A Wish to Grab Happiness

Volume 8, Chapter 185: The Dance and Chant of the Main Battlefield

From the Roymetz Fomor’s mansion, Richard slowly came out from the back door, as if a shadow crawled out.

The Lord, Roymetz, would not say anything if Richard came from the front door openly. Still, Richard chose to go through the back door.

Besides, Richard did not like to cross the spectacular entrance such as the main gate of the mansion owned by the high-ranking aristocrats. Being at that mansion made him feel as if he had eaten something rotten. Rather, the slightly dim place, such as a back alley of the mansion, suited Richard’s human nature the most. That mood fit his body and soul.

Richard thought that human beings had their own place where they could breathe. How could a fish jump in the sky and dance in the air? How could birds submerge in the water and make it their home?

The place where humans should live, or where they could live, was predetermined for a long time. Richard did not know if God was the one who decided upon it, or if it were something completely different.

Did it feel right? Maybe not. Yet, Richard knew that reaching a different identity or status would seem impossible to achieve. Even if some were born as aristocrats, few did not meet the world above. In other words, just because some people were born into this world, that did not mean that they could adapt to it. Only those “exposed to the sun” could adapt and thrive.

After all, one could not live outside the world in which one should not live. That’s all.

With that in mind, the figure of a former student suddenly came to Richard’s mind. Speaking of which, where was Lugis in all of this?

Lugis was born into a world where he was unmistakably out of the sun, and tried desperately to survive. Richard clearly remembered that mud often covered Lugis’ path, yet he wished for a different life, whispering that he would eventually grab the sun with his hands.

Lugis had the potential to live in a place that was unmistakably out of the sun. That did not mean he was talented enough to sparkle. He did not have what it takes to be a hero. “However, he had attained it”, Richard thought.

Even covered with mud and ridiculed by others, Lugis still had the ability to stretch his fingers and keep his body moving forward. That was why Richard taught him a little bit about endurance. Summing up. How to survive in such a helpless world. The art of living.

Now, Lugis was about to step into a world bathed in light. Despite being labeled as the great sinner and traitor, Lugis was certainly bathing his body with the sunlight of history.

Richard narrowed his eyes while stroking his white beard. Wrinkles on his face deeply hardened his expression. For a moment, Richard wanted to talk to him, even for a short moment. Even though it was a time to go to the battlefield and exchange blades, he was genuinely interested in Lugis.

“Is the world you are living in comfortable or uncomfortable for you? I want to hear your voice. Maybe I don’t need a proper answer. I just have some curiosity.”

“After all, that’s the road I once took. And the path that I couldn’t adapt to. So I just have a little curiosity in my heart. There’s nothing strange about it. Really.” The wrinkles on Richard’s face greatly distorted and the shadowy lines of his old face deepened.

「…What’s wrong with that face? I can’t believe I’m seeing a scoundrel in a good mood. Did alcohol finally crush your head?」

The cursing took Richard by surprise. A woman’s voice pierced his earlobes sharply. Richard’s eyelids blinked involuntarily.

At the back of the alley, a woman was staring at Richard right before he crossed her path. He could not see her face because she was wearing a hood, but her voice was familiar.

「What. So you are here too, Valerie. The Lord is extremely busy, huh.」

Rather than talking to the human being standing in front of him, Richard threw those words into the air. Richard continued walking without stopping, not bothering himself to see if that other person listened to him or not. The other party, like Richard, did not seem to stop either, and both stepped closer to each other.

Although they exchanged words in a familiar way since they knew each other, they seemed to be heading toward their destination without paying attention to one another.

「What is your destination? 」

Without showing much of her facial expressions, the woman called Valerie shook her lips slightly. The tone of her voice sounded undeniably noble. Richard heard a mix of an accent of the upper class in the verses of her flowing words.

「The east. I’m thinking of eating good fish. I’m sure that I’ll find a lively one there.」

Richard answered without hesitation. The distance between the two had become shorter. The moment when they reached each other’s position, they stopped for an instant.

「I see. Then, I’m going west. The east will be a boring destination for you, because everyone thinks the main battlefield will be in the opposite direction.」

「Well, then you should finish your stuff early and come entertain me. I don’t want to stay behind the scenes for too long if possible.」

That was it. No big greetings or long chats. They exchanged just a few words, passed through each other, and moved away. If one looked at them from a distance, the roads they took were overlapping. No one would feel any connection between the two.

Richard squinted his eyes, stroking his white beard with his fingertips. Valerie, the woman who passed by him earlier was too understandable, feeling that her heart was filled with gloomy emotions.

Yes, no one really thought the east was the main battlefield. No Gharast aristocrat thought the Heraldic religion was a beast that would bite their necks. They must not even have imagined that they would be defeated. After all, the Heraldic religion only had the strength of a worthless wood chip from the perspective of a Gharast citizen.

Then, the more important thing was not just winning against the Heraldic religion. The focus was to win and grab their interests at the same time. Now the Heraldic people were expanding their power not only in the trading city of Garoua Maria, but also in the surrounding territories. In fact, the mercenary city of Belfein became part of their sphere of influence.

Because of the current events, the nobles of the Gharast Kingdom and the priests of the Cathedral had only one thing to think about now.

After all, who would take advantage of the lands after this was over, so to speak, the profits. Richard thought that some of these nobles and priests were secretly welcoming this uproar. Lands that were once unattainable during peacetime could become easily available in turbulent times.

“Oh, Heraldics. If you are going to die anyway, then take more and more of your surroundings, get fat and then die. I’m sure that many people think that way.”

Richard understood why people wanted to use someone like him. His eyebrows rose and his eyes shined brightly in the faint darkness.

Originally, the job that Lord Roymetz Fomor entrusted Richard to do was a job behind the scenes that he could not reveal to anyone else. So to speak, a job specialized in dirty work.

True, a role behind the scenes that could benefit the Lord with great profits, just as when he tormented the Burdnick family, which was once his Lord’s political enemy.

However, the fact that an old soldier like him had to go out to the front stage now meant that the other troops were suppressed in a political arena of sorts.

“Oh well,” Richard realized something amusing. Richard felt that, this time around, the exchanges between rotten aristocrats were not that bad. “After all, it seems this is going to be interesting. I never felt this amused in a long time. Not bad, huh. Really, not bad at all.”

“…Well then. How’s it going to be, Lugis? I want to see how much you’ve grown, even if it’s only a little bit.”