Chapter 48 : Escort(3)

I looked at the children walking in a line and recalled my own hazy past.

It was so long ago that I couldn't remember things like the weather or the people around me, but I clearly remembered the atmosphere of that day.

Inside the dark room, the priest was wearing a white robe, the liquid glowing blue inside the basin, and my father's proud face.

In a way, the Tinas ritual is a new starting point in life to be reborn as a true Abalan person.

Separate from being born from a mother's womb, it would not be an exaggeration to say one is granted a new life.

It must be the same for those children.

Children undergoing the Tinas ritual stay at the temple for several days, preparing by offering prayers several times a day.

The hired mercenaries protect the children, who move in a group, until the Tinas ritual, and on the day of the ritual, they escort the priests and children alongside the temple knights.

My heart ached again at the anxiety and anticipation felt in the gazes of the children, who looked around as if awkward about walking in a line among the adults like this.

The Little Duke will also be undergoing the ritual soon.

Many things happened this year, so probably around next year.

There was a lot I wanted to take care of for him, from one to ten.

There was also a lot I wanted to teach him before he entered the Academy.

To do that, I first needed to part ways with this young man next to me as soon as possible.

“What are you staring at?”

With this person, who spoke sullenly.

“I'm looking at the children. My son is right at that age. That child was also really looking forward to the ritual.”

“All the children of the Empire do wait for only that.”

I looked at Ratel as if it were new.

“You know a lot for someone with no religion, huh?”

“I lived in the Empire when I was young.”

Ratel, who answered with a shrug, turned his eyes to the procession of children.

“I know that after the 1st Imperial Princess finishes the Tinas ritual in the capital, the rituals begin in the other temples, and I even know that when the ritual begins, they enter a room one by one and dip their hands in water according to the priest's guidance.”

He knew in more detail than I thought.

Then was he from a commoner background when he lived in Abalan?

I hurriedly cut off the thought that was naturally leading to another.

No, there was no need to think too deeply.

A connection that will part soon anyway.

There was nothing good to come from knowing a lot about the other person.

Just as there's nothing good from thinking too much about an opponent you're going to kill.

I'll have to assess the situation, and if I judge that I can ditch Ratel here, I must run away quickly.

“Ugh!”

At least not right now.

I grabbed the arm of the child who let out a cry right in front of me and was about to fall to the ground, pulling him up.

The child, who had narrowly avoided his face meeting the ground, looked up at me with wide eyes, as if very surprised.

I thought he looked familiar; it was the child I saw at the dining hall.

“Are you alright?”

I once again forced my facial muscles as much as possible to give a kind smile.

“I-I'm alright.”

Seeing him step back in fright, it seemed it wasn't very effective.

Seeing this, my son must have been very brave.

Ratel was the one who took the child's arm from my hand as I was having such a doting thought.

“The child might faint at this rate.”

He met the frozen child's eyes and asked bluntly.

“How old are you?”

But he was only better than me; there was no way Ratel's gleaming eyes would lessen the child's fear.

“T-twelve years old.”

Ratel, who turned the stuttering child around this way and that before he could even come to his senses, confirmed there was nothing wrong and tapped the child's shoulder.

“You don't seem hurt, so go on now. Watch the ground when you walk next time.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Whether relieved by the fact that he was away from the rugged Jing and the slightly less rugged but foul-faced Ratel, the child kept glancing at us, then bowed his head once and returned to the procession.

“This is how you handle a child. As I thought, your claim about having a son is a lie, isn't it?”

“I've said it time and again, my son used to say that playing with his father was the most fun. And you are the one who is lying.”

“What do you mean?”

My gaze, looking at Ratel who was still feigning ignorance, was sharp.

“Watch the ground? Anyone who saw it would think the child tripped on a stone root.”

When he was the one who suddenly stuck his foot out at the child who was walking fine.

“He does need to watch the ground well. That's the only way to know if someone's long leg is stretched out or if a stone is placed there.”

“At that speed, he wouldn't have been able to avoid it even if he walked with his eyes glued to the ground.”

The smooth movement of subtly sticking a foot out and pulling it back in an instant was not the skill of someone who had done it only once or twice.

“Why on earth did you do that?”

“It's nothing. Jing doesn't need to know, either.”

He was a young man who really spoke so prettily.

“Isn't that the child we came across at the dining hall last time? Is there something about that child?”

I frowned and asked, but Ratel just kept his mouth shut and looked forward.

“Hey! Why so much talking!”

Perhaps we talked for too long, as one of the stiff-looking temple knights gave Ratel and me a warning.

I had no choice but to turn my head forward.

“Forget it, it just hurts my mouth to talk. I just hope you apologize to the child properly later.”

Hoping that he wouldn't cause any bigger trouble.

Unfortunately, my complacency stabbed me in the back again.

That night, a large fire broke out in the temple's ritual chamber.

Fortunately, no one was hurt, but it was a large fire, enough to burn all the items that had been prepared for the ritual.

***

A chill lingered in the temple, where a sacred ritual should have been held, due to the sudden commotion.

The priests, knights, and hired mercenaries who had gathered since dawn were staring at each other grimly.

“How on earth was this managed that something like this happened?! Who was guarding the ritual chamber last night?!”

The priest, Gael, who was furious, pointed his finger at the lined-up mercenaries with a face flushed bright red.

“Priest, we all went in early yesterday. You said it was more trustworthy to entrust an important place like the ritual chamber to the knights……”

The young Jing stepped forward to explain, then awkwardly trailed off.

Gael, whose already reddish face had completely turned into a tomato, glared at the knights.

They, who had been glaring at Jing, pressed their lips firmly and then hurriedly opened their mouths.

“It seems the flames spread in the short moment we were changing shifts. The inside of the door melted, so it wouldn't open, which delayed the suppression. We will quickly prepare the necessary things right now. Just say the word……”

“By what means? By what means will you get them?! The room is a problem, but the holy water?! Where will you get the holy water?!”

Gael beat his chest as if frustrated by the knight's answer.

I frowned at that sight.

Things are rolling in a strange direction.

Gael's appearance, rampaging unbecomingly for someone who serves a god, was unsightly, but it wasn't that I couldn't understand.

The holy water needed for the ritual is water that comes out in extremely small quantities from between the Kor Mountains to the west.

No, how small the quantity is, is not important.

Compared to the fact that the only ones who manage it are the Imperial Family.

The temples in each region hold the Tinas ritual once a year with the holy water sent from there, under the management of the Imperial Family.

It was understandable that he would panic, since all of it burned up and disappeared at once.

“Wh-what do we do?”

“Obviously, you, who failed to manage it properly, will be held responsible! After committing an act like this, you wouldn't say your life is too precious, would you?!”

Gael said harshly to the Knight Captain's question.

The Knight Captain's face turned even paler, but he soon said nothing, as if he thought it was something he had to accept.

“What happens to the Tinas ritual right now? Don't we have to inform the people?”

“Are you trying to get all the priests here killed?!”

It was a situation where it wouldn't be surprising if this temple disappeared without a trace if it became known outside.

It was a problem even if someone was held responsible and the incident was settled.

It was a chance that came only once a year, and in a case like this where they gathered children from small surrounding villages, things would get complicated.

The temples in the small villages would have charged a fee in exchange for that.

They'd be conscious of the other small temple priests, so they can't just swallow it; in the end, they'll have to spit out everything they took.

It would be good if they could just return it, but well.

I scanned the priests' flashy clothes and the knights' well-maintained armor.

One wrong move, and the mercenaries might have to return empty-handed.

No, the money is one thing, but what happens to the children who couldn't perform the Tinas ritual this year?

The children who are 12 this year will have to go to another region that holds the Tinas ritual.

There was no way commoner parents who live by farming could leave the region with their child.

In the first place, the fact that they postponed it until the child was 12 meant they were either considerably lazy or considerably poor.

“Send them to the capital.”

A low voice cutting through the murmuring people was clear.

I looked at the source of the voice, which had been standing silently next to me until now.

It was Ratel.

“The temples in the capital store more holy water than this place, don't they?”

Gael, who had been glaring at Ratel for suddenly interrupting, snorted.

“Will they obediently hand that precious stuff over to us?”

Ratel shrugged.

“Send the children. There must be places holding the ritual there, too. You can send the children directly to a place where the timing is right and have them undergo the ritual. It'll cost a bit of money, but wouldn't it be better than this incident being revealed and taking responsibility with death, or spitting everything back out as things are now?”

It was Ratel, adding subtle informal speech to his arrogant tone, but Gael, who seemed to like the tempting proposal, didn't notice it.

“……Good. How many children are there in total?”

“50 people.”

Gael frowned at the answer from the knight beside him.

“Foully many. How long does it take to get to the capital?”

“It will take a full day's ride on horseback. Since there are children, about a week……”

“Can you get there in 3 days?”

The knight, who gaped his mouth a few times at the question with a set answer, nodded.

“Yes, it seems possible.”

“Excuse me, Priest……, can we still receive our money?”

This time, a voice came from the mercenary group.

Priest Gael frowned deeply.

“I will reduce the personnel to 1/3. As the period is getting longer, I will pay more. For the rest, I will calculate and pay for the work done so far.”

Dissatisfied sighs flowed from here and there, but perhaps because they were all Abalan people, they did not spit out any more harsh words at the priest.

Those for whom the longer period didn't suit, quit, and those who wanted to earn more, remained.

There were more people who wanted to stay, so inevitably, people were chosen again and people were eliminated.

Everything flowed smoothly.

“Jing, you said you have to go to the capital, right?”

Ratel asked me, as I had chosen to go to the capital with him.

I looked at the still-expressionless Ratel.

“You, where were you last night?”

“……”

At my question, Ratel maintained his silence, then raised one corner of his mouth.

“I went to bed early. You know I normally go to bed early and wake up early.”

I couldn't erase the feeling that this situation, flowing like water, was all according to Ratel's intention.

***

“How come your steps are getting slower?”

At Jack's question, I shook my head, clutching the paper bag tightly.

“What are you talking about? I always walk like this. There's so much to see in the world, why are you only trying to go so fast.”

Jack narrowed his eyes and looked at me.

My steps had now slowed to a snail's pace, to the point where the rope between us was taut.

For him, who had already seen with his own two eyes how fast I run, it couldn't be anything but a pathetic lie.

“You know the ant crawling next to you is faster than you, right?”

Even at Jack's sharp point, I couldn't manage to add speed to my steps.

I looked up at the back of Jack's head as he walked ahead, shaking his head, and racked my brain.

I wondered, but as expected, the man was walking unhesitatingly toward the Piteos ducal mansion.

‘Is he going straight to the stronghold?’

It was the first time in my short life that so much information was entering my head, to the point that my head ached.

I, who hadn't even known that the entity building the new structure was the Piteos ducal family, slowly organized my thoughts.

The other children had disappeared after going to the distribution center to get food.

The large man, who seems to be in league with those guys, is dragging me to the Piteos ducal family right now.

If that's the case…… the Piteos ducal family is the band of evil?

My thoughts having reached that point, I covered my mouth.

It was an absurd misunderstanding, but with no one to correct it, my mind was like a rampaging dragon.

Did Mir know this?

I thought of my smart friend.

If it was him, I felt like he definitely would have.

Because he always thought several steps ahead of me.

Even when sending off the young master of the ducal family last time, Mir had shown a subtle expression.

I had simply thought it was because he was sad to lose a rare source of money.

Even children who had no business getting involved with high-and-mighty nobles knew of the Piteos ducal family.

A castle so large and beautiful it was visible even from the empty lot where we slept with the other children.

The Piteos ducal family from the stories of Sierra I heard when I was young.

In the Empire, it was to the point where it was strange if someone didn't know them.

The sword and shield that protects Abalan.

It was a phrase that all children born in Abalan hear at least once.

A family like that is taking children?

Why on earth?

If so, does the young master who threw me his coat and left back then also know about this?

The young master who said I shouldn't let my body get cold, whose name was F... something.

I had briefly thought about ripping him off, but still, the soft-hearted young master from that time had remained in my memory.

If that's true, it's not like I expected enough to be disappointed, but I thought I would feel a bit strange, and I followed slowly behind Jack again.