Chapter 11
Chapter 11
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 011
Chapter Title: Those at the Bottom All Crave Salvation
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Shan, who had passed out from blood loss and exhaustion, awoke in the dead of night with a massive moon hanging in the sky.
Something soft cushioned the back of his head, and a strangely sweet scent wafted from the hand gently stroking his forehead.
"Ah, you're awake!"
Only then did Shan realize he was lying with his head pillowed on the thigh of Devi, the butterfly fairy from the Altoin Circus Troupe.
Propping himself up with her help, he saw they were at the wide bank of some river.
A few troupe members had pitched tents nearby, while the others prepared dinner.
Roden, who had been brushing a horse's mane with a currycomb nearby, noticed and approached.
"Perfect timing—you woke up just as we were about to rest after everything's set up. How's the body feeling?"
"I'm fine."
Looking down at his chest, he saw his torn upper garments securely wrapped in sturdy bandages.
For Shan, who had always just lived with whatever injuries he got, this was a strangely unfamiliar treatment.
"We used some expensive medicine, so it'll heal quick, but just in case, don't move around too much. The wound could reopen."
"Got it. But where are we?"
"After you collapsed, we kept walking nonstop until nightfall. Somewhere east of Vito City. The army probably won't chase us this far... but."
While unconscious, Shan had apparently been loaded onto the cart with the troupe's luggage and carried along.
As Roden glanced westward with an anxious expression, Shan relayed his conversation with Peonil exactly as it happened.
Roden let out a deep sigh upon hearing it.
"Still, he's got mercy befitting his reputation. If he were the type who didn't care about face or anything, we could've been in real danger."
"But what were you doing facing off against those people while the troupe fought?"
What Shan had seen upon returning from battle was clearly Roden confronting the people who had stayed outside the castle.
When he brought it up, Roden's already fierce face crumpled further.
"Those bastards were saying they should catch Altoins and hand them over to the count's army! So I was blocking them. They're your kin, after all, right?"
"Ah..."
Shan whipped his head toward some distant place they had passed, now out of sight.
If the people who had persecuted Altoins were right there beside him, he would have cut them all down without mercy—men, women, adults, children.
"Well, luckily my face did the trick. They didn't dare come at me while I stood my ground."
"Thanks, Roden. Really."
For someone already under pressure with an army right in front of him, that must have taken real guts.
Travelers usually carried at least a short sword, after all.
"No need to thank me for doing what anyone should. Let's fill our bellies first. Food smells about ready."
Dinner was soup boiled with flour and butter, plus fish caught fresh from the nearby river and grilled.
As they all sat around eating together, Rocksi, the troupe's ringmaster, formally expressed his thanks again.
"On behalf of my family, let me say it once more. Thank you so much, Shan. And thank you, Mr. Roden."
"Just call me Roden."
"Haha..."
Roden was only nineteen—same age as Devi, two years younger than Pen—but his mature looks made it impossible to treat him like a kid nephew.
Even Pen, who had chatted with him several times on the road, kept calling him "Mr. Roden."
As the two chatted amiably, Boldot—the dwarf quietly poking at his food with a gloomy face—suddenly spoke up.
"If we'd resisted and things went wrong, we'd all be dead. Even now, we're fleeing from the place we meant to perform, like rats."
"Father, why bring that up all of a sudden..."
This sounded like blaming them for stirring up trouble when they'd only tried to help.
Boldot brushed off Pen's short, stumpy arm trying to hush him.
"That's exactly why I stayed quiet. A father who cowers in the corner, trembling, while his daughter gets dragged away. Afterward, I comforted myself saying I'd have fought if I could. Thinking back... it's just pathetic. I'm truly sorry."
Boldot wasn't apologizing to just one person.
To his daughter who nearly suffered a terrible fate, his son who got beaten trying to stop it, and even the righteous stranger who stepped up for unrelated people.
The other troupe members, who had harbored similar thoughts deep down, bowed their heads in silence.
Watching them, Shan nodded.
"I get it. Before I knew I could stand up to the villagers, I always felt the same."
Before realizing he had the strength to overcome the villagers' persecution, Shan had always suppressed himself to fit in, accepting every unfair demand.
The only trigger for his change was reaching a point where he couldn't run anymore and finally swung his strength.
He had no right to scold them for cowardice.
As Shan's words ended, the Altoin Circus Troupe members began sobbing one after another, without anyone starting it.
Tears of the weak, powerless against injustice.
The next morning, they laughed and chatted as if nothing had happened, enjoying breakfast.
Then they discussed what to do from here.
First, Hosu—the fire-breather—puffed up his armored cheeks and grumbled his opinion.
"Staying in Libert any longer feels too risky now."
"Yeah. From what I overheard, the nobles are basically turning the whole country upside down. Things will only get worse, not better."
Morayen Duke, the king's uncle, and Varik Count, the king's maternal grandfather.
These two powerful nobles had started a war over regency for the current five-year-old Libert King.
The battle Shan saw yesterday was just a tiny fragment.
Rumors said thousands of mercenaries were flooding into Libert alone, turning the land into a hellish battlefield for the foreseeable future.
A war between such formidable nobles wouldn't end quickly.
In peaceful times, maybe—but now, a wandering troupe of Altoins was perfect prey for trouble.
"How about going to Pendia together? I heard they don't discriminate against Altoins as much because of this New Faith thing..."
Shan felt a bit shy voicing an idea in front of everyone, but he repeated what Roden had told him.
Deep down, he wanted to travel with them.
But oddly, the troupe smiled proudly yet looked troubled.
Pen scratched his feathered horn and explained.
"The problem is Pendia's the country with the most Altoins living there. No way to make a living."
"Why?"
"Nobody pays to gawk at people they see on every street corner."
Only then did Shan truly grasp their identity.
An Altoin circus troupe drawing crowds with spectacles using their unique appearances and abilities.
In a place full of Altoins, their rarity dropped, so business wouldn't thrive.
And trying other work? They'd face turf wars from settled locals.
"Plus, Pendia has tons of monsters. Fine against regular beasts, but wandering where those roam is suicide."
Even in Libert, bandits, wild animals, and minor weak monsters were common.
The troupe drove them off with Pen swinging a long staff or slinging stones, and Hosu blowing torches into flames.
Useless against strong monsters.
"No place in Libert suits us better. Azun's the most hardcore Old Faith kingdom, half the travelers are bandits or looters, and Luman's New Faith but has bad history."
"Bad history?"
Rocksi gave a shadowed smile at Shan's question.
"They revolted long ago, got wiped out or exiled."
Over a century ago, some on an island in Luman Kingdom declared the New Alto Empire.
A massive revolt—tens of thousands, maybe half the world's Altoins.
The Luman royals sent armies, slaughtered them all, and expelled every other Altoin in the kingdom.
They banned Altoin entry ever since, making Luman harder to find Altoins in than most Old Faith countries today.
The troupe knew the details because they were descendants of those exiled.
Stories handed down from parents, and their parents' parents.
"If only a savior would come..."
Pen, listening beside him, muttered regretfully, then clapped a hand over his mouth.
Too late to take it back.
As Shan tilted his head at the sudden mood shift, Roden hardened his face and pressed.
"You aren't Revivalists, are you?"
"No... not that. We just idly chat about old ancestor tales. We're all devotees of the Goddess's mercy. Of course. Right, Pen?"
"Huh? Oh, y... yes, of course!"
Pen nodded frantically as Rocksi made excuses.
Wondering what a savior even was, Shan watched quietly as Roden stared them down, then sighed and shook his head.
"Fine. Just be careful. Plenty of people looking for excuses."
"We don't usually talk like this. It's just..."
Seeing how they doted on fellow Altoin Shan made them feel kinship, they said.
Roden nodded without pressing further.
After more discussion, the troupe decided: dodge the war's shadow and keep wandering within Libert Kingdom.
Shan eyed Roden, hoping for a way to help, but he shook his head.
No matter how rich Roden's father was, he couldn't ask him to support over ten Altoins for free.
Plus, surviving on charity instead of their own skills wasn't ideal for them.
Their paths split in the late afternoon, when the river they'd followed narrowed and shallowed enough to wade across.
Roden checked his compass and said,
"Time to part ways here. Cross this river and keep east—you'll hit Pendia."
The troupe planned to head straight south.
Libert's south had lords unentangled with the warring nobles, so they'd wander their safer domains.
Before parting, Rocksi clapped Shan's shoulder.
"May your path be filled with shining glory, Shan. Grow strong and become our Altoins' hope. Sorry to burden a child, but we desperately need someone to lead the way."
Shan couldn't boldly say he would.
He aspired to be the strongest knight someday, but wasn't sure that made him a guide for his people.
Maybe if he became a lord later with a fancy domain, hiring only Altoins as subjects?
As he pondered, Devi approached and hugged him tight.
A soft, warm embrace he'd never felt before.
Shan, who had no memory of even his mother's arms, stiffened instinctively.
"You've already given me hope, pretty-eyed knight. Even if we never meet again, I'll never forget you."
She pecked his forehead lightly, flashed a bright smile, and skipped back.
Her one unspread butterfly wing trembled, scattering glowing dust.
"Kid's already smitten."
Roden's first words after crossing the river with their two horses.
Shan tilted his head, confused.
"Smitten with what?"
"You... never mind, you're too young for that. Anyway, don't let their words weigh you down. No one has to shoulder a whole race alone."
Savior of the Alto people? Too heavy for a boy of thirteen or fourteen.
Roden worried Shan might crumble under the pressure.
But unlike his fears, Shan was already somewhat at ease with it.
If opportunity came, sure—but if not up to his abilities, oh well.
Thanks to years of learning quick resignation.
"More importantly, what's a Revivalist? You looked dead serious mentioning it."
Back then, Roden's face wasn't the young man's he showed friends, but the 'serious knight' one for public.
Roden stroked his beard awkwardly at the question.
"Ah, that..."
He bobbed his head a few times, debating, then gave in and explained.
"Short version: a heretical faith that someday a great archmage savior will be born among Altoins to revive the old Alto Empire. The church despises them, right up there with human sacrificers."
"Why?"
"Because that savior's supposed to overthrow the Goddess Faith. Even without that, the church has always hated the old Alto Empire and magic. Before the New Faith, being a mage was reason enough to die."
Just look at the excommunications and heresy declarations against the Magic Society for claiming knights' valor was a form of magic—the Goddess Faith's stance on sorcery was outright neurotic.
"Not that bad now, though. Pendia even got its first royal mage recently."
"Really? Who?"
Shan widened his eyes at the unfamiliar tale.
He knew mages had higher status in Pendia, but a royal learning magic?
"Princess Sherin, I think? Couple years older than you. Called a genius, but who knows if it's real or just propping up royalty."
The Magic Society, desperate for royal backing, would call her smearing dung on walls art if she went mad studying, Roden sniped uncharacteristically.
"Amazing..."
"Eh, still not great press. Don't get ideas about weird stuff—focus on fighting skills. Altoin knight? Maybe. Altoin mage? No career."
Career.
Shan murmured the vague word.
Wealth, fame, power—he'd brushed them off when Roden mentioned recently, but now felt their weight bone-deep.
He'd had to shoot arrows and thrust spears desperately against mercenaries who moved at one knight's gesture.
Maybe someday he'd command his own army like that.
Then he could decide his fate, not rely on kindness—and maybe others', Altoins included.
"I want to rise up. Fast."
"I wanna see you rise too, but grow taller first. You're already stuffed—don't need to say eat more."
"Breakfast was kinda light, honestly."
"Eat more and you'll roll around."
Unlike old times, Shan wasn't skin-and-bones anymore, but still slim and lithe.
After days together, his meals alone should've bloated him—like he raised a stomach monster devouring food.
'No wonder he swings that sword like a whirlwind on that frame—he eats enough for it.'
Chatting away, they found a small village by sunset, rented a house, and stayed.
The next day, and the day after, they kept finding villages before dark.
Horse speed helped, plus Roden's route-planning.
Even he couldn't calculate Shan's appetite perfectly—skipped a meal once.
Heading east, they rarely met others.
Usually merchants or pilgrims, but war soured the mood.
Those they passed fled at the sight of big armored Roden on horseback.
Exactly four days after parting from the troupe.
Time to unwrap the chest bandages.
On the green plains, Roden pointed ahead with a whoop.
"Finally here! See that castle?"
"Yeah."
A weathered fortress between jagged mountains.
Towering six-meter walls blocked a pass carved like a knife slash.
"Solroad Castle. Basically the border marker. Past it is Pendia."
To Roden, his long-awaited homeland.
To Shan, the land of opportunity.
It lay just ahead.