Chapter 4: Side Story
“We need to move before nightfall.”
“What…?”
The man spoke, leaving behind the bodies of the fallen iron cavalry. At his words, the young girl, Yufi, swallowed hard.
“Judging by their armor, they weren’t ordinary soldiers. Even if they were just scouts, the unit will send a pursuit team once they realize they’ve lost contact.”
“That can’t be…”
She murmured weakly, glancing around. The shattered village, the bodies of its people, the sudden collapse of their everyday life—it was all too real now.
“Mom, Dad…”
Just a short while ago, her parents and siblings were laughing without a care. Now, their bodies lay unrecognizable, and Yufi began to sob.
The emperor or the revolution.
It was her fault. Her foolish choice had led to the death of her family and her people.
“When you’re ready, let me know.”
The man spoke with a calm expression, watching Yufi cry.
“It’s all my fault.”
“It’s not your fault, Yufi.”
The man shook his head quietly at her self-reproachful words.
“It’s their fault.”
His voice was cold, devoid of any emotion.
Thus began the journey of a man and a girl with nowhere to go.
“Revolution!”
“Down with the Ancien Régime!”
Before nightfall, the man and the girl safely descended the mountain and reached the city. Despite the darkness, the city was alive with a festival-like fervor, as if it were broad daylight.
Revolution. The word made Yufi bite her lip.
The man in the robe moved silently through the crowd and spoke.
“You must be hungry. Let’s get something to eat.”
“Okay, sir.”
Yufi nodded weakly. She had no idea where to go or what to do. She couldn’t even understand why this man, who had always been an outsider in her village, was with her now.
More than anything, she couldn’t forget what he had done to those who called themselves ‘revolutionaries.’ Even though Yufi was naive about the world, she sensed that his powers were beyond mere magic.
Ancient darkness and the chill of the end. Yufi glanced at the man’s profile, the deep, dark shadow cast beneath his robe, and said nothing.
The place the man took Yufi to was not a shabby tavern. For Yufi, who only knew of hard black bread and sausages made from pig intestines, the sight was unimaginable.
“Wh-where are we?”
“Order whatever you like.”
It was the most luxurious restaurant in the city. When the staff eyed the man’s appearance suspiciously, he pulled out something from his pocket. Gold coins. Yufi gasped at the sight of the gleaming gold she had never seen before.
“My apologies for not recognizing you, sir!”
“And please prepare some linen clothes for this young lady.”
The man handed over another gold coin, and the staff quickly bowed with a smile.
She remembered the day this suspicious man came to her village. The world wasn’t kind enough to let in a stranger without question. Yet, the villagers accepted him, and he did what he could for them.
Her parents called him a ‘monster hunter,’ and Yufi accepted that explanation.
But the meal before her was not something a mere monster hunter could afford.
Soft white bread made from fine flour, clear and savory meat soup, and luxurious smoked dishes unfolded before the young girl like a dream.
“Such expensive things…”
“Don’t worry, eat as much as you like.”
Yufi realized that this meal was the man’s way of showing kindness.
“Thank you, sir…”
In her humble village, even having regular meals was a struggle. After witnessing such a horrific scene, she had no appetite. Yet, Yufi hesitantly picked up the bread. It was soft and fluffy, unlike the hard black bread she was used to.
She carefully tore a piece and put it in her mouth. To her surprise, it was sweet. It was the first time Yufi realized bread could be sweet.
“It’s delicious.”
“I’m glad.”
“It’s really… delicious.”
After savoring the bread, Yufi murmured, then picked up the spoon to taste the soup. Her parched throat felt warm.
But as she was about to take another bite of bread, she began to sob, overwhelmed by the sadness rising in her throat.
That night, she had a nightmare.
But perhaps because of the unusually soft bed, the nightmare was fleeting. After it ended, a pleasant dream followed.
She dreamt of eating sweet, fluffy bread and clear, savory soup. After the meal, she lay on a bed as soft and thick as the clouds in the sky.
It was a life fit for a princess, so joyful and happy that Yufi could laugh freely.
When Yufi finally awoke from the dream, she found herself in a nightmare she couldn’t escape.
”…!”
Her bed was still as soft and thick as a cloud. The man had said it was a room used by nobles or high-ranking clergy when they stayed in the city. How he managed to secure such a room was beyond Yufi’s understanding.
She recalled the meal from the night before. It was just like in her dream. Soft flour bread and soup. Yet, Yufi couldn’t find joy in any of it.
Beyond the window, the darkness of dawn was settling in. Burying her head in the soft woolen blanket, Yufi cried silently.
“Major Garcia and his entire iron cavalry unit have been wiped out.”
Meanwhile, back in the mountain village where Yufi was born and raised.
A group of soldiers was there. They, too, claimed to be the standard-bearers of the revolution.
“Was it an attack by the emperor’s forces?”
“We’re not sure yet! But judging by the state of the bodies, it seems they were taken down by a mage.”
”…”
It was strange. Regardless of the skill level of the attacker, the fact that the magical armor of the iron cavalry was left untouched was even more puzzling.
The magical armor worn by the iron cavalry was a new weapon of the revolutionaries, a prize to be seized after defeating them. Yet, those who defeated the unit showed no interest in the armor and left it behind.
“Colonel! We’ve found tracks here!”
Fortunately, the clues to pursue the enemies of the revolution were not hard to find.
The next day at noon, Yufi finally awoke to the sweltering heat that engulfed the entire city.
“You’re awake.”
”…!”
When she awoke, a voice spoke without a sound. It was the man’s voice from outside the room.
“Y-yes!”
Yufi hurriedly got up and left the room, finding the man in his usual robe waiting for her. The shadow beneath his robe was as dark as ever.
“You’ve changed clothes.”
The man noted. It was the white linen dress he had bought with the gold coin the night before. Feeling like she was wearing a heavenly gown, Yufi’s cheeks flushed slightly.
“Does it look strange?”
“It doesn’t.”
The man shook his head and turned away. Just then, a deafening cheer erupted from afar.
“We must move quickly.”
The man spoke quietly.
By the time he had waited for Yufi to wake up until the sun was high, it was already too late.
“The standard-bearers of the revolution!”
“The iron cavalry! The march of the iron cavalry!”
As they left the mansion they had rented for the night, the streets were filled with throngs of people.
“Revolution! Revolution!”
The word that sounded like a nightmare to Yufi echoed endlessly, and the man silently watched the scene unfold among the crowd.
”…!”
The cavalry, known as the iron cavalry, marched through the city in the same armor they had worn when they attacked Yufi’s village.
And at their forefront was a man crawling on the ground like a dog, stripped of his dignity. Yufi didn’t know, but he was the mayor of this city.
“Please, sirs! I truly know nothing!”
At the end of the march, the mayor, crawling like a dog, pleaded desperately.
“I have no intention of hindering the revolution! I am not hiding any enemies of the revolution!”
“How could those who wiped out our proud iron cavalry disappear overnight?”
“I-I truly don’t know…!”
To the revolutionaries, it seemed like a perfectly reasonable assumption.
“Dog of the old regime! Kill him!”
“Kill the enemies of the revolution! Kill them!”
The crowd shouted, spitting and throwing fruit. Yufi gasped in horror, and the man whispered to her quietly.
“Do not be swayed.”
“But…”
“Is there something you wish for?”
At that moment, the man asked her.
“If you had the power, Miss Yupi, is there something you’d like to accomplish with it?”
Yupi’s breath caught in her throat. The man’s voice carried a force, almost like a devil’s whisper, promising to grant her deepest desires.
”…”
Yupi was just a young girl. The motives and goals of the revolutionaries meant little to her.
“Those people…”
The so-called revolutionaries had taken everything from her overnight. The only emotion Yupi could feel was one of pure, unyielding resentment.
“I can’t forgive them.”
”…”
Yupi whispered, and the man remained silent. She hadn’t spoken with any particular expectation.
At least, that’s how it should have been.
“Then let’s make it so.”
At that moment, the man stepped forward onto the road, parting like the Red Sea before him, without a hint of hesitation.
”…!”
There he stood.
A lone figure blocking the path of the marching revolutionaries, facing the Iron Brigade head-on.
“Interesting.”
Colonel Bourbon, leading the Iron Brigade, smiled with intrigue at the sight. A tense silence fell over the scene, charged with an energy that threatened to explode at any moment. The colonel finally spoke.
“Identify yourself.”
“The enemy of the revolution,” the man replied.