Ashes and Kingdoms

3-4. To the Great Forest

"Nella, hello? Please wake up."

With a prolonged, swallowing voice, the sunset rolled up, and Nera opened her thin eyes with her face up. With the dazzling sun on his back, a sailor youth stands. Nella rubbed her eyes and slowly woke herself up.

"I'm sorry, I overslept... are you there?

"Something. I was wondering what would happen to you for a while, but this is the great forest of Organia.... but I just live at the end of it."

Explained in a riddle, the youth helps Nella by offering her hand. There was a cheerful voice of Cestas in the back.

"Thanks, Taz. When Nella wakes up, give her a hand. I'll go first."

"Go, where... whoops! You son of a bitch! Wait here!"

Cestas flew to the pier in momentum and the boat swayed. Embracing Nera, who was good, Taz shook up his fist to show Cestas.

Nella laughs small and Taz blushes when she realizes, ah.

"Excuse me. I'm a customer."

"That's okay. Sometimes I want to scold you too. Thank you so much for your help, Mr. Taz. Thank you."

"No, that's not what they say... oh, I'll take the package down. Watch your step."

In the light, Taz helps Nella to cross to the pier. Taz then took his own little backpack in addition to his sister's brother's luggage and stepped off the ship in a familiar motion.

The boat the three of them came aboard was a farewell gift from Taz's employer. In the town of Siros, his sister and brother were refused access to Orgenia by most of the ships and even came to merchant ships with taz.

The captain, who was to return from the north and go straight east, refused, of course. Not a passenger ship in the first place. But Taz was outraged and fiercely protested when he saw what happened to the two of them. A young daughter is struggling with her little brother, and she says, "Don't help me, but the man of the sea will."

(Uh... I wasn't supposed to dress so well)

Taz scratched his head with regret that he and the captain had a big fight. To the captain who accepted the unfamiliar Taz as well as his family, I didn't know he was going to jump out of the old boat with all his businessmanship, to name a few.

When I deliver the two of you, you can go back to Siros, and if you're lucky, I'll pick you up at the next stop, but the days are already vastly crazy because of the encounter with the timing. I don't know what to do with it.

(Well, some hands say you'll catch fish and live if you have to)

Restoring himself with the ravishment of his time, Taz did a small boat before walking out of town alongside Nera.

The town of Orgenia is shrunk into a tiny tract of land between the Great Forest and the sea. It is a town built as a supply base for ships sailing along the western shores of the Empire. History is ancient, but due to the imminent Great Forest right next door, it never developed significantly.

Now that the number of ships heading north has dropped dramatically, the town is also flattered to lose its vitality.

From an unmotivated store to a store, Cestas comes and goes with a peek at the goods. I'm fine, and Taz smiled bitterly. It should have been quite a turbulent voyage for Cestas to be rubbed by time and evacuated to strange shores, to be in a great panic with running out of water, or to flip in decent sunlight to illuminate. But there is no appearance of glare at all.

"Oh boy, why don't you just settle down one way or the other?

Calling, Cestas looked across the street before rushing over. Receive one package from Taz and hang it on his shoulder.

"Taz, thanks for getting this far. But we're on our own. That's enough."

He says, offering his hand so that he will also try to receive the other package. Taz, lightly dismissed, turned his eyes round.

"Enough said... what are you talking about, idiot? You know where we are?

"I know. You're an organia."

"Yes, it's organia, it's a city that's stuck to the edge of the Great Forest! I mean, I don't know what business you have here, but you can't go anywhere from here without a ship! Well, you can walk along the coast on a tidal ridge, but it's faster and safer to use a boat, right?

"Right. But I don't need it anymore."

"No, so... oh, Nella, please do something about it."

Taz was in trouble and asked his sister for salvation. but what was there was a bitter laugh that seemed sorry, which made me even more troubled.

"What... huh? You're not gonna live here, are you?

"I haven't decided yet."

Nella smiled, then turned her attention to Cestas.

"In the meantime, let's take an inn somewhere. Whatever you do. I'll look for you, so just wait here while it's your turn to pack."

"Okay."

When Cestas nodded, Nella also bowed her head a little to Taz before walking to the street lined up in the store. Dropping him off later, Taz becomes a complicated face. While I rub my mind that my young daughter might not be careless on her own, I can't help but throw out my kids and their luggage and chase them. Fortunately, the outlook is good, so he was following Nella and stretching his neck that way.

Then.

"Does Taz care about Nella?

Suddenly he was hit with a cowardly question, and Taz nearly collapsed at the front. I also forget that the other person is a customer, and I raise my voice.

"What are you telling me, you little shit!

Though she turned red and yelled, Cestas looked up at this one unexpectedly true. No sign of teasing is dust. As Taz clapped out his eyes for a while, Cestas shrugged his shoulders small.

"That's fine. Because Nella's sweet and smart."

"You know, don't decide on your own. I didn't mean for your sister."

"So is it another lower heart?

"Huh? Say what..."

"'Cause you're too kind."

To put it briefly, Cestas looked up at Taz. I could see it properly in my grey golden eyes, and Taz couldn't possibly be backwards, but I wandered off. Without showing any hostility or alarm, Cestas just stood still and continued with his eyes as if to foresee even Taz's soul.

"He even quarreled with his employer's captain for us and came all the way to ORGENIA on one small boat. I wouldn't normally do that. Why not? Are you thinking of selling us off somewhere?

"There's no way! You're a suspicious guy, take people's kindness honestly. I'm just..."

Taz was outraged, and then, furthermore, clouded his words when he realized he wasn't sure how. Cestas is waiting for the answer. He thought for a moment before scratching his head in the light.

"... I just couldn't let it go. I don't know what to say... remember Dachi."

"Friends?"

"Oh. He's awesome. He's a tough guy. If it was him, I would never let go of my sister and brother, who were unaccompanied and wacky. I was looking after the orphan when I saw him before. I'm not as smart as him, so I got into a fight with the captain. That's why."

To deceive, Taz stroked Cestas' head. Cestas closed his eyes and laughed softly at it.

"Yeah. I wonder if Nella figured it out, that sort of thing"

"Huh?"

"Nella said it. He said he'd be fine. Strange, isn't it? Sometimes Nella sees things we can't see."

To Sestas' words, Taz pounded between the bundles. Then, no, no, shake your head to get your realistic thoughts back. He snorted his tongue a little.

"You're not. Nella fell in love with me at first sight."

"I don't think so."

"Do you deny it lightly!? You're not cute, you!

Taz laughs and now he sneezes Cestas' head around with both hands. Stop it, Sestas resisted screaming and when she realized it was a combination, leaving her luggage on the beach.

Nella rushes back to the sandy spot. She looked down at the two of them and, for Christ's sake, put her hands on her hips.

"Is this it if I take my eyes off you for a moment? When I was a boy! Let's go, we found the inn."

The two scolded each other with a smile of complicity.

In the end, the three of them were to have a late breakfast at the inn together.

The bread was a bit fuzzy, but I wouldn't mind if I put the vegetables on the stewed soup. Besides, the main dish is excellent with plenty of fruit sauce on the fish covered in powder and cooked in oil. While a despicable town, it is well known that it is blessed with sea and forest delights.

Taz has been in this town before, so he told me what the specialties are and what the ingredients for this sauce are picked from the woods. They both listened with interest, sometimes pinching questions, and the meal ended up in a soothing air.

On one dose, Taz wiped the sauce off his mouth and sat it down properly and cut it out.

"So, Mr. Nella, in the end, what are you going to do now? If there's anything I can do to help, I'll do it."

He seriously said that Sestas made his eyes twitch to cool, so he glanced at him. Nella smiled at the silent interaction between the two, but Taz's offer politely declined.

"Thank you for your generosity, Mr. Taz. But from now on, there's nothing you can do to help. Sestas is right, we're coming from here alone."

"I'm coming. I don't know where I'm going, without a ship. No way big......"

I almost realized, and Taz was stunned. Open your mouth gently and compare the faces of your sister and brother.

"Are you insane!?

Unexpectedly, he raises his bare voice, and Taz leans back. The gaze of the other guests gathered, and he hurried, apologizing in a gesture that it was nothing, and then sat down like weakness.

"Wait a minute, why are you saying that again... because that forest won't be easy to get into? I just get lost and fall, or if I get in, I can't come out again... and rumors say if the Fidae find me, they'll kill me."

"That's a lie," Cestas blocked. "Utia, king of the Fidae, said when he hid in the woods." We cut off our ties to the outside world and live as we feed the woods. Only those who, like us, are tired of battle and despair of men will find us in peace. "

To the boy who even recited it, for the first time, Taz turned to vigilance and suspicion. Cestas goes on without worrying.

"I mean, only those who were exhausted and wanted to escape from the world can see the Fidae tribe. Not so. Humans don't see the Fidae tribe when they go into the woods. Even if he wanted me to kill him, he couldn't."

"You saw that king?

What's the rationale, Taz says frigid. Cestas looked at him for a moment, shitty, but immediately clapped his shoulders and deceived him.

"I read it in a book. It's a decent book, not bullshit."

"What do you think," Taz roared on the tannic side, arm-wrapped. "I know there's something going on, but do I have to get away with that? Nella, stop doing things like that and think of other ways."

It was a very straightforward word. But when I heard that he was going to die, my sister and brother were hacked. My sister glances at my brother's complexion, and my brother bites his lips blue. "That's right," Cestas agreed in a low voice while Taz was confused by the heavy air that accidentally fell.

"Nella shouldn't come. Go home with Taz. I'll go alone."

"... no,..."

Nella looked for words of comfort and denial as she shook her head small, but it's hard to find. Cestas clutches his hands to his fists on the table and he is nagging with a tough face.

(What is it, this sister and brother?

Taz was puzzled. Nella blames me for turning on me, and I can't understand the reason more and more.

(Because of my brother, you mean he's running away? What's wrong with a kid like this?)

Nella whispered something to Cestas.... Dear, sounds like you called, Taz frowns.

"You never give up your life. You and I are the same. It's okay, let's go together."

The whispering voice is gentle, but full of powerful certainty. It's strange because even the tazz you're hearing on the solder seems okay, even though it has no basis whatsoever.

Cestas also opened his fists and raised his face, as he was persuaded by that short and easy word. Mind the child's face. That was directed at Nella, but it also went into the eyes of Taz, who was sitting in front. At that moment he realized that he had made up his mind.

(Uh, shit)

Don't look, cover your face with one hand late. Sister and brother all turned to surprise Taz, who sighed for a long time.

(I saw your face like that, how dare you!)

I can't help it, you know, Finn, and I call it in my heart. A childhood smile came to mind. And, oh, and a nod trick - I've seen it many times in a long time, I can handle it, and a look that encourages me.

"Okay, I get it."

To my best friend's memory, or to the two in front of me, he said, without stipulating.

"Well, I'll be there."

"Yes!?

As soon as he did, Cestas shouted louder than the previous taz. Once again, it caught my attention, and now Nella rushed off to bow her head to "disturb me".

"Why does that happen, Taz has nothing to do with it!?

Cestas rides himself out to protest. Taz played that little nose perfectly.

"It doesn't matter, we already know each other. Besides, I'm telling you, I'm not going for you. I'm going to regret for the rest of my life abandoning a sweet sister who swings at a kid like you. It's more convenient for the three of us than for the two of us, and it's comforting."

"But no..."

"Ugh, you look disgusting. Glad to hear it's getting harder and harder to get away from."

…………

Cestas had completely moved and asked Nella for help with her gaze. She still looked surprised, too, but this look gradually turned into a warm smile.

"Are you sure, Mr. Taz?"

"It's not good!" Cestas exclaims.

"Come on, you little prick."

Taz stretched his chest and grinned. And seeing Nella happily bow her head,

(Um, I guess I fell in love with this guy)

And so on and so on, while I pretend to have a light-hearted attitude about what I don't like, leave it to me. Sestas gave me a frigid eye, but I guess I can't help it.

"I don't know if I can go back to my ship because I went back to Siros like this. Both the captain's face, it's hard to match. Anyway, look at Nella's face."

Saying things were going well, he was thinking about the next step.

The boat will have to have someone bring it back to Siros. Let me also apologize to the captain. In doing so, we have to be careful not to know about these two...

"Oh, already. I don't know if I regret it."

Seems like Cestas finally gave up too. Taz gargled and messed up the boy's head.

"Look, I'll let you complain about it."

"Then don't come!

"Yi... ya... It's not so easy to stop screaming at a busy kid."

"... ugh!

Cestas roared bright red in his face, and Nella laughed uncomfortably. Laughed at by the two elders, Cestas bites his teeth remorsefully. Don't spare me. I glanced at Taz, and he roared low.

"Watch now......!

"Oh, I'm looking forward to that."

Taz laughed and flushed. Of course, without dreaming that sooner or later you will truly regret everything.