110. House of Aiferos (3)
Her words left me momentarily speechless.
Harnié took my hand and explained her reasoning.
“After hearing your story, I think you’re right. Rather than listening to the marquis nag at me, I think I should stay elsewhere. That’s why I’m thinking of following you.”
“Is there nowhere else you can stay?”
“Well, there is… but I can’t go there right now.”
“What?”
“Just take it as that. I have my own circumstances.”
“…”
I had heard the absurd claim that she had a place to stay but couldn’t go there, yet she claimed to have circumstances. That was fine. The problem was that she wanted to follow me.
“I was just going to buy some necessities here and return to my territory… Are you saying you want to follow me to such a place?”
Harnié placed her hand on her hip and narrowed her eyes.
“Just because you’re a noble lady, do you think you can’t sleep unless you have a bed, or that you won’t be satisfied unless you’re sitting at a comfortable table and eating luxurious food served on it?”
“Erm… After hearing you say it like that, I can’t say that I don’t have those thoughts at all, but they’re not a priority.”
“Then why is it?”
“Because I’m going to Rusmayer.”
The Rusmayer estate was in no condition to receive guests at the moment.
Although I was taking the test there, all they had to offer me was a single glass of milk.
There was almost nothing there to offer guests, as it was located halfway up a mountain. At best, there was perhaps one spare room.
Wouldn’t it be terribly inappropriate to bring a guest there?
“It might have been possible if I were taking you to the ducal palace, but I have no intention of going there for the time being. That’s why it’s difficult for me to take you with me. I’ll be living the life of a commoner for the time being.”
“You really are unusual. To think you would have such thoughts.”
“… Isn’t that just the normal way of thinking?”
She narrowed her eyes and then chuckled.
“Not at all. Most people would think differently. If you were a noble, wouldn’t you say that you would be suited to a large mansion, wearing expensive clothing adorned with accessories and jewels, and drinking a glass of fine wine with a side of steak?”
“Hmm…”
I didn’t think she was entirely wrong.
To be honest, from the moment I first met her, she gave off the impression of being a natural-born noblewoman who exuded elegance.
However, she held up three fingers and personally demonstrated that this was not the case.
“You don’t have to worry about that. I’ve lain down after pulling weeds, and I’ve fallen asleep on the floor instead of in a bed or on a sofa. I’ve done those things because it was too tiring not to. Besides, isn’t any food delicious when you’re starving?”
Since then, it seems Harnié has experienced the lives of the commoners in greater depth.
When she actually experienced it, it wasn’t that different.
The cumbersome etiquette of the nobles didn’t exist among them.
Their free and easy life, full of affection, was rather enjoyable.
Every time her fingers folded, Harnié was pouring out her experiences in droves.
I could tell just by listening.
That she had experienced it more than once or twice.
That she didn’t think of the experience as bad.
That she was a true noble who harmonized best with the commoners.
“Thanks to that, I was able to become closer to the commoners. That’s why I was able to have secrets in the Marquis’s family that no one else knew. Are you worried about me even with this?”
“No. I’m starting to think that worrying is fate.”
“Is that so?”
Really, worrying was fate.
To the point where you’d wonder who would think of this woman as a noble.
“I understand. I’ll go to Rusmayer with you.”
I thought I’d be going back alone after getting off the carriage… but I didn’t expect someone to get on the horse in such a strange place.
***
After leaving the shopping district, I headed to where the horse I had set up to take her to Rusmayer was.
I asked her if it wouldn’t be better to let go of my arm by now.
“You never know. There might be someone watching.”
Harnié wouldn’t let go of my arm, saying that I shouldn’t let my guard down.
Then, when she suddenly saw something she needed and was about to buy it.
“The one next to it is a little better. The one you just picked is not that great in terms of cost performance.”
She whispered in my ear like that, helping me reduce my expenses or choose better items.
I hardly bought anything I needed, but the things Rusmayer needed piled up one after another.
Then, suddenly, a bottle broke inside the tavern.
“Kyaaak!!”
Along with the scream of a woman, fierce noises spilled out of the tavern.
“You rotten bastard! How dare you come here?!”
“You were hiding your appearance…!”
“You bastard! Can’t you just get lost?!”
-Crash!
Broken glass shards bounced off the floor and flew towards Harnié.
Instinctively, I drew my sword and deflected three of the shards.
“Are you okay? Harnié.”
“Y-Yes… Thanks to you…”
Fortunately, Harnié seemed to be fine.
But I couldn’t rest assured.
‘That’s how this damn game works.’
A small event in the shopping district. When you pass by the tavern, such a commotion occurs, and sometimes it can eat away at Karsein’s stamina or cause abnormal conditions.
I don’t know why these trivial things happen, but Carstein always tends to get caught up in places like this.
What’s more, he now has a companion, so there was nothing he could do.
“I think we should go around. There’s a fierce fight going on inside, and that bottle might fly at us again.”
He tried to persuade her, but Harni went straight to the tavern.
“Harni?”
“…Just wait a moment. There’s something I need to check.”
“Then I’ll go with you.”
“What?”
“It’ll be dangerous. I’ll go first, so just follow me.”
“Okay.”
While they were heading to the tavern with her permission, no more bottles came flying.
However, the tavern became even noisier.
As they got closer, they could hear something breaking and shattering, and they could clearly see what was going on inside.
Nevertheless.
Harni stepped inside the tavern, leaving behind the bottles that might fly at her at any moment.
“As expected…!”
Harni covered her mouth after checking the situation inside the tavern.
“This rotten Yarrick bastard!”
“How dare you walk around the empire like this!”
“Your guts are hanging out! Get the hell out of here!”
I don’t think this situation is very good either.
Several men were trying to fight one man.
However, what really bothered me was.
The man was not avoiding his opponent’s attacks and was just taking them head-on.
‘Why? That guy isn’t weak.’
I could sense it instinctively.
From Noble mtl dot com
That man’s body was not just made.
His hideous and large scars were so visible that it was obvious that his skin had been damaged and healed in various ways.
The calluses on my hands are nothing compared to that.
The blisters on my feet? They’re not even wounds.
The wounds from swinging a sword? How can they compare to that?
From numerous battles.
From endless fights.
It was a trace of fighting monsters with a real sword, not a wooden sword or bamboo sword.
Although three drunkards were provoking the man and poking at him, if he were to get up from his seat and show his true abilities, he would easily overpower the tavern.
And yet.
Despite having such power.
The man did not move from his seat.
“…Carstein. I know this is a rude request, but can you do me one favor?”
She grabbed my arm tightly and asked me with a look of pity.
“Hey, can you… help that Yarrickian?”
A man surrounded by drunkards in a tavern was being beaten up, and he needed help.
That was Harnie’s request.
To be honest, I had expected this to some extent.
As soon as the bottle broke, Harnie’s expression had hardened, and he had told me to go to that tavern.
It was as if he knew what kind of words were being exchanged in that tavern.
It was inefficient.
If it were rumored that the vagrant’s sons had swung their swords in the tavern, their reputation in the Duke’s family would certainly decline, and their reputation in the smoke field would also fall. Not to mention their intimacy.
However.
“Take this.”
I handed the sword to Harnie and stepped forward.
***
Pollux let out a faint sigh as the hood covering his face was removed.
As soon as he did, the people inside the tavern began throwing bottles and glasses.
“Damn Yarrickians!”
“How can you call yourself imperial if you can’t even defend the empire properly!”
“You’re no different from back then. You savages!”
These were the voices that the imperials had been nagging about.
Of course, these voices would be heard once he showed his face.
As expected, it seemed that having a light drink today would be difficult.
The Imperials then rushed in and began punching Pollux.
They kicked him with insults about selling out the country.
They insulted not only his family but all the Yarrickians.
They said that they were not imperials, and at the same time, a bottle of alcohol flew at his head.
Nevertheless.
Pollux did not respond.
Because he couldn’t respond.
-No matter how much you talk about the Aiperos family to those guys, we’re just Yarrickians to them. Pollux!
It was something that he had experienced many times.
Since he had come this far, it was something that could happen whenever he encountered an imperial.
It was something that he could endure.
So Pollux closed his eyes without resisting, even though he was being subjected to group violence.
But then.
A strange sound began to ring in his ears.
Didn’t something just go ‘thud!’?
There was a thudding sound, and then something heavy was stuck in the wall.
And then.
“Ugh! W, what did we do wrong…”
The one who had been harassing him until just now spoke like that, and after a while, he let out a gasp.
Pollux opened his eyes, wondering what was going on.
“Looks like you’ve come around… Huh? You’ve opened your eyes.”
A black-haired boy was looking at him.
His hand reached out.
For a split second, the thought crossed his mind that this boy was going to beat him up too.
But then.
“Why aren’t you taking my hand? I’m offering it to you so you can get up.”
The boy was not offering him a fist, but a real hand.
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