The Buried Companion
A thin drizzle fell fitfully from the dark, gloomy sky. Beneath it lay damp, sodden earth and ruins that looked as though they had been abandoned for an eternity.
Yohan was genuinely astonished to see the landscape shift before his eyes in an instant. With a look of utter disbelief, he scanned the grave robbers' hideout visible in the distance. They had traversed a distance that would have taken three days of hard riding on horseback, all in the blink of an eye.
"This is insane... seriously."
Yet, regardless of Yohan's reaction, the Goddess—who had been wearing a triumphant smirk just moments ago—sighed with a melancholy expression.
"My Apostle, seeing thee so astonished only serves to deepen my melancholy."
"Deepen your melancholy?"
The Goddess finally released Yohan's hand, which she had been holding all this time, and spoke.
"It hath occurred to me, albeit belatedly, that having to prove my omnipotence through a mere trifle like teleportation is a humiliation in itself."
"Is... that so?"
It was likely because she had realized her fall from grace—once a mighty deity with countless followers, now reduced to teleporting around with her sole believer and Apostle. But to Yohan, this self-proclaimed Goddess's teleportation was nothing short of a miracle. Traveling a vast distance flawlessly based on nothing but a fragment of someone else's memory was not something even the greatest mages on the continent could easily pull off. I guess it's just a difference in perspective between a god and a mortal, Yohan thought as he looked down at her.
"At any rate, we have arrived precisely where thee desired. What is thy plan now?"
"Well, first we need to check if the Sacred Relic you mentioned is actually inside."
"Hmm. At a glance, it appeareth to be nothing more than an abandoned building."
After a brief exchange of glances, the two turned back to study the grave robbers' hideout. In truth, calling it a temporary base was more accurate than a hideout. As the Goddess noted, it was an old stone building abandoned to the elements. Every single door had rotted away long ago, leaving them to patch up the entrances with makeshift tents and wooden planks.
"It might look like a dump, but it has everything they need. There's a storage cellar underground."
"And there will be other grave robbers inside, I presume."
The Goddess chimed in, and Yohan nodded in agreement.
"Hast thou a plan?"
"First, we clear out the bastards inside. Then we prepare before the sons of bitches who stabbed me get back."
"Splendid. In the name of the Goddess, exact thy righteous vengeance upon those shameless wretches who betrayed thee."
A goddess who actively encourages killing, even if it's in the name of revenge. Yohan shook his head as he looked down at the petite deity.
"Leave the task of discerning how many dwell within the building to me."
"Huh?"
The Goddess suddenly stood up and stepped forward, narrowing her eyes at the distant ruins.
"What, do you have radar eyes or something?"
"I know not what this 'radar' is, but sensing life is a trivial matter for one such as I."
"Yep, that's radar."
Yohan walked over to her side and crouched down to match her eye level.
"First, on the ground level... I sense two. And..."
The Goddess pointed toward where she sensed the life forces. Recalling the layout of the abandoned building, Yohan tried to guess what the grave robbers she pointed out were doing. The two on the first floor were likely on guard duty.
"The ones on the first floor are just lookouts. But they're probably fast asleep."
"Guard duty" was a generous term. In reality, they usually sat around slacking off or just sprawled out on the stone floor to sleep. After all, a band of grave robbers was nothing but a gathering of lowlifes living hand-to-mouth.
"And over there. There is another beneath the earth. However... their presence is far weaker than the others."
As she spoke, the Goddess pointed to a spot on the ground a short distance away from the ruins.
"As thee said, the underground space must be quite vast. Do the chambers extend all the way to that spot?"
Yohan shook his head at her question.
"No, not that far."
"Then what is that life force buried beneath the soil?"
Yohan narrowed his eyes, studying the spot she was pointing at. Unlike the surrounding area, which was overgrown with weeds, this particular patch was nothing but dark brown dirt. It looked conspicuously out of place, as if the earth had been dug up and hastily patted back down.
"Those absolute bastards..."
Realizing the situation in an instant, Yohan spat out a low curse.
"I wasn't the only one who got stabbed in the back."
At least he had only been stabbed and thrown into a pit. Whoever was over there had been buried alive. Yohan clicked his tongue at the sheer cruelty of the grave robbers.
"My Apostle, what wilt thou do?"
The Goddess asked. By his original plan, he should have ignored the buried grave robber. He was going to slaughter every last one of them in the hideout anyway. Yet, for some reason, the person buried beneath the dirt weighed on his mind. The Goddess had undoubtedly picked up on his hesitation, which was why she asked.
"Sigh..."
What do I do? Yohan let out a heavy sigh and rubbed his face with his palm.
"My Apostle, the life of the buried one is fading even as we speak."
"Ah, screw it."
The Goddess's gentle nudge was all the prompting Yohan needed. Standing up, he crept cautiously toward the spot where the person was buried alive.
"Don't follow me. Wait here."
Just before heading down the slope, Yohan looked back and spoke to the Goddess. She simply shook her head.
"Worry not."
The moment she answered, her entire body vanished into thin air.
“Would this not suffice?”
Just like when they had first met, her voice echoed directly inside his head.
"So, only I can hear this?"
“Indeed. To be precise, it is not thy ears that hear, but thy mind.”
Of course it is. Yohan grumbled inwardly and pressed forward.
“It is right before thee.”
Up close, the signs of freshly turned earth were unmistakable. Yohan immediately began digging with his bare hands, having been stripped of his weapons and tools when he was betrayed. Which poor bastard did they bury alive? Yohan recalled the faces of his former grave-robbing companions one by one as he clawed away at the dirt.
"Ugh."
By the time his fingernails were packed black with dirt, the outline of the buried grave robber finally began to emerge.
"This is..."
“Dost thou recognize them?”
"Well, yeah. Sort of."
A hooded cloak lay buried in the dirt. Beneath it, a back twitched occasionally, as if in spasm.
"Heave-ho."
Once he had dug deep enough, Yohan grabbed the half-exposed waist of the grave robber with both hands and hauled them up. Lifting an entire person with just his arm strength felt surprisingly effortless, a feat he attributed to the divine power he had received from the Goddess.
“How could they commit such a heinous act...”
The Goddess's voice echoed in his mind once more. Yohan nodded, in complete agreement.
The hooded grave robber had been buried face down, with their arms and legs bound tightly behind their back. To ensure there was absolutely no chance of escape, ropes had been meticulously wrapped around their hands, feet, arms, and legs, leaving them completely immobilized.
Well, at least they didn't get a knife in the back like some people, Yohan thought, clicking his tongue as he laid the bound figure on the grass.
"Cough! Cough!"
The moment they touched the ground, the grave robber let out a painful, hacking cough. Yohan felt a wave of relief knowing they were still breathing.
"Gah..."
"Man, both of us are having a rough day. I got stabbed in the back and dumped in a pit, and you got hogtied and buried alive. What a bunch of absolute bastards."
“So, my Apostle. What wilt thou do with this grave robber?”
Yohan had resolved to hunt down and slaughter the entire gang for revenge. Since this person was also a member of that gang, it was only natural for the Goddess to ask.
"Hey. Falco."
Yohan called out the buried grave robber's name and pulled back the hood covering their head.
“Heavens...”
A head wrapped so tightly in bandages that not a single facial feature could be discerned was revealed. The bandages were heavily stained with dried blood and yellow pus, causing even Yohan to swallow hard.
“How monstrous! To subject their own companion to such torture?”
"Ah, no, that's not it. He's always been like this."
“Then why didst thou swallow so nervously with such a tense expression?”
"He always walked around wrapped in bandages, but this is the first time I've ever seen him up close."
Falco. That was the name of the grave robber who went around with his entire body, including his face, wrapped in bandages. Yohan had no idea if it was a real name or an alias.
"Nobody knew where he came from or what his deal was, but we found more than a few ruins thanks to him."
Yohan spoke as he looked down at Falco, who was coughing dryly.
“Knowledge of ancient ruins... Yet, to bury him like this...”
"He outlived his usefulness, so they threw him away. Just like they did to me."
Yohan clicked his tongue, his expression bitter.
"Looks like they tried to toss him in a pit and burn him. But the rain must have saved him."
“Truly a horrific deed.”
"The others always talked trash about him anyway. Since he was always wrapped in bandages and wearing a hood, they complained that he'd spread some disease if they got too close."
But one thing was certain: this guy had been betrayed, just like him.
"Besides, he barely speaks, and he's too small to be much help with heavy lifting. Just like with me, they probably wanted to cut down on the number of mouths to feed."
Yohan immediately began untying the ropes binding Falco. Once freed, Falco curled into a tight ball, pulling his knees to his chest and wrapping his arms around his thighs.
"Yo... han."
"Yeah, it's Yohan. At least you remembered my name."
“My Apostle.”
"What?"
The Goddess suddenly spoke to Yohan again. He instinctively looked up at the empty air to reply.
“Hearing his plight, it seemeth this Falco is also one who hath been betrayed by his companions, much like thee.”
"Yeah, so?"
Yohan quickly realized what the Goddess was getting at.
“My Apostle. Take hold of his hand.”
Of course. Yohan reached out and gently took Falco's hand. Wrapped in bandages and tattered rags, the hand felt incredibly slender and fragile.
Flash!
At that moment, a brilliant light erupted from where their hands met. The radiant glow instantly enveloped Falco's entire body.
“To have his entire body burned to such a state... How much pain he must have endured all this time.”
"But are you sure you should be healing someone like this? Didn't you say you don't have much life left?"
“It matters not. I shall personally heal this pitiful soul's wounds.”
Ignoring Yohan's concern, the Goddess continued to channel her power to heal Falco's injuries.
Ssshh—
As fresh, unblemished skin knit over the charred and mangled flesh, the bandages wrapping his body crumbled into dust and slipped to the ground. Soon, the light enveloping Falco faded away. Yohan, who had kept his eyes squeezed shut, opened them to check on Falco.
"Hey, are you al—"
“My goodness. No wonder he was so small and taciturn. To think he harbored such a secret.”
"Falco... you're a girl?"
“Is this not an elf?!”
At the same moment Yohan blurted out his question, the Goddess's voice shrieked in his mind.