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“Uraya Fal, seemed disappointed, but I am glad, we didn’t earn, his anger,” Radajid said after dinner in the bedroom that had been assigned to Shumiral.
As he stared at the roaring flames in the fireplace, Shumiral shook his head.
“Though Uraya Fal has a, fiery temper, he doesn’t, get angry, without reason. That just, makes things, all the more, painful...”
Northerners tended to be a wild lot, so much so that westerners feared them as barbarians. But even if the people as a whole had a ferocious spirit, it wasn’t as if they were all unreasonable brigands. Openly letting one’s emotions and desires come across so directly could prove to be a strength just as easily as a weakness, and it was nothing more than an idiosyncrasy in the end.
Shumiral tended to think that the citizens of Mahyudra and Jagar were fairly similar to one another. Southerners were rich in emotions and would quickly raise their voices. They were very far removed from the values held as virtues in Sym, and the people of the east and south would often cross blades at the border. But even when it came to the people of Jagar, Shumiral held no hatred.
Of course, the fact that he had been born on the peaceful plains far removed from the border helped with that. He couldn’t bring himself to hate southerners just because of some war that didn’t even impact him or his way of life.
Why did Sym and Jagar—and Selva and Mahyudra for that matter—need to keep on feuding endlessly? Did the kingdoms really need to steal land from their neighbors so badly? Even if it was a battle to obtain greater wealth, couldn’t it still be fought without taking up arms?
Normally, Shumiral kept such thoughts hidden, simmering deep inside, but now more than ever, he was feeling them quite keenly.
“Shumiral, I think, that...” Radajid started. But when Shumiral turned his way, he furrowed his brow a bit and switched to a different language. “I don’t feel like I can express what I’m trying to say properly in the western tongue. May I speak in the language of our homeland, just for now?”
“I don’t mind, Radajid,” Shumiral replied in the Sym tongue as well, at which point Radajid gave a big nod.
“I know full well that your feelings won’t budge at this point, Shumiral. But allow me to ask just one more time. Has that woman truly bewitched you that thoroughly? Enough to make you upend the trade route laid out by your great father, the former head of the Silver Vase?”
“Yes. Even I can’t do anything to change it. I feel bad for all of you, to the point that it feels like my body will split in two from the pain.”
“I can tell that much just by looking. If that weren’t the case, I wouldn’t have wanted you to remain in the Silver Vase so badly. But since I never had a proper conversation with that woman of the forest’s edge, I can’t say I understand this. Just what about her commands such great value in your eyes?”
“Is it really possible to put such a thing into words?”
“I do not know. But that woman is a citizen of another nation, and to us easterners, well, how should I put it...?”
“You mean to say her appearance isn’t all that attractive. That she has too much meat on her bones. That’s what you’re getting at, right?”
“Yes. I’m sorry if I hurt you by doing so.”
“You have nothing to apologize for. It’s true, excess flesh isn’t looked upon fondly in the east, especially on the plains.” Unable to hold it back any longer, Shumiral started to smile. “Radajid, I was charmed not by Vina Ruu’s appearance, but by what is in her heart.”
“I see. That certainly makes sense...”
“And that’s not all. I’ve come to find her appearance beautiful as well.”
That statement shocked Radajid all the more.
With a smile still on his lips, Shumiral continued, “The way I see it, one’s appearance can be greatly influenced by what lies beyond it. Facial features and body fat, those are secondary. What matters most is her expressions, the shine in her eyes, the way she laughs, that sound of her voice... I was charmed by Vina Ruu before I even knew what she was like inside, and I eventually found her appearance beautiful as well.”
“But you don’t even know whether or not that woman will take you for a husband. And the people of the forest’s edge don’t have any history of marrying outside of their tribe, do they?” Seeing this as a crucial moment, Radajid leaned in closer to Shumiral. “Your request to marry her may well be turned down in the end. That would mean the Silver Vase could continue to do business in Mahyudra as we always have. Why didn’t you tell Uraya Fal that?”
“Well...because I didn’t want to consider such a future, and I can’t see myself giving up on the idea without her rather harshly rejecting me.”
“So you’ll keep asking, even if she turns you down?”
“I pray every night to the eastern god that she won’t.”
“If your request is granted, you’ll become a child of the western god instead, so will the eastern god actually listen?” Radajid sighed while looking upward. “Still, I understand how strong your resolve is. My apologies for bringing the same matter up again and again.”
“Please don’t apologize. I’m the one who should be doing that.”
“No, there’s no need for you to be sorry, Shumiral... Still, as I recall, westerners have a saying that even in Sym there is no herb that can cure a lovestruck heart. After all, even someone like you who prided himself on being a calm and composed merchant had his heart completely stolen by a girl.”
“Radajid, that’s a little embarrassing.”
“Stop being so wet behind the ears. You really should have started showing interest in women at a younger age, Shumiral.”
Radajid was three years older than Shumiral and had a wife and three children back in Sym. Half of the members of the Silver Vase were married like he was. Even Shumiral’s father had taken a wife at a young age, leading to his birth. The thought of family waiting back in the home country made them stronger. Shumiral wanted to marry the woman he loved as well. It was just that he had happened to fall for a woman from another nation instead.
After a moment of silence, there came a knock from outside the door. Tion Fal’s voice called out from the other side. “Sir Shumiral, have you already gone to sleep?”
“No, I am up. Please, come in,” Shumiral replied in the northern tongue, and the door slowly opened. As Tion Fal entered the room with downcast eyes, she noticed Radajid and stood up straight.
“M-My apologies. Were you in the middle of something important?”
“Yes. We were, talking a bit, about the future. What is it, that you needed?”
Tion Fal looked rather troubled as she held her tongue.
Seeing that, Radajid stood up from the pelt rug.
“Our talk, was finished. I shall, return to, my room.”
“A-Ah, no, you needn’t do that on account of someone like me...”
“Tomorrow, will be, an early day, so it’s best, to get to sleep. Excuse me, Shumiral.”
“Very well. Until tomorrow.”
Radajid slipped past Tion Fal and exited the room. Though a private room had been allotted to Shumiral as the head of the group, the other members of the Silver Vase were divided up into rooms of three each.
Shumiral remained seated on the rug as he looked up at Tion Fal once more.
“Please, have a seat. What business, do you have, with me?”
“No, well, I...” Tion Fal started twisting and turning a bit and looking pained before sinking down to the floor almost as if collapsing. “Sir Shumiral...are you truly going to marry into the family of a woman from the west?”
“Yes. That is, the request, I have made.”
“But... But why? Changing gods and marrying into another country isn’t easy...”
“Yes. When a relationship, is formed, between citizens, of different kingdoms, oftentimes, the man returns, to his homeland, entrusting their child, to the woman.”
As a result, even if a child was born with mixed blood, they didn’t face persecution so long as the two nations were friendly. People with blood from both Sym and Selva or Mahyudra, or Selva and Jagar... They most certainly existed, even if they weren’t great in number.
Still, Mahyudra and Jagar were located so far away from each other, with Selva spread out between them, that there wasn’t really any traffic between them. Even so, there were those in Mahyudra with mixed blood from Sym, and those in Jagar with mixed blood from Selva.
“But I, am asking to marry, a woman of the forest’s edge. The people of the forest’s edge, do not allow, such interactions, before marriage. And so, I have, no choice, but to marry, into their people.”
“Then what if the woman married into your family instead, Sir Shumiral?”
“She is, the daughter, of one of, the leaders, of the forest’s edge. Her father, would not, allow her, to abandon, the forest’s edge.”
Besides, the people of the forest’s edge treated the forest as their mother rather than worshiping any god. Even if they changed the god they followed, a member of their people could surely never cast aside the forest itself. That was undoubtedly true of Vina Ruu as well. If she did so, she would surely cease to be Vina Ruu.
“So you spend longer traveling than you do at home... What a wonderful way of life...” Vina Ruu had said back on the day when they had parted. “I’ve envied people who live that way, and admired the outside world. But ultimately...I’m still a woman of the forest’s edge.”
Though Vina Ruu’s expression hadn’t budged, she had surely spoken those words from the heart.
She had admired the world outside of the forest’s edge. The settlement she knew hadn’t been enough to fulfill her, leaving her with a keen hunger for more. However, she had made up her mind to accept her fate as a woman of the forest’s edge.
Perhaps it was that part of Vina Ruu that had attracted him to her. Even if she felt gloomy about her present self, her circumstances, and her way of life, and even if she lamented her own powerlessness to do anything about it, she hid those feelings away and strove her hardest to live brightly and cheerfully. That admirable determination and the precarious balance she struck between strength and weakness might have been the reasons Shumiral found her so charming.
He strongly felt that it was fine for her to remain just as she was. There was no need for her to change anything or cast aside her current self. Vina Ruu was perfectly lovely just the way she was. That was something Shumiral wanted her to know. That there was a man here and now who would accept her. And if Vina Ruu still couldn’t rid herself of that yearning for the outside world, well, he could help out at least a little on that front. As long as the laws of the forest’s edge permitted it, she could travel throughout the western and eastern territories.
Shumiral lacked the strength to hunt giba. After all, it seemed like it would be difficult to ride a totos around freely deep in the forest where those beasts lurked. However, he did have the strength needed to ensure someone’s safety on the road. As long as he had a totos by his side, he would never allow any bandits or wild beasts to come close. If he had enough space for a totos to run around in, he could even take down a vicious muffur bear.
He was also knowledgeable when it came to poisons, a skill that caused people from other kingdoms to fear easterners as sorcerers and shamans. He even knew how to use star reading to determine the proper path to follow. It was difficult for merchants from the west and south to travel without hiring bodyguards, but easterners could make do just with their own abilities.
Shumiral had the strength to protect Vina Ruu, and he would do so even if it cost him his own life. If it was actually possible for them to travel together, and he got the chance to show her the plains where he was born...that would be truly wonderful.
“Sir Shumiral...” Tion Fal said, bringing Shumiral back to his senses.
But then, he was instantly taken aback. Tion Fal had started sobbing like a child right in front of him.
“You really do love that woman, don’t you, Sir Shumiral?”
“Yes, I do,” Shumiral said with a nod, not understanding what was going on in the slightest.
“Then after tomorrow morning, I’ll never be able to see you again... And when I think about that, my heart breaks...”
“But why?”
Tion Fal shook her head.
“I can’t quite say...that it was because I loved you, Sir Shumiral. After all, I lack the resolve to cast aside my own family and homeland... And I couldn’t ask you to marry into our house either... But still, I thought you were the most wonderful person I knew because of how you were able to travel the whole world over so freely...”
“I see.”
“Even if you cut off trade with Munapos, you’ll still be able to keep traveling around the east and the west wherever you want... The thought that I’ll no longer be able to see you as you go about your life as free as a bird, it makes me terribly sad...”
Truthfully, a great many other merchants visited Munapos on a regular basis. There were even other groups who traveled around the nation of Selva and brought western goods to this northern land. Besides, Shumiral was just the leader of his group. There was no reason to treat him any differently from Radajid or any of the others, as they would no longer be able to visit Munapos either. However, Shumiral didn’t feel like bringing up such quibbles. If Tion Fal had explicitly singled him out, then the situation was what it was, and it made the bitter pain in Shumiral’s chest grow even stronger.
“My apologies... I know it was pointless for me to say all that... Please, just get some rest...” Tion Fal said before listlessly rising and turning her back on Shumiral.
However, Shumiral spoke again, directing his words at her slender back. “No. You have nothing, to apologize for, Tion Fal. I...” he started to say, but he couldn’t continue on any further. After all, he didn’t know how to express what he was feeling in the northern tongue.
Undoubtedly, Tion Fal had similar feelings for him as he did for Vina Ruu. But Shumiral couldn’t return her feelings. He had already offered Vina Ruu his heart. If his beloved did not accept it, eventually he might try to marry this girl from the north, and if her father wouldn’t permit that, then he could leave her a child...but at this point, such a thing simply wasn’t possible.
Shumiral wasn’t capable of expressing such complex emotions with his shoddy grasp of the northern tongue.
“Please excuse me... And if you would, just forget everything I said tonight...”
With that, Tion Fal vanished beyond the door.
Shumiral ended up spending his final night in this northern land with a terribly bitter feeling in his heart.
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