Chapter 48: The Promise at the Foot of the Mountain
As the morning light spilled from the eastern horizon, Ramiel, dressed in a rough leather robe, crossed the Moon Mountain Gorge and mingled with the scattered refugees outside the valley, heading south.
As he walked, he lifted his head and gazed at the pale sky behind the towering mountains. He took a deep breath, letting the chilly dawn air invade his lungs. Suddenly, he felt as if he was in a different world altogether.
Caw—
A black raven screeched, flapping its wings wide and circling high above the valley before swooping past the man’s head and shooting into the sky.
Three days later, the Firebringer Tarlasya donned a backpack, strapped on a sharp sword, and rode his armored, scaled, chestnut-colored Floris Horned Horse, galloping through the snowy landscape. He thundered out of the Moon Mountain Gorge, heading for the southern lands where the Holy Temple resided.
That night, in the Ice River Basin west of the gorge, the sounds of battle erupted as Count Lafael, descending from Eagle City, clashed with the six thousand Imperial rescue troops led by the Lords of Feren Castle, Flying Rock City, and Heral Castle.
At first, both sides exchanged blows for a brief thirty minutes, but it quickly became apparent to Lafael that this ragtag bunch hadn’t even put on their armor properly. With that, he personally led five hundred Falcon Riders, crashing through the enemy lines like a wrecking ball. In no time, he beheaded the Lord of Feren amidst the chaos, causing the Imperial rescue troops to scatter like leaves in the wind. By the time Firebird Annie and her squad of red riders rushed in to assist, the place was already a carnage of bodies and red-stained snow.
The next day, when entering the city, the Lord Count was still smeared with bl**d from battle and hadn’t had the chance to clean up before visiting his parents. Only upon seeing both of them safe and sound did he let out a sigh of relief. He had received news of their victory in the Imperial City days prior, but worry still gnawed at him. After a brief chat, Lafael changed his clothes and, under the introduction of Skarlij, met Queen Elizabeth of Ethanbel for the first time.
He was instantly struck by her beauty.
The atmosphere in the palace was buzzing as the halls on the first floor had been decorated with tapestries, long tables and benches set against the walls. The floor, previously damaged during the conflict, had been nicely repaired, with incense burning in the halls. The palace servants were bustling about, and when manpower was short, they even sent in soldiers from the Lion Hunting Army to help with the heavy lifting, slaughtering cows and deer, and hauling barrels of wine.
This was all to prepare for the evening banquet, held in several banquet halls on the palace’s first floor. Though the place was small and the number of guests limited, it was just a private celebration for Shanter Castle, Erin Castle, New City of Kaliye, and Ethanbel. The next day, Queen Elizabeth would lead the Royal Army back to the Order Royal City.
Due to the city’s shortage of supplies, most of the citizens were struggling, barely clothed and hardly fed. A series of “aid provisions” and “merchant expansion orders” issued to the Northern Region would take a long while to show results. Though the famine in the Valen Empire wasn’t as dire as that faced by Silgaya’s southern territories a few years back—where everything edible had been devoured—it was high time to find a solution. Thus, the Northern Army’s primary task over these days was to organize the citizens for hunting in the mountains or to teach them fishing techniques, anything to ease their immediate hardships.
In such circumstances, there was no possibility of holding an extravagant banquet; everything had to be kept simple. The cows were palace-raised, a bunch were confiscated, and some distributed to the city’s grain distribution points, leaving a few to continue being raised. Only four cows would be slaughtered, the soldiers hunted snow deer, and there were hardly any vegetables—plenty of wine, though.
Even so, preparations were tense over the next couple of days, primarily managed by Lady Catherine. When Lafael arrived, she hurried over to chat briefly before getting back to the chaos.
The Lord Count, unwilling to let his mother work so hard, decided to take it easy for a while and joined his personal guards to help her. They emptied nearly half the wine cellar. As dusk approached, he remembered to ask his mother, “Is it really time to celebrate? What’s this banquet for? A farewell party for Her Majesty?”
“Today is your sister’s birthday! You forgot?”
His mother’s words, without even turning her head, left him momentarily dumbfounded.
…
A few days earlier…
After reaching a verbal agreement with the choir, the girl—totally forgetting it was her birthday—sneaked out to the mountains with the Sword Demon Miss in the dead of night to hunt snow rabbits for a late-night snack.
They chatted carelessly as they ate, the two night owls had no intention of sleeping. Sitting by a wind tunnel at the foot of the mountain, they started off discussing getting the Sword Demon a warm and nice fur coat and ended up with the Sword Demon mentioning her thoughts of leaving. The girl convinced her to stay, promising that when they got to the central workshop, she would let her pick the best sword.
The Sword Demon’s weapon was something she had brought from her hometown, a trusty sword she had used for years, reportedly scavenged from the remains of a corpse eaten by beasts. The sword was a bit worn and full of chips, but despite being cleaned daily, it was clear it was reaching retirement age—if it wasn’t broken in battle first, it wouldn’t last another year or two.
When asked why she didn’t just get a new one, she said it was because she found it; it was hers.
That reasoning wasn’t hard to understand.
That night, the Sword Demon held a small “funeral” for her broken sword—just sticking it into the snow on a high ground, standing silently for a moment, and then saying that she would come back to check on it when everything was over.
The “everything” she spoke of was the promise made that night: the Sword Demon would stay by her side and help her with her tasks, and in return, she would get the Sword Demon a good sword, find her a swordsmanship teacher, and ultimately track down the murderer of her mother—the Birdbeak Doctor named Chris—before killing him, she had to extract where the Sword Demon’s mother died from his mouth first.
She planned to bury that broken sword together with her mother.
The deadline for the promise was set for a year.
Or maybe until the girl died.
If the Sword Demon were to d*e first, the girl would continue to help her fulfill her promise.
That late night, the stars were bright and the moonlight clear.
The next day, Lady Catherine woke up to discover her daughter was missing. After hearing about last night’s events, the mother grew anxious about her daughter not returning overnight and sent people out to look for her. They soon found her and her mysterious, quirky attendant had camped on the mountainside overnight, and she had returned to the palace on her own once the noon hunger kicked in.
This inevitably led to a good scolding.
By the afternoon, the Sword Demon stated she was going out for a walk and was again nowhere to be found. With nothing else to do, the girl went to help at the nearby grain distribution point, but after feeling the atmosphere change and everyone acting tense around her, she made excuses and left feeling miffed.
Walking through the palace square, she bumped into Queen Elizabeth. Remembering what her sister had said the previous night, she relayed the words to Her Majesty.
That evening during dinner, she didn’t see Aiyarela’s usual ruckus.
Back in her room that night, she opened the window, and subconsciously glanced at the terrace where she had spent the night before, only to find Aiyarela tied up by ropes at the terrace doorframe, her hands and waist bound, with a scarf stuffed in her mouth, face-down and limbs hanging limply in the wind, looking as if she was already dead.
The girl stared at her for a while, chose to ignore it, and closed the window.
