Chapter 57 - The Village of Fog (3)

A woman wearing an old robe, yet her sword was imbued with divine power.

A boy appearing as a mercenary, yet already possessing a world of his own.

They realized that each other's backgrounds were anything but ordinary, but their swords were already intertwined.

Swords are fast, and words are slow.

Choosing a single strike of the sword might subdue the opponent, but explaining the current complicated situation with words would require time.

"..."

The woman with green eyes did not wish to converse when there was a surefire method available.

Because that would be far safer.

[... Respond!]

As if having made up her mind to subdue him, the woman was suddenly rushing at Vlad.

The voice ordered the boy to respond, as if it couldn't be helped.

Things had already been set into motion, and there was no turning back now.

"Tch!"

Feeling that this was actually for the best, Vlad met her attack.

He was also curious about the existence of a holy knight, someone he was encountering for the first time in his life.

CLANG!

Vlad's world deflected her sword, which was filled with the will of God.

Sparks flew as their worlds collided, and at the same time, Vlad's world wavered violently like a dying candle.

'It's too heavy!'

Facing the sword of a holy knight for the first time, Vlad found himself greatly flustered.

Her sword had approached with insufficient weight and speed to deliver such an impact, yet the moment it actually struck, it possessed a power comparable even to Jager's.

It was an incomprehensible result.

[That is what they call a blessing. It is proof that the world is aiding her.]

'... How does that make any sense!'

To receive a boost in power beyond her original skill just by upholding the will of God.

Thinking that the world was indeed unfair, Vlad once again closed his left eye.

The unadorned sword slowly began to blaze alongside the boy's resolve.

Although it was a faint aura compared to the divine power radiating from the unknown holy knight, Vlad held pride in the world he had built solely with his own strength.

Because it was uniquely his, something that no one could take away.

'I see it.'

Through his spar with Jager, which had been just like a real battle, he was already somewhat accustomed to the tactical exchanges.

To Vlad's eyes, the woman in front of him right now was full of openings.

'I can end this.'

The essence of a fatal strike comes from controlling the battlefield.

If one can only draw out the opponent's movements, they can lay the groundwork for victory.

Having hardened his resolve, Vlad charged in with a movement as fast as lightning.

Digging in to aim for her shoulder, Vlad held his breath in preparation for the reaction that would soon follow.

'What?'

However, the woman's responding movement was merely an attack, not the defense he had anticipated.

The knight who upheld the will of God was simply moving forward, completely disregarding the part the boy was trying to tear into.

"...!"

Since Vlad knew she was a holy knight, he didn't want to inflict a severe wound.

But her method of attack was far too extreme, and in such a situation, the one who retreated first would inevitably suffer great damage.

CLASH!

Left with no choice, Vlad brought his sword down toward the holy knight, but the plate armor hidden beneath her robe subtly deflected the tip of his sword.

It was the armor technique the holy knights boasted of.

'...!

With his striking point missing its mark, Vlad's balance momentarily began to collapse.

Matching that moment, the woman's green eyes flashed as she fiercely kicked Vlad's ankle.

SPIN.

The world was spinning.

'What is this.'

Even as he was vainly sent flying, Vlad kept recalling her movements from a moment ago right up to the end.

An incomprehensible concept called a blessing, on top of an armor-handling technique he had never seen before in his life.

Because it was so unfamiliar and intense, it was a scene that wouldn't easily be forgotten from his mind, even in the moment of defeat.

CRASH!

Just as his brief, almost meditation-like thoughts ended, Vlad was slammed hard into the ground.

"Urgh!"

Soon, the cold touch of a sword was felt against the nape of the sprawled boy's neck.

"Who are you."

Vlad lifted his head and faced the unknown holy knight looking down at him.

Eyes of the same color as Oksana's, yet entirely different in temperature.

Looking at her face, which hadn't shed a single drop of sweat, Vlad ended up letting out a hollow smile.

She had shown an opening on purpose.

"... I came from Soara. I had something to investigate here."

The essence of a fatal strike comes from controlling the battlefield.

However, the one who controlled the battlefield just now was not the boy, but the unknown holy knight.

A new opponent, a new technique.

Today, having glimpsed yet another world, the boy raised both hands and admitted his defeat.

With another color, much like a scar, engraved upon his own world.

* * *

In an inn where the party were the only guests, there were knights facing each other across a table.

Watching them from beyond the hearth over there, Vlad downed the glass of water he was holding.

Perhaps because it was a situation brought about by his defeat, the taste going down his throat was bitter.

"Meeting the knights of Soara here must surely be the will of the heavens."

"I think so as well, Lady Justia."

Knights who met in a village shrouded in a suspicious fog.

The orders they carried on their backs might be different, but they had clearly followed the same ominous signs.

"I was investigating a bizarre occurrence where children in this vicinity have been dying. At first, I undertook the investigation thinking it might be something like an epidemic, but..."

The woman Vlad had secretly tailed was indeed a holy knight sent by the church, just as the voice had said.

To be exact, she was one of the personnel dispatched from the Northern Archdiocese, San Rosino.

The church had already noticed the incident occurring in the Barony of Uthman.

"It was a curse. I discovered traces of something ancient."

"I see."

At Justia's words, Gregory stroked his coarse beard and began to fall into thought.

He had anticipated it, but with her appearance, this matter was now stepping beyond his authority and capabilities.

"But it seems there is a church here as well."

It was a question he had barely brought up after agonizing over whether it might be impolite, but the answer that came back was only cold and detached.

"I have judged that the church located here is the perpetrator of the curse."

"... Oh."

Seeing a knight who followed the will of God pointing to the church as the culprit, Gregory decided to save his words.

The situation was more serious than he had thought, and this place was not their territory.

"Please convey my gratitude to the new mayor of Soara. The mayor's attitude of trying to prepare for this through information unknown to us was truly admirable."

She was beating around the bush, but ultimately, Justia's words were no different from a request for Gregory not to approach this any further.

This was not the land of Bayezid, and matters related to black magic were something the church had to step forward to handle.

For the knights of Soara, standing in an ambiguous position, there was no longer any justification to proceed further.

"Understood."

A line was drawn in the conversation between the two.

The investigation team's work was finished here.

They had confirmed the ominous situation in the Barony of Uthman and secured the testimony of a holy knight from San Rosino.

Even though they hadn't found the missing women, approaching the situation any further would be a burden to Joseph.

Because this place was not their domain.

In the face of the weight of authority and responsibility, the knights decided to turn back.

"..."

With a bitter feeling rising from within him, Vlad idly flicked the glass of water he was holding.

It seemed that they wouldn't be able to find Anna after all.

Vlad quietly closed his mouth as he thought of the woman who had smiled at him so pitifully.

* * *

Justia mentioned that she had already sent a carrier pigeon to request backup.

She said that other knights were expected to arrive within three days at the latest, so Gregory stated he would stay by Justia's side and remain with her until then.

Perhaps that was the best conclusion Gregory could have chosen.

"Are you leaving now?"

"Yeah."

Looking out at the empty plaza from inside the quiet inn, Vlad was having a conversation with the child.

"Why are you going already?"

"I finished my work."

"... Where in this world is there ever an end to work."

She probably hadn't said it intentionally, but for something a young girl would say, it seemed to hit a little too close to home, making Vlad clear his throat for no reason.

"Don't you have friends? Why have you just been staying here all this time."

"Dad told me not to go out."

At those words, Vlad carefully turned his head to look toward the counter.

There, the innkeeper was glaring at him sharply.

"You should stay just a little longer. They said the church would give a present if we waited just a little bit more."

"... What?"

At the girl's casually spoken words, Vlad felt a sense of incongruity that he could not ignore.

When Vlad turned back to the innkeeper with a look asking what she meant, the man began to elaborate on what his daughter had said.

"They say the church is going to gather the children soon to conduct a blessing sacrament. In turbulent times like these, it's truly a thing to be thankful for as a parent with a child."

"... When did they say that would be?"

"When was it again. I don't quite remember."

The innkeeper scratched his head and frowned, as if he genuinely couldn't remember well.

"Did they say three days from now, or four days? Well, anyway, the priest will be going around himself to gather the children."

Leaving behind the innkeeper's remarks about what a fine priest the man was, Vlad looked at the girl sitting next to him.

A wooden necklace carved into the emblem of the church.

Vlad's gaze deepened as he looked at the necklace, which was carved properly enough, but the part where it hung had been made so subtly that it constantly settled into an unholy orientation.

"Will you stay until then before you go?"

Looking at the girl who was sending him a pure gaze while wearing an ominous symbol, Vlad was momentarily lost for words.

The child probably knew nothing.

And because of that, the child was entirely without fault.

Surely, God would know that as well.

"I suppose I might stay until then."

"Hehe!"

As soon as Vlad finished his answer, the child quickly pressed what she had been fiddling with into his hand.

It seemed she had been looking for this opportunity even while they were talking.

"What is this?"

"A flower ring."

"How is it a flower ring when there aren't any flowers."

Just as Vlad said, it was a flower ring made entirely of green stems.

Since she couldn't properly go outside, it seemed she had made it by plucking the ivy vines hanging on the walls.

She should have been a child running outside to her heart's content, picking flowers and playing, but reality was not permitting that.

"Then how about we go outside for just a bit..."

"Marianne."

The innkeeper, who had been quietly listening to Vlad and the child's conversation, spoke up.

"Go on upstairs now. It's time for bed."

"But..."

At the innkeeper's stern expression, the child rose from Vlad's side with a gloomy look.

For a child who had to be alone all day, conversing with Vlad must have been a joy she hadn't felt in a very long time.

"You'll really be here tomorrow too, right?"

"Probably."

Saying she would see him tomorrow, the child waved her small hand and followed the innkeeper back to her room.

Watching her go, Vlad waved his hand back in return.

"..."

Alone on the empty first floor, Vlad quietly looked down at the flower ring the girl had handed him.

The reality filled with damp fog hadn't permitted the girl even a single, tiny flower.

Just around the time Vlad was lost in thought while looking at the fog enveloping the outside, the curse hanging around the girl's neck, and the flowerless flower ring the child had given him.

"Marianne! Marianne!"

"...!"

Suddenly, a man's scream-like weeping echoed through the quiet inn.

"What is it!"

"What's happening!"

Startled by the sound, the party on the second floor rushed down.

Vlad, who had been sitting alone on the first floor, let out a short curse and quickly dashed toward the back where the innkeeper and the child had just disappeared.

"Damn it!"

Feeling as though he knew exactly what the scream he just heard meant, Vlad rapidly sprinted toward the back of the counter where the innkeeper and the child were.

"No! Marianne!"

Where Vlad roughly threw open the door, he saw the child collapsed with a pale face.

The sight of the innkeeper crying while holding the child, and the girl gagging with foam at her mouth.

[It seems the curse has been activated. They must have noticed us.]

Just as Justia and Soara's investigation team had noticed the anomalies here, the opposing side had also noticed the knights' presence.

Because this village was practically in their grasp.

It seemed they had decided to make the first move rather than wait quietly.

[I will lend you my world.]

Though seeing it wouldn't solve it, the voice at least intended to let the boy grasp the situation.

"..."

A wailing father and a girl gasping for breath. And the knights, who could not easily make a move.

In the midst of them, Vlad opened the World of voices and looked at the girl suffering and gagging.

The deeply colored World of voices.

The sight visible there was a black grip mercilessly twisting the girl's neck, and the shape of thin smoke slipping out from the girl's mouth.

[It seems to be a curse in the form of extracting life force.]

That smoke was slipping out of the suffocating girl and flowing outside through the inn's window.

It was the direction of the church.

"... The curse has been activated. It seems they have noticed my presence after all."

"Lady Justia."

Justia, who had been quietly watching the scene, secured the girl's airway in hopes of being even a little helpful, and then without hesitation, threw on the robe she had been holding.

She surely knew it well.

The fact that in order to resolve the current situation, she had to eliminate the root cause.

"If by chance I do not return, please explain the situation to my comrades who will arrive later."

"..."

Gregory, who stood next to her, could say nothing and only bit his lip.

The knight leaving to follow the will of God, and the knights remaining, bound by responsibility and authority.

Even though they had seen the same thing, the choices made by their two worlds were different.

Watching Justia's back as she departed into the fog without any hesitation, Vlad found himself unknowingly following her all the way out of the inn.

"... Please, just take a breath!"

"The child is acting strange!"

"No! No!"

In the plaza the boy had thoughtlessly stepped out into.

Lights were flickering on one by one in the houses beyond the fog, and alongside them, the miserable wails of parents were spreading.

Inside the empty plaza, there was only the sound of weeping filling the air.