WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Ode of the Brave ◈

Chapter 101

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Bremen’s group was startled when Ricart and Marie suddenly decided to follow them.

They knew he was a decent person, but it was hard not to fear someone with the skill to cut off a person’s head using a staff.

Why are they following us? Did we do something wrong? Are they after the cows now? All kinds of thoughts ran through their minds.

Everyone looked only at Bremen, wondering what to do. If they were going to run, they had to run quickly.

Bremen came back from the front of the group and called out. Bremen’s voice trembled slightly too.

“W-What is it?”

From a distance, Ricart raised his staff as though to show that everything was fine. Marie waved a hand in greeting.

It was clear they meant no harm, but they were still frightening. Ricart was carrying a sword they had not seen before.

When he finally came close, Ricart spoke to Bremen. He held a sword wrapped in cloth in his left hand.

“I’m going to Fernland too. No, the Eastern Frontier. May we come with you?”

“...Hm? Why? No, no, we’d be glad to have you, but why would you...?”

They could not have been more grateful if someone as strong as Ricart joined them. Still, they could not help wondering why.

The others were heading there because they had no choice. Ricart was different. He could live in peace, yet he was choosing to enter a dangerous, harsh world.

“I want to see for myself whether there really is something there worth calling a last hope. I can’t find out by tending sheep forever, can I?”

“...”

Since Ricart himself said so, there was nothing to argue about, but they simply could not understand it. Then again, cutting off heads with a wooden stick was even harder to understand.

Either way, whether they understood it or not, if Ricart said he was coming along, they had neither the right nor the strength to refuse. Not that Ricart had threatened them.

Everyone was confused and frightened, so no one said anything. There was neither welcome nor hostility.

Well, at least one person welcomed them. Roy approached Ricart with a bright smile.

“Big brother.”

Ricart smiled and pointed to the flower crown on his head. Roy’s smile widened even further.

“W-Well then, shall we get going again? Or should we introduce ourselves first?”

Bremen looked around at the others while asking, but no one could seem to say anything.

Only Hartmann stepped forward confidently.

“I’m Hartmann. I always wanted to repay your kindness, so I’m glad I seem to have the chance.”

Ricart looked at him. He seemed like a steady, upright, warm-hearted man by nature.

Ricart took Hartmann’s offered hand and shook it.

“I’m Ricky. There’s no need to call it kindness. I wasn’t the owner of that land, after all. I hope we get along during the journey.”

Seeing the two young men greet each other peacefully instead of growling at one another, the others felt relieved.

“I’m his wife, Elia.”

“I’m Beka.”

“And you’re Roy, right?”

Ricart already knew Roy, so he patted the boy’s head as he spoke. Roy gave a little giggle.

“I’m Ricky’s wife, Marie.”

Marie stepped forward too and introduced herself as Ricart’s wife, which seemed to make the others a little uneasy.

Unlike Ricart, whose clothing looked like a mismatched combination, Marie clearly looked like a sword-wielder.

A dark blue gambeson, tight-fitting trousers, long boots, a cape, and above all, the sword at her waist...

They did not know what this young couple had been through, but it was obvious they were no ordinary people.

The group consisted of Bremen the guide, Hartmann’s family, four siblings who had lost both parents when their father died yesterday, a single mother formerly in prostitution and her baby, and the newly joined couple, Ricart and Marie.

“Now that we’ve introduced ourselves, let’s get moving. We’re headed for Wertheim. I’d like you two to take the rear.”

“Understood.”

Ricart nodded.

The back of the group was the most vulnerable and dangerous position. Since Ricart and Marie had no children and were still in their prime, it was best for them to take the rear. It was much like a wolf pack’s formation.

At the center of the group were the cows, the four siblings, and Dalia, while Hartmann’s family led the way.

Bremen, naturally, took a position like the scouts known as point men in the military.

They did not simply gather together and walk blindly. They formed a proper marching order and continued down the road.

Ricart followed at the very back, holding his sword in his left hand and supporting himself with his staff in his right.

Then the fields ended, and they came onto a road where people passed by. It felt strange. He had truly come out into the real world.

Around then, Marie suddenly climbed onto his back.

“My legs hurt.”

Sometimes Marie would whine at Ricart like a child for no particular reason. This was one of those times. Without a word, Ricart carried her and kept walking.

For an ordinary person, it would have been exhausting, but Ricart could carry her all day, or even for days without resting, without even calling up the “wind.”

Marie mischievously blew on the back of his neck or gave it little bites. Ricart only chuckled.

Perhaps she acted like this sometimes because she had grown up without being loved. Maybe she eased that emptiness by being spoiled by Ricart.

Ricart never found any of it bothersome, and indulged her every whim. If anything, he was grateful. Usually, she wore the armor of composure and independence, but sometimes she disarmed herself only with me.

At some point, the road changed. The grass disappeared, replaced by a gravel path. It seemed to be where a river had dried up long ago. They followed the path, and it led into a canyon.

There were mountains on both sides, though they were not particularly high. The problem was that people stood high up on the right, looking down at them.

Were they ordinary people, or bandits? There was no way to tell by looking, and the distinction was honestly meaningless. On the road, anyone could turn to banditry if someone looked weak enough and the opportunity arose.

The others kept glancing uneasily toward the mountainside, while Ricart merely gazed up at them. Even from this far away, he could tell those people had their eyes fixed on the cows.

And rather than rushing them blindly, they carefully measured the group’s strength. How many men were there? How well armed were they?

“Marie, just a moment.”

Ricart set Marie down, picked a suitable pebble from the countless stones scattered across the road, and threw it at one of the people looking down from above.

The pebble shot in a straight line across that great distance. It struck the head of someone wearing an ill-fitting helmet with perfect accuracy.

Clang!

A clear metallic sound echoed through the canyon. The person who had been struck did not die, but the force of the stone snapped their head to the side, and they collapsed. They had been knocked unconscious.

The people flinched and turned toward Ricart. Ricart picked up another stone and threw it. The stone shot forth with unbelievable speed and shattered someone’s jaw this time.

They could have avoided it, but in the moment it took them to think, Huh?, they were struck.

Crunch!

Broken teeth scattered through the air. Only then did the others’ eyes widen in alarm.

Ricart paid them no mind and picked up another stone to throw. The people above the canyon hurriedly carried off their companions and disappeared beyond the ridge like startled monkeys.

Ricart dropped the stone to the ground and dusted off his hands. Then he spoke to Lena, the eldest of the four siblings. She looked around fourteen or fifteen.

“If you’re traveling far, I think you should sell the cows except for the ones carrying your things. Especially the calves. They won’t last long.”

Livestock might be strong, but their endurance was surprisingly worse than a person’s, and they did not adapt well to a changed environment.

They also ate and drank a great deal, making them unsuitable for long journeys. Cows were better suited to carrying heavy loads within a village or between nearby villages.

But perhaps because she had just seen Ricart throw stones with something close to divine skill, Lena only blinked.

“Ah, w-well, that is...”

She might normally have listened to Ricart, but she seemed reluctant.

“Is there a reason?”

“W-Well, the cows are the price of our mother’s life... Father told us never to sell them...”

The price of their mother’s life. There seemed to be a terribly painful story behind it. But Ricart did not press them about it.

“If you see your mother again because of the cows, she’ll be sad. If you arrive safely at the Eastern Frontier alive, she’ll be happy. It’s your choice. But if you keep bringing the cows, I can’t guarantee your safety.”

Ricart spoke rather coldly. But that was reality. What else could he say?

No matter how strong he was, Ricart could not perfectly chase away every swarm of flies and mosquitoes that kept gathering around them.

In the chaos, one or two people might die. If that happened, the youngest children would be the most likely to die. He could not control every variable.

“...”

Lena and the other three siblings looked depressed and deeply worried. Lena was only fourteen or fifteen, yet she had to take responsibility for three younger siblings. The future before them must have seemed bleak.

In any case, if Ricart had not been there, they might all have died in that canyon. And the cows were probably the reason.

In a way, it was not just a problem for the four siblings. They might have been burdening the whole group.

Banditry was dangerous and difficult work too. There had to be something worth robbing. Unless they were starving badly, people did not attack others at random.

But cows were certainly a great prize. Put simply, it was like walking naked through a pack of starving wolves. Please eat me.

In this age, if you wanted to possess more, you had to be that much stronger. No one would protect your property rights for you.

Thanks to Ricart, the group continued without stopping. By the time they left the canyon, Wertheim could be seen in the distance. The sunset burned red in the west.

But for some reason, so many outsiders had gathered there that the people unable to enter the city outnumbered the locals several times over.

They crowded outside the city like ants, putting up tents and living there.

Where there were people, needs arose. So some people did business with them, while those with skills made and sold handicrafts or built houses and settled down.

Half the people looked like beggars, while the other half were somewhat better off. Among them, a small number had accumulated wealth. Most of those wealthy people belonged to criminal groups.

Of course, in a situation like this, it was hard to distinguish crime from what maintained order.

In the end, Ricart’s group could not enter the city. It was late too.

Now then, where should they set up camp? Places like this always had territories. If they carelessly intruded on one, even unknowingly, something serious could happen.

Fortunately, Bremen seemed to have some connections. A guide was not a guide for nothing.

After finding someone and speaking with them, Bremen chose a place for the group to settle. They unpacked their things and lit a fire. At last, they could sit or lie down and rest, and their exhausted bodies seemed to melt away. The place almost felt like home.

There was a reason travelers said the sky was their roof. When your body was tired, even sitting anywhere felt wonderful.

Ricart hung the flower crown from his sword hilt and rested beside the campfire. But the four siblings were nowhere to be seen. More precisely, Lena and her younger sister were gone.

The third and youngest siblings were preparing a meal for their sisters, carrying various heavy things with their tiny hands.

After darkness had fully fallen, Lena and her second-youngest sister returned. Hartmann, who had just finished eating, watched the two of them and asked,

“Did you sell them?”

“What? Ah, yes. I thought the shepherd, no, the hero was right. We offered half the money from the cows to God, and we’re thinking about how to use the rest.”

The money they had offered to God was probably the price of their guilty conscience. Ricart said nothing.

Marie did not.

“How much did you get?”

“Pardon?”

“How many cows and calves did you sell, and how much did you get?”

“Well, um... We got two silver coins for one cow, and six copper coins for three calves.”

That meant they had sold everything except one cow to carry their things. The problem was that they seemed to have received far too little.

Marie turned to Ricart.

“Doesn’t that seem wrong?”

“Hmm... It’s pretty bad.”

Selling the cows had been a good decision, but they had received an absurdly low price.

A cow should have brought at least ten silver coins, and since the calves seemed healthy, they should have been worth around two silver coins each.

Prices differed by region, timing, and the condition of the cow, but two silver coins for one cow? At that point, it was a scam.

If they had told me, I would’ve gone with them. It was unfortunate, but he had to set things right now.

“Who did you sell them to? Show me.”

“What?”

Ricart left his sword behind, stood with only his staff, and said,

“Before I started tending sheep, I specialized in collecting unpaid debts. Two silver coins and six copper coins is far too little. Lead the way. Let’s go. Marie, watch this place.”

“Okay.”

Ricart walked straight toward the place crowded with people.

From afar, the campfires and bonfires scattered everywhere looked like stars.

Lena did not know what to do, but Ricart kept growing farther away. She hurriedly ran into the stars.

More precisely, she ran toward the brightest one.

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