Chapter 103: Words I’d Never Heard (2)

[103] 16. Words I’d Never Heard (2)

People often viewed Dorn as an ambitious man.

A slave who seduced a noble lady to gain his freedom.

A man who used that lady to become the leader of a mercenary group.

And a man who eventually even succeeded in marrying her, a man who had truly made it in life.

Their view was that such accomplishments could not be achieved without immense ambition.

However, Dorn thought of himself as a pragmatic person.

It’s just that the woman he had fallen in love with happened to be the second daughter of the Adrian family,

And to marry her, he needed a certain level of status, so he created the mercenary group.

And his marriage to her was merely an achievement of his goal.

He had no ambition, no goals, no ideals. He had simply been blinded by love, just like any other young man. It’s just that he was a bit more proactive, that’s all.

This was proven by his behavior after his wife’s death.

When he heard that his wife had been killed by the empire,

He didn’t swear revenge like a typical clichéd protagonist in a revenge story. He didn’t shed tears of blood nor cursed the heavens.

Instead, after drinking himself stupid, he sent a letter to the empire the next morning.

The content of the letter could be summarized as follows:

‘Please spare me.’

Of course, it would be wrong to take this as proof that he did not love his wife. He clearly loved his wife deeply.

He was simply acknowledging reality.

His only asset was a small mercenary group, while his enemy was the empire. It was clear that any attempt at revenge would be suicide.

That’s why Dorn had bowed his head. He swallowed his anger and faithfully wagged his tail.

In order to wait for the opportunity that would one day arrive.

[… It’s been a while, brother-in-law.]

And the opportunity came.

Rosalia, his sister-in-law, who he had thought had died along with his wife.

She came to him with bloodshot eyes, begging for help, confessing that she had a dagger to plunge into the heart of the empire.

It was then that Dorn realized it was finally time for him to stand up.

The curtains to the revenge drama had finally been raised.

“…”

“…”

…Or at least, that’s what he thought when they were ambushing the camp.

Dorn swallowed a sigh and looked at the silence before him.

Inside the carriage, a man and a woman were staring at each other with dull expressions. The distant sound of hooves seemed to reflect the tension between them.

… It had been like this since they first set out.

Dorn could no longer bear the silence and let out a sigh. He spoke in a disgruntled tone.

“Do you mind if I ask how long you plan to stay like that, sister-in-law?”

“Until that stubborn mule changes his mind, brother-in-law.”

“Ha!”

A sharp laugh escaped Rem’s lips.

“And who exactly is the stubborn mule here?”

“Who else could it be but the person right in front of me?”

Rosalia frowned. Sparks were about to fly from Rem’s eyes.

“I’m sorry, but why don’t we think back to why we decided to travel together in the first place?”

“…To get rid of the bounty on your head.”

“To be more precise, to stop those wanted posters with my face on them from spreading throughout the empire.”

Rem crossed his arms and then asked.

“And have I achieved that goal?”

“…”

“And yet you want me to just leave?”

Rosalia averted her gaze.

“Don’t worry, I can handle it myself. Especially now that brother-in-law has joined us…”

“If I could just sit around and wait patiently, I would have done so a long time ago. I would’ve just hidden myself in some remote town.”

Rem’s voice was cold. It was the same with Rosalia.

“So you’re going to keep following me? Even though that lunatic prince or that barbarian might chop off your arms next?”

“So what? We’ve been doing fine so far. What’s with you all of a sudden?”

Rosalia’s eyes grew dark.

“‘Doing fine’, you say?”

“Yeah, it’s been decent enough…”

“Rem, you lost your legs!!”

It was a shout, closer to a scream. Rosalia continued with a cracked voice.

“It was your legs! *Your* legs, not anyone else’s!”

However, Rem’s response was cold and emotionless.

“So what?”

“What?”

Rem rolled his eyes.

“I already told you. Every part of my body can be replaced with a machine.”

He tapped the cylinder on his leg irritably.

“You’re saying that they might cut off my arms? Let them! I can make a new prosthetic arm in two days. And it’s the same with any other part of my body.”

Rosalia’s pupils trembled. Rem furrowed his brow and continued.

“Rosalia, when I told you I’m fine, it wasn’t just to calm you down. My body’s already a mess beyond repair. So what?”

“Don’t talk nonsense! How could that possibly be okay…!”

“Stop it, both of you!”

Rem and Rosalia’s gazes simultaneously turned to Dorn. Dorn wiped his face and glared at Rosalia.

“Let’s make one thing clear, sister-in-law. I’m lending you a hand because you said you could catch the one who killed my wife.”

Dorn’s eyes turned cold.

“Not because I want to babysit a sentimental little brat.”

Rosalia’s face turned the color of dirt. Next, Dorn turned to Rem.

“And you, Rem was it?”

Dorn stood up and opened the carriage door.

“Come out for a moment. I’d like to have a word with you.”

***

When Dorn stepped out of the carriage, he suddenly realized that he’d made a mistake.

He had momentarily forgotten that Rem didn’t have legs. He wouldn’t be able to follow, even if he wanted to.

Realizing this, he was about to step back into the carriage,

“…Did you forget something?”

…When he saw Rem casually stepping out.

Dorn chuckled at the sight of blue legs that were extending from the cylinder attached to his thighs.

“Hah, you can even do that?”

“I can’t maintain it for long. Do you have a spare horse?”

“Of course. Hey! Big Nose!”

Dorn called out to one of his mercenaries, who had been following behind the carriage, and had him bring two horses.

Shortly after, Dorn and Rem were riding side by side.

Surprisingly, it was Rem who spoke first.

“First of all, I think I owe you an apology.”

“An apology? For what?”

“For doubting you.”

Rem rubbed the back of his neck with an uncomfortable expression.

“I didn’t know about your past, I’m sorry.”

“Well, you had a valid reason to be suspicious. I would’ve felt the same. Forget about it.”

“Thank you for understanding. And…”

Rem looked at Dorn with a resolute gaze.

“I’m not giving up. So you can stop trying to persuade me.”

Having a fellow who’s too perceptive can be tiring.

Dorn, feeling a bit troubled, scratched his head.

“As you said yourself, this is dangerous.”

“I’m more aware of that than anyone. And besides…”

Dorn cut Rem off.

“And besides, you’re a cripple now.”

“I’ll be able to walk again in two weeks.”

“So, are you saying we should wait two weeks for you to recover? In a situation as urgent as this?”

Rem’s lips were sealed shut, hit right on the mark. Dorn continued speaking coldly.

“And my sister-in-law told me that you can’t cast magic without magic tools. And your magic tools were all confiscated by the Prince, weren’t they?”

“…”

Dorn sighed.

“My sister-in-law didn’t say it, so I’ll say it for her. Right now, you’re a burden. And we’re not exactly in a leisurely situation.”

Of course, it didn’t seem like Rosalia was trying to get rid of Rem for that reason. But, when it came to this one point, Dorn and Rosalia’s opinions were aligned.

“Rem, just stay behind. You’ve done enough.”

Dorn patted Rem’s shoulder,

thinking that if he continued to be stubborn, then he’d have to resort to a different kind of persuasion, one that involved fists.

However, Rem wasn’t being stubborn. In fact, his reaction was completely different from what Dorn had expected.

“You, you really have no idea what kind of state Rosalia is in now, do you? Or why I need to stay by her side.”

Rem’s suspicious gaze.

Doubt filled Dorn’s eyes.

“What do you mean?”

“Mr. Dorn, I’ve met a lot of people, especially the temperamental and problematic ones.”

Rem pointed at the carriage with his thumb.

“Rosalia, she’s a problem case.”

“…In what way?”

“…If I told you everything, we’d be here all night.”

Rem shook his head, unable to handle it. Then he continued with a serious expression.

“Mr. Dorn, I don’t know what your relationship with Rosalia is exactly. But as the only remaining family, I’m sure you care for her to some extent. So I’ll be blunt.”

After a deep breath, he spoke in a heavy voice.

“If you leave her be, she might end up doing something that’ll get her killed.”

Dorn couldn’t help but remember the day his sister-in-law came to him. Rosalia with bloodshot eyes, talking about revenge, she definitely didn’t seem rational.

Dorn scratched his thick beard and asked.

“And you’re saying you need to be by her side to stop her from doing something stupid?”

“It hasn’t been long since we’ve started traveling together, but we’ve become quite close. It’s not that hard to keep her from doing something stupid.”

Dorn’s face, which had been filled with doubt now showed hesitation. But he quickly shook his head.

“I’m sorry, but even if that were the case, it doesn’t change the fact that we can’t afford the time to take care of you.”

“Who said I need to be taken care of?”

Rem snapped his fingers. A ball of fire emerged from his fingertips.

“There are magic tools embedded in the prosthetic itself. I might not be able to pull off the stunts I used to do, but I can at least take care of myself.”

Then Rem bowed his head to Dorn and said.

“Instead, I’d like to ask you a favor. Please try to convince Rosalia. You can’t just leave her like that.”

One of the interesting things about words is that they don’t always match the speaker’s intentions. Unintentional emotions are always mixed in.

Dorn read something in Rem’s words and his eyes lit up.

“Hmm…”

“…Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Did you?”

He only spoke a single word, but its meaning was clear. Rem shook his head with a stiff face.

“I didn’t.”

“Then are you planning to?”

“Don’t you think that’s a bit too personal?”

“So you are planning to.”

“I am not!”

“Bear with me, my wife asked me to look after my sister-in-law…”

A shout cut through their conversation.

“Captain!!”

Turning, Dorn saw a man on horseback rushing towards them. It was the one he had sent ahead to scout.

Dorn felt a mixture of confusion and unease as he asked,

“What’s wrong, Chubby? Did you find something?”

“W-Well…”

***

Dorn stared at the carnage before him, his face hardened.

It was as if someone had smashed a bunch of fruit. Of course, it wasn’t fruit that was actually smashed.

One with its neck crushed,

one split in half,

one beaten to death,

one torn apart,

and one bled out.

The corpses had all died in different ways, but ironically, their attire was the same.

The pure white armor of the Central Knights.

“Just who is responsible for this beautiful mess?”

Dorn crouched down and picked up a severed arm. Looking at the cut, he mumbled,

“The cut is clean, so this must have been…”

“An axe.”

Dorn looked up at Rem, who had approached him at some point. He spoke in a colder tone than ever before.

“A simple, crude axe as tall as a man. Those with their heads smashed were probably punched.”

“How do you know?”

“I’ve fought against her many times.”

His tone was flat, but Dorn couldn’t help but feel a pang of sadness from it.

However, he didn’t have a chance to ask. Rem had already turned away and left.

Rem headed straight for Rosalia, who was standing behind.

“…Don’t tell me this is…”

“I can’t stay here now.”

“What?”

Fatigue showed on Rem’s face.

“That barbarian’s after us now. And who knows, she might even try to kidnap me again.”

Horror flashes across Rosalia’s face, followed by concern.

“Rem, it’ll be…”

“Sorry, I’m going to go catch some sleep for now.”

Rem rubbed his face. Only fatigue and gloom remained on his expression.

“I’m just… suddenly feeling really tired.”

And then, without another word, Rem brushed past Rosalia.