Chapter 13: To the Wall
Gus looked at him as if he couldn’t quite understand the words he heard. It was as if he didn’t even know what he was being questioned for.
"...Pardon, young master?"
And Jin looked back at him with equal confusion.
"I thought I was going to the Wall alone," he said it plainly, a bit taken aback. "I understand the escorts, but why are you following us? "
It was genuinely what he thought, but apparently that was not the case.
Gus was quiet for a moment.
"You’ll need someone to attend to you at the Wall, young master," he said.
"Huh?"
Jin looked at him.
He thought about the story of the Last Age of Radiance, and he also remembered everything Duke Gannon had told him about Encrid.
He genuinely did not understand it.
That bastard Encrid had probably abused this child very much. He probably had hit him, ignored him, and had been, in any reasonable measure, a person that a fifteen-year-old boy with options should have put as much distance between himself as possible.
And here Gus was. On the horse, ready to follow Jin to the terrible place called the Wall.
He didn’t understand his loyalty, nor was he sure if Encrid deserved it.
"The Wall is not a comfortable place, Gus," Jin said.
"Yes, young master."
"It’s cold for most of the year. The men there are rough. It’s dangerous in many ways that are different from anything you’ve dealt with here."
"Yes, young master."
"If you come and decide halfway through that you’ve made a mistake-"
"I won’t, young master."
"You don’t know that yet."
Gus looked at him steadily. "No," he said. "But I’ve thought about it."
Jin held his gaze for a moment longer.
Then he turned back to face the road.
"Keep up," he said. "I won’t slow down for you."
"Yes, young master."
"And if you complain about the cold even once-"
"I won’t, young master."
Jin clicked his tongue at the grey horse and moved toward the gate.
Behind him, the formation assembled itself-four knights in their White Griffin armor, the brown pack horse, Gus sitting straight in the saddle with his hands easy on the reins.
It was more of a procession than he had planned for and considerably less quiet than he had wanted, but there was a road ahead, and it wasn’t getting shorter while he stood here thinking about it.
The gates opened.
Corvan stood at the entrance to see them off. He had his hands folded to his back, and his face had arranged into an unreadable expression.
Jin looked at him as he passed.
"Corvan," he said.
"Young master."
"Thank you."
Corvan said nothing. But something shifted in his face- a small and brief smile, there and gone - and he inclined his head in a way that was slightly deeper than usually reserved for Encrid.
"Safe travels, Young master."
As Jin disappeared ahead of the gate, a figure stood watching him from the far window with an expression so blank it was hard to say what he was thinking.
It was Duke Aegis Von Gannon.
He watched the small group until they disappeared beyond the road.
No one knew what he was thinking.
✧ ✧ ✧
Three hours after they left the Gannon House, Jin arrived at a conclusion.
’I am an absolute Idiot.’
It wasn’t because he had decided to go to the wall or the speech that he had given to the duke, which had actually worked.
But for not asking for a carriage!
He had seriously underestimated what it would take to ride a horse for hours without a break.
He had imagined it would be like riding a motorcycle, but god, was he wrong!
The grey horse moved at a steady pace, and that became a problem for him. He had never thought that three hours on horseback, on the saddle, would make his butt red with pain.
And it wasn’t just his butt - his core, his back, his thighs - everything was in pain!
He also realized one more thing.
’Horsemanship my ass! ’E’ rank proficiency doesn’t mean shit!’
It turned out that just having the skill was not enough if the proficiency was not high.
The skill only helped him to stay seated on the horse, and that’s all.
Whether the seating was comfortable, or whether his posture was anything approachable to being correct was questionable.
The complaint he had slowly turned to a grievance as they moved further.
The road of the medieval times, which by any means was not proper and was just a trail created after repeated back and forth was also unexpected. The novel often seems to skip details like this.
He also suspected that the author himself had never sat on the horse for four consecutive hours.
He shifted his weight and immediately regretted it, his whole body was aching with so much pain that he felt like he couldn’t take it anymore.
The knights also seemed to notice his situation, and they seemed to secretly enjoy it.
Jin could imagine what this bastard Encrid would have done for them to secretly giggle watching his miserable state, but it still felt like shit to be on the receiving end of ridicule.
It was just as Jin was considering how much longer he had to endure this torment that a voice pitched in
"Young master," Gus called out from behind, his voice sounding very low mixed with the rhythmic sound of hooves.
"The horses have been moving for hours. We should stop to let them rest and water them before we continue, and also it’s time to eat."
Jin felt a wave of gratitude so profound it nearly brought more tears to his eyes, but he kept his expression rigid.
’I love you, Gus! ’
Thank god he got a good excuse to stop now.
He pulled the reins of the horse and turned towards the knights.
"Let’s stop, we’ll let the horses rest for a while," Jin said, trying hard not to show his pain.
There was a visible disappointment on the knights’ faces, they probably hoped to see more of his misery.
Nevertheless, they weren’t fools to get on the degenerate young master’s bad side.
"Yes, Young master."
They continued for a while before coming to a halt near a creek.
✦ ✦ ✦