Chapter 148 – Chapter 4: Ruby – 5
Sabak. Sabak.
Tia walked up the hill.
It’s a very familiar road. A stone wall of unknown origin stretches along the road, and when the fence appears, there is a house there.
Beautiful scenery that can only be seen in Brisden.
It truly felt like it had been a long time since we had seen each other.
The back of ‘Tia’ in that nostalgic scenery…
Without a doubt, it was the Tia I knew.
…
Ah…
He came running into my pharmacy looking like that.
I still remember it.
No, I can’t forget it. For life.
The cheerful face and strong voice that burst into the pharmacy early in the morning as if the door was about to be broken, asking for a bandage.
A chair that didn’t make a sound even if you sat on it casually. Small, pretty lips that chattered.
And relayed the news of what happened in the village overnight. Curious red eyes asking what I did today.
I didn’t think it was a big deal. Me and Tia’s daily life…
In fact, it was the most valuable thing in the world.
Now it won’t come back, and you can never get it again even if you sacrifice all the gold in the ground…
Our most brilliant days.
Sabak.
Tia, standing on the road wearing an old cloak, had a very different feeling somewhere.
What should I say?
The girl’s innocent and unaffected expression and smile disappeared.
Instead, the face of a woman, similar to Aunt Merid or Aunt Olivia, remained.
It seems like he has grown up a lot.
Tia, who was two years younger than me…
Now it feels like it has completely passed me by and gone far away.
“…”
Tia’s eyes are deeper than Behemoth Falls as she stares blankly up the hill, so I can’t tell what she’s thinking.
The depth is like the black eyes of the village chief. It felt like I was seeing things that I couldn’t even think of.
Was the difference this big?
Has Tia grown this much already?
No. Is it inevitable?
I slept for a very long time. I spent nearly half a year in bed.
But even if I fell into a deep sleep, the world continued to spin without stopping.
Only I was frozen like a bear hibernating.
In the end, I was unable to grow both physically and mentally.
During that half a year.
Compared to Tia, who went through a lot of things that would take tens of thousands of words to write…
I was still a child who was irritable and childishly jealous.
The hem of the cloak flutters in the winter wind.
“Tia.”
Posao appeared behind his small, curved back.
The guy was frowning his eyebrows the whole time, as if he was uncomfortable with the gloomy atmosphere that hung over Brisden.
“W-Would you like to look here too?”
“Yes.”
Finding food and firewood was done, and it was obvious that they wanted to return quickly.
“It’s very cold, isn’t it?”
“It’s a little bit cold. Hehe.”
Tia must have felt bad for forcing Posao outside, so she went over to her side and gently held her hand.
Then she pointed to the houses and asked in a slightly lighter voice.
“Where did you live before?”
“Huh?”
“I heard you lived in our village. “We probably didn’t have a house together.”
“Ah. Yes, the old house?”
Suddenly, Posao turned his head towards somewhere.
As if to show that that was the site of his former home.
Tia’s eyes also turned to where Posao was looking.
And she opened her eyes wide when she saw the ‘house’ standing there.
“Hey… ?”
Tia looked back and forth between the ‘house’ and the posao in disbelief.
Of course.
It is… It is the smallest and darkest house in Brisden.
However, there lived the person whom the villagers respected and feared the most.
Because it was the ‘village chief’s house.’
“Did you live in the village chief’s house?”
“Yes. Now, just for a moment.”
“Oh my god.”
Tia covered her mouth with one hand.
“… “I didn’t know that.”
It was the same for me.
Why… Didn’t she ever have any doubts?
The general store in Posao was built after we were kicked out of our village. She said she lived here until she was twenty.
In that case, she must have been ‘where’ for a long time.
But the elders and aunts rarely spoke about Posao.
Moreover, they did not say whether Po Sao had a family or, if not, how he came to our village.
As if memories or records were intentionally erased. No, everyone was silent on that point, as if Posao had never lived in Brisden in the first place.
Why?
Despite what everyone hated, Posao was making a good living by setting up a general store near Brisden.
If he truly hated him, wouldn’t he have gone down to the general store, set it on fire, and tried to drive the piggy somewhere far away?
But why is it that everyone just hates it and says it’s disgusting, and leaves the pig living near the village as is? Did I just ignore it as if I wasn’t really interested?
That… It was a ‘privilege.’
Me and Tia, who don’t know anything… I vaguely thought that Posao was in a pitiful situation, abandoned by everyone.
When I think back on what that pig did to us and the village…
Whatever that guy does. Didn’t he enjoy some kind of privilege where no one could stop him?
“Living in the village chief’s house means that his parents…”
“Ah, huh. Her mother was absent from birth. Oh, it was just my dad.”
“Ah…”
“I lived in that house, but uh, I moved house after a while. “Over there.”
Posao immediately pointed somewhere else.
Tia looked at that place with a longing face.
That house… It was the house where Ruev and Marie lived together.
It seems that after Posao was kicked out of the village, the village chief gave the empty house to the Ruyev siblings.
“I’m sorry for asking you something unnecessary.”
“No! Dog, Ganchana. “I don’t even remember anymore.”
Tia held on tightly to the hem of her cloak and lowered her head.
“… “It’s similar.”
“Huh?”
Her bright red hair bobs her head.
“… No.”
I don’t know what you mean by similarity.
Are you saying that Posao and I, who lived in the village chief’s house because we had no parents, are similar?
Or is it that Tia, who had no father, and Posao, who had no mother, are similar?
Tia asked, pointing to Ruev’s house.
“Then you lived with your father in that house?”
“No. “I lived alone there.”
“Yes? “You said earlier that you have a father.”
“Yes. We lived there together.”
Then he points to the village chief’s house again.
I couldn’t understand for a moment.
But if you think about Posao’s words again… It was easy to understand what was being said.
No. It can’t be.
The village chief… No, my father…
This strange ability wasn’t the only thing you hid from me?
I couldn’t believe it, so I strongly denied it.
Because of one fact that soon passed through my memory, I had no choice but to finally understand.
That’s right. It was something like that.
That’s why Posao was able to see memories just like me.
Because we are of the same blood.
“… Lie.”
Tia, realizing the meaning, took a step back in shock.
“Uncle… “He’s the village chief’s son?”
“Yes.”
Is it because no one will take issue with the shocking truth now?
Posao readily admitted.
“I am… He heard that the village chief has no children… So I thought Ritz was the only one…”
“You’re surprised, right? Hehe.”
It’s not something to be proud of, but he said it proudly.
“Dad, he never called me son.”
“… “Why?”
“I-I hate myself.”
“Did you do something wrong to the village chief?”
“No. Me, I didn’t do anything wrong. “They hated me for just talking more and stuttering.”
Tia blinked her eyes.
It seemed like I was still dumbfounded as I was hearing amazing stories one after another.
“You mean the village chief didn’t recognize you as his son because of that?”
“Yes.”
“That can’t be possible. The village chief is definitely not that kind of person…”
I agreed.
My father never ignored or hated anyone for such trivial reasons.
Even when he was at odds with Uncle Joseph over his opinion on opening up the village.
No matter how harsh the remarks he received from his uncle, no matter how much he received letters filled with abusive language that showed no courtesy towards his superiors.
He just did not bend his will, but he respected all of his uncle’s opinions.
Because he was calmer and more rational than anyone else.
That’s why we have been able to live safely in Brisden until now, following the will of the village chief.
Such a considerate and kind person… Did she hate her son because he stuttered?
I couldn’t believe it.
Never.
“Well, he’s that kind of person.”
But Posao said yes.
With an expression and voice full of hatred.
Tia didn’t say anything.
This may be because the image of the ‘village chief’ she remembered and the image of the ‘father’ that Posao spoke of were so different.
Maybe, like me, you didn’t want to believe what he said.
However, there was no one who could immediately tell us exactly whether Posao’s testimony was true or false.
It won’t happen in the future – Tia seemed to think.
Anyway, I had no choice but to believe what he said.
“I didn’t know… “I’m sorry.”
“Naaaaa- no! Well, I’ll say it again, I’m a bitch. Anyway, it’s in the past. “I don’t care at all.”
Then Posao smiled lightly.
Contrary to saying that he didn’t care at all, it seemed like he was trying to quickly cover up the story.
He nudged Tia’s shoulder and pointed up the hill.
“Let’s go and see if Tia is looking for anything.”
“Yes.”
The two went up the hill.
First, I visited Ruev’s house.
It was nothing.
To begin with, Ruyev didn’t have much. He liked making things for others, but he didn’t want to have anything more for himself.
Next, we visited Marvin and his wife’s house. There, too, there was almost nothing left. The only traces left were that he had left somewhere in a hurry.
“Ha… “There is none.”
Tia rummaged around with an embarrassed look on her face.
As for firewood, anything that could catch fire could be broken into small pieces and thrown in, but the problem was food.
No matter how much she searched the village, if she couldn’t find anything to eat, she had no choice but to go down to the dangerous Taildon.
“Tia.”
Posao made a suggestion to Tia, who was sitting down after failing several times.
“Ho, maybe there’s something left in the pharmacy?”
“… !”
Tia lifted her shoulders. And she shook her head with a hesitant look.
“No.”
In fact, when I looked around this area, Posao seemed to want to go to the pharmacy first.
However, Tia deliberately grabbed Posao’s arm and dragged him to find another house.
“Why oh no? Even if there is no food in the pharmacy, you can still eat herbs and such.”
“… “It’s not that kind of problem.”
“Then?”
Tia looked vaguely at the pharmacy on the hill.
“As far as that place… “I want to leave it as is.”
