Chapter 23. To a Wider World (3)
Chapter 23. To a Wider World (3)
Varius was rich.
It hadn't started that way.
But through diligent hard work.
He had grown the Varius Merchant Company into one of the top five in Yohvin.
He had seized success.
But Varius's ambitions were still very much ongoing.
To expand his influence westward.
He had personally joined this trading expedition.
And his only daughter, whom he was raising as his successor, had willingly come along.
But things weren't going well.
Dweys von Abilark.
The greenhorn heir to Count Abilark had started slacking off.
A crack had formed in the western defense line.
And heathen splinter groups had exploited it to penetrate deep into the interior.
The mercenary band escorting the caravan had been practically wiped out.
They had tried to hurry back to Yohvin.
But in the process, they got ambushed by heathen cavalry.
Varius fell into despair.
Because right now, the only mercenary protecting him was one guy.
And even he wasn't in good shape.
He had taken an arrow to the shoulder in the fight with the heathens.
They were as good as dead.
The Varius Merchant Company.
The tower he had built over decades of blood and sweat was about to come crashing down.
He could endure the company going bankrupt.
But he absolutely could not bear anything happening to his only daughter Isabel, who had come along on this expedition.
"#$@$%@#*#@!"
"^*##@!"
The heathen cavalry bellowed.
It was a foreign language, but he could understand it.
Goods cross borders.
And merchants are no exception.
Varius had done business in heathen lands in his younger days.
He had naturally become fluent in the foreign tongue.
The cavalrymen were ordering them.
Get out of the carriage quick.
And strip down to not even your underwear.
What would happen next.
Was plain as day.
They'd take all their money.
And kill off Varius and all the men.
And Isabel?
She'd be raped, of course.
Then dragged off to heathen lands in the west.
And traded like merchandise in a slave market.
It was utterly unacceptable.
Varius fiddled with the dagger at his waist.
Even if he fought with this.
He couldn't beat the cavalrymen.
Even scratching them would be tough.
Still, better than going down without a fight.
Gotta at least squirm a bit.
He was thinking that as he prepared to get out.
When new victims appeared.
A shabby pack horse with one guy and one girl.
And a dog as a bonus.
But it was a mistake.
They were no victims at all.
Something flashed from the man's staff—and two cavalrymen dropped in an instant.
The remaining three fled.
A perfectly natural reaction.
You couldn't win against a mage that skilled.
Varius made a vow.
He had to repay this lifesaver.
If you receive, you must give.
That was merchant Varius's principle.
"He.. Helen?!"
"Uncleee!"
Helen shot up and suddenly threw herself into Varius's arms.
They looked awfully close.
No, close didn't even cover it.
It was like father and daughter.
"You're alive?! Huh?!"
"Yeah! Somehow I made it."
Helen buried her face in Varius's chest and sobbed for a good long while.
Another person came down from the carriage.
A woman in her prime.
Wearing thick fur like Varius, with a black hat on her head.
That hat caught the eye.
It was similar in design to the Russian traditional hat, the ushanka.
Of course, even more eye-catching than the hat was the woman's looks.
Whiter than snow.
Skin so transparent it was blinding.
A tiny face.
With big eyes blinking nonstop.
An innocent impression.
They call this a puppy face, right?
"Sis.. It's Helen sis, right..?"
The woman seemed to know Helen too.
"Isabel!"
Helen pulled away from Varius's embrace.
This time burying her face in Isabel's chest.
A touching reunion moment.
But I had no clue about these three's relationship.
Felt kinda awkward for no reason.
Standing there dumbly.
Varius approached.
"I'll never forget this favor, even in death."
"No need."
I shrugged and grinned.
My lips were curling up nicely.
Not only had I saved Helen's acquaintances.
My mana pool had grown too.
"Both of you, calm down. Let's get outta here first."
"Y-Yeah, Uncle.."
For now, we loaded all the luggage Ponika had been carrying onto the carriage.
The carriage interior was huge.
Separate passenger and cargo areas.
We loaded it all up and were about to head out.
When Helen grabbed Varius's wrist tight.
"What's wrong?"
Varius tilted his head.
Helen pointed at Ponika with her finger.
"I wanna bury it somewhere nice."
"You've grown really attached, huh?"
"Yeah.."
It was something you could refuse.
But surprisingly, Varius readily granted Helen's unreasonable request.
"Then, we're off!"
The bald-headed coachman shouted.
"Yeah. Get going quick."
The wheels started rolling slowly.
The road was a bit bumpy.
But being an expensive carriage, it rolled along smoothly.
Hardly any shaking.
Felt like shocks were absorbing the jolts somewhere.
No way a medieval world has suspension though..
Varius chuckled.
He must've read the question on my face.
"This carriage has magic tools installed. Thanks to them, it glides smoothly even on rough roads."
So there was some kinda device after all.
Fitting for a rich merchant's ride.
I sat next to Helen.
Varius and Isabel sat opposite.
There was also the gambeson-wearing mercenary.
Hunched in the corner.
Staring out the window with a sullen face.
I exchanged brief introductions with Varius.
Then his gaze shifted to Helen.
"Do you know how much your parents looked for you?"
"Are my parents doing okay?!"
Helen asked, her face a whirlwind of emotions.
"..."
Varius didn't answer.
He just pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket.
And pressed it to his eyes.
Seeing that, I intuited.
Helen's parents were no longer of this world.
"..."
No way Helen wouldn't notice what I'd figured out.
Tears started streaming down her cheeks again.
She didn't sob.
They just kept flowing nonstop.
In the face of such overwhelming grief.
She seemed at a loss for how to express her emotions.
"It's been four whole years already. Your husband was found as a corpse, and you vanished without a trace. Your father searched high and low."
Varius began his tale.
I sat quietly, listening intently.
Couldn't just let it slide—it was about the woman I loved.
Helen's father Codebell was a merchant.
Thick as thieves with Varius.
Closer than blood brothers, even.
But after his daughter vanished.
Codebell's tragedy began.
He scraped together every penny to search, poured a fortune into printing wanted posters.
"Wait a sec."
Varius rummaged in his bosom.
And pulled out a sheet of paper.
It looked awfully worn.
Helen's face was sketched on it.
"I carried this around too. Every trading trip, I'd show it to people and ask around.."
"Me too."
Isabel pulled out a wanted poster from her own bosom.
"I wanted to find sis somehow, so I turned the place upside down everywhere I went."
"I see.."
Helen's father Codebell.
At the gruesome scene, he collected every scrap of evidence.
Even hired detectives.
Went to a famous spirit medium, even.
But Helen's whereabouts remained undiscovered anywhere.
He got scammed a ton too.
Folks claiming to know where she was.
And fleecing Codebell for huge sums.
His herb trading business, which had been going steady, went bankrupt.
His ailing wife passed away.
And Codebell, wandering everywhere, ran into bandits and lost his life.
He left behind big debts.
But Varius paid them off.
"Uncle.. Thank you so much.. really.."
Helen started bawling.
Isabel glanced at me and gave an awkward smile.
The meaning was obvious.
She'd comfort her, so I should switch seats.
In the end, I ended up next to Varius.
Isabel sat by Helen.
Stroking her hair, rubbing her back, comforting her for a good long while.
"So, who might you be? How'd you end up with Helen?"
It wasn't an interrogating tone.
Quite polite, actually.
Like he was genuinely curious and asking carefully.
"Honey, Uncle Varius is totally trustworthy."
Helen vouched for him.
So I spilled everything that had happened so far.
"Whoa.. How could such a thing.."
Hearing about hunter Bruno, Varius ground his teeth.
His clenched fist trembled.
A reaction you couldn't fake if you didn't see Helen like a daughter.
"You've saved not just us, but Helen's soul too, Hans-ssi. It's a hopeless situation otherwise."
Varius bowed deeply once more.
"By the way, Hans-ssi, what made you leave your hometown?"
"Framed for a crime."
I brushed it off vaguely.
Even if he was trustworthy.
Couldn't exactly confess knocking up the baron's young lady.
Luckily, Varius didn't pry further.
His eyes flicked to Helen's belly.
"When we get to Yohvin, I'll arrange the wedding."
"No, really."
I declined vehemently.
But Varius wouldn't budge an inch.
In the end, I caved.
Returning to Yohvin.
And marrying Helen wouldn't be so bad.
Weddings happen once in a lifetime.
For a harem-chasing stud like me it's different, but normal women usually get just the one.
"But why's Dweys slacking off?"
Varius shrugged at my question.
"Who knows. Even with all my intel networks, couldn't pin down the exact reason. But he's definitely suffered some major mental shock."
Mental shock, huh..
Probably NTR.
The woman he was engaged to got knocked up by another guy.
NTR is a massive humiliation.
If word got out that a serf's seed was planted in his fiancée's womb.
He'd be a laughingstock.
For nobles, honor trumps money.
That's why they duel over pride.
So Dweys must've clamped down hard on info.
I gave a bitter smile and shook my head.
Then, my eyes met Isabel's.
Her gaze was pretty intense.
A familiar look to me.
Back when I was a serf, the village girls always eyed me like that.