Ch.50People, Lions, Bulls, and Eagles (7)

The confused people stood up. Some embraced each other and burst into tears. Others could be seen discussing their mistakes and hugging one another.

The elderly struggled to keep their balance. Kain, along with other guards, helped those who had fallen to their feet. Kain carefully lifted old Baolo. He was pitifully light.

“My son.”

The old man lamented.

“My son joined the Children’s Crusade. And he never returned. Not even a single letter to tell me if he was dead or alive. Even though we had a big fight and he left in anger…”

Kain silently dusted off the old man’s clothes. The old man trembled.

“I was foolish.”

“No, you weren’t.”

“If I had killed all those heathens.” The old man’s voice was filled with resentment.

“If I had killed all the heretics and pagans and everyone who opposed the Emperor and the Pope. If there had been no need to raise another crusade. If I had ended it all in my generation. Would my son have joined the crusade?”

Kain didn’t ask if it was the old man who had driven his son away. He didn’t tell him there was no need to feel guilty for his son’s choices. He didn’t scold him for failing to see himself clearly even now.

Because it was unknowable. Because he himself was no different.

The old man walked weakly, like any other elderly person, back to his lonely, desolate home.

* * * * *

The carriage repairs took another day, but no one complained. Everyone wanted to rest without thinking about anything. People began repairing the damaged houses.

The elderly and residents worked silently without a word. No one apologized, and no one offered empty consolation. Just as an arm doesn’t need to apologize to a hand, or a stomach doesn’t question a foot.

They were all Masada, and Masada was all of them. Masada became a city again, and people began another day in Masada.

Though they unexpectedly had an extra day, Kain, Lily, and Maria didn’t waste it. Instead, they investigated those who had incited the elderly of Masada.

No one knew exactly when or at what time they had appeared. Only the elderly vaguely recalled it was about three or four months ago.

At first, they thought they were just peculiar young people who enjoyed mingling with the elderly. Sometimes like children, sometimes like friends. They knew how to flatter, how to praise the elderly, and how to listen to their idle stories.

The same stories. Tiresome stories. They patiently listened to the endless, repetitive lamentations. They had even mediated disputes among the elderly, and in doing so, created a community that brought the elderly together.

But there was one thing all the elderly consistently mentioned.

That when they were all together, they didn’t feel lonely. That they felt a renewed vigor in their bodies, reminiscent of their younger days. It was around that time that the people in brown clothes proposed a special symbol.

Strangely enough, it resembled old tales the elderly had heard in their childhood. Stories their grandfathers’ grandfathers and grandmothers’ grandmothers had told them at bedtime, but which they had now forgotten.

When asked how they knew all these things, they merely shrugged. They said they were just students studying ancient history and beliefs at university.

Maria wrote a letter to her father in Magdeburg. A messenger from the city hall, carrying a report about the strange events in Masada, departed on horseback.

After dinner, the three returned to their room at the inn. Sitting on their respective beds, they looked at each other in silence. But Kain and Lily’s gazes were directed at Maria.

“What?”

“This might sound strange, but I don’t quite understand,” Kain cleared his throat.

“Those… things. Don’t they disappear with the sacred fire?”

“You don’t think the sacred fire is just a barbecue bonfire, do you?”

“Of course not.” Kain smiled. A smile spread across Lily’s face too. Maria stretched her legs.

“Sacred fire has a strong purifying meaning. Clean fire burns impurities. And there are no inherently evil people. There are people who do bad things, but no one whose very existence is evil.

Witches and wizards are burned by sacred fire because they believe they have defiled their own existence… Anyway, ordinary people, or even sinners, cannot be consumed by sacred fire.”

“So it burns those who have corrupted themselves, those who have voluntarily fallen?”

“That’s right.” Maria nodded.

“Sometimes there are very unfortunate cases. Being tempted by demons or bound by strange contracts, becoming wizards and witches against their will. In such cases, even if they practice real magic, there are mitigating circumstances. But those things last night… they were thoroughly wicked and evil.”

“Because they bewitched people?”

“They made them sin.” Maria looked at Kain and Lily.

“They cleverly nurtured the hatred in people’s hearts, separated them from ordinary people, and made them lonely and miserable.

More unforgivable than those who sin themselves are those who make others sin. They might claim otherwise, but no. They simply enjoy watching people fall into the mire.

‘They stumbled on their own, why should I be responsible?’ The reason this is wrong is because they played with others for their own amusement. The temporary emotion that doesn’t care what happens to another’s existence… that’s an irredeemable sin.”

Maria clutched the bedspread.

“You asked why the sacred fire couldn’t drive away all the evil. Partly because it was dark, and partly because everyone was confused.

But most importantly, it’s because they themselves believed they couldn’t be saved. Everyone carried distorted and amplified guilt. Even those without guilt had decided and convinced themselves that their lives would never improve.

While reassuring themselves that this was an objective fact. If there’s no expectation that abandoning their current state might make things better, even if it could also make things worse, then sacredness can do nothing.”

“Isn’t that too powerless?”

“No. It’s about respect.” Maria looked at Kain.

“If someone wants to remain in sin, if they prefer it that way, God simply leaves them be. If you forcibly drag someone who isn’t ready… terrible things happen.

Would someone who’s been in darkness be happy to suddenly see bright light? If you serve a feast to a starving person, their weakened stomach can’t digest it and they become more miserable and sick.

You can’t skip those steps. When a person isn’t ready, there’s nothing God can do.”

“But,” Lily, who had been listening silently, spoke up.

“But… the horrible thing I saw last night. It wasn’t something I wanted to have. It’s a memory I want to erase. It was much more exaggerated and… distorted than reality. Something that makes me shudder even to imagine…”

“What I described is the general situation. The same standards can’t be applied to last night’s events. That’s precisely why people like me are wandering around the world. It’s nobody’s fault. Lily, it’s not your fault. Kain, it’s not your fault either, if you’re feeling that way.”

Maria smiled brightly at Kain. Kain couldn’t agree.

“I thought there must be some reason, but how could someone brazenly ask to have a knife stabbed into their heart?”

“Because I thought you could do it.”

The smile disappeared from Maria’s face. Lily let out a single scream, “What?” “He’s not that heartless! How could you possibly… eek!”

Kain turned his head away, and Lily covered her eyes with her palms. This was because Maria had suddenly started undressing after standing up.

“Hey, bride-to-be? We’ve already seen everything there is to see of each other, haven’t we? Why are you pretending not to know?”

“Why are you suddenly undressing there!”

“Since I have no desire to show off my figure to anyone, stop making a fuss and open your eyes properly. I’ve covered everything that needs to be covered.”

Lily spread her fingers. Kain glanced at Maria. Fortunately, no bare skin was exposed.

Instead, her entire body was wrapped in bandages. Over the bandages, she had tightly fastened a full-body leather harness like knights wear. The leg guards and the wrist blade that popped out when the wrist was cleverly twisted were still in place.

“Don’t you see the difference? Hmm. Let me give you a hint. Left arm and right arm.”

Lily pointed to Maria’s left arm. “Why is there a leather strap on your right arm but not on your left?”

“Because it broke last night.” Maria sighed deeply. She dangled the severed leather strap from her discarded pants pocket like a dead worm.

Maria threw the broken strap to Kain. Catching it with one hand, Kain examined it. There were indecipherable letters on it. They weren’t letters from any known language, not even cursive.

“What is this?”

“Ancient script.” Maria sat on the bed. “More precisely, it’s a seal. A seal from an ancient tribe that worshipped the Life Tree. Rather than a seal, it would be better to describe it as a blanket that soothes tormented souls.”

“Now that you mention it,” Kain said, examining the leather strap.

“Something seemed off. No, many things seemed off. I clearly knocked you unconscious, but you stubbornly got back up. But there was something strange about your manner of speaking.

Even yesterday, when everyone… including Lily and me, was tormented by the shadows, you didn’t seem affected at all. You even fought against the monster. I thought you were just an inquisitor…”

Maria tilted her head. Her shoulder-length red-gold hair glistened.

“What? Do I finally seem like a real witch now?”

“How can a witch be an inquisitor?”

“I’m a half-baked witch.” Maria picked up her top and casually put it on. But she remained without her lower garments.

“Yes. Father Haspel is my uncle, and Father Heinrich is my father. And my mother is a witch. But not an ordinary witch.”

“Then?”

“A very, very, very powerful witch.” Maria smiled so broadly her teeth showed.

“Strong enough to occupy half of her daughter’s soul. But it’s not like my mother performed human sacrifices or kissed a demon’s behind, or anything like that.

My mother is a descendant of the ancient Life Tree-believing clan. That means she follows a truly primordial faith, much older than the Prophets of Life and Death, even older than the Wildfire Faith.”