HEO 24

“Do you want to ruin the prayer ritual? Where’d you pick up that blasphemous nonsense? What did you just say? Demon! You said demon!”

“I’m sorry, Silver! Truth is, atheism’s all the rage among kids our age in Atania… You have to act like you’re spitting on God to be seen as cool… These days, even kids cry and fuss about not wanting to go to the temple with their parents…”

“I was just spouting nonsense like always. Hey, I said it in our Atania language, so maybe His Divinity the Long-Tongued Frog didn’t understand?”

Silver seemed to calm down slightly at Wolf’s words.

“I’ll let it slide just this once. If you act insolent during the prayer ritual, be prepared. Stolls don’t forgive blasphemy.”

“Yes! Yes! I’ll be reverent. Promise. Promise!”

After the commotion, the moon rose high. With the pheasant and rabbit Silver had hunted placed in the center, the three boys spun around and around. Throughout the prayer ritual, Wolf’s heart pounded. Beneath the hood of his deep black robe, only his lips visible, Silver held a torch from which white smoke billowed as he chanted the incantation. He looked sinister and magnificent.

Could a dark wizard, spoken of only in tales, be like that? Except for the fact that the purpose of summoning the god was skin beautification, this invocation ritual was a special experience in Atania that money couldn’t buy.

After finishing the ritual and grilling meat to eat, Silver said.

“The spots won’t disappear immediately. If you wait, they’ll gradually fade and disappear one by one.”

“Since we’ve gone through all this trouble, I really hope they disappear. Honestly, I was embarrassed by the spots on my hands and feet.”

Red Eagle muttered while looking at his own palm. Wolf found it fascinating that being spotless was unusual for a Stoll person.

“Hey, Silver. Was it because of the spots that you and the old man stared at me strangely in the hot springs?”

“Yeah.”

Silver readily admitted.

“It was the first time I’d ever seen a Stoll without spots. I even checked your soles, wondering if maybe there was one there, but there wasn’t, so I was surprised.”

“Ah, I see… So then, do Stoll people get tattoos to cover them?”

“I don’t know the origin, but probably? Stolls find them disgusting too. They all get tattoos where the moles cluster.”

“So around your eyes, there were originally…”

At that, Silver smacked Wolf’s head.

“This was just done to look cool! My face was flawlessly clean!”

After bathing in the hot springs, the three boys went to bed. That night, too, Black Weasel did not return.

***

From then on, the three boys were completely absorbed in play. One day, they came to their senses and counted the days, it had been half a month since Black Weasel had left the cave.

“Why hasn’t he come back yet? Didn’t he tell you where he was going?”

Wolf asked cautiously from his sleeping spot. Silver, lying beside him with his arm as a pillow, glanced at Wolf from the corner of his eye.

“That’s not it. I know where he went.”

“So you know when he’ll be back, then?”

“He didn’t tell me.”

“Hmph. You won’t tell me why he left the cave either?”

“Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t. I don’t know either.”

Silver shut his mouth and stared at the ceiling. His expression was blank, his thoughts unreadable.

“…Well, Bingapsu has a hopeless personality. It’s obvious what he’s doing right now. Probably impregnating some woman somewhere, or getting drunk.”

“Impregnating a woman?”

The blunt phrasing made Wolf’s cheeks burn. Silver chuckled.

“Why the surprise? Bingapsu bragged about it constantly. He claimed he’d impregnated over fifty women in his prime. He said the husbands thanked him by buying him drinks countless times.”

“What? How could the husbands… Ah?”

Only then did he remember.

‘Stoll has an ancient custom called “Dreu.” It involves married women from remote tribes sleeping with men from distant lands to conceive.

Similar customs exist in various remote areas of Atania. It seemed Stoll developed its own solution to avoid direct incestuous marriages. Not just any stranger from afar is chosen as a sleeping partner; it must be a handsome, well-built man, in short, an ‘excellent’ one. “Dreu” refers to the eagle appearing in Stol’s traditional mythology.

“That custom is called Dreu, right? Wow, uncle’s face must be appealing in Stoll. Is he considered handsome here?”

Wolf’s astonishment made Silver flinch.

“Well, someone like Bingapsu is passable… he’s old now, so his popularity’s waned, but just a few years back, women would cling to him wherever he went. But hearing you talk, it sounds like Bingapsu isn’t much to look at in Atania? Is a delicate face the standard for handsome over there?”

“Hmm, Atania has strong regional characteristics, so standards for handsome vary everywhere. But no matter where uncle go in Atania, he probably wouldn’t be very popular. Regardless of the region, Atanians prefer bright, cheerful impressions. Someone who suits a face like this, smiling wide.”

Wolf put his finger to his lips and chuckled.

“You could call it the characteristic of a warm southern man? A relaxed, joyful impression that suits sunlight, blue seas, and palm trees. That kind of face is popular.”

[A face like yours?]

Silver spoke without taking his eyes off Wolf. The latter turned his ear toward him.

“Huh? What?”

[You must be popular with girls.]

“What do you mean? Say it in Atania, Silver.”

“I meant that kind of face isn’t popular in Stoll. Now go to sleep.”

Silver abruptly pulled the blanket over his head. The sight looked cold and distant, making Wolf feel awkward. Silver even seemed strangely unfamiliar. This was probably because he recalled the fact that, along with their customs, the people of Stoll were notoriously promiscuous. Silver must’ve… done-done-done-done it… Why am I stuttering?

It’s nothing, why am I acting like this? Even in Atania, people who are still virgins after 15 are treated like mythical fairies, regardless of gender. Silver, being from Stoll, must have-have-have-have done it. Damn it, you’re stuttering again? No one’s going to overhear, but you keep…

Wolf closed his eyes while counting sheep. Sleep finally came after the time it would take two candles to burn down.

Was it a dream? He heard Silver’s voice.

“Servant. Your father is a good man, right?”

Even in his sleep, Wolf thought. “Please speak in Atanian…”

***

“Wolf. Silver is absolutely not the kind of person who would be a slave.”

The next day, just as Silver left for the hunt and Wolf was starting his cave wall-climbing practice, Red Eagle suddenly spoke.

“You noticed too, right? Silver hates taking orders. He’s stubborn and full of tricks.”

“That’s right, Your Highness.”

Wolf stopped climbing and nodded.

“The kind of son’s friend moms hate most, you might say? Though he’d be popular with his peers.”

In the common expression of commoner boys, he was ‘a guy who lives however he pleases’. Silver’s mischievous nature was fully revealed in role-playing games. As the assault commenced, he’d seize the ship and raid the liquor storehouse first. As captain, he’d feign illness to avoid leading the fight. As strategist, he’d sneak bugs into the captain’s sleeve to play tricks.

“Silver, that guy. He started calling us ‘you guys’ at some point. He’s accepted even me as his friend. Maybe we could slowly persuade him to join our side. Should we do it today?”

“Well…”

Wolf, who had been responding cheerfully, suddenly deflated. A chill ran down the back of his neck, as if a cold blade had touched him. Red Eagle took a step closer.

“Wolf, what’s wrong? Is something bothering you?”

Wolf, who had been silent, abruptly jumped down.

“Your Highness. Something is wrong.”

“What is?”

“Why would Silver be a slave with that personality? He could run away right now if he wanted to. His master isn’t even here.”

“Ah…”

Red Eagle swallowed audibly. Wolf clenched his fists. He felt foolish for only now realizing something this obvious.

“What do you think, Your Highness? Why doesn’t Silver run away?”

“Perhaps… because running away would only hurt himself? Because he’d suffer greater harm?”

“Not that he won’t run away, but that he can’t?”

Wolf recalled the mountain of firewood piled inside the cave. Thinking about it again, it seemed odd. Given Silver’s personality, would he really do all that hard labor just because his master ordered it?

“Maybe Black Weasel has taken his family hostage? If he runs away, his family dies. Judging by Silver’s personality, I can’t think of any other reason. “

“Then… Silver won’t be swayed even if we try to persuade him.”

“Hostages are powerful bargaining chips in international diplomacy too. Silver has no choice but to… Fuck! Pathetic!”

Wolf was startled by Red Eagle’s sudden swear.

“Your Highness, why are you like this? You say it’s pathetic?”