What Lies to the West? (2)
There's no refusing an invitation from a foreigner, after all!
"Yes. Though I may not speak very well."
"Ah, you must be from a foreign land? Your speech is quite good, actually."
She followed the woman who appeared to be a handmaiden, and there the girl in the disheveled outfit stood waiting, surrounded by a crowd. The woman who had brought her went over to whisper something to the person called the lady of the house — probably explaining that she was a foreigner.
"Oh, hello. I am Helene."
"Hello. A pleasure to meet you. I'm Haeun."
She'd have to be in her mid-to-late twenties? With skin that pale in a sun-baked Mediterranean land like this, she had to come from a fairly wealthy family, right?
Why are you looking me over like that? Is that what women do whenever they meet? I can feel every single one of those glances, you know.
"I hear you've come from abroad. Where from?"
Would you even know the place if I told you? It's not anywhere near here.
"From Daehan, off to the east."
"!!!"
What? You know it? Why are you so shocked? The handmaidens around her all look stunned too?
"From there!? I've heard it takes a full year to travel to such a distant place!"
"Yes. I came with merchants, so it took about that long."
"How remarkable!"
Most people couldn't make that journey, right? A woman traveling alone with a merchant caravan — a perfect recipe for getting roughed up and buried in some ditch somewhere.
There had been quite a few of them on the way here, too. She'd made eunuchs of them and tossed them into the middle of the desert.
"Wasn't it dangerous?"
"Very dangerous. More than you can imagine."
"Then how did you make it here safely?"
"I'm very good at fighting."
These days I don't even need telekinesis — my sword work is solid and I've picked up plenty of fighting instincts. Practically a human weapon, you could say.
Ah... no, that wouldn't work. Our kids are on a whole different level.
"Really? You don't look very strong."
"Fighting isn't all about strength."
"I'm so jealous..."
Even for an upper-class woman, venturing outside is that hard, huh?
Back in antiquity and the Middle Ages, women were treated as property more than people, after all...
"Why? Don't women learn to fight here?"
"We lack strength, so women weave cloth or go to the temple."
Huh? That's actually similar to us? Our girls are strong too, but they rarely become hunters or soldiers either.
"It's the same for us."
"Really? Then why did you learn to fight?"
"If war breaks out, women have to fight too, don't they?"
If all the men die, are you just planning to get carted off and become a slave?
"But you can't beat men, can you?"
"You don't learn to beat them. You learn to protect yourself."
Also, two or three women together can beat a man, no? There's no defense against a group beating.
"How admirable..."
What's with the glazed look in this lady's eyes? What exactly are you imagining?
After mulling it over for a while, Helene began firing off questions with sparkling eyes.
"Have you been on many wonderful adventures?"
"Hmm, more like travels than adventures."
I did cause an incident every time I left home, but I suppose it counts as adventure in its own way?
"Tell me some stories!"
"Shall I?"
My marvelous tales of adventure. Time to unload a whole stack of them. A little embellishment will be necessary, of course.
"So in this place called Seolju, packs of wolves live in symbiosis with people?"
"Yes! Enormously big wolves — their heads come up to about my shoulder height!"
Maybe it was the cold, or maybe they just ate well? Either way, the wolves had grown absolutely massive.
It's a mercy they don't lunge at people.
"Wow! You could ride them around!"
"Their bodies are shaped differently from horses, so that'd be a bit difficult. But they pull sledges!"
"I'd love to ride one~"
"Back in the day, there was a tribe living near us that... (etc.)..."
"Even for the distant past, that's terribly primitive. And they feared fire, I see..."
"Yes. Our farmland burned, ugh. A great many people starved to death."
"Human sacrifice!?"
"Yes. When they build a house, they bury someone under the foundations too!"
"How do you live with such ominousness around you?"
Exactly! That's what I said! What do you mean no ghosts come out?!
"Sigh. I suppose bandits are common where you're from, too."
That one stung. It hurt my heart!
I suppose that's proof I still have a conscience left?
"There's the harbor!"
She'd been enjoying the conversation so much that time had flown by without her noticing, and suddenly they'd arrived at their destination.
Shame, really... I still had so many stories left...
"What a pity. We've already arrived."
"No! Come with me!"
"Pardon?"
I have a guide, you know? Hmm... well, no real need to go sightseeing, is there? I should visit a noble household once more, right?
Talking and having fun together is enjoyable, after all.
"Shall I, then?"
It's not like the merchants lose anything by it.
And so Haeun tossed her first guide aside and set off after Helene.
The roads were broad and well-built, in fact — firmly compacted, sometimes paved with stone or fired tiles. The houses stood straight and orderly; by Daehan's standards they fell short, but compared to places like China, this was remarkably developed.
Following her, Haeun made her way toward a building atop the hill that looked like a temple.
The astonishing structure loomed larger with every step.
"Wow~ It's enormous?"
Building something this big out of stone can't be easy.
I'd assumed she was just nobility, but isn't this a palace? A colossal building of stacked stone, stories high, stood right before her eyes.
A palace? Or maybe "citadel" would be the more accurate word?
"Oh-ho-ho. The palace complex is up top; we live down below. This way, please."
Huh? The king and the nobles live in the same building?
A short walk later, they passed an open clearing that looked fit for lighting a great bonfire, and entered a modest villa.
Grass and small trees grew in decorative pots, and gold ornamentation glinted here and there — an elegant house, ornate without being excessive.
"Come in. This is my chamber!"
"Then, with your permission."
"Shall we share some wine?"
"Yes, gladly!"
Oh right, Mediterranean wine is famous! Local cuisine is something you simply have to try!
Then Helene went to a dark side room, pried open the lid of a great clay jar, and scooped something out.
"It smells lovely, doesn't it?"
"Yes."
Says who? I was hoping for a fragrant grape aroma, and this is sour rice wine that's gone off? Ugh, gross.
This is so not my taste! I genuinely can't drink this.
Clatter
So Haeun slipped her hand into the pack she carried on her back and, pretending to pull it out of the bag, drew out clear rice wine from her subspace instead.
"Oh? What's that?"
"A drink we enjoy in Daehan."
Maybe it won't suit her palate, but I like it, so someone at least has to drink it.
"May I try a cup?"
"Of course, please do."
Glug-glug
Clear rice wine flowing from a glass bottle! She had to take good care of the bottle, too — otherwise the quartermaster would chew her out.
Glass is expensive for us as well...
"What is that bottle? How pretty?"
"It's glass. You don't have it here?"
"What!? Glass?"
Hm? Why so surprised? Sure, it's a bit rough and the clarity isn't great, but I saw it in the markets here now and then?
Does mine look that good? Well, the artisans did fuss over it since it belonged to me, and made it extra pretty.
"I've never seen glass this beautiful."
If you stare at it like that, I'll end up having to give it to you as a gift...
"It's precious in my country too. Haha."
"You seemed extraordinary from the start — so you're the daughter of a noble house of Daehan, I see?"
"No. Would someone like that wander around alone like this?"
Well, I did come alone, but now that I look around, I'm not really alone. Our people are all over this region.
They're busy with their piracy, but if I called, they'd come.
"Hmm, that's what puzzles me. You don't travel with bodyguards?"
Actually, I ran away from home. I went out to inspect the city walls and just... kept going. Yes. That's it.
Back home, someone is probably throwing a fit right about now because I left without a word. Again.
"It's fine. I run fast, and once I bolt, no one can catch me."
Even if you flew into the sky, once she ran, there'd be no catching her.
"Your limbs are so slender and your skin this pale, yet you're athletic?"
"You noticed?"
She briefly lifted herself off the ground, balancing on the strength of her arms alone.
"Oh my? That's possible?"
"I can do more than that."
And then, just like that, she raised her legs and went into a full handstand!
Whoosh
"Oh dear..."
Ah... I was wearing a skirt, wasn't I?
Thud
She pushed off the ground with her hands and dropped back down in an instant. That was embarrassing!
"Whoa! Haeun! How are your legs this smooth?"
"Exercise."
Helene stroked her legs over the fabric, positively green with envy.
"What a truly beautiful person you are."
"You should work out and take care of yourself too, Helene."
"That's a bit difficult for me..."
Every time she leaves home she realizes it — it's not that she's weak...
Helene right there is taller than her and looks more muscular, yet can't do what Haeun does.
Thinking about it made her not want to go home...
"My skin turns brown the moment I step into the sun. That's why I stay indoors almost all the time."
"Why? Is brown skin bad?"
A healthy tan looks good, doesn't it? Though even among our people, they do prefer pale skin, I suppose.
"Men dislike it. Here, the paler you are, the more popular you are."
"Really?"
What's so great about pale skin? Most of the people here are brown...
Maybe it's seen as a sign that you don't have to work? Some symbol of wealth, perhaps.
"Haeun, that milky-white skin of yours is truly beautiful."
"You're beautiful too, Helene~"
Pale skin only looks pretty if you can't see the veins through it, though?
Helene was pale, sure, but her veins showed so much it was a little unsettling...
Still, a compliment costs nothing.
"And your hair, this deep black — it suits you so wonderfully."
"Thank you."
That's right — black on white is the eternal truth! That's why every accessory looks good on her no matter the color!
"By the way, do you wear clothes like this in Daehan? I take it it's not a very cold country?"
Hm? Is that why she thinks that — because of the exposed midriff?
"This is just comfortable everyday wear. In winter it gets so cold that we have more clothes to layer on top."
"You layer more clothes on?"
"Yes. It snows, you see. It's brutally cold."
"What is... snow?"
Huh? Did I say the word wrong? Don't tell me they don't have snow?
"White powder that falls from the sky in winter."
"You mean volcanic ash?"
Whoa? This is new — the only white powder falling from the sky she knows is ash?
"Gosh. Then do you know ice?"
"Yes! I've heard that at the tops of very high mountains, water becomes hard."
Wow. The Mediterranean. It really was a blessed place to live, wasn't it? If she lived here, she wouldn't need the World Tree at all.
No wonder the people were so easygoing and the streets had such a peaceful air about them.
"If you grind that ice, it becomes white powder. And it just falls from the sky like that!"
"Goodness me?"
She seemed unable to picture it at all.
"Cold is a frightening thing. In the northern provinces of my country, in winter, if you pour out water, it freezes in the very shape it falls."
"Really!?"
She clearly thought Haeun was making it up. The cold of Siberia is not to be trifled with, my friend!
"And I suppose you don't know snow sledding either..."
"What's that?"
"Snow piles up and gets terribly slippery, you see? You ride a slick board down a slope! It's incredibly fast — so much fun!"
Sledding is the best. Honestly, going all the way to Siberia to ride a dog sledge would be amazing too!
"If you ever get the chance, travel north. Even from here, if you go far enough up, it gets cold in winter."
"Hmm, that would be difficult..."
Is traveling far hard for her?
"Only men make those journeys. Women are rarely taken along."
She really has no outdoor life at all, huh?
Kind of sad, but honestly, Helene being as wobbly as she is, she'd probably have a rough time of it if she did go out.
Staying home might genuinely be the better option this lifetime.
She knew all too well how savage the world out there was — she'd been threatened with murder, abducted, and nearly assaulted more times than she could count.
Though admittedly, things always ended with the other party ruined.