To the Altar – Part 03
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Translator: Kell
Watching the silhouette of the dragon take off into the gray sky, Lily sank down in the snow.
He was gone. She let her go. Bitter emotions swirled inside her tiny body.
“He didn’t do anything wrong!”
It was the humans’ fault. Zero and Mercenary traveled all the way from Wenias to protect them, but they drove them out of town. Humans were the reason why Zero left. Who could blame Mercenary for stealing a horse to go after her? None.
“I understand what you’re trying to say,” Secrecy said, sighing as he watched the dragon fly into the distance. “I shouldn’t have banished him as a criminal. We should’ve seen him off as a hero trying to save the world.”
Lily nodded. If Mercenary wanted to go, then letting him was the reasonable thing to do. Like Secrecy said, controlling his actions simply because he didn’t want his friend to die was wrong.
But there had to be a different way. Something more appropriate. Mercenary deserved cheers, not a stoning.
“I wasn’t strong enough,” Secrecy said.
“No!”
Countless times she wanted to blame the priest, but she swallowed her words every time. She knew that wasn’t true.
Secrecy flashed a self-mocking smile. “I shouldn’t have crushed Orlux’s knees. I should have killed him and made it look like an accident.”
“I should have bitten him,” Lily agreed.
“Please don’t do that. You’ll kill everyone.”
Rat Beastfallen carried contagious diseases. People who were bitten would be infected, spreading the diseases to others in a chain reaction.
Lily covered her mouth. “I’m just saying.”
“Of course.”
Lily slowly got up. Just knowing that the priest felt the same way she did made her feel a little better.
“He’ll come back, right?”
“That seems highly unlikely.”
“But you believe in him, right?” She brushed the snow off her body and looked at Secrecy. “You believe in them both, don’t you?”
“My faith in them doesn’t matter.” Wearing a bitter smile, Secrecy stepped out into the snowfield. The blood and mud that had been covered by the snow oozed out, turning his footsteps reddish-black.
Lily scuttled after him. “But no one would wait if you don’t believe in them.”
“Wait?” Secrecy stopped and looked at Lily.
“What if they come back? Everyone in town will be scared. But if you waited for them, then you can welcome them back.”
What if they both returned after killing the witch? Would they be hailed as heroes or monsters? Who would make that decision?
Silently the priest lifted Lily up. “We’re going to get busy. We sent Mercenary away with the intention to kill him. We need to make sure that the people welcome them as heroes when they return.
“I’ll help! I’ll do anything!”
The priest smiled, and so did Lily. For the people to welcome a monster’s triumphant return, they had to expect victory. Perhaps that was even more cruel than embracing hopelessness.
But the people had to know. How big the flame of hope they had tried to extinguish was. How encouraging it would have been to protect that flame and fuel it instead.
If Zero and Mercenary did not return, the people had to feel regret. If they did, they had to welcome them with cheers of joy.
Secrecy did not want to send him off this way. But there was still time to prepare for a proper welcome. Lily believed that he could do it.
When the priest resumed walking, he did not leave dark footprints behind anymore.
I observed the island for a while from the bushes. When all I saw was a completely dreary landscape, I finally relaxed a little.
“I guess it’s safe for now,” I muttered out loud even though no one was listening.
I thought that Zero or the Murky Darkness Witch would kill me the moment I arrived on the island, but for now I didn’t have to worry about anyone attacking me. In fact, I almost doubted if anyone was actually around. In a force of habit, I tried to sniff the air, but with a human’s terribly weak sense of smell, I couldn’t catch anything.
My hearing had gotten worse, and I felt like I had lost the ability to sense presence with my body. I had no idea how people in this world could live with such weak senses.
Nervously I rose to my feet and surveyed the island once more. I checked my luggage to find all the equipment I had prepared beforehand intact, from hardened blasting powder to a small bottle of liquor—my usual travel gear.
I felt a little sluggish, probably because of the demon controlling my body, but compared to when I was a Beastfallen, it was probably within expectations. A lot of things were heavy for the body of a normal human being. My luggage, for example, still weighed the same, but it now dug into my shoulders. One of my fingers was missing, my whole body was slightly frostbitten—the list went on, but there was no point in complaining.
I lit a portable lantern and decided to walk around the island. As much as I wanted to enter the Altar and look for Zero right away, I hadn’t come all this way without a plan.
“Hmm… It’s exactly like the Director said.”
Generos was a small island, a modest foothold on the seas, with only a deteriorating altar and a plantation. Seven statues of guardian deities as tall as the average human were enshrined in seven different spots on the island.
The god of good harvest, holding a bottle filled with wine.
The god of death, holding a huge shroud.
The god of knowledge, holding a book that governs law and order.
The twin gods of warfare, one representing offense, the other protection.
The god of creation, holding a hammer.
The god of healing, holding a pair scissors. Apparently it was meant to cut the god of death’s cloth.
It was the kind of decor I would expect from the Church.
“And this statue is the warding.”
The Director had read all sorts of old books about the Church, studying its historical and ceremonial aspects, so he had the credibility. He said that the wardings were tough against attacks from the outside, but weak from the inside. Now that I was inside, I found it too defenseless.
“A punch might just destroy it.”
I tapped the statue with my fist, and the weathered sections began to crumble. The Seven Cathedrals were built as wardings. Unless you blew up the whole building, the warding would remain intact.
“Mercenary,” a voice called.
My breath caught. No way. Before I could turn around, I felt someone leap onto my back.
“Wh-What the?!”
“I did not expect you to follow me all the way here,” she said. “I must admit, I underestimated you a little. I am happy you are here, Mercenary.”
“Wh-Why you…!”
Zero’s casual attitude made me furious. She was acting as if nothing happened. I shook her off and confronted her. The face of the woman I wanted to see so badly was right in front me.
“Witch?”
“Yeah?” Zero cocked her head.
Yet something felt off. Very off, now that I really thought about it.
“You’re all right,” I said.
“Do I look injured?”
“What about your master?”
“I defeated her.” She flashed a grin.
Defeat her? I see. Okay.
“Then why is it crawling with demons outside? I thought killing your master would make them all disappear.”
“I have taken over the contract. It is a long story, so let us talk inside the Altar. I went through the storeroom and found several barrels of wine. You must be thirsty.” She turned on her heel.
I went straight to the point. “Why did you make me human and leave me in the woods?”
Zero turned around with a somewhat annoyed expression and crossed her arms in front of her chest. “It is a long story,” she said.
“Then make it short.”
“I wanted to test you. If you were really capable of being my mercenary. If you would never betray me. I wanted to know if you had what it takes to reach this place without my help. And you lived up to my expectations.”
She tested my loyalty? Now that I had passed her test, I was back to being her mercenary? What an honor. I just might cry.
“So, mind introducing yourself?” I said. “‘Cause I don’t know who the fuck you are.”
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