Chapter Two: The Difference Between a Kettle And a Brain (Pt.27)

The morning sun is rising.

At the dawn, we dropped down the baron in a remote area around the Renus City. The baron has already lost all his courage, he is completely like a zombie now. Even if he return to the city, he now has no property, no force We encouraged him to find a friend to help him, but he doesn't seem to have any friend. Revenge happily is the best thing, but look at his depressed face! We still feel very sorry. How would he not have even one friend?

I can probably understand the way of Karl's revenge. He induced the results which woulld be produced naturally from the Baron Silikian's characteristics. If Baron Silikian was a highly prestigious person, then no matter he disappears or not, he could still retain his property and prestige. Karl's revenge is to make the potential penalties happen, while a good person won't be damaged at all.

But this is very effective on Silikian. Hmm, Karl is a very scary person. Wehn I finished, Karl immediately laughed.

"You are right, Nedval. A person who commits crime, even if he didn't get any penalty that can be seen, he can't feel easy to live. Because the penalty would have been built up gradually within his heart. The so-called penalty doesn't happen anywhere else. If there is a wise judge, he will know the most appropriate penalties of criminals, already exists in the hearts of those criminals. I am just following this principle. "

Now we are in the middle of a mountain in the east of Renus, and we are camping here. Going to sleep when the sun is rising seems a bit strange, but because we haven't slept all night, so we can't move on.

While I am enjoying the morning sun, watching the vague lights of Renus City, I say:

"Renus, we have good memories there, bad memories also."

"This is the same no matter where it is. As long as it's a place where human lives, this's the same."

This was Karl's answer. I looked at Iruril.

Iruril is looking at the morning sun. Then she slowly closed her eyes slowly, facing the sunlight like a sunflower. The sunlight shining on her eyelashes is really beautiful. "Iruril? Can you compare human cities and elves cities?"

Iruril still closes her eyes, she said:

"Elves has no city."

"Then what is your point of view, as an elf, on human society? Frankly I am a bit worried, and a little ashamed. What is your opinion on our society?"

My question also attracted the attention of Karl and Sanson. Iruril said:

"Well ...... There are a lot of disappointments. There are also many amazing things, it is very difficult to define in one sentence. Although I only spent three days in that city, I feel like I've been there for 30 years. Does human usually live a day like that? "

"We certainly don't make every day that adventurous."

"Really? I was suspecting that was it because such intense life, so humans tend to have a short life. I especially couldn't imagine the behaviors you guys did last night...."

"Clever, right?"

Iruril smiled,. Then she opened her eyes and looked back.

"Yes, that's clever. Those clever acts, despite the virtue, only to express my feelings, they made me very jolly! This is a similar feeling to the sense of speed, very jolly, and comfortable. Oh, I don't know how to describe this in human words. 'Vibrant'? I don't know. "

"It's ok. We totally understand what you want to say."

I'm relieved. Iruril didn't give us any negative opinions. I was very worried that Iruril would think all humans are like the kind of Baron Silikian. I always thought humans were full of love. But after being together with other races, now I always feel that it will be great if human can be a little better, a little more elegant. I myself is a typical human.

Sanson said:

"Well! Let's sleep! We are all very tired."

Karl leaning against a tree, said:

"I didn't do much yesterday, I will guard. You quickly have a sleep!  We wasted three days, if we want to speed up, we must get enough rest ."

I had a dream, in the dream there was Jamini and my hometown Fief Heltant. Was that a nightmare?

※ ※ ※

Creak creak! That's the sound of stretching bones.

"Ah, when can we sleep on a bed again?"

While I was twisting the body, I said to myself. My bones sound scattered.

Karl leaning against the tree, is sleeping. Well, such a good guard! Sanson heard me talking and opened his eyes, then stood up. He looked at Karl and laughed, then he woke Karl up. Karl hurriedly explained that he fell asleep just now,  he is very sorry, but Sanson said with a smile:

"It doesn't matter. We all stayed up late, this is reasonable. Sleep there. It's not good to travel in the night, I think we should have a whole day of rest today here."

"Does time allows?"

"Originally we planned to finish everything in a month and a half, but we wasted three days in the Renus City, so we have around forty days left only. We have to have an audience with His Majesty the King, also to visit the Huritchell family, and to sell our fief, will there be enough time? "

"Forty days, only forty days .... Well, Percival,, I heard it takes a month to get into the palace." 

"Huh? Is the Palace so big?" 

"No, that's because it first from has to be reported to the officials, level to level, so it will take such a long tme. Fortunately I am a full-fledged deputy of Fief Heltant, what we have to report is about the king's dragon. So they should be able to arrange an audience with His Majesty the King for us immediately."

I interrupted and said: 

"But is it necessary for us to see His Majesty the King? As long as we tell the officials that Cathselprime was defeated, then they can transmit that to the King right?" 

"That could cause trouble. If it's something else, maybe we could do this, no, we do this for anything else, but the dragon is different. Wherever the dragon is, she is still the king's dragon. And Cathselprime for his Majesty the King, is a very important. His Majesty the King sent her to Fief Heltant directly. And Because it was sent by His Majesty directly, we have to report this directly to his Majesty, but not the officials under. "

"Oh! Really annoying. Is that very important?" 

"Very very important. In case His Majesty the King gets angry, we could be beheaded. The officials certainly don't want their heads chopped off." 

"Huh? Beheaded, that's death penalty?" 

Karl tittered. 

"Of course that will not be our case. Theoretically that could be a outcome, but we don't have to worry too much about it. The person in charge of operations the thane of Heltant, but we our thane has full transferred the command to Earl Huritchell. So responsibility of defeat should be on Earl Huritchell "

"So Karl you will be safe?" 

"Right, as long as we tell His Majesty:"Cathselprime was sent to support, but we were still defeated, we are really guilty, "His Majesty the King should forgive us, and then we will be fine. We have to this officially, and be recorded. Moreover I heard that his Majesty the King is very kind. After his elder brother being dethroned, when he became the Crown Prince, people were even excited about that. "

"Oh, really surprising." 

Karl took a deep breath and looked at me, then smiled. But he turned to a sad face again. 

"Only forty days... Reporting the lost war is not really a big problem. The really problem is how do we raise the money. That's what I'm worrying about. Even if Deacon Mr Hamel has huge talent, it's not possible o raise enough money within our fief, after all, the money is our responsibility. When we arrived the capital, we have to beg the King family, or beg the House of Lords, no matter what, we must raise the money. I brought all the tax right pleadings, we will sell them as the last resort."

Seeing Karl so worried, Sanson interrupted: 

"Well, we can find a way to return in a shorter time. Because I didn't traveled on these roads, I was planning by the map only, so It was a bit uneasy to plan the route. But we should get a little more familiar when we return, right? "

"You're right. I understand." 

Karl nodded, and then went into the blanket. He struggled in the blanket over and over again, distressed for a long time before he fell asleep. Sanson opened the luggage, took out the geography book, and then began looking at the map carefully. And me, I took out the basket Jusina gave us.

In the basket there are bread, beer, as well as cheese and fruits. Ha, That girl could say those funny words. What was that? Her own heart has been given stolen by a traveler? She will miss the traveler for her whole life? Ha ha ha! 

The large beer bottle is sealed tightly, it is sealed with wax. Once I opened the lid, a lot of foam came out, probably because just it was shook badly. After I drank a little, I gave it to Sanson, and then began to eat the bread.

Chapter Two: The Difference Between a Kettle And a Brain (Pt.4)

Today's weather seems to be very good. The hot sun is burning my eyebrows.

"Huh?"

I rolled my blanket up and stood up. Sanson and Karl are sleeping in their blankets. What happened?

Nobody was actually night guarding, all of us went to sleep? But then I saw Iruril, she is sitting next to the extinguishing campfire. Iruril looked at the smoke of the campfire and said:

"You woke up?"

Iruril didn't look at me when she was speaking. I'm scared ans said:

"Ah, you helped us for the night shift, Iruril?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because I heard that you couldn't sleep well for several nights because of the Orcs. "

"Ah... Thank you. "

"Am I your friend now, Huchi?"

I suddenly can't understand what she said, and scratched my head, then I remembered the dialogue last night. I suddenly felt very funny and chuckled, then walked to the campfire. When Iruril sits down, she doesn't seem to be taller than me much. Probably because her legs are too long.

"Yes. You are my friend."

"Then will you do something for me?"

Huh? Well, yes. I deliberately whack my palm with my fist to show her, and then said:

"Of course, if you care about me, you won't ask me to do something strange, so-called friends has always been this way, hasn't it?"

Sound a little cunning huh? Iruril looked at me and said:

"Then please go to wash your face."

"...Good."

I went down the cliff we slept on to a small valley to wash my face. Because the altitude is very high, so there are not many trees. In the middle of this plateau, a shallow stream draws a narrow crack on the plateau, calling it a valley is a bit strange. Autumn is deep now, the stream is cold to the point of biting. After I went back to the camping place, Karl and Sanson also woke up. Seeing both of them getting up, Iruril stood up and once again picked up the backpack next to her.

Sanson said hurriedly:

"Eh, you have to leave now?"

"Yes."

"No, why are you leaving so soon... We didn't eat breakfast... Although we don't know where your destination is, if we can travel together, that will be so much better..."

Sanson hurriedly stood up and said. Iruril looked at Sanson with a face without any expression or emotion.

"Travel together? Well, I don't have a horse."

"That why don't you ride with me?"

Iruril looked at Sanson confusedly, and Sanson showed a fainting face because of his words just now. I turned my head and chuckled.

"I don't want to cause you so much trouble."

Sanson because of making a mistake, he couldn't say anything from his mouth now. Iruril slightly nodded to me and Karl, then said:

"I Wish You a Pleasant Journey, Sunlight Always Accompanies Your Ears, Until the Sun Sets."

For this kind of anicent valedictory from Iruril, only Karl has the ability to answer.

"I Wish You a Safe Journey, Returns as if Departs, Beams with Joy."

Then Iruril turned away and left.

She went to touch each of our horses tied to a tree. The horses quietly stood there. Iruril then disappeared in the woods which has no road. We heard the sound of bushes and grass, Iruril's black hair was gone soon. A while later, we saw Iruril far on the hill, after she climbed over the hill, we could no longer see her.

"Why doesn't she walk on the road?"

After Iruril's figure completely disappeared, I said. Karl replied:

"Road is for human. Elves don't build roads."

"They don't build roads?"

Karl smiled and said:

"There is a saying: When an Elf walks in the forest, she becomes a tree; When a Man walks in the forest, he creates a trail. When an Elf looks up at the sky, she becomes a star; When a Man looks up at the sky, he creates constellations. These words illustrate the diversification of elves perfectly."

"Diversification?"

"Staying with an elf, the elf will become like that thing. Staying with a human, that thing will become like human. "

This sentence is really clever. Well, I haven't had such a good sleep for a long time(when you get woke up for the night shift, it's really a grind), and now I can feel that I am full of energy. I said:

"Then if an elf meets a human?"

"The elf will become very like human. So Sanson, your request just now was very rude."

Sanson blushed. He said:

"I, I don't know. In fact, Huchi and I can ride the same horse ..."

※ ※ ※

We kneaded some flour into dough, began to make scones on a pan. In order to keep some for lunch, we used a lot of flour. If there are some milk or eggs, the taste could be much better. But now we are living in the wild, we better not to be so pampered.

Karl only ate a little, I am the type of person who eat until getting tired, Sanson on the other hand is regardless of how much he ate, he won't get tired. When I was making the scones, Sanson was already picking up some of the scones and ate like a glutton.

"Leave me some Okay?"

"You fool. Why would you start eating only after all are toasted?"

Well, that's right. So I began to cook with one hand, and use another hand to grab the scones and eat. But I soon found that this method has a very big problem. That is, no matter how much I've made, there can't be anything left for our lunch.

Sanson and I realized that surprisingly, and Karl is looking at us with his deep eyes and smiling.

Sanson is still regretting what he had said.

"I should have just said Huchi'd ride with me..."

"Stop thinking about that, okay? It's already happened, what's the point of regretting? "

I grabbed more flour to knead, and asked them:

"About those Orcs, what are you going to do?"

"We already know where their location is, if we pretend not knowing and just walk over, I will feel very bad."

"So is there any way to solve it? Hey, don't touch! That's for lunch!"

Sanson insisted to pick one more into his mouth, revealed a pleased expression. But Carl looks upset and said:

"No way. We have missions, shouldn't go and risk our lives. This is not something that we can control. After we arrive the capital, I will report this to the defense ministers or influential individuals."

"But what about those people..."

"Although we feel very sorry, the Orcs would not arbitrarily abuse the craftsmen. And craftsmen don't often travel, so it's very difficult for the Orcs to catch more of them too, we can only be patient now, Percival. "

"Gee (Chewing sound), Yes!"

"Please clearly mark their location on the geography book, and write down the signs they said, so that when we reach the capital we can make a complete report."

"Sure!"

After breakfast, we set out. Haven't slept so well for a long time, so I feel really happy. But because we slept till so late, plus we spent so much time on making extra scones, we set out late. I began to whisper that Sanson is the one who makes us late, Sanson replied that we should able to pass through Hudyne Ridge in the afternoon, in the evening we can enter the village to rest, so he told us not to worry. Then he began to mutter again.

"I should have said Huchi'd ride with me..."

"Shut up!"

The place we slept last night looks like the boundary of a forest. When we are down to the lowlands, we gradually entered deep into a forest. Although this is just a mountain road, because it's an extension of the Central Avenue, so the road is smooth and wide. It is very suitable for horses, but because it's a bit steep, in order not to get the horses too tired, we are moving forward with a jogging speed. I've rode for several days, so I also started to get very familiar with horses.

Probably about a hour. We are around the height of rapid streams appear in valleys.

Wocha la la la!

I heard the strange noise, so I looked at Sanson. Sanson said:

"That is the Hudyne River. Because it's a jet stream in the valley, so it sounds loud, right? We have to cross the river."

"Jet stream? We don't cross a jet stream on a horseback, right?"

"Don't be nonsense. There is a bridge."

"Wait a minute! Let me guess. It was Hudyne Ridge, then Hudyne River, so the name of the bridge, should be Hudyne Bridge right?"

"Wrong. The Bridge of Dozen. "

"What? Dozen? What does this mean?"

"I don't know. That's what the geography book says."

So we ran toward the Bridge of Dozen in this confused situation. The closer we get, the louder the sound of rushing water becomes. Now it's even difficult to talk to the person next to you in an ordinary volume.

After a while, the trees which blocked our sight instantly all disappeared. We found a huge cliff appeared in front of us. However, our attention is not on the cliff, but the thing standing in front it, we are all shocked.