Ch.218Report on the Collapse of Patience (11)

Maria wrapped herself in a blanket and pouted.

“I don’t know if it’s just my twisted personality, but I hate people like Günther. Guys like him act like they’d give you their liver and gallbladder when they need something, but once they get what they want, they’ll pick you clean to the bone.”

“Let him do as he pleases. But before eating, he should probably remove one iron bar, don’t you think? And he’ll need to pull out a spear as big as a halberd too.”

Maria looked at Lily with affection. Since leaving the White Blood Knights, Lily had become much brighter.

Before, she had seemed somewhat gloomy, but now she appeared incredibly relieved and lighthearted.

The opposite of herself.

‘What an amusing exchange.’

Since leaving Valhalla, she hadn’t used her ability. She was worried about what might happen if the black fire emerged. While controlling her ability wasn’t particularly difficult, it remained unclear why she could use it now of all times.

‘Because only one leather strap remains?’

But she soon shook her head. The straps that bound her body would exert their full power even if only one remained.

Just as having multiple locks on a door makes it harder to open and close, but doesn’t make the door stronger or fit more snugly into the frame.

Perhaps something happened while her mother Elisabet was “using” her body? No, that couldn’t be it either. If that were the case, she would have used the black fire in the City of Lombardt as well.

“Maria?”

“Huh, what?”

Maria snapped back to reality at Kain’s urging. Both of them were looking at her with concern.

“What are you thinking about so deeply?”

“Oh, nothing.” Maria’s face flushed as she turned her head away.

“It’s nothing. Just… thank you.”

“What’s that all about suddenly…” As a confused Kain was about to ask again, Lily gave a gentle smile.

“I’m grateful too, sister. Let’s stay together for a long time. That’s okay, right? After all this is over, you won’t go far away, will you?”

“Of course not.”

That, at least, was the absolute truth with nothing to hide.

* * * * *

Dawn.

Kain opened his eyes. His first thought was that he should sleep, and his second was the belated realization that having such thoughts only made him more awake.

He considered getting up to check his equipment again, but the sound of soft breathing made him chuckle to himself. Lily and Maria were sleeping in their respective beds. If he got up and rustled around, he would wake them both.

So he simply lay there, staring up at the unfamiliar ceiling.

Tomorrow, they would finally enter the Blue Fortress. They would meet Günther and hear what had happened. Though no crimes like those of the other heroes had been revealed yet, if any were discovered, they would immediately transport him to the capital.

‘Of course, that’s assuming we can get past the Holy Grail and Mercy Knights.’

Those knight orders wouldn’t simply stand by and watch as they took Günther away.

So if it became unavoidable, the three of them would need to escape to Fortress Secundus. It wasn’t too far from the Blue Fortress, and by now the White Blood Knights should have arrived there.

Unlike the Pope’s knights, the White Blood didn’t hide their identity. Judging by the eyewitness accounts of terrifying knights marching that had spread even to this small village.

The White Blood’s orders from the Emperor were to monitor the Holy Grail and Mercy Knights to prevent them from causing trouble, so they would protect the three of them.

But as Kain himself had mentioned during their earlier conversation, this shouldn’t happen. It would not only severely damage Lily’s reputation but also make her a laughingstock.

So it needed to remain just one of many possibilities.

‘I really do think of the worst-case scenarios.’

Worrying about things that haven’t happened is pointless and meaningless. But he couldn’t stop his thoughts from spiraling.

Everything he had seen, experienced, and heard so far felt like peering into the deepest depths. Just when he thought they had reached the bottom, they would fall further. Just when he thought there couldn’t possibly be anywhere lower to fall, they would plummet again.

It had been a long journey filled with disappointment, shock, and anger.

But that wasn’t all that remained. He had seen countless people. He had seen how vile so-called heroes could be, and he had learned that even mountain thieves had their own code of honor.

He had seen a man who lived righteously his whole life only to succumb to a single temptation and have his entire life negated, and conversely, a woman who had been oppressed her entire life but died as herself in her final moment.

He couldn’t remember all of those people. There were some whose names he couldn’t recall and others whose faces were blurry. There were also trivial matters that kept coming to mind despite their unimportance.

That day by the lake when he laughed with Lily and Maria, drinking beer and solving codes. The day he drove the carriage and told stories about wolves in his hometown orchard.

Though it ended on a bitter note because the abbot had colluded with the corrupted heroes, the sight he had seen on the slopes of the Monastery of St. Georgios had been brilliant.

“Then that’s fortunate.”

Kain’s body seemed to float up for a moment before sinking back down.

* * * * *

It was a dream.

It had to be a dream. Just moments ago, he had been lying in a cabin bed with the cool breeze whistling outside, and now he was suddenly in the middle of a field of yellow canola flowers.

“I really like this.”

White cotton clothes and slender hands. Red-gold hair visible beneath a straw hat.

The face was someone Kain knew well, but slightly different. Maria would never speak with such a lilt or look at Kain so meaningfully.

“You’re waiting for me to ask ‘Why do you like it?’ aren’t you?”

Elisabet put her hands on her hips and looked at Kain.

“Please do one of two things. Either live without tact or speak more prettily. I’m trying to enjoy myself after a long time, and you have to be like this?”

“You mean after walking into someone else’s dream?”

“My goodness. Anyone would think I’m trying to steal your vital energy. You wanted to sleep, didn’t you? So I’m helping you sleep.”

Seeming a little angry, Elisabet turned her back and walked away with a swaying gait. But soon her anger seemed to fade as she spread her arms wide. A swarm of white butterflies, which had appeared from nowhere, circled around her.

The sky was high and blue, and the ground was covered with yellow canola flowers. The view was clear all the way to the horizon, with nothing blocking the sight.

“…So why do you like it?”

“Because it’s beautiful.”

“…I see.”

“You really have no sense of style. Then let me put it this way: because it’s a sight I’ll never see again.”

Elisabet snapped her fingers. The surroundings transformed in an instant.

The blue sky turned reddish, and the horizon was filled with sharp, dark red glowing rocky mountains. Burning bushes wandered aimlessly across the cracked earth.

What lay scattered on the ground were unmistakably human bones. Above, a flock of eagles, half bone and half skin, circled hungrily, crying out.

A wind from somewhere knocked Elisabet’s straw hat off. It rolled toward Kain and stopped at his feet. He picked it up.

“To be honest, I didn’t wake up because I wanted to. Just like you suddenly woke up from sleep, so did I. I suddenly opened my eyes and found myself here, and when I looked around, there was a familiar face. You haven’t forgotten, have you? I’m human too. When I wake up suddenly, I get startled.”

He refrained from saying it was like a child waking up alone and crying. Instead, Kain silently nodded. Elisabet seemed to understand his meaning and immediately blushed.

“N-no, that’s not it! It’s not that I was startled from waking up! The problem is that I woke up at all!”

“…I understand. But why is that such a problem?”

“I told you the Northeastern Wasteland is entangled with curses, right? In other words, there’s still strong power intertwined there.

The Life Tree was originally one root, and from there the priests of light and fire, and shadow and darkness split… both sides grow stronger. As we get closer to the source, it’s natural for power to increase.”

Beyond the rocky mountains, something hideous came into view. It was a massive tree stretching from the ground to the sky. Though clearly dead, it still writhed and oozed thick, blood-red sap.

“Maria’s power has grown stronger. Without her even realizing it.”

“Not just Maria. The clergy. The holy knights. The inquisitors. And the Black Phoenix Faith members hiding their bodies… all their powers are growing stronger. This is possible because they have strong support.”

“What kind of support?”

“Just as secular rulers receive support from living people, those who care for souls must tend to the living and appease the dead. And there are many dead here.

Of course, most of them are extremely angry. So angry they could harm innocent people. If a foreigner brandishes a sword at you, spitting while speaking in a language you can’t understand, you know they’re angry.

But our priests can understand all those words. So what happens? In most cases, they’re the first to fall. Is it easy to soothe and appease an angry crowd? But if you can control them, handle them…”

“You become the Demon King.”

“You become the shepherd of angry flocks. Souls that have lost their reason in anger are easy to move. Look, if the one they ‘believe in’ points and says the one who made you like this is over there, they’ll tear them apart without hesitation. But if they point incorrectly, or don’t point at all, they’ll soon return. And they’ll devour the one who pointed.”

Laios did the same thing. He appeared where prayers of hatred were offered and granted their wishes. He appeared before those who wanted to overturn the world even at the cost of their own souls, transformed them into mindless monsters, and took their souls. Because they themselves wanted it.

The world changed once more. The sky was white and the ground covered with snow. The world was filled with snowflakes, but at his feet, there was still a single canola flower.

Kain looked down at his waist. Even in the dream, he was still wearing the Imperial sword. He drew the sword and carefully stabbed the ground around the canola flower.

After a final thrust, he used the sword as a lever to scoop up the flower with its soil. He carefully placed it in the straw hat and returned it to Elisabet.

“Thank you for teaching me.”

Elisabet smiled and accepted the makeshift flowerpot. With a snap of her fingers, a glass bottle appeared. The canola flower floated inside it.

“No need for thanks. You haven’t forgotten already, have you?”

“I haven’t forgotten that a witch’s favor must be repaid threefold. But what could I possibly repay you with?”

Elisabet strode toward him. She was almost touching Kain.

“Just grant me one request. It’s very simple. Maria can’t handle this level of power yet. Even now, she’s suffering greatly and struggling. She just doesn’t want to worry you both, so she doesn’t say anything.”

Kain felt disappointed. And then ashamed of his shamelessness. It wasn’t much different from his own thoughts of feeding Asas if things went wrong.

Not wanting to worry others. Not wanting to say unnecessary things. Elisabet placed her hand over her heart.

“I’m being meddlesome, aren’t I? I know. I’m a mother interfering in her daughter’s affairs. That’s why I can be more shameless.

This is my daughter’s problem. My daughter who is more precious to me than anyone. So I’ll meddle as I please and be as unreasonable as I want.

If Maria struggles. If she suffers too much…”

“Yes?”

“Release me. Without Maria knowing.”

Kain frowned. He was about to ask how he could possibly do that.

But Elisabet had already disappeared. The snow field and sky were gone. All he could see was the dark ceiling, and he wasn’t standing but lying in bed, with the sound of two women’s gentle breathing in his ears. Occasionally, he heard the wind rattling the door.

“That’s unreasonable. Really.”

Kain muttered to the empty air. Fortunately, sleep overcame him, and he was able to fall into a deep slumber.

The next morning, they reached the Blue Fortress.