Published at 5th of February 2021 03:28:06 PM
Chapter 120
Chapter 120: Sudden Expectations
The treasure sword drew a purple line, cut off a piece of Bruder’s neck, and stopped . No, I had to stop . The hidden needle of Bruder’s hand pierced my chest slightly .
I could not move . Actually, none of us could . If I took a step further, then our lives would leave our body . On this very moment…
「…Both of you . Put your weapons down now . There is no way that your stupidity will lead you to better results . 」
A voice with a sense of heaviness echoed in the back alley . This voice made the air itself heavier .
This voice directed at Bruder and me . We were the only ones on this back alley . Unmistakable . When that voice hit my ears, I felt that even the breaths exhaled from my stomach were weightier .
A familiar voice . This voice, which crushed my spine with its heaviness, belonged to the Steel Princess Vestaline, which I once heard .
Bad . This was no good at all .
It was actually the worst to see her here . Once I grabbed her attention, whatever I did in Belfein afterwards, her eyes would follow me everywhere .
I had no choice but to stop . Holding a weapon here was far from being wise, an option that was far from being clever .
It was the same for Bruder . For him, who lived in Belfein, there was nothing worse than being on bad terms with the Steel Princess .
「Are you mercenaries or vagabonds? Don’t waste your time in a place like this . 」
Her words had an indescribable weight . She had the strength to subside any frictions . Of course, all we had to do was to remain silent, put down our weapons and swear to her that we wouldn’t behave like this ever again .
Ah, that’s right . What mattered now was not whether the Steel Princess was right or wrong . The important thing here was that she was the only daughter of the Lord of Belfein, an upper class person . While we were just inferior ordinary people .
It meant that we must kneel, whether or not it made sense . We were not the rulers of this land . Therefore, we had to obey the true rulers, the Steel Princess Vestaline, a human with great authority .
By the way, did the same thing happen, when I visited Belfein before? I remember her coldness and contemptuous gaze at that time .
Well, I had no choice whatsoever . That’s it . The upper class was power itself . Things that could never be overturned . I completely forgot about it . There were too many different ranks and classes . Yet, I experienced something new since I came to this timeline . Many people respected people like me . I never really felt this way before . That’s why I forgot about the reality of this world for a moment .
My line of sight overlapped with Bruder . Then, without blinking our eyes, we slowly and silently pulled each other’s weapons from the vital points of our bodies . This was the right and wise way to behave, and thus, saving our lives .
「Good . I hope I won’t see another quarrel in Belfein again…The vagabonds always try to pollute Belfein from within . 」
I see, she did not ask for my name . Her existence reflected at the edge of my eyes .
I had mixed feelings . First, I felt relieved . Otherwise, all my plots would crumble . It was great, no problem . Then, I felt upset with this rough treatment .
Indeed . My heart began to melt as if fever consumed it . My skin felt painful barbs, as if they were tearing apart my own flesh . My spine burned and my blood circulated viciously .
Humiliation . Yes, humiliation . Now I felt like being thrown into a dark and cold coast . My body froze in the cold as I deprived of dignity . My insides boiled with shame . Nonetheless .
The Steel Princess, Vestaline, usually gave no mercy . I did not really care about this fight . I never found any meaning in fighting with Bruder . It did not matter how proud Bruder and I were, no matter how hard we were determined to wield our weapons . Against her, we were nothing .
I came back in time so that I would never experience this kind of humiliation again . Why did this happen again? Why did I let someone trample on me again?
Yet, I still bowed at the daughter of a Lord in a city like this . Ah, regardless of my hidden feelings, I still had to thank her, because she finally showed some mercy .
Why was I accepting this humiliation? Because my goals were not yet put into motion . Sincerely, I truly wanted to thank her .
The horse-demon beast of the Steel Princess Vestaline moved its head and turned to the opposite side of the back alley . There was no use for her to stay in such a dirty place anymore . The strong hooves “told” me that we mustn’t get in her way .
『…You only look down from that horse . And the only thing you can do is wear iron, huh?』
Bruder’s voice overlapped with the sound coming from the hooves . The choice of words were different from usual . In fact, the tone of his voice contained some heat .
Bruder’s voice echoed right next to me . He didn’t spoke with a loud voice, but he spoke with such a clear tone that reached the back of the Steel Princess .
His voice shook the spine of the Steel Princess . Her face turned around and she looked back at us for a moment .
Then, she responded with a strange smile on her face . I never imagined that I would ever see her with a different face than her usual expression of iron .
「…I shall remember your faces well . Do not think that you are going to live a peaceful life in Belfein again . 」
She spilled those words that were hard to chew . As it was, the Steel Princess slowly left the back alley as if the horse swayed her away .
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Ah, no good . He ended up belittling her .
—
「I never thought of myself as a clever person . But I wonder if I did a foolish thing earlier . 」
I got an invitation and entered a cheap hotel in the red-light district . Apparently, Bruder lived in this sort of place .
This guy . I remember that he used to live in the same place . Did he really like brothels this much? However, I never saw him indulging in such practices . Anyway, I unknowingly put my elbows on the table and sighed deeply .
He aimed for my life moments ago, but now, I was breathing in the same room with him . What a strange thing . Was he having the same kind of mercy? At any rate, now we were in a bad state . The Iron Devotee, the Steel Princess and ruler of this city, was watching us now . Mercenaries yearning to corrupt the Steel Princess could end up losing their lives . Disobeying her was also a no-go . Something that had to be avoided at all costs .
「Ah, yeah . I know that . I never thought of you as a clever person . In fact, you were born as an idiot . 」
He was such a big fool no matter what one thought about it .
The situation only got worst . Why did he open that mouth of his? That did not make sense . There was no justification nor a piece of wisdom . It was like stepping into a pit of fire . How foolish .
「What? Those were certainly not very wise words . I know that . But I don’t despise them . They weren’t that bad words, you know . 」
Those words seemed to be Bruder’s straightforwardness . He never spoke clever words . Sometimes, he did not make sense at all . However, Bruder was someone who was always straightforward .
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Bruder smiled after acknowledging his lack of cleverness . But he didn’t seem to have regrets about speaking his mind to the Steel Princess .
It was a subtle way of getting credit . Yes, of being someone different, special . I thought it was unusual for people to be recognized and trusted when they lacked talent . But Bruder was different even though he was someone ordinary like me .
Anyhow . There were no chairs in this room, and the only furniture available were a table and a creaking bed . Bruder raised his cheeks and tilted his hat, while sitting on his bed . His hands were pouring cheap rum into the pottery .
He did not open his mouth after filling it up . It was as if he was waiting for something . This kind of gesture told me what he waited for . He was clearly listening to me now .
I knew him too well . He probably thought that it was a shame to avoid hearing the story . Yes, the story that he refused to hear when I tried to talk to him .
While recalling the nostalgic days, I gradually opened my mouth and showed my teeth . Words leaked from my throat . The lustrous voice of a woman who devoted herself to the red-light district business echoed from the surroundings while I spoke .
「Bruder . If you’re still going to stay in this city, then listen to what I have to say . As I said, I want to hire you as a mercenary . 」
I threw some rum onto my mouth . It burned my throat as a result . Ah, this guy really liked poor quality rum .
「The job is…The two wheels running in Belfein . We are going to remove one of them . That’s all . 」
I could see that Bruder’s narrow eyes opened wide . The confusion of what I was saying and the hesitation of what to answer made his eyes quiver .
But he already knew the answer . Although he felt some fluctuations with his feelings, his heart was determined .
After all, my old friend Bruder, the reason why you stayed in Belfein was exactly the same reason why I sought this job .