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Chapter 52 – Road to the Empire (4)
The mercenaries caught up to the Sun Warriors who were fighting bandits. Havald turned his head to the mercenaries while swinging his sword.
“I knew you would come! Of course you should come if you’re a Sol believer! Praise Sun God Ru!” shouted Havald with a face covered completely in blood. He used his shield that had the Sol insignia drawn on it to stab a fallen bandit’s neck.
“Praise the Sun!”
The Sun Warriors cried out their god’s name as they fought.
The bandits shrieked as they died. They only had rusted weapons and cloth armor. Some wore fur as armor, but that was the extent of their equipment. They were not an opponent for the valiant Sun Warriors and mercenaries.
“UWAAAAAAAH!”
The mercenaries stormed the farmhouse and searched thoroughly for the bandits before dragging them out. Bandit heads rolled on the floor one after another.
“For the pay we’re receiving, this is too easy.”
Bakman discovered a bandit hiding underneath a bed and pierced him with his spear.
“Keok!”
He dragged the bandit out of the room with his spear before using his short sword to end the bandit’s life.
“It’s good for us if we’re getting paid to take care of bandits like these.”
The mercenary next to Bakman spoke to him.
“Heut. Bakman, want a bite of this? Man, it’s been forever since we had soft bread like this.”
The mercenary tore off pieces of the bread that was on the farmer’s table. Everyone was relaxed.
“Stop stuffing your damn mouth when people are still fighting, you damned pig.”
Bakman left the house after giving the mercenary a scolding. The fight was close to over. The deserting bandits were falling one by one to arrows in their backs.
As the battle was nearing its end, Fahel joined the farm.
‘These poor farmers…’
He looked around. It looked like it would take a long time to rebuild the devastated farmhouse.
“Oh, thank you. Thank you so much.”
“How could we ever repay you? Thank you, sir.”
The surviving farmers thanked him. They were individuals who were barely able to make it out of that situation alive. In their eyes, the mercenaries and the Sun Warriors were their saviors.
Creak.
Fahel entered a barn, pulling out his sword with a loose grip.
“Urgh.”
He covered his mouth from the terrible smell of blood. His eyes were wide open.
Light shone in between the broken planks. A young girl lay on top of a pile of straw. She looked like she was ten years old at most. Her eyes were dull, a deep wound marring her neck. It hadn’t been long since the young girl lost her life. Blood flowed out of her skirt—evidence of a girl who had been defiled.
Grind.
Fahel’s pupils dilated. His teeth instinctively started grinding together.
“How could they… to a girl this young…”
He held back the vomit surging up within him. He unraveled his cloak to cover the girl’s body.
“Sun God Ru, please erase the pain that has been carved into this girl’s soul,” he prayed. Soon after, he stood up and stepped outside.
“Haha! Run away! Run away if you can!”
“Man, you’re pretty good at running! You little rascal, haha!”
Outside, the mercenaries were firing arrows. They were betting with each other to see who could hit the escaping bandits.
“You idiot. You can’t even hit that?”
“Why don’t you do it, then? You’re all talk.”
The mercenaries took turns shooting arrows. An escaping bandit wobbled their body in an unseemly manner in an attempt to dodge the arrows. After somehow managing to dodge all projectiles, he slowly started climbing the hill.
“Man, that bastard’s pretty good at dodging. He might actually survive,” said the mercenary who just fired an arrow. He whistled as he spoke. The bandit was close to the ridge of the hill. If he managed to cross there, he would survive.
“We lost him, we lost him. What a lucky bastard.”
The mercenaries didn’t bother to chase the bandit to the end. Their objective was to repel them, not kill every last one of them.
“Don’t lose him,” said Fahel as he stole a mercenary’s bow.
“H-Huh? Young Master? What are you doing?”
The mercenary, whose bow had been stolen, shrugged.
Fahel pulled the bowstring taut and released it. His arrow didn’t even come close to hitting the bandit’s ankles.
‘Damn it.’
The image of the girl who died in the barn couldn’t be erased from his mind. He kept retching, feeling as if vomit was coming up over and over.
Grind.
He was furious. He despised the bandits who assaulted and killed a girl who couldn’t even resist.
‘Blood for blood.’
Revenge wasn’t one of the Sun God’s doctrines. Hatred and rage was seen as unreasonable. However, those fierce emotions stirred up Fahel.
‘But right now, my chest hurts. It’s agonizing.’
Fahel scrunched his nose. He held his fingers to his lips and whistled.
“KILIOS!”
Kilios, who had been pacing around the area, galloped towards him. It was an intelligent horse. Though it was a wild horse that grew up without human touch, it was clear that it came from a lineage of good horses.
“Young Master?”
The mercenaries couldn’t understand Fahel’s actions. Fahel dug his feet into Kilios’s sides and yanked on its reins.
‘I’m not going to lose him. I’ll kill him.’
He cut across the farm on horseback.
“Fahel?”
Urich noticed him charging in from the rear.
“Urich! I’m not going to lose him! Get on!” shouted Fahel after momentarily stopping Kilios. Urich shrugged before climbing on.
“If it’s an order from our dear employer, I’ll listen.”
Kilios crossed over the hill while carrying the two men. They quickly closed in on the bandit. Kilios snorted out long huffs while galloping.
“Urich! Grab him!” yelled Fahel after catching up to the bandit. Urich jumped off Kilios’s side to seize him.
SLAM!
Urich suppressed the bandit with his massive body. The bandit tried to resist and escape.
“Oi, you bastard. Stop moving.”
CRACK.
Urich twisted the bandit’s arm as if he were bending a child’s wrists.
“G-GUAAAAAARGH!”
The bandit screamed as he trembled.
CRUSH.
Urich threw the bandit to the ground by his hair. As he tossed the bandit, Urich ripped off the bandit’s scalp along with his hair.
Schwing!
Fahel stepped off of Kilios, pulled out his sword, and placed it at the fallen bandit’s neck.
“S-Sir! Please just let me go this once. I’ll never do something like this again. Please! At least my life! Please remember Sol’s teachings of benevolence!” the bandit groveled, prostrating with his broken arm. Urich stood behind the bandit, observing Fahel.
‘Fahel, you’re trembling.’
Fahel’s lips and hands were shaking. He had never killed someone before.
“If it’s too hard to kill him, do you want me to? I’ve already killed a countless number of people. This is nothing for me,” said Urich. After hearing that, the shocked bandit prostrated in front of Urich.
“Sir! Sir! Sir Warrior!”
The bandit soiled himself. The blood on his face mixed with his tears and snot. It was a hideous sight.
Fahel looked at Urich’s eyes before shaking his head. He raised his sword, resolved.
Stab.
The sword pierced through the bandit’s chest. The sensation of taking another human’s life. The feeling of his sword entering the bandit’s flesh was smoother than he thought it would be. Countless images flashed through his head. The shining sun, the girl who died in the barn, the chilling blade. Blood splattered on Fahel’s cheek.
“Keoook…”
The bandit trembled and convulsed before dying. Fahel sank to the ground before even pulling his sword out of the bandit’s chest. The vomit he had been holding back came out.
“Heuurgh. Gurgh.”
His palms hit the floor as his shoulders heaved. He squeezed handfuls of dirt as he cried and moaned.
He released the anger that he had been holding back. In its place now… was emptiness. An emptiness that couldn’t be filled. He couldn’t go back. He killed someone with his own hands.
‘I am someone who will be king.’
How can a man who will become king not have blood on his hands? It wasn’t something in the far future either. Those hands would soon be used to bury their uncle’s blood.
‘This was just practice. This is nothing.’
Nevertheless, his crying didn’t stop. Urich placed his hand on top of Fahel’s head.
“It’s not that big of a deal. Fahel, embracing women and killing are just the rites of passage of becoming a man.”
Fahel laughed.
“It still hurts. It feels like my heart was pierced. I thought I would feel better after killing him, but it wasn’t that,” said Fahel, clutching his chest.
“It’s only like that the first time. If you kill a few more, it’ll feel like nothing. Sort of like building calluses.”
Fahel turned to look at Urich. Urich’s words reached him in a chilling way.
“…I have to confess when we arrive in the city.”
Fahel weakly stood up. He wanted to meet a clergyman to relieve his sense of guilt.
“Stop acting like such a wuss, Fahel. How many people do you think have died because of you? Stop making that miserable face because you had to kill one person with your own hands. You’re a rich noble. You can afford to be a bit more shameless. Kill people by pointing with your hand or a flick of your head like you’ve always had. As long as you give me money, I’ll kill them all.”
Fahel raised his head. Urich had his hand out, waiting for Fahel to stand up. He was laughing, like he always was.
Fahel laughed as well. Because his throat still hadn’t recovered from crying, it was a mess of a laugh.
“Let’s go back, Urich. And don’t tell the others that I cried.”
He stood up while grabbing Urich’s hand.
The second they returned, Urich told everyone that Fahel cried like a bitch after killing someone. It was the conversation piece that evening.
* * *
Reaper Scans
Translator – goguma
Proofreader – yukitokata
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* * *
Urich and the Sun Warriors traveled together for two more days.
“It was fun traveling together, Urich’s Brothers! And Fahel, the Sun God won’t forget your righteous heart!” said Havald after arriving in the city. The Sun Warriors bought horses and left the city immediately.
“They’re quite the boring people. I can’t believe they left the city like that without even visiting the brothel,” said the mercenaries after the Sun Warriors left. The mercenaries were excited by the sceneries of the city since it had been a while since they visited one.
The city this time was rather small in size, and all of the mercenaries weren’t allowed in at once. Some of them had to camp out again.
At the camp, the executives of the mercenary group and Phillion gathered to confirm their schedule.
“Soon, we will be entering the Emperor’s Domain. Once we enter, even Duke Harmati won’t be able to do anything. We will reveal our identities at the gate and request protection from the imperial army,” said Phillion while unraveling the map. The Emperor’s Domain was the land that the Emperor directly ruled. The security in the domain was so well-kept that it was difficult to see even a single bandit.
“Haaah, it’ll be the Emperor’s Domain soon. That’s the real Empire,” said some of the mercenaries who have visited there before. It was obvious that they were all excited.
The territory in the civilized world was split into three classifications: the Emperor’s Domain, the Empire’s Direct Domain—also known as the Imperial Dominion—and the Minor Kingdoms. The Emperor’s Domain was the center of the civilized world that the Emperor personally ruled, as expected from its name. The Imperial Dominion were the fiefs that the Empire’s nobles managed, and the Minor Kingdoms were the seven kingdoms which became vassal states to the Empire after the ‘War of Unification’ fifty years prior.
These territories were collectively called the Imperial Territory, though there were remnants of barbarian lands in the far North and far South.
‘Our Forlcana Kingdom is also one of those seven kingdoms.’
An aspect of Forlcana that stands above the other kingdoms was that it was a coastal kingdom. Forlcana occupied the majority of the eastern coastline. Everyone thought of the sea whenever they heard of the kingdom.
“So is our mission over once we enter the Emperor’s Domain?”
“Not exactly. The Domain is safe, but it’s not as if there is no danger. Even if we safely pass the Dominion and enter the Imperial Capital, we wouldn’t be able to pay you until Prince Varca has safely succeeded the crown. I was hoping that you would all play the role of His Royal Highness’s soldiers until he does,” said Phillion, cautiously. He tried to read the mercenaries’ expressions. There were still months until Fahel became an adult. They planned to stay in the Imperial Capital until he came of age.
‘I wonder how I ended up having to read the room with mercenaries… I had it coming, though…’
Phillion waited for the mercenaries’ answers.
The mercenaries followed them all the way there because of the rewards that a future king promised them. Even if Forlcana was a small kingdom, a kingdom was still a kingdom. Once Fahel became king, he would readily award the mercenaries a reward that would change their lives.
‘At any rate, the relationship between His Royal Highness and the mercenaries has gotten better. He has gotten exceptionally close with Mercenary Leader Urich.’
It was difficult to trust mercenaries who moved for money, but their leader, Urich, was at least someone they could trust.
“You’re already going to pay us for guarding him. As long as you do, no one will talk back,” said Urich while looking at the other mercenaries. They nodded in agreement. The mercenaries didn’t accept this mission half-heartedly. They came all the way here because they believed it was an opportunity to change their lives.
“Good. Then let us depart after supplying ourselves. The next supply run we do shall be in the Emperor’s Domain!”
Phillion pointed towards the direction of the Domain with his right hand before switching to his left hand. He still sometimes forgot that he lost the majority of his fingers on his right hand. He gave a bitter smile.
After confirming their plans, the mercenaries split up. Urich, like the other mercenaries, tried to enter the city, but Phillion caught up to him.
“Mercenary Leader Urich.”
“Huh? What? Why? Do you have something to request?” asked Urich after turning around to face Phillion. Urich was planning to visit the smithy. The blade of his axes were dull now, and the handles even wobbled from taking too many impacts.
“Please take good care of His Royal Highness,” said Phillion while rubbing his neck.
“Hey, Uncle. Why are you saying something so embarrassing like that? Did I do something wrong?” asked Urich as he patted Phillion’s back.
“His Royal Highness thinks of you in a special manner. It’s the first time anyone has treated him so straightforwardly like that. Almost like a brother.”
Urich lowered his head in a crooked manner. He then snickered.
“That’s a bit difficult. ‘Cause I don’t think of weak shits like Fahel as my brother. Brothers are warriors who can stand side by side. Obviously.”
“So you only thought of him like that… It looks like the way you think is different from His Royal Highness’s.”
Phillion furrowed his brows. Fahel’s feelings were looked down on.
Urich then looked at Phillion’s face while touching his Sol pendant.
“Yeah, Fahel isn’t my brother. He doesn’t have that sort of right. Because to me, that’s what brothers are.”
Urich’s eyes chased his Sol pendant. He remembered the moment he was baptized. In the civilized world, there were a variety of lifestyles; as many as there were people.
“…But I do think of him as a friend. The first friend that I made after coming to the civilized world. A friend who’s a bit of a handful. So don’t worry so much, Sir Phillion.”
Only then did Phillion smile.
“Thank you, Urich.”