Chapter 11 - <3>
"...O Water Spirit who governs healing, heal this poison…"
Anna, carried on his back, offered her healing prayer for the umpteenth time. Compared to before, her voice was gradually losing its strength. On top of being poisoned, she had overused her spiritual power and had almost none left.
The prayer had already become little more than a comfort. Anna seemed to have realized that she could no longer do anything on her own.
To keep her from losing consciousness, Ritz spoke to and encouraged Anna during her labored breathing whenever he could.
"We're almost there, so hang in there."
"…Okay…"
Anna's voice had no strength at all. The poison was beginning to spread throughout her body. Given how she was bitten, it wouldn't be surprising if she were already dead, but fortunately, the healing magic had helped.
But its effects had reached their limit. Ritz was aware that Anna's consciousness was gradually fading.
"…Ritz… am I going to die?"
In response to Ritz's continuous words of reassurance, Anna asked this. In a voice weaker than he had ever heard, she posed the question, and Ritz fell silent.
He could feel the temperature of Anna's body on his back gradually dropping. That was why, for a moment, he was at a loss for words.
"Idiot, of course you're not going to die."
Pretending it was a lighthearted remark, the words finally came out. Isn't the village there yet…? Only his sense of urgency grew.
"We're almost there, okay?"
"…Yeah…"
Anna clung tightly to his back and pressed her cheek against him. Her hands gripped his clothes as if clinging to something. To Ritz, it felt as if she were saying, "I don't want to die."
He had lived for 150 years, and he wouldn't let Anna, who had lived for only thirty, die due to his carelessness. The thought made him frantic.
When he first met her in the Village of Vishnu, Anna's naive nature had overlapped with his own younger self. Ritz, too, had a near-death experience shortly after setting out on his journey.
The person who saved him then became his cherished friend. Surviving that time changed Ritz. That's why Ritz had a duty to save Anna, bearing the responsibility of having been entrusted with her by Anton and for bringing her along.
At that moment, the village of Tushil came into view. It seemed they would be okay after all.
"Look, see, it's Tushil. We made it, didn't we!"
He spoke to Anna, out of breath, but there was no reply. She seemed to have lost consciousness.
"H-Hey, Anna?"
Ritz turned pale. The situation was dire. He had to get her to an apothecary quickly.
Remembering Anna's emerald eyes full of trust and her radiant smile, his hands trembled. In all his long life, no one had ever trusted and relied on him as unconditionally as Anna had.
If he couldn't save her, he would be failing that trust.
The entrance to the village of Tushil came into view. It's still okay, we can still make it, he told himself in his mind, and Ritz rushed into the village in a panic.
As far as Ritz remembered, this time of year should be bustling with the shipment of medicinal herbs. Merchants from various towns would be buying herbs in large quantities all over the village.
But as soon as he entered the village, he realized that his assumption was wrong. Contrary to his expectations, there was almost no one in the village. There were no merchants, no travelers seeking to buy herbs. In fact, there weren't even any villagers walking around. It was like a ghost town.
"What is this?"
Carrying Anna on his back, he walked quickly down what appeared to be the village's main street, but there wasn't a single shop open. There were a surprising number of apothecary signs, but every single shop had its wooden doors shut tight.
He had never seen a village in this state before. When he entered a back alley, even the ordinary houses had their doors firmly closed. What on earth had happened? Ritz couldn't even imagine.
He could feel presences from inside the houses watching him, so it didn't seem like no one was around. And yet, there was no sign of anyone coming out.
Ritz, half-running, searched the village for any sign of people and for medicinal herbs.
But there wasn't a single open shop, including eateries. Dazed, Ritz had walked all the way to the edge of the village when he finally spotted an open establishment. The sign read 'Goddess's Palm Inn.'
It wasn't an apothecary, but an inn and eatery.
Ritz, who had come to this village full of hope, was so overcome with irritation and confusion that he punched the inn's sign and shouted.
"What in the world is going on!"
Alerted by the shout, a kind-looking middle-aged woman rushed out of the inn with a surprised look on her face. She looked around to see if anyone else was there, then confirmed it was just Ritz and his companion.
"You, you!"
The woman called out in a low voice, and then a man who appeared to be her husband rushed out after her. The couple looked at Ritz and the unconscious Anna on his back with surprise, then beckoned them over.
"What's wrong? Is the child sick?"
The husband asked in a low voice as the two approached. Ritz naturally answered in a whisper.
"She was bitten by a venomous snake…"
When Ritz muttered with a bitter expression, the couple exchanged a look and nodded.
"That viper. We've been having trouble with it."
The man said this and then stared intently at Ritz.
"You're not a merchant, are you?"
Apparently, the reason for the whispering was fear of merchants. When Ritz nodded emphatically, the couple gave a small nod and invited them into the inn.
"Come in. I'll share some antidote herbs with you."
At the man's words, Ritz felt such relief that his legs almost gave out. But he couldn't collapse here. He was still carrying Anna. A weak voice, along with a sigh of relief, escaped his lips.
"Really? You're a lifesaver~"
Carrying the unconscious Anna, Ritz stepped into the inn and eatery, the 'Goddess's Palm Inn.'
The inside of the 'Goddess's Palm Inn' had a warm and cozy feel, decorated here and there with handmade wreaths and freshly picked wild flowers. The second floor seemed to be the inn, and the first floor the dining area.
But even for a dining area, there were only enough chairs and tables for about ten people. It seemed to be a very small inn.
The owner, the same man from before, showed Ritz and Anna to a room on the second floor. The room had two beds and, like the rest of the inn, was a calming space made of logs. His wife, who had been with him until a moment ago, had rushed off to the kitchen.
"Here, you can use this room. There are no other guests right now, so make yourselves at home."
The owner said this, pulled back the covers on the bed, and helped Ritz lower Anna from his back. Though she was quite pale, her breathing was fortunately still steady. She seemed to be okay.
The wife, who had gone to the kitchen, ran up the stairs carrying a basin of hot water, a small ceramic bowl, and a fresh cloth. For some reason, she was also holding a jar labeled 'Flour.'
"Sorry for the wait."
The wife opened the flour jar in front of them. Looking inside, it was, by all appearances, just ordinary flour.
Ignoring Ritz's suspicious expression, she unceremoniously plunged her hand into the flour jar. After rummaging around for a bit, she finally pulled out a cloth bag. Though covered in flour, the bag was faintly inscribed with 'Antidote Herbs.'
"We have to keep it like this."
The wife said with a troubled smile, opened the bag, and poured half of its contents into the ceramic bowl. What came out was a mixture of dark green and red herbs. She added a little hot water from the basin and kneaded it.
The result was a brown, paste-like substance. This was the antidote from Tushil.
"Now, let me see the wound."
She said this and moved closer to Anna. When Ritz removed the cloth covering the wound, the bite mark was heavily discolored and had spread.
"This is terrible… but it's okay now."
She carefully wiped the wound with a new cloth, removing the blood, and then applied the paste-like herb. As she did, the herb rapidly turned purple.
"It's drawing out the poison."
She said this as if explaining to a child to the watching Ritz, and continued her work. She wiped away all of the discolored herb with a cloth and applied fresh herbs. Then, she wrapped the arm tightly with a new cloth.
Placing some of the herbs still remaining in the small bag into a cup near the bed, the wife went downstairs to put away the basin and the flour jar.
When she returned a short while later, she was carrying a pot of boiling water. She poured it into the cup from before, and a pleasant green aroma filled the room. This scent, she explained, also had an effect of neutralizing poison.
"When it cools, have her drink it."
After the couple left, Ritz sat for a while in a chair near the bed. Seeing Anna's complexion gradually improve, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed she would be alright now.
Sighing, Ritz wiped the sweat from Anna's brow with a cloth.
Ritz, who had casually thought things like traveling with a child is a pain or since I have no destination, a different kind of journey might be nice, realized for the first time the weight of his responsibility now that Anna was in this state.
The two of them trusted him, after all. That meant Ritz had to live up to that trust as their guardian. Having come this far, he couldn't irresponsibly abandon them.
He stared at his own hands.
Ritz, whose only skill was wielding a sword, now held the lives of his two charges, Anna and Franz, in these hands. Since he had decided to take them with him, Ritz had to protect them. It was his role to ensure they could travel safely and without worry.
He couldn't just wander as he had before, living when he wanted to live and dying when he wanted to die.
This was the first time he had undertaken a journey with such a weight of responsibility. Ritz gently touched the jewel hidden in his breast, through his clothes.
He had been told by some unknown entity to search. His journey now was not like his previous ones; it was a journey to find something. So, on this path, he would protect both Anna and Franz, and travel as their guardian and companion.
Perhaps he would see something different from before.
With newfound resolve, Ritz looked at Anna. Pained breaths escaped her slightly parted lips. For now, helping Anna was the top priority.
After the coffee-colored liquid had cooled, he carefully helped Anna drink it, bit by bit, so she wouldn't choke. Gradually, warmth returned to her limbs. He couldn't touch the arm where the poison had spread, so he rubbed her cold hands and feet where the blood flow had stagnated.
Anna had an absurd amount of stamina, but touching her like this, he realized she was very small and delicate. Thinking about it, she was still a child, so perhaps he should have been more helpful.
But watching her at the orphanage, treating her like a child didn't feel right either, and he was troubled. Anna, who had served as the caretaker at the orphanage, had been a complete adult.
Ritz was an only child with no siblings, so he hadn't given any thought to how he should treat his two younger companions on their actual journey.
Realizing this as well, Ritz clutched his head in his hands. Damn it. I really didn't think this through at all.
Several hours later, still worried but having confirmed that Anna's condition had stabilized, Ritz decided to go downstairs. Since her symptoms had subsided, he first had to thank the innkeeper couple.
When he went downstairs, the couple, who were sitting in chairs in the dining area, looked at him at the same time. They had apparently been worried.
"Is your daughter okay?"
The wife gestured to a nearby chair and said something outrageous. Apparently, she thought Anna was Ritz's daughter. A terrible misunderstanding.
Though, considering their actual ages, it wasn't entirely impossible…
"No, she's not my daughter… she's my companion."
As Ritz sat down and denied it, scratching his head, the innkeeper nudged his wife.
"I told you he was too young to be her father."
"You're right."
It seemed that while they were worried, they had also been speculating about Ritz and Anna's relationship. How carefree. Perhaps it was a sign of their confidence in their village's medicinal herbs.
"Thank you for your help. You really saved us. I'm Ritz, and my companion is Anna. We're traveling with one other person."
Ritz bowed his head, offering thanks and an introduction. When traveling, if he wasn't going to reveal his identity as a spirit-kin or his status as a mercenary, he was extremely polite. This was the basic rule for surviving in human society.
Especially when he had been helped.
"Three of you? What happened to the other one?"
"We were in a hurry, so we left him behind. He should be here soon, though."
Come to think of it, was Franz okay?
Damn it, I was so focused on Anna that I neglected him. Being a guardian was really difficult.
But the innkeeper couple seemed to have taken a liking to the sheepishly scratching Ritz.
"I'm the owner of this inn, Morris Roubaix, and this is my wife, Philia. You should stay here until Anna-chan gets better."
Morris suggested this to Ritz.
"Thank you, that's a great help. So, how much will it be per day?"
He asked timidly. After all, the three of them had no travel funds. If it was expensive, they were prepared to sleep outdoors. But Morris smiled and shook his head.
"As you can see, the inn is empty. Just think of it as staying at a relative's house and relax. In return, don't expect much hospitality."
"Thank you!"
With this, they had secured a place to stay until Anna recovered. And it was free, to boot. He had been worried when he first entered the village, but things had worked out. They really were lucky.
But in contrast to the joyful Ritz, the couple sighed with a somewhat apologetic air.
"But, as you can see, the village is in this state, so we might not be able to offer much hospitality."
"Not at all, just having a place to stay is a huge help."
Expecting any more hospitality would be asking for trouble. To the flustered Ritz, the wife, Philia, looked at him even more apologetically.
"We only have a little bit of the antidote left, you know. I think she'll be okay, but if the poison's symptoms worsen, there's nothing we can do…"
Tushil was known as a village of medicinal herbs. For them to be so short on herbs was no small matter.
"This isn't my first time coming to this village, but something feels off this year. Did something happen?"
In fact, Ritz had stopped by this village about forty years ago when he first set out on his journey. He remembered the season being around this time as well. The bustling atmosphere of Tushil back then was still burned into his memory.
The couple, who had been hesitating to speak, looked at Ritz, and then, as if making up their minds, opened their mouths.
"Well, you see…"
At that moment, a sound like something falling was heard at the entrance of the 'Goddess's Palm Inn.' Someone had arrived.
"Honey!"
Philia cried out in a small, tense voice, stood up, and hid behind her husband. They were afraid of something. Come to think of it, when Ritz arrived, they had also seemed very wary of their surroundings. They were frightened of something.
In that case, it was best for Ritz, the combat professional, to be the one to face it. Ritz quietly stood up.
"I'll go."
The Roubaix couple nodded without a word. He didn't know the situation, but if it was a suspicious person, he could just drive them away. He didn't have a weapon, but Ritz had never lost a fistfight either.
He casually walked to the door and nonchalantly reached for it. Just then, a dying voice, broken and intermittent, came from the other side of the door.
"…Ex… excuse me…"
Ritz recognized that voice. Come to think of it, given the short distance, if he pushed himself, Franz would be arriving here around now.
"Excuse… me…"
The sound of knocking was also faint. Ritz hurriedly opened the door, and of course, standing there was Franz himself, his usually neat golden hair disheveled, his clothes torn in places, and covered in mud and sweat.
Franz was dragging Ritz's luggage and seemed to be barely standing, leaning at an angle. He must have fallen and gotten back up many times to get here.
The refined young master a few hours ago was nowhere to be seen. He looked more like a vagrant.
Franz slowly turned his gaze to the gap in the open door, and after a long moment, finally recognized the person standing there.
"…Ritz…"
"Yo, Franz. You look more like you're dying than Anna."
"This isn't the time for jokes…"
Even as he complained, his tension seemed to break, and Franz slowly collapsed into Ritz's arms. He was completely unconscious.
"H-Hey! Get a hold of yourself, Franz!"
The couple, who had been watching the exchange between Ritz and Franz, confirmed that the guest was not who they had feared and rushed to the doorway.
Then, seeing the dirty, blond-haired boy who had passed out in Ritz's arms, their eyes widened. A big man carrying a girl overcome by poison, a tattered blond boy… They had probably never had such a strange group stumble into their inn since they started it, Ritz thought, feeling a little apologetic.
If Ritz were alone, it would probably be a normal journey, but with Anna and Franz, it was suddenly full of turmoil. Was it just his imagination?
"Excuse me, can we borrow one more bed?"
With Franz in his arms, Ritz gave a sheepish smile to the Roubaix couple.
For the next few hours, Ritz was busy taking care of the two of them. He would check on Anna, give her the cooled herbal tea to drink, and change the cold cloth on the forehead of Franz, who had developed a fever from exhaustion.
"I feel like I've become a father to two kids…"
With a complicated expression, Ritz came downstairs and couldn't help but grumble as he ate the late-night meal Philia had made.
"I hope they both get well soon."
Even though it was getting late, he ate the warm potage, grateful to the kind-hearted Philia who was keeping him company. She had boiled water for the two who were sick, prepared several cold cloths, and had been attentive in various ways.
"I feel like I'm about to collapse myself…"
Philia watched the sighing Ritz with a fond smile, as if he were a child.
It seemed this couple had no children. That's why Ritz, who looked to be in his mid-twenties, probably seemed like a child to them. Moreover, Philia seemed to have taken a liking to Ritz for his diligent care of Anna and Franz.
When he returned home and set out on a new journey, Ritz had never dreamed that things would turn out like this, but to be honest, he was used to taking care of people. Before he fought with his father and ran away from home, the job he was occasionally given was to look after children.
As he ate his late-night meal, he felt deeply that an innkeeper's wife should be a good listener, just like the gently speaking Philia.
Her husband, Morris, had gone to the well outside to fetch water for the two injured people who had stumbled in. It was a really good inn. He felt guilty for having it all to themselves.
After some pleasant conversation, the two of them finally noticed that Morris was late in returning. Even if he was fetching water from the well, it was just behind the house; it shouldn't have taken this long.
"I wonder what happened? Something might have occurred."
Seeing Philia tilt her head in anxiety, Ritz, driven by the same worry, stood up.
"I'll go help Morris-san."
So as not to worry Philia any further, he took only a lamp and casually stepped out the back door of the inn.
Even though it was early autumn, the night cold in this village, nestled in the heart of the forest, was already biting.
Ritz, who had been pacing around the inn for hours while nursing the sick, had already memorized the location of the well and other things. He was fundamentally good at remembering such things.
When he reached the well, he saw Morris.
"Morris-san~"
He called out casually and waved, then suddenly noticed something. There was someone else with Morris.
"Ritz-kun!"
Morris's voice was tense. It seemed his fears had been correct.
As he approached Morris, he saw that he was surrounded by several men.
Judging by their clothes, the men surrounding him were merchants. And they looked a little rough.
Ritz casually stepped between Morris and the merchants.
"What kind of business are you guys conducting this late at night?"
Ritz picked up a small branch that had fallen on the ground and looked at the men's faces.
"Who the hell are you?"
The men asked in a low voice.
"Just a passing hero of justice… or something like that."
As he joked, he observed the men. It didn't seem like any of them were skilled in swordsmanship. The swords at their waists were likely for self-defense.
"This has nothing to do with you. Get lost if you don't want to get hurt."
The threatening men seemed to get even more annoyed when they saw that Ritz showed no signs of being intimidated. In this situation, the one who made the other lose their cool would win.
"Big brother's gonna get angry if you do business after hours, you know."
At Ritz's playful remark, the men lunged at him.
"You bastard!"
They must have thought that with two of them, they could beat this strange man. But they were naive.
Ritz's lips curved into a smile as he lightly flexed the small branch in one hand. Even with just this, he had plenty of room to spare.
With the small branch in his hand, Ritz lightly tapped the men's hands. With a sharp sound, the men dropped the swords they were holding. Ritz immediately kicked the swords far away.
"If you can't use 'em, don't carry 'em. It's dangerous."
Ritz said mockingly with a laugh. After helping Anna, he had sealed away his rough side, so this was starting to get a little fun.
"This guy's no ordinary person…"
In front of the whispering men, Ritz crossed his arms while still holding the branch.
"I told you I was gonna get angry."
Ritz raised the lamp with his free hand and looked at the men's collars. An emblem he had seen quite a lot of recently caught his eye.
"Hmm, merchants from Saradio, huh?"
The merchants in this country belonged to autonomous regions. That's why they wore an emblem on their collars indicating which region they belonged to. Ritz had noticed this.
As he said this with a smile, the men hid their emblems and backed away.
"Oh? You don't want me to know, huh?"
The men flinched. That was his chance to press his advantage.
"You know, I have an acquaintance in the Lucina family. Maybe I should tell them there are some folks doing some shady business here."
At the pressure in Ritz's playful tone, the men exchanged a look and then hurriedly fled. As expected, the power of the Lucina family was still strong even in this village, which was part of the Saradio Autonomous Region.
If he wanted to settle things peacefully, having them retreat quietly like this was the right answer. Franz would probably be angry if he found out he used the Lucina family name, but for now, he would keep quiet.
If he didn't say anything, they wouldn't know, and if they didn't know, it would be fine.
After the men left, Ritz threw away the small branch he was holding and turned to Morris.
"Are you hurt?"
Morris, who had been dumbfounded by the exchange between Ritz and the men, nodded.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Thank you."
"Who were they?"
"They came to this village for the herbs. They're going to take what little we have left…"
Morris muttered this under his breath, then, saying this wasn't the place to talk, urged Ritz to go back inside, and they entered the inn.
"What happened, dear?"
Seeing Morris enter the inn with a pale face, Philia called out worriedly.
"It was them…"
With that short phrase, Philia seemed to understand something. She nodded with a pale face.
"We need to lock the doors securely."
With that, she ran off without looking back. After Philia left, Morris sank into a chair with a thud, looking utterly exhausted. He covered his face.
"Ritz-kun, I'm sorry, but let's talk tomorrow. I'm just so tired…"
Morris said this in a muffled voice, his face still covered. Hearing him say that with such an expression, Ritz had no choice but to comply.
"Then I'll go to bed. Wake me if anything happens."
After making this request, he went upstairs and checked on Franz and Anna once more. For some reason, Franz's sleeping face looked pained. Was he having a nightmare?
"Don't tell me he knows I said I was an acquaintance of the Lucina family."
Ritz muttered to himself. If so, Franz was clairvoyant. Of course, that was impossible.
Anna was sleeping much more comfortably than Franz. She looked like she could open her eyes and start running at any moment. It was impossible to tell which one of them had been poisoned.
"Well, for now, all's well that ends well."
He left their room, entered his own assigned room, and decided to sleep. To be honest, after a full-hour sprint carrying Anna, Ritz was also tired, and his ability to think was declining.
"Tomorrow, tomorrow. For now, I'll sleep."
Immediately after stripping off his clothes and getting into bed, Ritz's memory cut off. He must have been much more tired than he thought. This must be what they call a dreamless sleep.
Without any incident, the night deepened peacefully.