WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Ode of the Brave ◈

Chapter 93

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The sun was setting at the edge of the Haiden fields, whose gentle waves stretched into the distance. As red and gold filled the sky, bonfires were lit throughout the camp.

The tents all differed in shape, color, and size. Some were conical, while others had triangular cross-sections.

At the center of the camp, adventurers gathered around a huge fire, soothing the hardships of the day with alcohol and women.

Wherever money and people gathered, merchants were sure to appear. The entertainment was something they provided.

It might seem strange to be doing this when they had come for an operation, but this was the usual sight at a military encampment in this era.

Though this was not actually an army.

Ricart was not someone who particularly enjoyed such entertainment. Quietly losing himself in thought or chatting with friends was enough rest and satisfaction for him.

But staying still was particularly difficult right now.

Because of Daisy.

Marie had gone into the tent and was nowhere to be seen. Volka, Boribori, and Ice merely stared at the two of them.

“Who did you say she was?”

Volka asked, pointing at Daisy.

“Hello. I’m Daisy, Ricky’s wife. We got married long ago, but unavoidable circumstances separated us for a while. We’ve finally met again.”

Daisy greeted Ricart’s friends with a bright smile. Having spent her childhood fleeing and wandering from place to place, she did not shrink back even in unfamiliar surroundings.

She now looked like nothing more than a pure and innocent beauty, but she had lived through a rather turbulent childhood.

“Really?”

Boribori looked to Ricart as though seeking confirmation. Ricart shook his head.

“No. Absolutely not.”

“Ricky’s just embarrassed. We exchanged rings and made a promise to each other, didn’t we, Ricky?”

“Don’t slander me.”

Ricart was half-dazed, answering like a machine.

“I think you said you were a Church believer.”

Ice looked at Daisy as he spoke.

“That’s right. But I wasn’t particularly devout when I joined. My precognitive ability happened to suit life in the Church, so I only spent a few years there.”

“Precognitive ability? Don’t tell me...”

“Yes, I’m a prophetic nun within the Church. So apart from being bored, I wasn’t especially...”

At the words prophetic nun, Ice flinched in surprise, then quickly shut his eyes and turned away. Though he had left the Church, its doctrine must have sunk into his bones. He could not dare look a prophetic nun straight in the eye.

Boribori gazed at the beautiful but somewhat strange girl before speaking.

“I think the answer to your problem is right here, Ice. Like Ricky, you just shouldn’t reject girls who come to you. Accept them all.”

“W-What? Bori, what are you talking about?”

Ricart, who had been somewhat dazed by the unexpected words, snapped awake.

“That’s just how it looks. For the record, I don’t think it’s bad. It’s for you to decide, Ricky.”

Friends could also be mirrors that reflected oneself. The once-innocent boy was speaking to Ricart in Ricart’s own manner, and Ricart himself was left speechless.

He had not gone around saying cruel things to people, but he suddenly wondered if he had truly been this harsh.

“So what is this prophecy?”

Volka asked. Even Daisy, who managed her expressions with almost ghostly skill, grew a little dark.

“The God will be resurrected. So you cannot win. Go back while you still can. I’m taking Ricky with me too.”

Volka and Boribori did not seem to believe Daisy, but Ice stiffened at once, as though deeply shaken. This was not just anyone speaking. It was a prophetic nun.

“Well, they all say the same thing.”

Volka sounded indifferent. Every believer of the Church of Judgment constantly went on about how their God would be resurrected.

Unfortunately, they could not get any special information from Daisy. It was not that they lacked intelligence now. They had more than enough, and the difficult part was sorting out what was useful.

Since that incident last autumn, Nibelungen had gone so far as to hang hundreds of suspected Church believers each day while rooting them out. Torture had naturally been used as well.

They had obtained an enormous amount of information in the process, but separating the useful parts from the useless was no ordinary task.

Hellawman, the current commander-in-chief, knew where the Church’s holy temple was, which routes could be used to infiltrate it, how its members lived, and roughly how much fighting power it possessed.

The problem was how to act on that knowledge.

It was like knowing that a tiger lived in its den, but having no answer for how to enter and catch it.

They could not simply rush in as one great mass. How should they divide the units? How should the organization be structured and operated? How long should the operation last? Those were the difficult questions.

As a branch chief and clan master, Volka had attended the strategy meetings. He knew about those problems.

That was why he could not spare attention for nonsense about prophecies, and Boribori also thought prophecies were absurd.

Boribori placed a hand on Ice’s shoulder.

“If every prophecy came true, what would be the point of us being alive? So don’t worry about it.”

But this was not something Ice could take lightly. Prophecies also presented a dilemma. If they were nonsense, then Armand’s words could not be trusted either.

“I feel bad for Marie. Ricky, I know you’ll handle it, but take care of her. I’ll come back if there’s anything else to relay, so get some rest.”

Volka lightly tapped Ricart’s chest with his fist before leaving.

That seemed to settle Daisy’s situation for the moment. To the adventurers, Daisy was merely a useless Church defector.

If this had been like last year, when the hunt and oppression of the Church had raged like a storm, they might have demanded that she be hanged at once. But she knew Ricart, and they knew that was not what mattered now.

The biggest problem was that they only had about a month for the operation. Since there was no separate supply corps, even one month was tight.

They had to finish the subjugation within that time, but an even bigger problem was that some adventurers still had not gathered.

That was reality. When people were gathered to accomplish something, all kinds of problems surfaced.

Of course, those were matters for the command to handle, not Ricart.

What Ricart had to worry about was the precarious tightrope between Marie and Daisy.

“Daisy, go with him. He used to be in the Church too, right? You two should be able to talk.”

Ricart pointed at Ice.

“I don’t want to.”

“Ricky, I think it would be better for you to leave Marie and her together while you stay away.”

“W-What do you mean, Bori?”

“It seems like you trying to comfort and soothe both sides is only making things worse.”

“You should be on my side...”

“What are you talking about? I’m always on your side. I just hope everyone can get along.”

Ricart was rather insensitive when it came to relationships between people, but Boribori was delicate and perceptive.

But could what he said really be right? Leave Marie and Daisy together?

Ricart found that difficult to accept.

Then he suddenly wondered what friends were even good for. So he abruptly grabbed Daisy by the shoulders and shoved her toward Boribori and Ice, then bolted across the field at sunset.

He was running away.

He fled so frantically that he looked like a consumptive gasping for breath. Boribori watched with a baffled expression as he grabbed Daisy, who tried to chase after Ricart.

“Let go.”

“For Ricky’s sake, just endure it for now. Don’t force only your feelings on him.”

“What if we get separated again?”

“What?”

“Have you ever spent years anxiously thinking of only one person?”

“No. But why should I care about your circumstances? We were getting along fine, and you’re the one who shattered that peace. You’re an unwelcome outsider to us right now. So act accordingly. You can understand that much, can’t you?”

Boribori valued his own people, his friends, above everything else in the world. To be honest, he disliked Daisy for threatening to crack those bonds.

Still, perhaps because he had learned so much, he no longer fumbled over his words as he had in the past. He spoke with remarkable clarity.

Ice, who could not bear to watch any longer, stepped in. Unable to look Daisy in the eye, he lowered his gaze as he spoke.

“Sister, I will escort you.”

Perhaps Boribori’s words had affected her. Daisy allowed Ice to lead her away for the moment.

That did not mean she accepted it in her heart.

Marie was alone in the tent, Volka was busy, Daisy had been moved aside for now, and Ricart had run away.

Boribori, left alone, sighed and started walking.

To find Ricart.

“Haa...”

In the past, Ricart had practically raised Boribori himself. Now, it seemed as though the opposite had become true.

But the darkest place was beneath the lamp. Ricart had not actually run very far.

He had hidden behind a nearby tent and watched. Once things seemed somewhat settled, he finally slipped back out.

Even in a situation like this, his deception tactics were incredible.

Ricart carefully lifted the tent flap and peered inside at Marie. No candle had been lit, so the interior was too dark to see clearly.

As he craned his neck and looked around, Boribori suddenly appeared behind him and shoved him hard.

Even brilliant deception tactics could be easily seen through by someone familiar with them.

“Ah!”

Ricart stumbled into the tent, his heart leaping into his throat. Then he saw Marie with her face buried in a pillow, and his body froze.

She seemed to have been crying the whole time.

“M-Marie...”

Ricart did not dare approach her. Still, he cautiously sat beside the bed.

It was difficult even to comfort her. He did not know what to say.

“It’s not like I cheated on you... It was just something from long ago... Something like a childhood game...”

They were not comforting words at all.

They were only excuses.

Still, it was not as if he had done anything wrong, was it? A small part of him felt unfairly accused.

Not knowing what else to do, he touched Marie’s toes. Half playfully, half not, he fiddled with them one by one.

Marie quickly pulled her foot away.

Still, Ricart felt relieved that she had reacted at all.

“She’s just a pitiful girl. They say she was entrusted to the Church, but wasn’t she really abandoned? That doesn’t mean I have any special feelings for her. You’re the only one I’ve opened my heart to. I mean it. It’s the truth. I don’t even need an oath to prove it. But if you need one, I’ll swear it.”

“...”

Silence filled the tent.

In the distance, adventurers drank, laughed, and talked loudly. Now and then, vulgar words drifted over.

Ricart stayed silently beside Marie.

After crying so much, Marie finally spoke in a nasal voice.

“...Swear it.”

“How should I swear it?”

“That you’ll love only me.”

It sounded a little childish, but that was what she wanted now. Marie, who was usually so steadfast and brave, sometimes wanted to be spoiled by Ricart alone.

But Ricart did not treat her childishness as childishness.

Without hesitation, he swore like a pure knight.

“I, Ricart, swear that I will love only Martelia. Even if I die, I will never change.”

After a while, Marie finally sniffled and turned her head.

Honestly, she looked a little miserable, but her features were so beautiful that she only seemed pitiful. Her pillowcase was soaked through.

Ricart wiped away her tears and snot with his hand, then casually wiped it all on his own clothes.

That was still not enough, so he used his sleeve too. After fixing her hair and gently stroking her face, she looked much better.

There was nothing he could do about the redness at the tip of her nose.

“Did you drink too much?”

“Hm?”

“Your nose is red.”

At that small, light joke, Marie finally let out a quiet laugh.

“Oh? You know what they say. If you laugh while crying...”

“Want to check?”

“What would we check? I was going to say it means happiness is coming.”

“Tch...”

“You’re secretly quite lewd, aren’t you?”

“What did I do? What exactly were you trying to check?”

“Who knows?”

They had been serious only moments ago, yet Ricart and Marie were already exchanging their usual teasing words.

But their eyes, as they looked at one another, shone like stars.

Even without realizing it, drawing closer to each other was natural.

That was enough.

These peaceful moments were so precious. The fact that they were allowed only to each other moved them and filled their hearts.

There was no perfect person in the world. People had flaws and wounds, and they could hurt others without meaning to.

Even so, what mattered was giving one’s heart completely.

As though following stars, Ricart and Marie looked at one another that way. They were not perfect, but they shared one thing.

They gave their hearts sincerely.

Sometimes their feelings clashed and were hurt, like tripping over a stone. Even so, getting back up, looking at the stars with a prayerful heart, and remaining sincere required courage.

Fortunately, Ricart and Marie were brave.

They had lived different lives, but they were alike in that way. That was why they could not help being drawn to each other, like stars pulled together by gravity.

But even time that shone like stars could not last long.

This was, after all, a battlefield.

It was hard to believe they had overlooked such a thing, but the command had never expected the other side to attack. They had focused only on how to crush their enemy, and that became their blind spot.

The stars bloomed especially thickly over the Haiden fields.

Beneath the starlight pouring down like rain, the first battle began.

Footnotes:

The interrupted saying about laughing after crying normally ends with a crude joke about hair growing on one’s butt, prompting Marie’s suggestive reply.

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