The sound of rain.
The vibrations were constantly shaking my eardrums, yet it was strangely silent. Perhaps, it was the absence of any other sounds. It felt pleasant.
I leaned over and something hard scraped the back of my head. A stone? What is this?
I opened my eyes which had been closed for I don’t know how long and the first thing that came into my vision was a dark rock. I immediately realised that I was still in the mine. I was lying near the entrance where the light from outside could reach in.
I could see Giedt sitting down on the other side of the wall.
“――― You’re awake?”
He was looking outside but noticed that I was looking at him. I nodded. He had taken his eyepatch off.
When I tried to get up, I felt a dull pain in my stomach and lost my strength.
What happened? The pit of my stomach hurts. I feel like I’m going to throw up.
“Don’t strain yourself. Sleep a little longer.”
Giedt said in a very gentle voice. His gaze was once again directed outside.
“Don’t worry, there’s no one around. This is probably an abandoned mine shaft.”
This is an abandoned mine? It must have been abandoned a long time ago. The paths had completely disappeared and there was overgrown vegetation in front of the tunnel.
Abandoned mines can collapse but it was equally unwise to go out in the rain.
Now then, how was I knocked out?
I fell off a cliff while escaping from the feudal lord’s soldiers and there was thunder. Oh yeah, I was startled when it fell close to me and probably panicked.
It probably wasn’t that close at all, but the impact of the sound and light made me lose it.
I don’t remember anything after that and woke up here. I’m guessing the pain at the pit of my stomach was ―――
“Say… Giedt, did you hit me and knock me out?”
I could see his body tremble a little.
“I had no choice.”
His pitch rose slightly, and he countered with an argument that implied that he had.
“You started running around scared while screaming your head off. I didn’t know what else I could do.”
That doesn’t mean you should hit a woman in the stomach.
“You could have hugged me gently…”
“Don’t be absurd.”
I see. So, it’s better for someone who is panicking to be hurt.
“You’re too scared of thunder.”
“Try dying from lightning once and you’ll understand how I feel.”
“You’ve never died either.”
I wanted to say I have… but he wouldn’t believe me if I told him.
As I continued to lie on the floor, I saw that Giedt’s shoulders and neck, which weren’t covered by his armour, were wet. There were also water drops at the ends of his short hair.
In contrast, I was hardly wet. My wet robe had been taken off and was laid on top of a rock.
He hadn’t hugged me gently, but he must have sheltered me from the rain while he was carrying me here, and he kept a watchful eye out while I slept.
Come to think of it, I didn’t even thank him for saving me from the feudal lord’s soldiers earlier.
I should have thanked him before we fought.
“Come here, Giedt.”
I said, indicating the space next to my head.
“Why?”
“Just come.”
I cast a spell to generate a small fire once he sat down beside me.
A ball of hot fire appeared in front of him and began to warm our surroundings.
“You’ll die if you stay cold in the mountains.”
Magic comes in handy when you have no other way to make a fire. It also warmed me up as well.
“O-oh… thanks.”
Perhaps he was cold since his expression relaxed a little.
I apologised first.
“I’m sorry.”
I have calmed down now that I’ve woken up and was able to think rationally.
“The feudal lord probably knew that the mountain was leaking poison even before I told him.”
“What do you mean?”
“He said, ‘you should have gone home after you investigated the magic stones’. He has been too understanding since I explained the situation to him at the mansion. Normal people would make a fuss and tell me that they don’t believe me, but he was unusually polite and now that I think about it, he must know something. ――― It’s been so long that I’ve forgotten. Local people are sharper than academics who just stare at books. I bet all the miners realised that people were being poisoned.”
They probably knew that there was a problem with the mine even if the magic stones weren’t the cause.
Someone had already informed the feudal lord of this, and maybe the feudal lord was looking for a way to purify the water, but he couldn’t find a way.
They were sharp but not constructive.
If they keep operating the mine then people will just keep on dying, and yet they chose prosperity that led to destruction.
“… Things don’t always go the way you want them to, but I got carried away because recently, everyone around me has been kind and willing to listen. Not everyone in the world will follow sound reasoning. I should have been more careful.”
I neglected to use my brain.
It was my fault that Giedt was in danger too.
“I’m sorry for being careless, but I’m glad you were there. Thanks.”
“… Don’t start being honest all of a sudden.”
“It’s disgusting,” Giedt grumbled as he scratched the back of his head.
“Well… I was pissed off too. I’m sorry I took it out on you and for hitting you. I might not have used that much force.”
“It hurts quite a bit, but that’s alright. If I lose my mind again, don’t hit me and just stop me.”
“I’ll try.”
I’d like you to tell me that you won’t hit me next time.
We’re taking a short break here since the rain hasn’t stopped yet.
I heard another rumble in the distance.
My body stiffened up even though I knew I would be safe in the tunnel and the fireball disappeared since I lost my concentration.
Then a hand touched my head.
“It’s alright.”
Giedt seemed to be smiling a little.
His rugged fingers, which were caused by using a sword, were unexpectedly soft and moved gently.
“Don’t you know that lightning strikes high up? It won’t ever hit a small person like you, so don’t worry.”
“You’re the one who doesn’t know that you’ll get electrocuted if you’re near where the lightning strikes. Besides, even a small person can fall on flat ground.”
I quickly corrected him.
Then he sighed.
“You’re not cute at all. I’m going out of my way to comfort you.”
“Thanks for that, but it sounded as if you were making fun of me.”
“You’re afraid of the same thing as a child even if you act arrogant.”
Giedt was still smiling, and his hand was still patting my head. It was as if he was comforting a child.
“Do you have siblings, Giedt? A little brother or a little sister?”
“What? Why?”
“I have a feeling you’re used to this.”
I poked the hand that was touching my head and Giedt immediately withdrew his hand. He did that unconsciously?
“Uh… well, something like siblings.”
He looked away awkwardly and I revived the fireball before I questioned him about this.
“What do you mean by that?”
“They were orphans from when I was living on the streets. There was a little kid who was scared of thunder, and he would cling to me whenever it thundered.”
Oh? I just heard something unexpected again.
“Wait, you’re an orphan? I thought you were from a normal family since you have a surname.”
“That’s the platoon commander’s surname.”
Platoon commander Gwen?
Come to think of it, I don’t know his surname.
“You mean Gwen-san adopted you?”
“He helped me out when I did something stupid.”
We started chatting about the past since there was nothing else to do while we waited for the rain to stop.
Giedt was born to the north of the royal palace.
Compared to the capital where the winters weren’t harsh, there was a lot of snow, and it was a place where everyone had to huddle together, or they would freeze to death.
Giedt didn’t remember his exact age or what his parents looked like. His mum was a prostitute who died before he became aware of things around him, and he never knew his father.
“I was strong even when I was a kid.”
So, Giedt was like a child general.
He won food with his fists and was never beaten by the older kids. He won a lot of fights and gained more younger brothers and sisters.
So, they formed a gang and caused trouble.
They were chased away by the shopkeepers who they stole from, and his left eye got crushed when he covered for a member who had failed to run away.
“You reap what you sow.”
He was speaking lightly about his past.
He said he was strong but that was only when it came to fights with other kids, he wasn’t stronger than adults who are more than twice his size. A soldier rushed to his side when he was about to be killed and saved his life.
That was Gwen-san, who was in charge of the security of the area at that time.
Gwen-san liked Giedt, so he took him in and even took care of all the other orphans in the gang. He was someone who Giedt was indebted to for the rest of his life.
When Gwen-san finished his term and returned to the capital, Giedt went with him and volunteered to be a soldier. He joined Gwen-san’s unit when Gwen-san was promoted to be a platoon commander.
“You’ve lived a hard life.”
“Don’t sum it up in one sentence.”
I had no other words to describe what he had gone through.
“Did you get your artificial eye before you came to the capital?”
“Yeah… I was lucky. They picked me up and gave me a free eye replacement. I have a feeling I’m going to die a shytty death.”
Giedt laughed as if he was making fun of himself.
“You’re actually better than me.”
“What’re you saying all of a sudden?”
“You’re protecting your innocent sister; you’ve worked hard and studied without causing trouble. You’ll probably have a nice death.”
We’re in a critical situation right now though. What does a good death look like?
“You’re not a bad person Giedt.”
I felt like he had just complimented me, so I’m going to encourage him in return.
“You protect your friend even though you lost an eye, and you became a soldier because you owe Gwen-san. Don’t worry, anyone can see you’re a good person.”
“I’m just so-so.”
“It’s hard to be totally good and not make a single mistake, but you should be proud of your life. You’ve already saved a lot of people.”
It was harsh to call the actions of a child who was barely holding onto life a sin and even if it was a sin, it doesn’t erase the fact that he had saved me.
Whether it was to atone for his past or to repay a favour. It doesn’t matter what his motive was, the act itself was meaningful, and I’m grateful that he had saved me.
He should at the very least recognise how thankful people are towards him.
“It’s not that good people do good things, it’s people who do good things who are good people. People change, don’t be hung up on the past and live your life the way you want to. You don’t get to choose how you die anyway, so don’t worry about it.”
“… Really?”
Giedt sat cross-legged, propped his elbow on his knees and groaned.
“How can you say such grand things without a hint of embarrassment?”
“Because I don’t think it’s shameful to encourage my friends. Saying grand things is more persuasive.”
Being encouraged sheepishly doesn’t really boost people’s spirits.
“Well, thanks.”
He exhaled and what came out of his mouth were words I hadn’t expected to hear.
“I’m a little grateful to you too. The royal family remembers me a little better thanks to you.”
He even said that even though we were stuck in a tunnel.
The only royal family members that Giedt had met are Alec and Princess Philia. They would certainly remember what he looks like.
“You might even get promoted to be an Imperial Guard.”
It was clear that he was hopeful since I could hear excitement in his voice.
“Maybe.”
“Someone was in the past, so you can too.”
I heard that Gis-nee was a peasant before she became an Imperial Guard. I wonder if peasants can become Imperial Guards or was she a special case?
“If I succeed in life and obtain different things then maybe I can actually repay my debts properly.”
Rather than gaining material wealth, the act of succeeding in life itself can be seen as a way of being dutiful to one’s parents. I’m impressed that he has such ambitious goals.
“――― Yeah. But I’m glad, I thought I was only causing trouble for you. I’ve been doing bad things to you ever since we met.”
“Ah? … Oh, that.”
I said out of nostalgia and Giedt seemed to have remembered our first encounter too.
“Don’t worry about it. It didn’t touch anywhere.”
He said without a second thought.
What’re you saying? Do you mean it didn’t even touch your cheeks?
No but then again, if I think about it calmly, the nose was a physical obstacle when I accidentally kissed him on the cheek while observing his eyes. So, it was impossible for me to peck his cheek.
“Then why’d you call me a pervert?”
“Normally, people don’t come that close to someone who they’ve just met.”
It’s rude to be categorised as special just because I did something normal people wouldn’t.
“I gave Alec the wrong explanation because you said that!”
“Hah? Who are you talking about… oh, His Highness?”
Giedt looked dumbfounded.
“You’re seriously too casual.”
“That’s not the point!”
“There’s nothing wrong with being misunderstood by His Highness. Is there?”
“There is! My honour is on the line!”
“Well, sorry about that then.”
He really didn’t feel like apologising.
He should learn a little more about how to treat women. He’s a long way away from being a gentleman!
But the one good thing about yelping at Giedt like we were dogs was that I didn’t hear much thunder and it became somewhat less frightening.
―― But it might not be a good idea to yell right now.
Giedt was the first to react.
I also raised my head and looked deep into the tunnel, then a dwarf with a lamp slowly emerged from the darkness.