Lawless Zone Requitas, Part 4
An ash-gray scimitar drew an arc in the air. A chilling, sharp energy sliced through the void, leaving a distorted afterimage in the blade's wake, like rain-streaked glass. Severed blades of grass drifted on the wind. Isha's sword strikes were silent, despite being so fast they were nearly impossible to track with the naked eye. The sounds that humans inevitably make—the beating of a heart, the rushing of blood, the tearing of the air as one moves—were uniquely absent from her. It made Isha's sword feel formless. Ever since the battle began, it felt like a dream, devoid of any sense of reality. Her hazy, faint presence made her constantly slip from grasp. Just moments ago, my throat had nearly been slit in a single stroke, yet I hadn't realized it until the very last second. Isha's figure vanished from sight once more. Where next? Behind? Above? Or perhaps below? The shadow's blade descended upon the two of them once again.
At a glance, she looked to be about two or three years younger than Sirien. Isha was a girl with striking ash-gray hair and vivid green eyes. If I had to describe my first impression, her appearance brought to mind a small animal, like a squirrel. Hearing she was the daughter of an information guild's leader, I had imagined a sharp, cat-like look, but she felt surprisingly gentle and quiet instead.
"H-Hieee..." The girl shrank back, trembling. Was it because she had just been pulled from the jaws of death? The moment our eyes met, her anxiety visibly spiked. Well, it was a natural reaction. Anyone would panic when staring death in the face, let alone a young girl. I kept my voice as calm as possible to avoid startling her further.
"You're badly hurt. What's your name?" Ah, damn. I should have spoken more gently. That was a mistake. Lately, everyone I'd met besides Sirien had been rough, lawless types, so my usual blunt tone slipped out. Still, did it work well enough? The ash-gray-haired girl slowly revealed her name. It was the first time I was hearing the name of a character who played a major role in the original novel.
"Isha... My name is Isha."
"Isha? You're Isha of the Shadow Moon?"
"I-I didn't quite catch that, but yes, my name is Isha."
Isha was a character who held the position of a mid-boss in the original novel. The so-called 'Isha of the Shadow Moon.' The leader of an assassin guild based in the imperial capital. Later, she would be revealed as the silent sword of Rajen Bertus. Though she appeared early on and died, she was the villain who came closest to bringing about the female lead's demise. In fact, Dersian, a member of the female lead's reverse harem, had been pushed to the absolute brink of death by Isha. And this was at a time when the female lead, Elis, had no means of countering her at all. She had literally driven both the female lead and the male lead into a corner simultaneously.
The only problem was that Isha wasn't the protagonist of this novel. If the female lead, Elis, died, the novel would end right then and there. So, the author couldn't let Isha win. The author's solution was to make Isha a sacrificial lamb for Dersian's awakening arc. At the final moment, Dersian awakened his power and cut Isha down. From that day on, Dersian was hailed as a Sword Saint, and the Sword Saint held her in such high regard that he always measured strong opponents against Isha.
"Let's treat your wounds first. My companion is on her way."
"Is there... any reason for you to help me?"
"I happen to have a very kind disposition."
"Ah, I see..." Isha avoided my gaze. Her face was hidden, but she seemed to accept my obvious excuse. Or maybe she agreed because it was an undeniable fact that I was kind-hearted. Meanwhile, Sirien approached us. She glanced at me, then at Isha, before extending her fair hand.
"Let me heal you first. Is this where you're hurt?"
"If you touch me, you'll get a lot of blood on your clothes."
"I don't mind." Sirien's divine power flowed over Isha's wounds. It was a vast, sublime divinity. Just as I hadn't slacked off over the past four years, Sirien had steadily grown into her role as a Saintess. The gaping wound began to knit together right before our eyes. At the same time, Isha's eyelids began to flutter shut. It was the Authority of Rest. While Hibras's divinity had the worst compatibility with healing, its efficiency spiked significantly once the patient was put to sleep. It seemed the state of slumber was treated as a form of repose.
"Suddenly, I feel so sleepy..."
"Yes. You must feel very drowsy. It's alright to sleep. Once you've had a good rest, we can talk." Sirien placed her hand on Isha's forehead. Soon, Isha drifted off with a peaceful expression, her breathing soft and even.
Requitas was a place so teeming with crime that it truly earned its moniker as a lawless zone. However, if every single corner of the city were dangerous, no wealthy patrons would ever set foot here. In the southern district, where the pleasure quarter lay, the streets that once formed the bustling downtown area under noble rule still maintained a semblance of public order. Even though the legitimate noble families had vanished, it didn't mean the city was devoid of rulers. Whoever held the real power in this lawless zone, their ultimate goal was the gold that Requitas generated. But without a guarantee of basic safety, customers wouldn't bring their money. Someone had to maintain order in this city. In the pleasure district of Requitas, that meant criminal syndicates were the ones enforcing the peace.
"Did you get her settled in?"
"I laid her down on the bed in the other room. Just in case, I tied her arms. It's a loose knot, so she'll understand what it means when she wakes up."
"Alright." Carrying the sleeping Isha, we immediately secured lodging in southern Requitas. Since we had more than enough money, there was no need to settle for a shabby place. Thanks to that, our Saintess was in high spirits for the first time in a while.
"Oh! Rajen! Come lie down on this bed. It's so soft and comfy!"
"You're right. I didn't expect this level of comfort." Sirien rolled around on the large bed. A bright smile graced her face, which rarely showed such warmth in public. The pleasure district of Requitas offered mercenaries an experience akin to being nobility. Of course, to a true noble, it would undoubtedly look somewhat tacky and unrefined. It was excessively gaudy, bordering on vulgar. But these mercenaries were men who had spent their lives rolling in the mud and smelling the charred flesh of their comrades on blood-stained ramparts. To them, a bed stuffed with plush cotton, clean blankets, and a fresh-scented room were nothing short of a sweet dream. And what of the food they had never tasted before? Fine liquor with actual depth of flavor instead of the harsh stench of cheap alcohol, beautiful women whispering sweet nothings, and even drugs that could completely melt one's brain. It might only be a memory of a few days, but it was one that would be engraved for a lifetime. To them, it was a force of temptation as irresistible as violence. Mercenaries swallowed by these memories had no choice but to return to this street of pleasure every time they scraped together some coin.
"The bed is so big and spacious, too. I don't even know how long it's been since I've seen one like this."
"Is it? It looks about the same size as the one I had when I was a child." Such marketing tactics merely triggered nostalgia in Sirien. Rather than experiencing something entirely new, it felt more like catching a glimpse of what she used to possess. In any case, there was no danger of Sirien being swallowed by this city.
"Hmm, but this pillow is a letdown. It looked nice, but the material is awful."
"Do you like everything else, then?"
"Well, the overall aesthetic is pretty tacky. It feels like they just threw everything together because they don't actually know what beauty is." The lady of House Ilencia and the Saintess of Hibras. The standards of the grand duke's daughter were simply too high for a mere inn in Requitas to captivate her... While I sat on the edge of the bed, Sirien sat beside me, popping a grape into her mouth with a soft *pop*. Her lovely lips curved into a gentle arc as she remarked on how nice it was to have so much delicious fruit. With a soft smile, Sirien slid over and pressed against my back.
"Want one?" Though it was phrased as a question, my opinion, as always, didn't matter to Sirien. Her soft fingers brushed against my lips. She forced a grape into my mouth. Since she had always liked sharing snacks like this, it wasn't particularly surprising. But what followed was a little unexpected. Familiar arms wrapped around me from behind. She buried her face in my back, her warm breath seeping through the fabric of my shirt.
"What's brought this on all of a sudden?"
"Just because. I suddenly felt like doing this. Is it not allowed?"
"It's not that it's not allowed."
"In times like this, I'd prefer if you told me I can do whatever I want."
"You can do whatever you want."
My tone was soft, laced with a hint of playfulness. Sirien giggled at my response. It sounded like a laugh she couldn't hold back, and it was pleasant to hear. It was the same laugh she used to show so often back at the castle.
"Then give me a piggyback ride."
"What?"
"You carried that Isha girl just fine. Do you not want to carry me?"
"She was an injured patient. And you were the one who put her to sleep anyway."
"So you're saying you don't want to?"
"No, my lady. Please, climb on." I stepped down from the bed and bent my knees, and immediately felt her weight settle onto my back. Only then did Sirien lean her cheek against my shoulder, looking thoroughly satisfied. When was the last time I had carried her like this? It must have been on a rainy day, back when we were returning to the cave in the Sanctuary's forest. Compared to then, Sirien had grown a bit taller. Perhaps her heart had grown stronger too, as its steady *thump, thump* seemed to echo right in my ears. Her body heat, always exceptionally warm, remained unchanged. As I carried her, Sirien's finger traced slow circles on my shoulder blade. Her voice drifted down, slightly subdued.
"I was just thinking about when we were young. Whenever I couldn't sleep, my nanny would carry me on her back like this and sing me a lullaby."
"Do you want me to sing you one too?"
"No, I'm fine without the lullaby. Just let me stay like this a little longer, okay? Just until I fall asleep."
"Alright."
"Thank you. I knew it... You're still mine. You're my knight." What a redundant thing to say. And so, I paced slowly around the room until Sirien finally fell asleep.