Chapter 24 – The Child Who Was Left Behind

“Send it back from where you got it.”

Syltina commanded as she stood imposingly in front of Yuto and Akari, who had hidden behind Yuto to escape Syltina’s severe gaze.

On Akari’s right hand was a small hand which she tightly held on to.

“I only asked you to fetch some water, so why have you brought a child? We cannot afford to take in children now. Send it back.”

“N-now, now, Syltina-san. You’re treating the child like a dog or a cat. Calm down a little.”

“You picked up something lesser than a small animal. Who are you to ask me to calm down, Yuto-san? Why didn’t you stop her?”

“No, I was against it at first. But, when she said no matter what……”

“No matter what you were told, I’m surprised that you have a hobby of bringing along lost children. If possible, I would prefer it if your hobby could be more useful to us.”

Akari, who was hiding behind Yuto, let out a loud breath as she peeked at an angry Syltina.

“You don’t have to put it that way. If such a small child sits alone by the riverside, it’s normal to talk to them. I didn’t just bring him because he said he had no parents. It’s too much if we bring him back there.”

“It’s as Akari says. It’s our role to help the people of this country. Isn’t it strange if the Saintess’ escorts cannot even save a single child?”

“You’re the one who’s strange, Frackt-sama. Please shut up. You’re in the way.”

“Wha—!! Who do you think I am!?”

“You want to do this now? You are the First Prince of Rideiran Kingdom. Unfortunately, we are people from the guild, so, who you are doesn’t matter to us. In the first place, haven’t I repeatedly told you that our main role is ‘to escort the Saintess’? Please remember it properly. Have you become forgetful? Or have you become senile?”

“Tsk…”

Frackt is silenced by Syltina’s plainly wicked tongue.

Watching the situation from a distance, Alhart and Kreutz both let out a long sigh.

“Ahhh, looks like Sylti’s met her match.”

“If you think about how we were during the trip up to now, then, it’s no surprise.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Uwah, it’s such a hassle, but they won’t finish talking if we just leave them be…… guess I’ll go.”

Kreutz watched Alhart, who seemed to find it truly troublesome, approach the arguing group. At the same time, Kreutz looked back on their journey after leaving Rufhana village.

It had been about 20 days since they departed from Rufhana village. The next destination was a Baron’s territory that ran along the river called Egido, whose main source of income was fishing and grain cultivation.

The problems they encountered were brought on by passing through numerous linked villages along the way, and by the slow pace with which they traveled because the Saintess and her company were not used to travelling. The final hurdle was tomorrow, where they would finally arrive at their destination.

From the time they left Rufhana village up to now, it was Frackt who was the most dissatisfied with Akari sticking close to Yuto. Rather, he was the only one who had something to say about it.

However, whenever Frackt gave Yuto a hard time, Akari would defend him, and Yuto would soothe such an Akari. This caused Frackt’s dissatisfaction to accumulate more.

Thus, he frequently lashed out at his other travel companions as a way to release the pent up displeasure. Particularly, the brunt of it was greatly directed at Syltina, who, although expelled from the country 2 years ago, calmly appeared before them. It was also no exaggeration to say that her indifference to him, who was her former fianceé, added fuel to the fire.

He would complain about Syltina’s actions one way or another, and if she ignored him, he would lose his temper, and regardless of where they were, cause a commotion.

In the end, he pulled out his sword and challenged Syltina, who easily held him down with her bare hands. Immediately after that, whenever he complained about something, Syltina would start to hit him without using offense magic.

Tedla would also try to calm Frackt every time he made a commotion, so the anger he directed at Syltina would turn to him instead.

Frackt was totally emotionally unstable. Meanwhile, Syltina and the others, who half-seriously thought that Frackt had become strange, began to discuss that it might be better to take him out now as they considered what lay ahead of them.

Akari, waiting for her turn to speak, said, “His fatigue only piled up because he’s not used to traveling; don’t you think it’s cruel to abandon him? I’m sure he’ll get over it!!”

Or so she said.

It was at this time that Syltina unconsciously placed her hand on her sword’s hilt and no one was able to stop her. However, Syltina was able to fully grasp her sense of reasoning in time and let go of her sword.

With a sickly sweet smile, Syltina purred, “The Saintess sure has a big heart.”

As she said it, the other members aside from Akari and Frackt couldn’t keep themselves from suddenly feeling cold and sweaty.

After such a while, Syltina and the others continued to endure Frackt’s outrageous attitude.

During that time, Syltina and the others had already devised more than 50 ways of ‘getting rid of Frackt while making it look like an accident’.

For Syltina, the fact that Frackt was formerly engaged to her had already become a part of her dark past.

And then, they reached their next destination, Egido.

Surprisingly, the one who seriously aimed to eliminate Frackt during the demon extermination under the guise of making the first move was the child who Akari had taken in.

Meanwhile, Syltina’s response toward Akari and Frackt inevitably became colder than before.

“Humans are such complicated beings……”

Milliane silently nodded to Kreutz’s muttering.

ーーー

ー

“Yo, kid.”

Alhart, who had arrived at the encampment, called out to the child who sat in a corner while emitting a dangerous aura.

“……”

The voice that suddenly called out from behind, startled and froze the child in place, so Alhart went in front of him and crouched to meet his gaze.

Then, at that point, the child blinked his eyes and looked at Alhart who had come in front of him.

“You don’t have parents because you’re an orphan?”

The child shook his head at Alhart’s question.

“Where’d your mom and dad go?”

“……”

The child shook his head again. Alhart turned his head and made eye contact with Syltina.

“Decreasing mouths, huh.”

“There’s no doubt about it.”

The sigh that came out was heavy.

“What do you mean?”

Ignoring Akari, who had yet to grasp the situation, the two once again returned their focus on the child.

“Kid, how old are you now?”

“Four.”

“Do you have a big brother or a big sister?”

“Yes, a big brother.”

“How old is your brother?”

“Six.”

“Your mom, dad, and big brother disappeared together?

“Yeah……”

“Kid, do you know where your house is? Is it close by?”

“Yes. It’s in Egido. You go straight over there.”

As he said ‘over there’, the child pointed to the direction where Syltina and the others were headed to.

“So, it’s settled.”

“Yeah.”

“Hey, what do you mean?”

This time, Akari repeated her question a little more strongly at the two who had nodded at each other again.

Akari was met with two gazes full of shock.

“You still don’t understand after all that information?”

Alhart, who had stood up, kept the shock from showing in his eyes and behavior and rounded his shoulders.

“We’re heading to the town called Egido from now on. That child’s house is in that town. But, due to the taint, it’s become a place where humans can’t live.”

“Remember what the kid said. He said so himself. His parents aren’t around. But, it doesn’t mean he’s an orphan. In other words, his parents left Egido and evacuated somewhere.”

“Then, was he separated from his parents at that time?

“Ahh, no, you’re wrong. What a peaceful way of thinking! He wasn’t separated. He was left there. To decrease the mouths.”

“Decrease the mouths? What’s that?”

“Oi, oi, are you serious? Well, if you put it this way, it means, ‘we’re going to leave someone from our family in order to live’.”

“That’s awful……”

“Anything and everything is for the sake of our survival. Didn’t the bandits before say it too? There is no place that accepts people who have fled their lands because of the taint. Whether it’s a village or a town, the people are already busy enough trying to procure food. They couldn’t care for other people. If that’s the case, then they have no choice, but to decrease the number of people even if it’s just a bit. So they could eat more. So the chances of being taken in by another place would increase. In doing so, he was the one they chose to reduce.”

“Why? I mean, he’s their child……”

“It’s exactly because he’s their child. Besides, he’s the youngest of the two. If the other child is bigger and can help around, then it’s usually the younger one who gets cut off.”

“That’s…….”

“It’s this kind of world, Saintess. It’s not clean at all. Nor is it beautiful, kind, or merciful. It’s just ugly, cruel, unreasonable, and ruthless. But, it’s this kind of world after all. You’ve lived in a safe and warm castle up until now, so you’ve only been shown the ideal world that you think you know. Look closely. The existence in front of you, the existence you picked up, that’s the current state of the country.”

“……”

“Well, it’s still fortunate that he’s alive. At the very least, the boy’s parents still had some kindness left in them. ‘If only you could live’, was the only hope they could cling to. Up to the end, the boy was still able to receive the love of his parents.”

“What should I……”

“Take responsibility since you picked him up. However, you can’t take him with us. You understand what I mean?”

“……I, I’ll take care of him!!”

“Hah?”

“I’ll even share my food with him. So, let’s take him with us! That’s fine, right?”

“Didn’t I just say we won’t take him along……”

“…… You know how dangerous our journey is and you’re still saying that?”

“I know! But, it’s fine!! You people have no right to tell me what to do!”

“…… Certainly. Very well. However, he will be treated the same as the Prince and the Knight over there. We will not protect that child, and if we feel that he will be a hindrance in protecting you, then we will cut him off. Are you fine with that?”

“Fine.”

Akari, whose naiveté showed in her eyes, looked directly at Syltina, who tiredly sighed.