with being mistaken for an easterner.”

Having completed his oath to the western god, Kamyua Yoshu pulled back the hood of his leather cloak. Instantly, a stir spread among the men. Even in that dimly candlelit room, there was no mistaking the fact that Kamyua Yoshu had golden hair and purple eyes.

“Are you...a northerner?”

“No, like I said, I’m a westerner. My mother was born in Mahyudra, but I devoted my soul to the western god Selva.”

The men all looked suspicious and started murmuring among themselves. Even so, nobody suddenly tried to cut him down or spat curses at him. It seemed that animosity toward people from Mahyudra really did lighten up when you got this far into the kingdom. From this little village, it would take over a month on totos to reach the northern border shared with Mahyudra, where the bloody feud between the nations played out.

“I see. I can’t imagine the lord of any land employing someone with mixed blood from the north. So, you’re nothing but a fool of a traveler.”

“That’s right. My totos got bit by a poisonous lizard. I feel bad for the thing, having to suffer because I didn’t prepare enough.”

“Sorry to hear that. But we’ve reserved this bar for tonight. We can’t have outsiders here, so could we ask you to leave?”

“Huh? That’d be an issue. I was planning on lodging here.”

“Unfortunately for you, the second floor’s all full.”

Kamyua Yoshu looked around the room. There was a wide reception desk at the far end of the shop, and beyond it stood a man who seemed to be the bar’s owner, pouring out fruit wine into serving cups. When their eyes met, the owner looked annoyed and shook his head. That seemed to signal that he should hurry up and leave already.

“Hmm, that’s a problem. Then, does anybody in the village sell totos for traveling?” Kamyua Yoshu asked, only for the men to break out in vulgar laughs.

“Of course nobody’s selling anything that valuable. The only totos you’ll find in a backwater place like this are the ones they’ve got on the farms, but all of those’ll be old and worn out.”

“If you light a fire, you should be able to make it through the night without any dangerous beasts coming after you. But you’ll still have to be careful of poisonous insect bites!”

“Hmm...” Kamyua Yoshu pondered.

As he considered the problem, a short man who had been drinking fruit wine at a table near the entrance started sauntering over, his breath stinking of booze. “Hey, are we really just going to let this guy leave? It’s real suspicious how he slipped past our lookouts and made it into the bar, isn’t it?”

“That’s true. Even if he isn’t some kind of soldier pretending to be a traveler, he’s definitely up to something if he’s approaching us.”

“It’d be dangerous to just let him go.” Once a third man voiced his opinion, several others moved to surround Kamyua Yoshu.

The traveler carefully raised both arms to show that he meant no harm. “I’m not up to anything. All I want is an inn where I can spend the night.”

“Just because you say something, doesn’t make it true. If you don’t fess up and give us a real answer, you’re gonna be in for some pain.”

“Hrmm, can’t say I’m fond of pain.”

The short man grabbed a grigee pole that had been leaning up against the wall, perhaps finally getting fed up with Kamyua Yoshu’s manner of speaking. Then the especially intimidating large guy from before quietly muttered, “Don’t kill him.”

“Um, I’m really not...”

“Shut it!”

The short man swung the grigee pole down with enough force that if it landed, it could easily shatter a shoulder. Since he didn’t want that to happen, Kamyua Yoshu took a single step to the side. The grigee pole ended up passing just next to his cloak and smashing into the floor.

“Bastard!”

A man on Kamyua Yoshu’s left grabbed at him. He instantly dropped down, and the man tripped over his shoulder, tumbling headfirst to the floor.

“Ooh, you certainly are cheeky.”

The remaining men creeped forward, tightening the ring surrounding him.

Just as Kamyua Yoshu was casually thinking, Well, what shall I do now...? there was a laugh and a call of “Hey!” from the far end of the bar. “Don’t you think that’s enough? If he’s in trouble, why not open up a seat for him? We’ll be sleeping poorly too if the guy is bitten by a poisonous lizard and kicks the bucket, right?”

“Ah, but boss...”

“Bring him over to me.”

The men all shared displeased looks. However, they didn’t say anything further, simply moving as one in that direction while still surrounding Kamyua Yoshu. Since the short guy with the pole was behind him, the traveler had no choice but to advance along with them.

The table farthest in the back had been hidden by a huge shelf so it couldn’t be seen from the entrance. A single man was seated there.

“Ooh, so you really do have blond hair, eh? This is the first time I’ve ever seen anyone with mixed blood from Mahyudra.” The man seated at the table happened to have a pretty unusual hair color himself. It was a deep, brilliant crimson, calling to mind a blazing fire. It hung down to neck level, unkempt, and with a bit of curliness to it. “If you don’t mind, go ahead and have a seat. I’ll treat you to your first cup.”

“Thank you very much.”

Kamyua Yoshu did as instructed and took a seat. The man in front of him had immediately drawn his full attention. With hair like a whirling inferno, yellow eyes that gleamed like those of a wild beast...and a graceful body brimming with strength beyond the norm.

He seems like an impressive person... Kamyua Yoshu thought to himself.

The man didn’t appear to be that old, just a bit over twenty at most. He had tanned skin of the sort you often saw with westerners, a nice straight nose, and a face so well proportioned that it even looked a bit feminine.

The body under his shabby cloth attire was on the slender side, if anything, and he had graceful, flexible-looking musculature. It was hard to tell because he was sitting, but he probably wasn’t all that tall either. However, his body appeared to be overflowing with a wild vitality.

His tone was bright and cheerful and his attitude was friendly, but he also had a guarded look in his eyes. It was as if one of those gaaje leopards from Mount Masara that Kamyua Yoshu had heard tell of had taken human form, making for a beautiful yet dangerous-looking young man.

“Go on, drink. That’s the finest fruit wine this place has to offer.”

“Thank you. Cheers, to all citizens of Selva.”

As Kamyua Yoshu gulped down half of the cup filled to the brim with reddish-brown fruit wine in a single go, he felt the strong alcohol from the drink cause a pleasant burning sensation as it passed down his throat.

In the meantime, the surrounding men all reluctantly returned back to their own seats. It seemed they would no longer hassle him now that he had been accepted as a guest by their boss.

“I’m a citizen of the west, and my name is Kamyua Yoshu. When I was fifteen, I switched gods from Mahyudra to Selva and started traveling around the western territory as a wanderer with no home.”

“I’m... Let’s see, everyone calls me Jidura, so could I have you do that too?”

“Jidura? My apologies, but that sounds more like the name of an easterner, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah. Apparently, it means ‘red’ in the eastern tongue. A perfect nickname for me, don’t you think?” the man said with a grin that showed the whites of his teeth. That smile made him look all the younger, even childish. “Sorry for how my guys were acting before. As you can imagine, we’re a gathering of folks with plenty of things to give us guilty consciences. We’ve got to keep an eye out for patrolling guards, so we need lookouts even when just out drinking.”

“I see. But the barkeep doesn’t seem scared at all.”

“That’s because we gave him a hefty sum in advance. There isn’t any issue as long as we pay, right? That’s probably enough to make us top-tier customers for a place like this,” he said with a chuckle and a swig of fruit wine.

Kamyua Yoshu clapped his hands together and said, “I see! Then you really are those famed Red Beards I’ve heard so much about?”

Instantly, the air in the bar went from having finally calmed down to being filled with far more danger than ever before.

A number of the men rose to their feet and began reaching for the weapons at their hips. However, the young red-haired man held up his hand and said, “Now, hold on. That’s quite the wild accusation. The Red Beards... That’s the name of the biggest bandit group in the area, isn’t it? It’s true that I may have the hair color, but unfortunately I’m not even capable of growing a full beard.”

“Right. But the Red Beards are supposedly heroic thieves who only steal from nobles and never kill. That would explain why the guy running the place wouldn’t be afraid of you and would gladly serve you booze too. After all, the Red Beards are also known for spreading wealth around to the poor...”

“You sure seem awfully knowledgeable about the area for a wanderer...”

“I may have come from the north, but I’ve heard the name of the Red Beards mentioned constantly around Behett. Among the poor, they’re being hailed as heroes.”

The young red-headed man who called himself Jidura wetted his throat with fruit wine again, then he glared straight at Kamyua Yoshu. Those beastly yellow eyes were now blazing bright.

“Kamyua Yoshu, just who in the world are you?”

“As I said before, I’m a wanderer without a home. If I had to add anything further, I guess it would be the fact that I make a living as a bodyguard,” he said as he pulled out the necklace he wore and showed it. It was made from agate collected here in Selva that had all sorts of intertwining colors, and served as proof that he was a bodyguard. On the surface, Kamyua Yoshu’s name was engraved in small letters in the writing of the west.

“Ooh. So not an unlicensed bodyguard, but an official one recognized by the kingdom, eh? Just how old are you, exactly?”

“I’ll turn nineteen soon.”

“So despite being that young and having blood from Mahyudra, which I’m sure the folks in the capital were none too happy about, you were acknowledged as a bodyguard? You must be an incredibly skilled swordsman then, eh?”

“Well, considering my background, yeah, I never would’ve survived without polishing my skills with a blade.”

“Hmm... But lots of bodyguards acknowledged by the kingdom take on jobs to protect nobles, don’t they?” the young man asked, the fire in his eyes growing even more intense. “So wouldn’t that make the Red Beards, who target nobles exclusively, your mortal enemies?”

“That may be so. But right now I only need to protect myself, and wiping out bandits is really outside of my field of expertise. After all, a bodyguard’s job is simply to protect their client.”

The young man’s lips showed signs of wavering. The men around him were all holding their breath, just waiting for him to give the signal.

“Why...?”

“Huh? Why what?”

“You suspect us of being the Red Beards, don’t you? So revealing that you’re a bodyguard could only serve to put you at a disadvantage.”

“No. As long as neither of us is on duty, there’s no reason at all for any hostility between us. I figured being honest and open would help build trust. And if you really are the Red Beards, I’d like to be able to talk openly with you...”

“But why? If you’re a bodyguard, the Red Beards should be your enemies, right?”

“If the Red Beards came after a noble I was striving to protect, I suppose we’d have no choice but to cross blades. But I was born poor myself, so hearing about how the Red Beards live has been really moving for me. They never kill, only target nobles, and share their spoils with the poor. That’s just so cool, it’s almost unfair, isn’t it?”

The young man chuckled, unable to hold it in any longer. Then he leaned back and let out a loud laugh.

“You are such a fool! Going around saying what you really think about people like us and openly admitting your lineage!”

“Yep. And I didn’t want to make an enemy of someone like you either. If you really are the head of the Red Beards, I figured I should be careful not to take any jobs in the area with your potential targets.”

The young man just kept on laughing at the sheer ridiculousness of it all. After going on like that for a while, he reached into his chest pocket and pulled out a piece of cloth the same color as his hair. He wrapped it around the lower half of his face, showing a smile with just his eyes.

“Then let me tell you the truth. My real name is Goram. They call me Goram Redbeard, the leader of the notorious Red Beards. This red mask we use as proof of belonging to our group led to my nickname. Are you satisfied now, Kamyua Yoshu the bodyguard...?”

“Yes, I am.”

“B-Boss...”

“Stop whining! This young fellow is a bodyguard recognized by the kingdom! And from what I can tell, he seems to possess the skills to back that up. If we made an enemy of a guy like this, we wouldn’t be able to avoid things ending in bloodshed and death. So to avoid breaking our rule to never kill, our only option here is to just share some drinks, wouldn’t you say?” With that, the red-haired man, Goram Redbeard, brought the cloth around his face down to his neck and turned toward the bar’s owner, calling out, “Hey mister, get us some more fruit wine! And bring out the finest food this place serves too!”

“R-Right away!”

“Now then, Kamyua Yoshu, how about we drink together, just like you wanted? And I think it’s about time that you fess up... You slipped past our lookouts and came to this place because you knew the Red Beards were lurking around, right?”

“Yeah, well, the fact that I lost my totos is true. For these past several days I’ve been wandering around aimlessly hoping that I would run into you all.”

“Hmm? I’m amazed you ended up here without anything to go on.”

“Right. Well, I figured you wouldn’t go near Genos or Dabagg with all the soldiers around, so I chose the most desolate roads I could find and searched around the places that weren’t patrolled.”

“It’s fortunate for us that a man as good as you at sniffing these things out didn’t join up with the soldiers instead,” Goram said, tense wrinkles forming above his nose. “But you’re the second person to track us down recently. We may just need to find a better place to hide out.”

“Oh? Were the soldiers on your tail?”

“No, though that certainly isn’t a rare occurrence. That’s why we’ve got lookouts posted out front and totos ready to flee at a moment’s notice. We pay bars up front too because if the soldiers charge in, we won’t exactly have time to pay them at that point. This was something different, something that happened five days ago now... It was this noble-looking, rich-seeming guy, and he suddenly approached us like you did tonight.”

“A noble? There’s no way that a noble would come to a place like this.”

“That time, it wasn’t a bar. He found us at a roadside inn, one a bit nicer than this place. We were frequent customers there, so we were able to have fun secretly in the back without needing a reservation. And then that noble bastard with his carrion-eater eyes showed up...” Goram explained, his disgust readily apparent in his voice. “He really did have a vexing gaze. Though he was dressed like a merchant, he was definitely a noble. Or at the very least, someone who lived deep in the city of stone without a care in the world. You can tell easily enough what sort of life someone has had by looking at their eyes and their fingers.”

“Hmm? But why would someone like that seek out the Red Beards? Even if it was a grudge over a stolen fortune, there would be no need to approach a bandit group personally, right?”

“That wasn’t it. The bastard said he wanted us to attack a merchant caravan.”

A man seated nearby interjected, “It wasn’t a merchant caravan. It was a group of envoys, Boss.”

“Quiet, you. It doesn’t make a difference either way! At any rate, he told us he wanted us to attack some envoys or whatever coming from Banarm to Genos...and that we should slaughter them all and loot their treasure.”

“Asking heroic bandits who never kill to conduct a massacre, eh? A request like that would never work out.”

“Yeah. But he said something about overlooking all the previous crimes of the Red Beards if we did it. Real shady, don’t you think?”

“It certainly is! Banarm and Genos are the biggest towns in the region, aren’t they? I haven’t set foot in either yet myself, but isn’t Genos the land with a big old castle ruled by a duke? It all stinks of some kind of scheme.”

“Yup. They probably wanted to use a bandit group to crush someone they found inconvenient. Seems like something those dirty nobles would think up... That’s why we gave him a nice deep cut, right here,” Goram said with a beastly laugh, tracing a line along his forehead from left to right. “Every time he sees that scar that’ll never go away, he’ll regret running his mouth at Goram Redbeard. And give thanks for his life from the bottom of his filthy mundt soul.”

“It’s dangerous to go around pointlessly making nobles angry... Wouldn’t it have been better to have cleanly taken his life then and there?” Kamyua Yoshu asked, but then he suddenly broke out in a smile. “Well, I guess you couldn’t do that, considering your rule to never kill. You and your men sure do lead honest lives.”

“As if a group of bandits could be called honest, of all things!” Goram Redbeard said with another wild grin.

Just then, the bar’s owner approached Goram, holding a large plate. “Sorry for the wait. Here’s your kimyuus grilled with herbs.”

“Ooh, that sure looks tasty! I never would have figured you could get meat with the skin still on in a remote bar like this!”

The plate was stacked with a tremendous amount of kimyuus meat, cut into chunks and with the skin still attached. There were even a few pieces of wing meat sitting on top of the pile, which was quite unusual to see.

“When she heard you lot had rented out the place for the night, my wife said to prepare a fresh kimyuus. It was an old one that wasn’t laying many eggs anymore, so it might be just a touch stringy, but it still has the skin on, which should make for a fine meal, right?”

“I’m so happy I could cry! Still, wouldn’t you have earned more selling the kimyuus skin to a leatherworker?”

“We’d still have some of your payment leftover even if we bought a new young kimyuus, so it was nothing at all,” the owner said with a bright smile, bringing out several fresh bottles of fruit wine. Kamyua Yoshu was impressed, thinking to himself that the Red Beards really had earned the trust and affection of the poor.

“Now, eat up. A meeting this ridiculous deserves to be celebrated! Go ahead and take some of the wing meat. It’s the best part!” Goram offered.

“Thank you. I’ll go ahead and indulge, then,” Kamyua Yoshu said.

Wings cost even more than ordinary meat with skin. For starters, the feathers from the wings were prized by nobles, and then there was the fact that wing meat tasted better and there was less of it than the other cuts. Even people who raised kimyuus usually sold the wings and feathers.

Kamyua Yoshu grabbed a piece of the thick wing meat with the skin grilled just right and bit into it. It had probably had crushed rock salt sprinkled over it as well as being grilled with herbs. Unlike pickled meat, which tended to pick up too much salt, this had just the right amount, and was wonderfully juicy as well. Though the browned parts of the surface were crispy, the inside was tender. And even further in, the meat became nice and firm.

Though kimyuus were flightless birds, they had a surprising amount of strength in their wings. The fact that those muscles were so well developed was the source of this delicious flavor. Though it was so tasty that Kamyua Yoshu almost felt like sighing in contentment, there was so little of the stuff that it felt wrong to eat it too quickly.

“Hey, make sure you share that around properly,” Goram said after picking up his own bit of wing meat before passing the plate to a nearby man. As the men all cheered, they reached out for the grilled meat one after another.

It was almost as if he was at a banquet here. Even the guys who had glared so intensely at Kamyua Yoshu before were now smiling like children.

“They’ve been on edge too thanks to that damn noble I mentioned before... But they really are a good-natured lot at heart,” Goram said as he glanced around with a look of satisfaction.

As he bit into a piece of meat still on the bone, Kamyua Yoshu replied, “Yeah. I understand why they’d be on guard when dealing with a shady guy like me. Even so, not one of them drew a blade. I guess that’s just what I should have expected from the Red Beards.”

“What, so you’re aware that you’re shady?”

“Of course I am. If you go a bit farther north, guys like me are hated more than any bandit.”

“Hmm. I was born around here, so I don’t really know much about Mahyudra.”

“I don’t think there’s any need for you to know. And I doubt it’s the sort of place you’d be happy to learn about,” Kamyua Yoshu replied.

Then, a lively voice called out from overhead, “You oafs are making such a ruckus! Seriously, what’s with all the commotion?! I finally got the little guy to sleep, and you’re just going to wake him right up again!”

Kamyua Yoshu’s eyes shot open wide as a woman with a rather unusual appearance came down the creaky stairs. She was very tall, her height probably at least matching Kamyua Yoshu’s own. And she was definitely wider than he was. Though she did have some womanly curves to her, she looked quite big boned. Her shoulders, chest, and legs were clearly thicker than his too.

Her face was square, rugged, and bony. If you put armor on her, it would probably be difficult to tell her apart from a man. Currently, she was wearing men’s pants and a cloth top with a good amount of slack, but not enough that her powerful backside and chest didn’t still stand out, so there was no worry of mistaking her gender.

“Hmm? Who are you? I’ve never seen you before,” the woman asked as she confidently strode over toward Goram and Kamyua Yoshu. The leader of the Red Beards gave a cheerful smile and waved his hand.

“So you finally got him to sleep, eh? Then you should have a drink too. This shady fellow is a wanderer by the name of Kamyua Yoshu... Kamyua Yoshu, this is my wife, Bartha of Masara.”

“Is it really okay to reveal my name to a wanderer like him?” asked the woman introduced as Bartha as she snatched a bottle from atop the table and gulped it down as heartily as any man.

“No worries. If anything bad comes of it, then it just goes to show that I don’t have an eye for judging people after all. And if that’s how it turns out, I’ll make everything right again, even if it means breaking our rule to never kill.”

“If that’s what you have to say about it, it sounds bad enough already. But, well, go ahead and do whatever you please,” Bartha said, thumping down into the seat beside Goram. With the two of them together, it was clear that she was built a size bigger than her own husband.

“Huh... Now that I think about it, I’ve heard that Goram Redbeard’s wife used to be his right-hand woman until she had his child.”

“Are they even spreading rumors about that now? Those townsfolk sure do love their gossip!”

“That’s because it’s rare to find folks like you who oppose nobles head-on in any country. And you’ve gone uncaptured for years now, so you’re becoming something of a legend. If I were a minstrel, I’d compose an epic song about you.”

“Hmph! That all sounds overblown to me. We’re just going around making trouble because we can’t stand nobles... Hey, if there’s any meat left, pass it this way!” In response to Goram’s call, the plate made its way back over. By now, there were few enough meat chunks left atop it that they could be easily counted.

“Seems like you boys were eating some awful fine food while I was getting the little guy to sleep,” Bartha said as she picked up a chunk of what was likely breast meat with skin and popped it into her mouth. It seemed she was a masculine woman in more ways than just her appearance.

“I’ll bring out a soup with boiled bones and offal shortly, so hold on for just a bit please, ma’am.”

“Cut it out with calling me ‘ma’am.’” After shooting the bar’s owner a strained grin, Bartha brought her stern face closer to Kamyua Yoshu’s. “So, what’s your deal exactly? You seem pretty darn skilled. Are you aiming to join the Red Beards?”

“Ah, no. I can’t imagine someone as unfocused as me would be a proper fit.”

“Hmm? If you’ve got a family and home, then you could just help out whenever’s convenient.”

“Ah, you have some members who work like that? Even so, I still don’t think I’m a good fit for the Red Beards.”

“Oh really?” Bartha replied lightly, and then she shot her husband a glare. “In that case, just what were you thinking, telling him who I am and drinking with him?”

“I was thinking I should try to be his friend. If someone would be troublesome to have as an enemy, then becoming pals with them makes things easier, right? Fortunately, he was apparently born into poverty,” Goram answered with a hearty grin and a swig of fruit wine. Bartha also went ahead and had more fruit wine while looking astounded.

No matter how you looked at them, it was hard to imagine they were married. However, that brief exchange was enough to make it obvious that they shared a strong bond of trust and affection.

As he also picked up his wine cup, Kamyua Yoshu turned back toward Goram. “I just remembered, there’s something I really wanted to ask you, Goram Redbeard.”

“Oh? What is it now?”

“Why did you make that rule to never kill? That’s a real dangerous restriction to have when dealing with soldiers and bodyguards, isn’t it?”

“Hmm? That’s because killing someone and stealing their wealth are crimes that hold different weight. We’re just looking out for our own hides.”

“But if you get sticky fingers with a noble’s fortune, you won’t be able to escape a death sentence, so it seems to me like those crimes are weighted equally.”

Goram dubiously furrowed his brow and said, “Yeah,” with a wild grin. “I guess I didn’t put that quite right. Rather than our hides, I should have said we were looking out for our souls.”

“Souls?”

“That’s right. According to the laws set by the nobility, stealing from them and killing may well be equally severe crimes. But what about when you’re before the great western god? You’d have your soul torn to shreds for murder, but don’t you figure he could look the other way when it comes to thievery?”

“Ah, so you’re putting your lives on the line for the sake of your souls after death?”

“It’s nothing all that grandiose! I just want to be able to loudly declare before the western god, y’know, ‘What’s wrong with stealing from those dirty nobles?! If you’ve got an issue with that, then go right ahead and crush my soul to dust!’ I’ve got nothing to feel ashamed for... And that’s our strength,” Goram said with a daring grin, his yellow eyes blazing bright once more. “I’m sure I’ll meet my end at the hands of a hangman. Even so, when I find myself standing on the gallows, I plan to have a smile on my face. And everyone else here feels the same.”

“Oh really?” Kamyua Yoshu said with a smile.

It seemed these Red Beards really were just the sort of men he had thought. This was exactly what Kamyua Yoshu had wanted to know when he sought them out.

They’re rough like wild animals, but also earnest. I really could see them holding their heads high at the gallows without any regrets.

That was a way of living he couldn’t copy.

He didn’t believe in any gods.

That went for divine judgment, divine providence, and any fate ruled by the gods too.

Making light of the laws crafted by the agents of those gods—the kingdoms—and simply living as they pleased... These men seemed like they had chosen a way of life similar to his own, but fear of the gods still existed at the root of all that.

Or maybe they were trying to oppose the gods in a different way than he was. And in the process, they were putting both their lives and their pride on the line.

“You know, you’ve got a strange way of smiling,” Goram suddenly complained. “Are you really just eighteen? I mean, that’s what I’d say you are after seeing your face, but your eyes look like they belong to an old man.”

“Really? I’m often told that I’m like an elderly dog. Not that I’ve ever seen one of those dog animals myself, though.”

“Hmph. You sure are an odd one,” Goram said, then he suddenly brought his face close. “By the way, I get that I’m being pushy here, but let me just ask once more... You really don’t want to join up with the Red Beards, Kamyua Yoshu?”

“I can’t. Even though your offer is a huge honor that’s making my heart tremble,” Kamyua Yoshu replied with a smile. “I just can’t see myself managing to live the way that you all do. I’m still in the middle of finding rules of my own to follow, so I can’t go along with someone else’s code.”

“Hmph, that’s quite the lofty statement there. You sure it’s not just that there’s no need for a bodyguard recognized by the kingdom, the sort of guy who never needs to worry about missing a meal, to stoop to being a bandit?” Goram asked with a childish pout.

As Kamyua Yoshu thought to himself how wonderful it would be to spend his life alongside such a charming person, he shook his head. “No. I got my qualification as a bodyguard in order to live as free and unfettered as possible. Thanks to my position, I’m able to travel around to all sorts of lands. But if I do find my own rules to live by, and they’re not opposed to those of the Red Beards, maybe then I’ll decide I want to spend the rest of my days with your crew...”

“That’s a fine-sounding way of letting us down easy. Cheers, you aloof wanderer,” Goram said with a shrug of his shoulders, picking up a bottle of fruit wine. “Well then, how about we drink up? We’ll probably never meet again for as long as we live, so why not guzzle down enough booze tonight for a lifetime?”

“Sounds good to me.”

In fact, Kamyua Yoshu and Goram Redbeard wouldn’t ever have a chance to meet again. The members of the Red Beards who had gathered in the bar didn’t have much time left, as they would soon be captured by the militia of Genos and hanged. The only ones to escape that fate would be Goram’s wife, Bartha, and their son, Jeeda.

Knowing nothing of that, though, they simply kept on drinking into the morning.

It would be ten years and some change from that night until the gears of fate clicked into place and Kamyua Yoshu met Goram’s child, Jeeda.