After the joy, life and its difficulties continued.
Casca carefully fed Griffith some liquid food, then pushed his wheelchair and sent him to his room to rest. The others went to attend to their duties in the walled city. Nidhogg and Guts walked together.
Along the way, many greeted them. Guts, in particular, was shown great respect.
"The medicine you brought is timely and very important." Guts smiled. "I asked Pippin, Judeau, and the others to spread the news. I believe everyone will be very happy when they hear it."
He looked up slightly. "It seems it won't take long—at least half a year, at most a year—and Griffith will be able to lead us again. The once invincible Hawk Company will return."
Then he thought for a moment, but still asked with a hint of expectation, "Griffith's tongue is really irreversible?"
"Not necessarily," Nidhogg replied.
Guts looked at him in surprise again. "You have a way?"
"It's not that I have a way; it's that someone else might." Nidhogg said. "After we parted ways at the blacksmith Godo's place, you returned to the Hawk Company, and I went to find the legendary witch and the goblin."
"As you can see, I met the little goblin and, naturally, brought back the goblin scale powder and medicine that can heal Griffith. Similarly, I met a witch—a woman who could use magic."
Guts no longer cared about magic or sorcery. He asked eagerly, "Does she know how to restore Griffith's tongue?"
"Maybe." Nidhogg said uncertainly. "Witches always have some strange things. There might be a way."
Guts slapped his thigh and smiled. "Then what are we waiting for? Hurry up and invite the witch... Or, let's go to the witch—that's more sincere. Why didn't you say so right away..."
Suddenly, he seemed to realize something. He turned to Nidhogg, froze, and asked, "Are you still worried about that so-called 'Eclipse mark'? Is that why you didn't say it right away?"
Nidhogg was silent.
Guts stepped in front of Nidhogg and smiled. "Then I have some good news for you: that stone—Griffith lost it. I don't know where it is in that dungeon."
"Let's not even talk about whether that stone determines Griffith's fate. Even if it's as terrible as you say, Griffith has already gotten rid of it. That threat is gone."
"If the person who picked up that stone in the dungeon started the Eclipse, then that's on them, not us."
Nidhogg was not surprised, but said, "It's useless to throw away or discard the Crimson Beherit. If that person possesses the Crimson Beherit, the Crimson Beherit can return to his hands again, no matter the distance between them."
Seeing that after these words, Guts's expression became very ugly, Nidhogg changed the subject and said, "What's going on with Griffith and Casca? Are they living together?"
Guts coughed and said, "Actually, the three of us live together. You've seen Griffith's current situation. He can't live alone, so Casca and I have to take care of that."
"The three of you live together?" Nidhogg frowned. "Griffith lives in one room, and you and Casca live in another?"
When Guts heard this, he coughed violently, his face turning red. He said loudly, "It's three rooms! One room for each of us! How could I possibly stay in the same room as Casca..."
He was still very loud in the first two sentences, but the last one grew softer and softer. Guts looked at Nidhogg suspiciously.
Over the years, Guts and Casca had always been hostile toward each other. It seemed they were very unfriendly, but they involuntarily trusted each other and even had a bit of a crush. Neither was conscious of it. They were typical happy enemies.
The vague feelings became clear: after Guts left the Hawk Company, Casca dreamed of Griffith day and night during their flight, but she dreamed of Guts far more often.
When Guts returned, from the very first glance, Casca understood that her feelings for Griffith were admiration and yearning, but what she felt for Guts was true love between a man and a woman.
After that, Guts and Casca carried the banner of the Hawk Company. They got along every day, liked each other, and naturally, under the cover of night, they came together and grew close.
Guts was a little curious how Nidhogg knew about his relationship with Casca.
But when he thought about it, most of the Hawk Company members probably knew about the two of them, vaguely or clearly. Such a thing couldn't be hidden from the start. It seemed someone must have told Nidhogg.
It must have been Judeau...
To avoid awkwardness, Guts had to change the subject and said, "Anyway, there's great hope for Griffith's recovery. In any case, over these six months or a year, we need to hold the Hawk Company together."
He pointed toward the walled city gates. "We deliberately set up camp in this valley, which is easy to defend and hard to attack. If the enemy tries to enter, they'll be hit by our rolling stones between the cliffs and suffer heavy losses."
"Even if the enemy can break through, we've dug several tunnels leading to the depths of the valley so we can retreat in time."
"We're using this place as a base to resume our mercenary business. After we make a name for ourselves in this small country and recruit troops, we'll turn to a larger employer."
"We definitely can't go back to the Kingdom of Midland. The Tudor Empire might be an option. And Vritannis—you know Vritannis, right? That coastal trading city offers great opportunities, but the competition is fierce..."
Guts kept talking about the future of the Hawk Company. But no matter how he described it, it seemed like he was just following the old path of the Hawk Company and would never reach the peak of its former glory.
But Guts no longer cared about that.
At that moment, someone called out to Guts. He needed to go to work.
Nidhogg waved for him to go ahead. He was walking around the walled city, preparing to meet the skeleton knight, when a man stepped out from behind a nearby tree and stopped him.
"Judeau?" Nidhogg said in surprise. "Why are you here?"
"I finished my work." Judeau said with a smile, then became serious again. "I wanted to make sure you really can collect more of that fairy powder and medicine until Griffith recovers, right?"
"Of course." Nidhogg planned to shake Puck down daily. Scale was available on-site, not to mention the Flask of Crimson Tears.
Judeau nodded and said, "Forgive me for needing to confirm... Anyway, in no less than six months, Griffith should be able to stand and move... If that's the case..."
Nidhogg noticed Judeau hesitating. He couldn't help but frown and ask, "What's wrong? Is there something you want to say?"
"Well." Judeau looked at Nidhogg. "Do you know about the current relationship between Guts and Casca? Oh, you know, Guts told you, right? Easy to say. I was probably the first of so many to notice..."
As he said this, Judeau was also a little helpless.
In truth, he admired the sharp and capable Casca in his heart. But he always thought he had no chance, so he never confessed. He just silently accompanied her.
It was also because he spent a lot of time with her, and Judeau himself was very observant, that he quickly noticed the change in atmosphere between Casca and Guts.
However, Judeau did not envy Guts. He sincerely wished them happiness.
"After rescuing Griffith, I suggested that Guts leave with Casca. The Hawk Company would be taken care of by me, Pippin, Corkus, and Rickert in the future."
"Maybe the Hawk Company in the future won't even be a mercenary group. It might just be a band of thieves or something. But as long as we have something to eat, we will never mistreat Griffith."
"On the other hand, Guts and Casca—their dedication to the Hawk Company—we all see it. It's truly enough. They shouldn't have to sacrifice their personal happiness for the Hawk Company."
"However, after discussing it, Guts and Casca refused. They decided to stay in the Hawk Company. They couldn't bear to leave Griffith and us to enjoy life alone."
"No matter how I tried to convince them, they insisted on staying. Coupled with the low morale of the Hawk Company, I had to give up."
Judeau paused, then continued: "But now the situation is completely different. There's still half a year to a year before Griffith returns to his post as commander. If that's the case, they have no reason to stay."
"Nidhogg, you too. I don't know why you left the Hawk Company in the first place, or what you've been through since then. But it doesn't matter."
"After Griffith recovers, the few of us will follow Griffith, because we can't leave the Hawk Company. But even if you three leave the Hawk Company, you can fly freely."
Judeau actually had things he hadn't said.
While rescuing Griffith in the dungeon, Judeau had cautiously noticed Griffith trying to strangle Guts. But Guts hugged him, and he couldn't do it. No one else noticed.
After they brought Griffith back to the Hawk Company, Griffith attempted suicide. Fortunately, Guts and Casca were with him and saved him.
However, after these two incidents, Griffith sat in his chair every day like a living corpse, at everyone's mercy, looking at each person only with his weak eyes.
Under the watch of those eyes, and noting Griffith's plausible strangulation attempt, Judeau's unease grew. He always felt Griffith was becoming stranger and stranger.
Obviously, Griffith's body could do nothing, but Judeau had a dangerous intuition.
Judeau believed that others more or less felt this atmosphere, but no one said anything.
He didn't know how this would end in the future. But as it happened, Nidhogg had brought a turning point. He thought about it and planned to persuade Nidhogg, Guts, and Casca to leave after Griffith recovered.
Nidhogg hadn't expected Judeau to care so much about him, Guts, and Casca. Though Judeau usually liked to joke around, right now he was seriously moved.
He was about to say something when suddenly they were enveloped by a dark shadow. At the same time, they heard a strange sound like wings.
FWOOSH—!
They looked up together and saw a giant beast flying through the air.
The giant's head looked like a lion without a thick mane, but it had thick, curved horns, a strong and sturdy body, tough fur, and a pair of leathery wings on its back.
It soared through the air over the camp in the valley, then plummeted like an arrow toward one direction.
"Zodd?!" Judeau was stunned and ran after it. "That direction is Casca, Griffith, and Guts's house! What is he trying to do?!"
Nidhogg followed suit, his heart filled with an extremely ominous premonition.