Chapter 5. Haetae (14)
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There were shadowy figures moving stealthily to avoid people’s eyes. One would scout ahead and assess the situation, and when deemed safe, would lead the person behind. Though they were two people with only their eyes barely visible through multiple layers of clothing, the one leading had the distinctive feature of being a hunchback with a fairly large hump strapped to his back.
The two moved this way, seeking out only secluded places and carefully heading toward their destination bit by bit.
Their appearance was terrible from not eating well and sleeping rough outdoors relying on each other’s body heat in the cold, but their expressions were bright. This was because the fierce wind carried a salty scent that was hard to smell on land. Smooth birds they had never seen before flew overhead, and the magnificent sound of ship horns could be heard in the distance.
The harbor was nearby. Soon they would see the ocean. Strange fishy smells vibrated through the air and the ground was sticky everywhere. Perhaps because there was an abundance of food, rats were scattered throughout every alley. The stench of rotting seafood was so bad it made their noses tingle.
The village near the harbor was overflowing with vitality and bustling with people of various dress and appearances: men heavily drunk on alcohol singing songs, women tempting such men, merchants selling seafood spread out, and wealthy people making displeased expressions.
With so many people around, it seemed no one would even care who they were. Was it anticipation of soon being able to board a ship and leave this place, or were they completely captivated by the harbor’s unique charm? They kept feeling meaninglessly excited.
The first to speak was the smaller person in back.
“To board a ship, we need to get tickets.”
“I know that much. But how do we get tickets?”
“That… I don’t know either.”
The two looked at each other and sighed. It was good that they had somehow made it to the harbor town without being caught, but another problem remained.
“What about the fare? We don’t have any money.”
“We can’t exactly sell our things either. We don’t know if they’ll pay fair prices, and if they find out we have such valuable items, they won’t just let us be. Hiding them until now was already difficult.”
The man pushed his bent back with the attached hump toward the woman’s face. The woman made a tearful expression.
“Right… It’s scary…”
“If only you were a man too, I could at least try pushing you forward as a sailor…”
At the man’s muttering, the woman became dejected and let her shoulders droop.
“Sorry, because of me…”
“I’m not blaming you. I’m just at a loss.”
When the man patted the woman’s head, the woman who had been quietly accepting it opened her mouth as if remembering something.
“How about this?”
“What?”
The woman whispered something in the man’s ear. The man’s eyes gradually widened and then suddenly scrunched up.
“Absolutely not!”
“Why? Right now that’s the only method we have.”
“It’s too dangerous. What if we fail?”
“Are you looking down on me?”
“It’s not that I’m looking down on you…”
“I am a brothel owner’s daughter, you know. Since I was born, everything I’ve always seen and heard was that kind of thing. Do you think I can’t do it?”
At the woman’s words, the man seemed to be considering for a moment. The woman quickly continued her persuasion.
“Look. Right now we don’t have money to buy tickets. We can’t sell these things either. We need to get money somehow, but how can we get it right away? Besides, I’ve done it once before, haven’t I? It’s not difficult at all.”
The man was swayed by the woman’s words. The two made plans and put them into action.
The woman threw off the multiple layers of clothing she had been wearing and approached a man who was already heavily drunk. From his attire and luggage, he seemed to be a fairly wealthy traveler. After confirming he was alone, she linked arms with him. The man looked down at the woman with a confused expression.
“What?”
“Why did you drink so much? What will you do if you miss your ship?”
“What? Puha, this is refreshing. Why, what will you do if there’s plenty of time before the ship?”
“What do you mean…”
The woman hugged the man’s arm tightly. The sensation of her chest being pressed against his arm was vivid. The man could be seen swallowing his saliva.
“You’ll play with me, won’t you?”
“Well… your figure is usable. Your face is passable too. But you seem a bit too young…”
“Isn’t being young even better?”
When the woman smiled with her eyes, the man grinned foolishly in response.
“That’s true.”
“What time do you have to go?”
“5 o’clock.”
“That’s plenty of time. We could do it twice.”
“Only twice? How do you see me! Lead the way!”
The man fell for the provocation. The woman quickly led the man toward a secluded alley. The man stopped with an incredulous expression.
“Don’t tell me, outside?”
“Don’t you like it?”
“It’s not that I don’t like it… but a bed would be nice.”
“Instead, I’ll give you something good.”
At the woman’s words, the man made an interested expression. The woman put her fingers between her breasts and pulled out a piece of paper. When unfolded, it contained coarse white powder.
“It’ll probably be amazing.”
At the word “amazing,” the man swallowed his saliva again. She poured a little powder into the liquor bottle the man was holding, shook it around, and handed it back to him.
“Drink it. This alley will become as comfortable as the emperor’s bedchamber.”
The man obediently put the bottle to his mouth. It went down smoothly. As the alcohol went in, he seemed to get even more drunk, and his eyes that had briefly regained focus became unfocused again. The man was docilely led by the woman.
A while later, the woman emerged from the alley. Following behind her was not the man who had been dragged in, but the hunchback. They looked around to see if anyone had been watching, but no one was interested in the dark and dirty alley. The two quickly left the scene.
Only after entering a secluded alley some distance away could the two fully enjoy their joy.
“I got a ticket! Just one, but still!”
“We got money too, so we can buy the rest legitimately. You said 5 o’clock, right? Let’s look for a ship departing at 5.”
“Yes! In just a few hours we can escape the empire. If it’s another country, it’ll be hard for them to find us, so let’s live happily there, just the two of us.”
“Yes. Good. I’m confident I’ll be happy anywhere as long as I’m with you. …But he won’t wake up before 5, will he?”
“There’s no way. I poured all the remaining medicine in for him to drink. Come on, let’s hurry and go get tickets.”
The woman wrapped herself in clothes again and took the man’s hand. The two came out of the alley with beaming smiles.
No, they tried to come out.
“What, what, you people…”
There were people blocking the front of the alley. The man naturally hid the woman behind his back and assessed the situation. Fierce expressions, chain mail clothing, and weapons in their hands. They were mercenaries. The one standing at the front approached with big strides, and the two retreated step by step.
The mercenary who had quickly closed the distance pulled down the cloth covering the man’s face. The man desperately tried to resist but couldn’t overcome the difference in strength. A man holding thin parchment looked back and forth between the two and muttered.
“…Seems to match.”
“Strip the woman behind too.”
“Don’t touch her!”
“Won’t you get out of the way?”
The mercenary who shoved aside the blocking man also roughly pulled down the woman’s clothing. The woman screamed and resisted, but that too was brief. Eventually the woman’s face was revealed, and the mercenaries twisted up the corners of their mouths.
“It’s them. We found them properly. Let’s see. Your name is Osian, and the girl’s name is Cornelia, right?”
“N-no!”
“You’ve got the wrong people!”
“What do you mean no, you bastards.”
“Hey hey, I don’t know what wrong you two committed, but the person looking for you seems very angry. He said as long as you’re breathing and can speak properly, it doesn’t matter if we break or cut off your arms and legs. So it would be better to come along quietly.”
The two wore blank expressions. Both the mercenaries’ threats and the portraits drawn on the parchment made it impossible not to know why they were being sought.
“Grand Duke Canis…”
They had thought the Grand Duke would send people to look for them, but they hadn’t expected him to hire mercenaries too. And with precious portraits drawn, no less.
“See, I told you it looked like that girl.”
“Wow, amazing. How did they get all the way here?”
“If we’d been a little later, we would have missed them. Look, this girl has a ship ticket.”
“God must be helping us.”
“You all promised to split the money equally, right? Everyone keeping that promise? Huh?”
“I was the first to spot them, so shouldn’t I get more?”
“This bastard. Look how his story’s already changing.”
They had secretly escaped mixed in with people fleeing at night, lived with refugees without going near any village, with Nelly selling her body or Osian taking on all sorts of dirty jobs, renting carriages to get this far.
If they could just board a ship, it would be over. They could start anew in a new place.
They couldn’t give up like this. Osian, who had firmly grasped Nelly’s hand, began running recklessly toward the mercenaries. Nelly, who had come to her senses, also ran with all her might. They threw their body weight into pushing through the mercenaries and trying to escape through the gap. But it didn’t go as well as they thought.
Nelly, who had somehow been caught by a mercenary, resisted desperately. Osian was no different, but with both arms caught, he couldn’t move at all.
“These little shits, we were being nice about it…”
The angry mercenaries ruthlessly beat Osian’s stomach and Nelly’s cheek. With their tremendous strength, the two couldn’t resist for long and went limp.
“Well then, shall we go collect our money?”
“That girl, I was the first to…”
“Ah, shut up, you bastard.”
The mercenaries dragged the unconscious two toward where their client was.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
