A man stood over the overflowing flesh.
He was a middle-aged figure with burn scars, dressed in tattered priest robes that testified to his former affiliation with the Heavenly Deity Sect.
Not anymore, though.
From the memory of the crow, he appeared calm. Occasionally, madness would take hold, but fundamentally, he possessed a serene gaze characteristic of a religious leader.
Yet, what about the eyes of the man looking down at me now?
They were boiling with desire, overflowing. Even he probably couldn’t comprehend the name of that emotion.
So intense that it was hard to tell what he was aiming at.
Surely, it wasn’t a heart directed only at me.
My lips softly whispered the name of my enemy.
“……Leorick.”
“So you already know my name.”
His words were delivered with a hint of surprise, yet there was no admiration or agitation in his tone.
It was an exceedingly calm manner of speaking.
If heard briefly, it could be mistaken for a neighbor casually checking in.
The elves were visibly frightened by the sudden standoff.
Amidst the space between Leorick and me, whispers tickled my ears. Some elves, weapons in hand, were hesitantly encircling me.
It was troubling.
In my arms was Abiyang.
If something were to happen to me, she would most likely be next. That fact weighed heavily on my heart.
Hadn’t we just reunited as sisters?
Yet, Abiyang had yet to have a proper conversation with her younger sister. Moreover, her younger sister was now unconscious in the enemy’s grasp.
It was a tragedy.
Not a genre I favored.
I lowered my posture and scratched my throat roughly.
“What have you done to Betty? And what is that condition?”
“Emmanuel… Is this not the grace of the will? I, too, was unaware, but it seems a special ‘blessing’ is residing within my body.”
Once again, it was ‘blessing.’
I was tired of it. Perhaps it would take some time after leaving the Northern Region for me to stop feeling nauseous every time I heard that word.
Of course, first, I would need to survive.
I silently arranged my weapons. Abiyang’s body gently settled onto the snowfield.
The opponent was Leorick. It would be impossible to fight while protecting someone.
Thus, I needed to ensure Abiyang’s safety first. That was the reason I kept attempting to converse with Leorick.
“And you don’t need to worry too much about Sister Betty. She merely fell asleep for a short while… Her body is ‘still’ healthy.”
“Still?”
“If the state of her consciousness remains absent for too long, it can inevitably affect the body. Hence, I would like to persuade you swiftly.”
Just as I had done, Leorick carefully placed Betty’s body down.
As a result, the bubbling flesh quickly buried Betty. It was an incident that occurred before I could even protest.
When I frowned, Leorick broke into a broad smile.
“It seems you are quite worried, Brother… As I said before, there’s no danger. How could there be? All elves are my brothers and sisters.”
“Doesn’t look very brotherly to me.”
“Try not to look at it with such a narrow viewpoint. And didn’t you feel it as well, Brother?”
I responded to Leorick’s words with blatant sarcasm.
Yet, his expression remained serene, simply tracing a calm sign of the cross over his chest.
He looked like an exemplary religious figure, except for the fact that his lower body was being consumed by a monstrous mass of flesh.
He continued to persuade.
“Race is not that important. What matters is the will to unite with the weak… Have you not witnessed the atrocities humanity has perpetrated against the elves?”
“…What you’ve done, you bastard.”
At that point, I could no longer hold back and growled.
To stir discord between humanity and elves and then to babble about pursuing justice and peace was unbearable. It made me feel nauseous.
“The elves in the village were innocent! Humanity had no reason to provoke the elves who fled to the coniferous forest… But you led the assaults and plunders, and everything changed!”
“Changed? What do you mean by that?”
“You destroyed peace.”
Leorick wore a bitter smile in response to my assertion.
His gaze dropped to the ground.
He did not seem convinced. Even so, I could not contain my anger and continued speaking.
“If you hadn’t provoked humanity, the elves in the village could have lived peacefully! There wouldn’t have been any need for counter-offensives… But you ruined everything…!”
“Is that what you refer to as ‘peace’?”
The unexpected question left me momentarily speechless.
I stared at Leorick as if asking what he meant. He wore a bitter smile again and raised his head once more.
A faint warmth glimmered in his eyes.
“Is it peace to drive the elves living in the Great Forest into this cold and dry northern region, causing them to worry about their meals day by day? Is it peace to confine them forever in this coniferous forest and separate them from civilization?”
I wanted to refute, but my lips could not part.
Numerous memories flashed before my eyes.
Elves delighting like children upon seeing bread.
Old Mr. Dolph and Rugget boiling pregnant rats to eat.
And the ‘tree porridge’ that Abiyang used to bring for breakfast every morning.
It was a pitiable existence.
Could this even be called ‘life’? Were they merely enduring a harsh day-to-day existence, unable to let go of their tough, tenacious lives?
I found it hard to declare anything emphatically.
After all, I was an aristocrat of the Empire.
At the very least, I had never known hunger or lived in a situation where I lost my minimum dignity.
As I remained silent, Leorick became increasingly agitated and raised his voice.
“Brothers and sisters, what about you? Look at this arrogant one! Has there ever been a moment when life was a blessing to you? Has this world ever been a paradise for even once?”
Gloomy eyes turned towards me.
They were gazes devoid of light and shadow. It seemed the will to live or hope had long been crushed and extinguished; their eyes resembled those of dried fish instead.
Even amidst that, Leorick’s voice gained fervor.
Before long, pure white magical energy surged forth, and I could feel the blazing heat with every word he uttered.
“The logic of privilege! The criteria of privilege! Brother I-an, you are the same! You too are a part of the world that we must destroy!”
And in the next moment.
My body overlapped with Abiyang’s. It looked as if I was shielding her.
I couldn’t even understand the reason myself.
I only instinctively thought I had to throw my body forward.
The correctness of that choice was soon proven.
A thud shook the ground.
The world became incandescent, and my vision was scorched white.
Even with my eyes closed, the residual crimson afterimage lingered. I could feel a searing heat passing down my spine.
It was a ray.
I barely captured it. Light was radiating from Leorick’s eyes and mouth, and the moment he screamed, the ray was unleashed.
I confirmed the breath against my chest and lifted my head.
There was nothing left where the light had passed.
The forest had been pierced in a line, providing a refreshing view.
It was truly a spectacle.
The fact that I had to face the man who created that sight was not pleasant in the least.
I staggered up and shouted as if in desperation.
“Leave non-combatants alone out of conscience!”
“I won’t target them intentionally, but getting caught up in it is unavoidable!”
Leorick was moving forward with a splash. His speed was not slow, nor was it fast.
I gritted my teeth and drew my sword.
I couldn’t allow him to approach like this. The further the point of collision was, the safer Abiyang would be.
That was why my body immediately kicked off the ground.
A moment later.
Bang, bang, bang!
The ground trembled three more times, and I collapsed, spitting blood.
The Saintess suffered from headaches every day.
It was the price of overworking her brain. Since the man she loved had departed, the Saintess unconsciously devised plans to rescue him every night.
The practicality of it was not particularly high.
Delphine, Elsi, and Emma had already set off, but there was still no news. In fact, it was doubtful whether they could rescue I-an, who had lost his memory and was hostile toward humanity.
What if she encountered him with murderous intent in the coniferous forest?
It would be a certain defeat. There was no way to subdue him with the current power, even with Delphine present.
And the headache accompanied the pain in her heart.
Every time she thought of I-an, the Saintess’s chest ached unbearably. She kept insisting on maintaining her rationality, but the heart was not that simple.
I want to see him.
That concise desire filled the Saintess’s mind. Tears flowed down as she prayed day by day.
The Saintess smirked wearily.
It was a laugh that felt tinged with blood.
“So… Marquess Yuridina is the traitor?”
It was a statement devoid of honorifics and respectful language.
If it were the usual her, it would have been unimaginable. However, the severely depleted Saintess had no energy left to correct that misstep.
The contrast was striking.
Before the Saintess stood a girl, burning with will. The girl with dark blue hair tightly clenched her fists and nodded.
“Yes!”
“Let’s see….”
The Saintess rose at the unwavering answer. She placed her hand on the Imperial Princess’s forehead and opened her eyelids with her fingers for inspection.
After a while.
The Saintess narrowed her brow, seemingly puzzled.
“Hm, there are still no symptoms… Shall we start our consultation?”
“I’m serious!”
The Imperial Princess, aggrieved at being treated like a patient, raised her voice.
Her tear-streaked face revealed her true feelings. With that response, the Saintess pressed her forehead as if her headache was worsening.
“Even if it’s true, what can we do about it? The lord of Yuridina Castle is the Marquess… Unless the emperor of the Empire takes action, there’s nothing we can do. If Sister Delphine were here, it might be different, but right now, Sister Ceria also has no way to help, right?”
Each point was valid.
The Imperial Princess bit her lip, finding no appropriate retort. The truth was that the reason the Imperial Princess had sought the Saintess after Ceria was precisely that.
Ceria had struggled to accept the Imperial Princess’s words.
Moreover, even if accepted, there was nothing she could do. After all, how could a young daughter have the strength to take on her father?
If there was anyone who could, it would only be Delphine.
Or a being free from the Empire’s power.
The Saintess, supported by the Heavenly Deity Sect, was their only hope.
Once the Imperial Princess was betrayed by that hope, there was nothing left for her but to droop her shoulders. The Saintess also mentioned the ‘Imperial Court’ in words, but she knew it would be difficult to receive concrete evidence.
It would take time until I-an’s false charges were cleared.
How much blood would be stained on I-an’s blade before that?
Ultimately, the Saintess had to let out a long sigh.
“For now, we have no choice but to trust I-an. There is no one around us to scout the area around Marquess Yuridina…”
“There is.”
The reply came from somewhere.
The Saintess shook her head in disbelief, but then she suddenly realized something and paused.
The Imperial Princess hadn’t responded?
The woman’s body lifted as if buoyed up. Her wary pink pupils scanned the surroundings. Then a shadow slowly descended.
Brown hair, dark green eyes suggesting poison.
A spy dressed in maid attire wore a gentle smile.
“May I hear the details? Especially about… Marquess Yuridina.”
It was Neoris’s return.
