404 - Jean-Jacques's Perspective: The Gardener Boy and Augusta Castle 2
Might be a bit gory for some readers.
The watchdog seemed to judge I was no longer a threat once I moved away from the iron gate. It didn't bark to call the guards, but it kept staring at me without looking away. I moved far enough that the iron gate was out of sight, so I couldn't tell what happened after that, but it was probably keeping its attention fixed my way for a while. Dogs have better ears and noses than humans. It's safe to assume it could still sense my presence.
...Well then, what should I do?
I couldn't get past the iron gate, but I continued investigating the back garden while staying hidden. I searched for something like a secret passage that castles of this sort usually have, but I didn't find anything promising.
...Well, they wouldn't make a hidden passage somewhere you'd find it that easily.
Still, I figured it might come in handy someday, so I made a mental map of the back garden. As I organized the locations of the fountain and the garden pavilion, the trees and flower beds, the paths the gardener would likely take became visible too. The paths a gardener uses are basically the servant paths. The servants who work indoors don't go near the gardener who works with the soil in the garden. For similar reasons, soldiers' patrols should be fewer there too, which made it a convenient route for an intruder like me to move around.
...That kid knows something. No doubt about it.
That's what I thought, but it seemed the iron gate was as far as I could get toward Teo's workplace. I might be able to get past the watchdog's guard if I forced it, but that wasn't a great plan. I didn't think I could take it down without getting hurt myself, and I wasn't sure if it was worth forcing my way through even if it meant getting injured.
...If I had some proof the Tina kid was past that point, I'd manage somehow...
I hadn't visited all the territories I planned to visit yet. Getting wounded carelessly could be a big danger for someone traveling. If the wound got worse, it could be life-threatening, and if I couldn't swing my weapon because of the pain, I'd be in trouble if bandits attacked. I shouldn't take risks I couldn't see a return on.
...Maybe I should look into that former gardener a bit more.
I wanted a bit more proof. Having concluded that, I climbed the trees the same way I came in and exited the Augusta Castle grounds. Hoping the drunk from last night might have remembered something, I walked the highway toward the town at a leisurely pace. If I killed time along the way, I should reach town right around when the tavern opens.
The previous gardener seemed pretty familiar with the town, considering he lived in the gardener's hut at Augusta Castle. Rather than being familiar with the town, it might be more accurate to say he was familiar with the tavern. Everyone I talked to at the tavern was able to tell me a little bit about him.
"Oh? I saw you yesterday too, didn't I!"
I found the man who'd been trying to remember something about the previous gardener again tonight, and moved next to him with my drink. I couldn't just ask straight out "Remember anything?" without making him suspicious, so I started with harmless topics first. As the conversation shifted from one thing to another, the weather, this year's harvest, the condition of the fields, and the man's tongue loosened with drink, I finally brought up last night's topic again. Just as I was about to ask if he'd remembered anything, someone called out to him from a different direction.
"You're the merchant's guard who's been snooping around for information, aren't you. From the look of you, you seem more like a bandit than a guard..."
"...Guess it's a face suited for this line of work?"
The moment the man addressed him, the drunk who'd been boastfully bragging about the size of the fish he'd caught shut his mouth. As if wanting to avoid getting caught up in it, he moved away from me and the man -- carefully taking his drink with him -- and changed seats.
"So, what's a merchant's guard poking his nose into?"
"Poking my nose in? That's a nasty way to put it. I was just looking for some interesting gossip I could use to make a living, that's all."
I added that the merchant I was currently working for was too serious and stifling, to imply that I had nothing to do with my employer Cody, just in case. If something happened to me, I couldn't have Cody getting targeted as an accomplice.
"Hey, you got any interesting stories?"
"I know a funny one about an idiot who talked too much outside and got killed by his noble employer not long ago."
...A funny story, huh.
The man called it a funny story, but there was nothing funny about it from my perspective. The point was, I was being threatened by a man I'd just met for the first time, basically "keep messing around and you'll die."
...Huh?
So there really was something behind the previous gardener's death after all. If that connected to Teo's strange reaction, I felt like it might be worth looking into a bit more.
As we were having this conversation that could turn into a fight at any moment, it was the tavern owner who gave in first. Not wanting any trouble in his establishment, he kicked me out, and I could see him bowing his head to the other man who came in and handing him money. Seeing how differently the owner treated me and that man, the owner must have known him. Since the man knew about the previous gardener, it might be safe to assume he was connected to Augusta Castle.
"Alright, is the wagon ready to move? Cody, get out of town right now."
"...What the hell did you do!?"
Since I'd been kicked out of the tavern, there was only one thing to do. I stuck my head into Cody's wagon, which was parked at the market, and gave him a warning. Jimmy seemed to understand it was an emergency from that alone. When he came out from the back and started checking the harness, I handed him the reins of the horse we'd left at the inn.
"I didn't do anything! They came at me!"
"If you didn't do anything, there'd be no reason for us to have to flee in the middle of the night, would there!?"
"Well it happened, so what do you want me to say!?"
Come on, hurry up and get ready, I said, slapping Cody's rear to hurry him along. A suspicious man had shown up the day after all that. We shouldn't take our time.
"I've got something I need to check on here, so I'll investigate separately. You keep traveling and gathering info like planned, and get out of Uhlenfurt territory. I plan to catch up soon, but just in case, the meeting point will be the third town after leaving the territory."
"Chuck!"
Jimmy, who was hitching the horse to the wagon, called out in warning, and I shut my mouth. Following Jimmy's gaze, I saw the shadows of five armed men illuminated by the moonlight.
"Looks like we were a little too late."
"...What did you really do!?"
"Just stay in the wagon, you'll just get in the way."
I don't need to be told that, Cody said, and hid inside the wagon. I couldn't get Cody to escape ahead anymore, so I had no choice but to turn the tables. Change of plans. I'd beat them down and force them to give me the information I needed.
...Blood?
It was too quick for them to have gathered a group in the time it took me to walk from the tavern to the market. Noticing that, I looked more carefully at the men and saw that three of the five had multiple black spots on their clothes. And the smell drifting on the wind was too ominous to just be some fashionable dye. That sweet scent tinged with iron was familiar to me.
"I'll ask just in case. What do you want?"
Jimmy passed me the spear the Commander had left in the wagon. The Black Knights of the Kingdom of Ivizia are trained to handle all kinds of weapons. Spears weren't my specialty, but I was confident I could use one better than your average person.
...The hardest part will be holding back enough not to kill them.
If the opponent was an amateur, subduing them would be easy. Even if they were pros, that would be manageable in its own way. The problem was when they were neither, the middling sort. People with half-assed strength tend to overestimate themselves and can't figure out when to back down. And groups of bandits fall into that middling category too.
...Well, not really bandits, I guess?
More than bandits, they looked like the kind of mercenaries who never leave the city. Not the kind who sell their skills on the battlefield, but the kind kept by nobles and rich people, all bluster, mercenaries in name only. They were closer to just common thugs.
"Chuck!"
"One's enough."
I stopped Jimmy from getting off the wagon and had him guard the horses instead. Cody could just keep trembling in the back. I never expected him to be any help in a fight anyway. He was less of a hindrance staying out of the way than coming out and messing things up.
"I'll take the first hit. After that, it's all self-defense."
I'll beat you all down, I thought, catching the sword of the first man who swung at me with my spear and deflecting it to the side. I kicked the man hard in the body as he lost his balance and staggered, taking him out of the fight first.
"Alright, we're good."
The attack was over in a few minutes. I called out to Cody, still hiding in the wagon bed. I'd meant to hold back, but out of the attackers, only one was still breathing. I hadn't stabbed anyone with my spear, but there was no contest between hired thugs kept by rich people and a trained Black Knight of the Kingdom of Ivizia, not even in sheer strength. I'd slammed them against walls hoping they'd lose consciousness long enough that they couldn't continue fighting, but it seemed they hit their heads badly. One of them was unlucky enough to get flung toward his own buddy, who was approaching with a weapon, and ended up with a short sword stuck in his belly.
"...Even bandits put up more of a fight than this. Or am I just getting too strong? Maybe I could even beat Boss Jin next time?"
"That's probably not... ah, never mind. Do you need rope?"
Cody poked his head out nervously, answering my joke while pulling out some rope. Even if we tied them up, their employer might just let them go right away, but we needed evidence that we'd made an effort not to kill them. We were attacked, and we drove them off. We'd need to be able to claim it was self-defense.
...Well, if the guy who hired them buries it, or tries to use it as an excuse to arrest us, I'll deal with it then.
If that happened, Cody would probably bitch and moan about it, but that's just how things go. Like I suggested to Cody earlier, we'd just have to run out of the territory before the attackers' employer caught us.
"Huh? This guy... he's not hurt, but there's blood on his clothes...?"
"Ah, that was already there from the start."
I realized it as I said it, the smell of blood had been carried on the wind. The attackers were covered in the smell of blood. I'd used my spear, but I hadn't stabbed anyone. One idiot got stabbed by his own buddy's weapon, but that was a different guy from the ones who showed up with black stains on their clothes.
...Wait. Whose blood is this?
If the smell of blood was clinging to them, that meant the blood was still fresh. Which meant these men had gotten someone's blood on them somewhere else before coming to the market.
"I know a funny one about an idiot who talked too much outside and got killed by his noble employer not long ago."
The man's voice from the tavern came back to me. He'd said "not long ago." I'd assumed he was talking about the previous gardener, but someone told me Teo started working at the castle in spring. Surely they wouldn't say "not long ago" with more than half a year in between.
"You guys load that up in the wagon, then move the wagon to the town exit."
I told them I was going to check on Teo's place, and left the clean-up to Cody and the others. Since we'd been attacked, there should have been some reaction on Teo's side too. I had a bad feeling about it.
When Teo's house, which I'd confirmed the location of just last night, came into view, something was clearly off. I could see lights flickering in the windows of the surrounding houses, but Teo's house had none. If he came back at the same time every day, Teo should have been home by now. There was no way the lights wouldn't be on.
"Hey, kid! You alive!? I'm coming in!"
I called out just to be safe, then opened the door. The door, which wasn't even barred, opened easily, and moonlight spilled into the dark room. The interior, faintly illuminated by the moonlight, showed signs of having been ransacked, and there was a dark puddle on the floor.
"...Ugh!"
The moment I noticed the puddle, my nose caught the smell. That heavy, sweet scent was one I'd often smelled on the battlefield.
"Hey, you alive? Hey!"
I found two figures collapsed on the floor and called out to the woman among them. The woman, probably Teo's mother, was dead, her throat torn open. There were signs of beating on her face, and when I lifted her, her arm bent in a wrong direction. No doubt she'd been tortured before being killed. When I checked, all the bones in her fingers were broken.
I laid the woman down on the floor and straightened her disheveled hem. As I looked around the room wondering if I should cover her with a sheet, I noticed Teo's hair faintly stir. He was collapsed, clutching his stomach.
"...You're alive!? Hey, kid!"
I dropped to one knee, leaning over Teo's body, calling out to him while occasionally straining my ears. If his hair moved, that meant he was breathing. After waiting like that for a while, Teo coughed up blood along with his breath. It was clearly a hopeless situation.
"...wh...y... there's... nothing..."
I held my breath to catch the words mixed in with his breathing. Whether he didn't recognize me, or didn't even realize someone was there, Teo opened his unfocused eyes slightly and spoke. Cursing the attackers while apologizing to his mother for why this had happened to him.
"...te...ll... Se...do...va...ra... chu...rch... gi...rl... bla...ck... hai...r... cu...te..."
I stopped breathing, determined not to miss a single word of what was being said on those shallow breaths. The words coming from Teo's mouth were fragmented, "tell," "Sedovara Church," "girl," "black hair," "cute." Fragmented though they were, they were a mountain of the words we'd been searching for.
"...Ti...na... young... la...dy... cal...led... that... gi...rl... plea...se... sa...ve..."
Please save that girl who's called Young Lady Tina.
Having pieced together Teo's words, I closed the eyelids that had stayed open over lips that no longer twitched even a little. He probably couldn't hear me anymore, but I gave him a proper answer anyway.
"Yeah, leave it to me. Yours truly came to bring the Tina kid back."
Will fix typos and errors at a later date.