The One Who Answers When I Call #4
Leni took a step forward.
But Aiden blocked her with his arm.
“Your Highness, please be careful. That man’s condition…”
He couldn’t finish the sentence.
Emil’s right arm was charred black from the wrist up. Over the dried, scorched flesh, cracked skin writhed like scales.
It was the backlash that occurred every time Pidea’s form merged with a human body.
“Sir Aiden, step aside.”
“But…”
“Father Emil is my priest.”
At those words, the knight offered no further argument.
The princess had given a direct order. He bowed his head silently and withdrew.
Leni reached out and took hold of his arm.
She placed her hand carefully over the blackened skin. The raised flesh there was sticky and burning hot.
“Father… this…”
Leni’s voice trembled as if she were about to cry.
Emil shook his head.
“It’s nothing.”
“Your arm… what happened to it? How did you even get here? What on earth…”
“I’m truly fine, Your Highness. Please don’t worry.”
Emil closed his eyes.
It was only for a brief moment.
When he opened them again, the demonic energy that had clouded his vision was gone. It was a sign that Pidea’s power was withdrawing.
[Emil, I told you that you wouldn’t be able to handle any more. That’s enough. Don’t push yourself beyond this.]
“…”
The traces of Pidea’s flickering flames had almost completely faded, and his skin was scorched and split open.
In the places where flesh had burst instead of blood, dark remnants lingered like stains.
‘I still have some strength left in this arm. But at this rate, I won’t be able to use it much longer…’
That arm was no longer fully his, and it never would be again.
“Father… we have to treat it, we have to heal it right away.”
“This isn’t the time for that, Your Highness.”
“But…”
He had already given up on the arm anyway.
If he could survive this and save Leni… wouldn’t he be able to lie back and live a life of luxury without ever needing to move his own arm again?
Yes. It wasn’t a bad deal at all.
Emil was still the same selfish man he had always been.
“I’m fine. Really.”
He turned his gaze away from Leni, who looked like she might burst into tears at any moment, and looked at Aiden instead.
“Sir Aiden, this is our first time meeting face to face. I’ve heard a great deal about you from Lady Cately and Miss Daisy. I am the priest named Emil.”
“I see. Given the circumstances, it feels strange to say I’m glad to meet you, but… anyway, it’s good to meet you, Father Emil.”
The middle-aged knight met his eyes and returned the greeting.
Can I trust this man?
Emil studied him carefully as he asked.
“Sir Aiden, you are a knight, are you not? A knight who has sworn to protect women and children, to devote his life in loyalty to the kingdom and the king.”
“That’s correct, Father.”
The middle-aged knight answered with a slightly suspicious expression at the sudden question.
“Sir Aiden, there is a young princess here. The very one you swore to protect—even at the cost of your own life.”
“…What exactly are you trying to say?”
“I have no ill intentions. I simply wish to entrust the princess to you. If anything happens to me, can you promise to take Her Highness all the way to Myrdin? Can I trust you?”
“Father, you mustn’t say such things—”
Leni tried to interrupt, but
Aiden nodded.
“Of course. However, I don’t think there’s anything for me to promise. That is simply my natural duty and responsibility, so I will do it without fail.”
“That’s all I needed to hear. Please take care of the princess.”
Emil turned his head once more.
“Your Highness, we must leave now.”
“Down from the tower? Aren’t there guards?”
“I’ve taken care of all the guards, but by now a new force will have gathered. We won’t be able to descend normally. Your Highness, just a moment…”
Emil wrapped one arm around Leni,
and used the other to pull Aiden close.
The knight recoiled in alarm, trying to pull away, but
Emil stopped him, saying,
“Stay still, Sir Aiden. I have absolutely no desire to embrace a man either. Still, there’s no other way for us to escape.”
With that, Emil walked toward the window.
Iron bars covered the window, but when Emil grabbed them and yanked with all his strength, they shattered easily.
Aiden spoke in bewilderment.
“Just what are you… wait, what exactly do you plan to do?”
“We’re going to leave through the window.”
“Have you lost your mind? This tower is a hundred and forty feet high. If you jump, it would be a miracle if you only broke your legs. You’re not seriously hoping for a miracle, are you?”
“I am certainly a priest. However, I’ve never relied on miracles in my life.”
A hundred and forty feet. Roughly forty meters? That should be more than enough.
Emil turned his head away from Aiden.
Instead, he looked at Leni.
“Your Highness, do you trust me?”
“Yes… I trust you. I trust you, Father.”
Leni’s eyes were filled with boundless faith.
Emil drew strength from that gaze. “Good. Then hold onto me tightly. You must never let go.”
“Wait, Father, hold on—”
Aiden tried to stop him from the side, but
Emil wrapped both of them in his arms—there was still just enough awkward strength left in his arms to manage it.
“Pidea, lend me your ‘legs’!”
He leaped powerfully out of the tower.
“—!”
The moment Emil kicked off through the window, the three bodies sliced through the air in an instant.
After flying horizontally for about a hundred meters, the three began to plummet straight down.
“Father, wait—Father Emil!”
Aiden screamed, but
Leni simply held Emil tightly and kept her eyes fixed only on him. She didn’t even scream.
He immediately twisted his posture in midair.
The wind clawed at his face, and his cloak billowed behind him. Leni’s weight inside his arms tilted to one side, but some sensation still remained in his arms.
“Your Highness… are you alright?”
Emil called to her in a low voice.
“…I trust you, Father.”
Leni’s voice trembled, but it was quiet.
Emil didn’t answer. There was no need for words.
Cold sweat beaded on his forehead. The flow of demonic energy was snapping apart in bursts. Every joint that had been holding him together was coming undone. But he had to endure.
They hadn’t landed yet.
As the ground rushed up,
Emil concentrated every last ounce of remaining strength in a single instant.
“……!”
A shockwave. Dust. Silence.
They had landed at the base of the tower, on the stone pavement, without collapsing.
Emil immediately released Leni and dropped to one knee beside her. His face was deathly pale.
Blood was seeping from his forehead. There were no visible tears in his skin, but the corners of his eyes were twitching.
“Your Highness, are you alright?”
Leni nodded.
She gave no verbal answer. But her eyes clearly held consciousness.
Aiden staggered to his feet beside them.
He, too, had not lost consciousness.
“That was insane…”
He said it, but there was no reproach in his tone. He simply braced his legs and straightened his posture.
Emil slowly lifted his gaze upward. The window they had jumped from was impossibly far above.
“We need to find a path now. Pursuit will be on us soon. If we don’t move quickly…”
Emil couldn’t finish the sentence.
The sensation in his arm had vanished.
Damn it, already?
At the end of his deadened nerves, the skin had stiffened like a corpse.
“…Father?”
Leni looked at him with worry, but Emil shook his head as if nothing were wrong.
“There’s no time. Leave now. If you run straight toward the northeast side of the castle, you’ll see the markers I left. Follow them and you’ll be able to slip out through a side path beyond the castle walls.”
Aiden frowned.
“You have to come with us. I can tell you possess extraordinary power, but you can’t handle Iredain’s entire guard force alone.”
“I’m already handling it.”
Emil lifted his right arm to show him.
But the hardened arm was now little more than a shape. It had become a weight he could no longer feel.
“I must get the princess to Myrdin. I will create the conditions for that here.”
Leni lifted her head. Her face was covered in dust and sweat, but her eyes were clear.
“Father, no. Please, come with us.”
Emil did not smile. He did not close his eyes.
Instead, he raised his hand and gently brushed Leni’s hair. Very lightly, barely touching.
But he did not answer Leni.
Instead, he looked at Aiden and said,
“Aiden, you are a knight. Then you already know what you must do.”
“…Of course.”
Aiden nodded as if he had made up his mind, then hoisted Leni over his shoulder like a kidnapper.
“Ugh, what are you—Sir Aiden, what are you doing!”
Leni shouted and struggled, but Aiden held her firmly and refused to let go.
Yes. That would do.
Emil sent him a look of gratitude.
“Go quickly.”
Aiden nodded and ran in the opposite direction.
Leni thrashed wildly.
At first she screamed, then she began to sob and wail.
“No… Father, Father! No, please!”
“Your Highness.”
Emil spoke softly.
Even though she would not be able to hear him,
he spoke as if to himself.
“Please smile.”
And then, slowly and carefully, he turned around.
The sound of countless footsteps approached.
The sound of swords being drawn and shouts rang out.
“Hey, Pidea.”
[…Yes, Emil.]
Pidea answered with sorrow.
It was a ridiculous thing.
What could a mere human life possibly mean to her?
From what he had heard before, after Emil died, this body would be revived and become Pidea’s.
In that case, she should have been rejoicing.
“After I die, leave Rosdea. Change your name and go live somewhere—whether it’s Ildengard or beyond the sea.”
[You foolish idiot… In the end, you’re throwing your life away for that princess? You’ve helped her this whole time for wealth and glory. What’s the point if you die?]
“Well… I don’t really know either. Sometimes humans do stupid things. Let’s just say I’m an idiot. Anyway, keep your promise to me.”
His vision was gradually blurring.
Even his eyes were losing strength now.
It couldn’t be helped.
“Pidea, lend me your power. All that’s left.”
[Emil… that would…]
“Don’t say I won’t be able to endure it. There’s no meaning in living any longer anyway. Just do it.”
Pidea remained silent for a moment, then did as Emil wished.
His hearing expanded endlessly.
The entire space of Iredain began to ‘sound’ as if it were within his grasp.
Aiden and Leni running far in the distance,
and the troops chasing after them.
And Alon Ricgard in the middle of it all.
At that realization, Emil smirked.
If there was still something he could do for the Leni he would leave behind…
Full release of remaining demonic power. All senses expanded to their limit. The user’s body is reaching complete collapse.
“Good. I should give our princess a present.”
He would kill Alon Ricgard.
That would be enough.
