Chapter 203 – Chapter 5: Skeleton Knight – 1
I left Klaus’ office.
The soldiers were screaming like that. When I closed the door and came out, the hallway was eerily quiet.
I walk through a dark hideout with no one passing by and no sound of conversation.
First, I went to my bedroom.
It was because Marie was staying there to bring Uncle Joseph.
There were drops of blood on the road.
Even if you don’t look, I’m sure my appearance is a mess. If someone sees me, they will be scared and realize that something unusual has happened.
But I didn’t have time to wash my face or change my clothes.
Kkeikik-.
When I opened her door and opened it, Marie, who had been sleeping, woke up restlessly.
“Ritz oppa… ?”
When he saw me belatedly, his eyes widened.
Clothes completely stained with blood and turned black.
She appeared with dark red blood on her face, hands and forearms. Anyone can see that it looks like they committed ‘murder’.
It’s amazing that you didn’t scream. Maybe Marie realized everything about my situation in that short period of time.
Marie asks me with a trembling voice.
“What’s going on… ?”
“Let’s go out.”
She said just that.
In a voice that asks you not to ask any more questions.
Marie froze for a moment and then closed her eyes with a nervous look on her face.
“Yes.”
We walked towards the exit of the hideout together.
Since I didn’t bring anything in the first place, I had nothing to take with me. I crossed the long, long hallway of the hideout with only my bare body and the clothes I was wearing, holding only a rose saber.
Around the time I passed behind the torture room. Marie, who was following me quietly, asked.
“What about Uncle Joseph… ?”
“I’ll come pick you up later.”
Later.
I moved on with those easy words.
Marie may have been convinced, but I also had no intention of letting her uncle die.
It’s just impossible to take my uncle with me in the current situation.
Moreover, in my plans, that person is nothing more than an inconvenient burden.
I passed the torture room and arrived at the exit leading down to the underground waterway.
I’m glad I didn’t encounter any soldiers until I got here. It may not have much meaning now. Still, I didn’t want Marie to see me killing people.
It was dark in the underground waterway. I go back the way I came, relying only on a lamp.
The pharmacy owner did not provide directions to the underground water for security reasons.
Even so, it was meaningless to me, who ‘can read memories’. Just follow the traces they left behind, slowly.
Because I was able to escape safely into a back alley in Deseo.
“Haa-.”
I took a deep breath.
Cool air and dim moonlight.
I didn’t know until now because I was trapped in a windowless hideout.
Deseo was passing through the deep dawn.
The first thing I did was take off my clothes and throw them away. No matter how dark the night was, if you walked around the streets wearing blood-stained clothes, something unexpected could bother you.
I’m tired and hungry. However, the inn’s doors were all tightly closed.
Well, even if it was open, I would have been turned away anyway because I didn’t have any money.
In the end, I had no choice but to sit on the street with Mari.
She hid herself in the pitch-black shadow that did not even receive moonlight and laid down her tired shoulders.
Dagdauk- Dagdauk-.
Is it Deseo after all?
Even at this late hour, someone is passing by on horseback.
But ‘horse’-.
If I come across a stable while passing by, I’ll stop by and look at it. If you lie down on a straw bale, wouldn’t it be a little warmer and softer?
It was when I was thinking such meaningless thoughts.
All right. Purr!
Suddenly the words stopped, and the light of a lamp came up toward us hiding in the shadows.
“Hey, young guys?”
A man wearing a fedora got off his horse and walked towards me.
I don’t know who it is.
He looks like an ordinary Deseo nobleman. But I’ve never seen someone like that talk to us sitting on the street in the early morning.
It was time to hold on to the Rose Saber so that I could cut it down if necessary.
He kept his distance from me and asked me many things.
“Are you lost by any chance?”
“…”
“What about your parents? Are you two siblings? It doesn’t look that way… Anyway.”
“…”
“Do you need help?”
I tried to kick him out for his inaction, but Marie next to him nodded.
The man smiled and gestured toward the servant.
“Hey, hey! “Bring my coat!”
The servant hurriedly brought the large coat that was hanging on his horse’s saddle.
The man in the fedora said as he handed me a coat.
“Are you okay. You don’t have to be scared. My name is ‘Avan Berdnando’. “I want to help you.”
* * *
With Avan’s help, we were able to avoid sleeping on the streets at night.
He said he could stay comfortably in his mansion and took care of his convenience.
They provided me with warm water to wash my body, clean clothes, and even a soft bed. It wasn’t luxurious, but it was an incredibly generous treat in Deseo, where everything has strict prices.
To be honest, I wondered if this was some kind of Deseo scam. Or, we thought, he must have approached us with some kind of disrespectful intention. Deseo merchants capture orphans and sell them as slaves abroad. Because there were quite a few such ugly rumors going around.
So, I read a little bit of Avan’s memory, and it turned out that he was indeed walking down the street when he happened to see us and stopped the carriage. It had no other meaning – he helped us out of pure kindness.
Marie said she was really grateful and would repay the favor later.
He smiled softly and shook his head.
“No. You don’t have to pay it back. Still, if you must express your gratitude, please do it to the great queen.”
“The queen?”
“Okay. The Queen supports our foundation. “The clothes you are wearing, and the bed were all made with the support of the royal family.”
Then the man pointed to a large fireplace installed on one side.
There was a large sign hanging there that said ‘Saint Lucretia Foundation’. In addition, there was a sign indicating recognition by the royal family, and Aban’s name was also included.
Saint Lucretia?
This is my first time hearing this name.
However, for some reason, I felt that it wasn’t unfamiliar.
Somewhere, at least once. It’s like a memory I heard in passing a long time ago.
By the way, was there a foundation in Deseo that did this kind of good deed?
When you say ‘foundation’ here, I thought you were referring to an organization made up of crazy people who desperately want to make money.
“Are you hungry? Now, let’s go to the restaurant.”
The restaurant had a very long table. There, children of similar age to Marie were already sitting side by side eating.
For the most part, they maintained a reverent atmosphere, but perhaps because they were children, you could occasionally hear them giggling and talking to each other.
The table is large, but the dishes are by no means worthy of being served at a banquet for nobles.
What I was given was several thin slices of bread, a bowl of stew with vegetables and meat, a glass of milk, and a plate of eggs fried in green onion oil.
… Still, it is clear that the food is too good to be received without anything in return.
It was time to pick up a spoon to taste the stew.
“It’s like Brisden.”
Marie suddenly said that.
When she heard that, she looked around her.
… Yes.
Our village always gathered in one place and ate together like this.
The aunts in the kitchen sweat and cook hard. Tia and Marie diligently brought the dishes to the large table.
After returning from the tree, Luyev quenched his thirst with a bowl of cool water from the stream. When Uncle Marvin handed her the gourd, she giggled and asked if she had any beer.
My father and I spent our daily lives together in the cabin, watching the villagers live in harmony and smiling happily.
I don’t know if this is really a coincidence.
Tia… Did he want to reminisce about that happy past in this unfamiliar land of Deseo?
So is she supporting this foundation in the Queen’s name?
“…”
She looked down at the table again. I saw the food I missed above my left hand.
Stir-fried vegetable eggs.
This is food that Tia often makes well.
She scraped a little out with a spoon and put it in her mouth. Fluffy yet crunchy texture. A sweet yet slightly salty taste. The aroma of oil flowing from vegetables spreads out as they cook at high heat.
To be honest, it doesn’t taste like the one Tia made.
Absolutely not-.
Before I knew it, I was mindlessly scooping it up.
It seemed like it had to be that way.
I think that if I eat like this, I can feel Tia again, who is gradually being forgotten from my memory.
Dalgak.
By the time I put the spoon on the table, all the other children had disappeared somewhere.
Marie was nowhere to be seen.
“How about a meal? Was it delicious?”
Avan asked me as he cleaned up the remaining plates.
“Yes.”
“Thank goodness.”
“Where is my brother?”
“Oh, I went to see the academy with other kids.”
Academy?
Instead of answering, he gestured for me to follow him, then walked towards the terrace and pulled back the curtain.
Hwaak-.
Under the clear sunlight, a building under construction appeared right in front.
Two tall spiers in a quiet atmosphere. A bell hanging on the tower. And a small weather vane that turns slowly.
It looks like a building that was probably used as a banquet hall in the past, but there were scaffolding and boxes piled up around the building, as if it was undergoing internal repairs.
Marie can be seen running around with her friends in a garden where roses are in full bloom.
Avan explained in a proud voice, crossing her arms as if showing off her own work of art.
“That is the academy that Her Majesty the Queen herself established and named. Right now, we’re just preparing because the interior is under construction, but I think we’ll probably be able to officially open and accept students in the winter. Of course, those kids will be the first students at this academy.”
He turned to me and said.
“Of course, you can learn whatever you want to your heart’s content.”
“I am… It’s okay.”
“If it’s a money issue, you don’t have to worry about it. The Queen’s will was for everyone to be able to learn, regardless of status, age, or gender. “You promised that the royal family would cover all tuition fees.”
I saw the children in the garden.
Everyone was smiling.
Marie’s smile was a little awkward, but she still looked more excited than before.
I heard that those kids also have a dark past.
But when I see a smiling face like that… It really hit home what kind of place this foundation is.
“…”
Okay. He was that kind of guy.
A free spirit who always leaves in pursuit of ideals and cannot be held still in a cage.
Tia.
You haven’t changed at all since you became king.
For the utopia you always dreamed of.
For more happiness of people.
You were doing everything you could on the spot.
When you work day and night to make those children smile.
I was sharpening my blade in a dark rebel hideout to take down this country…
“If you ever feel like it, come to this foundation right away.”
I looked at the exterior wall of the building to find the name of the academy.
And when my eyes finally found it and stopped there.
Avan also spoke at the same time.
“Because ‘Ritz Academy’ is always open.”
