59. Fate or Destiny (1)
During the Eight Years’ War, the emperor always memorized the list of fallen soldiers even though he was busy. It would have been enough to simply provide appropriate compensation to the bereaved families, but he took the time he didn’t have and pondered over the list of our fallen soldiers and the faces of those I had killed.
“That’s because they wouldn’t have died if it weren’t for their burden.”
It was avoidable. The eight-year war was a war fought solely by his choice.
The position of a monarch is a position where the lives of countless people come and go with a single choice.
Edoardo did not want to easily forget those who had become victims of his selfish choices just because they were dead.
If the head of a country does not take responsibility for what happened based on his or her own choices, who on earth will take responsibility?
Responsibility for the consequences of my choices.
This was something that every person had to shoulder before becoming a monarch.
“Whether it’s an enemy or an ally, isn’t Jim a victim of the choices he made?”
Then, it came to me in the form of dreams and hallucinations. It was a happy thing for him.
Elpidius could not easily continue speaking.
In the end, after a long time had passed, there was only one word that came out.
“…You are foolish.”
It was something he should not have dared say to the emperor, but Edoardo just laughed.
Unlike usual, helpless laughter spread throughout the large room.
“I know. This too is a disease.”
The emperor muttered as he faced the people glaring at him from a corner of the room.
“I don’t have an appetite, so I’ll skip dinner tonight. Eat together with Alethea.”
I have to play with them.
After Elpidius, who hesitated, left, the emperor, left alone, engraved the familiar faces of those approaching him in his mind and slowly closed his eyes.
I must have been hallucinating, but even with my eyes closed, I could clearly see them approaching.
No worries. Because they can’t harm themselves directly anyway. That’s enough.
Even though he vividly felt the hallucinations strangling his throat, he just laughed as if it was ridiculous.
There were too many things he was carrying to just collapse over these things.
***
After that, three damn days passed.
3 days cannot be considered too short. Who knows whether Cruel might have found a capable shaman in the meantime.
Actually, finding a shaman is not that easy. Ninety-nine out of a hundred shamans are from the south, but most of the empire’s territory is in the north.
Except for the ninety-nine, the teacher of the remaining one was from the South, so they had to go to the South to find a shaman. However, Remember, a talented butler, did not complain at all in response to my unreasonable request to find the nearest shaman, and managed to pretend that there was a shaman. I found a nearby village and reported it.
Considering this, three days was an incredibly short time, but there was no way to know where Cruel was and what he was doing….
“…But Lord Lien.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“The back of my head is tingling…”
“It’s my mood.”
It’s okay to go on a hike that isn’t even in the middle of the mountain to find a village halfway up the mountain. It’s hard, but it’s bearable.
But I can’t seem to get this stare stuck in the back of my head.
“I’m fine.”
“I’m not okay. How dare you cause a situation by not even remembering the back of my master’s back. It shouldn’t happen. I’ll keep it in my mind this time and make sure something like this never happens again.”
“I just called you a backstabber…”
“And please speak in peace. The Count is my master.”
You changed your mind just now, right? I looked at her with a sullen expression and then turned my head.
‘Speak comfortably.’
She is noble. Unlike me, who holds only an honorary position, he is a noble from a high-ranking family that can be inherited. Although he is not the head of the family, that does not mean that the power in the family disappears, so despite the master-slave relationship, it was more convenient for me to just show mutual respect.
So, let’s compromise by speaking informally.
“I’m comfortable this way… Oh, there!”
“It’s a village. I heard it was small, but I never thought it would be this small.”
I internally nodded as I could see the size of the village at a glance.
Yes, that level is enough for a shaman to survive. Shamans are usually secluded beings. In that sense, that small town seemed very suitable for such a shaman to live in.
Remembert said he couldn’t guarantee whether there would really be a shaman, but…
“Let’s go quickly.”
“yes.”
After all, it is inevitable to have expectations. Lien and I hurried to the village entrance.
and.
“Huh fuck?”
“….”
“Oh, did I say that with my mouth? I’m sorry, brother. I was so shocked that I stopped.”
Coincidentally, I ran into Cruel.
Can a coincidence like this even happen? At this point, I’m starting to wonder if he’s stalking me.
But before I had such irrational suspicions, there was a solid reason to explain this encounter, so I kept my mouth shut and narrowed my brows.
‘You came to find a shaman.’
According to what Remembert said, all the shamans except here, even the closest ones, lived far downstairs, so if he had any information, he would have had no choice but to come here.
But you can’t help feeling bad.
So I close my mouth with a frown and glare at him, but for some reason, his eyes get bigger and bigger. It seemed like I could hear the wind blowing from somewhere… No, just for a moment. The sound is getting closer?
──Whoa!
My vision wavered. For a moment, my mind was blown.
***
“Get the hell out of this town!!”
“Oh, calm down, grandma! Look at what they’re wearing! They’re high-ranking people! Hey, someone stop grandma!”
“Disaster, disaster has come! We must drive them out! No, we must kill them!!”
“Master! Are you okay… Ah, the blood…”
“…Ha.”
Deon, who had been motionless with his head down, raised his head with a short smile.
I laughed.
Lien, who had been staring blankly at the raised corner of his mouth filled with absurdity and absurdity, noticed his eyes and took a step back.
Those are the eyes from back then. Those eyes that were shining with madness during the attack.
“My lord…”
“….”
Deon looked down at his palm after wiping up the area where he had been hit along with his hair.
Blood soaked. Even now, I can feel the warm liquid flowing down my temple, so the wound must be quite serious.
The bright red eyes, which shine even more horrifyingly because of the blood shed, slowly roll towards the old man who is making a fuss. The old man was so strong that even though the men were clinging to him, he did not let go of the stone he was holding.
Deon, who was watching, roughly shook the blood off his hands and walked away.
As drops of blood splattered onto the dirt floor, the gazes inadvertently turned toward him froze, engulfed in anxiety and fear. I couldn’t take my eyes off him.
Head messed up with blood. Eyes that shine with a slight spark of madness.
Even so, the faces of those who were weighed down by the strangeness they felt and the thick and damp atmosphere began to quickly grow tired of him when they saw where his steps were heading.
It was the same for Lien.
“Master…!”
“I won’t kill you.”
Anyone can see that it looks like they are trying to kill the old man, but there is no way to doubt the lord’s words. Lien stopped in place at the resolute words.
I tried to ignore the gazes of the villagers asking me to do something.
Since the lord has confirmed it, blocking him any further means doubting him, and it is unacceptable for a knight to doubt the lord.
Besides, she already made two mistakes.
One is the failure to protect the lord. The other thing is that he failed to immediately draw his sword and respond when he was hit by a stone.
What right does she have to stop him like that?
‘I was too focused on the confrontation between my lord and his brother.’
The discord between the superior and his family wastes his nerves in a different way.
As a result, external threats were overlooked.
Who would have thought that there would be someone in this rural village in the mountain valley who would pose a threat to the lord?
‘…No, this is an excuse.’
The previous excuse becomes useless in that the lord was unable to raise his sword the moment he was hit by a stone.
‘Even if the other person was an old man, he should not have hesitated…’
While Lien clenched his fists and broke out in a cold sweat, Deon walked slowly and stood in front of the old man, slightly bending his waist and making eye contact with the old man.
The act of bending down and making eye contact would have been enough to be seen as consideration, but for some reason it only seemed like a mockery, so Lien tilted his head for a moment and soon found out why.
The conversation started in an uneasy manner after the forced open eyes and creepy red eyes stared at each other without moving. In that conversation—
“Hey old man.”
“A disaster!”
“So you call me a disaster?”
Deon grins as he faces the old man glaring at him.
The sight of him laughing and bleeding from his head was so bizarre that everyone held their breath.
Amidst the subtle tension, a playful voice soon followed.
“No. I’m closer to a ‘sin’ than a ‘disaster’. Aren’t I?”
“this person…!!”
***
I looked blankly at the grandmother who was yelling something and making a fuss.
You have a lot of energy for your age. This isn’t just making a fuss, it’s almost like using evil.
Meanwhile, my head hurts like it’s going to break again. Not a metaphor, really.
Now that I think about it, I was hit by a rock. And this old lady shouted. I am a disaster and must be killed.
disaster. It’s a disaster…
‘Well.’
If I were to be honest, I think it would be closer to a sin than a disaster.
I turned my head and looked for Cruel. He was watching me from a little distance with complicated, incomprehensible eyes.
As our eyes meet, he naturally looks beyond me and approaches me. No, to be more precise, to the grandmother and the men who were making a fuss.
“I came to look for a shaman.”
An extremely cold voice came out.
I didn’t expect to see him worried about me getting hurt in the first place. I took the handkerchief Lien offered me and put it on my injured head and watched the situation.
“Actually, this old lady is a witch doctor… but she recently became senile…”
“Let go of this, you guys! I have to kill that guy!!”
“…So there are no more shamans in this village?”
“Oh, that’s it…”
Jang Jeong’s eyes roll. Before he knew it, his eyes caught sight of the woman who had approached him, grabbed his grandmother, and was gently persuading her.
“Grandma, calm down.”
“Ran, kill that guy. You saw it too, right?”
“Of course I saw it. But no. My grandmother always said, you shouldn’t treat people about something that hasn’t happened yet.”
Stand tall. The old man’s struggle stopped.
The old man, whose eyes were blank as if he had been hit on the head, muttered absently as if he had just gained enlightenment.
“…Yes, I did.”
The old man turns his head and looks at me.
I was weighed down by the force and tried to back away, but my weak reaction was canceled out by the old man holding my shoulder tightly.
it hurts! I recognized him from the time when the men were in trouble, so he is indeed a very strong old man.
“Oh my.”
“yes yes?”
“You should never hate anything.”
“…yes?”
“never. Do you understand?”
Earlier, he was making a fuss, saying that he should throw stones and kill him, but now he is holding his shoulder and gently coaxing and advising him. Is
this what you call senility? You should have seen a senile person to know that.
… No matter how senile it is, an unfair thing is an unfair thing. . There’s Cruel and Lien here, but why only me…!
‘Ahh! This old lady is real!’
That’s where the arrow hit me!!
When there was no answer, the hand holding my shoulder tightened.
After nodding hastily at the grip strength that couldn’t be ignored, the old man’s hand dropped as if he was satisfied.
I massaged my throbbing shoulder and said gruffly: “I came here because I needed a shaman, but this old lady is a shaman?” I
ca
n’t do anything like this old lady who not only tried to kill me but almost broke my shoulder.
I told you not to hate anything, right? Honestly, there’s no way that’s possible for a human being. Let’s start with the person I am now. ….
“….”
After taking one look at Cruel, he turned his head.
…Anyway, we need another shaman. Do we have no choice but to go down to the south? So how long will it take?
“Let me follow you. “
