Ch.258The Scars of History. Moros Gorge (4)

The restaurant that Main brought us to was literally a ‘high-class restaurant.’

I didn’t think my vocabulary was particularly lacking, but it was truly a ‘luxurious’ restaurant that could only be described with that word.

“How… is it to your liking?”

“It’s a fine establishment. I like it.”

Main was watching our reactions carefully as soon as we entered.

Since nobles steeped in privilege most often nitpick about restaurant interiors or complain about side dishes, this must be something of an occupational disease he’s developed over his years of service.

“Thank you for saying so. Ah, please let me know in advance if you have any allergies. I’ll inform the chef.”

“Fortunately, none of us have any allergies.”

“I see… Then please enjoy your banquet at your leisure.”

Main showed a slightly relieved expression before disappearing somewhere.

The menu would be served soon, but would he get delicious food too? Or would he just get ordinary food like everyone else, represented by soup and bread?

Or he might not eat at all. I’ve heard that guides feel too self-conscious to even go to the bathroom, so they try not to eat or drink during work hours.

“Ooh~ So soft!”

“These chairs are quite large.”

When I grabbed the chair, it had a heavy, substantial feel that put ordinary sofas to shame.

Fortunately, it had wheels underneath, so it came along with a light rolling sound without requiring much effort. Perhaps a consideration for those with less strength.

Sitting down, the chair was indeed extremely soft, just as Lucia had said. Soft enough that it could serve as a bed substitute.

No, on second thought, I couldn’t embrace my wife on this chair. Regrettably, I take back my previous thought.

“It is an honor to serve a meal to such a distinguished guest. Please enjoy the feast we have prepared.”

“Ooh… here it comes.”

After waiting for a while, pretty women in pretty clothes began serving the meal, and I tried my best to look dignified while shifting my gaze toward the food rather than at them.

The moment I give those women a glance, my wife’s jealousy would begin.

Clatter… clatter…

But regardless of that, the food being placed on the table truly looked appetizing.

I know our quartermaster and cooks do their best, but faced with food like this, their dedication inevitably paled in comparison.

Once the steaming dishes were beautifully arranged on the plates, the women disappeared in an instant, and we began to honor their efforts by eating.

“Oh. This is really good.”

“As I always feel, Viktor, your compliments are too dry.”

“Good is good. I don’t like being overly dramatic.”

Saying that, I bit into the meat that released juices with every bite and the freshly baked, incredibly soft white bread.

“Being able to eat such feasts every day is what makes one nobility or royalty. Well… though they have to work much harder too…”

As I started speaking, Berkman asked me curiously.

“I sometimes think about this. Captain, you have a peculiar way of thinking.”

“Hmm?”

“You’re supposedly a street orphan, but the way you think makes you seem like fallen royalty. It’s like your reference group isn’t commoners or ordinary people, but nobles and royalty.”

“Ah… well. That’s just how I turned out. A reference group is something you need to feel a sense of belonging to… but I’ve never really felt that sense of belonging anywhere.”

“Ah…”

When I said that, Berkman closed his mouth.

If I had taken the street people as my reference group, I probably wouldn’t have killed over 50,000 people in Parcival.

Not that I consider myself nobility or royalty either. Those 50,000 included civil servants and nobles too. Though proportionally fewer, I suppose. About 7 to 3.

“I… might have just been observing or contemplating from a distance. I had the confidence that I could kill kings or nobles alike.”

“Hmm.”

“Of course, once I started adventuring, I realized I was nothing special. In the end, I was just a frog who was king in a well.”

I still remember that time.

The fierce battle with bandits at the cheese workshop. That trio pushed me harder than anyone else in my life.

I, who had been the nightmare of the docks, was nothing more than a beaten child at the cheese workshop.

Of course, I intellectually knew the world was vast, but when I realized that the world I knew wasn’t even a well, but merely half a cup of water, I was quite shocked.

“The world is so vast… you have no idea how my heart swelled when I went beyond Parcival to Rascal.”

“Where’s Rascal?”

“It exists. Such a place.”

I said that and resumed eating.

Adventure, huh.

Even if we’re not called adventurers, we are all adventurers on this one-time adventure called life. Where one mistake can cost everything, and one choice can gain everything…

How many choices have I made so far, and how many more will I make in the future?

With these thoughts, I silently continued my meal.

*

“How was your meal?”

“Excellent. Moros’s hospitality was exemplary.”

“I’m grateful you felt that way.”

After the meal, we were guided by Main to the best hotel in Moros.

Some might think it excessive, but I am literally an apostle, God’s representative. If I don’t receive this level of treatment, it would be literal blasphemy.

We were divided into four teams—me and my wife, Simon, the elf sisters, and the dwarf brothers—and stayed in suite rooms. Though not as good as the suite rooms in Aparcart, they were flawless for a luxurious stay.

“Room service will be covered by us, so please enjoy to your heart’s content.”

“Your sincerity is commendable. You may go now.”

“Then… farewell.”

Main disappeared once more, and I unfastened the Purifier from my belt, sat on the sofa, and began to enjoy the languor.

Perhaps due to post-meal drowsiness, sleep gradually overcame me.

What quietly woke me was my wife’s head leaning against me as she sat beside me.

“Are you tired?”

“Perhaps… It’s exhausting maintaining a dignified attitude in front of others.”

“Then you could just honestly show your true self…”

“That’s a deadly suggestion. It might work for you as a woman, but I’m a man. As you’ve seen, there are still those in the world of Four who worship the Two. Whether I like it or not, I must be their focal point and hope. If I show them a whining or quarrelsome side, they’ll feel abandoned by their savior.”

Now as ever, appearances matter.

Even a collapsing nation can inspire hope if its head of state is well-dressed and sits solemnly on the throne, while even the mightiest nation will seem doomed if its leader looks like a beggar picking his nose.

The same applies to apostles.

God’s representative must show maximum dignity; if I appear too casual, the already intimidated followers of the Sun and Moon would wail, “This isn’t the apostle we wanted! ㅠㅠ”

“Being an apostle… is uncomfortable.”

“Indeed. But I shouldn’t complain. I chose this, just as you chose to be my wife.”

“Really!”

My wife pouted like that and closed her eyes.

I knew what that meant, and quietly took off my top and kissed her.

“Why is it that despite doing this, we still don’t have a child?”

“In my dream… Lady Maria told me.”

“Maria?”

I couldn’t help but open my eyes wide at that name.

Just as I am the Sun’s apostle, she is the Moon’s apostle, but unlike my relationship with the Sun where I can communicate just by thinking, she apparently can only communicate in unconscious states like dreams.

“What did she say?”

“That… it would be too difficult if it happened now… that she would prevent it, so we could do as we pleased at least until the pilgrimage ends…”

“Good heavens…”

[What? This woman didn’t even consult with me…?]

Lord Saburo…? You didn’t know either?

[I had no idea…. Wait a minute… So have you become impotent? Or has your wife become barren?]

Huh? That’s right? Have I been semi-forcibly made impotent??

[No wonder no child was coming! You two enjoy yourselves! I’ll go have a talk with my wife!]

This is confusing…

“Honey?”

“Sigh… If you heard such a thing, you should have told me.”

“I… couldn’t find the right timing…”

“This is unacceptable. Know that you won’t be leaving the bed today.”

“♥”

And so I poured my inexplicable anger into union with my wife. When the moon rose, the Sun’s message came.

[….]

How did it go?

[…I just got scolded that there’s no need to ruin young people’s prime… I’m sorry… I can’t do anything about this… my wife manages the women…]

Oh my…

Why does this remind me of a defeated husband sitting powerlessly at the dinner table after losing a marital argument?

I lamented my situation, having suddenly become a seedless man, with tears in my eyes.

*Sob*…