ERTHMB Chapter 55

On Your Side

‘I shouldn’t have come with just Sakin.’

Helena was currently feeling this lesson to her bones—that she should have brought along that excellent human leash named Ian.

“I never thought he’d disappear in the brief moment I looked away…”

Already circling the same block for the third time, Helena gave up searching for Sakin.

Although he was a terrible, even horrific, sense of direction, he wasn’t an idiot, so she would probably see him again at the guild.

‘…Hmm. That’s definitely what will happen. …Probably.’

She never wanted to experience putting up missing person flyers for Sakin next to lost pet posters. Helena shook her head, trying to dispel such ominous thoughts.

After taking a few more steps, a sudden strong wind blew from the front.

The pigeons that had been pecking at street scraps in flocks fluttered away, and a veil embroidered with mysterious patterns flew toward her.

Helena reflexively caught it. Looking around, she saw a woman who appeared to be its owner running urgently toward her from not far away.

Dark skin, black hair, black eyes. She was a foreigner.

The moment she recognized this, a fragment of lost memory pierced through like lightning.

[I too have a son about your age. I want to return to my homeland as soon as possible.]

Helena pressed her throbbing head. The silhouette of the man who had said those words flickered in her mind, seeming about to become clear but not quite.

‘Before… I’ve met a foreigner before. But when?’

Praeterita was an extremely rural village with no external contact at all, and after marrying Eugene, the noble world she entered made such vulgarity even more impossible.

‘Then my memory is…’

The headache didn’t last long. As the woman approached close enough to snatch the veil from Helena’s hand, her reverie was broken.

With the rough texture of fabric slipping between her fingers, Helena came to her senses. The woman hurriedly wrapped the veil tightly around her head before expressing her gratitude to Helena and turning to leave.

However, her identity, already revealed, caught her by the ankle.

“What, you were a foreigner? And yet you had the audacity to try to buy things from my store?”

“My child has such a high fever. Please have mercy.”

“Ugh, how unlucky! Why is this happening? You’re unclean, so get lost immediately! What slave thinks they can buy medicine!”

The woman desperately pleaded, but the shop owner was adamant. In the end, all the woman could obtain was a red handprint on her cheek and burning pain.

The woman thrown to the ground sobbed.

“My child, my child is sick…! Please, someone help me…!”

The unexpected commotion drew the attention of people passing by on the street. But that was all.

They went on their way again as if nothing had happened. Far from helping the woman up, no one even showed a shred of sympathy.

In the Empire of Instantia, foreigners were such beings. Pests wrongly born as humans. A race for whom being branded as slaves at birth was the natural order.

Of course, following the changing currents of the continent, Instantia had also abolished slavery and liberated them all as free people. But perceptions rooted over several centuries could not easily disappear.

‘But they’re still the same people. It doesn’t make sense in the first place.’

The reality she witnessed after coming out into the world was much more stark than the passages she had only read in books.

Helena struggled to release the tension from her clenched jaw. As soon as she approached the woman, Helena first helped her up.

“Don’t beg. Don’t grovel either. What did you do wrong?”

Spiteful glances poured from all directions, but Helena steadfastly endured them. They were merely ticklish compared to the anger gradually rising from deep within.

After suppressing a breath, Helena turned sharp eyes toward the pharmacy owner.

“The slave trade was ruled illegal and stopped 50 years ago. What kind of misconduct is this now?”

“Ha, really. In all my life, I’ve never seen a woman take the side of slaves. There’s such a thing as turning a blind eye to the law, miss! It would be crazier not to see them as slaves!”

The owner snorted and flew into a rage. His stubbornly raised index finger kept poking Helena’s shoulder.

Instead of being pushed back, Helena endured the pain and stood firm.

“People are above the law. One cannot become a criminal simply for being born.”

“That pretty little head of yours must be just decoration since you don’t seem to understand well, but this is Dairon. The lord’s word is law!”

“Do you like winter?”

“What?”

“Even if you don’t, you’ll have to like it from now on. Panteon will be your residence starting today.”

Panteon was a frigid city where the empire’s largest prison was located. Understanding the meaning, the owner’s face turned red and blue.

“What nonsense…!”

He seemed ready to raise his hand any moment, but Helena didn’t stop and pressed on.

“Since you worship the law so much, let me inform you. Erbandaum Law Article 17, Section 1. Slavery is prohibited in Instantia and any region under Instantia’s jurisdiction. Article 18, Section 5. Even a lord’s autonomous laws do not apply to this provision. Article 18, Section 12. Anyone who shows discriminatory behavior in any form shall be punished with imprisonment of up to 2 years or 1,500 hours of forced labor.”

The owner visibly hesitated. It was an intimidating presence unbelievable from such a small body.

Helena caught her breath for a moment and knocked away the finger that had been stuck in her shoulder.

“Have a good trip. I’ll graciously send you with a warm blanket.”

The watching crowd stirred. No matter how much the opponent was a foreigner, the shop owner’s reputation wasn’t particularly good either.

One by one, they withdrew their spiteful gazes and most began to voice agreement with Helena’s words.

Finding the situation flowing unexpectedly, he raised his fist. It was the predictable move Helena had expected from bottomless humans when cornered.

“No, but this miss keeps talking back…! Do you know who I am? Just a few words to the lord and…!”

Crash!

Of course, she had no intention of meekly taking it like before. But she also had no intention of attacking first.

However, in the brief moment of blinking, the shop owner let out a short scream and had collapsed.

“Oh my, I’m terribly sorry.”

He had leaped in silently like a stray cat. Helena didn’t even notice his existence until the man spoke.

As if responding to Helena’s surprised gaze, he narrowed his cool snake-like eyes and smiled.

Had he tripped him? It was a flow so swift and fluid it seemed almost magical. It reminded her of the characteristic movements of felines.

Helena forgot about the argument and watched him continue to hit the shop owner…

“Oh dear. It really wasn’t intentional.”

…accidentally bump into the shop owner.

He kept apologizing while continuing to do apologetic things with a completely unapologetic face. He pretended to accidentally trip him once more.

Thud!

As expected, the shop owner, who had been struggling to get up, fell again. A pot that had caught on his body spilled the hot medicinal water that had been boiling inside.

“Aaaaah!”

“Oh my, I thought someone as important as you, who knows the lord, would be able to dodge on your own. Well, it’s a bit unfortunate, but you’ll be fine soon. After all, it’s medicine for treating people.”

He seemed to find this situation extremely enjoyable and smirked. Even as the shop owner was now clutching his bloody nose and spitting out broken teeth.

“But isn’t there some herb that clears the mind to stop nonsense? That seems more urgent to me.”

“You bastard…!”

As the shop owner staggered to his feet, the man slowly backed away. More precisely, while pretending to back away, he pressed down on a thick rope lying nearby with his toe and pulled it along.

It was a rope connected to the shop’s awning. If he went just a few more steps back, the connection would loosen enough to come undone.

If it came loose, the awning held up by bricks would slide down first, and the iron pole serving as support would also tilt.

‘Then… the shop would collapse.’

Even if an accident occurred, it was a chain reaction whose cause and effect would be difficult to trace. It was a truly cunning move that wouldn’t allow anyone to be specifically blamed.

Helena, who had followed the rope with her eyes and grasped the situation, hastily grabbed him.

“Stop. That’s enough.”

Exactly one step. It was a precarious position.

A distance where he could drop a pile of bricks onto the shop owner at any time if he shook her off and moved.

Of course, she knew her strength wasn’t enough to hold the man back. But Helena struggled to hide her trembling and didn’t let go of his arm.

Then the narrowed snake eyes gradually widened and turned toward Helena.

Their gazes collided in the air where dust was hazily floating.

“…….”

“…….”

The man’s expression became strange. He lightly grasped the edge of Ian’s robe that Helena was wearing.

“Could it be…”

Just as he was about to continue speaking.

“How dare you toy with me!”

The shop owner, who had suddenly stood up from the corner, threw the spilled pot with all his might.

The man quickly grabbed Helena’s arm and pulled her back to hide her, but it was a step too late. The metal lump flying in a parabolic arc hit Helena’s ankle.

“Ah…!”

Helena grimaced and sat down heavily. The man kicked the pot without hesitation.

The shop owner, who received the metal lump straight back, finally fainted.

While Helena couldn’t take her eyes off that chaotic scene, the man lifted her up.

“Hold on tight.”

By reflex not wanting to fall, Helena wrapped her arms around his neck. The man moved like the wind. The murmuring and commotion of people gradually subsided.

After a moment, all she could hear was the man’s steady heartbeat.

Strange.

****

Only after reaching a place where the commotion could no longer reach them did Elai set Helena down.

Despite the sudden movement being quite startling, she was calm. So calm that she even had the leisure to think about other things.

“Did that foreigner escape safely?”

“Is that what you’re worried about?”

“Just in case, let me quietly go check—”

The moment she took a step, pain pierced through her ankle. Helena, who had tried to endure it somehow, staggered.

Thanks to his blocking, she hadn’t been hit very hard by the pot. However, it had unfortunately struck exactly where there had been a small sprain originally.

No luck at all. Even as she limped like a newborn calf and stubbornly tried to walk, Elai stood in her way.

“If you move in that condition, you won’t be able to avoid crawling around starting tomorrow. The foreigner took the herbs and returned safely. I saw it during the fight.”

“…Really?”

“Yes, really.”

Elai answered as if driving in a nail. While doing so, he gently pressed down on Helena’s shoulders and seated her on a log.

Only then did Helena slump her upper body along with the breath she had been holding back. Elai also knelt on one knee in front of the relieved Helena.

Her ankle was visibly swollen. He began to gently examine the affected area as carefully as possible. Helena’s body flinched slightly at his touch.

She hadn’t realized it earlier due to the confusion, but she suddenly became aware that the man before her was also a stranger.

Feeling the somewhat stiffened muscles, Elai spoke while still keeping his gaze fixed on her ankle.

“When you look at me with those eyes, it hurts my feelings a bit.”

Helena barely straightened her curved spine. She wanted to treat him boldly, but the earlier chaos made it difficult.

A man who had driven someone into a bloody pit without caring about the surrounding gazes.

If he applied just a little force to his grip, her ankle caught in his grasp would be crushed. His violence could be directed at anyone.

Having experienced it firsthand, Helena couldn’t easily relax. Even from the corner of his vision, Elai could see that stiff expression.

He looked around for something suitable to use as a splint and spoke.

“Still, if you’re afraid of me…”

Clear red eyes looked straight up at Helena.

“Let me at least say that I’m on your side.”