Chapter 190 – Reasons to Move On.
“Have you calmed down now?”
After crying for a long time, Krikaliev asks. But Usher was still tormented by the feeling that his head was boiling over with hot emotions.
“Because it doesn’t seem like he’s been doing that all along. Let’s go in after that.”
“But here…”
Isn’t Belka here? She was even afraid of what kind of face she should look at, but she heard Nausicaa’s voice.
“Baby Rabbit and Helena vacated her room and left.”
It felt like I was suffocating.
“Because I left your things. I want you to deliver them.”
He stood up earlier than expected and walked toward the room where he and Belka had stayed for a while. Every time he raised his legs to climb the stairs, he continued to climb the stairs and opened the door he arrived at, clutching the blanket wrapped around him with the feeling of wounds digging all over his legs. Then, what greeted him was the scenery in the empty room. The fact that he couldn’t find a single red thread anywhere made him realize that the girl had left. What did you expect? He didn’t even have the courage to face it anyway.
As I staggered down on the bed, the scene in the room came into my eyes again. Except for the basically arranged furniture, he can only see the bag he brought from the forest and a few things he used to use. Belka and Helena’s were nowhere to be seen. He could tell that it was her consideration for him that would make her uncomfortable, but Belka seemed to want to be sure to leave him nonetheless. Even if you think about it, it’s really absurd and selfish. It must have been him who said goodbye. He was disgusted with himself and could not stand it.
“Are you crying again?”
He heard a gruff voice and looked up to see Nausicaa standing by the door, arms crossed, staring at him disapprovingly.
“Come out soon. Have breakfast.”
Usher followed her down to her dining room and sat down at her table. Even the slightest movement made the rough texture of the bandage rub against his skin, and the feeling of the chair touching the bare skin in the gap was uncomfortable, but he couldn’t help it.
“Now, it’s done! Today’s menu is Gusak Stew!”
Nausicaa brought a whole large pot and placed it in their center. The thump and heavy sound of the table seemed to be full inside the pot.
“This made a fuss last night.”
A plate approached him and he looked up to see Krikaliev, who had already prepared Nausicaa’s share, holding out a plate of stew.
“Eat some for now. Isn’t that how you live?”
The plate was full of brown broth, and traces of melted vegetables could be seen here and there. At first glance, it reminds me of the lobster I ate before, but when the smell that was better than that stung my nose, my stomach growled and cried out for food. When I opened a spoon like that, I couldn’t stand the savory smell any longer, and when I put it in my mouth, the thick juice of the meat mixed with the sweetness of the vegetables filled my mouth. The taste was more special because I usually ate only mild food that was not seasoned here. When he came to his senses, his plate was already showing the floor.
Yesterday, I wished I had died, but I was busy running away from strange things, and even though I didn’t think the food would go in, I passed it shamelessly.
“So kid. What are you going to do next?”
“I don’t know.”
This place was unfamiliar and unfamiliar to him. He tried to start something, but he didn’t know what to do or how to do it.
“Why don’t you go after the girls right away and apologize?”
He wanted to make an excuse, but he had no choice but to keep his mouth shut.
“Can you make money with a body like that?”
The more he listened, the more he really couldn’t do anything on his own. He was so incompetent and pathetic that he couldn’t even decide for himself what to do and live on. He wondered if it would have been better for him to have been eaten by them yesterday.
“Then I’ll dig into the ground. Raise my head.”
Then Krikaliev’s voice caught him.
“I have no intention of kicking you out like this, man. Then, I’m going to go to the guest house again.”
“But now I have money…”
“Don’t worry, you can work on your own.”
He stroked his chin and looked at his Usher. Even though it is hidden by the cloth, his gaze is clearly felt and he is nervous, so his voice can be heard.
“Your stamina and strength were painful, so have you ever tried hunting?”
“I was an apprentice knight before coming here.”
“What? A lie!”
It was Nausicaa who screamed in surprise. Usher looks at her with her bewildered expression, clearing her throat and avoiding her gaze. It was fine compared to Nausicaa, but Krikaliev looked surprised.
“Oh, that’s unexpected again.”
“Why is that?”
He shrugged her shoulders when he asked in a bad mood.
“I thought it was because it hurt, but I don’t think I’ve ever put water on his hand.”
“What am I doing!?”
When I shout out for no reason, Krikaliev and Nausicaa meet eyes and nod his head. He got up even more when he said something.
“Then let’s try it. Come out to the backyard.”
He asked in the backyard that came out like that.
“So what do you know how to deal with?”
“…A long sword.”
“Hmm?”
He let out a questioning sound for a moment, but soon brought something out of a storage shed hidden in a corner of the backyard. It was of a different material, but it had a familiar shape to Usher.
“Knife?”
“It’s a wooden sword. You should be able to lift it with your own strength.”
“Can I make something like this out of wood?”
It wasn’t so rare in Usher’s forest, but as he came out he learned that wood was a very precious material. Because he knew that most furniture and tools were made of iron or stone unless he really had a lot of money. But he couldn’t believe that such a tree was used in a place like this, so he asked.
“Sometimes I get it wrong. Mangrove trees are not so precious. They are also widespread near Parz.”
It is said that the quality of wood is not very good for writing. In particular, it is absolutely not suitable wood for making furniture.
“Let’s talk about this and let’s see your skills.”
Bonnie Krikaliev was also holding a wooden sword in one hand that looked like an arming sword. I don’t think he was standing there so casually that I couldn’t spot him. I felt bad for seeming to underestimate him, but I thought it was worth it, and as I had been accustomed to, I held the wooden sword over my shoulder and spread his legs apart. Because he clearly remembered that people should be dealt with more carefully than monsters. However, Krikaliev’s attitude did not change. Just stare at him But Usher was not caught off guard.
Just as I had been doing as I had been learning, I changed my posture and swung the wooden sword at him, and Krikaliev’s sword blocked his sword. But it didn’t end there. The important thing was what happened after the swords collided. The moment he was about to stab, lowering his sword as if it were flowing down his sword. Krikaliev’s sword bent. No, it’s not bent. His sword flowed down Usher’s like a snake crawling. Thinking it was dangerous, he stopped trying to ride his sword, pulled back his front foot and tried to swing the sword in reverse, but he couldn’t.
His wooden sword had already dug into the cross guard, and he was holding Usher’s wrist with his hand. It was over so quickly that even the clumsy blanket he was covering didn’t fall off.
“I guess I learned from a good teacher.”
While easily overpowering him, Krikaliev’s evaluation was generous. Usher even felt joy at his words.
“But he hasn’t been taught in earnest.”
However, I was suspicious of what he said next. No matter how much he was an apprentice knight, what he had learned was proper swordsmanship. Had Donard been teaching the wrong thing? When I questioned the evaluation, which was different from the first one, he continued as if he had forgotten.
“It’s not that your teacher didn’t teach you anything, it’s because he didn’t intend to send you to the battlefield.”
He took the longsword from Usher.
“It’s not that longswords aren’t used when fighting against knights or against monsters, but the main purpose of longswords is different.”
Then, as Usher did, he poses.
“It’s an individual self-defense. That’s why longsword swordsmanship is aimed at fighting and defending. In a way, it’s the most efficient swordsmanship.”
The fact that the human body is more fragile than expected, and even if cut or injured in one place is often fatal, was something that Donnar had been told to ear to ear.
“But I don’t even know how to fight monsters…”
“Of course. It’s okay to fight people and win, but if you fight monsters and lose, it’s useless.”
It certainly didn’t seem like he was wrong.
“And if I really meant to send you to war, I would have taught you how to destroy monsters and armor, or teach you weapons that are easy to pierce, and simple command. But do you remember anything like that?”
There was no No matter how much I thought about it, Donard hadn’t taught me anything. He had been taught this and that trick and camouflage, but he never taught it.
“It’s not that it’s bad. It’s that your master cared about you.”
Hearing his words, I felt like I was about to burst into tears again. Why did I only find out about it now? If I had known about it sooner, I would not have thought of such a trip. It was so sad that I couldn’t go back to Lantua anymore.
“Anyway, you can’t hunt.”
As I was barely holding back my tears, I heard Krikaliev’s words.
“Why?”
“Why, why?
“That’s because it hurts!”
“I know, but where is there to take that into account?”
At his words, Usher fell silent. It’s not like other people know about things like that.
“Then, let’s start by simply building up our stamina.”
Then he took him to the back of the inn, to the kitchen.
“Nausicaa, I just got a good worker.”
“Ugh, use him? I think he’s too poor.”
As Nausicaa gave him a disapproving glance, Usher said nervously.
“You can increase your stamina with something like this?”
“I’d be lucky if I didn’t collapse from exhaustion at work. Are apprentice knights right?”
She still seemed unreliable to him. Even Usher himself was not trustworthy, but he still hated looking weak.
“It’s okay, you’ll understand if you order it. And it’s not a lie because it shows that you’ve learned the sword.”
“Was it real?”
Nausicaa looked at Usher with her ethereal face and let out a sigh of relief at the sight of Krikaliev.
“Because you’re talking about it, believe me. Then put away that leper look and come out wearing this outfit.”
She found one of her clothes in the drawer and held it out to him. Seeing her accepting him obediently despite the disapproval of it somehow, Usher accepted her clothes with a complicated mind. Except for the blanket, the only thing covering his body was bandages. Thinking it was all right, he went up to his room and unfolded his clothes. He realized something strange and had no choice but to go back down to the first floor.
“I-what is this!!”
“Why are you still not wearing clothes?”
Krikaliev, who was sitting at his desk, noticed Usher coming down the stairs again and asked curiously. That’s because he was still covered in blankets.
“How do I wear something like this?!”
“Ok?”
Krikaliev seemed puzzled by Usher’s anger, but he was soon at a loss for words when he saw the clothes he was unfolding. It was a uniform that only women would wear. Nausicaa, wondering if she had heard the commotion, poked her head out of her kitchen.
“What’s the matter?”
“Hey, why did you give him a women’s uniform?”
When Krikaliev asked an absurd question, she asked back as if there was something wrong with her.
“Why? It looks like a good match?”
He listened to Nausicaa, looked at Usher, and shook his head at her.
“He’s a boy after all.”
“Eh, I’m busy.”
She handed Usher another pair of clothes as if they were annoying. Krikaliev asked as Usher blushed and climbed back up again.
“Didn’t you know he was a man?”
“Heh, I don’t know.”
