Side Story 15. Spider Trap (4)

"Are you awake?"

The child looked around, rubbing his dirty eyes at the unexpected voice. "Hmm…?"

He was in a room he was seeing for the first time and had a soft blanket that he’d never touched in his entire life. In fact, it was not very luxurious, but for a child who had always slept on straw under a worn-out blanket, this was a feeling that he had never felt before.

"... Yes!" The child woke up from his slumber and came to his senses. He was startled when he saw an unfamiliar old man, and he quickly jumped up from his position.

"Huh-huh, there's no need to be so surprised. After all, that the scary thing has passed."

The old man's words reminded the child of the terrible memory from last night. When he saw the child grow frightened, the old man did not forcefully close the distance but put a warm drink down from afar and took a step back.

"Do you remember my name?” He asked.

The child fumbled through his memory. The name of the old man came to mind through a gap in his confusing memories, and he said in a trembling voice, "…Ze, Zendia Blade.…"

Zendia watched the child respond with his name and praised him. "You're smart. You didn't forget my name after I only mentioned it once.”

Rather than not forgetting, it was unforgettable. It was such a powerful memory that occurred in such a terrible scene. It would probably leave a scar in his mind that he would never be able to forget for the rest of his life.

"Drink it. It's cocoa; it's a drink from the south."

At Zendia's recommendation, the child hesitated. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust the old man. His hesitation stemmed from him being unsure if it was okay to consume a precious drink from another country.

Zendia smiled without rushing him. The child slowly reached out and raised the warm cup.

"Huh…?" He felt something different about his hand as he held the cup. When he checked his hand, he saw that it was wrapped in bandages.

The injured hand caused by the handle of the worn-out wooden shovel had been treated. The bandage was tightly wound, but the shape of the knot at the end was beyond strange and even grotesque.

"Haha, I tied it into a butterfly ribbon. What do you think? Isn't it cute?”

Wasn't this the shape of the Demon King from the distant stories?

"Ah, yes. It is… cute." The child lied for the first time in his life.

Lying was saying words to deceive someone. He had never talked to someone long enough to lie, which is why it felt unfamiliar when he did so for the first time.

Instead of changing the subject, the child took a sip of the cocoa. "Wow..."

The sweetness and luxurious bitterness that spread in his mouth were delicacies he had never tasted before. As the warm drink went down his throat, his nervously trembling body gradually began to calm down.

"If you don't mind, can you tell me your name?"

At Zendia's soft voice, the child bowed his head and shook left and right.

"Is that so? Well, I suppose you'd be reluctant to tell your name to a grandfather you’re meeting for the first time."

At that, the child shook his head in a hurry.

"Oops!"

Then, he spilled some cocoa. When the sweet drink spilled, the child became teary.

"Don't cry. I'll make it for you again. Then, is there a reason why you can't say your name?” Zendia asked.

The child pitifully looked at the cocoa he had spilled and replied, "I... don't have a name."

When he heard this, Zendia recalled that last night, the child said he had no family members when they were burying the bodies.

"Darn, I made a mistake.”

He had no choice but to admit that he was inconsiderate. No matter the fact he was an orphan, Zendia never thought he wouldn’t even have a name.

The child shook his head at Zendia's apology. "No, it's… okay."

He had already spent seven years without a name anyway. At an age where he hadn’t even had puberty, he was too used to having no name.

But this wasn't the case for Zendia. "Well, if you don't mind, can I give you a name?”

At Zendia's request, the child nodded. A name was just a personal way of identification.

"Then Caesar. What about Caesar Blade? I used my family name."

“…….”

After being given the name Caesar just now, the child nodded silently. It was peculiar to hear his name for the first time, but something rang loudly in his heart. Unknown, and therefore unexplainable emotions arose.

How should this be expressed? Caesar's vocabulary was too poor to describe something this overwhelming.

Zendia looked at Caesar before he smiled lightly and said, "Come down when you're done drinking. Let's have breakfast together."

Then, Zendia opened the door and left the room. Caesar stared blankly at the door where Zendia had departed. Zendia was the second person to ask to eat with him.

Caesar sipped the cocoa.

He felt like he was going to cry from such sweet words.

* * *

Bloody opened the window and blew a small flute when he saw a familiar hawk outside the window.

"Whoo-!" Only the sound of air blowing from the whistle could be heard, but the hawk, which was hovering in the air, flew to Bloody in surprise.

Bloody's flute was a special item held by a group of Crow Tribe warriors that made sounds only heard by hawks. It was used to handle the messenger hawks, which were usually exchanged between warriors outside the village when communicating back home.

"Ohohoho. No matter how many times I see, that hawk is so big."

Glont was staying in the same room as Bloody, and he admired the Crow Tribes' hawk. It was large enough that it could reasonably pass as an eagle, not a hawk.

"That’s because it's a hawk from Olympus Forest. He's still young, but grown-up adults eat deer too."

"Really?" Glont was astonished by Bloody's explanation. He thought it was amazing for a hawk to eat a deer.

If Glont had known about Olympus Forest's deer, he would have drawn a sword and grown wary, not just been taken aback. Eating deer from Olympus Forest meant that this hawk was a monster stronger than even the most dangerous demons.

"Of course. They’re especially essential for hunting flying demons,” Bloody explained further and checked the letterbox hanging on the hawk’s leg.

After confirming the letter, Bloody's expression hardened.

"What? Does it say that the information is true?" Glont urgently asked.

Bloody frowned and nodded. "I think it’s true. My father went there himself, and those who claimed to be knights of the Empire were slaughtering the wandering people."

As he heard this, Glont’s hands dragged along his face as if he was about to tear it off. When his eyes were revealed again after his hands swept past them, his gaze was alight with thick killing intent.

Bloody grew flustered and grabbed Glont's shoulder when he saw the killing intent. It wouldn’t be surprising if that level of killing intent killed someone immediately.

"How dare…! You massacred the people by moving the army through the country!”

Usually, it would have been Bloody going wild and Glont stopping him, but today it was the opposite. "Hey! Calm down! This is where the late emperor is staying! I told you! If you cause trouble, you'll really die!”

No matter how much power he lost, he was still a member of the imperial family and was even the previous emperor. If something went wrong, it could lead to the death of their three families due to high treason. [1]

Glont could not hold back his anger even with Bloody's dissuasion. Everyone's lives were precious, and the military protected the people. This was natural, but it was easily overlooked at one’s convenience.

As someone who devoted his whole life to the country and its people, Glont couldn’t experience a greater disgrace that caused his beliefs to collapse. Even if they were refugees of a previous enemy country, there were no exceptions since they were now accepted as citizens of the empire.

"Right now, I'm going to kill that bloody old man!”

Bloody was easily able to tell that the ‘old man’ was the previous emperor who was staying in this very castle. He covered Glont's mouth and said, "Uh-uh! Your temper is coming out! Why are you being like this?! We don’t even know who ordered it yet!”

"If it's not that senile old man, then who...!?”

Glont was about to shout, "who would do such a thing?" when he suddenly came up with an idea.

Was this possible with only the previous emperor’s power? To move the empire's army without his knowledge, someone who stood at the peak of the empire's army? No, it was impossible.

The Blood Emperor was forcibly abdicated from the throne by the present emperor and Duke Asteria. As such, there was no way they would let him wield key powers like the military.

He wasn’t sure about the current emperor, but Duke Asteria would not have been so lax. In other words, there was someone who was in contact with the previous emperor in the current emperor’s faction.

"Thanks. I feel like my head has cleared up thanks to you,” Glont smiled and whispered. Yet, the smile made Bloody more anxious.

"Ohohoho, so where is your father? I should go to that village, too.”

Glont canceled today’s lunch appointment with the previous emperor and left the castle.

The previous emperor, having been suddenly stood up, was angry at the unexpected humiliation, but he couldn't do anything about it. Glont was a powerful man who could even defeat birds at the height of their flight, but the previous emperor was a defeated dog who lost everything to his old enemy and kept only his life.

* * *

After coming down to eat, Caesar realized that the house he’d been staying in was Flam's house. If so, did that mean the bed he slept on belonged to Flam?

Caesar remembered Flam, who laughed and asked to play late into the night and sleep together. Now, he realized that he couldn't say he was envious of Flam after playing together and sleeping under the same blanket… even though they had truly become friends.

Caesar walked slowly to the table with a gloomy heart.

"I didn't prepare anything, but let's eat. When we head down the mountain and go to the city, I'll buy you a proper meal,” Zendia said.

Caesar stared blankly down at the table. "A proper... meal?"

On the table, there was cheese meant to be served with bread. It was baked out of properly fermented dough, although it had become rough over time. In addition, there was meat that had been dried and preserved and stew that smelled like spices. Caesar had never smelled any of these spices in his entire life.

In the village, the meal that was currently on the table was so precious that it was only eaten during someone's birthday. In particular, the cheese and expensive spices, which were difficult to store, were akin to a star in the sky to Caesar, able to be seen but not touched. Naturally, this was a luxurious meal that Caesar had never eaten before.

"Yes. A proper meal." Zendia smiled, and Caesar was shocked. He couldn’t believe this wasn't a proper meal. He wondered if this ‘proper meal’ was something that was eaten in a place like the royal palace.

Caesar hesitated in front of the meal, but he eventually bit into the bread when he felt a sudden pang of hunger as his stomach growled. Even this old and dry bread was a first for Caesar.

Zendia smiled with a warm heart as he looked at the boy hurriedly eating. It was almost as if he thought it might be taken from him at any point.

"... Is there something wrong?"

When Caesar asked depressedly, Zendia shook his head and started eating. "No, I also have a grandson who’s similar in age to you. That thought just popped into my head."

"Is… that so?" Caesar didn’t seem interested in Zendia’s answer and was busy clearing the table.

As the food that had been prepared ran out, Zendia got up from his seat. "If you're done, follow me. It may be cruel to you, but there’s one thing that needs to be done."

At Zendia's words, Caesar flinched and followed behind him. The place where Zendia headed was the grave outside the village.

"Ah…!" Caesar easily realized that the location of this grave was the same place as the pit he’d dug last night.

1. Three families as in the criminal’s family on the father’s, mother’s, and wife’s sides. ?