Chapter 3 – Chapter 1: Sweets Party – 2
It was a very long travel story.
No matter where she opened the book, Tia enjoyed reading it.
“They say there is a land of flowers far away in the easternmost land? Flowers bloom everywhere, and people are as beautiful as flowers! There is no need to work because everything is abundant.”
“Under. That’s a coveted neighborhood. “I want to live there.”
“But I guess we have to cross a big desert and a high mountain. They say it takes two years to get on a boat.”
“Ah. Then I’ll give up. There are enough damn mountains here.”
Thanks to this, I was able to lie down comfortably and enjoy the stories of the world told by Tia.
〈I don’t know if the story written in World Adventure Book 〉 is really true or if it’s just someone’s bluff.
Still, it was quite fun to close my eyes and imagine a fantastic country like the ‘Land of Flowers.’
A book is like a miracle.
Just by reading the text, it allows you to vividly feel the distant places that you can never reach, as if you were seeing them right in front of your eyes.
For us, who were born in Dragonez and destined to die in Dragonez like our ancestors, this was the only way to escape the mountain.
Tia, who had been chattering for a while, suddenly stopped speaking.
“Ritz.”
“Huh?”
“Why don’t you go?”
“Where?”
“Land of flowers.”
I put my arms on pillows again and closed my eyes.
“… “If I can go.”
“You can just go.”
“I heard it says that in the book? 2 years on a boat. A very remote place where you have to go through deserts and mountain ranges. It definitely requires a lot of money, and it’s probably risky. “If you go that far away, how are you going to come back?”
It was absurd. Like Uncle Joseph’s passionate speech.
We are not great people like the adventurers in the book.
They are just ordinary children born in a small village in a mountain valley.
I grew up as a normal person, plowing the fields, digging up medicinal herbs, getting married, having children, growing old until dusk, and then being buried under a pine tree with my name engraved on it.
The land of flowers is a dream-like story.
“…”
Tia, who was silent, closed the book.
It was dark, so I couldn’t see the guy’s expression, but somehow I felt like I could see his eyes more clearly.
And then he said something even more incomprehensible.
“Ritz. Let’s go up the mountain. “Now.”
“… “What?”
“Are you okay. Dawn will come soon. “I want to get some fresh air, even if just for a little while.”
Anyway, it’s too late now… Should I say it’s too early?
Anyway, climbing the mountain now doesn’t seem like a good choice.
If the village chief finds out, he might get scolded…
… There was no need to worry about the same. Because Tia had no intention of asking for my permission anyway.
Crash!
He held my hand and opened the back door.
Without any time to stop us, we were already racing through the cold night air.
The Dawn Forest is dark and dangerous.
The villagers always returned to the village before the sun set, and the village chief did not allow them to go into the forest at night.
But auburn hair fluttering in front of me.
The scent of Tia’s sweat mixed with the scent of dewy grass.
And these sun-like hands held tightly together seemed to clearly know where to go.
Strangely, I didn’t feel out of breath.
I’m climbing the mountain at incredible speed.
My legs were fine, and my breathing was comfortable.
How long did it run?
Pasasak-.
Tia, who led me, finally stopped.
“We’re all here!”
The first thing you see is the beautiful purple night sky.
The further down you go, the more purple, orange, and even brighter red below.
Between the sheer cliffs.
The sunlight rising from the mountain fog in the distance was identical to Tia’s brilliant hair.
The cold morning air cools our feverish breath.
Such a beautiful place… Was it on this mountain?
As I was looking at the amazing scenery of the sun rising, I couldn’t take my mouth off.
Tia swept the side of her head and wiped off the sweat.
“Haha-. How do you feel?”
“It’s beautiful.”
My two eyes held the morning sun and Tia standing in front of them at the same time.
It is dazzlingly beautiful.
Swish.
A pure white hand stretched out towards the sun.
Sunlight seeps through the small and thin gaps between my hands.
“I think I can catch it.”
That’s what he said.
“Continue towards the rising sun… If we keep going, one day we will reach the land of flowers, right?”
Tia walked in front of her as if possessed by something.
As if trying to catch that bright red ball of light at any moment.
“Tia!”
I grabbed her outstretched hand.
The guy looked back at me in surprise.
“Before this… It’s ‘line.'”
Her small shoulders flinched at those words.
Line.
When I was young, we walked around the forest together.
Even back then, Tia was always ahead of me.
Even though the sun was setting, she had no intention of going back to the village and, as was her habit, begged to go just a little further, just a little further.
I think that was the reason why the elders of old paired us together.
When Tia is about to take a dangerous path, or when night approaches.
Because I was the only one who could stop him.
Although it wasn’t drawn accurately, there was an implicit ‘line’ in our village.
This is a limit that should not be exceeded because there is a risk of bears or wolves.
When Tia steps on that line, I immediately shake my head.
Now let’s go back.
Then, he looked blankly across the line as if he were disappointed, then held my hand again and returned to the village together.
But that’s all a thing of the past.
Now that we have grown up, we can climb mountains so easily.
There was no reason to wander around until it got dark.
When I was young, that ‘line’ felt infinitely wide, but now it’s such a tiny cage.
Still, Tia never crossed the line. Because I told you not to go out.
“If we don’t come down now, there will be an uproar in the village because we are gone.”
“… “I guess so.”
“Wasn’t today the day to teach Mari how to weave?”
“… Huh. “You have to teach me.”
“Then let’s go back now.”
It does not give strength.
Tia’s gaze is still on the east, but she will eventually turn her head this way, as she always does.
There was silence for a moment.
After a while, Tia turned towards me.
“Let’s go.”
Holding her hand together
We went back down to the village.
* * *
A week has passed since then.
It is an unchanging daily life.
Tia borrowed one of her bandages yesterday too.
I didn’t want to see my hand shattered like last time, so I just put it on external credit.
Still, seeing her thighs and palms wrapped in bandages, I’m glad that the bandages I gave her seem to be useful.
When Tia had no work to do in the fields or tending to the livestock, she would go up the mountainside alone to practice.
The ‘training’ he does refer to sword training.
Two years ago Tia met her Vienna teacher through the introduction of her uncle Joseph, and since then she has been coming down to take his swordsmanship lessons regularly, once a week.
At first she thought she started out of interest.
She loved to use her body so much, and just because she was a woman, there was no way to stop her from holding her sword.
She thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea to learn swordsmanship for self-defense.
But it seems like she was sincere.
She studied swordsmanship seriously, and when she was about a year old, she even qualified as a ‘Priscola’.
In Ms. Bean’s words, she said, ‘It was unprecedented for a girl at that age – and she emphasized this point – to be a Priscilla student.’
It seemed like her talent was outstanding.
Until then, she said Tia was a genius and told her to work harder.
Half a year ago.
Someone came to the village.
He was like a ‘knight’ that I only heard about.
She introduced herself as someone from a certain knighthood, and immediately asked that she want to take Tia to Deseo.
I heard rumors about Tia at the Defense Swordsmanship Association in Deseo and became very curious.
The mercenary men, including the teacher, said that this was an extremely prestigious association, so much so that they told us not to miss this opportunity and told us to go unconditionally.
However, it was not an easy decision for a girl who grew up only in the village to suddenly leave her hometown.
There was a long discussion among the village adults about this, and in the end, it was decided not to send them to Deseo.
‘It can’t be helped.’
Tia said that and smiled.
Tia’s mother died when she was young, and she is now being helped by the villagers.
She said it was right for her to follow that decision.
However, since then, her appearance has changed slightly.
I devoted myself to training even harder than before.
I picked up a sword that felt quite heavy even for me to hold, and swung it over and over again.
Whick! Whoosh!
If you come up to her medicine shed and raise your head, you can see Tia swinging her sword about halfway up the cliff.
A scarecrow made of straw and wood was set up in front of her.
The guy swings his sword in the same posture without the slightest disturbance.
From breakfast to lunch.
Except for her brief breaks, she never leaves the spot and continues.
Whick! Whoosh!
A guy who is always smiling, cheerful, and likes to play around.
At that time, he kept his mouth shut and swung his sword with serious eyes.
Her power was quite brutal.
As if there is something in front of you that you want to cut out.
“…”
Bubbly-.
After watching Tia blankly, she came to her senses when she heard the sound of water boiling.
“I almost forgot.”
Today is medicine day.
Older people had many painful areas.
Of course, as a pharmacist, this is a job I have to take care of, and I prescribed medicine on a regular basis on a designated day.
I took the decoction and headed to the village chief’s house.
Even though lunch was over, people were still gathered and talking.
“No, but I still have to open the road…”
“Anyway, nothing will change if I talk about it?”
“It’s something that caused a stir once, but it’s going to change a lot.”
“I’m saying that now that things have really gotten bigger. “Young girls and bachelors don’t come anymore.”
Sometimes we gathered together like this and talked loudly.
There is nothing interesting going on in this mountain where only about 50 people live, so they spend their time chatting like this.
Rather, it is good.
Since we were all gathered in one place, it saved us the trouble of going from house to provide medicine.
“Come on, I brought you medicine.”
If you suddenly intervene in a discussion that is reaching its climax and offer a bowl of medicine.
“Oh yeah. Thank you.”
“Haha. It’s been a lot of hard work.”
“No. “Of course it has to be done.”
“Thanks to Ritz, we are still alive…”
The seniors feel warm again.
I took the last remaining ‘strong medicine’ and opened the door to the village chief’s hut.
A huge body sitting quietly in the shade without any light.
A quiet breathing sound with little movement.
He is the chief of Brisden.
“I brought medicine.”
There are only a few people in this village who can easily enter the village chief’s house.
Among them, I may now be the only person who can have a private conversation with the village chief.
He placed a bowl in both of his bony hands and carefully pulled his hand towards his mouth.
Very slowly and slowly.
The village chief quietly drank the medicine and put it down helplessly.
“… Thank you.”
“How are you feeling?”
“… Hmm.”
I could vaguely sense the meaning with just a short cough.
It’s not good, but it’s not that bad.
It probably means that the days have been a bit gloomy lately.
I tried to quietly withdraw, thinking that if I talked more, I would just lose energy.
It was that time.
“Ritz.”
The village chief called me and stopped me.
