Chapter 375 - Episode Twenty-One - Attack of the Doom Tribe (1)
Mea and I were on our way to an inn in the Fage territory.
“Abel …… you don’t have to go there, do you?”
“N-No, it’s just in case. There aren’t that many white-haired, red-eyed people in the world ……”
It seems that recently there have been incidents of magic beast disaster monster panics in the vicinity of Farge territory, with some of the caravans who were caught up in them being killed.
It is said that the wagons of the involved merchants scattered and fled, and many of them lost their cargo and had to change their plans.
It is said that an adventurer who had joined as an escort for a troop of merchants in order to get a leg up got lost and drifted to this village, but he was extremely unfamiliar with geography and didn’t have much money, so the people around him had trouble dealing with him.
So far, so good, it’s a common story.
I feel sorry for him, but I honestly don’t have the right to do anything about it.
It’s cold, but I have no choice but to cross my fingers and hope that Lark will take charge.
I’m not the kind of softie who would go out of my way to get involved in such a problem.
If he had asked me directly, I might have felt sorry for him and tried to do something about it, but I don’t think he has the kind of connections that would make him want to rely on me.
The only thing that bothered me was that the stray person seemed to be a white-haired, red-eyed Marren like me.
I had failed.
With a little thought, I could have imagined that the Gizel I had left behind would follow me out of the village.
Perhaps it was Gizel who had come to this village and was in trouble.
It was true that the option of leaving her alone and running away had crossed my mind.
However, if I left Gizel alone in a strange place without money and in trouble, I would not only fail as a brother, but I would fail as a human.
There was no concrete plan as to what to do after meeting her.
There’s no way I’m going back to the Marren village with Mea and I caught up in the war between Count Julem and Kuudor, but whether or not Gizel will agree to that is another matter.
I pondered this and that in a roundabout way, but I came to the decision that since I had no choice but to run away, I would just have to meet her and then decide.
I hadn’t had this much trouble since the day I ran away from home.
It was a shame that the method I chose was to push myself into a corner by proceeding with the situation even though nothing was decided yet.
However, I couldn’t help but feel that the other steps I could take were all too cruel.
When I was feeling like I was going to vomit from worrying so much over the report, Mea took care of me and we naturally ended up discussing it, and she assured me that if we were going to have a face-to-face meeting, Mea would definitely go! She assured me that she would be there.
I could not help but think that this would have the effect of agitating Gizel for nothing, but since Mea was not going to back down, I took one of the worst possible options, which was for Mea and I to go see her.
“What kind of girl is Gizel, the sister and Abel’s ex-wife? Mea has heard of her before, but only briefly ……”
“Huh, did I tell you about her before?”
“Just a little bit …… Mea will never forget.”
“Oh, that’s right …… hahaha.”
I can’t remember when we talked about it.
I don’t think there was anything wrong with talking, but for some reason, I felt terribly uncomfortable.
I immediately visited the inn in question.
“Ah! Well, well, Abel-sama! You’ve come!”
As we enter the inn, the owner rushes over to me.
“He-, hello ……”
“You’re going to take in the stray Marren, right? I’m willing to ignore for the cost of your stay ……!”
…… They’re treating me almost like a dog.
I wondered what Gizel’s situation was right now.
I smiled bitterly and said, “It hasn’t been decided yet, though”, I had a hunch that he probably wouldn’t be a stranger to me.
I went to the room he told me about and knocked on the door.
There was no answer from it …… I waited a bit and knocked again, but there was still no answer.
I wondered if the owner had picked the wrong room.
“He’s not there ……?”
“…… Abel, why don’t we go home now?”
Mea tugged lightly on my sleeve.
“No, but that’s not how it works ……”
At that moment, I heard a gurgling, sobbing voice coming from inside the room.
I couldn’t just stand there in silence.
I immediately put my hand on the doorknob.
“I-It’s Gizel, isn’t it …… Um ……?”
Inside the room, there was a girl sitting in a triangle position beside the bed, looking tiny.
Her white hair is tied up in a voluminous bun at the end, and her red eyes, characteristic of the Marren, are slightly upturned in triumph.
The whites of her eyes were red with a few veins running through them, probably from crying.
It was Firo.
She looked at me through the doorway, blinked, rubbed her eyes with her hand, and turned to look at me again.
Then she turned red and pointed her index finger at me.
“A-A-A-Abel!? W-Why are you here!? A-Are you real?”
“Yeah …… why is Firo here ……”
Firo gritted her teeth and stood up.
“Why not! Why not? How can you say that? That’s my line! I, as the granddaughter of the chief, and the one who had to go out of my way to bring you back because you suddenly broke the Marren tribe’s rules and went out! You have no idea how hard it was for me to get here! I’ll even complain about it!”
“R-, really!?”
But even in the past, there were often Marrens who broke the law and went outside, but they would not have been chased.
Was it connected to the incense-smoke leaf?
However, I’m sure the chiefs have taken over the manufacturing process so that it doesn’t become a problem.
“You have no idea how much Gizel was hurt after that. I didn’t think you’d be so unthinking. I’m a little disappointed in you, to be honest. I’m honestly a little disappointed that you didn’t leave a single letter, that you didn’t have any attachment to the village?”
“…………”
I had no words to say.
I was so upset at the time that I couldn’t think of anything else to do.
I’m sure I left a letter, but I don’t think Firo knew about it.
I had no intention of arguing with her here, so I decided to just accept it.
For a while, Firo and I stared at each other in silence.
I probably had a horribly pathetic expression on my face.
After a while, the corner of Firo’s eyes lowered slightly.
“I didn’t mean to say all this. I’m glad to hear you’re doing well …… I really thought I might never see you again, after all.”
“…… Well, I’m really sorry about that.”
Firo turned her eyes away from me.
“…… If only you had consulted me at that time, I could have done something for you. You don’t have to do this.”
I glanced at Mea, who was still hiding behind the door.
It seems that Mea had completely lost the timing of when to come out.
She looked back at me puzzledly.
When I signaled with my eyes for her to come in, she shook her head vigorously.
“…… is there someone in there?”
When Firo asked her about it, she seemed to give up, and Mea came in, looking narrowly at her.
“Ah …… Eh, er, hello …… It’s nice to meet you”
The atmosphere in the place froze.