Weinheidt descended the stairs with his bow on his shoulder. “You’ve got some guts. You’re the runt here, but you didn’t fall to Captain Slader’s Overpower and even tried to run.”
The child stood on the landing, Simon blocking his path ahead. Behind Simon, the armored knight Hugo was coming up from below.
Slader, who had followed Weinheidt down, leaned over the child. “What’s that you’re holding?”
He was a startlingly ugly child.
His left eyelid twitched—it must have been injured when he was very young—and his eyes looked mismatched in size. His nose was so flat it was only two holes in his face, and he had a huge mouth.
His clothes were so stained with dirt and filth that the original color was impossible to identify. He was so scrawny that his age was impossible to guess.
“Show me.”
Slader reached towards the child’s chest. But the child only shook his head and made no move to open his hand.
“I can feel a slight wave of magic.”
“Captain, that is the Rainbow Crystal.”
Jillian glided down the stairs.
“One of the children upstairs was muttering deliriously about a crystal. I think they were using its healing power to manipulate people. Multiple bands of thieves trafficking people and objects, and also killing…I feel like throwing up.”
“His Majesty would lament this.”
Slader shrugged his shoulders.
Then the child in front of him shouted, “Kill me! If you want this, kill me!”
“What are you saying?” asked Slader. “We’re not going to kill you. You were probably kidnapped and forced to do dirty work, right? C’mon now, hand over the Rainbow Crystal. Once you do that, you’ll be free.”
“I don’t want to! I’m not handing this over!” Shrinking, the child hugged the crystal even more tightly. “If you’re going to take it, you’ll have to take it from my dead body!”
“Captain Slader. This is becoming a nuisance. Why don’t we just dispose of him?” Simon recommended, the guard of his longsword rattling.
Slader narrowed his eyes and stared down at the child before letting out a gasp. “Are you a girl?”
“What?!” everyone gathered cried in spite of themselves.
The child was so very dirty and withered, not a single shred of girlishness was apparent.
“No, you’re wrong…I’m not a girl…” Even as the child said this her manner was that of a flustered child, and the truth was evident.
After a moment, still clutching the crystal, she started sobbing quietly.
“Good grief…What should we do?” Hugo asked in an embarrassed tone. Simon, seemingly giving up on the whole affair, said he would gather the horses and went down the stairs.
But Slader continued to stare at the girl.
Light from the small window fell onto the landing at a slant. The glow made her dirty cheeks gleam.
A kidnapped child, forced to do dirty work.
Slader had been the same.
When you’re living every day not knowing when you might be killed, you can’t live without lying to yourself. I know that myself all too well.
“Hey, what’s your name?”
The girl rasped, “I’ve already forgotten my real name…Here, I was called Tethel.”
“Tethel, eh? That’s a strange name. Phew…” Slader exhaled. “Unfortunately, I have to tell you something about that crystal. I hear that someday it will lose its healing power.”
“Huh?” Surprised, Tethel raised her head and nervously loosened her hand.
Inside, the crystal was still shining like a rainbow.
“Apparently, in order to sustain its power, once every ten years or so it needs to be purified with a druid’s prayers. And I’ve heard that well more than ten years have passed since it last received those prayers. Not to mention, that crystal has been used so badly here, I wonder if its power might not disappear completely before long.”
“N-No way…” Shaking, Tethel gazed fervently at the crystal. “But then…what should I do now?”
Suddenly her eyes overflowed with tears again.
“Just kill me, then!” she shrieked. “I want to die! How could an ugly girl like me possibly live by myself after this?”
“Captain Slader.” Hugo gave a fleeting glance through his helmet. He was signaling that at that moment, he’d be able to pluck the crystal from Tethel’s hand easily.
Slader leaned over in front of Tethel, bending his large body slowly. “Killing you would be simple. But are you really okay with that?”
“…”
Slader continued, gazing into Tethel’s eye under her twitching eyelid. “You must have thought about dying many times. And you had opportunities too, right? There’s that cliff outside. But you didn’t do it—why?”
“Because…If I worked hard, I would get to touch the crystal…”
“Are you sure that was the only reason?”
The girl had no reply.
Slader looked off into the distance. “A very long time ago, I was also in a situation very similar to yours. I didn’t remember a single thing—not my real name, not my parents’ faces, not even my own birthday. Many times, I was nearly killed, and many times, I also wanted to die…but never did. Many people died around me, but I didn’t die.”
“…”
“Just above us here, several children were killed. It would have been easy for you, too, to end up like them. But you’re alive.”
“Yes, but…”
“Do you really want to die? If you say that’s the only way, then I’ll kill you. In any way you like. I can split you in two with this greatsword. You could be pierced by arrows. Or would you like to be strangled?” As he spoke, Slader looked around at his friends in turn. As if in response, Weinheidt raised his bow, and Jillian created a ring of light at her fingertips. “It’ll hurt. No matter which you choose.”
“Ung…uuungh.” Finally, Tethel broke down sobbing, still holding the magical crystal.
Slader continued to speak, slowly bringing his hand in front of hers.
“I think you are lucky, and I think you are strong. You didn’t lose consciousness when I used Overpower, and you were even brave enough to try to run away when we were distracted. I admire that. As long as you have that, you’ll be able to keep on living.”
“But I’m so ugly!” Tethel snapped and raised her face.
It really was awful. Because she had been crying, snot dripped from her nose, and her eyelids were swollen so one of her eyes appeared merely as a slit.
“I remember some things from before I was kidnapped. I remember there wasn’t anyone who loved me!”
“All you have to do is hide your face.”
Slader grinned under his mask.
“There’s a lot of ways. You can wear a mask or use makeup. There are a lot of people who can say what they really think with their face covered more easily than when it’s exposed.”
“Are you talking about yourself?” Tethel looked up at Slader, wiping away her tears and snot with the back of her hands.
Slader winked. “Maybe.”
Tethel bit her lip and thought, but before long, she raised her trembling hand and placed the Rainbow Crystal in Slader’s palm.
“Thank you,” Slader said.
A small rainbow quickly rose up from the crystal.
The light formed a small arch, as if to leap over Tethel’s head, and disappeared.
“A rainbow…”
“The Rainbow of Healing will shine on the unsightly…Huh,” Slader murmured. Abruptly, he removed a rivet from the leather glove of his left hand.
This was no ordinary metal rivet, but a magical tool with runes on its front, called an Incantation Orb.
“Your Majesty, are you listening?” Slader spoke to the orb, and it began flashing.
“We hear you very well, Slader!”
King Bartra’s voice flowed out, its cadences matching the orb’s flickering. The orb had the power of Distant Communication.
“We have recovered the Rainbow Crystal.”
“Excellent work. You should return immediately.”
“Understood. In addition, we have five children in our custody who were forced to assist in the evil deeds here. Please permit us to bring them back to the capital.”
Tethel’s mouth gaped open with surprise.
“We understand. We shall order a high-speed coach from a village nearby to arrive as soon as possible,” King Bartra responded without hesitation, and the Distant Communication ended.
“All right,” Slader said. “It is time to withdraw. Hugo, check inside the castle one more time, just in case, and while you’re at it, secure a room we can rest in. Weinheidt, meet up with Simon and tell him what the king said, please. Jillian, wake the unconscious children upstairs.”
“Understood,” the Dawn Roar members assented.
At Slader’s brisk orders, the group quickly dispersed. The captain turned to face Tethel, still dumbfounded at his feet.
“You go help Jillian, too, and explain things to your friends.”
“Really? Is it really okay to trust you guys?” asked Tethel.
Slader nodded. “I hope today will be your new birthday. I’m sure that you have the divine protection of the rainbow.”
As Slader said that, Tethel finally smiled.
Her face was as ugly as ever, but the smile was somehow charming, and reflexively, Slader found himself smiling back.