Ch.5454. The Protagonist and the Saint (4)

Rain fell continuously on the way to the north. Isis was watching the rainwater flowing down the walls of the carriage. The rainwater trickled slowly. Though it didn’t pour heavily at once, the rain fell without stopping. Mud formed and clung to the wheels of the carriage. When the sun came out and the ground dried, the hardened mud on the wheels would become a headache.

“We’ve been delayed by a day or two, but we should arrive soon. The rain just won’t stop.”

The coachman said this after opening the window. When Isis nodded, he closed it again. Raindrops pattered on the roof. Isis turned her gaze outside. Throughout their journey north, Aryen had been riding his horse with that contemplative expression. His black raincoat was already soaked through.

“The relief efforts in Barktins weren’t meaningless.”

The brown-haired nun sitting across from Isis spoke up. She was a nursing nun who had come along with the priests as an attendant.

“Many people were saved by you, Holy Lady. The local governor was especially pleased that we could save many critically ill patients. They would have just been waiting for death, with no way to treat them as their conditions worsened so severely.”

The nun spoke of death matter-of-factly. Isis felt her stomach churn as she looked at the nun. She had worked harder than the priests, moving around the site to treat patients.

“…Why are you telling me this?”

The nun gently stroked her rosary.

“Because you’ve looked troubled throughout our journey.”

True to the nun’s words, Isis’s voice lacked energy. She had seen so much over the past few weeks. Those scenes haunted her even in her dreams. People bleeding from their heads, the labored breathing of the dying. Faces that had lost their shape and mangled limbs.

Before meeting the Hero, Isis had treated patients who were transported to her. She bestowed healing magic upon those who came to her, and they thanked her. Isis felt fulfillment from their gratitude and could feel a sense of purpose.

George, Aryen, and Ilroy, whom she had treated before leaving the party, endured pain very well. No matter how severe their injuries, they rarely showed signs of suffering.

But at that site, the patients in the ruins of Barktins and the dirty temporary settlements never showed genuine joy even after their bodies were healed. They either worried about other patients or left with empty eyes and voices, only saying thanks to Isis. These were things Isis had never experienced before. The Holy Lady who had stepped outside the protective boundaries of the Blue Orthodox Church and the Hero’s party was too naive and young.

“I also heard about what happened. They said you refused to leave Barktins until the end.”

The nun spoke as if she admired this, but Isis couldn’t take it as praise. Doubt about herself and guilt kept raising their heads.

Aryen’s choice then could be considered the best option. Fighting a battle with a success rate approaching zero would have been good for neither themselves, nor the soldiers, nor the residents of Barktins.

Was that really the best choice? Was sacrificing some to gain a possibility of preventing the world’s destruction really the best option?

“I never thought you would take the initiative in disaster recovery even after being expelled from the Hero’s party. I thought you weren’t chosen as the Holy Lady for nothing.”

“No, that’s not true.”

Isis reflexively responded. The praise cut sharply into her heart like a knife. That’s not it. I, I…

“…Holy Lady?”

Looking at Isis, who suddenly denied the praise and shook her head vigorously with a pale face, the nun tilted her head in confusion. After trembling for a while, Isis eventually let out a shaky sigh. She wished someone would tell her. Whether they had made the right choice then, whether it was right to go against the Hero’s decision.

“I…”

Isis said this as if her words were blocked, then looked out the window again, seeking an answer. She saw Aryen again. Of course, Aryen was still kind to Isis. He knew how to take care of his companions and would step forward to handle monster attacks. He was the usual, the usual Aryen. If she asked him what he thought now, how would he answer? Would he get angry? Or would he nod in understanding?

“I’m sorry.”

Isis said this and took a deep breath, then exhaled. Her mind just wouldn’t settle. In fact, it had been getting more and more disordered over the past few months.

“If you have concerns, don’t try to bear them alone. Please tell me.”

The nun spoke kindly. Isis nodded. But she would never confess the worries she carried. Even Isis herself couldn’t fully explain them.

The rain was thinning. The sounds of the forest, which had been muffled by the rain, gradually began to revive. The air had grown cool. They said the northern weather turned cool from mid-August. With the rain, the temperature dropped further. After three days, the rain finally stopped and the weather cleared, and the Holy Lady’s party reached the edge of the forest.

“Once we pass this forest, we’ll reach Evernode very quickly. I was wondering if there’s anything uncomfortable…”

The coachman asked while watching Isis’s reaction, and Isis quickly shook her head. Drip, drip. The sound of raindrops falling from leaves could be heard, along with the sound of a stream flowing. After passing the last tree of the forest, the vast northern fields spread out before them.

“The fortress visible beyond that hill is Evernode.”

The coachman informed Isis. Isis nodded and stuck her face out of the carriage, not yet noticing the strange point in the coachman’s words.

“Isn’t it magnificent? They say it’s the largest single fortress in this kingdom.”

The coachman explained like a tour guide as they climbed the hill toward Evernode. As the fortress came into better view, as they got closer, Isis’s pupils began to tremble more and more.

The fortress was too… intact.

Of course, this should be something to be happy about, but Isis, who still remembered the ruins of Barktins swept by the calamity, grabbed the window frame and exhaled broken breaths at the dissonance between her perception and reality.

‘If you want to kill everyone in Barktins, then do so.’

‘Let’s say you bring the Kraken ashore and tie its body to land to defeat the calamity. What about those who remain? Who will take responsibility for those sacrificed in that landing?’

As the Hero said, there was no one anywhere to take responsibility for the dead. There was no one to take responsibility for the injured, even when she left the party and headed to Barktins following the Hero’s orders. Strength drained from Isis’s body. When she turned to look outside, she saw Aryen staring at the fortress of Evernode, having stopped his horse.

“…This.”

Unlike his usual self, he was showing agitation. In that agitation, Isis felt – the belief she had been holding onto beginning to crumble.

“Ah, look, they’re coming out from Evernode to greet us.”

The gates opened, and knights in armor engraved with Evernode’s emblem approached Isis’s party. Isis got out of the carriage to meet the approaching knights.

“Welcome, Holy Lady. I am Lis Swanson, the Grand Knight Commander of Evernode. I heard you came directly from Barktins to here, you must be tired.”

“…I am Holy Lady Isis Blume.”

Unlike the governor of Barktins, the Grand Knight Commander of Evernode’s face showed no worry. Isis couldn’t bring herself to ask what had happened. She felt that something inside her would completely break if she confirmed it.

“You defeated the fourth calamity.”

Aryen spoke up first. Lis looked up to meet Aryen’s eyes and asked with a slightly stiff voice.

“Yes. Thanks to the Hero, we were able to defeat the fourth calamity. You are…”

“I am Aryen Elmione, currently in charge of the Holy Lady’s escort.”

A kind of urgency was evident in Aryen’s voice. Lis looked at Aryen and slightly narrowed his brow.

“Are you perhaps the mercenary who was previously part of the Hero’s party?”

Aryen frowned as if he didn’t understand the intent of the question, then hesitantly nodded.

“…I see. Well, I suppose you had your own circumstances.”

Lis shrugged nonchalantly and mounted his horse again to guide the way.

“Tell me.”

Aryen’s voice stopped Lis as he was about to turn back. Lis turned his head to look at Aryen. Aryen appeared confused and somewhat angry.

“Did the Hero, that man, really defeat the fourth calamity?”

“Yes. The Hero protected Evernode’s fortress and, alone in a frozen hell called the boundary line, fought and cut down the fourth calamity, the giant.”

Lis spoke clearly, as if to make sure they heard. The Holy Lady closed her eyes as she observed Lis’s attitude of strongly defending the Hero. The more Aryen tried to ask, the more testimony came from Lis’s mouth, the larger the crack forming in Isis’s mind grew.

Lis turned to face Aryen directly.

“Look, I don’t know what conflict you had with our Hero, and I don’t know how you think of him.”

A very subtle hostility. The Grand Knight Commander gripped the reins and warned in a chilled voice.

“But here in Evernode, at least, you’d better watch what you say.”

Lis said this with a shrug.

“Unless you want to get stoned.”

Lis’s words stunned the group like a bomb had been dropped. Even the attendants who knew about the Hero’s poor reputation couldn’t hide their surprise as they watched Lis go ahead.

“What really happened?”

“That taciturn and silent Hero…”

The attendants whispered. But Isis couldn’t properly hear their words. As if entranced, the Holy Lady’s party followed Lis into Evernode. Lis turned to look at the attendants following him and smiled faintly.

“Welcome to Evernode, Holy Lady.”

Ripples appeared in Isis’s eyes. Walking along the road, Isis had to grip the nun beside her tightly to avoid staggering.

There was no visible damage.

The screams, groans, and wails heard in the temporary settlements of Barktins were absent.

People were all walking around the alleys with smiles on their faces. The sound of children shouting loudly, merchants calling for customers, carriages rolling. Evernode was… unchanged.

Her head was dizzy. She felt nauseous. The smell of festering wounds and headache-inducing medicine from Barktins rose up.

The air in Evernode smelled of grass and trees.

“Thanks to the Hero, the fortress could be preserved intact. The residents could safely return to their homes. It’s thanks to the Grand Duke and the Hero risking their lives to prevent the giant from entering the fortress.”

‘We can’t let that monster approach the coast. The open sea is definitely out. We need to face it in a narrow strait. We can use the islands between the straits.’

“That was… possible?”

Aryen’s voice was trembling slightly.

“Such a reckless act…”

“The result of that reckless act is, as you can see, this.”

Lis cut off Aryen’s muttering and said.

“I’ve heard that the damage in Barktins was quite severe.”

Lis turned his head to look at the scenery of Evernode for a moment.

“…The Hero probably kept in his heart that he couldn’t protect that place.”

“When you arbitrarily left the party with that mercenary, the Hero didn’t ask anyone to find you. Instead, he hoped you would support the recovery and comfort the hearts of the wounded.”

Why did Bishop Andre’s words come to mind now?

“That’s probably why he fought more desperately here.”

Duty. Mission. Justice.

The words Isis had believed in were being dismantled one by one into meaningless lines. What exactly was duty, what was mission, and what was justice? The collapsed, suffering state of Barktins? And capturing the calamity in a “certain” and “safe” way? Or…

“The Grand Duke is waiting.”

Before she knew it, Isis had reached the mansion of the Strope family. With unfocused eyes and a body that had lost sensation, Isis walked up the stairs to reach the Grand Duke’s office.

Knock, knock, knock.

Lis knocked on the door and opened the office door. In the center of the office sat the Northern Grand Duke, Quenore Strope. Aryen wore a wary expression at that powerful presence, and Isis took a short breath. Lis, who had guided the party, approached the Grand Duke and whispered something in his ear.

“How coincidental. To arrive just two days after Ilroy’s party departed.”

Grand Duke Quenore stared at the Holy Lady’s party standing at the door with his blue eyes, then stood up.

“Welcome to Evernode, Holy Lady.”

The Grand Duke stood before them, crossed his arms, and spoke in a dispassionate voice.

“So, what brings you here?”

“To help… with post-war recovery.”

Was there really anything they could help with in the recovery? Isis’s voice, saying they came to help, became as small as if it were crawling into a mouse hole. Looking at Isis like this, Grand Duke Quenore sighed.

“The wall repairs will be completed within this month. Reconstruction of collapsed houses has begun, and among the residents, there’s no one injured badly enough to need your care, Holy Lady. If there’s a place where you’re needed, it might be treating the post-war injured. But even they, the most critical ones, have already passed their crisis.”

Grand Duke Quenore’s voice was calm. Unlike in Barktins, the atmosphere wasn’t exactly welcoming. The Grand Duke tapped his crossed fingers and spoke.

“No, the one who needed your help more than anyone was Ilroy.”

Isis’s pupils trembled once more.

“When Ilroy returned to the castle after the battle, he was half dead. If not for his strong spirit, he wouldn’t have survived such deep wounds.”

The Grand Duke’s blue eyes were piercing through Isis.

“If Ilroy were still in the castle, I would have immediately asked you to treat him, but that’s pointless talk now.”

Grand Duke Quenore said this and uncrossed his arms.

“Nevertheless, there must be reasons why you separated from Ilroy.”

The Grand Duke extended his hand.

“I’ll end the conversation here. It will be a short time, but I look forward to working with you, Holy Lady.”

Isis extended her trembling hand to grasp Grand Duke Quenore’s hand, already realizing that something inside her had begun to break.