The Skeleton Soldier Failed to Defend the Dungeon-Chapter 18. Who to Blame (5)

"What do you mean?" I asked.

Rubia answered, "The sooner we buy the armor, the safer we can move together. We could enter the city together too."

I wanted her to sleep in the city, knowing full well no city would let a skeleton in.

"Even if I'm covered in armor, many cities won't let me in without properly checking my identity."

"There are plenty of excuses. You could say you have a severe burn and can't take off your helmet. Anyway, guards are susceptible to bribes, right? It's common sense in travel books."

I didn't argue. She would learn the truth when actually confronting the situation.

"It could also cause problems inside the city."

"Well, if you always wear armor and a helmet, they might think you're a strange person. But it's okay. You can just remain a strange person."

I wasn’t sure what she meant by "okay," but I didn't bother to respond. I just quietly walked through the winter mountain. Each step echoed with a crunch.

Leading the way, I eventually pointed with my finger bones beyond the bushes, down between the snow-covered winter trees where I saw the gray city walls of an unfamiliar city.

"There it is."

It was Yublam, the city where Rubia would stay.

Sensing that something felt odd, I looked back and noticed Rubia following behind me, stepping into my footprints. Her breath formed visible white puffs in the air.

I contemplated the sequence of events that had led to her death. While her death was not enough to make me feel guilty, it did bother me. I silently observed the white vapor escaping her lips. I thought it would be nice if she breathed warm, lively breaths. It was enough that I was clattering coldly.

"We're almost there! I hope we can enter the next city together."

I didn't answer.

We walked down the mountain path, and I saw a snow-covered wheat field spread out before the castle. The walls surrounding the city were a gray close to ash. They weren't very high. Even without blaming the passage of time, the city walls had likely been ashen to begin with. Time might have polished the surface a bit smoother though.

Today, the gray castle wore a white cap. Snow had fallen all night and stopped at dawn. The white snow had piled up quite a bit in the hollows of the low-built walls on the ramparts and turrets.

"It's beautiful."

"It's a strange place, so be careful," I warned.

I couldn't say anything other than the obvious. I couldn't actually help. Visiting a strange city was always dangerous. Danger lurked everywhere, even inside high city walls—especially for a young and beautiful woman. If she were to flaunt her wealth by spending it here and there, it would be even more dangerous for her. Nevertheless, I decided to send her off into the city alone.

A mountain in winter was no less dangerous. There were monsters like trolls and roaming hunters. Even if they were hunters, it wasn't hard to guess what their true nature might reveal if they saw a woman wandering the mountain alone. Moreover, if it was a woman traveling with a skeleton, it would be even worse. It would give them the perfect pretext to hunt the woman with the claim that she was a witch or a necromancer.

I had no confidence I could protect Rubia from them all.

There were also swift vipers that could easily slip through the gaps between my finger bones and bite Rubia's neck. It would be best for her to enter the city.

Clatter.

I was a skeleton. It didn't matter if I was buried in the snow all night. But Rubia was different. This woman, who had been horrifically murdered several times before my eyes, needed to spend the night in a clean inn with a warm bath and a soft bed.

She deserved to be served a good stew with steam rising from it—a stew filled with high-quality beef and tomatoes, sweet onions and tamon leaves sautéed in butter. Rubia seemed like she needed to eat something like that. After finishing her meal, it would be nice if she had a cup of tea in a pretty teacup. However, I wasn't sure if there was such a tea shop in that gray-walled city.

We were almost out of the mountain, and the road to the castle stretched ahead.

I concealed myself under thick bushes and said, "I'll be hiding, so go and rest well. I'll wait here leisurely for two days."

Rubia muttered, "Oh, I'll be back by evening at the latest. A bribe for the guards should be about one roti... hmm..."

"I'm serious. If you like the city, stay and rest for a day. You must be really tired."

Rubia laughed. "Haha... I'll be back soon!"

Clatter.

I nodded slightly and hid in a nearby bush. I could see two guards in the distance, guarding the gate from inside the drawbridge.

Creak. Creak.

I prepared for any unexpected situation by loading a bolt into my crossbow. This was all I could do to help.

Plod. Plod.

Rubia stepped out onto the main road. I lay in the bushes, carefully holding the crossbow. I quietly aimed at the guards' faces.

...

I wasn't confident in my crossbow skills. Everything I had shot so far had been at close range, and there was quite a distance—about 50 paces—between the guards and me. The odds were high that 10 out of 10 bolts would fly off course.

If I fired, I might hit Rubia. However, there were times when I had to do something, even if I knew it would be meaningless, and shooting bolts at them was all I could do at that moment.

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The large gate was across the drawbridge, and I could see the two guards on either side of it. Their spears had been set aside, and their posture was poor. They leaned slightly against the wall, resting on one leg as they yawned.

The guards had relaxed expressions of boredom and dullness, as if they wished each day would pass without incident. I couldn't see any determination to extort money from travelers passing through the gate or to protect the city from dangerous criminals. Their relaxation was contagious.

Was I worried for nothing?

Rubia kept walking toward the gate and reached the front of the drawbridge. The guards only yawned when they saw her, their eyes reflecting nothing beyond the typical impression of, "Oh, a pretty woman."

A brief exchange of words followed, and Rubia presented her identification. To my surprise, the large gate opened easily.

Creak...

Rubia entered the city without any issues. The guards didn't even take a bribe.

Do they open so easily for fellow humans?

Plop.

I slowly lowered my hand holding the crossbow. Seeing her enter safely, I felt relieved for a moment. I didn't know what might happen inside, but there was nothing I could do about it.

Chirp, chirp, chirp...

Listening to the birds sing, the morning passed like that. I soaked up the winter sunlight between my vertebrae and ribs. A bit of sunshine shone through the bushes, but the winter sun seemed somewhat tired. It wasn't warm enough. I had felt warmth even in the cave when I was with Rubia.

Did I get used to that?

Anxiety started to creep in.

Clatter.

I touched my finger bones together as I thought about the journey ahead, forcing myself to think to forget the anxiety.

Ember. It shouldn't be bad.

There were many outstanding scholars there. Even if not scholars, there were surprisingly many exceptional individuals. That made sense, because Embermere was the city of anarchists. Those who could stand on their own, who were confident in themselves, naturally rejected structured authority.

There was also a legendary necromancer.

Why do I keep returning to the point of awakening in the grave?

The necromancer named Gith-Za-Rai might have some clues about the strange phenomenon that was happening to me. Of course, the Tower of Azure seemed the most likely place.

Lost in such thoughts, time passed slowly. It was painfully slow, making it hard to bear. It was a long wait. The sun high in the sky began to set slowly. Finally, the sunset fell. Emptiness filled my hollow body. It was strange and unsettling. I shook my head, rejecting my worries.

***

Chirp... Chirp...

The sound of night insects crawled along my bones. It was a dark, starless night with no snow or rain. The lax guards were replaced by other lax guards. Those new guards set a torch on the rack in front of the drawbridge and nodded off.

Plop.

I set the crossbow with its loosened string on the ground. For over ten hours, I had hidden in the bushes, repeatedly raising and lowering the crossbow. Spending the night alone felt lonely and absurd.

Rubia had likely settled in comfortably. She had probably bathed in warm water, bought new shoes and clothes, and purchased what she needed. Perhaps she had even decided to make that city her home.

What use would I be to her?

Besides knowing how to talk, I wasn't a particularly special skeleton. She had no reason to continue traveling with me. Even if it wasn't in an anarchist city like Embermere, many places in the world would accept her and help her. Rubia was a person who could receive kindness from anyone.

Chirp... Chirp...

On the other hand, I had only ever received cold hostility and contempt for seventeen years as a Skeleton Soldier. Maybe I didn't need to judge the world by my own standards. The world would interact with us in completely different ways between me and her.

Let's send her off with a smile.

Clatter.

I should walk my path alone.

***

Two more days passed, and I remained hidden in the bushes. I couldn't bring myself to leave.

On the third night, the sky was clear, free of snow and rain. The night insects chirped steadily.

Chirp... Chirp...

Have I been discarded like trash?

Embracing that thought felt liberating. Maybe it was better that way. In fact, it seemed like the best-case scenario. My mind felt clearer now.

We were our own individuals, free to go our own ways. Or maybe it had just slipped her mind. She might return if I waited longer, but the indefinite waiting was unbearable. These nights where I had no choice but to wait alone were akin to nightmares.

"She said she would come back."

Did she lie to me?

A long brown leaf that rested between my ribs swayed in the wind. More long leaves swept through the darkness inside my bones. However, my sense of anxiety remained and didn't go away.

Something must have happened, after all.

I had established a high Affection with Rubia, so that was rather troubling. Otherwise, I might have been relieved thinking she had abandoned me.

Something inside me was breaking slowly.

"Should I go in even now?"

I raised the crossbow and aimed it at the guards who had lit the torches. The torches flickered in the wind, casting eerie shadows. Killing the two dozing guards seemed easy, but sneaking in would be suicide. I couldn't kill all the guards who would come rushing out from the city.

Besides, even if I managed to sneak in, a moving skeleton couldn't hide in the city's alleyways.

At that moment, the closed city gate opened.

Creak.

Does the gate open in the middle of the night?

The unnatural event caught my attention.

Plod, plod. Clatter.

A man came out from the inside with a very stern expression. With only a few strands of hair clinging to the sides of his head, he stood at average height, his sturdy build emphasized by his iron breastplate draped with a cape.

As the bald man walked out, the two lazy guards instantly recognized him and snapped to attention. Rather than reprimanding the two guards, he sent them inside.

The guards, who had been standing casually, hesitated before going inside as instructed.

A sense of unease washed over me as I quietly watched the bald man.