WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Ode of the Brave ◈

Chapter 92

──────

Haiden Village was very, very far away. Even the name Haiden was fading from people's memories.

It had been a place where people raised sheep and planted barley and buckwheat. The land was barren, but because few people lived there, they had somehow managed to get by.

Looking at the tragic ruins covered in clumps of grass, Ricart felt the impermanence of time.

I did not have to be hurt that badly. I should have forgiven her, even if it was out of hatred rather than love. Hadn't I shown mercy even to Besprim the Meat Cutter?

Ricart could finally understand, if only a little, what the lord had said.

It was not the world that cursed me and burned me at the stake. It was myself.

The wind felt cold. For some reason, his chest felt tight, and he even felt gloomy.

Ricart wandered through the ruins. He looked around the temple where people had been imprisoned and burned. Not even white bones remained.

Then the boy who had never known happiness arrived at the home where he had first learned what happiness was, the home he had shared as newlyweds.

It was where the tragedy had begun.

Ricart could not bring himself to go inside. He lingered around the place instead. Memories of happiness mixed with memories of hatred building within him, then exploding into fury.

Looking back now, after living a new life, there were things he could finally see.

I was the only one who loved her.

The wife the village chief had introduced to him was a widow. They had not married for love in the first place. She merely needed a man to take responsibility for her, and the village community had simply entrusted a woman with nowhere else to go to Ricart.

I suppose she could not rely on me. Everything about me was so inexperienced.

Ricart calmly recalled a past he had not wanted to uncover. He did not let it bind him. Like scattering cremated ashes into the sea, he sent old memories away on the wind, handful by handful.

It was not that he had made any particular decision. He simply stepped into the abandoned house.

Then, unexpectedly, he saw a girl in white crouching in the corner.

What?

It was so out of nowhere that the words slipped out before Ricart could stop them.

“Huh? There’s someone here.”

At the same time, the girl suddenly raised her head. She frowned slightly at the sunlight, then stared straight at Ricart.

In that moment, Ricart felt as though he had seen her somewhere before. Daisy had been so filthy and ragged in the past that she was difficult to recognize.

“Huh?”

“There’s someone here? Isn’t she a spy?”

Marie, who had been looking around the ruins, approached. Then the girl rushed at Ricart.

“Honeeeey!”

A memory flashed through Ricart’s mind like lightning.

She was the girl he had saved when he left home and crossed the mountain pass with Arno.

Daisy.

Because he had only just remembered Daisy, even Ricart, whose reflexes were monstrous, could not react in time. So he ended up catching her.

“Daisy?”

“That’s right! It’s me! Ricky! You came looking for me! You came to save me! I’m so happy!”

“Huh? Uh, no, that’s not it. I was just looking around here... But what are you doing here? Oh, right. I met your mother before. I heard you became a nun?”

“That’s right. Mikela is my name as a prophetic nun of the Church of Judgment.”

“But why are you here?”

“Because I have to meet my honey, of course.”

Daisy wrapped her arms around Ricart’s waist and would not let go. Just like before, she called him honey without his consent.

Ricart felt dumbfounded, glad, and confused all at once. Then suddenly, the back of his neck went cold.

He turned around and nearly stopped breathing.

Perhaps because of Marie’s distinctive Mana Drive, her hair had spread wildly around her head as though severe static electricity had struck it. Her eyes, which seemed somehow unfocused, stared at the two of them.

“M-Marie? Wait a second. Let go, Daisy.”

“Who’s that woman? She looks like a witch. I’m scared, Ricky.”

Daisy buried her face against Ricart’s cloth-covered breastplate and stared at Marie. Despite her words, she did not look very scared.

Ricart was the only one who was afraid.

Unexpectedly, Marie did not shout or explode in anger. She spoke in a very calm tone.

That made her even scarier.

“You’d better answer carefully from now on. Otherwise, we could all die. Who is she?”

“Ah, that, she’s the girl from before...”

“Excuse me, but we’re already married. We even exchanged rings. Right, Ricky?”

“What are you talking about? When did I ever?”

Ricart’s eyes widened at the dangerous thing she had just said. The truth was, his memory was hazy. A precious memory that lasted someone’s whole life could merely be a passing moment to someone else.

In any case, it was something Marie could not endure.

Without even drawing her sword, she swung the sheathed weapon through the air. Light burst out from within the scabbard, and the blade cut through it as it emerged.

Holding a violet flash beneath the midday sun, Marie spoke.

“Fine. Then everyone can die. Don’t worry, Ricky. I’ll follow soon after.”

“Wait! Waiiit! Calm down! Calm down! Nothing like that happened! No! It did happen! They were just flower rings, flower rings! I was ten years old! I wasn’t even an adult yet, so how could it be marriage?!”

Ricart squeezed his eyes shut and shouted desperately. More and more memories came back to him, making him ramble.

Ricart was usually calm and unaffected by everything, but even counting both his past and present lives, he had never been so frightened and flustered.

“What are you talking about, Ricky? You said thank you. When I said that meant we were married, you said okay.”

“I never said okay! Never! We were both kids then! Don’t make me angry!”

Ricart forcibly pried Daisy’s arms from around his waist and shoved her away.

The powerless girl hit the wall of the abandoned house and collapsed to the ground.

“Ow!”

That finally eased some of Marie’s anger, but Ricart also felt sorry for pushing Daisy.

Daisy could not even get back up. She stared at Ricart with a shocked expression, then began to tear up.

“I thought about you every day, every day, Ricky... I don’t care about any god... I don’t...”

Ricart had done nothing, yet his emotions had become so heated that he was slightly out of breath. His lungs ached.

“W-what am I supposed to do... I never did that...”

In his past life, he had felt as though hatred and rage would drive him mad. Now, confusion, helplessness, unfairness, and guilt felt as though they would drive him mad instead.

All those complicated feelings mixed together, and he could not figure out what to do.

Thankfully, Marie seemed to have calmed down a little. The light faded from her sword.

But the scabbard was ruined, leaving the cold blade glittering in the world with nowhere to return to.

“So you got married when you were children? When you were ten?”

“Right! That’s it! But I never agreed to it! She was even younger! How old are you?! I shouldn’t have been nice to you when Arno told me not to!”

Flustered, Ricart spoke a little harshly.

“A marriage while both parties are underage, without the permission of both families’ heads, is invalid. So that settles it.”

“Nooo! It isn’t about whether it’s valid or not! We were just kids then...”

“Then I should just die. I understand.”

Daisy spoke from where she sat. Tears ran endlessly down her face, but her expression was blank. She seemed deeply shocked.

“W-why are you so extreme too? Just let it stay a memory, will you?”

“Stop shouting. Everyone can hear.”

“...”

Marie silenced the agitated Ricart in an instant. Then she quietly looked at Daisy.

For some reason, Daisy’s endless tears stirred a sense of shared sorrow in her. Marie had also spent many nights crying because of Ricart.

The anger burning inside her cooled further.

“Hey, is your name Daisy?”

“...Yeah, witch. You must have threatened Ricky with that sword. Right?”

It sounded like an absurd accusation, but it was true. Once, Marie had confessed to Ricart while pointing her sword at him.

“You’d better give up resenting me. It won’t make Ricky look your way. Ricky isn’t that kind of man.”

At the words, Ricky isn’t that kind of man, Daisy flinched.

But she soon pursed her cute little lips and glared at Marie with tear-filled eyes. It was frustrating and bitter that Marie knew Ricky better than she did.

“I knew him first. And we’re husband and wife. Even if you deny it, that’s the truth.”

Marie snorted. If being that stubborn could make it happen, she would have been with Ricart long ago without suffering so much.

“There are plenty of ways to make you angry, but I won’t bother. First, you said you’re a follower of that Church, right? So are you an enemy or not? Let’s settle that first. If you’re an enemy, I’ll have to kill you. Let me make this clear. There won’t be even a shred of personal feeling involved.”

“Th-that’s a little...”

Ricart, who had been standing there with his head lowered like a criminal, stepped in. But Marie did not react to him. She only stared at Daisy.

Daisy glared back without backing down.

“I’m not a follower. I’ve never believed in any god, not even once. I only believe in Ricky. And we’re one. In that sense, you and I are enemies, witch.”

At Daisy’s bold answer, Marie gave a chilling smile. It was impossible to tell whether it was scorn or confidence.

Perhaps it was both.

Marie simply turned around and started walking toward the camp.

Ricart hesitated. He did not know whether he should follow her. Daisy looked so pitiful that he could not help feeling sorry for her.

“I’m sorry for pushing you. But I hope you won’t misunderstand. It may be late, but I’m still glad to see you.”

“Ricky...”

“More importantly, it’s dangerous here. I don’t know what will happen either, but I hope you stay safe.”

“Can’t I come with you?”

“...”

It was an incredibly difficult situation.

They had come to subdue the Church, so he could hardly tell her to return there. But Daisy had nowhere else to go.

Ricart could not decide how he should treat Daisy, or whether he should turn away from her even if it meant being cold.

The decisiveness that had shone so sharply on the battlefield did not work at all in a situation like this.

But when Daisy saw Ricart unable to make up his mind, her eyes brightened. Then she put on the most pitiful expression she could and weakly stood.

“Okay... I’ll go... Take care...”

Then she limped toward the Church. It looked as though she had sprained her ankle, but she had not.

She was only pretending.

Still, Ricart thought Daisy had been hurt because he pushed her, and he could not stay still.

Damn it.

“Wait. Come with us for now. I’ll carry you.”

As though she had been waiting for it, Daisy quickly climbed onto Ricart’s back. Smiling brightly behind him, she buried her face against his neck.

“Am I heavy?”

“No.”

“After we parted, I thought only about you every day, Ricky. What about you? Did you think about me?”

“Sometimes.”

“You’re so mean.”

“I can’t lie.”

“Then can’t you think only about me from now on?”

“Daisy, you can’t stay like a child forever.”

“But I can’t lie either. I like you so, so much, Ricky. You’re my prince and my savior.”

“...Who am I to save anyone...”

Ricart had nothing to say.

A woman’s obsession was truly frightening. He felt as though he finally understood a little of the things Ice often said.

The northern fields stretched wide and far. The green fields were slowly drying yellow from the tips of their leaves. The wind was cold, though not enough to make anyone hunch over.

Far ahead walked a young female swordsman. Behind her walked a man carrying another girl on his back.

Far, far away from the ruins.

Like the present pushing away the past.

Ricart’s gloomy mood had completely vanished, so thoroughly that he could barely remember it.

That did not mean he had wanted this situation.

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried