# Chapter 66
“…Arden?”
Rite’s startled eyes turned toward Arden. Eyes resembling the sky on a cloudy day quickly scanned the room. The mobile was hanging neatly on the wall by the bed, and Rite was sitting properly at the desk. Arden’s Rite, with horns on his head, scales on his right arm, and his left index finger in his mouth.
Arden’s breathing gradually returned to calmness.
“When did you come in?”
“Just now.”
Rite was extremely flustered. In the forest, he could hear even the footsteps of monsters far away. Whether it was because he felt comfortable or because he hadn’t been home long, his senses were already becoming dull.
He glanced nervously at Arden while awkwardly covering what was spread out on the desk with his arm. Even so, Arden could recognize what it was at a glance. It was Artalis’s map.
A line was drawn from Winterishe to Menden, the closest village, and there was a circle at the location of Moran. The notebook spread out next to it was filled with dense writing, though Arden couldn’t tell what was written. The forearm covering the notebook was stained with dark graphite. When Arden slowly raised his head to look at Rite, Rite bit his lip. He removed his arm that was covering the desk and sighed.
“Arden, this is…”
“Were you planning to go alone?”
“No.”
Rite immediately retorted, shaking his head. His slightly furrowed brow and eyebrows, along with his firmly closed lips, were asserting the truth more than ever.
“I wasn’t planning to go without Arden’s permission either. If Arden doesn’t want to go, I won’t force you to come with me, but… I still want us to go together.”
“Because I know the way?”
“Because I want to be with Arden,” Rite corrected.
Arden didn’t get angry, mock him, or nod his head. He just quietly looked at the items on Rite’s desk.
“I want to leave this place with Arden. My final destination isn’t Moran. Killing the Emperor isn’t my goal. That’s just… a means to an end.”
Arden’s eyes slowly scanned the map. A small star was visible over Kamalon, Arden’s hometown, located south of Moran.
“I want Arden to always be where I go, and I want to always be where Arden is. I said I wanted to find the Summer Forest, but I want to see Arden in spring, Arden in summer, and Arden in autumn too.”
“…”
“Don’t you want to see them too?”
Arden could easily recall Kamalon marked with a star, Moran marked with a circle, and all the villages they would need to pass through to reach Winterishe. He could imagine Rite standing against the backdrop of Kamalon’s lavender-filled fields, and Rite standing in the bustling streets of Moran.
Nevertheless, there remained something that couldn’t be satisfied with just imagination. He wanted to actually see Rite walking around without worrying about people, in a place that wasn’t cold anymore but warm, to see him sitting in the room where he himself had grown up, looking out the window.
He wasn’t sure what meaning there was in the act of seeing, but he wanted to see it.
“…You might really die.”
Though he said that, Arden was almost certain. He would die.
“I know.”
Arden felt a sense of defeat. He could never win against Rite. However, the defeat he felt now was a slightly different emotion from frustration or helplessness.
“You might regret your choice.”
“I know that too.”
Arden recalled his past self. His past where he had acted with the resolve to die. Usually, such reckless actions didn’t end well. The days and nights spent in agony, not knowing if his choices had produced meaningful results, had still not ended.
“I’ll help you to the best of my ability, but I will always prioritize your safety above all else.”
“I’ll do the same.”
Arden couldn’t stop Rite’s choice, his future, with his own hands. He had to accept that wanting Rite to grow up the way he wanted was selfish.
Just as Plin had sent him to the Imperial Palace without saying a word, Arden too had to respect Rite’s choice. If it was a dangerous path, Arden’s job was to quietly help from behind.
Although his own choice had ended this way, he hoped that Rite would be different from him. That’s what made him decide to leave this place. That’s what ultimately made him give up.
Parenting exists for the child’s independence. Arden could vaguely sense that this was the final gateway.
If Rite could live without him, without special protection, and if Rite could live without hating himself, then wouldn’t his parenting be successful?
The future in Arden’s mind had always been gloomy. Rite traveling alone and a traitor left alone in the cabin. But now he could imagine a different scene.
Standing under the lush green summer forest were not one, but two people.
Arden felt his heartbeat quicken. It wasn’t due to stress or tension. Arden quietly pressed his left chest firmly with his palm.
* * *
The map and notes that Rite had made were placed on the dining table. Arden read through the plans Rite had written down and drew lines through them one by one.
“It’s impossible to take a ship to Rosmunt. Rosmunt has tighter security than even the capital. If you try to sneak in, you’ll be caught with almost one hundred percent certainty.”
Rite chewed on his fingers nervously. With each of his plans being crossed out by Arden’s hand, his expression grew more and more complex. To think that all the plans he had carefully thought out were completely unrealistic. He wasn’t sure whether to admire Arden’s competence or lament his own ignorance. It was ignorance that couldn’t be filled no matter how many books he read. Rite, having never left the forest, had much to learn.
“But if we don’t cross through Rosmunt and take the long way around…”
The longer the journey, the greater the chance of getting caught. Neither option was safe. Arden looked at the map while twirling the pen in his hand.
Arden couldn’t use the steam airship. Steam airships had stricter inspections compared to trains.
This meant the only available means of transportation was the train. With luck, they might be able to catch a passing carriage. After staring at the map for a long time, Arden drew small dots here and there on the map.
“What I’ve just marked are the train stations. One in Winterishe.”
The Winter Forest, Winterishe, and other barren northern lands were collectively called the Aljians region. A practically abandoned zone with almost no usable land. Arden could move freely only within Aljians.
The result of Arden’s trial was not exile to the Winter Forest but to Aljians. So, until they reached Menden, movement was relatively free. The problem was that in the Aljians region, where Winterishe was the only village, it was inevitable that people would be suspicious of Arden moving toward Menden. Either way, we’ll have to go in hiding. Arden bit his lip.
“And one in Menden.”
It was a small village adjacent to Aljians, and also closest to Winterishe. Even though it was adjacent, it was located more than thirty hours away by train.
“One in Idelven.”
A village that would take more than twenty hours by train from Menden.
“And Rosmunt.”
An artificial city built on a lake, and in terms of development, it was more advanced than the capital Moran. This made it difficult to pass through inspections, but once through, it wouldn’t be hard to blend in with the crowd.
“Then Moran.”
The capital, which was the primary destination. The city with the Imperial Palace and where the Emperor resided. He wasn’t sure where the next destination would be, but that was the current plan.
“This is the fastest route. Even if we take the train without stopping… it would take a full two and a half days. And that’s only if the train runs continuously, so realistically, it would take five days. And we’ll probably take even longer.”
At Arden’s words, Rite’s mind raced. The Winter Forest alone was quite large, but the idea that there were places that would take days by train was hard to comprehend. Places where snow didn’t fall and four seasons existed. Places where roses bloomed and it was hot. He gradually colored the illustrations he had only seen in black and white.
“It would be good if we could meet a magician along the way.”
“Where would we find a magician?”
“Probably in a big city. Most likely in Rosmunt. I’ve heard for sure that there’s one in Alsi, but it’s too far to go through Alsi.”
“We’ll just have to see when we get there,” Arden added. He wasn’t entirely comfortable with the idea. Learning magic not for any other reason, but to kill someone.
But he couldn’t just send Rite, who had only ever chopped firewood at home, to the palace. To meet the Emperor, he would first have to face the Knights.
Aside from their numbers, there were two Knights that concerned him. Daniel and Seirios. Would Rite be able to handle seeing Daniel? Daniel had been nothing short of a nightmare for young Rite. Arden glanced at Rite. Rite was staring intently at the map, lost in thought.
“There are many problems, but getting from Winterishe to Menden is the first issue. The station attendant would definitely recognize me. There aren’t many trains or passengers at Winterishe station, so it’s difficult to sneak on board.”
“Markus has an automatic carriage, doesn’t he? What about that?”
At Rite’s words, Arden smiled slightly. While he and Markus were on friendly terms, it was an impossible request.
“The reason Markus helps me is because I cooperate with this village. He has no reason to help me leave the village.”
Moreover, it was clear that once they left, there would be tremendous uproar. They might not be able to return, and this time, Arden might even be sentenced to death. There was no reason for Markus to cooperate in such a matter.
“The first option is to board not at Winterishe station but somewhere in between. There are no other stations between Winterishe and Menden, but that doesn’t mean the train runs continuously. It stops exactly twice.”
Arden’s eyes scanned the map. It had been about 10 years since he last took the train, so he wasn’t sure if it was still the same.
“The problem is that this way, we’d be fare-evading passengers, so we’d have to avoid the train staff until we reach Menden, and there’s no way to get there in the first place. It’s quite a distance to walk.”
“What’s the second option?”
“Taking the train from the station, risking the danger. In this case, once the train departs, there’s no major risk. The problem is the process of boarding the train.”
“So we just need to deal with the station attendant.”
“…Just to be clear, violence is not an option.”
At Arden’s words, a brief look of surprise crossed Rite’s face before disappearing. Like someone who had been hit right on target.
“Why not? I don’t have to kill them, just knock them out for a bit.”
“How? That would create an even bigger commotion.”
“You could use that commotion to sneak onto the train.”
“And what about you?”
Rite frowned. He hadn’t thought that far, it seemed. Arden had another method in mind, but he wasn’t sure if it would work. Arden didn’t know much about the station attendant.
“Instead of violence… there’s also the option of negotiation.”
“Negotiation?”
“We give them what they want, and they turn a blind eye to me boarding the train.”
“Ah, you mean bribery?”
At Rite’s words, Arden tightly closed his mouth. Teaching the kid such great things. He sighed inwardly, silently criticizing himself.
