Episode 308
I went out to the living room. I couldn't see Lukuluku, but there were two other familiar figures sitting and eating somewhat hastily. They were Oimer and Sandra.
"Ah. You're awake," Sandra said.
"You both survived?" I asked.
"Well, more or less. I almost died." Sandra waved her hands before nibbling on a piece of bread.
I stared at her face and the bandage covering one eye. She explained, "Ah. This? The corpses scratched my eye a bit."
"Is it very serious?"
"Who knows? I can't see anything wrong with it, but I don't know much about this kind of thing. I don't know. If I go to the capital and stop by a church, they might be able to fix it. Well, I would probably need a bishop to heal a wound of this level."
"Um. I know a bishop. Should I introduce him to you?"
"Really?"
I told Sandra about Bishop Hellstar. Then I sat across from her and ate some bread.
Oimer, who had almost finished eating, looked at me and asked a question. "Are you feeling okay?"
He was one of the branch managers of the Zyren Trading Company, a merchant who'd had a fight with Corrupted when I first came to this village. Somehow, he had lost a lot of weight since I last saw him. It seemed that this man had quite a hard time.
"Yes, except for being hungry," I replied.
"I heard that you were unconscious for three days. You should eat a lot."
"How are you?"
"I'm okay, apart from being busy. Well, being busy isn't bad for a merchant."
Our first impression of each other wasn't pleasant, but we were now on good enough speaking terms to ask how the other was doing. After going through the incident with the Dark Church, the legion commander, and the demon king, I no longer harbored any ill will toward this man.
After that, I ate and filled my stomach without talking. It wasn't that delicious, but hunger was the best thing for appetite. I found myself eating a lot.
Around the time I was half-full, Oimer and Sandra excused themselves first, saying they had things to do.
I could understand Sandra being busy, but I wondered about Oimer. I asked, "In a situation like this, what does a trading company have to do?"
I wasn't being sarcastic. It was a genuine question. Maybe Oimer realized that, so he answered without any signs of displeasure. "The Zyren Trading Company has a strong relationship with the empire as well as the Hero Society. In particular, we have signed an exclusive contract with
the Hero Society for the supply of certain goods. Since the village suffered major damage at the hands of the church, it is only right for us to assist in rebuilding."
"For free?"
"Regrettably, there is no such thing as free in a merchant's dictionary. Still, I can say that the discount is quite high."
"Aha."
"Then I'll be going."
I nodded and said goodbye to Oimer. Then I asked Lanfero, who had been quietly eating, "Come to think of it, why are we still staying here?"
I was referring to the building we were in. It was a mansion built quite far from Snowville. Corrupted had been kicked out of the village due to the village chief's scheme, so I figured they could return now without any issues.
Lanfero replied, "Overall, this place is better. It is more spacious and we've cleaned it up quite a bit. It is fairly tidy. Besides, our group can get so noisy that it seems better than being in the village. In addition, Chief Snero wasn't entirely wrong. No matter his intentions, the residents would be uncomfortable with those like us wandering around the village."
I said nothing.
"Stop talking nonsense. If you are done eating, try to get more sleep today. I will be putting you to work starting from tomorrow. We are too short-handed to let you do nothing just because you just woke up," Lanfero said.
"Okay." I quickly nodded.
I had so many things on my mind that being locked up in my room was a bad move. This was exactly what I wanted.
***
The next day, I was reunited with Araxad, who returned to the base.
"You're awake. How is your body?" Araxad asked.
"It's pretty good. I can loosen my stiff body by moving."
"It is a remarkable recovery."
There was something strange about a lizard praising me for my recovery. Of course, that thought was too rude to say aloud.
I cleared my throat and asked, "By the way, did you take a shower in blood or something in the morning, Senior?"
It wasn't a joke. Araxad looked like he had been soaked in blood since dawn.
Araxad received my gaze and responded while wiping the blood from his eyes, "Under the influence of dark qi, the surrounding animals are mutating. If we don't go hunting regularly, there is a risk they might attack ordinary people or wander into villages."
"There is no time to rest, huh. You must've been pushing yourself quite a lot, Senior."
"Yes. However, I feel more comfortable moving around like this."
His sentiment was identical to mine. Come to think of it, I'd previously been told that the Corrupted clan barely got any jobs and ended up lazing around all the time. Maybe he preferred the way things were right now.
"When will you leave again?" I asked.
"I will fill up my stomach, sharpen my weapons, grab supplies, and head out right after," Araxad replied.
"Okay. Then I'll come too. My body feels stiff after sleeping for three days."
"Sure thing. And..." Araxad hesitated for a moment before shaking his head. "No. I'll tell you later."
I felt a bit curious but didn't ask, since I thought there had to be a reason why Araxad didn't say it now.
In any case, after a while, I warmed up in the sunlight and checked my body. It was the first time I'd examined my condition after the incident. I first noticed that the internal energy in my dantian had significantly improved. It was probably thanks to the heat of the lava.
The thing that unsettled me was that the amount of dark qi had also increased. I couldn't figure out exactly what caused it. It could be because I came into contact with the legion commander. Or perhaps it was because I wandered around a land full of dark qi.
In any case, after finishing my internal energy circulation and warming up, I started to patrol the surrounding area with Araxad. We headed to the northwest of the mansion. As we walked across the pristine snow, the first battle against the church almost felt like a dream.
Come to think of it, stopping the church wasn't my original reason for coming to the north.
The original goal had been to prevent the impending disaster at the Utgard Camp. I'd only joined Corrupted because it was close to the camp. Then I'd collided head-on with the church members and even fought a legion commander. Somehow, my life kept having one major incident after another.
Of course, the disaster I prevented was probably separate from Utgard, but it didn't seem to be completely unrelated. Later, once the time came, I would have to find out the connection between the two events.
Despite going through a big ordeal, it felt like the number of things I had to deal with were increasing instead of decreasing. Perhaps it was just my imagination, though.
In any case, as I was lost in thought, the vast expanse of snow and sparse trees started to change. Soon, a large icy lake came into view. There were several monster corpses near the lake. They had probably been animals before being affected by dark qi and mutated.
"Did you do all this alone?" I asked.
"I got some help from Sandra and the mercenaries. However, I took care of most of them alone," Araxad answered.
"You must've had a hard time."
"It was more troublesome than hard. The monsters kept appearing near the lake, so I just patrolled around here."
"I see. By the way, is it okay to leave the corpses alone like this? Won't northern scavengers take them if left alone?"
"It is unlikely. Any beast with sanity will instinctively avoid them due to the dark qi."
"What about burning them?"
"That would work if there was no other option, but I personally think it would be better to leave it to a priest who specializes in purifying dark qi.
A name came to mind when I heard him mention a priest. I said, "Come to think of it, I don't see Razbet."
"You said you woke up yesterday, right? Sister Razbet woke up two days ago."'
"Really? How did she look?"
Razbet had been in a pretty critical condition the last time I saw her. She didn't strike me as the type to die easily, so I wasn't too worried.
"I don't think there is anything wrong, but who knows? We don't know each other well enough for me to have noticed any changes," Araxad answered.
"Mm."
"There aren't many priests with divine power as strong as hers, so she was stationed where she was most needed. By the way, most of the heroes, including Mir Giant, are also there."
"What place?"
Araxad didn't respond and stared into the distance. Then, across the icy lake, I saw the figure of a giant jutting out awkwardly from an unusually large snowy mountain range.
"Ah."
That was Ymir's corpse. It was the first time seeing it with my own eyes. I could see the overwhelming size even from such a distance. It was definitely massive. No wonder people could live, fight, and make a mess inside it.
"The Hero Society has established a base near Ymir's corpse and is focused on the purification efforts. Searching for survivors, retrieving corpses, and dealing with any remaining church members are secondary objectives," Araxad explained.
"We definitely need at least one more inquisitor."
"Yes. I asked for support, but it will take quite some time for any organization who responds to get here. This is the north."
"Mm."
"By the way, I just did a sweep of the area and I don't see any particularly dangerous monsters nearby. As such, we can go over there for a bit and come back without any problems."
"Where are we going?"
"I'll tell you as we go."
I was puzzled by Araxad's cryptic way of speaking, but kept following him. He seemed to be walking toward Snowville, but instead of stopping there, he walked past it and continued a bit further west.
I was a bit flustered by the scene that finally appeared, exclaiming, "This place...?"
"This site is being used as a cemetery."
That was certainly the case. The area was simple but fenced off. A stele had been erected and dozens of gravestones were visible. It was a bit dirty, but it was clear that this was a regularly maintained cemetery.
"There were quite a few casualties in Snowville as well. In the first place, the village's combat troops only consisted of Sandra and a few mercenaries. It was a natural result. They didn't show it in front of us, but they must've fought a desperate battle too," Araxad explained. I listened quietly as he continued, "We haven't gone through the formal funeral process yet. Corpses are still continuing to be found even now."
"Is Ramon's grave here?" I asked. Araxad nodded, and I realized why he had brought me here.
"Follow me." Araxad kept moving and I followed him silently.
Ramon's grave was a bit far apart from the others, but to my surprise, there was a guest there. He paused his silent prayer and looked at us when he noticed our presence.
"Huh...?" His already large eyes widened even more.
Somehow, he looked familiar from behind. It was the boy I had briefly crossed paths with in the village. If I recalled correctly, his name was Andro; he was the local boy from Snowville whose younger brother's body was desecrated by the church members.
"Hello." Andro bowed respectfully the moment our eyes met.
"Hello." I greeted him and looked to the side.
There was a little girl next to Andro who looked to be about three years younger. Andro quickly introduced us. "This is my younger sister, Raviel."
Evidently, he had one more sibling. However, Raviel seemed to be shy. She greeted us with a flushed face before hiding behind her brother's back.
I watched them both in a daze, wondering if this encounter had been planned by Araxad.
I pondered on this question, but Andro bowed his head and said again, "I heard that you played a great role in saving the village and stopping the church's conspiracy. Thank you."
"It wasn't just me."
"That is why I'm greeting everyone I meet. And..." Andro trailed off as his gaze shifted to the grave next to Ramon's. He eventually continued, "I also heard about my brother."
The fact that there was a grave here meant that the death of his younger brother, Daniel, had clearly been announced. I wondered how much Andro had heard. Had he been told the cruel truth that his brother's body was desecrated by the church members?
The girl called Raviel grabbed the hem of Andro's clothes.
I looked at Andro. His voice was calm, but the redness and puffiness around his eyes were marks left by crying for a long time. I said, "I'm sorry."
"No. It was because of my carelessness," he replied.
I wondered if that was really the case. I still thought about it even now. Even if Daniel's death couldn't be prevented, maybe his body could've been properly recovered.
Looking back, the first mistake in Snowville was recklessly opening the stone door. I'd found Daniel on the other side and rescued him, but he was actually a church member and immediately self-destructed when his identity was discovered. That was when everything started to become complicated.
I said, "I'm sorry to interrupt. You came to see your brother, right?"
"That is true, but I didn't just come to see my brother," Andro replied.
"What do you mean?"
"I'm here to thank Brother Ramon as well."
"Ramon?"
"Yes. The damage to this village was minimized thanks to Brother Ramon." Andro smiled slightly. "He said that while you guys are away, beasts or monsters that lost their minds could attack. He advised that dark qi is heavier than air, so we wouldn't be greatly affected if we stay on the second floor. In addition, he taught us how to survive, what to do when encountering monsters, and what to do if we got hurt. It wasn't just me, but all the residents."
We'd had a week before leaving through the stone door. While I was deeply focused on training and sparring with Araxad, Ramon had been going around the village and warning the residents.
"Actually, at that time, no one listened to Brother Ramon's words. They scolded the goblin for speaking nonsense and called him a demon's lackey. Brother Ramon didn't mind. He didn't stop giving advice even when people threw stones at him. But then, the moment the monsters really attacked, the first thing we thought of was what Ramon said."
Andro recited the instructions that Ramon had given him one by one: How to lock the doors and barricade themselves at home, how to deceive the eyes and ears of the demons, and how to respond if they were discovered.
I quietly looked at Ramon's grave. I really felt like he was a senior I could never surpass in many ways.
"So none of the villagers objected to burying Brother Ramon in this cemetery in the end," Andro concluded.
"I see."
"Yes."
Andro was silent for a moment. It was just a feeling, but he still seemed to have something to say. His lips moved slightly and his Adam's apple twitched.
"I..." he began in a slightly emotional and trembling voice. "I still grieve the loss of Daniel. I still can't believe that he's no longer there when I wake up in the morning. But thanks to that, I was able to avoid repeating the same mistakes this time. I was able to protect Raviel."
"Same mistakes?" I asked.
"When the monsters attacked our village, we took shelter on the roof of our house. However, the frozen tiles were more slippery than expected, and Raviel almost slipped and fell down. It was a dangerous situation. Right below was a pack of snow trolls who lost their minds. Raviel didn't end up falling, though. I had already tied her to my body with a rope in advance," Andro explained.
"It was a thought that I had after losing Daniel. If we were tied with a rope, we would never be separated. Even if he fell into the water, he could be pulled out quickly. I-I mean..." Andro's voice trembled violently and the young boy finally broke down in tears. "It wasn't me who saved Raviel. It was Daniel."
Ah.
I realized something at that moment. The young boy had lost his brother due to a momentary mistake, but thanks to that experience, he was able to save his sister. If Daniel had lived and that terrible memory of losing his brother hadn't happened, Andro might've lost Raviel when the monsters attacked.
Of course, there was also a chance that might not have happened. All three of them could have survived. I also didn't want to force any meaning onto Daniel's death.
Still, I came to realize one thing. The human mind couldn't truly predict or calculate the flow of events.
And yet, I still felt uneasy and unsettled. At some point, my blessing that allowed me to go back to the past started feeling like a curse rather than a blessing. It was because a life spent constantly regretting and wishing to turn back time was just a curse.
I finally realized how deeply I had been trapped in the idea of going back to the past. Now I had to decide what to do about it. If returning to the past wasn't something I could choose, there was no point in dwelling on it. Yet I couldn't help doing so.
Then, I just had to live my life. I had to live as I wanted, doing what I wanted. Life only happened once, after all.
Maybe I'd feel regret sometimes and want to go back to the past, just like everyone else. Such thoughts only got stronger when facing a major disaster or witnessing someone's death. But if I didn't go back, that was that. If I did go back, I could just think about it at that time.
"You seem to be lost in thought," Araxad said after the two siblings left. His gaze was still on Ramon's gravestone as he continued, "I haven't known you for a long time, but I am closer to you than Sister Razbet. Thinking a lot doesn't seem like you."
That was definitely true. Araxad had seen right through me.
"This might be a cliche, but Ramon's death wasn't your fault. You showed the greatest performance in this battle against the church. Your performance was far beyond that of a B-class hero who just joined the Hero Society. This operation was a success," Araxad said.
That was the difference between the training camp and this incident. At the time, the training camp had been a failure. Anyone would see it like that. The same absolutely couldn't be said about the disaster in the north, though. If anyone called this mission a failure, it would be an insult to all the heroes who participated, regardless of whether they were dead or alive.
Honestly, I would be the first to slap those who said such things.
Slap!
In light of that, I slapped my own cheek hard. The cold wind struck my cheek hard enough to make me wince in pain.
I wiped away the tears that welled up and laughed. Then I looked at the gravestone and said, "I'll stop by again soon, Senior. Maybe next time, I will be an S-class hero."
At that moment, the wind blew. The cold breeze touched my red cheeks and it felt like the spring wind. It had to be a simple physical illusion, but it was the first warm wind I'd experienced since coming to the north.
"Hah..."
The moment I exhaled, the knot in my heart seemed to flow out with it. Then I left the cemetery with my white breath fading into the winter air.
I hoped to come here again.