[10] Chapter 2. The Desired Form (3)
“How did you get here?”
“I was hitchhiking on a carriage up to the capital, but wow, I thought it was a carriage taking me to the afterlife.”
“You’re still good at twisting words. Do you have a companion? It’s a face I’m seeing for the first time. Where’s Ruairi?”
The man, Hakan’s gaze turned to Fernciana. Fernciana was a little flustered at this sudden connection, but she greeted him with a nod without showing it. As the conversation between the two continued, the caravan leader tilted his head.
“Hakan, do you know him?”
“Ah.”
The caravan leader asked, and Hakan answered in a nonchalant voice.
“He’s my son.”
It wasn’t only the caravan leader and Fernciana who were startled by that sound. Even Ilyas himself made a surprised face and waved his hands in denial. The caravan leader realized that Hakan had made an ill-timed joke only after seeing Ilyas’s reaction.
“You surprised me. You don’t look alike at all.”
“Calling him your son, don’t say things that’ll cause a big fuss if others hear it!”
“If I washed, dressed, and raised him, he’s my son.”
Hakan confidently lifted his chin without any concern, but acknowledged Ilyas’s denial only after receiving glares from his colleagues. The childish conversation ended there, and as Hakan’s colleagues helped clean up the merchant group, the conversation flowed in a serious direction.
“Anyway, Stihan, it’s good that everyone is safe. We’ll take care of the Erasil here. Can you make it to the capital?”
“That’s not a problem, but are you really okay with that?”
Hakan nodded his head. His colleagues handed over emergency medical supplies. It seemed the discussion concluded with a few of them staying. Those who stayed didn’t particularly greet Ilyas, perhaps not being acquainted with him.
“Don’t pursue them. The mastermind is obvious anyway… Just focus on getting back safely. See you in Pomilas.”
With those words, Hakan said a few more things to his colleagues who were staying and approached Ilyas. Fernciana blinked her eyes as she saw Hakan coming close.
Even from a distance, she thought he had a good physique, but seeing him up close, his presence was considerable. His height was similar to Ilyas’s, but if Ilyas was the brainy type, this side could be asserted to be the brawny type to the point of dividing them.
Lost in various thoughts, Fernciana only realized that Hakan had approached her, not Ilyas, when she made eye contact with him.
Hakan was looking down at her with an amused expression. That expression was so similar to Ilyas’s that Fernciana was convinced Hakan was definitely related to Ilyas’s childhood in some way.
“Your companion handles a sword well.”
“I’m her guardian.”
Before Hakan could say anything, Ilyas stepped forward and stood in front of Fernciana, blocking her. Hakan’s blue eyes slightly rose.
“Guardian?”
“That’s our relationship.”
“You seem to be running an interesting business, do you already need an escort?”
“I guess you could say that?”
Ilyas smiled ambiguously with a mysterious expression. Fernciana looked at Hakan from behind Ilyas, only slightly tilting her head. Hakan looked at her with a face framed by short silver hair, a different color from Ilyas’s.
“Well, then please take good care of him.”
“Ah, yes.”
“Your name?”
“Pei…run.”
Perhaps because his tone was surprisingly polite compared to how he spoke casually to Ilyas or the caravan leader, Fernciana was a little flustered and hurriedly gave her name. Hakan tilted his head. She realized a little late that it was a greeting.
“My name is Hakan. I’m the captain of the Skia Valen Mercenary Corps. Ilyas is a kid I think of as my son, so please take good care of him. I’ll compensate you separately.”
“That’s enough, Hakan. What are you saying?”
“But aren’t you the one who didn’t even pretend to hear it when I said I’d assign someone to you? And these days, the atmosphere in the capital is quite ominous. Where’s Ruairi?”
“I left him in the capital.”
“Assign someone next to Ruairi too. As a boss, you should do at least that much.”
Fernciana quietly watched the two converse from behind Ilyas. There was a faint and affectionate color flickering in Hakan’s seemingly cold blue eyes, and Ilyas’s voice was also a little higher than usual.
‘He said he’s not his son…’
But it doesn’t seem like he’s not, Fernciana muttered inwardly and averted her gaze when she made eye contact with Hakan. Hakan handed something to Ilyas without saying anything in particular, checked that the caravan had been taken care of to some extent, and turned his horse’s head to leave.
The caravan members were busy preparing to depart again, and when the mercenary corps had left and the surroundings became quiet, Ilyas let out a deep sigh.
“I thought we were inevitably heading to the afterlife.”
“Me too…”
“How do those people arrive at just the right time like that? We really narrowly escaped death. By the way, what in the world are they doing with that Erasil to cause such a fuss… Peirun!”
Ilyas, who had been continuing his words, suddenly stiffened his expression and snatched Peirun’s hand. Peirun’s hand was finely torn and tattered.
“Ah.”
“Oh my god, what is this… No wonder Hakan gave me something like ointment before leaving. You idiot, you should say something if you’re hurt!”
“No, the atmosphere was a bit… I didn’t want to break up the father-son reunion.”
“I’m going crazy, seriously. You stupid fool!”
Ilyas, who had been looking at Fernciana stuttering out excuses with a flabbergasted face, shouted angrily and sat Fernciana down, then went to the merchants to get disinfectant liquid and water.
Ilyas, who was about to wipe the wounds with a clean cloth soaked in water and medicine, sighed when he saw Fernciana’s body covered in wounds all over after taking off her outer clothing.
“I thought you weren’t even scratched anywhere with the way you were acting like a great swordsman!”
“Isn’t it amazing to even do this much? And when did I act like a great swordsman, ouch! Ow! It hurts, it hurts, it hurts! Ow!”
Fernciana screamed almost with tears in her eyes, but Ilyas held both of Fernciana’s wrists in one hand and relentlessly applied disinfectant and ointment to her struggling form.
Ilyas released Fernciana’s hand only after carefully wrapping bandages around both of her palms. Fernciana shed tears in earnest. It was a physiological reaction accompanying the intense pain.
“Sob, it really hurt…”
“You were fine swinging a sword but why can’t you endure this?”
“They’re different, it really hurts…”
“So you were going to leave it without applying medicine or wrapping bandages? Huh?”
At Ilyas’s coaxing and intimidating words, Fernciana looked at Ilyas with teary eyes and suddenly kicked his shin. Ilyas screamed “Argh!” but Fernciana turned her body without looking back.
*
“Ye-yes, Mercenary-nim.”
“Huh? Me?”
Fernciana, who had barely wiped away her tears as the pain subsided, tidied her tense and relaxed body with stretches, and was moving her steps back towards the caravan’s carriage, stopped when she heard someone speak to her from the side.
“Hm? Aren’t you the mercenary contracted with that young master over there?”
“Ah…”
Fernciana was about to say something, but gave up on denying it and nodded her head.
‘Young master?’
She was more surprised by the merchant group members’ way of referring to Ilyas. Fernciana glanced at Ilyas as she walked over to the person who called her. Ilyas was talking to the caravan leader. It seemed to be because he was acquainted with Hakan.
‘I guess he looks like a young master…’
Although he seemed rather versed in the ways of the world, thinking about his pretty face that gave the impression of not being shaken in most situations, it made sense to think of him as a young master.
“I heard he has severe motion sickness? If you take this, it should help.”
“Oh, wasn’t this all burned?”
What the merchant handed over was a small pouch made of linen. When she opened it, it was filled with glistening Erasil. At Fernciana’s question, the merchant smiled bitterly.
“It was something I had loaded separately in a small sack… This small amount is useless. If you chew this with water, the motion sickness should subside a bit.”
Fernciana blinked her eyes and soon bowed her head to express her gratitude. The merchant waved his hand a couple times with an embarrassed face and sent her back. Fernciana rubbed the cloth pouch in her hand and headed first towards the other supply wagon she would be riding with Ilyas.
‘What was the need for that much motion sickness medicine?’
And who was the person in need? The black-clothed bandits immediately gave up the fight upon seeing the mercenary corps and directly retreated, saying their goal was achieved. They were satisfied with burning all the Erasil. Rather than trying to obtain the Erasil, it could be seen as them trying to disrupt the caravan.
Fernciana shook her head to clear her thoughts as she pondered that far. Whoever did whatever with this Erasil was none of her business. Going up to the capital to find out about the imperial family and the Emerald Tabula, that was her current goal, and she had no reason or room to pay attention to anything else.