16. Who are you? (2)
“I… .”
… I couldn’t answer.
Like a clogged throat.
What can I say?
A boy with light brown hair that can be found everywhere.
Let’s lower our eyes because we can’t bear to look at those two eyes that sparkle like gold.
I could see that he was holding several bunches of white, small-petaled flowers in his hands.
It is a common weed.
Nothing special, nothing special.
It was a short moment, but relief and guilt swept over me at once.
‘This child… .’
I almost didn’t know.
It’s been a while, I’ve grown a lot, I thought.
He couldn’t even speak.
‘I… .’
Wasn’t he raising his sword to prevent such a tragedy?
The first thing I hoped was that there would be no children who lost their parents like me.
I didn’t want the weak to be harassed by the powerful.
I prayed that the unfortunate would be gone.
May the courageous be rewarded for their hard work and passion.
I hope that such a just and fair world will come.
… But what about reality?
The strong oppress and exploit the weak.
The evil one deceives and exploits the good to gain an unfair advantage.
Even the weak ostracize and look down on those weaker than themselves.
A world where good intentions are repaid with evil deeds, and those who live uprightly are criticized for being foolish and incompetent.
[I don’t know if I can try to change the world with my youthful spirit, but that’s in vain.]
Suddenly, I remembered an old saying from my teacher.
What did he say then?
However.
[If no one else does, shouldn’t I?]
okay.
It was only the heart.
Would the world have been kind at that time?
At that time, the number of wicked people must have been small.
[I just wanted to be someone cool.]
You are a wonderful person.
When he first saw it, he proudly declared himself a knight.
But at the end, I couldn’t even describe it as a wonderful article.
Are you discouraged?
Or are you desperate?
Or did you give up?
… Or maybe you’re frustrated.
therefore.
I hate to see it.
I want him to be strong.
It’s okay, you’ve done enough.
I wanted to offer words of comfort.
However.
I didn’t have that much eloquence and knack at the time.
therefore.
That’s enough.
I said so.
I couldn’t see his face because it was hidden by the helmet.
He expressed doubt at my words.
[Is that enough? why?]
Unfortunately.
Then, what did I say?
I couldn’t remember any of it.
… still.
what i have to do now
woke up very clearly.
When I was a boy, I was overwhelmed with just chasing after him.
It was the only way out of pain.
At least that moment when you run for your goal without thinking.
From this burning heart that cannot be controlled.
Because I was able to get away somehow from the burning heart.
So, I kept my distance from her.
An unfortunate person like me, who would make someone happy and who would dare to carry someone?
He told me to look ahead, Father. mother.
However.
… There’s no way that’s possible, right?
“Is this stone tomb here the tomb of your father and mother?”
He barely suppressed his trembling voice.
He asked calmly and quietly.
“Yes.”
“How did you two die?”
“… My father is protecting the village. As for my mother… Trying to protect me… .”
At best, even if he had a weapon, he wouldn’t have been able to wield a farm implement.
When I was young, I used to ride mountains and imitate hunters, but now, even if I called it hunting, it would have been all about setting traps.
And she… .
“I heard you were in the army. They took all the food, farm tools, and other items in the village.”
“… … .”
I looked at the tracks and guessed.
It was too meticulous to call it simple looting, because the entire village was razed to the ground.
Most of those who survived were old or only children.
As for those who survived among the young, without exception, they would have been taken as slaves or prisoners.
It’s hard to expect a ransom, so the situation will be obvious.
Leaving the old man and the child behind is because he wants to burden the enemy territory by leaving trouble.
It’s as if the troop’s ankles are caught in the battle and taking care of wounded soldiers on the battlefield, and the troop management is disrupted.
For a long time, it hovered around all kinds of battlefields, large and small, that occurred around it.
He participated in proxy battles and fought dozens of duels.
The dragon has survived.
Efforts in the past were not futile.
However, as the teacher said, it was a story limited to success.
I felt like I could change the world if I climbed higher.
To do that, you have to sacrifice the present.
Kicking his comrades in the back, driving his subordinates to death.
You have to build something called merit, and you have to achieve something called merit.
… finally see the way
I don’t like that, so I try to take the lead myself.
He only survived because his skills were guaranteed.
“What do you plan to do from now on?”
“I have to live.”
Sounds obvious.
Even so, that natural sound feels very heavy.
“You can’t stop farming just because farming is ruined, right?”
“that… … I see.”
It’s a natural story.
Common sense that they know as if it were very obvious.
Why am I accepting it gloomily?
Does it have any meaning?
The dead don’t come back.
What was not kept does not come back.
Only what is lost remains.
that emptiness.
There is no way to fill it up.
“My father was like that. Giving up is arrogant and arrogant. I think it’s because it’s good enough to live on.”
“… … What?”
“It’s natural that things don’t always work out. Success and failure are always together. That’s why I always pray for success, but even if it doesn’t work, I can’t help it.”
“… … .”
is it.
Did the teacher have such an impression on me?
Feeling sad and feeling grateful at the same time.
Nonetheless, the child survived.
I thought I lost everything.
Still, there was something left.
“Did you say Ruel?”
“Uh, do you know me?”
“I wouldn’t know. The fact that we built this log cabin together with your family when we were young, together with your father and mother… It’s a mountain and I vividly remember running around this area.”
“Uh, then you are a knight?”
Article.
I forgot.
The knight the master spoke of did not exist in the world.
Therefore, knights were just words coined by the master.
“My father and mother were like that. Mister, is your name Kariel? Uncle will make a great knight. So I asked. what is the article? So… .”
“The one who overcomes the impossible.”
I was lucky as if possessed.
OK.
“A person who can die for a noble ideal.”
The child then gets lucky.
so in turn.
“Overcome even the unbearable pain.”
“I know how to reflect on my mistakes and correct them.”
“Love justice and goodness more than anyone else.”
“The one who defeats the evil enemy once and for all.”
“A person who has the courage to run to the end of the world with dreams, love, hope and faith.”
Truly.
It sounds like a dream.
I couldn’t see his face because it was hidden by the helmet.
Still at that time, as much as the voice that the teacher recited confidently as if boasting.
Really, so clear.
It vividly hovers around my ears and in my brain.
“Then, Ruel. Do you know what we are to do now?”
“We have to rebuild the village. Before that, it will take time for people to soothe their sorrow. More important than that, what to eat tomorrow, where to sleep. That would be important.”
The child carefully recited what he had to do.
The rain is still weak.
But in this place where there is no ceiling, no roof, even this will be an adversity and an ordeal.
“okay. You’re right.”
The man, Kariel nodded.
“Then let’s do what we have to do.”
Only then was the child able to place her bouquet on the two graves.
Looking at that small back figure sitting still and praying.
The man promised, and promised again.
Because that was the only oath he could swear to two graves.
—-
Time passed quickly.
Rebuilding the village and somehow dealing with the shortage of workers.
Kariel provided one of the two swords to be used to make farming tools.
When he was young, he used his skills to chop and carry trees.
Build a house, albeit clumsily.
Fortunately, some of the older people had quite a bit of insight in this direction.
Rather than a simple log cabin, it might have been very lucky to have been able to build a shack that was as strong as possible by cutting and processing trees.
After only a few days, they kicked out a gang of robbers who poked their heads out, wondering if they had anything to aim for.
A few of the bums joined in watching.
As if relying on the grace of the forest, I remember that I endured really badly, except for gnawing at the bark of trees for a while.
Less mouths to feed meant a lack of hands, but everyone persevered.
By the time I thought I’d catch my breath and complained, a year had passed.
Those who came to collect taxes tried to enforce it even after seeing the state of the territory.
Kariel firmly blocked this.
Perhaps fame was meaningless, and they withdrew without saying anything.
But the next time I come back, I will make up my mind to visit.
So, Kariel visited the former master.
Because he was the lord of this area.
However, he did not meet Kariel.
Instead, I received only a unilateral notice that the village would be exempted from taxes for five years, taking into account the state of the village.
… Kariel wanted to know where it was.
I expected support, albeit weakly, but when I returned to the village and told this news, everyone was so happy.
… Even there, she felt ashamed again, but Kariel did not reveal her true feelings.
As the village stabilized a bit, the number of people aiming for it began to increase.
Are you openly attempting robbery?
The number of intruders pretending to be vagabonds increased, and the number of people who wished to join the village while hiding their identity gradually increased.
Kariel solved all of that without causing major damage.
A teacher once told me to combine courage and wisdom.
And he fulfilled that request.
Time passes again.
Farming that year was relatively good.
It was small in scale due to the lack of manpower, but we were satisfied enough with that alone.
Just by looking around the golden fields, my stomach was always full.
The child grew up and became a boy.
Even in the village, it has become a scale to form a vigilante group, albeit clumsily.
Even so, I didn’t get enough heat, but where is that even?
It wasn’t until then that the wandering peddler was heard.
I stopped by this village not for the purpose, but for a stopover, and I was able to exchange some farming tools and tools by providing the leather I had collected.
He expressed his will to revisit, saying that he would come more abundantly next time.
Time passes again.
If I had a little more time, I wondered if I should have gone all the way to another manor and retrieved the children’s parents.
As soon as I got some leeway, those regrets came flooding back.
But when they miraculously escaped and returned to the village, the whole village became a sea of tears.
Although the child and Ruel were genuinely happy to see that scene.
That day, I went to the stone tomb where only the shape was barely formed, and in the darkness where even the moon held its breath, I cried silently until the end.
After so many years
It must have been about six years since I swore to myself in front of the stone tomb.
The man who dreamed of becoming a knight had become an ordinary villager.
and.
Couldn’t a wandering priest build a small church?
In the midst of staying for a while and looking at the church site.
he died suddenly
… … The plague has begun to circulate.
The plague engulfed the village in an instant, without warning.
Even the death of the priest somehow spread to the nearby village.
Their village came to be called the land cursed by the demon of sleep.
Whoever heard the news. No one extended a helping hand.
The most gracious and deserving.
Attention, even the minions of Heaven.