Children of the Holy Emperor

CH 36

By the time Aslan and Bart had returned to the village square, it was already getting dark. Night comes quickly in the mountains.

"We need to start gathering herbs from the morning tomorrow. We should have at least some results to show to Jerome, so be prepared to hit the mountain early."

Bart was staring pensively toward the top of the mountain.

Good grief, what an emotionless man.

"So should we rest for now? While I find you a place to stay, you can stay in my cabin."

As Aslan, who was leading the way to his dwelling, stopped in his tracks, spotting a figure approaching them.

It was a thin woman with a staggered gait, her face not clearly visible due to the fading light. However, seeing her oddly twisted left arm, Aslan realized who she was.

Marta. Jerome's pitiful wife who suffered daily ab*se.

Upon a closer look, she had a face that suggested she might have been extraordinarily beautiful in her youth, but her harsh life in the village and Jerome's violence had aged her beyond her years.

The dark circles under her eyes and her somber expression made her look like a long-term patient who had just recovered from an illness.

In a thin trembling voice, she asked Aslan, "Hey, Aslan. Have you seen my Kaien?"

"Ah, I'm sorry, Marta. I haven't seen him."

"He went out with Jerome. Didn't you hear anything when you came to our house today?"

Aslan seemed to understand why she was anxious. She must be thinking that Jerome has taken Kaien somewhere and is beating him again. Aslan didn't care what happened to the miscreant Kian, but he felt sorry for Marta, who was worried about her son. As he shook his head apologetically, she bit her lip as if about to cry and walked away from them, staggering.

Aslan, unable to take his eyes off her for a while, murmured, "Poor woman. She was brought here in her youth by Jerome and ended up living with him. She's been beaten her whole life. When Jerome loses his temper, it's really no joke. She can't even leave because of her son, her only child..."

However, Bart, who had been staring at the retreating figure of Marta for a while, made an inexplicable remark.

"She's not worried about her son."

"...?"

"You're in danger too, Aslan." Bart turned to him and threw an unexpected question. "Have you ever made an enemy of a boy named Kaien?"

"...What?"

Aslan blinked.

An enemy? Wasn't that guy just universally hated by everyone?

Come to think of it, didn't he always give Aslan a particularly nasty glare as he walked by?

"I'm not sure. Why do you ask all of a sudden...."

Aslan, who was asking in confusion, suddenly shut his mouth because of the chilling sensation that overcame him. It seemed as if Bart's eyes were emitting a strange glow in the darkness. His pupils, which he had thought were a clear gray, now flowed with a strange silvery metallic gleam.

"If you really need to go up that mountain tomorrow, you should be careful and avoid the usual routes."

"......"

There was not even the slightest intention for him to argue back, like asking, 'On what grounds do you, a newcomer to this village say such things?'

It was a strange sensation.