233 ♪ Another night ♪

Cycleus was closed to the top floor of the central building.

It seems that the place was originally a bedroom for the former Lord.

Going through the doors guarded by the close guards, it is first among the deserted.

When the night goes deeper, the modest soldiers rest in the meantime, and they take turns watching.

In the meantime, Malstein turned to us once again.

"The food is delivered to Asta and Princess Lifreia. We'll come in, too, but if we push this many people, Cycleus won't be relieved either. Let us lurk behind the collision."

On the spot are me and Ai-Fa, Malstein and Melfried, Donda-Lou and Camua-Josh, Refraia and Sanjula, and two soldiers - a total of ten.

For the sake of caution, Sanjula has her arms tied and the nagging leather string from it is held by one of the soldiers.

Marstein looked calmly at Sanjula.

"This will probably be the last time you will be allowed to see me before the interrogation.... Sanjula and I wonder if any new words will ever be spoken from their mouths even if we reach this stage?

"Yes. No"

Sanjula looks back with an equally calm eye.

"Then why would I wish to accompany you to this occasion until you looked like that?... were you still in the mood to finish this raw goodbye?

"No. I, I want to be with Refraia, I just wished"

"Wasn't it also possible for that princess Lefreia to bear the suffering in a different way?

"No. It's a story that proves nothing and doesn't. I might have chosen that path, if I had."

"... does that mean that Sanjula is my brother?

With a very quiet voice, Lifreia said the words like that.

"Where the hell did such a barbaric flair come from? Sanjula must have been his father's squire hired with copper coins."

"From everywhere, he made such confessions to the people by the woods. After that, I was able to find out that Cycleus had been living Sims' woman in Doug until four years ago."

Refraia saw Sanjula at Urunou.

Sanjula puts my familiar gentle smile in her mouth.

"My mother, she died at an early age, so I have a detailed story, I don't know. I was raised to swear allegiance to Cycleus."

"Yeah... but you said during this time that you would pledge allegiance to me, not to my father."

"Yes. My loyalty, now Refraia, I dedicate"

"... then it doesn't matter what. Except that I don't feel comfortable calling the people I've been using as my squire for years, do I?

"Yes, I am a servant of Refraia."

Refraia turned away, shaking her short chestnut hair.

"O Lord Genos," says Ai-Fa, who watched as everyone else did.

"It may be a shame for someone like me to make a statement, but will you not allow me to refrain by Asta and protect myself from it?

"Hmm? You were probably the head of Asta's house, Ai-Fa. Don't worry, there are two Kingsguards by Cycleus. Cycleus no longer has the power to stand on his feet, but he can't hurt himself."

"... but there were times when Zazz-Sung, who was supposed to be a worse sickness than Cycleus, had eaten through the throats of Gene's men, set fire to Dom's settlement, and used gibberish fruits to imitate the Camuy-Josh. I don't think any opponent will ever be alarmed"

"It's all right. I'm not alarmed by the Melfrid trained Kingsguards."

Ai-Fa had a bit of a bitter face and bit her lips.

Seeing that look, Malstein loosens his cheeks all the time.

"You're so worried about your family by then. I see. Where more women have looked as graceful as I-Fa, Cycleus will not be distracted. Protect Asta with the Kingsguard."

"... I'm here," Ai-Fa lowered her head small.

Donda-Lou is silent.

"Well, let me come in. Cycleus is weak, so please be careful not to excite him."

Following Malstein's gaze, one of the soldiers laid his hand on the door.

Step into an even darker bedroom from the dim next.

Even though it's a pretty big room, the candlestick only seems to be lit on the back wall.

Moreover, even its light has almost been chirped away because huge clashes stood when I entered the room.

Malstein's fingertips pointed the other side of the conflict with graceful tricks.

I nod, push the trolley with the dish on it, and head to the back of the room.

As the three of us proceeded through the darkness, Ai-Fa and Lifreia, there was a large sleeping area at its end.

On the left and right of the sleeping table stands a white-armed Kingsguard as per the statue.

On that sleeping area, there was a little man lying.

It is Cycleus, the former master of this hall, with a thin blanket to his chest and lying in a soft feathered bedding in a half-dozen outfits.

On her blue and black face, she is sweaty.

Both arms thrown over the blanket are incredibly thin.

In just half a month, Cycleus had dried up like a monkey mummy.

"Refraia... or..."

Its earthy lips squeeze a voice full of scuffy rubbing noises.

"The fact that you've been sent over... I wonder if even Marstein has finally cemented his feelings about sending me to the execution site..."

"Before the execution, there must be an interrogation. Is that the law of Genos?

Standing beside the sleeping table, Refraia responds quietly.

"I've only brought my meal.... Today, Asta of Fa's house, a forest folk and an emigrant, made dinner for her father."

Cycleus' eyes, which seemed almost closed, looked at me in vain.

Those poisonous eyes are totally shadowed. It was the light of the eyelids, like a weak, dying night light worm.

"Asta in Fa's house......? I wonder what this is all about..."

"It's not about anything. I just asked Lefreia to make me dinner."

Malstein must have some thoughts.

But I didn't know the truth, and I didn't feel like I had much to do with the nature of my job.

"Before you're imprisoned, Refraia asked me to feed you my food. Do you still have the power to eat my food, Cycleus?

"... my body will no longer receive any meal... the disease that has afflicted me for so many years has finally stripped my fangs... no matter how I lifted up, my life would have been so far..."

"That's incompetent, Father. I wonder where my father has been trying to live more greedily than anyone."

Refraia's voice, which regained only a little human discouragement, said so.

"My father was guilty of so many sins. That's how he wanted power, right? If you were to give up everything at the end of it, what the hell was your father's raw?

"... well... I have only seized the power to seize... and let go of all of it with death... the life of a man is at times all that..."

"Are you saying that driving me and my mother lonely meant nothing to the power gained so far? Then why did my mother have to die in solitude?

Two things - the once arrogant shore was coming back to life in the voice of Refraia and the brilliance of his eyes.

"I had only a mother, and I was the only mother. So my mother died in solitude, and I was left alone. Leaving us alone, imitating the absurd, gathering copper coins, gathering the inedible food, and so my father was happy? I... I wasn't funny at all."

…………

"... but my father is my father. Even if it doesn't matter to my father, I am my father's daughter and my father is my father. That's why I prepared a meal for you at the end."

Refraia's gonna kick my ass.

"Come on, let's get Father to eat Asta's food. You want me to split the contents of this iron pan into a wooden dish?

"Yeah."

I took the lid off the iron pan.

In the air indoors, there is the scent of Giva soup.

Refraia grabbed the ladle and snapped at it on a wooden plate.

"... what the hell is this farce..."

From the narrow of his eyelids as thin as a ripped slice with a knife, Cycleus burns a shady fire, of course.

"Pull even my daughter and Asta in Fa's house... what the hell is that cunning Marstein..."

"Lord Genos said it had nothing to do with it! I asked Asta for this night at my will! Where Marquis Genos plotted after that, such a thing has nothing to do with me!

Refraia finally blew up Kanshak.

Keep the wood dish in your hand, fold your body, and dazzle your father's face from close quarters.

"About the end, why don't you look at me? After this, I'm sure we can't even face each other for the rest of our lives? My father's locked up in prison, and I'm locked up in this hall!

…………

"Asta. I'm sorry, but could you wake up your father's body?

"Oh, yeah."

As I slipped through the guard's body and approached the bedroom, I inserted my arm between Cycleus' body and the bedding.

As a matter of course, Ai-Fa lent me a hand, but Cycleus' body was so light that I didn't have to.

Supporting that shell-like body, I'll put a pillow up your back and let you sit in a way that leans against your headboard.

As I pulled myself back, I held a wooden dish and a wooden spoon and Lefreia approached me all the way.

"Come on, even if you're weak, you'll soak up about the juice, right? It shouldn't be more painful at all than soaking that stinky, bitter juice of herbs. You should say the dishes of Asta, the people of the world, at the end of the day."

Stick the cloudy soup to Cycleus's mouth with a wooden spoon.

Cycleus stared at Lefreia's angry face for a while before - eventually slowly opening its mouth.

The tip of the wooden spoon is gently inserted into its abyss-like mouth.

"Isn't it delicious? There's no way Asta's food isn't good, is there? He was vice chef at Count Turan's, because he's an asta who can cook better than Timaro."

While crushing to be rushed by something, Refraia poured even more new soup into her father's mouth.

And then you look at me with fear again.

"Asta, it looks like this dish is full of juice and has no ingredients at all?

"That's because I scratched the top without a scratch. When this is the case, we have to stir it and then let it go to the plate."

I received a wooden dish from Refraia and let it be put into practice.

"Well, if you hadn't told me first, it wouldn't have been easy."

Retrieving the wood dish while plumping his cheeks, Refraia softens the wood spoon with ingredients and juice.

It's a shard of guiva meat simmered in ivory and a slice of clear aria.

When he could throw it in his mouth, Cycleus chewed it powerlessly.

And he began to tremble with a mess.

"This... what the hell is this dish...?

"This is a juicy dish of giva meat. It's just a dish that simmers Giva's momomo meat and aria carefully to taste with rock salt and pico leaves."

I'll try to answer quietly.

"Isn't it delicious? This is the dish I made at Fa's house by the woods when I first kept Kamado. Giva is good quality meat, so just simmer it to get this solid stock."

"Gibba's meat... give me Gibba's meat..."

"Is Gibba's meat inferior to Karon's or Kimmus's? I don't think so. People will have their own taste, but they will never lose out on the quality of the ingredients."

I wasn't looking to revamp Cycleus.

I just wanted to tell you.

"Even with all these ingredients, you can cook as good a dish as this. And I don't think what you needed was a luxurious gastronomy, but a definite nourishing meal like this."

"... who, what..."

"I think that wanting to eat delicious food may be the business most people in the world have, but because it is, eating that breaks your body is wrong. … If you got gut sick, even more so, shouldn't you have thought about what dishes you needed to cook?"

I just told him this, and I know it won't be anything.

Still, I couldn't help but say.

A man who is supposedly only interested in gastronomy gathers wealth and power until he commits a great crime and buys expensive ingredients to hurt his body at last - what the hell kind of happiness was in such a ruinous life?

Spread misfortune on others, pushing themselves to doom.

I don't think there's such a ridiculous story.

And Cycleus - and the once Zazz-Sung.

"... you seem to be confused, Asta of Fa's house..."

Eyes like a burning fire that went out look at me.

"For me, only a delicious meal was pleasant... no raw meaning without pleasure... that's why I..."

"It can be pleasure or happiness, but it's the same thing I'm talking about. Doesn't my dish suit your mouth, Cycleus?... you don't need that much wealth to make delicious dishes. Meat, aria, and a pinch of salt are all things you can cook. So, if you could surround the table with your dear family, wouldn't that be the happiest thing?

…………

"It seems to me happier to live in the woods where you despise the barbarians. It may not make sense to say these words to you who were born as a nobleman... but I don't think that a delicious meal is something you can get as long as it costs you money"

Cycleus had closed his mouth.

Refraia steps on her feet only once in frustration.

"That's enough. Because what I just said is it's all over. Father needs to come to Selva, believing that he's the only one who's right."

"... yes... it's all over... my soul filled with vice would be shattered before Selva..."

Cycleus' mouth trembled weakly, shaping a strange grin.

"I am not willing to cover anything up now... and I am not willing to impersonate Syruel... I have sinned numerous times with Syruel... and the number of those who have lost their lives by our plan will not go down a hundred..."

"I don't even want to hear that."

"No, listen, it's Leflaia... and so is Malstein... you must be listening somewhere, Lord Genos...? I no longer have the power to speak up, so isn't it hard to hear satisfactorily when you're away like that...?

From the darkness, a number of figures appeared.

The smooth shadow that stood at the head of it approached the sleeping table with a refreshing foothold.

"I didn't mean to interrupt my father and daughter's story. Is there something you want to tell me, Cycleus?

"I do... before I do... I wonder whose hand the militia is being swayed by now that Silhouel has been captured...?

"The Second Battalion Leader represents the Militia. It was an unusual placement to say goodbye, but I can't entrust Turan with the Itchy Deputy Commander and the First Battalion Commander."

"That was a wise eye... but that's not enough... the deputy commander and the first battalion commander... and not to dismiss the fourth battalion commander in conjunction will not be without grief... because those three are the ones who shared their sins with us... if we leave them alone, they will also become the cause of evil later..."

"Even half of the militia commands say it's a vicious obedience?... were their prospects to screw down the Marquis Genos family by any force?

Malstein asks in a calm voice, and Cycleus responds with a strange grin: "Well..."

"So the bandit who was attacking the farm in Dareim, wearing woodland outfits, was also a member of the militia? As far as I'm concerned, I hope not."

"Regardless… however Shiruel's life may be, those who climbed up to the deputy commander and the captain should defile their own hands… it is the work of the unreliable men who are now lurking in the town of Behett…"

"Huh. Does that still mean you hired an unreliable man with a copper coin"

"Copper coins are also paid… but not only… they are the sinners who escaped death…"

"Escaped a capital offense, a capital offender?

"About five years ago now, the militias would have captured the bandits who would have been the" Wind of Black Death "… The death penalty was handed down to them, but they were freed by Silel's guide to become a group to undertake hidden work…"

"Were they laying them up to so much sin? It can never be tolerated, such as giving freedom to a condemned person"

and Melfrid, who had refrained instead of Malstein, gives a sharp voice.

"But if he had been convicted of death by interrogation, that sentence would have been carried out incoherently. It shouldn't be possible to steal the prisoner's eyes and let the sinner escape."

"Then you would have let the prison officer hold the copper coin too... If you want the truth, ask Silel..."

"Okay. I will make sure of that."

Melfried clutches his mouth as he dwells a frozen light in his grey eyes.

"Oh man," Mulstein shrugged his shoulder.

"To the former lord of Count Turan's house, the leader of the Guardian Militia, the deputy commander, and the two captains of the battalion - plus a prison officer and a dead man who escaped punishment? I don't know if I'm going to carry all these sinners... I guess I'll have to think of this as my immorality too"

"Absolutely right... but sin in the first place was committed thirty years ago... I guess it is also the immorality of the previous Lord of Genos, who, thinking of it, could not cut off the cursed blood muscles of the Turan family..."

"Well, do you even admit to the crime of murdering the Turan family's predecessor and his first son?

"Admit it... but I just want to say one thing..."

And - while sitting back in position without force, Cycleus only burned those eyes out fiercely.

"It was Silhouel who murdered you and your brother... for the many sins that followed, me and Silhouel would need equal punishment... but only thirty years ago, that abominable incident, that Silhouel plotted alone and dyed his hands into sin... I just want you to believe that one thing..."

"Hmm? But it was by virtue of his predecessor and his first son being called to Selva that he gained the Lord's seat, Cycleus. If that was Silel's plan, I wonder if his second son was murdered in the same way?

"Silel... whilst he was born into the Count's house, he lamented his position as a shader who could have no power whatsoever and hated his father and brother who would leave him wanting power... he would not have had to have such feelings for me, who was equally shaded..."

The light-colored Cycleus eyes are burning badly.

Its eyes, which once emitted a poisonous light and until the beginning were about to lose light, burned a fierce flame of hunters by the woods.

"That night... the year after you fell from Totos and lost your life, on that night when even your father was taken hostage by an unknown disease of no cause, Siluel laughed like crazy... and now he says that the wealth and power of the Turan family is ours... not without Camua-Josh suggesting it, and I understood everything with it... that it was the youngest brother of this cursed Turan family who killed you and your brother..."

"So you, along with your brother, repeatedly imitated viciousness for more wealth and power, Cycleus? Could it have been - that if I hadn't been on my brother's side, I would have been caught up in the crisis that I would have followed the same fate as my father and brother?

"... even so, it doesn't make any difference that my hands are dirty... the laws of Genos, such as harming the lives of others to protect themselves, would not be tolerated...?

"Hmm. That's a good story.... but then I wonder why I brought up another thirty years ago or something. No matter how serious the crime is, it won't be possible to grasp the evidence now, so it doesn't seem worth getting rid of much."

"I have no proof... so I wanted you to believe me... that even I, who have committed numerous sins, did not commit only the abominable sins of killing my father, killing my brother, etc..."

Cycleus' eyes move slowly.

His eyes looked at Lefreia from the front as she burned like a fire.

"Refraia... my daughter... your body is filled with the cursed blood of the Turan family... your father and his brother were unforgivable sinners, and their father and brother were so foolish that it was difficult to save them... that this cursed blood may have caused you to commit such sins as being young..."

"It has nothing to do with blood muscles. I 'm-"

"Listen... you can't still throw away the blood that flows through you... you must live for a long time to come as a child of sinners..."

Cycleus put his arm up as he told him to groan.

Its skinny, thin fingertips capture Lefreia's fingertips, and the wooden spoon that was gripped there falls over the futon.

"But... the Turan family shall lose its wealth and power... and its infirmity may give your soul freedom... because it is hard to slaughter a man without a sword... you should live to lose a sword... that way..."

And for a moment only, I felt Cycleus' eyes look at me better.

"... that way... maybe you can feel happiness with a pinch of salt, and be such a person..."

"I'm not sure. I was a little man from the beginning."

Saying with an angry face, Lifreia took her father's fingertips off.

Then, pick up the wooden spoon that fell on the futon and sip Giva's soup.

"... it's not enough, it's not tasty, but it's delicious enough. I can't believe my father can't feel happiness with such delicious food."

"... yes... your father was so unhappy and so stupid..."

Refraia bit her lips and dazzled her father's face for a while before saying.

"Lord Genos. I still have a lot of food left. Will you leave me and my father alone until this meal is over?

"I don't mind. Keep your guards at the door."

Malstein returns the blemishes, and Melfried and Donda-Lou follow suit.

Ai-fa made me nod, and I tried to leave the bedroom, too.

On its back, Refraia calls low.

"Asta"

"Yeah."

"... thanks"

"... yeah"

The last time I laid eyes on my little father and daughter leaning over the bedroom, I went outside the room the last time.

I'm sure Cycleus and I will never face each other again.

I'm not in a position to forgive that man.

You must not forgive that man for his sins, which drove Leyt's father and Milan-Math's brother-in-law to death and drove Zazz-Sung crazy.

But still...

I'm glad I was able to exchange words with Cycleus this evening.

"… so then"

"Yes."

Between them, Mulstein and Melfried were whispering something.

That's how Melfried leaves the room at a foot speed, and Malstein turns back to Donda-Lou.

"Immediately the deputy commander of the Guardian Militia and the battalion commanders will restrain themselves and send soldiers to Behet. It is possible that the Death Offenders have already fled to different lands, but they will be able to capture some trace. I think if we can get rid of the traitors now, we can get some sleep."

"... let's hope so"

"Mm-hmm. As the ruler of Genos, let me promise you that I will spare no effort. Now, if you'll excuse me too - just the right opportunity, let me just add one more word."

Laughing very loudly, Malstein stared at Donda-Lou's face, about half as high as his head.

"I like strong people. Even if Cycleus had succumbed to a situation that threatened the people by the woods and threatened my status, I guess that was one fate. If you are born in the small position of second son of a small territory called Turan, but you can only appreciate your talent, it's not a big deal."

…………

"But Cycleus was to give in before the people of the woods and Camua-Josh. I like you guys, Donda-Lou. The people of the woods have more power than ever. I am proud of myself for being able to call a people as powerful as you are."

…………

"To be honest, until this incident came to light, I had no interest in the people of the woods or anything else. I have complied with the unfair offer made to Lord Genos eighty years ago and Cycleus has grasped the reins as good. I thought," You have the power to hunt Gibba, but you can only expose humans to impudence. "

Malstein laughs with a smile and Donda-Lou is faceless in return.

"But the people by the woods seem to be a clan of strong power and pride. I would ask you, as a people of Genos, to do much of that power in the future....... It is quite early to expose your mood in front of your sons and ministers, so please give my regards to the other chiefs. And it's Asta from Fa's house."

And Malstein looked back at me.

"You've put a lot of hard work on them, too. The chief priests looked sinister, but whatever their origins, I would like to welcome them as the people of Genos. I want you to continue to walk that raw life in the territory of Genos as one of the people by the woods"

"Yes. Thank you."

"Besides, their food was really delicious. I guess I can't even call Castle Town every once in a while, but sometimes I want you to let me sift through those arms, too.... thank you very much."

At the end of the day he stared firmly into my face, while Malstein laughed innocently, and that's how he left to follow his son.

Camua-Josh also did the wink and then followed it - only me, Ai-Fa and Donda-Lu and then the two soldiers who captured Sanjula were left behind.

"... Damn, you're a joking lord"

And - Donda-Lou laughed at the sight.

It is the grin of a brave hunter.

"But my happiness can be grasped by my own power, if I vomited such words in the sense of... superior. Let me do this in this fashion."

It was kind of such a laugh, as if it was a good adversary rather than a monarch.

And then Sanjula comes in front of me.

"Asta. From me too, thank you, let me tell you. You, Refraia, have saved me."

"No, I didn't do anything to thank you."

"No. Your presence, Refraia, saved.... maybe even Cycleus saved it"

I don't think so.

If it had been saved, it would have originally taken the path that led to it.

Me and Cycleus, who were walking on a completely different path, only for a moment, slipping away again.

That's just what it was, I'm sure.

"... so let's go home, too"

Flipping the hunter's clothes, Donda-Lou also turns his foot to the exit.

I've been quiet for a long time. Ai-fa looked at me and said.

"Thank you, Asta."

"Yeah, so does Ai-Fa"

That's how we returned to the woodland settlement after the stone capital.