“Commendations on the successful mission, everyone.”
Sitting in his bed in his pajamas, the luxuriantly bearded King Bartra thanked his knights for their hard work.
The five knights of the Dawn Roar kneeling before him bowed their heads solemnly.
The royal castle of Liones stood atop the low hill overlooking the capital. The king’s bedroom was on the top floor of the central tower.
This early in the morning, the castle was not yet crowded with the knights and ladies of the court in attendance. With the guards ordered to leave as well, the surroundings had fallen silent.
“The Lucky Moon coin—how nostalgic,” King Bartra said. In his fingers he held the coin with the crescent moon engraved on the face, which Slader had given to him. He squinted at it.
“With all due respect, was that coin originally Your Majesty’s?”
The king nodded in response to Slader’s question.
“That’s right. Or to be more precise, it was something that we gave to our former wife.”
“Her Majesty…the late Queen?” Jillian asked.
“Indeed. This coin was said to have only a small quantity of magic, but it would show you the way when you were lost. She seemed to use it only rarely…But, if she had used it back then, that monster may not have gotten her.” The king cast his eyes down sorrowfully.
Some ten years ago, Queen Caroline and some friends had gone to visit a spring outside the capital. It was there she was attacked by a monster and came to an untimely death.
“She went out without taking a single Holy Knight, and her group mostly consisted of ladies. It was a terrible situation. They couldn’t defend themselves. It was only some time after her remains had been brought back to the castle that we realized that several of the ornaments she had had on her were missing.”
“So she had the coin back then…”
“Yes. The monster that killed the queen was caught several years later, but we still didn’t find the lost objects. Someone probably picked up the things after they had been scattered among the bushes and concealed them. We put out an official notice to the jewelers and secondhand dealers, but we hadn’t found anything up until now.” The king abruptly suffered a fit of coughing. With one hand he motioned Slader, who had instinctively stood up, to stand back.
“We are fine. Do not worry.”
“But, sire, your complexion does not look well. Please rest. We will come again afterwards.”
“No. We are fine. It will subside soon.”
The king, who had become remarkably thin over the past year, straightened his back and resumed speaking.
“A few days ago our magic Vision revealed to us, ‘The Lucky Moon will wane in the capital’s dark before the dawn, and the Rainbow of Healing will shine on the unsightly.’”
The king’s magic Vision was, so to speak, the ability of foresight. From vague images and phrases, he could infer events that would occur close to him.
“Just as we predicted, the Dawn Roar captured the thieves that had been using the Lucky Moon. The only part left is the Rainbow of Healing.”
“Rainbow of Healing. Your Majesty has some idea as to its meaning?”
“Yes. We believe the foresight most likely refers to the Rainbow Crystal necklace that the queen always wore. It must have been lost back then.”
The king slowly passed his gaze around at Slader and each of the other members.
“We are not sure of the exact meaning. But our magic Vision seems to tell us that searching for the Rainbow Crystal will determine some other fate as well. We apologize for making you work so much, but please continue to lend us your strength.”
“We are unworthy of your kind words. Please, don’t worry about us.” Slader bowed his head. “We have already obtained information from the boss of the thieves we captured as to who is controlling them behind the scenes.”
“Well, please let us hear it.” The king smiled contently.
Slader gave a slight bow and looked towards his subordinates waiting behind him. Weinheidt nodded and began to speak.
“Is Your Majesty familiar with an old castle at the tip of the peninsula, far to the south of here?”
✦ ✦ ✦
Tethel awoke from the cold.
Sometime while he’d slept, his thin blanket had been taken by the boy sleeping next to him.
Tethel got out of bed, sniffling. The ten children packed into the narrow, musty room were sleeping as deeply on the cold stone floor as if they were dead.
In the distance, he could hear the familiar sound of waves.
High up on the wall, light seeped through a small hole just large enough for an arm to pass through. It seemed that dawn had already broken.
Tethel leaned on the bare stone wall while rubbing his thin, wasted arms.
“Hey! When are you going to stop sleeping! Get up, you brats!”
The thick iron door burst open violently, and a heavyset red-faced man stepped inside.
The children all sprang to their feet. Of course, Tethel stood up, too, and bowed his head to the man.
“Good morning, Mr. Chad!”
“Good news, brats, it’s time for work!”
“Thank you!” the children chorused stiffly and followed Chad out of the room.
They passed through a narrow, damp hallway and climbed a set of stairs before their eyes were abruptly scorched by bright light. They had emerged into the courtyard of the old castle.
“…”
Three corpses lay fallen in the garden.
One was an unfamiliar young man with a pretty face. The other two had been criminals who had frequently visited the small castle.
They all clutched bloody weapons in their hands. Perhaps they had killed each other.
“Clean this up. You know the drill. Tear off their clothes and throw them away, wash the weapons, and take them to the storehouse. Throw their corpses over the cliff out back into the ocean.”
“Understood.” The children nodded with vacant expressions and went right to work.
Tethel wasn’t sure what kind of place he was in.
All he knew was that the master of this old castle, which stood atop a cliff on the coast, was called Lord Irving.
He also knew that, of the regular visitors to the castle, not a single one was honest.
There was a boisterous racket in the old castle almost every evening.
Night after night, it reverberated with flirtatious voices, laughter, and screams.
Sometimes there would also be the howls of fearsome beasts.
And the following morning, there would be corpses in the courtyard or in the reception hall.
Ever since Tethel was kidnapped several years ago, he had lived here and been forced to do dirty work.
“Tethel” wasn’t even his real name. He had already forgotten the one that his parents had given him.
He had heard that in the language of some distant old country, Tethel meant ugly.
When he first saw Tethel, Lord Irving had crowed raucously: “What an ugly kid! Someday we might be able to sell him to a freak show.” And just like that, his nickname had stuck.
The corpses were already starting to stink, but by now all the children were used to it and no longer said anything.
They stripped the clothes from the corpses, their hands becoming stained with blood in the process. Then several of the children lifted the naked bodies and carried them to the back of the old castle.
Behind the castle there was a steep cliff, and beneath that was the ocean.
Shivering, Tethel and the others threw the corpses down into the water.
Someday, I’ll be thrown off from here, too, he thought.
But he was already past feeling fear.
He wanted to find peace soon.