EWH Chapter 76

Lost in thought and unable to see ahead, Nathan collided with a boy about waist-high. He staggered, but his first instinct was to catch the boy who nearly fell from the impact. The freckle-faced boy, who had almost fallen into Nathan’s arms, looked up at him with wide, surprised eyes.

“Are you alright?”

“Waaah! I’m sorry!”

The boy startled and quickly pulled away. His face quickly turned pale as he bowed his head repeatedly to Nathan. It was probably due to Nathan’s appearance. Nathan waved his hand, indicating it was fine.

The boy’s arms and the bag he was carrying were full of newspapers; it seemed he had bumped into Nathan in his hurry. Nathan’s gaze naturally turned to the newspapers the boy was holding. He tried to read the small text on the back page, but even with his glasses on, he couldn’t see it clearly due to the distance. However, Nathan’s attention soon shifted to Azar, who had approached.

“What’s going on?”

“It’s nothing.”

Nathan told Azar it was nothing and gestured for the boy to go on his way. The boy bowed his head deeply once more before running off as if fleeing.

“Extra! Extra! Fresh news just published!”

The boy’s energetic voice could be heard from behind, but the two hurried on to find a carriage. As a result, Nathan wouldn’t learn about the contents of that newspaper until a few days later.

“Extra! Extra! This morning, the King…”

Finding a carriage rental place wasn’t difficult, but actually renting one was. None of the coachmen were willing to go to the Nover territory. As the innkeeper had said, bad rumors had spread widely. Rumors like once you go there, you can’t come back; people have seen ghosts of the dead territory residents; although it rarely rained there before, after two years ago, all the rain that falls is black; because of that, monsters roam in packs, and so on.

With no other choice, the two gave up on a carriage and got a horse instead. But horses were more expensive than they thought, so they could only afford one. Nathan felt sorry for the horse. Not only was it loaded with luggage, but it also had to carry two tall men. All Nathan could do was cast [Lightening] spells on the dangling luggage from time to time.

The journey, short yet long, was much more arduous than Nathan had expected. Looking at the map, he could see that the territory was in a highland area, but he didn’t realize it would be in the mountains. Although it was clearly summer, this place was cool as if winter had arrived early, and it had a tranquil atmosphere. The trees that soared high into the sky were all winter trees. The forest was as quiet as a mouse, occasionally broken by the sound of crows cawing. However, contrary to people’s fearful rumors, they didn’t encounter any monsters during their journey. Wild animals, perhaps, but nothing more.

That’s not to say there weren’t any strange occurrences along the way. A lake marked on the map had evaporated, there were black trees with only bare branches remaining, and eerie crying sounds could be heard at night. As a result, they couldn’t sleep properly. They would wake up as soon as they fell into a light sleep, and Nathan kept falling into and out of shallow sleep, worried about Azar who was keeping watch. His poor physical condition made it feel even more grueling. After resting here and there, they arrived at the Nover territory on the fourth day, a day later than planned.

Clop, clop…

“…”

The first thing they saw was the collapsed castle wall, still unrepaired and abandoned. They entered the village, passing through the debris of the fallen wall.

There wasn’t a single intact house there. The village, abandoned by its people, was dying so quietly and desolately. Seeing the territory looking not much different from two years ago made Nathan feel nauseous. He wished he didn’t know, but once again, ‘Nathan’s’ memories buried deep down resurfaced. Even though he didn’t want to, he couldn’t help but see the overlapping images. Although these weren’t his own experiences, he couldn’t ignore the memories swirling in his mind.

“…This is why I didn’t want to come.”

Nathan muttered softly, squeezing his eyes shut. Though it couldn’t be real, he felt like he could still see the sticky blood. The corpses of people who no longer existed in this world flickered before his eyes. Suddenly finding it hard to breathe, Nathan panted slightly. His body grew cold, and he broke out in a cold sweat. The hand holding the reins trembled.

At that moment, he sincerely wished he was a completely indifferent person, incapable of empathizing with others’ situations. If that were the case, he could have passed through this situation calmly, without feeling nauseous, on the verge of tears, or scared. He could have just moved on as if watching a sad movie.

He needed to pull himself together. As long as he was ‘Nathan Nover’, he had to pretend to be fine. That way, those he would soon meet would worry less. Nathan rubbed his tired eyes under his glasses and called out to Azar sitting behind him.

“Can you hold the reins for me?”

“…Sure.”

Azar took the reins without saying much. Nathan leaned back against the familiar body supporting him from behind. He felt sorry for Azar, who must be tired too. Seeing this territory that was no better than ruins, he probably wasn’t feeling too good either. That’s why he was just quietly driving the horse without saying a word.

Clop, clop…

Only the sound of hooves could be heard in the silence. Would it be better if Azar said something? If he could turn his thoughts elsewhere, would these memories sink back below the surface? That would be nice…

It was a very small village, and with no people to block the way, it didn’t take long to reach the lord’s castle. The castle was larger than Nathan had imagined. It had an obviously old and worn-out feel to it. It was the typical image of an ancient castle. The area around the castle was surrounded by water. It was a structure where a drawbridge had to be lowered for the gate to open.

The castle gate was firmly closed. There was no one around. As Nathan briefly wondered what to do, suddenly the sound of a pulley moving was heard, and the gate lowered.

Rumble, bang─!

Surprised by the sudden situation, Nathan blinked. Now he could see about five or six people running from inside. Their appearances varied. Two seemed to be knights wearing armor, three were in servant attire, and one was in slightly different servant clothing.

“Young Master Nathan!”

Ah, it was a face from his memories. Surely it was…

“Amelia.”

She was a figure who had appeared many times in ‘Nathan’s’ memories, and also the one who had been consistently sending letters to the academy. Thanks to that, although it was their first meeting, she didn’t feel completely unfamiliar. There was a strange sense of closeness. Which made him feel even more sorry.

“How could you come without any notice! This Amelia, I thought my heart would jump out of my mouth from surprise!”

“I was too, uh, busy to contact you. Sor, sorry.”

Nathan bit his tongue, almost naturally speaking formally. Amelia was once ‘Nathan’s’ nanny, and now she was the housekeeper managing this territory. Moreover, she was at least three times Nathan’s age. It didn’t feel right to speak informally to such an elder.

But from now on, he had to be especially careful with his words and actions. He couldn’t use formal speech, of course, but even informal speech wasn’t just informal. The ‘Nathan’ he had come to know in fragments was a very different person from him in many ways. From his way of speaking to his actions, although they looked the same, the content was completely different. Even when using the same informal speech, ‘Nathan’ had something aristocratic about him. The way he naturally spoke down to others, the way he acted as if it was natural to be waited upon. All of this was difficult for him.

“But who is this person behind you, young master?”

“Ah, this is my friend… Evan.”

The more he spoke, the more awkward it felt, and it was killing him. He could only hope that his expression remained composed.

“Hello! I’m Evan, Nathan’s friend from the academy!”

Introducing himself, Azar poked his head out from behind Nathan and spoke playfully. He smiled brightly with a cheerful voice. The heavy atmosphere from earlier had long since disappeared. Thanks to that, while Nathan felt relieved, he couldn’t help but sigh with worry about what was to come. At that moment, hearing Azar’s response, Amelia let out a short exclamation. Her eyes moistened as she covered her mouth.

“Oh, my goodness! This Amelia never thought I’d see the young master’s friend before I died. You never mentioned anything like this in your letters, so I had given up hope…”

“…”

“How can there be such a joyous occasion! Let’s not stand here, come in quickly. Hurry, young master! And your friend too!”

Watching Amelia disappear inside with hurried steps, speaking with an emotional voice, Nathan couldn’t help but lower his head and cover his face. He felt embarrassed by the unexpected reaction. His face felt hot. Just then, he heard a small laugh from behind him. Nathan narrowed his eyes and quickly muttered in a voice only Azar could hear.

“Don’t laugh, I said don’t laugh.”

“Pfft.”

However, that only seemed to make Azar laugh more, as he buried his face in Nathan’s shoulder and tried to suppress his laughter for a while. Being so close, Nathan could feel the trembling clearly.

‘Why am I the only one feeling embarrassed…’

The sighs were endless. Nathan let out a noticeable sigh as he took the reins back from Azar’s hand and slowly drove the horse forward.