Chapter 139: Harvest Day (7)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 139: Harvest Day (7)
Cloud appeared out of nowhere and grabbed Gis's wrist.
Gis scowled.
“Who the hell are you? Let go.”
“Can’t do that. Who knows what you’d do if I let you go?”
“This bastard…!”
Gis tried to forcefully shake off Cloud’s hand, but Cloud had already surpassed him in strength. On top of that, with his entire body covered in burns, there was no way he could break free.
“Guhk…!”
The more he struggled, the more his burns ached. Seeing Gis in pain, his mother, Cassia, was horrified.
“A-are you okay!? Does it hurt a lot? We should treat you first. Sir Hero Cloud?”
She gave him a pleading look, and Cloud shrugged, releasing Gis’s wrist. Gis swatted the hand away as if he had shaken it off with his own strength.
“Hah… one bastard after another… Let go. Fuck.”
Shaking off Cassia’s hand as well, Gis weakly walked over and sat on the edge of the bed. He hadn’t felt much pain right after waking up, but he felt it now. The slightest movement sent a searing pain through his muscles.
The aftereffects of the black flames were stronger than he’d expected.
Marietta, who had been watching cautiously, resumed her healing.
“What are those bitches doing?” Gis grumbled, clearly displeased to be surrounded by people he disliked.
Cloud answered his grumbling.
“What do you think? They didn’t make it back.”
“What?”
“You took seven girls in with you, right? Three of them are dead. The other four were taken prisoner.”
“What kind of fucking bullshit is that?!!”
Gis shot up as if having a seizure and grabbed Cloud by the collar. Instead of getting angry, Cloud just looked slightly surprised, his eyes widening.
“Surprising. I thought you’d just call them useless fuck-toys.”
“Shut the fuck up and say that again if you don’t want to die. What? What happened?”
“I told you, three are dead and four were taken prisoner.”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?!”
“It means your girlfriends have become public property for the orcs, you son of a bitch.”
Cloud provided a tailored explanation for Gis, who couldn't seem to understand. Was he moved by the thoughtful gesture? Gis's eyes widened and he froze.
“Don’t fuck with me!”
His face then twisted into a demonic snarl as he raised his fist.
It seemed he wasn’t moved after all.
Cloud, deeply disappointed, caught the fist Gis threw.
“Oh? You caught it? You caught it?!”
Looking at the flailing Gis with pity, Cloud pried his hand from his collar. He grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and threw him onto the bed.
“Keuhak!”
Gis groaned from the searing pain that shot through his entire body.
Cloud snorted.
“Well, well. Looks like you actually care about your companions, for what it’s worth.”
Care about his companions?
Bullshit…
It was a question he would have laughed his ass off at if he had the energy.
And for good reason—Gis didn’t have any companions.
The girls who followed him around?
They were a collection.
Pretty trash, beautiful on the outside but worthless on the inside.
Like jewels.
Yes, jewels.
He wasn't angry because he'd lost his companions.
He was angry that his possessions had been damaged and stolen by someone else.
But how could anyone else know what was going on in his mind?
So he's human after all. Thinking this, Cloud decided to stop his cruel teasing.
“I was kidding. It's true that three of them died, but the remaining four are probably being treated decently as prisoners.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Did you hear what I just said? Prisoners. They're being treated as prisoners. Like human beings. And if you're about to spout some bullshit about not trusting orcs, just shut your mouth. They're more gentlemanly than you are.”
“…Tch.”
Gis, who had been about to say the exact same thing, clicked his tongue and shut his mouth.
That bastard isn't the type to lie about something like this.
He was the guy who had saved the city, even giving up the Behemoth's experience points.
Hearing that his possessions wouldn't be damaged, Gis managed to calm down a little. But not completely. The fact remained that three were dead and the other four were still captured.
He gritted his teeth, vowing to one day repay this humiliation.
As he did, Cassia placed her palm on the back of his hand.
“I'm so sorry you lost your companions… I don't know what to say to comfort you. But as your mother, I want you to focus on your treatment for now—”
“That’s enough.”
Gis swatted Cassia’s hand away.
Unlike before, when he had raised his voice in agitation, his tone was now incredibly cold. It was laced with a deep contempt and disgust for Cassia.
“This fucking bitch has been trying to just gloss things over.”
“S-Son…?”
“Don’t call me son. I don’t have a whore for a mother.”
Gis brushed the back of his hand where Cassia had touched it, as if wiping away filth. Seeing this, Cassia’s emotions surged.
“A whore! How could you say something so cruel to your own mother?!”
“Am I wrong? You sold your body to those pig bastards. If not, then you must have genuinely loved them, which means all those fuckers were candidates to be my new stepdad, right? Fuck, that's amazing!”
“Th-that’s not true. I did it for you…”
“For me? Don’t make me fucking laugh.”
Gis raised his middle finger.
“You know what? Back then, I was actually proud that you were a dancer. I thought you were different from the whores in the back alleys. That you were lighting up the streets, unlike those beggars. I was such an idiot. In the end, you were no different from them.”
A self-deprecating laugh.
It quickly turned cold.
“If you really cared about me, you never would have done that. You shouldn't have turned a dancer's son into the son of a high-class prostitute. You shouldn't have made me cheap!”
Watching Gis pour out the feelings he had kept hidden for so long, Cassia remembered.
The day her most precious son, the one person she never wanted to see her shame, had witnessed it.
The look on her son's face back then.
Gis's expression now was the very same one.
“Ah… Aah…”
Her eyes trembled uncontrollably.
“G-Gis… Son… M-Mom is sorry… It's all my fault… I was wrong… I'll do better from now on, so please… just once… can't you forgive me just this once…?”
Cassia slowly reached her hand out toward Gis.
A gesture of her will to mend their broken family bond.
“I don't need it.”
Gis swatted it away without hesitation.
“Huh…?”
“I have a mother. A dignified and noble woman, unlike you. So I don't need someone like you.”
“Wh-what are you talking about…? I-I'm your mother… No matter what anyone says, you're the son I gave birth to. I'm your mother! Not even the almighty Lady Iries can change that—”
“To hell with Iries!”
Gis roared, cutting off Cassia's rambling. He glared at the woman who had once been his mother and said:
“I don't need any of it. I've told you time and again, you are not my mother. Not once since that day have I ever thought of you as my mother. So please, I'm begging you, just get the hell out of my life.”
“…”
Cassia lowered her head.
A long time had passed since that day. Every day had been filled with depression and the desire to die. The only reason she could even pretend to smile was because she had hope.
The hope that she might one day reconcile with her son.
That hope had just vanished.
The sole pillar supporting her fragile mind and body had just snapped.
A moment later, Cassia raised her head.
She was smiling.
“I understand. If that will make you feel better, then I'll do it. I promise. I'll never appear before you again.”
Tears streamed down her face, she was sniffling, and her voice was thick with emotion, but she was smiling.
“I'm sorry about what happened back then. Your mother… I… I was just trying to do what was best… No, that's just an excuse, isn't it? I'm sorry.”
She looked at Gis's face.
She took in every one of his features, one by one.
“I'm truly sorry.”
She raised the corners of her mouth.
She looked like she could collapse at any moment, but she forced herself to hold on.
Because this was the end.
Because this was truly the end.
She didn't want him to see her looking pathetic.
“I'll go now.”
Cassia left the tent, maintaining her smile until the very end. The moment she turned away, Cloud saw the corners of her eyes droop, and he sighed.
“Marietta. Let's go.”
“But Sir Hero Gis's treatment isn't finished yet…”
“He's not in any immediate danger, is he? Just tell him to get treated by the clerics here.”
“It will be difficult for most clerics.”
“Then do it later.”
At Cloud's firm words, Marietta snapped back to her senses. Her hero was Cloud, not Gis. Before any misunderstandings could arise, she quickly stopped the treatment and stood beside Cloud.
Despite the treatment being stopped, Gis actually looked relieved.
“Get out of here, quickly.”
He even waved his hand, shooing them away. Cloud let out a dry laugh, picked up a nearby chair, and threw it at Gis.
“Guhk?! This motherfucker, to the very end…!”
Cloud ignored Gis's cursing and left the tent with Marietta. The two of them returned to the Prona Kingdom's camp.
“Marietta. About today…”
“It's a secret, right? Don't worry.”
After making sure she understood, he headed for Cassia's tent.
He was worried she might not be there, but thankfully, that wasn't the case.
He found her sitting on the floor, staring blankly at the ceiling.
Cloud sat down beside her.
Even as he approached, she continued to stare at the ceiling.
She was like a toy with dead batteries.
Cloud quietly patted her on the back.
Before long, the tent was filled with the sound of stifled sobs.
Three days after the shaman's kidnapping, new negotiations began.
“We would like you to provide land for the orcs to settle.”
From the very beginning, they presented an absurd condition.