◈ 032. [Side Story] Cross Marquee (2)
That day. late afternoon.
I headed back to Margrave Cross’ mansion.
“Marqueeback! Are you inside?”
As soon as I entered the garden of the mansion knocking loudly at the outer door, Marshal Cross immediately jumped out of the mansion.
“You don’t know how precious your life is! Obviously I said it! never come close to me again… … .”
The Marquis tried to point the tip of the spear in his hand at me, but immediately dropped it.
It was because I found a small cart that I had been dragging behind me.
“What is that?”
“What could it be?”
I smiled and lifted the cloth that covered the top of the cart.
“You’re good enough to die.”
The cart was loaded with alcohol.
Liquor bottles bathed in the late afternoon sunlight shimmered like sand on a sandy beach.
“… .”
Marquis Cross looked at me and the bottle at a loss.
***
The Ash I possess is a spoiled brat.
Literally, it means that he is a prince of Hallyang who enjoys drinking water and meat and is ashamed of himself wherever he is presented.
There’s no way a guy like this came down to the countryside with his bare hands. Of course, I brought a lot of high-grade alcohol.
But I don’t enjoy drinking. Therefore, there is no need to save.
I’ve been raking in all the expensive liquor that Ash brought back from the capital.
“Let’s have a drink together, Marquis.”
I picked up a bottle from the cart and shook it.
Inside the wine bottle wrapped in luxurious wrapping paper, a beautiful golden liquid overflowed.
challang challang.
The sweet sound of shaking liquid resounds.
It must have been an offer that Marquess Cross, a drunkard, could not refuse.
Klopp.
Mouthwater ran down Marquis Cross’s parched throat. I shrugged and put the bottle I was holding back into the cart.
“Don’t you hate it?”
“no no! Who said no?”
Marshal Cross opened the door to the mansion.
“Come in, Your Highness the Prince. Take all of them!”
It’s good because it’s easy to understand.
I dragged the cart full of alcohol and entered the mansion.
“Ow sheck.”
As soon as I took the first step inside, I unknowingly spat out an exclamation (?).
From the entrance to the back of the mansion, empty bottles of alcohol were rolling around on the floor.
“Holly… Molly… … .”
I covered my nose with my hand.
It was to the point where I could feel how many bottles had been piled up without getting rid of, and that the air was mixed with evaporated alcohol. wow
‘It’s not about drinking alcohol, this is alcoholism… … .’
Avoiding the bottles on the floor like a carpet, I entered the mansion’s kitchen.
Marshal Cross brought two glasses from the cupboard.
“It’s been a while since I drank with other people.”
After accepting the cup the Marquis gave me, I suspiciously examined the bottom of the cup.
“Is this cup clean?”
“Even if the house is a mess, the glass should be clean. Wouldn’t that be polite to alcohol?”
Marquis Cross, who had recited the grotesque “The Way of Drinking,” snatched the bottle from my hand.
“Let’s see what kind of alcohol you brought… … .”
Soon after, the margrave’s eyes widened when he checked the words written on the label.
“Imperial whiskey from the first year of ‘Peacemaker’! Oh my God, isn’t this very precious!”
‘Peacemaker’ is the middle name of the current Emperor of the Empire.
In other words, it means the sake made in commemoration of the year of the emperor’s accession. It is also a special product brewed directly from the imperial brewery.
The taste is delicious, but the symbolic meaning is very deep.
In other words, it is terribly expensive.
‘Now that I’ve brought this expensive drink for you, please treat me kindly.’
This kind of intention must have been conveyed even without words.
Marquis Cross stared at me with complex subtle eyes, then opened the bottle of whiskey and poured it without hesitation.
A golden liquid pooled in their glasses.
“Then… .”
I raised my glass to say a toast, but Marquis Cross was already taking the glass to his lips.
“… .”
I shyly lowered my glass.
Marshal Cross hit the glass with one shot. This will be poisonous, are you okay?
“Puha!”
Marquis Cross looked down at the empty glass with admiration.
“What a luxury! It’s different from passing the throat.”
“Do you feel the right emotions while drinking like that?”
“Shouldn’t you be drinking this too in order to make an accurate comparison with the cheap ones you usually drink? That way we can evaluate it fairly.”
Damn, I don’t know much about alcohol, so I don’t know if that’s right or not.
Well, anyway, I’m not here to discuss alcohol today. I put down the glass I hadn’t even touched.
“Anyway, changeback. Today’s story is… … .”
“Don’t bring up other topics!”
Marquis Cross, who interrupted me, filled his glass again.
“Just drink and die. If you’re going to talk about something else, leave.”
“No, then give me some snacks… .”
You’re only pouring alcohol into your stomach, you drunkard old man.
At my complaint, Marshal Cross reluctantly opened the cupboard again and took out a small pouch.
“Let’s go.”
“What is this?”
“It’s dried fruit. Made with fruit from my orchard over there.”
Inside the bag was a pile of chopped and dried fruit flesh.
I lifted a piece and looked at it carefully. What is it like a mango? no grapes?
“Do you have an orchard?”
“Can you see out the window over there? It’s right behind this mansion. It’s a very small place. I manage it as a pastime.”
“Oh, then I’ll eat well… What?!”
As soon as I put it in my mouth, I spit it out.
“What is this? How can you eat something like this!”
“no. To think that this side spit out the fruits that were carefully cultivated and harvested… … That’s downright rude.”
With a displeased face, Marshal Cross took a bite of the fruit himself.
“Tweeeee!”
And spit it out right away.
“No, you can’t eat either!”
“It’s terribly tasteless. It’s a fruit I grew, but it’s a bit trash.”
Marshal Cross quickly poured a drink to rinse his mouth and threw a bag of dried fruit at me.
“Now, this is a gift. take it.”
“Why are you giving me something you can’t eat as a gift!”
“If I can eat it, I will eat it. Why would I give it to you? It sounds obvious.”
I know? It’s unmistakably bullshit, but it’s oddly persuasive.
Grinding my teeth, I took the fruit bag in my arms.
Anyway, isn’t it a gift from the former lord? You can’t just throw it on the floor.
Marshal Cross sighed as he looked down at the remaining pulp in his hand.
“Crossroad is located at the southernmost tip of the continent. The sun is high and the soil is fertile. There is no better land for fruit farming than here.”
“But why does it taste like this!”
“Not only fruits, but all kinds of other crops will bear fruit abundantly as long as you cultivate the fields.”
At the next word, I hesitated.
“If only the monsters hadn’t invaded on a fictional day.”
“ah… .”
“It’s a problem that the monsters destroy the fields and kill the farmers, but when they die, they sprinkle the land with muddy magic. Then do you know what will happen?”
A bitter smile crept across Marquis Cross’ wrinkled mouth.
“The entire area is contaminated. You have to grow crops to become a cursed land that will stagnate and die.”
Marquis Cross looked down at the goblet with complicated eyes.
Golden wine brewed at the imperial family with grains and fruits that cannot be harvested in this area… … .
“That’s why there are no rice fields around the crossroads. What do you do when the sun is good and the soil is fertile? I can’t grow anything. You have to work hard, but one invasion will ruin it.”
“… .”
“This is a cursed land. It has been like that before, and it will be like that in the future.”
I chined out the window.
“Then why are you tending the orchard?”
“Everyone has at least one regret in life, right?”
The old man gazed at the orchard with dim eyes for a moment, then closed his eyes and drank a glass of wine.
“That orchard is my lingering attachment.”
After that, we didn’t have any conversation until the bottle was empty.
“I can’t even get drunk anymore… .”
Marshal Cross muttered as he whirled around an empty wine bottle.
I took the next bottle from the cart, unstopped it myself, and poured it into Marquis Cross’s glass.
“Change bag. Can you guess why I came today?”
Marquis Cross’ stare glared at me.
“Didn’t I tell you to leave if you were going to talk about something else?”
“If you want to kick them out, kick them out. But we have to finish talking.”
widely.
After filling the Marquis’ glass, I set the bottle on the table and opened my mouth.
“The monsters are starting to stir again. And the scale is extraordinary.”
“… .”
“The last invasion was 1,000 living armor. I managed to block it somehow, but the wall was greatly damaged and the soldiers were in short supply.”
“… .”
“We desperately need reinforcements.”
Marquis Cross listened in silence. I raised my voice.
“Change bag. That means we need soldiers under your command.”
“There are no soldiers under my command.”
“I came to know that there is a private in your family.”
“There are friends I picked, taught, and walked the battlefield with for the rest of my life.”
Marquis Cross let out a long sigh.
“But when I gave up my lordship, when I let go of that spear and shield… They also laid down their weapons. They are all retired now.”
“Please reconvene.”
“It’s useless.”
boom boom.
Marshal Cross muttered vaguely, pouring a cup into his mouth at once.
“This is land not worth protecting.”
“What is that… .”
“I mean, don’t risk your life for nothing to protect these worthless fronts, let everyone run away.”
From the distant ancestors until now.
A man from a family whose business was to protect this land said so.
It was so unexpected that I froze for a while.
“Look, the prince is well. Why did you come to this land?”
Facing me gently, Marshal Cross spat out calmly.
“In this land, everything is just dying. Without hope or future.”
“… .”
“This is my advice, having spent my whole life protecting this place. leave here as soon as possible. Before being devoured by the curse of this land.”
What the hell happened to this old man?
What made you deny your whole life?
I wanted to ask and hear the answer, but Marquis Cross turned his head away and waved his hand away.
“Go away. It’s too much for me to talk any more.”
I had an intuition that this is where I am today. I slowly got up from my seat.
“I’ll be back, Marquis.”
“… .”
“Next time, I’ll bring some decent snacks with me.”
The Marquis didn’t answer or even look this way.
He just stares at his orchard from afar.
After taking the last look at the old man’s profile, I left the mansion.
***
When he came out, Lucas was waiting with his horse.
“Her Highness, was your persuasion successful?”
“no. failure. I got a present though.”
It’s a dried fruit that I can’t eat, but a gift is a gift. Wouldn’t this be a great development?
Shrugging my shoulders, I raised myself onto the saddle.
“How can everything work out in one day?”
“You intend to keep coming.”
“If successful, you can recruit veterans who have been fighting monsters all their lives. It’s well worth the effort.”
I tilted my head as I started to return to the city with Lucas.
“What happened to Marquis Cross, by the way? I think something big happened… … Lucas, do you know anything?”
“No, neither did I… .”
Lucas, like me, had been living in the imperial capital for the rest of his life and was about to be relegated to the south together.
I do not know the details of this place.
“Ader told me to listen directly to the Marquis himself… Eh.”
Ader didn’t seem to want to spoil it at all. Damn director guy.
“Anyway, persuasion is persuasion. Until then, I will do what I can.”
What you can do.
Repair the walls and prepare for war.
No matter what card I have in my hand, monsters come in droves. I just kill monsters as efficiently as I can.
As he gazed at the distant city, he spat out as if he had promised himself.
“Let’s go back to Crossroads. There’s a lot to do.”
