211 – Northern Journey -4-
The effects of the potion lasted until they disappeared, precariously.
If they had stayed here for just 10 more minutes, it would have been a precarious time when we could have been caught. If a demon had suddenly appeared in the middle, or if we had engaged in casual conversation, we would have undoubtedly clashed with them.
“We almost died.”
With a sigh of relief, I gazed at the young lady who was still expressionless, her heart racing.
“Young lady?”
“Hm?”
The young lady was calmly eating dried persimmon, her eyes fixed on me with a puzzled expression, as if wondering why I was so startled.
Was she foolish, or was it because her body couldn’t sense magic?
Regardless of the reason, I was grateful that the young lady didn’t get startled. If she had, it would have been a disaster.
The apostle was a being that existed as a threat, and just seeing it would have startled the young lady, I thought.
The apostle was a being known as the pillar of heresy.
It was close to a calamity.
It possessed overwhelming power and a self-centered personality.
If I could have handled it, there wouldn’t have been a problem, but currently, I could only manage to bite the apostle’s arm.
Moreover, protecting the young lady while achieving victory was a task that seemed almost impossible, which was why I was more tense than usual.
I let out a sigh of relief and observed the young lady’s condition.
“Hmm.”
“…”
“Uh… it’s tough.”
The young lady, who was eating a large piece of dried persimmon, spoke to me in a low voice.
“Ricardo.”
“Yes.”
“Were those people bad?”
“Yes?”
Was it her intuition as a villain?
I nodded slightly in response to the young lady’s question, which seemed to recognize her own kind.
“That’s right… but how did you know?”
“They just looked bad.”
“Yes?”
“They looked bad, so they’re bad people.”
The young lady made a discriminatory remark, nodding her head. A small smile spread across my face at her ridiculous prejudice, which seemed to fit perfectly.
While judging someone by their appearance is wrong, sometimes the young lady’s absurd biases hit the mark, and I thought to myself as I patted her head, dispelling the heavy atmosphere.
“You’re quite clever.”
“Of course, I’m clever.”
The young lady was still far from humble.
I gazed blankly at the spot where they had disappeared.
Thinking about the man’s retreating figure, who had an unbridgeable gap in power, I let out a heavy sigh.
“It’s going to be a headache…”
Honestly, I couldn’t bear it.
The existence of a apostle was terrifying, but there was an even bigger problem hidden beneath. It was a problem that could topple the axis of the novel.
Olarf, the apostle with that name, was the villain who killed Yuria’s father. As a result, Yuria awakened to the power of the saint and gained immense power.
To put it in car terms, her father’s death was like a necessary tire for Yuria to awaken, a crucial cogwheel.
There was no way to replace the shock of losing a loved one.
If I let my emotions get the better of me and crumble just because of pity, I honestly didn’t think I could handle what was to come.
It would have been better if I hadn’t seen the apostle today… maybe I would have forgotten…
In the novel, Yuria relied heavily on her father. In reality, it was the same.
Whenever there was a chance, she would talk about her father’s stories in the north or read the letters he sent, cherishing the memories of the difficult times.
So, in the novel, she was deeply saddened by her father’s death. She found out about his death through a letter from the north.
Yuria’s grief was indescribable, to the point of being afflicted with aphasia, and she even abandoned her respect for life and was consumed by hatred.
That’s why I had more thoughts.
Should I try to control it or leave it to the original story’s flow and live a peaceful life?
I continued to worry.
As I was lost in thought, I heard the lady’s voice in my ear.
“Ricardo.”
The lady gazed at the white snowfield, carefully grasping my collar.
With a gaze that seemed to ask if I could leave now, I shook off the thoughts in my head and smiled faintly.
“I want to go to the restroom…”
“Is it the restroom?”
“Yes.”
She was really a peaceful person.
*
After a brief outing, I returned to the inn and escorted the lady to her room before heading down to the first floor.
I wanted to drink.
As my thoughts grew complicated, I felt like I had forgotten the purpose of my trip, and I wanted to drink to clear my head. If I could put my complicated thoughts aside, I thought I could enjoy the trip.
The trip that was supposed to be relaxing had now become filled with anxiety.
“Haah…”
James, who had been waiting for me on the first floor, greeted me with a bright face, holding out a cold beer.
“Ah, it’s a relief you’re alive.”
He said with a humorous tone.
I smiled, shaking off the heavy feeling that had settled in due to James’ joke.
“Are you saying that so seriously?”
“Hehe…! At a time like this! There’s no one who would come to this mountain to watch a couple’s fight, right?”
“It was fun, though.”
I smiled faintly and sat down across from James, letting out a sigh.
I wanted to shake off my worries now.
What were they doing here, anyway?
Should I stop them or ignore them?
I wanted to temporarily put aside my complicated thoughts.
James, with a bright smile, congratulated me on my safe return, raising his beer glass in a toast. “Cheers!”
The amber-colored beer, clinking against the glass, looked especially delicious today.
I smiled slightly and clinked my glass against James’, muttering a small “Cheers” in response.
“Thank you.”
“What’s there to thank? I’ll just add it to the bill.”
“…”
“Haha! Just kidding!”
James, who had burst out laughing, looked at me with an excited expression.
“So, how was it?”
“What’s the big deal?”
“The northern dialect, isn’t it beautiful?”
The mountain range of the north… was it not breathtakingly beautiful?
James’ eyes, filled with innocent curiosity, were fixed on me.
I smiled slightly at James’ passionate gaze and playfully tossed a joke his way. The answer was more interesting than I had expected.
“It was more fun than I expected.”
“You must not have had high expectations then…”
I smiled slightly at James’ tongue-in-cheek remark and raised my glass.
“Haha! Just kidding. Thanks to the boss, I had a really great time.”
“Then I’m glad. I didn’t have high expectations either, but you said it was fun, so I was surprised.”
“Haha…”
Behind my bitter smile, a small worry lingered.
Perhaps I could spare one innkeeper…
There was no detailed information about the heretic’s attack in the novel. Only a mention of people dying in the north due to the heretic’s attack, without any explanation of their motives.
“Sir…?”
As I was lost in thought, James’ voice brought me back. James, with a gentle impression, looked at me with worried eyes.
“What’s wrong? Your expression is quite dark.”
“It’s nothing. I’m fine.”
“Is that so…? Hmm.”
James continued to gaze at my gloomy face, his expression asking what worries I could possibly have.
James cleared his throat and opened his mouth.
“Sir, I’ve developed a skill over the 10 years I’ve been running this inn. Do you know what it is?”
“Is it intuition?”
“That’s right. It’s the ability to tell at a glance whether a customer is a high-quality patron who will leave a good tip, just by looking at their first impression when they walk in.”
“…I don’t think that’s possible.”
“…”
James looked at my face and pursed his lips shut.
“Of course! Sometimes I’m wrong, but that’s what I mean. Anyway, having received many customers, I’ve found that people who harbor worries inside always end up causing trouble. They get drunk and start a fight, or break a window and… ugh…”
James let out a loud laugh and spoke quietly.
“Sometimes you need to vent to someone, curse someone, and that’s how you relieve stress, you know.”
I chuckled slightly and emptied my glass, responding to James’s witty remark.
“What’s the point of worrying about that?”
Can you understand?
The weight of my concerns is like holding someone’s life in the balance…
I looked down and asked James.
“You have a daughter, right?”
“Yes. Want to see a picture? She’s incredibly beautiful.”
“That’s okay. Our lady is even more beautiful.”
“Ha ha…”
James clenched his fist, gazing at me with a hint of hostility, a doting father’s expression for the first time. I chuckled and shook my head.
“How much do you want to see your daughter?”
“I want to see her every day.”
“What if… you can’t see her in the future?”
“What do you mean? Why suddenly ask that?”
“I’m just curious.”
“Are you planning to elope with the woman on the second floor?”
“…No.”
“Really?”
“No, I’m not.”
I spoke in a slightly lower tone to James.
“It’s not that kind of situation. I asked because I have to do something, something that feels like abandoning heaven’s principles.”
“…”
James was thinking of a romantic story in his mind, a love between a servant and a noble that could never be.
A man who defies his family’s opposition to pursue love, and a couple who chooses to elope despite the father’s opposition.
James was imagining a passionate love story, his fingers tracing his nose.
“A daughter is… a being that wouldn’t even hurt your eyes, someone you’d gladly give up your organs for…”.
“If you can’t see her again… then…”
“That would be incredibly sad.”
I wore a gloomy expression at James’s words.
James didn’t know my thoughts and continued to speak, smiling faintly as he talked about how great a father’s love is, how far he’d go for his daughter.
“…But if my daughter is happy, I think that’s enough. Even if I can’t see her in the future, as long as she lives well somewhere, that’s good enough for me.”
“…Is that so.”
“Yes, that’s what all parents with daughters would think.”
My thoughts grew complicated.
It seemed that Yuri’s father would also think that way, and my thoughts became even more complicated.
Which path should I choose?
Yuri’s awakening.
Or a harmonious family.
Whichever path I choose, the guilt that returns to me won’t disappear. The weight of my emotions and the responsibility that comes with it won’t disappear, a heavy burden that won’t fade.
Honestly, the answer was already decided.
As the Sword Master, I couldn’t even imagine defeating that formidable opponent alone. With so many things to protect and so many things to bear, I didn’t want to sacrifice my life for a small gain.
But.
When I saw James’ excited middle-aged face talking about his daughter, my selfish thoughts disappeared.
Honestly, I wanted to run away, but…
I nodded my head, looking at James’ face.
“I understand. It seems to have been a big help.”
James smiled slightly and patted my shoulder.
“Customer.”
“Yes?”
“Haha… Normally, I don’t tell people this kind of thing, but you look so troubled, so I’ll make an exception.”
“Yes?”
James pulled out a small paper from his pocket and showed it to me.
[Ttak-ttak North Hot Spring.
└Mixed bathing available for men and women.]
James whispered in my ear with a sly middle-aged smile.
“It’s a bit pricey, but it’s a famous spot in the North.”
I shook my head at James’ sly expression and took the ticket he offered.
“You’re really a sly inn owner.”
“This is also marketing.”
“Haha… Really.”
Really, I didn’t know.
*
Three days later
Ricardo left for the hot spring on a late night.
-Ding. Ding. Ding.
Someone’s knocking sound started to echo at James’ inn.