Ch.152Report on the Downfall of Diligence (17)

‘It’ couldn’t even find its direction properly. All six heads were trying to bite Kain and Maria, causing its eight legs to repeatedly collide and tangle with each other.

Maria desperately tried to snap her fingers, but her blood-soaked and sand-scraped fingers couldn’t produce any sparks.

She tried to stand up but only fell back down with a short scream. Even in this state, Maria pulled out daggers hidden throughout her body and threw them.

Her aim wasn’t precise. The shock from falling off the carriage made her feel like she was losing her mind. With each knife thrown, her wrist felt like it was being severed.

It was a mess in many ways, but the daggers flew through the air and plunged into the monster’s body with a thud. The creature’s body was so massive, and it was approaching so close that it would have been difficult to miss.

Forcing her dimming eyes open, Maria gripped the last remaining dagger in her hand.

Each time a dagger struck, all six heads of the monster writhed in pain, but none of the hits were decisive.

But in the dim moonlight of the night sky, it was difficult to identify its vital point.

The head. Maria decided to aim for Hans’s head. But just as she was about to aim her blade, something dark blocked her way.

Kain had risen, using the shattered carriage for support. Even through all this, the Imperial sword remained firmly attached to his waist.

His legs still couldn’t support him properly, and since his left arm was bracing against the broken carriage, Kain had to draw his sword with only his right hand.

Even drawing the sword was difficult. His arm wouldn’t lift properly, so rather than smoothly pulling it from the scabbard, he was awkwardly dragging it out.

“What kind of idiot who can’t even draw a sword dares to stand in my way!” Hans roared with delight.

“Kain, get back!” Maria shouted, her voice a mix of concern and irritation. She tried to drag herself sideways to create an angle to throw her knife.

But then she just stared blankly at Kain.

Kain had finally managed to draw his sword. However, he took neither a defensive nor offensive stance.

He just held it limply in his right hand. Even a training dummy would have shown more spirit.

When the moon brightened slightly, she gritted her teeth. Kain had his eyes completely closed.

‘What on earth is he doing?’

This wasn’t the usual Kain. Normally, he would have first extracted himself from danger and then prepared a counterattack. Not standing stupidly like this.

* * * * *

Whether his eyes were open or closed made little difference.

Pain stabbed at his eyes. The grotesque monster disturbed his mind. So Kain closed his eyes completely.

Naturally, he couldn’t see anything. Yet Kain, with his eyes closed, tried to “see.” He didn’t rush. He recalled what Elisabet had taught him.

Blind spots. Elisabet had talked about blind spots. No one can see everything at once. No one sees everything.

Everyone has things that are there but not visible. There are too many things that the eyes see but the mind overlooks.

It’s not like a postcard wedged in the gap under furniture. That’s truly “not visible.” A blind spot is not like that.

The monster was also Kain’s blind spot.

Something hideous. Something that had given up being human. Something rushing to kill Kain. Something threatening, disgusting, and unnatural.

That was the monster. That was all Kain could see of the monster. Even now, that was all he could see.

* * * * *

When Elisabet kissed him on the cheek, Kain had been flustered.

“Lips are for lovers. But cheeks are fine, right?”

“Are you joking again?”

Elisabet burst into laughter. It was as clear as a sparkling, flowing stream.

“No. Why would I joke about something like that after coming all this way? This is repayment.”

“What kind of repayment?”

“Witches repay threefold. Whether good or bad. I was thinking, that view from the mountaintop… I’ve only repaid you once, haven’t I?”

He decided not to ask how she came to that calculation. A witch’s arithmetic was impossible to follow. Kain suspected that even the rule of three was arbitrary to her.

“What will you give me for the second?”

“You showed me a view I had forgotten. But I can’t give you exactly the same thing. So I thought I’d give you something different. I want to help you see what you cannot see. The landscape of the wasteland.”

Kain frowned. It was a hideous sight he didn’t want to see even in his dreams.

“That doesn’t seem like repayment.”

“Hmph. I thought you were smarter than that?” Elisabet playfully pinched Kain’s nose hard. He remained silent, having no intention of making a nasal sound to please her.

“Some things in this world can only be seen by venturing into dark places. Like that pitiful child, hiding a still tender heart beneath thick armor. That sad child.”

The Knight of the Scabbard.

* * * * *

‘Huh?’

Maria drew in a breath. Her heart was pounding. As if begging to be noticed, her heart, which had been beating steadily all this time, was now stomping its feet, asking just this once for her to listen.

As if saying look here. The moonlight brightened a little more. Her eyes, now accustomed to the darkness, could discern things more clearly with the added light.

Kain was muttering something under his breath.

The absurd thought crossed her mind that he might be reciting his last words.

Now that Hans had given up walking and was dragging himself over, it really seemed that way.

Maria’s hands were still quick. The dagger she had never let go of since leaving home on her own feet and walking into the back alleys before even becoming a teenager. She was still confident in handling knives.

But still, in one corner of her mind, there was a plea. A desperate cry begging to be heard that disturbed her heart.

Because of this, Maria couldn’t easily throw her last dagger. Even though she knew that with one sweep of its hand, the monster would crush Kain.

* * * * *

“Can you see it? Where it is now?”

“If it were my body, I would have seen it already. But this is my daughter’s body, not very witch-like.” Elisabet smiled mischievously.

“But I can feel it. Why, haven’t you had similar experiences? Even with someone you’re meeting for the first time, you can tell at a glance, ‘Ah, that person is really angry!’ or ‘That person looks happy.’ This is similar.”

After pondering for a moment, Kain asked:

“What will happen if I see ‘that landscape’?”

“You’ll see the world as that child sees it. Not from above, not from below, but from beside, shoulder to shoulder.”

The Shadow’s world. The other side of the world.

“If so, will I be able to understand him?”

But Elisabet shook her head.

“I told you. People cannot understand people. They can only imagine, ‘Perhaps it’s like this.'”

“You’re being too definitive.”

“If you understand, you know. If you know, you think it’s obvious. If you think it’s obvious, you grow distant. Or you get swept up in the other’s emotions before understanding and lose yourself, being swallowed up. Like those monsters who have abandoned themselves.”

Kain asked, sounding disappointed:

“Then even if I see the world of darkness and shadows, even if I see a landscape full of pain, tears, and lamentations, what’s the point of seeing it?”

“You don’t see it because there’s meaning. You see it because it’s there. Things that were there but invisible to your eyes. Things visible to your eyes but invisible to others.

Blind spots, they call them? You know that people can’t see in all directions at once.”

Elisabet’s slender hand stroked Kain’s cheek.

“You have them too. I have them, and my daughter has them. The woman you love has them, and the woman you loved had them. Are you afraid of seeing Beatrice again?”

“You know everything.” Kain sighed. “No, I’m not afraid. It’s just painful that her soul lingers around me…”

“No.”

“Pardon?”

“I said no.” Elisabet smiled faintly.

“That child doesn’t linger around you. She’s not haunting you because of lingering resentment. But still, when you close your eyes, you’ll see her. That’s your blind spot.”

“What am I not seeing?”

Elisabet taught him. She raised her slender hand and wiped the corner of Kain’s eye.

Kain took his time. He needed more time to calm his trembling voice. The words “That can’t be” or “That makes no sense” didn’t leave his lips.

Because tears came first.

Yes. Kain already knew. He just didn’t want to admit it. He was just afraid to bring it to the forefront of his consciousness.

“How did you know?”

“Because I could see it.”

Elisabet gave him a warm smile.

“Standing side by side and seeing together means this: You can see what that child cannot see and tell them about it. Isn’t that valuable enough? Like what you and I have exchanged.”

Kain understood. But understanding was all he could do. He couldn’t stop his sobbing. Elisabet held Kain tightly and sang softly:

“The settled rain flows along the crown…”

* * * * *

Maria couldn’t understand. Why Kain was acting like such an idiot. Why she had stopped her hand.

Just as Maria had a plan, Kain must have had something in mind too.

But she had no way of knowing what Kain was thinking. ‘I told you we should share plans beforehand, did you forget again? How many times did we fight about that!’

Frustratingly, what came to mind was an irritating memory. But this time, she heard another voice too. The experience of fighting in sync with Kain, the experience of bumping along with Lily, crying, laughing, getting angry, and being sad together.

She had stopped her hand to gather strength. Her wavering heart was trying to catch its breath.

She needed to buy Kain a little more time. For that, she needed to deliver one decisive blow.

“Hey, fraud!”

At the sudden shout, Hans stopped and looked toward Maria. The next moment, a dagger pierced directly into his right eye.

As Hans’s head jerked backward and let out a monstrous cry, the other five heads also shook, spewed pain, and wailed as if they had been stabbed too.

But it wasn’t enough to stop him. You can’t stop a running horse with just one thorn.

“No.” Maria groaned.

‘Is this the end? Really, is this it?’

She couldn’t breathe. Her mind was foggy, like it was covered in thick mist. Only the thought of wanting to close her eyes floated around. But she couldn’t close her eyes.

She had to tell Lily. How Kain had met his end. She couldn’t even think about whether she herself would survive or not. With her eyes open, she would vividly witness how Kain’s body was crushed…

Thud.

A flash of light. Something dark fell away in the air. Maria stared blankly ahead. It wasn’t holy fire. It wasn’t lightning striking from a clear sky.

Reflection. Moonlight reflected on the blade. Somehow, Kain was holding the Imperial sword high. The raised sword shone like glory.

What had fallen was the head of a horse.