Ch.27Devotion Offered by the Sword (2)

Instead of answering, Kain looked up at the sky. He was trying to estimate the time. Judging by the angle of the sun, it seemed to be around 3 PM.

Like other cities in the Empire, Marburg also has outer walls. And these outer walls close between 7 and 8 PM, depending on the season.

So they needed to arrive within four hours to comfortably enter the city. The problem was that the cart Kain and Lily had hitched a ride on was being pulled by an old, plodding pack horse.

The pack horse was old but wise, unhurried yet diligent. Even with its owner, an old man, sleeping on the driver’s seat, drooling in his drunken stupor, the horse knew the way and followed it well.

Kain thought to himself that perhaps this horse and its owner had been traveling this road since the beginning of the world.

For this reason, Kain decided not to wake the old man. Leaning against a pile of straw, basking in the sunshine while leisurely traveling along the dirt road wasn’t such a bad journey. If absolutely necessary, he could always contact the Marburg branch of the Imperial Security Bureau.

If getting this ride could be considered lucky, then it was indeed lucky. The kind of luck that wasn’t entirely pleasant.

* * * * *

Four hours earlier.

Lily had stopped crying, but she was trembling instead. She seemed to be in shock. Kain removed her chain mail and wrapped one of the cleaner cloaks around her body.

“Rest for a bit.”

“W-where are you going?”

“Not far. Just checking if there are any survivors. And I’ll… find a proper place to bury this friend.”

Lily tried to stand up to help, but her legs gave out beneath her. Kain placed a hand on her shoulder before surveying the ruins of the monastery.

Embers flew from the collapsed piles of stone. The black smoke was punctuated by occasional cracking sounds as hot stone walls burst.

Broken furniture. Burnt clothing. Dented armor and helmets. Shattered doors. A typical ruin. But there were no bodies. No human corpses, no animal carcasses. The only remains were those of the poor apprentice knight who had been possessed by the Knight of the Scabbard.

Kain recalled that terrible creature. If it could even be called a creature—it looked like a mass of corpses kneaded together—it had definitely flown northeast. Toward the Demon King’s wasteland.

As he surveyed the ruins, Kain organized his thoughts.

He would have to report to the Empire, of course. This was a critical matter, and he needed to inform Anna about what he had discovered and the information he had gathered.

The problem was the Order. Setting aside the complex political calculations within the Order, if even the Knight of Chastity and Archbishop could be corrupted like that, then who in the Order could be trusted? Kain couldn’t tell.

Collapsed monastery buildings, fallen military tents of the Mercy Knights, smashed carriages. But the only corpse was that of the Mercy Knights’ apprentice knight with his neck pierced by the Imperial Sword, and the only trace was Inquisitor Haspel’s emblem.

If everyone associated with the Order had disappeared, and only two Imperial Security Bureau agents returned alive to deliver bad news, how favorably would the Order view this?

These issues were too complex and sensitive to be decided at the level of a Security Bureau section chief. Although Anna had said she would respect and support Kain’s judgment, there was no reason for her to take responsibility for his rash decisions.

After careful consideration, Kain made a decision. He and Lily would proceed as planned to find Inquisitor Heinrich in Magdeburg, but they wouldn’t inform the Order until Anna’s instructions arrived.

They would write a report in Marburg, the nearest Imperial direct-rule city and where their carriage was stored, and receive Anna’s reply in Magdeburg, which would save time.

“…I thought this would be over quickly. Looks like retirement will have to wait.”

Kain muttered as he gazed at the empty ruins. After taking a deep breath, he moved again, searching for evidence to support what he and Lily had witnessed.

The carriage. The collapsed library. The tent.

Most had burned and collapsed, but there were still some salvageable items.

He found an order document bearing Commander Marco’s seal from the Mercy Knights, and from Father Haspel’s carriage, he recovered half of “A Manual for Witch Hunting.” Haspel’s handwritten signature was on the first page.

There was also a parchment scroll with the official seal of the Otranto Cloister Monastery. It had yellowed slightly, but what mattered was the monastery’s seal on it, not the content.

If possible, he wanted to take as much as he could. Even though the people had disappeared, records remained, and the more records he took, the more he could speak about their absence.

‘Once these people existed on this land. Here is the evidence. Leaving only this behind, they disappeared somewhere. Through absence, existence is revealed; may God’s mercy be with them.’

* * * * *

The Otranto Cloister Monastery had not only a burial ground but also a columbarium and a morgue. The ground must have been too rocky for burials.

Kain and Lily placed the apprentice knight’s body in an empty sarcophagus. They prayed for his peace as they closed the lid. Lily didn’t cry. She still trembled occasionally, but she seemed better than before.

The sky was clear. The ruins were quiet. There was no wind, but the sadness was overwhelming. Kain gathered two water pouches, biscuits, and a small pouch of dried meat from the Mercy Knights’ barracks. He shared half with Lily.

“We don’t have horses to ride. We’ll have to walk. The bags are a bit heavy, but we have no choice.”

“I can carry them.”

Kain kept the Imperial Sword at his waist but discarded his chain mail. After packing it in the bag, the two descended the rocky mountain. The wind howled from the mountain as if telling them to leave immediately.

They kept walking. They ate a little and drank a bit, but it was completely unconscious behavior. The biscuits and meat tasted like nothing, and the water was lukewarm.

The base of the rocky mountain was somewhat better.

There was a forest with trees spaced at reasonable intervals, and judging by the well-trimmed branches, it seemed to be well-maintained by the villagers. It was the same unremarkable forest they had passed through on their way up to the Otranto Monastery.

The birds already seemed to be gossiping about the commotion on the rocky mountain. Squirrels busily scurried around trees spreading rumors. Nameless flowers along the path swayed as if saying, “Never mind those rumors, look at my face and figure.”

– Kairos. I love you.

Kain stopped walking. It was an eerie voice. Identical to the voice of the Shadow that had been taken by that grotesque dragon.

“Is something wrong?”

Lily’s worried voice. Kain turned around.

“No, it’s nothing… What’s wrong with you?”

Lily’s face, shoulders, and neck were red and swollen. These were scratches that hadn’t been there just moments ago. Kain was even more puzzled when he saw Lily hiding her hands behind her back.

“Ah. It’s nothing.”

“Nothing? What are you hiding? Show me.”

“It’s really nothing…”

“I’m going to get angry.”

What Lily produced was a piece of rough cloth. The weave was so coarse it would be difficult to use even as a rag, and it was dirty with something black smeared on it.

“…Because of the tongue…” Lily lowered her head. “The sensation of those tongue vines is making my skin crawl… it won’t go away.”

“Hold still.”

Kain took the rag from Lily’s hand. He opened the water pouch, dampened the cloth, and rubbed it to clean it as best he could.

Then he gently wiped Lily’s face, neck, and shoulders. He dabbed rather than rubbed to avoid causing scratches. Water dripped from the not-fully-wrung cloth, soaking her shirt, but Lily stood quietly.

“Let’s wash properly when we get down. Don’t keep things like this to yourself. If your mind gets sick, no one will take responsibility. Especially not as a Security Bureau agent.”

“I’m sorry. I keep showing such pathetic sides of myself…”

“What are you talking about?” Kain gently wiped Lily’s nape.

“You did well. You’re the best apprentice I know. Probably the best in the entire history of the Security Bureau? You’re the only apprentice agent who’s ever saved my life. I practically owe you my life, so this much is the least I can do.”

After saying this, Kain blushed, feeling somewhat awkward.

“Ahem, I’m surprised though. I thought nothing in the world scared you.”

“I was really scared earlier.”

“Yes. It was truly bizarre and strange.”

“No. That’s not what scared me.”

Lily gently grasped Kain’s hand. Though her grip was light, Kain couldn’t move. He was held not by her hand, but by her eyes.

“Did you really intend to die?”

“I didn’t want to die,” Kain tried to explain.

“Who wants to die? But… I did wonder if we could win this. That’s true. So I tried to draw out as much information as possible. So that you…”

“You didn’t think about me at all, did you?”

Lily’s tone was somehow cold. Kain couldn’t understand.

“What are you saying?”

“I’m talking about having to watch someone jump into a deadly situation. I had to watch that with my own eyes. The sword strikes. The defenses. The exchanges. If I missed even one thing. If I thought wrong about even one thing. If I figured out the counter too late, a person precious to me would die right before my eyes… You didn’t think at all about the burden I had to bear, did you?”

– Kairos. Run away. That’s what you’re good at, isn’t it?

The Shadow whispered in Kain’s ear again. Kain lowered his hand. He couldn’t let Lily’s words stand. They were dangerous words.

“Then. What should I have done? Just run away? When that black thing might kill who knows how many people. At the very least, I needed to see what its weapon was, what its techniques were, how it fought.”

“I know the Security Bureau guidelines too!”

Lily was angry. Kain clenched his fist. Water dripped from the cloth.

“I’m not talking about guidelines! Yes. Everything you said is right. But. But, I know! I know it’s correct! But!”

“So what!”

“Did it not matter to you how I felt having to watch someone I love die horribly?”

Lily was angry. Truly angry. Even her manner of speech was like a child throwing a tantrum. In fact, Lily herself wouldn’t even remember behaving this way. It had always been like this.

“I hate it! I hate it! The person I love, the person I like, the person I want to spend my life with decides to go off and die! Without asking for my opinion even once! Why is it always your way? Why is it always as you please? At the very least! At the very least, you could have asked for my opinion!”

Lily was trying to cross a line now. Kain knew it too, but had been ignoring it—a line that Lily herself had been patiently accepting. Once crossed, once passed, they could never go back to how things were. If the other side wouldn’t draw the line, he would have to.

“You are my…!”

But he couldn’t finish his answer.

There was a presence behind them.

Not just one person. Kain turned around, and so did Lily. As if by agreement, both placed their hands on their sword hilts, ready to draw if necessary.

Three men with axes emerged from behind the trees. They were all large and well-built.

“Interesting. Why’d you stop talking? It was getting exciting.”

A man with an axe resting on his shoulder snickered. His beard was extremely unkempt and growing wildly.