episode_0142

Tia’s house.

What was commonly called ‘the big house’ was, true to its name, a fairly large cabin in Breezedon.

Perhaps twenty years ago, it must have been the largest house.

That is, until Aunt Sherry built the annex and decorated the large yard.

But even after relinquishing the title of ‘the biggest house in the village’, its sheer size certainly hadn’t diminished.

The house stood alone on a hillside, slightly separated from the village center, near a stream.

When Tia arrived before it… she still looked small.

“……”

Tia silently gazed up at her house.

Her red eyes softened with a sense of nostalgia.

What emotions filled her?

Was she not happy to return home a month after being expelled from the village?

Yet, no one greeted Tia upon her return to her hometown.

As a desolate wind howled, whipping her hair…

…was Tia truly happy?

It was as she blankly stared at the house that Fosao came up from behind, straining as he carried a trunk.

“Huff— Ugh, it’s really… hard climbing up. Huff—.”

Tia gestured towards her house as if to guide him.

“Go on in and rest.”

“Mm-hm. Y-yeah, I should.”

Click. Click.

She quickly unlocked the wooden door and let the panting Fosao inside.

Once indoors, the two put down their belongings and looked around.

Everything was as it was.

It seemed the villagers hadn’t so much as approached Tia’s house. Even when Tailden’s soldiers raided, this place seemed untouched.

Perhaps it was hidden below the hill and went unnoticed, or they simply passed by after confirming it was empty.

In any case, Tia’s house was exactly as she had left it.

Fosao flopped down onto the bed, chuckling.

“Heh… L-long time no see. Tia’s house.”

“Just a moment.”

Tia opened the door to the cellar and looked inside.

However, finding nothing she wanted, she shook her head and closed the door again.

“I thought there might be some firewood left for the hearth, but there isn’t.”

“Then it’ll be c-cold at night, won’t it? W-what should we do?”

“……”

After a moment of thought, Tia looked around with eyes that seemed to say she needed to burn something.

But unless she tore apart the house, there was nothing obvious to burn as firewood.

Finally, when she shifted her gaze from the indoors to the outside, something caught Tia’s eye.

She saw a large tree stump embedded in the backyard.

It was the very pillar she’d spent all day swinging her short sword in front of, ostensibly for swordsmanship practice.

Tia immediately picked up an axe. Then she opened the back door and went out to the yard.

The girl who always wore her Rose Sabre at her hip and practiced swinging it in the backyard… now stood before the tree pillar, tightly gripping a single rusty, crude axe.

Soon, she swung the axe up.

Thwack!

Wood splinters flew as the axe bit deep into the pillar.

Tia twisted the axe out, then put her strength into striking the same spot again.

Thwack!

In the quiet Breezedon, the sound of the pillar being broken into pieces echoed emptily.

“Haa… haa…”

Clunk!

Tia let the heavy axe fall to the ground.

The tree pillar, which had always silently served as her swordsmanship practice partner, was now shattered into small pieces of wood.

I… had once stood before that pillar, gripping a sword and striking a pose.

The sunlight blazing down on my back. And the sensation of Tia’s warm chest still lingered in my memory.

The only one who shared that beautiful memory was the tree pillar.

…Nothing remained in the backyard.

Not our memories of chuckling and sharing a water pouch.

Not my playful teasing, mischievously asking whom she would nominate for the baptism.

Not Tia’s reply, as she shyly scratched her cheek and said, ‘Of course…’

Not a single thing remained.

Rattle, rattle.

Tia swept up the broken wood pieces and put them into a sack.

Her back, as she squatted, looked like… an undertaker disposing of unknown skeletal remains.

The pieces of wood, imbued with our memories, were thrown directly into the hearth.

Kneeling before the hearth, Tia carefully kindled a flame, scraping the flint.

Whoosh!

“How is it? Is it warmer now?”

“Yes.”

Our precious memories… burned away for Fosao’s warm night.

Tia poked around in the hearth, then suddenly felt a sting and opened her palm.

Her small hand, which had gripped the axe handle, was red and swollen.

She looked closely but saw no splinters.

It was simply because she had gripped and swung something rough with her bare skin, receiving a great shock.

It was natural for a woman who didn’t usually chop wood to have her hand swell after suddenly gripping an axe and swinging it so forcefully.

…But for Tia, it was a different story.

Tia had worked tirelessly to grip a sword.

Because it was difficult for a young girl’s small hands to properly hold a large sword hilt, she diligently carried water buckets to build up her grip strength.

And after endless practice swinging a wooden sword, she had even proudly shown me the calluses that had finally formed on her hands.

That’s the kind of girl she had been.

But now, Tia’s hand… had no calluses left, the ones that had painstakingly formed to grip a sword.

It had turned into soft, clean skin, like the delicate palm of an ordinary woman.

In the world of swordsmen, there’s a saying not to neglect practicing one’s grip on the sword.

Tia herself had said it. Because she used to declare tirelessly in front of me that she would definitely become a great adventurer someday.

But Tia herself couldn’t uphold that saying.

After wielding the Rose Sabre in the Deseo arena for the last time.

She hadn’t properly gripped a sword even once since then.

It was evident in her red eyes as she looked at her swollen palm.

That she could never again wield a sword as before.

That her ambition to become a great adventurer could not be fulfilled.

Tia had realized it too.

It was as she blankly contemplated her fate.

“Tia. O-you had a tough day today.”

Fosao began to talk about what had happened earlier that day.

“But… I w-was surprised when you suddenly came down. I told you not to go o-outside.”

“But Mister, you looked so troubled. I couldn’t just listen. I’m sorry for acting on my own.”

“No. Well… it actually w-worked out. It doesn’t matter. Heh.”

Fosao scratched his thinning hair vigorously and grinned.

“I was in a hurry, so I had no choice but to say ‘my wife.’ You s-saw it too, right, Tia? Everyone’s surprised faces. Heh-heh!”

“Mister. That was too mischievous.”

Fosao was startled by Tia’s blunt voice.

“Huh?”

“If you suddenly introduce me like that, I can’t refute it, can I? Those merchants probably still think I’m really your wife, even now on their way home.”

“D-did you hate it? Being i-introduced as ‘my wife’…”

“No… It’s not that I hated it… It’s just awkward. They’ll misunderstand things too.”

“Well. W-what do you care? Heh! It’s fine, isn’t it? Even if Tia becomes my, my ‘wife’.”

At the word ‘wife,’ Tia’s eyes widened slightly in surprise.

She scratched her cheek and subtly averted her gaze.

“But we… aren’t even married yet…”

“We a-are! In Deseo, we’re a m-married couple!”

“Are you going to say ‘we’re married’ just because we have some hastily signed papers, without even having a wedding? Honestly—that’s why you’re not popular with women.”

“Ugh!”

Fosao writhed as if stabbed by a sword.

“Th-that one hurt a little… T-Tia…”

Tia let out a small laugh, her face showing resignation.

Then she got up from in front of the hearth and gently sat beside Fosao.

They sat side-by-side on the bed.

“…But I’m here by your side, aren’t I?”

“Mm-hm! Y-you are.”

“I’m not going anywhere. As much as you’ve been by my side, I’ll be by yours. So don’t be impatient.”

“Okay.”

Tia gently closed her eyes, envisioning the future as she dreamily kicked her feet.

“First, we’ll safely move together to our new house in Gordburg, then meet new people there, your business will go well, and once our life gradually becomes stable…”

Tia placed her warm palm over Fosao’s hand resting on the bed.

“I think it wouldn’t be too late to have a ‘real wedding’ then, with everyone’s blessings.”

“Tia…”

Fosao firmly clasped Tia’s hand that rested on the back of his.

Then he brought his plump face closer and asked.

“If we g-get married… will we h-have a baby?”

“Huh…?”

Tia, flustered, pulled her head back slightly.

It was Tia who, just a few days ago, had honestly said that having a baby was scary.

Since then, when they were intimate, they had always used the withdrawal method to avoid pregnancy.

After all, they had agreed to it beforehand.

Tia stammered.

“That’s…”

“Scary?”

“Yes…”

“R-Rina said that too.”

At the sudden mention of her mother’s name, Tia froze.

“Mom…?”

“Yes.”

Fosao spoke calmly, as if recalling a memory.

“Tia, you really r-resemble Rina a lot. Rina was also s-scared… when Merid was born.”

When Aunt Merid was born. That was a very long time ago.

At that time, Tia’s mother… was probably around Tia’s age now.

As her mother’s unknown past unfolded, Tia listened silently.

“Rina said she would never g-get married. But… it seems she w-wasn’t true to that. After meeting Albert… she abruptly left the village and got married right away…”

There was a hint of bitterness in his voice.

“A little later. R-Rina’s belly gradually grew bigger. W-who could the child in that belly be?”

“…Me?”

“Yes. Th-that’s right. So I a-asked Rina. If she wasn’t s-scared of having a baby. And she said…”

Fosao gazed intently at Tia.

“Rina said that T-Tia… was a blessing in life. She said you were so l-lovely.”

“…”

“And Tia… was b-born right in this house. Heh-heh. When T-Tia was a newborn baby. She was s-super cute. O-of course, you’re still cute! Heh.”

“…”

“When I t-tickled Tia’s cheek with this finger. She would squirm too.”

A gentle chuckle lingered in the air.

It was a peaceful story of an old man simply recalling faded memories.

But I, listening to that story, couldn’t suppress a rising sense of unease from the depths of my chest, for some reason.

Because I knew the ‘unrealistic’ truth:

That this girl, whom Fosao had seen since she was a squirming newborn who couldn’t even open her eyes.

Just yesterday, he had pinned her down beneath his massive belly, wildly thrashing his flabby waist, and thrust his penis into her.