Legends of the Primordial Beasts
Ancient texts spoke of three legendary beasts. Also known as the Beasts of the Beginning, they were monstrous creatures that possessed fully human forms. Revered by heretics as ancient gods of calamity, they were beings of immense power.
Livna the Progenitor. Gerard the Destroyer. Caulinis the Plaguebringer.
“They’re… figures from myth and legend. Are you truly saying the primordial beasts exist?”
“Who can say for certain? What is known is that Livna’s Bones possess the power to nullify all beast magic.”
To require the remains of someone whose very existence remained uncertain.
As expected… if I want clues about the beast’s curse, seeking out the Chingene tribe would be the wisest course.
Odeliana realized that pressing Mathias for more information on the beast’s curse would be pointless. After all, how could primordial beasts or the remains of calamity gods possibly be real?
“I asked something foolish. Enough about the beasts. Tell me about yourself instead. How was the examination?”
“It presented no difficulty.”
“I’m glad to hear it. Were there any children who tormented you over your humble origins?”
He let out a low scoff.
“As if such a thing could happen. I passed my time there without incident. You, however, Master, do not appear to have fared well in my absence.”
“……”
“You promised your disciple you would remain safe and well.”
His tone held no open reproach, yet the words still stung. Odeliana offered an awkward defense.
“…How was I to handle such an unforeseen accident?”
“It was no accident. It was an incident. Had you torn out their throats rather than merely their mouths from the very beginning, none of this would have occurred.”
“You are still so young. How can you speak such cruel words already?”
“It is because Master is far too merciful.”
He sighed as though the situation exhausted him, then turned his gaze to her blood-soaked leg.
“I will change your bandages.”
After laying Odeliana down, he stepped outside. He removed his plate armor, donned a light tunic, washed his hands thoroughly, and returned with fresh bandages and ointment.
His treatment was swift and impeccably skilled. The sight of bandages caked in blood and pus seemed to trouble him not at all. He cleaned the wound with a fresh cloth, applied the medicine with meticulous care, and wrapped the bandages neatly in place.
“You are a knight now, not a squire. You need not tend to such tasks.”
“A knight is still a squire who belongs to his lord.”
“…Does it not disgust you?”
“What part of you could possibly be unclean, Master? There is no place on you that is not pure.”
“Where did you learn to speak such honeyed words?”
“I merely spoke the truth.”
“……”
“Now that I have returned, this disciple shall once again take full responsibility for attending to you.”
She could not fathom why he would willingly shoulder such arduous and unpleasant work.
Odeliana watched him in silence. He behaved as though serving her were his sole source of joy. Only now did his return truly sink in. The hollow space no one else could fill was now completely, perfectly occupied. The sensation was profoundly comforting.
“Welcome back, Mathias. Thank you for returning to my side.”
She offered the greeting at last.
Mathias gazed at her for a long moment. Then a faint smile touched his lips, and he rubbed his face against her hair with quiet affection. He looked exactly as he had a month earlier, when he had thrown a childish tantrum about not wanting to take the knight examination. Though he had grown taller and his frame had filled out, he remained, at heart, a young boy.
“I have returned, Master.”
“How did that bastard manage to return alive!”
The moment Herman roared, his face gaunt and drained of vitality, the firmly closed door swung open and someone entered.
“It seems you’ve recovered. You still have the strength to shout first thing in the morning.”
“Why have you come? What business do you have here?”
“Does paying a sick visit require permission now?”
“You’ve been home for days. Why show your face only now?”
“I stayed away on purpose, for your sake. I heard you were beaten in the street by some unknown person. It must have been humiliating. I thought I’d give you time to collect yourself before having to show your face.”
Herman glared at Ordellette as though he might kill her, then pressed a hand to his throbbing temple. He had grown sick of her infuriating way of speaking since they were children; scolding her would only waste his breath.
“If you came to mock me, get out.”
“I told you, I came to visit the patient. So what has you so furious?”
Her words reminded Herman of the rage he had briefly forgotten. His icy gaze shifted to the escort knight standing rigidly at attention.
“You couldn’t even dispose of a single fool like that? You allowed matters to reach this state?”
“…He was not the ordinary opponent he appeared to be. We bribed a large number of this year’s examination candidates to target his life, but it proved futile. They were all defeated in turn.”
“Then you should have dealt with him before he even entered the examination grounds!”
“…I have no excuse.”
Seasoned knights had failed to carry out a covert mission to eliminate a mere sixteen-year-old boy and had been beaten instead. The humiliation was unbearable.
Had the opponent taken their lives, they might have charged him with murder. But because he had beaten them thoroughly yet left them alive, they were trapped. They could not even accuse him of the assault. The prestigious Gruisevald knights, defeated by a single common-born boy—the mere rumor of it was too shameful to risk.
“Idiots. All of you.”
Still too weak to stand properly, Herman could only vent his fury by hurling an ashtray at the wall. Ordellette, seated beside the bed, gave a knowing laugh.
“I can guess what happened. You tried to do something about that lowly squire my sister brought along and ended up on the receiving end instead, didn’t you?”
“…How do you even know about him?”
“How could I not? He’s quite famous among the servants. That boy has an exceptionally handsome face.”
“Handsome? Ha. What’s so impressive about a gigolo-looking bastard?”
“The faces men curse are precisely the ones that are truly beautiful. Men and women see with different eyes. To be called gigolo-like is the highest compliment a man can receive.”
Even now, Herman shuddered at the way Ordellette praised Mathias’s appearance. The rebuke that this was hardly the time to be extolling that bastard needed no words; it radiated from him clearly.
“Well, regardless, that squire irritated you to no end, yet you failed to eliminate him. The proud knights of Gruisevald have been thoroughly humiliated. Isn’t that what happened?”
Ordellette mocked as though the matter had nothing to do with her. Her indifferent attitude only stoked Herman’s anger further.
“That bastard has returned as a knight! You find that amusing?”
“He’s nothing more than an apprentice knight, isn’t he? Besides, who would accept a knight of common birth? What does passing the examination matter if no order will take him? He’ll be left with nothing.”
“Do you think only one or two orders requested his enlistment? Rumors are flying that even the Royal Knight Order extended him an offer!”
“…The Royal Knight Order? Truly? Why?”
“He single-handedly subjugated a beast probe. What order would pass up a talent like that?”
“Then have him join our own order. Instead of trying to eliminate such a valuable asset, you should keep him close and win him over. Are you a fool, brother?”
“If that were possible, I would not have gone to such lengths for nothing.”
He groaned, pressing hard against his furrowed brow.
“Have you met that woman?”
“Sister? She seemed like an entirely different person.”
“She is a different person. She has gone completely mad.”
“When has sister ever been sane?”
“It’s different this time! You didn’t see the look in her eyes. She seemed ready to devour me whole.”
“What could she possibly do?”
“Ordellette, ignorant as you are, does a man who single-handedly destroyed a probe seem like a joke to you? This is a serious matter. The lowly thing Odeliana brought possesses genuine skill. He will not remain a mere apprentice knight. Should he rise through the ranks and achieve merit, then…”
Watching Herman tremble at the mere existence of Odeliana and Mathias, Ordellette clutched her stomach and burst into laughter.
“Brother, you really have grown old. Or are you still reeling from the divorce?”
“Shut your mouth! Why bring that up now?”
“Since when does the eldest son of Gruisevald fear a common-born boy and a crippled woman?”
“Odeliana… she didn’t choose him for his face alone. That woman has an eye for people. She must have recognized his extraordinary ability.”
“You’re overinterpreting and delusional. Rest. The mental shock seems to have been severe. Anyone would think you’ve lost your mind. If you don’t pull yourself together, Brother Blair will steal the position of heir from you.”
“Get out!”
When Herman bellowed, veins bulging, Ordellette laughed at him and rose to her feet. She added that every man in this family was equally useless before telling him to collect his wits and leaving the room.
Herman pounded his thigh with a fist, swallowing his boiling rage. He cursed that the women of this house were all equally ill-fated lunatics.