Chapter 80: The Value of What’s Precious (2)

[80] 12. The Value of What’s Precious (2)

Irene left the inn and took off her hood. Her face, illuminated by moonlight, was filled with sorrow.

“The weather is cold, Miss.”

“…Betty.”

Betty smiled softly and draped a coat over Irene’s shoulders.

“How are you feeling?”

“…Horrible.”

Irene rubbed her face with her hand.

“Because of this, Rosalia will learn the witch’s location and her secret. And then she’ll massacre thousands and claim the throne.”

She looked down at her hands with trembling eyes and continued,

“I’ve just pushed the back of a mass murderer. That’s…”

“Exactly what happened in the original story.”

Betty cut her off. While buttoning up the coat for her, she continued

“We’re just doing what has to be done, for the sake of a greater cause.”

Then, she smiled faintly and added,

“Isn’t that what you always say, Miss?”

“…That’s right.”

Irene smiled bitterly. But it was short-lived, she slapped her cheeks and pulled herself together.

“Right, I don’t have time to be gloomy.”

Irene pulled out a medal from her bosom and handed it over. It was the one Rosalia had given as a token of their agreement.

“Well, at least with this, we’ve paid off our debt to the future Emperor. She’s not a woman who’s completely devoid of loyalty, so she’ll definitely be of help during the final battle.”

“Then, next is the Great Divide?”

Betty asked as she put the medal away, and Irene nodded.

“Yes, I need to do some groundwork before Feya loses her legs to Rosalia and goes back to the Great Divide.”

“Are you planning to travel by carriage, or will you use teleportation?”

“Carriage. There are things I need to think about before we arrive at the Great Divide.”

“I understand. I’ll go prepare a carriage.”

Betty immediately turned her steps toward the stable.

“Ah, and there’s something I’d like to ask.”

Betty stopped and looked back at Irene with a puzzled expression. Irene stared at her with a suspicious look on her face.

“From what I’ve heard, it seems Rosalia has a companion… Why didn’t you report it?”

Those words coldly stabbed at Betty’s heart. For a moment, she desperately swallowed down her surprise that almost surfaced and answered.

“I thought there was no need to report since it was just a simple guide.”

“Really?”

A sharp light flickered in Irene’s blue eyes, a light that sometimes terrified Betty.

Those eyes, so sharp that they seemed to be able to pierce through Betty’s facade and see ‘her’.

Betty desperately forced a smile.

“I would never betray you, Miss.”

At those words, the sharpness in her eyes softened. Holding her face, she mumbled as if to herself,

“…I’m sorry, I think I’ve become a bit too sensitive lately.”

“When are you not sensitive?”

“…Shut up.”

Betty sighed in relief and chuckled.

“Well, then, this time I’ll really go prepare the carriage.”

Then she turned and walked away.

***

However, not long after, she stopped again. It was while passing by the back of the inn.

Betty placed her hand on her chest, she looked up.

In one of the windows on the second floor of the inn,

a silhouette was swaying, with the light of a blue magical lamp as its backdrop.

The silhouette was repeatedly moving its hands up and down, as if waving.

*Rem, the fool who brought misfortune upon himself.*

A twisted voice flowed out from Betty’s chest. Hearing it, Betty gave a bitter smile.

“Don’t worry, Goddess, I won’t tell Miss anything about him.”

And with that, Betty finally started moving to arrange for a carriage.

***

A godforsaken place.

It was one of the expressions Rem hated the most, because it was usually used to describe the slums where he had lived.

Of course, he didn’t have any particular affection for the place, but wouldn’t anyone be offended if their home was called a place abandoned by God?

That’s why Rem tried not to use that expression. And it was the same with other expressions used to describe shitty places.

But right now, at this moment, Rem couldn’t help but use it.

“… So, this is the place where the witch is supposed to be?”

The earth was a sickly black, as if it were rotten. And the violet trees twisted their trunks, as if in pain.

It was a sight that made even the brilliant summer sky seem gloomy.

I frowned, looking at the leaves that resembled human lips.

“… No matter how I look at it, it seems like a trap.”

“Wasn’t it you who, after reading the clue, led us here?”

“That’s true, but…”

Rem scratched his head, trying to remember what had happened yesterday.

Rosalia, who had suddenly barged into his room, had handed him a forearm-sized stone tablet.

It was the very same stone tablet he hadn’t been able to steal that day.

Rem, baffled, had asked her where she got it, but Rosalia had simply answered, “An unexpected collaborator.”

… It was quite contradictory behavior for someone who had just been whining about not sharing information.

Anyway.

Rem had deciphered the stone tablet, and this is what it said:

The earth is black,

And the trees are violet.

This is the witch’s warning.

O you who desire nothing.

Do not tread here.

Only the witch allows entry.

To those who do not fantasize,

Those who do not reminisce,

Only those who burn with desire in their hearts,

Only those who yearn desperately.

And she will answer.

What they wish to know.

… And the only place in the vicinity where the earth was black and the trees were violet was this place.

“Whether it’s a trap or not, this is the only clue we have right now.”

Rosalia crossed her arms with a determined expression. It looked as if she was going to enter even if Rem didn’t.

Having no other choice, Rem nodded.

“Right, let’s go in.”

…

…

…

Ten minutes later,

“…”

“…”

An awkward silence filled the air as Rem and Rosalia walked side-by-side.

It was because of the fight they had yesterday.

Of course, Rem and Rosalia often argued. But those were closer to bickering than actual fighting.

A petty argument they could forget after pulling a handful of each other’s hair.

But yesterday’s fight was different.

It was as if all the frustrations that had been building up for a month exploded,

and raw emotions were spewed in the form of words.

And those kinds of fights always leave a bitter aftertaste, enough to create this kind of awkward silence even the next day.

However, awkwardness is a luxury. And neither Rem nor Rosalia were in a situation to indulge such a luxury.

For the sake of their survival, this silence needed to end.

“Well…”

“So…”

…It was quite a coincidence that they both realized this and opened their mouths at the same time.

Rem and Rosalia’s shoulders flinched at the same time.

“Y-you go first.”

“No, you go first.”

“But you’re the one who spoke first. So, you go first.”

“I haven’t organized my thoughts yet, so you go first.”

“…Same here, so you go first.”

Rem frowned. A look of displeasure appeared on Rosalia’s face as well.

“…I’m trying to be considerate here. So, speak first.”

“An unnecessary consideration. Therefore, you speak first.”

“Hah, here we go again…”

“What?”

Rem let out a heated sigh while running his hand through his hair.

“You’re being stubborn again. ‘This isn’t right. This goes against the spirit of knighthood. How about we do it this way instead?’”

“Wh-when did I ever say that?”

“Always. You’re always like this. It was the same when it came to stealing that stone tablet, ‘Let’s not steal but use a more legal method…’”

“Why are you suddenly bringing that up!”

Rosalia scowled.

“And I’m at least communicating my thoughts to you.”

“‘At least’? What does that even mean?”

“It means that I don’t just go and do things on my own, unlike a certain someone. Do you even realize how unpleasant that is?”

Rosalia’s eyes turned cold as they focused on Rem. Rem’s eyes also turned cold.

There was no need to describe what happened next.

“What? I told you yesterday, I was trying in my own way…!”

“How is that even trying? Why won’t you even try to think things through together…!”

Just how easily does discord arise between those who are like cats and dogs. (TL Note: The original metaphor expression was supposed to be 견원지간 ‘between a dog and monkey’. Used to describe a bad relationship.)

They both shouted at the top of their lungs with veins popping on their necks.

And their shouts were loud enough to shatter the forest’s silence and even wake someone who’d been asleep.

[…What noisy guests.]

A voice that seemed to come not from a throat, but from the air itself.

Rem, surprised, turned his head towards the direction where the sound came from.

However, instead of his view ‘shifting’, it began to tilt.

“Huh?”

The ridges of the mountain seemed to form a diagonal line, and then, suddenly, black earth rushed toward Rem’s cheek.

And the moment the earth made contact with his cheek.

*Thud-!*

Rem’s world turned black.

***

As soon as Rem woke up from his sleep, he thought.

*That smell… It’s so familiar.*

The peculiar, foul stench that came from boiling leather clothes,

The scent of herb that creates a terrible disharmony within it.

And on top of that, the smoky smell of burning wood.

The unique stench that filled the air whenever Sister Amy is boiling her special stew.

*Wait, Sister Amy?*

Rem hurriedly sat up.

And then his eyes landed on the scene he had missed so painfully much.

The roof, with holes crudely patched up with worn out leather,

the front door, half-broken, creaking in the wind,

piles of random junk making a mountain,

a crude wooden sword hanging on the wall, stained with handprints,

and a dirty little girl stirring a pot larger than herself.

“…Sister Amy?”

“Rem?”

The girl turns around and looks at Rem. She looked at him, squinting her characteristic blue eyes.

“I told you to stay lying down until you got better!”

“N-No, that’s not it… Why are you here… I thought you were adopted by a Knight Captain…”

“Shhh!”

Nine-year-old Amy stomped her foot, just like Mrs. Flan would. Then she pushed him back down onto the straw mat.

“I’m fine, so just stay in bed. Patients need absolute safety. Got it?”

At that moment, Rem knew what he should say.

[It’s not absolute *safety*, but absolute *rest*, Sister.]

But Rem didn’t say it.

Instead, he sat up again and looked down at his hand.

It, the hand that had been chopped off by a guillotine, was reattached. And it even had the pinkish hue like that of a child’s hand.

Rem burst into laughter.

“Rem…?”

Amy, with a frightened look on her face, backed away. But Rem didn’t care.

He just laughed even louder as he got up. He walked toward where the cooking utensils were placed.

And then picked up the rusty dagger that was used as a kitchen knife and raised it.

“D-Don’t…!”

Amy rushed toward him with a pale face, but it was too late.

Without hesitation, Rem stabbed the dagger into his own neck.

***

And then, Rem opened his eyes.

“Ugh… Why are there two visitors today…! And noisy, at that…! Not to mention heavy…!”

A woman in a robe was pulling a sled with Rem and Rosalia in it.

Rem’s mechanical eyes quickly scanned his surroundings.

Companions, none.

Obstacles, none.

Signs of life, none.

So, there was only one thing left for him to do.

[ragvity]

“Gah-!”

The robed woman let out an ugly sound as she crashed onto the ground. She looked at Rem with bewildered eyes, struggling to get up.

“Y-you, how did you break free from the illusion so quickly… Keck…!”

Rem’s foot pressed down on the woman’s throat. The woman struggled to remove Rem’s foot, but her hands wouldn’t move.

There was only one thing the woman could do.

She stared at the chilling mechanical eyes looking down at her as she felt her breath being cut off.

“Give me one reason why I shouldn’t break your neck right now.”

The intense killing intent in his tone.

The woman, feeling a wetness between her legs, screamed.

“…I-I’m the Witch…!!”