Chapter 10

CHAPTER 5 | An Innocent Hatred Thoroughly trounced by the Undead King, the knights rode their mud-covered warhorses down the road toward the capital. Each of their faces was dark, displaying deep unease and uncertainty. “I can’t believe this happened…” They had hoped for a future where Holy Knight Diné would slay the monster with her holy sword, as she’d always done before. They were also prepared for the possibility that they’d all be killed before they could complete their mission. Not a single one of them had imagined they’d be put under a geas and left alive. “What’s going to happen to the country now?” “……” Not one answer broke the silence that followed the murmured question. Terios, the Undead King that appeared in Krio Village, was simply too powerful. As knights, they fought for a living. They knew capturing an enemy alive was way more difficult than simply killing them. Yet Terios had managed to force dozens of regular soldiers and Holy Knight Diné to surrender without seriously injuring a single person. They didn’t need to bother asking what would happen to the Erythron Kingdom if someone that powerful committed themselves to murder. “Near as I could tell, the Undead King doesn’t seem like that bad a person, don’t you think?” asked the youngest and newest of the bunch, trying to lift their spirits. On the way to Krio Village, Diné had told them all about Terios. They’d thought an undead that aimed for a peaceful world was nothing more than a bad joke, but considering they were now leaving with their lives, they were starting to believe it a little. A number of the other knights nodded in agreement, but the middle-aged lieutenant shook his head. “I don’t care if he’s good or bad. I don’t want someone that strange unifying the entire continent.” “Huh?” “It’s not because he’s a monster or an Undead King. It’s all just too off.” Though the lieutenant was responding to the young knight’s gasp of surprise, he spoke almost as if to himself. “Even a child knows it’s impossible to make a peaceful world where no one ever kills anyone else. He’s got to be wrong in the head if he seriously thinks he can make that happen.” Terios was trying to accomplish something that no one had managed in the over-two-thousand-year history of the continent of Trokhia. Obviously, it wasn’t meant to be. “He seems like he’s got good intentions. I don’t think he’s evil or anything. But still, I don’t want our fates to be in the hands of someone that weird.” “……” “Sorry, forget what I said,” muttered the lieutenant as he saw his troops faltering, their faces grim again. He changed the topic. “Anyway, let’s do what the captain said and return to the capital to report everything to His Majesty.” In the end, the knights were just the kingdom’s swords. It was up to the king to decide where they aimed their blades. There was no point in worrying their minds too much over it. That being said— “Think carefully about what you’re going to say. If His Majesty is so shocked that he ends up falling ill, then the captain will come after us like a demon, despite us managing to make it out of there alive.” “Ah-ha-ha!” The knights all burst into laughter as the lieutenant’s shoulders shuddered in exaggeration. It was such common knowledge that Diné loved the young king like her own little brother that even the new knight knew about it. “Captain’d probably run to His Majesty, even if she had to go against her geas.” “Oh, that’s an idea. Let’s write a fake letter saying His Majesty has collapsed from a serious illness, so we can save Captain from the Undead King.” The knights joked and laughed together, trying to dispel their insecurity. Until now, they’d always believed that even if they were anxious, they could at least carry out the orders that Diné had given them. She had endured horrific pain as she pushed herself to continue walking down the narrow forest path. The green blotches all over her body from the green rot meant her time was running out. That’s why she had to find help before she perished. “Huff, huff…” Her breathing was ragged, and sweat ran like waterfalls down her face, but the next village came into view at last. The path was blocked by royal soldiers. “Aah…” She saw the bows and arrows in the soldiers’ hands and gasped in both sorrow and understanding. The village chief and his family had traveled first to the neighboring village, but they’d taken a long time to return. Thinking this was suspicious, one of the village’s young men had gone to see what was happening. He’d returned and warned them of this, despair plastered over his face. The Erythron Kingdom had abandoned them. It had given up on the people of Krio Village. Despite everything, she didn’t stop. She kept trudging on, and the soldiers mercilessly fired arrows at her. “Hurk…” Arrows pierced her arm and stomach, and intense pain shot through her body. But the pain was actually the perfect stimulant for her mind, which was hazy from the green rot’s fever. “I beg of you! Please save my daughter!” she desperately cried to the soldiers as they fitted new arrows to their bows to finish her off. “I don’t care what happens to me. Please just help her!” She didn’t even have to look at the soldiers’ anguished faces to know they weren’t going to answer her plea, but that was all she could do to save her beloved daughter. She continued staggering forward, blood pouring from her body. “Please save my—” An arrow pierced her chest, cutting off her appeal. “Gack…” She coughed up the blood rising in her throat and collapsed. In her slowly darkening vision, she made out the soldiers preparing fire arrows. They were going to burn her to eliminate the green rot. She didn’t fear her corpse being burned, as Vulcanus, the God of Fire, would guide her to the afterlife. Actually, she felt relieved. She’d been abandoned by her husband when she didn’t give him children, and that drove her to despair. Her beloved daughter was the light that lit up her hopeless life. Now she mourned, for she would die without accomplishing anything to save her daughter. That’s why, as the arrows struck her body and engulfed her in flame, she summoned her last ember of fading strength to whisper an apology that no one would ever hear. “…I’m so sorry, Mira.” “—Momma!” Mira awoke to her own scream. She saw Torio sleeping soundly next to her and realized she was in the bedroom of the village chief’s house. It had all been a dream. “Huff, huff…” Mira’s breathing was ragged, like her mother’s had been in the vision. She looked at her arms, but no indication of the green splotches remained. Yet, the fever and pain she’d felt in her dream had certainly been symptoms of the green rot. “What was that…?” Her feelings of guilt must have conjured the images. That seemed likely. And yet, the anguish on the faces of the soldiers who fired the arrows and the pain of her mother as the projectiles struck, both things she should have no way of knowing about, had all felt so real. “No way. Did that really happen?” Mira asked herself. “Looks like you saw someone else’s memories.” “Ah?!” Mira jumped up in surprise at the voice that suddenly rang from behind her. She quickly turned around and saw the usual teasing smiling of the black cat. “Melan, don’t scare me like that…” “And here I came to check on you because I heard your scream. That’s a bit pushy of you, isn’t it?” “S-sorry.” Mira couldn’t help apologizing. The cat smiled even wider and added, “More importantly, you’ve advanced quite a lot as a magic user if you’re peeking into other people’s memories in your dreams.” “What do you mean?” she whispered so as not to wake the other children, and the cat sighed in annoyance. “I explained it before, didn’t I? Your soul is connected to the arche.” “Yeah, I remember that…” “The arche really is the center of the world and everything in it. So everything that has ever happened in this world is engraved into the arche. Including the memories of every living thing.” Though Mira was still relatively uneducated, the explanation was enough to give her an idea of what the cat meant. “Because I’m a magic user, I saw Momma’s last moments in my dream…meaning they were in the arche?” “Yep,” replied the cat shortly as she patted Mira’s hand with her tail, almost like someone would pat her head in recognition for a job well done. “While they may have been impactful memories from someone you were closely connected to, the fact that you’re unconsciously pulling information from the arche means you really are quite talented.” “Ah…” Despite Melan’s honest words of praise, for some reason, Mira started to quiver in fear. Although she didn’t fully understand the extent of her emotions, the black cat seemed to see it coming. “I told you before, didn’t I? If you want to stay you, don’t ever forget who you are,” she insisted. “…Yes.” Hearing the warning for a second time, Mira took it to heart. She was actually happy to learn from the dream that her mother had loved her so much that she had kept trying to save Mira until her last breath. But Mira was also frightened that emotions from the arche would wipe away her own spirit as they flowed into her like they were her own, even if they belonged to her mother. “Does Terios see other people’s memories like this?” “Hmm, I wonder?” responded the cat, evading Mira’s sudden concern. Then she left the bedroom and walked down the hall. “Hurry up and get breakfast ready. If you make something gross, I’ll cast you into eternal darkness.” “Uh, okay.” Mira assumed that Melan’s threats and her insistence that she focus on work was the cat’s way of being conscientious, an attempt to distract Mira from the dream memories. She couldn’t be sure of the cat’s true intentions, but she followed after her and went to the kitchen. Gazing at the numerous ingredients lined up on the shelves, she brooded over the meal. “What should I make?” Before Terios came, they didn’t have choices when it came to food because their ingredients were meager. On a good day, she’d have bean soup or pickled cabbage in addition to their staple food of bread or wheat gruel. Some days ended with her having eaten nothing more than a single boiled taro. Now, however, they had meat selections that included jerky and sausages, fruits like apples and raisins, and even some red vegetables she couldn’t even recognize. She had no idea how she was going to eat everything. “Melan, would you be okay with some pork sausage?” “Stick it in the fire for a bit. I don’t want it raw, and I don’t want it burnt.” “Okay, I’ll cook some sausages. There’s a bit of bread left over from yesterday we can use. Some honey, too… No, I shouldn’t. Instead, I’ll use this leafy thing that doesn’t look like it’ll stay good for much longer.” Resisting the urge to eat her favorite thing, she placed the honey back on the self, then took the leafy vegetable—lettuce—that had gone uneaten for a long time because the children didn’t like it. She sliced it up and placed it in a pot to boil and seasoned it with a bit of salt. “Hmm…” When she tasted it, a wrinkle formed between her brows. It wasn’t so bad she couldn’t eat it, but it wasn’t delicious by any stretch of the imagination. I bet a chef in the capital could make it nicer. The bread that Terios bought for them in the capital didn’t look all that different from the bread they’d always eaten in the village, but the difference in taste was like night and day. The first time Torio, the son of a baker, tried the bread, he cried tears of frustration out of sheer disbelief. What can I say? Now that I know what’s good, I’m not happy with what I’ve been eating… The truth of the world was that misfortune and fortune were often two sides of the same coin, and she’d caught a glimpse of the other side. She gazed at her unsuccessful vegetable soup with mixed feelings. “I want to study cooking, too,” she murmured thoughtlessly. “I can go along with you if you need a taste tester,” said the black cat before biting the still uncooked sausage. The black cat always knew so much, but it looked like she didn’t have a clue about cooking—or at least wasn’t willing to teach Mira. And Terios said he can’t cook, either… A voice she’d gotten used to hearing over the past five days rang out behind her. “Morning. You’re up early again.” Mira turned back to see the holy knight Diné standing there, wiping sweat from her brow. She stared at Diné’s red hair in silence. “What’s wrong?” “Nothing. Good morning.” Mira quickly returned the morning greeting as Diné watched in confusion. The dream she had had this morning must have thrown her off. Her mother’s hair wasn’t as vivid as Diné’s, but it was still red. The phantom image of her mother overlaid on Diné nearly brought her to tears, but she was too embarrassed to tell Diné. “Ummm, were you practicing with your sword this morning, too?” “It’s a habit. I feel off if I let my skills rust,” replied Diné energetically to Mira’s attempt to veer the conversation off topic, tapping the holy blade at her waist. Terios had used magic to recover it from the swamp. She then peered into the boiling pot and said, “Lettuce soup? Nice. I know you need to eat meat, but I’ve heard it’s bad for your body if you don’t eat vegetables, too.” “But nobody really likes vegetables. I’m worried there’ll be a ton of soup left over.” She grimaced, but Diné thumped her own chest and said she’d take care of it. “Hey, if there’s too much, I’ll eat it all.” “Th-thank you.” Mira smiled back with only slight stiffness, glad she could depend on the holy knight. After Diné lost to Terios, took the geas to follow him, and started living with them, Mira quickly learned about her huge appetite. More muscular than most weaker men and possessed of superhuman strength, she could crush a rock in her bare fist. Mira understood that meant Diné would have to eat more, but there was something wrong with eating enough to feed four people in one sitting. But Terios told me she wouldn’t eat much… Diné didn’t shrink from the large pot of vegetable soup, big enough to feed ten people. In fact, she looked ready to chug it all down. Mira couldn’t believe Diné was human like her. “Oh yeah, Diné, if you don’t mind, could you teach me how to cook?” asked Mira when the idea suddenly came to her. Unlike a village girl from the middle of nowhere, a noble lady born and raised in the capital should know all sorts of cooking techniques. But instead of nodding pleasantly, Diné’s face stiffened. “Mira, do you know what knights do?” “Uh, fight?” “Exactly.” “……” “……” The pregnant silence that fell between them told Mira she shouldn’t ask any more about this. At a loss, Mira tried to change the subject, but the black cat leaped on Diné’s head and smiled teasingly. “You mean you’re terrible at cooking and sewing and whatnot because you’ve spent all your time on knight training, is that right, Miss Diné?” mocked the cat. “Hey, you little!” Her hand shot to her head, but the black cat slipped through like a snake and leaped over to Mira’s head instead. “You should train your wifely duties, or you’ll end up a lifelong virgin girl,” teased the cat. “D-don’t call me a virgin!” shouted Diné, her face flushing exactly like Torio’s when he was called the same. Despite knowing it was rude, Mira couldn’t help but voice her surprise. “So you’re not married, Diné?” In these times, it wasn’t rare for someone, even a villager, to be married when they reached adulthood at age fifteen. Mira had even heard of nobles who’d been engaged from the moment they were born, since they had to protect their bloodlines more than the common folk. She thought it strange that someone like Diné was still unmarried even though she was over twenty years old. As a holy knight and a descendant of a god, her bloodline was the cream of the crop. “I’m surprised. You’re so pretty, too,” she said. “I’ll have you know, it’s not like I’m not popular with the guys.” Unable to bring herself to anger because of Mira’s innocent compliment, Diné explained in a way that sounded a bit like an excuse. “If I, the holy knight, get married and become pregnant, then Erythron will be without its defender, right? During that time, they wouldn’t be able to stand against monsters or other countries that attacked.” “Oh, I see.” Mira clapped her hands in understanding, convinced because she knew how incredible Diné’s sword skills were. “But then, does that mean you can’t ever get married, Diné?”