Ch.126Ill Fate (9)

Kain placed Elisabet on the A-frame carrier. Wrapped tightly in a blanket, she couldn’t put up any resistance. When Kain stood up with the carrier on his back, she let out a short scream and grabbed the backrest.

Her legs were the problem—after shifting around, she finally twisted her waist slightly and lowered them to the side of the carrier. The result was a side-saddle position. The difference was that she was riding on a person instead of a horse, and on a carrier instead of a saddle.

Since the slope was steep, Kain walked slowly. Fortunately, Maria’s body had become so weak that she wasn’t very heavy, and Elisabet made things easier by not applying unnecessary force. If she had struggled, it would have been dangerous for both of them.

The monks who were huffing and puffing up the slope looked at them with interest. Under their lingering gazes, Elisabet’s face turned red.

Fortunately, the blanket covered her down to her ankles, so no bare skin was exposed, but the curious gazes of the monks and the wind that crept between the blanket and her collar bothered her. She felt a chill running through her.

‘How embarrassing.’

She murmured without realizing it. Embarrassing. Embarrassing… It was an emotion she hadn’t faced in a long time.

For over twenty years, she had been trapped inside her daughter’s body. In a room with only windows, where there was no need to eat or sleep, stripped of all senses. Permitted only to watch.

“Mercenary, what brings you here?” asked a curious monk.

“She seemed restless after being inside for so long.”

Kain remained calm. She was the only one blushing and feeling flustered.

The sunlight streamed down brightly. The sky was high and blue, without a single cloud. Though the breeze was still cool, the heat rising from the rocks was concerning. It would likely be scorching hot by midday.

They had climbed about halfway up.

Even the curious monks were dropping out. Some had started climbing before Kain. Yet Kain continued steadily, at his own pace. Each step was stable.

Elisabet, worried that Kain might be too tired to answer, gathered a bit of courage.

“…Are you going to abandon me?”

“No.”

“Then are you planning to push me off at the top?”

“Why would I do that?”

“That’s a relief.” Elisabet snapped curtly. “I thought you were going to get rid of me because you couldn’t stand the sight of me. But that’s not it.”

“I never thought that.”

“Then, was I not attractive enough as a woman?”

Kain didn’t answer. Elisabet found even his silence frustrating. She couldn’t bear the silence that seemed to deliberately create distance.

“…Is it because of Liliana? Because you love her, you won’t even look at another woman?”

Only then did Kain sigh.

“It’s not just because of that. And it’s not because you lack… attraction. On that point, I won’t lie. You’ve seen through my thoughts anyway, haven’t you?”

“That’s why I don’t understand. If it’s not that… are you just too virtuous?”

“I’m not that good a person,” Kain shook his head.

“Then why? If it’s not because you love someone else, and you’re not such a great person yourself, and it’s not that you don’t find me attractive…”

“Do I really have to say it?”

“…Even an old woman has her pride.” Elisabet’s voice sounded somewhat suppressed.

“Even a witch who’s called vulgar has standards, you know? I don’t make such requests to just anyone. Besides, I offered you other things too. But…”

The dead witch’s lament rolled down the slope.

“…No. Never mind. The more I talk, the more pathetic I feel. I was the one who clung to you, and I was the one who was rejected. Ha. Haha…”

The next moment, Kain stopped walking. The sudden halt caused Elisabet to bump against the backrest of the carrier. Startled, she looked over Kain’s shoulder. A large stone building came into view.

“We’ve arrived. Don’t be alarmed. I’ll help you down.”

Kain slowly bent his knees. He set down the carrier and gently lifted Elisabet, placing her carefully on a rock that had been warmed by the sunlight.

“Why on earth would you bring me to such a place…”

Elisabet’s complaint trailed off.

They had reached the summit of the rocky mountain. And the rock where Elisabet sat offered the best view of what lay below.

She could see the river lazily winding through the horizon, a mix of green and brown. Glittering in the sunlight, it looked like a silver snake, scattering its silver scales here and there as if playing and laughing among itself.

The wasteland was brown and slightly cracked, but around the flowing water, there appeared to be decent farmland.

Of course, planting anything under this scorching sun would be like burning seedlings to death, so the workers were simply drawing water from the canals and sprinkling it on the ground.

The earth didn’t so much absorb the water as gulp it down, then crack its parched lips open again, but the people didn’t seem to mind. They just fetched more water and poured it onto the ground.

She looked further into the distance. White smoke rose from the chimneys of what looked like villages. Was it the smoke of baking bread, or from workshops? She didn’t know. Even she, who had been called an orthodox witch, couldn’t tell why white smoke rose from human villages.

The bell rang from the bell tower behind them.

The monks and practitioners all knelt down and began to pray. Their prayers weren’t clearly audible. They had already spent all their energy just clinging to the steep path.

But because of that, their voices lacked forced strength. It was literally a natural hymn of joy, drained of all energy. It blended perfectly with the clear sound of the bell.

Feeling her head burning under the sunlight, the witch hunched her body. She could see shadows curling up like her under the midday sun. She watched as the frightened shadows tried to crawl to her feet.

And then, she heard it too.

A gust of wind shook the trees. The leaves swayed with a “swoosh.” She remembered someone telling her that the sounds of the sea and forest were similar. She couldn’t remember who.

But she thought she understood the feeling. Like fallen leaves tumbling in the wind, her heart floated and sank, rolling along. A liveliness that bounced and never stayed in one place.

The wind awakened the trees. The trees shook their leaves and sang. The song of the trees rippled inside the witch’s heart. With a “swoosh, swoosh,” it pushed, rolled, and pulled at the witch’s heart.

“Ah.”

The witch reached out her hand. Everything sparkled. Everything sparkled. Each and every thing proclaimed its presence, even a single grain of sand flaunting itself proudly. “See, isn’t it beautiful?”

“Ah…”

She placed her palm on the sun-warmed rock. “Come, would you like to take some?” The generous rock filled her palm with warmth. “Take it before it cools.”

Her wandering gaze fell upon a wildflower. A yellow flower nestled between the cracks in the rock. Brazenly, it acted like it owned the split in the rock. Even such a wildflower knew how to surrender to the wind and dance.

It was alive. Everything was alive. The witch looked at Kain. Kain seemed somewhat awkward, fidgeting as he sat beside her.

“…You looked sad.”

“…Huh, what?”

“You were crying.”

“Me? Crying?”

“Yes.”

Kain nodded.

“You may not have shed tears, but you were definitely sobbing. I don’t know why you were so sad. Even if I had offered you that kind of comfort, I felt it wouldn’t have filled the void.”

Was I such a mess? The witch looked at the man with empty eyes.

“…That’s when I thought of this place. I thought you might like it, so I brought you here without explanation. I wanted to comfort you. When I came up here yesterday, it was quite… nice. For me.”

Wise witch. Powerful priestess. Heir of the bloodline. Honorable titles passed through the woman’s mind. Things she had taken for granted because she was born with orthodox blood.

But what had made her so sad? It didn’t help solve the mystery.

Someone was climbing the slope energetically. Kain stood up and bowed. As Elisabet tried to stand up reflexively, a large man stopped her.

“No, please remain seated. Please, stay seated. Ho ho, you’ve improved a lot, Inquisitor Maria.”

“This is Abbot Belisarius.”

Kain quickly informed her. Elisabet was about to say, “I’m Elisabet,” but hesitated and bowed her head in greeting.

Only after the abbot had left did the witch finally realize.

“…I really am dead, aren’t I?”

Feeling something crumbling inside, the witch lowered her head. Kain gazed at the witch. The witch didn’t shed tears. She was true to her nature as a witch.

“Did you know that the Inquisition was originally a priestly order of the Life Tree Order?”

“…Pardon?”

“You wouldn’t know.” The witch smiled sadly.

“You wouldn’t know. There’s no evidence left to prove it. In the time when we were everything and the Two-headed Eagle was just a part of us. We had too much. The Pope exploited that gap. Why are Popes always like that…”

When there are many people, thoughts naturally diverge.

Elisabet’s group believed that people should follow their natural instincts. They were more primitive and closer to the laws of nature. They believed that humans were originally beasts, so they should live like beasts and cycle like beasts, and only those who were ready should move on to the stage of enlightenment.

In the midst of this, the prophet of life and death, and the teachings of the Two-headed Eagle, emerged to shake up these thoughts.

‘People can become better. If they try, they can become that way. If we advance together, if we push and pull each other, we can live differently.’

People soon began to criticize each other. The former mocked the latter as hypocrites full of artifice and falsehood, while the latter disparaged the former as beast-like.

The Pope and the Empire exploited this divide. Some priests were swayed by the righteous banner of “With legitimate authority and power, we will benefit the world and humanity.”

Unlike the Life Tree priests who could handle both light and fire, shadow and darkness, the priests who defected focused solely on light and fire.

‘We are the fire of justice and the light of truth. With this, we drive away darkness and destroy shadows.’

It was against the natural cycle.

In opposition, those who remained honed their shadow and darkness magic even more. They knew that if light was too strong, people couldn’t survive. With night and day clearly distinguished, how could one survive if it was always day?

Ah, but. What determined right and wrong was not doctrine but swords, power, and numbers. Under the military might of the Empire and the unity of the Pope, the Empire and the Church grew larger by the day.

The Life Tree, fragmented into mere divided kingdoms, couldn’t offer any meaningful resistance. Above all, those they faced were once their own family.

Some became Inquisitors, while others fell to become witches and wizards. But even then, there were those who stood in the gray boundary. Those who placed more emphasis on survival than belief, yet weren’t cruel enough to burn their opponents to death.

The houses of Haspel and Heinrich were like that.

“Our family’s only goal was to survive. But we didn’t want to completely turn our backs on the Life Tree either. We were too soft and dull for that.”

Elisabet hated such things. She hated her brother Haspel, who volunteered to become an Inquisitor for the sake of the family. She hated Heinrich, her brother’s friend, even more.

But they say even bad connections are still connections. Or perhaps extremes meet.

The light from the sky tries to make everything even and flat, but shadows deliberately create shading and layers. Shadows interfere with light just by existing, and light chases shadows as if to kill them, but they are already one.

By the time Elisabet came to her senses, she and Heinrich were already one.