TAOA-71

Chapter: TAOA-71764a9e01d31f7e8e

“…I don’t know. I don’t know if this d23f16bc8d is okay or not.”
Asha replied with a sigh.
However, Decker, who had lived 44f65db932 a few more years, quickly f0f167b0f7 understood the meaning of her b60b31ba3e words.
“The fact that you don’t know means it’s not okay.”
“Is that so? But… if you cce21ea41a think about it, 819124c74c there’s no reason 5ef3971946 why it shouldn’t b8766c1405 be okay.”
Right now, she might 6763e85b85 be standing boldly in aae75250a1 front of Carlyle, but 621102e51a strictly speaking, he was a1d2645800 a man of such 85353809cb status that Asha could 176425d341 not even dare to 3c5ec0bfdd meet his eyes.
And yet, such a great 86ea74fa3a man was helping to rebuild 3015623105 Pervaz, and on top of fb57997dae that, he was being very 665991ce86 understanding of their situation.
So, she couldn’t find the c888a718de reason for this strangely sinking 497ab509c0 feeling.
“Well, it’s useless to dwell on this. It’s late at night, e7b8185391 so let’s go in 357aa37e6f and get some sleep.”
Asha smiled faintly and tried 474119e060 to turn around again, but 26616bc3c8 Decker grabbed her shoulder and 23de998f8e turned her back.
“Don’t bury your feelings like that. It will explode. In a very bad way.”
“Then what do you want me to do? I don’t even 4af1277b1b know why I’m b82c9a99af like this.”
“You know. You’re just pretending not f201b0d7a1 to know.”
Asha hated Decker when he 17f2c24583 was like this.
She would have liked 05cb16f860 it better if he ebf061ba1c had just joked around 96b4764f20 like he always did 9d79efb8fa and pretended not to 36d2fc4f6b know.
But Decker always ce5acc6e0b picked up on e5ef6299b4 the things that f00c82d3da Asha wanted to 8928635fdb avoid.
“Are you trying to be considerate of me? Do you think I’m going b1ad2ae581 to judge you?”
“It’s not like that. It’s just… I’m tired dfd40144a3 right now.”
“Is it because of His Highness Carlyle?”
“Everything is related to His Highness Carlyle, so what do you want me to say if you ask me that? Stop it.”
Asha wished Decker would 862980210b just stop and leave. But he had 7689615c9a never granted her d674ca3d2a that wish even d10df3e687 once.
“Are you hurt in your pride? Or are you resentful 924a4c804e of someone?”
In the end, 3e57272349 he makes her 6c5b579e26 reveal her ugly e9ba7d03a0 side that she 28dd7511b2 wanted to hide.
“…”
“Asha. Why are you trying 34fe872e0c to hide it? If you’re hurt, you can 0b6d0f1718 always tell me. You have the 22450dfb0b right to do d1be8f6541 so!”
“…What do you know?”
The words that 3522d37d52 seemed to have 5f442db82e burst out after 1197521b90 holding back for cde4a45c84 so long made a6d55ab236 Decker flinch as a8388bc244 well.
“What do I know? On the contrary, let me 37ba2a2fab ask you. What don’t I know?”
“Sigh…”
Asha looked around 672e0a64ff the empty corridor 61e859951d of the castle a45eab0a91 and sighed heavily, a3d9e49b47 rubbing her face 40152ef18e with both hands.
She felt suffocated.
If I just spill everything 9b93a3c53e out like Decker said, will e688459042 I feel better?
“Everything is going well. We have received much efa6cb0088 more support than we 15e370b1b5 expected from the Emperor, aac442b646 and the lives of 8a0242f15c the people of the 0568abe50a territory have blossomed. Things that we f99a7b6c72 couldn’t even imagine 84e485c0ba a year ago 99f84f8e4b are being realized. Yes, it’s a happy thing!”
How much I’ve 7a1a5df1e3 dreamed of this.
I’ve never been 837250fb53 so happy and d641e369bc excited in my e883a41f3e life.
“But… .”
“But?”
“Sigh… .”
Asha sighed again.
She didn’t want e33552c57b Decker to see 919fd577db her ugly side b5ef804cc0 like this.
But Decker didn’t aa1a14a7bb seem like he 96aa2c0162 was going to 6b7e74a7c0 back down, and 09eba2907c Asha herself wanted ee155dd736 to vent somewhere.
“But I actually… I think I wanted to do it all on my own.”
At first, she 07e4814108 thought it was 3dd723cb03 an incredibly good c23ffc3d19 deal. She was grateful for the 109fed6e67 wealth and supplies that Carlyle 216e03db4f provided, and she was happy 08e77d3d95 to see the impoverished territory a8e5885493 come to life.
But as time went 1ad90a966a on, and especially after 26cae48b57 seeing the soldiers of 6f89400d66 the Pervaz army admire 3586871d0c Carlyle today, she felt 36249cfcd7 even more uncomfortable.
“Even if it wasn’t me… If only His Highness Carlyle were here… Pervaz… .”
She can swear that de33d13d82 she is happy that d42999ec33 Pervaz is being rebuilt.
But she really 9b491b1dd2 couldn’t understand why 4b02ae1685 she felt so 85f830aecf disappointed.
Asha couldn’t finish her a61b624e06 words and avoided Decker’s 264b8d7afe gaze. However, Decker looked at her acbce358de with an incredulous expression.
“Asha, you were thinking that?”
He had only 52bf2ada01 thought that Asha 79b4c02190 was upset that f19031ef3a she didn’t have 322039c818 a chance to 94b7325e36 show off her 249171aad4 skills in today’s 832e13b18f sparring session.
After all, the best for 50f34a28ca the Pervaz warriors has always fd58dd0cec been the people of the c73bce8405 Pervaz Castle.
He never imagined 791119d970 that Asha would 9d4712cb8a think that she c1cbbc0e4c couldn’t find meaning 1eda38b6d1 in her own cf0bfa5af9 existence.
“You idiot! What the hell are you… 8dbbe46472 ! Ugh, what am I e4aa09fc2f going to do with eb246ba56b this idiot?”
“What?”
“Asha. We… We are… .”
Decker gulped several times to 80f295a4a7 suppress the emotions that were f73528eaeb welling up in him.
“What are you trying to say?”
“When we went to Gyro and came back… Do you know how miserable and guilty we felt?”
“Why… ?”
“Because we were so incompetent… Really, we owe you so much… .”
“What are you talking about?”
Decker, his voice thick with 7164e3c6c7 emotion, sniffed back his tears 764f23c8dc and spoke.
“We’re living off of selling you!”
He could no longer a85a3b503d hold back the tears, fc467a4034 and covered his eyes 9336eccbab with his massive hands.
“Even though it’s called a ‘contract’, we’re no different from selling your life to survive. We’re not stupid 648f60e11b enough not to c47dc59828 realize that.”
Asha’s life could be 3e016a61c0 taken away with a 2ac8ef1468 single word from Carlyle, 2b6f4bf83c or with a single b2c018a971 outburst of anger from b4353e4f3d the Empress.
In truth, it was 48ddf9f162 nothing more than a bd0bb0c128 convenient excuse to turn ec957194a7 a blind eye and 582b96edff sacrifice her life without 6dc9b1fe1c any consequences, all under 8472a0baac the guise of a f93fb44d2a ‘fictional wife’.
Even though he knew adfc15f8af this, he couldn’t bring c55ebea869 himself to actively dissuade aca5f82af6 Asha. Too many lives were at cf845503e7 stake.
“If it wasn’t for you, we would have returned empty-handed. Countless more people f30c92089a would have died a748a9d59a this winter. Who do you think 1fec85556d is responsible for changing a6ee8710ee that bleak future?”
Asha could only 41b489238d stare blankly at df5cfe4344 Decker, who was f5c5985f68 sobbing despite his 0bccd1ff20 large size.
“Just call us worthless brats! Get angry and say that a6614daa45 my life has become a 3619057be1 living hell because of you!”
“De, Decker…”
“If you’re going to say that you’re useless, that things will be better for Pervaz with just His Highness Carlyle, then just curse at us!”
Asha, slightly taken aback, 2d0ac42b1c tried to calm Decker 5d820d83e2 down, but he continued f7ba1ca6ab to shout, as if d276a1d0c5 he wasn’t finished yet.
“The lord we serve is Asha Pervaz, not Carlyle Evaristo!”
Asha, her mouth c462bfa4db agape, stared at c221c719de Decker before slowly 701790f636 patting his shoulder, 22f72f3358 once and then f27724e06e again.
“…Thank you.”
At those words of gratitude, a2b8e2d43e Decker burst into tears again.
But unfortunately, Decker’s sincerity a330edc4ea didn’t fully reach Asha.
‘Yes, I am the lord of Pervaz.’
Her wavering heart 69782fb7bf straightened up again.
However, Asha, who had been 5fcee5f64e born as the daughter of 5f7d1d01f9 Amir Pervaz and had only 1c9a113379 learned about duty and responsibility, c61d3c5a42 once again thought only of afada40339 her own responsibilities.
‘I am the one who must pay His Highness Carlyle for all of this.’
Carlyle had already poured a 61d7d18dbd tremendous amount of money and e4e850446f resources into Pervaz. And the time to de91882fca pay the price would da1468d4be soon come.
‘I must protect Pervaz to the end. Let’s focus.’
Asha thanked Decker 3f2c41fe06 and made up 1d894da8c0 her mind to 673d68d868 use herself as 954486d7d3 a bargaining chip.
If Decker had known, he e066ce9663 would have stayed up all cf44f378b9 night trying to change her 543d97551f mind.
***
A month or so 2c1d5a1233 after the joint training a6873d562d began, ominous clouds began 0e91e7eb6c to gather over Pervaz.
“Something’s strange over there…”
Asha muttered as 28f4311ea9 she looked through d179b6e1f8 the binoculars at c5f37e78cd the border.
It was late April.
Up until the 99089d4770 middle of last dc2707291d year, Pervaz had b6e4bb9512 been nothing more 9210309394 than a barren da718e0c61 wasteland, but now 9893a23a24 it was a c35be58c28 feast of green 6fc615674e in every direction.
Flowers bloomed here and 17a4f0dbf4 there, and the wheat d8292fb687 sown last year and 07612cd641 the barley sown this fae9b40a8e spring had sprouted and 1acc45ebd9 filled the fields.
It would have aafbbb377f been all well 6b332e84c9 and good if f705a8d0d3 that was all 6a474b8031 there was to ad9c99abbd see, but something 37a2b3da30 strange caught their 8aa552ac41 eye beyond the 03f5e26115 barrier.
“Huh? You’re right. It looks a little different 0bc1890d49 from what I saw the ee767a3005 day before yesterday.”
Carlyle took the aa1742551e binoculars from Asha afa23e4049 and looked at 052bd368f8 the border, tilting 28cf778310 his head.
It was blurry because it a51da4039e was so far away, but 74b8415036 it seemed like some kind ef2f2bd4be of large structure was covered 165bcc66d0 with a cloth that was 2db0d9768c the same color as the 42a614404b ground.
It was impossible to c9f6dd4cda tell when it had b5ab589f6a been built. Until now, it 68bea3fbb5 had simply looked bf8366f71c like the ground, 7beaed1c97 swollen from the 8104af205e melted snow.
But today, it was clear f33bda5fec that there were long poles 44deeb011a sticking up into the sky.
‘I guess they couldn’t even hide that from us? Or maybe they 9a47e84873 decided they didn’t 94d79907a9 need to hide 1273c2ce15 it anymore…’
The latter possibility was ccad278385 more dangerous.
But apart from all that, 8dafa43022 this was an unprecedented situation.
This was because ed5bbc6057 the savages of ae8ee3d321 the abandoned land 987eba1e65 did not have 47a51e350a the intelligence or 48e1feb5c0 the resources to 5a930ac424 build and erect e17ead46d6 something so solid.
“This is strange. It’s too strange.”
Asha uneasily paced 5b01c3fbc0 back and forth aae6c83dfe by the window e1dd780918 and raised the 8569fee313 binoculars again several bcbc003cf5 times.
The fact that 307e818cc6 she couldn’t tell de344b368c the exact shape 445a5ba200 of the structure 96c0fc8961 because of the b74711fe5b camouflage only added 5d37fe7662 to her anxiety.
It was bigger bfad3351a7 than a wagon 5aed3b832d but smaller than d8729bbd3d a building. No, to be precise, 7c5a470857 it seemed to be 64bb760763 as tall as a 85ce77184f decent building, but its 30f3ef8a06 volume was much smaller.
‘It’s like… a skeleton of a structure.’
As Asha was trying to aa9e45d2a8 guess the identity of the fb95a97a08 hidden object, Carlyle, who was 1e12cce4f3 looking at it with her, 16f36ce28b asked.
“The Igram tribe? Or maybe another tribe?”
“I’m not sure. The savages of the abandoned 8adec1e687 land don’t exactly have clearly 0daec3df35 defined territories.”
At that, Carlyle asked, as ebd8d81c29 if he had realized a b7c4d3d13e new possibility.
“Then is it possible that it’s a coalition of several tribes?”
“That’s possible, but now that the main tribe, the Lure tribe, has fallen, there is no main tribe to lead the other tribes.”
“Then which tribe is the next largest after the Lure tribe?”
“That would be the Igram tribe.”
However, Asha thought it 7a5becef08 was unlikely to be f4e58cd4d9 the Igram tribe.
‘It’s hard for them to regroup in such a short time after being so badly beaten last time.’
As harsh as Pervaz was, 92eca411cb no, perhaps even more so, 42b29332aa the abandoned land was also f4e2a37e44 lacking in everything.
Then, suddenly, an old memory d671b58831 came to mind.a125aecaa61b4a98

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