WeTried Translations

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◈ Ode of the Brave ◈

Chapter 4

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Before long, the harvest season passed, and winter came. In the broadest sense, the changing seasons resembled a person's life.

Everyone had a time to grow, bloom in full, ripen, and finally grow cold.

Ricart was at a turning point in the seasons of his life. It was only the beginning, but change was still change.

In the Calderbern estate at Stormhertz, viewed from afar, light leaked from two windows into the pitch-black night.

Then, utterly unsuited to the silent hour, a woman's pain-filled scream rang through the manor.

Aaaah! Ngh...!

Outside the birthing room, Graut stood in his nightclothes, anxiously rubbing his chin, while Abelich silently remained at his side.

At the end of the hallway, two boys stood in the darkness, holding hands as they watched. They were Bilter and Ricart.

In an age with high maternal and infant mortality, bringing a new life into the world meant risking one's life.

Bilter's face was filled with worry and unease. Yet he did not know what caused those feelings.

He could not tell whether holding his younger brother's hand comforted him, or whether he was seeking comfort from Ricart.

The midwife went back and forth several times carrying basins full of bloody water. Then, before long, a cry like the birth of a new world burst forth.

Waaah! Waaah!

Even the stoic Abelich could not control his expression at that moment. But he could not enter the birthing room, so he called out from outside.

“Someone! Someone!”

A little later, the midwife came out holding a baby whose umbilical cord had been cut, wrapped in swaddling cloth.

“Congratulations, my lord. It is a young master. The lady is healthy as well.”

A young master. In other words, a son.

Bilter felt that the inevitable had come. It was the heavy feeling of a stone settling on his chest when the thing he wanted to avoid finally arrived.

In contrast, Abelich and Graut's faces brightened.

“Ricky, we're finished now.”

“No. It's the beginning.”

“Huh?”

“For the baby, for us, and for Eldest Brother. Father has become a grandfather, Eldest Brother has become a father, and we've become uncles. Isn't that strange?”

Bilter turned and stared blankly at Ricart.

“Aren't you afraid? Of leaving home?”

“I'm sad about it, but I don't think I'm afraid.”

“...You're better than I am. I thought you were just a child. But then, you caught that huge boar, and you stood up to Father... You do have some backbone.”

“Billy's smart, too.”

A small laugh escaped Bilter at his younger brother's words. He roughly tousled Ricart's hair.

Bilter spoke sharply to almost everyone, but he had not always been that way. And with Ricart in particular, despite their four-year age gap, he had always treated him without reserve.

That was why Ricart thought of Bilter less as an older brother and more as a friend his own age.

“Want to sleep together for the first time in a while?” Bilter asked.

“Why? Are you scared?”

“Stop fooling around and go get your pillow.”

Ricart smiled and went to his room to get his pillow. Sharing a blanket, they could not help smiling mischievously even without doing anything.

The baby's hearty cries echoed outside, but Bilter and Ricart found comfort in their own time and space.

They spoke of embarrassing things, funny things, strange things, and the time when their mother had still been alive. They shared memories they had built together while living here.

As time passed, the commotion outside quieted as well. Then, without either knowing who fell asleep first, they drifted off.

With the eldest son's eldest son now born, the succession of Stormhertz was as secure as bedrock. And that also meant that spare parts were no longer needed.

It was not merely that they were unnecessary. The brothers of the heir were seeds that could become threats in the future.

Even without having done anything wrong, even if they simply stayed still, that was how things went in noble households.

No one openly treated them differently, but Abelich, the lord, could not help directing all his attention toward his grandson. And it was not just Abelich. The servants and villagers were the same.

Ricart could clearly feel the changes, beginning with the smallest things. Perhaps it was best to say that people had become somewhat neglectful of him.

Sometimes, no one cared whether he had eaten. And he needed permission to see his nephew. He felt a distance from his family.

Though it was winter, the entire estate was lively. But Bilter and Ricart felt left out of the festive atmosphere.

From the others' perspective, even if they did not truly feel that way, they might have been careful on their own. In such circumstances, showing interest in the second son could stir up trouble or earn them the disfavor of the next lord.

A month passed after Ricart's nephew was born, and the bitter winter cold was at its harshest.

Abelich, the lord, summoned Bilter and Ricart aside. He called them to a pond some distance from the manor.

As they went there, Bilter and Ricart sensed that their father intended to discuss something important.

When they arrived, the pond was frozen solid. All the leaves had fallen from the surrounding trees, exposing their bare branches.

Their father stood looking at the frozen pond, wearing a thick fur coat beneath a cloak. The sky was gray.

Bilter and Ricart hesitantly approached him.

“You called for us?” Bilter asked.

But their father, as though he had not heard his son, stared at the frozen pond in silence for a long while. White breath escaped him again and again like sighs.

Then he abruptly said, as though tossing the words out.

“Someone will be coming from the main house.”

The main house meant the Calderbern count's family. The Calderberns of Stormhertz had branched off in their great-grandfather's generation, when divided inheritance was still common.

A noble family could have only one head. And the head determined the fate of every family member. Their education, future, marriage, even death.

Strictly speaking, Abelich was not the head of the Calderbern family. He was merely the lord and patriarch within Stormhertz.

Still, the main house had almost never interfered in Stormhertz's affairs. Perhaps they felt a bond as blood relatives. Or perhaps they simply had no interest.

But none of that mattered anymore. Graut's wife came from the main house.

That meant the married couple shared the same surname, and it signified complete integration. Blood relatives from the same root had split into branches, then come together again.

Therefore, even apart from a system of primogeniture, Graut's son had to inherit the territory, no matter what, for political reasons as well.

All these matters involving the estate and family were quietly pushing the sons who were not the legitimate eldest heir out.

“The person coming from the main house is a scholar who studied at the famous Hantz University. They will help determine your futures. This is the greatest consideration I can offer as your father.”

It truly was considerable kindness. There were many cases where sons were simply sent away to some distant monastery without question.

But Bilter and Ricart did not look pleased. That was understandable. Ricart, however, only blew warm breath over his cold hands and looked, as always, as though he had no thoughts at all.

Abelich gave Ricart a faint smile. Then he gently stroked his hair.

“Come here and let me hold you. Billy, you come too.”

“Pardon?”

Abelich pulled his startled sons close and embraced them beneath his cloak. The two boys felt terribly awkward and flustered, but they could clearly feel his warmth. It felt different from their mother's embrace.

After holding them like that for a while, Abelich unfastened his cloak and draped it over both of them. Bilter and Ricart looked like a cute monster with two heads on one body.

Abelich sat on a nearby rock and looked once more at the frozen pond.

“I first went into battle when I was fourteen. I went with my father and older brother. It was very cold then too, like it is now. I was given the task of leading a small number of soldiers on a wide detour to strike the enemy. While passing through the forest, arrows suddenly came flying at us. When I came to my senses, I had already fled far away. Ashamed that I had run, I returned to the battlefield. The wounded and corpses lay scattered everywhere. Then I met my father, who was running while carrying my brother on his back, my brother's neck pouring with blood.”

For the first time, Abelich told his two sons a personal story. Listening while shivering in the cold felt strange. Their hearts beat uneasily, and they felt burdened as well.

Their father had always been confident and indifferent before others, but now he somehow looked withdrawn.

“Coward. Your brother died because of you. Listen carefully. I am going to take revenge now. You must recover the body somehow and carry on the family. I will wait for you in the next world... Those were the last words my father said to me.”

Perhaps even thinking of it made him feel ashamed. Abelich lowered his head.

Running from the battlefield had certainly been wrong, but those had been cruel words. Cruel enough to haunt someone for an entire lifetime.

How many people could remain composed before the terror of death? Especially in their first battle.

Yet even so, they had to fight without retreating. At the very least, they had to stand their ground. That was why preserving one's honor as a noble was such a harsh thing.

In any event, Bilter found the heavy atmosphere so overwhelming that he could hardly dare breathe. He was too young to understand his father, so he merely listened.

“Billy, Ricky. Promise me one thing.”

Abelich turned to face his two sons.

“If you must resent someone, resent me. Do not resent your older brother.”

Given the mood, they had no choice but to promise, even if they did not want to. Yet it did not feel like obeying an order, as it normally would.

“Yes, Father. I understand. I promise,” Bilter replied first, his expression grave.

When Abelich looked at Ricart, Ricart's cheeks were flushed red. His large eyes moved this way and that before he answered.

“I won't resent anyone. Not you, Father, and not Eldest Brother. I never will. There is no need for me to promise, but if you need my small promise, I will give it as often as you wish.”

Abelich smiled faintly again and reached out to stroke both sons' heads.

“I was never as skilled in battle as my father, and compared to my brother, I fell short in every way. But I did my utmost not to shame my family. I worked hard all my life. All my life. After that first battle, I never once fled from the battlefield, and I always fought at the front. The truth is, I was not brave. I was only constantly afraid. You may not understand now, but inheriting an estate is not such a good thing.”

Whether they understood or not, it was moving just to have their father speak to them this way. No, it was deeply moving.

Then Ricart seemed to think quietly to himself before speaking to his father.

“Everyone has a time when they are a coward. I think what matters is what they choose to do when they realize they are a coward. That choice decides whether they become brave, or remain a coward. Father, you are certainly a brave knight. Grandfather must be proud of you too. He must have said those things because his emotions were too overwhelming at the time. So please don't keep them in your heart.”

Abelich's eyes widened as he listened to his youngest son's words. He had known Ricart was extraordinary, but he had not known the boy's thoughts ran this deep.

“Hey, don't speak out of turn,” Bilter scolded Ricart, worried for no reason.

“Did I speak out of turn?”

“No. It is all right. I think Ricky is right. Yes... I hope that is true.”

Perhaps he had decided to be kind to his sons no matter what today. Abelich only smiled calmly.

Today, setting aside being a patriarch, a lord, and a member of a noble family, he seemed to be treating his sons purely as their father.

“Billy, you learn everything quickly, but you lose interest just as fast. If you cultivate perseverance and patience, I think you could achieve anything you set out to do.”

It was the first praise Bilter had ever heard from his father. No, had Father been watching all along when Bilter thought he had no interest at all? Bilter was simply happy enough that his heart pounded.

This time, Abelich looked at Ricart. He watched him silently for a while before opening his mouth.

“Ricky, you are certainly an extraordinary child. Perhaps you are not merely talented, but a rare genius. But that is what worries me. I have seen many cases where excessive talent became poison. You do not need to be humble, but you must guard against arrogance. I hope you can raise our family's name and save yourself that way. Who knows? You may found a new family, like our ancestor, the heroic knight Caldebert. If that truly happens, I think I would be very happy.”

“By raising the family's name, do you mean earning military merit?”

“No. I mean you should conduct yourself honorably, whatever you do. Do not lie. Act honestly, and stay away from what is unjust. Some may call you foolish. But that is the path that will honor both you and our family.”

Ricart appeared to ponder that for a moment, then said, “That sounds rather easy. I can't lie to begin with.”

“Hey, stop being such a brat,” Bilter said with a frown.

But there was no need to worry. Abelich only laughed heartily.

“Ha ha ha! That is true. I have never seen you lie, Ricky. Ha ha ha!”

Bilter and Ricart were somewhat startled and amazed as they watched their father laugh so loudly. It was the first time in their lives they had seen him laugh like that. So Father could smile so brightly too.

After a hearty laugh, Abelich rose and led his two sons back toward the manor. The boys followed behind him, sharing their father's cloak.

From that day onward, Abelich treated Bilter and Ricart with genuine affection. Graut and his wife treated them well too.

As though the final piece had fallen into place, Bilter and Ricart sincerely prayed that their nephew would grow up healthy.

In a way, it might have looked like being kind to someone with a fatal illness for the last time. Still, this was far better than the many families that simply cast such children out coldly.

Perhaps perfection was relative. At least, Ricart believed he had perfect parents and brothers. His sister-in-law too. And his nephew.

Perhaps because he had lived a previous life filled with nothing but darkness, Ricart knew how to treasure even the smallest light.

That light was the care, memories, and affection he received from his family. They were like the stars in the night sky that he had gazed up at endlessly when he was a shepherd.

Fire and steel, blood and death. In place of those things, his mother's embrace, the affection between brothers, and his father's recognition shone like starlight in Ricart's heart.

Chapter 1: A Memory That Became a Memory. End.

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