Chapter 61
Sika quickly led them somewhere.
It was a small house in the town. Rashid tethered the horses in a suitable place and approached the house cautiously. Sika and Rosetta followed behind him.
They soon ducked behind a bush. Rosetta turned to Rashid, who had been eyeing the house from earlier. She asked, “Is this the man’s house? Why are we here?”
“Why do you think he wanted a divorce in the first place?”
“Isn’t it because the woman had an affair? You said earlier that a man can get a divorce if his wife has been unfaithful.”
“For the most part, yes, but there are many men who abuse it.”
“Abuse it? How?”
“By actually wanting a divorce themselves. Regardless of the wife’s denials.”
“So you’re saying the man made up an excuse because he wanted a divorce?”
“Yes. The man did the cheating, not the woman. He then framed his wife for the crime so that he could get a formal divorce and marry another woman.”
Sika added, “You’re right, Riga. From what I’ve been able to find out, the man is seeing another woman. The person accused of cheating with his wife is even an acquaintance of his. He paid his acquaintance to set up a false accusation.”
“Oh my God!”
Rosetta shuddered to learn the sordid details. The man had done the unforgivable wrong of leaving his wife for another woman, and he’d even blamed her for it. How could he be so despicable in human form!
“Did you go to find out about it earlier?” Rosetta asked Sika.
“Yes! Riga told me to find out if there were any suspicious circumstances, that the man might have been cheating on his wife, and if I was sure of that, to find out the man’s house.”
“You found out that much in such a short time?”
Sika chuckled. “Come on, Rigaina, I’m an expert in spying, this is nothing. I’ve even cross-dressed and gotten into enemy territory to get information out of them.”
“……”
Rosetta’s mouth dropped open. Cross-dressing? Then again, Sika was still young, and his body lines were thin and slender. He was also pretty good-looking, so with some makeup and a dress, he could pass for a woman.
“You must have been a great kid.”
“Heh, thank you.”
Sika’s chin was raised to the sky when the door suddenly opened. Rashid held a finger to his mouth, signaling for silence.
It was already dusk. The man began to walk away without a lantern. Rashid walked cautiously, followed by Rosetta and Sika.
After walking for a while, the man arrived at a watermill on the outskirts of town. There was a stream running down one side, a large waterwheel turning vigorously, and a small hut next to it.
So that’s what a watermill is, Rosetta thought to herself, as Sika clicked his tongue.
“As expected, his purpose for coming here is obvious,” Sika whispered.
Rosetta asked, “What do you mean it’s as expected? What is he doing here?”
Rashid and Sika looked at Rosetta at the same time, neither of them seeming to know what else to say.
Rosetta clamped her mouth shut, wondering if she had asked the wrong question again. But no matter how hard she thought about it, she couldn’t figure out why the man was visiting the watermill. He couldn’t be grinding grain at this late hour.
The man cautiously opened the door and stepped inside the hut. After what seemed like an eternity, Rashid approached the hut. Suddenly, he kicked the door with his foot.
-bang!
The wooden door, which was almost rotting, fell apart with a single kick. Both Akal and Rashid were determined to hit and break something today.
And the moment they all entered the hut, the man and woman inside began to scream. They were not dressed properly: the man’s ass was half exposed, and the woman lying on the bed beneath him had her breasts clearly visible.
“Rigaina, don’t look, it’ll rot your eyes!”
Sika quickly covered Rosetta’s eyes before she could get a good look at the sight. In her darkened vision, Rosetta suddenly realized the purpose of the watermill in the middle of the night: it was a place where unmarried men and women came to have sex in secret.
[Ri- Rigaina?]
The man who recognized the word from Sika’s mouth spoke in a puzzled voice. The man swallowed a groan when he saw the face of the tall man in front of him.
[Ri- Riga!]
[Put your clothes on first. Right now,] Rashid said in a low voice.
The man and woman began to hastily gather their clothes. Once they were properly dressed, Sika lowered the hand that had been covering Rosetta’s eyes.
[Riga, what is going on here…]
The man spoke fairly calmly, but his voice trembled at the end of each word.
Rashid gestured to the woman kneeling beside him.
[Who is she? She can’t be your wife, seeing you together in a place like this. By the look on your face, I’m guessing you’re already married.]
The man flinched, but then a smirk flashed across his face.
He answered, [Riga, just because a man is married doesn’t mean he can only have one woman. You have to try this woman and that woman to know which one tastes best. No, don’t tell me… you’re here to catch me having an affair? Just for something like this?]
Sika covered Rosetta’s ears this time. He knew she couldn’t understand the man’s words now, but he couldn’t let those filthy words enter her ears.
[I don’t care how many women you have, but it’s not okay to make up sins that your wife doesn’t have and sell her off to someone else.]
[W- what do you mean…]
And the man realized in hindsight that the black horse that had suddenly ridden into the square and gone on a rampage belonged to Riga. Riga’s black, fierce horse had already been rumored.
In other words, Riga had seen everything in the square.
[I think there’s a misunderstanding here. I wasn’t trying to sell my wife, I was just, uh, joking around! Really!]
[We’ll find out if that’s true when we ask your wife. Sika.]
At Rashid’s call, Sika sprang forward.
[Yes, Riga!]
[Hand him over to the magistrate, tell him it’s in my name to make sure this is properly investigated, and see if anything like this has happened before.]
[Ri- Riga!] the man screamed. [I’m sorry. Please forgive me, it was just a mistake!]
He tried to get closer to Rashid, but before he could, Sika wrapped a rope around his body.
[Save your desperate appeals for the magistrate. If you are found guilty of framing your wife, you’ll get at least thirty lashes, uncle, and you’d better clench your molars when you get hit, or your teeth will fall out,] said Sika.
[Oh, no!]
The man suddenly began to rebel violently. Sika gave him a very annoyed look and punched him in the face with his fist. With a yelp, the man stretched out, instantly knocked out. Sika grabbed the man by both ankles and dragged him to the floor and out of the hut.
The only people left were Rashid, Rosetta, and the woman who had been playing with the man.
The woman was trembling with fear, unable to make eye contact with Rashid.
Rashid said, [The punishment for your act of going out with a married man will be left to your father, according to the established custom.]
The woman’s face immediately turned pale and she burst into tears.
[No, Riga, my father will kill me if he finds out about this!]
[Then you’ll have to take thirty lashes with him.]
[Hic, Riga. Please, please, please show mercy just this once…]
[Even if your father is lenient in this matter, don’t expect that to be the end of it, for I will see how the punishment is meted out.]
The woman was now on the floor and began to cry. Rosetta couldn’t understand their conversation, but it was clear that this woman was terrified as hell right now.
“Let’s go,” Rashid said, looking back at Rosetta.
Rosetta nodded and followed him out of the hut, leaving the woman behind.
Outside, the man was still sprawled on the ground, out cold. Sika was nowhere to be seen. Rosetta looked around, wondering where he’d gone, and out of the darkness, Sika appeared on horseback.
“Riga, I left Akal and Masha behind. I didn’t think Akal would follow me obediently.”
Rashid nodded slightly.
Sika dismounted from his horse and scooped up the unconscious man. He slung the man onto his horse’s back and tied him securely, then leapt lightly back onto his horse.
“I will go to the magistrate then. What are you going to do now, Riga?”
“I’m going to stop at the man’s house. You’re going to hand the man over to the magistrate and come right back to the castle.”
“Yes!”
Sika quickly reined in his horse and rode away.
Rashid looked back at Rosetta and said, “We should go too.”
Before they knew it, it was completely dark. A half-moon was clearly visible in the dark sky. The two walked side by side through the night. Not long into their moonlit walk, Rosetta tripped over a small protruding stone beak. Rashid caught her as she stumbled.
“Ah, thank you.”
She expected him to make fun of her for not knowing what she was doing, but instead he took her hand.
“Just make sure you step where I step.”