TPFR 06

Chapter 6

Even so, not a single sound escaped his lips.

Only his roughly tied red hair shook messily.

He knew there were people somewhere who dreamed of things like that.

Even when the two of them had been wandering around as orphans with nowhere to belong, the children of families who were a little better off in every village all dreamed of such things.

Leave this tiny village, start as a mercenary, and become the Mercenary King.

Catch a knight’s eye, become their squire, display incredible swordsmanship, defeat magical beasts, receive a title and a territory, and rise in the world…

But those were the kinds of fantasies most children grew out of by the time they were about five.

And now he and Prim were ten, yet she was still dreaming about something like this?

Sure, he was much stronger and bigger than the other children his age.

But compared to real knights, was that really enough?

And besides, who would hire someone with hair as red as his?

Wouldn’t he be lucky if people merely rejected him instead of claiming that his hair would attract magical beasts?

Even if he somehow became a knight, simply living as a wandering knight until he grew old and died would already be considered a blessing from Aiser and Noxrak.

Yet when he tried to argue with Prim, no words came to him.

Prim was quietly looking at him.

He could see tension in one of her clear, pale-green eyes.

She seemed worried that he might say he did not want to become a knight, or that he would call her idea ridiculous.

Rosien finally stopped pulling at his hair.

He swallowed hard.

“…Okay, I get it. I’ll become a knight by becoming a passing knight’s squire. Got it. And after that, then…”

“Then you’ll be granted a few territories, build them up, gradually expand them, and become a Grand Lord.”

“……”

Rosien had been about to ask, ‘That’s enough, right?’

Instead, he could only swallow dryly.

He had escaped the frying pan only to fall straight into the fire.

In truth, the mere fact that they were temple orphans instead of wandering orphans with nowhere to turn was already an enormous rise in status.

And now she wanted him to become a knight, and then a Grand Lord?

Wasn’t that dream a little too big?

Even those well-off children only dreamed of becoming knights.

They never went as far as dreaming of becoming Grand Lords.

Rosien desperately moistened his dry lips.

After rolling around as a beggar and an orphan, with nowhere to depend on, he had picked up quite a bit of knowledge from things he had overheard.

But how was he supposed to meet a lord who would grant him a territory?

And even if he received one, how was he supposed to expand it?

Everything about it was vague and sounded like chasing clouds.

But Prim had never once spoken nonsense.

When Prim took the curse meant for him, she had calmly concluded,

“We should go our separate ways now.”

They were wandering children, and if one of them could not even walk, there was no reason for them to stay together.

He had struggled so hard to make her take those words back.

Afraid that Prim might run away in the middle of the night while bleeding from her feet, he used to tie her hand tightly to his with an old piece of cloth whenever they slept.

If a friend who had once done all that was now speaking with such certainty, he could not simply deny her.

Still, he carefully said,

“Um, Prim. You know, I mean… becoming a knight is one thing, but becoming a Grand Lord… isn’t that, you know… really impossible?”

In truth, he thought even becoming a knight was incredibly difficult.

But after being hit over the head by the words ‘Grand Lord,’ he had the strange illusion that perhaps becoming a knight was something he could somehow manage.

“You can do it.”

“No, I mean, I can’t…”

“You can.”

Prim spoke with such certainty that it was as if she had already seen the future where he succeeded.

“Y-Yeah, okay…”

Rosien scratched the back of his head and decided to nod.

It would be embarrassing to keep insisting he could not do it when his friend was telling him that everything would work out.

“Fine! Grand Lord, huh? What’s so hard about that? I’ll give it a try.”

Prim watched Rosien awkwardly rub the back of his neck and realized that she had gone too far.

Perhaps her determination to express herself properly this time had become excessive.

She hurriedly added,

“…Of course, I’ll help you after I become a perfumer. And as for becoming a Grand Lord… well, if you don’t want to, you don’t have to.”

But Prim could not bring herself to say, ‘Let’s just do whatever you want.’

She had said those words to him in her previous life too.

Back then, Rosien had said that all he wanted was to be her hands and feet and do things for her.

And that wish had turned him into the Lord of the Caverns.

Yet now, that very Lord of the Caverns was rolling his eyes around, wondering what he should say about this subject.

“Whether I become a Grand Lord or not? We’ll decide when the time comes?”

“Yeah.”

“You and me, just two orphans?”

“Yeah.”

Suddenly, Rosien burst into loud laughter.

He laughed while clutching his stomach, and Prim simply blinked at him.

“…I know why you’re laughing. But Rosien, you really do have talent.”

“No, no. That’s not it. That’s not why… Ah, fine. I guess I can somehow make it work. I am strong, after all.”

“Yeah.”

Just then, the sound of a bell rang out in the distance.

It was the bell used by Marselia, the priest of the orphanage, to call the orphans together.

Rosien realized why the bell was ringing and cautiously glanced at Prim.

“Um, Prim. Should we just stay here and keep riding the swing?”

Today was the day Baron and Baroness Corvas were visiting.

The last time they had come, Prim had pretended to be sick and stayed in bed in her room.

Even so, Baron and Baroness Corvas had insisted on seeing Prim and had stayed by her side to nurse her before finally leaving.

Prim thought of the couple’s faces and let out a short sigh.

“No. I want to go down.”

At Prim’s words, he naturally turned his back toward her.

Prim climbed onto his back and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck.

“Oh my, Prim! You’re so pretty today, too. Have you been well? You look a little thinner, too. I brought this for you.”

While the other children stood and greeted them, Prim could not stand and had to greet the baron and baroness while sitting in a chair.

The baroness barely acknowledged the other children before rushing straight over to Prim and holding out a small box.

Inside were dark purple candies that looked somewhat strange.

“Wowww!”

The children who had only been watching from a distance exclaimed in wonder, even though they had no idea what they were.

Baroness Corvas smiled and explained,

“They’re violet candies. You pick violet petals and coat them with sugar. They’re very fragrant, aren’t they?”

Prim smelled the violet candies and looked at the baron and baroness.

There was nothing wrong with the baroness’s explanation.

But perhaps because the violet candies were old, almost all of their floral fragrance had faded.

All that remained was the smell of stale sugar, dried egg whites, and lies.

Priest Marselia also seemed to realize that the candy Prim had received was an old, low-quality item.

But after smoothing over the awkward expression on her face, she stepped in on Prim’s behalf.

“Thank you so much, both of you. You really didn’t have to go this far…”

“How could we not, when the child is so adorable?”

“Prim is just like our own daughter.”

Even if that were true, these were things the impoverished orphanage could never even dream of seeing.

The baron and baroness exchanged smiles as they spoke.

Prim idly fiddled with the box of violet candies.

Then she noticed someone staring at her from a distance and turned her head.

A strikingly beautiful girl with jet-black hair and vivid blue eyes was hiding in the shade of the building, glaring at Prim.

Baron and Baroness Corvas had once adored that girl, Vianna, very much.

At least, until Prim appeared at the orphanage.

They began treating Vianna fondly again only after Prim rejected their offer to adopt her.

And no one ever saw Vianna again after she was adopted in Prim’s place.

Not even her body was ever found.