Side Story 33. Anemone Smiled Brightly (9)
Upon hearing my explanation, Doomstone seemed to roughly understand in his own way and nodded. Still, it seemed his head wasn’t bad. It just seemed that he was uneducated and didn't have the prior knowledge necessary to understand. If one didn’t have a head in the first place, one wouldn’t think about the future and worry like Doomstone.
"And you don't have to worry about it anyway, the lords around here will split up and take this territory in the next few years. If it goes as I planned, hu-hu-hu-hu."
For some reason, I couldn't hold back my laughter.
Doomstone trembled for some reason at the sight of my smile. Was it because the sun was setting and it was cold?
Well, the late autumn night air was chilly. It was slowly becoming a season when you could start to see your own breath.
"Shall we go in now?" I emptied the wine glass with a smile.
Doomstone nodded. "Okay, let's do that."
It would be Viscount Carter and Viscount Asilante, who were adjacent to the east and south, respectively, that would take over the territory. Viscount Asilante would become a count in a few years, thanks to Glont ahjussi's contribution. Therefore, more than half of this territory would be taken by the Asilante family, as fit for the count family.
In addition, Viscount Carter was a distant relative to the southern Duke Arthemius and thus was a family with quite deep ties. He would serve as a bridge between Asteria and Arthemius in many ways in exchange for this land.
So, in order to easily let them take the territory without much trouble in the future, the knights were made half-dead. Of course, the main reason was to check Doomstone's skills with my own eyes.
"Hu-hu-hu."
"Why are you laughing all of a sudden?" he asked.
I smiled. "I'm just happy."
I don't think fun things will end if I’m with you.
-o-
Doomstone and I, who spent the night in the count's castle, stopped by the count's barracks after the count's chef made us breakfast. There, I decided to rent camping supplies and extra weapons as well as good horses free of charge for life. The count lying in bed nodded hard with a frightened face, so I also got permission from the owner.
"Hahaha! The horse is having a hard time!"
The horse carrying Doomstone was shaking because it was having a hard time withstanding his weight.
"Hmph! Are there any other horses? Something strong." Doomstone complained.
The stablekeeper trembled and pulled out a white horse larger than the others from deep in the stable.
"This, this is Count-nim’s horse... I don't know if I can give it to you carelessly...”
He didn’t think he should give it to us, but the opponent was a superman who defeated armed knights and soldiers at once.
"Ohh! This horse seems strong."
The count would probably be angry if he found out that he gave us the horse, but even if he didn't give it to us, the count would probably never need to ride it in his life.
In the first place, even before the count’s horse would be taken away by us, I mean, ‘gifted to us’, the count lying in his sickbed likely knew his territory would be taken from him. So it shouldn’t be an issue for the stablekeeper. Probably.
Once on the white horse, Doomstone seemed to like it and named it while stroking its neck. "Good! Your name is Wheat Crepe No.1!"
"Hahahaha! The horse's name is Wheat Crepe?" I laughed to the point I had to hold my belly and asked.
Doomstone nodded as if he liked his naming sense. "Mmmhmm! Since the first thing I ate here was the wheat crepe you bought me."
It was a pretty touching reason. I wiped away the tears I shed from laughing. "Hahaha! Ah, that's funny. But why is it No.1? Are you going to change your horse later?”
"No. Anemone, the horse you're going to ride is Wheat Crepe No.2!"
"Ahahaha! Really? Hahaha! That's a decent idea."
With my consent, he chose my horse with a proud voice, "That horse looks to have the most vitality. Let's choose that horse."
The horse chosen by him had shiny black fur and was full of energy.
"Then should I go with that horse as you say? Can you give us that one?”
The stablekeeper brought the horse with a quivering face.
"Bu-but this is Knight Captain-nim’s horse."
The knight captain seems to have managed his horse very well.
"It's okay. That knight captain won't be able to hold swords from now on."
The stables trembled with surprise at the words spoken as if they were insignificant.
Ah, was that insensitive?
I'm not good at medicine or treatment, so I can't be certain, but what can I do when it's true? They learned the lesson that health and life are more important than honor or money, so I'm sure they’ll put in a lot of effort to treat them.
I skillfully stepped on the foothold and grabbed the reins as I mounted on the horse.
As I climbed lightly, Doomstone asked with admiration, "Oh, you know how to ride a horse?"
"Of course! Horseback riding is part of the noble culture."
Not only the men who went to war but also the young children of the noble family who had some money learned horseback riding. It wasn't usually to the extent of running, but instead, it was a ride led by a professional horse trainer who would handle the reins. Of course, since I was young, I was as good at handling the reins without an expert because I was often playing with the knights.
"Doomstone, but you’re also quite skillful. Isn't it your first time riding a horse?"
"Haha, it's my first time on a horse, but when I was young, I jumped on top of wild deer and rode them around. Compared to that, it’s nothing much."
Atop of a running deer, he says…
To jump on top of a slender deer, at this time, I felt sorry for the deer. Later, when I actually saw the deer in Olympus Forest and thought of what I had said, I realized that it was very crazy beyond comparison. But this would be three years later.
"Okay, shall we run away now that we've eaten a lot and got supplies?” I said.
He nodded. "I don't like the word running away but let's do it!"
Doomstone and I looked at each other and smiled jokingly, then rode the horse out of the castle at the same time.
"It's a race to see who gets out of the city first!"
“Hu-hu-hu! Do you think I'll lose to someone who’s riding a horse for the first time today?!”
Run! Wheat Crepe No.2!
-o-
"Something’s wrong with this!"
"Uhuh! A man needs to accept the result!"
I spoke confidently as I watched Doomstone, who could not accept the result of losing the race.
"Well, you were pretty good for a beginner." I complimented.
Doomstone clenched his fist in anger. "It would have been my win if the Wheat Crepe No. 1 hadn’t been seduced by hay!"
”That was the same with my Wheat Crepe No. 2. In such a situation, whether or not the horse can be controlled is the part where the rider's skills are revealed.”
I confidently pushed out my chest and hit it with an "Ahem!".
Doomstone grumbled and asked as if he was still disappointed that he had lost. "Where are we going now?"
I thought for a while and answered, "From here, we will head to Percival, the Holy Land, located in the southern part of the Empire. There are people I need to meet there."
"People you need to meet?"
"Yes. Duke Arthemius and the pope."
Duke Arthemius served as a prime minister in the previous emperor's reign and was deeply connected to the financial world as well as the government officials. In order to depose the Blood Emperor and establish the crown prince as a new emperor, support from government officials, including high-ranking ones, was needed.
In addition, the Empire had been a religious state for a long time since the time of the Holy Kingdom. Although religion had been disturbed and weakened by various purges and political oppression due to the negative influence of the temple 120 years ago, it was too much to change the national view of the temple which considered it as the state religion.
In other words, it meant that if the temple supported the crown prince, he could receive absolute public support. The support of the temple would be a great help for the rebellion.
"But aren't the duke and pope very high-ranked people? I heard it's super hard to meet high-ranking people in the Empire. Will it be okay?”
I shrugged. "It'll work out somehow."
It was a rather irresponsible answer, but I couldn't help it because I couldn't be sure that I could meet them either. I could meet Duke Arthemius since I knew his wife, the duchess, Mrs. Arscilla, but it was a little difficult to meet the pope.
Still, there was a high-ranking priest family who helped my mother when she was young and still keeps in contact with my father, so I should try to get in touch through that.
Doomstone put his reins down, crossed his arms, and contemplated. "Hmm~ I'm sure it'll be okay. I have a good feeling about it!"
"Hahahaha! That's reliable! Let's go to the Holy Land!”
We each held firmly on the reins and rode the horse.
The Holy Land was quite south, so we would have to ride the horse for a few days. It was a good thing I brought camping equipment from the count's barracks.
-o-
Time flew by quickly.
At first, I was not used to camping and sleeping on the bare floor, so my whole body was sore, but when I got used to it, I felt fine except for being a little stiff. If I were alone, I probably would never have gotten used to it.
Doomstone skillfully cleared the ground with a shovel to flatten it without a single stone and covered it with dry leaves to prevent moisture and cold air. And on top of that, he put up a tent that was big enough for five or six people to stay in. Finally, a tent cloth was laid inside, and blankets and sleeping bags followed to create a comfortable bed.
I praised him for his very skillful ability.
In fact, the biggest problem was not that I had to sleep on the ground, but that I had to sleep in a tent with Doomstone. No matter how easy-going I was, it didn't mean I wasn’t reluctant about a grown man and woman sleeping in the same space.
On the first day of camping, I felt sorry, but I asked for two tents and slept separately. However, unluckily, the campsite was in an area of wolves and we were ambushed by them. Fortunately, Doomstone felt their presence and woke up to deal with them, but I was terrified and slept in his tent.
"Sob sob! I'm basically married now. Take responsibility."
"Oh, oh, no. That, that...”
I pretended to cry and teased Doomstone playfully while he stuttered and avoided my gaze while becoming bright red.
Hu-hu, how cute.
I often teased him on the way to the Holy Land, and it was cute that his face turned red and stuttered like a goof each time. I teased him quite a lot, but he didn't seem to get used to it.
"Look over there. That's the Holy Land Percival.”
On the way to the Holy Land, there was also a chase by the Empire’s Secret Intelligence Department and an attack by a bounty hunter, but they were defeated simply by Doomstone.
At first, I felt like they were chasing me, but during the trip, Doomstone's notoriety grew and it felt like they were warier of Doomstone than being concerned about me.
As I pointed to the bustling city in the distance, he coughed and shouted, "Uhem! Let's hurry and go! I wonder what's delicious there?!"
He turned the horse awkwardly and slightly hit the butt of Wheat Crepe No. 1 to make it run.
"Haha! Cute. Let's go together~! Doomstone!
I made Wheat Crepe No. 2 run after him.
It's been a really long time since I’ve come to the Holy Land.
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