Chapter 28

Episode 28 - Unexpected (1)

After finishing their meal, the two leisurely walked through the village again.

The sight of the young man following behind the tall old man limping along was quite noticeable, but such things did not seem to matter here.

Everyone simply focused slowly on their own day.

Jing, who had been watching them, opened his mouth first.

“There does not seem to be anything like a study either inside or outside the temple. Is there a separate place where documents are stored?”

“There is one in the temple basement.”

“Can someone who does not work at the temple enter?”

“As long as the elder gives permission.”

“Hmm.”

Jing frowned, not wanting to meet that sly old man again.

“Then is there a library or bookstore used by civilians? It was hard to find that too. Is it a little far away?”

“There is nothing like that in Amica’s space.”

Jing asked Ratel, who answered as if it were nothing, in surprise.

“There are no books? Then do the people here not know how to read?”

“No, everyone can read. They can write too.”

Then is the temple monopolizing knowledge?

“You are not saying that only temple people look at the books in the temple basement, are you?”

Ratel shook his head.

“Receiving permission from the elder is also just a formal procedure. There has never been a case of anyone being refused. Though there are not many people who look for it in the first place.”

Jing narrowed his eyes.

What a strange space, truly.

Ratel, who was looking at him, added with a strange gaze.

“Even if it is called a study in the basement, there are not that many books.”

Ah.

At his words, Jing soon closed his mouth.

The books gathered in the temple were probably the last remaining documents about Amica in the world.

The rest must have all been burned or melted away.

‘The last remaining books.’

Perhaps because the habit of serving Abiran still remained, Jing felt a little uncomfortable. He squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them.

“....I would like to see them at least once.”

* * *

“Little Duke, we will arrive at the merchant guild in five minutes.”

At the words of the knight escorting the carriage, the Little Duke, who had been trying not to look outside the window from within, let out a deep sigh.

The child, who would enter the academy next year, accepted the will of the late Duke Feedus and continued his successor education.

Today, he was on his way back after accompanying Tollin, who had been handling work at the merchant guild owned by the Feedus family.

The Little Duke did not like this road.

To be honest, he had become afraid of it.

Because whenever he saw the scenery outside, the face of his father, who had been taking him around while smiling until only a little while ago, came to mind.

When he remembered that kind man stroking his excited head with hands full of calluses as he looked out the window, the Little Duke’s chest churned, and sometimes the backs of his eyes stung as if tears were about to fall.

He did not tell Tollin or Pale.

He did not want to let the two of them know.

Thanks to Tollin, who had accepted the Little Duke’s insistence that he wanted to ride alone in the carriage, this secret could remain his alone.

Whenever the Little Duke passed along this road, he covered the carriage window with curtains as much as possible and closed his eyes.

Today was the same.

Feeling a little pathetic about himself, the Little Duke clenched his fist.

If a long time passed, would he be able to get rid of this fear?

If he grew a little more and became an adult, would the sorrow fade?

When something was this large, it felt as if it would never become smaller or fainter.

Then would making it disappear be impossible?

Thud!

The small head that was about to sink deeper into thought temporarily stopped working as it struck the carriage wall when the carriage suddenly stopped with a loud sound.

“What happened!”

Tollin’s voice, sounding thoroughly angry, came from outside.

“Little Duke, are you all right?”

“I am fine. What happened?”

“It seems there was a minor collision. Please remain inside.”

Relieved by the knight’s answer, the Little Duke leaned his back against the seat again.

The child, who was feeling relieved, noticed the carriage window that had slightly opened because of the impact of the collision.

The Little Duke hurriedly lowered his head, then gently raised it again.

And he met two pairs of round eyes secretly peering into the carriage.

They looked like two orphans who had come to satisfy their curiosity while everyone was distracted by the accident.

“Um..... Hello?”

At the Little Duke’s awkward greeting, the startled children rolled their eyes, then soon hid themselves below the window.

* * *

“Um...... Hello?”

At the Little Duke’s awkward greeting, the two pairs of small children who had been clinging to the window and peering inside flinched in surprise and lowered their heads.

Plin, seeing the two look like frightened rabbits, felt the strength that had entered his body without him realizing because of tension slowly loosen.

Thanks to that, the curiosity he had been suppressing until now quietly raised its head.

They were people he had wanted to look at up close at least once.

He had not expected to face them this suddenly, though.

Even aside from simple curiosity, it had been a long time since he had seen children around his age up close after Duke Feedus passed away, or rather, became known to have passed away.

Considering the ambiguous status and position of the Feedus family, Tollin had minimized the Little Duke’s attendance at gatherings with children his age.

As if possessed, the Little Duke slowly approached the window.

Whether it was because he recalled the comfort or pleasure given by children of similar age, something he had forgotten while living only among adults, or whether it was interest from seeing commoners of the streets up close for the first time in his life, even the Little Duke himself did not know.

Beyond the window, he faintly saw dirty bare feet disappearing into an alley not far away.

What entered his eyes after that was something on the ground, just as dirty as the soles of the children’s feet.

They must have been in such a hurry that they had not even noticed they had dropped it.

It was a wooden piece as worn-out as the children’s clothes.

Whether they had made it themselves, it looked somewhat like a lizard from one angle, and from another, it looked like a crow, the Little Duke’s close friend, or so he thought alone.

He could not identify it exactly, but it certainly seemed to be something they had cherished quite a lot.

It was full of marks from being handled, and eyes, a nose, and a mouth had been carefully drawn on it. Judging from the appearance of the children who had run away, they did not seem to be in a position where they could own many things.

The Little Duke gently stuck his head out through the window opposite the one the children had peered into.

“Is something the matter?”

One of the knights who had told him just before that they would soon arrive at their destination asked the Little Duke.

The child shook his head once and answered.

“It is nothing. It seems this will take a long time?”

“Yes. It seems someone was injured. The discussion will take a little longer.”

At the knight’s answer as he scratched his head, the Little Duke stuck his head out a little and examined the carriage Tollin had been riding in.

Beside the carriage, whose wheel had completely come off, Tollin, who had come all the way outside and was frowning, and the people who had been escorting the surroundings had gathered.

As he had said, it clearly looked like the discussion would take a long time.

‘Then would it not be fine to leave my seat for about five minutes?’

The Little Duke answered that they did not need to mind him and stepped back inside the carriage.

Then he quickly left the carriage through the opposite door and picked up the wooden piece.

The adults, whose attention was focused on the accident scene, did not seem to notice the small Little Duke, who moved nimbly, slip out without a sound and move toward the alley.

* * *

The Little Duke was a smart child and cautious for his age, but he was still immature when it came to understanding the difference between what he wanted to do and what he could do.

For example, thinking that he could go into an alley where street vagrants and homeless people gathered, find only the owner of the object, and leave.

The child moved forward without hesitation.

If the Little Duke’s guess was right, they were undoubtedly the vagrants of the street Tollin had spoken of.

The very people the Little Duke had wanted so badly to see at least once.

Perhaps the children were faster on their feet than he had thought, because he had to go deeper than expected, but he did not stop.

The child discovered the two dirty heads beside a pile of trash behind an unhygienic-looking tavern.

The Little Duke carefully approached the two who were whispering.

* * *

“Can we really get money?”

The smaller child looked at the bigger child suspiciously and spoke.

“Definitely. Lots of nobles are walking around this area lately. Last time, Jill bumped into a noble lady, and she threw away her shawl because she said it was dirty. Jill was really happy because she sold it and earned money for her mother’s medicine. If we are lucky too, they might throw away at least one piece of clothing.”

The bigger child answered, but the smaller one stuck out their lips.

“But she got hit by the hanger-on attached to her and had to suffer for a week. I heard a kid from the next neighborhood even died from being beaten.”

At the worried words of the smaller fellow, the slightly bigger child closed their mouth for a moment.

That child’s eyes also trembled with anxiety, but soon, perhaps having steeled their heart, they squeezed their eyes shut and opened them.

“If we go on like this anyway, both of us will starve to death before we become adults.”

This time, perhaps having nothing to say, the smaller fellow tightly closed their mouth.

“Then I will go and bump into that strict-looking man. I will rub against him a lot, so if he throws away anything, whether it is an outer garment or a hat, you take it and run.”

The Little Duke realized that the strict-looking man referred to Tollin, but he did not laugh.

Because he had noticed what the children were trying to do.

Not knowing whether the Little Duke was listening to them, the smaller fellow grabbed the bigger one’s arm in panic.

“Why are you the one going?”

The bigger fellow looked at the smaller fellow with an absurd expression.

“Because that raises the chance of survival. If you get hit wrong, you will die. I have been hit a lot, so I know how to dodge properly.”

“If either of us gets hit wrong, we will die. And I saw in the book Jill picked up last time that if you weigh less, you receive less impact.”

The small child, who completely left out the part about when falling from a high place, spoke firmly.

“What? Really? Then from now on, I should give you all the food. I need to become smaller too so it hurts less when I get hit.”

“Ah, that is......”

Perhaps flustered by the bigger child speaking with shining eyes, the smaller child mumbled and then, as if giving up, whispered softly.

“...Anyway, this time I will try going.”

“Hey, stop being ridiculous. Your hands are shaking so much.”

“This is! Because I have not eaten, my sugar is low.”

Perhaps embarrassed, the smaller child answered while rubbing their faintly trembling hands.

At that, the bigger child frowned.

“You really know all sorts of things. Still, no. If I get badly hurt, then you, with your smart head, have to take care of me.”

Thinking that this would never end at this rate, the Little Duke revealed himself in front of the children, who were bickering about risking their lives.

“There is no need for that.”

“Aaaaaagh!!!”

“Kyaaaaaaagh!!!”

The young Little Duke was cautious for his age, but he still had the immaturity of being unable to separate what he wanted to do from what he could do.

For example, believing that he could easily stop children who were steeling themselves to risk their lives and do something bad to nobles, and not expecting that the relatively bigger child, who had panicked, would lunge at the Little Duke.

Instead, the Little Duke would today gain an opportunity to contemplate the variables of life.

* * *

“Ratel, how did the outsider seem?”

At the elder’s question as he descended the stairs relying on the flickering candlelight, Ratel, who was following behind him, chose his words for a moment.

“He is very diligent.”

At that upright answer, the elder laughed heartily.

“Haha, very diligent, you say.”

The elder nodded.

His curly hair and beard gently fluttered along with his movements.

“Yes, it is difficult to see an old man moving around so busily, especially here.”

“......”

At those words, Ratel silently nodded slightly.

It was true. That sturdy old man named Jing had really diligently looked around here and there, despite limping on one leg.

Ratel thought of the tall old man who had worked hard to move his limping foot.

He was truly a strange old man.

He looked desperate, but he did not make the worst choice. His attitude somehow carried a strange dignity, yet at the same time, he did not hesitate to ruin himself.

The sight of his back as he nearly crawled up the hill, insisting that he had to eat lunch on top of it, left quite a strong impression on Ratel, who had no memory of seeing such a reckless old man.

‘He said he had to meet his son. Is it because of that?’

Come to think of it, after asking about parents last time, he had shut his mouth and subtly watched Ratel’s mood.

“Looks like he was searching for a door to escape through. There should be no method anyway. Did he not ask you to help? If he saw you open the door, he would know that you could let him out.”

At the elder’s playful question, Ratel escaped from his recollection and immediately shook his head.

“No. He mainly asked me about the village or had me guide him.”

“Hmm. Yes, and?”

“He said he would like to look around the underground archive with you tomorrow, Elder.”

“What?”

At his answer, the old man stopped for a moment and turned around.

“He said directly that he wanted to go to the archive? Did you properly tell him what is inside?”

“Yes, he said he wanted to see what kinds of books there are.”

At the old man’s golden eyes shining sharply, Ratel nodded.

Soon, the elder raised the corners of his mouth in a smile and slowly moved forward again.

“Yes, has he finally felt like searching for Lord Amica’s will?”

It did not seem as if Jing had made up his mind to do that, but at the old man’s somehow excited look, Ratel silently followed behind him.

The two continued their conversation and arrived in front of a room located near the underground prison of the temple where Jing had been confined.

The old man took a ring of keys from his waist and unlocked the three locks hanging on the door one by one.

When the door opened, an altar decorated with hundreds of large and small candles appeared.

In the center surrounded by candlelight, there was a stone statue about the size of a child’s forearm.

The statue, whose face and shoulders were covered by a veil, was delicate despite its small size.

It was a veil that seemed as if it would fly away if the wind blew, but the old man thought there would be no one who could see the facial features beneath it in the future either.

It was the only statue of Amica remaining in the world.

One that could not even reveal its face, and whose hair flowing outside the veil could not even be touched.

The old man knelt beneath it and offered a prayer, one he no longer knew how many times he had prayed.

‘Please, may an end come to those who made us like this.’

He wished desperately.