The Gap Between You and Me - Chapter 94
Chapter 94
Balesnorth.
This small village in the west of Velicia had only a little over 20,000 residents, but it was always bustling with travelers traveling between Brimdel and Velicia. For this reason, Balesnorth was often referred to as the ‘traveler’s village’.
Although the lord of Balesnorth lived in a nearby village rather than here, he valued the village’s proximity to the border. His concern was that even if Velicia and Brimdel had a friendly relationship, no one could know what would happen in the future.
He conveyed his concerns to the central government of Velicia and requested troops to defend the village. However, Velicia’s central government, which judged that it was not a big problem, did not accept his request. In the end, the lord of Balesnorth had no choice but to bring his own privates and deploy them in the village.
It was a garrison of only two hundred soldiers. It was the best the current lord could handle on his own. But it was so small that he wondered if he would be able to stop a fairly large band of bandits if they were to attack the village.
But even so, the security of the village was quite good. In this place, only unknown travelers passed by, so there were just the occasional problems. But the atmosphere of the village was generally bright and peaceful.
Balesnorth, a village formed by people who traded with travelers that crossed the border. It has already been over 150 years since it was recognized by the central government of Velicia and incorporated as a formal village. During that long time, the people of Balesnorth lived in a peaceful era without experiencing major turmoil.
Until news spread that the neighboring Brimdel, with a single border between them, had been invaded by Kustan and perished.
* * *
Bang!
A thick hand hit the table hard. The blow caused the table to shake and the utensils placed on it rattled loudly.
“Shit! How many times do I have to say?We have to run away right now! This is not the time for us to be here!”
The man who hit the table shouted at the top of his lungs.
“They’re coming! They’re coming! I’m sure they’ll come crashing into this Balesnorth soon.”
The man’s red-faced cry was close to screaming. The eyes of the people in the shop naturally turned to him. On the table where the man, who was so drunk that he couldn’t even control his own body, was sitting, there were several empty bottles of alcohol that he seemed to have drunk.
“Guest. You must have drunk a lot……. Why don’t you stop here for today?”
The shop owner approached the man and made a suggestion. Then, the man who was staggering as if he was about to fall opened his eyes and glared at the owner.
“Drunk! What do you think of me as to say nonsense like that?”
“No. I mean.”
“I’m fine! I’m fine!”
The man seemed unwilling to listen to the owner. The owner sighed and shook his head as customer continued stubbornly insisting and shouting.
“Look! The Kustans aren’t called wild hyenas for nothing!”
“No. Look. Stop it. You’re being noisy, we should be able to drink.”
A merchant sitting at the table next to the man scolded him with a furrowed eyebrow.
“Why would they invade Velicia? It may be in the distant future. But right now, not long after the fall of Brimdel, the won’t be able to advance here without going crazy.”
“Ha! You don’t know how greedy the Kustans are! They are like hungry beasts! They’ve tasted blood once, do you think they can easily stop here? No!”
“This man writes good stories. Go write a novel.”
“It’s true!”
The voices of the two men arguing louder and louder. The atmosphere quickly turned violent enough to escalate into a fist fight. Shrimps get hurt when caught in a fight between whales. The owner who was caught between them broke down in a cold sweat, unable to do anything about it.
‘Should I get out of here?’
Sitting alone in the corner of the restaurant, Herietta was seriously troubled. As soon as the man who was making a fuss entered the store, she was worried that something might happen when she saw that he was emptying his glass one after another as if he was being chased by something.
‘My forebodings always come true.’
Herrieta frowned.
‘Where did Sir Jonathan go at a time like this?’
She remembered the knight of Velicia who accompanied her.
Jonathan Cooper. He, who is also Bernard’s escort knight, has been following her to this place under the orders of his master to help Herietta reach Brimdel safely. Even though she tried to dissuade him several times saying that this was enough, Jonathan insisted that his master’s order was absolute and showed no signs of backing down.
After they arrived at Balesnorth, he left her here. He said that he needed to find out about something for a while, and disappeared somewhere. Contrary to him saying that he would be back soon, there was no news for an hour already. Herietta felt a little worried, but she soon got rid of that feeling. No matter how, Jonathan, an elite knight of the royal family, would not easily fall into danger.
‘Anyway, what am I supposed to do now?’
Herrieta inhaled and exhaled her breath slowly. She felt stuffy inside, like someone had grabbed her heart.
‘I’ve heard that the situation is bad, but I don’t expect them to get captured soon after…….’
Herrieta clenched her fist, which was resting on her lap. She wondered if the word ‘a mess’ meant exactly this kind of situation.
It wasn’t long after Herrietta arrived in Balesnorth, that she received news that her country, Brimdel, had been destroyed. It took her only ten days to get here from the capital of Velicia. But in the meantime the capital of Brimdel has fallen. Taken by the Kustan Army, which showed incomparable mobility and power.
‘The King of Brimdel, as well as the Crown Prince and all other royal family members, were all killed on the spot, and the capital city was completely ruined. It was hell on earth.’
