My villains, episode 377,
62. Tactics of deception (4)
“…you look good.”
“uh? What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
On the way back to the Rose Garden Inn, Gollman, who was walking alongside me holding a torch, had a puzzled look on his face.
“Your steps look light. He started before sunrise and worked all day long.”
“It’s because I have good stamina. If you’re envious, you exercise too.”
“Is it because of your physical strength… But you were slumped like a pickled cabbage until you stopped by Atalante-sama’s tent.”
“…Did I?”
“yes. You did.”
I tilted my head and scratched my chin. Maybe it’s because he hasn’t shaved in two days, his thick beard has grown a bit.
“Is it because of the good blood circulation?”
“How about blood circulation?”
“There is such a thing. You will know when you are a little older.”
We finally arrived at the inn when the seventeen-year-old naive grass grower blinked wide light brown eyes.
“Oh Nari. Are you coming now?”
In the front yard of the rose garden inn, Henrik, a hairy boy from the north, and three or four mercenaries were sitting around on chairs. Perhaps to withstand the cold night air, they even lit a bonfire.
“What are you doing not sleeping? I’m cold too.”
“Compared to the winter in Hbaden, this is not even cold. The atmosphere in the city is hideous, so I’m just sitting here for a while.”
“Bun what? There are over a hundred city guards on the road right now, so what are they doing?”
“Didn’t you see the eyes of those bastards? People who are as dry as dried sardines are not very trustworthy.”
The soldiers gathered at High Castle never truly trusted their comrades from other affiliations. Different affiliation means different lords and different hometowns, so each unit has a different regional feeling.
The sense of difference between these soldiers was somewhat suppressed by Prince Ulkar’s training, but it did not disappear completely.
In fact, far from disappearing, it may have been rather concentrated. The competitive spirit that bloomed by comparing each other’s skills during training is fueling this texture.
Ulkar was also concerned about this, but it was not a problem that could be solved right away. He said that it is a problem that will naturally be resolved over time and when an adversary with a greater sense of heterogeneity approaches.
In the end, the prince chose to whip the soldiers with the spirit of competition as a motivator rather than forcibly trying to assimilate the troops under his command. Control over the entire army was secured by sufficient supply and capture of officers and noncommissioned officers.
“…Ugh, I’m trying. go in and go to sleep Even the guards are rolling hard.”
Currently, the City Guard is under the command of ‘Arrogant’ Sir Lyam.
He was the most loyal knight in High Castle when it comes to his loyalty to Ulkar. After the assassin’s invasion last night, it was obvious that he would be as awake as Sir Gisella, ‘The Birdhawk Knight’.
“But Nari. Umberta and Esson Lee”
“Esson and Nabal go in. If you want to stand up, sit on the 1st floor, or if you have a fire burning like this, what should you do? Are you protesting that you don’t trust the city guard?”
I am a mere mercenary and risen as a knight. It’s true, but externally, that’s what it sounds like.
For this reason, there is no particular sense of kinship with the retainers who previously followed Ulkar and the newly joined lords. In addition, the troops I commanded were also an ambiguous unit with the temperament of a mercenary and half of a private.
As a result, my men, a little over a hundred, became an isolated group that looked only at me, with a different color than any other unit in High Castle. Ulkar said it was no big deal, but I thought differently.
“Even with the enemy right in front of us, we have to trust and rely on each other to fight or not…
“But how can you trust those who don’t know your name or hometown?”
“Then pretend to believe.”
They hurriedly started to organize the place only after I got a little annoyed. I was about to go in first with Gollman, but Henrik snapped his fingers saying ‘Ah’ as if he belatedly remembered something.
“That’s right Nari. Lady Heila is waiting for you with some guests.” “customer? who?” “He was a distant man, but he was wearing a hooded hood. I tried to check my face, but Lady Heila just told me to let her in.”
Sir Eordan the Blood Knight. I’ll have to go and see it soon.
While entering the first floor thinking…, I came across a scene that I could not ignore.
“Princess?”
“…Ah Lord Phoenix. Are you back now?”
It was Theodora.
Even on the first floor, where the candles were sparsely lit, she was sitting alone in a corner far from the fireplace. Instead of wearing his usual armor, he was wearing a loose tunic with silver embroidery on the collar.
Sitting alone after midnight was a bit disrespectful, but there was even a bottle and a glass in front of the princess. Truly a palace itself…
“What are you doing alone?”
“that is.”
Theodora replied with an ambiguous face as if smiling.
“I was tasting it because I remembered that I had obtained a good wine in Andal-Biren while I was having trouble sleeping.”
“Tasting? Isn’t it a little too much for tasting?”
” ah.”
At first glance, the slightly opaque glass bottle was well over half empty. Maybe a drink or two left?
Looking at it now, the princess’s cheeks were slightly flushed, and her pale green eyes were slightly loose. It seems that he deliberately suppressed his divine power to get drunk.
Theodora, slightly embarrassed, dragged the bottle in front of her.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to bother you.”
It was obviously a lie. If I really didn’t mean to annoy you, I’d drink it quietly in my room.
“What happened?”
“…nothing. I heard that Miss Heila is waiting for you. Don’t mind me and go upstairs.” Hmm, I’m just saying don’t go there. I pulled out the sword belt, put it on the table, and sat across from the princess. When she opened her eyes, I handed the helmet to Goleman and shrugged.
“I’d like to take off my armor first. Can I sit down for a minute?”
“…Of course, do as you please.”
Golman, who was dull enough, was handed the pitch and tried to complain, saying, ‘No, why is this here?’ I handed over the gauntlet, made him shut up with a glance, and asked Theodora.
“Oh Utequai said he would go to the church with his sister-in-law. Did everything go well?”
“Something special… I should say. Yes there was.”
“yes? What’s going on?”
In fact, I opened my eyes wide because it was a question I asked to open up a story without much meaning.
“Who made a fuss?”
Even though Iofya was a pagan shaman, he thought that there would be no quarrels in Andal-Viren’s cathedral. Including the paladin Theodora, my companions, the monk priest Okan and the cathedral knight Kabar, were all together.
No, apart from priests, there are Utequai. I thought there would be no idiot in High Castle who would argue with him even after seeing him next to Iophya.
The princess answered with a wry smile.
“No, it wasn’t that kind of thing…. The spirituality of that girl named Iofiya was amazing.”
“Spirituality?”
“exactly. I had fainted while attending a service with Father Gospatrick’s permission. I must have felt the presence of the Lord indirectly.”
It was quite confusing, but I quickly nodded at the princess’ continued explanation.
Iofya is a shaman from the far west steppe and worships a goddess called ‘Mother’ or ‘Mother Goddess’.
The mother goddess she worships and the god of light worshiped by Kwangmyeongkyo are completely different beings, but they are gods anyway. Thanks to this, the spirituality developed while serving the mother goddess, especially the sense of feeling God, was demonstrated at the church of Gwangmyeonggyo.
“Feeling a pagan god rather than my Lord… is a very special experience for a priest. That must have been a daunting task for a young shaman.”
“Then Iofya”
“will be ill for a while, but will be fine soon. You don’t have to worry too much.”
“Is that so. It’s good…
I wiped my chest in surprise.
Although I hadn’t met Iophya for a while, the motivation and responsibility to take care of her were enough for me. She is a soul shaman, the hero character in the game, and before that, she is the sister-in-law of a friend.
I haven’t been able to pay attention because I’ve been busy with work, but I’ll pay more attention in the future.
But Iofiya is Iofiya, and now is the time to focus on Theodora in front of me.
“Are you sipping wine with such a dark expression on your face because of Iofiah?”
“Hmm? Is my expression dark?”
“yes. great.”
“…is it. But not because of that shaman girl.”
Seeing that there was room for misunderstanding, she quickly added.
“Of course she’s bedridden, that’s something to worry about. But for a priest, facing a new god isn’t all that bad. If you overcome well, your spirituality will become stronger and more mature.
Goleman unfolded his cloak like a bundle, put my armor set in it, and went upstairs grumbling.
I picked up the glass lying in front of Theodora as I felt much better.
“You must have had a lot, so can I have a drink too?”
“No- that cup”
“It’s very strong. Where do you get these grapes?”
The princess licked her lips for a moment before answering.
“…wine from Bühlsruhe…
“Bülsrue Wülsruhe? Isn’t that the domain of your family, princess?”
“Yes *hmm* yes.”
Duke of Strom. It is the family of Theodora and the head of her uncle, the Duke of Avillambus.
“…I heard that someone else’s rice cake looks bigger, but the enemy’s alcohol tastes better.”
He had in mind that the Duke of Abillambus was the actual head of the 15,000 troops lurking in front of High Castle.
Theodora didn’t say anything about treating her uncle as an enemy. Even though he is a long uncle, he is the enemy of enemies who killed all of her father and brothers.
When the story of Marshal Theodora came out, she kept her mouth shut. Although the brows were slightly narrowed, it was priestly enough not to vent anger, hatred, and vengeance.
Understanding her feelings, I slowly opened my mouth.
“Isn’t it difficult for you, too?”
“What do you mean?”
“To live as a paladin.”
“…not easy. But it is much better than when I was a nun.”
“I can see why. Because you can ride the Brightmere as much as you want, right?”
“Huh, that’s right.”
At the mention of her favorite beautiful white horse, Theodora let out a smile with a relaxed expression on her face.
But even that momentarily, her smile was stained with bitterness.
“Yes, riding the Brightmere is one of the few freedoms I’ve been granted.”
“You can’t point a sword at someone you hate, nor can you raise a shield to protect someone you care about…
Her pink lips trembled slightly, followed by a sigh.
“Looking back, it has been that way all my life. Even when he was an immature child, when he was imprisoned in a convent, and now when he became a paladin. I am destined to just sit back and watch the people I love leave.”
It was only then that I vaguely noticed why she was depressed.
Last night her maternal uncle, Prince Ulkar, was visited by an assassin, but he must feel helpless at his situation, unable to do anything about it.
It may be that his childhood, when he had to watch his beloved father and two younger brothers die, overlaps with his present self, trapped in Andal-Biren.
That miserable feeling was one that others could not easily relate to. Even after emptying the full glass, I couldn’t find words to comfort Theodora. It was for that reason that he began to speak casually.
“I often have strange dreams.”
“…a strange dream?”
“yes. Sometimes I fall into a city I have never seen before, and sometimes I get lost in unfamiliar landscapes…. Sometimes I fly in the sky riding a huge machine that looks like a bird.”
When I described the shape of the airplane using hand and foot gestures, the gongnyeo put on a puzzled expression.
“…What a strange dream. After all, Kyung is an erratic person.”
“is that so?”
I continued talking with a stupid smile even when I thought about it.
“Aren’t you still curious?”
“hmm?”
“It’s a dream to fly in the sky. A dream where you don’t just plummet from the sky to the ground, but float in the sky for hours.”
Theodora said nothing.
“I will show you when the war is over.”
“Do you hate it?”
“…no no.”
She twitched her lips and smiled slightly.
“I look forward to it.”
“thank god.”
I emptied the last glass in one go and got up.
“Okay, the business is over, Princess. Hurry up and go to bed.”
“Huh, I know. don’t do that.”
Shaking her head, Theodora followed me and rose from her seat. All of a sudden, he had a pretty deep smile on his face.
That smile was so amazingly beautiful that I felt proud.
The door slowly opened and a chilly atmosphere permeated the room. It was so calming that it was hard to believe that the two were sitting face
to face.
In place of Heila, who was staring at me, Lord Eordan, who was sitting across from her, opened his mouth.
“I waited for you, young man. Please sit down.”
“No wait.”
Heila raised her hand and pulled on the rope hanging by the fireplace. After a while, Rowen appeared.
“Did you call me, ma’am?”
“Can you prepare the bath water?”
“Yes, yes. It hasn’t been long since I turned off the fire, so I’ll warm it up again soon.”
Saying that, Rowen turned around and suddenly tilted his head.
“Oh by the way. Didn’t you take a bath a while ago?”
“huh. Phoenix will do it, not me.”
“Are you Nari? All right.”
Rowen left before I could stop him, and I shrugged at Heyla.
“What’s so urgent? You can prepare after the talk.”
“Take a bath first.”
“uh?”
“Take a bath first.”
“Why so suddenly?”
She spoke in a low voice.
“The smell of incense and alcohol.”
“Huh huh?”
“Take a bath first.”
Confused as to whether it was an order or a recommendation, I finally nodded without saying a word.
