Chapter 26: The Young Woman of Silgaya (Part 2)
On the bumpy village path, the girl, now all cleaned up and bl**d-free, was wearing a delicate light-colored dress and chatting with the utterly unreliable swordsman striding beside her.
“So, I slept! Four days?!”
I blinked in disbelief at Carlos.
“Uh-huh, pretty impressive, huh?”
The Bearded Swordsman shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.
“I was… recovering my strength…”
“How’s your injury?”
“…much better.”
“Oh, healing up that fast? Impressive, huh?”
His lackadaisical compliment felt flat, and I was a bit inclined to ignore him.
“Don’t you need to use the bathroom?”
“…What’s it to you?”
I shot him a glare, just annoyed at this unserious guy. Who in their right mind asks a girl that in this day and age? But he was just casually throwing it out there as if it were the most normal thing.
“While you were passed out, your grandma and that little boy named Barry came to see you. But that pesky White Dragon was watching you like a hawk, so they didn’t dare come close. I’m just saying, maybe you should go see them first?”
“…I don’t dare.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know.”
“…Hey, Little Shay. What are your plans for the future?”
“Not sure yet.”
“The Holy Church has canceled the hit on you, but you’ll be coming with me to Fusell… the church headquarters in the Silgaya region. The Pope wants to see you. Any problem with that?”
“Yes.”
Carlos frowned at my reply.
“What’s the problem? I wasn’t joking; the Pope will grant you the glory and medals you deserve.”
“It’s a trap.”
“…Are you dense? If we wanted to k*ll you, do you think you’d be standing here talking to me? You’d be dead a hundred times over by now.”
“Big White, protect me.”
“You can’t just rely on that dragon to stop the Church. I’m telling you, I fought tooth and nail to get this opportunity; you have to go. No negotiation.”
“I refuse.”
“You silly woman… Fine, considering you’ve just been reborn, I’ll level with you. The glory granted personally by the Pope is the highest medal in this world. When the time comes, if you just speak up, money, or handsome… guys, whatever you want will be yours! You’ll get a grand estate with a hundred servants! You’ll be treated like a princess, getting chariots to take you wherever you please! So, how about it? If you’re tempted, we can set off tomorrow!”
“Not gonna happen.”
“…What do you want then? Stay here and be a village girl?”
“Uh-huh.”
“d*mn it, a woman with no experience of the world…”
Seeing Carlos’s frustrated expression made me very happy.
How could I let someone who bullied me get their way?
You want me to go east? I’ll go west instead.
I was feeling a little smug when suddenly I heard someone call my name.
“…Little Shay?”
Carlos and I turned to see Grandma Claire walking toward us, trembling with age.
“…Grandma.”
I lowered my head, not daring to meet her eyes.
“It really is Little Shay! I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me! You look so pretty in that dress… When did you wake up?”
“Just woke up.”
“Come here, let Grandma take a look.” Grandma Claire touched my arm, inspecting me from head to toe. “Still in pain?”
“No pain.”
I slowly shook my head.
“I heard from Barry about what happened. With those injuries, how could you not be in pain…”
“I’m fine, Grandma. As long as you’re okay, that’s what matters.”
“You silly girl, I was still in the town’s church. What could possibly happen to me? It’s my fault for not bringing Father Merlin back sooner; maybe I could’ve helped you… Aili wouldn’t…”
The words Grandma spoke snapped me out of my daze.
Aili…
That’s something I’ve been deliberately trying to forget since the moment I woke up.
If I could, I’d pay any price to bring her back to life.
I really want to see that thin and cheerful girl again.
“It’s not your fault, Grandma.”
I sniffed, trying hard to suppress the tears welling up in my eyes.
“It’s not your fault, it’s mine… I didn’t protect… I didn’t notice she just, ran right in front of me… All I wanted was to, save Ellen… Really, I didn’t see… wuu… it’s all my fault. All my fault, for being careless and not seeing her… wuu… I didn’t see her wuu, I could have saved her… why did she come back for me… wuu… why did she run right in front of me… wuu… Ellen is dead too… wuu wuu…”
Finally, the tears broke free, and I couldn’t hold them back.
I spoke in broken phrases, desperately wiping at my tears with my hands.
All that remained in my heart was an endless regret.
“Silly girl, don’t cry. You saved Barry, you saved so many villagers; that’s already amazing. You’re Grandma’s pride…”
“Can I still… wu… call you Grandma?”
“What kind of question is that! I’ll always be your Grandma.”
Grandma Claire gently pulled me into a hug.
I rested my head on her frail shoulder, breathing in that comforting scent that calmed me.
“Thank you, Grandma.”
Carlos beside us was gazing up at the sky.
The sky was incredibly blue and cloudless.
“Grandma, I want to see her.”
…………
Not far from the village, in the fields.
The graveyard was just finished the other day, where the victims of this disaster lay.
Most of the dead had no bodies, just simple stone markers or makeshift crosses made of broken planks with inscriptions, enough to honor their memories.
This was just to give their souls a resting place and leave a thought for the living.
I stood quietly in front of a stone marker, with Grandma Claire and Barry beside me.
The stone read two crooked lines of text.
“I’m Aili, a kind and brave girl.”
It looked like it was Barry’s handiwork, as not only was it crudely carved, but I could find typos in the short two sentences.
“Barry, you carve like a drunk.”
“…” Barry didn’t reply, just smiled at me gently.
Just a few days, and that once childish little boy seemed to have grown up in an instant.
The nearby stone belonged to Ellen, the calm and collected fiancé of Aili.
“Aili, Little Shay came to see you! Now you can rest easy; look, she’s fine!”
Grandma Claire clasped her hands in front of the grave, resembling someone in prayer while saying the most heart-wrenching words.
So I mimicked her.
I didn’t know if this would convey what I wanted to say, but…
Aili, I’m so sorry.
A girl as good as you should have had a happy life. The future is so long, and there are so many wonderful things yet to happen; you were… you were about to get married, with someone who loves you, and eventually would have a child you cherish the most.
But that d*mn monster ruined everything.
Aili, do you know? I’m that kind of monster too.
I’ve… destroyed countless families like this before. Perhaps among them, people as kind and brave as you existed.
I don’t know if this is punishment for me for making me lose you as a sister.
I honestly don’t know what to say to you… Right! I learned a hymn, so let me sing it for you now.
May you rest well in heaven.
Carlos sat at a dirt mound not far away, absentmindedly watching the girl’s back.
He felt he had made a remarkably wise decision this time. A decision that might influence the future of all humanity, even the entire world.
The Pope, perhaps, the skies are about to change. He thought.
Soon, the graveyard was filled with the ethereal sound of the girl singing.
“When the bride steps into the wedding hall.
The groom lifts his head and gazes affectionately.
She truly is a shy girl.
Let’s join the bride and groom’s hands together.
The priest and family pray, conveying their beautiful wishes.
In this sacred hall, they express their love.
Bringing love and pride to present her before God.
May God bless, may God bless.
May God bless, may God bless.”
…………
The night was warm, with a crescent moon like silk, and the sky was dotted with countless stars.
The countryside was silent; the village path under the moonlight was empty, only the shadows of houses and trees could be seen. The tranquil creek meandered through dense shadows, bathed in a layer of silver from the bright moonlight.
Carlos and I sat quietly by the creek, gazing at the faint lights flickering in the distance, listening to the murmurs of water caressing the pebbles.
“…I suddenly feel that just sitting here isn’t so bad. With nothing, there’s nothing to fight over.”
Carlos murmured.
“Bad vibes.”
I rolled my eyes at him, kicked off my shoes, and dipped my calves into the water.
I loved that icy sensation.
“About that question from earlier, what are your plans?”
“…The monster said, I’m one of them.” I answered absently, gazing into the clear stream, “C-Carlos, what do you think I am?”
“You’re Carlos.” He chuckled with a smirk, “I’m not one for grand philosophies, but I’ve got some thoughts I want to share. First, what defines you shouldn’t be ‘what you are,’ but ‘what you do.’ I don’t judge based on appearances; I like to look deep inside issues. Yes, maybe you are similar to them, so what? There are noble yet vile sc*m among humans. Compared to those, I find the Abyss’s folks more endearing. So the key question isn’t what you are, but what you want to do… So, Little Shay, what do you want to do?”
Carlos’s voice was not loud, but there was a certain strength in it. Some burdens I had tangled with in my heart were shattered in an instant.
The clouds cleared, and everything became bright.
“I want to k*ll monsters.”
“Then you’re not one of them.”
“What should I do?”
Carlos laughed.
He lightly flicked off the grass stuck to his clothes and reached out his hand to me.
“What do you think about becoming a Pope Knight? Sounds appealing, huh?”
…………
P.S. Volume One ends here.
What I wanted to convey in this volume is very simple. Why a monster hated by humanity would become a Pope Knight and even a hero of humanity.
Though it’s called Volume One, this is essentially just a prologue. Comparable to the “I swear I won’t let this happen again” kind of setup in other works that typically gets glossed over in a few sentences or a chapter, I just spent nearly 80,000 words on it.
The theme of d*ath is usually unpopular in light novels, which is why I didn’t write Aili as some stunning beauty or a character with romantic tension. Her significance lies in her d*ath.
You could say there’s no romance or emotional drama in this volume. Because the protagonist just arrived in this world, and given her identity as a monster, she’s bewildered and out of sorts. Who would she have romantic entanglements with? It wouldn’t be fitting.
So in this prologue, besides Carlos, and the earlier Knights Commander and the robed old man, the other characters are not important.
The really significant characters are the heroes mentioned by Ryan and Barry, as they will genuinely forge emotional ties with the protagonist.
For this volume, I would give myself a 50 out of 100; there are many shortcomings.
The next volume is where the real story begins. I hope to write it brilliantly. There won’t be any more of these potentially disheartening and uncomfortable plots. Honestly, I don’t enjoy writing them either; when it’s time to be thrilling, it should be thrilling!
As for whether this book is a yuri story or a romance… it’s neither.
If I had to say, it feels more like the Pope Knights’ little pet… that kind of vibe?
Standing behind, supported by countless heroes… that woman.
The end.
……
Volume Two: The Girl and the Cataloma Orphanage
