Chapter 112 – Chapter 4: Outcast – 1
A huge fire swept through Brisden, but fortunately no one was injured.
It was because everyone was preparing dinner in the center of the village.
Thanks to everyone working together and responding quickly, we were able to prevent the fire from spreading to the Dragonez Forest.
The houses and fields on the hill were all damaged by fire… Isn’t it truly fortunate that no one was hurt?
… Okay. I’m really, truly glad.
If even one person had gone wrong, Tia wouldn’t have been safe either.
When a lull is reached after holding on to the remaining fire.
Those who came to their senses first checked what was missing.
A field the size of two hills was completely destroyed.
And 7 houses, including the warehouse, were burned.
Aunt Sherry’s house, the most beautiful house in our village, also disappeared on this day.
The field just needs to be plowed again.
Losing the house was painful, but it was still a problem that could be rebuilt.
However, there was a big problem that could not be resolved.
Precious firewood to last the rest of the winter.
And all the wood for the ‘bridge’ to be built next spring was burned down.
In order to obtain the wood that was already in short supply, I personally negotiated with the lord of Taildon.
But it was all in vain.
With just one fire.
All the wood that I and the villagers worked hard to collect was lost.
Now… The village’s existence has reached a point where it is at risk.
People were frustrated.
“We are done now. “It’s all over.”
“Ah…”
If I had seen this scene in person, I would have been just as shocked and heartbroken as everyone else.
However, soon he would have shaken off his anxious thoughts and thought of a solution, saying, “Let’s gather our strength again.”
Unfortunately, the villagers could no longer afford to take care of the ‘opposite sex’.
The wise chief who ruled a small village for 50 years suddenly passed away.
I, who was designated as the village chief’s successor, was bitten by a bear.
Soon, a terrible disease covered the village, causing great suffering.
After I woke up, just when I was finally able to regain my balance and start to feel better…
He collapsed again after being attacked by Posao, and a huge forest fire broke out, and he lost everything.
In this situation, there was no one with the patience and courage to say, ‘Let’s try again!’
What is left for them is despair and despair.
And it was a desire for revenge against ‘someone’ who made them like this.
Who should bear this enormous responsibility that is difficult to shoulder?
Who is the person who put Brisden’s existence in jeopardy?
Of course there was no need to say anything.
The fire started in a warehouse, and the manager of the warehouse was Tia.
Tia was brought in like a criminal.
Without any resistance, he was dragged to his knees.
“Tia Anthea.”
With everyone in the village present, Tia saw her eyes looking at herself…
It seemed like she finally realized that she had to get away from everything she loved.
Uncle Marvin said.
“Your crime of causing Ritz’s death and burning down the village warehouse deserves to be burned at the stake.”
“…”
“However, based on the will of your mother Helina, our past affection, and our final act of mercy, we have agreed not to put you to death.”
Tia lowered her head.
“However, the majority decided that she could no longer live in the village with you, and accordingly, it was resolved to banish Tia Ann Shea from Brisden forever.”
Expulsion.
It did not simply mean being kicked out of Brisden.
It is a punishment that erases all traces of a girl named ‘Tia’ who lived in this village.
From the moment the sentence was handed down, Tia had nothing to do with Brisden.
No, more accurately, he is an ‘outlander who can never return to Brisden again’.
The moment she steps on the border of that land. Even if she was killed by someone from Brisden, she would not be guilty…
She became an outcast.
Marvin ordered.
“Leave the village before dawn.”
In other words, she said that if Tia remained in this village until daybreak, she would be killed.
Tia stood up weakly.
And she gave her final salute as someone who had once been a resident of Brisden.
“… Thank you.”
There was no answer.
Facing her cold gaze towards her, Tia walked to her big house.
The big house was piled with dust because it had not welcomed her owner for a long time.
Considering Tia’s habit of always being neat and tidy, she knew how long she hadn’t been back to her house.
For nearly a week, Tia had been going back and forth between her drugstore and warehouse without being able to sleep well.
“…”
He didn’t take anything from home.
She left everything in its place. She sat down on the cold floor.
She quietly closes her eyes and pulls her knees-up, as if she is just trying to remember the memories of her standing here.
Why did it become like this?
Where did it go wrong?
Even I, who has watched all of her memories, doesn’t know.
Does Tia even know?
Swoosh-.
Tia got up from her seat.
As she does when she goes out casually, she approaches the closet.
She took out an old belt from the closet.
The guy looked down at the belt in his hand without saying anything. She slowly wrapped it around her waist.
And she inserted the rose saber leaning against the wall.
Click.
He took out her cloak and wrapped it around her shoulders. Tie her boots tightly
Finally, Tia put her hand into her chest.
Jjakgak.
She took out her ruby necklace and held it tightly in her hand.
She pushed open the door of her big house with empty hands.
Kkeikik-.
That’s how Tia left Brisden.
Leaving all of her memories behind in her big house.
She disappeared into the thick darkness.
There was no one to see Tia off.
After her mother died, she was left alone in the village.
When she left, she was alone.
* * *
I opened my eyes.
I can see a clear blue sky.
I got up.
I can hear the beautiful chirping of forest birds.
“…”
It was a strange feeling.
The things I had just seen were terrible and cruel memories that hung over Tia’s mind.
Brisden ‘now’ seems so quiet and fleeting…
It’s so heterogeneous.
There was Marie at a little distance.
What is Marie thinking?
He is looking blankly down at Brisden with his shiny blonde hair flowing.
Marie unconsciously looked behind her and made eye contact with me.
“Ritz oppa. Are you feeling okay?”
“… Ah, yes. How long have I been asleep?”
“Just a moment.”
“I see.”
I opened my palm.
She was holding it so tightly that when she removed it, a bright red mark was left on her palm.
Haha. Really… It’s fun.
When Tia first gave me this gold coin, she left her mark like this.
Marie asked.
“Goldfinch? Where did you find it?”
“In the warehouse. It was originally mine.”
“It’s your brother’s?”
The owner of a coin can change at any time, but it was a look in his eyes that did not understand the fact that it was ‘originally mine’.
I put the gold coin in my pocket so as not to lose it.
“Marie.”
“Yes?”
“I want to go to Tia’s house.”
We went down the hill together.
Jeez. Jeopuk.
She thought it wasn’t that far from the village warehouse to Tia’s house.
Today it felt so far away.
How many times did Tia travel such a long distance every day?
She even went so far as to climb back from the warehouse to the medicine cabinet. She actually said she would have walked more.
What did she think of him as she took that long walk?
As she walked down this road through town, she must have noticed people.
I imagined it.
She’s staring at me from all directions.
The feeling was like… She felt like a sinner walking on hot fire.
“We’re all here.”
I could see Tia’s house.
“…”
Other than the fence being slightly broken, it looked the same as before.
The villagers must have been completely indifferent to Tia after they kicked her out, but fortunately, her house remained intact.
I got closer.
The wooden door that always required a password to open remained the same.
Marie said.
“This door has a code, so just go over the fence…”
“I know the password.”
She immediately put her hand on the piece of wood and guessed her code.
From the front to the 4 grooves. Empty and two, empty and two.
February 2nd.
I already knew that the password for this wooden door was ‘Tia’s birthday.’
Dalgak. Dalgak.
I put the piece of wood in place exactly and tried to open the door.
Chin.
“… ?”
The wooden door did not open.
I thought I had guessed the password wrong, so I counted the pieces of wood again.
Empty and two, empty and two.
There is no doubt.
It’s February 2nd.
But why… The doorknob on the wooden door won’t open?
Chin! Chin!
I pulled hard and pulled hard, but the wooden door was locked tightly and wouldn’t open.
Marie asked worriedly.
“Maybe it’s not working because it’s been left for too long?”
“…”
For a long time?
She realized that her sense of date had become blurred as she went back and forth between visions of memory.
“Number of animals. “When is today?”
“That is… The last time I had meat stew with her brother was on April 16th…”
Marie said, folding her fingers one by one.
“Today is April 20th.”
“April 20th…”
So much time has passed.
Maybe what Marie said is right.
Tia left here 100 days ago.
If spring storms swept through several times in the past three months, this door is also a ‘wooden’ door.
There was a possibility that it was rotten somewhere and not moving properly.
But even if you want to believe that… This wooden door was made by Tia’s parents.
That was over 20 years ago.
It was difficult to believe that the wooden door, which had endured for such a long time without any problems, was now broken.
My intuition is that it is unlikely.
For some reason, I thought, ‘It seems like the password has changed.’
But for some reason, no memories could be read from the wooden door.
“Please wait here for a moment.”
After putting her hands on the fence, she jumped as fast as she could and straddles herself.
Chin.
It easily climbed over her fence and landed in her yard.
In fact, this wooden door was not a security device that prevented people who did not know the password from entering.
If you climb over the fence like this, you can easily get over it, so what can stop you?
Just a wooden door… It was a commemorative gate made by Tia’s parents.
It’s like the offering to Shinryong during a baptismal ceremony.
According to Tia, no one knew the password except her parents and herself, so it must have been a type of password shared only among ‘family members.’
Before the password was Tia’s birthday, it was her parents’ ‘wedding anniversary.’
It must be a door that remembers things related to such ‘memorials’.
“…”
First, I went up the stairs.
I placed my hand on the doorknob connected to the interior and pushed lightly.
It looks like Tia is inside… I felt excited.
Kkeikik-.
Light seeps into the pitch-black darkness.
I opened it while recalling the image of the interior that remained in my memory, but as the image was revealed little by little, and the interior became brighter with light.
My expectations started to go wrong.
“…”
The interior was different.
It was completely different from the ‘last appearance’ I saw in my memory.
What is it?
Before Tia left Brisden, she apparently left her home behind.
But the inside of the big house you see now…
Something was missing.
The items on the shelf were gone, and the books on the desk were gone as well.
Did the villagers just come in and steal things?
That being said, the interior itself was fine.
The windows are the same and the door are the same.
There were no signs that anything had been roughly torn off or broken, making it seem like it had been robbed by a thief.
The first thing that caught my eye was the ‘bed.’
I pressed it lightly with my hand.
Kikigeek-. Squeak-.
The bed creaked as if it was going to collapse, perhaps because it had eaten dust.
I turned slightly to the side and took a closer look.
“… ?”
There was a crack in the frame supporting the bed.
The broken piece sticks out, as if it had been crushed by being pressed hard by something heavy.
I turned my eyes and looked at the kitchen.
The kitchen tools were still there.
Even Tia’s favorite cast iron pan and basket.
However, these were also scattered around.
The moment you inadvertently place your hand on a cast iron pan to clean it up.
“Ugh… ?!”
I felt very uncomfortable.
“Ha… Ha…”
I remembered something familiar.
“…”
I raised my head and looked around.
Only then could I see it.
This entire house is covered with ‘unpleasant memories.’
