Chapter 56: The Ups and Downs of Our Journey in the Eastern Continent (Part 2)
“It’s like they all vanished overnight. The few we did manage to catch were clueless edge believers, their infernal fire power so weak it felt like a joke. They didn’t even qualify to receive the assembly orders…”
“After nearly three months of searching, the four of us spread out across many towns, only to come up empty-handed. No one knows where that little town is, not even its name. Our progress hit a total standstill. And it was during that time that I… received a second message from the Western Continent.”
The man seemed to drown again in some intense emotion, turning his head to gaze at the howling window, blocking my view of his eyes.
“You already know the content of the message…”
“I…”
He looked like he had more to say, but after a moment of silence, his throat bobbed a few times as he swallowed whatever feelings he had, the words that were on the tip of his tongue ultimately got skipped.
“To be honest, at that time, I mostly felt disbelief.”
“What’s the source of the heretical violent power? What powerful demon, long sealed by ancient deities since the divine visitation era, could that possibly be? Why on earth would something like that show up in the Western Continent, deep in the Woodward Forest… How could you be fighting something like that while I… everything I’ve been doing over here… what does it even mean?”
“There were a few days where I was completely lost… unable to understand any of this…”
“Isn’t it supposed to be simple? Just retrieve the fire seed and we can wrap up heretical misdeeds once and for all? What kind of powerful demon could possibly match a deity? I’ve never heard of anything like that… I was thrown for a loop; in fact, we all were. None of us could figure out what was going on, and I lost the will to keep searching. So, we found the teacher, hoping to sit down and sort this all out.”
“But then…”
He turned his face back to me and said, “The teacher only gave us a few words.”
“He said that things might not be as bad as they seem. You may have heard, but you haven’t necessarily seen. If you’re feeling lost as a result, the best way is to not stop; don’t get lost in that confusion without realizing it. You need to keep moving forward. Perhaps, in due time, the things that perplex you will naturally unravel.”
“… I thought about it and realized the teacher had a point.”
“Instead of being all confused and mulling over random thoughts, it’s better to focus on what’s at hand. We’re pursuing the stolen fire seed. Regardless of whether the Western Continent’s demons actually exist, or what’s happening over there, this is something we need to do. If we win the war and utterly crush the heretics, but end up dropping the ball on our side, that… could be an irredeemable sin.”
“I adjusted my mindset, trying to temporarily forget all that… though honestly, it was mostly disbelief. I always had this gut feeling that you wouldn’t just d*e so easily, after all… Haha. I don’t buy what they say; I’ve never fully believed the news either, at least not completely. There could still be a twist in the story, one that might happen when we find the fire seed and uncover the truth…”
Amid the flickering flames, Carlos rubbed his slightly tired face.
He looked at me, paused for a long moment, then smiled—his smile was light and carefree.
“See? The twist has already arrived…”
“Keep talking.”
I feigned impatience, rapping the table a few times to hurry him along.
In truth, I was just a little scared of that smile…
“Okay, okay, I just wanted to lighten the mood a bit… Actually, the first twist came in March. While our search continued to bear no fruit, we were considering changing our approach when, out of nowhere, we ran into some sand bandits near a small town in the south.”
“The sand bandits obviously weren’t after us. They were trying to rob a transport caravan. By the time we arrived, both sides were already fighting, and it was a chaotic scene. We’d initially planned to help out, but once we climbed up a hill and got a better look at the situation, we couldn’t believe our eyes—those sand bandits were falling back, suffering heavy losses, practically without the power to fight back at all.”
“The transport caravan had fewer than thirty people, while the number of bandits was at least two to three times that. Many of them were riding war birds known as horned horses, fierce predators with beaks sharp enough to pierce thin steel plates. They couldn’t fly, but they were much faster than regular horned horses and had incredible agility…”
“Sand bandits with war birds must have been somewhat famous in Eborista. With sufficient numbers, even the fiercest traveling merchants would have to hand over their goods without a second thought; no one would dare confront them directly. Yet here they were, utterly crushed by a small caravan, which was primarily due to the fact that there was a woman in that transport.”
“… A woman?”
I couldn’t help but ask.
“Yeah, a woman cloaked in a cape, her face wrapped in a gray cloth, and she was quite skilled. Though there was no visible use of the power of order, her swordsmanship was top-tier—she dove into the group of bandits, slicing down foes left and right without hesitation; the bandits didn’t stand a chance and fled in no time.”
“Oh…”
I nodded, deep in thought.
Could that woman be…
“She was a severely disfigured woman.”
Carlos continued, “Later, we contacted the caravan and heard from the leading man. They were weapon merchants from Nogave, specializing in sword and blade trade, transporting arms to towns in the east of Eborista. All high-quality goods imported from the Western Continent.”
“That woman was a heavily-paid guard they hired. This wasn’t the first time they had worked together. According to the leader, she had been injured in an accident, leaving her face ruined, hence the wrapped cloth to hide her true appearance. But her skills were remarkable; typically, two or three dozen men would keep their distance. She made her living as a muscle-for-hire, age unknown and rarely spoke, but she was incredibly reliable—far superior to those greedy hired guards from Nogave.”
“After chatting for an evening, we discovered that their next destination was the same as ours. So, we decided to travel together. At that time we certainly hadn’t thought much of it; we were just vagabonds from the Western Continent, dressed in plain cloth robes and carrying little baggage. There were plenty of wandering travelers in Eborista, and everyone had a few tricks up their sleeves. Even if I was carrying an obvious long sword, no one would suspect anything; if we ran into each other, traveling together wouldn’t hurt.”
“However, after two days of traveling together, I slowly started to notice an issue…”
Carlos paused, gazing thoughtfully at the door.
“At first, I was somewhat interested in that woman… Oh, not in the way you’re thinking! I just have respect for those with remarkable sword skills, especially a woman. The physical strength required for such mastery is naturally weaker in women than in men, and to reach that level clearly requires a lot of grit… not to mention some extraordinary talent. Such people are rare; I figured it would be nice to engage in some casual conversation since I randomly encountered her…”
His expression became more serious: “That woman, indeed, barely spoke and acted as if she couldn’t care less about me. It was obvious she wasn’t interested at all. But one night, just as I was about to make one last attempt at a conversation, I inadvertently saw her take off her wrap…”
At this point, the man paused.
“Silvery-white hair, azure eyes—she looked surprisingly young and beautiful to the point of disbelief…”
“The most important detail was that there were absolutely no scars on her face.”
