Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 41

41.

“Thank you all for your hard work. We’ve got everything we need, so I think we can stop now.”

As soon as we left the restaurant, I moved to a quiet, secluded spot with the knights. My hands were already full of groceries bought from various places. I was exhausted from wandering around for more than half a day, but their eyes were still shining brightly.

“Thank you for your hard work as well, Elquines. Haa… I thought I was going to die. I can’t believe I was yelling in front of people, forgetting all about my dignity. I’m so embarrassed just thinking about it.”

The one who said that was Kay, the young leader of the knights. He barely regained consciousness the next morning and was most surprised by the fact that he was alive. He had expected to die because his injuries were so severe.

Isana had personally explained everything that had happened to him. And now, he was more actively following my orders than anyone else.

“Haha, you did great. Don’t worry too much about it. Thanks to you, no one seemed to doubt me.”

“I’m glad to hear that… Did anything else happen after we left?”

“No, everything went smoothly. The restaurant owner did make a strange offer, though.”

“A strange offer?”

“He said he would get me water if I wanted. It didn’t sound like he was just offering to fill my canteen, but more like he would buy it for me.”

Kay and the other knights had strange expressions on their faces, as if they had a prickly thorn stuck in their throats.

“What’s wrong?”

“Well, Elquines-nim. That’s probably what you’re thinking.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Since the decade-long drought, water has become scarce. To get even a small amount of drinking water, you have to hire a magician to create artificial rain, which costs a lot of money. So, they started selling water for a certain amount of tax. Since then, all the rivers and wells have been managed by the town’s leaders or lords.”

“…Wait a minute. I know it was like that back then, but there should be plenty of water now, right? Are they still buying and selling it?”

Several heavy rains had already fallen on this land. All the polluted seas had been purified, and most of the rivers and springs that had dried up or disappeared had returned. There was no way I could be wrong since I had done it myself. Alex answered my absurd question in a bitter tone.

“The nobles don’t want to lose their fixed sales revenue, so they’re acting up. The drought is over, but the lives of the commoners haven’t changed much. Anyone caught stealing water is severely punished, so they don’t even go near the river. They even offer a generous reward for reporting such people, so they’re all watching each other for the reward money. Recently, thanks to the frequent rains, they’ve been able to collect rainwater in advance and survive until the next rain.”

“That’s ridiculous. Then how do they farm? You need a lot of water to grow crops, right?”

“Well, they provide some waterways in exchange for receiving crops at harvest time…”

“……”

What they said was all true.

I immediately headed to a nearby stream. There, I could see a wooden fence surrounding the area and a large sign. It contained a warning stating that anyone who crossed the fence without permission would be severely punished, and the price of water was listed in detail. There were even armed soldiers guarding the entrance.

“Ha…”

I was so dumbfounded that I couldn’t say anything. Kay and Alex also had grim looks on their faces.

“We’ve only heard rumors about this, but this is the first time we’ve seen the reality for ourselves. Seeing it in person, it’s even more miserable than we expected.”

“Does Isana know about this?”

“Well, she probably doesn’t know the details. The regulations were lifted immediately in the capital, and the reports that the local lords send to His Majesty the Emperor are usually recorded in a simplified form.”

“And she wasn’t really involved in state affairs anyway, right?”

Kay gave a bitter smile at those words, seemingly embarrassed. No matter how much he loved the Emperor, it seemed difficult to defend him this time. Of course, I didn’t say it to blame him, so I stopped looking around and stood up.

“Let’s go back for now. We need to come up with a plan for this.”

“Do you have a plan?”

“Well…”

Just then, a peculiar sight caught my eye. A group of people was gathered in front of the town square. I stopped explaining and asked Kay,

“What are they doing?”

“I don’t know.”

As everyone was wondering, a person appeared in front of the group. It was a knight wearing black armor and a red cloak. At that moment, Kay and Alex’s faces quickly hardened.

“It’s a paladin from the Demon God Church.”

“A paladin?”

“They move under the orders of the Grand Duke. It doesn’t seem like good news.”

The paladin stopped in the middle of the group and unfolded the scroll he was holding in front of everyone. Soon, a resounding voice began to echo.

“An evil group is trying to plunge this empire into ruin! Everyone should look at this wanted poster and immediately report anyone suspicious!”

After shouting that, the paladin posted the scroll on the wall behind him and turned around. I waited until they had completely disappeared, then pushed through the crowd to check the contents of the poster.

–Notice–

Charge

Accused of inciting the mad emperor to ruin the empire and helping him escape from the imperial palace.

WANTED

Name: Kay de Serik.

Details: Captain of the Imperial Guard. 28 years old. Dark brown hair, brown eyes.

Name: Alex de Irwan.

Details: Imperial Guard. 23 years old. Blond hair, green eyes.

Name: Peris de Jello

Details: Intermediate wind spiritist. 21 years old. Tawny hair, green eyes.

The above are all wanted.

Anyone who finds a group traveling with a blond, blue-eyed boy around the age of 16 should report it immediately.

A generous reward will be given to those who report them.

High Priest Hione

“Huh… What is this?”

I couldn’t believe they would issue a wanted poster so openly. And it was even more absurd that they framed it as if we had kidnapped Isana. Kay, who had also seen the poster, muttered with a bitter face.

“The Grand Duke’s power has finally reached this far.”

“Did you all know?”

“Of course. We’ve seen the same wanted poster everywhere we’ve gone.”

His voice was very small, as if he was conscious of his surroundings. I carefully observed the reactions of the townspeople. They all seemed to be showing animosity towards the knights written on the poster.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk, the imperial guards are supposed to stop the mad emperor, but instead, they’re helping him.”

“Rumor has it that they’re the ones who drove the emperor crazy in the first place.”

“Oh dear, what’s the world coming to? I thought things were finally getting better, but there’s no end to the incidents.”

“It’s all because the curse of the disastrous emperor is still lingering.”

Most people seemed to be accepting the contents of the poster without question. They were just accepting the information they were given, but from my perspective, knowing the whole situation, it wasn’t a pleasant conversation to listen to. Even the knights’ faces twisted with anger when they mentioned the former emperor.

“This…”

“Calm down, Alex.”

Kay stopped Alex, who was about to jump out. Alex looked back at him with a frustrated expression.

“But, Captain! Even so, that’s…”

“Our identities have already been revealed. If we cause a commotion in a place like this, we’ll be caught immediately. Are you going to ruin everything because you can’t stand a moment of anger?”

“…Tch!”

Alex clenched his fist, gritting his teeth. Just then, I heard a murmuring conversation from the side.

“But those mercenaries we saw at the restaurant earlier… Their descriptions are kind of similar to the ones on this poster, aren’t they?”

‘They’re talking about us!’

Kay and I quickly exchanged glances. Alex and the other knights also stiffened and held their breath.

“Ah, those people? I remember them too. But brown or blond hair is common. And their 말투 [manner of speaking] was pretty rough, so they looked like mercenaries to me.”

“But there was one small person in their group. I couldn’t see them clearly because they were covering their face with a hood, but they looked pretty young.”

“…Hmm, that’s true. That’s a bit suspicious.”

“Should we report them?”

“……”

Fortunately, they hadn’t looked this way yet. I and the knights took advantage of the conversation and quietly slipped out of the crowd. Perhaps because it was so crowded, no one looked at us strangely as we quickly dispersed.

“Wow, that was a close call. We almost got caught.”

As soon as we reached a secluded place, I and the knights breathed a sigh of relief. In the distant square, many people were still looking at the poster.

“We didn’t really need to hide like that, did we? If I took off my hood, they would have immediately realized we weren’t the ones they were looking for. The poster said they were looking for a blond, blue-eyed boy.”

Kay shook his head with a stern face.

“Even if we had avoided the crisis at that moment, we would have been immediately put under surveillance. The paladins of the Demon God Church are persistent. Some of them might know our faces, so it’s only a matter of time before our identities are revealed.”

“Hmm, I guess so.”

“Anyway, we should leave this place as soon as possible. Now that the wanted poster has been issued, our hideout cave will no longer be safe.”

“I’m sorry, Captain. I was being thoughtless.”

Alex lowered his head with a pale face. He now realized how dangerous his actions had been. Kay patted him lightly on the shoulder and said,

“I feel just as frustrated and resentful as you do. But now is the time for us to hide our claws and crouch down. Our only reason for existence is to protect Isana-nim. Just think about that for now.”

“Yes! I will keep that in mind.”

Alex bowed repeatedly. Kay, who had been patting his shoulder each time, suddenly turned to me and said,

“I have a request to make, Elquines-nim.”

“A request? For me?”

I looked at him, puzzled. Kay stared at me with a straight gaze.

“If the wanted poster has been issued even in a place like this, then we can assume that the Grand Duke’s power has reached everywhere in the empire. It seems we need to change our plans. Please help us.”

“Of course… I’ll help you, but what do you need me to do?”

While nodding, I couldn’t quite grasp his intention. I had already decided to help them anyway, hadn’t I? It was strange that he was making this request now.

Kay’s face was filled with determination.

“Elquines-nim, everything depends on your will.”