Ashes and Kingdoms

Message from translator: Welcome to the last chapter of this volume!! On Twitter, I saw that the author had snuck some glances at the translation, as well as our “endearing” comments about Eutis xD

It took several days to work out the details of the plan and prepare the arrangements. Far from disappearing, the rumors continued to spread during that time, exchanged in whispers even in front of the barracks with various aspects changed.

“Not only did the dragon appear, it also completely purged the bandits for them”, “No, the army hired a spellcaster who summoned an illusion”, “Nu uh, the moment an army corps soldier was gonna be in danger, a dazzling light shone from the heavens and a dragon came swooping down”—such stories floated around, but they had yet reach the truth.

Coming back from the commander"s room, Varte had a bitter face on and called Fin over, a given outcome from all of this.

“Our Great Commander wants to personally meet with you.”

“….Did he tell you why?”

“It was "bout gathering Iguros" ashes, but well, it was probably just a pretext. Before he gives you permission, he"d p want to check you out himself, apparently.”

Varte shrugged his shoulders and gave a smile full of s.a.d.i.s.tic complacency.

“I told him for ya that you can easily go full-on idiot. I said, ‘I don"t mind calling him, but Commander, he was chained to the toilet since last night because of a nasty laxative. Please be careful not to drag this out for too long." So, go and try your best to show how weak-kneed pathetic you can get. Oh, but don"t go really wetting your pants when you get scared. I"ll lock you out if you come back with a smelly a.s.s.”

Several soldiers on the side listened to the chipper captain and burst out in laughter, unable to hold it back. Fin silently endured this with a frown. He kept his ill remark that they really did like extremely crude language, slightly shook his head in exasperation, and left the station. Laughter could be heard from the other side of the door he closed, but he didn"t want to think of the reason behind it.

In any case, thanks to being tired from all that foolishness, he was saved task of acting like it. Dirgius looked at Fin appearing in the commander"s room and raised an eyebrow; after staring at him with suspicious eyes, he cleared his throat and began to speak.

“Seems like you"re going to gather a Nanais soldier"s remains. You planning on taking all the folks you brought from the north on a little walk?”

“No sir. That would be dangerous, and I don"t think the children remember that area anyways. I want to bring along my parents to help….and also Iguros" niece as well. She might be able to recognize something belonging to the deceased.”

Fin answered cautiously, so Dirgius snorted. It was the same when Fin handed over the letter from Nanais.

“That"s fine then.”

Dirgius muttered as if talking to himself and nodded. Fin"s stomach twisted. It really seemed like his stomach took a turn for the worse.

"That"s fine then"? Then what would make you say it wasn"t good? Was the commander not vigilant about anything?

Dirgius started intently at Fin and scowled when Fin"s face turned pale. If Dirgius sincerely believed in Varte"s outrageous lie, Fin worried that this would some kind of disgrace towards him.

“One more thing I"ll like to confirm. Rumors say that a dragon appeared to save you. Is that true?”

“Who said that?”

Fin unintentionally stared in wonder and answered in response. This wasn"t just about the rumor of the dragon, but why was he also pointed out? However, his question was blown away by a burst of fury.

“The one who"s asking the questions is me! Now, answer!!”
Fin fixed his facial expression in a hurry, though uneasy as he tried to remember the tempo for this act.

“There must be some kind of misunderstanding, Commander.”

Fin responded, his weak tone hinting at the question if it was fine for him to leave, and stole a peek at the door. Dirgius grimaced, but it didn"t look like he was willing to let this go.

“Then, are you saying that you didn"t see a dragon or anything?”

“A dragon…that kind of thing, it"s a rumor, no?”

The same time he said this vaguely, his hunch told him that those weren"t the words this man was seeking. While digging through his memories, he hit jackpot and continued with mumbled words.

“Even if there was one, there"s no way it would say a lowly miller"s son like myself. It would be a different story for a more respectable army soldier….Um, Commander, excuse me.”

Fin slouched forward, holding his stomach. Dirgius glared in disdain towards the boy and a prideful smiled appeared on his face. When Fin looked up, a dark red mist covered his sight. The image that flashed in his mind was of Dirgius supported by a giant winged creature behind him as he laughed, trampling on the groveling people below.

(Aw, come on now.)

Fin promptly hid his face and tightly shut his eyes. He heard the sound of Dirgius snorting from above him.

“Alright, go.”

He didn"t even care that his tone was like he was shooing a stray dog away right now. Fin hurriedly saluted and rushed out of the room, looking like he tripped as he left. The thought of what kind of rumor this might cause flashed in his mind for a mere second, but Fin immediately shook it off and ran out at full speed.

The northern outskirts of Winea were much different from the first time he crossed here. Small white and purple flowers carpeted the area to greet summer. The sky was also fairly clear; different from the when it was heavy with the cold. It couldn"t beat this heat.

Before leaving the main road and entering the wastelands, Fin turned heel and headed for a plot of graveyard. There was a single, fresh stone mixed in amongst the plethora of similar-looking, cheap graves. The only one with no inscription but had only a single name—Iguros. Varte arranged for it, but even if they were strangers, this was still a bit too cold for a fellow army corps soldier.

Fin silently looked down on it for some time. He aimlessly tried to think of what kind of words he should chisel into it, but nothing came to mind. Either way, such a thing wasn"t necessary. Fin crouched down and stuck his hand underneath the tombstone, feeling around for a place to lay the funerary urn. His fingertips touched a small pouch, making it faintly ring.

Sensing the gaze of the gatekeeper from afar on his back, Fin grasped it in his hand, nimbly hid it in his pocket, and began to walk away with an ignorant air.

Fernaine, who hadn"t been outside in a while, frolicked around as if she had completely forgotten what happened here a month ago. She chased after b.u.t.terflies and birds, plucked flowers, and scattered their petals around like a blizzard. Oandus and Fauna watched over her with smiles on their faces. All of them were carrying a canteen and four people"s worth of lunch.

Fin"s luggage included a pouch and tools to gather the deceased"s belongings, as well as a sword and the square lantern just in case. There was more a less a reason for why he was allowed to bring such without causing suspicion to arise. If they were unable to return by sunset and ended up locked outside, it would be an intense night to spend without any light, let alone the dangers of attacks from the Beasts of Darkness.

After some time, they left the main road and continued walking northeast until they caught sight of a familiar hill around noontime. In spite of the landscape now blooming with flowers, an undeniable pain still remained here.

They slowly climbed up the slope. When they looked down from the very top, they saw the black remnants of a fire buried in the green gra.s.s. The remnants of the burned cart and Iguros" provisional cremation. As expected, memories of what happened here awoke in Fernaine, her expression disappeared and she became meek.

Everyone worked in silence. Oandus and Fin rummaged through the ashes, removing the carbonized bars and axles. Fauna walked around the area with Fernaine as they looked for anything that had fallen.

After a short while, they a.s.sembled all that they had gathered.

It wasn"t that this was unexpected, but Iguros" bones, or anyone"s to be exact, were nowhere to be found, making this a bit heart-breaking. Were they eaten by the Beasts of Darkness? Where they scattered about due to wolves and foxes carrying them away? What the group did find was a belt clasp, the ruins of a small protective idol, and sc.r.a.ps of someone"s shoelace and clothes.

“In any case, we can"t really go about stuffing this in his grave.”

Oandus bitterly laughed, and Fin nodded as he started to dig a small hole. He buried the remains of those who once walked this land, piled up several small stones on top, and lit a tiny fire in front of them. Originally, he was supposed to burn incense and offerings, but he had none of that now.

The four of them silently prayed until the fire burned out. Afterwards, they moved slightly away from the place and sat down on the gra.s.s, ready to eat the lunch they brought with them. Bread baked twice to lengthen its longevity, water, cheese, and some fruits. The contents were frugal, but the amount was enough. Too much for them to finish all at once.

When Fernaine noticed the dried apricots and others left in the pouch, she asked for more, but Fauna softly stopped her and began to clean up.

“Are we going home already?”

Fernaine pouted, “How boring.” Fin had an ambiguous expression, but smiled and gave a short answer, “No.” Fernaine"s face lit up in delight, but when she noticed the strange air given off by the adults looking down on her, she became perplexed and her smile disappeared.

“You can"t go home, Fernaine. We"re not going back to the orphanage.”

Fin calmly informed her. Quickly, Fernaine scowled in unease and anger. Her mouth warped, on the verge of crying out.

“Why? I don"t wanna. I"m going back.”

Fernaine said, her words sounded like she was scared, and she suddenly stood up. But Fin"s hand grabbed her arm. Despite thoroughly racking his brain for what he should say to persuade her, Fin ended up stating the very frank truth.

“No can do. If you go back to the orphanage, you"ll be killed.”

“You"re lying! Why would you say that!?”

Fernaine struggled, trying to shake Fin off her arm, but seeing that she was no match for him, she raised an ear-splitting scream.

“Fernaine! I"m not lying. You must not go to that guy"s mansion.”

Fin tried to persuade her, but his words drown out by her screams.

“Let go! I hate you. Let me go! Stupid!”

Fernaine used her tiny fist to recklessly punch Fin, her hair becoming disheveled as she screamed and shouted. At that moment, Fauna, watching all of this happening from the side, knelt down and suddenly raised her hand.

She slapped Fernaine"s cheek, making the little girl"s eyes widen in surprise and fear. Within this moment of silence, Fauna said sternly.

“Be quiet. Otherwise, the next one will be even harder.”

Fauna"s strong tone said that she wouldn"t take ‘yes" nor ‘no" as an answer. Fernaine gulped and cowered in fear. Fauna mercilessly stared at the girl with her dark green eyes.

“Not everyone who gives you sweets is a good person, Fernaine. That man….Niardo is luring you in with sweets. And after he brings you to his mansion, he intends to eat you up like how a wolf does. That"s why we have to run away.”

“………”

Fernaine shook her head a little, but she didn"t anything. Instead, she clung onto Fin"s arm, the same arm she was trying to shake off not too long ago. When Fauna extended her hand, the girl shrunk back even further.

Fauna smiled bitterly. She fixed Fernaine"s disheveled black hair as she continued to speak.

“Are you scared? But, if you go to that man"s mansion, everyday"ll be like this. You"ll be made to do a lot of things you don"t want to. If you cry, you won"t be hit once, but more like tens of times. And after all of that, he"ll rub that same hand on you. All over your body.”

“……No.”

“I"m not lying. Fernaine, be smart. You"re very cute, so in the future, crowds of men carrying delicious sweets, beautiful clothes, and flowers will try to lure you with their kind words. But you know, most of those men won"t really love you. It"s the same as the time when you found that doll and threw a tantrum, yelling that you wanted it. After they"ve played with you for a while, they"ll get bored and throw you away.”

“That"s a lie. Mr. Niardo is kind. He said that he"ll take good care of me.”

Fernaine"s objection was weak, and she began to sob convulsively again. But this time, Fauna didn"t scold her to be quiet.

“Men often say those types of things. Like, ‘You"re the only one who"s special".”

The danger hidden in her indifferent tone caused the two males to hold back in silence as they looked at each other. Fauna wasn"t a mother or a wife right now, but just a woman.

“My cousin also had a wonderful little cutie, much like you. But, she was tricked by a good-for-nothing man and died a miserable way. I don"t want that to happen to you. Remember to endure the urge to jump at the sweets in front of you and be cautious. Do you understand?”

Persuaded, Fernaine quickly nodded. But in reality, she probably didn"t understand at all. Her eyes spilled with large tears and she bit her lips; her expression denounced everyone—this treatment was unreasonable; you"re cruel; this was too much.

Nevertheless, until her young mind could understand this, she had no choice but to follow them. The adults exchanged looks with each other. When they all let out a sigh in their own way, they stood up.

“Alright, let"s go. Fernaine, can you walk?”

Fernaine stared at the ground and didn"t answer Fin"s question. Fin was troubled and looked at his parents. So, as a subst.i.tute for his son, Oandus held the little girl in his arms.

“I"ll carry her for the meantime. You can"t really afford to have an empty hand anyways.”

“Sorry. I"ll leave it to you.”

Fin bowed his head, took a look of his surroundings, and began to move out, leading the way.

Leading them along the main road to the distant Nanais—leading them northeast.

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