Chapter 45
If one Alchin rides a horse and shoots an arrow, one person dies.
If a hundred Alchin ride horses and shoot arrows, a hundred people die.
**
Contrary to Enya’s worries, the caravan did not encounter the centaur-like monsters again.
Two days later, the endless grassland came to an end. The carriages passed fields where the autumn harvest was over and arrived at a city surrounded by ocher-colored walls.
It was Tariq, a small city on the western edge of Akhraba.
The passengers parted ways with the caravans in front of a marketplace covered by enormous awnings.
Before leaving for the merchant guild’s building, Danis pulled Tarmin aside to shake his hand.
“If you ever come to Quaalid, be sure to look me up. Tarmin, and Enya.”
“Mr. Danis, thank you for everything!”
“Please do come visit!”
After saying their farewells, the passengers gathered their belongings and set off in their own directions.
While Tarmin folded the blankets and packed their things, Enya gazed at the enormous carpets decorating the walls, the rounded domes of the stone buildings, and the curved, arched doorways, letting out one exclamation after another.
In contrast to the splendid buildings, the people seemed to dress simply. Many wore loose-fitting, plain cloaks as if they were merely draped over their shoulders.
Enya smiled brightly and said to Tarmin,
“People here don’t make clothes out of fancy fabric. They decorate their buildings instead?”
“Enya, this is your first time in the East, right?”
“Yeah.”
“The people of Akhraba aren’t allowed to flaunt their wealth through their clothes. Still, they discreetly wear fur and jewels on them.”
“Really?”
“I guess the law can’t stop people from wanting to look superior to others. Take a good look.”
When Enya looked at the passersby again, she spotted the jeweled adornments hidden in the clothes of people who had seemed so plainly dressed.
With clothing regulated, luxury had developed in a rather unusual way.
She was enjoying the sight until she felt someone watching her and frowned.
Enya glared at the imperial knights who had followed her all the way to another country.
If only those two weren’t here, this would have been a wonderful trip.
Lise smiled easily despite Enya’s sharp glare, while Ivar followed a little behind her, carrying the luggage.
“Do you plan to glare at us like that all day?”
“Of course. If you get so uncomfortable you end up with indigestion, I’ll keep glaring for a month, not just a day...”
“That’s enough, Enya. Don’t waste your energy.”
Tarmin slung his backpack over his shoulders and stood up.
He raised an arm in front of Enya to stop her from shouting.
“But, Taal.”
“Ms. Lise has no intention of getting in our way for now. Isn’t that right?”
Enya pouted, her expression full of discontent.
Pleased by Tarmin’s defense, Lise replied,
“Of course, Mr. Tarmin. All I want is to see you safely back to the West.”
Enya immediately turned cold and scoffed.
“You’re so vile it makes me sick. You’re not sending us to Lanchain, are you?”
“Lanchain is in the West, at least.”
“Let me make this clear: even if dirt gets in my eyes, I will never—”
“Enya.”
“Oh, what? Why do you keep calling me!”
Tarmin raised his hand and gently stroked Enya’s head as she burst out in irritation.
“Eep.”
Enya seemed to lose her words for a moment and fumbled, then grabbed his hand with both of hers and pushed it away.
Then she abruptly turned her head away.
“Don’t just touch me like that.”
It sounded like she’d quietly added, “Not in front of other people.”
Tarmin smiled faintly, then looked at Lise and Ivar.
“Ms. Lise. Although Enya herself is quite opposed, yes, we agree that we should return to the West. I’m not sure whether you’re feeling at ease because your prey is right in front of you, or whether you’re trying to earn Enya’s favor, but there’s no need to draw attention to ourselves by starting an unnecessary fight in a foreign country.”
“You understand, then.”
“Understand? Didn’t I tell you why I came here?”
Lise smiled coolly.
“I’m certainly looking forward to that, too.”
“I’d like to show it to you soon. Shall we go?”
“Yes.”
The four of them started walking.
Tarmin led the way, while Ivar brought up the rear.
**
Quaalid.
In the underground dungeon of the inner keep, Eleonora Addis peered through the bars of a cell.
The torches held by her subordinates bathed the black stones in red light.
The person inside the cell looked terrifying, as if he were covered in blood.
“Mr. Rug. You said you came from Sevick, didn’t you?”
“Y-Yes.”
The man answered fearfully.
He clutched the blanket in the cell and trembled.
But he wasn’t trembling because the prison guard—or Eleonora—had tortured or physically threatened him.
Rug had been out of his mind with terror ever since the moment he’d come here of his own accord.
He’d suffered fits of madness for days, and had only just come to his senses enough to face her.
Eleonora brushed back her smoothly falling brown hair and spoke.
“Mr. Rug. I’ve never been there, but I’ve heard of Sevick. It’s hard to believe that the notorious criminals of that lawless land were taken down by just one person.”
“D-Didn’t I tell you, miss? Did you even go to the place I told you about?”
“Yes. I went and checked several times, but there’s nothing left. At the moment, your testimony is all we have. We can’t find any trace of the companions you claim were killed.”
“…Aah!”
When his words were dismissed, Rug screamed, then began trembling again as he bit down on the blanket.
He repeated what he’d said before.
“I saw it, I swear I did! The old man had nothing in his hands, but then, the next moment, he swung a sword. The men guarding the entrance were cut down and killed just like that, and I shouted. But then, the men who came down after hearing me… No, they’re coming to kill me! Ooooo, Casey, Olov…”
Watching Rug fall into another terrified fit of delirium, Eleonora gave up on questioning him and stepped back.
She glanced at her adjutant to confirm, and he shook his head.
“I went and checked in person, too. There wasn’t even a trace of blood.”
“Is it possible he’s simply insane?”
Even as she asked, Eleonora thought that unlikely, and her adjutant shook his head again.
Dinahim’s sloppy report proved that they had been in Quaalid until recently.
“Something definitely happened that day. I can’t stop thinking about the method that old man used. Could he have used some kind of magic?”
“Magic?”
At the unexpected word, Eleonora’s eyes widened. Her adjutant hesitated, then spoke with some embarrassment.
“No, nothing. I only said that because a sword appeared out of nowhere, or because the bodies disappeared without leaving a single trace of blood. I don’t know of any blessings like that. I’m being foolish.”
She hadn’t meant to embarrass her old subordinate, but she couldn’t help giving him an uncertain smile.
“Y-Yeah. Lugus. If I just blame it on magic, I don’t have to make sense of any of it, so… maybe a little.”
“I suppose I’m getting old, too.”
Her adjutant, a graying man called Lugus, placed both hands on the greatsword he’d been leaning on like a cane.
The silly banter lightened the mood, and the subordinates around them wore faint smiles.
One of the younger subordinates cracked a joke.
“What if the old man was a master swordsman who cut them down without spilling a drop of blood? He’d make a fine opponent for you, Adjutant.”
“And you cleaned up the bodies? I hope to retire without any such trouble.”
Laughter broke out among the soldiers. As the jokester was declared the culprit and locked in the empty cell next door, Eleonora looked back at Rug.
“Mr. Rug?”
Rug was still babbling, but Eleonora thought she’d heard something clearly.
When Eleonora held her breath, her subordinates immediately stopped talking, too.
Rug’s words came through a little more clearly.
'…Blond hair and red eyes?'
**
Enya was adamantly against Tarmin’s suggestion that they go straight over.
“We can just go there, get what we came for, and head straight back to Quaalid, Enya. It’s no big deal. If anything, he hates receiving gifts even more.”
“How can you be so thoughtless? It’s been ages since you saw him. We should bring even a small gift.”
At Enya’s insistence that they buy something to bring along, they eventually entered the marketplace, where colorful carpets were on display.
After searching high and low for a suitable gift, they found a butcher selling some decent lamb.
Tarmin had already taken a hit to his wallet buying the soap, and was swallowing back tears at the thought of the cost, when Enya pulled a large jewel from her clothes and left him speechless.
They paid for the meat with the jewel and took their change in Akhraban silver coins.
“Lady Enya!”
“It’s my way of paying you back for the soap. I was the one who suggested we buy it, wasn’t I?”
He’d never imagined she would pay, so he grabbed her hand and shook it in delight. Enya smiled shyly.
Half an hour later, the four of them arrived in front of a small house on the outskirts of the city.
They passed hooks for hanging game, a workbench for tanning hides, and a frame for twisting rope as they approached the door.
Before Tarmin could knock, the owner of the house sensed them and flung the door open.
“Who is it?”
The owner’s eyes widened when he came face to face with the unexpected visitors.
Tarmin cleared his throat and bowed slightly in greeting.
“Ahem. Hello, Father.”
“Tarmin? Is that you, Tarmin?”
“Yes. It’s been a long time.”
His father gazed at Tarmin with warm eyes for a moment, then looked at the other visitors behind him.
Enya shifted awkwardly, then bowed her head in greeting.
“Hello, Father-in-law.”
His father was silent for a moment, then said,
"…Father-in-law?"
Enya stared blankly for a moment, then flinched and hurriedly said,
"Ah, no! I-I mean, sir! Hello!"
Enya’s face turned bright red.
*****