The Main Family Is About to Die Out, so I, from a Branch Family, Am a Seed Provider (WN): Chapter 56

 

Episode 56: Because I Promised

 Carrying my step-sister, Armes, who still hasn't woken up, on my back, I lead the group of injured people.

"......We're almost there, so be patient, Armes."

 I muttered to myself with a rough breath.

 After witnessing the wounded Armes, my choice was to leave everything to Elfie and the others and flee the battlefield first.

 I knew from the start that the people who were there probably wouldn't blame me. I was just being stubborn.

 I think the smell of blood made it hard for me to keep a cool head. That's why Elfie, the old knight of my family, drove me away from the battlefield with such harsh words.

 I continued walking forward while carrying the still unconscious Armes.

 Every time I step out on the slope of the mountain path with my left foot, which has been shot, the bandage was getting stained even more.

 Even so, from the time we began fleeing the battlefield before noon, we just kept going without stopping until we reached our target point, and it was around evening when we arrived there.

"Let's stop here for today."

"I-I understand."

 The wounded soldiers' faces showed a deepening sense of fatigue as they continued to walk, straining their wounds.

 The fences were set up at even intervals to prevent the passage of horses along this narrow mountain road, we are now at the tenth fence counting from the first one, and no fences were erected from this point onward. The narrow, winding road leads to the canyon.

 ......Considering the distance from here, some people will definitely die.

"Those who can move should tend to the seriously wounded. Give them water to drink, but make sure it's just to wet their lips."

"Ha!"

 Most of those who can move, however, have injuries, just like mine. And, moreover, they are forced to march while helping those who are seriously wounded.

"......"

 Unconsciously, I pick up a fallen twig and then snapped the tip of the branch with my thumb.

 A dry cracking sound echoed in my ears. While retreating, we did not make a bonfire so that the enemy will not be able to grasp our position. We just stay here until the darkness covers us, only drinking water.

 Occasionally, I can hear the faint sounds of battle while traveling, but right now it seems like something from some distant world.

"……Sorry."

 Those were the words that naturally came out of my mouth.

 Armes, lying asleep beside me, whose injuries were worse than anyone else. It is more difficult to find a place on the right side of her body that is not burned, and even her breathing is somewhat weak.

"Excuse me, young master."

"Hmm?"

 The one who approached me was the medic who looked at my wounds before retreating.

"I'd like to replace her bandages now."

"Ah, please."

 With that, the medic removes the bandages from Armes' body.

 Jaundice that was hardening clung to the bandages, pulling at the exposed flesh.

 Still, she doesn't move an eyebrow, but only breathes quietly and weakly, not reacting in any way. It made my heart ache, and I involuntarily bite my lower lip.

"How is it?"

 I ask the medic, stifling my uncontrollable anxiety and fear, as I stare at the burns on Armes' body exposed to the open air.

"I can't say right now. Normally, I would have doused the wound with water and covered the whole body with medicinal leaves, but I can't do that either. I don't know if she will be able to regain consciousness and with the infection on the wounds......."

 I think the best thing to do now is to consider it a miracle that she survived. The medic's face, as he told the truth, had an expression somewhat resembling resignation on it.

"I see."

 I can only respond to the truth as it is, not as I would like it to be. I tried to speak, but the conversation between the medic and I was cut off, and silence filled the area until the bandages were changed.

 By the time the medic, who had finished his treatment, left us with the words, "Please call me if you need anything," and went to the other injured people, the sky was completely tinted with darkness, and I realized that I could no longer see anyone but myself and Armes.

"...There is a river."

 In the darkness, I suddenly uttered such words.

"I saw on the map before that the river runs under the bridge, and down there it was connected to the country."

 There is a suspension bridge in the canyon ahead......  a river stream below it. I didn't pay attention to it at first, but following the stream down, there was a small village.

 Imperial Vu-alheit.

 Surrounded by mountains, a small village with a calm stream running through it. Only brown-skinned people live there, and the village has long been known for its abundant mining resources.

 Above all, it is the birthplace of my step-sister, Armes, who was sleeping next to me.

 The village was once ruled by a low-ranking noble from the northern principality.

 Over the generations, the next head of the noble family and the daughter of the village chief were attracted to each other and eventually fell in love, and they get married. As a result, the noble family and the village of Vu-alheit were united in marriage.

 But a few years later. When the importance of muskets began to spread around the world and when it was discovered that a large amount of niter could be extracted from the small mountain in Vu-alheit...... the sad history began.

 Niter is a raw material for gunpowder and is indispensable for muskets.

 The noble families who are the lords of Vu-alheit, from which a mountain of niter can be obtained, and the northern principality, which plans to rule the village directly, are in conflict over Vu-alheit.

 However, even if they were to forcefully take away the territory, the Principality was at war with two other countries, the Federation to the west and the Kingdom to the east.

 Therefore, forcibly taking away the territory of the noble family that held the source of niter would be like sticking a knife in their own backs, and they could not easily do anything about it.

 However, the country wanted to keep the land in its own hands at all costs. And it could not let a low-rank noble hold such a lucrative vein of gold.

 The one who came to them with sweet words in response to the Principality's intentions at the time was none other than the head of the village of Vu-alheit.

 After numerous secret meetings, the village chief, who colluded with the Principality, secretly ordered his daughter, who was married to the next head of the noble family.

Kill her husband.

 The current head that ruled Vu-alheit at the time was already old. If only the next head of the noble family died, the Principality would be able to rule directly over the land with ease.

 The daughter and her husband were on good terms, but in the end, the daughter, at the behest of her father, the head of the village, poisoned her husband, the next head of the noble family, and killed him as ordered. And, although this is only a myth, it is said that the daughter killed not only her husband but also her own sister who opposed the assassination.

 However, the evil deeds of the village chief's daughter soon came to light, and the noble family was furious that one of their family had been killed. Finally, they broke their ties with the Principality and became independent and set up their own country.

 And the Empire was born.

 And in order not to forget the despicable betrayal of the village of Vu-alheit, which had triggered their independence, the empire chose not to destroy the village, but to let the villagers live and be humiliated. In other words, the discrimination against brown-skinned people that continues to this day began there.

"......Hopefully one day you can return to your hometown."

 From such a village, when Armes was a child, when she was only about five years old, she and her family were exiled from the empire. However, she lost her parents on the way and ended up in my territory all by herself, barely escaping with her life.

 When she was little, I once asked her if she missed her hometown.

"I don't know."

 Nowadays, she says that our territory is her hometown and is on my side as a knight, but I remember that she, who had just escaped at that time, stared in the direction of her hometown and said.

 Although the place is different, I gaze in the direction where Armes once gazed.

 What I saw in my eyes was plain darkness.

 In the silence of the night, the sound of a mountain stream rumbled from below the cliff, and the heavy, damp air seemed to cling to my whole body.

"Well, we need to survive before we go back home."

 Muttering to myself, I snap off a twig in my hand and throw it away. A dry cracking sound is heard, and as if on cue, the other soldiers stand up.

"...We'll be waiting for Elfie and the others on the other side of the suspension bridge."

 I carried Armes, who still wanders the border between life and death, and led the group.

 We began to move, but the atmosphere is not exactly lively. Perhaps it would be better for the morale of the soldiers if we chose to fight the enemy.

 However, we can't choose to fight a battle where it was inevitable that we are going to be crushed by the enemy and annihilated.

 Elfie is still fighting, and I can't let Armes die here.

 And above all, I made a promise to Lady Ritia.

 With a click, the brooch that the young lady gave me shines dully around my neck.

 A promise that I would return alive.

"We will come back alive, you, me, us."

 So we moved forward step by step without fail.

 Go home alive. Just to do that.