Side story: At the End of the Road… (2)
The knight ran through the town. The interior of the town was almost unchanged. The drunken people were making a ruckus at the bar. Things were exactly as usual.
However, if you observed carefully, you would notice that the eyes of the passersby on the road weren’t smiling and that many of the buildings were hastily repaired.
But, the knight didn’t take notice of that. He wasn’t able to think clearly because of the fatigue and thoughts of confirming his wife’s safety.
(I have to hasten.)
That’s what was on the knight’s mind. Although he had these thoughts of hurrying, he himself did not know whether he should flee to another country.
By all right, he should be reporting the situation to the higher-ups first, but he had to confirm the safety of his family before anything else.
“I’m glad…”
The knight exhaled in relief as he saw the lights in his house. Tears started spilling out of his eyes from the relief.
Creak…
When the knight opened the door, he saw his beloved wife sitting in a chair and knitting.
“Sherry…”
The wife showed a surprised expression when she saw her husband who suddenly returned, but her expression immediately recovered.
“Husband, welcome back.”
The wife stood up and bowed to the knight. The knight was relieved from the bottom of his heart that his wife’s gestures were as usual.
“You are safe. Good.”
“Eh?”
An expression of not understanding floated on the wife’s face. She then carefreely smiled and spoke up.
“Yes, I am safe. There was a change, though.”
The knight who felt the coldness in his wife’s words felt like being splashed by cold water. He instantly got anxious at the thought that something might have happened.
“D, did something happen?”
“Yes, Mr. Kombs who lived next door moved and we got new neighbors.”
“Eh?”
The knight calmed after hearing his wife’s words. However, he wasn’t able to erase every little bit of anxiety right away.
“T, that so… new neighbors, huh. Still, Mr. Kombs moved away quite suddenly, didn’t he?”
“Yes, he angered those people.”
“Those people?”
The wife’s words made the uneasiness gush from the Knight once again.
“You know, Husband… I heard it all… from those people.”
The knight felt the temperature of his wife’s voice drop suddenly. The knight shuddered at the penetrating cold voice.
“I heard what you did to the Salbuveirs, Husband.”
Hearing the Salbuveir name come out, the knight’s heart leaped. It doesn’t feel good when your family learns of your wrongdoings.
“I was horrified the hear of the act of barbarism the troops committed.”
The wife ignored the knight’s reaction and continued talking indifferently.
“Wait please…”
The knight tried to open his mouth to spout out excuses, but no words came out. Because the barbarism they carried out was true.
“I heard that they cut down people from behind and killed children in front of their parents.”
“Stop it, please!!”
“I also heard that they were ra*ing women before their lovers.”
“Stoooooooop!!”
The knight shrieked. His wife’s calm voice was piercing the knight’s heart. Nothing is more painful than being confronted with your own sins.
When the knight shouted, the corners of his wife’s mouth slowly raised. That smile was eerie, one that the knight has never seen before. It was as if something different was imitating his wife’s figure.
“Oh my? What is the matter… did you perhaps participate in the acts of barbarism as well, Husband?”
The knight’s heart was splashed with cold water once again. As his heart grew colder, the existence of “those people” began to weigh on his mind.
“Sherry… those people, who are they?”
“They are people who became our new Lords.”
“Lords?”
The knight’s voice began to tremble. The uneasiness that followed him at every turn began to take a shape ra*idly.
“At this very moment, you are the only human living in this town, Husband.”
“Hii!”
The moment the knight heard his wife’s words, he screamed and ran out of the house. However, more than a dozen men and women stood in way.
“Y, you are…”
The knight looked at the face of one of the girls and squeezed his voice with difficulty. She was the girl he has ra*ed back in the Salbuveir fief. The girl glared at the knight with terrific hatred.
“Oh my, you remember me. I felt tortured thinking that my assaulter would forget me, but this saves a lot of trouble.”
“Is it him?”
“Yes, I am relieved. I am truly happy that he survived so I could take revenge with my own hands.”
The girl’s voice oozing with hatred slammed the knight.