Time of Unity – Part 08
[previous_page]
[next_page]
Translator: Kell
“You do not have to come with me if you do not want to, Mercenary,” Zero said suddenly as she lay on the bed.
“What?” Sitting on the floor, I stopped as I was about to put some pickled vegetables in my bag. I turned to Zero with a frown. “What do you mean by that?” We were in my room, preparing for our journey.
“I believe it is not only Rat who has a family down south.”
I gave a start. Come to think of it, I told Zero about my hometown once. I told her that I was from the south and that I left my village when I was thirteen. Clearly she remembered.
“When Rat said she was going to her parents, you were clearly perturbed. You remembered your family, yes? If you say you are going with Rat to Lutra, I will not stop you.”
I get it. That explained why she said she was going north alone. I thought it was only a figure of speech, but apparently she meant to go without me.
“As I have mentioned, this tragedy is my fault,” Zero continued. “I am certain you did not expect for things to become this serious. You may blame me.”
“We’ve gone over this before,” I said. “What’s important is to know who we have to take down to end this. There’s no point in blaming others at this point.”
“What if your parents die because of me? Your village burned to ashes?”
I went silent. I shoved the jar of pickles into my bag and slowly stood up. Curious what kind of look Zero wore, I peered at the bed, but the witch rolled over, turning her back to me as if to hide her expression.
“I may have indirectly killed your family,” she said.
“Maybe.”
“And Rat’s parents. If Master’s spell reached south, they are most certainly dead.”
“We don’t know that for sure. If they managed to take refuge in the cathedral, they might have survived.”
“Demons are terrorizing the powerless everywhere. I—”
“Oh, just shut up already. I’m going with you,” I said firmly. “I don’t care if you’re the root cause of the worst witch incident in history.”
Zero turned to me, wearing a helpless look. Her usual dignified aura was nowhere to be found.
“I’m worried about the village and my parents, yes. But I don’t even know if my parents are still alive. It’s a small village. It could’ve been wiped off the map before the demons attacked. That’s how much I didn’t care. You can’t just expect me to suddenly feel love for my old place now that there’s actual danger, and then leave you. It feels like… you know.”
Zero burst into laughter. “I have no idea what you mean, Mercenary.”
“Come on, you know what I mean. It’s uncool and pathetic. Feels like I’m using my parents as an excuse ’cause I’m too scared to go north.”
“I see.” Zero continued laughing for a while. Then she exhaled and sank back on the bed, facing upward.
“I understand,” she said, nodding to herself. “In that case, I will not stop you.” Grinning, she looked at me. “Well, then. Let us go on a journey to save the world.”
Like always, Zero made it sound like she was just inviting me for an afternoon nap. I decided to match her nonchalance.
“Sure. But three copper coins is our max budget for snacks.”
Later that night, Lily came into my room with a bright smile on her face to tell us that the priest agreed to go with her.
While Lily was explaining things, the priest appeared as well, dutifully announcing the temporary suspension of the Church’s surveillance on Zero.
“Do not be sad, Priest,” Zero said. “You too, Rat. I enjoyed your company.”
“Thanks, I suppose,” the priest replied. “Though I only have bad experiences of getting almost killed countless times.”
He was right. It wasn’t just once or twice that he ended up teetering on the ridge between life and death simply by virtue of being with us. That’s only because he’s weak, though.
“You know what?” Lily said. “Once I find my mom and dad, I’m coming back here. You’re coming back too, right?”
“If we don’t die,” I replied.
Lily hung her head down, clearly hurt. An unforgiving blow from the priest’s staff struck me on the head.
Damn it. I really can’t dodge that shit.
“Rest assured, Rat,” Zero said. “Even if I fail to save the world, I will protect Mercenary.”
“No, no,” the priest protested. “What you should be saying is ‘I will save the world even at the cost of Mercenary’s life’.”
“I do not see the value in protecting a world without Mercenary.”
“You dummy,” I said. “If the world is destroyed, I will die eventually.”
The witch frowned at the shocking new fact. “That is true,” she said. “Then I will protect both.”
“I quite like that about you,” I said, mimicking Zero’s tone.
Zero chuckled and elbowed me. “You have become quite bold.”
The priest clicked his tongue. “We’ll be leaving tomorrow morning. We’ll ride with Gouda on his dragon and head south ahead of the knights. Even though there’s no current threat to the south, it’s better to inform them of the critical situation as soon as possible. Apparently, the dragon can carry two adults and a child.”
“Really, huh? I’m surprised Gouda’s being so cooperative.”
“He’s a Church follower, after all.”
Oh, right. I forgot about that.
A former leader of his nation’s Magic Corps, Gouda was a Church believer and severely lacked any talent for Magic. He had repeatedly said that he was a follower. He would gladly lend a hand if the Church asked him to.
“I guess things are settled for now,” I said. “The princess is going to study Sorcery under the Mooncaller for a while. If she trains hard to control her magical power, she should be able to cast Magic without any problems in the future. She’ll be a huge asset then.”
“That is all from me,” the priest said. “I have to prepare for our departure tomorrow. You too, Lily.”
“O-Okay!”
After a moment of hesitation, Lily hugged me and Zero in turn, then rushed out of the room in embarrassment.
The priest turned to follow her, but I stopped him. “Hey. I know this sounds unreasonable, but can you do me a favor?”
“No.”
“At least hear me out first, you fucking priest! I’m swallowing my pride here!”
“It does not look like you are showing humility,” Zero remarked.
“Shut the hell up, Witch! Shit. I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“So, what is it?” the priest asked.
“So you’re gonna hear me out?”
“I did not say I would agree to it.”
Yeah, yeah. Whatever.
I put the biggest scowl on my face and clicked my tongue. I tore up a piece of cloth, wrote down the location of a certain village, and shoved it to the priest.
“What’s this?”
“It’s my hometown. It’s a small village, and I can’t say it’s close to Lutra.”
“Very well,” he said curtly.
As I stayed there, jaw on the floor, the priest turned to leave the room as if nothing had happened. But right as he stepped out into the hallway, he turned around.
“I don’t know if there’s such a thing as divine blessings for witches and Beastfallen,” he said. “But may God bless you. Until next time.”
It was only me and Zero once more.
“I didn’t get the chance to thank him,” I said, frowning. “He accepted it too readily.”
“You can thank him next time,” Zero said.
The next morning, there were loud cheers as a silver dragon flew across the clear sky.
Zero and I watched the scene from the window. For a while, we just idled in the silent room.
But there was no time to be sentimental right now.
We had a deadly job to do: going to the Altar. Accompanying us were more or less ten thousand Knights Templar, led not by Commander Eudwright. From what I heard, it was the one who commanded the knights at the eastern tunnel.
“Wasn’t the eastern tunnel where the knights abandoned the front lines early on and joined up with the guys at the southern tunnel?”
I would not call them weak for it. As someone who had been in the mercenary business for a long time, I thought it was a wise decision to retreat without trying to force a fight against unknown entities.
“The Commander will personally introduce us today, apparently,” Zero said.
“Introduced to a witch and a Beastfallen, huh? I wonder how they would react. Can’t say I’m looking forward to it.”
“Do not worry about a thing. The Commander did not say anything to us.”
“That guy’s an exception. Even then, he’s a bit tense when talking to me. Then again, they were almost killed by possessed Beastfallen. He’d be crazy not to feel anything at all around me. Anyway, don’t be offended if they react a little harshly, okay?”
“I understand. I will do my best.”
Did she really understand, though?
In any case, we had no say over whoever they chose as commander.
While we were lazing around in our room, servicing our equipment and such, a messenger from the knights’ commander came to call us.
They led us to the church, and when we passed through the main doors, we were greeted by Eudwright.
The man was still clad in his armor, but today a helmet covered his whole head from the neck up. At first glance, it was hard to tell if he was human or not.
“Thank you for coming,” he said. “I will introduce you to the commanding officer right away. Gemma!”
A person stepped out from behind Eudwright.
“Oh, it’s the guy from yesterday,” I said.
“That is correct.” Eudwright nodded gravely.
It was the young knight who beat up Sept. Now that I had another look at him, he was thin enough to hide behind the commander completely. Eudwright’s huge build might have contributed to it as well.
He had brown skin, which was not common in this area, and very short hair. When I took a closer look at his face, I was surprised at his chiseled features, and how big his eyes were.
He looked chivalrous and manly.
“Uh, may I ask a strange question?” I said.
Gemma cocked his head. “Sure, I guess.”
“You’re a man, right?”
“No. I’m sorry, but I’m a woman.”
Okay, I get it. I lacked the ability to determine the sex of living beings. It made me think that maybe even Commander Eudwright was a woman.
“You got a problem with a woman as commander?”
“Oh, no. That’s not it. I meant no offense. It’s just, I’ve been mistaking a lot of people’s sex lately.”
Gemma regarded me with suspicion.
“Be polite, Gemma,” Eudwright reprimanded. “They may be a witch and a Beastfallen, but they will be crucial in protecting your squad.”
Gemma straightened herself. “I beg your pardon,” she said. “I apologize for my behavior, including yesterday’s incident. I intended to make a mild protest, but I lost my composure. I have no excuses. My name is Gemma.”
“I am Zero,” the witch said. “This is Mercenary.”
“Mercenary is not a name, is it?”
“And Zero is just a number,” I said.
“Oh, right.” Gemma blinked repeatedly. Contrary to my first impression of her, she seemed to have a straightforward personality.
“We have our own reasons to keep our real names secret,” I said. “Call us whatever you want.”
There was probably no need to keep my name secret at this point. I was actually close to forgetting it myself.
I held out my hand for a handshake, and Gemma gave a jerk, then froze.
“Oh, my bad.” I pulled my hand back. “You probably shouldn’t make direct contact with me, huh?”
Gemma quickly shook her head. “Oh, that’s not it! Sorry. I’m a little uncomfortable around Beastfallen. For the record, this goes for witches as well. I can’t switch gears as well as Commander Eudwright. Although I’m aware that we need the power of a witch.”
“No need to apologize. It’s normal to feel that way.”
Moreover, she was a young lady from a family of good standing, with the authority to command the Knights Templar. She deserved praise just for not screaming and cursing in front of a Beastfallen.
“This may sound like an excuse, but my father was killed by a Beastfallen a long time ago,” she said. “It was on the battlefield, so there’s no one really to blame, but I just can’t help it. You were a mercenary, too, right? Were you in the business for long?”
“Yeah, kinda.”
“I see.” Gemma gave a broad smile. “Then you might have at least heard of him. A mercenary notorious for his cruelty, known as the Black Beast of Death.”
[previous_page]
[next_page]
Comment (0)