Part 3: What I Hate
EVEN if we were prepared for the worst, it would have been terrifying if violence suddenly broke out. I just didn’t want anyone to die. We left the twins waiting in the woods—Cody refused to let them go that far for their Seminary thesis—and entered the village.
There was no sign of anyone even when we got close to the settlement. I would have been happy to hear even the breathy sounds of someone sleeping, but all I could hear was the wind whistling through cracks.
“We’ll avoid exposing ourselves by remaining out in the open. Please follow me.”
With Dekt at the front, we climbed over the fence behind the shade of a house. Montana sniffed the air and muttered.
“It smells like blood and…decay.”
His words made me stiffen, but I didn’t stop walking. We followed the Temple Knights carefully, trying not to make any noise or draw attention to ourselves. Corinne and Albert, their serious expressions a complete reversal of how they usually looked, did the same while keeping a wary eye on our surroundings.
Dekt, who was leading the way, quietly approached the nearest house. When he lifted the wooden boards blocking a window, a powerfully putrid stench flooded out and I instinctively covered my nose with my sleeve. Dekt shook his head and held up three fingers. His signal meant there were three bodies inside. Considering the size of the house, I wondered if all its inhabitants had been killed.
Dekt, perhaps having decided the attackers were gone, instructed his knights to spread throughout the village. Surveying in smaller groups would save us a lot of time. We followed Dekt and Cody into a particularly impressive building, a house so large it couldn’t be seen in its entirety just by peering through the door. Although it was a single story high, the inside was divided into several rooms. We needed to head in and investigate.
The bodies of a couple and their child were lying in what appeared to be a bedroom. They had probably been attacked in their sleep because it looked like they had died without ever leaving the bed. The attackers must have been quite skilled.
I closed my eyes, unable to bear the tragic sight. Thoughts churned in my mind. No one was alive. Was there any point in coming here? The strong smell of death made me want to throw up.
“We’ll split up and search the house. Haruka, you and your team to the left. We’ll go right.”
Despite his pained expression, Dekt handed out precise instructions. We did as he said and headed left out of the master bedroom. He and Cody went to the spacious living room, while our route took us to a hallway lined with guest rooms.
“Haruka, are you okay?” Corinne asked
“…I’m fine, thank you.”
“If you say so…”
I thought I’d answered in a way that wouldn’t worry her, but it was possible I’d actually made her worry even more.
I had seen dead bodies before at funerals, including my parents’. They had been beautifully made up, and though pale, looked almost the same as when they had been alive.
In contrast, the corpses of the people lying here all had expressions of pain or surprise. They were completely different from what you’d normally see at a funeral. The sight didn’t scare or disgust me. Instead, an overwhelming sadness welled up inside me when I thought about their futures being robbed by whomever had done this. My heart felt heavy, even though I didn’t know these people, had no connections to them.
I also felt angry, wondering what kind of monsters, whether beast or human, could do something like this. Did the villagers do something to deserve it? Could all of these people have committed such evil that they had been murdered for it? No, that can’t be right. I can’t forgive this injustice.
I hated injustice that befell others more than any injustice done to me. It frustrated me that I couldn’t do anything more here. When I was growing up, I had lived my life trying to deflect my anger by thinking that others must have had their own reasons for doing something to me personally, or that I must have done something wrong. Rather than blaming others, I’d lived my life hoping to be able to reach out to those in pain.
But now, I heard my heart screaming. That this injustice could not be forgiven. That no matter what I or anyone else did now, their deaths wouldn’t be avenged. I couldn’t help them. I couldn’t comfort them. There was nothing I could do anymore for them.
A storm of emotions surged inside me. My chest felt tight, like it would burst. And all I could do was grit my teeth helplessly.
✦ ✦ ✦
WE searched through each bedroom and found traces of someone having used one of them. Only the bedsheets in that room were disheveled, as if someone had left in a hurry. Perhaps someone had been alerted to the attack and fled. I hoped that was the case. As I stared out the open window, Montana spoke.
“Something’s here.”
“I don’t hear anything though…?”
Albert cocked his head thoughtfully while Montana stared at the closet. The therianthrope boy then silently approached the closet and gently put his hand on the door. He stepped back immediately after opening it, likely wary of an attack from whatever was inside. But nothing jumped out. He approached the closet again and looked inside. The rest of us followed suit, only to discover something unexpected.