TOPWL 224

“There was such a person.”

“Is that person called Billian?”

“How did you know?”

“I’ve been hearing about someone called Billian from earlier.”

The man’s expression turned complicated at Yudit’s words.

“Yes. Billian was the true leader.”

“Did something happen to him?”

The man emptied his beer with a troubled face, and then he began to talk slowly. He said Billian had told everyone from the start that they must never eat the porridge because they had put drug in it. He also said that Billian often gathered people and broke into the noble’s food storage to share food with the people.

Because of Billian, the people who barely managed to stay sane started to follow him. But the lord, who hated seeing people rely on Billian, found an excuse to imprison him. The man said that without Billian, there was no one fit to act as a leader, so everyone was confused. Yudit carefully listened, and then he spoke.

“What kind of person is the lord?”

The man thought for a moment, and then he spoke.

“He’s a person who likes splendor.”

“Splendor?”

“Yes. Fashionable things, luxurious things, he couldn’t resist them. Some say that’s the reason the territory developed this much, but the lives of the commoners remained the same. In the past, the land itself was rich, so it was manageable, but now he squeezes the commoners with drug and makes them live day by day.”

“So that’s the situation.”

“Even before being captured, Billian only worried about us. We must never eat that porridge. So we endured, but once they found out, they didn’t even give us work anymore… we had no choice…”

The man looked at Bagon and trailed off.

“No. There’s no such thing as having no choice. We were wrong. I’m sorry.”

It seemed he wasn’t entirely a bad person since he still felt shame for trying to steal.

“I can’t say it’s fine, since someone from our group could have been seriously hurt, but I understand how you feel.”

The man began to cry after Yudit’s words, and it seemed those words brought him relief. Yudit quietly watched him, then he gently patted his back. At that moment, a commotion broke out behind them.

“You call that something worth saying?”

With a loud sound, two men tangled and began to fight. The man on the bottom took blow after blow while blocking, then grabbed the other man’s collar and flipped their positions. The exchange happened very quickly, and the inn’s people watched the fight with interest. A loud smack resounded and the man on the bottom’s head turned to the side.

“So what, you want us all to die together?”

The man pinned under shouted as he grabbed the other’s wrist.

“This is where your parents lived, and where your children will live! How can you say we should abandon it so easily?”

“The lord and the nobles already see us as stray dogs. What do we have to protect? Prince Yudit’s side was said to be merciful. If we surrender, we can keep our lives, our faith, and our words. Why wouldn’t we surrender?”

“That’s what happens when Prince Yudit becomes emperor. Losing sovereignty means that. Even if another country’s situation changes, our lives can change completely.”

“That’s something to think about later. If we keep hesitating like this and other princes arrive, this place is finished. If it’s going to end, it’s better when no one’s hurt. If I have to live as a disposable tool, I’ll live a long life and unharmed.”

“You’re saying you want to live your whole life in disgrace?”

They started fighting again. People stepped in late and pulled the two apart as they wrestled. Yudit felt a little shocked that they knew his name and even his way of waging war, and that such heated debates were happening among them.

When a war begins, the reason a nation takes away another’s religion, language, and culture is simple. It’s to make the colony believe it belongs to the conqueror’s country. If those three things aren’t taken away, rebels will always appear. But Yudit never planned to do that from the start. Their culture and religion were worth preserving. Their language as well.

Too many nations had already become cities of the Empire. Anything that isn’t used declines. Yudit didn’t want the Gotha Kingdom to end up like that. That’s why he kept their language, religion, and culture as they were, but he hadn’t expected that this very policy would cause conflict among the people of the Calmor territory.

The fight had calmed down. The middle-aged brown-haired man who had argued fiercely that they must not surrender had won, and he looked troubled too. Not long after, he left, and Yudit rose from his seat. Shane naturally followed. A man who had washed his face at the washbasin shook himself like a dog. Yudit handed the man a handkerchief. The man was startled and cautiously looked at Yudit.

“It will dry soon.”

“It’s fine. Use it.”

After a few offers, the man took the handkerchief. He looked embarrassed when blood stained the cloth after he wiped his face.

“I’m sorry.”

“For what? Does it hurt much?”

“It’s nothing. I’m just a little… upset.”

“Are you afraid of the war?”

The man hollowly laughed and said, “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t afraid. But I might be less afraid than others. I have no family. At least I won’t be pained by putting family first.”

Through the dim light, the man’s face appeared. He did not seem to be of an age without children, so either he never married or he lost his family. Yudit held his tongue and did not ask about family.

“That man earlier said I don’t surrender because I have nothing to lose. He said if I had family I wouldn’t have said such things so carelessly. He’s the one who knows how I lost my wife. He even cried more than I did at the funeral, and he dares.”

The man bit his lip. His clenched hand trembled. That was why they fought. Yudit listened quietly to his story. The man relaxed and then began to talk without being asked.

“…I did that.”

“I see.”

But the more they talked, the darker the man’s expression grew, darker than when he had argued for surrender. At last he said like a sigh, “I don’t really know. I don’t know what is right, or which choice to make.”

He rubbed his face angrily and said, “If Billian were here…”

“What would Billian have said?”

At that question the man stared at Yudit. He chose his words and then slowly spoke.

“Billian was originally considering surrender, but now I don’t know…”

“If you could meet him, what would you ask?”

He looked up at the sky, then he showed a bitter smile.

“I don’t know. I just want to see Billian.”

***

After everyone left, they held another meeting at the inn. Each night they always shared and organized the information they learned, and today they gained many useful pieces of information thanks to that group, so the meeting went on for a bit longer.

Edmond and Garen had drunk every drink the robbers passed around and were already nodding off. Yudit was tired too, but he thought it best to sort things quickly while memories were vivid and then sleep.

“It seems more people follow Billian than I expected.”

“What’s the estimate?”

“At least five hundred, at most two thousand.”

Yudit drew a breath at Bagon’s words. The traveling troupe’s identity had fortunately not been exposed. They had insulted the princes and asking whether their country was a playground for land grabbing and what they thought war was, and they cursed until they seemed full. It did not feel too bad. To them, Yudit was their mortal enemy.

A sheet of paper with tiny notes made the rounds. Bagon began to burn the edge of the paper in the candle flame. Yudit had good memory for things like this and Bagon’s memory was reliable too, so there was no need to risk writing it elsewhere. The small paper turned to ash quickly. Yudit watched the flickering candle and said,

“I must meet Billian.”