The sense of danger won over his pride. As soon as they returned to the room, Carlton said, a bit intimidatingly, Im sorry.
Luisen blinked, bewildered. He wasnt mad? Luisen wondered. Why the sudden apology?
My duke, you were angry I called your benefactor a fraud.
Sure, at first, but
You ignored .
I did?
On the deck.
Thats because you were angry first, wasnt it? If you werent mad, why did you glare at like that in Morrisons room? You even ignored the chair I placed for you.
Isnt that guy, Morrison, a bit strange? Carlton couldnt say that he was jealous, so instead, he turned the conversation around. Besides, his words werent without rit. That man was weird in many ways.
Luisen agreed, nodding, A little.
Apart from being grateful to Morrison, the young lord realized the rchant was a bit strange. So, Carltons upset because Morrison kept on misunderstanding our relationship! He convinced himself. Of course my companion would hate that. I was quite popular in the old days though, so this does give a bitter taste in my mouth.
In any case, I apologize. My words were too harsh. Of course youd get angry if I insulted soone you admire.
Its fine, Im sorry I yelled at you in the restaurant. Actually, I was only angry at that mont; none of my anger lingered.
In fact, Luisen was more lancholic than angry when the rcenary called the one-ard pilgrim a fraud. He was being childishhe desperately wanted the other to also respect the person he admired.
Lets make peace? Luisen reached out this hand. Is this the right way to do it?
Carlton grabbed the young lords hand without hesitation. Copying sothing hed seen sowhere, Luisen embraced him and patted him on the back.
Alright. That was an excellent reconciliation. I guess issues can be solved without one person kneeling to another, huh? Luisen felt incredibly proud from learning sothing new. Co to think of it, you do have reasons to be suspicious. I also had so doubts when I saw you had a pilgrims pass as well. I wonder if he really was a pilgrim.
Carlton couldnt have been the only one in the world who happened upon a pilgrims pass illegitimately. The pre-regression tilines kingdom was in a chaotic situation; it would have been easier to pretend to be a pilgrim during that ti.
Because doubts had alrighty taken seed in the young lords mind, the rcenarys words had a greater effect. Luisen said, Actually, it doesnt matter whether or not hes a true pilgrim. Whether or not hes a conman.
It doesnt matter if hes a fraud? Carlton was taken aback.
He saved from death and opened my eyes to the larger world through his teachings. The fact that he is my benefactor and savior doesnt change.
Words can be crafted at any ti. However, its hard to keep up consistent behavior.
He had obtained dicine for even on stormy days. In the winter, he yielded the area in front of the fireplace for . He always gave half of his food whenever we had scrounged up sothing to eat. Ill believe in his actions. That being the case, hes soone I like, so please dont insult him in front of . Understand?
Whoever the one-ard pilgrim was, he was eternally Luisens saint. Regardless of anyones opinion. Once again, hes soone I like, so no more insults!
Yes
Lets sleep now. Im tired. Luisen slipped out of his clothes and dove into bed.
Carlton stood, dumbfounded, for a while. Who does the young lord like? He felt a chill in his chest, as if the cold river breeze had enveloped him. They had apologized to each other and made up. Still, he felt a strong, lingering sense of defeat.
***
The night passed, and the morning light arrived. Luisen woke, a little late, and rubbed at his eyes. At first, he rushed to start moving before realizing he could stretch out and be languid on his bed. It was great to be on the move without having to walk.
Luisen rolled his body up in the blankets before his eyes found Carlton. He was sitting at the edge of the bed, with a complicated, contemplative expression on his face. Whats with you? Did you sleep at all? the young lord asked.
Yes. Carlton replied absentmindedly.
The ship traveled peacefully. They ate in the on-board restaurant, looked around the cargo, took a walk on the deck, and spent ti playing card gas with Morrison.
All the people on board were rchants like Morrison and their employed rcenaries. Luisen took his absentminded companion to the eatery and ateas expected, the food was pretty tasteless.
After eating, they strolled around and, falling into a routine, went to the cargo hold to see if Morrisons luggage was intact. This ti around, the rchant and his crew also joined in on their day and boisterously played card gas nearby.
Though the young lord thought that the boat ride would be boring, the ship ride was actually rather pleasant. Because the passengers were mostly professionals, no one was particularly self-indulgent or rowdy. Most of them quietly spent ti within their own groups.
The ti flowed by at a leisurely pace. Luisen loved this relaxed mood.
As they were in the middle of a river, the fear that soone would pop out and stab or bite him from the back had vanished. Theyll float peacefully for three days. He was anticipating that.
However, those anticipations were dashed far too soon.
It was ti for dinner, and the passengers flocked to the on-board restaurant. Luisen comnted to his companions that it was a sha the als on board were disappointing and how regretful his al at the famous restaurant in Mittil was cut short.
At that mont, soone stumbled into the restaurant. His slow and unsteady stepslike a person suffering from muscle painattracted everyones attention; the entryway was entirely blocked.
Hey you! Hurry up and move! A rcenary, who was waiting to enter the restaurant, got annoyed and slapped the man on the back. He had hit the man very lightly, but the man fell forward with a thud. W-What?!
The fallen man did not rise again. Bewildered, the rcenary looked at the man and shouted, This man is dead!
What? What are you saying? The people in the restaurant exploded with interest. A group of fellow rcenaries approached. At first, everyone had thought that the shouting man was spouting nonsense; however, the fallen man stood up again. This ti, though, his neck had been turned completely around. Only then could the people present clearly see what it was.
It was a corpse.
A corpse was moving.
Argh! Aaaaaaackkk! The muscularalmost mountain-sizedrcenaries scread as if they were going to faint. In the blink of an eye, Carlton jumped across the table, wrapped his arm around Luisens shoulder, and unsheathed his sword. The restaurant beca a pandemonium.
Groooannn The moving corpse was incredibly slow. It simply ambled about; it didnt really try to threaten those present. Soon afterwards, the rcenaries, returning to their senses, ushered the corpse into a far corner.
What is that?
"
"
Huh? This personisnt this person from the Allos Caravan? Soone had recognized the corpse.
Simultaneously, Luisen finally noticed the moving corpse. Isnt that a Ghoul?
A Ghoul? Like the ones from stories?
Supposedly these were caused by souls that have suffered after the original person died an unjust deaththe body starts to move as if it were alive. That existence was called a Ghoul. Since the body was once a living being, public opinion was divided on whether or not a Ghoul should be considered a monster. People were also divided on the origin of these beingsspontaneous generation? Natural occurrence? Evolution? Curse? Epidemic? Even in the future, nothing had been confird.
Luisen was of the opinion that it was a curse or an epidemic rather than supporting the theory of natural occurrence or the after-effects of a wronged soul. If all people who were wronged beca ghouls, shouldnt everyone at the duchy beco a ghoul and chase after the young lord?
In any case, Ghouls werent threatening monsters. It was grueso to see corpses amble about, but these things were too slow and weak to attack properly.
Isnt there a lot of those up North? Specifically in the Northern Regions? In the previous tiline, while living as a nomad, Luisen had encountered many Ghouls. It wasnt common, but the monsters werent unusual either.
What are you talking about? If those things were common, it wouldnt be the nobles whod run the kingdom. Itd be the Priests.
Really?
Carlton was shocked at Luisens tranquil nonchalance. Was this person always this bold? While the two talked, the rcenaries succeeded in tying up the Ghouls hands and feet. Perfectly tid, soone from the Allos caravan rushed in. T-This How did this
Hey you! What the hell happened?!
Whos the leader of your caravan? Co out and explain yourselves!
The surrounding people began to rebuke the man; in response, the man hesitated for a mont before closing his eyes and explaining all that had happened.
The ghoul here was a servant from the Allos Caravan that had died early this morning. Last night, after the ship sailed, the man had collapsed from a high fever. At the ti, the mbers of the caravan were suffering from the enteritis pandemic that plagued Mittil. However, contrary to their expectations, it wasnt enteritis, and the mans condition continued to deteriorate until he finally died at dawn.
Honestly, if that were the case, then we should have turned the boat around! Why did you hide it?!
Thats Wed suffer a huge loss if the boat turned around
If the boat returned back to port because of the Allos caravan, the caravan would have to take responsibility for all the rchants and rcenaries on board. They had already lost a lot of money in the venture in the Souththey had hushed up the situation because they were reluctant to lose more.
Wheres your leader? Were already in the middle of a crisiswhat is he doing?
Our boss is also down with a high fever.
What?
All the people from our caravan have collapsed.
Wait a minute. So, its an infectious disease?
An infectious disease.
At that one word, everyone fled from the man from the Allos caravan and the Ghoul. In an instant, the restaurant was filled with an air of anxiety and fear.
The people on the boat all shared the sa destiny before they landed at their destination. Everyone ate the sa food, drank the sa water, and shared sa space. That ant that, in this situation, no one here could escape the spread of the disease.
News of the epidemic spread quickly. They were in the middle of the large river, so people couldnt get off the boat. The pleasant and comfortable shipthe floating bedroom that gently cut through the river currentsquickly beca a moving prison.
TL: Just do it Carlton, admit your jealousy~ I wanna see how Luisen reacts!
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