7 – 2. I Want to Study
As I tried to recall, I vaguely remembered hearing something about living in a church before, so I grabbed onto that and asked.
“Can you tell me what happened at the church in the past two months?”
“Hmm… out loud?”
The boy flicked his fingers. It’s amazing how even someone so young understands the world so well.
But that’s why we can communicate. I handed him a piece of jerky.
At first, he was a boy who weighed his ego against a piece of jerky.
“Do you want another one?”
“Yes.”
In the end, kneeling with two pieces of jerky, this era’s Tanghuru*, he started reciting the information he knew without hesitation.
With some censorship of his verbose and somewhat biased content, it roughly turned into this story.
The city of Bole, one of the border towns, has a unique and leisurely atmosphere that is charming.
In fact, it could be said that it lacks any special features, as it was squeezed out in its own way from a region that had nothing to boast of.
If you were to choose a building that could be a landmark of such a city, nine out of ten would point to a church with a particularly prominent spire.
The murals inside are impressive, the bells ring clear, and I thought it was a place I often visited, listing various reasons.
But they were all stingy excuses, and the truth was that I couldn’t find anything worthy of presenting from the city.
However, one day, a curiosity-inducing girl entered that church.
A wandering knight—since no one knew her name, the children of the church simply called her that—had brought her.
Like any curious child would, the boys and girls
The other girls would always giggle behind her, finding her cute, but that was the extent of it, a fleeting desire to pinch her soft cheeks.
On the other hand, the boys encountered unfamiliar emotions they had never felt before.
After a few more days, the situation changed a bit.
If it had only been her appearance, it might have ended there.
But the girl was not only adorable, she was also sharp-witted, earning praise from the priests and deacons of the church.
Listening to the words of the church deacons, who seemed to know everything, the children couldn’t help but look at her with a mix of jealousy and admiration.
She effortlessly completed the various errands assigned to the children by the church, and after a few initial mistakes, she became perfect at it. Her behavior was always well-behaved, and her voice was clear, which made her popular in many ways.
Admiration and jealousy. Lycia, who was enveloped in both, quickly became the center of attention at the church.
However, being a superstar also came with an inevitable downside.
“Hey, can you wait a moment?”
“Huh?”
“I have something to say.”
It was none other than a toxic fandom.
While being on the jealous side meant receiving the scrutiny of the adults and plenty of compliments, it was at most throwing a few punches at the pillow in frustration.
But the opposing group was different.
There was a child who would bring flowers and scatter them around Lycia, as if she were picking flowers. And there was another child who wanted to attract attention by lending her a well-behaved horse from the stable.
For now… I decided to think of it as coming from innocent hearts.
But the other person was bad.
It would have been more likely to confess to Sister Pippin, but alas.
“Shall we have stew in our room?”
“Sorry, I still have a lot of work.”
“You can take a day off, right? Besides, this stew has twice as much meat.”
“Yeah, still sorry.”
Throwing a medieval line that wouldn’t even work back then, turning away with a sulky expression. Almost every boy went through this process at least once in the past two months.
Thus, the boys of the church reached their current state.
“Such things can happen. Cheer up.”
“Things don’t always go as we want. Let’s have a cool drink together after work. We need to vent.”
In the end, the boys confirmed their tearful friendship, feeling the bitterness of life, and had to soothe their hearts by drinking water or wine.
This is the story of Lycia’s current situation that I heard after returning to Volé.
After the information I wanted to know was finished, the boy started his defense, saying that the grapes were probably new grapes, but I casually brushed it off.
Anyway, I found out how things were going well.
It seems that nothing special happened in Volé after I left.
That’s enough, I guess.
*****
It was two months ago.
I was able to safely arrive in the northern city where calls for reinforcements echoed in all directions.
I wasn’t worried that my horse would be late, but fortunately, I was able to arrive on time. If I had been a little late, there would have been nowhere to go.
Several days had not passed when savages began to swarm all around. I couldn’t help but marvel from atop the fortress walls.
“Kyung, what do you think?”
“The entire world is savage…”
“I’m not asking for personal opinions, I’m asking about the odds of victory.”
So the story went. It seemed that among the savages repelled from the city a while ago, there was a warrior who held a respected position among them.
They had retreated, saying, ‘Let’s see about the next time,’ but in reality, unlike in boyhood tales, ‘Let’s see’ didn’t mean it ended like stars in the sky disappearing; it meant, ‘Let’s really see again.’ Promises were valuable.
Amidst the chaos, most of the city’s soldiers were temporarily away.
They were called back, but considering they couldn’t just teleport in front of the city instantly, hastily sprinkling gold and gathering people around was the only option.
The savages surrounded the city. Before the actual clash, the last chance to talk had arrived.
I, a noble knight and a man of freedom, with the high pride of announcing my name as someone who was suitable for this occasion, stepped forward.
“Is there a representative among you?”
“Here I am!”
Unanimously chosen as the negotiator, the true knight of this era, a.k.a. the plague of Bolle, appeared.
I climbed the fortress walls, striving to engage in dialogue to send the savages back. And after some time, the result of the negotiations emerged.
“What do you want?”
“We want land and gold. We’ll also take valuable items.”
“Go eat sh*t!”
“There’s no need to mix words with you lot. You seem as uncultured as they come.”
“There’s no end to the barbaric remarks. I personally will put all of you on your knees.”
Despite the valiant effort, everyone here knew from the start that it was an impossible task.
Since the goal was revenge, there was no end to the mutual insults. I certainly did nothing wrong.
With things turning out this way, it was time to prepare for battle. I spoke to the young cleric beside me.
“…Subtitle. The sacred droplet of Actium.”
“Yes, here it is.”
The power of explosion came into my grasp. With just this, confidence surged within me that I could overcome anything.
However, that didn’t mean the process of battling the barbarians was smooth.
“Hear this! Today, we shall triumph. Europa’s god watches over us.”
“To lose faith is to invite death. Warriors, take up the weapons of our faith and execute it!”
Until the battle was about to commence, our allies were filled with unwarranted confidence within. The indescribable euphoria brought about by the countless shouts was akin to a drug.
But that illusion shattered into pieces in less than half a day.
“Europa, this insane trickster— *cough!*”
“Uwaaah, aaargh!!!”
From Noble mtl dot com
Soldiers were sprawled across the meadow, those weakened and crumpled to the ground couldn’t rise again.
Although the battle itself could conclude in victory, not everyone could stand on both feet as they did at the beginning.
Nevertheless, a victory is a victory.
As the soldiers the viscount had summoned arrived late, the enemies fled like scattering birds.
“Reinforcements? Why now?!”
“Consider yourself fortunate this time. Tch!”
“Look! They’re retreating. We’ve won!”
“The divine granted us victory. My faith is stronger than ever, and my survival attests to it!”
The faith, fluctuating like a stock graph between catastrophic ascent and inhuman descent, somehow managed to rebound and settle into a triumphant ascent.
Finally, as the battle concluded, the privileged time for victory and joyous settlements arrived.
The scattered weapons and ownerless armor on the ground had, as if by magic, found their way into individual pockets.
After securing the promised rewards from the Earl, who had desperately gathered us, this episode would come to an end.
The jingling sound of a hefty purse, long forgotten, brought a sudden burst of laughter.
Though greed was deemed wicked in the church teachings, a moderate dose of it was believed to infuse vitality into life and be beneficial to health.
Anyway, with joyous anticipation, we unfolded the wings of imagination to adorn a moment of raising glasses with fine wine and delicious food after a long while.
“After returning from the north, could you stop by this church once again?”
Yes, such a promise had been made.
Suddenly, recalling the promise with Lycia, I abandoned my intention to rest for a while and rose again, heading south.
A promise was a promise. It wasn’t a particularly difficult request.
At the end of the short journey, upon arriving at Bole, what I witnessed was the chaos created by the mischievous little ones.
What a delightful sight.
“Lycia won’t be liked by anyone anyway! Hmph!”
“That’s enough. I have places to go, so I’ll be on my way.”
“Leaving? Oh, thank you!”
I concluded the explanation, added a piece of jerky to the little one as a token of appreciation for enduring, and then rose from my seat.
It was time to return to the church as promised.