Chapter 5
Chapter 5
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 5
Chapter Title: The Interrupted Past Life Continues (3)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Heterogeneous sensations crossed his chest.
A burning feeling accompanied it as the living room tilted, and the floor surged up to strike his body.
His body felt as heavy as a waterlogged cotton ball.
Aidhal pushed against the living room floor with both arms. It wasn't enough. The world didn't budge at his gesture.
Laughter smeared into his ears.
In his blurring vision, a turning heel came into view, then slowly the full body revealed itself.
Palcherato was moving away.
Click, the door opened, and thud, it closed.
Aidhal lay still, gazing at the red carpet slowly spreading over him.
Facing the death gradually approaching, he let out a sigh of relief.
It was infuriating and unjust, but he wasn't the only one who had broken a promise.
The national seal he had handed to Palcherato was a fake.
That man, too, would ultimately fail to achieve what he wanted.
Aidhal quietly closed his eyes.
Standing before death, deeply buried memories floated to the surface.
In the past, he had been the steward of Whaleun Palace, where the crown prince resided.
He had been by the crown prince's side since the day he was born.
It was as if the crown prince's first cry echoed in his darkening ears.
A tiny baby with wrinkled skin like crepe paper.
At the vivid memory so clear he could almost touch it, the corners of Aidhal's mouth softened.
Time flowed like clouds.
White winter passed, buds grew and bloomed flowers. The world turned green, then colorful, and was covered in white snow again.
Following that flow, the child who could do nothing alone began to speak and run through the gardens.
And gradually, he started to take on the dignity of a crown prince.
Before long, the child had become a boy.
-Aidel.
It was a name he hadn't heard in a long time.
Only that one called him this way.
-Take this with you.
-My enemies will never let me go.
-I'll probably die.
Death flowed from the lips of a boy who still had much growing to do.
The crown prince was only fifteen then.
It was heartbreaking, but Aidhal lacked the power to block such a cruel fate.
-Still, we can't hand the national seal over to them.
-I'm sorry to burden you with this heavy load.
-Just keep it safe. In the future, if someone other than me rebuilds this nation, pass it to him.
-If no such person exists, if this is the end of Francia, then the disposal is up to you.
Leaving behind the boy's composure in the face of death, Aidhal set off on a long journey.
That was his last memory with the crown prince.
He reached out toward the face shimmering before his eyes.
……Now, I go to Your Highness's side.
His fingertips lost strength and fell to the floor.
Only then did he set down the heavy burden he had carried.
* * *
In the forest where faint moonlight scattered.
I leisurely followed behind the masked figures tracking the trail.
They weren't entirely useless; their running form was quite nimble.
In the quiet darkness, only their footsteps echoed loudly.
How far had we gone like that?
The scent of blood gathered at the tip of my nose.
It was thick. Not the blood of just one or two people.
I overtook the masked figures and ran ahead.
Pushing through the thickly grown grass, a small village surrounded by a wooden fence came into view.
The chilling silence accompanied by the smell of blood made it easy to guess what had happened here.
My gaze briefly turned to the blue tree planted at the entrance.
Nureti Tree.
The tree I had loved most in my previous life.
I stared at it blankly before stepping inside the fence.
Unfamiliar yet familiar architectural styles filled my eyes.
"Wh-what is this?"
The groans of the arriving masked figures followed.
The scene before us was exactly as expected. The street that should have brimmed with life was filled with death.
Corpses strewn everywhere spared neither the elderly nor children.
Judging by the direction they had fallen, all faced inward toward the village center.
It meant they had narrowed the encirclement from outside and killed them.
A method used when leaving no survivors.
What on earth had driven them to death?
It felt like I had gotten caught up in something troublesome.
A moment later, one of them approached me after scouting the surroundings and reported.
"It seems to have started over there."
These guys now saw me as their leader.
I followed his guidance.
He stopped in front of a small house with a courtyard.
"The traces left here are particularly different. Their target was probably in this place."
The footprints in the courtyard and the surroundings were indeed distinct.
Entering the house, a single old man lay collapsed in the living room. Blood from his body pooled on the floor.
He probably held the most answers about the current situation.
"I checked roughly, and there's one unusual thing."
I raised my hand to stop the masked figure and slowly approached the old man. My feet squelched in the blood that hadn't fully soaked in.
As I drew closer, suspicion turned into certainty.
A familiar face.
Even after ages had passed, I recognized him at once.
Aidhal.
Why are you here……
I knelt on one knee before Aidhal, lowering my posture.
His white hair and the deep wrinkles bearing the years were clearly visible.
I slipped my hand behind his neck and lifted his upper body. His limp body came up lightly.
I stared at his face, aged beyond my memories.
Then, moments I hadn't even realized I'd forgotten unfolded before my eyes.
The dust of years covering my memories was scattering.
Aidhal was a constant presence in my previous life.
The palace, vast as the world in my childlike perception.
I roamed it freely, and he was always by my side.
Times spent with him flashed by like a panorama.
The memories flowing with time reached the moment we parted.
……Right. I had entrusted the national seal to him.
Only now did it come back to me.
I'd completely forgotten about it until now……
Recalling it, the pieces of the situation fell into place.
It seemed the massacre in the village was all because of me.
The national seal I'd given him had led to this.
The deaths I'd seen moments ago took on new meaning.
The faces of the dead I'd passed by brushed clearly to mind.
Their deaths, which I'd let slip by like the wind, now seeped into my skin.
"……Adel."
I embraced him.
No tears flowed.
For him, only ten years had passed, but I had circled back here after over forty years.
It was a connection dulled by time, and the emotions of my previous life had mostly eroded.
Yet it was still heartbreaking.
He must have lived these long years upholding my forgotten will.
My heart ached as if sliced by a blade's edge.
It pained me that I couldn't shed tears for him.
Holding him, I spoke to the masked figure guarding behind.
"Can you gather all the dead in one place?"
"Ah, yes. Understood."
The masked figure seemed startled by my sudden request but quickly grasped it and left through the door.
I held Aidhal and stood.
Unable to leave him on the floor, I found the bed and laid him there.
Torn pillowcase and spilling cotton clumps were visible.
I pushed them aside and clasped his wrinkled hands together, quietly keeping vigil by his side.
* * *
Roar.
A massive blaze rose in the village center.
The flames devoured the dead in an instant, pushing back the thick darkness that had fallen over the village.
Shadows flickered across the faces of those watching, swaying with the fire.
There were no survivors.
I stood silently, gazing at the blaze.
At the end of the flames burning everything to a handful of ash, embers rose.
People became small sparks, flying freely into the air.
Countless thoughts crossed my mind.
"Do you know him?"
It was the one who had guided me to Aidhal.
Still fixing my gaze on the flames, I replied.
"I knew him long ago. Very long ago."
"I see. Why did they kill these people?"
"National seal."
"Pardon?"
"It seems the national seal was here."
"What?!"
At my indifferent remark, they jumped in shock, raising their voices. All three reacted identically, as if scripted. Their eyes demanded explanation.
"He had the national seal."
"How do you know? No one knew where it was."
I didn't answer.
After a moment of thought, he continued.
"If they took the real national seal, we can't let them go like this. We have to pursue them."
"No need."
I shook my head. He pressed on indignantly.
"Don't you know what the national seal means? It's enough to turn the independence army fighting to reclaim the nation into traitors in an instant! If it falls to the Barrein Family—"
"Wait. What did you just say? Barrein Family?"
I asked again like a fool, unable to believe it.
The flustered one nodded.
"Yes. Halent Barrein is the current governor. He's also the leader of the turncoats. The seal will surely end up in his hands."
I let out an incredulous breath.
Halent Barrein, leader of the turncoats?
The Barrein Family was my mother's house.
Halent Barrein was my uncle, and my swordsmanship teacher.
And he had betrayed Francia?
Impossible to believe.
In my memory, he was a loyal retainer and honorable knight.
I pressed my temple with my palm.
Falling to the Valencia continent was disorienting enough, and now ties from my previous life were tangling.
The sudden rush of events made my head throb.
"If you won't go, we'll go ourselves."
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
Then shook my head.
"As I said, no need. They'll come back anyway."
Disbelief flashed in the masked figures' eyes.
Those who massacred the village returning? Hard to believe.
No reason to.
But that was if the seal they took was real.
"What they took is a fake."
* * *
"Uwaaak!"
A massive scream as if the world flipped shook the carriage. The horses reared in fright, halting.
The carriage door flew open, revealing a pale-faced man.
The soldiers escorting fore and aft stared with wide eyes.
With a pallid face, he shrieked.
"It's gone! Gone!"
At his sudden outburst, the nearby knight quickly approached.
"What happened?"
The man stared blankly at the knight and opened the box in his hand.
"Gasp!"
The knight who saw it also drew a sharp breath.
The box that should hold the national seal was empty.
"What is the meaning of this!"
The knight, thoroughly flustered, shouted at his superior about the seal's whereabouts.
But Palcherato wasn't in a state to make an issue of it.
"I don't know! It was there until morning!"
They pooled their heads at the sudden event and barely reached one conclusion.
The national seal in this box wasn't real.
They hurriedly turned their horses around.
Even just the mounted knights numbered twenty.
"Go!"
At Palcherato's shout, they urgently retraced their path.
The answer was surely there.
They spurred their horses relentlessly toward the village.