The Half-Breed (2)
Whether in his past life or his current one, Aiden had never been particularly interested in the private lives of his colleagues. It wasn't that he intentionally avoided forming personal relationships; he was simply inept at navigating them. Yet, he wasn't the type to act tough and claim he could navigate the world all on his own, either. After all, he had spent all this time working alongside them—getting pushed around by Jamie, never hesitating to ask Kalisa for help, and constantly nagging Roland.
However, whenever his colleagues tried to bring up their personal affairs, Aiden would invariably stand up and leave the gathering, even if they were in the middle of a heavy drinking session. What they did on their days off, who they met, what they ate, what their plans were for the next vacation—Aiden had never once felt curious about such trivialities, not even in passing. Jamie, who was interested in everything around him, would sometimes whine that Aiden was cold-hearted, but Aiden would just look disgusted and tell him to stop acting like a fool with that massive frame of his. Fortunately, Kalisa—who was just as prickly and cynical as Aiden—was there to balance things out, which usually left Jamie as the lonely one.
'Is it... fortunate?'
That was why Kalisa could finally let her guard down and lose consciousness. In truth, her body had already reached its limit. Her vision was flickering between black and white from the blood loss caused by the deep gash in her arm, but the feeling of the heavy stone that had been crushing her chest finally vanishing—the relief that she wouldn't have to explain herself regarding being a "half-breed"—was overwhelming.
"Kalisa—!"
She thought she heard Jamie’s scream at the very end.
"How is she?"
"She simply fainted from blood loss. As for the wound on her arm... she will need some time to recuperate, but it is not a permanent injury."
"That is a relief."
"Thank you! Thank you so much!"
Aiden and Jamie, who had come to check on Kalisa’s condition, let out sighs of relief at the positive news.
"Oh, boo-hoo, I was so worried...! Please, take good care of our Kalisa, Lady Lapisha!"
"......?"
Our Kalisa?
Aiden thought Jamie’s fussing was a bit excessive, but he decided to let it slide.
'It was quite a spectacle after Kalisa fainted, too.'
Jamie had lost his mind the moment he saw the red-haired woman lose consciousness and tumble from her horse. The logical move would have been to capture the two remaining masked men, but Jamie had turned his horse around without a second thought and charged toward Kalisa.
- That bastard!
Startled by Jamie’s impulsive behavior, which had completely shattered their priorities, Aiden had drawn his bowstring again. But the arrows couldn't reach the masked men, who had already put significant distance between them. Just as he was grinding his teeth, thinking he’d let them escape—
CRASH!
Whoosh—!
A boulder—or more accurately, a massive rock—had fallen from somewhere. From the sky, suddenly. The rock landed precisely in the path of the two fleeing masked men, and the resulting explosion of snow, rising into the air like a blizzard, caused both of them to fall from their horses.
SWISH!
And then, Lapisha arrived with perfect timing. Proving that her nickname, the 'White Warrior,' wasn't just for show, she didn't hesitate to swing her whip at the clearly suspicious masked men. For reference, her whip was embedded with countless iron shards. When asked if beating patients with such a weapon wouldn't just create more wounds to treat, Lapisha had once replied:
As long as their heads were still attached, she could save them anyway, so neutralizing them in one blow was far more efficient. Why bother striking them here and there, leaving them tattered and increasing the number of places that needed stitching?
Just as she said, the two masked men, already thrown from their horses, were knocked unconscious instantly by the iron-studded whip. He learned later that she had even infused the whip with mana because she couldn't gauge the level of the masked men.
- Oh my, if I’d been a second off, I would’ve had to clean up corpses. Those guys were lucky they knew how to use mana; if an ordinary person had been hit by a whip swung with intent by Lady Lapisha, they would’ve died instantly. Instant death.
Hearing her disciple say that with a bright smile, adding, "Still, seeing them knocked out in one hit, our master is still going strong!" Aiden made a vow: he would never, ever cut off the funding for Lapisha. Because the law is far away, but a fist is close by.
"Administrative Officer."
"Ah, yes. Lady Lapisha."
A low voice called out to Aiden, who had been lost in thought. It was Lapisha. Glancing to the side, he saw Jamie still hovering by the bed of the sleeping Kalisa, fidgeting like a dog that desperately needed to relieve itself.
"I have something to discuss with you..."
"Is it about Kalisa? Or the masked men?"
"Both."
Aiden had left the three corpses—the ones who had attacked Kalisa and ended up breathless—to Lapisha and her disciples. He had two more he’d captured alive, but since they hadn't regained consciousness, he figured an autopsy of the three corpses might reveal their identities. He wasn't particularly curious about Kalisa’s past, but since they were people who had dared to touch his adjutant on his own land, he needed to be certain of their identities and intentions.
In fact, Aiden had suspected the masked men were the 2nd Prince’s henchmen. It was strange that they had targeted Kalisa instead of him, but he had thought that if there was some bad blood between Kalisa’s past and the 2nd Prince, they might be trying to kill two birds with one stone.
"Is it the 2nd Prince?"
"Does the 2nd Prince have any connection to the Inquisitors?"
"...What kind of inquisitors?"
"The Inquisitors of the Sun Cult."
"...Are you sure?"
"Tattoos do not lie."
"......"
Aiden slowly closed his eyes at Lapisha’s words. This was turning out to be far more complicated than the 2nd Prince being the culprit.
'Religious issues, here of all places?'
He didn't know what the Sun Cult was. He had only seen the term "Inquisitor" in media. But as a 21st-century modern man and an intellectual, he got the gist of it just by hearing the word.
'A cult and fanatics.'
The Empire guaranteed freedom of religion. Although there wasn't a single proper temple in the North, even in the neighboring Lontes territory, there were about four temples belonging to major denominations. But there was definitely no cult named the Sun Cult among them. Then, well, it was definitely a cult.
It was a judgment that would have had people who believed in minority religions shouting, "Who the hell is this guy?" but Aiden was confident. A religion that wasn't a major denomination but operated Inquisitors and went around everywhere to slit people’s throats? If that wasn't a cult, what was?
"Bring it here."
"Yes, Master."
A few of Lapisha’s disciples nodded and brought over a corpse that seemed to have been specially preserved.
"As you can see, they didn't seem to have any intention of hiding their affiliation."
It was just as she said. The tattoo, starting from the left arm and covering the entire back, depicted a guardian protecting a blazing sun with a sword and an iron stake.
"It is the symbol of the Sun Cult’s Inquisitors. The sword and the iron stake."
"...What are they protecting the sun from?"
"Did you perhaps hear them say anything toward the Adjutant?"
Twitch.
Jamie’s shoulder, which had still been hovering around Kalisa, twitched noticeably.
'Oh, for heaven’s sake.'
They really needed to coordinate their acting. Aiden let out a small sigh. He had intended to play dumb for now, but because of that bear-like fellow, it seemed he would have to come clean.
"...They mentioned her lineage. However, I cannot be certain if it was truly a matter of lineage or just words meant to insult Kalisa."
"Half-breed."
"......!"
At Aiden’s words, that word popped out of Lapisha’s mouth immediately.
"Or, filthy blood."
"......"
He hadn't heard the second one directly, but this confirmed it.
'It seems those words weren't just spat out for the sake of a simple insult.'
The fact that Lapisha, who hadn't seen the situation at the time, knew the exact words was proof that these people—the Sun Cult or Sun God or whatever they were—had specific targets in mind.
"Then it makes sense."
Lapisha, taking Aiden’s silence as affirmation, looked at the woman lying on the bed with her pale face, looking pitiful, and opened her mouth quietly.
"Do you know which group the Sun Cult seeks to eradicate?"
"Well. Apostates?"
A foolish word popped out of Aiden’s mouth. Since they had said the corpses were Inquisitors, he had reflexively blurted it out, wondering who might be branded as heretics by a religion.
"Ah, no! No! Our Kalisa isn't like that...!"
But the embarrassing part was that at the word "apostate" from Aiden’s mouth, Jamie, who had been groaning like a dog in distress until now, jumped up as if he were having a seizure. As if he knew something.
You idiot, don't ever think about acting again. You’re acting just like a B-movie supporting character who doesn't know what to do when their secret is found out.
"It seems Mr. Jamie had already guessed a little bit."
Naturally, Lady Lapisha, who had roamed every battlefield like it was her own living room, couldn't have failed to judge the situation after seeing such behavior.
"That is..."
In the end, Jamie clamped his mouth shut as if he wouldn't answer any further. What is it... Teach me, too. Judging by the circumstances, it seemed both Jamie and Lady Lapisha had caught on to Kalisa’s secret, but Aiden was still in the dark.
Click. Clack.
Instead of explaining, Lady Lapisha took a bottle out of a drawer. A glass bottle filled with a blue potion that looked refreshing just to look at.
"It is holy water."
She said she kept a few bottles for emergencies. She was good at putting back burst heads, reattaching severed limbs, and tucking in protruding entrails, but she said internal injuries caused by a direct hit from mana couldn't be fixed with sewing or medicine. It would heal over time, but since she was an important figure in the territory, she had brought out the holy water filled with divine power.
Glug.
She opened the stopper and poured a little of the blue holy water onto Kalisa’s wound.
Sssss!
The holy water touching the wound bubbled and emitted white smoke. Aiden thought the scene looked just like a special effect from a fantasy movie. The reason he considered it a special effect rather than CGI was simple. It bubbled, and it made a sound. It was mysterious, but the wound after the smoke cleared was still no different from before.
"As you can see, divine power does not work on Ms. Kalisa."
"...Is it because she doesn't believe in God?"
Aiden, who didn't know much about divine power, threw out a question in an attempt to make a guess. Given Kalisa’s usual cynical demeanor, an atheist would have suited her.
"If that were the case, those who do not believe in mana would never be hit by magic. Divine power is literally the manifestation of a god’s power, so it does not matter whether the opponent believes in it or not."
"Ah."
Then why?
"She is a witch."
"Ah. A witch."
Aiden nodded at Lapisha’s words, which sounded as if she had made up her mind.
"She is... a witch."
"Yes, a witch..."
But Lapisha repeated the same words once more. Aiden, wondering if his answer hadn't been heard, repeated the same words back to her.
"Is that all?"
"...Then what else should I...?"
"Haha... Hahahaha, ahahahaha!"
"?"
Lapisha finally burst into laughter at that reaction.