episode_0048

Asher watched the people leaving after the trial with a complicated expression. He wasn’t sure if he should say this, but.

Asher said, “This trial. It wasn’t much, contrary to what I thought.”

The trial that began after dinner ended in a truly short amount of time. As the accused, Tyrus, who was tied up, was brought in, and the elder asked him a few things, but Tyrus didn’t give any answer.

The elder asked, “Do you truly have nothing to say?”

He maintained his silence to the extent that even the elder’s solemn expression showed a slight sense of frustration.

The elder said, “I thought you wouldn’t do such a thing, even if you were a coward.”

“….”

The elder said, “But this matter is a great disappointment.”

In the end, the elder, who gave up on hearing an answer from him, pronounced judgment based on what Donar and Shif had witnessed: that in addition to abusing sleeping medicine and incense used for medical purposes, he had violated the girl, and for this sin, he was to be branded as a criminal, tied up tightly, and abandoned without even food or water. It was a hollow trial, so much so that the preparations for it felt longer. It was unbelievable that the death of a person was decided in such a short time.

Donar said, “It can’t be helped if the trial felt a bit short. We run a caravan. If we drag things out too much with matters like that, the unity within the caravan shakes.”

He hadn’t expected a reply, but Donar’s answer came back to his muttering.

Asher asked, “Aren’t you bothered, mister?”

If you listened to people whispering, you could easily hear stories that Tyrus and Donar were close friends. A friend like that committing such a terrible act and facing death. How would he feel?

Donar said, “Your expression isn’t exactly clear either, is it? The guy who did something terrible to your girlfriend is being punished.”

Asher couldn’t answer Donar’s words either. Certainly, if things had gone as originally planned, he would have been the one raising the biggest fuss. But watching Tyrus accept the elder’s judgment without any word of excuse himself left him with an uneasy feeling. Especially because he knew the truth, that Tyrus wasn’t the real culprit. But there was nothing Asher could do. He only knew that Tyrus wasn’t the culprit; he didn’t know how to prove his innocence or find the real criminal.

After the trial ended and they parted ways with Donar, the place they returned to sleep was the wagon Tyrus had been staying in, which made the mood even more unsettled. Asher felt as though he’d been sweating all day and hadn’t showered, and even lying down, sleep wouldn’t come easily, so he tossed and turned until the girl’s voice was heard.

The girl asked, “Are you worried?”

He could never hide his worries from the girl. If Asher was troubled even a little, she would notice it like a ghost.

Asher said, “If that person isn’t the culprit, then we’re really letting an innocent person die.”

And that fact was the same as saying the real culprit who did such a thing to Belka would live on amongst the people without a care. Was there any guarantee that he wouldn’t do such a thing to the girl again? The unease that he might be targeting the girl somewhere even now made sleep impossible. Just as his head felt dizzy with complicated thoughts. A small hand patting his chest interrupted his tangled thoughts.

Asher said, “Ah.”

His vision, blurred by his thoughts, cleared, and met Belka’s golden light again. Her eyes, as clear as a lake seen in the forest, as bright as a blue sky. Her eyes, always lovely to look at.

Belka said, “It’s okay. As long as those who seek the truth to the end don’t disappear, what Asher fears won’t happen.”

Asher said, “Belka’s words are always difficult.”

But her words always reassured him. His head, dizzy with complicated thoughts, settled down, but sleep still wouldn’t come, so the girl lying beside him got up. As he felt her hair brush softly past him, she asked.

Belka asked, “If you can’t sleep, shall we go out for some air?”

Asher said, “Shall we.”

Asher readily accepted her suggestion. It was a night when sleep was particularly elusive. Since the people inside their wagon usually didn’t wake up easily anyway, they opened the door slowly and went outside, in case they woke them up. The night wilderness, having released all the hot heat it received from the sun during the day, was filled with cold air. The glistening sand reflecting the chilling moonlight and starlight gave a colder feeling, but the beauty of the moonlight illuminating the massive cloud barrier remained untarnished. Asher was once again impressed by the sight of the sea of clouds blocking a part of the sky.

Asher asked, “How did such a sea of clouds appear?”

The barrier of clouds, as white as piled-up snow and seeming fluffy to the touch, was a magnificent sight, difficult to even begin to understand how it came into being. The fish that occasionally popped out and flew across the night sky were even more wondrous. Just then, Belka spoke.

Belka said, “I don’t particularly like those clouds.”

He looked at the girl in surprise at her murmured words, and she tilted her head.

Asher asked, “Why?”

Asher said, “Huh, no, it’s just that Belka said she dislikes something.”

Although the girl was shy, she was usually easygoing, so she had rarely ever said she disliked something, causing Asher to be surprised unintentionally.

Belka said, “…Even I have things I dislike.”

Perhaps because he had reacted with a little exaggeration, the girl puffed out her cheeks as if sulking. Asher soothed her and walked with her under the moonlight. Even though they were wearing shoes, the sand occasionally tickled between their toes, but it wasn’t bad as he expected. The sand of the wilderness wasn’t just rough and cold like water, but like fine powder, it softly gave way under their footsteps.

-Swish swish

It was a time when everyone was asleep. The sound of their small footsteps echoing between the deserted wagons attracted the attention of the creatures that had pulled the wagons during the day.

-Grrr?

The异形 creature resembling a horse, called a Hildisvini, was used by humans as a means of transport in the sandy wilderness or desert, but they had another role. That was to detect and warn of the presence of threatening creatures that attacked, whether by night or day. Originally, this was an action to alert their own kind of danger, but humans utilized their nature to entrust them with night patrol. It was their instinct, so they were sensitive to even small sounds. But what appeared in its eyes was not another creature threatening them, but the figures of a boy and a small girl.

Asher said, “Ah, it woke up.”

Belka asked, “Did we disturb it?”

Asher muttered regretfully, and Belka, meeting its gaze, approached apologetically and held out her hand. The Hildisvini quietly watched the girl, then lowered its head and placed it in her hand.

Belka said, “You’re a good one.”

The girl, seemingly not afraid of the异形 creature much larger than herself, smiled cheerfully and stroked its scales, which were hard and smooth like a reptile’s, and which some might find repulsive to look at.

Asher asked in a tense voice, “It won’t bite, will it?”

Asher asked the girl in a tense voice. Actually, he was the one who wanted to come here first. When it was awake, its size was so large that he didn’t dare to touch it, but seeing it curled up and sleeping peacefully at night, he thought it might be alright to touch it and approached.

Belka said, “It’ll be okay now.”

Encouraged by Belka’s words, he carefully reached out from beside the girl and touched the Hildisvini’s head.

Asher said, “Wow.”

Even though he had thought it would be hard due to its reptile-like scales, the skin of the horse-like异形 creature, when he touched it directly, was warm, smooth, yet bumpy, unlike how it looked. Still, the warm temperature of the creature wasn’t bad, so he kept touching it.

Belka said, “How about coming out now?”

The girl didn’t stop stroking the Hildisvini and spoke towards somewhere. Asher looked at Belka in confusion, but she looked calm, as if she had known from the beginning that there was someone else here besides them. As Asher hurriedly looked around, a shadow slowly emerged from behind a nearby wagon.

Pan asked, “Since when did you notice?”

The owner of that shadow was none other than Pan. Asher tensed up at his appearance. Although he hadn’t known him for long, he already roughly knew what kind of person Pan was. Seeing how much hostility Donar held towards him and how he was avoided among people, and observing his actions, he couldn’t help but learn something about him. Moreover, previously, he had felt as though Pan was trying to pick a fight with them for no reason, so it would have been more unusual not to be wary.

Belka said, “From the beginning.”

This was especially true in a situation like this, when all the other adults were asleep. If he had simply come out for a night walk like them, it wouldn’t have been unbelievable, but why was he hiding? Was it because Asher was hiding the girl behind him and glaring at him? Pan’s expression gradually twisted.

Pan said, “You, stop being a nuisance and scram.”

He raised a finger and began drawing something in the air. Asher’s eyes widened in surprise at the sight. A trail of light followed his finger in the air, drawing characters familiar to him. That was…

Pan said, “‘Thurisaz’.”

It was magic.

Asher thought he was certainly going to die. As far as he knew, Thurisaz was lightning magic. That magic, superior in speed, power, and versatility compared to simple flame, was worthy of being called one of the strongest spells. It was a power that could kill a person in an instant. But nothing happened.

Pan muttered, “…What?”

Pan, who had tried to use magic, muttered with a dumbfounded expression. It wasn’t like he was pretending to be a mage when he wasn’t. He was clearly chosen by magic. He had seen the sight of characters being drawn in the air with his own eyes, so there was no way he couldn’t believe it.

Belka groaned, “Augh.”

Asher exclaimed, “Belka?!”

At the girl’s suppressed cry of pain that came just then, Asher turned around in surprise to where she was. Belka was holding her chest and sitting down. She was in such pain that she was sweating on her fair forehead, yet her golden eyes were glaring at Pan. At her appearance, Asher hurriedly placed a hand on the girl’s forehead, but he felt no heat. Then why, just why.

Belka groaned, “Uuugh!”

At that moment, another pained groan escaped from between the girl’s teeth, and her grip on her chest tightened.

Asher exclaimed, “Belka! Why suddenly…!”

Pan laughed, “Kuk, Kuhahaha! Yes! That’s how it was? That’s how it was!”

And hearing Pan’s laughter, as if the sight was so amusing, Asher glared at him venomously.

Asher shouted, “What’s so funny!”

Pan said, suppressing his laughter, “You really don’t know anything about Belka, do you?”

He spoke, holding back his choked laughter. In truth, it was something he had just figured out himself, but the fact that the boy truly knew nothing about the girl was truly amusing. After all, if his thoughts were true, this was not just a hit, but a super hit.

Asher shouted, “Don’t call Belka so casually!”

Pan was annoyed by Asher’s screeching, but since he was in a very good mood right now, he decided to show a little mercy.

Pan said, “Curious why Belka is in pain? Then watch this.”

Asher gritted his teeth at the way Pan kept calling the girl’s name so familiarly, but at the next sight, he tensed up. Pan had started drawing the same rune in the air as before. He thought that perhaps it was just luck that the magic hadn’t activated the first time, but this time he truly thought he would die.

Asher said, “Huh?”

The magic didn’t activate.

Belka groaned, “Ugh!”

Instead, the girl’s pained groan filled the empty air. And then came Pan’s voice.

Pan said, “Belka canceled my magic! And something like this is what a witch does! Among them, only an extremely small number of witches can do it!”

The Hildisvini is a smart and strong creature. Creatures that can hunt or confront them while living in this barren wilderness are rare. The reason such creatures chose symbiosis with humans was because humans had the power to protect them from those few things. However, they know that not all humans are like that. Even when they know it is a human, the Hildisvini are wary when an unfamiliar human approaches, and if serious, they warn just like when they encounter other threatening creatures.

They also had a high nose, refusing touch from those who hadn’t tamed them directly. Normally, a Hildisvini shouldn’t even allow the touch of a small, weak girl and an ordinary boy. Thanks to the power that comes from its overwhelming size, it is also used as a warhorse, and its power is beyond description. It is easier to deal with cavalry by facing them with cavalry of your own or using firearms. If you carelessly provoke it, it can deliver a fatal attack even to a sturdy adult, so what would happen if such a small girl were attacked?

The man, who had almost rushed out fearing the girl would be attacked and incapacitated, witnessed an amazing sight. The Hildisvini, far from being wary, lowered its head towards the small girl like a gentle puppy and offered her its head. Under the moonlight illuminating the vast wilderness, the harmony of the huge, uncharacteristically gentle 异形 creature and the beautiful girl stroking the creature was a sight enough to make a man stare blankly. He could understand it if it was a witch’s magic.

There are two kinds of magic in the world. Summoning magic, recorded in books and passed down as knowledge, and bloodline magic, passed down from blood to blood. These two types of magic are the same magic but have different directions. Summoning magic can be used by drawing special characters in the air, which correspond to the magic, but most of them are destructive enough to be used in war. In fact, many mages were mobilized in war and achieved merit, and mages became symbols of power and destruction, inspiring awe.

On the other hand, bloodline magic was not as destructive as summoning magic. In fact, compared to mages who use summoning magic, their combat ability is poor. However, the reason bloodline magic is special is that it requires no cumbersome movements and its versatility is infinite. Even if its destructive power is lower than summoning magic, the versatility of bloodline magic is so vast that this drawback is invisible. But unlike summoning magic, where it’s usually impossible to find a common point among users, bloodline magic had a special commonality. That was the fact that all users of bloodline magic were female.

And the ultimate extent of that bloodline magic was canceling a mage’s summoning magic. Pan had never imagined he would see it with his own eyes like this. But seeing the state of the girl, who looked like she could collapse at any moment, it seemed it wasn’t a power that was only convenient.

Pan said, “It’s amazing, but canceling magic seems to have a lot of limitations.”

Even while saying that, he was admiring it inwardly. What was magic? It was an absolute power. Those women who could prevent such mages from using their magic were beings who struck fear even into mages who were praised as invincible. In the Holy Land, for a long time, they had defined those who used bloodline magic in this way. As Saints and Witches. The detailed criteria for dividing Saints and Witches were unknown, but the stories from the Holy Land, which stored and possessed many artifacts and magic tools from the Age of Great Mages, had a huge impact.

Saints are respected and protected in the Holy Land and other countries, while witches become ominous beings, and if their whereabouts are discovered, they are collared and sold to high-ranking individuals to be used for breeding. Perhaps it was a natural story. Bloodline magic is passed down from blood to blood. This means that a witch’s lineage has the potential to manifest bloodline magic. It wasn’t guaranteed that a witch’s child would manifest bloodline magic, and it was very rare, but even that possibility alone was a good enough condition to entice high-ranking people. The number of witches is small and they are hard to find.

Therefore, regardless of the era, there were many nobles who desired witches, and they are still sold for a high price? If she were sold like that, the girl would be treated as a breeding mare, violated and forced to bear children until her body wasted away. But he had no intention of selling this girl. This was because he also desired Imprinting magic. Pan intended to make this girl bear his child and use her magic for him. If only that happened, he would no longer have any weaknesses to speak of. Of course, the reason for making such a decision was based on his sordid desire for the beautiful girl.

Pan slowly approached Asher and Belka. Asher was tense and glared at him, but to Pan, it was just something to scoff at. One might think that a typical mage wouldn’t engage in physical labor, but even though he knew how to use magic, he was originally a knight. A brat who hadn’t even received proper training was no match for him. Indeed, as he got closer, Asher charged at him.

Asher cried out, “Kuk! Kkeuk! Let go!”

And his struggle was limited to being grabbed by the collar in this manner. While doing so, he tried using magic on Asher again, as a test.

Asher groaned, “Ugh!!”

As expected, the magic didn’t activate, and only the girl’s pained groan was heard. Pan laughed at this.

Pan said, “How long do you think you can keep canceling my magic? The moment you reach your limit, I’ll turn this brat into ashes.”

Asher felt his body trembling at Pan’s words. Dying was frightening. But this trembling wasn’t just from fear. He was angry. More than anything, the helplessness of being unable to do anything was the most unpleasant and infuriating feeling.

Pan said, “Alright, how about I make a proposal? As it is, you’ll reach your limit first, and at that moment, this kid will turn to ash. Instead of letting that happen, how about you offer your body to me?”

At Pan’s words, Asher felt his mind go blank. Pan continued, looking down at Belka, who was sitting down in pain.

Pan said, “In return, I’ll let this kid live. Isn’t that a good condition?”

Pan didn’t think the girl would refuse this proposal. Even Asher, moreover, expected her answer and clenched his fists so hard his hands bled.

Belka said, “It was you… who defiled that child’s heart.”

However, what came back from the girl was not an acceptance of the proposal, but words filled with certainty about something else.