Ashes and Kingdoms

"Could it be a bandit, could it be a refugee? But you can't help it, you can't fight the Dark Beast."

Oandus roared and Fauna and Nellis looked anxiously at each other. Igross said something, he said, but if it's a human being you encounter, you can't seem to blame him, and he's silent.

Finn looked around together and explained the operation.

"Auntie and Nellis need to get the kids in their luggage and stay by their side. If we're going to fight, the kids are going to have to hide under the van. Uncle, Igros and I will protect you."

"I can fight too," Mac just named himself. "The weapon is only about this stick, but it's more useful than being hidden without doing anything. I can throw stones at a few others."

I can see the desperate thought of not wanting to be a foot wrapper. Finn didn't dare to say he was reckless, he nodded.

"Oh, please if it comes down to it. But don't attack yourself, shield your luggage and defend yourself. It's just like the Dark Beast...... if you can get rid of it, that's fine. Don't even think about taking him down."

"Fine."

Igross whispers and sarcasm. Finn groaned woolly, but smiled bitterly without even turning around.

"I got a bad look at that once. Don't make the same mistake, Mac."

"... ok"

Mac glanced at Igross and then saluted him to Finn. It is an imitation of the appearance of the legion soldiers.

All right, when I consolidated my resolve with, I set off with a nervous face.

The rain had already stopped yesterday, but the sky was more and more cloudy, and the wind was wet and cold. There are also a few children who seem ill, who stand still with a miserable look on the carrier. There wasn't much blood on anyone's face.

Relying on the landmarks taught by Lena, the line continues silently while the sun is out of sight and directions are not known. Nellis was leading the horse so that his luggage wouldn't fit into the muddy mud in the bumpy wasteland, but still it was never an easy journey.

Eventually, a hill appeared far to the front left. I can see the shadow of the temple small at the top.

It's Winnea.

Igross gave him a deep exhale and whispered. From the southern slope of the hill, to the Por river, which flows through the foothills, the city of Winnea, the state capital, extends. I didn't see that coming from a line in the north, but I just saw the shadows of the walls and temples clung to the natural hills, and the relief that they had finally come to the realm of man. I ended up delighted in Tetna, but Winnea is no longer the same.

To the hills with Winnea, there is little that blocks sight. Just over a few very loose little hills.

"I don't think you're in any trouble."

Igross said in a hospitable manner, and Finn exhaled more.

"Yeah, I'm sure he's a refugee, not a bandit, and he went into the city of Winnea before us."

Good, Oandus and Fauna grinned, and Mac and the kids' expressions finally loosened a little.

- But, but.

"Nellis?"

Noticing her sister's rugged expression, Finn frowned. Nellis looks around anxiously, holding the horse's drawstring.

"... I'm here. I don't know, maybe there are people. I don't like it."

"Stop it, the kids will be scared."

Igross immediately denied it. Standing first and walking, ridiculous, and spreading his hands.

"I can't hear anything, and there's no trace of hooves. More or less, right at the end of the eye and nose of the state capital? There are bandits out there somewhere."

"Igross, wait!

Finn accidentally shouted in an ordered tone. It seemed too careless for him to go further and further by himself. But the voice broke Igross' mood.

"Ah? Are you trying to command me, kid? When did you get that great? Nanais is scared of the beast and leaks his piss, but as soon as he goes out, he feels like a commander, he makes me laugh. You didn't come this far because you didn't have the strength. Don't get me wrong."

"I know that!" Finn said back in a cup. "You're the one who doesn't understand, you better believe what Nellis feels like!

"Ugh, can you guys hang out with your family forever!

Igross climbs the slopes angrily as he turns back and yells at Finn. Shortly after its body came out on the ridge,

"Ugh!?

Contrary to the scream, he rolled down the slope.

"Igross!"

Finn rushes over reflexively. At the same time, from across the hill, a raucous voice rose. Igross pulls through the arrow that stabbed him in the left shoulder and throws up and throws up to keep cursing and cursing. Mac hides the kids under the luggage, and Oandus takes the stick and sets them up.

The disturbing footsteps and the metallic contact came across the hill. The entity then appears. A dozen men swung axes, sticks and swords, striking an avalanche and attacking them.

Finn and Igross pull out their swords and run back to the luggage car.

"My uncle has the back side with Mac!

To Finn's instructions, Oandus obeyed silently, although he flashed his face for a moment. On the front stands Finn and Igross, and sets his sword against the desolates. There was no room to say that it was a negotiation.

Avoiding the shaken axe, Finn quickly protruded his sword. Twist and pull out almost simultaneously when you feel the response, paying for sticks sticking out from the side. The horse is in fear, and the screams and cries of the children overlap the sound of the blade. Finn worried about the back, but couldn't look him in the eye.

(Instead of slashing, pounding)

The voice of the man who taught me swordsmanship in the barracks whispers quietly behind his brain.

(Don't shake it, it works uselessly small, quick)

One more person, poking and pulling through. The body folds at your feet, making it difficult to move.

(The opposite is true when the beast is the opponent. Nagi, bounce back. But if the enemy is human...)

Take the sword you have slashed, shed its power, and dominate the enemy's movements. On the face of the man approaching his sight, Finn twitched his head out of his head. The sound of broken teeth. A quick poke at the gap where the groan and the man let go.

I had just defeated the three of them, and suddenly my vision was clear. I see a back that escaped early. I stumbled on the corpse at my feet because I was distracted by you for a moment.

"Ah!"

Finn, who is about to fall, is hit by all the opportunities and novices. but a sword flew from the side to the side of it stabbed me.

How a man falls on the side. Finn barely regained his posture and pulled out the sword that saved his life.

"Igross!"

I give him the sword, trying to give it back to him who's supposed to be next door. But there was no sign of Igross there. The moment I peel my eyes a little, the tip of the spear looms. I avoided it where it was at stake, but my left cheek tore slightly and my blood erupted.

Unconsciously Finn shouted, fiercely angry, and attacked the spear owner with two swords. The spearsman barks and rolls out a weak thrust as he lags behind. Finn broke the pattern at his disposal. The wood ends splash, and the man lets go of his weapon and tries to escape. But Finn's sword ate down his throat.

You make a strange noise, and the man takes his last breath, and he creeps.

Finn didn't even look out for it, kicking the man's body and looking around.

- That was the end of the fight.

Bandits who panicked about an unexpected counterattack had already fled openly. There were bodies rolling around the luggage truck, but there were ten or none in all. Finn killed four people.

"Igross......?

With a breath on his shoulder, Finn called in dismay. The excitement finally draws, and the emotions and reason that were paralysed return.

"Igross! Nellis, uncle, everyone! If you're alive, give me a reply!

In response to the cry, a number of weak voices rose.

"I'm here," Nellis' hand rose by the fallen horse. "You're safe."

Then Oandus and Fauna, the children show up from behind the luggage.

"I'm here."

Finally, Igross' fine voice was heard at Finn's feet. Finn kneels in a hurry and brutally flips the bandit's body. From below, an earthy Igross face appeared.

"Igross! Oh, shit"

Cursed, Finn threw his sword out on the spot to reveal Igross' body. Since the clothes were stained black with bandit's blood, I couldn't tell where the wound was without letting him take it off.

Finn's face was distorted the moment he removed his breastplate and put his jacket on. Igross hasn't even seen it yet. He leaked a faint voice with his vain eyes on the grey sky.

"Farnein... please..."

"Hang on, you wouldn't be the kind of guy to die in a place like this! Damn..., you said you wouldn't help, why...!

"Ugh... it's a go, idiot"

I can barely hear my poisonous voice anymore. My lips moved to call my niece's name again, but that was clear.

In the fading eyes of the light, Finn gently lowers his eyelids. Repentance overflowed, but he wiped it forcefully and rose.

Looking around at the same side of the sinking face, Finn managed to push out the words he needed.

"I don't know what I can do, but let's take care of the injury. Is anyone intact?

Looking around, Nellis raised his hand. The hair I was knitting got loose and squeaky, and the sleeves of my jacket are ripped, but I still have the energy on my frizzy face. Then a few, the child raised his hand.

"All right, you guys look for something you can use. If these guys had water bottles, the contents could be water or booze, wash the wounds. Nellis, please."

Following Finn's instructions, Nellis took the kids to work. We will start by using what was safe with the water we brought to us and treating it from the seriously injured. The head was Oandus. They dropped my right finger.

Finn quantified the body and looked for anything useful. I had only a moment of irony about stealing from the chase, but that never came to mind in the form of a laugh.

One horse had been taken and one had been killed. And of course, the bandits, I guess, didn't mean to kill them. But the spear stabbed him in the confusion, and he was still breathless. The number of children, if you look closely, is not enough. Luckily, however, Farnayne was safe.

Mac had some cuts to his arms and shoulders, but they were all shallow hands. He sits down on a broken luggage truck and is blue-white in the face.

"How many people were taken?

When Finn asked, a puffy tear spilled out of Mac's eyes.

"I don't know. But I'm not here with Notte and Stau..."

Name each and every one of them, and Mac counts fingerfolds. On counting to five, he clenched his hand to his fist. There were no children's bodies, so everyone, they would have escaped or been taken away. Whether they would be used as slaves, comforted or sold off - thinking of their fate, Finn meditated.

"... it's not my brother Finn's fault"

After a lot of silence, Mac said. Poked by surprise, Finn didn't know what it meant right away, and he looked at me for a while. Then, realizing the boy's compassion, he smiled powerlessly.

"You don't have to worry about it. I did everything I could. But still, it's not like you're not responsible for Igross or the five kids."

"Brother Finn......"

"You're pretty fucked, too."

Finn lifted Mac's forehead and gently covered the mole on his forehead with his hands. I wish, like Lena's hand, that this hand also had the power to heal the wounds.

"Even your brother is terrible."

And suddenly Nellis called out to him, and Finn looked back in surprise. Nellis had a water bottle and cloth in his hand, and he was royal.

"Ah, I'm already scratching my face like a headstone. I don't know, I really don't anymore..."

With a bump, Nellis wipes Finn's left cheek with a wet cloth. Rubbing the wound that was about to dry, Finn was frightened of the pain for the first time since then.

"Anything else hurt?

"Oh, maybe...... no. It's okay."

Finn looked at his body again as he answered, turning his arms and shoulders to make sure he wasn't obstructed. The clothes were dirty with return blood, but all I suffered was a scratch on my cheek.

"You're strong, Brother Finn"

It was what Mac admired as love, and Finn wandered off with a bad rash.

"I was just lucky. If it hadn't been for Igross... he would have died"

…………

Mac and Nellis shut up and looked at Igros' body as it was being left behind.

"Still." Nellis rehearses and encourages. "You fought better than I thought. I didn't know your brother could fight so decently. I just reviewed it."

"Right. I'm a little... surprised."

Finn smiled bitterly and dropped his eyes in his own hands.

The last time I defeated a man, the thought that I shouldn't have had to go that far now creeps me bitterly. I don't know if that spear man killed Igross. If you killed him, you'd make an excuse to be hostile, but either way, at the last minute, he was trying to escape. They broke the weapon, no longer willing to fight.

You wouldn't have had to stab him in the stomach to escape. Not to mention the need to kick the body and pull out the sword. I don't feel pity for the bandits, but regret remains that I did too much. I left myself to rough instinctive anger.

"Brother Finn?

To the two worried voices, Finn raised his face and created a grin pretending that it was nothing.

"I'm fine. We're almost there. I'll take a break when I've got my hands on it... and I'll make sure Igross's body is as good as mine. Then we leave."

Finn stood up and gently slapped the ragged luggage car.

(if you're not careful)

Though life is at stake, letting your heart be rough is two dances in the barracks. If you become just like the rough guys, you can't protect Nellis and Macs from going.

Finn breathed deeply and looked up into the sky and meditated his eyes. I feel the light on my face because even if it's hidden in the clouds, the sun does exist there. Don't forget.

(One day the clouds will clear. Even if it doesn't clear...... important things don't disappear)

I felt like I could hear Lena last night. At the same time, a blurry light falls from the slices of the clouds. The children raised their voices of gratitude.

It was only for a short time, but the light seemed to give us all hope.