Chapter 36
Chapter 36
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: The Red King's Hometown
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The coachman, thrilled, began eagerly spilling stories about him.
"Most people don't know this, but the Red King's hometown is none other than this Robel Village."
Lionel Levatan.
The man with the irreverent nickname of Red King was the most renowned figure from the East.
It was said that people might not know the emperor's name, but they all knew the Red King's.
About fifty years ago, uncontrollable ruffians had swarmed into the East. No one knew why they had migrated.
The ones who had settled there first formed guilds among themselves and took in the new waves of ruffians pouring in. Their power grew substantial enough to become a headache for the Empire at one point.
"Man, the East back then was a total hotbed of crime."
The East was constantly rife with brawls due to all the thugs masquerading as adventurers.
The one who brought order to that chaos was Lionel Levatan.
He earned more love and respect from the people than any of the power brokers who had ruled the East. A mere mercenary had risen to become a magnate who swayed a quarter of the continent.
That was when the imperial family began to view the overly powerful Lionel Levatan with suspicion. In the end, they charged him with treason.
"I know. It was a trial in absentia, right?"
It was a trial where Lionel Levatan himself was absent, and only an empty chair sat there.
In that trial, the Red King, Lionel Levatan, was ultimately sentenced to death.
According to the verdict, the moment Lionel set foot in the capital after leaving the East, he would be dragged straight to the execution grounds.
The trial was little more than a show put on by a humiliated imperial family.
It was a desperate measure from an imperial family that had no way to capture the true king of the East—a warning sent to Lionel.
And then, as if by magic, Lionel Levatan vanished without a trace right after.
Juliet had heard this story many times and knew it well.
One of her friends from the duke's household was from the East, a mercenary herself, and naturally idolized the man named Lionel Levatan.
Opinions were divided on what happened to him afterward.
Some said the imperial family had secretly captured and killed him, others that he had sailed off into the distant sea on a ship loaded with treasure.
"And no one knows what became of him to this day, but actually, every single person from the East knows the truth."
Juliet perked up her ears at the coachman's meaningful words.
"What's the truth?"
"The Red King... he's neither dead nor gone. He's alive and well in his hometown of Carcasson, living under a new name."
"Ha!"
The scoff at the end didn't come from the coachman or Juliet.
Both of them turned their heads toward the source of the sound. It was that red-haired man who had kept his eyes closed the whole time, as if asleep.
He had clearly been listening while pretending to sleep, and now he openly sneered.
'...Was that really a sneer?'
Without a word, the man shot the coachman a sidelong glance before scanning Juliet, who sat across from him, from head to toe. And with an expression that looked extremely displeased.
'What the?'
Juliet racked her brain, wondering if there was something wrong with their conversation just now. But she was just as clueless.
Even after pondering it deeply, she couldn't think of anything she'd done wrong, so Juliet stared right back at him.
With the most annoyed look imaginable.
'How obnoxious...'
She hadn't said it out loud, but her expression conveyed it perfectly.
"Tch."
The red-haired man flinched for a moment, clicked his tongue lightly, turned his head away, and closed his eyes again.
The coachman's story had been interrupted midway, but the rest of the journey could be called relatively peaceful.
About an hour after leaving Roadel Station, the stagecoach arrived at its destination.
"We've arrived. Robel."
The red-haired man, whose first impression had been poor, was nowhere to be seen—he must have gotten off first.
Juliet handed the coachman a tip, thanked him, and stepped out to slowly take in her surroundings.
She hadn't expected much since it was just a stopover village, but Robel's first impression was utterly unexpected.
'It's gorgeous...'
Juliet marveled inwardly.
The North and the capital traditionally prized white marble above all, so most buildings were sleek, polished, and refined.
In contrast, the buildings of Robel before her eyes were made of red brick, each one vibrant and colorful.
Surrounding a tall bell tower and the central clock tower was a shopping district, forming a circular plaza—like something out of a fairy tale.
'Yeah. Good call coming here...'
As Juliet carefully surveyed the scenery, her mood lifted in no time.
For the first time, she truly felt like she had left familiar places behind and arrived at her travel destination.
A thrilling excitement bubbled up, unfamiliar yet pleasant. She had traveled around the North back then too, but she always had escorts shadowing her for surveillance and protection.
Lost in such thoughts, Juliet was strolling slowly along the plaza when it happened.
Thud.
A man with his hat pulled low brushed lightly past Juliet.
'?'
'Huh?'
Juliet felt a sudden sense of unease and stopped in her tracks.
The man who had bumped into her continued on casually. Juliet stood there blankly for a moment before witnessing something intriguing.
The man sauntered toward the shopping district lined with merchant guild branches and naturally approached a passerby.
Thwack!
This time, he collided quite forcefully with a passerby who had turned at just the wrong moment.
"Oof!"
Juliet's eyes narrowed.
She had seen the man, right before knocking the passerby down, deftly slip a wallet from the man's inner pocket.
"Thief!"
It had barely been three seconds since she thought what a nice village it was.
"What? A thief?"
"Grab that guy!"
Fortunately, Juliet wasn't the only witness.
People from a merchant guild happened to come pouring out of their building just then and snapped their heads up at the shout.
"Tch!"
The pickpocket shoved the passersby aside and bolted into an alley.
The guild members chased after him in a frenzy. But the pickpocket was nimble and slippery—it seemed unlikely they'd catch him.
Just in case, Juliet discreetly sent a butterfly fluttering in the direction the thief had vanished before heading toward the fallen old man.
Juliet figured that if her life had a genre, it sure as hell wouldn't be a healing story.
'Right. Even peaceful villages have pickpockets.'
Robel was right next to the massive city of Carcasson, after all. It might not be as chaotic, but this was still the birthplace of a legendary Eastern heavyweight, wasn't it?
Juliet tried to rationalize it that way as she approached the fallen man.
"Are you alright?"
The man on the ground was a portly old fellow with a gentle face.
He glanced back and forth between Juliet and his hand before grasping hers and standing up.
"Well, I owe you one, young lady. Thank you kindly."
"No trouble at all."
As she smiled and replied, Juliet sneakily glanced toward the alley where the pickpocket had fled.
Gaaah!
Almost simultaneously, a wretched scream echoed from the alley.
From the murmurs of the crowd, she could guess what had happened without looking.
Her butterfly had clearly feasted well.
Juliet calmly pretended to be uninvolved, quickly turning her gaze back to the old man.
She hadn't noticed when he was down, but he cut quite an impressive figure.
His face bore the marks of age, but even to Juliet, who was familiar with knights, his physique was admirably trained. He was no ordinary old man. He must have been quite the force in his youth.
'At least he doesn't look like someone who'd fall to a scrawny pickpocket...'
Juliet pondered it briefly before understanding why.
Having steadied himself with her support, the old man soon wore a troubled expression.
"Sorry about this, young lady, but could you pick that up for me?"
Ah.
Juliet turned her head casually and spotted a black object on the ground behind her.
'...A cane?'
As requested, Juliet picked up the cane and handed it to him.
The plain-looking black cane was heavier than it appeared. Juliet was momentarily surprised by the weight but hid her expression.
"Thank you."
Thud.
The old man immediately leaned on the cane.
It wasn't obvious at a glance, but he was slightly dragging his left leg.
Feeling oddly unsettled, Juliet lowered her eyes slightly.
Forgotten Juliet