Chapter 56

Chapter 56

***

Siegfinger was a region in the central northern part of the Empire, a land ruled by the Siegfinger Ducal House.

There was one large city and several small and medium-sized cities in this region. The place where Rickart, Bori-bori, and Nameless mainly operated were about four small and medium-sized cities, including Lunenberg.

During the last winter, they avenged Nameless in those places, and in the process, subdued several thief guilds and criminal organizations.

So, even before fighting in the Kaitz Highlands recently, Rickart and Bori-bori were quite famous in the Siegfinger area.

Here, they were mainly called the Heroes of Siegfinger, or the Siegfinger Trio. Ricky of the Red Cloak, Bori-bori of Dismemberment, and Nameless X.

Rickart felt a familiar sensation as he passed near a small city following Sandy. Last winter spent with Nameless came to mind. However, it wasn't just a beautiful memory, but closer to something faint.

Because now Nameless was gone. Winter had passed, and even spring was ending.

It seemed like passing this road with him was shimmering before his eyes. Even though it was cold winter, Bori-bori laughed exceptionally much back then. Now the day itself is warm.

He didn't feel empty or depressed. Because he thought white mourning clothes suited mourning for Nameless better than black mourning clothes.

He was saved. So there was no need to be depressed. That was Rickart's thought, and Bori-bori was the same.

But now, they were passing the place where memories of last winter lingered with a new season and new people.

That didn't mean covering and erasing the past, but just adding on top. Layer by layer.

Of course, whether future events would become memories or memories one wouldn't want to recall was yet unknown.

"Ricky."

Rickart, waking from his thoughts at Marie's call, looked back at her. Then Marie shyly extended something. There were a few bright red wild berries on her palm.

"Thanks."

Rickart picked one and ate it. The bumpy grains of the wild berry popped in his mouth, spreading a sour and sweet taste.

But feeling something strange, he looked back, and Bolka, Delphi, and Bori-bori were staring at him and Marie. Those guys made her do it.

"Ha...... You guys, seriously."

"We were just watching."

"Sure you were."

Bolka spoke as if it were nothing, but to anyone, it looked like he was paying tremendous attention to Rickart and Marie's affair.

But Sandy, who was walking nearby, saw this series of events and spoke as if it were pathetic.

"That's not how you get a man's heart. Somehow it seems reversed, you guys."

"How do you get it?"

Delphi asked.

"You have to seduce him. Ricky is still young so he doesn't know. Time will solve it. Don't be too hasty. Then the man's heart might run away more. Seduce him when hair grows properly down there. Then he'll fall over quickly?"

Whether shameless or not caring if heard, Sandy chattered nonchalantly in front of the parties involved.

"Umm......"

Rickart groaned automatically. But surprisingly, Marie seemed to listen attentively. When hair grows properly down there......

Still, she extended the wild berries as if to say eat more for now.

Rickart was quite embarrassed but didn't refuse the wild berries. Although awkward, he didn't want to trample on the girl's pure heart. He wasn't cruel enough to cut off the relationship firmly.

Contrary to Sandy's opinion, he just hoped she would organize her feelings naturally as time passed.

"But Ricky."

Sandy called.

"Mm?"

"A woman's courage disappears after first love passes. So treat her preciously. Though I can't tell you what to do with your heart."

With only a six or seven-year age gap, Sandy advised like an elderly adult.

"I get it, but isn't it not something to say with the person in front?"

"What can't be said? Don't know when we'll die."

"......True."

He recalled when he first saw Sandy's clan 2 years ago. At that time, as a first impression of adventurers, he felt they were closed but on the other hand open and honest.

That contradictory characteristic was because the thought that they didn't know when they would die lay at the base.

Because they had to be wary of others, they had to be closed, and they were open and honest because if not now, there might be no next time.

Was Marie's confession also in that context? Of course, it could be due to anxiety and fear that it might be the last, but that didn't mean she made up feelings that didn't exist or revealed false feelings.

Marie's heart was pure. Rickart knew that better than anyone. So even if he couldn't accept her heart, he couldn't trample on it either.

"I won't say sorry. Thanks."

"......Yeah. But you know."

"Yeah."

"That mind doesn't change, right?"

"Which one?"

"The saying that you don't believe in things like love. Then, it's correct that you shouldn't love other women either, right?"

Rickart momentarily thought something was wrong. A chilling sensation swept down his spine.

Even so, Marie's eyes looked pure. So it felt scarier.

"R, right......"

"I'll believe you."

Was the word 'believe' such a scary word? Rickart thought he was caught wrong somehow.

Religion too, love too, madness was implied in what is called belief. The sweet scent of wild berries still lingered in his mouth, but he couldn't just enjoy that scent.

Knowing Rickart's inner thoughts or not, his friends watched with satisfaction. They all seemed crazy.

Whether the era was like that, or only Rickart's friends were like that, they seemed to think it's enough if connected even by stitching with a needle.

Rickart ended up closing his eyes. Just as I can't accept Marie's heart, I can't tell her not to like me either. I have to endure it, what else can I do.

Anyway, following Sandy, they entered the forest in the suburbs.

Walking in the forest for about an hour, the sound of water trickling was heard from somewhere. And around that time, they arrived at a place with a cabin.

Several adventurers were scattered around the cabin. Among them, people whose names he didn't know but faces were familiar were seen. Since he visited the guild building below the cliff often, they were people whose faces became familiar there.

So there were people pretending to know him by slightly touching their hats or raising their hands slightly. Rickart also greeted them with his eyes at least.

Sandy approached a woman with black short hair squatting next to the cabin and talked to her. Rickart and his friends watched from a distance for now.

The squatting woman stood up. She was wearing black clothes that weren't tight but revealed her body line to some extent. And she was covering half her face with a muffler.

After listening to Sandy's words briefly, that woman walked toward where Rickart was.

And pointing at Bolka and Rickart, she spoke.

"Only you and you follow."

The woman in black clothes took Bolka and Rickart and headed somewhere. It seemed the Guild Master wasn't inside the cabin.

Following her, the sound of water trickling, became closer. Then they reached a clear stream in the forest.

Near the stream, there were three people; two were standing and one was sitting on a folding chair.

Whether they were cooking something by making a fire, an appetizing scent spread to where Rickart was.

The woman beckoned to come closer, and as Rickart and Bolka approached, the sitting person turned his head and looked. Surprisingly, it was Dunkel.

"Uh? What, it's Dunkel?"

"Hahaha, that's right. Didn't mean to deceive. Doesn't our work have a corner similar to a thief guild?"

Dunkel said laughing. The Guild Master of Beringen Guild was none other than Dunkel.

"Was a little surprised, but thinking about it, it's not that surprising."

Rickart accepted it unexpectedly calmly. Conversely, Bolka's eyes were wide open. Considering he knew Dunkel before Rickart, it was because he never dreamed of it.

"First eat this. It's a delicacy."

Dunkel ladled red soup boiling in a pot onto a tray. The contents were surprisingly freshwater crayfish, corn, and other fruits, and Dunkel cut a lemon in half with a dagger and squeezed it over the two trays.

"Here look. Just peel and eat like this."

Dunkel demonstrated by peeling a crayfish himself. Twisted the body to separate it, peeled the first shell, and pressed the tail tip to pull the meat out.

Rickart and Bolka were somewhat bewildered but sat on the gravel field and peeled and ate crayfish. Their hands quickly became covered in sauce.

Eating a mouthful of crayfish meat, it was amazing. Made by sparing no expensive spices, it was a proper dish he ate for the first time in his life. Is there such a taste in the world?

Throughout his past life, he lived eating dry food or salty cured meat, jerky, and watery porridge all the time, so he was shocked and his eyes went wide.

Dunkel watched Rickart and Bolka peeling and eating about two crayfish with a pleased smile, then washed his hands with water poured from a kettle by another person, wiped with a towel, and spoke.

"I knew it would go well if you participated, Ricky."

Rickart answered after thinking quietly while eating the dish frantically.

"But I feel like I was used somewhat."

"Not exactly used. I didn't order your Clan Master Bolka to do this or that. Just dropped a word slightly that Academy students might be mobilized."

"Mm...... Sounds exactly like a devil's whisper."

"Hahaha, sounds like a compliment to me."

"So, why did you ask to see us?"

"Good. I'll speak cutting to the chase. Is there anything you want?"

Dunkel asked sitting on the folding chair, resting his elbows on his knees. Looking at his eyes, it seemed he already knew what they wanted.

Rickart looked back at Bolka. Because he was the Clan Master.

"A branch manager position. I wish the branch is a place with farmland attached, but it doesn't matter if it's not farmland. I wish there was land to cultivate."

"Right, right, preparation for retirement must be done when young. It's late if doing it after getting old."

"Will you let him be a branch manager?"

Rickart asked.

"Do I have any other right to refuse?"

"You are the Guild Master."

"I know you are a noble, and I know an elder is looking after you. So I have no right to refuse or such."

"N, noble? What are you talking about?"

Bolka asked looking back at Rickart with eyes wide open once again. Rickart, like Dunkel, was the same in hiding his identity.

Rickart spoke laughing awkwardly.

"There's nothing special even if a noble. Since I had to leave the family anyway. Original name is Rickart. Rickart von Kaldebern."

"Omg...... Sounds like some foreign language."

"Everyone says that. Sounds like a foreign language."

"Who else knows besides me?"

"Sandy, Bori."

"But did you have to keep it a secret?"

"Otherwise could we have become close?"

"Mm...... True, if I knew you were a noble, I wouldn't have been able to pick a fight at first."

"You rascal. What is that way of speaking."

"......?"

"Joke."

Rickart and Bolka giggled looking at each other. Thinking about it, the tie with Bolka was also quite funny. At first, he just beat him up, and Rickart also didn't expect they would become close.

But he was attracted to Bolka's care for students, and while going through this and that, they became friendlier. Thus becoming a clan that can be called another name for family.

"Anyway, is he a branch manager with this?"

Rickart asked looking at Dunkel.

"Right. But, there is nothing in the world you can get just like that. Whether friends or family, or money, it becomes yours only when you have the power to protect it and protect it."

Rickart thought quietly about what that meant. Being originally bright, he quickly realized what Dunkel said.

"Guess you will give a place unstable due to war as a branch."

"Correct. If you guard there, you guys possess there. What I do is nothing special. Placing the desire adventurers have, and the dream the clan has, on the same line as our goal."

"If you can't place it on the same line?"

Dunkel just responded with an inscrutable smile instead of an answer. Well, either remove or kick out, one of the two. Rickart thought so.

However, although Rickart might be superior in fighting skills and combat techniques, Dunkel seemed superior in managing an organization or ruling people. He had to admit that.

"Is Ice doing well?"

Bolka asked. On his tray, crayfish shells and empty corncobs were piled up before he knew it.

Dunkel took that tray and dumped the eaten food waste on the ground, then served new ones and spoke.

"Better not stay close with him. Since the path will diverge from the guild, and from you guys too, someday."

"What do you mean?"

"Since I revealed my identity anyway, I'll tell you, Ice is from the Order of Condemnation. Not just believing simply, but holding a position within the Order. He had his own purpose from the time entering the Academy. Just left him alone because he had use value, eventually he is a guy who will choose the Order."

"Yeaaah?"

Bolka seemed to have many things to be surprised about today. Eyes went wide once again. But this time Rickart was also quite surprised.

He knew he was a heretic slightly cult-like, but didn't think he would be such an ardent follower. If he was involved deeply to that extent, he could really receive an inquisition.

"Did you guys not know? A bit amateurish. Clearly visible to the eye. That guy is crazy about becoming a Sword Master for the Order. That's why trying to become Special Class. But, that's not a problem for me to judge. It's a problem for the elders to judge."

"Who are the elders? Are there more besides people I know?"

At Rickart's question, Dunkel just laughed again. Seemed he was silent with a smile when not answering.

"Done with stories to tell. You might see Ice coming and going. I'm not the type to tell do this or that originally. You guys figure it out."

Dunkel shook off his seat and stood up. Seemed going somewhere, he spoke to Rickart lastly.

"Ricky, the Empire's 9 Swords is like a jousting tournament winner. Challengers always exist, and there is no guarantee to win in the next tournament either. If hit by a lance and falling, it's the same getting hurt badly or dying even if a winner. Just like you killed Steiner."

"Ah, hearing that reminds me of something, the Ehrenberg 5. Heard their backing is the Emperor, is that true?"

Dunkel chuckled in absurdity thinking this guy still doesn't listen to people, simultaneously finding it ridiculous.

"They are guys like prostitutes. Don't pick and choose customers. You killed them in the gap while people above were fiddling with swords whether to kill or not because they walked the line well. Thanks to that, it's true many people became comfortable. Going. See you next time. Take care. Sally will tell you about the branch."

Dunkel walked the gravel field trudgingly with his party. Only the woman named Sally who guided Rickart here remained, and approached the two people.

"Are you going to eat all that?"

Sally said pointing at the pot.

"Yes?"

"Asking if you will eat it all."

"No. I'm okay. Ricky you?"

"Me too."

Then the woman named Sally sat next to the pot and ladled the contents onto a tray using a ladle. Seemed she wanted to eat it quite a bit. The smell is amazing indeed.

The crayfish dish was certainly tasty but perhaps because hearing this and that backstory, Rickart felt a bit uncomfortable with the aftertaste.

Because should he say he feels like playing like a marionette without knowing it himself? Anyway obtained what he wanted so is it done? Don't know well.

By the way, thinking of Ice, his mind was complicated in many ways. Order of Condemnation......

The words he said in Griffinswald sometime shimmered in his ears.

'No matter if it's you, you can't save me. Leave me to die......'