Chapter 44:
“Yes! Thank you, sister! Ah, thank you!”
Airan added, finally remembering to use honorifics.
Sue returned to the outskirts of the village where she had been sitting and walked down the left path with Airan. As they walked along the dirty path leading to the Wastelands, Airan chattered nonstop. About how the stones on the ground were black, whether Sue had caught crabs at the beach, how she dreamed of raising a seagull.
She talked and talked, then started humming a tune. She was an endlessly energetic child.
Sue, watching her, spoke hesitantly,
“Does that merchant guy always bully you like that?”
Her stupid curiosity always seemed to get her into trouble. She could have just kept her mouth shut.
“The merchant guy? Ah, you mean Mr. Pellington?”
“Yes, Mr. Pellington.”
Fortunately, Airan’s reaction was different from what she had expected. She shook her head.
“No! Not all the time. Actually, it was partly my fault today! I mean, yes! They told me not to come to the village during the knights’ inspection, but I snuck out. Mr. Pellington doesn’t usually hit me!”
He doesn’t usually hit her.
‘So he does hit her.’
But it was still lenient, considering how Wastelands residents were usually treated. She had heard that some areas completely blocked off the path to the Wastelands.
Should she be grateful that she was treated better than those who weren’t even considered human? Sue’s mind was in turmoil.
‘Well, it’s not my problem.’
Her conclusion was always the same: mind her own business. She would just hope to be dropped off in a more hospitable area if she ever ended up in the Wastelands.
“We’re here!”
The stone bridge leading to the Wastelands was surprisingly well-maintained, considering the shabby path they had just come from. The long, arched bridge was also quite wide. But a thick, white fog hung between the arches, obscuring the other side.
Two guards, armed with spears, were standing guard at the entrance to the bridge. One of them spotted Airan and frowned.
“Airan, you went to the village again? I told you not to come out during the Imperial inspection.”
“Hi, Mister!”
“Hi? Look at you, you got beaten up by Pellington again?”
“Well, yeah!”
“Sigh… How can she be so carefree after getting beaten up? Um… And who are you?”
The guard’s exasperated gaze shifted from Airan to Sue. There was a hint of suspicion in his eyes. But Sue knew it was more of an occupational hazard than genuine suspicion.
“I’m the daughter of a merchant from another province. My father is on a business trip here, so I came along. I met this child and I’m taking her back to the Wastelands.”
“This is Sister Sue! She helped me!”
“Hmm… Is that so?”
The guard’s suspicion vanished when Airan spoke up. The other guard smiled kindly and praised Sue.
“What a kind child. Helping a Wastelands resident.”
Sue just smiled awkwardly, not knowing what to say.
“Well, thank you for helping Airan. She’s a bit of a handful, even for us.”
The guard murmured, stroking Airan’s head. They didn’t seem to be treating her badly. It seemed like Airan was a handful for everyone in Emnon, in a good way or a bad way.
“I’m going now, sister!”
Airan waved goodbye from the entrance to the bridge.
“Okay, be careful…”
Sue’s hand, raised in response to Airan’s cheerful smile, suddenly froze. Airan tilted her head, confused by her hesitation. Sue blinked slowly, her gaze fixed on the white fog that covered the bridge.
“Wait, Airan.”
“Huh?”
Sue took out two gold coins from her bag and wrapped them in a handkerchief. Then, she hid them inside the bread bag, making sure the guards didn’t see, and pushed it into Airan’s arms.
“This is the bread I bought at the shopping district. Take it.”
It was all she could do.
Airan’s eyes widened as she rummaged through the bag.
“Wow! I’m going to eat it now!”
“No.”
Sue said firmly. She continued, folding the top of the bag, ignoring Airan’s startled expression.
“Don’t show it to anyone and take it home. Eat it with your family. It’s really delicious… They’ll be envious.”
“Ah, I see! Okay!”
“Haha, you don’t have to hold it so tightly. We’re not bandits who would steal a child’s bread.”
The guard chuckled. In their eyes, it was just a kind gesture from a well-off girl, giving alms to a beggar. They had no idea that the bread contained something worth twice their monthly salary.
“Well then, bye for real!”
Airan, clutching the bread bag, skipped across the bridge.
Her parents will find the gold coins in the bag when she gets home. Sue could only hope that they wouldn’t waste the money.
‘An outsider interfering.’
The large man’s words suddenly came to mind.
He was right. He was absolutely right. She didn’t even know what kind of people Airan’s family were, and there was a chance that she would get beaten up by real bandits the moment she entered the Wastelands and have the bread stolen.
It was no different from using a beggar to ease her own guilt. Her thoughts kept going in that direction.
Sue didn’t leave the entrance to the bridge, even after Airan’s small figure disappeared into the fog.
‘Come to think of it, I wonder if Airan has ever met Halo.’
I should have asked. She hadn’t even thought about Halo when she was with Airan. She hadn’t expected to come this far, so she felt a strange mix of emotions now that she was here.
‘Halo is beyond this bridge.’
How were Halo and Airan surviving in that unprotected area?
She wanted to meet her.
“…You don’t want to go beyond the barrier, do you?”
Is this young lady suicidal?
The guard looked at Sue, who had been standing in front of the bridge for a long time, with suspicion.
“Of course not. Why would I go beyond the barrier?”
Sue replied casually.
‘I’ll see her in a year anyway. There’s no need to risk my life.’
She wasn’t suicidal, and she didn’t have the magical resistance to withstand the miasma in the Wastelands.
Just as she was about to turn around, feeling sorry for the guard who was worried about her, she heard the sound of multiple hooves approaching from beyond the fog.
“Gasp, it’s Sir Lionel!”
Figures in white armor emerged from the white fog, one by one. Sue quickly pulled up her hood, recognizing their identities. There was only one group in Atlantis who wore white armor.
“It’s the Imperial Knights! Show some respect!”
The guard shouted urgently and knelt on one knee, facing the approaching knights. Sue, who had missed her chance to escape, had no choice but to kneel behind him.
The Imperial Knights soon arrived at the entrance to the bridge. Sue peeked up and looked at their faces. There didn’t seem to be anyone of high rank among the five or six knights.
Her eyes widened as she spotted ‘him’ bringing up the rear.
‘Noel?’
The curly, blue hair and the sharp, defined eyes – it was definitely Raines Noel. He was wearing white armor and riding a horse, just like the other knights. She had seen him in his knight uniform, but this was the first time she had seen him in armor.
‘He was assigned to Emnon.’
This was the closest barrier zone to the capital. It wasn’t surprising that Noel, a Skia, was assigned here.
The knights stopped at the bridge to regroup. The man who seemed to be the leader, at the front of the group, spotted Sue and asked with a puzzled expression,
“Who’s that behind you? I didn’t see her before. Is she a villager?”
“She’s not a villager. She said she’s the daughter of a merchant who’s here on business.”
“What’s she doing all the way out here in the barrier zone?”
“Well… She got lost, apparently.”
The guard glanced at Sue and stretched the truth. He seemed to be covering for Airan, as telling the truth would mean revealing that there was a child who was illegally entering the Wastelands.
“Getting lost all the way out here… She’s not planning anything foolish, is she?”
The knight narrowed his eyes at Sue. He was asking if she was trying to commit suicide.
“I was suspicious too, so I asked her, but she said she really just got lost. Right?”
The guard asked desperately for confirmation, and Sue nodded.
I appreciate the concern, but I would rather be beaten to death than commit suicide.
“I see. Miss, this is a dangerous place. Leave quickly.”
“Yes, Sir.”
As she lifted her head to reply, Sue froze. She had made eye contact with Noel.