24 Hearts

40====================

The twenty-fourth fragment, Carpe Diem

Jeanne responded without hesitation to Peerchen’s question.

“Yes, I don’t like that I’m thinking the same thing as this Flying Fighter, so while not an official complaint, I have to admit that I do not understand your actions, Lord Peerchen.”

And Jeanne could not understand them, for he had told her nothing. Even after he had read the emperor’s handwritten letter and clearly refused the request, he had remained silent on the matter. Jeanne had rather expected him to refuse and would have been greatly surprised had he accepted it.

“You feel that way then?”

“Yes, that’s right,” Jeanne responded modestly and said no more. Peerchen sighed in front of his guests, thinking that they must not be finding this exchange a pleasant sight.

“Now, I don’t have the time, so I’ll simply tell you this, Sir Ea: I’m sorry to have united you two, who hate each other, on this matter, but I’m annoyed by the emperors. They are annoying.”

“!” Ea took a deep breath. Her flushed face showed that she would be questioning his statement at any moment, but Peerchen held up his palm, showing that she had to wait before speaking. He spoke on.

“I’m not wrong, so keep listening. Of course, I am sorry not to have treated knights as proper guests. Honestly, I am to blame, so I politely ask for your forgiveness. Since you brought the letter here, am I correct in assuming that you came to me acting on behalf of the Baekje Empire?”

Ea looked rattled. There seemed to be something to Peerchen’s words, but she couldn’t figure out what. And she couldn’t deny his statement.

“That’s right,” she breathed.

“Ah! Then I am able to justify my actions, and to you as well, Sir Jeanne. I don’t treat robbers as guests.”

“…What?”

Peerchen had just likened their empires to robbers.

“This land is a neutral country where anyone can come and go freely. No one dares to do evil in my land by using their positions in their home country as justification. It is the same even for those that come from empires.

“The fragments will only appear to those who are led by fate itself, to the true master. No one has found it up till now, a hundred-and-fifty years after its fall, because there has been none who are worthy. Yet, for the longest time, the two empires have dispatched knights carrying only letters, who asked my family for cooperation on their quests.

“I heard from my grandfather that, at first, we cooperated. But as time passed, the imperial demands became greater and greater, until, at long last, my grandfather refused the requests outright. There were a lot of the lords of that time saying: ‘Lord Peerchen rejects the empires and is not afraid to face them.’ My grandfather, well, he was also a Wielder of the Sword, so he stood firm and remained silent.”

“…”

“Since then, the two empires have become annoyances to us Peerchens, not allies or overlords. So please, don’t feel too dissatisfied that you didn’t receive the proper treatment in my halls. Your seniors have also been shown away from here with the same treatment.”

“…” Ea didn’t argue anymore, but she was still dissatisfied.

It would have been understandable if Lord Peerchen treated all his guests in this manner, but why was she being treated worse than a little kid?

Peerchen seemed to notice her brooding thoughts, so he added, “If you still can’t understand, then try becoming a person who I will gladly and politely host as a guest. Do something for my people like the young hero behind me, or become the Wielder of the Sword, like Sir Kaseun next to him…”

As Ea heard the lord’s words, she looked at the old man, and her face looked a bit surprised. Even though he was old, she hadn’t figured him to be an ordinary man due to his bulging, trained muscles, and the subtle aura coming from him. But she would never have guessed him to be a Wielder of the Sword.

And when her mind linked the terms ‘Wielder of the Sword’ and ‘Kaseun’, she recalled that he was one of the honorary nobles of Baekje, a man whose name was legendary.

“…so if you find any fragments, I will gladly host you.”

Peerchen stopped talking, figuring that he had wasted enough of his time with polite conversation. He turned his back on the knights as if he was done with them. He then apologized to Judah, Tia, and Kaseun and directed them to the dining room.

As Ea watched their retreating backs, she snapped awake a bit too late and then ground her teeth in resentment.

+ + +

Lord Peerchen guided us to the dining room after he had spoken to the knights.

He remained silent until we entered the castle. It seemed to me that he wanted to get out of sight of the Flying Fighter and the Blue Lancer, who had looked ready to tear each other to shreds.

“I apologize, Sir Kaseun.”

“No, my lord, there is no need. I understand completely.”

Lord Peerchen and Kaseun conducted small talk as if they knew each other. It was like seeing two close friends talk. The age difference did seem great, so I think it was due to their common positions as [Wielder of the Sword].

As the lord conversed with Kaseun, it meant that he was too distracted to realize he had not yet spoken with me. Thanks to that, I was able to study every corner of the castle without being burdened by social obligations. It felt as if I was in a museum.

I’ve only been on a foreign trip once on Earth, and it felt a bit like this. The best thing to do is to wander around on your own and get a feel for the place.

“Judah.”

“?” As I looked at the castle, Tia called softly to me while walking by my side.

She turned her head to me and suddenly stretched out her hand.

Is she asking me to hold hands with her?

“Do not fall over anything – Just hold onto me,” she said with a smile after hesitating for a moment. I willingly grabbed her hand and was grateful for her consideration.

Soon after, we arrived at the dining room, and she let go of my hand. The door was open, so we stepped inside. I was a bit surprised by what I saw.

“A round table?”

I had figured that we would be dining on an elongated, rectangular table, like the one in Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘The Last Supper,‘ but the table before me was unexpectedly round.

Peerchen encouraged us to take our seats, but when he heard me ask that question, he looked back at me.

“Oh, young hero? Why is it strange?” he asked me, his bright expression the polar opposite of the one he had held whilst dealing with Ea. It was easy to speak with a man who had a smile on his lips.

“No, it’s just… It’s different from the table I had been expecting.”

“I think I know what table you had in mind. You mean those elongated ones?”

“Yeah.”

“I chose this table because it’s more comfortable. If I’m not hosting that many people, we always eat at my round table. Now, let’s sit down and talk.”

Peerchen invited me to sit, so we all pulled out our chairs and took our seats. There was no head of the table, for a round table has no senior seat. Therefore, we had chosen our positions with ease.

Kaseun and Tia sat at 3 and 9 o’clock, respectively, while Peerchen and I faced each other.

Once we were all seated, the maids who had been waiting appeared like ghosts and began to set dish after dish of the first course before us. There were also wetted warm towels.

I wiped my hands with one of them and then folded it into a square. As I laid it down, I made eye contact with Lord Peerchen.

“Young hero, I’m sorry that I greet you so late. I’m known as Chapelin Peerchen, the lord of Serenia, and this castle. While my name is Chapelin, my family uses the family name for the head of the family. So, feel free to call me Peerchen.”

While he had asked me to call him Peerchen, I knew I wouldn’t call him by that name alone. He had a title, so I would call him a lord like everyone else.

“Oh yes, thank you for inviting me. I’m Judah Arche,” I said, straight to the point and polite as I bowed my head in greeting. Lord Peerchen nodded happily and looked to his side.

“And the lady over here?”

“I’m Gentia. I was a mercenary under the command of Commander Kaseun, and now I’m teaching this kid.”

Peerchen nodded as if he already knew this.

“Ah, you were the woman who went hunting with our young hero.”

“Yes, but when we hunted the black wolves, I only assisted him from the rear. It was Judah who hunted most, and by himself.”

“Really?”

“I won’t lie in front of a lord.”

I knew that he already knew it was true. Peerchen had ordered his servants to investigate whether a certain Judah had hunted so many black wolves, and in the process of their investigations, they found it to be true. In particular, I knew that the blacksmith who was hired to repair my broken sword and temper my daggers had also spoken to Peerchen’s people.

But still, as Peerchen looked back and forth between our faces, he acted as if we were all lying to him, and then he burst into laughter.

“I can’t believe it even as I look at you myself. I mean, a boy who hunts black wolves? As a fact, I received one report just last week: A young boy had killed three black wolves. My idea at the time was that he must’ve gotten really lucky, but I now know it wasn’t the result of coincidence.”

I just laughed, not knowing what to say.

“It is rather the result of great effort and training instead of chance. Even if this guy looks like this, he’s quite dangerous. Heo-huh-huh,” said Kaseun with a chuckle.

“He’s very talented as well, Commander,” Tia added.

Tia usually talked plainly, but she now used Kaseun’s honorific title due to the presence of a lord.

“You seem to have been taught very well, Judah. Kaseun, how would you like another pupil? My son is also training, and I don’t think he lacks talent.”

Kaseun smiled awkwardly at Peerchen’s words, his expression a bit troubled.

“Oh, sorry, but I’m overwhelmed by each one of my grandchildren. I could ask Gentia if she wishes to be entrusted with another pupil. But, if it is my lord’s request…”

“No, no. Then it can’t be helped. I thought he might have been a good rival for our young hero.”

As if it was unfortunate but done with, Peerchen began relishing his meal and said no more as he stabbed up food with his fork. I drank a sip of water from my glass. It seemed that their conversation had ended, so I figured that if I wanted to ask questions, now was the time.

“Lord Peerchen, ever since I had read your letter, I’ve had a question. Why are you calling me a hero? I don’t think I did a very great deed.”

“Well?” Peerchen smiled.

I didn’t think I did anything grand enough to be called heroic. At best, I only killed some black wolves.

“Why, is it burdensome if we call you a hero?”

I said yes, so Peerchen replied, “You’re still young, so you don’t know… But there is something that lives with us people like a constant companion. What do you think it is?”

“Uh… I don’t know,” came my reply.

“It’s fate.”

“Excuse me,” said a maid as she pulled in a food trolley. Peerchen glanced at her and continued to speak.

“Fate can be a wicked thing, and some people get the idea in their heads to inflate acts that are inherently meaningless. You being called a hero has nothing to do with my will. Even if you didn’t intend it at all, being fated to become someone can have great consequences. Oih! No one can tell whether fate will offer them opportunities or an endless ordeal.”

He was right, it was I who was shaping my own destiny in this world, but I did not know in which direction my fate lay. Wasn’t my present location the perfect example of the unknowability of fate? I had set out to hunt black wolves, and this led to me being invited to the lord’s castle to dine with him.

The maid placed plates of steaming food before us as she took them in ones or twos from her cart.

As the flavorful scents spread out, they seduced my senses and drew my eyes to the food. However, Peerchen was not done talking just yet.