Ch.103Report on the Downfall of Kindness (13)

The blood and flesh of the impure one falls to the ground. Writhing, pulsating greedy stems approach to suck up Kain’s blood. They grasp the blood-soaked soil with their rootlets, absorbing it like a clenched fist.

The trees that consumed Kain’s blood split open with a crack. Those trees that had so greedily taken his blood now split and tore themselves open to expel it.

But it was far too late for regret.

The trees’ greed was terrible. Having not tasted blood for so long, they simply swallowed and consumed it without knowing what it was. They absorbed it so quickly that even as they tore at their own bodies, they couldn’t stop Kain’s blood from spreading.

The faces carved into the trees grew enraged. Like people screaming behind thin membranes, they pushed their faces outward from within the trees.

Then the trees rose.

There was only one way to cleanse the wrongful and impure thing that was Kain’s blood. To consume more of what was good and safe. To dilute the poison that way.

So the trees grasped at each other. Where else in the world could one find something as safe to eat as one’s own kind?

They thrust large branches into the split crevices of others. They drove roots up from the ground and jammed them into the gaps. They penetrated with thick roots and sucked with fine rootlets.

But it wasn’t one-sided. Tree roots are unfathomably deep. The same goes for branches. And malice, greed, the yearning for survival—no living being could measure these things.

That’s what trees are. Things that must constantly expand their bodies to postpone the death slowly accumulating within them. Things that die if they don’t devour.

But because they were cursed to stand rooted in one place, they mastered the art of extending their roots long and deep.

Malice spreads once more.

* * * * *

The tree-people surrounding Maria and Lily stood frozen in place. Sticky sap oozed and spilled from their cracked heads.

Yet the trees continued to move their bodies. With arms, legs, appendages, and twigs, they flailed at neighboring trees, embraced them, and devoured them.

With the earlier orderliness gone, only instinct remained. The instinct to consume others to ensure one’s own survival.

The God who created the world never told people to defy their instincts. Instead, He taught them to regulate, govern, and resolve things in better ways.

Sometimes He employed fire and water, but mostly He worked through people.

That’s why Maria was furious at what was happening now.

Roberta had mixed humans with non-humans. She had elevated just one of humanity’s many natures, as if being devoured and devouring were all there was to being human.

“Here I am in this darkness.”

On the flat roof of the log cabin, Maria knelt. She placed the backs of her hands on the roof and spread her palms toward the sky. Streams of light wavered as if examining her.

“Grant me the power to discern between right and wrong.”

The sky was scorched by the pillar of light that shot up to heaven. It was like holding black paper over a candle flame. Following the texture of the clouds, flames rose like waves. Pieces of the scorched sky fell like sparks.

“Sort out with light what darkness has crushed! Wash your children who resemble you from the mire! Your children cry out in tears, so lead us as a parent takes a child’s hand!”

Then the heavens poured down.

The flames attached themselves to the tree-people’s bodies as if each flame were a living angel. The burning trees tried to roll on the ground to escape the wrath, but such undignified attempts only provoked more anger.

The light left nothing—not a drop of sap, not a branch, not a leaf. It burned, crushed, and pulverized everything.

‘It worked!’

Lily was delighted, though she couldn’t properly express it while dealing with the sudden situation.

What Lily had worried about was whether the holy fire would fail to work, as it had with Brother Henry.

When she had lit the sacred fire on that old monk’s forehead, nothing had happened.

But thinking about it, Henry had been himself then. He was helping Kain’s group entirely according to his own will and good nature.

But these rampaging tree-people were not themselves. They were humans devoured by monsters. People whose hearts had been stolen by the witch. Those who had become puppets, robbed of their own will.

What parent wouldn’t be enraged to see their child acting as someone else’s puppet? God’s wrath was persistent and primal.

‘Kain…’

Lily was worried.

They had succeeded in making the trees go berserk and break free from Roberta’s control. It was also a miracle that God directly punished the irrational trees.

According to plan, Kain should have rejoined the group by now. But even after considerable time had passed, Kain hadn’t arrived.

A burning branch reached toward her. Lily quickly cut it off with the Imperial Sword. Cutting wood with a sword doesn’t make sense, but it’s possible when it’s a charred lump hardened by fire.

The branch was sliced off with a crisp sound. Lily caught her breath. The purification wasn’t over. Maria still couldn’t move. Until everything was properly restored, she had to protect Maria.

That’s why Lily saw the flashing light from the other side of the village. It wasn’t light. It was a reflection.

‘Oh no!’

She quickly kicked her foot. The plank covering the roof popped up. It was a solid, thick oak plank about the height and shoulder width of an average person.

Thwack!

But the incoming arrow was strong enough to pierce the makeshift shield. The arrowhead was thin, but the shaft was long. It had been shot with tremendous force.

It was a hunter’s arrow, meant for large beasts.

Lily quickly kicked her foot again. She kicked up two more planks, then three.

Each time, arrows flew in and stuck in the planks. The sound grew louder, and the arrows penetrated deeper. It meant Roberta was shooting with increasing force.

Lily let out a battle cry. The shout of a knight on the front lines. The voice of a guardian that gives strength to tired soldiers and stirs the hearts of those whose will is broken.

Not a single arrow would pierce her shield.

‘Endure and protect.’

That was all.

* * * * *

Kain irritably waved his hand.

There are many unpleasant sensations in the world, but the clustering of flies is uniquely repulsive. Cool, sticky, and disgusting all at once.

It’s strange when you think about it.

Flies in the world clean their hands and mouths thoroughly before landing. They’re not painful or itchy like mosquitoes, and they’re much more polite. Don’t mosquito bites leave swollen, itchy skin behind?

But flies are more annoying than mosquitoes. Because they’re filthy. No one calls mosquitoes filthy, but flies are dirty, impure, disease-carrying insects that should be avoided.

Because they only seek out such places.

‘Just like us.’

Kain smirked as he recalled an old joke from the Security Bureau. ‘The Empire’s swarm of flies.’ A mocking reference to those who earn their keep by feeding on festering places.

Of course, Security Bureau agents don’t care about such jokes. It’s usually the nobles who make these blatantly unpleasant jokes. Who would like those who follow the Empire and Imperial orders exposing their wrongdoings?

‘Then they shouldn’t do wrong things.’

A buzzing sound. Something on his nape. Kain waved his hand.

His nape?

“Ugh!”

Kain winced at the intense pain. It was annoyingly painful. Even more annoying was that once he became aware of the pain, it rushed in like a debt collector.

His head ached and his eyes stung from the smoldering pain. Kain finally closed his eyes. Yet the heat and pain wouldn’t subside.

Strange. There was no light at all. Why did his eyes sting and hurt? Why could he see clearly ahead when there was no light?

Light. Light… Kain searched his memory. He felt like he’d forgotten something important. He was supposed to follow the light. It wasn’t an ordinary light…

“Do you mean the holy fire?”

Thankfully, someone was there to help. Kain tried to nod, but he couldn’t. It wasn’t because he was lying on the ground, nor because the pain in his neck prevented him from lowering his head.

The Knight of the Scabbard was looking down at him from the other side.

Cough. Cough. Kain felt around. He touched the handle of the Imperial Sword. Of all times, why did it have to be in this state, and why did it have to be him?

He couldn’t put strength into his hands. But Kain tried to stand up. Though his whole body felt like it was being crushed, he still tried to stand.

Because that dark figure was right in front of him. But the black figure just shook his head.

“Lie down. You’ve lost a lot of blood.”

Kain stubbornly stood up. He leaned on his staff with his left hand and gripped the Imperial Sword with his right. He forced his mouth open.

“Take off… your helmet. Let me see your face before I arrest you.”

For a very brief moment, the knight lowered his head. He seemed to be suppressing a laugh.

“…What do you intend to do to me?”

“I said I just want to see your face.” Kain caught his breath.

“You must have a face too. You must have had a human-looking face to join the Children’s Crusade and to flow into the crusade against the Demon King. I don’t know which knightly order it is, but they wouldn’t have accepted someone without a face as an apprentice knight.”

Cough. Kain spat out bloody phlegm. His chest felt like it was burning, but it was easier to speak now.

“…So take off your helmet…!”

His legs trembled, making it hard to stand any longer. Just standing made his head spin. Though the Knight of the Scabbard was surely standing still.

“Why is that so important? Are you that curious about my face?”

“You are not a monster but a human.”

Kain gasped for breath.

“Though you do inhuman things, I know at least that what’s inside is human. So, I…”

Kain finally dropped to one knee. He was too dizzy from the impact that felt like his head was being hammered by a siege hammer. He suspected his heart might already be pierced by the tree.

But he had to speak.

“So I must bring you before the court. To judge you by the laws written with blood that has soaked the world and more, through countless trials and errors by countless good and evil people, I must take you away.”

Kain gathered strength in his hand. Using his staff as support, he stood up again. He managed to raise the Imperial Sword, albeit clumsily. He gave up on pointing with the tip, but at least he could lift it.

“I must measure your actions by human law, which contains the will, thoughts, and experiences of those who shed blood to create a better world.”

There was a sound of metal scraping. Like scratching an iron plate with a nail. Like smoothing an iron plate with a file. The Knight of the Scabbard bent over to his waist.

He was laughing.

“…Ha. Ha… How ironic. How ironic. When I was a victim, I was treated like livestock, but now that I’m a murderer, I’m treated like a human.”

“Are you taunting me?” Kain took a step forward. Though it felt like he was kicking the world rather than the ground, he managed to balance himself before falling.

“The way you keep appearing before me, begging to be caught—doesn’t that mean you wanted to be caught? Ironic? You showing that black face of yours wherever I go?”

The Knight of the Scabbard shook his head.

“I didn’t come here by my own will.”

“Why? Did you also have your heart ripped out and buried under a tree?”

For some reason, the knight hesitated a little.

“…My sword led me here.”

“Did the sword that can’t even be drawn from its scabbard point its finger and tell you to go here or there?”

Kain, who had been coughing, slipped. He wanted to say more, but all he could taste was bitter blood and damp soil. The foam at his mouth made it difficult to speak.

The knight struck the scabbard on the ground.

Shadows rose and hands and arms sprang forth. They grabbed Kain’s limbs and held his waist and shoulders. Kain tried to resist, but all he could do was squirm.

The hands and arms carefully lifted Kain. They slowly raised him up and busily dusted off his body. Though it stung and they patted him roughly, somehow his body felt lighter.

“Urgh…”

Instead, his palm felt like it was burning. When he opened his hand, the black fire mark was blazing red. It was exactly as Maria’s mother had drawn it.

“…A guardian spell of the Life Tree.”

He wanted to say, ‘A blind man like you pretends to know a lot,’ but it was too painful, and Kain could barely stand.

The knight turned his back on Kain. He raised the sheathed sword and walked forward.

“Where are you…!”

The knight stopped walking.

“Just as you do your work, I too have come to do mine. Roberta was kind then and now… so I’ve come to show her kindness as well.”

“Ah. What did she do?”

“She showed kindness by actively drawing in others. So…”

The knight struck his sword on the ground. The black forest stirred. Darkness rose like trampling dry land.

“…I too will show kindness by drawing her to me.”

The trees rose.

The black trees simply stood up. Whether they had faces drawn on them or not. Whether they were nearly dead or had their waists cut off. Whether they had withstood the storm or been broken by it.

A sinister wave of trees surged toward the village.