Ch.104Report on the Downfall of Kindness (14)

A shadow fell over Kain’s head. It was the underside of a ship. The repulsive exterior covered with skin never got easier to look at, no matter how many times he saw it.

Creatures with spread membranes descended to the ground. They had human faces and bodies, but also bat wings. Once on the ground, they uprooted trees. They pulled the enchanted trees up into the ship.

“What are you doing?”

The Knight answered Kain’s muttering.

“Cleaning up monsters.”

“No. I mean why are you helping me?”

“Though it wasn’t what you intended, you helped me.”

The Knight thrust his sword, still in its scabbard, into the ground.

“This is the holy ground of the Life Tree. Even those who deserve sevenfold punishment times seven cannot be executed if they seek refuge here. As long as a person remains human, this is a place that grants final mercy.

But the teachings of the Life Tree have been forgotten, distorted, and twisted. Roberta modified them to suit her own taste.

This place was becoming the heart of the mold. You disrupted that. By offering yourself as an impure sacrifice.”

“…Everyone called me impure. Why is that? Because of the bruises on my arms? Because I’m not a perfect sacrifice?”

“That’s part of it.”

“And the rest?”

The Knight stared at Kain blankly.

“You are impure because you know your own sins. You are impure because you recognize your transgressions. You are impure because you constantly examine and hold onto your sins. That is why, of all the people I’ve seen, only you… will complete the pilgrimage.”

Kain tried to shout, asking what that meant. But that was as far as he got. The Knight raised his scabbard, pointing it at Kain. Dark energy choked Kain’s throat and seized his limbs.

“Knowing one’s sins is a blessing. For those with heavy consciences also know the weight of sin. Those without scales or weights to measure sin are my responsibility, so you with the living, breathing heart, prepare for a long journey.”

Shadows enveloped Kain’s entire body. A terrifying monster with wings descended from the sky. The Knight of the Scabbard mounted the monster’s back.

* * * * *

Arrows kept flying in. There was no suitable plank to use as a shield. With no choice, Lily lifted Maria up.

Under the exposed roof, she spotted a shelf sturdy enough to stand on. Lily carefully embraced Maria and helped her down first.

Whoosh.

“Ugh.”

A pain like her back being scraped raw. An arrow must have grazed her. Lily gritted her teeth and climbed down.

“Lady Maria, Lady Maria!”

Maria was drenched in sweat, barely able to lift her hands. Her lips were pale and cracked from exhaustion.

“Lily, your back…”

“Roberta is coming. We need to hide. We can’t get trapped in here.”

Putting the Imperial Sword back in its scabbard, Lily easily tore off a large wardrobe door. As soon as she lifted it, an arrow thudded into it.

“Quickly, out the door!”

Maria nearly fell forward but somehow managed to stand at the doorway. But as soon as she opened the door, an arrow grazed her fingertips, making her recoil.

“Such a damn…”

Maria was furious. But before finishing her sentence, she rolled to the side of the doorway. Another arrow struck where she had just been sitting.

Roberta kept changing positions and firing arrows. She had seemingly endless supplies, as if she had hidden quivers throughout the village. And every shot was precise.

“Come out.”

A dry voice. Roberta’s voice.

“Come out now. Then I’ll end your life quickly. I promise. You won’t suffer.”

Lily ducked behind the shield. Maria curled up more tightly, pressing herself against the window. She was trying to determine where the muttering was coming from.

“Everything was perfect before you came. Before you arrived, this place was paradise. No quarrels, no hatred, only happiness and kindness! You ruined everything, you!”

Maria crawled to the kitchen and searched the cupboard. She found a clay liquor jar. Opening the wooden stopper, the fragrant smell of fermented apple cider wafted out. Maria gulped it down, not caring that her clothes got wet.

“It was perfect. Everything was perfect! I could have led everyone to happiness. Everyone could have found peace in this land!”

Drawing strength from the alcohol, Maria stood up abruptly. Pressing herself firmly against the window, she signaled to Lily.

‘Sneak out and find where she is.’

Lily nodded and carefully slipped out through the broken window. Maria took a deep breath and shouted.

“Of course you were happy! Turning people into dolls and playing with them!”

“You could have done the same! Inquisitor Maria, if we were together… why couldn’t you see that we could have spread love and kindness throughout the world!”

“If you were so confident, why didn’t you proclaim it in the middle of the capital? If the world you wanted was truly overflowing with love and happiness, why were you satisfied hiding in a corner of the Black Forest?”

Roberta didn’t respond. Maria raised her voice further.

“Tell me! If the world you wanted was truly so beautiful and happy, why did you subjugate people by force and cast spells to remove their hearts!”

“Because they don’t know how to be happy! They don’t know the best way! This is the best way. My way is the best!”

Roberta’s voice came from a different location. She too was moving around. But it was clear she was getting closer.

Maria carefully examined the collapsed gap. She took a throwing knife from her clothes and secretly hid it.

“Ah, so closing eyes, plugging ears, removing hearts, and cutting off limbs makes people happy? But your limbs are intact! Such a hypocrite!”

“No.”

Beyond the wall.

She was beyond the wall. Maria sensed it. Roberta was just on the other side of the wall.

“I’m only trying to show you what I’ve experienced firsthand.”

Roots slithered over the windowsill. As Maria stepped back in surprise, the wall was torn away with a crash.

What stood there was neither human nor tree. It was like a massive root in the shape of a naked woman. Its body glistened with sap, honey, and dirt, and more than eight arms held bows, arrows, and quivers.

In the middle of the tree was a familiar face and form. Roberta’s naked body.

“So let’s be happy together.”

Crack!

A blue axe flew through the air. It was Lily. Like a woodcutter fiercely chopping branches, Lily quickly cut off the arms holding the bow and arrows.

Roberta let out a strange moan and spread her body wide. Sap and honey sloshed as they crawled across the floor.

“Love. Love. Love.”

But Lily had prepared more than just that. She threw a clay jar from the kitchen shelf. It shattered with a crack, and sticky, glistening oil flowed over Roberta’s body.

“Now!”

Lily shouted. Maria snapped her fingers. It was the weakest fire her exhausted body could produce, but it was enough to ignite the oil and sap.

Roberta’s body burst into flames. She shook her arms and trembled her legs as if dancing with joy. Her waist kept bouncing up as if reaching climax, and heat blossoms bloomed on her flushed face.

“You too! Will! Become! Like this!”

Burning branches constricted around Lily’s body. Lily screamed in pain. Maria threw her hidden throwing knife. It only cut through half the branch, but it was enough to make it momentarily recoil.

Lily embraced Maria and threw herself out of the building.

“My God…”

And then Lily saw it. A tree twisted so enormously it encircled the entire village. Unable to stand straight, it just coiled around like a snake. At the end of those vines was Roberta’s burning body.

But they saw something else too. A dark mass gathering from the other side of the village. It was as if the horizon was drawing closer. Noise struck their ears and vibrations shook their bodies.

The forest was approaching.

The trees of the Black Forest climbed over Roberta’s body. Branches tore into her elongated body, thick roots plunged into it, and tiny rootlets sucked at various parts. It looked like countless ants swarming over a dying snake, tearing it apart.

Roberta flailed her remaining arms and legs meaninglessly. Unlike her previous struggles, her body was visibly shrinking. The massive, sensual tree helplessly surrendered itself to the awakened hunger and appetite.

Roberta’s face hardened like wood. Her face was suffused with ecstasy, but the light in her eyes had long since died.

“You were a hero.”

Maria cried out, choked with emotion.

“A hero everyone looked up to! Why? For what reason! What was missing!”

“You know nothing.”

Roberta’s body, almost completely consumed by fire, could no longer support her head. Her head, now a wooden block, dropped from the sky. Though it fell to the ground and broke in half, it still spoke human words.

“You don’t know. You don’t know what we saw there. You don’t know what we felt there…”

“William. What did William warn about? Tell me!”

“Ha. Ha…”

Red rosewood. Rosewood drained of blood. The blackening, dying head smiled.

“…He said you would die here!”

Suddenly, a branch that had circled around from behind pierced Lily’s back.

In that moment.

Thud!

From the sky. Something plunged down from the dark sky. It was a sword. A sword that flew down still in its scabbard.

Then a massive beast descended, beating its wings. Lily grabbed Maria and rolled to the side. The Knight of the Scabbard, who had jumped from the beast, seized his sword.

“Roberta.”

The dying head looked up at the knight.

“Ah… a man who lost love. Stupid fool…”

“I’ve come to claim what’s mine.”

“Ha. Ha. What a shame. I have nothing to give…”

“No. You do.”

The knight lifted Roberta’s head. The winged beast lowered its head.

“No, no!”

“Since you took the lead in persuading others that day, now you must lead the way for me.”

“I don’t want to…!”

“…This is the path to your happiness.”

The knight forcibly pushed Roberta’s head into the beast’s eye socket. Writhing flesh seized Roberta’s head. Other heads attached to the beast’s body burst into laughter all at once. Roberta too, after rolling her eyes a couple of times, soon joined in the laughter.

Roberta began to sing. It was a song that bewitched trees and deceived the wind. Trees swarmed to the longhouse and shook the petrified tree pillars carved with large faces. Though the stone trees had withstood thousands of years, they were lighter than one person’s greed and desire, and were uprooted helplessly.

The longhouse collapsed. The ground gradually sank. Without roots to support the earth, a massive cavity formed beneath. As the Knight of the Scabbard swung his sword, two winged beasts seized Maria and Lily, dragging them to the outskirts of the village.

The knight and the beast rose into the air. They flew away beyond the collapsing forest. From above the empty forest and the village that had collapsed into a huge pit, Kain staggered forward.