Translator: Willia

The rules of the clan are absolute. A thief gets their wrist cut off. The reason Britzlingen remained peaceful was because of strict law enforcement.

From the break of dawn, Britzlingen Castle was in an uproar. It was because the clan’s supply officer was dragging Roy around by the hair and shouting at the top of his lungs.

"Thief! Thief!"

Before the morning roll call, the students came rushing out, curious about the commotion. Official clan members staying inside the inner castle also looked out their windows or observed from a distance.

At first, Roy’s parents didn’t even know it was their son, as he was obscured by the crowd.

Even when Roy’s sister Beka screamed in shock, they couldn’t believe it. Because they didn’t think their son could ever do such a thing.

“Roy!”

But anxiety surged over them. Telling themselves it couldn’t be, they pushed through the crowd and went outside, only to see a grown man dragging Roy around by the hair like he was abusing an animal.

“Hey!”

Hartmann shouted like a furious beast, his eyes burning. He lunged at the supply officer and grabbed him by the collar, but blades were suddenly drawn from all sides and aimed at Hartmann’s neck.

However, Hartmann didn’t flinch at all. He brought his face close to the supply officer’s, looking like he was about to devour him, and roared. His neck was cut by a blade, and blood flowed.

“Let go of that hand!”

Then even the furious supply officer flinched under the intensity and released Roy’s hair.

At that moment, Volka came out of the inner castle, limping. The trainees who had drawn their swords quickly sheathed them.

“What’s going on?”

Like a storm passing and the skies clearing, a moment of silence followed, then the supply officer pointed at Roy and said,

“This rat-like bastard snuck into the clan’s storage and stole some of the emergency rations. He also broke Master’s cherished liquor.”

A murmur spread among the apprentices. Of course, that beggar bastard, that woodcutter’s child, such words were exchanged. Res watched the situation unfold from within the crowd, eyes trembling.

Volka looked around at the murmuring people and said,

“From now on, anyone who speaks except the one I call on will have their tongue cut out. All of you, shut up.”

Then silence fell, like a belated frost settling. Although Volka now walked with a limp, his charisma as a captain, as a leader who managed many people, seemed to have grown even stronger.

Volka looked quietly at Roy, as if studying him. A boy, visibly frightened and shrunk, appeared before him. He looked like a rabbit, just rolling his eyes and waiting to die.

“Is what he said true?”

Then Roy looked at Volka with trembling eyes. His parents and sister nearby looked on too. They seemed desperate, like they were standing at the edge of a cliff.

Roy’s heart, looking at them, was indescribably complicated. Yet for some reason, he didn’t assert his innocence and only kept his mouth shut.

“......”

By saying nothing, it felt as if he was admitting guilt.

“The rules of the clan in this land are absolute. Even a noble guest is not exempt. A thief gets their wrist cut off. Even now, you say nothing?”

Does it really have to go this far? Even if he did commit a crime, is it really right to cause permanent bodily harm for just a few slices of ham and cheese?

It was a customary law hardened over a long time, too rigid to question its fairness. A thief gets their wrist cut off. That was the punishment people deemed appropriate for theft.

“Say something, Roy.”

His mother pleaded with him. She couldn’t accept it. Not the wrist being cut off, and even more so, she couldn’t accept the idea that her son had done such a thing.

Roy hesitated. He didn’t even know why he was hesitating, or why he couldn’t easily speak the truth.

He looked around at the people surrounding him. The eyes filled with contempt and disgust, the desperate eyes of his parents and sister, and Volka’s stern and unwavering gaze were all fixed on him.

And then his eyes met those of Res, who was among the crowd. At that moment, Roy couldn’t bring himself to look inward. All he saw was his terrified friend.

So, despite trembling all over, he ended up saying this.

“......I did it.”

The moment those words fell, his mother Elia collapsed as if she had fainted, and people nearby quickly rushed to support her. His father Hartmann's eyes turned red, perhaps from anger.

Roy shut his eyes to the world. Let’s die. As long as I die, it’ll be fine. If anyone has to die, it should be me. He was just sorry to his mother and father. It’ll pass soon enough.

But with appropriate treatment, even having one’s wrist cut off didn’t necessarily mean death. Either way, Roy had truly prepared himself to die.

The moment he confessed, everything was over. All that remained was execution of punishment.

But then Hartmann suddenly stepped forward and stood in front of his son. He thrust out his thick forearm and shouted loudly.

“I will take responsibility! As his father, I will pay for my son’s crime in his stead! Cut off my wrist!”

Roy cried. His mother, lying weakly in her daughter’s arms, also shed tears.

He thought everything was finally over. He had thought there was no need to go all the way to the distant Eastern Frontier and that he could live a new life right here. Who could’ve imagined such a tragedy would occur out of nowhere.

Ricardt, who had been watching all of this, never stepped in. Because no matter how close they were or how young Roy was, if he had committed a wrongdoing, it couldn’t simply be swept under the rug.

Besides, although he had seen Res enter with Roy and come out alone, he didn’t know exactly what had happened inside the storage.

He merely watched quietly, the words and actions of the people, the judgment of a friend, and the resolve of a child.

Marie, whose hand had been holding Ricardt’s, gripped tighter. Ricardt also tightened his grasp. Merely being able to watch and do nothing was harder than one might think.

But then, Volka displayed astonishing calm and insight.

“My decision has not yet been made. So I ask the esteemed guest to stand aside for a moment. We can discuss who will bear the punishment afterward.”

Then he looked at the supply officer and asked,

“Supply Officer, how did you discover the scene of the crime?”

“Pardon?”

“Explain in detail what happened at that time.”

“Well, there’s not much to explain... I found the lock secured, thought it was strange, so I brought the key and opened it, and there he was!”

“Why is it strange for the lock to be secured?”

“Pardon?”

“Isn’t it normal for the lock to be secured?”

The supply officer was momentarily at a loss for words. Because normally, not locking the place was, in a way, a sign of negligence and poor management.

From Volka’s question, even the onlooking apprentices and trainees began to think, Huh, is that right? That does sound kind of strange.

They had just gone with the flow, assuming some beggar-like kid’s arm would be cut off, but perhaps that wasn’t the case.

“If you lie here, you’ll be punished too, Supply Officer.”

Volka glared at him fiercely as he spoke. Only then did the supply officer break into a cold sweat. After opening his mouth a few times in hesitation, he finally responded.

“W-well, I don’t usually lock it. It’s just that opening and locking it every day is a bit... and sometimes I forget the key... plus it’s kind of far...”

A ridiculous excuse. How far could the storage be from his quarters, really?

“We’ll discuss your negligence later. But for now, I’ll judge only the theft. If it was locked from the outside, then how did this child get inside?”

“......?”

Come to think of it, that was strange. If the lock wasn’t used, someone could get in. But how could it be locked from the outside if no one had left?

That meant at least an accomplice, or someone else was framing Roy.

Volka looked back at Roy and spoke again. Roy had thought that if he confessed, it would all be over, but things weren’t so simple.

“If you truly committed the crime, then tell us in detail how and why it happened.”

Roy was at a loss for words. He couldn’t say that Res had woken him up at dawn and brought him along, and that a bunch of things had happened after that.

He hadn’t done anything wrong. If anything, he had tried to stop it. But even so, the reason he confessed was because he hoped to take all the burden alone and let the others remain safe.

It was foolish, naive, and incomprehensible by common sense, but he was too young to think of it any other way.

“I-I don’t remember.”

“You don’t remember something that just happened? Then how did you confess?”

“......”

“Let’s go to the scene. Maybe that’ll help jog your memory.”

Volka limped forward, and the crowd parted like the sea to make way.

Upon arriving at the nearby storage, it was clear what had happened even from outside. Pieces of ham and cheese were scattered around, and a broken liquor bottle lay shattered.

And above all, there were footprints. At the time, everyone had been too shocked and flustered to notice.

“Oh!?”

The supply officer who had followed along widened his eyes in surprise. It was clear from the footprints that there had been two people inside.

Volka carefully stepped around the footprints and headed into the mess. Roy was dragged along, and others kept their distance while watching.

“From the footprints, it’s clear someone else came in besides you. Did that person lock the door from the outside?”

“......”

“Maybe they panicked because the bottle broke. So they tried to pin the blame on you.”

Volka, perhaps due to his long experience leading people, showed sharp insight in reconstructing the event. He was by no means an easy person to fool.

In truth, when you lead people, all sorts of things happen. Volka had dealt with more than a few such incidents, some even more serious than this.

So sloppy mistakes by kids weren’t enough to deceive his eyes.

But this matter was heavy. Theft was a serious crime. It couldn’t just be brushed aside.

As someone who led many people and bore responsibility, he had to show how fair and wise he was in front of them. If things like this shook his judgment, the group would also be shaken. Volka knew this well.

It wasn’t a position where he could simply overlook things because he wanted to. But that didn’t mean he could just kill someone or cut off an arm carelessly either. Volka deeply felt the weight of that responsibility.

“Who was the one that came with you?”

Cornered, Roy trembled. He was the kind of person who couldn’t lie, so he couldn’t even begin to speak.

“Even if you keep your mouth shut, I will find out. Do you think your friend will be safe then? A harsher punishment will await. Hey! Find out who was missing from the apprentices’ quarters at dawn! We’ll compare footprints!”

Volka shouted at the crowd. At this rate, the truth was bound to be revealed quickly.

At that moment, Roy felt he had to do something, anything, and suddenly swept all the liquor bottles off the shelf. The high-grade liquors crashed to the ground and shattered.

No one had expected such a thing, and everyone was stunned.

Roy, who had been silent the whole time, now looked determined as he faced Volka. For the first time, he wasn’t trembling.

“Is this enough? I did it. Now cut off my wrist.”

Ricardt’s eyes widened at the sight. Even Volka, who had maintained composure and calm throughout, blinked in shock.

Res was also watching the situation unfold, and when Roy acted like that, he was so overwhelmed with shock he could hardly breathe. I betrayed you, how can you do this for me?

At this moment, the young boy was dominating the entire room. His parents, the other adults, and the hardworking trainees all had nothing to say.

Volka suddenly had this thought. All this mess aside, this kid was the real deal.

As silence swept over them, Ricardt stepped forward. He approached Roy and looked down at the boy as he asked,

“Why don’t you tell the truth?”

“I-I don’t know.”

“I saw. I can point out the one who was with you here. But if you tell me why you’re doing this, I’ll keep my mouth shut.”

Then Roy lowered his head and spoke in a voice barely louder than a whisper.

“......Because he’s my friend.”

“Alright. If you’re determined to carry that heavy burden, fine. I’ll carry it with you.”

Ricardt looked around at Volka and the onlookers and said,

“From this moment, this child is my disciple. Volka, I respect you as a friend and as the master of the clan, and I also respect the clan’s rules strictly. But if it’s for my disciple, I don’t care about the clan or its rules. If you want me to withdraw, I will. But if you intend to punish this child by force, you’ll have to fight me. Anyone with objections, speak to me.”

Ricardt, though stronger than anyone else, usually disliked using brute force to suppress others, but this time was different. Perhaps, for the first time in his life, he acted with the attitude of 'come at me', putting strength ahead of reason.

For a child who was about to shoulder a noble disgrace, he was willing to bear disgrace himself.

Though still rough around the edges, the boy had a solid core. Ricardt wanted to protect that core. It might very well be the seed of something noble and great.

Volka looked at his long-time friend and said,

“In the past, I might have laughed this off, but not now, Ricky.”

“I understand.”

“For now, I’ll think about this and decide later.”

Volka sighed deeply and turned around, limping as he walked away.

There was a time when he had thought about it, if he had to choose between the clan and a friend, which one should he choose? Because of the matter with Ice, Volka had always said he would choose the clan.

But as time went on, it all started to feel meaningless. In the end, he just wanted to live peacefully with the people he cared about.

Even the firmest beliefs could waver and change over time. Volka now felt uncertain about what should come first.

Ricardt looked at Roy. The boy seemed unsure of how things were unfolding.

“If I were you, I would’ve killed the one who betrayed me with my own hands. Roy, you’re the opposite of me.”

“......I’m just sorry to my parents. I don’t even know why I did it.”

“Who knows? Maybe this happened for a greater reason. No one can predict the will of the gods. You only understand once it’s over.”

“Either way, thank you.”

“By the way, is it alright that I made you my disciple without asking?”

“The Ricky hyung I’ve seen so far seems like a cool person. I’m fine with it.”

Ricardt chuckled.

“Cool, huh.”

Ricardt took Roy and left the storage. Volka was gone, and outside the storage, people were still gathered in clusters. All of them stared at Ricardt and Roy.

Ricardt swept his gaze across them with a slightly mocking expression. Most of them were unfamiliar faces.

When he had first started, he only had a few friends. He now wondered if this clan was the same one he once knew and loved.

Volka had accomplished a lot and created a better environment. But was there a place for him here? He wasn’t sure.

Honestly, Ricardt didn’t care much for the current system or people. He just didn’t say anything about it.

There was competition, pursuit of profit, disregard, contempt, obsequiousness toward the strong, and cruelty toward the weak.

He understood it was inevitable for efficient organization and didn’t think it was necessarily bad, but it simply didn’t suit him.

“Move.”

Ricardt said. His tone was rather cold. Though not as harsh as how these people had treated Roy.

Ricardt led Roy past the crowd. Hartmann and Elia, who had been waiting, came forward. The family embraced one another, relieved that Roy was safe for now.

A day passed, and after deep deliberation, Volka made his decision. The sentence was exile for Hartmann’s family.

Thus, those who would stay remained behind, and Ricardt left again for the Eastern Frontier. Those who went with him were the Hartmann family, Bremen, and Marie.

As they departed the castle, Res followed. He stayed with them until they reached the domain’s border beyond the embankment.

At the break of dawn, as Roy, who had finally shouldered a burden suited to his size, approached the mountain path, he turned to look back at Res.

Res hesitated for a long time, then approached and said,

“I’m sorry......”

“Between friends, there’s no need to apologize.”

Then Res’s face twisted, and he cried, tears streaming down his cheeks.

“I’m sorry......”

“I’m fine. If an apology is what will ease your heart, then I’ll accept it. Learn hard, and I hope you become a great swordsman someday.”

“Yeah...... I promise. I really will. I won’t betray you again.”

Roy looked bitterly at the crying Res, then turned his steps toward the people waiting for him. Far in the distance, the sun was resting on the ridge.

“I’m going now. Take care.”

In the cool morning, violet flowers bloomed with every step on the mountain pass road of the Britzlingen, Viola Clan's autonomous territory.

Chapter 22 - Crossroads of Friendship. The End.

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