Chapter 134 – Assembly

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Translated by Sylph

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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[Mulsia]

“…Ugh, I am anxious.”

For this past week, I have scarcely been able to sleep. My stomach hurts as well, so I cannot eat much either, and no strength enters my body. If the march had not been by wagon, I would have collapsed.

While I looked at the scenery outside from the wagon window, I noticed that the scenery from the road had obviously changed. Compared with three days ago, the forest had deepened, and the mountains had grown steeper.

The depth of the forest and the steepness of the mountains silently conveyed the threat of the magic beasts living there. It felt as though the land itself were rejecting human habitation, saying it was still too soon for people to live there.

“…In a place like this… Van too must have been terribly anxious.”

Thinking of Van’s feelings when Father had driven him out in a manner close to disowning him makes my chest hurt. At that time, I could only give him the money that happened to be at hand, but I still wish that I had attached subordinates to him, even if I had had to ask Father.

For an instant I thought something tinged with such sympathy, but then I remembered that I too am now in that very position and let out a sigh.

“…But in such an environment, Van defeated a dragon and even obtained a title.”

No matter how much I think on it, it does not seem possible for me. Even if the dragon had already become unable to move, subjugating it would still be difficult. I can only see a future where I use magic until my power is exhausted, and in the end stand there at a loss.

Van was clever from a very young age. Most likely, he surely accomplished the dragon subjugation through some ingenious stratagem that would never occur to someone like me. Even so, it must have been a harsh battle.

If I go to such a village, what can I possibly do?

As my anxiety grew darker and darker, a voice came from outside.

“H-Hey… that…”

“Maybe we took the wrong road…”

Hearing the bewildered voices of the soldiers, I looked in the direction of travel. Then, at the end of the road, there stood a gigantic building. The building was square in shape and looked very large.

There was also an extremely large waterwheel, but perhaps that is what carries water to the very top floor of the building. From the windows of the lowest level, something like white smoke could also be seen coming out in places.

As we advanced farther, I saw that behind the building there was what looked like a city wall like the royal capital’s. What sense is there in building a wall without protecting the building? Could it be that dangerous magic beasts approach from the other side of that wall, and so they built up a sturdy wall only on one face?

I was imagining various things with my confused head, but suddenly the wagon stopped and a voice rang out from outside.

“I take you to be the entourage of Marquis Jalpha Buru Ati Fertio! I am Dee, commander of the knight order of Baron Van Nei Fertio’s house! I welcome your party!”

It was a nostalgic voice. At that voice, I involuntarily stuck my face out of the wagon and looked in the direction it came from. A large man in armor stood in front of the entrance to the large building by the waterwheel. There was no mistake, it was Dee. Two young knights I felt I had seen somewhere before stood beside him.

As I felt somehow relieved to see Dee and the others looking well, Espada and Till appeared from farther inside. Then the former slave boy, and finally Van’s figure entered my sight.

“Van!”

The voice came out before even I noticed it. When I leaned out of the wagon and waved to Van, he waved back with a happy face.

At a glance, he did not seem to be injured. Even though he supposedly subjugated a dragon, Dee, Espada, and Van all looked unchanged.

“Brother Mulsia.”

Calling my name, Van began walking this way.

Since Father is in the middle section of the knight order’s formation, he is probably still several hundred meters back, but if Van, the lord of this place, greets and welcomes me first, it will be trouble.

In order to preserve Father’s face, I hurriedly withdrew back into the wagon.

“V-Van… go and meet Father first. It is fine if we speak later.”

I said that from inside the wagon. However, Van casually seized the wagon window with both hands and thrust his face inside. While I froze in shock, Van lifted the corners of his mouth like a mischievous child.

“It has been a while, Brother. Thanks to you, the territory became strong. Truly, you were the one I wanted to show it to first.”

Hearing Van say such a thing, I desperately endured the tears that were about to overflow. The helping hand I had extended to him may only have made Van’s future harsh. I had thought such things many times. And so, hearing words of gratitude from that very Van, I involuntarily grew tearful.

“N-No, it was Van’s own power… I could do nothing. Even though I should have spoken to Father and prepared more money and more subordinates for you, I could not bring myself to say it.”

Words like a confession and excuse came spilling out. I was too ashamed to raise my face.

However, with his arms still resting on the wagon window and his face still inside, Van laughed as though a breath escaped him.

“I was truly supposed to die there. Even if Father had not executed me, if Brother had not extended a hand to me, I might have died before even reaching the territory. So, thank you.”

When he said that with an innocent smile like a flower blooming, I finally let tears spill out.

“U-Uu… ngh.”

I endured becoming completely overcome with sobs and wiped the tears away with my hand.

“Then I will go greet the marquis now. Brother can go on ahead to Seat Village.”

“Eh? This is not Seat Village?”

I asked that in a tearful voice at Van’s words, but Van was already no longer there.

Instead, Dee’s face pushed suddenly into the wagon.

“Ohh! It has been long indeed, Lord Mulsia! Have you been well!”

“Y-Yes. You seem well too, Vice Commander Dee… ah, no, now you were the commander of Van’s knight order, were you not?”

“Wahahahaha! I am the commander of the knight order of Seat Village, and Lord Espada is the commander of the Espa Knight Order! Later, by all means, please come see the state of our training! We will stun you!”

Saying such things, Dee withdrew his face from the wagon window and began giving orders to the soldiers around him.

“This is your rest facility! On the first floor are great baths divided by men and women, and on the second floor are private rooms for officers and above! Also, just beyond here, on the other side of the wall, there is a town for adventurers and peddlers, and beyond that lies Seat Village! Common soldiers may not be able to go all the way to Seat Village, but even inside that town, shopping and food are more than possible!”

Dee briefly explained the nearby situation in that way, but everyone looked at the building before their eyes with expressions that said they could not believe it.

The first floor of this giant building is a great bath, he says. Even the royal house surely does not possess such a huge bathing facility.

Furthermore, that strangely sturdy-looking wall is apparently not the one of Van’s principal city. Dee spoke of it like an extra, but it is utterly unbelievable.

“…My imagination must have been completely off the mark…”

My youngest brother, sent to a nameless village in the frontier. A harsh environment where he would die nine times out of ten. That is what I had thought, but the sight before my eyes did not look like that at all.