The Prince Doesn’t Cry From Mere Onions - Chapter 4.1

Upon departing from the restaurant, Bertram walked and walked some more.

Wet dirt trampled under his leather boots crumbles into white under the moonlight. Looking down on that, Bertram recalled the image of bones in his mind.

Bones, that he’d smashed ceaselessly in the battlefield.

Due to the rumors that magicians of the enemy nations could use corpses, he had been unable to treat any of the corpses with respect, be it that of friend or foe.

If they had no time to transfer the corpses to the rear, you had to crush and burn them for the time being.

This, of course, was the worst for the soldiers’ morale. If they died here, they wouldn’t be able to leave any evidence that they had fought in the battle. They couldn’t obtain even the frivolous honor of having died for the country.

Because of that, countless soldiers fled in the dead of night, and from there, many died by a spear to their back. Bertram remembered those terrified targets.

Though he was only walking a secluded night’s path…

In the middle of Bertram’s heart, a hazy puddle is formed.

But Bertram had even forgotten how to call forth that emotion.

As it happened, a rumble was heard from his stomach.

‘Oh, it was hunger.’

There was no one to tell him that was incorrect.

Bertram opened the bag of money that Carla had given him. It contained a considerable sum.

‘Maybe I should buy something to eat. No. This, I will save and give back to Miss Anna.’

Even if Carla said she didn’t need it, he was determined to repay back his debt to Hans.

16-year-old Bertram thought that if they won this war, everything would return to its due course.

And so he offered up his own emotions. He killed countless enemy soldiers. And at times, he killed within his own force, too. He seized even the seeds left aside for the next year from wailing farmers.

The requisition verification papers piling up transformed into whispers of ‘since we’ll pay them back one day’ and fanned his sense of self-justification.

But they lost the war, lost their family, and he even lost the throne to his uncle.

Bertram was plagued by nightmares even when he was awake.

Nameless emotions he’d forgotten remained as symptoms and strangled his neck.

The magician that had been watching him then spoke to Bertram.

Though he could not release him from the curse, he knew of a way to alleviate his suffering.

“Repay back all the debts, Your Highness.”

That very day, Bertram left the castle.

He dug into what had once been a battlefield with his bare hands, collected remains and military cords and returned them to bereaved families, and paid back requisitions that he had personally issued one by one….

If he paid back his debt to Hans Wirth now, this journey would end too.

He absolutely could not step down.

As soon as it became morning, he would go back to Anna’s restaurant and repay his debt.

And for that, he needed a proper meal and sleep. While Bertram looked for food, somebody approached him.

“You there, are you Mr. Bertram?”

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When he lifted his head to look, three young village men stood with forced smiles on their faces.

“Do you remember us?”

“Yes. The two of you are the ones who threatened me in front of the restaurant. The last one I do not know.”

“….ahaha, so you remember? I’m sorry. We only did that because we’re pretty scared of outsiders.”

It was an absurd excuse, but Bertram noticed the clubs that the men had hidden at the insides of their waists and nodded.

“I see that was the case. I will understand.”

Veins bulge out on the mens’ necks.

However, they had nothing to say. The one who was threatened was saying he would understand; what else could you say to that?

In the end, the oldest one among them stepped forward.

“I heard ya talked about debt or whatever. But if Carla said she doesn’t need it, that’s good enough—why are ya still in the village?”

“As soon as the day brightens tomorrow, I am planning to talk to both of them again about the debt.”

“In other words, you won’t be leaving this village?”

“Yes.”

The three men exchanged glances.

This man, he was a blockhead. They wouldn’t be able to get through him with words.

But as the men weren’t scoundrels who would suddenly take up their weapons, they brought out their most general and friendly hollow words.

“Have you eaten yet? You were kicked out of the only restaurant so you must be starving.”

“I was about to go hunting.”

“Eh? There shouldn’t be anything to hunt for around here. It’ll be hard to catch rabbits since it’s night, too.”

“I confirmed that there was something to eat on my way into the village, so it’s fine.”

Thanks to the magician’s curse, Bertram was able to digest even tree roots if he ripped them up and ate them. He said this to mean that he was really able to eat anything, but….

More anxiety grew in the hearts of the men.

‘Don’t tell me, is this man after our livestock?’

The men spoke with their eyes and nodded to each other.

As they’d thought, it was clear that this bear of a man would be a bad influence to the village. Pissing him off moderately and chasing him off would be for the best.

The men surrounded Bertram one by one and poured out words like a waterfall.

“What’s all this draining talk of hunting! We’ll tell you something you can get easily.”

“Where did you sleep yesterday? You wouldn’t have slept curled into a ball somewhere. I’ll tell you a place where you can avoid the night dew, so go sleep there.”

The men stood at either side of Bertram and pushed at his back as one…. Or tried to, before they expressed their perplexity at his firm resistance.

Bertram looked down on their slightly trembling actions and belatedly came to a realization.

‘These people, they said they were scared of me earlier.’

A small and closed countryside village. If a random giant roamed in such a place, then the villagers would be afraid. These men would be members of the neighborhood vigilantes who’d come to deal with the uninvited guest.