Chapter 18
18 . You, me, and the world’s rule
“Is anyone here—-!?”
Maybe it’s so that they won’t lose out to the muddy waters, or maybe it’s the volume of his feelings . Their feelings .
As the barks and the reverberating loud voices come to my ears, I push Kaid away, not expecting to hear signs of people so sudden . Kaid looks at me who openly runs away, with a face that won’t say anything .
Have I hurt him? Have I shown him that I want to treat everything until now as nothing, that I hated him after all?
I don’t think like that at all . It’s just, a little, a bit, startling, there’s no way I could hate him .
Then, I properly receive the punishment for recklessly hurting Kaid, who has only been thinking about my interest: My chest hurts from moving so sudden . My heart hurts, but my chest also hurts . It hurts so much that I can’t breathe in or out .
Kaid panics and supports me, who’s crouching and groaning . I’ve hurt him, but he’s so kind . Groaning, I clutch to Kaid’s clothes .
“I r-really love you . ”
“……… . . What are you saying in this situation?”
“Because, I pushed you away just now……”
“…………I’m going to act conceited, I didn’t feel hated so much that I was despaired from that . If anything, what you said just now is more shocking . ”
“Ah?”
Kaid, supporting me with one hand and covers his face with another hand, groans .
“Hello! Is there anyone here—!?”
The voice that roars for the second time echoes with a tinge of sobs . Kaid makes a deep, deep sigh, then lifts his face up in a flash .
“There are two here! But, Tim was washed away! Keep looking with haste!”
“My lord!? My lord! …… . Aah, you’re alive!!”
The voice of a youth goes through a whole range of emotions . Shock, doubt, delight, delight, delight . Then, his voice is raised to another direction from us, faint as if being damped by the muddy stream in front of me .
“The lord is alive and well—!”
The cheer I’m hearing now sounds wet with tears, so much that the youth’s voice can’t begin to compare .
Their triumphant voice rises up, with gross sobbing that doesn’t lose to the muddy waters .
The cheers also don’t lose out to the down pouring sobs from the sky, until Kaid raises his voice .
“I get it, so keep looking for Tim! It’s a race until the border of Darich’s territory, go!”
That’s right . Wilfred can only be searched within Laius’ territory . Beyond them, it’s no longer under Laius’ authority . It becomes the issue of Darich, of Joblin . How vexing .
Kaid’s authority exceeds another fief’s lord’s in Laius . In Darich, Joblin has the higher authority . It has to be that way . If there’s a lord of that fief, flaunting his authority as the lord of another fief is heavily inexcusable . It’s so extreme that the territory might suffer a military occupation, were it to happen .
Kaid can only search within Laius’ domains . After that, once it’s out of his jurisdiction, he can’t proceed to lay his hands or have his way with it .
Hopefully, Wilfred can be found . At least, I hope he’s alright .
I have no idea whether surviving this will become his salvation or not, but I think so . Even if it’s more cruel for him that way…… I still think so .
“Hah-! Should we dump it together, then?!”
“Yeaaah!”
“I’ll do it too!”
Why are they saying “then”, I wonder with my head slightly tilted, and a stone, fastened into a rope, was thrown before me . Kaid, who receives the rope that’s securely attached to something on the other end, strongly tugged the rope several times to test it .
“What is that rope for?”
“This is a hollow area when the water volume is low . When the water level is high, no once can enter this area from above . That’s why, we fasten our bodies with this and get pulled up from above . ”
“U……”
“I will lessen my lady’s burden as much as possible . …… . Before that, I apologize as of late, but, would you please come here?”
Holding my chest as if it will creak just from breathing, I imagine myself being fastened to the rope while being pulled out . Just imagining it feels painful, truly . It seems that the pain shows up on my face, as Kaid’s face turns apologetic .
I need to be pulled up anyway, so it’s not my place to complain, and he has told me that he’ll make it as less painful as possible . The moment I start to calm down, I tilt my head at the wrinkled garment that was given to me .
It’s wet, naturally, but still dried than the clothes we both wear . It can be seen from the wrinkles, actually . Perhaps I feel too numb, but that coat isn’t that cold . We’re already drenched, so it won’t be anything different, I think . Or, will I be wrapped in thick clothes until the rope doesn’t dig painfully to me? Then I finally understand .
Concluding by myself, I receive the coat that can’t be said to be light at all . The water has been squeezed out as much as possible, but it’s still really heavy . My father’s coat was also heavy, and my grandfather’s coat was probably the same . A nobleman’s coat is heavy . I don’t know about Wilfred’s coat .
Privately, I think I like the coat of the majority of the commoners who live in the street, donning light coats . However, the texture of this one is definitely better . I guess I really am a selfish person .
Kaid looks at me, who spreads the coat that I received, with a complicated look in his eyes .
“Kaid?”
“Ha…… No, nothing…… Does your neck hurt?”
“Neck?”
That’s right, Wilfred did something to it, I believe . My eyes look down upon the tattered clothes that he violated until it exposed my neck and chest . It hung low on my chest, while the neck part is already hopeless, of course .
When I look at Kaid, demanding for explanation, he made a stubborn look that won’t say anything, nothing at all . It’s not the face that “won’t say anything” because he doesn’t know how to explain it . It’s an expression that holds a lot more anger and sorrow than chaotic thoughts . However, it seems to be directed beyond me, because I will feel even more chaotic for sure . It’s that kind of his “won’t say anything” face .
“The teeth mark,”
“……The teeth mark . Aah, the teeth mark…… That’s right!”
I instantly tilt my neck, recalling the source . Now that I recall it, I was bitten by Wilfred . It’s not strange that he left a mark; it was really painful . Afterwards, things happened one after another, so I completely forgot about it .
I’m pressing closer to Kaid with vigor . Kaid looks taken aback, a little . In introspect, it feels indeed improper, so I kill the momentum and go back to my previous spot, but as I thought, I have been a little more enthusiastic .
Because it was my first, you know? After I could properly feel my emotions, I do feel excited for my first time .
“Listen to me, Kaid!”
“Yes?”
“You know, I did it for the first time, I brawled in a scuffle for the first time!”
“…………yes?”
“Now, and back then, I never did it, ever, but I properly got into a brawl, you see . Compared to my first time in a fight, Wil was stronger, but I properly scratched him and let my kicks fly . ”
Before, without any siblings, nor peers close to my age .
This time around, as an orphan, there were peers, but with whom I didn’t build a connection .
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I’ve messed around before, of course, but I never got into a fight . My first fight, a big fight where I scuffled and grappled . I think my first experience was a huge success . Isn’t it something that I could boast about?
“Wil was soon beaten in the face . That’s why, I think I properly returned the things he did to me . If I work hard, even I can fight . I admired a warrior in the book I read a long time ago, so much that I played pretend with a broom, you know? I was berated for acting improperly, it was quickly confiscated from me, but I really admired them back then . ”
Both my hands balled into fists, I laugh as if saying, how’s that .
I thought Kaid would be surprised for me, but he doesn’t move an inch, covering his face with one hand . By what I could see from the gaps, his eyebrows turned into a deep wrathful frown .
“That bastard……”
With the word that seems to spit out his annoyance, he unwraps my fists one by one . He grasps both of my hands once again, his shoulders falling down to the sides .
“……So I was hopeless, after all . ”
“No, my lady, you are admirable . It’s just, that man is,”
“Wil is?”
“Under any kinds of circumstances, don’t forget that he harassed you if you gave him the opportunity to . The fact that you showed the willpower to rebel against him is really worth admiring, so I was thinking what I could give to you as a reward . If I meet him again, I’ll hit him until there’s no trace of his original form . I’ll hit him a hundredfold of how he hit you, my lady . ”
“…………Six hundred times, is a little too-”
“…………So he hit you six times? I understand . I’ll kick him instead . ”
“That’s also a bit…… I wonder what should I do . ”
I tried to imagine Wilfred being kicked six hundred times, but it was difficult . I could only imagine both sides being out of breath .
“I’ll return the hitting part to him by myself, so, if it’s alright, I’ll be happy if you teach me how to throw a punch . ”
“I’ll prepare Wilfred until there’s no trace of his original form first . ”
“…………I think there’s something wrong with that . ”
Kaid sinks into silence taciturnly, starting to tie the rope to me silently instead . After tying the bottom and the legs, he’s leaving the rest of me and says “Pardon me” as the only warning before holding me in his arms . Because my position is changed, my chest is back in pain and my breath stops, but I’m enduring it .
“My lady, how painful is your chest? If I lift both of your arms, will it be all right?”
“Wait, a bit…… . It hurts, but I’m fine . What should I do?”
“Please wrap your arms around my neck, and fix your body in place . I’m sure it will lessen your pain . ”
“I understand………… P-pardon me . ”
“……My lady . I beg you, so please forgive me at least for now, if I’m loosening up or putting my strength in strange places . ”
“Which one is it?”
“Either one . We’re going . The shock will arrive soon, so please don’t ever let go . ”
While holding me up in his arms, he enters the water while choosing the spot along the wall . In comparison, the water stream feels calmer .
Kaid tugs on the rope and inhales several times . I know it because my chest is pressed against him . It’s very embarrassing, somehow .
“Pull!”
“Yes! He—y, pull over—!”
I only remember up to that point . To be accurate, I can only keep my consciousness up to that point .
The rope, as a tool being constructed for the sake of speed to pull us out, was pulled by horse and soldiers . After we climb out, there’s only one word that I remember in dazzling clarity .
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That it’s definitely not just “a little shocking” .
After we got pulled up, a lot of people were rushing over excitedly . The great joy conveyed by their eyes, voices, arms, was also directed towards me .
I’m glad, I’m really glad to be alive, I’m really glad to be okay .
Let alone being unable to do anything, I’ve even spread the calamity to their precious lord, telling those things to those kind people . Even among them, there are people who wouldn’t accept those words . We, were there .
I shake off the glimpse of thought .
Wrong . This isn’t that kind of place to think like that . Let’s focus on showing them honestly about how happy I am . I want to be able to think that it’s okay to be happy . Let’s receive honestly those feelings in me . Because I’ve decided to stop thinking that I must go and take the gloomy path .
“Kaid! My lad…………”
“My lad?”
Isidore who parts the crowded people to arrive here quickly presses his mouth close . One of the soldiers repeats him in confusion . Isidore, who becomes the center of attention, flaps his mouth open and close more than once, then finally decides to open his mouth as if he wants to say something .
“M-my lamb……”
“Your lamb!?”
He must be unable to withstand it, to raise his voice to the Gimmi army .
“……Do I look like it?”
“Look, like it?”
“Ah no, Isidore-sama even slipped, so I must look like one . ”
“Ah, maybe, you do . I didn’t know he ever has any lamb, though . ”
“I didn’t either . Oh, right . ”
I’m comparing myself and the imaginary lamb . Well, in the past, I was also someone who knew nothing but books, so I couldn’t blame his excuse .
Isidore clears his throat once, rising his eyebrow, as I remove my hand from Kaid’s shoulder, whose arms had been wrapped around me .
“You’re always reckless . ”
“If I stick to the impossible, it probably will turn out right . ”
“As if, you idiot! ……You too, my lady, at least you’re safe, above all . ”
When I hear those words that he whispered, I respond with a smile .
However, soon I must retract it . Splitting, for the sake of passing through Isidore, the crowd has been dispersed without being noticed, parted once more . I realized who could have come to part the crowd wider than before, even if I didn’t want to .
I whisper to Kaid’s ear .
“Let me down . ”
“It’s impossible without cutting the rope, and I’ll refuse anyway . ”
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Between those mutual whispers, I secure my nail to the knot . However, the weight of two people has strained the rope and made the knot way too secure . If I untie this, the knot will be worn out, probably . I can only give up on the idea of removing myself .
While doing so, exactly as expected, the other party shows up, without a happy face at all .
It’s like waving a completely thick lump of meat all over, without putting it down .
“Oh no, no…… Do not do the impossible . But, all I could say is as one would expect from the strength of your fortune, that you can neatly come back to life . Or should I say, as one would expect from Laius’ lord, huh?”
“To receive such words from Darich’s lord, what an honor . However, are you all right? Our acquaintance is to be married, if I’m not mistaken . I wish to extend my congratulations as well . ”
“Ho, ho, ho…… To receive Laius’ lord’s congratulatory address, it is the greatest delight . Now, then, for the sake of passing it to them, I need to excuse myself from here . As long as Laius’ Wolf is going strong, even Darich will not be touched . Everyone, you must rejoice . Isidore-sama, I wish for your well being as well . ”
“You as well, Joblin-sama . ”
The two lords and one lord’s representative lightly bow their respects to their surrounding soldiers, who receive the deeper bows from the servants and retainers .
Laius’ soldiers, Gimmi’s soldiers, no one touch a single hair of Darich’ hands .
This is Laius’ territory, but it still doesn’t matter . If there’s no clear evidence against another lord, he can’t be put into trial . If one wants to punish the lord of another fief, one must ask for an audience with the king, taking all of the sound proofs available . Then, one must abide by the rules . At most, a lord is the ruler of a fief . The ruler of a kingdom is the king . Without the king’s approval, another lord will not be able to be put on trial . If he does, it will nurture the rebellious spirit towards the king . Anyone who bypasses the process will be deemed as breaking the king’s authority .
Within that short moment, it was unthinkable to gather the proofs and present it to the king .
That’s why, there’s no option but to let Joblin go back home from this place . There’s no reason to stop a homesick lord . Even though everyone in this place knew what that man actually did .
The eye that is smashed by the meat is looking at me . Is he thinking of how to make use of me? Is he planning to use me for his own gains?
While being held by Kaid, my feet aren’t even on the ground, I understand that I don’t even look appropriate, but I pull my chin and cast my eyes downwards .
“It’s regretful that I cannot attend the wedding . ”
There’s no one here who’d criticize the rudeness of a single maid, speaking to the lord of another fief without any prior permission . Not even Joblin himself .
“Ho, ho…… . What, it’s just about styling your black hair, though . ”
Joblin, who declares in nonchalant tone, can’t act nonchalant when the meat is dangling before him no matter how it looks like, squinting his eyes as he looks at Kaid .
“Your choice, the next generation of ‘Treasured Flower of Laius’ will be scrutinized by the whole kingdom . Plucking a woman whose origin is unknown to anyone, it is in your best interest to protect it carefully . ”
“I am greatly obliged to heed your warning . I’ll let the soldiers escort you until the fief’s border . I wish you’ll extort caution, were an unforeseen accident happens . ”
Only the muddy stream is visible, swirling into a vortex in menace, raging right to our ears .
In that kind of circumstance, only the hidden meaning of the words will swirl into a vortex of a human, stowing away the rage inside the body .
This, is a farce .
Anyone knows this, a farce that anyone wants to end, but no one is willing to step down before the other, from the stage .
This kind of stage will end only when someone destroys something . And then, the culprit who destroys this stage, will be hailed throughout the history as the victor .
That thing, from a long time ago, is something that exists from the first time human came into being .
Because that is the rule of the world .