A Call From Reality
[previous_page]
[next_page]
Translator: Kell
Interlude: A Thunderclap in a Clear Sky
While in the middle of doing paperwork, her finger hit the bottle, spilling ink all over the desk.
The Mooncaller witch Albus, Chief Mage of the Kingdom of Wenias, let out a groan as she watched the parchments getting damaged.
“Ah, I need a break! Holdem! Bring me something sweet! Like deep-fried bread dripping with honey or something!”
“All that sugar will make you fat if you don’t exercise, young lady.” Albus’ servant, a white wolf Beastfallen, said as he offered her what she asked for.
Glaring at Holdem, Albus stuffed her mouth with the bread. “I exercise my brain! Look at this amount of paperwork. I have to prepare jobs, food, and shelter for the people we rescued from neighboring nations, reply to a letter to the Bishop of Lutra Cathedral, and deal with Mage applicants. On top of that, we still haven’t received a reply from Zero and Mercenary!”
“But the only thing you actually have to deal with is the application for Mages. His Majesty, the governor, and Commander Eudwright are taking care of the rest. Even the princess of Black Dragon Island and the Saint are assisting you with Magic-related matters.”
“Are you saying I’m slacking off?!”
“I didn’t say that. In fact, I think you’re doing a great job keeping up with those freaks despite being moderately normal.”
“Well, sorry for being normal!”
As a matter of fact, Albus did not possess the quick wits of a genius. Without the immense magical power she received from Thirteenth and Solena’s blood running in her veins, she was only an inexperienced young girl.
Countless times she wished for Thirteenth and Solena to be alive, for Zero to be by her side.
According to the witch from the Forbidden Library, a woman named Madia, Zero and the others arrived safely at their destination and met up with Secrecy. Still they hadn’t responded to her letter.
“What’s going on? Why aren’t they replying? I thought they lost the Witch Letter, but apparently they still have it.”
“They’re probably too busy.”
“Must be nice to be so optimistic all the time.”
“The saint’s attendant says it’s better than being pessimistic.”
“You mean Cal? A hawk Beastfallen’s so nice. I wish I had a servant like him. Someone who’s not a skirt-chaser.”
“My heart belongs only to Solena!”
“I don’t know about that.” Albus snorted.
She didn’t doubt Holdem’s loyalty, or her love for Solena for that matter. However, his loyalty was to Solena alone, forever. She felt a little sad not having a servant of her own. But she could not bring herself to search for a new servant as well.
“I wish I could have gone north too,” she muttered.
“Young lady…”
“I know, I know. I have my own role to play. To keep the wards running. To expand them. With the Church’s help, I should be able to extend the ward a bit further north. Wenias is a small kingdom. Our top priority is to secure more safe land.”
The only one of the Seven Cathedrals that remained intact was the southern cathedral of Lutra. Its Bishop did not evacuate to Wenias. Instead he decided to protect the south with new wards.
Knox Cathedral had proven that the cathedrals themselves were powerful wards against demons. If they combined the wisdom of the witches gathered in Wenias with the Church’s technology, it should be possible to put up wards that are more powerful than ever over a wide area.
Progress was being made, one step at a time. Witches and the Church were beginning to join forces, albeit awkwardly. Mages and the Knights Templar were already assisting each other.
“We’re going to protect the kingdom so that the two of them can come back in peace.”
“That’s the spirit, young lady!”
“Now that I’ve had my fill of sweets, time to resume work!” After giving her body a good stretching, Albus cleared the mess on her desk.
“Chief!” Madia barged into the office, her face pale. “W-We have trouble!”
“Oh, Madia. What’s up? And please stop calling me that. It’s embarrassing.”
“Lady Zero stabbed Mercenary.”
People tend to laugh when they hear something too absurd. There’s no way that’s true, they would say. Easy on the jokes.
But Madia’s ashen face prevented Albus from laughing.
“That’s impossible,” she said. “Zero would never do that. She—!”
Albus swallowed the rest of her words. Why was Zero with Mercenary again? she wondered. She needed a bodyguard while she searched for the copy of the grimoire, yes. In return, Zero would turn Mercenary into a human. And for that, she needed to wait for her magical power to be replenished.
So far, so good. But what happens after that? Zero did not need Mercenary’s help to save the world.
They had been together since Albus met them. To her, them being together was normal, but when she thought about it again, there was no reason for them to be together forever.
Albus looked at Holdem. “Zero likes Mercenary, right?” she asked gingerly.
Holdem gave a vague nod.
“Why does she like him?”
But no one could answer her question.
This is exactly why you shouldn’t trust others. I should’ve known better. Conmen would not hesitate to spend a couple years to trick someone.
So why did I believe that witch? How could I let myself drown in the delusion that a smart, strong, gorgeous woman would like me?
What a fucking riot. But I couldn’t laugh. Hell, I couldn’t even move a single finger. I had lost all feeling in my body, and it felt like I was falling deeper and deeper into darkness.
Am I dying? That’s great. Just kill me already.
I’ve had enough. I can’t stand being this miserable.
“How… thetic…”
Suddenly I heard a voice in the darkness. I opened my eyes a bit, but all I could see was black.
“I said, you are pathetic. I can not believe such trivial amount of despair could send you falling so deep into the abyss.”
What? Whose voice is that? It sounded familiar.
“Do you fear pain? Loathe reality? Puny one, do you wish to die a dog’s death and rot away? No. Open your eyes.”
Man, stop yapping already. Who cares if I sleep? Even if I wake up—
Even if I wake up…
“There is no joy in waking up. The only thing that awaits you is a painful reality. But you must still…”
“Wake up, Zero’s mercenary.”
I woke up to the sound of my own screams. As I bolted upright, pain jolted through every bone in my body.
“O-Oww… Shit… What…?”
Groaning, I hunched over. Then suddenly I felt something odd.
“My hands…”
My own hand felt awfully small. I looked down and saw an unfamiliar human hand where my hand should have been. I tried clenching it into a fist, and the human hand moved accordingly.
“Wh-What is… going on…?”
A knot formed in my gut, and my heart started pounding. Sweat was pouring out of my body despite the terrible cold.
Why is it this cold? What is this tickling sensation running down my cheek?
I could feel the base of my tail stirring. Or so I thought, but I could not even feel my tail at all.
My nose didn’t work, as if it had gone numb, and every sound was muffled and distant.
Sound? No. It was more like there was something wrong with my ears.
With trembling fingers, I touched my face. It felt smooth, like touching a human face.
“No!” I rolled off the bed.
I tried to get up, but I couldn’t. I cried in pain as my shoulder hit the floor hard.
“Uh…”
What’s going on? What’s happening? Where the hell am I?
I was supposed to be in the woods with Zero. Yet here I was, indoors, lying in a bed. I had a strange dream, but I couldn’t remember what it was. Was this even real? Was me traveling with Zero just a dream?
I need an explanation. Somebody. Anybody.
“H-Hello?! Is anybody here?!”
The door burst open. I turned my head and saw the priest. The sight of a familiar face gave me a huge sense of relief. His presence meant my journey with Zero was not just a dream.
At the same time, a question formed in my mind. “Why… are you here?” I asked.
“Why? I brought you here after finding you passed out in the woods.”
“Passed out…? Why would I be… Where’s the witch?”
“I’ll put you back to bed first. What are you even doing? You just woke up,” he said with exasperation as he stepped into the room. “There’s no way you can immediately stand up with that body.”
He grabbed my arm, put it around his shoulders, then stood up, lifting me up with him.
I was taken aback. I weighed more than twice as much as the priest. How could he carry me so easily?
“Were you always this strong?”
“What are you talking about? Are you still asleep? You became lighter, of course.”
“Lighter…?”
After returning to the bed, I looked up at the priest, confused.
Wait, looked up? I’m looking up at him?
When I was sitting on a chair or bed, my gaze was always at the same level as his, if not higher. Did he suddenly grow taller?”
No. It was obvious that my body had shrunk.
“Big brother!”
I heard Lily’s voice.
“I’m so glad you’re all right!”
A small rat Beastfallen barged into the room and jumped into my chest. Her weight startled me. She was supposed to be so light that I would forget I was even carrying her.
Gouda, Gemma, and Barcel entered the room next, all wearing indescribable looks as they stared at me.
“What? Why are you all looking at me like that?”
“Are you really Mercenary?” Gemma asked, looking at me as if I were a stranger.
“What… happened to me?” I asked in a shaky voice.
I eyed everyone in the room, then shot the priest an imploring look.
“Congratulations, I suppose?” he said in a tone that did not sound congratulatory at all. “I’m not sure what to say in this situation.”
My heart was beating fast. I held my chest to ease the pain.
“Please bring a mirror, Dragon Slayer King,” the priest said. “He’ll get a firmer grasp on things if he actually sees it.”
Gouda carried the mirror leaning in a corner to the front of the bed.
I couldn’t look at the stranger reflected on it.
No.
No, no, no.
I don’t want this.
I didn’t want any of this.
“I’m dreaming, aren’t I? Or maybe it’s the witch’s nasty prank. She’s hiding somewhere, laughing, isn’t she?”
Silence.
I buried my head in my hands.
“Please… tell me this is all a joke! Tell me I’m dreaming!”
The priest softly shook his head. “It’s neither a dream nor an illusion. Why do you look like that? This was what you wanted all along.”
Don’t say it.
Don’t say any more.
Please…
I’m begging you.
“Zero is gone. She turned you into a human and left you in the woods. You have received your payment for being her bodyguard.”
After a while of walking on the frozen sea, the island of Generos came into view.
Squinting through the roaring blizzard, Zero landed on a small island jutting out of the ice. Alone.
The big, warm presence that was always by her side was now gone. She took the soul of the beast that resided within him.
The soul, sealed in a vial she held close to her chest, was a little warm.
Generos was a small, bleak island, with only a church and a ruined plantation.
There was no smell of rotting food. Delivering supplies every year was probably just a lie.
The graves of generations of Bishops who died and were given the title of Prophet lay beside the church.
Zero headed straight for the holy sanctuary.
After struggling to push open the large wooden doors, which showed no signs of weathering, Zero was greeted by a room as plain as its exterior.
“The witch they called the Prophet was a witch I loved and respected.”
A relaxed voice echoed through the cathedral, and Zero stopped in her tracks.
“If not for the humans’ betrayal, she would have taken the good witches into the Church, defeated the evil witches, and created a whole new organization. I wanted to see the world she would have created. But she was betrayed, hunted down. Despair caused me to confine myself in the cellar.”
“You should have stayed there forever,” Zero said coldly.
There was a gentle chuckle, and the pitch-black cathedral suddenly turned bright. The torches on the walls lit up, illuminating the entire place. At the center of the circular chapel was the Altar, surrounded by pieces of wood that was once a chair.
A black-robed witch was standing at the Altar, a human skull in her hand.
“Countless times I wished I was her,” she said in a laid-back tone. “I wished I was the one betrayed by humans, imprisoned on an island, and left to die. So I decided to become her. I decided to create the world that she envisioned.”
Perhaps she was talking to herself. Not that it mattered.
“And that led you to destroy the world.”
“The plan was as I told you in your dream, Zero. And you agreed to that plan. Thank you for coming, my dear daughter. Together we will save the world. And for that, I need your body.”
[previous_page]
[next_page]
Comment (0)