Ashes and Kingdoms

When the sun rises, invited by the birds chirping, families come to the dining room in three ways. Oandus was already awake and grinding his wheat for this morning in a small home mole.

I'd say it's ironic. It's a strange situation, but there's still no miller in Nanice right now. The windmill remained broken, and there was a water wheel in the river on its way to Tetna, but this one still turns out to be a deserted barn.

The bakery has Roba spinning a large mortar, but only for the store. The general public had to buy baked bread or else work sick of it at home every day. Wheat is a troublesome staple.

I noticed Finn watching and Oandus laughed bitterly.

"I wish I'd slept slowly this morning or so."

"No, that's okay. Let's take your place."

"Really? Then I guess I'll ask. I didn't know you had to let Dragon Marquis grind the powder. It's time to rebuild the windmill. For everyone in the city."

Oandus keeps talking in a casual tone as he vacates the place.

"Not because that abominable auditor told me, but I want to leave Orsina in charge and go to the windmill for about half the week to load bricks."

…………

Finn swallowed the word "I'll do it with you." During the bundle, sweet dreams cross the back of my brain. Just like old times, I live with my family in a windmill hut and just grind powder, plow fields and go fishing every day......

Finn meditated only during one breath and kept the dream behind his chest.

"If my uncle's job is easier, I can safely vacate Nanais."

"... what?

"I'll tell everyone later. Also... for a while, because I'm leaving the city"

"Hey, Phineas. You're not leaving on your own again."

Wrinkles lean between Oandus' eyebrows as soon as possible. Finn accidentally laughed bitterly, except for the sieved and fuzzy powder he had finished grinding.

"I won't leave on my own, I'll explain it right. But the situation is quite different."

…………

Ugh, and Oandus makes his mouth a letter to. Nellis came there badly.

"I just heard something very ominous."

How ominous and disastrous that voice is. That is, I can't even say it if I want to. Finn pretended to be focused on the work so as not to look him in the eye. Fortunately, Nellis was not a child enough to storm during the breakfast schedule, so he managed to make it through the scene safely.

After a while, the family - technically, it would mean three households - all aligned their faces at the table. Lined on the table are simple breads cooked thin with flour and cheese and a grape hut with beans and vegetables that began harvesting earlier than others on the southern slopes. It's the usual meal. But the air on the spot was far from everyday.

The whole family showers me with anger, anxiety and worry, and I can't even eat Finn with his throat stuck in the boulder. I couldn't help but jerk off the chipped bread with my fingers, so I was ready to cut out the story.

"I've been thinking about it for a while. As soon as the wedding is over, I'm going to go to my country."

"To the country?

Why, a few surprised voices leak out of my mouth. Finn looked around at his family and changed his expression. To the face of the Dragon Marquis, not to his face as a member of the family.

"When I first went to Mazra with Lena, all the way south, I noticed some very... disastrous signs. At night, while the world was asleep, it seemed to suck away all the vibes...... greed, dark and ominous signs. I really wanted to fly away on the spot, but I couldn't put the aid behind me, and I wanted to be at Mac and Nellis' wedding, so I've been putting it off."

"... what's that," Nellis groaned. "Why does your brother have to do that? After all the hard work, I finally rebuilt Nanais, and it's not time for this. You can't live normally!? Don't let it go, the dragon marquis of your country, the emperor's majesty, the general, the great ones will do something about it!

Finn couldn't even fall for Nellis' sword screen. They saw her unknown disturbance, that she couldn't even guess her brother's anomaly and oppose him hard.

Rarely did Fauna speak differently there.

"Yes, Finn. Shouldn't we just let the people over there know? You may think you're selfish, but all the Nanais and the muzzlers you've seen rely on you. Of course we do."

"It's..."

Finn gets stuck in words when he gets poked where it hurts. But I couldn't back off.

"I'm sorry. But now, even Mr. Kveris and Master Fentas came to Nanice. When something happens, you can count on those people. I have little more to worry about Nanais being attacked by the Dark Beast, and now it is not here, but south, that I need the power of my Dragon Marquis."

Finn's voice, which has already cemented his will, has sealed the objection. Everyone pushes silence and the air sinks heavily in the field. And, accidentally, Mac snapped.

"Is the guidance in the dark?"

……

When Finn turned his eyes, Mac continued with the same attitude as usual, as if it were a light topic.

"Look, it was in a letter that the Comrith occupier said. I guess that means you should go see Mr. Blue Mist."

"Ah...!

I was told and remembered, and Finn raised a short shout. "The guidance is in the dark as you drown in the midst of it" - it was not a teared text. A fortune teller must have known what marriage to a dragon meant. I don't know if 'guidance' is about that, or if it's about a separate - dark sign to the south - but anyway, that letter was suggesting who to turn to for advice.

Unexpectedly to Finn, Mac laughed bitterly and made a foolish gesture.

"Take it easy, brother. You've got about enough time to go eat, right?

Oops, and Finn re-sits with an ill-decided face. The look on Nellis's face was a little soothing. I sighed, but it was like giving up on the usual "I can't help it" thing.

"That 'dark thing', you mean the Dark Beast? Over here in the spring, signs are getting weaker and weaker in the north, which means it looks like he was going over there after all?

"No. That's a little different. It felt like... even darkness was devouring."

Finn replied, drinking warm soup. The ingredients are good, but I don't know how to relieve myself of the flavour of melted bean and vegetable nourishment. but to the ensuing Nellis dialogue, I almost erupted the soup in the corner.

"Oh well. Well, I have to go too."

"Huh!! Ho, ho!! Nellis, what..."

Next to the grandiose fin, even Mac nodded with a firm face.

"Me too, I have to get rid of my errands."

"Wait, both of you! Why would I do that!

To Finn, who protested, the two of us stayed flat.

"'Cause I'm Dragon Hou's deputy, right? What are you gonna do without me?"

"If you don't have a priest, you won't be able to reach your brother alone. It's not like the dragon can do anything."

…………

Finn complains, no way, and looks at his parents with an ominous hunch. but happiness or unhappiness, this one just returned a lonely renunciation.

"You have no choice," Oandus sighed. "I have no special powers like you, and now I have an important role to play in Nanais. I'd like to go with you, Phineas, but you've got to look back, double-legged, worried about your aid to the East and Nanais' situation. If Nellis and Mac were together, there wouldn't be a curtain for me."

"Uncle......"

I'm glad you gave up your company, but I didn't want you to give up on your daughter. With an approximate weakness Finn, Mac is consulting with Lena, who has been watching what happens from the start.

"Lena, can me and Nellis fly together? If I can't do it, I need to figure out some way."

"Mac and Nellis would be fine. We both have ties to Finn, and I'm getting a little used to putting people on, so I can protect them properly."

Lena agrees with the smile innocently. When Finn looked isolated, helpless and pitiful, Lena chuckled, knowing or not.

"There's someone with me, and Finn's happy."

"... right"

I found no other words to respond to, and Finn nodded weakly. When Lena's pure thoughts are conveyed, it even seems ridiculous to me that she was conceived as dangerous or unable to get involved.

In fact, as a matter of fact, it's too dangerous to let that Nara face you both. But other than that, it would be safer for someone to come with me because I don't know what it is. When Finn changed his mind, he turned to the two of them and thanked them.

"Thanks, Mac, Nellis. If you'd come with me, it'd help."

Unexpectedly decently appreciated, Nellis looks weird.

"An honest brother Finn is disgusting"

Next to her, who crushed a frivolous and disrespectful dialogue, Mac grinned uncontrollably and responded, "How can I help you?"

When the destination and the blurred face are determined, all that is left is execution. Finn called the council that morning and told them to vacate Nanais. Not only the city councillors are present, but also Fentas and Kveris, as well as Taz, acting on behalf of Govarias, the main commercial counterpart in the municipality. Valt, who directs the Tenryu squad, too.

"While I'm away, I'll have the chancellor go for a compromise with my home country. Well, it's not even a month since the auditor left, so he won't be here again soon. Captain Valt will be in charge of our support to the East."

Please, Finn asked me politely, and Valt scratched his head a little with a weird face.

"Well, isn't there anything suspicious about the south that doesn't require soldiers?

"Probably. Even if it turns out necessary, it's quicker to ask a military commander on the national side. You go around the old Mazra village, distribute supplies, and help rebuild. You're the only ones who can leave the Dark Beast and build a house."

"Well, sort of. At my age, they tell me to fight monsters I don't know how to handle. I'd rather be painting mud walls."

Valt flaunts his shoulders accordingly. Finn smiled unexpectedly.

"It doesn't seem like I can pretend to be an old man and buy sympathy."

"Ugh. I'm 44 years old, a skilled soldier of words and ancient ginseng in an army. I can deal with the enemies I see, but I can't handle the recklessness of running into an unidentified man."

"Oh, that's my job"

Finn nodded sayingly and looked around with him. and Taz raised his hand with a sinister face.

"As for our shipment, well, there's no obstacle to the deal without you. Anyway, after this, I'm going back to my home side, so please tell me as soon as you have something to carry. And I don't have to tell you, but I can't."

"Thanks"

Finn thanked him and, unaware that his opponent looked odd at his honesty, thought and went on.

"I don't have the load you want me to carry, but I want you to be more careful with the rumors at the port of call than ever before. If you have any suspicious stories, tell them to your home town as much as you can. And I'm not saying you should be strong... but as far as possible, you should avoid heading to the center of your own country. If the dealer says he's going to head to the center on a commercial basis, just keep him company for a while or just warn him to come home without staying as long as he can"

"That's a mess. You don't mind if we go?

"As long as I'm by the sea, I think I'll be fine. Nothing in the realm of Audia can be so easily empowered. Right...... when you get to Siros, tell the captain to wait until I give him the news. I want you to go back to the Orne after that. By then, we should be able to find out who we are and come to a conclusion."

"Okay. Yeah, except if the captain asks me. Because if it's dangerous, you're the one who's going in."

Half serious, half out of the way and Taz shakes his head. Finn jokingly responded so as not to get too serious.

"Just you then, jump off the ship and run away."

"I will."

Taz also got it, and he finally showed it by pretending to laugh and swim at it. Finn regains his mind and turns his attention to Fentas and Kveris.

"I ask Master Fentas, who has just been appointed to manage the temple. Take over from Nellis for the sick who need to continue to be treated, etc. Legal matters such as litigation and the enactment of ordinances, I would ask you, Mr Kuveris, to divide them up as advisers to Parliament. In the last three years, we've learned a lot, too, who were amateurs, but with the help of experts, you can rest assured. You won't have a problem without Dragon Hou's signature."

Finn apologizes for asking for a big job early when he comes. Each of them looked pretty funny.

"If you knew this was going to happen, you wouldn't have refused to come to Nanais then. Knowing the current situation of Nanais, I was able to sift through the need for the signature of the representative, His Excellency Mr. Longhou."

"I, too, would have emigrated early without paying attention to the Temple of Winnea if I knew this was going to happen. But, well, this is how I made it to Lord Phineas' departure. Let us thank the heavenly dispensation."

Together, he seems happy to have been entrusted with his absence. There is no entrustment, neither in voice nor expression. Finn thanked him.

When I looked up, the warm but harsh knot had been hit by everyone who kept the nanice. As we stand for together, Oandus slowly spins the word.

"Don't worry about Nanais. So, Phineas, okay? Never, come back."

"Yes."

Finn just nodded briefly. No more words, I didn't need.