“Who would do such a thing? If they’re caught, they won’t escape with their lives.”
“It’s a square constantly guarded by patrolmen, so who would dare? It must have been spirits casting a spell.”
Blayden smiled knowingly.
“They handled it exactly as ordered, my moles.”
As the gruff voice faded around the corner, there was a rustle of clothes behind him, carried by the wind.
Gustav approached, lightly treading on the dry earth.
Gustav stopped close enough for their shoulders to touch, confirmed Blayden’s face, and spoke carefully.
“I looked into the women who married using forged family trees.”
“And?”
This was information Gustav gathered by wandering around the city of Clavil after leaving the victory procession.
“You know the candle shop owner was assassinated near that pub recently, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
“It feels somehow connected to the forged family tree organization.”
Hmm.
“Oh, and I heard an interesting story.”
Blayden turned his head to look at Gustav.
“A young woman who worked as a maid in a pub disappeared about three years ago, and there’s a rumor she went to the palace.”
“The palace? Clavil Palace?”
“Yes. They say she received the favor of someone high up.”
This is getting bigger.
Has the mastermind behind the document forgery infiltrated the palace?
What are they aiming for by doing this?
There was no guarantee that the force disrupting Equillium society was an ally.
“What’s the woman’s name?”
“It was something like Kren or Gren. She was so quiet and gentle that, perhaps because of that, no one remembered her clearly.”
Blayden fell silent.
It felt like the investigation had hit a dead end.
“It would be best if the Captain looked into the palace matter. You could ask High Priest Boren for help.”
“I thought you didn’t trust him?”
“It’s not that I distrust the High Priest. It’s just upsetting that he doesn’t acknowledge those with different beliefs.”
Gustav sighed, and his tone changed.
“Oh, and there’s one more thing that’s upsetting me.”
Blayden slightly raised an eyebrow, sensing a playful remark was about to spill out.
“Did you test every new recruit this way?”
“This way?”
“Don’t play innocent. I joined this unit last, so I only just found out. The unit members are all ganging up and testing Leni in all sorts of ways, aren’t they? You’re thoroughly vetting her, inside and out, to see if she’s trustworthy. Thinking that people did the same when I came here makes me subtly uncomfortable.”
“That kid isn’t a recruit. She’s not coming with us.”
“She’s already with us, though.”
Blayden was speechless.
Gustav, who had been pretending to be lost in thought with a long index finger on his chin, grinned.
“It’s not like the Captain to assert the future so definitively. Don’t be so confident. Life is unpredictable.”
As if not wanting to give him a chance to retort, Gustav quickly turned around.
His clothes flapped in the wind, and soon a whistling sound echoed from the darkness.
Gustav, striding along with his long silver hair flowing, raised one hand.
As his long, raised index finger traced a small circle from the end of his wide sleeve, rain suddenly began to pour down.
“Kyaaa!” a sound came from the corner of the garden.
It was Sharino’s cry.
Startled by the sudden downpour, the unit members scrambled to pack up their belongings and ran to a sheltered area.
“Don’t let the strawberries get wet!”
A faint glow surrounded Gustav as he called out teasingly.
Raindrops slid off the barrier he’d created with magic, and not a single strand of his hair got wet.
Gustav’s song mingled with the sound of the rain:
Oh, you who trust in the sun and your comrades, Worship the dark clouds in the night sky.
Life is a continuous unknown, like two sides of a coin; Light holds darkness, and darkness calls forth light.
On a night when the moon, more generous than the sun, does not obscure the stars, Invite all the twins and heretics of the world.
Let enemies and comrades hold hands, And kings and rebels embrace and dance as one, Praising their existence.
Standing in the pouring rain, Blayden gazed at the graves touched by moonlight.
A world where everyone embraced and danced – it seemed like an impossible dream, and his eyes welled up.
It was a night where rain fell like arrows.
***
Blayden sat in a vast field covered in black ash.
He gazed into the void with empty, lifeless eyes.
Tears streamed from his bloodshot eyes, leaving long trails on his blood-stained cheeks.
A hand in a black glove removed Blayden’s armor, picked up a dagger, and stabbed him in his bare chest.
His wounded chest split open, and blood gushed out.
“Aargh!”
He opened his eyes with a scream.
Green leaves filled his vision.
As sunlight streamed through the rustling leaves, Leni sighed in relief.
“Ah, it was a dream.”
While wiping the cold sweat from her forehead, her chest still felt chilly.
Her body had been acting strangely since yesterday when she left Ruett Nunnery.
She alternated between a slight fever and chills, then felt weak, as if exhausted.
Since dawn today, after crossing the Verden border, she had felt nauseous, and her stomach pain had worsened.
She had thrown up everything, even though she hadn’t eaten much.
Currently, the Kynolf unit was camping in the forest, just before the entrance to the Shadow Lands.
Leni felt bad that the journey seemed to be slowed down because of her.
“We’re not stopping because of you. It’s wise to be cautious in an area where the Shadow Spirits’ magic manifests.”
William was bad at lying.
Leni remembered Blayden saying they would pick up the pace starting tonight, the day before she left the nunnery.
He’d shot her disapproving looks every time she coughed.
A slave being waited on by soldiers—he clearly found it absurd.
Gustav repeatedly explained the precautions for the Shadow’s territory over the past two days.
Everyone was already on edge, and she was making the situation worse.
Cough, cough, a dry cough escaped.
Leni shivered and pulled her blanket tighter around her shoulders.
“Leni, try some of this.”
Sharino brought over some oatmeal porridge.
“Thank you.”
The warm porridge looked appetizing, but Leni couldn’t swallow a single spoonful.
Her parched mouth wouldn’t accept any food.
“Could it be the Shadow Spirits’ energy?”
Gustav approached and checked Leni’s complexion.
“Really? Then what happens?”
Fear filled Sharino’s eyes as she turned to Gustav.
“I don’t know either. I’ve never experienced it. Anyway, Leni seems to be the most sensitive among us. Her body is reacting as we get closer to the Shadow Lands.”
Gustav, speaking to Sharino, then addressed Leni.
“I don’t know why, but you might be acting as a warning for danger. Don’t hide any symptoms; tell me honestly, alright?”
Instead of being reassured by Gustav’s uncharacteristically serious demeanor, Leni grew even more frightened.
Still, just as she nodded, Gabriel approached with a small brown bottle.
“Leni, if you’ve eaten some porridge, try drinking this. It’s medicine to relieve stomach pain.”
“Thank you, Gabriel. I’ll fill my stomach first.”
Leni smiled weakly and picked up the bowl of porridge.
It would be best to force herself to eat.
She couldn’t keep being a burden to the unit members in this state.
“Sharino!”
Blayden’s voice cut through the air.
“Leni, then eat slowly.”
Sharino patted Leni’s shoulder and stood up, going to where Blayden was checking on the horses.
After Blayden, who had led her to the shade of a tree, heard about Leni’s condition, he said,
“I’ll entrust Leni to you, Sharina.”
Sharino understood the hidden meaning in hearing her full name after a long time.
“Because there might be issues she feels more comfortable discussing with you than with Gabriel.”
From dawn, Leni had been complaining of abdominal pain, rubbing her lower belly.
Blayden seemed to have guessed it might be a physical symptom only women experienced.
Sharino didn’t think Blayden favored Leni.
A commander paying attention to a subordinate’s condition was for the same reason as checking supplies or terrain: survival and victory.
Blayden believed that if one was safe, everyone was safe, and all the Kinolf unit members agreed.
“Yes, understood.”
The conversation ended.
Blayden was confident his intentions had been conveyed and trusted his subordinate’s abilities.
Sharino liked Blayden’s clean-cut approach.
Of course, if the commander gave an order twice, it meant he was angry, so she had to be careful.
Unlike the commander, the subordinates were long-winded.
Gustav restlessly paced beside Blayden, who was preparing to enter the Shadow Lands.
“You must find and come out with Shadow Flowers while the sun is up. When it gets dark, the Shadow Spirits do mischievous things, they say. If the sun sets before you come out, find a cave or similar place to spend the night. It’s best to avoid moonlight.”
“Got it.”
Blayden packed a day’s worth of food as a precaution. Gustav tucked in thick clothing.
“In the Shadow Lands, the weather is unpredictable; it gets cold then hot. Oh, and if you meet Arigl, you must be polite. They say he dislikes rude humans.”
“Arigl?”
“He’s a guardian bird that protects the Forest of Saint-Noire.”
The forest across the river from their current camp was Saint-Noire.
“He has the head of an owl and the body of an eagle, and he’s said to eat humans who get his riddles wrong. I heard this from a ninety-nine-year-old elder who barely escaped Arigl two years ago. I sang to him for three days and nights to learn this fact, and I’m only telling you, Captain, discreetly.”
Discreetly?
He was blabbering loudly enough for all the unit members to hear.
“Can you trust facts extorted through torture?”
“Are you disparaging my singing right now? Hmph! One cannot converse with someone who has no ear for beautiful melodies.”
Gustav grumbled with a disgruntled expression, then handed over a black glass bottle, claiming it was medicine that created a barrier around the soul.
“Drink this when hallucinations or auditory hallucinations are severe. It will help you regain your senses.”
As Blayden put the bottle in his bag, Lentz, who had been watching them, interjected.
“Are you sure you should go alone?”
“If I’m going to die, it’s better to die alone. These are precious lives; we shouldn’t throw them away in a group.”
Blayden was wearing only a tunic and had only one weapon: his sword.
He preferred to move lightly, but could he endure if attacked by Shadow Spirits?
“Seeing you act so prickly, I guess there’s no need to worry. They say people change when they’re about to die, don’t they? Since you’re still the same, it’s a sign you’ll come back alive and well.”
Despite Gustav’s teasing, Lentz’s face was filled with concern.
Dealing with spirits was different from human combat.
No matter who Blayden was, entering the Shadow Lands alone was considered reckless.
Whether it was boldness or indifference, Blayden merely patted Lentz on the shoulder.
“If I don’t return after three days, assume I’m dead and go to Clavil. I leave the remaining unit members to you, Sir Krobbe. There’s no need to hold a funeral for me.”