Ch.3838. The Protagonist and the Saint (2)

It’s been a few months since I’ve been here.

Isis smelled the fishy scent of the sea breeze blowing from afar. The summer sea. The daytime wind blowing from the sea to land was stuffy and hot. As they reached the edge of the forest, the carriage gradually slowed down. Barktins was a port city formed in a deep bay created by a narrow strait. They say the terrain was formed long ago when glaciers scraped down.

“We’ve almost arrived at Barktins now.”

The coachman’s voice was heard. Isis turned her head from the window to look at Aryen sitting across from her. The mercenary hadn’t seemed particularly pleased throughout the journey here. Isis was about to call out to Aryen, who remained lost in thought, but decided against it and turned her gaze back to the window. Whoosh. A tree passed by. A broken—no, completely crushed tree. Next to the tree lay a large boulder.

The traces left by debris that had flown during battle were just the beginning. There must still be quite a distance to the port, yet the debris had already devastated everything in sight. There were rocks that seemed impossibly heavy to have flown from the port, and such boulders had completely obliterated the forest, leaving enormous craters in their place.

“…How terrible.”

Isis murmured. Her words were swept away by the sea breeze. Though this had been her battlefield, revisiting the place stirred up rather unpleasant memories.

How did I end up coming back here again?

Isis rested her elbow on the window frame and propped her chin. The conversation she had with Bishop Andre at a restaurant a few weeks ago gradually surfaced in her mind.

==

“Where are you trying to take Isis?”

Bishop Andre sighed as he looked at the mercenary blocking his way. Though he usually went around with a constant smile on his face, he couldn’t help but harden his expression at Aryen’s persistently stubborn attitude. If Aryen had been someone the bishop could simply ignore, it would have been different, but when such a formidable person was openly trying to interfere, it was naturally concerning for the bishop.

“I don’t understand why you’re asking that. I told you, you are now a complete outsider.”

Bishop Andre firmly cut Aryen off.

“I’m not trying to interfere with you or punish you, so please stop. What do you think you can do by meddling in matters between the Holy Nation and the Kingdom of Kairos as a mere mercenary?”

Aryen’s expression twisted. Isis fidgeted uncomfortably between them, looking back and forth at the two.

“…I didn’t want to become an outsider. After unilaterally kicking me out and then acting like this, I do have something to say.”

“No. I don’t think you do. Let me tell you, Aryen. If you interfere any further, the Kingdom of Kairos and the Holy Nation might work together to detain you. Be aware of your position. And be aware of the power you possess.”

Bishop Andre’s gray eyes flashed between his narrowed eyelids.

“You are not someone I can simply persuade and send away. Do you want to make this situation even bigger?”

“Really? If you’re going to be that way, did you think I would just back down quietly?”

“Stop.”

Unable to bear it any longer, Isis reached out her hand to separate the two. She slowly caught her breath. It felt like thoughts were swirling like a vortex in her head. Isis let out a deep sigh and turned to Bishop Andre.

“Please take Aryen with me too.”

“Isis. We cannot always smile and agree to your stubbornness.”

When Bishop Andre replied, Isis raised her voice.

“He’s a mercenary I personally hired for my protection. Please do as I ask.”

“…”

The bishop quietly looked at Isis, then sighed as he withdrew his sharp demeanor. Aryen, finally realizing that if he continued to act out, Isis’s position would become very difficult, kept his mouth shut.

“Well, fine. I suppose he can at least listen to the conversation.”

Bishop Andre permitted Aryen’s company and turned around.

“Both of you, follow me.”

The place they arrived at following the bishop was an ordinary-looking restaurant. Aryen maintained his vigilance continuously, and Bishop Andre shook his head after glancing at him. The bishop calmly ordered a bean salad and met Isis’s eyes.

“…What is this task I’m supposed to take on?”

“Return to Barktins.”

Barktins? Isis opened her eyes wide in surprise, then furrowed her brow.

“Why Barktins all of a sudden…?”

At Isis’s confused reaction, Bishop Andre let out a long sigh.

“Do you really not understand, Isis?”

Isis first felt a sense of defiance. She couldn’t understand why Bishop Andre would let out such a sigh. But she soon realized that his sigh wasn’t from mockery or frustration, but a heavy sigh that came from condemning himself and feeling sorry for Isis. Her face filled with bewilderment.

“It’s about dealing with the aftermath of the damage. The deep scars left by the third calamity.”

At that moment, Isis’s expression crumbled.

“While this is a matter for the Kingdom of Kairos, we cannot ignore that disaster. It is right for believers of the Blue Orthodox Church to embrace those who are wounded.”

Aryen’s face remained fierce, but he kept his mouth shut.

“When you arbitrarily left the party to follow that mercenary, the Hero didn’t ask us to find you. Instead, he hoped that you would support post-war recovery and comfort the hearts of those who were wounded.”

The Hero? Ilroy? Isis recalled Ilroy’s appearance when she declared she would leave the party. He had tried to stop her, saying something, then furrowed his brow as if thinking about something. And then he just let her leave the building.

“…No. He couldn’t have really thought that.”

She had been the healer in that party. A healer who quickly restored wounds sustained in battle and enabled them to fight again. She thought she couldn’t stay under the dictator called the Hero.

“Whether he thought so or not, the Hero said those words, Isis.”

The bishop picked up a glass of red wine.

“As for your mercenary… well, I don’t mind if he accompanies you. Surely he wouldn’t act recklessly even at a post-war recovery site.”

“I’m sorry, but it wasn’t me who acted recklessly, it was the Hero’s side.”

“Do as you please. There is no one anywhere who will protect you because you were a member of the Hero’s party. And all responsibility for your actions will fall on your employer, Isis.”

Bishop Andre snorted as if he didn’t want to deal with him anymore and drank his wine. Isis was still looking down at the table with confused eyes.

“I will arrange for a carriage to Barktins, Isis. I’ll send along a few priests from the Holy Nation, so when you get there, see what you can do and act accordingly.”

==

As they reached the outskirts of Barktins, the coachman stopped the horses. With a clatter, the sliding door connecting the carriage and the coachman’s seat opened, and the wrinkled face of the coachman appeared through the gap.

“I can’t go any further from here, Holy Maiden.”

“What’s the matter?”

“The road is completely destroyed, and the carriage simply cannot proceed. I’m afraid you’ll have to get out.”

The coachman gestured with his chin toward the front as he spoke. Isis opened the carriage door and got out to check the road ahead. The coachman also briefly stopped the horses, got down from his seat, put his hands on his waist, and shook his head.

“…It’s a mess.”

“Indeed it is. I’m not sure if someone will come from there to escort you, Holy Maiden. What would you like to do?”

Isis looked behind her. The carriages carrying the priests who had come to support the post-war recovery with her had also stopped.

“Holy Maiden, from here we’ll have to walk.”

At the priests’ words, Isis nodded heavily. Aryen slowly got out of the carriage she had been riding in and looked around. The expressionless mercenary’s eyes held no sentiment.

“It’s fine. We’ve already passed through all the dangerous roads anyway.”

Isis looked at Aryen. He shrugged and approached her. His black hair fluttered in the wind.

“The road is rough, but not impossible to walk over. I can clear away paths that look difficult for you to traverse, so let’s go that way.”

Aryen said, looking ahead.

The road leading to the center of Barktins had literally disappeared. Soil and debris from collapsed buildings. That was all Isis could see before her. She blinked as she looked at the devastation, then hardened her expression and stepped forward.

“Let’s go.”

Aryen began to walk. Isis looked at his back and recalled the time when they fought against the third calamity.

==

Aryen and Ilroy basically didn’t get along well, but until they fought the third calamity, they had been able to maintain a precarious balance. Yes. The catalyst that truly drove them apart was the battle with the third calamity. From that day on, Aryen and Ilroy seemed to genuinely hate each other.

“We cannot let that monster approach the coast. The open sea is definitely out of the question. We need to face it in the narrow strait. We can use the islands between the straits to make it possible.”

“Are you thinking of needlessly sacrificing soldiers, Ilroy? Even if we fight it in the strait, we still have to face it in the sea. To truly kill the Kraken, we need to wait until it comes ashore, then attack it simultaneously from both land and sea. There’s no other way.”

And the two really fought fiercely. The usual verbal sparring between them grew increasingly hostile, and even Georg, who would normally just let it slide, and Nella, who usually sided with the Hero to attack Aryen and Isis, kept their mouths shut this time.

“I cannot allow that, Aryen. Follow my words.”

“Don’t you want to defeat that calamity? Please come to your senses, Hero. This isn’t a fight you can win with recklessness. You’re not strong enough to defeat that calamity alone, so what fight are you trying to pick?”

“Then wait alone on land for that monster to come. I’ll tell the commander-in-chief that I’m going to sea with the party members.”

As Ilroy tried to get up, ignoring Aryen, Aryen grabbed his shoulder.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Ilroy. If you want to commit suicide, do it alone, you bastard.”

“If you want to kill everyone in Barktins, then do so.”

“The evacuation order for Barktins was issued three days ago, Ilroy. There’s no one here now.”

Ilroy gritted his teeth and began to speak.

“Do you think only the Kraken will come ashore when it lands? Its minions will also flood into Barktins following the Kraken. They are faster than horses. They will be much faster than the tens of thousands of people escaping on foot. They will catch up with all the evacuees within two days. And they will be slaughtered by monsters without anyone to protect them.”

Ilroy took a step forward.

“And more soldiers who step up to stop them will die. All those soldiers you mentioned being needlessly sacrificed will die then.”

Ilroy reached out and grabbed Aryen’s collar.

“Let’s say we let the Kraken land and defeat the calamity by binding its body on land. What about those who remain? Who will take responsibility for those who will be sacrificed in that landing?”

“If we don’t step up and kill that monster, the result will be the same anyway, you idiot.”

Aryen shook off Ilroy’s arm and twisted his face. Then he drew his sword and pointed it at Ilroy. Ilroy also drew his sword and they faced off. The two fought right there. But there was no way Ilroy could beat Aryen in pure swordsmanship, so Aryen knocked Ilroy down and pushed forward with his own strategy, reporting to the commander-in-chief who trusted the mercenary more than the Hero.

And—the Kraken landed in Barktins.

They were lucky. Really lucky. Mages and knights sacrificed their lives to bind the Kraken’s movements. The immobilized Kraken swept away everything in sight, not distinguishing between friend and foe. In the Kraken’s rampage, many of its minions trying to land were killed. The remaining forces attacked the Kraken’s main body. Aryen led the charge, and Ilroy, with the Holy Sword, painfully cut off the Kraken’s breath.

That was the right method.

Those who defeated the Kraken said that they were able to defeat it because they let it come ashore. Isis, who had only been thinking about defeating the Kraken, also thought it was right. The Hero’s party was escorted away as soon as the battle ended. The joy of defeating the calamity blinded Isis like a blindfold.

==

Isis looked at the submerged coastline of Barktins and exhaled sharply. The terrain had completely changed. What had been a city was now ruins. Areas close to the sea were completely submerged, unrecognizable as land. The entire area had become a huge bay, hollowed out.

Was this place originally like this? As Isis stared at the sea with a blank expression, the local governor of Barktins approached her.

“Holy Maiden, welcome. I heard you came to Barktins to support the damage recovery.”

“…Pleased to meet you.”

Seeing Isis’s blank expression, the governor spoke in a bitter voice.

“With the Kraken’s landing, Barktins has essentially become a non-existent city. If it had continued its destructive activities just a little longer, this entire region would have been devastated or submerged.”

The governor expressed gratitude, but nothing registered in Isis’s ears.

“The residents…”

“Many residents who said they wouldn’t evacuate and would support the expedition also died. Not to mention the forces stationed in Barktins.”

The governor sighed as he looked at the pile of stones at his feet.

“Some evacuees have returned one by one… but quite a few people were harmed during the evacuation. Some were attacked by monsters that escaped from the scene, and many died from flying debris. I don’t know how the royal palace views this matter.”

Isis followed the governor, trying to ignore her splitting headache. There was a temporary settlement formed far from the city.

“Please bestow mercy on those who are wounded, Holy Maiden.”

The painful groans coming from various parts of the settlement echoed in Isis’s ears.