episode_0040

// To my father,

Can you believe that it’s already been half a year since I left my hometown and came down south? I’m doing well. Ms. Mila and all the members of the vigilante group. Remili, whom I told you about in my last letter, seems to still be dissatisfied with Ms. Mila, but she still helps us out a lot despite her tantrums. It’s not as cold here as our village, so don’t worry. Dad, please stay warm and don’t catch a cold.

Since Mila led the vigilantes, more and more people have wanted to join us, so we’ve become quite famous here. Yesterday, when I was passing through the village, a villager gave me a pretty hat as a gift. He thanked me. I was just following him. The number of bandits has decreased a bit, but they’re still hiding here and there, harassing the people in the south. Memer said that they’ll definitely be able to clean it up by next year.

I want to hear more about your mother staying in the village during harvest time. I wonder if she has returned to Fraua now. By the way, how is Latia doing? I wish she would be less playful. Does she help with the farm work? I will wait for your reply.

Rayga. //

Ray took a sip of the warm vegetable soup on the table, rolled up the letter paper, and tied it neatly with thread. It was only lunchtime now, and Mila would finish work and come back here after the sun had set. Until then, all Ray had to do was collect and organize the laundry, or just kill time like this, writing letters.

It was a bit comforting not to be involved in anything dangerous, but it was also true that it was boring to be stuck in the room all the time.

“Come to think of it, my mom used to call her parents’ house often too⋯.”

Ray thinks back to his mother in his previous life, who was a housewife. If time in the original world had flowed the same way as it does here, his parents would have already become old men. The people at work, his wife, his daughter. What would they look like and do in a world where I am not there?

“What does it mean in the end?”

Ray mutters to himself in the language he learned while growing up in this world, instead of the native language of his previous life, which is now fading from his memory.

dripping

“Who are you?”

***

A small farming village located quite far east of Maibaon. A short woman with something wrapped in a yellow rag around her waist looks around, then suddenly enters a shabby barn.

“Your Highness, please get up and eat.”

“Ugh… Another rough bread…⋯⋯?”

The prince half-opened his eyes, glanced at Lord Dice, then turned around and lay down.

“Still, you must eat something. Your Majesty… I have told you many times that your body is the future of the country.”

“I think I’ve heard that a hundred times…? Eat more Ferrel, who travels more than me. Have you heard back from the Songrad family yet?”

“Yes, not yet⋯. It must have been that the mail wasn’t delivered properly. The situation in the south is worse than expected⋯. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have known we were in trouble and not helped us.”

“I want to go back to the palace⋯. I want to see mom and dad, and I want to see the prince⋯⋯. What is he doing now?”

Every time the young prince whined, Lord Dice’s heart would burn black.

“I will try to figure out how to send mail again before the sun sets. To do that, I will need to borrow a lot of things from the farmers here, so please go to bed as soon as you finish eating.”

“Okay… I have to go back before it’s too late. I keep hearing the sound of bugs chirping at night and it’s scary.”

Sir Dice placed the bread wrapped in a cloth on the crown prince’s bedside, then got up again and walked out.

“Paper? Ink? How can you keep asking for such expensive items, not once or twice?”

The Southern woman who owns the barn where they are staying is openly reluctant to accept Sir Dice’s request.

“Yes… Be polite! Isn’t this a serious matter concerning His Highness the Crown Prince?”

“The more serious thing is that we won’t even be able to survive the winter and will starve to death. We’re already in a lot of trouble because we gave up the barn. Tsk.”

“Ugh⋯.”

Sir Dice was becoming accustomed to the fact that there was nothing he could do even if the peasants of the lowest rank openly clicked their tongues. The prince simply covered his ears and crouched down to listen to their conversation flowing in from the barn as usual.

“Excuse me, would this be enough value?”

Sir Dice took out from his bosom the only remaining jewel decoration that had not been lost or stolen and handed it to the woman. It was also a precious item that had been given to him by King Arshul himself when he had ascended to the position of chief chamberlain eleven years ago.

“What is it? Give it to me.”

A woman snatches a jeweled ornament with a swipe. She runs her hands over it, her hands rough and stained with dirt.

“⋯⋯If there was something like this, I would have talked about it a long time ago.”

“This is a very precious item. It was given to me by His Majesty himself. It can be seen as containing His infinite trust and love for me in entrusting me with the important task of being the chief chamberlain.”

“I thought you were just a short beggar who talked nonsense. Okay. I’ll get what I want somehow. What did you say? Meat and bread? ”

“⋯⋯Paper and ink. Of course, there will be no shortage of food.”

“Okay, okay. I’ll get it, so instead, move some firewood to the barn. Everything here. Got it? ”

The Southern woman left those words behind, tucked the jeweled ornament into her waistband, and walked out of the house.

But a moment later, instead of paper and ink, the woman burst into the house with a savage mob. They were wearing hoods and masks dyed with crushed weeds and such, and it was clear that they were the same bandits who were still active in the southern region.

“Here are the two. Judging from the jewels I showed you earlier, these are definitely high-ranking people.”

“You, what are you guys? Step back. Your Highness the Crown Prince!”

Even though Dice Sir shouted in desperation, the thieves approached recklessly and began to tear apart their dirty and tattered clothes.

“Search thoroughly to see if there’s anything else hidden on your body!”

“Let go of this! Who the hell do you think you’re touching? Let go!”

Dice is struggling with his small arms. The prince, who is still in a state of sleep, is helpless and unable to resist, and is helplessly subjected to the bandits’ rudeness while lying face down.

“You’re struggling so hard for such a small thing… Hey, you little brat. You’re a noble in the castle, but do you think you’re anything special here? Are nobles’ flesh so hard that it doesn’t hurt when you get hit? ”

One of the masked men picks up a log from the barn and holds it in front of Sir Dice’s eyes, threatening him.

“Ugh…”

“We’ll take the two of them. If they’re noble lives, they might be worth money, and we can just play with them for a bit and then bury them somewhere.”

“Where are you taking us? Let me go! Oh, no. Save me. Just leave that kid alone and take me!”

Sir Dice, who was suddenly carried away by the thieves, began to sob and scream.

“Excuse me. Is anyone here? Excuse me⋯.”

At that moment, a voice was heard from outside.

“Who else?”

“Hey, go out and check.”

“Old⋯!”

“Please⋯save⋯eub⋯⋯!”

“Do you want to die? Where are you screaming from?”

While the thieves silence Sir Dice, the landlady steps out of the barn to investigate the identity of her unexpected visitor.

“What’s going on?”

“Oh, thank goodness. It’s still a house where people live! By the way, which direction should I go to get to Julep?”

“What are you saying?”

The tall woman, with her youthful face in contrast, continued speaking in a country accent that was difficult to understand.

“Julep. Rep. Iyo Julep! I just left Fraua, which way should I go?”

“Fraua⋯⋯? This is the complete opposite direction, but if you go back the way you came, you’ll get there.”

“Huh⋯? I came back the way I came⋯⋯. This is a problem.”

She scratched her head, her blonde hair reaching down to her shoulders.

“Anyway, find your way home, country bumpkin. I’m a bit busy right now.”

“Oh, wait a minute. Then, can I stay with you for just one night? I’ve been moving around all day, so I’m really tired. Can you help me?”

“⋯⋯.⋯?”

Only after the unexpected visitor waved his arms and tearfully explained through body language whether he could sleep there did the woman finally understand what she meant.

“Oh my, why are there so many people who think our house is some kind of hotel room? Follow me.”

“Thank you!”

The woman grumbles and lets the guest into the room, then closes the door and hurries back into the barn.

“Who is it?”

“He’s a strange guy, but he said he wanted to sleep here, so I told him to. He said he came all the way from Julep, so he might have a lot of money.”

“Heh heh heh, that’s what I’m saying. On days when things work out well, everything goes smoothly from start to finish.”

One of the thieves who had been stripping the crown prince of his clothes suddenly stands up, draws a dagger from his waistband, and walks out of the barn.

“You guys, be careful too. If you don’t follow along properly, you’ll end up like the guy in the next room. Do you understand?”

The guy who had been covering Dice’s mouth grins and makes a fuss. Dice has tears flowing from his eyes incessantly.

How could he have known that he and his crown prince would meet their deaths in such a place? A young child who had grown up in a splendid and magnificent palace, receiving all sorts of help from numerous servants, was about to meet the end of his short life at the hands of a thug. Not only was he pitiful, but this child was also the future of the country. Could this be the end of the country that the great King Arsul and his capable loyalists had protected with their blood and sweat?

Crazy and crazy

The people are starving, and they ignore the law and only pursue immediate profits, even taking the lives of innocent passersby. Whose fault is this? Sir Dice closed his eyes tightly in the sadness and emptiness that was washing over him.

“Um… I think there was a burglar in my house…⋯⋯.”

The person who peeked his head out of the barn was none other than a country bumpkin.