Chapter 19 - 2-9
I spent one year, from the age of eleven to twelve, with Haider.
It was at Adaberta Castle in the Marquis Kraff's territory. My grandfather, Marquis Gilmond, often took in and raised the children of the daughters he had married off to various countries—in other words, his grandchildren. This was to confirm to one another that our bonds were strong, and to put it on display for hostile forces.
Both Yugis and Haider were gathered in such a manner, and received the guidance of Laiel Gilmond, whose appearance retained the air of the good old days of the knights.
Though he was a cousin I hadn't seen in a long while,
"I've been feeling a bit under the weather. I've been refraining from attending duty."
Hearing these words, Yugis was happy. This guy hasn't changed.
"Clever as always. I should have been lazy enough to use that excuse to get out of washing horses."
"I have no idea what you mean. At any rate, I heard you had arrived. I pushed through my poor health to come to the castle."
"I see... who did you hear about me from?"
Following Haider's gaze and looking back, Yugis happened upon Cloden, whose lips were curled.
"Well, you know," Cloden said, showing his front teeth. "Let's have a toast while we enjoy some lunch."
It wasn't a bad proposal, but Yugis currently didn't have a single cent. "Starting now? I..."
"Whoops, don't say it all. I'm already aware. Today, it's all on Haider."
It seemed he had played the meddler in hopes of free alcohol. A shrewd Mouse.
"Hey, how do you know what's in my wallet? Have you been snooping around?"
"Watch your mouth. I've got no interest in your kitchen finances. It just happened to reach my ears."
Cloden seemed to be a man well-versed in the ways of the world.
After leaving the castle, he led the way, saying "this way, this way," and guided Yugis and Haider to a diner in the lower town.
As soon as they sat at the table, he loudly and rapidly ordered beer, bread, and pork sausage, even adding the annotation, "The stuff here is delicious."
"Are you acquainted with Cloden?"
At Yugis's question, Haider frowned. "Yes, well. He barged into my lodgings."
The alcohol arrived, and the boys clinked their cups.
"To Siddim."
"To Siddim."
"To the princess."
The last one was Yugis. Haider and Cloden looked at each other and laughed.
"If it's Princess Lucy, I have seen her as well. She must be the most beautiful person on this earth."
"Being that beautiful is actually a poison. People will die. In fact, there's one person here who's practically withered away."
"You must be uncontrollably envious."
"Hehe. I'd hate nothing more than to be targeted by the young master of Thora over a woman."
"Regarding that, Yugis. You should be sufficiently cautious," Haider said. "The power the Third Army wields over us is practically unlimited. I hear that even murder is effectively permitted. Have you met Brai yet?"
"Brai? Brai Gilmond? No, I've been wanting to greet him, but I didn't know if I was allowed to walk around the castle as I pleased. Why?"
"Why? Because you should borrow that person's strength. You should ask for his mediation."
Brai Gilmond was the grandson of Marquis Kraff Laiel Gilmond, and a cousin to Yugis and Haider. He was six years older, and to the two of them, he was like a kind older brother.
He had entered the King's School four years earlier than Yugis and the others. Moreover, he had been assigned to the Third Army. Not the infantry corps.
"It would be a nuisance to him. I don't want to involve him in something trivial."
"What are you talking about now? If it was a nuisance, you probably caused a mountain of them in the past."
When they were children, Brai had covered for Yugis's pranks and failures quite a lot.
If he depended on him this time, Brai might bow his head to Laicanel Thora for him.
However, the Gilmond family was outside the Thora faction. Delroy, the territory ruled by the Thora family, primarily held influence over the western part of the kingdom of Siddim. Kraff's territories at the eastern edge—Carossa, Dint, and Belgau—were the same. They were incompatible with the western crowd. It could be said they were enemies. If the King's School was now the private property of the west, Brai from the east likely had a precarious position. If he bowed his head, Brai's standing would undoubtedly worsen.
"About Brai Gilmond," said Cloden, who was munching on smoked meat. "He's not at Malfa Castle right now. Since half a year ago, he's been serving as a castle soldier at the outpost of Kanaharu."
Yugis looked at Haider. Haider shrugged. If he wasn't here, there was no point in talking.
After that, neither Brai nor Thora came up in conversation, and it became a matter of boasting about their respective home countries while drinking.
In Dint, Cloden's hometown, it was said that when it snowed, the area was closed off from the outside world, and transportation to other territories became paralyzed. Travelers from elsewhere would end up spending a winter in Dint, and it was said they wouldn't leave even when spring arrived. If Cloden's story was true, travelers were apparently "submerged in hot springs."
"Instead of talking about princesses and such, you should come to Dint. By the time a winter ends, you'll have become a father," Cloden laughed, concluding with such lewd talk.
It was completely night by the time he returned to the lodgings, the "Black Feather House."
Dash greeted Yugis with a candlestick in hand.
"You've certainly attained a fine social standing."
"Stop it, stop it. I'm in a good mood right now."
"Do you know where I went today? To old man Gilmond's place. I went to borrow money."
"Did it go well?" Yugis asked, scooping water from the entrance basin with his hand to drink.
"No. However, I received a scrap of paper. A promissory note. A messenger from the Madam, Guendolin-sama, came as far as Malfa City and left it with the young master."
"Mother did?"
"She likely arranged the funds in secret so as not to be discovered by the Lord. She may have let go of several jewels. Young master, how many days has it been since you came to the royal capital? Ten days? Twenty days? Isn't it pathetic to sulk over something like washing horses?"
Looking at Dash as he spoke with passion, a sigh escaped Yugis. "It really hits home."
He went up to the second floor, took off his clothes in his room, and lay down on the bed. Normally, he would have laughed off Dash's preaching, but
—It seems this is the kind of alcohol my drink is.
Tonight, the preaching hit him strangely hard.
Mother. Brai, Haider, Dash. I don't know what kind of guy Cloden is, but he doesn't seem to be a bad person. Nothing but good people. Come to think of it, doing something as stupid as making Princess Lucy trip... I wonder how much my father's heart sank.
It ends tonight. I'll leave the stupidity for the end.
The next day, he went to the castle as usual, and as he was preparing the horses at the stables of the training ground, a large man came from among the crowd of the Third Army, looking straight into Yugis's eyes.
"You're Yugis Necrat of Carossa, right?"
"And who are you?"
"If you're Yugis, I've got something to say. Tomorrow, after you've washed the horses, wait below the bastion of the West Corner Tower curtain wall. Oh, don't forget your sword."
The large man mounted the horse Yugis had washed and departed. As Yugis watched blankly, Cloden, who was nearby, grabbed his shoulder.
"This is bad, that's Ness!"
"Who?"
"The top swordsman of the Third Army. This is bad. A deserted place like the West Corner Tower... this is a duel."
"Moreover, the other side didn't say a single word about that."
Turning toward the voice, it was Haider.
"Duels are forbidden, after all. If it had been a formal request for a duel, we might have been able to handle it skillfully."
"You, what are you going to do?"
"I have no choice but to do it. Is this Ness guy famous?"
"You're probably the only one who doesn't know. He's killed several people, and there are those who were crippled by that sword."
Yugis scratched his cheek, hiding his agitation.
Looking at Haider,
"Do you think it'll happen? You know, something like... killing."
"It likely will. It's almost like a custom. They kill one person as an example to silence the infantry and suppress discontent."
This was not peaceful at all.
If he challenged him, he would likely lose. Yugis racked his brain. Assuming avoidance was best, who should he rely on? Father? He wouldn't be able to do anything. What about Brai Gilmond? He wasn't here.
"Hey, that Ness guy is a comrade of Laicanel Thora, right?" Yugis asked Cloden, having thought of something.
"Yeah. They're always hanging out."
"Then it's fine. I'll rely on the princess. Fortunately, we aren't strangers."
"The princess? Princess Lucy?" Haider asked.
"Her Highness Luchentin is the fiancée of Laicanel Thora. I will ask Princess Lucy for mediation."
As he spoke, Yugis felt a shock. An unprecedented exhilaration surged endlessly, instantly sweeping away the black clouds that had covered his head for several days. Dying—that was a joke.
He thought deeply that he was a fool. He just had to go see her. He could walk there.
"I see. That might be an interesting indirect approach." Haider tilted his swan-like neck. "However, the problem is how to get an audience. Unless you have some kind of connection."
"As for that, I have one."
Yugis looked at Cloden in surprise.
Cloden was looking down, appearing awkward.
"You do?"
"I do... in a way."
It seemed he did, but he was somehow hesitant.