Chapter 102: Words I’d Never Heard (1)

[102] 16. Words I’d Never Heard (1)

(In a hallway of an inn, Rosalia paces back and forth in front of a door, a troubled look on her face.)

Rosalia: *What should I do…? What should I do…*

(A loud thud comes from behind the door, startling Rosalia. She slumps down.)

Rosalia: *Poor soul, he must be acting this way because he can’t bear the grief of losing his leg.*

*It’s only natural. He’s already lost so much, and now even his legs…*

(A groan comes from behind the door. Rosalia touches the door with a mournful expression.)

Rosalia: *Now he’s even crying. Oh Heavenly God, If only there was a way I could console him!*

(Shouting erupts from behind the door, and Rosalia’s face turns pale.)

Rosalia: *You shameless wench! Console him?! There’s a limit to how delusional you can be!*

*Rem lost his legs because of you! You dragged him into this mess, and because you couldn’t even protect him, he had to go through all that!*

*You stupid bitch! You whore!*

*He might even be cursing you right now, and you want to console him! Console him?!*

(Rosalia’s face turns pale.)

Rosalia: *Oh God, what if he really does hate me? What if those sounds are actually him venting his anger and frustration at me?*

*Ah! What if he looks at me with eyes burning with hatred the moment I open the door! What if he attacks me?*

*Should I fall to my knees and beg for forgiveness? Or should I just accept his anger?*

*No, I’d be frozen in place, like a stone!*

(Rosalia despairs. But she soon stands up with a resolute expression.)

Rosalia: *No! I can’t back down in fear, Rosalia! You’re a noble knight of the Empire! *

*Face your sins with courage, as befits a knight.*

*If he’s angry, then I’ll apologize. And if he’s sad, then I’ll console him. That’s the right thing to do.*

*Right, then, take a deep breath, and on the count of three, enter.*

*One… two… three…!*

***

“…What are you doing?”

Rosalia couldn’t help but ask. The scene inside the room was so far from what she had expected.

He wasn’t enraged, nor was he drowning in sorrow.

Actually, he *is* angry,

but the target of that anger wasn’t Rosalia nor his fate, but a strangely shaped cylinder.

To explain in more detail,

“This damn @#$@#$, why won’t this stupid thing… just… go… in…!!”

Rem was struggling to shove the cylinder onto his thigh, his face red with effort.

“Hey! You came at the perfect time. Help me… put this on!”

Having finally noticed Rosalia, Rem spoke while struggling. However, Rosalia just stood there blankly.

Only after Rem shouted, “I said help me!” did she slowly approach him.

“J-Just a moment…”

The cylinder, which Rem had been struggling with for so long, slipped on easily as soon as Rosalia applied a little bit of force.

“As expected, it’s a bit too small, since it was based on my measurements from back then… Damn it, why did I have to grow taller in these two years… ”

Rem clicked his tongue while looking at the cylinder that was now attached to his thigh.

And only then did Rosalia recover enough sense to form words.

“Um… so will you explain now?”

“Explain what?”

Rosalia pointed to the cylinder. Rem let out a short “Ah” and scratched his head.

“Well… you see… there’s this saying where I come from. The first time is coincidence, the second time is inevitable, and the third time is fate.”

“…I’ve never heard of that before.”

“That’s because my homeland is really far from here. Anyway, you get the gist of it, right?”

Rosalia thought about it for a moment before slowly nodding her head.

“Good. So how many body parts have I lost so far?”

“Ah.”

Both hands, both eyes, and his vocal cords.

“Three in total. Well, technically, it’s six, but let’s just count the number of times I lost something.”

Rosalia was starting to understand what Rem was getting at.

Rem pulled a parchment from his clothes and took out a quill. He then started to draw a diagram on the parchment.

“After my vocal cords were fried, I decided to humbly accept a certain truth.”

“…And what’s that?”

“That God had decided to be an asshole specifically to me. Ah, and also, that it probably wasn’t going to end there. Come to think of it, that’s two things, my bad.”

Rem was speaking in a playful tone. He even had a smile on his face as he continued.

“So, back when I was a magic tool shop owner, I decided to make some simple preparations, just in case.”

“And this cylinder is the result of those preparations?”

“More precisely, it’s *part* of the result.”

Rem grinned, holding up the completed diagram. He then placed it on the chair with the ink still wet and looked at Rosalia.

“I designed prosthetic body parts for every part of my body, so that no matter what I lost, I could replace it with a machine. Of course, I excluded the brain and the heart, because if those were gone, I’d already be dead. Anyway!”

Rem puffed out his chest proudly and lifted his nose. There wasn’t a single trace of sorrow on his face.

“Isn’t it amazing? Seriously, feel free to be impressed by this. It’s something that’s never been done in the history of magical engineering. Even the founding father of the magic tower wouldn’t have been able to…”

However, what is not expressed does not equate to the lack of it.

Rosalia pulled Rem into a tight embrace. Her trembling voice came out wet with tears.

“I-I’m… s-sorry.”

The bewilderment that had been on Rem’s face slowly faded. Rosalia continued speaking, her chin trembling.

“I… I dragged you into this… I should have prevented all of this from happening… I… I…”

Her intensifying sobs turned her words into unintelligible mumbling. Feeling a wetness spreading through his chest, Rem sighed.

And then, he gently stroked her back.

“Rosalia, I’m fine.”

“No… It’s my fault… It’s because of…”

“I’m really fine.”

Rem’s bronze hand gently pulls her face away from his chest. He wiped her flowing tears with his thumb and smiled gently.

“You’re like this because you haven’t heard about my new legs yet. It’s not just some simple prosthetic, you know? Like, I can move it automatically, and even use it as a bomb…”

“But… But…”

Rosalia’s face contorted.

“Your real legs are…”

“And in the end, you saved me.”

Rem’s words were faster. He pulled her head to his chest and rested his chin on top of her head.

“Don’t overthink it. In the end, I’m alive and here, aren’t I? And probably in two weeks, I’ll be able to walk like I used to.”

“But…”

“And more importantly,”

Rem cut off Rosalia’s words firmly. Holding her tighter, he said.

“Two legs is a small price to pay for saving a friend. I have no regrets.”

Some words touch the most vulnerable parts of the heart. Rosalia felt sobs rising to her throat.

However, those sobs didn’t come out.

*Knock, knock-*

“Excuse me.”

Everything happened in an instant.

In the next moment, Rem was sprawled face-down on the bed, and Rosalia was huddled in a corner with a bright red face.

“I… my wounds haven’t healed yet…”

Rem grumbled as he got up from the bed. Then he looked at the unexpected intruder.

“S-Skuld…? What are you doing here…”

“I came to say goodbye. And to scold you for a few things while I’m at it.”

Skuld approached Rem, who had a blank expression. Rem raised an eyebrow and asked.

“Scold me? For what?”

“The teleportation coordinates.”

Ah. Rem let out a short sigh. He awkwardly touched his neck and avoided her gaze.

“I… I’m really sorry about that. But I couldn’t help it. A forest surrounded by a large-scale illusion magic? I couldn’t think of a better hiding spot…”

“How did you do it?”

A question appeared on Rem’s face.

“How did I do what?”

“It’s not something that can be easily done. There were even magic tools installed to prevent that sort of thing…”

“I just did it and it worked?”

Rem’s expression was nonchalant as he answered. Skuld stared at him for a moment, seemingly at a loss for words, before rubbing her face.

“Rem, you are a truly difficult person to understand.”

“Me?”

“You seem helpful, but you’re unpredictable… You seem to be moving according to expectations, but then at a crucial moment, you’ll suddenly go off in a completely different direction… Haah…”

A sigh escaped Skuld’s lips. However, what remained after the sigh was a faint smile.

“But I suppose that’s what freedom is.”

Rem furrowed his brow at those cryptic words. But Skuld didn’t seem to want to elaborate.

“I’ve changed my mind. I’ll just say goodbye and leave.”

She turned around sharply. Looking at Rem from the corner of her eye, she smiled and said.

“May blessings fill your path ahead.”

And then, as if she had truly finished her business, she walked back out the door.

Left behind were a handful of silence and two people with bewildered expressions.

Eventually, Rem scratched his head and turned to Rosalia, asking.

“So, why is she here anyway? Wasn’t she supposed to be holed up in her cabin?”

***

When you live in the back alleys for years, you inevitably develop an eye for people, whether you like it or not.

Of course, it wasn’t exactly ‘insight’.

In fact, it’s closer to an animal instinct.

The kind that tells you, ‘Ah, I’ll probably die if I mess with this person.’

And according to that ability, Rem could tell that the man in front of him was someone he should absolutely avoid.

“Hahaha! I really thought I was going to die! Those cheeky little Central Knights were coming at us like there was no tomorrow!”

The man laughed heartily while rubbing the back of his neck. Rosalia smiled awkwardly and said to Rem.

“Rem, this is Dorn, the leader of the Galatea mercenary group. He’s the one who helped us on this mission.”

“Nice to meet you! I was in charge of setting fire to the camp and smashing those tin-can knights while you were escaping! It was a real delightful experience!”

Rem stared at Dorn with a dumbstruck expression for a moment. Then, moving closer to Rosalia, he whispered.

‘Are you sure this is okay…’

“Eek!”

Rosalia jumped back with a reddened face and stared at Rem.

“Wh-Wh-What are you doing…!!”

“What are you doing, tin can? What did I do?”

“M-my ear…!”

“What about your ear?”

Rosalia suddenly shut her mouth, as if she had nothing more to say. She even bit her lower lip.

Rem sighed and turned his attention to Dorn.

“Mr. Dorn, do you even know how dangerous this is?”

“Well, since we’ve messed with the Central Knights, we’d probably have to offer our necks to the execution block if we’re caught. They’d stick us with charges like treason or sedition or whatever.”

“And yet, a mercenary captain is willing to take that kind of risk?”

In the end, as always, it was a matter of trust.

Rem trusted Rosalia, but he didn’t trust her judgment. Moreover, the mercenaries that Rem knew were greedy beasts who were shrewder than anyone when it came to risk and rewards.

For the leader of such people to get involved in such a dangerous affair was something Rem found hard to believe.

“Oh? Are you doubting me?”

“It’s hard not to.”

A murderous intent gleamed in Dorn’s fierce eyes. If you listened closely, you could almost hear his muscles tensing.

“I find that a bit offensive…”

“Then prove it. Convince me.”

Rem’s gaze and Dorn’s gaze clashed.

Sparks seemed to fly, as if a fire might ignite at any moment.

But the standoff didn’t last long.

“Rem, that’s enough.”

Rosalia, who had come up to him at some point, grabbed his arm. Without looking back at her, Rem said.

“Rosalia, this is important. It’s not something you can just take lightly…”

“Dorn was our family’s slave.”

“That’s not a reason to trust him.”

“And he’s my brother-in-law.”

“…I don’t know how that’s even possible, but even so…”

“And my sister, Dorn’s wife, was executed by the Empire.”

“…But…”

“And more than anything.”

Rosalia let out a long sigh.

“Rem, you don’t have to follow me anymore.”

Rem finally turned to look at Rosalia.

“What?”