Capítulo 12: Another Character
The weather had been bad all week, and the sky was always gray. When I look at that, somehow, I know there will be a new witch soon…
And today, it reminded me about 'Karl van Bate'. His mood must be just like the weather: gloomy to the extreme. Because he actually was a teacher in this small town and Anna was his student.
Karl ran a school in this town. Unlike the Kingdom of Graycastle, where only the children of noble could go to school, here, he taught are the children of ordinary people. Therefore, he had a very high reputation in Border Town.
If I was correct then soon, the new witch will appear and Karl too, will met Roland.
"Karl… Nana…" I murmured those two name under my breath.
….
Karl, he had just witnessed Anna's hanging, so in his eyes there was a crack in the once-perfect world—or this crack had begun to form since his departing from Graycastle, but he deliberately turned a blind eye. He used his busy work to numb himself, and to a certain extent, he even used the innocent smile of the students to mend this crack.
(Until Anna died,) he thought, (the world had not changed.) But after the hanging, the crack not only did not disappear but expanded.
His memories of Anna stopped at half a year ago. She didn't stand out of her class of more than thirty students with her normal appearance and few words, but there was something about her that impressed Karl deeply.
It was her passion for knowledge. No matter what he taught, whether it was characters or history, she could always remember it on her first try. Even if it was the boring history and evolution of the religion, she could read about it all day. He had also seen the young lady help to take care of her neighbor's sheep--sitting down in the sun, Anna would carefully brush the sheep's hair, like someone would with a baby. He still remembered her sweet smile very clearly, and no matter how, he could not think of her as a sinister and evil person.
Then, after the fire on Anna's street and her mother unfortunately passed away, Anna never came back to school. He never saw her again until a week ago, when she was proved to be a witch and hanged in the town square.
"Tempted by the devil? An unclean person? Evil? All lies!" He began to doubt the Holy Church and the knowledge they imparted for the first time in his life.
He didn't know if Anna had been a witch or not, but she was never an evil! If a teenage girl, ignorant of the world and full of curiosity, could be called evil, then the administrative officials of the Kingdom of Graycastle were from hell and possessed by the devil too! In order to save several hundred gold royals, they deliberately switched out the stone material used to build a theater, leading to its collapse and the death of more than thirty stonemasons.
But were they hanged? Not even one! The judge finally ruled that the leader of the stonemasons was unsuitable for his job, and he was punished into exile, while the Mason Guild was forced to disband. Karl, who knew the true story, fled the Kingdom of Graycastle, followed the road to the West, and eventually arrived at Border Town.
He managed to establish a school with a lot of students, got to know his new neighbors, and found new friends, but the Graycastle officers' crime was always engraved in his mind. Now, he felt the world was mocking him once again. Could the Gods in Heaven really recognized what was evil?
The last straw for Karl was Nana.
Nana and Anna were so different that one could even say they were the complete opposite. After class you could always see her playing with birds or rolling around in the grass. If you asked what she was doing, she would giggle for a while before answering that she was looking at a fight between a grasshopper and ants.
Nana was always smiling; it seemed to be in her nature. She was completely oblivious of the world's sorrows, and at least at school, she could continue smiling without a care. Karl was even curious if she had ever cried since she was born.
Two days ago, Nana suddenly came to him with tears in her eyes and asked, "Teacher, will I be hanged like Anna?"
This told him that his student, Nana Pine, had become a witch.
Karl felt someone pull his sleeve and looked up to find that he had arrived at the town square. Many people stood around the bulletin board, and when they heard van Bate's name, they all made a path for him.
"You came just in time, sir. Please help us read it."
"Yeah, Meg was supposed to read this to us, but he got a stomachache and had to go to the toilet, but he still isn't back yet."
Usually, he would have nodded with a smile and explained in detail the contents of the bulletin board to everybody who listened. However, Karl found this impossible—the smiles and enthusiasm of these people were earnest, but this made it even more difficult to bear than if they were all pretending.
The notice about Anna's hanging had also been placed here, and everyone had also discussed it this cheerily. 'In a sense, you were all her murderer,' he thought, 'and your ignorance and fear had killed her.'
Karl suppressed his emotions, took a deep breath and walked in front of the announcement list.
"The prince calls for hands to help with the construction of new buildings for Border Town, and a variety of different kinds of jobs are available," he said.
In his mind he was also one of her killers, so what right did he have to blame them? Wasn't he the one who taught them that witches were evil? Karl had a bitter taste in his mouth. (Look at what I've taught to these children. I followed every word of the Church's doctrine, and I thought I was teaching them well, damn it!)
"Stone grinder, male, 20 years to 40 years old, strong and healthy, salary is 25 bronze royals per day."
"Mud craftsmen, no gender limitations, over 18 years old, must have experience in masonry, salary is 45 bronze royals per day."
"Handyman, male, over 18 years old, salary is 12 bronze royals per day."
"…"
No, he had to do something. If Anna's death was irreversible, at least he couldn't let Nana die. Karl heard his inner voice shout, 'When the Mason Guild collapsed, you didn't do anything; when Anna was hanged, you didn't do anything. Are you also not going to do anything and watch this lovely child being dragged up to the gallows?'
But what could he do? Could he escape with Nana out of Border Town? He had his own family, a family who traveled with him from Graycastle. Would he make them leave again just when their lives were getting better? Would Nana herself, who was born into a rich family, be able to leave her comfortable life?
"Stonemason, no gender limitations, no age limitations, long-term position for anyone who has participated in construction for the government, salary is one gold royal per month."
"Additional Term: People with rich experience and excellent performance may be granted an official position."
After hearing the notice, the people became even noisier, "One gold royal per month is even better than the salary for the stronghold cavalry!"
"But can you do it? If you can't even build a mud pile, can you build a fortress?"
"Don't just stare at it. Even the first few positions aren't bad. If you get paid every day, you'll earn the same amount as a hunter."
"Indeed, hunting is a life-threatening job, and the Misty Forest is a really dangerous place."
Karl van Bate did not pay attention to this chatter and only concentrated on the seal and signature at the foot of the notice. It was the autograph of Roland Wimbledon, the Fourth Prince.
….
Roland just issued a recruitment notice to built-up the wall and I know Karl would read it. At first that man won't care. Not until he thought of something and suddenly had an idea. Perhaps through this recruitment, he could meet the prince himself, Border Town's highest ruler.
I giggled when I recalled the chapter about Karl and his thought about "how to convince Prince about witches were not devil. How funny, silly, and brave yet, he was actually afraid.
Karl prayed in his heart.
For the sake of the dead Anna, for the sake of Nana, who was still alive, and for the sake of his own heart to stop breaking, he decided to take the risk.
"How honorable…" I said as giggles left my mouth. But soon my smile was gone and replaced with annoying one because I remembering something.
(Princess Garcia. Garcia Wimbledon)
I almost forgot about this vile, wicked women!
How could I didn't think so? As princess or should I said "Roland's big sister", she was damned! How could she be so cruel to poisoned his own brother just because she wanted to have the throne? Especially the former Roland was just an idiot. She didn't need to do that actually. It's not like the former Roland would win and maybe he would die by his own stupidity but that "atrocious woman" was too impatient, arrogant and assertive.
I sneered at her behavior and nature. She was somewhere at Port of Clearwater town, with her "naive and idiot" follower, Ryan Koban.
Ryan thought that unlike her close relative, she was the true genius. And Garcia's temperament made up for any lack of beauty. She had the wisdom and pride of the noble, but she was not dulled by the constant routine. She was full of expectations and adventurous.
He even thought no common people could have such power and vision as hers. Even the duke and the princes seemed short-sighted in front of her.
Compared to that of the noble families who spent their time accumulating and growing wealth, Ryan believed that hers was the demeanor of a ruler. He followed her to the Port of Clearwater without hesitation.
Truly naive you are… how can he thought Garcia was so good like that? The right person to inherited the kingdom? What a joke! Don't make me laugh!
Okay in politics, she and Roland's other brother seemed like the most suitable candidates. But for human? For his kingdom, country and its inhabitants? No! They were not the right and good King or leader! They were the selfish one!
She was actually just same type with the second prince. They were truly siblings in blood. Yet, they both arrogantly thought they were better than the other.
Those who stood at their side were either they were too naive or easily deceived, fooled or bribed. If they can kill their own siblings without the slightest of hesitation, then they could do that to other the townsfolk who were stranger.
I sighed. Forget about it. It was still a long way for us to meet. So should just focus about now. There was her spy here beside Roland. I need to get rid of them. But how?
I crouched down and grasped my hair in frustration and desperation.
(Come on Aiden! Think of something! You are smart and cunning woman before! How can you be so stupid after becoming a boy?!) I thought to myself.
(Is this because this body's lack of nutrition? Or is it because I still have some trauma left in my heart because my colleague betrayal? Which slowed my thinking? )
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