Answer Me, Please

“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. Allen and other men rushed to the scene. They started looking at Rosetta with their faces turned white.

“I’m fine. But that woman……”

The woman frowned and was wrapping her ankle with her hands. Rosetta approached her, leaving the attendants behind. She was about to ask if she was okay, but as she recalled what had just happened, she immediately shut her mouth.

Lattis, the official language of the kingdom, is widely used throughout the western continent, but she heard that there are some people who cannot, depending on the region and status. Maybe this woman doesn’t know Lattis language at all.

“Are you from the kingdom?”

Then she heard a familiar language. It’s a language Rosetta was familiar with. Except for a slightly strong accent, the woman’s Lattis language is fluent enough to be mistaken for a kingdom person.

“Do you speak Lattis?”

“Well, very few people here can speak Lattis……” The woman immediately shook her head with a sigh. “There are monsters in that lake, so I thought it was a bit strange because people here wouldn’t even come to see it.”

“Monster?”

To Rosetta, monsters are terrifying creatures she only sees in books. The monsters that appeared throughout the continent never appeared in the kingdom. It was only today that she was able to confirm with her own eyes that the existence of monsters is true.

“Unlike other monsters, this monster is only in the lake, so unless you get close to it, it is not very dangerous. Anyway, I’m glad everyone’s safe.”

“Ah, I see……” It was then that Rosetta realized that she had not yet said thank you. “You saved my life. Thank you very much.”

Rosetta bowed her head with sincerity. Her nanny was surprised next to her. She knows what her nanny is thinking now.

This woman in front of her deliberately ran from a distance and saved her — even though she could have just pretended not to see her — and sacrificed her horse. So she deserves a better thank you than this.

“I don’t think this will make you any better, but I will compensate for your lost horse. Not only that, but I would like to thank you enough for saving my life.”

“It’s okay. I didn’t do it for a reward. More than that……”

The woman frowned and took off one of her shoes. Her exposed ankle looked swollen. Rosetta looked at her worriedly.

“It’s very swollen.”

“I broke my ankle when I landed a while ago. I didn’t know it when I was running, but now it hurts……”

“I’ll take a look!”

Then Allen ran and sat down next to the woman.

The woman looked at Rosetta in surprise when the man, covered in huge muscles all over his body, suddenly offered to look at her ankle. This was because Allen’s appearance was that of a man who could break her ankle at any moment, far from the impression he would treat it.

Rosetta said with a smile, “Leave it to him. He is not a quack.”

***

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“It’s a fracture!”

Allen, who made a clear diagnosis, started bandaging the woman with a splint on her ankle.

“But your bones aren’t broken, they seem to have cracked a little. So don’t move around much for a while and be careful.”

“Are you sure about that?”

At the still-suspicious nanny’s words, Allen shouted loudly, “Absolutely! She is the benefactor who saved my life. There’s no way I could have made the wrong diagnosis.”

“Did I save your life?”

Allen smiled broadly when the woman asked.

“You did. If anything happened to my lady, we’d all be dead–no, not just us, but this whole area would be a wasteland—”

“Oh, Allen! Well done!”

Rosetta hastily covered Allen’s mouth. Allen has a history of making several tongue slips since coming here. If left alone, he may make another one. Rosetta smiled quickly at the woman before he could say anything more.

“I will take you home for now. Let’s talk more as we go in the carriage.”

The wheels of the carriage spun vigorously again. During the conversation in the carriage, Rosetta learned a few more facts; the woman’s house is nearby, and the horse sacrificed for the monster was like an old friend she grew up with since she was young.

The price she paid to save strangers was too great. Rosetta hoped that she could do anything to pay off all this debt.

“More than that, your schedule will be disrupted because of me.”

When Rosetta said she was traveling a long way, the woman said with a very sorry expression.

Instead of asking for a price for saving her, the woman was rather worried that her schedule might have gone wrong because of her.

“You saved my life, I have to do this of course.”

“Well….., it’s late, so stay at my house today.”

“Is it okay if I owe you this much again?”

“Of course. It’s always a great pleasure to entertain guests from afar. It’s just….., It might be a little noisy tonight, but if you don’t mind, please come.”

“Is there something going on tonight?”

“Actually, I have my wedding ceremony tonight.”

“Sorry?”

Rosetta and her nanny widened their eyes in surprise at the same time.

The bride who is getting married today rode a horse alone. Besides, it’s getting dark.

And the wedding ceremony will be held in the middle of the night, I have never heard of such a thing.

“A wedding ceremony? Not someone else, but yourself? Even at night?”

“Originally, our tribe held a wedding ceremony at night…… Oh, by the way, I haven’t even introduced myself. My name is Rosie. And my father is a chieftain of the Basque.”

“Basque tribe……”

If it was a Basque tribe, Rosetta was also familiar with them.

The Ardennes have been living in this area for a long time. Now they are divided into several tribes, the largest of which are the Basque in the east, Croa in the west, and the Quat in the north. The Basque are among these tribes who pledge absolute loyalty to the kingdom.

“But isn’t the Basque capital a little further away from here?”

“I went out to the meadow only today for the wedding ceremony. We traditionally hold our wedding ceremony in the meadow. It’s kind of an old custom. It is difficult to hold a ceremony in the city…… I’m sure all the tribesmen are going crazy by now. I said I would come back after getting some air during the day, but I haven’t come back yet. Besides……”

Rosie lowered her head with a sigh. Her gaze turned to her ankle. The ankle of the bride who is getting married today is like this, it surely is a problem.

Rosie muttered in a low voice, “Actually, I really don’t want this marriage to happen. The person who will become my husband is thirty years older than me. So I went out because I was frustrated. I can at least forget all my worries while riding.”

Rosetta looked at her with shocked eyes.

“Why should you marry such a person……”

“It’s a common thing. My father needs an alliance, and marriage is the most powerful means of an alliance. At the same time, the chieftain over there had lost her wife, so my father thought it was a perfect alliance.”

Rosetta’s face hardened. Her situation isn’t as bad as hers, but Rosetta is in no different situation.

“I think I’m talking too much about myself. If you don’t mind, could I also hear about you?”

With those words, Rosetta recalled her role on this trip. Lynne, the daughter of a wealthy merchant from the capital, is now Rosetta’s name and identity.

“My name is Rosetta. I was on my way to the beach to help my father, a merchant.”

Even if it’s a fake identity, she doesn’t want to give out a fake name at least to the person who saved her life. The nanny didn’t show any reaction as to whether she was aware of Rosetta’s heart.

“Nice to meet you, Rosetta.”

“You too, Rosie.”

The two looked at each other and smiled. She met her for the first time today, but Rosetta thought she was a good person for some reason.

Soon after, the carriage arrived at its destination. Several tents are set up on a wide meadow, and in front of them, people gathered in groups. Rosie got off the carriage, supported by Allen.

When Rosie appeared, they rushed over.

[—-!]

[—. —-!]

Rosetta still couldn’t understand the language, but it was clear that they were relieved that Rosie had returned safely. One of them, an older woman, grabbed Rosie’s hand.

[You didn’t come back in time, so I thought something had happened. I’ve been looking for you all this whole time. But how did you hurt your leg?]

[Well….., there was an accident. My father?]

As Rosie was looking around looking for someone, a middle-aged man walked through the crowd. He is a man with thick eyebrows, deep wrinkles on his face, and a large scar on his cheek.

Rosetta had a gut feeling that he is Rosie’s father and the chieftain. After Rosie explained to him the circumstances of the accident and apologized, Rosetta stepped forward with the intention of saying that if there was anything she could do to help with the upcoming wedding today, she would gladly do anything.

slap!

The man’s hand slapped Rosie on the cheek. An angry shout followed soon after.

“What the hell are you doing now?”

Rosie bit her lip with her face turned. She, who flew proudly in front of the monster, was now lowering her head like a sinner.

“I am sorry. Were you really that worried?”

“Sorry? I can’t believe you just showed up like this and said sorry!”

He grabbed Rosie by the shoulder and began to shake her violently.

“Did you decide to kill all of our tribesmen? Do you know how important this marriage is? Are you going to ruin it this way?”

“Excuse me, it’s too much for an injured person……”

Eventually, when Allen was about to step out, Rosetta stood in his way. Allen, who is impatient and can’t stand injustice, could have made things worse.

“Chief, this is all because of me.”

He looked at Rosetta and furrowed his eyebrows.

“Your clothes are not like the people here.”

“We are travelers from the kingdom. We don’t know much about this place, so she got hurt like this. If there’s anything I can do to help—”

“She can’t ride a horse with those legs, so what can you do to help? Because of this, she won’t be able to get married today!”

Rosetta couldn’t understand what he was saying now. Why does she have to ride a horse to get married? Then Allen came and whispered in Rosetta’s ear.

“They say that the customs of the old barbarians still remain at the wedding ceremony. Do you know that bride kidnapping was common in this land in the past?”

Rosetta recalled the unique wedding customs of this place, which she had read a long time ago. At a time when there was no interaction with the kingdom yet, there was a custom in this area to steal women and run away and make them brides.

The kingdom was the first to ban it as the tribe came under its influence. In the eyes of the people of the kingdom, it was the most uncivilized and barbaric vice. However, since customs do not disappear so easily, they are still practiced secretly.

“The tradition of bride kidnapping is almost gone, but only the formalities remain.”

Allen’s subsequent explanations helped Rosetta understand how their wedding ceremony was held. In other words, at the wedding ceremony, the groom rides the bride on a horse and runs away with the consent of the bride. However, the groom only pretends to run away and comes back and spends the first night with the bride.

After that, the chieftain was furious and left the place to find another way. But there’s something Rosetta still doesn’t quite understand.

She asked Rosie, “Then why can’t we ask the groom’s consent in advance? If the bride asks to postpone the wedding a little bit because her leg is injured—”

“Then they will immediately annul this marriage and leave.”

“Why?”

Rosie sighed quietly. “My husband-to-be, the Croa chieftain, accepted this marriage after a long persuasion from my father. With this as an opportunity, the two tribes decided to form an alliance. But the Croa tribe has long been at odds between the Quat tribe and us over who to form an alliance with. If there is any disruption to the wedding ceremony, they will surely be very agitated and anxious. Everyone is more afraid of wolves threatening them right next to them than of lions sleeping far away.”

This means that the Croa tribe is more afraid of the Quat, who is closer, than the distant kingdom.

For a long time, the region was ruled by the neighboring kingdoms with the most advanced civilizations on the continent. It was for this reason that the local people now widely used Lattis in addition to their own language.

But as the years passed, another emerging nation on the other side of the kingdom gradually began to gain power. They are more violent and cruel than the Catan of the north, who are known for their brutality. In addition, they rode horses very quickly, so they would often loot and disturbed the kingdom’s borders several times. Eventually, the kingdom decided to withdraw its hands from the Ardennes and move its troops.

In making this decision, some judged that there was less danger because the tribes bordering the kingdom had already been assimilated to some extent, but there were also reasons for preparing other countermeasures. It was to convince the tribes near the border to recruit them and then defend the border instead of fully supporting them from behind.

If you want to fight an elephant on the battlefield, do not use a spear or a sword, but tame the same elephant and fight it.

It’s a saying passed down long ago in the kingdom, and it’s the kingdom’s strategy to deal with foreigners.

“Recently, the Quat tribe is rapidly increasing its power and uniting other tribes, and the momentum is frightening. In particular, the army led by the young chieftain recently won the war against the Catan, known for their brutality.”

“The young chieftain? Are you talking about Nazar Quat?”

Allen, who had been silently listening to Rosie until then, asked so.

“Nazar Quat?”

When Rosetta asked him, Allen further explained.

“It is the nickname of the young chieftain of Quat. It’s the local language there, if I’m not mistaken it means blue……”

“Blue-eyed wolf. Nazar means blue eyes and Quat means wolf.”