"My back hurts from lying here since dawn."
"Of course it would, there isn't even any straw down here...... no, that's not the problem! How did you get here? What on earth for?"
"Shh, Albion. Just a moment."
Erman clapped both hands over my mouth. The whole cart shook for a moment, then tilted.
"I think we're leaving now. If you make a loud noise, they'll catch us right away."
This guy! A twelve-year-old is threatening me now?! Do you know how old I am?!
I couldn't shove a kid away by force, so I just glared with all my might while the cart slowly started moving. Someone who seemed to be in charge of hauling said something to a guard, and the guard answered shortly.
I kept quiet for a while under the dark cover, and only when the everyday noises of dawn Puil gradually died down did I finally slap the back of Erman's hand and shake it off.
"You've really lost your mind. Get off the cart, quick."
"But you left the castle too, Albion."
"Are you and I the same? Are we? I wasn't someone who belonged to the royal castle to begin with, you know? If they find out the prince left the castle, everyone's going to flip, you know? If you keep being stubborn, I'm going to scream right now."
"Then you'd get caught too, Albion, and go back to the castle with me. I don't mind that."
"Hey!"
My voice almost rose without thinking, but I held myself back. If they hear this outside, I'm fucked.
"Last warning. Go."
"No."
"I said go."
"I said no."
"Are you determined to get squeezed by Calhog and Cadwin again? If you get off now, you can go back like nothing happened."
I tried using those two NPCs to threaten him back. But Erman, though he flinched, only shook his head. I could really go crazy and jump up and down.
"Why on earth won't you go? Let's at least hear why."
"......You said we were friends."
"What?"
"You said we were friends, and you're the one who tried to leave first, Albion, not me. Without even a word to me, too."
No, then am I supposed to bring up quests to you, an NPC? Or suddenly say I miss Tintagel and make a run for it?
"Because I didn't need to tell you all that."
"Why didn't you need to? We're friends. You said you'd cast magic on me too. You said you'd help me become a fine prince."
"I did say that, but."
"Weren't you going to stay in the castle with me until I became a good prince? I'm working hard at my sword lessons with General Eghon too. Or is it because I'm not good enough? Like the other knights were saying, I have no talent, so you've come to hate me too, Albion......?"
Erman started sniffling. Beside us, Titania cackled at the crying Erman and the troubled me, and I, caught between them, had my thinking grind to a halt.
A deep reality check hit me, but I couldn't just sit on my hands like this.
"Listen. I was going to come back to the castle soon too. But I really couldn't tell other people, so I was trying to go there and back alone in secret."
"Really?"
"Of course. Really. I promised I'd help you become a great prince, didn't I? Going alone is way easier than taking a whole line of people."
"Where were you going? What were you going to do by yourself?"
"Well, you see."
<He's telling! He's telling! Albion, you can do it! Just spill it! I'm dying to know how Erman will react!>
Titania, won't you shut up?
I glared at the fairy fluttering and clutching her belly laughing, and finally opened my mouth.
"To catch...... the dragon of Tintagel."
The sniffling stopped. Wet eyes went round. Erman, who couldn't say anything as if overwhelmed by the word dragon, blurted out.
"-A dragon. The dragon from the myths? In Tintagel? Wow, I'm coming too!"
Oh, fuck. I knew this would happen.
***
"You know, dragons are said to be both evil and sacred beings. They say they're creatures of a world similar to the fairies', but nobody knows exactly where they came from."
"I see."
"My tutor said so. Sometimes snakes and dragons are treated as the same, so in many places they catch and kill snakes on sight. But in some tales, dragons are sentinels who guard the fairies and eat humans. They also say dragons like gold coins and shiny things because they were influenced by leprechauns, the fairies who guard pots of treasure."
"Is that so."
"But is there really a dragon in Tintagel? His Majesty said nothing to me when he went to Tintagel, so I didn't know at all. What does a dragon look like? Does it have big terrifying scales? Is it full of big sharp teeth?"
Why am I on a walking trip in a virtual-reality world that was never in my fate, and why is a living podcast reciting information I'm not even curious about right next to me? It was my mistake, forgetting that kids around this age go nuts over dinosaurs.
On the outskirts of Puil, when the cart we were riding stopped for a moment, we quickly got off. Luckily the cart owner didn't notice the light bodies of twelve-year-olds disappear, and we ran off and passed through Puil.
Leaving Puil was a little dicey because guards were watching the people coming and going. Secretly crawling under the back hems of passersby's cloaks to hide was a unique experience, but not one I wanted to repeat.
And now. In the middle of the beech forest adjoining Puil.
"Albion, look over there! There's a squirrel!"
"......"
"Can you eat those black berries? Albion, have you tried them? Shall we pick a few and taste them?"
Am I on my way to kill a dragon, or out on a picnic with Erman? I began to seriously wonder.
The road to Tintagel. When I spread out the map behind Erman's back, Titania had clearly said it was about 20 days on foot. But considering a child's stride, it would be right to add about a week of spare time.
I didn't want to know what kind of uproar would break out in the castle while we were gone for about a month. There were plenty of other problems to solve besides that.
Food that Erman had to eat, even if I didn't, plus things like Vitality and how to handle medieval criminals. On top of that, I had to raise my Ogham skill level in the meantime, and figure out how to keep us moving to Tintagel even while I inevitably had to log out.
......Is this by any chance Erman's one-man school field trip? And I'm the only chaperone?
"Erman."
"Yeah?"
"I've got something serious to talk about. I'm not saying go back to the castle. Since it's come to this, I want to discuss how best to handle the journey ahead. So please quit picking flowers."
"S, sorry."
White and yellow flowers tumbled out of Erman's arms. Wiping his dirt-covered hands on his pants, Erman scurried over.
Right. At least it's a relief Erman is a normal NPC who listens.
"As you know, it's too dangerous for just us to go all the way to Tintagel. However generously you rate us, you and I don't look like adults, so we're sure to have plenty of trouble."
"Yeah."
"So let's find a guardian."
"A guardian? Do you mean bringing one from the castle?"
"If we call someone from the castle, we'll be dragged off on the spot without getting anywhere near Tintagel. So we have to make someone totally unrelated to the castle our guardian."
"Is there someone like that?"
Erman asked hesitantly.
He was actually right. Even in modern Korea, advanced as it is, it's abnormal for little kids to suddenly grab passing adults and say, 'We're going to Namyangju, please come with us.'
Not to mention a medieval setting, before modern law was established. If you ran into a bad adult, you'd get cleaned out and then who knows where you'd be sold.
I shook my head.
"There probably isn't."
"Then where will you find a guardian?"
"We're not finding a guardian, Erman. We're making it so an adult has no choice but to protect us."
"Huh? What does that mean?"
Isn't that obvious? I held my hand out to Erman.
The crude wooden necklace I'd carved with Onn, one of the letters of the Ogham script, and hung on him was dangling on his chest.
"Lend me your necklace for a bit."
***
People usually think robbers only run rampant in famine, but the reality was entirely different.
The road to Puil was overrun with bandits and robbers after the purses of wealthy travelers and poorly guarded merchant caravans, especially on busy travel routes. If the target had no money they'd abduct them for ransom, and there were even organized groups of criminals who moved by plan.
Daren and Pidrin, skulking about in the beech forest for passersby, were no different.
The only thing this brother and sister, abandoned in the forest from very young to reduce the mouths to feed, had ever learned was robbery to make a living, and so for over 10 years they'd emptied people's pockets without ever getting caught.
Their creed was simple. First, target the old and weak. And avoid touching those with expensive clothes as much as possible. Robbing nobles would obviously bring trouble, so the strategy was to rob only people with middling money.
That day too, Daren and Pidrin were watching for fools entering the forest when they caught a faint sound of crying from somewhere.
"Pidrin. Hear that?"
"I hear it. Who's crying so loud? Aren't they scared of wolves?"
"Sounds like a kid. Just in case, want to go have a look?"
"If it's not one we have to take in and feed, of course."
Muffling their footsteps, the two tracked down the source of the crying and stopped at a distance for a moment.
A child stood among the trees crying sorrowfully. Seeing the child bursting into tears with all his strength, as if he'd lost his parents, Pidrin whispered.
"Lost?"
"Or maybe dumped on purpose. Like us when we were little."
"No, look at that. Even the color's different from the clothes we wear. And look at the sword that guy's carrying. A short sword. In a leather scabbard. He's definitely from a family with money."
"Does he look noble?"
"If we're unlucky, could be. He's got a high-born look."
Daren let out a hmm. A cunning calculation was rolling around in his head.
Is the target weak? Yes. There's no better target than a helpless child. But it's a shame his status can't be guessed. If he's a noble, it would be right to pass by here pretending not to see.
"Let's take him."
"What? You want to raise him? Looking to train a successor or something?"
"What kind of nonsense is that? Let's sell him off. A face like that's worth taking all the way to Duren or Amiens. Do you know how rare blond hair is? He'll definitely fetch a high price."
"You know where to sell him?"
"More or less. First you approach him. Kids mostly stop crying when a woman goes. When that brat gets distracted, I'll quietly go over and knock him out."
"Once again, I'm the only one doing the hard work."
Grumbling all the while, Pidrin swept her hair back and straightened her clothes so she'd look as un-shabby as possible.
Crossing the bushes and slowly approaching the crying child, Pidrin tried to put on as gentle and kind a smile as she could and asked.
"Hello, little kid. Why are you crying here? It gets dangerous if it gets dark like this. You should hurry back home."
"I, I don't know the way."
"Oh? What do we do? The forest gets very scary when it gets dark."
Pidrin crouched in front of the child. When the hand furtively wiping his tears stopped, she could finally see the brat's face. Blue eyes, golden hair curling at the ends, and delicate features.
Looks that promised much for the future. Just who were his parents, to pass on such a blessing? Not that it was any of Pidrin's concern, of course.
"Then shall I show you the way out of the forest? Come along with big sis."
"Is that okay......?"
"Big sis is a hunter, see. I know the forests around Puil very well. So want to come with me? If you stay here too long, a terrifying wolf might come out and eat you in one bite."
"I don't like wolves. They're scary."
"Then we're going together, okay?"
Snatching the little hand without even hearing the answer, Pidrin smirked. This is why you aim for the old and weak. How easily they trust strangers, honestly. It makes even me feel sorry for them.
She slowly walked with her back to the direction Daren was in. Now Daren would pop out and hoist this brat up or knock him out with a blow. Sell him off and he should fetch a pretty penny, so what should she do with it? Just drink herself silly?
Humming inside, Pidrin delighted in thoughts of a heavy money bag, but, soon a large shadow burst out of the bushes, shattering her imaginings.
"Hgh, cough, cough!"
"Daren! What's wrong with you?! Are you crazy?"
"Fuck, you think I wanted this—"
Clutching his own throat and gasping, Daren crawled on the ground. And behind him.
"Erman. It's okay now. It worked."
Another brat walked out. From the direction of the bushes where Daren had been lurking, with a calm face as if he'd been watching from one step ahead of them.
The boy, sweeping back the pale ivory hair flowing long, pointed at Daren.
"You're the companion who was with this man?"
"What the hell happened here, Daren?!"
"I don't know! I said I don't know! I was hiding and peeking when suddenly this damned little bastard shoved something down my throat!"
"So who told you to let your guard down like that?"
At the boy's pitying retort Daren tried to charge at him with bloodshot eyes, but had to stop at the words that followed.
"That's magic."
"......What?"
"I fed you an object I cast magic on. So, if you stay as you are, you'll drop dead in twenty hours."
Drop dead. In twenty hours.
At the boy's one-sided notice, Daren's mouth fell limply open.