“Not a river, but a lake?”
“There’s a maid named Shaylin from Tromil. I heard it from her. Originally, it was a hidden site of the goddess of the moon. If you go in the direction of the sunset, you will see a huge lake, and there is a temple of goddess hidden behind it.”
At her words, Carl looked at the map. Although it was called a map, the area was not clearly marked because there were many dense forests. Moreover, although Tromil has become the land of Leipsden, it’s still like Castro’s land. There was not much information.
“By the way, it’s amazing. From what I know, the palace doesn’t accept people from Tromil.”
“Why? The people of Tromil are also the people of Leipsden.”
“Because the people in the Tromil area are… different. They are secretly discriminated against a lot.”
“I heard they still speak Castro’s language. Is that why?”
“There is such a peculiarity but it’s more because of the unusual constitution.”
“Unique constitution?”
“I’ve heard that the tribesmen who originally lived in Tromil, although they are now pretty much extinct, have an unusual trait. Their childhood and adolescence are longer than normal people.”
Sienna didn’t quite understand what Carl said. What do you mean by having a long childhood and adolescence?
“They live in teenage form for a long time. They look like a child until a very old age. Should I say that they don’t have adulthood? It’s been said that they look like teens until reaching age thirty, and by the time they become 35 years old, they’d rapidly age, and few people were over 40.”
“That’s interesting, but isn’t that a good thing? You are looking young for a long time.”
“It’s not a long adulthood, it’s a long adolescence. Because you have to look young for a long time, but you’re not really a young person. It wasn’t the blessing of the goddess of the moon for the tribe… it was like a curse.”
“How come? Of course, it’s inconvenient to look like a child, but… Oh! Is it because of the short life span?”
“No. Because after such characteristics became known, they became targets of slave traders. There are no original tribesmen left in the Tromil now. They were all sold out at a high price.”
“Ah…”
“When it was Castro’s land, the tribe was called blessed by the Goddess of the Moon and was protected. But the protection was lost when it became part of Leipsden. Slave hunting is illegal, but it’s the black market. I’ve heard that 20 years ago, on a stormy day, slave traders came into Tromil and killed all the old ones on the spot and captured all the young men and women.”
Sienna recalled Shaylin, who was shaking at the sound of thunder.
“There’s still a site on the east side of the barracks where they lived. Only a few buildings that were charred by the fire.”
“So there aren’t any tribesmen left now?”
“They are scattered. I heard they were mostly sold off as sexual slaves. Apparently keeping a young face for a long time is a popular thing in that part of the world. Well, I only heard about it. I’ve never seen the tribal man in person.”
“What horrible people they are. For destroying the whole tribe.”
Thinking about what kind of pain Shaylin must have suffered, Sienna was in rage.
“Shouldn’t they be caught and punished?”
Surely it’s a crime. Murder, arson, kidnapping. Just listing the charges could tell how bad they were. The crimes all fall within felony.
“Punishment won’t be easy since the demand came from Aristocrats. Slave deals are legal, so there’s no basis for punishment unless we find evidence of illegal abduction of them. On the surface, they must look like they are doing a legitimate business.”
“I see.”
There was a rustling sound when Sienna was frowning, displeased with the business of people buying and selling other people. Carl soon came through the tent. He took off his jacket and hung it on the table.
“What are you going to do?”
Sienna asked him, covering her chest.
“I’m just going to take a bath.”
“Then you could have told me to hurry up…”
When she said embarrassingly, Carl burst into laughter. It was cute to see her being embarrassed while he could still recall her clinging onto his neck so passionately. Others might have thought she was being coy, but strangely, it wasn’t that bad for Sienna.
Carl carefully went behind her and soaked himself in the bathtub. Even though he entered carefully, the water in the bathtub was running and overflowing.
With two people in a narrow bathtub made for one person, they had no choice but to stay close together. Sienna moved forward uncomfortably, but there was nowhere to go.
Carl felt itchy with her red hair touching his chest. He carefully collected her hair and turned it forward. Hearing Sienna’s rough breathing, he buried his face at the nape of her neck before his eyes.
“Well, I’m done washing…”
As Sienna tried to stand up from her seat, Carl held her waist tight and said, “Please stay a little longer…”
His voice whispering beside her neck tickled so she crouched. Looking at her, Carl burst into laughter again.
Sienna looked at her hands, covering herself up with the towel that Carl handed her.
“It’s swollen.”
It’s because she’s been in the water for too long. Embarrassed by her pale fingers, she clenched her fist and hid her fingers. Carl grinned and stood up without a word. Then he put a towel on her head.
Carl changed his clothes first and approached the brazier. The kettle on the brazier was steaming. Sienna wiped herself with the towel he handed her and changed into pajamas.
“Achooo!”
Sienna sneezed. Feeling chilly, she pulled a blanket over her shoulder.
Carl handed a hot tea in a wooden cup he made to Sienna, who was sitting on the bed. With a languid face, she looked at the steam and received the cup without saying a word. She needed warmth because her body temperature dropped. The green-colored tea smelled as fresh as an orange.
“Is it a cold?”
“Because of someone… Achooo!”
Sienna replied, pouting her lips.
When Carl frowned at her sneezing, Sienna grumbled.
“I’m not transmitting anything, so don’t worry.”
The words of Sienna made Carl’s face more crumpled. She drank tea without even looking at his face. The warm water passed down her throat, which made her feel a little more comfortable.
Carl took the hot charcoal from the soldier outside and piled it on the brazier one by one.
The temperature in the tent warmed up.
“How long are you going to stay?”
“I’ve been here less than a day and you’re going to kick me out already?”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Don’t you think I should stay at least two weeks? The palace sent me to boost your morale, but I’m not sure if I can do that. Should I do a consolatory performance?”
“Consolatory performance?”
“You don’t do that here? You know, gather soldiers on the battlefield, sing and dance to boost morale.”
There were occasional consolation performances in the north to boost morale. Paul, who taught Sienna piano and violin, played the harmonica in front of the soldiers. Sometimes excited soldiers sang or danced.
Carl looked at her with a pathetic look.