210 • Redbearded companion

It is night.

Me and I-Fa were once again settling back in the empty house in Luu's settlement.

Don't go home to Fa's tonight, Ai-Fa had intended, but he was still told by Donda-Lu that it would be easy to stay in Lu's settlement until the 15th of the White Moon.

"I guess Fa's house is in a hard place to see from every house? If you're surrounded by dozens of enemies, can you really protect your family by yourself?

When they said it that way, the servant Ai-Fa also had to bite his lips.

So, those lips are now so stuck that there's no more.

Its appearance, which also held a single knee against the wall and turned its back and held its lips together, unfortunately was far from patriarchal majesty and yet lovable as a young child.

But Ai-Fa's grump had another major cause.

That is, the presence of four people who are calming down in empty houses with us.

It was Rud-Lu and Sin-Lu and Barsha and the Late Boy.

Not only have we been kept in the settlement of Lou, but we have been ordered to spend the night under the same roof as these people.

"No, the Astas can rest in the main house, right? Even my father said it would be safer. We'll keep an eye on these guys."

Rudd-Lou said that to me, but Ai-Fa couldn't have responded either. For Ai-Fa, the greater the number of humans spending time in the same house only increased the degree of frustration, I'm sure.

Well, the same goes for me in that I'm not feeling comfortable either way.

"Hmm. Still, I've got a lot of pretty people all over me. Is this guy going to be welcoming me for losing my husband early?

Barsha, caught in the middle of the hall, laughs luxuriously as she drinks fruit.

All hours had already passed face-to-face with this person, but it was me who could hardly believe this was a woman after all.

I'm the one who was to be blamed by all people when I mistakenly saw Deal as a boy, but I don't think anyone's going to blame me for all this time.

Anyway, first of all, the body is big. He is over 180 cm tall, has a wide shoulder width, a thick torso and raised muscles like a mountain on his arms and shoulders. Giza-Lou and Gazran-Rutim are no less the owners of a hard-working stature.

I can't confirm my characteristics as a woman there either, as I wrap leather breasts around crude cloth clothes. That appearance, which wears an agua, sprinkles an earthen bottle of fruit liquor, and looks back at us without fear, was that of the unreliable man of mercenary cruelty, which is also commonly seen in the Inn Town.

"You seem to have quite an arm, too. Don't give me that stupid idea, will you? Guests, I don't know what they are, but if they make strange moves, I won't forgive them."

Barsha shrugged her shoulder as Rudd-Lou raised her tongue, looking musty when she was shaken out of appearance.

"As much as you're not as cute as you look, I know you hate me. It's a great honor for me to be on my own."

The Ai-Fa and Rudd-Lou men have swords, whereas the half-moon knife she had was kept in the main house.

And yet, when I snuck up to Ai-Fa within the first, it was also a story of "not as skillful as my son's".

But she was not in the mood to fear the hunters by the woods, and she had always behaved resolutely, sometimes arrogantly, from the time she met her to the present day.

Blackened eyes with that strong light look more at me and Ai-Fa.

"Well, let me do my errands.... to Ai-Fa in Fa's house, was it Asta? You're the ones who are involved with my son, Zida, right? Let me tell you everything you know about that prodigal son."

"Yes, I must be the one most involved with Zida by the woods."

Ai-fa was in flutter mode, so it was up to me to talk.

Apparently, this man Barsha came to Genos in search of his son's whereabouts.

"I'm not even thinking about taking revenge on the pawn master right now."

During the day, Barsha said so.

"We were bandits. It's a fornicator. There's no substitute for you breaking the law. The reason for the execution was a misunderstanding, but either way the execution was inevitable on his body. The fate of Gollum was exhausted when the soldiers captured him."

So, having lost her companion and compatriots, she said she took her only young son left behind and began her hidden life at the foot of Masala.

It is also quite an amazing story that living as a hunter in the mountains inhabited by dangerous carnivores becomes a hidden life, but that was the story anyway.

"But I wanted my son to live with pride. So I brought him up with a lullaby asking him what his father's Gollum was like, and he's behind it."

When Zida gained the power of serving as a hunter, he came to the thought that he should take the vengeance of his father, who had been wronged and executed, but she, the mother, did not allow it. Then he jumped out of the house at the foot of the mountain and pulled it into the mountains of Masala, encouraging him to work alone as a hunter and no longer showing up in front of his mother, he said.

Still, one day she would come back with her head chilled, and she continued to live the same life, but Zida ran to Genos alone after only a year of turning in further power.

The merchants heard rumors that the people of Moribe, his father's enemies, had begun to do business there.

"... so you were a forest folk who started that business."

After I finished listening to all the stories, Barsha came all the way closer to me.

It has a smooth leather texture and a yellowbrown face that is often used in the day.

The eyeballs are slightly large and the eyebrows and the like have almost slipped away. Both the nose and mouth are heavily constructed, and the disappointing mandible is likely to chew through even Giva's bones.

Is he in his mid-thirties? Anyway, it's the harsh look of the Tang Lion.

"The people by the woods who had sinned against the Red Beard Party had a reputation for being a bunch of outlaws more feared than the Bandits. Even Genos is a bunch of nail-bouncing wildlings, so I used to teach Zida that I'd let them go and they'd be executed by the castles."

"Yes."

"And yet it was a story about the people by that forest starting their business in the Inn Town of Genos, and calling for such a reputation. I guess that stupid son of a bitch got blood on his head too. The people of the woods are forgiven for all their sins."

Zida herself did say that.

That's why he's been watching my stalls since the beginning.

"Well, I'm not going to blame you any more because Camua-Josh has asked me a lot about what's going on behind Genos.... and well, that would be a reputation if it was all delicious food. I never imagined I'd be able to eat such delicious food in these woods."

Today, I helped you prepare dinner, too.

Barsha, who was flaunting those dishes with an unbeatable appetite for Donda-Lou, smiled bravely at her and then regained her serious face again.

"But it's a nasty story that the mastermind is noble. If you turn that on your enemies, even more so, Zida won't be safe."

"Yes, but Zida said she wasn't going to move until she saw if we could really uncover Cycleus' sins. We have to do something about Cycleus for Zida."

"Even for Zida?

"Yes, because if the people by the woods can judge Cycleus, Zida won't have to get her hands wet in blood either"

"Yeah. You guys are a lot more forceful."

"I mean, I'm being pro-active - even if the mastermind was Cycleus, it was actually the folks by the woods called the Sung family who were doing it wrong. It's only natural that the people of the woods feel responsible for it."

Naturally, I was also supposed to turn my consciousness to the Late Boy who was holding back instead of Barsha.

Late is the orphan of the chief of the Zazz-Sung gang, who was impersonated by the Red Beard Party.

Notice my gaze, the boy grins.

"It also seems as though the redemption of the people by the woods is complete at the time the sins of the Zazz-Sungs were revealed. The people of the woods who were left behind, if I may say so, are in the position of the victims who were betrayed by the chief."

"That's not true. Until the old man moved, we couldn't even realize that Zazz-Sung and the others were so guilty."

Rudd-Lou said it back in disgust, but there's no change in Leyt's smile.

"Still, you were dragging the Sung family off the seat of the clan muscle before Camus moved, weren't you? If the Sung family was still a forest chiefdom at that point, I think the forest people would have been put in a more painful position than they are now, right?

"... you don't resent us, do you?

"It was before I was born that my father was harmed by Zazz-Sung and others.

My mother died chasing it, and Milan-Math, the parent of her upbringing, never talked to me about the great sinners by the woods, so I didn't really feel like I was the victim. "

But Leyt also wet his cheeks with tears when Zazz-Sung was captured.

Maybe Rudd-Lou would have seen that too? Rudd-Lou wiggled his yellow-brown head as he dazzled Leyt's face, who now smiled innocently.

"Are you tired of living like that?

"Yeah, because I'm not old enough to feel tired yet"

How many children in the world would be able to respond like that at the age of ten or there?

"That's kind of a tricky story," Barsha says, hissing her eyebrows, too.

"So, let me get back to this, but I don't think Zida's gonna show up in this settlement or anything?

"Come on, what do you think? Even the last time I exchanged words, they said goodbye to me like it was the rest of my life. It may be a little difficult because you don't seem that friendly with the people by the woods."

"But you came all the way out to you where the nobles captured you, didn't you? You have to be proud of something, but it can't be that he puts up so much for a human being he's not even inside."

With that said, Barsha has been staring around at me.

"Did you like you that way... or did you feel guilty that you were the wrong person to resent"

"Right. When I found out that the people of the woods were just being manipulated by the mastermind, it looked pretty shocked."

I remember Zida in front of Fa's house, who looked like she was about to cry now.

(If all the great sinners were dying... who am I to wave down my sword to...?

That's what Zida said.

I don't think revenge is the right thing to do.

But Zida, Barsha, Leyt, and Milan-Math have lost their families because of a plot by spiteful people seeking wealth.

The Zazz-Sungs were supposed to redeem that sin with their lives after ten years, but I guess that should not be left alone if human beings still remain to be judged.

"But I just pulled something out, and I don't even think I can fathom it because I'm noble."

With that said, Barsha soaked the fruit liquor roughly.

"I do know better than anyone that the Redbeard Party guys didn't kill people. But until my son was born, I was part of the Red Beard Party. I don't think the people in the castle are going to weigh the words of a bandit."

"But you've had contact with people in that castle, haven't you? I think that's why Camus decided that your presence would testify to Cycleus' sins."

Yes, that was the new fact that was revealed to us today.

The face of the Red Beard Party was in contact with Cycleus' men before they were wronged.

"You really don't know if that was a castle person, do you? It's just that you look wealthy."

"But the person sent you to attack Banaam's mission, didn't he? Perhaps Cycleus was planning to pawn the Red Beard Party before he pawned Zazz-Sung. … and that's what Camua said"

The story was also told during the day, in front of the chiefs.

Cycleus had originally plotted to put the Red Beard Party under his control, and because he failed to do so, he would have suddenly formed a crusade.

Was he trying to use both the Red Beard Party and Zazz-Sung, or was he going to have to use a man like Zazz-Sung who seemed to have difficulty treating him because he failed in his "Red Beard Party" flexibility- he wasn't exactly sure that far, but that was his attitude toward the Red Beard Party anyway.

"But there's only one thing that doesn't really fall on you."

So I decided to speak of the suspicions I had felt since the day.

"Such is the face of the Red Beard Party, or the backward circumstance known only to the people of the Cycleus faction, isn't it? Yet Camus looked confident from the start that your presence would be the deciding factor. What kind of hands could he have used to obtain such classifieds?

"I don't have any classifieds or anything. I and Gollum have known each other since the beginning."

"... Yes?

"It was just around the time that the absurd man brought the absurd story to you, so it's been over ten years. That Camuer-Josh, who was still running out as the Guardian, and our Gollum ran into each other in a liquor store or something, and I got in a mood. If I had made one mistake, that blonde would have joined the Red Beard Party."

I almost collapsed.

How far do I care if I flirt with people, that guy?

Late smiles again watching me like that.

"Camua has been wandering the western kingdom for over ten years. I'm so surprised that I'm connected to different people in different places. I'm sure it's worth the life of Camus to scratch the threads of those edges together and paint the picture of his choice."

"Ha... so this is not a coincidence but an inevitability?

"Yes, a Camus with hundreds of human connections must have started to paint a picture this time of defeating Cycleus by picking out the threads on the fringes with the Red Beard Party, me, Milan-Math, Lord Genos, etc. That's how I interpret it."

"I'm totally freaked out. It's like God or something is shaking human destiny."

When Barsha said so in a somewhat unpleasant way, Late tilted her little neck adorably.

"Still, Camus seems to have the awareness that he's just one yarn himself, doesn't he? So he laughed that unless he worked hard, he wouldn't get the results he wanted."

"I'm sure that blonde boy won't die a good way. I'm not the kind of person who can say this to people."

Barsha then looked over at all the humans indoors with a strong gaze.

"Whatever, it's reckless to defy nobility directly from the front in this western kingdom. Doing that doesn't make you a winner. Because I thought so, even my pavilion owner could only defy the Bandits in detail.... so you can end up executed."

"Yep. But Camus succeeded in connecting with Genos lord Malstein and from there taking the nobles of Melfried and Polearths to his side. If we keep this up, we'll be able to involve the Count Saturas, the ruler of the Inn Town, so it might even be possible to isolate Cycleus."

Late has been gazing at me ever since I said it that way.

"Nevertheless, until the people of the woodland were already in charge of Polearths, the Camus just couldn't have anticipated either. The truth is, instead of Camus, who can't go back to Genos, I was set to cross to Polearths tomorrow."

"Yeah, well, as we talked about during the day, I had to rely on that Jen because I stepped on her."

"That was really tough. It was also unexpected for Camus that Cycleus' daughter would extend to such imitation. But with that in mind, it seems like a breeze is being created in Inn Town to accuse Cycleus, so I think Asta deserves a terrible eye, right?

That's good, I'm not in a position to be happy. Rudd-Lou also has a very grumpy face.

But Late only laughed furthermore as he laughed.

"Maybe this is a similar situation to when Camua was trying to trap the Zazz-Sungs. Shortly before Camus, who was setting up the operation, the people around the woods were moving from scratch to roll the situation in the desired direction. You're turning the same opponent against the enemy, so maybe that's not a funny story, but you can realize that the wind is blowing here."

"Hey, boy. I'm talking about you being a Camua-Josh apprentice. Don't you have to imitate your master's life like that?

Barsha beats Late with a doth of voice.

"Every human being has feelings and emotions. If you'd forgotten about it and repeatedly imitated others and your own destiny, it might end badly for you, wouldn't it?

"I'm not trying to be fateful. I just wondered if I might not be able to live happily ever after, even if I enjoyed God's fate as it was."

"... I'm telling you that's not a good word."

But on the face of it, Barsha ran his fingertips like drawing a pentagram in front of his chest, crushing something in his mouth.

Maybe he begged Selva, the Western god, to forgive him for his disrespect.

"Whatever it is, the race has already been thrown. Until we uncover the old evil of Cycleus, Camus will continue to work."

"But I guess that Camus isn't going to be back by the day of the talks, is he? Leave everything to Zashma and Melfrid, and I wonder if Camus has any anxiety for himself?

When I looked at her mouth, Late gave her a lovely gesture of thinking, "Hmm."

"Of course, I've never been over it myself in time. If that defensive militia forming in the north was a crusader formed to capture something called a bandit dressed as a forest folk - it must be a little difficult to break through that."

"I wonder, after all, if Cycleus is going to tailor the men of the division who are with Camus to a burglar?

"I don't know that far. But by the time we got to the town of Banaam, where we were resting, the story of the bandits was coming out, so I think Camus is assuming the idea."

Is the man plotting this with a neat smile on his face, even in a remote homeland?

Somehow the void silence dropped, and Barsha shouted loudly as she appreciated it.

"You guys stuck your necks in a nasty story, too. Wouldn't it have been such a hassle if the hunter had stuck in the mountains like a hunter?

"Yeah, but regardless of Camua-Josh, the folks by the woods had a bad edge with Cycleus... so maybe the current situation was inevitable no matter how"

"Hmm? That's a waste of time. There are hundreds of good hunters out there. I don't think so."

Then Rud-Lew embarked on a little back to his usual look.

"Speaking of which, you're a hunter too, aren't you? It's the first time I've seen a woman hunter besides me, Ai-Fa."

"Oh. I was originally born in Masala. I flew out of my hometown in 18 years, and I was supposed to meet Gollum - so I just lost that new life, and I was supposed to go back to my hometown, where there was no family left."

"Hmm. But you're not wearing a hunter's clothes. That Zida guy was wearing some kind of leopard around the fur of a beast."

"You're the fur of a leopard in a gauze. If I'd worn that around here, I'd have had to stand in your eyes, wouldn't I? That's why I left it at home."

It was just a painful topic from day to day, so maybe it was time for everyone to get tired of talking about Cycleus.

Well, the information we need is openly exchanged. Donda-Lou and the others also allowed us to trust this Balsha word and put it in the settlement, so all we have to do is wait for the 15th of the White Moon.

With that in mind, I tried to pull my shoulder out, too.

Ey-fa, who had been silent for so long, opened his mouth to the sieve that he was accidentally thrilled.

"It's Balsha of Masala. So you... are you saying that you were born a hunter's blood muscle?

Barsha looked back at Ai-Fa as she put on her robust mandible.

"It's not that much of a hunter's blood muscle. Born at the foot of Masala, you can only live as long as you hunt for a bald bird. It was only when I was fifteen that I was recognized as serving the leopard of the gauze."

"... I was also able to hunt Giva alone for the first time in fifteen years"

"Heh. Gibba is such a fierce beast that you can't beat a gauje leopard, huh? That's a big deal, isn't it?"

And, Barsha can delightfully flaunt his mouth.

It was an ambitious and fierce, then fascinating way to laugh.

"But you do have a good hunter-like eye. There weren't that many hunters for Masala. I wouldn't struggle so much if I were born as big as I am, but I knew it would be difficult to run through the woods with a woman."

"... you..."

"Yeah, what?

"No... you're a hunter, but you had a child?

I took a breath.

but Barsha is laughing the same way.

"I told you earlier, didn't I? I gave birth to Zida after I left Masala. I abandoned my hometown because all my family were hit by gauje leopards and I didn't even have a wife. So, after less than two years of buying my arm and joining the Red Beard Party, I was given Zida - and then about three years later, my husband and compatriots all died, so I decided to live as a hunter again."

"... right"

There is no way my heart will follow me.

No - so it was clear from the beginning.

As Rudd-Lou said, she was the first woman hunter we'd ever seen but an eye-fa.

I could have spent so far unconscious of that point because I still felt more comfortable with Cycleus - and then because Barsha looked more ambitious than a lousy man?

"Masala women hunters usually stop working as hunters if they are kids. If a child is born, he won't be able to enter the mountains for a few years, so he loses his power as a hunter."

"Right."

"But well, I originally had the power to beat a man. I had no other means of earning copper coins, so I tried to regain my power as a hunter by dying crazy."

"... right"

"Probably couldn't have squeezed that kind of power without Zida. I didn't have to give up my life because she was here."

…………

There was no expression on Ai-Fa's face.

It's just that those blue eyes are filled with light that's so worried about something.

I got a little tired of turning my gaze to the others.

The late boy is listening to the conversation between the two with a smile and a laugh.

Sin-Luu, quieter than Ai-Fa, is looking out the window and eager for signs outside without alarm.

And Rud-Lew - when my gaze bumps with me, I've been winking like a loose end.

I shake my neck sideways without meaning, then take a small sigh.

My heart doesn't calm me down at all.

"By the way, I have to pull into this settlement until the 15th of the White Moon, right?

Barsha turns his gaze back to Rudd-Lou because Ai-Fa has silenced him.

"Don't go down to town. We talked, but you're not gonna tell me not to step out of this house, are you?

"Come on, I wonder. Exactly. Nobles won't be able to sneak their men in during the day, though. I'm sure it's safest to be in the house."

"I'm not kidding. You're too bored to be out there for four days to die."

"Tell me about that, Father.... Ma, if you're bored, why don't you just split the firewood?

That seemed like nothing more than a light mouth from Rudd-Lou, but Barsha let her eyes shine with much happiness.

"Yeah, well, if you can even let me do that kind of work with my body, I'm not complaining. I'm not comfortable talking about being sifted around sleeping and eating without doing any work. Can't you ask your father to do me a favor so I don't have to get bored, boy?

"I'm not a kid. It's Rud-Lew."

"Oh, it was rude of you to treat a fine hunter like a boy. Please, Rudd-Lou."

Then Rud-Lew laughed a little more pleasantly.

"You're kind of a strange person. Looks like he's closer to us than he is to a normal town."

"Well, I'm a hunter's end, too. I abandoned my hometown once, so I can't even say that this soul is in Masala... but still, it's calmer in the mountains than in an overly busy town"

Indeed, Barsha may have been the owner of a strange atmosphere, which neither the people of the town nor the hunters could have known.

I feel a free soul somewhere, although it doesn't seem as simple as the folks by the woods. Even against the aristocracy of the capital, it's more foolish to be involved with them than to be afraid.

Do you take it in the same way that a hunter decays into the woods - when it comes to losing his beloved companion?

At least, it felt to me as if toughness was a factor, not thinness, that she could still sift around in luxury.

"Let's talk about tomorrow tomorrow. I've been up all night, so let's go to bed for today."

and Rudd-Lou took the knife and stood up.

"You and the boy are in the back room. Let me keep an eye out for you and Sin-Lu one day, so don't imitate anything crazy."

"Oh, I'll give you a good rest at best."

The others, too, rise their hips to it.

So, Rudd-Lou has looked down at me and Ai-Fa who don't need to get up.

"Is Asta and I-Fa always asleep in the hall? You've got a lot of rooms, but they're different."

"... Fa's house only had a room to put things in, so sleeping in the hall has always been the norm"

"Oh well. Well, do whatever you want. You don't have to worry about us."

And Rudd-Lou leaves with the other three in a manner that even the whistle seems to blow.

Behind the hall is a passageway, where the Balshas rest in their private rooms. Being Donda-Lu, who doesn't fully trust Camua-Josh, I guess Rud-Luu and Sin-Luu will take turns sleeping while watching them.

So, it's us left in the hall.

The silence is painful.

"Uh... so what if we take a break too?

"Uhm," while Ai-Fa doesn't move.

The golden brown hair also remains tightly tied.

Because of that, I decided to lie down first.

And I think.

Even if the presence of a female hunter was allowed in Masala - and even if Barsha continued to work as a hunter without a child, such a story would have nothing to do with us.

I'm not ready to marry my wife in this world.

And Ai-Fa is consolidating his readiness to decay into the woods as a hunter.

It's the right thing for us to continue our relationship the way we've always been - maybe.

(But... the truth is, I wonder)

The feelings of I-Fa are only known to I-Fa.

And it was my own feelings that were more unknown than that.

I may eventually be a person who disappears from this world.

I don't even know what laws exist in this world in the first place.

It would be wrong for me not to be prepared for that, to marry my wife or have children.

But what are you prepared for?

What's the difference between disappearing sooner or later, or, what, dying sooner or later?

Until yesterday, I was to spend a few days without Ai-Fa.

It was like living uncomfortable, it was a few days full of unimaginable distress.

If I hadn't been able to see Ai-Fa forever like that - would I have had no regrets?

Keep the thought in your chest that you don't want to lose Ai-Fa, and still acquire something like courtesy and ethics so that you don't just step over the last line -

So, can I stay here without regret?

At that time, I felt heat on my back.

But it was an assumed event, so I didn't have to be so surprised.

Only the heart goes pounding.

"Don't say anything," I heard Ai-Fa right behind my neck.

Ai-fa's leaning on my back perfectly.

That fingertip grabs me around my shoulder.

"This is how I can be with Asta and I'm happy"

Ai-Fa said that quietly.

"I have no dissatisfaction whatsoever with the present life I can live with Asta. I'm already, I'm full. … it is true without falsehood"

I replied in my heart that I sincerely thought so too.

Even further ahead of that happiness, am I ready to step in?

Does the desire for anything more exist in the Ai-Fa?

I was to be able to throw that question deep into my chest, tonight was such a night.