Clever Ploy and Pure Essence (4)
Kriel couldn't refuse Niam's request. Alberik let out a deep sigh before passing on her message to the family elders. That night, Alberik came to Kriel's room, carrying a couple bottles of liquor in his hands.
"Planning to blow off some steam?"
"Society recommends it!"
Alberik handed one bottle to Kriel and, without giving him a chance to stop him, popped the cork and started chugging it like water. After downing the whole bottle without pause, Alberik closed his eyes.
"If it seems like Niam's trying to die on purpose, stop her."
"Die on purpose?"
"You know, like pretending to threaten our mother for no reason."
Alberik's words were deadly serious. Since Pand's spirit had made a deal with the abyss, the consequences would inevitably reach the spirit's contractor. The simple way to dispel that suspicion was to deny the bond with her master and die alone. There was no better act for achieving that goal than "dying while trying to attack her master."
Kriel, who hadn't considered that angle, shook his head.
"Uh... I doubt Niam would stake her assurance of a cure on something like that."
"I hope not."
Alberik kept drinking, and at some point, he burst into sobs. Just as Tuon sidled up and whispered telepathically, 'Master, should I knock him out? One chop would do it,' Oipe burst through the door.
"Uwaaah, you crazy young master! Who goes around getting sloshed and bawling in front of a guest?!"
"Kuhek!"
Oipe grabbed Alberik by the scruff of the neck with swift, precise movements.
"Sorry about this. Our young master doesn't usually act like this, but crying is his drunken habit."
"It's fine between friends."
"...Huh. That thing you said last time about knights being cool—was that sincere?"
"Of course. Do you know how rare it is to find a friend with the same tastes?"
Oipe scratched her head once, then was about to drag Alberik away after muttering, "Sorry about our young master," when—
"Oh, one thing I'm curious about."
"Yes?"
"The elders now—they all served in the Demon War, right?"
"That's... right?"
She looked puzzled as to why he was asking. Kriel nodded at her response.
"Then maybe Niam won't face execution if there's even one valid mitigating circumstance. Best of luck."
Pand blinked. She sensed a presence. Though her son and husband had chattered on about this and that, she instinctively knew the commotion in the family had come to an end. But the form of that end was the problem. Unlike her shrewd husband, her son still couldn't fully hide his emotions. Considering she hadn't seen Niam lately, something had likely happened to her.
"Pand."
A voice calling her name. Her focus sharpened slowly. Unexpectedly, standing before Pand was the figure of her old friend.
"Sorry I'm late. I was looking for a way to cure the abyss affliction."
"...Niamh."
"The method might seem a bit... extreme, but it's really a cure, so don't worry."
"Niamh."
"Yes."
"What have you done?"
Pand's tone was gentle yet brimming with insight. But it wasn't accusatory—her friendship with her old companion shone through clearly. Hearing this, Niamh collapsed to the floor. A confession followed.
Pand listened to the entire tale with a calm smile. She wanted to voice her long-held resentment, but her breath came short, so she poured all her emotions into a single phrase.
"Oh dear."
"I'm sorry."
Niamh bit her lip, her face strained as she fought back tears. And then, Tuon appeared...
"The melodrama ends here."
"?"
While Niamh was bewildered, Tuon strode forward with sharp clicks of her heels and extended her right hand straight out in the shape of a hand blade.
It was a sudden development even Kriel hadn't anticipated. He'd turned his back silently since the two were having a private conversation, only for her to suddenly materialize on her own, shouting something like "All this tiresome tragedy is over!" and charge ahead.
"Hya!"
And Tuon stabbed right near Pand's heart. Niamh was on the verge of screaming in shock. Even in her panic, a thread of rationality remained—she immediately activated a soundproofing spell. She could already envision the future: someone hearing Pand's scream, bursting in, forcibly interrupting the treatment, and dooming Pand, herself, and Kriel to death.
But Pand neither screamed nor grimaced to hold it back. She lay there with her eyes closed, peacefully, as if accepting death.
Pand's body suddenly grew ice-cold. Niamh looked to Kriel and Orishin with trembling eyes, but they knew nothing of Tuon's "treatment" either. Pand's body turned as cold as ice, her heartbeat slowing to a stop.
Suddenly, something black near her heart tried to burst free.
"Pointless struggling, you vermin. Be still."
The black, liquid-like, rippling shadow froze solid in blue frost, soon encased in ice crystals. The crystals swelled in size instantly. The chill permeating Pand's flesh seemed to converge on her heart. When Tuon finally withdrew her hand, she held a peculiar ice crystal resembling frozen flames. She approached Kriel, knelt gracefully, and offered it to him...
"Hey, hold up!"
Kriel dropped his knightly tone and stopped Tuon.
'Doesn't this look kinda weird right now?'
Like one of the Demon King's Four Heavenly Kings paying tribute to the Demon King or something?
The bizarre phenomenon had unfolded in an instant. Niam stared at Tuon in stunned silence before hurriedly turning to Pand. Pand's expression was much more at ease. Perhaps due to a state akin to cryogenic sleep, her breathing was slower, but her body temperature had normalized, and her complexion had improved. For the first time in ages, her friend was sleeping peacefully.
More importantly...
"It's... gone!"
The presence of the abyss affliction was undetectable. Tuon had truly cured it!
As Niam rose to express her gratitude to those who had wrought this miracle—
[Aigoo, Tuon...]
"That's why I kept telling you not to."
The spirit and knight were both chiding the magic sword. The ash-gray girl stood facing the wall, hand raised.
"I merely detected a severe drop in communication efficiency due to excessive sentimentality and chose the optimal path before further delays."
Even then, she steadfastly defended her stance.
[Was crystallizing the abyss affliction like that really necessary?]
"You've been doubting me since yesterday! You have!"
Her indignant shout carried a note of injustice. Niam thought to herself,
'Magic swords these days are quirky...'
They weren't like this back when I was an active World Tree gardener.
Pand didn't wake even after some time had passed. "She's just in a deeper sleep than usual to replenish her life force," Tuon explained. Kriel handed guard duty at her bedside to Alberik and returned to his room. With the matter mostly resolved, it was time to prepare to leave.
'Should I wait to see Pand get up, or just go?'
Creeeak.
The door opened.
"Alberik? Not watching over your lady mother—what brings you?"
"Ah. In the old tales, around this point, the knightly hero heads off to another village."
Alberik's eyes scanned the neatly packed room.
"Looks like the old tales were true after all."
"I've done what I came for."
"You haven't taken your reward yet."
"Fine, then. A single coin or whatever."
"Heh. They said you did the same in other villages."
With an "Here ya go," Alberik flicked a coin. Kriel caught it effortlessly.
[Huh.]
Orishin's brief exclamation. Was it because he'd asked for just one coin without hesitation, and Alberik had tossed exactly that—one single coin—without a second thought? Kriel ignored Orishin's reaction and pocketed it.
"Got it. Thanks."
"Friends don't usually haggle over money, but since you insisted on a coin, that's what you get. Ideally, stay for dinner."
Kriel shook his head.
"Why? Something come up?"
"Thinking about it, winter solstice is soon, right?"
"Yeah. Just a few days left."
"Someone waiting in Ket County."
"Oh..."
Alberik stroked his chin. The Lir family, true to their elven nature, had settled in a remote mountain enclave, but considering the forest's density and vitality, they'd chosen the warmer southern slopes despite the elevation. Ket County, by contrast, was in the northern reaches, equally remote.
Alberik chuckled dryly.
"You'll have to hustle."
"Yeah. If the trial verdict comes down, send word to the Armede countess's side. Won't be before solstice."
"Safe travels!"
[Hey, Kriel. Let me see that thing.]
"What thing?"
[The coin you got.]
Kriel pulled out the coin without much thought. Orishin peered at it intently. To Kriel's eyes, it was just a well-maintained coin gleaming brightly—nothing special.
[Whoa, this guy's got romance.]
"Romance?"
[That's a coin from the old United Kingdom era. Easily worth ten gold pieces.]
Kriel held the coin up to the sunlight. Embossed on it was the motif of a sword piercing the abyss, symbolized by a serpent.
"Nice souvenir."
With a smirk, Kriel tucked his friend's parting gift carefully into his inner pocket. It was at the fork in the road leading to the Ket family lands.