Ch.24681. Song of Curse and Resentment (2)

“Character is destiny.”

Long ago, a prophet spoke these words.

If that’s the case.

If one changes their character, could their fate change at any time?

That’s probably not true.

But perhaps it could be shaken.

“I’m asking because I don’t know. With such power, why are you acting so docile? There must be a reason, right? Kariel? Are you listening to me?”

“……”

For the past few days, except during rest times, she had essentially been avoiding him, but whenever they stayed in one place, she would appear conspicuously after a short while.

“……”

While Delica deliberately looked away with disgusted eyes, Raymon remained bewildered by the whole situation.

And as for Kariel…

“……”

He maintained an attitude of complete disregard.

“But we’ve been seeing each other quite often these past few days. Couldn’t you at least tell me your name?”

“……”

“……”

While Delica openly showed her distaste, Raymon seemed inwardly swayed when the relatively attractive woman made her request.

Delica shot Kariel a look that clearly asked why he was letting this happen, but…

“……”

As always, he maintained his silence.

It was utterly incomprehensible. What was going on in his head?

From the beginning, with his eyes and face hidden behind his helmet, it was impossible to even guess what he was plotting.

“……”

The woman Delica remembered, Eras Esdina, was destined to become an empress.

She wasn’t sure about this world, but in the previous world Delica remembered, Eras was famous in many ways.

Though not immersed in alchemy, she had created multi-purpose drugs that significantly influenced the imperial pharmaceutical industry.

Her family, the Esdina, possessed the foundational technology that later promoted the simplification of emergency recovery potions for adventurers and wars, and she was the one who had practically optimized it.

She had also invented numerous items useful for long expeditions, travels, and explorations. Had time continued to flow, she might have been renowned in history as a special empress.

‘But…’

Now, she seemed, well, clearly out of her mind.

On the surface, she appeared perfectly normal, but…

There was some inexplicable madness emanating from her.

‘Right. Witches gave off exactly that feeling.’

Witch.

Once, women who wielded magic were called that, but now the terms magician and mage were no longer referred to as witches.

Indeed, the meanings of witch and magician had clearly diverged.

In the traditional sense, those who dealt with ancient spells, incantations, arts, and arcane knowledge.

And the gap between them and those who handled modern magic was like an unbridgeable chasm, with their relationships and distances vastly separated.

Above all, the origins of witches were generally ominous, suspicious, gloomy, and dark.

Most witches in mythology were sources of grudges, revenge, and tragedy.

But this couldn’t be understood normally, and even the abnormal found it difficult to comprehend.

The origin of the meaning of witch is, for example, a manifestation of fear toward beings who deal with the unknown.

“So this time, are you heading straight to Dabas? Last time, you swept away a gang of thieves. Before meeting me, you prevented conflicts and even stopped local wars. Are you not going to do that here?”

“…?”

Raymon blinked as if hearing this for the first time.

“……”

But regardless of what was happening beside him.

Kariel simply remained kneeling on the ground, his back straight, maintaining this position for a long time.

His thick gauntleted hands rested modestly on his thighs.

Not even his breathing could be heard, and if one lost focus for a moment, his massive presence would become as hazy as fog—truly a strange phenomenon.

“My master realized your existence when what had been visible suddenly became invisible. It means your existence is interfering with divination. You should have seen his expression then!”

“……”

“Altering the future or making it unpredictable is possible only for beings who can change or determine it. Is it really possible to escape the world woven by God as one pleases?”

She, Eras, asked as if entranced, again and again.

Through her, Delica and Raymon learned various things.

Whether this was Kariel’s intention in allowing the situation or whether it had been unavoidably created, they couldn’t tell.

“Why are you two following him?”

“……”

“This one’s introverted too, just like someone else. What about you then?”

“Me? Are you talking to me?”

Delica frowned deeply, but thanks to Eras’s persistent pushing, Raymon reluctantly responded.

“Somehow, it ended up like this.”

“Somehow? How can such a thing happen in this world?”

This is troublesome.

“Ugh.”

However, whether Delica had given him a hint or simply didn’t care what he babbled about, she rose and quickly left the place.

Kariel remained as still as a rooted tree.

“Do you know who he is and that’s why you’re following him?”

“I don’t.”

“Oh my! Shall I tell you?”

“……”

He was curious.

After all, despite being enemies, in the end, it was Kariel who had rescued him in the worst situation and, for whatever reason, offered to show him the way forward.

“He is of the Radiant Bloodline. The eldest son of Rueld, the Knight of Radiance.”

“…What?”

This was beyond unexpected, it was… something else entirely.

Seeing Raymon clutching his head in apparent confusion, Eras placed her hand on her cheek and sobbed pitifully, exclaiming, “Oh my!”

Of course, she was only pretending to sob.

“Is he taking you along without telling you even that? What a cold-hearted fellow!”

“…Then, miss, what is your relationship with him?”

“We were once friends, then enemies at some point, but now I’m not sure.”

“…?”

His mind felt like it was about to go hazy.

So what exactly was going on?

More importantly, enemies? Did that mean his situation was similar to Raymon’s own?

“Did he perhaps beat you up in the past?”

“Oh my? Why do you say that? Are you speaking from your own experience? Don’t tell me he’s the one who did that to your arm?”

“……”

“Since you’re not denying it, it must be true! I just took a stab in the dark, but to think I was right…”

Eras turned her head back to Kariel.

“What were you thinking, bringing this friend along? Did you perhaps feel guilty? You, who cuts people down without a second thought?”

“……”

“Come to think of it, when he was young or when he was in the Empire…”

Eras spoke of all sorts of Kariel’s private affairs as if she were cursing him.

And listening to this, Raymon was surprised in a different way.

‘…But how did he become the being he is now?’

When he was very young, she said, he was dragged from country to country.

She didn’t know the exact details.

What was certain was that the woman called Eras seemed determined to speak ill of him, distorting the content, which Raymon could discern through his intuition.

In the back alleys, if one’s intuition was slow, even survival became a struggle.

There, everyone tried to deceive and use each other.

Though he could perform the trick of magic, Raymon, with one arm missing, was clearly a weakling even in that place.

It wasn’t as if he was the only outcast or vagrant who could use magic.

They formed clusters and fought over territory in a place called Faceran.

Even beggars and vagabonds, when they rose up, handled various types of magic as their little tricks.

…As his brother always said, the gap between magicians and the incompetent was the foundation of Faceran.

However, Raymon, who could use magic but couldn’t handle it properly, was ultimately an outcast who couldn’t blend in with either the incompetent or the magicians.

“Excuse me, but why are you following us, miss?”

“Because I need to see with my own eyes to predict.”

“Predict…?”

“Yes. In a way, the world revolves according to laws and principles.”

Eras pointed to the sky and the ground as she spoke.

“Since we’re within it, we can’t escape those limitations. But you know what? It seems those don’t apply to him.”

“…?”

Can’t you explain it more simply?

“I wasn’t even speaking that complexly. Simply put, fate has no meaning for him. He’s the freest soul in the world.”

“…Is that so?”

“I’m just telling you what I’ve heard. They say such beings are so unfathomable that trying to understand them intellectually is futile; experiencing them firsthand is the best approach.”

“So… have you gotten what you wanted?”

“Every time I see him, I get irritated and angry. I’ve always prided myself on my patience, but I guess I was wrong.”

She smiled brightly as if without malice, but…

Judging from her tone and the content of her words, for some reason, it sent chills down his spine.

Something didn’t add up.

It was a feeling difficult to articulate.

“Trying to understand madness will naturally make you feel that way.”

Delica, who had returned at some point, snapped.

“Madness? That’s too harsh!”

“If what I’ve heard so far is correct, if it were me, you’d have been dead long ago.”

She glanced at Kariel as she spoke.

“And the fact that you deceived him and framed him is already somewhat known throughout the Empire, yet you conveniently omit that part and only talk about what suits you.”

“What? You knew?”

Raymon gave her a questioning look, but Delica ignored him.

“And even the prince got involved, resulting in you being exiled and excommunicated by the princess’s hand, right? Eras Esdina. Oh, since you’ve been expelled from your family, I guess you and I are on the same level in terms of status?”

“Are you attacking me to defend him? Isn’t that too biased? Kariel, no matter how much you don’t want to step forward yourself, using a child like this? Instead of speaking directly, doing such a dirty thing…”

“Let me advise you, trying to reason with that person is a waste of effort. I’m someone who wants to kill him right now, and I’m following him because I can’t do that.”

“Oh my?”

Eras remained still for a while with her hands clasped, as if this was unexpected.

“What a strange companionship. All of you.”

Honestly, there was no way to know what he had seen to assemble such a group.

But the next day.

Finally departing from the east and reaching the central part of the continent, they entered a quiet village.

It was entirely led by Kariel, of course.

He led the way as if he knew it well.

Similarly, with only Delica and Raymon riding on Caligula, Eras was left behind and would take quite some time to catch up.

Most of the villagers eyed the black armored warhorse that had suddenly entered and the knight in full black armor riding it with great suspicion.

However, what was certain was that the atmosphere was distinctly different from the east.

Some villagers and children even showed interest, peering at him or following behind.

Perhaps the presence of Delica and Raymon had somewhat lowered their guard.

Eventually.

“……”

Dismounting, Kariel approached a small hut.

Delica and Raymon waited with Caligula near a tree away from the hut.

In their view appeared a small boy and a frail woman who seemed to be his mother.

“Why did we come here anyway?”

“Don’t talk to me, idiot. Don’t act like we’re close.”

“……”

The relationship between the two was still barren.

Raymon had apologized repeatedly, but… this might truly be unavoidable.

Getting upset or angry here would make no sense in a different way, so Raymon remained deflated, like the first humans expelled from paradise carrying original sin.

Eventually, Kariel handed over the sword in its scabbard and immediately returned to his warhorse.

“Do you know them?”

“No.”

…So he visited people he doesn’t know? Why?

“Remember them and this place.”

“Why?”

“…Because that child is next after me.”

Next? What next?

“It doesn’t matter much if I’m alive and well.”

“More incomprehensible talk.”

“Are you reciting sūrus?”

“That spell?”

“Yes.”

“I am, since you told me to.”

Raymon chimed in with, “Me too.”

“Good.”

“But is it okay to tell others about it?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

Kariel answered as he placed his hand on Caligula’s back.

“Those not connected by fate and causality cannot reach certain realms, no matter what means they employ.”

“…More strange talk.”

After mounting the horse and settling Delica in front and Raymon behind, he departed.

From the entrance of the hut, the small boy, clutching the scabbard, followed the strange knight and his warhorse with inscrutable eyes.

And then.

Several hours later, the door of the hut was knocked on again.

“Is it you? Didn’t that strange knight come and go earlier?”

Eras.

She asked the child with an indecipherable smile.

The child’s mother was nowhere to be seen.

Perhaps that was why.

For some reason, the boy looked up at Eras with complicated eyes.

“What sin have you committed to be in a position where you can no longer even die?”

“What are you saying, little one?”

Eras asked with displeasure, facing the child who uttered ominous words—words that were, in a sense, both praise and blessing, and a curse.

“You and I have quite deep bad karma.”

“Are you another child who can see something I can’t? Why do you keep saying such useless things?”

“He seems to have decided not to break or cut you, but to make me into the firewood that will illuminate him.”

“Did you hear something? Did he tell you to say this? Thinking I’d be scared…”

“If one can control their own destiny, couldn’t they change the destinies of others as well?”

That was the anxiety Eras had been concealing all along.

It was the fundamental fear she harbored.

It was also the reason her master had sighed and lamented over her.

Eras, oh Eras. How, how did your life come to this state?

“……”

Her master’s lament suddenly echoed in her mind.

But why were similar words coming from the mouth of this child who didn’t seem like a child?

“Death shall be a blessing. I shall deprive you of that blessing.”

“……”

“That’s his message. He said if you take your own life now, you can escape that fate.”

A final mercy.

“He says there won’t be a next time.”

“Who are you?”

Suddenly, she felt the urge to kill this child.

Such an impulse surged within her.

“Me?”

Regardless of Eras’s inner thoughts, the child spoke calmly.

“I’m nothing special.”

The child’s dark blue eyes glimmered faintly.

“Let’s just say I’m a mere human desperate to somehow inherit what he has achieved.”

“……”

“My mother will be back soon. You should leave now. I’ve delivered all the messages. Do you have anything to say?”

“…You said we have deep bad karma? What if I do something to you right here and now?”

“That’s up to you.”

The child remained composed.

“Not knowing what you’re trying to do or what you’re doing… that’s comforting, isn’t it? But don’t you know your own soul?”

It’s frightening, so frightening.

So terrifying that…

Every moment of life… would become a nightmare and hell.

Though it hasn’t arrived yet.

Just by partially glimpsing its shadow…

“Ignorance is a sin, but in a way, it’s also consideration for you all.”

It’s because we don’t know that we don’t suffer.

Conversely, because we know, there are shackles and pits from which we can never escape.

“Think carefully about what you should do. He has shown mercy because you persistently followed him.”

“You all…”

What are you seeing?

What do you all know that we don’t, to be like this!

“……”

It’s not visible.

This child before her, just like Kariel.

Just like the children with him.

She could neither predict nor foresee.