The sun is s.h.i.+ning brightly in the middle of the sky, piercing his eyes even without him looking up.
When he takes his first step onto solid land, he stretches without a care for others" gazes. Although he has long since gotten used to sailing in boats, he still prefers the feel of land. Just the fact that he doesn"t have to sway back and forth, left and right, instead having his feet planted on the ground, makes his emotions a lot steadier.
Just as he"s about to pick up his really minimal luggage, he incidentally looks at his own left arm. There are scars everywhere on it. Even his nails are habitually cut short. As for some of the obvious scars, to this day he can still remember when he got them and why.
Feeling as though someone is calling him, he looks up to see two children run over to him from a distance. The girl is waving at him hard, while the boy is carrying a large sack, so forget waving, he can barely even see the road ahead of him.
The children"s almost-white blonde hair is flying in the sea breeze coming from the port. Although their limbs are slender, there"s already a bit more flesh on them over these past few months[1].
"Conra, d—"
The two of them still aren"t too used to the common language, so they don"t call him Conrad or Conrart. They are the s.h.i.+nzoku children who escaped from Seisakoku.
"Zeta, Zuusha. Did you come out here to help the head of the kitchen buy things?"
The children finally make it to their older friend, they"rre currently working as kitchen apprentices in the merchant vessel Conrad just alighted from. The truth is they still can"t do any proper work, but the way they run back and forth doing errands can make the crew burst out laughing, so they"re very deeply loved.
The raw green fruit almost falls out, and the younger brother hurriedly presses it back into the sack before it drops out.
The older sister, full of smiles, takes out a pale blue envelope from her kitchen uniform. There"s the recipient"s name written on top with slightly stiff handwriting, and it"s sealed.
"To Yuuri"
"A letter?"
Conrad asks, bending his knees to match their eye level, and the children pause for a beat before nodding in reply simultaneously. When he reaches out his left hand to accept the letter, something occurs to him suddenly, and so he says with a slight frown,
"But I"m not sure if I can meet Yuuri."
"But you will meet him someday."
The children"s unsuspecting eyes are sparkling, and they have no intention of taking back the letter they held out. A gust of wind blows past them, then Lord Weller Conrad nods determinedly after a moment"s thought,
"That"s true."
And so, with expressions of happiness, the two put the thin letter into his hands.
Although he"s little uneasy inside, worrying "could this letter be written in the blood of livestock!?", Conrad still keeps the letter into his breast pocket, with the feelings of a postman,
"But if you two meet Yuuri before I do, remember to greet him for me."
He"s not sure if they understand such a long sentence, but the two nod in unison.
On the way to Dai s.h.i.+maron, the merchant vessel Conrad is riding on stops at a port, a small city of commerce without any tourists. This vessel had just taken a spin around a few small countries, so if you want to savor a relaxing cruise, they"re a good s.h.i.+p to sail with. However, to Lord Weller, who isn"t a merchant, it"s simply a waste of time.
He wants to return to Dai s.h.i.+maron as soon as possible, and there are things he must investigate as well, which is why he decided to change s.h.i.+ps in this port. However, based on the information he just gleaned, there aren"t any s.h.i.+ps headed to Dai s.h.i.+maron today.
So, carrying the letter for Yuuri and the warmth left over from embracing the children, he steps forth in search of an inn to stay the night. It would be best if the place was near the port, he doesn"t mind even if it"s the second floor of a bar.
But his gaze is soon attracted by some loud yelling - turns out a middle-aged man is in conflict with a young man next to a docked boat. The younger man is dressed like a sailor, but as for the one glaring at him angrily, that short but broad-shouldered, extremely stocky middle-aged man, there"s just no telling who he is at a glance.
He"s holding a stack of cash notes amounting to a large sum in his hands. Maybe he"s just naturally particular about money, because he keeps tapping the money with his finger in protest.
It seems something went wrong in the contract between the two, and now they"re at loggerheads over the payment of damages and the work left to do.
He stops, observes the surroundings around the two, and finally understands.
There are about ten men standing a few steps away from the middle-aged man. Among them, some are casually stretching one foot forward, looking bored, while others are so restless it"s driving them insane, so they start playing with their clothes. Most of them, however, are sagging their shoulders dejectedly, or staring at the ground with their heads lowered.
As though full of despair towards life, maybe even cursing their own lives.
Conrad can tell who they are immediately. Those people are wearing faded grey clothes and cloth shoes, but there"s a chain binding their right feet together, so they"re obviously prisoners being transported.
They probably want to take a boat from this port to somewhere else. Surrounded by six armed soldiers, they don"t even have the will to try and escape, all waiting obediently on the spot, powerless.
Except for one.
That extraordinary person is staring at the ocean with spirited eyes, his expression saying he will soon take his aim with him as he crosses the sea.
Only, the moment Conrad sees him, he can"t help but rush forward. He rushes in between the prisoners, grabbing that man"s thin clothing tightly. But since he brought too much momentum, both of them ended up colliding into a wall, the chains on that man"s legs even clanking loudly.
"…Kinan!"
When that man hears someone say his name through clenched teeth, perhaps due to the suddenness of it, his eyes widen like saucers. But even that is but a moment, and he immediately reverts to his calm face,
"Your Excellency."
"Why are you here?"
That man called Kinan smiles, but it doesn"t reach his eyes,
"As you can see, I was apprehended for a menial crime."
"You"re not the kind of person who would do something like that!"
"Hey!"
The soldier on watch prepares to come over and interrogate them, so Conrad disguises himself as an angry victim, yelling out at the same time,
"You all stay out of this! This guy conned my little sister and even took away all our money! I have to teach him a lesson, or I"ll never get this off my chest!"
In reality, the one who victimized wasn"t his little sister, and the thing that was taken away wasn"t money, but it seems that Conrad"s acting is working after all. The soldier on watch stops walking towards them, shaking his head,
"You poor thing. But this guy is headed for a prison in Darco for hurting someone with a knife in a bar, and once you"re there, you don"t get back for at least five years. If you tell your sister that, maybe she won"t feel so bad about it anymore."
"But I still want him to apologize to my little sister."
The soldier on watch shrugs exasperatedly, releasing the fingers that were holding his sword hilt,
"In any case, he can"t leave this place until the s.h.i.+p sets sail."
Looks like the soldiers on watch won"t feel particularly upset if a mere prisoner gets hurt during transport. Wordlessly they return to their positions.
Conrad grabs that man"s chest again, so tightly he can only barely breathe,
"You were the one who shot Wolfram with an arrow, weren"t you?"
"My target wasn"t His Excellency."
"But the one that fell was my little brother."
"I deeply apologize."
His teeth are starting to hurt from being clenched so tightly.
"And you nearly hit His Majesty."
"I won"t."
Even though he"s being scolded, Kinan still says proudly,
"With my skills, it"s not possible for me to make a mistake."
"Even so!"
The man frowns, perhaps from the pain where his shoulder was rammed into the stone wall. For an instant, Conrad has the urge to grab his head and bang it into the wall, but eventually he curbs this thought,
"Then you were after Wolfram"s life?"
"I said my target wasn"t His Excellency, it was King Saralegui."
"The Shou s.h.i.+maron king? Why?"
"I was hired. The ones who wanted to rebel, they hired me to kill the Shou s.h.i.+maron king with my arrows. But our plans were seen through by that crafty boy king, it seems."
"You say you were hired? You think that excuse would save you? Even if it"s true, you still committed the greatest crime. Because you sniped your own king and his closest subordinates. No matter how brilliant a representative you find to help you fight your case, or how strong a protector emerges for you, none of it will work, because you have committed an unforgivable crime."
"Please do not worry. I don"t have any connections in high places, I probably wouldn"t be able to escape the death sentence even if I went back to the country, and I knew this would happen from the very start."
"You knew, and you still did it?"
In order not to attract the attention of the other prisoners, Conrad presses his voice down, but his left eyelid is trembling with fury.
This man is indeed… Lord Weller Conrad starts slowly going through the facts of the past in his heart.
This man did indeed contribute much as a mazoku soldier in the past Great Wars. He once fought to protect the country and the people, even swearing fealty to the king and s.h.i.+nou, and he went through with his oath.
"…How could you have fallen to this point?"
"I didn"t fall, Your Excellency. I was always like this, I have been like since last Great War, only I"ve been resisting until now."
"Were you always intent on betrayal? Abandoning your hometown, betraying your comrades, in order to gain material riches!?"
"To think Your Excellency would say something like this."
The force gripping his chest loosens, and Kinan coughs lightly before repeating,
"To think that the Lord Weller who left the king, who left the kingdom would say something like this."
As soon as Conrad lets go, Kinan"s back hits the wall forcefully, and he slides down the wall onto the ground. Even so, his gaze is trained on Lord Weller standing in front of him, his unwavering actions proving even more how firm his gaze is.
"…I"m different from you."
"Then tell me where you"re different. I hear you"re working for Dai s.h.i.+maron now."
"Even so…"
Lord Weller bits down hard on his lip, because the words that come next aren"t easy to say. By the time he finally says them, the pain in his voice outweighs the anger,
"No matter where I am, that won"t change my home country. That is why I cannot forgive the person who hates that king and that country. That is also why I must hand him over to the mazoku, so he may return to the country and accept his just punishment."
"In that case, please allow my older brother"s corpse to return."
The man"s tone is still mild, as though he"s voicing some unattainable wish,
"My older brother who pa.s.sed away in s.h.i.+maron, please let his corpse return to s.h.i.+n Makoku."
"What did you say?"
"If Your Excellency would be willing to recover my brother in my place, I believe he would be ecstatic to return home."
Facing the gaze that was raised to look at him and that sudden request, Conrad is at a loss.
"I don"t hate you."
Kinan lowers his voice so no one else can hear their conversation, but it just makes his words sound truer.
"His Excellency Lord Gwendal who let us return home safely was truly brilliant in his methods. If it weren"t for him, the war may have continued even to this day. And it"s also thanks to his tireless efforts in exchanging prisoners of war, that most of those prisoners of wars returned to their homeland alive."
"That is indeed true."
"His Excellency came purposely to the national borders to receive us prisoners, and I can"t forget the words he said to this day, "Raise your heads, people of the maou! You are soldiers to this day!" There were even those who cried their eyes out at those words. Because after suffering under those extreme circ.u.mstances for so long, we had lost our dignity as soldiers."
When it comes to those feelings, Conrad himself feels them all the way into his bones.
Once they"re relentlessly beaten up, and their dignities bruised by that torture, people become unable to protect their selves. At that point, they would throw away their emotion, kill their selves, and follow the enemy.
"I also heard about Your Excellency"s troop. A friend who was with you told me once, he said you did all you could to "bring everyone, the ones alive and the ones whose souls had already made the trip, back home". Although that man lost a leg, he was still extremely proud to have fought by your side."
That unseen wound is throbbing in pain, the wounds hidden deep in the heart never, ever heal.
Kinan sits on the dry land as he continues, his gaze moving away from Conrad and back to staring at the sea as he was earlier, "The ones who died on the battlefield returned home successfully, and the ones who lived to become prisoners were also rescued. But my brother was different… He should have been taken away, and sent to some holding facility. Back then I kept asking the wounded who were sent back, and the soldiers who were on and around the battlefield, to confirm that information. But after that there was nothing, I wonder, where was he sent to? Or did he die somewhere? Should I forget that he was my brother, and then stop searching? The prisoners who lived made it back, but the corpses that died on foreign soil didn"t. That"s only natural, even Dai s.h.i.+maron isn"t that kind-hearted. Even His Excellency, who made the first move to bring our men home, fretted over it. What conditions should we set? Or should we exchange them for something? Surely we can"t ask to exchange bodies? No matter what, it would be hard to believe that Dai s.h.i.+maron would accept these conditions."
From between the docked s.h.i.+ps, he could see the distant sh.o.r.es far away. Looking at the continent on the other side of the sea, he says,
"Where on earth are the soldiers who died in detention buried? Or were they simply thrown away? From that day on, I have always been searching for my older brother."
"But the soul on its journey has long since…"
"I know, the soul has long since been reincarnated somewhere, and started a brand new life, I bet. Even so, in order to be rid of any regrets his life harbors towards its previous incarnation, I should even more bring my older brother"s body back to the land he grew up in, and pray to it properly. In order to fulfill that wish…"
Kinan brings his gaze back to Conrad,
"I don"t care who I have to suck up to, or where I have to infiltrate."
"For that reason, you joined the Shou s.h.i.+maron rebellion movement?"
"That"s right. They promised me they would investigate a piece of land under central government, because eight years ago there was a small detention facility there. After the prisoners were released, that place became a prison."
"You suspect your brother was there?"
Kinan pauses for a second after nodding, his gaze becoming very gentle, as though he may be mourning his family.
"Maybe you"re wondering why I"m doing all these things for a dead person, but for me, it"s not over yet."
In that brief moment, he probably missed that man, who was a teacher, a friend, and also an older brother.
"Not over yet."
As he tells the tragedy of what happened during his imprisonment, his eyes keep staring at the other end of the sea. That gaze is like that of a far-seeing eagle, announcing that it would definitely fulfill its dream.
The sailor who had been arguing with the middle-aged man yells as he returns to his station, meaning they had come to an arrangement, and the s.h.i.+p transporting the prisoners would leave soon.
"You b.a.s.t.a.r.d, you still refuse to lower your head and apologize to my sister even now!?"
Conrad yanks Kinan"s hand roughly, pulling him back to his feet. The chains on his feet make a heavy sound, and the prisoners in front turn back, confused, but they"re probably unwilling to lure any trouble either, so they immediately turn back around.
"I can"t forgive you."
The man with eyes as sharp as an eagle"s nods lightly,
"I have long since been mentally prepared for that."
"But when it comes to searching for that which has been lost, we may stand in the same position. Just as you said."
Conrad is searching, too. Even though he hasn"t decided who he would hand that to even if he found, he knows at the very least he wouldn"t give it to the ruler of Dai s.h.i.+maron.
If possible, he would like to end it all himself. He doesn"t want to give it to those endlessly greedy humans, the legendary monarch or his innocent master, he just wants to bury it himself, and the more he knows, the stronger that desire gets.
"Then why do you want to go to Darco this time?"
The soldier on watch said Kinan had hurt someone with a knife in a bar, but he is a man moving with an iron will and aim, so there"s no way he would make that mistake.
"You purposely caused this ruckus so you could be sent to that Darco prison?"
"That"s right, I hear the port city on water, Darco, is facing an imminent sinking crisis."
"Sinking?"
In that time when Conrad was on Earth, he had heard about many similar phenomena as well. Back then there was only a possibility of such things, and no one had found out the reason or a proper solution either. Still, the risks of the two shouldn"t be the same, right?
"These past few years, the water level there kept rising, so it"s said it"s a matter of time before they sink. Strange, isn"t it? It"s not like that country is a floating object in the middle of a lake."
"That is indeed strange."
"But someone is interested in that phenomenon."
Just like in the beginning, Kinan lifts the corners of his mouth in a smile,
"The main business in that city on the water isn"t fis.h.i.+ng or tourism, but the prison, that prison with the huge, complete and high-cla.s.s facilities that they"re so proud of. They accept prisoners from countries without prisons, control them, and then receive money from those countries as counseling fees, that"s how Darco was created. You should know about that, right?"
Even though Conrad is always travelling overseas, he"s not very familiar with Darco"s matters, and only knows about the prison after Kinan explains it.
It is so far away that the distance goes across the map, and its position is exactly on the other side from s.h.i.+n Makoku, so the two countries don"t have any ties and are unfamiliar with each other.
"That huge prison is everything to that country, you just have to infiltrate that place to know about Darco, and also…"
There is movement all around them suddenly, the soldiers and the middle-aged man start gathering the prisoners who had scattered and are bound by chains, Kinan glances at them briefly, and suddenly says quickly,
"The small countries under s.h.i.+maron rule had once sent prisoners to the Darco prison, which of course includes the few prisoners of war during the war, so there"s no reason I shouldn"t go… I take my leave, Your Excellency."
The prisoners bound by chains in front of him walk forward with their chains rattling, and the pulling at his right foot means Kinan has no choice but to walk towards the s.h.i.+p as well.
"Next time let us meet in s.h.i.+n Makoku, although I may be standing on the executioner"s stage. Even so, I believe that by then my older brother would have already returned home."
Conrad picks up his insubstantial luggage, and quickly counts the travel money he has on him. That middle-aged man with the broad shoulders seems to be very particular about money.
Instinctively he raises his head to look at the sky, the sun in the middle of sky s.h.i.+ning relentlessly on him.
If you have to s.h.i.+ne, why don"t you show me the way forward?
Why don"t you s.h.i.+ne the best path for me to walk?
lit. Past few tens of days