Almark – Northern Sword, Southern Wand

Footprints follow the snow path.

The boy who asked the way out of the city nodded very slightly and walked slowly in the direction pointed out.

The cold cloak is loose and scraped.

A one-man journey for such an old boy.

That's enough to attract people's interest.

But above all, it's the back-bearing, unbalanced dagger for a child.

Everyone in this neighborhood just sees it and understands that this boy is from the North.

An unaccompanied boy who came into Nakahara from the north.

Nevertheless, it is extremely rare for such a child to reach the city by himself over the harsh northern winter.

This city faces the Menover Strait.

The Menover Strait, which separates the North from the Nakahara, is also known as the Waterloo Strait due to the intensity of its tides.

The complex and strange tidal currents, sometimes misread by seasoned sailors, have swallowed up so many ships, large and small.

Season, time, weather, anything else.

Regardless of the reason, the flow of yesterday's tide and that of today's tide were quite different, which was a daily chaos in this strait.

In addition, rocks lurking all over the strait hinder the ship's movements.

The existence of this strait is perhaps the greatest reason why the war in the north did not reach the Nakahara.

Even the current king of the kingdom of Foretta, a Nakahara power known for its ambition, did not risk crossing the Menover Strait with his army.

Mercenaries are the only ones who want to cross this strait to the north.

The dream of birth still rolls on the battlefield in the north.

There is a one-shot chance to rise across hierarchies that is not found in the well-developed Nakahara and southern countries with social and identity systems.

However, even so, it is likely to be interrupted here recently.

Have all the willing men crossed the line? Or have the mercenaries' combat skills developed during the ongoing war, leaving no room for new faces to enter?

In any case, it was almost impossible to see mercenary ships crossing the Menover Strait.

Very rarely, a small merchant vessel just carries information from the north.

The boy was aboard a ship that had arrived from the north for the first time in a long time.

I wonder where I'm going.

Don't you have relatives here?

I wish the bandits hadn't attacked me.

The season was about to start in spring, but the northern limit of the Nakahara is still filled with snow.

After dropping off the back of a boy walking away carving small footprints on the snow, the people of the city rumored like that.

And I quickly forgot.

Two days' walk south of the port town facing the Menover Strait.

A small post town along the street.

A tavern that serves as an inn for travelers.

The door was slammed from the outside at sunset.

When my husband opened the door, a boy in a dirty cloak stood alone.

It looks strange to have a dagger on your back that doesn't match the length of your back.

"... what is it, kid?"

My husband looked behind the boy.

There's nobody here.

"Are you alone? What do you want with a child alone?"

"... stay here"

The boy called it a sleigh.

"... I have money."

Oh?

My husband peeled his eyes. The boy sticks out silver coins at the tip of his nose.

I have money.

The boy said again.

My husband stared at the boy slowly from his toes to his head.

Then I stared at the face.

Neither did the boy.

After a long time, my husband finally said.

"Do you have money?

The boy nods.

"... I can't stay here. Get lost."

Ah?

The boy's expression becomes steep.

I have money.

Didn't you hear that? I said I can't stay. "

My husband closed the door at the end of the boy's nose.

It was that night that my husband heard about the strange boy from a regular customer.

A creepy kid with a sword is sleeping under a tree in the corner of the square, turned down by every inn.

It's getting cold tonight, so maybe it'll snow back in the winter.

That child may be cold tomorrow.

At night and for a long time, when there were no guests, my husband turned to the square with a lamp.

The snow is flickering.

It's not as cold as it gets, but it's as cold as a thorn.

The boy sat nodding under the roots of the tree.

I am trembling with a cold cape on my head.

However, when I noticed the sound of my husband's footsteps, I quickly reacted and put my cape on and put my hand on the handle of the dagger.

"What are you gonna do with that?"

My husband stopped a little away from the boy and said so.

"You got it. Nobody's gonna let you stay here with the money."

The boy stares at his master. Strong suspicion meets vigilance. Never look away from your husband's one-handed throw.

Do you know why?

The boy remains silent when asked by his husband.

Follow me.

As his husband walks out with his heel turned, the boy stares at his back.

Eventually, did you feel that your husband didn't have any sign of looking back, and it was time to start walking behind him.

After drinking the hot soup, the boy's face finally developed a lifelike redness.

How's it going?

My husband asks without smelling.

The boy remained silent while staring at his husband, but eventually nodded small.

Then, he circles around the leather bag that was attached to his body, takes out the silver coins, and sticks it out silently to his husband.

"... I told you I don't need it."

My husband said.

I'm not taking any money from the kid.

My husband's answer distorted the boy's face.

"I just didn't have enough manpower."

My husband said.

"The soup is expensive. Start working here tomorrow."

You're either going to expose him or you're going to run away silently.

My husband stepped on it, but unexpectedly the boy slept honestly in the poor bed of the room where he was raised and began working in this inn the next morning.

The boy said little but what was necessary.

Sometimes when you talk,

"Is this it?"

I was clever in my mouth.

Every time, my husband

"Is this it?"

Corrected.

The boy was smarter than his master had expected.

I learned everything I was told to do once.

After three days, I started doing most of the work at the inn.

However, his suspicious and vigilant eyes remained unchanged.

Hey, kid. Don't work hard.

One day, one of the regular customers of the pub called out to the boy.

The boy continues his work in silence.

Well, I know how he feels. You look alike.

Regular customers mentioned the name of their husband's son, who died with his wife a few years ago in an epidemic.

Come back, my son is in trouble.

From that day on, the boy's attitude gradually softened.

The number of mouths was as small as ever, but something like a stinging killer disappeared from the expression and manners.

From time to time, the boy began to call his husband his "uncle".

One day, a group of nobles stayed in this inn on urgent business.

Everyone who was a regular customer threatened that the boy would not be rude to work, but the boy responded with a polite word from his husband.

I can calculate the numbers, and he's an educated kid.

My husband nodded silently after being told by a regular customer.

Once my husband asked the boy where you were going.

The boy said a few words, just

"To the south"

and replied.

A month has passed since the boy came to the inn.

Mordo, someone knocked on the inn door.

He lived in the neighborhood.

Mordo's out.

The man's words changed his husband's face.

When my husband accompanied the boy to the house outside the city, the livestock was ruthlessly devoured in the garden.

Everyone in the house is hit.

The man said to the boy, "Don't look at me."

Call the soldiers in the city.

The man nods with a dark face at his husband's words.

Even if I use it, it will take three days to go back and forth. Hopefully there won't be another damage before then.

The boy said unexpectedly that he would return to the inn that day.

"Uncle."

My husband sees the boy.

"It's time to go."

The boy said it was time to leave.

I see.

My husband nodded. That's enough.

"Listen."

Tell them to talk.

"Excessive killing and suspicion that you had in mind. It would have been necessary to live in the north. But from here on out, we don't need anything in Nakahara or the South."

That's why nobody let you stay at the inn, my husband said.

"That's completely relieved in the past month. You'll be able to stay in any hotel now. Remember to be polite when talking to people."

My husband looked the boy straight in the eye.

"You've been taught by your parents, don't embarrass them."

"Yes"

The boy nodded honestly.

Then the boy, the mercenaries in the north, continued.

"I will return the favor I have received."

The boy carried his sword into the woods outside the city, asking him to wait another day.

The next day, the boy came back with a big beast's neck hanging.

The whole city became noisy.

Because it was Mordo's neck, the beast that attacked the house outside the city.

"You hunted alone?"

The boy showed Mordo's neck to his insane husband, and then threw it on the ground rudely.

Thank you for your help.

The boy said.

"Soup was delicious."

And I try to turn my back.

When he stopped the boy, he hurried back to the inn and brought the leather bag.

I've been preparing it for a long time.

Take it with you.

Hand it over to the boy.

The boy shakes his head when he sees the amount of portable food and silver that was packed inside.

"I can't take it so much."

"It's a farewell. If you don't take it, I'll throw it away."

My husband said.

"The south is far away. Be careful."

"Yes"

The boy lowered his head deeply to his master.

"My name is Almark. One day, I promise."

"I don't mind. Good luck."

The boy finally said to his master who waved his hand.

"Thank you... uncle"

Then he turned his heel and walked out.

Spring grass began to blow on the road, where there was almost no snow left.

The boy eventually disappeared across the street.

My husband was always staring at the direction the boy walked away.