The Measure of a Soul
A deep, blue sea.
Or perhaps a vast lake and churning river waters.
Whether on a clear day or amidst a raging storm, the image in my memory was always the same.
People are sucked in.
Entranced by the sight, they all slowly sink beneath the surface.
And so, those things live on, greedily devouring the bloated bodies of the drowned as if they were merely drifting off to sleep.
...Just as they always have.
"I will help you."
The impact of those few short words was immense.
A glimmer of hope returned to the face of Count Dornen, who had already resigned himself to despair, while Gal looked down at me with his usual flat, crushing gaze.
"...Thank you."
"First, could I hear the details?"
Surprisingly, Gal said nothing, merely staring back and forth between Count Dornen and me.
His gaze was prickling, but it couldn't be helped.
There was no reason to ignore a clear and fast path.
After all, Gal's objective was to escort me to the Prophet in the capital.
Unless he planned to drag me there by force, he couldn't completely ignore my wishes.
Count Dornen shared the contents of the letter along with the information he had gathered so far.
"For several days now, night has not fallen upon the gray skies..."
Rahasha Village, located northwest of the castle.
It was a report of a bizarre phenomenon occurring in a small village that ancient nomads had settled by the lakeside.
From a certain day onward, the sun hanging in the overcast sky refused to set, and the villagers were vanishing one by one.
The situation went beyond merely suspicious; it reeked of danger.
The letters had stopped arriving two days ago.
A beast that alters day and night.
A lake.
An unyielding sun and clouds.
Villagers disappearing into thin air.
It was undoubtedly the work of a beast.
I could roughly guess how the creature was preying on the people.
However, it was impossible to determine the exact identity of the beast with such fragmented information.
What was certain was that it wasn't a creature that relied on brute physical strength.
Furthermore, it was slowly whittling away at the village rather than destroying it all at once.
Perhaps it was a creature that employed curses or brainwashing.
Given that they had been sending pleas for help over several days, that probability was extremely high.
...These types are always troublesome.
And creatures like that had never been to my liking, both in the past and now.
They usually hid deep within strange places, and at the slightest hint of danger, they would vanish without leaving a single trace.
Even so, I couldn't let this one go.
The deadline given by the evil dragon, Tirmisia, was one week.
Considering the distance to Rahasha Village, I only had three days left.
Factor in the time it would take to track down the beast, and the schedule was incredibly tight.
I never expected there to be three territories instead of two.
I wondered just how lucky one had to be to establish a territory in a place like this.
Or was it bad luck?
To the west of the castle lay the territory of the Red Wolves, and to the east was the territory of the Grafted Beast.
On top of that, the north was bordered by yet another beast's territory.
Likely of the same rank. Or perhaps even higher.
The Grafted Beast was weaker than the Red Wolves, but it could devour their pack.
Thus, they did not encroach upon each other's domains.
Since peace could be maintained simply by keeping the castle walls secure, it wasn't a terrible situation for Count Dornen.
The problem was the third beast.
Since it maintained a balance with the other two, it likely possessed a similar level of power.
A few potential candidates flashed through my mind.
With our next destination decided, I chose to wait in my room until preparations for departure were complete.
I straightened my posture, picked up my sword, and began to channel the energy drawn from my heart into it.
Whirrr—
A dark red light slowly crept up the white blade.
By the time the tip was completely dyed, not a single speck of energy remained within my body.
I couldn't unleash explosive power, nor could I move at high speeds.
I couldn't even heal my wounds.
Although the energy had left my body, it was still clearly connected to my will.
Until that energy was fully depleted, I wouldn't be able to draw out any new power.
Keeping that fact firmly in mind, I began to reabsorb the energy infused into the blade.
The energy flowed back into me incredibly slowly, just as it had when I first channeled it into the sword.
Like dye bleeding out of a washed cloth, it trickled back into my body bit by bit.
...I can work with this.
Unlike when I forced the energy out, there was no risk of losing consciousness or suffering a backlash.
Once all the energy was spent, I would be able to draw out fresh power.
By the time my preparations were complete, the church bells began to toll outside my window, announcing the hour of evening prayer.
"Where on earth do you plan to go in this pouring rain?"
"It will stop soon. In that case, there is no reason to delay our departure."
"I've never seen rain like this just 'stop' in my entire life. I'm not telling you not to go, but wouldn't it be safer to at least wait until sunrise?"
When I went down to the courtyard, I heard the voices of Gal, who was already fully prepared, and someone else sounding thoroughly frustrated.
Following the voices, I found Gal, Jude, and Devon—the soldier caught between them, looking utterly helpless.
"Put this on."
Mounted on a sleek, glossy black warhorse, Gal handed me a hooded cloak.
I threw on the cloak and struggled to mount my horse.
It was a white mare that clearly belonged to a costly breed, fitted with a luxurious saddle embroidered with the crest of the Dornen family.
"I've never seen Lily this calm. Aside from the Lord, even the stablehands can't stand her."
Devon, who was holding the reins nearby, spoke in admiration.
"Is that so?"
"Yes. Once, we had to bring Lily to where the Lord was. The fellow who tried to ride her back then took such a nasty fall that he still can't walk properly."
How strange... Devon muttered. Watching him casually recount such a gruesome story without a change in expression only made me feel uneasy.
I quietly channeled a bit of energy into my hand holding the reins.
"Do you have any information on Rahasha Village?"
At Gal's question, Devon nodded.
"I had to go that way once in the past. We needed to get some fish urgently, and as you know, there are no rivers or lakes around here."
"Is there a land route to the village?"
"There is one, but it's quite a detour, so I've never taken it."
Gal nodded to himself, as if he had already made up his mind.
I couldn't let him just decide on his own.
I quickly asked Devon.
"How long does it take?"
"You'd probably have to ride for a day or two. If you were walking without a horse, it would take twice as long, wouldn't it?"
"..."
I was absolutely not taking the detour.
A massive lake.
It took three full days and nights of riding to finally reach it, and the lake was far wider and deeper than I had imagined.
In contrast, the dock was a pitiful thing, barely large enough to accommodate two fishing boats, and even those had thick coats of green moss clinging to their weathered hulls.
"Looking to take a boat?"
Having sensed our presence, an old woman who appeared to be the owner of the boats emerged and spoke to us.
One of her eyes was milky white, resembling the dead eye of a fish.
According to the rough map Count Dornen had given us, we had to take a boat to reach Rahasha Village.
However, there was no vessel in sight large enough to carry three people and two horses, leaving us in a difficult spot.
"Where is the bridge to Rahasha Village?"
Gal must have had the same thought, as he asked the old woman for a path we could take on foot.
The old woman, who had been watching us with her hands clasped behind her back, held out an open palm.
"Five silver coins."
Without a moment's hesitation, Gal pulled the money from his pouch and handed it to her.
Five silver coins was enough to live on for a month without worrying about going hungry.
I couldn't tell if his sense of economics was completely broken, or if he truly believed the information was worth that much.
Showing a complete lack of conscience, the old woman cackled and quickly pocketed the silver.
She then pointed toward a narrow trail winding along the right side of the lake.
There were no further explanations of how far it was or how to get there.
She had simply answered Gal's question, and that was that.
...If I had known it would be like this, I would have asked Devon more details.
At least it was a relief to know beforehand that the detour would take an extra day or two.
Had we gone in blind, we might have walked for half a day before realizing we'd been tricked, only to suffer the misfortune of having to turn back to the docks.
With every passing day being crucial, such a waste of time was unacceptable.
"How much to take the boat to the village?"
"For everyone?"
"No, just the people."
At Gal's question, the old woman rolled her one good eye, looking back and forth between the two of us.
"Nine copper coins."
"I am not going."
"Three copper coins."
What on earth was this conversation?
Gal pulled three copper coins from his pouch, handed them to the old woman, and mounted his horse.
"...Gal?"
"Speak."
"Am I boarding the boat alone?"
Gal looked at me as if wondering why I was even asking such an obvious question.
"Did you not say that taking a boat would be much faster?"
"I did, but..."
"Then that is what you shall do."
Saying so, Gal took the reins of Lily, who was casually grazing nearby.
I thought I had come to understand Gal to some extent, but it seemed I was mistaken.
"Go ahead and gather information on the beast. If you can handle it, do so alone. If not, wait until I arrive."
I stared blankly at Gal's receding back.
It seemed that, without realizing it, I had earned a degree of trust from him.
For some reason, I felt as though Tirmisia, who had been watching the scene with sinister amusement, was laughing at me.
"Hey, are you getting on or not?"
The old woman, who had already unfurled the rolled-up sail and prepared for departure, urged me from behind.
Actually, this was better.
Without a moment's hesitation, I stepped onto the rocking boat.
"Hold on tight. It's been a while since I've carried passengers, so it might be a rough ride."
Just as she said, her handling of the boat was incredibly rough.
The sail, swollen with wind, creaked and groaned as it shook, and the hull—so narrow that two people lying down would fill it completely—lurched violently.
The problem was that the thick layer of grime made everything slippery, no matter where I tried to hold on.
Quickly channeling energy into both of my arms, I braced myself by wrapping them around the mast.
This is... incredibly... urgh.
Before long, low rooftops began to appear over the horizon.
Contrary to the desperate tone of the letters, the village looked remarkably peaceful.
People were laughing as they shook out their nets or gathered to drink, and here and there, others could be seen lazily casting fishing lines and taking naps.
At that moment, I realized that Count Dornen had never once mentioned the name of the person who had sent the letters.