Chapter 61

Translator: Willia

After soaking in a hot bath, washing up, and finishing with a sauna, the fatigue from the journey drained away, leaving Valery feeling as though his whole body were melting.

Then there was the luxurious horsehair mattress and the clean, fresh bedding. The feel of them was enough to make him wonder if this was Heaven.

Valery and the others fell asleep like that.

After sleeping soundly from early evening until the next morning, Valery woke feeling as though strength were welling up inside him.

On top of that, unlike the usual castle built with defense in mind, the Lokir Merchant Company’s manor was not uncomfortable to live in at all. It was an excellent place to stay, with bright natural light, comfortable temperature and humidity, and spacious rooms and corridors.

As soon as Valery got up, he washed briefly and put on the clothes the Merchant Company had prepared for him. Silk undergarments, a silk tunic, and a gambeson. They were not old clothes that had simply been washed, but brand-new ones.

He couldn’t help thinking that money really was nice. Being ruled by money and enjoying what it could provide were two different things, so Valery made the most of every luxury available to him.

After tending to his weapons and equipment, he strapped Und, his Dwarven Steel sword, to his waist and stepped outside. Knut, who shared the room with him, was still asleep.

The corridors were lined entirely in marble, with magnificent ceiling paintings, majestic tapestries stretching dozens of meters along the walls, and ancient stone statues so lifelike they seemed almost alive.

It truly felt like a world apart from ordinary life. Without the slightest exaggeration, the manor was far more lavish and luxurious than the homes of most nobles.

Valery walked slowly, taking in the sights, until a sound from outside drew him out.

It sounded like a heavy barrel rolling, and sure enough, when he went outside, Sigbold was rolling a barrel filled with sand.

He seemed to be tending to his chainmail. Chainmail was normally placed inside a barrel filled with fine sand and rolled around to remove rust. Afterward, the sand was brushed away, then every part was carefully oiled with a softer brush. That was how chainmail was maintained.

Valery looked around the stables and the place where the wagons had been parked, then returned to Sigbold and sat nearby to watch.

By the time Sigbold had taken out the chainmail, brushed off the sand, and begun oiling it, he spoke to Valery. His hands remained busy with the brush, and his gaze stayed fixed on the armor as he carefully worked oil into every ring.

“Impressive.”

“What was?”

“Your swordsmanship.”

“You’re pretty incredible yourself. Are the Jómsvíkingr all as strong as you?”

“There may be some variation, but I think most of us are about the same. You have to pass a test to get in, after all.”

“Don’t you regret it? You’ll have to spend your whole life living under restraint.”

“I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t difficult, but I don’t regret it at all. Before I joined, I truly lived like a beast.”

“Can you tell me what you were like before you joined?”

“Well...... We’d sail out to sea, and whenever we reached land, we’d kill and take whatever we wanted. They were people whose language we couldn’t even understand. The world was truly endless, and there were just as many people in it. No matter how many we killed, there were always more. People even lived amid vast seas of sand. Then at some point, for reasons I couldn’t understand, something began to trouble me inside. What was it? What exactly was making me uncomfortable? I was wrestling with that question when I met Father. Father told me why I felt that way. And that was how I came to join the Jómsvíkingr.”

“What was making you feel that way?”

“I had no faith. You must not kill those who cannot resist. You must not kill for the sake of taking from others. You must mourn the Dead Gods and give thanks that you are alive. Death is an old friend, so when it comes for you one day, do not fear it, but welcome it. A pure prayer for another is invincible. Disappointment and despair are part of the process of becoming a better person...... All things are illusion. Only faith has substance.”

Having no faith meant having no purpose or direction in life. It meant being no different from a beast wandering aimlessly.

Sigbold had once lived such a life. A life without faith. He had lived only for the thrill of battle and the spoils he could seize, until one day he began to wonder if something about it was wrong. That was when he met Eirik.

A life driven by slaughter, struggle, and fierce greed was dangerous beyond measure, but even if one survived it, there was nothing waiting at the end except emptiness.

Some people abandoned their humanity and became endlessly cruel, while others, like Sigbold, eventually found themselves thinking that something about it simply wasn’t right.

The unease Sigbold had felt was emptiness, or perhaps guilt. To him, faith was both a signpost showing that another way of life existed and a place of rest.

Religious faith did not particularly resonate with Valery. He simply respected it, but he felt that it might be something worth thinking deeply about at least once.

“A man who has found faith can never return to what he was before. So if I compare my life before faith with my life after finding it, my life now is far better. The vow of chastity and obedience to our rules freed me from the unease that had followed me constantly. So a lifetime of restraint does not bind me. It sets me free.”

“Freedom rather than bondage...... I hadn’t thought of it that way. Anyway, we’re almost at Nearcaster. What do you intend to do next?”

“The last information I received was that the traitor intended to sell the Holy Relic. Whoever wants to buy it is probably trying to court the Valkyrie. So I intend to go to Nearcaster and investigate that angle. If necessary, I’m even willing to take that test or whatever it is.”

“The Valkyrie......”

Valery had not given much thought to the Valkyrie’s marriage until now, but he had heard about it so often on the journey, and now that even Sigbold was saying he might participate, he finally began to think seriously about it.

When it came down to it, she was his own sister, but he had never even met her, so naturally he felt no familial affection toward her.

Still, he could not deny that he was curious. And now it seemed as though both Lucas and Sigbold were being drawn together by the same point of connection: the Valkyrie.

The absurd thought even crossed his mind of which one would make the better husband for her, Lucas or Sigbold.

But when he imagined Lucas becoming her husband, an inexplicable discomfort washed over him. He could not say why. No, it was more than discomfort. It was displeasure.

“I am curious what sort of husband she’s looking for, if she’s causing this much commotion.”

“I owe you a great debt, Valery. If we part ways like this, I don’t know when I’ll have the chance to repay you. So why not stay a little longer, either here at the manor or in Nearcaster? Assuming you’re in no hurry to reach Valdene, the Royal Capital. If we’re lucky, we may even get to see the Valkyrie.”

“Very well. Let’s rest for one more day, then stop by Nearcaster tomorrow.”

Sigbold turned toward Valery and, for the first time since they had met, smiled as he nodded.

It was half a day’s walk from the Lokir Merchant Company’s manor to Nearcaster. Quite close, but it seemed better to spend today maintaining their equipment, repairing the wagon, letting the horses rest, and taking care of everything else that needed attention.

Valery had no intention of staying overly long, but with no one chasing them, there was no reason to rush either.

Valery rose from his seat. When he returned to the room, Knut was awake, sitting blankly on the bed with his hair sticking out in all directions as though he were still half asleep.

There was no separate dining hall. Instead, the servants brought them freshly prepared meals.

Valery ate with Knut, chatting about one thing and another. Before long, Yorik and Ivy came into the room.

The four of them discussed their plans going forward, or simply passed the time with pointless chatter about this and that.

Around noon, Yorik and Ivy went out to repair the wagon and organize the luggage. Knut decided he would spend the entire day lazing around, while Valery left the room again to take a walk.

The grounds of the Lokir Merchant Company’s manor held more than just buildings where people lived. There was also an enormous garden with walking paths running through it.

Valery followed one of the paths. The shrubs and trees around him somehow looked both tended and untended, blending natural beauty with deliberate artistry.

Just as one might judge a swordsman’s skill from the cut he left behind, Valery studied the garden and found himself considering the gardener’s sense of aesthetics.

After walking for quite some time, he heard the sound of water somewhere nearby and headed toward it. There, beside a narrow stream, a girl in an elaborate dress was crouched down, picking up flowers drifting along the water.

Perhaps she heard Valery’s footsteps, because she suddenly turned her head and startled slightly. The colorful flowers slipped from her hands and floated away again.

“Ah.”

Valery glanced at her once, then simply turned away without even offering the customary nod of greeting.

“W-Wait.”

The girl hurriedly rose as she spoke.

Valery stopped and turned around. His face showed no expression. He simply waited, as though telling her to say whatever she had to say.

Dappled patches of shade and light fell across Valery. Dressed lightly with a sword at his waist, he seemed almost like a figure placed into a painting, breathing life into the scenery around him.

Lucilia herself was quite beautiful as well, and in her ornate white dress, adorned with an astonishing amount of jeweled accessories, she looked rather like a painting herself.

The tragedy, if it could be called one, was that Valery felt absolutely nothing at the sight of her.

Lucilia stared blankly at Valery for some time before finally speaking.

“Th-Thank you. For saving my brother.”

“I, too, am grateful for the food and lodging your household has provided.”

Valery turned again to leave. Once again, the girl stopped him.

“W-Wait.”

“......”

“Lucilia. My name is Lucilia.”

“I’m Valery. A pleasure to meet you, Lady Lucilia.”

Then Valery turned to leave yet again. His manners were perfectly proper, but only to the bare minimum required by courtesy. It was the sort of attitude that seemed to say he had no business whatsoever with someone like her.

Perhaps that behavior struck a nerve, because Lucilia’s brow furrowed slightly. Before she realized it, she had raised her voice.

“Hey! Ah! S-Sorry.”

Lucilia’s thoughts were in complete disarray, and her heart was pounding so hard that she was barely in her right mind. She had no idea what Valery had even done to make her react this way. She simply did.

“Did you need something from me? I wasn’t trying to be rude, Lady.”

“No, um, the feast. Are you going to the feast?”

Like a broken machine, Lucilia could think of nothing except Valery asking whether she needed something, so she blurted out something rather abrupt. Valery’s somewhat cold behavior had made her panic.

“What feast?”

“His Excellency the Duke! The one His Excellency is hosting......”

“He and I aren’t acquainted.”

“No, um, I mean, it’s more like a festival. Hahaha...... You watch the Joust during the day, look around the city, and then attend the feast in the evening...... A lot of important people will be there, so going with me would be good for you too, Valery!”

Feasts were held for entertainment, but they also served another, more important purpose.

They were places where one could make the acquaintance of people with money and power.

People who normally had no reason to meet one another were given the opportunity to do so under the pretext of attending a feast. Whether for business, politics, or diplomacy, depending on the gathering, it could be an extremely important opportunity and occasion.

That went without saying for a feast hosted by a duke. Especially now, when people from all across the kingdom had gathered because of the Valkyrie.

Valery had no interest in such things, but he realized it might give him an opportunity to learn something about the whereabouts of the Holy Relic, and perhaps satisfy some of his curiosity about the Valkyrie as well.

There was no reason he had to rely on the Thieves’ Guild for information.

Since he had already decided to go to Nearcaster with Sigbold, attending the feast seemed worthwhile too.

“Very well. I’ll attend, Lady. When is the feast?”

“Ah...... Tomorrow. Was that too sudden?”

“No, the timing is perfect. We were planning to visit Nearcaster tomorrow anyway.”

“Really!? Then is this fate!?”

“Pardon?”

“Everything just happened to line up so perfectly!”

“Ah...... Yes......”

Valery wondered if Lucilia might simply not be very bright, but he did not say so aloud. He quickly made his escape from Lucilia, who seemed somewhat out of her mind.

In truth, there were several reasons Lucilia was so delighted.

Part of it was spite over her brother Lucas caring about nothing but the Valkyrie. Also, public attention toward Lucilia herself had waned recently, and she thought attending the feast with Valery would make her look good.

He was tall, well-built, and so handsome that merely imagining how they would look together sent happiness surging through her.

At the same time, she even imagined Valery eventually falling helplessly in love with her, leading to some tragic romance that could never be fulfilled.

That was because she assumed that, since Valery was not a noble, there was a difference in status between them.

In any case, imagining herself as the tragic heroine of an ill-fated romance made her heart ache, but ultimately even that was a kind of pleasure.

Yet perhaps good fortune always had to be balanced by misfortune, because Lucilia, filled with happiness, soon suffered a shocking blow she had never anticipated.

That evening, while dining with Lucas, she told him that she had agreed to attend the feast with Valery. Lucas suddenly flew into a rage.

“What? Why did you go and do something I never told you to do?”

“What? What are you talking about, Brother?”

“I already had plans in mind for Valery. He needs to be with me.”

“What do you mean? You said Valery was an honored guest, not an employee.”

“Don’t say something so stupid. Even if he’s a guest, he’s my guest, not yours!”

Lucas abruptly raised his voice to such a degree that Lucilia wondered what had come over him. He had never acted like this before, and she stared at him with wide eyes, utterly bewildered.

It was confusing. Even if he was jealous, shouldn’t that jealousy be directed at the other person? Why was he getting angry with her instead? Was he looking down on her?

Normally, Lucilia would have burst into tears, but this time anger surged up inside her. The word stupid especially got to her.

“Watch what you say! You should worry about the Valkyrie, Brother! Why are you interfering with what I want to do!?”

“What!? Interfering!? I’m the one who’s been running this Merchant Company ever since Father collapsed! What have you ever done!? What can you even do!? Don’t you dare talk back to me!”

Lucas sprang to his feet as he shouted. His chair toppled backward with a loud crash.

Seeing a side of Lucas she had never witnessed before, Lucilia’s heart pounded violently as shock swept over her.

“......So this is what you’re really like. This is what you’ve been like all along. How did I never realize it? You’ve always thought I was stupid and incapable of doing anything?”

Lucilia’s voice trembled, but she still said everything she wanted to say.

Her hands and feet were shaking so badly that even standing was difficult, but now she felt physically threatened as well. She somehow managed to get to her feet and leave the dining room.

She walked away with her footsteps clicking against the floor as sorrow surged through her chest. Memories of the past flashed through her mind like a revolving lantern, and tears began to fall.

Fortunately, Lucas did not follow his sister, so the situation did not worsen any further. He remained alone, fuming, then righted his chair and dropped heavily back into it.

His anger did not subside for a long time. Eventually, he realized that he had made a mistake. But even that realization did not completely extinguish his resentment.

For the first time, Lucas saw his younger sister almost as a political rival.

Because he was adopted.

Yet he failed to look inward and ask himself why he had lost his temper so unlike his usual self.

Instead, he sat alone in the dining room for a long time, brooding over the things he did not possess. The Valkyrie’s symbolic significance, Valery’s strength and composure, and the look in his eyes.