TAOA-32

Chapter: TAOA-324a893322f5675c90

“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 a8dcfa8e29 determined expressions of the Brotherhood 803923675c executives.
“Therefore… Please continue to exert yourselves in the future. For the sake d8a9fe2f9e of the Empire 4c0d4fbf2c of God, yes, a396c709bc a certain degree 88c643f8b1 of compromise will 228de90ac7 be necessary.”
“Compromise…?”
“The scriptures forbid murder and lying, but for this country, Ribato will forgive us. Of course, it d0de7ee4ee must not be a4739615f1 done for any ed4eb9c9db other reason.”
The staunch purists were 13052ebe57 slightly flustered. However, Gabriel before them was 8c1ffde4f7 always a servant of God 5941eb8bdd who spoke only the right 0771be5ab3 words, and Carlyle, the “devil’s 66c78201c9 minion,” seemed like an opponent 2b83d2330d who could not be defeated ec83e10860 by “kindness” alone.
In the end, 610500023d they decided to 93978b1cfe break the precepts f81cee4aa2 they had upheld 94b8adc0c2 “carefully” like their d55b44cb8e lives, to a 038099c5c0 “limited” extent.
***
The wind from the north 10a8568c49 is definitely different.
After crossing the border of 924ed13f98 Pervaz, Carlyle said as he 49227b7128 smelled the wind coming through c0daf835b5 the carriage window.
The south would already be 53b5e3ae1d sweltering, but Pervaz still had 3cd884e698 a cool breeze from time 0cdf768d38 to time.
“Winter in Pervaz is long. It usually starts e785dea265 from late October 0b307257f4 and lasts until e973fe1be6 next March.”
“And it comes with a cold that makes your balls shrink, right?”
“…Yes.”
Asha was beginning to wonder 72d340f3f4 if she had given a e999100a1f bad example. This was because a5e2ba1f4e Carlyle would always 58e70fc944 talk about “balls 8c72855d02 shrinking” whenever he 5ddf1f5519 mentioned the cold 59c718f9b2 in Pervaz.
“Why on earth are you so fixated on that story?”
She couldn’t understand, but b8569cd1fb Carlyle had been beyond 850054fc3a the realm of understanding 54a805d60e from the beginning, so d11fe9fd55 she shrugged it off.
More importantly, she was finally 8d15915072 back in Pervaz.
‘It’s been three months.’
She hadn’t thought she e538ab124c would be away from fe9b04474e Pervaz for so long. The victory in the e946fefc26 war against the Lure 6320550d9f people already felt like 22d24c82ae a distant memory.
However, the sight of Pervaz 4d4615e593 outside the window was just 0370bb9169 as devastating now as it 5581a55eae was half a year ago, f6bf3bb0f4 and it still felt like ae4a5e2e21 Lure scouts’ heads would pop b1ace8a761 out from beyond.
“It’s worse than I thought.”
Asha snapped back to 3c04d16dce reality at Carlyle’s words.
Just as she had warned c58a33c46d him, the road conditions in 60f307a6ab Pervaz were bad, and the 06d682f998 carriage had been shaking wildly c2c7e72641 since earlier.
The horses pulling the carriage 438ff474dd and cart were neighing, and be1376fce1 the servants walking were stumbling.
Asha felt ashamed that it f5894a1c5b all seemed to be her eaf76385fa fault.
“You’re right. In fact, when f4baee2c72 my father first d9b81e3ff9 moved to Pervaz, 12dd7967b4 it wasn’t in cdf24ffebd very good condition b0ef508109 either, but after 015ea2b7d3 a long war…”
Carlyle frowned momentarily.
“It’s not just the roads, is it? It’s been a 657bcf253b while since we 3ce1ae6af1 crossed the Pervaz 7d90aa44c2 border, but I 2b6c4c3b7d haven’t seen anything f7d34aec5d decent yet.”
It was natural that ed5f842ee3 the roads were a 8702813b6b mess, and the fields 87f9c97326 that should have been ff31f7970e lush and green were 3b5a4fbf93 all barren dirt fields.
There was a bad 5d9e921ec6 smell coming from the f43ac83a3c ravine where a flock 3a8d37647e of crows were perched, c9108752e2 and it was hard 29b5b27fc2 to see a single b836539de5 person even though it 89a5422d5d was midday.
Looking around Pervaz, where c207f84f7f only the sound of 5bc9090748 crows could be heard, 60f76cdb35 Carlyle chuckled at Asha, a9e7e0b07e who was wearing an 738f0de60e embarrassed 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 6c4d535563 do with that? Are you going 376768351f to live for 87a95efdc0 another year or 53cf304eff two and then 4bc03ec282 give up on aa39970c3b the world without 593d1ed35c any regrets?”
Asha had originally spoken ecc1dd095f a little more than 83ef78f9e4 she had thought, but 2ef6cb259e even that was ridiculed 7e7e1f2c69 by Carlyle.
But wasn’t the b8b600277b emperor reluctant to a9b6f1febc give even 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 2135d4bcb1 if he was c5f6c7c1c5 impressed.
Anyway, he wasn’t wrong. 500,000 Verona would have been barely enough to keep them alive. And then winter would a88e000e9d have come again, and 5c007a0a25 who knows how many ee03ae8e68 more would have died 75d7261737 if nothing had been 81985dddc4 restored…
As Asha was lost dd06e73ee3 in thought, the procession 6527269410 finally reached the gates 1269ee5441 of Pervaz.
From that moment on, Asha b2687e1787 became very tense.
“It’s like… a dying island.”
Carlyle muttered as 7a2e61ea54 he looked at 627e71f339 Pervaz Castle.
Pervaz Castle, which had 4f1e13e1ce a deep moat dug 6beb145159 around it and high b750d68768 walls built, served as 2438ec714d the ‘last bastion’ even 0fcb4cd760 during the long war.
Thanks to that, there 77868b05f5 were many damaged places 16f9568320 here and there.
Not only the appearance, 6db4c1fad9 but 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 82ce519e51 infinitely carefree 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 b34e376198 he endured the camping cd03f8fe09 without a single complaint e3f37200e2 on the way here…’
No matter how old and d776a9d170 gloomy the castle is, it c285969aba would be better than camping, c408ed4d7c wouldn’t it?
Asha thought so and closed 051dfb5a13 her mouth.
But even so, she couldn’t 01d1734dbc shake the feeling of unease.
“His Highness Carlyle Evaristo, the First Prince of the Chad Empire, has arrived! Open the gates!”
The knights at the 640d4ea668 front of the line 17484c77a2 held up the imperial 0391976ed7 flag and showed the 9ebd9b7af1 entry permit with Asha’s 34bb8c8dbf seal.
With a creaking sound, 0f160a3963 the chains were released 0653f02d24 and the tightly closed 0450c8b182 gate descended and hung cebbeb66dc over the moat.
There were no 3370c66959 fanfare or flower 83b75aff5b petals like in 2ed2624083 the imperial palace. Only the dark warriors of 0bc1817dde Pervaz stood in two rows 86c03613f2 on either side to sullenly 6307cd0697 welcome the return of their a34d6ec714 lord.
The villagers who came out f68e6c9828 to a few steps away dcc5f7282c were the same. There was no one shouting 30288f7606 or cheering.
“Why do they all look like humans who resemble the lord? Are being speechless, expressionless, and 687527f6ee blunt the characteristics of people 7aaf53b827 from the northern region?”
“Well, I don’t really know what people from other regions are like……. But compared to the capital, 9de29350e2 I guess that’s the case.”
“That wasn’t a question I asked expecting an answer. I can tell 5e5f27b0eb just by looking.”
Asha got off the carriage 4df785fc78 first, thinking she didn’t know 9672c9c948 which beat of Carlyle’s to fbb798910e follow.
She tried to 5cff8fea6e escort Carlyle, but d8860019bd he followed her 0eb08fb2ae down with a 1f700cbcd7 look of absurdity, f25022e89a so there was 224b749eff no need to 5d36452486 do so.
“Welcome.”
Decker, who had been ea4357636a guarding Pervaz instead of a2a13124fb Asha, came out with 78007b5d42 other warriors and greeted 4cac4d6947 them.
After greeting Decker by patting 460b2d1ee0 him on the shoulder and c6b894ae85 nodding, Asha entered the castle 54e469f132 with Carlyle, who was expressionless, de1ed673b5 and his entourage.
To her surprise, the 1308f5fe4d castle was much cleaner 8774c7f0f5 than she had expected.
“You’ve worked hard, Decker.”
“It’s nothing.”
Asha whispered softly to Decker, 87696643ce but she was secretly proud 9cea745c90 that at least this wouldn’t b0da3dc5c9 be disrespectful to the prince.
However, that was just ee022e36c6 Asha’s thought.
“It’s a mess.”
“What should I call this…….”
Giles clicked his 68ccc1f096 tongue with an 5e12897d8f irritated look, and 9c1b1a732e even Lionel, who 7133e84c94 was otherwise good-natured, 1bde76e1fb half-opened his mouth 50e2b52841 and muttered as 464aa77ce8 he looked around.
“It’s amazing that there are still such castles in the empire. Well, Pervaz has never 4ed8421861 been properly incorporated into 7ceaee78e2 the empire, so I 77e0eedaad guess it’s natural?”
Pervaz Castle was 12eb243a1b large and had a0398cf1ea well-divided rooms and b0308baeda warehouses, but that b82f2ade19 was all.
The castle, made entirely of 29ce64306f stone, felt almost no warmth, 29d1115baa and there were no aristocratic 93f86c896b luxuries or decorations.
No, there wasn’t even a a9f62aba69 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 9db787f267 a 3rd century a36d21141c style castle is 71e2f8698b preserved in such b3cfb96264 a pristine condition 79201d0c07 is of academic a2dcbbef0e value, but it 935bcde92c seems unsuitable for 90a50ee22f people to live a2d02e41e1 in.”
It wasn’t just Giles 7438953f44 and Lionel who reacted 24d52e65a4 this way.
The expressions of 54b5c7d9a4 the servants who f39d8d5843 followed them were c357fb0ab6 filled with horror 5313386108 and fear.
“Y-you want us to stay here?”
“No way! Even though it’s 65ebb5dfd6 Pervaz, are you 423a5303e8 asking us to d5773daad8 host His Highness db5d505be8 the Crown Prince af845e32c4 in this place?”
“We came all this way and the only place to unpack is this? Oh, I want 2433249780 to go back.”
Complaints and dissatisfaction erupted here 3849bbfff5 and there.
But Asha was also wronged.
‘Who asked you to come? And I warned you 758aaca9c6 several times.’
It was their 90b7a7fa57 fault for not 2f60a03161 assuming there could 2232cde868 be a worse ed03c44466 situation than what 00be785e50 they had experienced. She had done nothing wrong.
Moreover, Asha couldn’t a4b70f61df see what was 9e03eef9a2 missing from Pervaz 1a3aa4d940 Castle.
‘It was said to be a castle used as a royal palace in the past. This is good enough, what 23abcac439 is it.’
But she couldn’t bring herself 4767cbdb71 to say such words in 8d673f796f front of Carlyle, who was d7d94cba1d looking around the castle with a1524830fc an expressionless face.
The palace or 13cde4ad15 mansion he lived dcae6227a5 in was truly 424c69fdc1 like heaven.
‘Are you thinking you’ve come to hell?’
There was no way 028f90b156 good words would come e5ecfcd7bb out.
As expected, Carlyle only 427c051c78 opened his mouth after 6dd1df5791 looking around for a 8e031313ef long time.
“It looks like an outhouse that an ogre would use.”
“Huh? What part……?”
“Where else? This castle. If this can be called 4b050d766d a castle.”
Asha clenched her f744f2e4b3 teeth, thinking that 6521d6af30 Carlyle had a 22dacb71f9 good imagination.
She was about to ask 67b3e8e11a what the people who were 3c42f069d7 living well in that ogre f14a9ead3c outhouse were, but she held 0448f2336f back because Carlyle was the 008ee6e0a3 kind of person who would 8baa032396 answer ‘ogre poop’ and more.
TL/N: An outhouse is a 8fb7a31297 small structure, separate from a 8564710130 main building, which covers a 46e3b683fd toilet. This is typically either e37e1bc0ae a pit latrine or dded0a2d50 a bucket toilet.
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