#32: The Final Showdown And Motsunabe - Part One — Cook of the Mercenary Group (WN)

Things change from one moment to the next.

Huh? It’s not “things”?

No, it is. It’s almost like a person.

Before you know it, it grows, gets worse, does something good, or moves in a bad direction.

And before I realized it, I was caught right in the middle of it.

Finding myself in the very thick of a chaotic battlefield…

Being so used to peace and simply staying behind everyone else, I never would have imagined this.

And now, my true worth was being put to the test right here.

It was just my usual prison life.

Hello, this is Shuri.

Nearly a week has passed since Ecres-san and the others visited.

Lately, neither Garn-san nor Ecres-san has come by.

On the contrary, even the person delivering the meals changed, and they wouldn’t say a single word to me.

The food remains unchanged, too—utterly plain.

“As expected, even the seasonings I kept hidden have finally run out…”

Without seasonings, I couldn’t even remake the meals.

Today, once again, it was a mediocre meal.

Nearly a week has passed since Garn-san and the others stopped coming.

Ah, how I miss the sweet scent of freedom. I really want to get outside already.

Still, I wonder what Garn-san is doing.

Sipping my soup, I absentmindedly pondered such thoughts.

As Lady Ecres mentioned before, are they working hard toward a resolution?

I certainly hope so…

In the end, staying locked up here means I know absolutely nothing.

“I wonder if everyone is doing alright…”

Since no information from the outside reaches me at all, I have no idea whether everyone is safe.

Hmm…

Worrying about it won’t help!

“For now, not dying is priority number one!”

To achieve that, I just need to eat this unpalatable food and sleep!

After gulping down the meal in one go, I lay down, deciding to catch another nap.

“Shuri, are you awake?”

…This person always comes right when I’m about to sleep. This is the second time now, you know?

Sitting up, I saw Garn-san standing there with a solemn look on his face.

“My apologies. Were you about to sleep?”

“…No, it’s fine.”

In moments like this, modesty is key. Always polite and modest.

It’s the sad, deep-seated nature of a Japanese person.

“There’s something I need to tell you.”

“Ah… What about Ecres-san?”

“My lord does not know about this. Lady Ecres is currently confronting Lord Gings, the second prince.”

…Confronting?

Wait, Ecres-san has a younger brother?

“Regarding your information—I verified the tampering with the wine glass. For some reason, Lord Gings’s wine glass was missing, but the feudal lord’s remained. She has gone to confront Lord Gings, who gifted it, to verify the facts and apprehend him.”

Huh?

Even I can tell that’s nothing short of reckless.

“Why do something so rash? Even if they’re the lord’s children, acting so suddenly like that leaves no telling how the other party will react.”

“We’re out of time. Do you remember? One week ago, when Lady Ecres and I came here?”

“Yes, well.”

That was during the galette incident.

“At that time, Sir Teg discovered the truth.”

“Teg-san is here?!”

Oh boy, I really have no clue what’s happening outside.

“Our desire to join the mercenary band, the truth about the wine glass, the background of this whole incident… He knows every piece of information he needs to know.”

“I see.”

Teg-san really handles his job flawlessly.

“In short, despite the fault lying on our side, we arrested you for lese-majesty and placed Sir Gungrave under house arrest. Sir Gungrave is undoubtedly furious. Neither I nor Lady Ecres can flee to the mercenary band anymore. That’s why we have to settle this ourselves. We must strip Lord Gings of his power, mete out appropriate punishment, and hand over a massive reward alongside the territory. Otherwise, not only the feudal lord, but Lady Ecres will be in danger as well. That’s the situation within the territory right now.”

T-Things have gotten way more serious than I thought…

“Wait… Was Lord Gings the one who gifted that wine glass?”

“Yes. I’ll confess, the feudal lord has long suffered from a strange illness. When he grips iron while physically exhausted, that spot turns red and breaks out in an itch. Just as you diagnosed.”

“So it really was a metal allergy, after all.”

Thank goodness. If he had used that wine glass as it was, it would have been a disaster. I’m glad it was prevented in advance.

…Hmm?

“Hold on a second.

Knowing that as his son, he did it on purpose?“

“Yes. That is what a political struggle entails.”

Cutting down one’s own parent for the sake of power…

I’ve only ever seen that in stories…

To think I’d experience it in reality!

I’m trembling a little out of fear.

“S-So, what do you plan to do by telling me all this, Garn-san?”

“…Who knows.”

Huh?

“My death is already certain. Perhaps I simply wanted to leave behind someone who knows the current situation and the truth before that happens.”

“You’re going to… die, Garn-san?”

Huh? How did the conversation turn to that?

“Let me tell you something. I am actually the feudal lord’s son. The true eldest son.”

“What?!”

“Born of a concubine… I am the child born between the lord and his mistress. My mother was a maid who was taken by the lord. After I was born, my mother was banished due to a scheme by the jealous main wife. My father… the lord acknowledged my existence, but I was given no succession rights. As an existence that couldn’t be brought into the open, I was raised as an intelligence agent.”

“Wait, you weren’t a prison guard?”

“I am truly an intelligence agent. Being a guard was just a temporary role assigned to monitor you. The one born after that to the secondary wife was Lady Ecres.”

“Th-Then Ecres-san and you are…”

“Half-siblings… as it turns out. Furthermore, Lady Ecres is not a man. She is a woman.”

Eeeeeeek?!

W-Wait a minute!

“Is your family really that complicated?!”

“Haha, it would be nice if ‘complicated’ was enough to describe it. Let me continue. While the main wife banished my mother out of jealousy, she couldn’t do the same to the secondary wife. Banishing her after she became a secondary wife through proper procedures would mean the main wife herself would be charged with a crime. Besides, she felt at ease knowing the newborn was a girl. However, even that calculation was derailed by the lord’s judgment. Lady Ecres has a brilliant head for numbers. Entrusting her with domestic governance reveals unparalleled talent. Noticing this, the lord had Lady Ecres raised as a man, grooming her to be the heir to the territory. It was around that time that her younger brother, Lord Gings, was born.”

Things are getting a bit convoluted here!

“Lady Ecres, specially trained in domestic affairs as an exceptional heir. Lord Gings, a legitimate bloodline member of the military versed in tactics and strategy. What is occurring in this territory right now is a political struggle between the two of them. And the culprit behind this entire incident can be said to be Lord Gings. The wine glass, the unlawful arrest, placing the benefactors led by Sir Gungrave under house arrest… It’s completely unforgivable. Furthermore, through my investigation of the information… You’re on close terms with Niewbist, aren’t you? While organizing your confiscated belongings, I found a kitchen knife engraved with the coat of arms of the Niewbist royal family. Just yesterday, an official letter arrived from Niewbist. Stating, ‘We are heading there.’ If this becomes known, it will severely impact our food imports. After all, we have unlawfully arrested someone who was granted a royal crest. From their perspective, a person close to them has been insulted. An insult to someone bestowed with a crest turns directly into an insult to the royal family itself. We have no time left. The countdown to our destruction has already begun.”

Eeeeeeeeek?!

Without me knowing, this territory has fallen into a critical crisis!

Things are progressing where I can’t see, and moving toward an end without my knowledge?

I’ve never heard of such a thing in any story!

Even though I’m right in the middle of the incident, I’m completely left out of the loop!

That’s way too lonely!

Let’s see…

Is there really nothing I can do?

“Um, so what should I do then?”

“Are you willing to do something for us?”

Garn-san asked with an exhausted face, but honestly, I don’t feel like I can do anything.

Yeah, the most I can do is cook meals.

And even then, just harmless home-cooked food.

Though I guess Kao-Lu-Zhu might be an exception.

“What is there that I can actually do?”

“Let’s see. You could become our hostage, serving as a linchpin to stop the Gungrave Mercenary Band from running wild. Or you could use your cooking skills to mediate between both sides. Or perhaps you could marry Lady Ecres, and as a reward, hand over the territory and succession rights to Sir Gungrave… Something like that, I suppose.”

“If I sacrifice myself, will everything be resolved?”

“Sixty percent of it will. The remaining forty percent won’t be resolved. Rather, while sixty percent gets resolved, the remaining forty percent will become impossible to fix.”

“What about the remaining forty percent?”

“Settling the feelings of the mercenary band members and their captains.”

Ah, I see.

Administrative matters, the lord’s stance, the form of reward, handling Niewbist, consideration for the territory’s citizens…

However, the problem there isn’t about logic.

Emotional arguments will come into play.

If Gungrave-san and the others saw me trying to end it like this, they’d probably yell, “Don’t screw with us!”

“But… if sacrificing myself really solves sixty percent, wouldn’t the rest work out somehow…?”

“Would anyone accept an outcome where a comrade they shared joys and sorrows with like family becomes a sacrificial lamb just to end an incident? Besides, you are merely a victim here. Having the victim accept further harm just to settle an incident is completely putting the cart before the horse.”

Ugh, he’s completely right.

Even if I endured it here, Gungrave-san and the others wouldn’t accept it.

Besides, if you just endure suffering harm, the other side will only take advantage and get cocky.

“Anyway, what do you really want by telling me all this?”

That’s the main question.

Even if you tell me all this, I ultimately can’t do anything right now.

I can’t become a sacrifice.

Nor can I make use of my cooking skills here.

What do you want to accomplish by sharing the truth with someone as useless as me?

“Well… as I said earlier, I wanted to leave behind someone who knows the truth. I wanted to increase the number of people who know about me by even just one. Ever since I was born, I’ve been a person of the shadows; the only ones who know my truth are Lady Ecres, the feudal lord, his main wife, and his secondary wife. Isn’t that far too few? I thought it wouldn’t hurt to have one more person.”

“Is that really all?”

“…I wanted someone who would mourn for me when I die. I will likely end up taking on all the blame and dying. When that happens, I want someone to mourn me out of goodwill, not malice.”

“Then why does the conversation keep turning to you dying, Garn-san?!”

“Didn’t I tell you? I am the lord’s son. Though born of a concubine, I carry the lord’s bloodline. When push comes to shove—well, it already has—if I offer my head as a representative of the lord’s family, there’s an eighty percent chance it will settle things.”

“And you think I’d accept that?”

No, I know that me saying this won’t solve anything.

Even if someone like me says this or that here, this person will probably just act out of duty.

Even so, I can’t help but say it.

With Garn-san saying he’s going to die right in front of me, I hate the idea of accepting it silently and sending him off.

“Don’t make such a stern face.”

Garn-san was smiling.

“I’m actually quite satisfied.”

“Wh-Why?”

“I didn’t expect you to say something like that to me. I thought that if I had a friend, this is what it might feel like. It’s actually a happy feeling to have someone worry about you.”

“What are you talking about?”

I’ve thought this for a long time now.

“We’re friends, aren’t we?”

Eating together, laughing, and talking…

Doesn’t that make us friends?

Garn-san wore a look of deep, genuine shock.

“Friends…?”

“Yes, friends.”

“You and me?”

“Me and you.”

I consider us friends.

Otherwise, we wouldn’t be able to open our hearts and talk like this.

“I am a person of the shadows who has lived in darkness. I’m not bright and shining like you. There’s no way someone like me could stand beside you.”

“What do you mean, ‘darkness’?”

Those were the words Garn-san muttered while looking down.

However, I think he’s wrong.

“Here’s what I think: The darkness people carry inside is just a hole carved into their hearts. Because light hasn’t reached that hole and it’s pitch black, people call it darkness. But a hole in the heart isn’t like a wound. Wounds leave scars even after they heal. A hole, however, can be filled. By living happily with friends and eating delicious food… If you pile up happy, pleasant memories, you can fill that hole. Garn-san, wasn’t it fun for you? If I look like I’m glowing to you, it’s just that your eyes are dazzled because you’ve stepped out into the light.”

I don’t think darkness or light matters for Garn-san anymore.

He’s already someone who can talk like this with a friend.

He’s someone standing right beside me.

The only thing blocking us is the iron bars right in front of our eyes.

“…I see. So I was already under the light all along…”

His voice was faint, almost fading away.

Garn-san raised his head and looked at me.

Tears streamed down as he looked straight into my eyes.

Without even wiping away the falling tears, he spoke.

“You know, I was jealous of you. Your cooking is amazing, and you’re cheerful. Even in a situation like this, you haven’t despaired at all. You’re an incredible guy. To eat food and laugh with a guy like that through prison bars… I’m ridiculous, aren’t I?”

“I was jealous of you, too. You’re strong and dependable. Even amidst a harsh reality, you’ve survived through it all. To be able to eat meals and laugh with a person like that through prison bars… I was truly happy.”

I was finally able to speak my true feelings.

Both Garn-san and I were envious of each other.

I wanted strength.

I could only cook food for the mercenary band, merely watching from behind as my comrades went off to fight.

Even so, because cooking was all I could do, I gave it my absolute all.

Garn-san wanted an ordinary life.

Far more than a bloodstained life filled with political maneuvering…

He wanted trifling daily routines and peaceful days.

Even so, because fighting was all he could do…

He desperately carved out a path through blood to survive.

We both longed for what the other possessed.

“I…”