The Conqueror from a Dying Kingdom, page 6
“A family like the one you’ve made would be ideal for me. I’d rather not turn my life upside down,” I said.
“O-Okay.”
“Why don’t you tell me about how you and mom first met? It’ll give me an example to follow.”
I could only get him to talk about his past while drunk. I was dying to know how he met a woman like Suzuya.
“Uh, let me think...”
We ate until our stomachs were full, and Rook drank a good amount of beer before we went back to the inn. Rook slept deeply.
He’d drunk so much the night before that I thought he’d stagger out of bed, but he seemed just fine when we set out early the next morning.
We were greeted by Suzuya’s smile when we finally made it home around noon. This really was a great family.
III
I rode birds with Rook, worked as a ranch hand, learned to knit with Suzuya, and wrote in my book whenever I had spare time. Life went on that way for three years, and I eventually turned seven.
Around two months after my seventh birthday, conversations at home became increasingly somber.
I’d been living in an environment where very little information could reach me, but I’d been able to find out a few things during my seven years of life.
In this world’s language, the word “til” was used to refer to humans of all different types.
People like Rook and Suzuya—and me, for that matter—belonged to a race known as the Shanti. This essentially meant “people of Shan.” If the word “Shanti” existed when there was already another word for “human,” it implied that this world was home to another race besides the Shanti.
Indeed, the word “Kulati” existed to distinguish between them and the Shanti. Again, it meant “people of Kula.”
I’d initially thought that the term “Shanti” referred to citizens of the Shiyalta Kingdom—in other words, that Shanti and Kulati were like nationalities like Japanese and Chinese—but that wasn’t the case. The two races were fundamentally different on a biological level.
For example, the country which neighbored the Shiyalta Kingdom, known as the Kilhina Kingdom, was also populated by Shanti. They weren’t Shiyaltans, but they were still Shanti. Much like how a Japanese person would still be considered Japanese in addition to their nationality, the people of Kilhina were considered Shanti in terms of race and Kilhinan in terms of nationality.
Members of the Shanti race were incredibly long-lived compared to humans, generally living well beyond the age of eighty if not afflicted by injuries or illness. It was only once they’d reached the age of one hundred that they would be considered elderly. What’s more, Shanti faces were—in my opinion, at least—beautiful...even if they didn’t think so themselves.
Resistance to cold must have been characteristic to the Shanti, because they primarily inhabited the northern region of a large continent. Long ago, this northern region had all been united as one state known as the Shantila Empire, but it had collapsed following the loss of a war nine hundred or so years ago.
The Shanti’s defeat was brought about by members of the other race—an alliance of Kulati. After being driven from their capital by the alliance, the empire became fragmented, and the surviving imperial children each became independent monarchs.
The political system of the Shanti was unique in that the ruling monarchs were female ever since the old days of the Shantila Empire. In short, the Shantila Empire was ruled by a successive generation of empresses, and when the empire broke apart, the nations that formed were ruled by queens.
I’d pieced together the sequence of events by combining everything I’d learned while skimming through history books. A once-great nation that had united many people had collapsed, spawning smaller states in its wake here and there. But, of course, these new states were weak, and they had been defeated in one war after the other over the course of nine hundred years. The only remaining nations were the Kilhina Kingdom and the Shiyalta Kingdom that I inhabited.
Geographically, this was a great peninsula jutting out from the mainland, with the Shiyalta Kingdom at the peninsula’s edge, and the Kilhina Kingdom closer to its base—like a shield protecting our country.
As war moved across the land, drawing ever closer, the Kilhina Kingdom inevitably found itself at the front line. The Shiyalta Kingdom, meanwhile, had never been damaged directly by the war, and was comparatively peaceful.
But the people of the Shiyalta Kingdom weren’t complete idiots; they knew that their country was next in line once the Kilhina Kingdom collapsed. Naturally, refusing to aid the threatened kingdom would be complete folly—both nations would then be picked off one at a time. That was why military support was offered to the Kilhina Kingdom each time they came under attack from the Kulati.
And when military support was dispatched, it was always the Ho family that provided it. Yes, the same Ho family that Rook originated from—in other words, it was the name of my family’s head household.
Ho was a warrior-class family of knights, and since their soldiers were the strongest, it was denoted as a chieftain family. Chieftain families were powerful, similar to what you’d call a “daimyo” family in Japanese history. The person who was in charge of the head household, and thus head of our family, was Rook’s own older brother. This meant that Rook had the status of someone next in line as daimyo.
But despite this lofty position, he’d abandoned the path of knighthood at some point in his life and chosen to go his own way instead. This choice meant that the trueborn son of a daimyo—albeit not his heir—had become a merchant rather than a warrior. In the eyes of society, Rook was an unusual case who’d made bizarre life choices. Luckily, his brother was an understanding sort, and somehow everything had worked out. A fortunate consequence was that Rook currently had no obligation to go to war.
In this country, when the head of a chieftain family would lead an expedition, knight families serving under them were naturally expected to take up arms and join the forces. Unfortunately, the forces led by the Hos of the present age had been greatly diminished. They had been forced to dispatch military aid before they could replace their casualties time and time again. This caused their army to gradually weaken.
And so it happened that Rook himself was asked to go to war. The conversation had likely taken place several days prior, when a messenger had come to us and I’d been sent to my room. No doubt it was also the cause of the gloomy atmosphere that currently hung over my home.
Rook appeared to avoid contact with the head household as much as possible. Though it wouldn’t dampen his mood, his face betrayed his displeasure whenever he heard from Suzuya that a messenger from the household had visited in his absence.
At any rate, Rook had responded with a firm refusal. He was a man whose passion was caring for living creatures and riding birds. The violence of the outside world was alien to him. This was the very reason that he hadn’t become a knight and currently lived in the mountains with his family of three. His life choices weren’t so unlike those of a hermit who’d turned his back on society. Then again, if Rook had lived like a freeloading no-lifer, there was no doubt he would have been dragged home by the scruff of his neck by now. But he’d worked to build his ranch, and a long list of important and wealthy clients—like the royal family—sought the birds it produced. Rook had made an impressive living for himself, so not even his own family could force him to join the expedition. He was spared.
When word came, I breathed a sigh of relief for my father. But this hard-won refusal didn’t change the fact that his brother was leading the expedition. If Rook valued his reputation, he would at least have to attend the send-off expedition ceremony—a banquet held the day before his brother was to depart.
✧✧✧
When the day came, I headed for the banquet wearing newly tailored clothes. We rode on plainrunners. Suzuya sat behind me, but I held the reins.
I had been riding birds almost every day, and had received a lot of training from Rook. Although I hadn’t learned the more complicated plainrunner gaits, I had at least gotten the hang of basic traveling despite my small size. But even so, this was my first time riding a plainrunner without Rook’s supervision. On top of that, I’d only handled an adult bird rather than a chick just a few days ago. This was only my second time riding one.
As Suzuya held me from behind and acted as my backrest, she also held the reins of two other plainrunners that we were bringing with us. Rook planned to arrive after us because he had no choice but to deliver a kingeagle.
We made slow progress as Suzuya directed me to the city. The plainrunners she pulled along would flee if she were to ever let go of their reins, so it was the time to show my skills. If the plainrunner I controlled misunderstood one of my instructions and accelerated too quickly, the reins Suzuya held would be pulled from her grasp. I was secretly nervous as I steered.
We traveled for almost an hour before something like a castle gate came into view. This was Kalakumo—the town where the Ho family manor was situated.
Kalakumo was officially the capital of the Ho Province, but it wasn’t a grand city like Sibiak. The entrance to the city consisted of a very basic gateway made from stone. It had been left open in anticipation of the expedition, and the area was busy with all sorts of carts and people.
As we passed through the city gates, bystanders glanced at us suspiciously—no doubt the sight of a mother and child mounted on a bird was a strange one—but they moved out of our path regardless, likely because we had plainrunners. Warriors, knights more specifically, used the birds as their means of transport. Even the idiots among them knew better than to block the advance of plainrunners just before an expedition.
Suzuya and I slowly progressed through the parting crowd with our three birds. Buildings lined the road, but this city was nothing like the lively highways of the royal capital. These weren’t the extravagant, three-story-high buildings of Sibiak.
I knew that I’d actually been here once before while I was still an infant, but I didn’t actually remember it. Nothing had made sense to me back then, and I hadn’t even understood the language. It was strange to think that the second son of a prestigious chieftain family hadn’t taken his eldest to the head household in seven years, save for one time shortly after my birth. Rook must have really wanted to avoid coming here.
The manor was surrounded by a wall and a moat. The only way to enter was a gate and bridge that formed the entrance.
When we drew near the entrance, one of the soldiers who was stationed as a sentry asked us to identify ourselves.
“Who goes there?” he demanded. His tone was aggressive, probably because tomorrow was the expedition.
“Yuri, son of Rook Ho. My mother and I are here to see off the expedition.”
In any case, it felt unwise to ride the plainrunner inside the walls, so I had the bird crouch, and Suzuya wordlessly dismounted. I then jumped down from the bird too.
“Suzuya, wife of Rook. Were you not given word...?”
“Rook Ho? Who...?” The guards looked confused, as if the name Rook was unfamiliar.
Fortunately, a woman emerged from within and beckoned us inside. “This way, Lady Suzuya.”
I couldn’t remember any other time that I’d heard someone call my mother “Lady.”
The manor was a huge two-story building. It was like a rectangle with wings that jutted out from either side, creating a square bracket shape overall, and in its center was a garden. Besides the manor, there were about four other structures that looked like granaries, sheds, and an enclosure for kingeagles that was smaller than the one we had on the ranch.
Suzuya walked on ahead and then stopped at a reception area.
Before the receptionist who was tasked with seeing to the guests could do her job, a man further up ahead came toward us and called out, “Good to see you, Lady Suzuya.”
Suzuya turned around in surprise and then nervously lowered her head when she saw the owner of the voice. “Lord Gok. My apologies for not writing.”
It felt like something important was happening, so I lowered my head too.
The man named Gok was Rook’s older brother. He was the head of the household, which made him leader of the Ho family and all of its vassals.
“Raise your head. There’s no need for formalities. We’re siblings, aren’t we?”
The word “siblings” confused me, but only briefly—he obviously meant in-laws.
I raised my head when I sensed Suzuya raise hers. This allowed me to take another look at Gok. His build was small compared to Galla, who I’d seen a few years prior, but he was nonetheless a brawny man and bigger than Rook. He was clearly hairy because a thick, red beard covered everything from his chin to his ears. It somehow suited him and gave him the look of an adept warrior.
“Oh... You’re here alone? What happened to Rook?” he asked, a hint of anger on his face.
“He’s prepared a kingeagle as an offering. He plans to ride it here,” Suzuya replied.
Rook would be arriving on the kingeagle he was giving to the head household, which meant he was offering three plainrunners and one kingeagle in total. Still, he was probably trying to stall his arrival until the last possible minute. Though if he was late, things would get awkward.
“Ah. So he just put the reins in his wife’s hand and sent her on her way, did he?”
It seemed I was right about that hint of anger. Gok wasn’t concerned about Rook being late, he was annoyed because he hadn’t escorted his wife.
“It was actually my son who brought me here,” Suzuya said while pushing me out from my hiding place behind her back.
Please, no. Leave me out of it.
I briefly tried to resist being pushed forward, but Suzuya only pushed harder to make her insistence clear. I showed some futile resistance, only to be forced out from behind her.
This sure does happen a lot...
“Good day, Lord Gok. I’m Rook’s son,” I said as I respectfully bowed my head.
“This boy handled the reins?” Gok looked a little surprised.
“Yes. He was able to transport us safely thanks to the training my husband gave him.”
“Ah... Yuri, was it?”
Ah jeez. Now he’s remembering my name. Well, I guess that’s to be expected—I’m his nephew, after all.
“Yes, his name is Yuri,” Suzuya said.
“Are you good with plainrunners?” Gok asked me.
“Yes, very good,” Suzuya replied in my place.
“Oh. What about kingeagles?”
“He’s quite good with those too.”
“Got any other talents?”
“He’s also good at reading, writing, and togi. I’m proud to be his mother.”
“Good at togi as well?”
Oh, come on. Why’s mom have to tell him all that? I thought childishly.
Togi was the name of a board game that was played in this country. The most similar game back on Earth was Chinese chess. I’d played shogi before, but I had initially been taken aback by togi’s unique system. There was a gap in the center between one’s own side and the enemy’s side of the board, creating two separate halves with limited pathways for attack in between.
Rook was particularly fond of the game, and whenever I’d begged him to read me books for the sake of learning words, he’d force me to play togi with him afterward. But liking something and being good at it were two different things—sadly, Rook lacked any talent for togi. Within a month or so, I was better at it than he was. Rook had reacted with mixed emotions, including sulking for a while. That wasn’t the first time something like that had happened. Shortly after marrying Suzuya, he’d taught her the rules, and she had also gotten better at it than him. Although Suzuya wasn’t especially fond of that sort of game, she was good at predicting the opponent’s next move. It had taken three years until I could consistently defeat her.
Gok’s expression changed the moment he heard that I was good at togi—he looked like an excited young boy.
“We’ve got some time before the banquet starts. How about a game?”
Is this guy for real? I glanced over at Suzuya. Sure enough, she didn’t appear too fond of the idea either.
“I would hate for us to do anything that might cause you offense, Lord Gok...”
“What are you talking about? A nephew’s basically the same thing as a son. He doesn’t have to mind his manners around me.”
Is he going to force me into this now? Come on, mom. Tell him no.
“Well, if you’re quite sure. Yuri, go play a game with him.”
Well she gave in quickly. Do I have to?
Mommy Suzuya had an annoying tendency to be a caring mother one moment, and a traitor who’d throw me to the wolves the next.
Knowing there was no use arguing now, I bowed my head in resignation. “Let’s make it a good game...”
I left Suzuya behind and followed Gok. The two of us entered the manor while Dona Dona—the song about a calf being led to the slaughter—played in my head.
This is about as awkward as it gets.
Gok ordered his servants to prepare a togi set for us. Once we’d removed our shoes and entered the manor proper from the porch located on one side of the building, we found the set waiting for us.
There were two soft seats that resembled armchairs, a table, a board, and a full set of togi pieces. This set was much higher in quality than the one we had at home.
Conifers grew incredibly well in this country, but broad-leaved trees were considered precious because of the region’s harsh coldness. Yet the latter was preferred in furniture making, rather than the soft lumber that generally came from conifers. That meant that anything made from the wood of a broad-leaved tree was more costly. Despite that, virtually everything in the Ho family manor seemed to be made from expensive hardwood. Even the board and pieces—ideally made from especially tough timber—had a black luster, hinting at the durability of the wood used to produce them.
Once we’d taken our seats, I examined Gok’s face and realized that he really did resemble Rook. However, while Rook usually looked placid, this man appeared to favor a stern expression. At that moment he looked mostly relaxed, but some tension still remained in his face. It wasn’t completely overbearing, but it felt a little intimidating up close. But even though his face didn’t show it, I got the sense he was having fun. His expression wasn’t so different from the one Rook often made while playing the game. I gathered that the two brothers shared a fondness for togi.
