A King is Born on the Road

Now there was no place in Luwan that was not dangerous.

Enemies coming from the north and the east waged large and small battles all over the land of Luwan. Wherever there was a village, where there was drinking water, the bodies of the Luwans were piled up.

What it was like to lose the war, Iris only knew after leaving the royal castle.

She saw the annihilated people waiting to be buried, and saw the snow piled up in the place where people died.

The Knights of Tejas were small in number, but fortunately they were strong. They encountered countless enemies, but they never retreated.

However, injured in frequent battles, the group lost their lives one by one as they entered the northern alpine region, where snow had not melted for thousands of years.

The horses became food one by one, and most of them began to walk along the way.

The winter nights in the alpine region were infinitely long. It was so cold and boring to walk down that road that they would rather have met an enemy.

Hayer, the leader, created a game to overcome the boredom. It was a game called, ‘If so-and-so became king, would Luwan be ruined?’

Since the only thing that could move was the mouth, anyone who could speak participated.

In the game, the knights took turns seating the royals, as well as the eight great noble families and three pagan races.

Iris was originally not talkative and kept her mouth shut to conserve her stamina, but the knights were absorbed in the game and chattering nonstop.

Annamaria, a commoner knight, thrust her sword in the mouth of a monster in the shape of a snake that ran in front of Iris. Then she glanced at the arm where the venom touched and said,

“Don’t you have to assume that you’re in power now?”

At the words, Hencke, who was tearing a long cloth from his clothes and handing it to Annamaria, scolded her.

“Shouldn’t the main character come out at the end? Anyway, you’re very impatient.”

“It’s because I couldn’t eat when I was young!”

“How long are you going to use that excuse?”

The two, who had been fighting as long as their physical strength remained throughout the trip, began to argue again.

While Annamaria tied the arm that made contact with the venom tightly with the cloth that Hencke handed her, Hayer said.

“All right, let’s say I became a king. How did I become king?”

At that, Annamaria shouted.

“When you turned 20, you would have rebelled as you said!”

“The power of the Knights of Tejas alone would not be enough?”

Hayer’s words were answered by Hencke.

“Asheri, the captain’s family, would have helped.”

In the middle of the story that began again, there were overlapping parts every time.

Hayer glanced at Iris and said in a playful voice.

“The king and queen must have been executed again this time.”

The fact that someone else became king was based on the premise that the current king was brought down.

Iris knew that, but she was choked up after hearing the same thing over and over again, so she couldn’t hold it in this time and muttered.

“……I die every time.”

When Iris complained for the first time, the three surviving knights burst into laughter at the same time.

Annamaria said.

“I was waiting for you to get angry.”

“Me too. If it was Annamaria, she would have been angry and packed a punch a long time ago, asking why we were killing her.”

“Well, that’s not wrong.”

Annamaria shrugged her shoulders.

They continued to speak on the assumption that Hayer had become king.

“Asheri, who was looking at the situation of both countries at the border, would have betrayed Siere again this time.”

“To make matters worse, even the Kahifs of the desert appear.”

“Since you were already stationed on the prairie, how about retreating and getting help from the Dirfone family?”

“You know how fast the Kahifs are. They’ll catch up.”

Iris learned much more from the three-month journey than the 25 years of her life in the convent and as queen.

Annamaria, who was aware of her death, said cheerfully while they were chatting excitedly.

“Well then, let’s go separately.”

The three of them also stopped at the words.

Annamaria seemed to have foreseen that her arm, which had touched the venom, would soon take her life.

Then Annamaria said to Hencke, who had dragged his broken leg all the way here.

“You can’t even walk anymore, either. Come on.”

“I’m fine.”

“Oh, don’t lie. There’s no way you’ll outlive me.”

Hencke accepted her words with a sad expression on his face.

“I thought I hid it well.”

“You can’t fool me.”

Annamaria, who argued like that and laughed loudly at Hencke, eventually came to Iris and Hayer, and said to Hayer.

“See you next time in the world where I’m the leader, captain.”

“I’m fine with it, but the others will oppose it.”

“If the captain says yes, everyone will follow.”

“Then it’s still a world where everyone follows the commander’s words.”

Annamaria replied to Hencke’s comment, “Huh? You’re right, aren’t you?” and he nodded.

Hayer turned away without saying goodbye, leaving behind two of his best friends.

Iris has now adapted, to some extent, to the peculiar custom of the Knights of Tejas, who part with jokes and smiles in the face of death. It was the only consideration that a person leaving could do.

The people of the Knights of Tejas boasted that they were stubborn and had high self-esteem, and that they were not afraid even in the moment of death.

The two remaining people walked up the snowy mountain, where it reached from their feet to their knees.

* * *

For more than three days since then, nothing has come out except for the alpine snows.

She heard that there are ethnic groups living only here in the alpine region, but Iris did not meet a single one of them while coming here.

In the face of the terrible cold, she constantly wanted to choose the sweet death she saw in front of her eyes.

The world was much wider than the one Iris Lepos had in her head.

She feared that her ignorance had driven all the Knights of Tejas to death.

As the night fell, Hayer dug out the snow and pitched a tent.

Because they couldn’t afford to talk to each other in extreme circumstances, they fell asleep randomly tangled with each other even when the other knights were still alive, and even now, the two of them slept right next to each other.

With the terrible schedule and constant death, Iris felt as if her insides and outsides were being torn apart. The goal was still clear, but it seemed impossible.

As heat began to boil in her body, Hayer, who was sleeping on his back, got up.

Then he took off his thick coat he was wearing and put it on Iris. Iris, who didn’t want to lift a finger in the cold and pain, quietly accepted his actions.

Her body melted a little, and Iris, who came to her senses and raised her head, froze again. Hayer’s upper body, which had been exposed, was covered with serious wounds.

Hayer smiled to reassure her, and asked in a friendly voice.

“What kind of stories do you like?”

Iris looked Hayer in the eye at his sudden question.

Knowing that he didn’t want to talk about the wounds, Iris considered an answer for a long time and then opened her mouth.

“I don’t know.”

It was a boring life.

Iris knew that when she was dying, she had no joke to give like the knights.

Hayer said in an upset voice.

“No wonder. You’ve survived so far with that poor body because you don’t have any jokes to tell when you die, right?”

His mischievous words were absurd, and Iris narrowed her eyes and let out a sigh. Seeing her eyes like that, Hayer burst into laughter.

He laughed so loudly that the atmosphere felt bright, and Iris somehow laughed too.

She spoke to Hayer, dazed with a high fever.

“It was nice to see you smiling like that. When we first met.”

“……”

“Maybe it’s because I grew up in a cold place, but after seeing someone smiling warmly, I couldn’t help but…”

Hayer crossed his arms at her words, and said with a very serious face.

“If I had known earlier, I would have held your hand and ran away with you before you had to marry my brother, which is a pity.”

“Lies.”

When Iris was embarrassed by his joke, instead of being funny, Hayer stopped making jokes about it.

afterword

and he in fact did just that in their next life… so real of them!!