“They wanted to be pure so badly, they altered the very definition to make themselves fit. They failed to see the corruption in their hearts, so now they can’t see anything at all.”
Perhaps they were even happier now. They’d never have to see how dark they’d truly become.
“…Alice. Take them out. It’ll make the perfect chance to test your new weapon.”
“Just leave it to me, Master.”
Alice lifted the bow from her back, pointed it, and summoned up her Source energy. Immediately, a white arrow appeared in her hand, automatically attaching itself to the crimson bowstring. She pulled it tight and then, after a few seconds, released it, felling one of the three fiends without even a sound.
A perfect shot. But what’s truly impressive is her mental fortitude. When it’s time to fight, she completely erases her fear and goes into a trance. It’s courage unlike anything I’ve seen. We’re both cowards, she and I, but that’s the crucial difference.
What was the reason? Why could she do it and he could not?
Leon could not find an answer in the few short moments it took Alice to dispatch the rest of the pack.
“This bow is amazing, Master! It’s like a part of my body!”
“It’s your skill we have to thank, Alice. A weapon is only as good as whoever wields it.”
“O-oh, I…I guess you’re right. Ehehehe…”
They way she reacted to a compliment was very charming. Leon couldn’t help but feel like an old man talking to his granddaughter.
“Let’s keep moving, Alice.”
“Yes, Master!”
Leon advanced into the heart of the darkness with his disciple at his side. Then, soon, they came upon a strange sight.
“Wh-what’s that, Master?”
“I can’t tell if the scouting party did this or the fiends. Either way, stay away from it.”
In the center of the road, a black flame rose out of the ground.
“It’s a Sacrament, so whoever cast it should still be nearby,” said Leon. “The effects don’t last very long. However, I can’t hear any trace of whoever might be responsible. In which case, I think it’s safe to assume it was a fiend.”
But what kind of fiend was capable of this? Leon didn’t know. He gazed into the jet-black flames, ruminating. And just then, as he consulted his memories, another one came out of the darkness to join them.
My whole life, I just went wherever the road took me.
I lacked the faith the others had. Lacked the hate the others had.
I was afraid. Afraid to make a decision. Afraid to stand up for something.
But that didn’t mean there was nothing I wanted to protect.
“Eek!”
A wretched squeal emanated from the dingy church cellar. From my own wretched lips.
“Get your filthy hands…off him!”
My companion Elise Zwelg stepped forward, taking the blade that was meant for me. She had stunning blond hair and an impressive shield. Her thick steel deflected the assailant’s knife, and then…
“Raagh!”
She swung her great sword with a powerful yell. With the last of the foes dealt with, she turned to me.
“Phew! Glad that’s over.”
Another of my companions wiped the sweat from his brow and replaced his great sword on his back. Isaac Sturlson. My friend, my mentor, my blood brother. He offered me a hand as I lay sprawled on the floor.
“Can you stand, partner?”
I accepted his help and rose to my feet. Isaac smiled as he patted the dust from my shoulders.
“Seriously, friend. You have the luck of the devil himself.”
Elise grinned in agreement. “If you hadn’t fallen when you did, you’d be dead.”
“Sure wish the Lord looked out for me as he seems to do for you. Ah, well.”
…If I was really as blessed as Isaac seemed to think, then my life should have gone a lot better than it did. I knew the pair of them were trying to cheer me up, but I couldn’t avoid hearing poison in their words all the same.
“…I’m sorry,” I said. “I’ve only been weighing you down.”
“There you go again. Why can’t you have a little confidence in yourself?”
“I keep telling you, Lab. The only reason you’re here with us now is that we trust you.”
“That’s right! Otherwise, we’d get them to send us someone else instead!”
The two smiled at each other, then Isaac clapped me on the shoulder.
“We need you, pal. Your Sacrament that lets you see the future, your blasted good luck, and your calm mind that neither of us possess. We’re a team; remember that.”
…Despite his words, I couldn’t allow myself to let go of the unease I felt. My Sacrament was automatic and outside my control. And who knew when my good luck would run out? Plus, I wouldn’t have said I had a calm mind. It was more like I was just a coward.
I wasn’t qualified to fight alongside them, to be an Agent like them.
“…The only reason I have this job is that my father was a temple knight,” I said with a sigh.
The other two shrugged. “Whatever. If you’re going to talk yourself into a rut, we can at least do it over lunch,” said Isaac.
“Yeah, I’m starving. Let’s head back and give our report, then get changed and head out into town. We’ll listen to you complain as much as you want there. Deal?”
I nodded awkwardly and made to leave the cellar…but I immediately slipped on the blood-slicked floor and fell.
“What was that, vengeance from beyond?” I muttered.
I sat up and rubbed my head before looking around. Taking it all in again, it was a horrifying scene. Sliced corpses littered the ground, and the stench of death was everywhere.
When I thought about how we had done this, I began to feel sick, even though it was nothing out of the ordinary for us.
“…Why do we have to kill, do you think?”
“Because it’s our job,” replied Isaac. “Our mission, our duty, our pride… I know what you mean, though. It is a little off-putting.”
“Exterminating darkness and corruption for the sake of a pure world,” pondered Elise. “To a Martyr, I suppose that’s an obvious good.”
Those we had slain were heretics. Blots of darkness upon our pure world that could not be suffered to exist. When I was young, it believed it blindly, but now it just felt cruel.
“What we’re doing isn’t so different from heresy, is it?” I said.
“Isn’t that exactly why we’re saving money? So we can make a fresh start in a more orthodox town?” said Elise, walking over to the stairs leading out of the cellar. “Let’s just do the job and get paid. It might not be glamorous, but you can’t say we’re not making the world a better place.”