episode_0112

A massive fire swept through Brizdon, but fortunately, no one was hurt. This was because everyone happened to be in the village square preparing dinner.

Thanks to everyone working together and responding quickly, they were able to prevent the flames from spreading to Dragonaz Forest.

The houses on the hill and the fields were all burned down, but… wasn’t it incredibly fortunate that no one was injured?

…Yes. Truly, genuinely fortunate.

If even one person had been harmed, Tia wouldn’t have been safe either.

When they had extinguished the embers and the situation had calmed down.

Those who had recovered their senses first checked what had been lost.

Two hills’ worth of fields were completely burned.

And seven houses, including the warehouse, were burned down.

Aunt Sherry’s house, the most beautiful in their village, also disappeared that day.

The fields could be tilled again.

Losing their homes was painful, but it was a problem that could be solved by rebuilding.

However, there was a major, irreversible problem.

The precious firewood needed to endure the remaining winter.

And all the timber for the ‘bridge’ that was to be built next spring had been burned to ashes.

To obtain the already scarce timber, I had personally negotiated with the Lord of Taildon.

But all of it had been in vain.

With just a single fire.

I and the villagers had lost all the timber we had painstakingly gathered.

Now… the village’s very existence had reached a critical moment.

People despaired.

“We’re finished now. It’s all over.”

“Ah…”

Even if I had witnessed this scene directly, I would have been just as deeply shocked and heartbroken as the villagers.

But I would have quickly shaken off the anxious thoughts, urged everyone to gather their strength again, and started thinking of countermeasures.

Unfortunately, the villagers no longer had the composure to be ‘rational’.

The wise Village Head-nim, who had governed the small village for fifty years, had suddenly passed away.

I, who had been designated as the Village Head-nim’s successor, was bitten by a bear.

Soon after, a terrible plague had enveloped the village, causing great suffering.

Just when I had finally managed to regain my bearings and things were starting to improve slightly after I woke up…

I was struck down by Fosao again, and a massive forest fire erupted, causing us to lose everything.

In this situation, there was no one patient or courageous enough to say, ‘Let’s try again!’

All that remained for them was despair and futility.

And a thirst for revenge against the ‘someone’ who had brought them to this state.

Who would bear this immense responsibility, one too heavy to even dare to shoulder?

Who was it that jeopardized Brizdon’s existence?

Naturally, there was no need for further discussion.

The fire had started in the warehouse, and its manager was Tia.

Tia was dragged forward like a criminal.

She stumbled and was pulled along without any resistance, then forced to her knees.

“Tia Anshier.”

With all the villagers present, seeing the gazes fixed upon her, Tia…

…seemed to finally realize that she had to distance herself from everything she loved.

Uncle Marvin said.

“Your sins, which led to Ritsu’s death and burned down the village warehouse, rightfully deserve execution by burning.”

“…”

“However, in accordance with your mother Helina’s dying wish, our past affection, and as a final act of mercy, we have agreed not to impose the ultimate penalty on you.”

Tia bowed her head.

“However, the majority has judged that we can no longer live with you in the village, and therefore, it has been resolved to permanently banish Tia Anshier from Brizdon.”

Banishment.

It didn’t just mean being driven out of Brizdon.

It was a punishment that erased every trace of a girl named ‘Tia’ who had lived in this village.

From the moment that sentence was passed, Tia became a person with no connection to Brizdon.

No, to be precise, she became ‘an outsider who could never return to Brizdon’.

If she were to step foot on its border, she could be killed by a person of Brizdon without it being considered a crime….

She had become an exile.

Marvin commanded.

“Leave the village before dawn.”

In other words, it meant that if Tia remained in the village until dawn, she would be killed.

Tia stood up weakly.

And as someone who was once a resident of Brizdon, she offered her final farewell.

“…Thank you.”

There was no reply.

Facing the cold stares directed at her, Tia walked towards the main house.

The main house had accumulated dust from not having its owner for a long time.

Considering Tia’s habit of always keeping things tidy, one could tell how long she hadn’t been able to return home.

After all, Tia had been shuttling between the apothecary and the warehouse for nearly a week, barely sleeping.

“…”

She didn’t take anything from the house.

Leaving everything in its place, she sank down onto the cold floor.

As if trying to recall the memories lingering in this place, she quietly closed her eyes and pulled her knees to her chest.

Why had it come to this?

Where had it gone wrong?

Even I, who had watched all these memories, didn’t know.

Would Tia know?

*Swish-*.

Tia stood up.

She approached the wardrobe as if going out for a casual stroll.

She took out an old leather belt from the wardrobe.

She looked down at the belt in her hand without a word, then slowly wrapped it around her waist.

And she slipped in the Rose Saber that was leaning against the wall.

*Click.*

She took out a cloak, draped it over her shoulders, and tied her boots securely.

Finally, Tia reached a hand into her chest.

*Clink.*

She took out a ruby necklace, squeezed it tightly in her hand once.

Then, with empty hands, she pushed open the door of the main house.

*Creak-*.

That’s how Tia left Brizdon.

Leaving all her memories behind in the main house.

She disappeared into the deep darkness that had settled.

No one was there to see Tia off.

Since her mother died, she had been left alone in the village.

She was alone even when she left.

*** * ***

I opened my eyes.

A clear blue sky was visible.

I sat up.

The beautiful chirping of forest birds could be heard.

“…”

It was a strange feeling.

What I had just seen were terrible and cruel memories that had cast a shadow over Tia’s heart.

The fact that Brizdon ‘now’ looked so serene and ephemeral…

It was too alien.

A little distance away, Marie was there.

What was Marie thinking?

With her shimmering golden hair fluttering, she gazed blankly down at Brizdon.

Marie inadvertently turned around, and her eyes met mine.

“Ritsu Oppa. Are you feeling a bit better?”

“…Ah, yes. How long was I asleep?”

“Just a moment.”

“Is that so.”

I opened my palm.

I had been gripping it so tightly that when I peeled off the gold coin, a bright red mark remained on my palm.

Haha. Well… that’s interesting.

When Tia first gave me this gold coin, it left a mark like this too.

Marie asked.

“A gold coin? Where did you find it?”

“In the warehouse. It was originally mine.”

“Yours, Oppa?”

Her gaze showed she didn’t understand why I would say ‘originally mine,’ when the owner of a coin could change at any time.

I stuffed the gold coin into my pocket so I wouldn’t lose it.

“Marie.”

“Yes?”

“I want to go to Tia’s house.”

We descended the hill together.

*Thump. Thump.*

I had thought it wasn’t far from the village warehouse to Tia’s house.

But today, it felt incredibly distant.

Had Tia walked this long distance multiple times every day?

She even went up from the warehouse to the apothecary again. So, in reality, she must have walked even more.

What thoughts had she had during those long walks?

Walking this path across the village, she must have had to watch people’s reactions.

I tried to imagine.

That I was being glared at from all sides.

The feeling was like… being a criminal walking over hot coals.

“We’re here.”

Tia’s house came into view.

“…”

Aside from the fence being slightly broken, it looked exactly as it always had.

The villagers must have been utterly indifferent after driving Tia out, as, fortunately, the house remained intact.

I approached closer.

The wooden door, which always required a code to open, also remained the same.

Marie said.

“This door has a code, so maybe just climb over the fence…”

“I know the code.”

I immediately placed my hand on the wooden block to enter the code.

Four grooves, starting from the front. Skip two, skip two.

February 2nd.

I already knew that the code for this wooden door was ‘Tia’s birthday’.

*Click. Click.*

I accurately inserted the wooden blocks and tried to open the door.

*Thud.*

“…”

The wooden door didn’t open.

Thinking I might have entered the code incorrectly, I counted the number of wooden blocks again.

Skip two, skip two.

It was correct.

It was February 2nd.

But why… wasn’t the wooden door’s handle opening?

*Thud! Thud!*

I pulled hard with force, but the wooden door remained firmly locked and wouldn’t open.

Marie asked worriedly.

“Could it be that it’s been neglected for so long it’s not working anymore?”

“…”

Long?

Moving back and forth through the illusions of memory, I realized my sense of time had faded.

“Marie. What day is it today?”

“Well… last time you said it was April 16th when you and Oppa had meat stew…”

Marie said, folding her fingers one by one.

“Today is April 20th.”

“April 20th…”

So much time had passed.

Perhaps Marie was right.

Tia left this place a hundred days ago from now.

If spring storms had swept through a few times in three months, then since this door was a ‘wooden’ door…

There was a possibility it had rotted somewhere and wasn’t functioning properly.

But even if I wanted to believe that… this wooden door had been made by Tia’s parents.

That was over twenty years ago.

It was hard to believe that a wooden door which had endured so long without problems would coincidentally break down now.

My intuition, though it seemed unlikely…

…was that the ‘code seemed to have changed’.

However, for some reason, no memories could be read from the wooden door.

“Wait here for a moment.”

I placed my hands on the fence, then jumped with all my might and swung my body over.

*Thud.*

I easily cleared the fence and landed in the yard.

In truth, this wooden door wasn’t a security device to prevent people who didn’t know the code from entering.

If one could easily climb over the fence like this, what could it possibly stop?

The wooden door was simply… a commemorative door made by Tia’s parents.

Like an offering made to the Divine Dragon-nim during a baptism.

According to Tia, no one but her parents and herself knew the code, so it must have been a kind of code shared only among ‘family’.

Before the code was Tia’s birthday, she said it was her parents’ ‘wedding anniversary’.

It must be a door that commemorates something related to such ‘anniversaries’.

“…”

First, I went up the stairs.

I placed my hand on the doorknob connected to the interior and gently pushed.

A sense of anticipation arose, as if Tia might be inside…

*Creak-*.

Light seeped into the deep darkness.

I opened it, recalling the interior’s appearance as it remained in my memory, but as its form gradually revealed itself, as the light brightened the interior…

…my expectations began to go awry.

“…”

The interior was different.

It was completely different from the ‘last appearance’ I had seen in my memories.

What is this?

Tia had clearly left the house as it was before she left Brizdon.

But the interior of the main house that I saw now…

It felt empty.

Items that had been on the shelf were gone, and books that had been on the desk were also gone.

Had the villagers come in and stolen things arbitrarily?

But to say that, the interior itself was intact.

The window panes were as they were, and the door too.

To consider it robbed by a thief, there were no traces of anything being roughly ripped off or broken.

The first thing that caught my eye was the ‘bed’.

I gently pressed it with my hand.

*Creak-. Squeak-*.

Perhaps due to the dust, the bed creaked as if it would collapse.

I turned slightly to the side and looked closely.

“…”

There were cracks in the frame supporting the bed.

As if something heavy had pressed down on it with great force, a broken piece jutted out downwards.

I turned my eyes to look at the kitchen.

The kitchen tools also remained as they were.

Even the cast iron pan and basket that Tia frequently used.

However, these too were scattered haphazardly.

The moment I casually reached out to the cast iron pan to tidy it up.

“Ugh…?!”

A wave of unpleasantness washed over me.

“Haa… haa…”

I recalled a familiar feeling.

“…”

I lifted my head and looked around.

Only then could I see.

That this entire house was completely covered in ‘unpleasant memories’.