“We were to investigate every lead, leave no stone unturned. The church wanted for information, as we didn’t know where the fruit could be found. However…it must have been about seven hours in, I suppose. We came to the plaza on the east side of town, and there we found an enormous tree…”
“And that was where you found the anomalies?” Leon asked.
“Yes, exactly. We thought it would take us days, not hours. All we had to do was pick the fruit and go home… But then, he arrived.”
A fiend. One which even the adventurers’ combined might could not fell.
“An Ifrit,” the woman said.
Ifrits were giants, clad in fire. They were Class One fiends, a highly threatening foe but not invincible.
“And not only you, but Velgo’s Risky Eagles also fell to this beast?”
“Yes. That was no ordinary Ifrit. I have slain many in the past, and I would sooner face them all at once than battle that fiend again.”
Then this fiend defied even a Class One categorization.
“I should have fled when the rest of us fell. But…I was stubborn. My sister, you see. The infection feeds on her. I thought if I retrieved a sample, I might use it to cure her…”
The woman looked straight into Leon’s crimson eyes, her pale face wretched with desperation.
As well as an adventurer, Leon was the Hero of Salvation. A warrior charged with meting out peace and justice. There was only one thing to do in a situation like this.
“I want to observe the Ifrit,” he said. “It may be possible to defeat it.”
It wasn’t too late to save her. However, Leon couldn’t make any promises.
“I don’t intend to abandon you or your sister,” he said. “But if I decide it’s too much…”
“Yes. We’ll head back to the city. I understand.”
It wasn’t hard to imagine what fate awaited her and her sister there. Leon wanted to avoid that at all costs, but if he had to retreat, he would. This woman wasn’t the only one with something to protect.
Leon turned to Alice and waved her over. Then he helped the woman to her feet.
“Do you have any idea as to the Ifrit’s location?” he asked.
“Yes, I do. One moment, please.”
The woman took out a pocket watch from her waist pouch and checked the time.
“I’ve been watching how it behaves these past few days. Over the course of the day, it travels between seven separate locations. It keeps a tight schedule, too. Around now, it should be…below the big tree.”
Leon listened to her directions, then prepared to set off. But before that…
“Oh, I didn’t catch your name.”
“Huh? Oh…you’re right.”
The woman seemed hesitant to answer. Leon suspected she might have her reasons.
“You don’t have to tell me your real name if you don’t want to. Just something to call you.”
“I see. In that case…Rayne. Call me Rayne.”
Following her directions, the trio arrived at the destination: a huge tree in the center of an open plaza. Just like the town buildings, the tree’s bark was as white as snow. Only the things growing on it were black as darkest night. They were the very anomalies in question; a peculiar fruit shaped like a downward-pointing triangle.
“As much as I want to bring one of these back right now…”
Leon suspected the fiend standing right next to it would have something to say about that.
An Ifrit. A white-skinned giant clad in black flames…or perhaps roasted by black flames was more accurate. On its face was a mixture of sadness and pain, as if tortured by its very existence.
“There’s no trace of what he looked like while alive. It’s quite the transformation.”
The cowardly deadweight. The one Leon compared to himself was now a fiend like him also.
“The flames, the skin color, the face. None of it is normal. Plus…”
No other Ifrit wielded the armaments this one had: an enormous sword and shield.
“He’s constructed them out of fire… Perhaps to be like his old comrades.”
What had he been thinking at the moment of his death? Just as Leon pondered that question, the answer came to him in a vision.
The warmth we felt.
The promises we made.
My worsening regrets.
They’re all still here.
Like dregs, even after I…
“Haah…haah…!”
We ran, even though it felt like my feet would come off. We hurried down the main road in the black of night, our enemy drawing closer by the second.
“Argh, damn, my feet are killing me!”
“I don’t…wanna…hear it…! Now…you’ve got…me complaining!”
Isaac and Elise. They were coated in blood, running for their lives.
As was I. The events leading us to this predicament replayed in my mind over and over again.
It was all because we tried to do the right thing.
An Agent’s tasks were not just to kill. We were also supposed to burn any heretical texts we came across. We were engaging in these duties like any other day, when, by chance, we found it: a nefarious plot penned by Macbeth, the Archbishop of Regtelia Town and its surrounding parishes.
It spoke of danger. The whole town would meet with ruin, and those we knew to be good people would perish. We needed to evacuate the town before it was too late.
And the result of that was this. We could never hope to stand up to such a deep and malicious evil. All we could do was run. But where to? Nowhere was safe. Yet we had little choice.
“We…can’t…die…! Not…here…!”
“Yeah… You got it…partner!”
“We…have…a dream!”
As we ran, we spoke of our hopes, praying for a miracle.
…But none came.
At that moment, I was struck with a vision. My Sacrament, which offered me unsolicited views of the future. It showed the impossible choice I would have to make mere seconds from now.
I watched as a dark hole appeared to the side of Isaac, and an arrow flew out at him.
My mind immediately began racing. I needed to take the hit to save him. But…what would happen to me if I did? There was little doubt; I would surely die.
My life or the life of my friend?
Perhaps if I had possessed the courage to make that choice, things would have been different, but in the end, I was unable to do anything but watch. Watch as my prediction came true before my very eyes.
“Guh?!”
The arrow pierced his back. He collapsed, and Elise and I stopped and turned.
And then another dark hole appeared above him.
I had to do something. I had to save him.
But I couldn’t.
“Rgh…!”
All I could do was watch as Elise ran back for him. All I could do was shake, unable to take a single step. All I could do was listen to my friend’s dying voice.
“H-help…me… Partner…”