"Oh, my God, are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?"
The monster disappeared back into the water as its prey moved away from the lake. Men, including Allen, rushed in. They began to look at Rosetta, their faces turning blue.
"I'm fine. She's better than I am..”
The woman has been frowning and covering her ankles with her hands. Rosetta approached her, leaving her entourage behind. I was going to ask him if he was okay, but I remembered a moment ago and soon closed my mouth. I heard that Latis, the official language of the kingdom, is widely spoken throughout the Western continent, but some people do not speak according to their region and status. Maybe this woman doesn't know Latis at all.
"Are you guys from the kingdom?"
Then I heard a familiar language. That was what Rosetta was familiar with. Except for her strong accent, the woman's Latis language was fluent enough to be mistaken for a kingdom person.
"You speak our language, don't you?"
"That's because very few people here don't speak Latis....”
The woman soon shook her head with a sigh.
"Sigh, no wonder. "I thought it was a little strange that the lake was a place that no one would visit because of its ruins."
"Mamul? Is that what that is?"
For Rosetta, the devil was a scary monster I've always seen in books. The monster, which had appeared all over the continent, had never appeared in the kingdom. It is only today that we have seen with our own eyes that the existence of the devil is true.
"It's only in the lake, unlike other animals, so it's not too dangerous unless you get close. Anyway, I'm glad everything's fine.”
"Oh, come to think of it....”
Rosetta then realized she hadn't even thanked him yet.
"It's late to say hello. I was saved thanks to you. Thank you very much."
Rosetta bowed her head with sincerity. The nanny took a surprised breath from the side. I know what the nanny is thinking now, but she could have just passed by pretending not to see it, but the woman ran from afar and rescued her. Even at the expense of her words. So she deserved more greetings than this.
"I don't think that's comforting, but we'll make up for what we lost. Not only that, but I'd like to thank you enough for saving my life."
"It's okay. I didn't mean to be rewarded. More than that…."
The woman, who was shaking her hands and dying, soon frowned and took off her shoes. The exposed ankle was visibly swollen. Rosetta looked with worried eyes.
"You're very swollen."
"I just broke my ankle when I landed. I didn't know when I was running, but now I'm in pain....”
"I'll let you off the hook!"
Then Allen ran and sat next to the woman. When a man covered with huge muscles suddenly stepped forward to look at his ankle, the woman looked at Rosetta with a surprised look. This is because Allen's appearance seemed far from being fixed if he had broken his ankle. Rosetta said with a grin.
"Try to leave it to him. He's not a quack.”
***
"It's a fracture!"
After a clear diagnosis, Allen splinted the woman's ankle and began to bandage her.
"But it's not a broken bone, it's a little cracked. If you don't move for a while and be careful, it'll get stuck soon.”
"You must be saying that, right?"
Allen roared at the still suspicious nanny's words.
"Of course, he saved my life, and there's no way I'm going to make a false diagnosis.”
"I saved your life?”
Allen grinned broadly when the woman asked puzzledly.
"Yes, if anything happened to my lady, we were all dead. Where are we alone? This whole area could have been devastated....”
"Oh, Alan! Good job!"
Rosetta hurriedly covered Allen's mouth. Allen had a history of coming here that almost made a slip of the tongue several times. You don't know what else to say if you leave it at that. Rosetta smiled swiftly at the woman before he could talk more.
"I'll take you home for now. Let's talk more as we get on the wagon."
The wheels of the wagon rolled vigorously again. Talking in the carriage, Rosetta learned a few more facts. That the woman's home is near here and that the horse sacrificed by the devil was like an old friend who grew up with her from an early age.
The price she paid to save those she didn't know was too high. Rosetta hoped she could do anything to pay off all this debt if she could.
"More than that, my schedule will be disrupted."
Rosetta said she was traveling a long way away, and she said so with a sorry look. She might ask for a price or condescend, saying she was a lifesaver, but she was rather worried that the schedule might have been changed because of her.
"Thanks to you, I've saved my life, of course I should."
"Then it's late, so stay at my place today."
"Do you mind if I owe you again like this?"
"Yes, it's always a great pleasure to entertain guests from afar. But... tonight, it could be a little raucous, if you don't mind."
"What's going on at night?”
"As a matter of fact, there's my wedding."
"Yes?"
Rosetta and the nanny opened their eyes wide, surprised at the same time. According to that, the bride who is getting married today rode a horse alone. Besides, it was already getting dark. A wedding at night, I've never heard of such a thing.
"You're getting married? Not someone else, but yourself? Is that in the middle of the night.
"Originally, our tribe had a wedding at night...Oh, come to think of it, you haven't even told me my name yet. My name is Rosie. And my father is the tribal leader of Basque."
"If you're a Basque tribal leader....”
Rosetta was familiar with the Basque tribe.
Ardenians have been living in this area for a very long time. They are now divided into several tribes, the largest of which were Basque in the east, Croats in the west, and Kuat in the north. The Basque tribe was one of those who vowed absolute loyalty to the kingdom.
"But isn't the capital of Basque a little further from here? The previous village said it would be difficult to arrive within today.”
"I came out to the meadow only today because of the wedding. We traditionally have weddings in the meadow. It's kind of an old custom. It's hard to hold a ceremony in the city...Maybe everyone in the tribe is going crazy by now. You said you'd come back for a little bit of fresh air during the day, but you haven't shown up until now. Besides…."
Rosie dropped her head with a sigh. Their eyes were all on her ankles. The bride's ankle, which should be married today, became this shape, so it was not a common problem.
Rosie murmured in a voice of no energy.
"Actually, I didn't want to get divorced. My husband is 30 years older than me. That's why I came out of frustration. At least you can forget all your worries while you're on the horse."
Rosetta looked at her in surprise at the words with a self-helpful smile.
"Why would you marry someone like that?".”
"It's a common situation. My father needs an alliance and marriage is the most powerful means of alliance. I'm glad your father lost his wife just in time for the chief of the tribe over there lost his wife. That's what I thought.”
Rosetta's face is a little blurry. It's not a bad situation like her, but Rosetta was in no different situation.
"Come to think of it, I think I talked too much about myself. If you don't mind, can I hear your introduction?”
That reminded Rosetta of her role on this trip. Lien, daughter of a wealthy merchant from the capital, was now Rosetta's identity and name.
"My name is Rosetta. I was on my way near the beach to help my father, a merchant."
I didn't want to at least tell the fake name to the man who saved his life, not anyone else, even if his status was unavoidable. The nanny didn't show much reaction to her recognition of Rosetta's mind.
"I see. Nice to meet you, Rosetta."
"Nice to meet you, Rosie."
The two laughed face to face. I met her for the first time today, but somehow Rosetta thought she was a good person.
Soon after, the wagon arrived at its destination. Several tents were set up on the vast meadow, and people gathered in groups in front of it. Rosie got off the wagon, helped by Allen. They rushed in as Rosie showed up.
[----!]
[---. ----!]
Still unable to understand the language, it was clear they were relieved that Rosie had returned safely. One of them, an older woman, clasped Rosie's hand.
I thought something had happened because you weren't coming back. I've been looking for a lady all this time. By the way, how did you hurt your leg?]
[That's...] There's been an accident. What about your father?]
As Rosie looked around for someone, a middle-aged man walked through the crowd. It was a man with deep eyebrows and thick wrinkles on his face. There was a big scar on the cheek that looked like it was worn a long time ago. Maybe it was a sharp sword wound.
Rosetta had a hunch that he was Rosie's father and the tribal chief here. When I was thinking of explaining and apologizing to him about the accident and saying that I would do anything to help the marriage scheduled for today.
Clap!
The man's hand slapped Rosie on the cheek. Soon there was an angry shout.
"What the hell have you been doing?"
Rosie gently bit her lip with her face turned around. She, who flew proudly in front of the monster, bowed her head like a sinner.
"I'm sorry. You were worried, weren't you?"”
"Sorry? I'm sorry to say I'm only going to show up like this!"
He grabbed Rosie by the shoulder and began to shake violently.
"Are you determined to kill all our tribes? What kind of marriage is this, and how can you ruin it?"
"Hey, that's too much for someone who's hurt....”
Eventually, just as Allen was about to step up, Rosetta stood in his way. Allen, who had a short-tempered personality and couldn't stand injustice, could have made things bigger.
"Tribe, this is all because of me."
He frowned heavily when he saw Rosetta.
"You don't belong here in your clothes."
"Yes, we are travelers from the kingdom. You're hurt because we don't know much about this place. So if there's anything I can do to help....”
"I can't even ride a horse with those legs. How can I help you?" I can't get married today because of this!"
Rosetta couldn't understand what he was saying now. Why do they have to ride a horse to get married? Then Allen approached and whispered in Rosetta's ear.
"They still have the old barbarian customs at their wedding. You know there have been many plunder marriages on this land in the past, right?
Rosetta recalled the unique wedding customs of this place, which she had read a long time ago. In the days when there was no exchange with the kingdom yet, there was a custom in this area to steal women and make them a bride.
The kingdom was the first to ban it, putting it under influence. Because, in the eyes of the kingdom, it was the most uncivilized and barbaric evil. However, I was told that customs are still practiced in secret because they do not disappear easily.
"As it used to be, stealing a bride is almost gone, but the formality remains the same."
Following Allen's explanation, Rosetta was able to understand how their wedding ceremony was held. In other words, at the wedding ceremony, the groom takes the bride on a horse and runs away under agreement with the bride's side. However, the groom only pretends to run away and returns to spend the first night with the bride.
After that, the tribal chief became angry and left to find another way. Rosetta asked Rosie again because there was still something unconvincing.
"So we can't ask for your understanding from the groom in advance? If the bride asks to postpone the wedding a little bit because she hurt her leg....”
"Then they will immediately cancel the divorce and leave."
"How come?"
Rosie sighed silently.
"My husband, the Croatian tribal chief, accepted the divorce after a long persuasion from my father. This led the two tribes to form an alliance. However, the Croats have long been in conflict with whom to form an alliance between the Kuat tribe and us. If there is any disruption to the wedding ceremony, they must be very agitated and anxious. It's scarier for everyone to threaten a wolf right next to a lion sleeping from afar.”
It meant that the Croats would feel more afraid of the Kuat tribe nearby than of the kingdom far away.
The region has long been ruled by a neighboring kingdom with the most advanced civilization on the continent. That's why local people now speak Latis extensively in addition to their own language.
Over the years, however, another emerging country gradually began to grow in power on the other side of the kingdom. They were wilder and more brutal-tempered than the northern Katans, who were known to be fierce. Furthermore, the use of fast-paced horse-riding techniques was so intimidating that they would plunder the borders of the kingdom several times. Eventually, the kingdom decided to pull out of the Ardenese region and move its troops. The decision was made because the tribes bordering the kingdom were already somewhat assimilated into the kingdom, so there was a reason to prepare other countermeasures. It was to conciliate the tribes near the border to capture them, and then protect them instead of fully supporting them from behind.
If you want to deal with an elephant in battle, don't raise a spear and a knife and tame the same elephant.
It was a long-standing saying to the kingdom and a strategy for the kingdom to deal with immigrants.
"Recently, the Kuat tribe has grown rapidly and united other tribes, and the momentum is terrifying. In particular, the army led by the young chief recently won the war against the Katans, which is known for its fierce war.”
"If you're a young chief, do you mean Nazar Quat?”
Allen, who had been listening to Rosie silently until then, opened his mouth.
"Nazar Quat?"
When Rosetta asked back, Allen added.
"It's a nickname for the young tribal chief. I know it's a language here, but the meaning is probably blue....”
"Blue-eyed wolf. Nazar means blue eyes and Quat means wolf."
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