Good Friends (8)

“Aaaaargh!”

An untimely scream echoed through the cave. It wasn’t Lena’s scream, nor was it the porter’s voice. But thanks to that scream, Ashuria was able to come to her senses. Some monster was swinging an axe aimed at her head. Ashuria reflexively deflected the axe and lightly kicked the opponent’s stomach, creating an escape route.

A body trained by years of practice and holy power was not something these weak demons could handle. Their reaching hands and weapons couldn’t even graze Ashuria’s body, and Ashuria crouched down again, seeking a safe area.

And as she took a fighting stance, she reorganized her thoughts.

What should she do?

How should she escape from here?

What constituted her being was faith. Faith that the church was infallible, and that those the church called sinners were naturally sinners. Faith based on her experience as a heresy inquisitor.

The belief that she would be infallible because she had always lived atoning for her sins.

And all of this was being denied by the demons in front of her.

What should she do?

What must be done?

The scriptures always said to think about what you could do for others. And to do your best to cleanse your sins.

And in front of her were people the church had buried to hide its sins.

Those who had thrown themselves to the demons because the church didn’t reach out to them.

Those who believed in demons and abandoned God.

Are they subjects for punishment?

Is there no need to care about why they did such things?

Is it natural to judge them and bury the church’s darkness in the ground?

[There can sometimes be a difference in perspective between how a church inquisitor sees things and how they’re seen from the back alleys. So… there could be misunderstandings. Because our perspectives are a bit different.]

Ashuria didn’t know why she remembered Lena at this moment. Why did those words, uttered in a rude tone, pierce her heart?

“Lena.”

Ashuria unconsciously called Lena’s name.

---

“Aaaaah!”

Parsus manipulated the lever again and the wall moved. Ashuria’s figure disappeared beyond the wall, and once again, only Lena and Parsus were left in this space. Parsus shouted.

“Stop this foolishness! I’ve become incomparably stronger than before! It’s not a level you can win with your power as an ordinary human! Come along quietly! I told you I’d let you enjoy wealth and glory…!”

Parsus stopped mid-sentence and hurriedly dodged. It was because Lena had rushed forward with lightning speed, swinging her sword at Parsus’s neck. Parsus used the recoil from bending his waist to swing his enormous arm towards Lena.

The arm, still bleeding, sprayed green blood along its trajectory.

“I don’t need money or anything!”

Lena shouted as she used the incoming arm as a foothold to leap in another direction. Parsus turned his head in confusion, following Lena’s movements. Only white dust rose as Lena landed on the cave wall and jumped again.

At a speed too fast to even leave a trace, cold sweat flowed from Parsus’s forehead, and his side was cut deeply, blood gushing out like a fountain.

“Aaaaargh!”

Lena, controlling her speed with her hand on the ground, moved her body again with flashing eyes. Even as Parsus clutched his side and reached out towards where Lena had been, all that was there were the marks Lena had made dragging along the ground and dust.

“N-no…!”

Once again, Lena flew in from a blind spot. To Lena, who was also from the Black Society and full of practical experience, Parsus’s overwhelmingly powerful body was of no use. His leg below the knee was cleanly cut off, flying ridiculously into the air.

“M-my leg…!”

Parsus reached out to grab his leg. Without arms to grab it, this looked even more foolish. The leg spun in the air, spraying green blood as the aorta had been cut. The blood droplets filling his vision were like fireflies taking flight.

“Huk…!”

And Lena’s body burrowed in like a bee, stabbing into Parsus’s back. Gripping the dagger with both hands, it was a single strike that accurately pierced the spine. Instantly severing the nerves, he couldn’t move his entire body, and due to the blood gushing from his whole body, he was destined to die soon.

“Ah…! Ugh…! Kugh…!”

Feeling heat rising from her body, Lena let go of the dagger and rolled on the ground.

“Ah…! That was tough.”

Parsus’s large body collapsed. Due to his severed leg, he lost balance and sat down in place. With his head bowed, his face turned pale, and groans of death throes echoed from his mouth.

Lena lay on the ground, looking at the ceiling. Parsus’s leg fell with a thud and rolled on the floor. Parsus, barely drawing breath, asked Lena:

“Wh-why…! If, if we’re family…! If I said we’re family…! You should have… followed us…!”

Lena looked at Parsus. It was an even more unpleasant form because traces of his previous appearance still remained. She shook her head and said:

“That’s why I kept listening. Because we’re family. Because we’re family, I wavered, thinking maybe I should believe you just once.”

Parsus’s eyes wavered. Even as his consciousness was fading, he tried to reach out towards Lena. But the hand that used to play pranks was on the floor, he was disoriented from losing too much blood, and his paralyzed body wouldn’t move as he wanted.

“Le… na…!”

She pulled the dagger out of Parsus’s back. Blood flowed like a faucet from the hole that had been blocked. Frowning at the foul smell, Lena said:

“…Wrong is wrong, right? You know? Even so, even though it’s wrong… I thought maybe I should believe just once because I really thought of you as family. Right? Because we’re family? Then it’s natural to want to believe.”

Parsus wasn’t listening anymore. His huge body fell to the side, and no more blood flowed out. Lena had no way of knowing what expression he died with. His hideously distorted face seemed to be smiling, crying, and just contorted in pain all at once.

Lena stroked Parsus’s head and said:

“Try to understand. How do you think I felt realizing that people who were family did this? If someone else had said these things, I would have killed them.”

As she said this, Lena suddenly looked at the wall.

Ashuria.

She recalled the conversation they had.

[…I understand. Let’s not talk about this topic anymore. It’s not good for the journey.]

Did she feel like this when she heard bad things about the church?

Lena scratched her head and looked for the lever. And she muttered to herself:

“I should apologize…”

---

Lena is a rude and low-quality human. A clear criminal who has committed murder, a person who inserted selfishness into the great task of defeating the Demon King. That was Ashuria’s first impression of Lena.

And unexpectedly, Lena sang well, knew a lot, knew how to laugh off sharp responses appropriately, and was someone who clearly distinguished between public and private matters as a professional. She was an indispensable presence in this party, and one of the people you could reliably entrust your back to.

And she…

She, whom Ashuria had subtly disregarded as being at the bottom…

Was someone who knew about the church’s wrongdoings before anyone else and was angry about them.

On the issue that Ashuria was also struggling with, she had chosen the path of expressing anger towards the church.

How ridiculous must Ashuria have looked to Lena, emphasizing righteousness while beating innocent people to death as if they were sinners?

Ashuria laughed.

Because she found herself so pathetic for still considering the church’s position even at this moment.

And because she was so ashamed of her past self for not believing Lena’s words and dismissing them as nonsense.

“I’ll apologize when we get back. Lena.”

Saying this, Ashuria straightened her posture. She removed the knuckle dusters from her hands and took a deep breath. The demonized people were staring at her with blank eyes. They seemed rather confused that this combat expert had suddenly stopped her fighting stance.

Ashuria knelt down on the spot.

And closing her eyes, she said:

“I’m sorry.”

The air froze. Ashuria didn’t give time for that bewildered emotion to progress in another direction.

“Intoxicated by the empty title of being a member of the hero’s party, I didn’t know the reality of true weaklings suffering. I didn’t know that you had been driven to extremes and buried in extremes, leading you to make such choices.”

The monsters’ faces contorted strangely. Some didn’t know what to do and hesitated, while others were still angry. Some were crying.

Ashuria said:

“Everyone. I will take responsibility and escort you all to the capital. I promise that, together with the hero, we will establish you as witnesses to reveal the church’s wrongdoings. I will restore your honor.”

The monster who had taken the lead was still staring at Ashuria, breathing roughly. Ashuria opened her closed eyes and looked at the man who had become a monster. He was still clenching his fists and his shoulders were heaving, but he couldn’t bring himself to rush at Ashuria to attack.

But he ground his teeth and shouted:

“H-how can we trust you! You’re also a puppet of the church! You’re clearly trying to trick us to get out of here alive!”

“I too was once a heresy inquisitor.”

The atmosphere froze again at Ashuria’s words.

“There was a time when I believed in the infallibility of the investigators and the church, and thought I was doing the right thing. But in reality, it was full of dirty and cruel acts, and victims were driven into darkness. Everyone. I would like you to give me a chance to apologize. Though I can’t represent the church, I can fight alongside you against the church.”

Ashuria looked at them with her eyes wide open. Her dignified atmosphere and calm tone were overwhelming the surroundings.

“Please believe me.”

Silence settled.

And then.

One.

Two.

Clang.

Clang.

Weapons fell from their hands.