WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Translator: Abood

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◈ Friedrich's Battlefield

Chapter 3: Friedrich's Daily Life (3)

“Who and where did you get in a fight with this time, Yurika?”

“Hmm? What do you mean?” 

Inside the church facing the city’s central square, the elderly nun Alma pointed out, and Yurika responded with a mischievous smile. Her clothes were dirtied here and there with sand and dust, making it clear to anyone observant enough that she’d been in quite a scuffle.

Seeing Yurika play innocent as always, Alma, who had raised both Friedrich and Yurika, could only sigh. She had long since given up trying to correct this kind of behavior.

“I’ve said this many times, but you mustn’t act in a way that could lead to criminal charges. And Friedrich, you’re a smart young man. Keep an eye on Yurika so she doesn’t go too far. As former orphans, your position is still fragile… Now then, is it the usual today?”

“Yes. We got a decently rewarded, so just a small donation.”

With that, Friedrich handed over two copper coins — twenty slone.

It wasn’t much, but it was enough to cover a few days’ worth of meals for the handful of orphans currently living in the church.

“Thank you. I’ve received it, therefore I’ll record it in the donor ledger… As I always say, though, there’s no need to push yourself.”

“Of course. I only give what I can. I promise.”

Thanks to this church, they had been able to survive until adulthood. Alma had taught them how to read, write, and do arithmetic, and now, despite their background, they lived relatively well.

That was why Friedrich truly wanted to give back — to support the orphans being raised here now, and those yet to come.

“…I see. Then it is well. May the blessings of the Lord watch over you both, who choose to walk the righteous path.”

Before Alma, who traced a triangle before her chest—symbolizing sky, earth, and sea—and placed her palms together in prayer, Friedrich bowed his head in silence. Yurika, just for this moment, followed his lead and did the same.

“Now then, both of you. Keep living with honesty in your hearts. And do come visit the church again.”

“Yes. Thank you, Sister Alma.”

Friedrich offered his thanks, and together with Yurika, quietly left the church.

・・・・・・

Friedrich and Yurika lived in a cluster of apartment buildings on the edge of the city. It was a district where unmarried men with no inheritance, no farmland, no shop, and no trade often ended up. Many were second sons or younger, considered burdens to their families, living alongside the city's poorer households.

Their home was a small unit on the second floor of one such old two-story building. It consisted of a single room, a toilet, and a modest kitchen. After finishing a simple dinner of steamed pork, leftover bread, and a hastily made soup, the two of them spent their brief evening free time in quiet ease.

“......”

Friedrich held a book in his hands, his expression serious and focused.

Born and raised as an orphan in the church, recognized for his intellect by Alma, the other nuns, and even the priest, and known for his honest lifestyle and steady donations, Friedrich had earned a rare privilege. With all of that trust as collateral, he had been granted special permission to borrow books from the church and take them home.

What he enjoyed reading most were history books and tales of great figures, especially those centered around war. He loved to immerse himself in the lives of kings and nobles who had made their mark on the continent, and the generals who defeated their enemies with strength and cunning. These stories of valor and strategy were his favorite way to spend evenings and holidays.

The book he was reading now was also such a record of war.

The book Friedrich had open was a history text describing the war that took place eighteen years ago—the year he was born. It was the great conflict between the Kingdom of Edelstein and its western neighbor.

One of the key figures in that war was Count Matthias Hosenfeld, who had made a name for himself by striking down the enemy commander. Even now, he remained an active officer, continuing to serve and protect the kingdom.

Friedrich was captivated by the hero Matthias. By the vivid accounts of his exploits. By the battlefields that had shaped history. And by the scenes that played out in his imagination as he read.

It was also a form of escape. While lost in the world of history and stories, Friedrich could forget his origins, the way others treated him, and all the dissatisfaction and anxiety that weighed on him.

Moments like this were something Friedrich needed in his life.

But his time in that world was almost over. The sun had set, and with no money to spare on lamp oil, he closed the book, placed it gently on the desk, and laid down on his bed.

“Friedrich, are you going to sleep now?”

“Yeah. There’s no work tomorrow, so I can sleep in as much as I want.”

Yurika climbed onto the bed with her usual grace and asked the question. Friedrich gave a nod in reply.

Then Yurika straddled him, flashing a mischievous smile and licking her lips.

“If we don’t have to get up early, then it’s fine if we wear ourselves out a little tonight, right?”

“…That’s one way to look at it.”

Friedrich answered with a teasing smile of his own. Yurika’s eyes gleamed like a cat spotting a mouse, and she leaned in over him.

With Yurika pinning him down like this, taller than he was, Friedrich had no way to escape. Not that he intended to.

“Then let’s love each other as much as we want… and wear ourselves out, my dear Friedrich.”

As she spoke, Yurika pulled up his shirt.

・・・・・・

Some time had passed, and the night had grown late. Held tightly like a body pillow by Yurika, who had fallen asleep first, Friedrich stared up at the ceiling, lost in thought.

He had no complaints about being with Yurika. He loved her. He wanted to spend his life with her, always. There was no reason to be dissatisfied with that. As a man, that was enough. But what about as a person?

Would he keep living like this, constantly looked down on for being a former orphan, treated as an outsider because of where he came from, swallowing his frustration and repeating the same dull mental labor every day just to scrape by?

Finding comfort in the world of books, selling off his time as cheap, convenient labor… Was that how he would grow old and eventually die?

Never leaving this dull, rural city. Trapped in a slow, unchanging routine, looked down on by people too content with their uneventful lives to understand anything beyond them.

Were the brilliance, the passion, the stories that lived within those books truly something forever out of reach for him? Were lives worthy of being remembered simply impossible for someone like him, fated to miss out because of the circumstances of his birth?

If he had never learned to read, never gained the ability to understand complex writing or think deeply about things, would he have been spared thoughts like these in the first place?

“......”

Brushing away the endless stream of questions flooding his mind, Friedrich buried his face into Yurika’s chest as she held him. It was always the same. Just before sleep, his thoughts would start to wander, aimlessly and without end, and it never did any good.

That’s right. There was no point in thinking about these things. It was foolish to even call them worries. After all, hardly anyone truly lived their life with complete satisfaction. Most people never even thought about the meaning of life to begin with, or had long since given up trying.

Which meant there was no use in thinking about it. That’s just how life was.

Footnotes: 

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