# Chapter 52
Thump, thump thump.
The man knocked on the door again. The sound was much more irritable than before. As I turned to go back to the table, I saw Rite who had somehow already approached behind me. I lowered my voice and whispered to him.
“Go to your room.”
“Why? Who is it?”
Rite’s hands gripped both my arms. I slowly removed Rite’s anxious hands and gently patted his shoulders.
“That man from yesterday.”
“…”
“It’s nothing. He’s alone. I’ll talk to him and send him away.”
He’ll probably just say a few words and leave, I added softly as I gently pushed Rite’s shoulder toward the inside of the house. Rite bit his lip hard and grabbed my hand that was touching his shoulder.
“I don’t want that.”
The low, sunken voice pronounced each syllable clearly and distinctly.
“It can’t be okay. I don’t like Arden meeting with someone who seems desperate to hurt Arden.”
“…Rite.”
“I also don’t like how you act like it doesn’t matter. Why do you pretend you’re not hurt when you are?”
“There’s no choice.”
It was something only I could do. There were only two people in this house, me and Rite, and Rite must not be seen. Besides, I didn’t want Rite to meet the person who had raised a hand against him.
Rite’s lips moved several times, but no words came out. I wanted to wait for Rite until the end, but I heard the sound of knocking on the door again.
“Go inside quickly.”
“Can’t I just stay here?”
“No. He’s different from Jack. If he tries to come into the house on his own…”
“…Alright.”
Rite released my hand. After looking back and forth between me and the door several times, he finally moved his feet toward his room. Only after confirming that Rite’s door was closed did I open the front door. A fine raindrop fell on the back of my hand.
“…What brings you here?”
The smell of alcohol wafted in with the cold air. As soon as the door opened, Gaebe withdrew his hand and put it behind his back. In that position, he slightly rolled his eyes to scan the inside of the house visible behind me. It seemed like he was trying to be discreet, but it was too obvious.
“Are you trying to freeze someone to death? Why did it take so long to open?”
“…I’m not feeling well.”
“Not feeling well?”
Gaebe widened his eyes and stepped back two paces. He looked me up and down as if I were some dangerous being.
“Is it the epidemic?”
“No.”
“How would you know? You were an engineer, not a doctor.”
“…”
“You impious thing. You should know that rebelling against the country is an insult to the Goddess. Shamelessly living…”
It seemed he still believed in the Goddess’s wrath or something like that. I was amazed that someone so fearful had made it here alone. I could only think that the alcohol had given him excessive courage.
“When they said you were coming here, I was absolutely against it, you know? Our village isn’t a trash can.”
Of course I knew. It was natural since most of the villagers were hostile toward me at that time. If Markus hadn’t accepted me first, I wouldn’t have been able to walk around the village so comfortably. Markus was a person who knew how to gain benefits, and he found a way for me to help the village. I sold my labor for cheap, and the villagers turned a blind eye. Thanks to that implicit agreement being maintained, most of the villagers no longer regarded me with suspicion. Though some still remained, like this one.
He didn’t seem to be expecting an answer. I kept my mouth shut, thinking that anything I said would only provoke Gaebe’s anger more. I planned to quietly listen to his complaints and then send him back once he had vented.
“Everyone bewitched by talk of repairing things and whatnot. Everyone, fuck. I don’t know what they expect from a traitor.”
“…”
“All the work has decreased…”
Work? I tried to recall Gaebe’s occupation, but it eluded me frustratingly.
“I knew this would happen eventually. The high-ranking people don’t even glance at our village, but as soon as something useless appears, they send it right here. Not even cleaning up filth. They treat our village as if it’s not part of Artalis.”
This place wasn’t originally like this. It wasn’t like this. Gaebe muttered repeatedly. Gaebe’s age was roughly in his 50s. Winterishe had started to decline long before that, so Gaebe had never seen the village in its prosperous days. Nevertheless, he was speaking as if he had grown up seeing it.
“It was one of the wealthiest villages in Artalis.”
Even if Winterishe had many illegal economic activities that moved money under the table in the past, it was an exaggerated expression. Even being generous, it wouldn’t have been among the top five, but it was certainly in much better condition than it is now. Even looking at it now, there were quite a few elements that didn’t match a village isolated in the barren north. Like the neat streets, or the fountain in the square.
A fountain with water flowing in this cold region was a very luxurious facility. Even though now it’s just an empty fountain with nothing coming out.
The reason such things were possible was because there had been economic activities centered around magicians in the past.
“But now bringing in someone like you… it’s all because of you.”
I had always thought he was a person with strong caution against outsiders and attachment to the village. It was natural that such a person wouldn’t view outsiders favorably, especially someone who came carrying the crime of being a traitor. However, today was a bit strange. It was unusual for someone who had only been giving unpleasant glances while being mindful of others to come all the way to the Winter Forest through the rain.
“Our village will be the first to perish! Others won’t even care. Not knowing that their turn is coming step by step! In the end, the Artalis Empire will fall!”
I was worried that Rite might come out at the loud voice, but if I turned around, I might reveal that someone was inside. Frozen like a stone, without moving at all, I recalled the rumors. Public sentiment seemed worse than expected.
It was understandable to be anxious when the ill omens that had been mere rumors now appeared before one’s eyes. Whether the Emperor was disabled or not had little to do with Winterishe. For people who had endured in a village facing a cold forest crawling with monsters, the presence or absence of the Emperor wasn’t important. They were people who had survived on their own from the beginning.
However, the continuous rain in the village was different. This place was practically without the nation’s protection. If Winterishe became an environment where people could no longer live, there would be nowhere to accept these people.
The rain was a sufficient stimulus for someone with strong attachment to the village. Moreover, there was a criminal on whom to shift the blame.
My eyes kept going to his hands behind his back. Why was he so stubbornly maintaining that posture? Just like someone trying to hide something.
“Where you’re standing now is not Winterishe. I’m not from the same village as you.”
“So that’s why our village next door is suffering damage.”
“I was an engineer, not a god. How could I make it rain…”
“So you won’t leave?”
There was no communication. He seemed to believe that the rain would stop if I really disappeared. If that were the case, it would be much more likely to offer a sacrifice and hold a ceremony for the Goddess for a few days.
Either way, both were equally hopeless, but at least the ceremony wouldn’t tire me out. I closed my eyes at my throbbing head. Pressing hard on my glabella as if applying acupressure, I answered.
“I can’t leave here. That’s the Emperor’s order, and didn’t you say that disobeying the Emperor’s command is an insult to the Goddess…”
The hand pressing my glabella was pulled away by a strong force. It was strong enough to make my body stagger. Surprised, I opened my eyes to see Gaebe gripping my wrist and pressing me against the cabin wall. The rough, thick bark-covered wall pricked my palm.
Over my wrist, Gaebe was pointing a small axe. The thumbnail gripping the handle was purple. The nail was hanging unstably, as if it had been crushed by a hammer.
“What about this? Will you still not leave even with this?”
“…”
After looking at the axe precariously aimed just above my wrist, I raised my gaze to look at Gaebe. His expression wavered under that gaze.
“…It would be better to lower your voice.”
“Ha… you think I can’t do it?”
“That’s not it… I mean it’s better not to make loud noises in the forest.”
I was more conscious of Rite in the house than of monsters. Gaebe’s face reddened with excitement at my response.
“Now even this bastard looks down on me…”
“That’s not it.”
He was a person who had never harmed anyone. If he wanted to threaten, he should have aimed for the neck rather than the hand, but he didn’t have the courage to point a knife at someone’s neck. It seemed he targeted the hand because I was an engineer, but that was a miscalculation. I no longer had much attachment to the profession of engineer.
Above all else… I had even had a knife pointed at my throat before, so I wasn’t particularly shocked by something like this aimed at my hand.
“Let’s see if you still say that after having an axe embedded in your wrist.”
Gaebe raised the hand holding the axe. His gaze was directed not at my wrist but at my eyes. He seemed like someone who wanted me to cower even slightly and say I would leave. It wouldn’t be difficult to pretend to cower, but I couldn’t leave.
What should I do? Should I at least pretend and try to calm Gaebe down? While I was deliberating, the grip on my wrist suddenly strengthened. He seemed frustrated. Gaebe’s eyes changed, and the hand holding the axe approached quickly.
