“Yeah, you’re right. They never did find any proof. But everyone knows it was that lousy corpse. I mean, you just gotta ask yourself who benefitted, huh?”
But nothing the man said could change Alice’s mind. She simply did not believe it. Perhaps Velgo noticed this, for his face contorted into a wry smile, and he said, “I don’t buy it either. There’s no motive could have possessed that man to take the life of his two friends. But what I’m sayin’ flies regardless of whether the boy’s a killer or not. I’m talkin’ about what he is, missy. I don’t think you’re ready for that.”
Velgo’s next words seemed to come with some distress, but that didn’t stop him from saying them.
“If you wanna be happy, you’ll leave him and never look back. I’m tellin’ ya, wherever that kid goes, death is sure to follow.”
Misfortune came to all who stood by Leon’s side. That was Velgo’s warning.
“It don’t bother me, of course. Death comes for us all sooner or later. Occupational hazard. But what about you, missy? You sure you won’t regret this?”
Velgo could tell at a glance that Alice’s main motivation was her own happiness. And yet…
“I…I won’t! I’ll…stay by his side! There’s nowhere else for me to go!”
Velgo smiled at the girl’s answer, but Leon frowned grimly.
She’s stubborn. Almost like…
Velgo seemed to be thinking the same thing. He looked up at Leon with a thick smile and said, “Hey. Doesn’t she remind you of somebody?”
“…Hmph.”
Leon avoided his gaze aloofly, which made the giant burst into laughter. Then he faced Alice and added, “Well, stay safe, missy. If you change your mind, you can always come party up with me.”
Then he turned his large back to them, ending the conversation. In response, Leon strode out of the guild. Alice followed alongside him and, after a few moments’ hesitation, asked…
“It’s…not true, is it? What that man said. What you did to your old friends. It’s not true, is it?”
“…Velgo wasn’t lying,” Leon replied. “Most of what happened that day is as people think. Four years ago, during the Festival of the Holy Spirit, a horde of fiends attacked the town. And the one who brought those fiends here…was me.”
Leon’s words were a densely wound web of truth and lies, impossible to unravel.
The massacre at Yugosland. The people’s sorrow. They were all…
“…My fault. It’s all my fault. I destroyed it all. And…”
This was Leon’s confession. The manifest weight of his sin.
“…I was the one who killed Master and Rheina.”
Leon and Alice boarded a carriage and set off for their next destination.
“Ah! Look over there! Horses! Wild horses!”
Ever since departing, Alice’s eyes had been glued to the window, yelling and pointing at everything that went by. She seemed eager to keep the trip interesting, but for Leon, her excitement was nothing but an unwelcome nuisance.
“…Don’t you know how to sit quietly?”
“Ugh. S-sorry. B-but there aren’t any other passengers; I’m not disturbing anyone.”
“You’re disturbing me. Now sit down.”
“Huh? A-are you trying to say…m-my witty banter isn’t good enough for you?”
What witty banter? Leon wanted to ask but refrained. He simply shrugged, and Alice made an indecipherable expression before muttering under her breath, “You really don’t smile anymore…”
“Ghouls can’t smile,” Leon replied. “We don’t have emotions.”
“That’s not true,” Alice shot back, and slowly raising her head, she looked Leon directly in his crimson eyes. “I remember you, you know. Just a little, but I’ve seen you before. With Claire and Rheinhardt. You were always smiling back then.”
Did we really meet each other in the past? thought Leon. But deep beneath the surface, dark clouds roiled. Before he knew it, Leon opened his mouth…to deny his own emotions before they revealed themselves.
“It doesn’t matter whether I used to smile or not. What difference does it make to you? Whatever we were in the past, you and I are strangers now.”
After he finished speaking, Leon regretted his words. What was he doing, letting some kid’s optimism get to him?
“…Sorry. That was out of line.”
“N-no, I was at fault too. I dug up old wounds you weren’t comfortable discussing…”
The carriage fell silent. But only a few moments later, Alice opened her mouth again.
“I don’t think this is a pleasant topic either, but I must tell you… I want to make you smile. I can’t go on watching you cry like this.”
“…Ghouls don’t cry. Like I said, we don’t have emotions.”
“No, you are crying. Inside… Just like I was.”
Alice didn’t want to anger Leon, but still she spoke. It was all the lead-up to her next statement.
“I want to heal your troubled heart, Leon. I want you to smile again. That’s why I’m not going to give up. Not ever.”
Karna village was a small mountainside community of less than a thousand people. The village was highly traditional, and the buildings and lifestyles were quite antiquated. Outside, farmers toiled in the fields, each turning a suspicious eye toward the outsiders in their midst. It was clear from the looks on their faces that they treated Leon and Alice as intruders into their isolated community.
Or at least, the adults did.
“Hey, mister! Lady!”
“Are you two adventurers? Where do you come from? Tell us a story!”
The children only displayed welcoming smiles. However, there was little point in conversing with them, and Leon ignored their badgering. Alice, on the other hand…
“This man is actually one of the Heroes of Salvation! We’ve come a long way to help your village!”
Her usual timidity was nowhere to be found. When talking to children, Alice’s innate cheeriness came to the fore. But Leon only found her actions bothersome.
“Are you going to talk to the elder?” one of them asked.
“We’ll show you the way!” said the other. “As long as you tell us a story after you—”
“Get away from them!”
A gruff man working in the fields interrupted the child’s eager request. He puffed himself up and walked over to the pair.
“Didn’t your parents tell you not to speak to outsiders? Do you want to catch their ills?!”
It was sadly the way around these parts to pin any calamity on outsiders.
“Why are you being so mean?” the kids cried. “They’ve come to save our village! Why are you mad at them?!”
The children’s souls were beautiful and pure…but they lacked the power to make their ideals a reality.
“Don’t talk back, you cheeky brats! Now get the hell outta here before I give you a hiding!”
They were only kids, after all. They couldn’t speak out against the tyranny of the grown-ups. The moment the farmer’s fist came down, they scattered in all directions, crying.
“Tch…”
Giving a rude tut to the two outsiders, the farmer turned and walked away.
“…Why do grown-ups never talk to children properly?” asked Alice, forlorn.