Chapter 209: Being Young Is Truly Wonderful~ (Patreon)

Hui-chieh:

Reading these words should feel like seeing you face to face. Now that I've picked up my pen, a thousand things crowd my chest, and in the end they come out as this simplest of greetings.

Without my noticing, eleven years have gone by.

The wind in the Northlands is always cold.

In these years in Ursus, I've traveled through more places than I can count. From the snows of the Frozen Plains that never melt, to the gilded corridors of the palaces in Deity Grypherburg.

From the silent campfires of Infected settlements, to the hollow clinking of glasses at noble banquets. I've seen the hunched backs of miners deep in their shafts, seen children frozen to death by the roadside, and seen the blood-red wine in the cups of those who sit above it all.

So much hardship and wandering. So much suffering that no one speaks of.

Lungmen isn't far from Ursus, so perhaps you've already heard the rumors and newspaper stories, some true, some false. It's true: I've inherited Koschei's title and legacy, and I'm now the ruling Duke of Ursus. The man who once took me away from you has, in the end, placed everything he had in my hands.

But don't worry about me, Hui-chieh.

I chose to take up this scepter not for power or wealth, and certainly not to become a second Koschei. This road is overgrown with thorns, and every step falls on the edge of a cliff, but I know where I'm going more clearly than ever.

I'm walking a road called "Ideals" and "Justice."

…

…

There's so much more I want to say, but if I keep writing, I'll only ramble.

Take care of yourself.

Signed—Talulah.

Ch'en Hui-chieh's fingers trembled faintly as they brushed the edge of the letter. A drop of warm liquid fell silently onto the paper, and the ink blurred a little.

The letter was long enough that a single page couldn't hold it, yet it said very little. From start to finish it spoke only of Talulah's present circumstances and her concern for Ch'en Hui-chieh.

"Little Ta…"

Ch'en Hui-chieh murmured the name softly. She had held that name down for so long, and now it brought her to the brink of breaking.

"Here, wipe your face."

Saito kindly handed her a few tissues. Only then did Ch'en Hui-chieh realize that at some point her face had become wet with tears.

"Thank you."

She thanked him quietly, struggling to calm herself and pull free of the wave of emotion, and looked at the man before her with red, swollen eyes.

Talulah's letter had mentioned them briefly, and Ch'en Hui-chieh understood that it was with their help that Talulah had broken free of Koschei's control and set out on the path she had longed to walk.

So this single "thank you" carried every ounce of feeling she had.

"You're welcome."

Saito accepted the thanks graciously. Compared to the lifeless state she'd been in when she first walked into the room, Ch'en Hui-chieh looked much better. It seemed this one letter had worked better than any amount of comforting words.

But the real good news was still to come.

"As a friend of your sister's, I'd suggest you use today to get yourself together."

Looking at the still-young girl in front of him, Saito smiled and gave her the heads-up. The baffling advice put a flicker of confusion in Ch'en Hui-chieh's eyes.

"I doubt you'd want Talulah to see you looking like this when you meet her tomorrow, right?"

"Wh—"

Ch'en Hui-chieh's mouth fell open, and for a moment she lost the power of speech. Her mind kept checking whether she'd imagined what she'd just heard, and every time the answer came back no.

Talulah… was coming to Lungmen? They were going to meet?

When she'd read the letter, she'd assumed that seeing Talulah again would be something for many years from now, in some mansion in Ursus. She never expected the reunion to come so suddenly.

Seeing Ch'en Hui-chieh struck speechless, Saito silently congratulated himself on telling her in advance. With the state she'd been in just now, he really worried that Talulah appearing out of nowhere would have been too much of a shock for her.

Saito had no idea what a mess Koschei had made. As far as he could tell, Talulah's younger sister hadn't had an easy time of it in recent years either. Otherwise, why would her emotions be so fragile?

"…"

"Brother Saito, Brother Saito, why don't we find somewhere for her to rest first?"

Little Chen, having noticed the commotion, came over. She looked at the lady in front of her, who was, in a manner of speaking, her ancestor. The two of them looked alike, and even the shape of their horns was similar.

But Ch'en Hui-chieh clearly had no energy to care about that now. The emotional ups and downs she'd gone through today were probably greater than on the day Talulah was taken away. She needed some time to take it all in first.

"I think you're right," Saito answered in a low voice. Then he grabbed Chen Qianyu and pulled her to the front. "You're both girls, so I'll leave this to you."

"!!!"

Chen Qianyu's eyes went wide as she watched Saito slip away right from under her nose.

The two similar faces stared at each other for a while. Then Chen Qianyu spoke awkwardly:

"You look pretty tired right now. Let me take you to the guest room to rest."

"Mm, thank you."

Ch'en Hui-chieh nodded lightly. She really did need some time to sort out her thoughts.

…

…

"Brother Saito! You sold me out!"

A few minutes later, Chen Qianyu came out of the room and thumped Saito lightly on the shoulder with her fist to show her displeasure.

"What kind of talk is that? How is that selling you out?" Saito's eyes went wide, the picture of innocence, as if she'd slandered him out of thin air. "I was helping you build a friendly connection with your idol, wasn't I?"

"Idol?"

A question mark slowly appeared over Chen Qianyu's head.

"Yeah. Didn't you tell me before that your dream of becoming a great hero came from the stories your mother told you as a kid?"

"That's right."

Chen Qianyu wasn't actually dumb. She looked back at the room behind her, and her mouth slowly fell open.

"Remember when I asked you to go back and look into Ch'en Hui-chieh? We couldn't reach your mother, but a few of the elders in Hongshan said Ch'en Hui-chieh is the knight-errant who gave the Chi Xiao sword to your mother."

"But she…"

She doesn't look anything like a knight-errant right now!

Chen Qianyu didn't say the second half aloud, but Saito read her subtext anyway.

"Great heroes have to grow up too. Besides, counting the days on Terra's side, your idol is a year younger than you right now."

"Oh, I guess she is."

Chen Qianyu scratched the back of her head, a little dazed. One look at her face told Saito he'd talked his way out of it, and a hint of smug delight crept onto his own.

The Administrator sat to one side with an all-knowing smile that said she saw right through it but wouldn't say so. She calmly took a sip of hot tea and sighed silently.

Ah~ to be young~