Chapter 72 - Damn Reincarnation

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Anise Slywood.

As Eugene remembered her, she was a woman the word devout both suited and did not suit. Her faith and belief were genuine, but her everyday conduct was utterly at odds with devotion or the title of saint.

Anise loved alcohol even more than Senya did. While Senya enjoyed drinking and having fun, Anise simply loved alcohol. She always carried a small flask and would insist that the liquid inside was not liquor, but holy water.

There were times when she did seem like a saint. Whenever she stood before a multitude of corpses, Anise would kneel and pray.

Hamel used to wonder what good it did to pray over bodies that had been dead so long. They were already decomposing. Their souls had either departed or become playthings for demons.

Anise must have known that better than anyone. Even so, she never neglected her prayers. Even if they served no purpose beyond remembrance, she prayed for the peace and repose of the dead.

Anise could hold her liquor, but whenever they passed a great many corpses, she drank more than usual. She could have kept herself sober if she wished. Yet amid a battlefield steeped in the terrible stench of rotting bodies, she did not suppress her intoxication.

["Will the world become peaceful and happy?"]

Once the smell of alcohol began to mask the stench of corpses, Anise often said things like that.

["Once we kill the Demon Kings, it will become peaceful and happy."]

["Killing every Demon King will not bring back the innocent people they murdered."]

["At least their souls can be saved."]

["Hamel. Do you believe in an afterlife?"]

["Isn't it more comforting to think there is one?"]

["But you do not believe in God."]

["That's separate from an afterlife. I don't know about hell, but I hope there's a heaven. Isn't it a little funny for you to be asking me that?"]

The Holy Empire of Yuras worshipped the God of Light as its chief deity. There were countless faiths on the continent, but the most widespread was the worship of Yuras's chief deity, the God of Light.

If one performed good deeds in life, then met death... those good deeds became light, and evil deeds became darkness. If that light was brilliant enough to illuminate all the darkness, one could enter heaven.

There was no darkness in that heaven. The sins of the world arose in darkness, where there was no light. Thus, heaven, ruled by the God of Light, had no darkness and therefore no sin. And without sin, there was no one who suffered.

["Sometimes I have doubts."]

Her cheeks were flushed with drink.

["So many people have died. To Demon Kings, demons, demonic beasts, and monsters. Throughout the continent's long history, an incalculable number of people have met such unhappy deaths. Is the god I serve... truly omnipotent enough to illuminate the darkness of every soul that died that way?"]

["You're supposed to be a saint, and you're doubting your own god?"]

["Yes. I have doubts. Yet the almighty god I serve does not condemn me for them. He says nothing at all."]

That conversation had taken place in the middle of a battlefield littered with corpses. They had stopped the advance of Kamash, the giants' chieftain—that son of a bitch. They had passed his corpse and the bodies of countless giants.

Moron had done everything he could to protect the ordinary soldiers. Anise had tended the wounded beneath a rain of light. Senya's magic had driven the giants back without the soldiers needing to step forward, while Hamel and Vermouth had brought Kamash down.

Even so, losses among their allies had been unavoidable. A vast army of demonic beasts followed the giants, with powerful demons scattered among them. Countless people had died or been wounded in the battle against those forces. Priests sent as reinforcements from the Holy Empire and doctors who had come from all over tended the wounded, but...

Those who were going to die still died. There was no helping it.

["If God truly is all-knowing and all-powerful, should He not shed His own blood in place of the blood His lambs must shed?"]

["Anise."]

["If He truly is the light that illuminates all darkness, why does He not illuminate this terrible darkness Himself?"]

["Hey."]

["Even now, a thick darkness hangs over the world. It is night here. The dawn that will soon arrive cannot illuminate the lives that faded in the darkness. All it will illuminate... are corpses. Hamel. Do you know how many people died here today? And not only here. Somewhere in this world, yesterday, today, and tomorrow, countless people have died and will die, in darkness or in places bright with light."]

["You're drunk."]

["I want to believe in my god. But I cannot fully understand His will. However beautiful the heaven we will reach after death may be, the world is so wretched. Why does God not bestow His light upon it?"]

["... We have Vermouth."]

That was what Hamel had said back then.

["I... don't know anything about the God of Light's doctrines. But I do know that bastard Vermouth is an absurd monster. You've said it yourself countless times. Vermouth is a miracle sent by God."]

["..."]

["God couldn't look after the world Himself, so He sent Vermouth, proof of His existence and a living miracle. That's why he's the Hero, and why the Holy Sword accepted him as its master. Isn't it?"]

["... I never thought I would hear that from you."]

["I don't want to be saying it either. But listening to your drunken rambling is annoying, and you don't seem to want comfort from me. I'm not the comforting type anyway."]

And so...

["Let's just think of it that way. What good does bitching at a god who won't answer do? We just have to kill every Demon King and save the world. Then everything... will turn out all right. The souls held captive by demons will be saved and go to heaven, and the world will become peaceful and happy."]

He said whatever came to mind. He did not know whether Anise was convinced. Hamel, however, wanted a clear objective rather than resenting a heaven that might or might not exist, or a god he did not believe in.

["... Can we really accomplish that?"]

["We can. We have Vermouth... and we have you, a saint. We have Senya and Moron, too. And me. We're strong. Strong enough to kill every Demon King and save the world."]

They needed hope, however vague.

["So quit talking nonsense and give me some of that liquor. Don't hog it all."]

["This is holy water, not liquor. I cannot give it to someone whose faith is lacking."]

["Then I'll become a believer in the God of Light starting today. Give it here."]

["False faith is graver than any sin. As one appointed a saint, I cannot grant grace to false faith."]

In the end, Anise did not spare him a single drop that day.

A snake of a woman.

That was what Hamel and Senya used to call Anise. She had a nasty streak unbecoming of a saint, and while she was faithful to the doctrine, she also broke its rules without batting an eye. Even so, when she needed to be, she was as devout as her title suggested, and her divine magic shone more brilliantly than any priest's.

She also had a way of subtly—no, blatantly—screwing people over. Everyone but Vermouth had fallen victim to her at least once or twice.

When Moron, who was forever charging ahead, had his legs severed, Anise once reattached them backward to cure him of the habit.

Of all the priests, only Anise could perform the miracle of reattaching severed body parts. She had hoped the experience would correct Moron's behavior, but he ran remarkably well even with his legs attached backward.

["Put that bastard's legs back on properly!"]

["To do that, we will have to cut Moron's legs off again."]

["I... I'm not uncomfortable with these legs. I can run well, and fight well, too."]

["Bullshit. Every time you stumble, I take a hit for you. Get over here. I'll cut them off in one stroke."]

["I don't want to..."]

["Senya! Put that bastard to sleep!"]

In the end, Senya's powerful sleep spell knocked Moron out, and Hamel cut off both his legs while he slept.

"Nasty bitch."

Though not to the same extent, Hamel had been on the receiving end a few times himself. Once, he and Senya had conspired to steal and drink Anise's holy water. Anise waited until it was her turn to cook, then smilingly informed them that their stew had been made with monster piss.

Had Moron not intervened, one of the three—Senya, Hamel, or Anise—would have died that day.

Eugene smiled wryly at the memory.

Hogani, the holy site of Light.

Outside the city stood a statue of Anise kneeling in prayer. Beneath its large hood, the statue's face did not look much like the Anise Eugene remembered.

Still, it did have a sacred air. Even Eugene, who did not worship the God of Light, could sense its holiness. How much more must genuine believers feel?

Around the statue, worshippers of the God of Light from Yuras and elsewhere knelt in prayer. Eugene watched them quietly, then turned away.

He had been in Hogani for a week.

Eugene had found nothing here. He had thought Anise might have left some trace behind, but there was no sign of one.

It was just like Aroth. Aroth's mages desperately wanted to find Senya, just as Yuras's believers wanted to find Anise. If either woman had left anything behind, someone else would have discovered it long ago.

'I thought a trace might reveal itself in response to my soul.'

Nothing of the sort had happened. That statue marked the spot where, centuries ago, Anise was said to have prayed before heading into the desert beyond.

Her trail ended there. Yuras had sent delegations several times afterward to retrace her steps, but they had never found her.

'Why Nahama, of all places?'

He could make a vague guess at that.

Nowadays, advances in magic had made it possible to install warp gates in every country, but that had not been the case centuries ago. Taking a ship from Yuras, across the sea, brought one to the port city north of Hogani.

The pilgrimage began there. Anise had... probably...

'Come to pay her respects at my tomb.'

Senya's seclusion and Anise's pilgrimage had not coincided exactly. Senya had withdrawn from the world a few years earlier. Then Anise, revered as a saint in Yuras, had abruptly set out on a pilgrimage.

'My tomb was sealed.'

It had been discovered six years ago.

Probably after he found Hamel's necklace in the Lionheart Treasury. The tomb's seal must have responded to that and vanished.

'Anise couldn't get into my tomb.'

If she had, she would not have left it in ruins. Eugene gazed at her statue with a bitter feeling.

'... Vermouth.'

The bastard had even had a funeral, yet had entered Hamel's tomb alive and well. He had fought Senya, defeated her, and sealed the Moonlight Sword and the tomb.

Two hundred years ago.

An image of Anise... wandering the desert formed in his mind. What had she been thinking as she searched for a tomb she could not find?

'Was Vermouth involved in Anise's disappearance, too?'

Eugene had no way of knowing. Anise had left no trace. At least for now, Senya was the only one who had left a clear clue behind. He became conscious of the leaf of the World Tree tucked inside his cloak.

"My lord."

Raman, who had been standing silently beside Eugene, spoke with a cautious expression.

"Have you changed your mind?"

"... No."

Eugene shook his head.

He had merely wanted to see the statue one last time before leaving. He had found no other clues, and he did not feel confident that he could find traces from centuries ago somewhere in this vast desert.

Nor could he visit Moron's kingdom. The Demon King of Incarceration knew Eugene was Hamel's reincarnation. After the warning he had received, heading north, so close to Helmuth, was far too dangerous.

'Not now.'

He lacked strength.

Eugene felt that keenly. Never since his reincarnation had he craved power this much.

Now he had to crave it.

He had nearly been killed by a death knight that was not even fully intact. He had nearly been killed by Amelia Merwin, too. And even with the Demon King of Incarceration before him, he had been unable to leap at him and try to kill him.

"We're going back to Kiel."

It had been two years since he left the Lionheart family.

It was about time he returned.

* * *

Seyris, the capital of Kiel.

The vast forest on the outskirts of the capital belonged entirely to the Lionheart estate. It was also the only estate in the capital with a warp gate installed on its grounds.

Cyan Lionheart stood before the warp gate with his arms crossed. Soon to turn twenty and reach adulthood, he was all but certain to become the next head of the Lionheart family.

Yet he could not simply accept that fact and enjoy it.

Eugene was about to return.

'... Son of a bitch.'

Cyan's feelings were complicated. There was hurt and happiness at the return, after two years, of a brother with whom he shared not a drop of blood.

And many other things besides.

After Theonis, the principal wife, and Eward, her legitimate child, left the main family, Anisilla had begun taking control of the household in earnest, placing her son Cyan at the forefront of it all.

During Eugene's two-year absence, Cyan had made every day count. He never neglected his daily training and repeatedly sparred with his father. Alongside his overzealous mother's lessons on being an heir, he never skipped his practice of the White Flame Formula. He spent time with the young knights and humbly asked the knights who had served the main family for many years to teach him.

At first he had hated it, but he had gradually come to accept it.

Cyan wanted to become the family head.

His mother had spoken of it constantly since he was young, and he himself coveted the position. With Eward disqualified, Cyan's succession was assured.

Fortunately, he would not have to compete with his younger twin sister, Ciel. She wanted to relinquish her right of succession and join the Black Lion Knights.

If only Eugene were not there, it would be only natural for Cyan to become the family head.

"Damn it."

Cyan hated that others saw it that way, and that he found himself thinking that way, too. That idiot Eward was one thing. He did not want to compete with Eugene.

Rivalry.

And a sense of defeat.

They had not even met again yet, and Cyan was already thinking about his own defeat. He was annoyed with himself, and hated that he thought of Eugene as an obstacle.

Eugene Lionheart.

The guy was a son of a bitch. Ever since he had suddenly been adopted six years ago, he had tormented Cyan every day. Beatings disguised as sparring. Despite all the times Cyan had gotten the shit beaten out of him, he had never once managed to beat Eugene.

"Cyan."

Anisilla spoke, having watched her son's expression harden.

"You don't seem happy that your brother is coming home."

"... I want him to come, but I also wish he wouldn't."

"Cyan."

"If he wants to become the family head, I will probably give way to him."

Cyan let out a deep sigh and shook his head.

"He would be better suited to it than I am."

"... Ciel said Eugene didn't want to become the family head."

"That was two years ago. He might have changed his mind."

"Unless you step aside, Eugene will never become the family head."

"Is that right for the Lionhearts?"

"Cyan. You must be firm."

"The head of the Lionheart family should be the strongest heir in the main family."

"You may have been weaker than Eugene two years ago, but now..."

"He must have sweated just as much as I have."

Cyan ground his teeth and glared at the warp gate.

"... Mother. I can't believe blood should always be thicker than sweat. If Eugene is stronger than I am, and he wants to become the family head, I... what should I do?"

"You want to become the family head, don't you?"

Anisilla could not dismiss her son's words as childish nonsense. She wanted him to stand tall and become the head of the Lionheart family, inheritors of a great hero's blood.

"... You're no longer a child. So you must decide for yourself. If you want to become the family head, then do so. If you want to give way... then you can give way."

"... But that isn't what you want, Mother."

"I've been too strict with you."

Anisilla sighed and patted Cyan's shoulder.

"I... don't want to become like Theonis. I don't want to ruin my child through excessive ambition."

"... I'm not Eward."

"No, you're not. So defy me when it is right to do so. I... if you believe you're right, and can hold your head high, I want to respect your wishes."

Could she really do that?

Despite her words, Anisilla had her doubts. Ever since becoming the Lionheart family head's second wife, she had wanted to make her child the next family head. If not for what had happened to Theonis and Eward... she might have been furious at her son's softness.

Now she could not bring herself to be. She had seen how a mother's overbearing interference and stubbornness could destroy her son.

"... Cyan. My son. Remember this. Just as you have your own thoughts and wishes, Eugene will have his."

"..."

"You cannot know what your brother wishes. Who would have imagined that Ciel, of all people, would become a Black Lion? Neither I, her mother, nor you, her twin, knew what she wanted."

"... My brother."

"Yes. Eugene is your brother. Even if you share no blood, he is your brother. So meet him and talk to him. There will still be time to discuss the succession... after you've spoken."

"... Yes."

Cyan slowly nodded. He felt a little more at ease.

'Let's see how much stronger you've gotten.'

The warp gate began to glow.

Cyan fixed an intense stare on it, waiting for Eugene to emerge.