Chapter 15 – Chapter 2: Familiar Guest – 1
That night has come.
As soon as she heard Aunt Sherry entering her room, she secretly opened the window.
She threw down her shoes that she had prepared and put her feet on the window frame with difficulty.
“Hwacha!”
Percussion.
Her feet landed beautifully on the ground.
“It’s chilly.”
Wrapped around her arm.
When I came out, the wind was very cold. This is why she didn’t want to be stealthy in the winter.
It can’t be helped.
There is only now time to return ‘Tia’s pocket knife.’
She crept down the hill.
At this time, it is time for the patrol to appear.
I walk around crouching down to avoid getting caught, but today I couldn’t see anyone on watch.
It looks like something is going on somewhere.
It was quite a distance between Aunt Sherry’s house and Tia’s house.
Because there was a difference between the top of the hill and the bottom of the hill. It was almost like I had to cross the village.
After hiding in her ditch and following all the way down, we finally arrived at Tia’s house.
“… Hmm?”
Light comes from the window of Tia’s house.
What is that guy? Have you been sleeping yet?
I guess I left the light on because I was reading a book until late.
Rather good. I should return the penknife and talk for a bit.
With that in mind, I approached the fence.
Suddenly, a voice was heard from inside Tia’s house.
[[… !]]
It was faint and hard to hear, but this high-pitched voice was definitely Tia’s.
[[—!!!]]
And this loud voice is that of a man.
Wait for a sec… There’s a man in Tia’s house?
Who is it?
She swallowed her saliva and moved closer.
The conversation between the two continued to be heard.
He was making a loud noise earlier, but now he says something in a quiet voice.
Cold sweat flows.
I don’t feel good.
What? A man alone at his girl’s house in the middle of the night?
What happened?
The moment you try to get a little closer.
Squeak!
The wooden door opened roughly and someone walked out.
I quickly hid myself in the dark and saw the man.
“… !”
Tall height and ‘blond hair’ reflected in the moonlight.
The back view of someone climbing a hill to patrol while holding a lantern high.
It was Ruyev.
I couldn’t believe my eyes.
Why is that bastard at Tia’s house… ?
I listened again.
The lights went out, and no sounds were heard any more inside the house.
What should I do?
I need to give Tia back her pocketknife.
The shock was so great that I couldn’t muster the courage to meet him.
I can’t breathe.
“What. How…”
That won’t happen though. I swear I won’t.
Just in case.
In the two months I was asleep, Tia and Ruev…
I grabbed her penknife as an ominous thought crept in.
“…”
When she got there, she felt horribly scared.
I… You imagined killing Ruev?
No. Don’t get excited and stay cool.
You must not meet Tia now.
I didn’t have the confidence to meet him with such a disturbed mind.
I need to find out more.
What happened between the two and why they were alone together at this time.
We must thoroughly investigate and uncover.
Zech.
She put her knife back and returned to her aunt’s house.
* * *
As soon as dawn broke, I went to the village warehouse.
Rattling.
Ruyev was neatly organizing dried firewood in the warehouse.
As I watched it from outside, the indifferent guy finally turned his eyes to face me.
He asks me in a blunt voice.
“… “What is it?”
“You look tired.”
Ruyev sneered.
“Because it was patrol duty. Oh, you’re a kid, so you don’t know yet.”
“Of course I know. “Last night, you went into the house of a girl who was still a ‘little girl’ without permission.”
Tuk.
At those words, Ruyev put down the firewood he was holding on the floor.
His face became complicated and irritated at the same time.
The guy growled in an angry voice.
“You wandered around at night… “This bastard.”
“What did you do there with Tia? “Say it straight.”
“Why do I have to tell you that?”
“Because if you don’t, I’ll have no choice but to expel you. “It is decided that way.”
“Expulsion?”
Ruyev made a bewildered expression.
“Young… “The next village chief is ‘expelling’ me by sleeping around for two months without knowing the world, then waking up and doing his best?”
“Tell me what you were doing at Tia’s house at that time.”
“Under… We just talked for a bit. Are you done?”
“What story?”
“You don’t know. It has nothing to do with you either.”
It was as if he was tired even at the moment he was talking to me.
I couldn’t just ignore this.
It’s not a question of whether it has anything to do with me or not.
For a man to sneak into a girl’s house in the middle of the night was already a serious crime that could have resulted in him being expelled from the village.
However, the reason I went to Ruev first without reporting this fact was because I didn’t want to make a fuss, because I might have misunderstood something, and also because I wanted to protect Tia’s honor.
Despite this generosity…
“If it’s going to come out that way, there’s nothing we can do. “I have to ask the elders what they think about what I saw.”
“No.”
“What?”
Ruyev spoke clearly with a stern face.
“I said no.”
I thought that with that guy’s personality, he wouldn’t care what I did.
However, when I said I would report this, he made a scary face that I had never shown before.
“Why. Don’t you want to be accused? “Everyone has treated you well so far, but are you scared because it looks like you’ll be kicked out in an ugly way?”
“No. They say just give me something. It doesn’t matter if you get kicked out or not. However, not ‘now’.”
It seems like he doesn’t understand what his current situation is.
Anyway, I am in charge of this situation, so I am showing off needlessly.
All I can do is laugh.
“Then you want me to go into Tia’s house in the middle of the night and explain what we talked about?”
“If I tell you, will you understand?”
“… In some cases.”
Of course, the probability of not being convinced was very high.
It’s even stranger that there is a story that makes sense in that situation in the first place.
This is absurd. ‘I just talked’?
If that’s the case, you can do it during the day, and if it’s really urgent, you can wake Tia up and talk to her through her door, but why did you have to go ‘inside the house’?
No matter how much you think about it, it’s definitely a lame excuse.
Feel free to say whatever you want.
I will compare it with Tia’s testimony and show that everything you say is a lie.
Ruev looked down at me expressionlessly.
He sighed, looked around for a moment, and spoke in a very low voice.
“Get Tia out of her village.”
“… “What?”
It was so sudden that I was speechless.
Ruev continued.
“This is something that only you, who holds the authority of the village chief, can do. First, get Tia out of this village and then stop worrying about it. “I’ll take care of the rest.”
“What nonsense are you talking about now? Tia… “Deport me?”
“Okay.”
Is that the expression on which shamelessness has reached its peak?
With stern eyes and a blunt voice, the guy was saying, ‘Expel Tia.’
My teeth inevitably ground.
“You crazy bastard…”
“Right now Tia is involved in a serious incident. Deseo’s soldiers will soon come to this village. “We have to send them somewhere else before they come.”
“… ?”
For a moment, my head went blank.
I couldn’t understand a single word that came out of Ruyev’s mouth.
What is Tia involved in?
What’s coming from Deseo?
“… Under. Haha.”
This damn guy must be completely mistaken.
First, if you thought this kind of lie would work on me, you were greatly mistaken.
Second, if you thought I was a fool who gets scared when I hear the word Deseo, you were arrogant.
Thirdly, can I banish Tia with my own hands, you idiot? Even if Shinryong gets down on his knees and prays, it’s absolutely impossible.
I couldn’t help but snort.
“That’s a pretty cool joke. “Your humor has improved a bit, Luev.”
“… “You can’t do it?”
“Of course you idiot!”
“Also. I thought so. I’m a fool for expecting anything from you. “You probably didn’t have any intention of listening to anything I said anyway.”
“This bastard said let’s see…”
“Well, the guy was so stupid that he slept soundly without knowing that the village chief had passed away after being bitten by a bear… “What do you have to say?”
Ruyev came up to me and grabbed me by the collar.
“If you don’t know how crazy the situation is going on outside, just lie quietly in bed and protect your body first! “Don’t fool around with half-baked knowledge!”
It was that time.
Hwiik-!
A clear whistling sound separated us. That familiar whistling sound…
We looked back as if we had made a promise.
Jeez. Jeopuk.
A man was slowly coming up from the bottom of the hill.
Although his appearance was shabby, his large and strong body that could not be hidden was the hymn of a mercenary who survived after going through numerous wars.
A bushy beard beneath a tattered turban hat. A friendly smile hanging there.
‘Two swords’ of different lengths hang side by side on the waist and make clanging sounds.
It was truly a mysterious appearance.
It is the visit of a completely unexpected and familiar guest, so much so that one might mistake it for a dream.
Ruyev was greatly embarrassed.
“Joseph…”
“Uncle… ?”
Uncle Joseph rested his cane on his chin.
Haha!!”
With his characteristic boisterous laugh.
“Howdy-! Ritz! Ruev! Are you still fighting? Haha! That’s how kids grow up, but isn’t it time for you to grow up too?”
Ruyev let go of the collar.
In front of this person, we couldn’t help but be polite.
“Are you really Uncle Joseph? How…”
“Yes you bastard! I happened to have some work to do at Taildon, and stopped by for a visit. Haha!”
The sound of laughter echoed throughout the village.
It feels like I’ve jumped straight into the past.
Probably no one in Brisden… I would never have forgotten the sound of this man.
A few years ago, my uncle’s voice made the villagers seething.
Because it brought a new wind to this village.
Indeed, people came down from the field one by one.
“No, who is this!”
“Oh my god! Joseph!”
Uncle Marvin and Aunt Merid. Even the elderly and her grandmothers.
I saw everyone stop what they were doing and run here.
My uncle took off his hat and greeted everyone politely.
Haha! Long time no see. Brothers and sisters.”
