Purgatory (1)

What increases every time a demon commander dies?

The answer to this meaningless riddle was hanging everywhere. Emaciated corpses leaning against trees. Bodies rolling on the ground. Corpses covering the village as if a plague had struck. When the commander died and the magic stones could no longer be maintained, half of the Empire was covered in corpses.

These bodies, dried up with no blood or flesh left to decay, will be eroded by the elements along with their skin. As they become unrecognizable and buried under soil and stones, that will become their grave, and the fact that someone lived here won’t even be recorded.

Our group, having entered demon territory, took shelter from the wind in an abandoned village on the border. With no trees and twisted ravines distorted beyond measure, the wind was blowing miserably like a hen being slaughtered.

The village we entered had long been deserted, and the huts were poorly maintained with bedding and household items in disarray. The dining table where meals were prepared was covered with food that had decayed to the point of becoming one with the plates, and in the corner lay a white corpse presumed to be some woman.

Her face showed no trace of the liberation from the magic stones, only bewilderment and terror. The intense, fearful emotion clearly visible even in her hollow eyes made even the hero’s party avert their gaze.

“We should bury the corpse…”

Ashuria trailed off. The hero and Lena looked at me. I shook my head and said:

“It’s dangerous. Even if our entry wasn’t seen in the night, traces of digging a grave would be visible. It can’t be helped.”

If we buried every corpse we encountered, we would never reach our destination. Corpses filled every path, and we frequently made eye contact with bodies no matter where we turned. There were five of us, but countless corpses.

Unable to do what should naturally be done, Ashuria closed the woman’s eyes and said a prayer instead of burying her. Lena also bowed her head and sharpened her knife. The hero and Mille looked around outside the window even in the darkness and said in low voices:

“There’s no sign of anyone coming, but let’s take turns staying awake just in case.”

Everyone nodded as if it was obvious to this obvious statement.

The hero, taking first watch, gripped her sword and breathed heavily while looking out the window.

Amidst those rhythmic breaths, I fell asleep with my eyes closed.

---

“They say humans die someday.”

I had a dream. Musfel and I were walking on a country road. I knew well what road we were walking on. A road I had walked many times. Red fallen leaves were scattered everywhere, and roots protruding from the path made us watch our steps carefully.

Both Musfel and I just kept walking with somewhat empty expressions.

I remembered that my face was very gaunt and depressed around this time. I also remembered that Musfel had a troubled face and hadn’t even received proper training.

“As time passes, everyone has to die. When you get old, even the Empire’s best knight becomes nothing.”

Musfel’s words were harsh. Along with gloom, there was a certain realization on his face. What emotion was hidden in those sparkling eyes?

At that time, I should have asked Musfel.

What are you thinking? What are you planning to do?

But I couldn’t ask then. I was young then, and unstable enough to get excited by a single word. I grabbed Musfel’s collar and said:

“You, what do you mean by that?”

But then, Musfel showed a more mature response than me. He didn’t draw his sword as if he had been waiting, but shook his head pointing at my hand. Then he brought his hand to his sword and said:

“Before a duel, a knight’s oath comes first. Have you forgotten?”

The knight’s oath.

The ritual of standing the sword at one’s feet and reciting a prayer before a duel.

I stepped back again, and Musfel nodded and straightened his clothes. Although Musfel was of noble birth, he had never used his family background to oppress me. He asked me:

“Are you going to fight? Really? Think again.”

“If you apologize for what you said about the Captain.”

Musfel firmly shook his head.

“The master is old. When people get old, they become that ugly and weak. I don’t want to become that ugly, and I don’t want to acknowledge that the master is a great person. If he’s truly a great person, what are we doing here?”

My head cooled down. It felt like ice had been thrown into my boiling blood. Smoke rises, teeth grind, but I couldn’t be angry.

“…Let’s go back and talk.”

I shook my head and walked forward. Now wasn’t the time for us to fight. Musfel said:

“You have to admit it too. We’ll become like that when we get old. And someday we might die even more miserably.”

“Musfel. What exactly are you asking me to admit?”

Musfel said with a calm face:

“Will you accept fate? Or will you fight against fate?”

As his noble accent ended, the wind blew. Fallen leaves were swept away and our cloaks pulled at our bodies as if telling us not to move forward. I couldn’t answer his question.

“How dramatic.”

Even to this sarcastic remark, Musfel didn’t respond.

“Oh my! Sir Knights! Welcome!”

The closer we got, the closer the nightmare became. I walking this path was not the ignorant me. Both Musfel and I knew what was at the end of this road. The disaster this sobbing man was explaining with gestures and foot movements. And the fleeing women and children, and strange screams heard from afar.

Musfel shook his head, and I sighed and covered my face.

The pigsty fence was broken and pigs were escaping.

And in the mud was the Captain. Wearing clothes like old straw mats, he was swinging his sword in the air and rolling in the muddy water like a pig.

“Aaaaah! Uaaaah! You bastards!”

When we first heard that the Captain had gone senile, no one in the knight order believed it. Musfel beat up the soldier who said those words, and I also shook my head and warned him never to spread such false rumors again.

But as time passed, the rumors grew until they described details so specific that we could verify them ourselves.

The man who was once the captain of the Empire’s knights, now senile and unable to recognize even his own children.

They say he started forgetting things one by one, then later couldn’t recognize people he met often, and finally couldn’t recognize even his family and started acting out.

And now, he often runs out of the house and causes disturbances, but the lords are having headaches because they can’t just grab the former Imperial Knight Captain.

The Captain was rolling on the ground with his whole body covered in black mud and animal feed. I took a deep breath, and Musfel stepped back.

“Captain.”

As I called his name, what should I have done?

Should I have held his hand?

My voice clearly reached the Captain. He looked at us as if he had never caused a disturbance, then suddenly saluted and said:

“Hello! Imperial Knight Trainee! I’m Paulo! Before the seniors arrived! There was an attack and I handled it!”

My head turned white. My legs went weak and I couldn’t breathe. Pulling at my hair, I called out to the Captain once more.

“Captain. Come to your senses. This is a village.”

“Please return my salute!”

The Captain was saluting me. I didn’t know what to do. Musfel then said to me:

“Accept it.”

I nodded. I wasn’t here to pity the Captain after all. When I returned the salute, only then did he lower his arm. People were slowly gathering around, and I reached out to the Captain and said:

“We need to go back, Captain.”

But the Captain, who had been staring blankly at my hand, suddenly swung his sword just as my hand was about to touch his collar. I barely managed to turn my body and dodge, and the Captain shouted with veins bulging in his neck:

“Don’t touch a knight’s body!”

His sword strikes were still sharp, but not difficult for Musfel and me together to subdue. We hadn’t neglected our training enough to be hit by a blind sword swung randomly without reason.

Musfel drew his sword and deflected the Captain’s weapon, and I grabbed both his hands.

“Uaaaaaaah! Aaaaaaaah! Uaaaaaaah!”

The Captain twisted his body violently and screamed. The sword flew and stuck in the mud. The upside-down sword showed off its red jewel as it slowly sank, and finally tilted and fell into the sediment.

“Uaaaaaaah! Aaaaaaaah! Let go! No! I won’t go back! Aaaaaaaah!”

“Captain!”

The Captain screamed and shook his body violently. Musfel was looking at the Captain with a face mixed with disgust and contempt. He spat, bit me, kicked, and raged. Then he contorted his face and wailed, and headbutted me.

“Let go! Let go of this! I’m a knight! Don’t touch a knight’s body! Aaaaaaaah!”

People were pointing fingers. Musfel’s face turned pale, he bit his lip tightly, clenched his fist, then took a deep breath. I grabbed the Captain and dragged him, while Musfel took the lead without looking back.

This was.

A nightmare.

---

“Captain.”

The stars are shining, but nothing in the world changes. The master is still asleep in the distant past, and the Empire has fallen.

My memories were full of painful recollections, and Musfel’s words echoed in my ears.

[Will you accept fate? Or will you fight against fate?]

The question that emerged at dawn.

Tormented me all night long.