Chapter 7
Aron, the Baron's son, was bored.
It was because of the storm.
A few days earlier, word had come that a storm was coming, and the entire town had begun preparing.
Aron had also helped his friends firmly secure the school building with ropes and cloth so it would not be blown away; afterward, he helped his mother secure their house against the storm.
Then he holed up in a shelter with his friends.
The adults had taken over storm preparations, since anything beyond that was too dangerous for the children.
While he was playing with his friends in the shelter using a ball made from a pig's bladder, the shelter door suddenly opened.
Bang!
“Urgh!!! You scared me!!!”
“Huh? Where have you been, Nibel?”
There stood Nibel, a friend soaked to the bone by the rain.
Nibel approached the children with a confident smile.
“Hey! From today on, you will address me as Lord Nibel!!”
Nibel approached them confidently and showed Aron and the others what he was holding.
It was a small stone resembling a vivid blue jewel called 『Interpretation』.
“Th-this is an Interpretation!?”
“Whoa!! Nibel!!! Where did you get this!?”
“Where else? I found it in the sea! Hehe.”
『Interpretation』
It was a rare jewel that could occasionally be found on Kron's storm-lashed shore.
The children were amazed and fascinated that Nibel had brought back the jewel they had only heard about.
Aron had once heard adults say that a single one of those could let a family eat bacon all year, so he asked Nibel:
“Nibel! Could I find one if I went to the sea too?”
“You can find one if you go to the shore, but... cowards like you won't manage it. Heh heh heh.”
Nibel looked outside the shelter.
Outside, with the storm almost upon them, rain and wind were raging violently.
Most of the children's expressions fell at the realization that there was no way they could go outside.
But Aron alone was staring out through the storm-lashed door.
After a while, Aron made up his mind.
* * *
The storm reached the territory.
Gray rain clouds covering the sky poured down water madly,
and powerful winds capable of sending rocks flying began sweeping through the territory.
I had seen it in Calix's memories, but it was still fucking awful.
It reminded me of Typhoon Maemi from my previous life.
It was really fucking awful...
Whoooosh!!!!
“My lord! It's getting dangerous! Let's get inside the castle!”
I was making one last tour of the territory to check for any unforeseen problems.
Only Steward Hart, Knight Rikain, and my advisor Noah were following me through the storm.
Hart was old, but he had insisted on coming because he was worried about me, and the storm looked like it was taking a heavy toll on him.
Just as I decided that things were probably fine and prepared to return to the castle, I began to see the people of the territory in the distance.
“Aron!!!!”
“Aron!!!! Baby!!!!”
The people who were supposed to be in the shelters began emerging one by one, calling out someone's name.
Feeling a chill run down my spine, I rode straight toward them.
“What happened!? Why are you out instead of staying in the shelter!!”
“Well... I mean...”
When I appeared, the man who seemed to be one of our territory's workers looked troubled.
Then a woman who appeared to be his wife grabbed my trousers with a desperate expression and screamed in utter despair.
“Aron!! Our son is missing!!“
”What!?“
It was the voice of a mother stricken with terror.
That one sentence was enough.
Once I understood the situation, I shouted:
”Hart!!! Mobilize everyone who can move!!“
”N-now, my lord!?“
”If not now, when are you going to send them out!!! Hurry up!!“
The thing I had feared most had happened.
Fuck!!
I ordered Hart and Rikain to gather the workers and knights and search for the child, then turned my horse around.
”My lord!! Where are you going!?“
”Just in case, I'll head to the shore ahead of you!! Hyah!!!!”
“My lord! It's dangerous!! My lord!!!!”
Haunted by a terrible memory, I galloped toward the shore.
* * *
Meanwhile, at the shore,
Aron was fighting for his life in the storm.
”Just a little...just a little...more...“
Taking advantage of the moment when the adults were distracted, Aron secretly slipped out of the shelter and headed for the shore.
The storm made him feel as though he might be blown away, but it was still manageable enough for him to walk, and Aron ran toward the shore Nibel had told him about.
There, in the gray sea, he saw the blue glow of an Interpretation.
To grab the Interpretation that seemed about to be washed ashore at any moment, Aron waded into the sea until the water reached his waist.
The waves were strong, but he could withstand them.
All he had to do was grab the Interpretation and return to the shelter like Nibel had.
Then his friends would acknowledge him, and he could help his family.
Just as he thought that and stretched out his hand one last time...
Splaash!!!!!!
”Aaaaaaaah!!!!!“
A wave twice Aron’s size swept him away and swallowed him in an instant.
It happened so quickly that Aron did not know what had happened.
He simply found himself unable to breathe,
while the entire world turned upside down and began shaking him.
As his consciousness gradually faded...
Aron was simply...afraid.
* * *
I had a younger sibling.
They were four years younger than me, but spoke and walked earlier than other children their age.
As a result, my sibling grew up surrounded by our family's love.
I still remember it.
They would follow me around saying, ‘Big brother, big brother,’ and I found them so cute waddling along behind me that I would deliberately run ahead so they would chase after me.
Then they would trip and fall, and I remembered my mother scolding me as if it had happened only yesterday.
It was on the day the storm came.
My family lived near the sea.
My father was late returning from a fishing trip, so my mother, worried about him, went to the shore.
Worried about my mother, I told my sibling never to leave the house, then went to the shore to find her.
I thought that would be enough.
My sibling was four years old by then, understood what people said, and knew that it was dangerous outside.
So I felt reassured, left my sibling alone at home, and ran after my mother toward the shore.
And that day………
My sibling disappeared into the waves.
“Yah! Yah!!”
“Whoooosh!!!!”
The shore, where I arrived in an instant after whipping my horse, was utterly deserted.
Only the violent wind, rough waves, and gray sea met my eyes.
But there was one blue light.
“Gasp! Gasp!!”
Far out in the sea, well away from the shore, I could see a child struggling.
“Little one!! Stay awake!! Little one!!!”
“Gasp! Hah-hah! Gasp!!”
The child could not hear me and simply thrashed about, struggling desperately to stay alive.
Each time, the blue jewel clutched in their hand appeared and disappeared.
The sea was telling me something.
That this child's life was almost over...
“……………”
The sibling who had disappeared into the waves that day returned as a cold doll.
Their hands and feet were cold as ice, and no matter how many times I called them, they did not answer.
Even when I promised to give them the toy they had wanted for so long...
Even when I offered them the candy I had been saving for myself...
My sibling did not answer.
I still remember it vividly.
My father howled.
My mother wailed at the top of her lungs.
I still remember that sound.
But did I have to see such a sight again?
Did I have to watch another child become a cold doll before my eyes?
If seeing that sight again was the price of being reincarnated...
It would be better to fucking die here.
I took off my clothes.
Then I jumped into the sea.
* * *
A short while later, people arrived at the shore.
Hart, Noah, Aron’s parents, and all the able-bodied people of Kron had come to search for Aron.
“My lord!!”
“Aron!! Baby!!!!”
When Hart saw Calix's horse on the shore, his face went pale.
The horse was there, but Calix, the lord, was nowhere to be seen.
Baron and his wife also went pale.
“That...”
Their eyes fell upon a child's shoe on the beach.
How could they forget it?
It was the leather shoe Baron had bought for Aron with the first double wage he'd ever earned.
“No... No! No! No!!!!”
“Baby!!!! My baby!!!! No!! No!!!!!!!”
If a shoe had washed ashore, it meant one thing.
Falling into the sea in this weather meant death.
Baron's wife... Aron’s mother wailed and tried to run into the sea.
Unable to bear losing his wife as well, Baron cried out and held her back.
Everyone thought the same thing.
That Aron must have died...that the sea...the storm had swallowed him.
Thinking that, everyone was giving up, though no one said it aloud.
Then a miracle occurred.
“What is that...?”
Noah was the first to notice it.
Something was shining on the shore, blending into the gray surroundings.
It was a familiar head of silver hair.
A silver-haired figure emerged from the surf, clutching something tightly in his arms.
It was Calix and Aron.
“My lord!!”
“Lord Calix!”
Hart and Noah immediately ran toward Calix when they saw him.
Before they could say anything, Calix shouted:
“I'm fine! More importantly, a doctor! Call a doctor!!”
Calix came out of the sea and laid Aron on the beach.
The child's body was limp, and his eyes were closed.
“Please... Please...”
I dropped to both knees and checked Aron's mouth.
There was no breath.
He was unconscious.
But it wasn't over yet... It wasn't too late.
I placed one palm over the other and set them on the center of Aron's chest.
After taking a deep breath, I began chest compressions calmly.
“One... Two... Three...”
I pressed down on his chest in an exact, steady rhythm.
Calix's brows trembled faintly each time the small, delicate breastbone was compressed.
There was no room for mistakes.
I had imagined this countless times.
It was CPR I had practiced over and over while regretting that day's tragedy.
There was no way I could make a mistake.
So get up, little one...
Get up... I said get up!!
“Cough!”
At that moment.
A small cough escaped him.
Then Aron's body gave a weak twitch.
“Cough!! Cough!!!”
“Aron!? Aron!!!”
Aron turned his head and began vomiting seawater.
His breathing began to return, harshly but unmistakably.
I paused for a moment, then cupped the child's face in both hands.
I could clearly feel his warm body temperature.
The child was alive.
“Mo...ther...?”
“Baby! My baby!! Thank goodness!! If something had happened to you!! I...!!!”
Aron's mother ran toward him when he came to.
She touched his hands and feet again and again, checking that her child was truly alive.
Baron ran over with her, and once he confirmed that Aron was safe, tears—or perhaps rain—streamed down his face.
Then he bowed to Calix over and over on the sand.
“Thank you!!!! My lord!! Truly...! Truly!!! Thank you!!!!”
Calix, his strength spent, stared blankly at the scene.
Then he quietly approached Aron, who had regained consciousness.
Aron sat dazed in his mother's arms, looking as though he had no idea what was happening.
“I'm glad you made it, little one...”
Calix merely stroked Aron's head several times.
When he tried to leave, he nearly collapsed as his strength gave out.
Stagger
“My lord!!”
Noah, who was closest to Calix, supported his body.
His body was cold as ice.
Had he saved a child in this condition?
Noah could not conceal their astonishment and shock, and Calix said:
“I'm sorry, Noah... Please help support me.”
“Yes...my lord...”
With Noah's help, Calix returned with difficulty.
Everyone gathered there that day witnessed it.
The sight of their lord...
His back as he walked feebly, looking as though he might collapse...
He looked utterly weak and wretched.
Yet he was utterly noble and beautiful.
“My lord...”
“My lord…….”
At that moment, without anyone telling them to, people began kneeling one by one.
They did not know why.
They simply felt they had to.
Looking directly at him felt as though it would be a lifelong sin.
The people of Kron had all lost something to the storm, whether great or small.
And they had thought that was only natural.
Because they had been taught that such was the life of powerless people who lived from day to day.
But today, that changed.
That young lord taught them that such things were not natural, and that there were things precious enough to risk their lives for.
That day…
The people of Kron were saved by him.