Chapter 9

“Thank you for saving me. I am Rail Navigatou, second son of the Navigatou Count Family.”

A dignified way of speaking. It did not suit his left eye, which looked ridiculous from the bruise, or his swollen right cheek.

“I would like to repay those who saved my life. However, I currently have nothing with me. If the two of you are all right with it, I would like to invite you to our territory. Would that be acceptable?”

Rail bowed politely.
Leaving the flustered Serpens behind, Lucas answered briefly.

“I have visited the Navigatou Count Family a few times. It is a fine place, with cool winds, hearty people, and bold sailing skills.”

Color returned to Rail’s face.
To think the people who saved him happened to know his territory.
And with a positive impression, at that.
If they even recognized the emblem embroidered on his clothes, it would be more than enough to prove his identity here in Killip Gorge.

“I am simply grateful that you say so! Then, would you be willing to come to our territor—”
“However, I must refuse the invitation.”
“Huh? Why?”

The one who voiced his confusion was Serpens.
He was in the middle of somehow understanding the situation.
Just as expected, the man named Rail was the son of a noble.
That person was saying he would repay them.
And Lucas was refusing that.
In other words, a ridiculously stupid situation was unfolding.

“I already have enough money. There is nothing I need.”

Rail slowly nodded as if disappointed.
He opened and closed his mouth as if something kept coming to mind, but no words came out.

So Serpens opened his mouth.

“What do you mean there is nothing to receive! We can receive my sword!”

His voice grew as loud as it could.
Whether it was Navigatou or Navigetou, he would absolutely go there.
Was it because of his beggar habits? Or just his nature?
Whatever it was, he could never tolerate losing a benefit gained through suffering.
And was he not the one who had carried that man around?

“Lower your voice, Serpens.”
“But I’m the one who suffered, so why are you the one deciding whether or not to receive a reward?”
“…….”

Even at times like this, silence was advantageous.
The reason Lucas did not want to accept compensation.
It was a kind of avoidance meant to prevent forming human relationships.
In a situation where they had already saved Rail Navigatou, if they even accepted what he gave them, something invisible would connect Serpens and Navigatou.
Thinking favorably of each other. Expecting help when faced with another problem.
If one thought of it positively, it was true that it was good. But the burden that came from it was not necessarily good.

“I need to get something. We have to get my sword anyway. Since I’m going to be rolling around like crazy from now on, wouldn’t it be good to pick something expensive and sturdy?”

But Serpens valued the present benefit more than that kind of burden.
Burden? Was something like that important?
Especially the idea that because he treated someone well, the other person had to treat him well too.
That was not something obvious. It was not reason, but only expectation.
One could feel disappointed if they did not do well, but one could not scold them for it. Of course, if they did treat him well, he would be grateful.

That was why Serpens had to take the present benefit.
He did not want to become someone who had done a good deed without compensation.
Just a benefactor who had saved him. But one who had to be rewarded generously.
He wanted to be that kind of person.
How nice was it to keep a humane side too?
Sometimes, unease disappeared only when a reward was given.

“……You can take responsibility for it yourself, right?”

Lucas let out a small breath.

“Being young doesn’t mean I don’t know how to take responsibility.”

Serpens smiled.

“Haa……. Then let us do that.”

Lucas reluctantly allowed it.

‘What an odd one.’

Handling Serpens was similar to taming a wild horse.
A wild horse of the wide plains, rampaging however it pleased.
Lucas had once heard of a way to tame such a wild horse.

According to coachmen from the western region of the continent.
The way to tame a wild horse was to tie it together with a smaller donkey. Then release the horse and the donkey.
They said that a horse released without reins would run this way and that without considering the donkey.
A sight that made it seem impossible to tame.
But a few days later, the two animals would look different.
The donkey would be leading, and the wild horse would be walking quietly behind it.
It had become docile because it gave up resisting the donkey, which clung on until the end no matter how it tried to shake it off.
They said the same situation always repeated itself in the pasture.

‘I will gladly become the donkey.’

A resolve to help the boy challenge the impossible.
There was no justification for helping him.
If he had to think of one, it would only be that he had meddled and saved the boy. That he had even bought him food. That he had made a promise through a wager.
If he pretended not to know, he could have left the boy behind.

But Lucas didn’t do so.
Because he was curious about the process of the boy achieving his dream? Because his approaching fifty years of age had made him senile?
Lucas himself also didn’t know the exact reason.

“Yes! You said…… Rail, right? I’m Serpens. Let’s move right now!”
“Very well! Serpens!”
“There is no need to move hastily. The sun is setting, so we can rest for a while and move afterward.”

Serpens and Rail continued talking with smiles.
Serpens smiled brightly even though he should have been tired after training had ended.
For an instant, as Lucas looked at the boy, his expression underwent a subtle change.
It was to the degree that even if others saw it, they would not notice the change. That was why Lucas himself didn’t notice it either.
That the corner of his mouth had twitched upward.

The night of the gorge, where even the path ahead couldn’t be seen, passed.

Crackle. Pop. Crackle.

The campfire, which protected their warmth from early morning, was burning brightly.
It was because Lucas had kept adding firewood without rest.

“Heugyagagaga!”

With a noisy sound, Serpens stretched.
Because he had spent such a hard day, white drool marks were left around his mouth and on his left arm.

“What? You woke up early.”
“I don’t sleep much.”
“That’s why your complexion looks like you are about to die.”
“……?”
“They say even a ghost that died after sleeping well has a good complexion. You should sleep well.”

As soon as Serpens opened his eyes, a sigh came from Lucas’s mouth.
The problem was that mouth of his, chattering away as if it never tired.

“Anyway, Rail sleeps really well. I thought nobles only slept in beds.”
“It’s not that children from such precious families do not exist. However, since the Oratio Empire is in turmoil, it is a suitable time for the children of high-ranking nobles, especially those in succession struggles, to make achievements. One must know how to look to the future and endure present discomfort.”
“Oh…… So you mean Rail gave up sleeping in a bed and slept on the ground because of some succession struggle or whatever?”
“Probably.”
“Tsk, tsk. How pitiful. He should just give up on that little fight and sleep in a bed.”
“If he wins that little fight, he gains everything in his family. If he loses, he loses everything.”
“……He is someone we have a connection with now, so I hope he wins. I should gift him a slightly more uncomfortable sleeping place.”

Serpens gathered the nearby branches and scattered them over Rail.
There was a reaction, such as his face twisting, but he didn’t wake from his sleep.
Because he too had spent no ordinary day.

“Wake him.”
“Huh?”
“Did you not say we were going to Navigatou?”
“That’s right.”
“Wake him.”

Serpens dumped out the branches and grass leaves he had gathered in his arms.

“But he’s sleeping so well.”
“The faster we go, the faster you get your sword—”

Thud!

Serpens kicked Rail in the side.

“Hey, you! Wake up! The sun is high in the sky!”

Rail, who was hit without knowing why, coughed and clutched the spot he had been struck.

“Ugh……. Uuugh……. I can wake up just fine if you tell me with words.”

Serpens opened his mouth wide, then hurriedly closed it.
He was about to say, I didn’t kick you that hard, so stop exaggerating! But he remembered Rail had said before falling asleep that his entire body was covered in bruises.

But it didn’t matter.
Because the one in pain was Rail, not him.

“High in the sky……? It still seems like dawn.”
“There is a ship we must take. If we miss it, going to your father’s territory will be delayed by half a year.”
“If you say so, then all right.”

His disheveled golden hair. Even so, his face looked wealthy.
Did he take after his mother? Or his father?
Serpens suddenly wondered.
But he shook his head hard and drove the question away.

Shff. Tap. Shff. Tadada.

The uphill path that had only been difficult had now become a downhill path, providing comfort and joy.
Aside from his still-stinging palms and the smell of blood that would not disappear, he felt as good as could be.

Whoosh!
Kieeek!

The monsters they encountered along the way.
Goblins he had already seen, orcs larger than them, nagas with human upper bodies and snake lower bodies, and so on.
They encountered various kinds of monsters.
Though they ended their lives so quickly that Serpens’s tension felt meaningless.

“Next time, I should leave about one behind.”

Lucas wiped the blood from his sword with his sleeve and glanced at Serpens.

“Ugh.”

Leaving one behind.
It meant he would tell Serpens to deal with it.

Of course, if it was a goblin, it would be somewhat fine.
One goblin was at least worth trying.
But in the case of an orc or naga, it was different.
An orc with a body that seemed ten times Serpens’s size. If he were hit by that monster’s attack, his whole body would surely be smashed.
If he were wrapped in a naga’s huge tail, his body would surely twist and die.

‘I will fight hard starting tomorrow, so please, let nothing come out.’

Serpens prayed desperately inside.
He had no god he believed in, nor any star in the sky, but he simply prayed desperately.

Step. Step.

Fortunately, the boy’s wish came true.
The briny smell of the sea quietly entered his nose.
A ship floating far off on the sea came into their sight.
Until then, they didn’t encounter any more monsters.

Splash.

“Ah.”

Again.
Serpens stepped in water pooled on the ground.
Just as when he had first stepped in it, he hadn’t noticed.

But he moved his feet as if it was nothing.
Serpens had personally realized the meaning of Lucas’s words not to mind it.

“I am truly sorry to my benefactors, but could you perhaps pay the fare to board the ship? As you know…… haha.”

Rail gave an awkward smile.
Another reason he had invited Serpens and Lucas to his territory.
Now that he had lost everything, he had no way to return to his territory.

“…….”

“Come on, Lucas. We can just get compensated for this too.”

Rail hurriedly nodded.

“Of course! The moment we return to the territory, I will repay you double!”

Lucas walked forward without a word.
Serpens grinned at the flustered Rail.

“That means he agreed, so don’t worry, Rail. Even if he is that blunt, he has a humane side in his own way.”
“I see…… As expected, you are good people.”
“Come on, we are receiving payment, after all.”
“No. Even so, you are good people.”

Rail walked toward the ship after Lucas.
Serpens looked at him for a moment.

‘I’m not a good person.’

The boy didn’t help people without compensation.
That was why he was not a good person.

‘I feel sorry to Rail.’

Serpens moved toward the ship.
Happiness hovered on his face.

Clink.

From Serpens’s backpack, stained here and there, came the jingling sound of illicit money.

‘It wasn’t as if I helped him out of pure goodwill.’

All those who had attacked Rail were dead.
Then whose hands did the luggage they had stolen end up in?

“Euhehehe.”

All the items had been left there. Even the ones that looked expensive.
But one thing. The pouch containing expenses for visiting the gorge was located deep inside the boy’s bag.

“Uhahahahaha!”

If someone saw this, they would surely curse him.
To think he would take advantage of someone. They would click their tongue and point fingers.

But Serpens didn’t care.
Take advantage? Nonsense.
This was a kind of insurance.
Was it not possible that he might follow Rail and fail to receive as much reward as he expected?
It was insurance in preparation for that kind of situation.

Underhanded? That was not something Serpens cared about.
Because this was the way the boy had lived, and the way he would live.