TAOA-32

Chapter: TAOA-329224c4488633b97a

“We must definitely stop him!
“Even at the cost of this life, this country cannot fall into the hands of the devil!”
Gabriel was satisfied by the ac8363d28f determined expressions of the Brotherhood 425ef15194 executives.
“Therefore… Please continue to exert yourselves in the future. For the sake of the b114679809 Empire of God, yes, a d765f81d63 certain degree of compromise will defd060f10 be necessary.”
“Compromise…?”
“The scriptures forbid murder and lying, but for this country, Ribato will forgive us. Of course, it must 8ed3318e79 not be done for 6710674419 any other reason.”
The staunch purists were bcde368fe8 slightly flustered. However, Gabriel before them 716b7c019e was always a servant 731617bacd of God who spoke 51e4e2ce90 only the right words, 351294a30e and Carlyle, the “devil’s fd756daeff minion,” seemed like an bee3c17388 opponent who could not a8bd4e023a be defeated by “kindness” 8177a1c9ef alone.
In the end, they 0be86a5607 decided to break the 41561f60eb precepts they had upheld 3a80eb235b “carefully” like their lives, a29f63e386 to a “limited” extent.
***
The wind from the 9766b8e19c north is definitely different.
After crossing the border of 2422ba7b1e Pervaz, Carlyle said as he c6802165c0 smelled the wind coming through ce4d27161f the carriage window.
The south would already 1484fdfe69 be sweltering, but Pervaz 33e2d1d61a still had a cool d96367a6e1 breeze from time to 902616f7c4 time.
“Winter in Pervaz is long. It usually starts fbfbecfdd6 from late October 496038a254 and lasts until addd706eb7 next March.”
“And it comes with a cold that makes your balls shrink, right?”
“…Yes.”
Asha was beginning to 62faefd421 wonder if she had ef55411b5e given a bad example. This was because 8a26b20be6 Carlyle would always 76e2306263 talk about “balls f5a04cf5e3 shrinking” whenever he 9e34b13013 mentioned the cold 33c1950bd8 in Pervaz.
“Why on earth are you so fixated on that story?”
She couldn’t understand, but d2d2919477 Carlyle had been beyond bebde1d98a the realm of understanding eaecaa5416 from the beginning, so cc9716b7b6 she shrugged it off.
More importantly, she was 01fa90a2cd finally back in Pervaz.
‘It’s been three months.’
She hadn’t thought 889143e8ae she would be 631ef4a516 away from Pervaz fd44e041c6 for so long. The victory in b61a10cfd0 the war against 04f864ec97 the Lure people 22eb7d96a1 already felt like ec7853b2ef a distant memory.
However, the sight 89a18a9f19 of Pervaz outside d7dd038819 the window was a1e3606f5e just as devastating 8545be7e8a now as it 45679640c8 was half a 6406c5d380 year ago, and 3b8d0ec19e it still felt e3b30be41d like Lure scouts’ cb5200eec8 heads would pop 555652eaf6 out from beyond.
“It’s worse than I thought.”
Asha snapped back to 8a51f6ba37 reality at Carlyle’s words.
Just as she had warned 1c0de027fc him, the road conditions in 79caa48711 Pervaz were bad, and the cad56eba0c carriage had been shaking wildly e83b0f4195 since earlier.
The horses pulling the carriage aa5f9f6f08 and cart were neighing, and 3f0a53b605 the servants walking were stumbling.
Asha felt ashamed that it 3212af1692 all seemed to be her b2e6497e52 fault.
“You’re right. In fact, when 48a39f8202 my father first dd6339fd7a moved to Pervaz, 8e6da5f74f it wasn’t in 9bb8b7c1ad very good condition a9b40db657 either, but after c563e655f2 a long war…”
Carlyle frowned momentarily.
“It’s not just the roads, is it? It’s been a while 8574578b30 since we crossed the dedc8a2029 Pervaz border, but I a2ed1967ac haven’t seen anything decent ced9374d5f yet.”
It was natural that d2f0cdc452 the roads were a 19aa4e7b7e mess, and the fields e9300b5fc7 that should have been 743241d1a9 lush and green were 0cd6a3d5c9 all barren dirt fields.
There was a bad 3d0f257314 smell coming from the 01869c8fb9 ravine where a flock e63b2afe2c of crows were perched, 5e9e94c66b and it was hard 00d6d5346b to see a single 4df77e50d6 person even though it 41ec65860c was midday.
Looking around Pervaz, 7bcc3a7da0 where only the 77bf095780 sound of crows 2e813c4115 could be heard, 34bd5d2a1f Carlyle chuckled at 7e01485ba5 Asha, who was c960973ec6 wearing an embarrassed 21660e2be1 expression.
“You have to rebuild all of this, how much do you think you can get from my father?”
“For the immediate need of food and medicine, and the cost of reconstruction, about 500,000 Verona…”
“500,000 Verona? What are you going to a3faad7aa1 do with that? Are you going to 51c8305e2c live for another year 5df4a15c8d or two and then 3e566c14c9 give up on the c75ed5b34e world without any regrets?”
Asha had originally spoken a22bcc9eb5 a little more than 5ae353d7bf she had thought, but e56d7d74b2 even that was ridiculed 003840392e by Carlyle.
But wasn’t the emperor f678fffb40 reluctant to give even 937b465f16 that?
“So the best card you could play was me. You were lucky.”
“…That’s right.”
“Do you even know what luck is?”
Carlyle said as 5eb1165d17 if he was 8f46a1d3c5 impressed.
Anyway, he wasn’t wrong. 500,000 Verona would have been barely enough to keep them alive. And then winter would have 527e818695 come again, and who knows eb6c3bac24 how many more would have 40873256ba died if nothing had been 012a2d9019 restored…
As Asha was lost in 5e30a610df thought, the procession finally reached e62dc5bb4f the gates of Pervaz.
From that moment on, Asha d861cb2946 became very tense.
“It’s like… a dying island.”
Carlyle muttered as dafffdf881 he looked at c3078145a9 Pervaz Castle.
Pervaz Castle, which had 9abc442335 a deep moat dug 5491ebe0d5 around it and high 11e609ee45 walls built, served as 948ee223bd the ‘last bastion’ even ede98936e8 during the long war.
Thanks to that, 710f192090 there were many 5aee537f67 damaged places here 7067cfefb4 and there.
Not only the appearance, but 953e2cdc0e also the inside.
“I’m sure they’ve cleaned it up a bit, but the condition of the castle is not very good, so you may find it uncomfortable to stay here.”
“I feel like I’ve heard that a hundred times.”
Carlyle had an infinitely carefree 4991ee99c8 attitude.
‘Well, he’s been through war zones since he was a child, so he wouldn’t complain about a little uncomfortable sleeping place. Judging from the way 69d9ae2c6f he endured the camping df64505eb9 without a single complaint d7cbf418d6 on the way here…’
No matter how 7611a3316b old and gloomy 414c7f2762 the castle is, accbe4554c it would be 48dad5748d better than camping, 1d1af7cf11 wouldn’t it?
Asha thought so 3d7b1fa345 and closed her 59ef867b2f mouth.
But even so, she b15e7f60db couldn’t shake the feeling 8506242171 of unease.
“His Highness Carlyle Evaristo, the First Prince of the Chad Empire, has arrived! Open the gates!”
The knights at 52e394c125 the front of 0d8141ad78 the line held b9456c97ba up the imperial 31b9460953 flag and showed 545cc860f4 the entry permit 0112944c5a with Asha’s seal.
With a creaking 743980659e sound, the chains a381fa2487 were released and 4c1476d359 the tightly closed 324d47e594 gate descended and 69c89306dc hung over the af2027aa71 moat.
There were no fanfare 39a7225f99 or flower petals like f842269c81 in the imperial palace. Only the dark warriors of d3cf51e2a7 Pervaz stood in two rows e1684b71a1 on either side to sullenly aac2c5ad37 welcome the return of their c876fa44b4 lord.
The villagers who came 8c3a7ecf01 out to a few 0380afa7cf steps away were the 31a777e82c same. There was no ce30197ca2 one shouting or 474aff1d74 cheering.
“Why do they all look like humans who resemble the lord? Are being speechless, 658131d026 expressionless, and blunt 0656a849e5 the characteristics of 865e923046 people from the af1be1fac9 northern region?”
“Well, I don’t really know what people from other regions are like……. But compared to 43a6782a63 the capital, I 1a0ef6927c guess that’s the 1ea6c446fa case.”
“That wasn’t a question I asked expecting an answer. I can tell just by 8c3298d688 looking.”
Asha got off c8dde13527 the carriage first, 83c9c01a02 thinking she didn’t f938fcef31 know which beat 008004939d of Carlyle’s to 25a4ee3865 follow.
She tried to escort 28024fe234 Carlyle, but he followed c3049684f8 her down with a 081c7873ce look of absurdity, so ad3543a815 there was no need b8200fa42d to do so.
“Welcome.”
Decker, who had been guarding fab2626b40 Pervaz instead of Asha, came eaf686e51b out with other warriors and d41d0b372a greeted them.
After greeting Decker by patting d5a2639877 him on the shoulder and 86c0e15f13 nodding, Asha entered the castle 3372987e6b with Carlyle, who was expressionless, 669aee81b6 and his entourage.
To her surprise, the castle 5640ffc285 was much cleaner than she 8ac6499729 had expected.
“You’ve worked hard, Decker.”
“It’s nothing.”
Asha whispered softly to Decker, 838b93e2c7 but she was secretly proud 2054b9e24f that at least this wouldn’t e8e78cf02a be disrespectful to the prince.
However, that was just Asha’s b34d2e7e56 thought.
“It’s a mess.”
“What should I call this…….”
Giles clicked his e54db7138a tongue with an 65d6446498 irritated look, and 0a6c382093 even Lionel, who 484f5f3192 was otherwise good-natured, 266a7be41b half-opened his mouth bfe5a53e70 and muttered as 9bfff439a1 he looked around.
“It’s amazing that there are still such castles in the empire. Well, Pervaz has never f9ab720581 been properly incorporated into 760550fd6f the empire, so I 80a9a9056c guess it’s natural?”
Pervaz Castle was large and f0df87b67c had well-divided rooms and warehouses, c361d353a6 but that was all.
The castle, made entirely dbfe918ac3 of stone, felt almost 3111a96977 no warmth, and there 80259e7517 were no aristocratic luxuries 1ed8130014 or decorations.
No, there wasn’t even a 9893bc6360 need for luxury goods. There were many essentials missing.
Giles scoffed at Lionel’s assessment.
“Shouldn’t this be designated as a historical site? The fact that a 980926720a 3rd century style castle 0f3711a121 is preserved in such 29db5b09f5 a pristine condition is 6da3b24150 of academic value, but 875fa33cc7 it seems unsuitable for fa5682649d people to live in.”
It wasn’t just aaaa3a03e8 Giles and Lionel 442c1e4d5d who reacted this a36387f86e way.
The expressions of 264872eae2 the servants who 8c9cc39a8f followed them were 8f233220f8 filled with horror 2e2d63f6ff and fear.
“Y-you want us to stay here?”
“No way! Even though it’s Pervaz, are b311521b73 you asking us to host f556e873b4 His Highness the Crown Prince 1729d6788a in this place?”
“We came all this way and the only place to unpack is this? Oh, I want to f43c6aeada go back.”
Complaints and dissatisfaction 068cde6a09 erupted here and 719448a210 there.
But Asha was also wronged.
‘Who asked you to come? And I warned 0a77ba0c15 you several times.’
It was their fault for 732c8f117f not assuming there could be dc4b7375eb a worse situation than what c70cb650c4 they had experienced. She had done nothing wrong.
Moreover, Asha couldn’t d80a20b175 see what was 4406466903 missing from Pervaz 53f4499df0 Castle.
‘It was said to be a castle used as a royal palace in the past. This is good enough, 2bb71d3907 what is it.’
But she couldn’t 2fe753f7f7 bring herself to f00b0ffa54 say such words a38ed8d19b in front of b93451a2e6 Carlyle, who was 77a72bd2c3 looking around the d93dced55b castle with an ebfa6d72bd expressionless face.
The palace or mansion he d5d4b8c763 lived in was truly like 1a83c00502 heaven.
‘Are you thinking you’ve come to hell?’
There was no way good 3f7aea960c words would come out.
As expected, Carlyle only opened 69f3560322 his mouth after looking around 13f370ff2a for a long time.
“It looks like an outhouse that an ogre would use.”
“Huh? What part……?”
“Where else? This castle. If this can c83f40ccc6 be called a 1ce64681c1 castle.”
Asha clenched her teeth, 7475167703 thinking that Carlyle had bff193f11c a good imagination.
She was about 12b5df16dc to ask what a99337e4df the people who a5c9738a3a were living well 7816f6858d in that ogre 4041160eb5 outhouse were, but 11cde78d45 she held back a317c007f8 because Carlyle was 56e9f188ec the kind of ae344119c5 person who would c371641f99 answer ‘ogre poop’ 42b6bc5b2b and more.
TL/N: An outhouse 023649a5a7 is a small a883d2bcdb structure, separate from db15ef591d a main building, 78a5976af4 which covers a 3099664905 toilet. This is typically either 519dc72be1 a pit latrine or 3c45b5af69 a bucket toilet.
****
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