Chapter 47 : Escort(2)

I wrapped my head in my hands at the incident that occurred less than half a day after we promised to stay quiet.

When Jing and Ratel arrived at the temple, a rather long line had already formed from people who had gathered after seeing the good conditions.

-Applicants, please form a line.

I was relieved at the sight of the attendant walking around and giving directions.

No matter which region one went to, temples were stable.

With a system this organized, as long as we don't get swept up in a commotion, we should be able to quietly do our work and receive our pay.

How complacent a thought that was.

This peace of mine was shattered by a man who slyly inserted his body in front of me.

It was not a special situation.

Just that a person had appeared, putting into practice before my very eyes the truth that the simpler the rule, the easier it is to break.

What I intended to do here was just a gentlemanly remark like, ‘Hey, young man. This won't do, will it?’

-Hey, get to the back.

If only it weren't for the intrusion of that young personality-catastrophe, which happened in the short moment I was debating whether to let it slide or say something.

I sighed, lamenting the situation that could have ended with ‘It's not urgent, so please step back.’

Shing.

While I was reminiscing about the past, the man must have decided to cut Ratel down, as he drew a well-honed short sword.

“This arrogant bastard, I'll show you exactly what happens when you run your mouth incorrectly today.”

The man's face, threatening him, was red as if it would burst, as if Ratel's short-legs remark was that humiliating.

Worried this would really turn into a big commotion, I intervened between the two.

“Wait, both of you, calm down. Don't you think this isn't something to get this worked up over.”

“No, it's something to get tremendously worked up over.”

Unfortunately, the curly-haired man wasn't very broad-minded either.

Well, if his heart was broad, he wouldn't have done the petty act of cutting in line.

“Now, don't get so excited……”

“It does seem like it would be hard to find anything on you that isn't large.”

It seemed Ratel's quiet sarcasm, which nullified my effort to resolve the situation, had exhausted what little patience the man had.

“This bastard, really!!!”

The tip of the sword thrust toward Ratel.

Clang!

The man's short sword, flying with a clear sound, embedded itself in front of the people standing in line behind them.

The man, unable to understand what had happened, stared blankly, alternating between his empty hand and Ratel's sword.

Even so, his hand, which had met overwhelming power, just trembled.

His skill was as insignificant as his petty mind.

“What is this……”

Seeing his dazed face, it seemed he didn't even see Ratel draw his sword.

It wasn't that Ratel had used any special magic.

It was just that he performed the most basic movement so quickly and smoothly that his unskilled opponent didn't even notice.

“You bastard, what was that just now?”

“Nothing much. Other than you being an idiot.”

Laughter burst out from here and there at Ratel's answer.

“This bastard, really!”

The shorty, who still hadn't come to his senses, seemed to have the will to pounce on an opponent with overwhelming skill, as he took a dagger from his pocket and rushed at Ratel.

For a surprise attack, it was a slow one, and I thought idly.

He won't even graze his collar.

Ratel, who parried the knife the man was swinging, grabbed his arm.

The shorty's eyes clouded with shock, but this did not last long.

Because the man's short legs soared into the air, drew an arc, and then crashed to the ground.

“Keuk!”

With a thud, a blocked groan burst from the man's mouth.

“……”

Silence fell upon the temple garden at the situation that ended so quickly.

“You seemed to like quiet, so I handled it quickly.”

Ratel, who turned around without even catching his breath, crookedly pulled up his lips as if teasing me, as I stared at him blankly.

“Thanks. I thought you weren't listening at all.”

We were selected without difficulty, but what made it harder for me was not the simple test, but the people's attention.

***

“They call me Jing! What's your name?”

A voice, hard to distinguish if it was cheerful or flippant, rang through the dining hall.

Ratel looked at me, as I was tilting my glass next to him.

“I was surprised, thinking you'd suddenly gone senile, Jing.”

“Same here.”

Fortunately, I had not suddenly gone senile.

I looked at the brown-haired man, the owner of the cheerful voice.

Ratel was now concentrating on the meat pie on his plate, without even turning his head.

“He must be a shy friend.”

The man was one who made his own convenient assessment of that cold reaction.

The brown-haired man, with a mustache that didn't suit his youthful face, pulled up a chair and sat next to them, as if he were either very sociable or very shameless, even though no one had invited him.

“Wow, mister! That was some amazing skill. That punk never had any business ethics, so everyone was already fed up with him. You really taught him a lesson! You too, elder! I saw earlier, your swordsmanship was extraordinary.”

I, who was listening to the borderline-exaggerated compliments, readily extended my hand.

A conversation with someone who knew the local situation was welcome.

“You're too kind. It's nice to meet someone with the same name in a place like this.”

“Ah, is the elder's name also Jing, by any chance? Well, it is a somewhat common name. I’ve even met up to three people with the same name in one day! Thanks to that, people remember my name well.”

When I accepted his words, the excited man smiled broadly and began to ramble on about things he wasn't even asked.

“There are bad things, too. Since it's such a common name, when bad guys give a fake name, they say they're Jing……”

“Yes, it's really nice to meet you, too.”

It was too much, way too much.

“Ah, I'm a bit too talkative. Everyone tells me to cut it short.”

Even though he was suddenly cut off, the man chuckled and scratched the back of his head.

“I'm Jing, and this is Ratel. By the looks of it, you seem to have been in this village for quite a while?”

“It hasn't been that long. I wandered here and there and drifted in about a month ago. It's a pretty nice village.”

The young Jing stuck his head out toward Ratel, who was still concentrating on eating, then looked back at me and grinned.

“I was interested because you're faces and skills I haven't seen around here. I'm the type who can't stand being curious. You two must have come from quite far away?”

I scanned the man's face for a moment.

From what I saw in the selection test earlier, he was a young man whose skills were neither that outstanding nor too lacking.

It seemed like pure curiosity, not probing to dig up information.

“I'm not much different from you. I've just been swinging a sword around for a bit longer. I've done various jobs, and just drifted here.”

There was a lot implied in ‘various jobs’, but it wasn't a lie either.

The man nodded, fiddling with his out-of-place mustache.

“Even at a glance, your experience looks extraordinary. Then that side……?”

The man's interest-filled eyes turned to Ratel.

I looked at Ratel with an extremely anxious expression.

We had agreed to say we just met on the road and started traveling together, but Ratel had been busily stuffing bread in his mouth at that time too, so I couldn't be sure if he heard properly.

Still, I told him so many times, he'll play along to some extent, right.

“Jing knocked me out and kidnapped me, so we ended up together like this.”

“Heok.”

Wrong.

Realizing once again that the only time that punk ever matched me was at mealtime, I put my head in my hand.

“That's... quite a special connection.”

The young Jing, though he seemed a bit like a delinquent, must have been a better guy than he looked, as he managed to reply, albeit awkwardly.

But his wariness was thicker than his previous friendliness.

“No, that's not it! Why do you talk like that? We're just people who met by chance and started moving together.”

“Hey, Jing!”

At the sound of someone calling Jing from afar, the young Jing turned his head.

“Let's go have a smoke! It'll be forced no-smoking once the job starts!”

“Coming!”

He waved his hand and stood up, dusting off his pants.

“It was nice meeting you. It'll be a short time, but I look forward to working with you.”

He gave a light wave and disappeared out the dining hall door.

“Am I getting old and my memory is going, or what? I'm sure we both agreed to just say we met on the road.”

“You're not that old. That's what we agreed on.”

To my expression that said then why on earth did you do that, Ratel held up his spoon.

“Because it was too noisy while I was eating.”

“No, even so, how can you scare someone like that.”

At my miserable words, Ratel looked at me as if I were the one saying something strange.

“Aren't you supposed to be quiet when you eat?”

“Well, that's true……”

Why does he always speak like someone who's only learned half the rules of etiquette?

Leaving me to debate whether or not to say that scaring a noisy person into shutting up was also questionable, Ratel began to focus on his meal again.

“Still, in a place like this where everyone gathers and eats, can't you be a bit more flexible? If you're going to live bumping into people, gathering information is important. At times like that, there's nothing as easy and comfortable as people.”

“Instead of doing that, it's not troublesome, just grab one person and beat them until they talk……”

“Stop saying things that make an old man's heart drop and just eat your meal.”

At my sigh-mixed words, Ratel just shrugged his shoulders.

“From now on, that problem-solving method of yours……”

I, who was continuing my nagging, stopped talking at the gaze I felt from afar and turned my head in that direction.

I saw a child lingering at the entrance of the dining hall.

He was dressed in pants and a shirt that were worn but neat.

He must be one of the children gathered for the Tinas ritual.

Nobles called priests directly to their mansions, but in the case of commoners, they gathered at a nearby temple like this and performed the ritual together.

That child also seemed to be one of them.

At the sight of the young child, who reminded me of the Little Duke, I smiled brightly with the kindest face I could muster and waved my hand.

Seeing him flinch and turn away, it seemed that from the child's perspective, I didn't come across as anything more than a scary old man.

“For someone who has a kid, your skill in handling kids is truly terrible.”

Ratel teased me as I stared miserably at the small back of the child's head, who was running away quickly without looking back.

“Be quiet. My son used to be so happy just seeing my face.”

Then again, I was so busy that I had little time to see my child's face until he was somewhat grown.

The fact that he was so happy at small actions was, I realized anew, because I had spent that little time with him, and the taste in my mouth turned bitter, so I put down my fork.

“That direction must be the lodging where the children are staying.”

At Ratel's mumble, I realized he still hadn't taken his eyes off the door where the child had disappeared.

“That's right. You seemed to not be concentrating at all, but you did hear the guidance.”

I offered words of praise, recalling Ratel who had only stared at the prayer room even during the priest's explanation.

“You have to listen carefully to the important things.”

I wondered if he was saying my words weren't important, but I held my tongue.