Chapter 95 - 8-9
The village called Flink is located around the border between the central and eastern regions.
The land is fertile, and it is a village with many children. There are a little over two hundred households, with a population of just under a thousand. The manor of the ruling Linz family stands at the center of the village.
The people of Flink Village work busily, dividing their year into seasons, and die without ever leaving the village. The villagers believed that through an eternal history, their ancestors had lived the same way for generations.
That is an absurdity.
Including Flink Village, the farming villages of Siddim are at the cutting edge of the era.
Until a few generations ago, there were farmers in Siddim who led unstable lives, such as with slash-and-burn agriculture, where they would abandon their homes and cultivate fields in another land once the soil grew barren. Looking at the world, there are still many who live by such old agriculture. To settle, build a village, and have people cooperate to put plows into the fields was almost revolutionary. Productivity improved remarkably. To the extent that many people could be supported in the same village for their entire lives.
Thanks to the efforts of their ancestors and the lord, the people of Flink Village can live safely in the village for their whole lives.
A child named Silio of the Brin family and a child named Pug of the Geese family are best friends who, even after a huge fight, enjoy playing knights together the next day. They may remain best friends for their entire lives.
Silio's older sister Liza and Ilia of the Hamige family are also very close. Recently, the two have been talking about the opposite sex. Ilia is apparently head over heels for a youth named Hink of the Litar family.
As for Hink Litar, he is the aggressive type with women and already has two lovers.
In the Litar family home, seven family members and livestock live in three rooms. It is not suitable for inviting lovers. As for how the people of Flink Village, who do not have private rooms, deepen their love with their lovers, it is in the intervals of field work. Especially during the lunch break. The villagers, who head to the fields at sunrise, take a long lunch break to nap after eating.
Once the youths devour the lunch boxes prepared by their mothers, they hurry to the meeting place with their lovers. They embrace in the wheat fields or in the thickets by the riverbank, nurturing their love with gittan-bakkon (T/N: onomatopoeia for vigorous sexual intercourse).
One of Hink's lovers was Saria, the most beautiful girl in the village. However, Hink is beginning to be drawn to his other lover, Tana.
—Tana is kind, isn't she.
Hink thinks this when he is alone, looking down at his own crotch.
In Tana's gentle touch when handling Hink's precious part, Hink feels something that puts his heart at ease. For a boy, sexual intercourse is a pleasant distraction. However, is there not something more to it, for example, a dense exchange of opinions beyond conversation? Hink has recently begun to notice such things.
As for the village's most beautiful girl, Saria, she is devoted solely to Hink.
She has an elegant outline like an upside-down egg, which is rare, but a wild sparkle runs through her large eyes. She is a charming girl, also being dark-skinned from the sun. She senses that Hink is attracted to another woman, and she reacts by becoming confused and taking a cold attitude toward her lover.
—Is he... different?
Recently, she has begun to doubt fate. In such times, she thinks of Dunkin, who earnestly courts Saria. Dunkin is not a boy with pretty features, but he is deeply trusted by his peers. He exhibits leadership beyond his years. Dunkin also seems to love only Saria. He is apparently a virgin.
However, distressingly, Dunkin is twelve years old, three years younger than Saria.
Hink Litar's parents view it favorably that Hink goes out restlessly during lunch breaks. They are happy with their son's growth, and also because if the eldest daughter, Pel, naps with her younger brothers, the couple can also enter the wheat fields, overlap their familiar skin, and gittan-bakkon.
"I hear the Kosa people might come."
Nebi Litar, the mother of the Litar family, vents her anxiety while offering her voluptuous body to her husband.
"It ain't the time of Great King Aframa. Don't worry 'bout it."
The husband, Gorai Litar, does not dislike it when his wife confesses her anxiety during intercourse.
Because he knows that with the driving of his hips, his wife will surely dissipate that anxiety and scatter it along with the sweat of climax.
—But, I might need to make one more boy.
Gorai Litar thinks. If the Kosa people really come and it becomes a war, Hink might have to go to the battlefield.
Not just Flink Village, but many villages were in this state in all matters.
There were values rooted in the land, and rules based on those values, and if one followed those rules, they could reach sexual intercourse. Adultery between men and women certainly existed, and if it were exposed, there were severe sanctions. However, for the most part, they managed well.
It was such a peaceful village that even the elderly, who could not go to the fields, blossomed into late-life romances with elderly women of the same age.
Into that, the news of the Kosa invasion arrived.
The rumors were true. The Kosa people had truly come.
The people of Flink Village were lost for words. Not knowing what to say, everyone looked at the faces of those close to them and read agitation and anxiety within. However, the ruling Linz family was calm. For the first time, the villagers felt the presence of the lord was reliable.
The head of the Linz family, Bude Linz, is a narrow-minded, fussy man. If one went to the two taverns in the village, there was always one villager who would mock the head of the house indirectly by mimicking his way of speaking.
That Bude Linz-sama departed for the eastern battlefield together with his second son, Coome, also known as Croward Linz. The people of Flink Village were moved. The armored warrior appearance of the usually fussy head of the house looked strangely cool.
Fifty of the village's youths, gathered based on their military service obligation, also go to the battlefield together, led by Bude Linz. Mothers cried, and fathers tightened their lips.
Flink Village, like other villages, was enveloped in an atmosphere of bravery, patriotism, and tragedy.
When Hink Litar learned he was chosen as one of those with military service obligations, he immediately reported it to Tana. Tana's answer was unexpected.
"I ain't waitin'."
She said she would not wait for Hink's return.
"I can't wait. I'm eighteen, y'know? You can resent me for bein' a cold woman all you want. I'm gonna be with another man!"
How beautiful Tana looked, with an overwhelming sense of vitality surging in both eyes. Hink was devastated, feeling that he had known nothing about Tana. On the other hand, the reaction of Saria, who had been cold recently, was also unexpected to Hink.
"I'll wait."
Saria told him.
"I'll wait forever."
Saria's eyes were as if dreaming. There was a hazy light, soaked in an entranced ecstasy.
Though a moment of anxiety flickered—wondering if she would be alright—Hink hugged the most beautiful girl in the village. Without forgetting the scent of that moment, Hink departed for the battlefield.
Saria was faithful to her own words. Dunkin, who courted her, and other boys suddenly seemed filthy.
"If you want to become an adult, try another girl," Saria said as if spitting. "Especially since you can't even go to war."
Dunkin, who was told this, distorted his face with humiliation and fled the scene. However, comfort was easily obtained. The wife of the Brin family nearby accepted Dunkin's heartbreak with her ripe thirty-two-year-old body.
"I wanna grow up fast and go to war."
While wrapped in large breasts, Dunkin said foolish things, making the Brin family wife laugh.
In this way, Flink Village formed a rotating microcosm of sexuality, easing each other's tension while somehow enduring the shock of the Kosa invasion.
The Kosa army, however, did not care for such things.
The one who reported the news to the village was Yusian, the eldest son of the Sto family. Despite being a peasant, he arrived on horseback, surprising the villagers. Yusian gave everyone only a brief greeting and rushed into the Linz family manor.
Everyone abandoned their work and crowded around the manor.
The one looking after the Linz family in their absence was the eldest son, Deek, also known as Dicrit Linz, a magnanimous and imposing man of twenty-eight, whose popularity in the village was higher than that of his father, Bude.
Before evening, Deek let the gathered people into the manor grounds.
"For the last two or three days, the movements of the Kosa people seem to have become active. I hear they may come to this village."
The equestrian people of the grasslands were supposed to be staying around the area called the Fields of Brazm.
Was the Royal Army deployed in the east not confronting them and blocking the Kosa's westward advance?
"I don't know for sure," Deek's tone was gentle, as if speaking to children. "They likely found a path to bypass the Fields of Brazm and circle around behind the Royal Army. I believe the enemy intends to seize this village and the neighboring villages. If this village is taken, the Royal Army will be forced to deal with enemies in front and behind."
"Just what are we supposed to do?"
Yack, the head of the Huser family, asked.
"Fight," Deek Linz looked around at the villagers with a calm face. "I will have everyone evacuate to the old castle of Garvi."
"We'll hole up in the old castle and fight, right?"
"That is correct. I want you to convey this to your neighbors without missing a single household. Pack your necessities into one wagon and enter the old castle within today. From today, you will sleep and wake in the old castle. It is harvest time, but I want everyone to commute to the fields from the old castle and bring the harvested crops back to the castle. I think you understand by now, but this is an emergency system. Taxes will be exempted, but I want food to be contributed."
Those listening all began to move their bodies restlessly.
"Go on,"
As Deek quietly commanded, the villagers rushed out all at once, leaping from the manor. There were men crying as they ran. The village would likely be burned. They didn't even know what would happen to their lives.
The old castle of Garvi is a stone castle built in an ancient era, a ruined castle surrounded by a lonely grove. Except for the fort newly built by Urgil Necrat in the forest called the "Walnut Forest," it is the only defensive facility in the region. When an attack from another territory occurs, the people of the three neighboring villages are to evacuate to this old castle.
Since the villages take turns cleaning it once a year, it is not terribly dilapidated. Repairing collapsed sections is also part of the labor obligation, so the shape of the castle is somehow maintained.
Silio of the Brin family cannot hide his excitement upon entering the castle for the first time. Silio's best friend, Pug of the Geese family, was frightened. He had heard that ghosts appear in the old castle.
Silio's older sister Liza and the daughter of the Hamige family, Ilia, are thinking about which boy they will share the sweet treats they put their effort into making.
The villagers pitched tents or built huts inside the double walls called the inner ward, racing to secure their own spots. While there were no notable fights over securing spots, troubles occurred frequently here and there.
Everyone is on edge. Tate of the Lessen family declared loudly.
"Anyone who steals from my house will have their arm cut off. Any man who touches my daughter, I'll rip the skin off his backside!"
Tate's daughter Tana listened to her father's declaration with a face of despair.
On the other hand, bright voices of reunion with daughters who had married into neighboring villages or distant relatives rose here and there. People are crowded and enclosed in the inner ward, which is not that wide. It seems that if one moves their body, they will touch someone's skin. Since they must spend some time here, a mood of wanting to get along as harmoniously as possible also flowed through this shelter.
The village's most beautiful girl, Saria, visited the hut of the Litar couple, Gorai and Nebi.
The couple had stockpiled firewood in the hut, leaving little room.
"When it gets cold, this should become food," Gorai Litar boasted of his ingenuity, flaring his nostrils. "I don't mean eating firewood, y'know?"
"Uncle, Auntie, did you meet Yusian from the Sto house?"
The couple shook their heads with dark faces.
"Have you heard anything about Hink?"
"No. If we hear, we'll tell you," Nebi Litar said. "So you tell us too if you find out anything."
Saria firmly promised and left the place.
If the inner ward is a large oval surrounded by castle walls, there is an area partitioned by high walls in the middle. The area beyond the wall is called the inner keep, the castle's headquarters where the keep is located. Beyond the inner keep is the other half of the oval, symmetrical to where the villagers are. It is the activity area for the soldiers and the place to intercept the enemy. It is called the outer ward.
The place where the villagers are evacuating should probably be called the rear ward.
The gate connecting the rear ward and the inner keep was wide open, and Saria loitered around its vicinity.
She is waiting for Yusian of the Sto family to pass by. Yusian had been on the battlefield until recently. He might know of Hink's whereabouts. Saria wanted to know if Hink was safe.
There were sentries on both sides of the gate, looking at Saria suspiciously. Finally, she was questioned.
"Do you have some business?"
She couldn't say she wanted to talk to Yusian. If she did, she would surely be scolded. The sentry is already irritated.
Saria suddenly had an inspiration. "I heard there aren't enough people in the kitchen. I thought I might be able to help..."
If she enters the inner keep, she might have a chance to talk to Yusian, and she might understand the situation in Brazm from the soldiers' talk.
The two sentries relaxed their stern expressions slightly and looked at each other.
"Come this way."
Called by one of the sentries, Saria stepped into the inner keep.
"You know that building. In the hut next to it is the kitchen entrance. Go ask if there is work."
Saria gave her thanks and trotted toward the hut. The hut seems to be a food storehouse. It is dark and chilly. There is a door at the back. When she opened it, heat hit her face. Steam, brightly lit by the fire of the stove, came toward her.
The person managing the kitchen was someone from Flink Village. It was a woman named Mrs. Carson, who had been the head maid of the Linz family manor, and she was about fifty. Saying there was plenty of work, she welcomed Saria.
Mrs. Carson was skilled at directing work, and Saria soon began to understand what moved in what order in this kitchen to mass-produce meals. By the time she became able to move ahead of the work a bit on her own, Saria suddenly noticed a boy with his sleeves rolled up.
"Dunkin!"
When Dunkin saw Saria, his face stiffened, and he tried to flee. Saria grabbed the boy by the collar.
"What's with you? Are you holding a grudge?"
"It ain't... it ain't like that!"
Dunkin looked at Saria defiantly. From that expression, Saria realized.
The youths gathered in the shelter were all lent weapons and armor and were stationed for the castle's defense. In the midst of that, Dunkin is ashamed that he is being made to do menial work in the kitchen.
"If you're bothered by what I said before, I'm sorry. You're admirable."
"Hmph."
"I'm working here too, so teach me various things, okay?"
"I don't know anything."
Dunkin turned his face away with a huff and carried a large platter. However, there was an embarrassed smile on his flushed cheeks, so Saria thought he would soon be in a better mood.
Two days passed, then three.
During the day, she goes to the fields with her parents. When the sun sets, she goes to the kitchen to prepare food. Opportunities to talk to Yusian hardly appear.
And the Kosa people do not appear either.
One day, an elderly man whom Mrs. Carson and the castle people call Watt-san came to the kitchen and spoke to Saria.
"You are Saria of the Canon family from Flink Village, yes?"
"Yes."
"From today, you shall attend to Deek-sama's personal needs."
At the words "attend to personal needs," Saria felt an ominous impression. "I'll have to consult with my father and mother about that."
"I have already obtained your parents' permission, though it was on my own accord."
"I—I have a fiancé."
"I hadn't heard that. Who is it?"
—Hink of the Litar family.
When Saria answered, Watt-san pursed his lips and lowered his eyes. He turned his face away, shading his pupils.
She felt a chill run through her heart.
Saria asked, "Do you... know something?"
"No, I know nothing—do not misunderstand. You are simply to wash Deek-sama's clothes and serve tea."
—Come to the keep as soon as you are ready.
Leaving those words, Watt-san departed.
"Hey, Saria. You're not actually planning to go, are you?"
Dunkin, who had been listening nearby, had a worried face.
"I'm going,"
Saria said, staring at Watt-san's back. The apprehension in her chest would not subside.
"If I ask Deek-sama, I might find out something about Hink."
She began work the next day. Limiting field work to the morning, from afternoon until night, Saria worked near Deek-sama.
Saria became almost the only young girl working in the keep, which was full of men.
The soldiers mostly have serious faces. Soldiers who were talking about truly serious matters glared at her just because Saria directed her gaze toward them. Soldiers who were pretending to be serious suddenly broke their expressions when they saw Saria, saying lewd things in a skillful way of teasing.
For the lower-ranking soldiers, it ended there, but the higher-ranking soldiers always reached out whenever Saria turned her back. They would touch her buttocks. Saria did not just let it happen. She splashed hot tea on the insolent ones and cursed them in a loud voice for others to hear.
The soldiers laughed. They made light of the protests Saria made with all the courage she could muster. The soldiers did not stop secretly touching Saria's body.
Deek Linz only orders Saria to do this or that. He does not even look at Saria's face. It seemed unlikely that Saria would become Deek's plaything, as she had worried. That was something to be glad about, but on the other hand, there was no atmosphere where he would answer Saria's personal questions.
At a military council meeting, Saria was ordered to serve, and as she went around the council table, she poured tea into empty cups. The man who always stroked her buttocks stroked Saria's flank with the back of his hand at that moment.
Deek, who had been talking earnestly at the head of the table, stopped talking.
After a while of silence, Deek said, "Saria, the serving is enough. Stand behind me."
Saria did as she was told.
The buttocks-stroking man turned pale. Deek remained silent for a full five minutes. Silently, he glared around the room.
All the men looked down in shame.
From that day, there were no more soldiers who made light of Saria. Not only the men who participated in the military council, but even the lower-ranking soldiers began to avoid Saria.
Once, she saw a man who had roughly grabbed her breast in the keep's corridor.
There were people around, but Saria walked toward the man.
"Hey, you piece of trash. You have something to apologize for, don't you?"
Since she was truly angry at that piece-of-trash man, she had intended to tell him off if she saw him. The piece-of-trash man left the scene in a retreating manner.
Saria's feelings did not clear.
Deek Linz had an office, and when Saria brought meals to that room, she thanked him.
"Mm," the young lord of the Linz family did not even lift his face from his book. "I'm sorry. For various things. You may leave for tonight."
With those words, Saria's feelings finally cleared.
Shortly thereafter, the sound of an ominous horn echoed through Flink Village.
It was right around the time of the lunch break.
Silio and Liza of the Brin family, Ilia of the Hamige family, Pug of the Geese family, Pel and the younger brothers of the Litar family. The children were all playing nearby, obeying their parents' instructions. Hearing the sound of the horn, they ran back to their parents in a flash.
Silio and Liza of the Brin family tilted their heads, feeling that the back of a man running away from their mother looked like Dunkin.
Tana appeared from the wheat field while fixing her disheveled clothes, making her father Tate frown. From the same place, the good-for-nothing second son of the Huser family appeared nonchalantly, and it almost came to a fistfight with Tate.
The Litar couple also tumbled out of the wheat field in a panic. The couple silently embraced their eldest daughter Pel and their young sons.
The villagers headed for the old castle of Garvi, calling out to each other as if taking roll call.
When passing through the castle gate, everyone looked back at their nostalgic village behind them. At this point, the Kosa people had not yet shown themselves.
People from the neighboring Darken Village and Sogju Village also arrived at the castle one after another, and by the time their intake was finished, shadows of cavalry appeared sporadically at the edge of Flink Village.
Tension rose in the old castle. The soldiers hid in the walkways, staring intently at the shadows of the elegantly running cavalry through the gaps in the breastworks.
For nearly a day and night, the people of the old castle remained silent. They were like children who believe that if they speak, the ogre will find them. The soldiers in the watchtower, while feeling nauseous at the number of cavalry increasing with time, counted the enemy soldiers without losing their composure.
"Two to three hundred."
This report was delivered to Deek in the keep.
This number sparked a debate in a room of the keep.
"We strike out," the one who argued vehemently was the elder Macmillan of the Tibon family, the lord of Darken Village. "Prepare immediately."
"No. We will commit ourselves to defense,"
Deek argued.
"Now, now, now," the one soothing them was Regio of the Sharon family, the lord of Sogju Village.
Compared to the Tibon and Sharon families, the social standing of the Linz family is higher, and they are recognized as the regional leaders. It is proper for both families to follow the Linz family.
"However, Deek-dono is young," Macmillan said.
If the combat power of both sides is balanced, it is natural to go out boldly and drive them away. If one holes up in fear, one will be seen as weak.
—No, that's wrong.
Deek denied this head-on. If they go out now, they will expose everything they have. The opponent will likely retreat for the moment and return with three times the number of soldiers.
"There's no way we can just stay tucked away. The more time passes, the more the enemy will increase their numbers. The situation will worsen. We should take action before that."
"The Royal Army has notified us of the Kosa invasion. If we endure here, reinforcements will come. In the first place—"
It is suspicious that the opponent is not showing hostility. If they cannot endure here, they will be playing into the enemy's hands.
Deek persisted, and Macmillan did not back down. Their respective arguments were not stated so straightforwardly. The soldiers brought up past grudges and favors that the three villages held toward each other, and the path of the discussion frequently twisted.
Large men wearing armor and carrying swords shouted in a state of excitement, their faces changing color as if they might foam at the mouth. Insults and abuse were rampant, and they glared and intimidated each other with bulging veins; the military council felt as if it were a tinderbox ready to ignite.
Saria was there in her usual serving role. She watched the progress while trembling. She intended to flee immediately if it turned into a fistfight. It was a surprise to Saria that it ultimately did not become a brawl.
Late at night, Saria visited Deek's office intending to clear the dishes. Deek was standing by the window, gazing at the night sky.
"Please do your best, Deek-sama. I'm rooting for you."
Since Saria is a daughter of Flink Village, she is naturally biased toward the Linz family.
"Mm."
While still gazing at the night sky, Deek-sama extended his large, thick palm.
That hand entered Saria's hair and stroked her cheek.
Saria thought it was strangely overfamiliar and felt suspicious. Then, Deek-sama also looked down at Saria as if surprised and hurriedly withdrew his hand.
"Sorry. ...I, well, I married when I was young. However, my wife died of illness before she could give birth to a child—it's no excuse, but at that time..."
Saria looked at Deek-sama's face. She knew he had dignified features, but what was there was the face of a lonely man. Instinctively, Saria wrapped both her hands around Deek's large, bony hand.
"We're counting on you. Everyone in the village is with you."
"Yeah. That's true."
The acting young lord floated something like a smile and patted Saria's shoulder.
It was before noon the next day. A commotion occurred in the rear ward. The villagers of Flink Village and the villagers of Darken Village clashed. The full details of what had been discussed in the keep yesterday had leaked to the shelter. Whether someone leaked it intentionally or someone let it slip carelessly.
"The Flink lot have no guts, eh."
"The Darken fools have no wit, eh."
At first, they were just venting their displeasure and anxiety on the other party. That escalated into a sudden confrontation, and middle-aged men like Gorai and Tate approached the people of Darken with the momentum of rolling up their sleeves.
"Don't get cocky, you toothless bastard. By whose mercy are you being sheltered in this castle!"
"What's this, you spineless coward. If you don't like it, you lot get the hell out!"
Women like Mrs. Brin and Mrs. Geese did not stay silent either.
"Whether it's the common land or the common forest, we had to give in because the Darken lot were whimpering!"
"Back off, woman. Shall I plug that fertilizer-smelling place of yours!"
"What was that?"
"You wanna go?"
With this, it became a brawl. The brawl that occurred in the morning was still localized. The people of Sogju Village watched with laughter.
It was a scale that was calmed down by soldiers who came out from the inner keep.
In the afternoon, the people of Sogju Village began to bring up complicated matters, saying, "Regarding the common land, we also have a say."
The common land and common forest problems are deep-rooted, alongside water rights issues. Each has their own say. The people of Flink Village, Darken Village, and Sogju Village stated their respective claims heatedly. Not stopping at stating them, practical actions were taken to seal opposing opinions. The sound of a fist popping against a man's cheek echoed, and the roar of returning fists rang out.
Voices that were neither shouts nor screams rose to the heavens.
A melee where the three villages were all mixed together began throughout the narrow rear ward. Things were thrown. They charged into the opponent's ranks. Women and children fled in confusion, holding their heads. Roars that were unbearable to hear became screams.
The sound of the riot likely reached the Kosa people in Flink Village and appalled the invaders.
"Look at that."
In the keep, Macmillan Tibon was blaming Deek while looking down at the commotion.
"I cannot leave this to you. I will have you take responsibility for this commotion, Lord Linz."
"What, what are you saying?"
When Deek, who was by the window, turned around, four of Macmillan's subordinates with drawn swords were poised.
Deek sighed, removed his sword belt, and handed it to the elderly knight.
"If we go out now, the Kosa army will certainly crush us, Lord Tibon."
"As I thought, you intended to let them overlook us."
"The villages around here are not that important for either Siddim or Kosa. The points that control life and death are elsewhere. It would be useless bloodshed."
"For the sake of the country, I will do what can be done. Enough. Come."
Macmillan of Darken Village went so far as to tie Deek's wrists, led him out of the meeting hall in the great room, and locked him in an empty room.
"Silence the Flink lot!"
Macmillan ordered his subordinate men.
Saria watched this while hiding in the shadows.
—I have to help him.
That was what she thought instinctively.
Macmillan deployed a suppression force to the scene of the brawl. This, conversely, threw the situation into a vortex of chaos. Farmers are sturdy men who move their bodies daily. The youths deployed were, in the first place, neighborhood brats. They were chicks dressed in armor that didn't fit.
The farmers looked down on the soldiers. They figured the soldiers wouldn't draw their swords anyway, and indeed, they didn't.
Losing patience with the situation that would not calm down, Macmillan appeared on the walkway of the curtain wall partitioning the inner keep and the rear ward.
"Enough! Stop it! Calm down!"
Darken Village became quiet with that, but Flink Village and Sogju Village did not.
"What's this, what's this!"
"What happened to Deek-sama!"
The farmers shouted while bleeding sluggishly.
"From this moment, I shall take charge of this castle!" Macmillan's single sentence could be called reckless.
It wasn't just the farmers. There were many from Flink Village among the soldiers as well.
"Get back!"
"What are you babbling!"
Since they couldn't reach him, everyone threw stones.
For the first time in his life, Macmillan was showered with stones. This is a peasant uprising, the old man Macmillan thought, putting aside his own usurpation.
It was a collapse of order with no shame or reputation. He thought of ordering the archers to fire arrows into the rioters and tried to command. However, the stone-throwing did not stop, and he had no such opportunity.
Macmillan endured, covering his head with his cloak.
The one who raised their voice was Yusian of the Sto family.
"Everyone, listen to me!" Yusian saw that there was no choice but to soothe them with words. "People of Flink, listen! If things stay like this, people will die! Macmillan-sama's words just now must be some kind of mistake. He will surely bring Deek-sama back. After all, Deek-sama is the only person the three villages recognize as a leader. Right!"
Yusian looked up at Macmillan on the curtain wall. Macmillan stepped back flusteredly.
—Deek, Deek...
From among the villagers, a chant rose quietly. The chant gradually overlapped.
—Deek! Deek! Deek!
The people took one step, two steps forward. Their destination was the inner keep.
"Close the gates!" Macmillan said in a panic. "Disloyalists! Insolent ones!"
For a moment, the villagers and Macmillan seemed to stare at each other.
If the next moment arrived, the balance would break, and the villagers would become a mob and flood into the inner keep; it was on that precipice.
A shadow came along the curtain wall walkway with a leisurely stride.
He was leading about ten soldiers with spears upright.
"Calm down, everyone."
Deek Linz looked down at the villagers and spoke while rubbing his wrists.
"Listen calmly. I want you to listen with a peaceful heart. The Royal Army will certainly come. Both my father and brother are with the Royal Army and are aware of the situation here. We have no way to survive other than to believe in that. I shall be ashamed of my own weakness for making you anxious and failing to unite you. However, those who hold stones in their hands, please be ashamed of yourselves. Is it not now the time for us three villages to unite our hearts and combine our strength to overcome this!"
The villagers dropped the stones at their feet one after another.
Voices praising Deek surged up all at once.
Saria heard those voices from the edge of the walkway. She looked at Dunkin next to her and exchanged a smile. Both of their faces were stained pitch black with soot. Saria, with the help of Dunkin's strength, had rescued Deek-sama by passing through the smoke hole, the fireplace chimney equipment.
At the edge of the Fields of Brazm, there are indecisive men. On one side are the Siddim people, on the other the Kosa people, each awaiting the opportunity for a decisive battle.
The Siddim army launched night attacks twice, and the Kosa army suffered not a few losses.
However, they have been quiet since they repelled the third attack.
In the tent of Great King Geraha Wolf, scouts dispatched in four directions come to report.
"So, the residents of the three surrounding villages are gathered in that old castle?"
"That is correct."
Geraha and the captain of the scout unit are sitting opposite each other across a handmade map spread on a cloth.
—According to an old woman who remained in the village.
The captain said. About two thousand five hundred people are holed up in the castle. Among them, six to seven hundred are soldiers.
"Though we call them soldiers, they are likely people who were given spears yesterday or today."
"I see."
"I believe taking it would be easy. However, the transportation is too poor. If we march toward Malfa, it will be no problem to leave them be."
"No," Geraha said. "Let's try striking them. If things go well, we might be able to lure out the Royal Army."
—Yes, it likely won't go well.
Still, it is probably worth trying.
It will broaden the front, but Geraha has confidence in controlling it if it is of this scale.
—But our destination is Malfa, above all.
The enemy soldiers of the east before his eyes are frozen. If he moves troops in the rear during that gap and surrounds Malfa City, what will happen? The focus of the war will shift from the east to Malfa City. Once he seizes the initiative, the Kosa cavalry will toy with the enemy to their heart's content, right and left.
"Strike them thoroughly. Make the enemy angry,"
Geraha ordered.
Hink Litar survived the hellish battles of the dark forest and survived the night war commanded by Sedias Thora. In a short time, he had become a veteran warrior like an old master. However, he was finally wounded in the general attack around the Twin Forts. An arrow shot through his left knee.
The army doctor cut off Hink's left leg without a word. Hink recuperated in a certain village in the east, and it took over a year before he could walk with a prosthetic leg made of a stick and crutches.
—I never thought Siddim would become like this.
Bidding farewell to the people who took care of him, Hink heads for his hometown.
He had heard from person to person what had happened in Flink Village.
Therefore, even seeing his burned-down hometown, nostalgia outweighed the shock.
After all, it was early spring, and Flink Village is full of flowers. They bloom in full glory, swaying in the breeze, as if inviting Hink. Returning to such a hometown, one cannot help but smile—though it was sad that flowers covered the wheat fields.
The people who survived ran toward Hink when they saw him.
"Oh, from the Litar family?"
"And you're from the Huser family!"
Hink asked the villagers for the location of the newly established cemetery.
Flink Village had become the territory of the Bishop of Ganlord, and a church had been newly built and moved to a different location. Wrapped in the serene sun, he went to the cemetery whistling, but when he found the intended grave, he finally fell silent.
Kneeling while managing his prosthetic leg, when he finished praying and lifted his face, he suddenly felt a presence.
Turning around, Saria stood there, unchanged from that time. Hink's eyes widened in surprise. His eyes stopped on the infant she was holding. Hink's expression shifted to a quiet smile, the same as when he gazed at the flowers blooming in his devastated hometown.
"Saria, it's been a while."
"Hink, I've been waiting. This child is—"
Saria hesitated and dropped her eyes to the ground. Hink understood.
"I see, I see! Saria!" Using his crutches skillfully, Hink stood up. "You haven't been with anyone else yet, right? I want to be this child's father. Even with a body like this."
"It's okay, Hink. It's okay."
"Despite this body, during my recovery from the leg injury, I learned reading, writing, and arithmetic from a benefactor, old man Gapp. According to him, a tavern owner can do it even without a leg. He said he'd introduce me to someone who can provide the startup funds."
Perhaps because the excited Hink staggered, Saria leaned toward Hink while supporting the baby in the baby carrier with her hand.
"Really? Is it alright?"
"Yeah, it'll definitely be alright. In times like these, any Siddim person will surely want to have a drink. Prosperity is guaranteed."
"You're right."
"We can be happy."
"Yes."
While hugging the sobbing Saria, Hink looked back at the graves of his parents, brothers, and sisters, and reported in his heart that a child had been born.