Chapter 37 - Arc 2, Crescent Moon (1/2)

Come the next day, the weather continued to be pleasant. Ernst thought that they had been blessed with good weather, but it seemed that his assumptions had been incorrect.

“It’s probably because of Mount Ekze. There are very few snowstorms around these parts.”

So said the villager who served to guide them through the mountain.

“It’s ‘cause of that, this place is suited for raising sheep.”

So that’s how it is, Ernst nodded admiringly.

In the three villages Ernst had visited, not a single person knew how to read. Yet no matter which village they were from, they all possessed the wisdom of life, even without any formal education.

No matter many difficult books Ernst studiously read, none of them would grant Ernst the ability to survive a single winter in this village on his own.

“Has Iben Village tended to sheep in the past?”

“Not at all. Ah, here we go – once you look out from over here, you’ll understand.”

The villager stopped walking and climbed up a bit of rock which jutted out. Ernst also climbed up the same way.

He felt Ganche quickly come to stand behind him. Ernst guessed that if the rock he stood on crumbled beneath his feet, Ganche was prepared to save him.

Trusting in Ganche’s presence, Ernst stood atop the rock without any worry.

“That place over there where all of the trees are growing is around where Iben Village is. It’s small and cramped without much open space, right?”

It was certainly more compact than the other two villages Ernst had visited. It might even be smaller than the village of Kata, which was close to the estate.

“It’s said that waaay back when, it used to be more spacious, but… at some point, those trees took over and expanded so much that they were as vast as Caralime’s pastures. Though, it’s not as if Caralime has enough sheep nowadays for that much pasture, anyway.”

Saying that, the villager lightly descended from the rock.

Ernst went to follow him down, but when he saw how high up he was, his feet paused in their steps. He didn’t feel it while he was climbing, but he was at a surprisingly tall height.

As Ernst hesitated, a large hand extended out to him. Ganche’s copper eyes smiled gently at him. Ernst took Ganche’s hand, and Ganche easily lifted him from the rock and set him down.

“In that case, how did you keep yourselves fed in the past?”

Ernst continued to question the villager guide. The further they advanced on the mountain, the steeper it became.

“I heard that we kept sheep so that we could use them to pay the Lord’s taxes. The village sustained itself by selling crops and firewood, as well as selling the meat of animals we hunted. But when Caralime Village grew successful, it affected Iben greatly… we wanted to raise more sheep. We sold our farming tools so that we could buy lambs from Rintz fief and Lux Kingdom.”

“Your farming tools?”

“That’s right. If we could sustain ourselves with sheep, we wouldn’t need to cultivate our fields… it was a mistake. The few farming tools we have left aren’t enough to protect our village’s farmlands.”

The villager was accustomed to traveling on the mountain, so he walked quickly. Ernst had to give his all just to be able to keep up.

“Right now, we gather crops from the fields, pick nuts from Mount Ekze, hunt deer, and make firewood, but it’s impossible to keep the entire village fed with just this. That’s why, we have no choice but to send people out of the village to find work… next year, I’ll also be leaving the village to work.”

Ernst was told that half of Iben Village alternated between staying and going out to find work. Even so, it was difficult, and there were some people like the village head who stayed out for decades in order to establish themselves and earn some income.

The villager guiding them was a young man who looked to be the same age as Arker. At this age, he had already experienced leaving the village to work many times.

Ernst had never experienced what it meant to have to leave one’s lands in order to find work and bring back money.

But even Ernst could imagine that such an experience wasn’t an enjoyable one at all.

“If we were able to harvest just a little more from this mountain, things would be so much easier…”

The villager stopped in his tracks and looked up at the mountain’s trees. Ernst also looked up with him. This forest was different from the one around Arruca; the trees were deciduous here. But just like the ones seen around Caralime, there were very few trees that had lost their leaves.

“Do these, not… bear any, nuts?”

Ernst was out of breath.

“They do have nuts, but it takes a lot of time and work to eat them. You have to soak them in water for a long while, then grind them… but it’s still good to be able to eat them. You won’t find any edible nuts when you go up further than this.”

From the looks of it, there weren’t any fruits or things like raspberries to gather on Mount Ekze.

The villager continued on steadily. It seemed like he was going to show them how to climb up as far as they could go.

Regardless of whether the village head had ordered him to do this or not, Ernst was happy that the young man was generous enough to lead them this far; it was only his feet that voiced their complaints at being pushed to their limits.

“Lord Ernst.”

Ganche softly called out to him from behind, then lifted up Ernst’s body. Though normally Ernst would refuse to be carried, this time, he was grateful for it.

“Ah, was I going too fast?”

Flustered, the villager slowed his steps. That wasn’t the problem at all, Ernst wanted to say, even as he smiled wryly and wiped the sweat off his forehead.

“I wanted to bring you to climb up over here as well, but the village head said that we should leave this area for later…”

As he said this, the villager walked down a slope and went off the path, stepping onto a grassy area. There isn’t any snow in this direction? Ernst wondered curiously, just as the villager stopped walking and pointed ahead.

“Do you see the steam over there? That’s from the hot spring.”

Hot spring.

Ernst had read in books that this was water which had been heated by nature, but Ernst himself had never entered a hot spring, or even seen one. So Meissen had hot springs too, huh.

Unable to contain his restless excitement, Ernst leaned forward while still held in Ganche’s arms.

“There are a couple of hot springs in the village, but this place is pretty far away and, more importantly, you have to climb up to get to it. Because of that, this is a hot spring that’s never been used by the village. The village head told me to guide you here so that you may feel welcome to enjoy it, she said.”

Ernst had arrived at the hot spring while the villager was explaining. Ernst set his feet on the ground and gingerly brought his fingertip to touch the water. It wasn’t too hot; the water was just the right temperature.

“I’ll go wait over there, so everyone, please go ahead and enjoy.”

Saying that, the villager returned down the path he had taken to bring them here.

Three people stood on the mountain, enveloped in slight, hazy clouds of steam.

Ernst was so wrapped up in his ecstasy that he didn’t even notice the intense stare Ganche directed at Targes. After Ernst had arrived in Meissen, he had keenly felt how the use of hot water was a true luxury.

The waters of the hot spring surged copiously, filling up this bathtub which seemed to have been made of the simple rocks of the surroundings. With this much hot water, he would be able to use as much as he pleased – just the thought of that made Ernst’s heart jump.

As Ernst cheerfully brought his hands to his clothes, Ganche softly placed a hand on his shoulder.

What is it? Ernst looked up at him only to find himself held against Ganche’s broad chest.

“Lord Ernst.”

He heard Targes’ voice from far behind him.

“The two of you, please do partake in the hot water. I’ll just go ahead and join that villager in returning to the village first, so… Ganche, have lots of fun with Lord Ernst.”

Since Ernst was pressed against Ganche’s chest, he couldn’t perceive Ganche’s expression, but for some reason, he felt like Targes’ voice held laughter in it.

“Was something the matter with Targes?”

Ganche had stripped naked first, and as he undressed Ernst’s clothes, Ernst asked this question.

“He passed up on such a rare opportunity to enter a hot spring, after all. Does he, perhaps, dislike hot water?”

Ernst loved to submerge himself in hot water. He always felt like water melted away all of the tension in his body. Was there really anyone who could dislike this?

“Who knows… maybe he has something to to take care of.”

After having his coat stripped off, Ernst shivered from the cold chill licking at his skin.

“In this village?”

“Maybe he went to go supervise the 5th platoon’s training.”

“Aah, that’s right. The 5th platoon is still in the village. Targes is quite the diligent captain.”

Once Ganche mentioned them, Ernst remembered that the 5th platoon and Arker existed.

The villager had generously showed them the parts of the village they used, as well as the whole of Mount Ekze. Because of that, despite how Ernst had planned to depart the village after breakfast, the sky had now darkened from the approaching dusk.

Ernst had been so enraptured by what the villager had explained to him that he had forgotten all about the people left behind in the village.

While Ernst was talking, Ganche had stripped every piece of his clothing until he was bare. Ernst had learned to take off his own clothing once he had left the royal palace, but after he met up with Ganche again, he ended up reverting to old habits. Every morning and every night, Ganche dressed and undressed Ernst.

Ganche embraced Ernst’s small body after it began to tremble, having nothing to shield it from the cold. Even though Ganche had stripped bare before Ernst had, his large body didn’t seem like it was affected by the cold at all. The skin touching Ernst felt hot.

“You don’t, feel cold?”

Ernst’s teeth chattered, making it difficult to speak well.

“Dunbertians are strong in several ways.”

Ganche laughed, lifting Ernst into his arms before slowly sliding into the hot water. Though the heat was painful at first, once Ernst got used to it, he let out a long sigh.

“What do you mean by several ways?”

“We are able to adjust our sense of pain – or rather, our sense of touch at our own discretion.”

“Sense of touch…?”

“Yes. I can make it so that I can feel neither heat nor cold, and I can also block all forms of pain from my senses.”