220 – Past Connection (4)
When Chester arrived at the village, what Chester saw was a field of dead people.
The smell of death pervades the whole town. The corpses, apparently killed by the swords of the thieves, were devoured by beasts.
Of course, it wasn’t just the dead bodies of the villagers. The corpses of the bandits were also there.
Since he said he prepared in advance, Chester’s own father must have prepared everything.
However, the number of thieves exceeded that number and their momentum was frightening, so this tragedy must have happened in the end.
“… ….”
Chester didn’t know what to do with such a sober judgment in the back of his head.
It was a tragedy that I was prepared to some extent. As he learned how to kill life from his father, Chester was already prepared for death or murder that might come someday.
However, making a commitment and actually accepting it were very different.
Death of a person. The death of a place with memories. Death of a close person. The death of the enemy who attacked them. And the death of my parents.
Too many kinds of unacceptable deaths befell Chester at once.
Chester held back all his emotions and, as his father had taught him, remembered what he had to do now.
Then, first of all, the corpses of the villagers and bandits were sorted out and the corpses of the villagers in disarray were collected as much as possible.
Chester found a corpse while collecting as much as possible even the corpses that didn’t even have a proper shape.
It was a corpse without a head. However, he was familiar with the small tattoo on one side of his right arm. A tattoo Chester’s father received from his friends as a token of friendship while traveling the world.
“Father.”
It had no head, was devoured by beasts and had no lower body, and the upper body was also a corpse that was destroyed by the attacks of thieves and beasts.
Chester never thought he would see his father like this.
To him, his father was a great being and at the same time a strong one.
“Oh, my mother.”
Unfortunately, unlike his father’s corpse, which was recognizable because of his tattoo, Chester could not find his mother’s corpse even after collecting all the corpses.
After collecting all the bodies, Chester headed to the place where all the villagers had gathered to plow the field.
The villagers used to farm in this field every day, laughing and chatting.
The land that cultivated the life of the village.
Knowing that, Chester decided to build graves for the villagers in this field.
After carefully creating a grave for each corpse, Chester looked around the town for the last time.
The clearing between the village buildings was where he and his children often gathered and played.
In the corner lay broken tree branches and a thin and flimsy wooden shield that could not be used as a real shield. It seems that the village children were still playing war games.
There was a large tree in the center of such a village clearing. The tree that was dried up due to drought was the pride of the village because of its beautiful and lush appearance.
It’s an unknown tree, but the fruit from this tree has managed to be treated as a local specialty.
“A sugarberry tree.”
After walking through the clearing, I fell to one side and walked a little, and then I saw a short tree that was also dry.
The sugarberry trees on Wandering Island produced an enormous amount of fruit, but the sugarberry trees here did not. The children were scolded by the adults after fighting among themselves that if the tree bears fruit, they will eat it themselves.
That’s a butcher shop. It was the place where there was a kind man who was willing to pay for the priceless, messy rabbit that Chester had first caught.
Buildings full of memories. After touring the buildings, which were disfigured but somehow recognizable, Chester went one last time to the riverside of the town where he often gathered and played with his children.
The river, which looked so big and deep when I was young, is quite shallow now that I look at it.
When I was young, I was surprised to jump into the river, and when I was young, I stride up a rock that looked so big and high using only my legs.
Sitting on the edge of a rock, looking down at the river, I remembered the past.
The memories of the past that I recall disappear along with the flowing river.
“… ….”
Chester looked at the river and noticed on the side of the river the traces of the river’s past.
‘It’s not that the river seemed shallow because I grew up, it’s that the water level really went down.’
It must be the effect of the drought.
Perhaps, at one point, the river itself dried up. However, a new river is now flowing in the place where the river would have dried up.
‘Is it the effect of rain? Well, it rained a lot.’
It flows like it will flow forever, disappears at some point, it seems like it will stay dry forever, but at some point it flows again.
It must be the same with death and life. Born in this world, they live a long time, but eventually die and disappear, and a new life will fill the dead place.
‘It’s like that.’
Life. Death.
It was a topic he had heard a lot about from his father, but had never thought about it so deeply. The words that I couldn’t remember properly because I spilled it when I was young kept ringing in my ears.
Chester was realizing about life and death as he watched the flowing river.
* * *
“Well, that’s it. Wouldn’t the tomb still be there if it hadn’t been dug by beasts or armies?”
“Hmm. Like that. …… There, my parents’ bodies…… Whoa. I guess so.”
Aiden sighed as Chester replied with a quiet shake of his head.
“Ah.”
Aiden scratches his head, sighs, and swears for no reason, clearing his mind.
“The world is true. Sorry. I want to clear my mind.”
“Do it.”
Chester also understood his friend’s feelings. So he left his friend’s house with Monia and Rex.
After leaving a friend’s house, the Chester family returned after patrolling the designated area, reported to David, and received the remaining commission money.
While taking off the filth-stained robe and shoes called patterns, he vowed never to accept a slum-related request again, and decided to refresh himself by taking a walk next to the Grand Canal where the sea breeze blew.
Monia looked at Chester, who behaved as usual throughout the walk. I wondered if he was forced to act as usual, but he seemed really good.
‘Strong.’
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I knew that Chester was strong, but it was this part that made me feel really strong.
When faced with a problem, he never stops and moves to solve it right away, thinking about what to do.
Never stop. No matter how hard the reality in front of you is, you don’t stop and walk steadily.
Among Chester’s many strengths, that was what Monia wanted more than anything else.
“Monia.”
“Huh?”
“Have you been thinking about it all along? Whether I can go back to my hometown or not.”
At Chester’s words, Monia bit her lip for a moment.
She walked for a while without saying anything, then nodded her head.
“I also want to go. Chester said it wasn’t my fault, but I was deeply involved in the war. I miss you. How it has changed.”
“… ….”
Chester understood that sentiment. But at the same time, he understood why Monia was hesitating.
“But when I go, I am not alone.”
Both Chester and Antrang Rex are caught up in the war.
Monia didn’t like that.
“I kept thinking about it… I’m not going.”
“Aren’t you going?”
“Yes. Chester. Would you rather travel to another continent?”
Monia stopped her steps and looked at Chester.
Chester looked at Monia and said.
“Won’t you regret it?”
A country destroyed by a war related to itself. People suffering. A heavy burden will surely remain in a corner of Monia’s heart forever.
“It’s okay.”
Monia laughed.
“Rather than that, I hate you guys being sick.”
Saying that, Monia hugged Chester and Rex tightly.
Chester and Rex saw Monia like that and hugged her.
Seeing a man and a woman hugging each other out of the blue, of course, the eyes of the people around them were eagerly focused, but they didn’t even care.
* * *
A few days later, word of mouth began to circulate through the slums.
It was about a beautiful aristocratic woman with dark hair and purple eyes.
Aiden, who met her friend after a long time, was in a good mood, and while drinking here and there, she told people she knew in the slum that her friend had been snatched by a nobleman, making it a topic of conversation.
Even if it is a slum, it is not a disconnected world. Stories and supplies from the outside flow into the slums, and stories and supplies from the slums also flow outside.
The story of a beautiful aristocratic girl with black hair and purple eyes escapes from the slums and travels outside, until it reaches the ears of a man.
“Monia…… ?”
How could I not react after hearing that rumor? Not to mention, she actually saw a beauty with black hair and purple eyes.
“That was really Monia…… ?”
At that moment, emotions that he thought could not burn any longer seemed to flare up in Jordi’s heart.
Why did she become like this herself, she wondered why Monia could be smiling so beautifully.
Why is she able to put on such a happy face when she herself is suffering so much?
Why?
The flames of emotions that are so intense that it goes beyond feeling sorry for Monia.
Jealousy and hatred welled up from the depths and began to consume Jordi.