Chapter 20
Answer Me, Please – Chapter 20
The moment Rashid stepped out of the tent, all eyes turned to him, and he frowned at the wide-eyed stares.
“…why are you all looking at me like that?”
“Oh, it’s nothing!”
Everyone quickly looked away again, still in disbelief as Rashid walked away, alternately looking in the direction of the tent and the direction Rashid had gone.
Then Shika shrugged his shoulders proudly. “What did I say? I said Rigaina didn’t run away, otherwise the two of them wouldn’t be in a good mood, would they?”
Fard snorted in response. “You still believe that? Think about it. Riga told her never to leave the fire, and she went there by herself in the middle of a monster attack?”
“Krell must have dragged her there, to make it look like Rigaina was caught running away, and how can you not believe it now, when you heard all that laughter?”
As Shika said, a moment ago they had heard a sound they could not believe with their own ears. Riga’s laughter, not anyone else’s, leaked out of the tent.
“Well, I’ve never heard Riga laugh before in my life.”
“That’s true. He never used to laugh.”
Everyone looked at each other and nodded in unison. The Riga they knew was not a laugher, at least not like that. If he did laugh, it was only in a dry sort of way that made you wonder if it was funny, and here he was, laughing like that at a woman he had just met.
“Besides, he said he wouldn’t eat rabbit anymore, so he went all the way to the village for breakfast.”
“Yeah. I mean, I was surprised he caught a rabbit for breakfast, but this is really…”
“Anyway, Riga is not forcing that bitch to stay with him, is he?”
Sika glared at Fard’s choice of words. “Spell it right. A bitch?”
Fard sighed in exasperation. “It’s just a word between us. Do you want to keep fighting over something that is no big deal?”
“Are you saying that insulting Rigaina isn’t a big deal?”
“This brat. Do you think it’s easy for us to accept the daughter of a Basque chieftain? I can’t help it, my head and my heart are not working in sync.”
“That’s your problem, and you should know that if you say anything disparaging about Rigaina in front of me again, I won’t let you get away with it.”
“Nothing can be expected of you, coming from another land. You don’t even know the disgrace we suffered because of that bitch’s father.”
The moment the word ‘bitch’ left his lips once more, Shika’s hand went straight to the swords he wore at either side of his waist.
Fard flinched involuntarily. He knew full well that this boy, as stupid as any other boy, was quite the opposite when it came to fighting.
Hailing from a northern ethnicity known for their fierceness, the boy was still young enough to be a match for most tribal warriors, and in the last battle, Shika had shown his true colors. Covered in blood, he slashed at so many of his own people that he looked like a demon, and his nickname was more famous among the northern peoples than Rashid’s.
The problem is that this terrifying boy regards Riga as almost a god. Ever since Riga saved his life, Shika has followed him blindly, like an imprinted duckling. That’s why he’s so protective of Riga’s wife.
“…I understand, could you please remove your hand?”
Just as Shika was slowly removing his hand from the sword, Rosetta stepped out of the tent. Shika immediately jumped to his feet and ran to her.
“Rigaina, did you sleep well?”
The boy hovered around her, smiling broadly, his fierce demeanor from earlier gone, his tail wagging like a puppy. Not knowing what to make of it, Rosetta smiled at Shika.
“Yes, Shika. How was your sleep last night?”
“You can talk informally at your ease. Rigaina is like Riga to me.”
Shika’s eyes sparkled as he turned to her, and Rosetta’s face relaxed in response.
“Oh, may I?”
“Of course!”
“How cute.”
She smiled and stroked Shika’s head, and the men who had been watching them from a distance stopped in their tracks.
Rosetta glanced over, sensing a strange reaction. As they looked at her, each of them had a look of disbelief on their faces, as if they couldn’t believe what they had just seen.
“…hey, did I just make a mistake?”
Shika smiled broadly at Rosetta’s question. “No, you don’t have to worry about them. Ah, that’s right, you can think of me as your little brother and treat me as such!”
Rosetta still felt like something was off, but Shika actually seemed to be in a very good mood right now. If Shika was okay with it, it must be okay.
As Rosetta was rationalizing, she suddenly heard a strange purr from beside her, and her face was splashed with water droplets.
“Aah!”
Rosetta screamed and tumbled next to Shika. Shika quickly caught Rosetta’s body and soon laughed out loud.
“Don’t be scared. Akal does it often.”
“A- Akal?”
“Yes, the horse you have been riding for two days, his name is Akal.”
Suddenly, the huge black horse was at her side, and Rosetta stepped to the side, startled by the sight of it again. She was kind of scared to be this close, probably because she had fallen off this horse the other day.
But then the horse rolled its shiny, black eyes, took another step toward her, and then snorted hard again. Rosetta gasped and clung to Shika even tighter.
“Why is he doing this to me?”
Shika’s eyes lit up as he answered, “This guy doesn’t usually play pranks on others, he must like you, Rigaina.”
The black horse was now nipping at the hem of her dress. Rosetta wanted to pull her clothes off somehow, but she couldn’t.
“He likes me? He’s not threatening me?”
“Yes. I’ve seen him actually kill people, so I know it when I see it, whether he’s trying to kill or just playing with you.”
Rosetta’s face immediately turned white. “He- he’s killed people?”
“He’s been on the back foot since he was a kid… he’s pretty tame now.”
Shika reached out to pet Akal. Akal squinted at him, then licked at his hand. Sika withdrew his hand at the speed of light, and the horse’s large teeth clashed in midair.
“See, he doesn’t bite, and he’s gentle, right?”
“……”
Seeing that Rosetta was looking even more frightened than before, Shika scratched the nape of his neck in embarrassment.
“Akal doesn’t normally follow anyone else, maybe he just intuited that Rigaina was special because you’ve been riding on his back for two days, and until then he’s never carried anyone but Riga, so come on, just touch him.”
Rosetta looked at Shika with a look that said what the hell was he talking about.
“Don’t worry. He won’t bite. You can pet him.”
Rosetta hesitantly reached out her hand. True to Shika’s word, Akal accepted Rosetta’s touch.
The horse’s hair was unexpectedly soft against her fingers. When she stroked between his shiny brows, he half-closed his eyes in pleasure. Up close, the horse’s face looked like a sculpture carved from obsidian. The ears that stood up were very cute, while the slender facial frame and muscular neck were both graceful and strong.
Rosetta admired it and patted the horse a little more boldly.
“So pretty…”
It was a strange new experience for her to have this kind of communication with a large animal that could crush her at any moment. Yes, this big animal and she must be communicating something.
The dark, rich eyelashes, spread out like fan blades, fluttered as if they could fly away at any moment. The horse’s closed eyelids lifted, revealing clear black eyes. The horse’s gaze was fixed squarely on someone behind her.
“Riga!”
Shika called out happily, realizing that Rashid was there.
“I was just introducing Akal to Rigaina,” he said.
As Shika reached for the horse, Akal clashed his white teeth again, expressing his strong displeasure. It was clear that he didn’t like Shika’s presence or even his talk.
Rashid took the reins of the black horse and said to Shika, “From the looks of it, I don’t think you’re in a position to introduce anyone to Akal.”
“What are you talking about? At least we got a little closer– ouch!”
Shika, whose finger was bitten off by Akal, jumped up from his spot.
“Hahaha!”
Rosetta couldn’t help but laugh out loud. She knew she shouldn’t be laughing, but she couldn’t help it.
Shika sulked. “Rigaina, how can you be laughing like that, I almost lost my finger!”
“Oops, sorry. Does it hurt a lot?”
The moment Rosetta was about to examine his finger, Rashid pointed in the opposite direction.
“Don’t fuss over it, you go to your horse, we’re leaving right now.”
Rosetta’s mouth dropped open at the mention of leaving.
“Wait, I’m going to ride with Shika today, not with you.”
The moment she said it, the two men looked at her as if they had just heard something they had never heard before.
Rosetta looked into both of their eyes. After a moment of hesitation, she added, “Well, you’re injured, and I don’t think it would be possible for me to ride with you today…”
Shika immediately burst out laughing. “Rigaina, do you even realize what you just said? Asking someone of the opposite sex to ride a horse with you means that the two of you are in love with each other…”
Suddenly, Rashid lifted Rosetta up in a swift motion and put her onto his horse, and then he too climbed onto his horse and sat down behind her.
“I’ll leave first, you follow.”