Chapter 15: Uncivilized
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 15: Uncivilized
Uncivilized fantasy bastards. The words just came to me.
“Help me!”
A man, his hands and feet bound, shouted from the execution platform. He screamed and struggled, insisting on his innocence.
Perhaps annoyed by his resistance, a soldier dragging him to the platform punched him in the solar plexus. Struck while unable to defend himself, the screaming man could do nothing but cough repeatedly.
“Please, I swear I didn't know anything…!”
“Hmph, what nonsense. It’s clear you’re in league with the witch! …However, if you feel so wronged, I shall give you a chance to prove it.”
“What? Yes, I am wronged! Please, give me a chance!”
Hearing the man’s words, the Holy Knight smirked and took a step back. He then brought over a soldier who had been standing quietly beside him.
“You there, are you a follower of the witch?”
“I am not!”
“I see. May I verify that?”
“Of course!”
The moment the soldier finished speaking, the Holy Knight drew the sword from his waist and swung it down at the soldier’s head. The crowd of onlookers gasped as they saw the sword strike the soldier’s head and bounce far away.
With the deflected sword as proof, the Holy Knight declared the soldier’s innocence.
“Did you see that? A Holy Knight’s sword cannot harm the innocent. But if you truly are a follower of the witch, this sword will cut you down without hesitation. Well, will you try it?”
“O-of course! Go on, strike me! I am not a follower of the witch—!”
Slice—.
In the middle of his sentence, the man’s head fell from his shoulders. In that moment, I realized that all those movies where a fountain of blood erupts from a severed neck were pure theatrics.
“Oh, it seems he was a witch’s follower after all.”
The Holy Knight who had done the beheading sheathed his bloodless sword and, on the grounds that the man he’d just killed was a witch’s follower and the rest were likely the same, began a merciless slaughter.
Watching this, I frowned.
‘What a load of bullshit….’
The people here might not have seen it, but I, having awakened my magic power, could. The Holy Knight’s sword hadn’t bounced off the soldier’s head because it couldn’t cut him. The Holy Knight had simply acted as if it had.
Likewise, the man who was beheaded was probably not a follower of the witch either. He was just unlucky enough to be targeted by the Church, or perhaps he was killed for some political reason I didn’t know about.
“Disciple, let’s go.”
“…Yes, let’s.”
“—That’s surprising.”
“What is?”
“Well… I thought you would demand we save those people, or scream about how they can’t just kill people like that.”
“…Me?”
It’s not like I’m the protagonist of some light novel or a comic book character overflowing with a sense of justice. Why would I need to do that?
Of course, with the morals of a 21st-century modern person, I knew those actions were wrong. I knew it was an evil custom that needed to be corrected, a tyranny of a religious order…
But changing it was not something I could do. Besides, it wasn’t important to me.
“There’s no need for that.”
My life comes first.
And my teacher’s, if possible.
To think I could do something for others when I couldn’t even protect my own life or the person precious to me—that was pure arrogance.
Leaping through space, I returned to the cabin in the forest, only to stop short at the sight of my teacher rushing out to meet me.
“Yohaaaan—!”
As if greeting a pet she hadn’t seen for hours, she threw her arms around me and began rubbing herself all over me.
Her soft skin and chest began to press against my body. They say the soft can overcome the hard, and it was certainly true that softness could make something hard.
“Teacher, I’m back.”
“What took you so long!?”
“Ah, I was looking around the city for a bit….”
“Are you okay? You’re not hurt anywhere, are you? You can’t follow strange people even if they offer you delicious food, okay?”
“…I’m not a child.”
I’m not some three-year-old—I assured her I was fine and walked past her into the cabin.
Inside, nothing had changed; it was spotless. Considering her personality of cleaning up messes immediately, she might have eaten and cleaned up right away, but…
“Teacher, you haven’t had dinner.”
“Wh-what? No! I ate!”
“The ingredients I brought today are still here.”
“…Uh, yeah. Th-that’s—I got a little distracted, and before I knew it.”
“—Just wait a moment.”
My teacher waved her hands, insisting I didn’t have to, but as her disciple, how could I not cook when my teacher was starving?
I was already feeling immensely guilty for having gone out to eat without her. I quickly chopped the ingredients and prepared a meal. Something that could be made as fast as possible, since she must be hungry…
“Yohan.”
“Yes, Teacher.”
“Did you have fun?”
“I wonder….”
Was it fun? I tilted my head. The scent of civilization after so long wasn’t bad, but it didn’t give me the same nostalgic feeling as the skyscrapers built of concrete.
However, I did realize one thing.
“The Church is full of bad people.”
“—Right!?”
“Yes, they’re truly terrible.”
The thought of living and breathing the same air as such trash was utterly disgusting. Hearing her disciple’s hatred for the Church, my teacher seemed happier than usual. Was she that pleased that her disciple disliked the Church?
‘Well, she is a witch….’
I suddenly imagined what would happen if the Church found out I was a witch’s disciple. A male disciple of a witch who had awakened his magic power. A being so rare as to be unique. If I were caught, I’d surely face all sorts of torture.
Well, it’s not like they had any way of finding out, and even if they did, they had no way of capturing me…
A Holy Knight, clad in thick clothes that left no skin exposed and covered by armor that completely concealed her figure, walked down a path.
Summoned to the office, she gave a light salute to the Commander waiting inside. The Commander returned her salute and spoke.
“Welcome, Sir Elesis.”
“Not at all, Commander. By the way, what is the matter….”
“Would you look at this?”
The Commander held out a plastic bottle. It was an object with a very realistic picture and unidentifiable letters drawn on it.
Taking the bottle, Elesis tilted her head and asked what it was.
“It’s light. It doesn’t seem to be glass….”
“It was found among the merchant’s belongings.”
“…Then was he really involved with the witch?”
“Yes, there’s no doubt.”
The Commander, resting his chin on his clasped hands, spoke with a glint in his eyes.
“We believe the place depicted in that picture may be the witches’ refuge. We must find it.”
“Understood. I will begin the search at once.”
“No—I have a separate task for you.”
When she looked at him questioningly, the Commander took out a map and held it out to her.
Taking the map, Elesis saw that it pointed to a location in a forest not far from here.
“This is the location of the village we learned of from the merchant. Go and find out how he obtained this item, and whether they are in contact with the witch.”
“…What if they are involved with the witch?”
“Do you really need to ask?”
What to do if they are involved with the witch—hearing that question, the Commander spoke with a humorless face.
“Kill them. All of them.”
I am bound, kneeling before a crowd of people.
Beside me stands a large Holy Knight, his blade gleaming. The people begin to laugh at me, to blame me, to slander me as I stand before the blade.
Laughter, pointing fingers, thrown filth. They used every means at their disposal to humiliate me. And as soon as the humiliation ended, the Holy Knight beside me swung his sword at my neck.
Was it true that everything seems to slow down just before death? The blade digging into my neck began to move slower and slower.
I could feel with exquisite detail the sensation of the cold, sharp blade piercing my flesh, severing nerves, slicing through muscle, and cleaving bone. Even as my neck was being cut, the sensation sent pain throughout my entire body at the speed of light…
“Haaargh—!”
Hoo-hooo—.
Outside the window, an owl perched on a branch hooted.
The ominous cry brought me to my senses, and I realized it had all been a dream.
‘Fuck….’
It was an overly realistic dream.
I touched the back of my neck, where it had been severed in the dream. Not only my neck, but my entire body was sticky with sweat from my sleep.
The damn nightmare had completely chased away any sleepiness. If I closed my eyes now, I’d be lucky not to see a continuation of the nightmare I just had, let alone get any restful sleep…
Making a rational decision, I got up and left the room. I passed through the living room, which was far too quiet even for the dead of night, and headed for the kitchen.
I gulped down the water I had drawn earlier in the day, but the tightness in my chest wouldn’t go away, so I grabbed some clothes and a towel and headed for the bathroom.
‘Uncivilized fantasy bastards….’
To think they would commit such an act so openly. The image of the man with his head cut off was still vivid in my mind.
Regretting not listening to Margaret, who had told me not to go to such places, I carefully opened the bathroom door.
“…Huh?”
“…Yohan?”
When I opened the door, my teacher was inside, taking a bath. Startled by the sight of her naked body, I quickly turned away.
“S-sorry! I didn’t know you were in here….”
“No. It’s okay… It’s my fault too, for bathing at this hour.”
I had thought she didn’t bathe, but I was wrong. She had simply been using the bathroom late at night, when everyone was asleep, so that I wouldn’t see her face…
In that moment, I realized just how considerate she had been to me all this time. I couldn’t help but respect her.
“So, Yohan. What’s wrong?”
“…I sweated a little in my sleep. I came to wash up.”
“Really? That’s strange… I’m sure I adjusted the temperature so it wouldn’t be hot….”
As she said, the room wasn’t hot. It was just that something had happened to make my body heat up. She pondered for a moment, then, realizing she was in the middle of a bath, let out an awkward laugh.
“Could you wait just a little? I’ll be out soon….”
“No, it’s fine. I’ll just go back to sleep for today…”
“No! I’m all done washing!”
“Still, a disciple can’t take his teacher’s spot. I’ll be going now….”
“Yohan!”
As I turned my back to leave the bathroom, her voice called out from behind me. She had stopped me urgently, but now she hesitated to speak, as if the words were too embarrassing.
But the hesitation was brief. Having made up her mind, she spoke carefully.
“…If it’s okay with you, would you like to join me?”
“…What?”
“Ah, no! If you don’t want to, that’s fine, but… if you’re okay with it….”
She wants to bathe together?
A dry laugh escaped me.
So she’s not even trying to hide it anymore, huh?
“…Alright, Teacher.”
I threw off the clothes I was wearing.
And I opened the bathroom door.