Chapter 17: Necklace
Knock, knock.
“…….”
Thud! Thud!
Burt had been reading a book in his room.
Because of the pouring rain, he did not hear the knocking, but the rough pounding just now echoed through the entire general store.
He closed the book, went down the stairs, and opened the door.
Swoooosh.
When he opened the door, the sound of the rain grew even harsher.
Calimacos was holding Jeremy, and right beside him Robin looked up with reddened eyes.
All three of them were covered in blood.
“I’m sorry. I couldn’t save one of them.”
“Boss Burt, Jeremy…….”
“Co in first.”
On a rainy day, the sll of earth and wood mixed with the scent of blood as it drifted in.
Burt went upstairs and ca back with a glass bottle filled with a red liquid.
“A potion!”
Robin rushed toward it, but Burt raised it high without even blinking.
“What are you doing! It’s urgent!”
“Quiet.”
“No, Jeremy’s wounds…….”
Smack.
With a dull strike to his forehead, Robin collapsed to the floor.
When he ca to, Burt was examining Jeremy’s body.
When he tore the clothes, the wound was revealed, and it was not sothing a child could withstand.
After checking his pulse and breathing, Burt’s voice sounded dry.
“Yeah. Jeremy is dead.”
“That can’t be. He was talking just a mont ago!”
“Kid, that boy was stabbed in the heart and died in less than a minute.”
Sothing stread down from Robin’s eyes.
He was drenched from rain, yet sohow the taste was salty.
“A potion… how much is it…….”
“Robin, it’s not sothing you can afford.”
Robin went into the room and brought out a pouch filled with dozens of copper coins.
“Please pour the potion. No matter the price, I’ll buy it. Please…….”
“He’s already dead. What do you think this will do.”
“I’ll do anything you tell to. You can even sell as a slave. I’ll stake my soul if I have to. Please…….”
Burt sighed and set the glass bottle on the table.
Robin scrambled toward it, popped the cork, and poured it little by little near Jeremy’s heart.
Ssshhhk.
Bubbles boiled over the wounded area, and the flesh began to grow back.
Hope rose on Robin’s face.
The power of the potion was like magic.
After he emptied the whole bottle, Jeremy’s wound beca so clean that not even a scar remained.
“I-it worked! Jeremy! Can you hear ?”
“…….”
Robin placed his hand on Jeremy’s chest, but his heart was not beating.
He brought his ear close to his face, but there was no sound of breathing.
“Why isn’t he… Boss Burt, give one more.”
“Stop it, Robin. A potion can’t bring a dead person back.”
“It looked like he threw himself in to save that kid. The shock must be great.”
“Tell the details.”
Jeremy lay still with his eyes closed.
His slightly raised lips made it look as though he were dreaming a pleasant dream.
Robin could not accept Burt and Calimacos’s words.
“He just looks like he’s sleeping. Saying he’s dead doesn’t make sense…….”
Through the long night, Robin never left Jeremy’s side.
After Calimacos finished speaking and before he left, he said sothing, but Robin could not understand it.
Burt also muttered in a low voice, but it did not reach Robin’s ears.
After Burt went upstairs as well, only Robin and Jeremy remained in the general store.
Morning ca like that.
When he opened his eyes, he was in a room.
The cramped little corner room of the general store that by now felt familiar enough to call ho.
Robin sat up groggily and looked around in a daze.
A blanket big enough for one adult. The sll of old paper. A cupboard cluttered with all sorts of tools and odds and ends.
“Jeremy.”
Since coming to the general store, Jeremy had always stayed beside Robin. But he was not there.
When he lifted his left hand, a silver pocket watch was in his grasp.
Even unconsciously, he had not let go of the keepsake Jeremy left behind.
With it tucked into his pocket, he walked out the door, and there was Burt reading a book at the counter.
“You’re awake.”
“Good morning, Boss Burt.”
“Eat breakfast.”
Without a word, Robin sat at the breakfast table Burt had set.
Boiled potatoes, boiled eggs, milk, and rye bread.
For him, this was a feast.
“Thank you for the al.”
Robin wolfed down the food.
Even before he woke up, his stomach had been begging to be fed.
Burt glanced at him once, then returned his eyes to the book.
After finishing his al and just before doing the dishes, Burt called Robin over.
“There are four things I need to tell you.”
Robin stiffened like a broken machine.
“First, while you were asleep, I buried Jeremy.”
“How long was I asleep?”
“You were lying down for a full day. It’s been two days since Jeremy died.”
Robin drew in a deep breath and let it out.
“Second, the Red Dagger is gone. All the mbers were either killed or captured. Those captured will be punished without exception.”
“That’s good.”
Contrary to his words, Robin’s eyes were empty.
“Third, about the potion you used on Jeremy, who was ‘already dead’—how will you pay for it?”
“I’ll repay it.”
“Do you even know how much it costs?”
Robin shook his head.
A potion that healed wounds was a rare dicine civilians normally could not even see.
The price differed by grade, but even the lowest was an expensive item that cost at least 10 silver.
The potion Robin had used on Jeremy was a low-grade potion.
“It’s 1 gold. Can you pay that back?”
“You can sell as a slave. If you tell to die, I’ll die.”
“A kid like you wouldn’t even fetch 1 gold. Aren’t you overestimating yourself.”
Robin pressed his lips shut.
If he said any more, tears would start to fall.
Burt clicked his tongue and continued.
“Did Jeremy leave you any last words.”
“…He said ‘keep the promise’.”
“What promise?”
Jeremy’s dying wish. Robin had the duty to keep it.
At the very least, giving up on life and falling into despair was not sothing he could do for Jeremy’s sake.
‘Robin, you idiot. How could you forget sothing so important.’
Most likely, because he did not want to acknowledge Jeremy’s death, he had avoided thinking of it as a final wish.
The feeling of being trapped in a thick fog shifted.
Robin now had a goal he had to achieve in Jeremy’s stead.
“We promised to beco knights and go to the uncharted lands together.”
“Sounds like a child, no sense of reality and no idea of the weight of those words.”
“I’ve changed my mind. I’m leaving Stonegoth.”
“Ha, did you forget what we’re talking about? I’m asking how you’ll pay for the potion.”
Burt looked down at Robin with an expression of disbelief.
Robin returned to his room and soon ca out holding a faintly pink piece of fruit.
“With this, I’ll pay not only for the potion but also for all the lodging and als you’ve provided. I also want to buy the supplies I need to leave the city. A backpack, dried food, flint, a map, tableware, a sleeping bag…….”
Robin set the Vitalitis down on the counter and then listed the items needed for travel as he brought them out from the general store.
Once everything was gathered, it was a full set of supplies necessary for leaving the city.
Burt looked at Robin and gave a wide grin.
“You weren’t eating it.”
“I did, but Jeremy didn’t. We were looking for a way to grow this and make money.”
“You say that as if it’s naturally yours.”
“Jeremy would want to have it. I’m going to fulfill Jeremy’s wish.”
“Fine. Let’s make the trade.”
Burt accepted all the items Robin listed as part of Robin’s share.
The load beca too heavy for a child to carry, but Robin did not mind.
“What’s the last, the fourth thing you wanted to say.”
“Jeremy’s keepsake. I’ll give it to you.”
As though he had prepared it beforehand, Burt took out a small box and set it in front of Robin.
Inside the box was a silver locket necklace he had never seen before.
When he opened it, there was a lock of golden hair inside.
“Is that Jeremy’s hair.”
“That I wouldn’t know.”
Robin placed it around his own neck without hesitation.
He decided he would not forget his friend whenever he looked at this necklace.
“That’s all I had to say. When will you leave.”
“I’ll visit Jeremy’s grave and leave as soon as I’m ready.”
Burt let out a small laugh as he watched Robin steel himself so boldly.
“You’ll find it in the outer cetery.”
“Thank you.”
Robin left the general store with heavy steps.
Despite the heavy rain two days earlier, the sky was now clear.
A pleasant breeze blew from afar, and the streets were lively again.
With the organization that had ruled the shadows gone, smiles blood across the faces of the townspeople.
Jeremy’s grave had been set in a sunny place.
A surprising visitor stood before the grave.
“Hm? That kid from before. Robin, wasn’t it.”
“Hello, Calimacos.”
“I am well. You look better than I expected?”
On the gravestone were Jeremy’s na and the date of his death.
Robin gently stroked the headstone.
Calimacos’s eyes closely observed Robin.
After standing in silence for a long ti, Robin turned to leave, and Calimacos spoke.
“That necklace, where did you get it.”
Robin held the necklace as he replied.
“It’s Jeremy’s keepsake.”
“Hmm, you an this dead kid.”
“Yes. Why do you ask?”
“May I see it for a mont.”
Robin hesitated, but held the locket up so Calimacos could see it clearly.
If not for Calimacos, both Robin and Jeremy would have died much earlier.
“Show the back.”
On the back of the locket, a book-shaped emblem was engraved.
“Well now, isn’t that sothing.”
“Do you know about this necklace?”
“Of course I do. That emblem belongs to the House of Baron Tefir.”
“Does that an it’s a noble’s possession?”
“That’s right. That boy Jeremy seems to be the one I was looking for.”
Robin’s eyelids lifted.
To possess a noble’s item ant one of two things.
Either he was a noble, or soone trusted by one.
“Were you close to the boy.”
“Yes… he was like an older brother to .”
“An older brother, huh. Doesn’t look that way, but are you seven years old?”
“What do you an by that?”
“The child I was looking for was said to be eight. If Jeremy was eight, then aren’t you older than he was.”
Robin felt as though he had been struck on the head with a hamr.
Because Jeremy had treated him so casually, he assud they were the sa age.
‘Co to think of it, Jeremy never said his age.’
Robin’s tightly clenched fist trembled.
He thought his tears had dried, but they welled up again.
He barely held them back while biting his lips.
“Was Jeremy a noble’s child.”
“An illegitimate one, but yes.”
“Please tell a little more.”
“That’s all I know. It wasn’t exactly a formal request—more like a favor soone asked as I was passing through. A child it would be nice to find, but it wouldn’t matter much if I didn’t.”
‘If this is true… if Jeremy was younger than …….’
He had never thought of their ages as sothing to compare, but he had never imagined Jeremy was younger.
He felt a lump in his throat at the thought that Jeremy, younger than himself, had died protecting him.
Robin rubbed the corners of his eyes and looked up at Calimacos. Before Robin could speak, Calimacos spoke first.
“Robin, won’t you co with .”
“Are we going to the House of Baron Tefir.”
“Since you were so close, it would be best for you to tell the Baron directly what kind of person the deceased Jeremy was.”
“Alright.”
Robin accepted imdiately when Calimacos suggested the very thing he had planned to request.
The promise he made with Jeremy to beco knights and explore uncharted lands together.
Jeremy could no longer be seen, but Robin vowed to achieve that dream for him.
‘First, I’ll beco a knight.’
He would train his swordsmanship until he could wield aura.
Once he beca a knight, he would go to the uncharted lands Jeremy had spoken of.
There was no one in Stonegoth who had truly mastered swordsmanship.
‘There’s nothing more for to gain here.’
Just as a grown bird leaves the nest, the day had co for Robin as well—though he had not fully grown.
There was also sothing he needed to confirm.
Whether this necklace truly belonged to the Baron’s house, and whether Jeremy had indeed been younger than him.
He would learn that once he reached Regiville, the territory of Baron Tefir.
More than anything, Robin felt responsible for delivering the news of Jeremy’s death.
“You must be quite resentful. Co find when you’ve sorted your feelings. I’ll be waiting at the Laughing Pig Inn.”
“What should I call you.”
Calimacos scratched along the long scar on his face before speaking.
“From now on, call Captain.”
“Yes… Captain.”
Hearing the tremor in Robin’s voice, Calimacos left the graveyard.
Robin did not leave the grave until the shaking in his voice subsided.
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