Those Awaiting the End (2)
Not a single word passed between Aryen and Isis on the journey back to the Royal Capital. Though Aryen usually rode far ahead of the carriage, on the way back, he matched its slow pace. The carriage, replaced with a new one after the old one had been ruined by mud and rain, featured large windows. Through the glass, Aryen watched Isis's pale profile.
"Why didn't we detect any signs of the Doomsday Cultists' activity when we were in that village?" asked a knight of the Royal Capital riding alongside him.
"...Perhaps we did see them, but passed them by without realizing."
"That is the very possibility I dread to think about most." The knight frowned.
Vaktins. The image of the devastated, vanished port city rose in Aryen's mind, along with the local governor's grim assessment that it was beyond recovery and that the residents had to be relocated elsewhere.
"People who genuinely wish for the end of the world... To think such madmen are walking freely among us, and we didn't even notice. While some are struggling to fight against the Calamities, others are worshipping them. Is this some kind of sick joke?" The knight shuddered in disgust.
Aryen did not answer. This time, the memory that surfaced was the battle against the Kraken. The surging tsunami. The city submerging beneath the waves. The colossal movements that crushed mountains and forests. The Kraken's tentacles, which had required the kingdom's finest knights to band together just to barely hold back.
"In any case, if there is a chance to arrest them, I will absolutely take part."
"...I certainly hope so."
Aryen wondered if the knight speaking so boldly had ever actually laid eyes on a Calamity. Letting the knight's words drift away, Aryen looked up at the sky. It was vast. In the ominously deep blue sky, a tiny moon rose faintly opposite the sun.
The moment they arrived at the Royal Capital, a familiar face greeted Aryen and Isis.
"You arrived earlier than expected. I assume you heard the gist of the situation before coming?"
At Bishop Andre's question, Isis nodded stiffly, her movements mechanical. Dark shadows hollowed the skin beneath her eyes. Her golden hair, once radiant as the sun, was dry and brittle, and her eyes, which used to sparkle like a clear lake, were now as empty as the sky.
Bishop Andre stared at her quietly, then closed his eyes and let out a sigh.
"Isis. You do not look well. Wouldn't it be better to rest instead of pushing yourself?"
"...No. I have no intention of doing that." Isis shook her head and stepped forward. "I... I have to see it with my own eyes. If I run away now, I..."
Aryen, who would normally have stopped her, did not hold her back this time. Stopping her now would only break her further. The reality that had suddenly thrust itself upon the Saintess was far too cruel—cruel enough that it wouldn't be surprising if she shattered at any moment.
"Then, let us go. Mercenary, you..." Bishop Andre narrowed his eyes at Aryen, then nodded slightly as if something had occurred to him. "You may follow. Though you are merely in Isis's employ, I believe you will be of help in a matter like this."
"You speak as if I'm bound to follow your orders."
"Of course not. I am not so arrogant as to place you beneath me. It is simply..." Bishop Andre let out a dry chuckle and shrugged. "It seems we will need quite a few capable hands who know how to make themselves useful."
The bishop arrived at the royal palace accompanied by Aryen, Isis, and a few priests in clerical robes. He seated Isis and Aryen beside him, staring quietly at the door as if waiting for someone.
"...Is someone else coming?"
"Yes. This is a joint operation, after all. Representatives from the Kairos Palace must attend as well."
Footsteps approached. Aryen's brow furrowed slightly at the approaching footsteps and presence. Strong—strong enough that Aryen had to sharpen his senses and be on guard.
Before Aryen could fully identify whose presence it was, the doors to the meeting room burst open. And the moment Aryen saw the face of the figure standing in the doorway, his expression froze. Beside him, Isis's pupils dilated in shock.
"The Hero, Elroy, greets Her Majesty the Queen."
The Queen offered a gentle smile at the Hero's greeting. The Hero shifted his gaze slightly from the Queen, spotted Aryen and Isis, and his eyebrows twitched.
"I fear we are placing too much of a burden on you."
"...You need not worry, Your Majesty."
The Hero's voice was stiff. Aryen inwardly clicked his tongue. A matter of heresy, and people who worshipped the Calamities. It would be stranger if the Hero weren't involved.
After a brief exchange with the Queen, the Hero turned toward the Saintess, the mercenary, and the bishop. The bishop, seeing the Hero's sour expression, smirked slightly and greeted him.
"Hello, Bishop Andre, and..." Facing his former comrades, the Hero's lip curled slightly. It wasn't a sneer, but a reflexive reaction born of sheer fluster. "Isis. Aryen."
Did Bishop Andre call them here?
My mind went blank for a moment, as if I'd been struck by a hammer, and I struggled to collect my thoughts. To make matters worse, the bishop's sly smile directed at me was highly irritating.
The Saintess. Right. Since this involved heresy, bringing Isis along would help win back public sentiment. But why is Aryen sitting there? Did Isis bring him along?
He's not the type to get involved in this kind of thing of his own free will.
They must have their reasons. I decided not to overthink it. Helping was helping, but the real question was whether they would even want to work with me again...
"Please, take a seat, Sir Hero. We were just about to discuss the details."
Bishop Andre called out to me as I stood there dazed. I let out a long sigh and sat down. Georg also stared at the two beside the bishop with a highly flustered expression. Isis didn't even seem to realize Georg had come along, while Aryen gave Georg a slight nod in greeting.
"Now, since you all know the basics, let's skip the preamble and get straight to the details," Bishop Andre began in a calm voice. "The Doomsday Cultists are currently active mainly around the Vaktins area."
I felt the blood drain from my face. My grip tightened on the armrest of my chair.
Vaktins.
An event from before I entered this world. The Calamity defeated through the mercenary's method. Though I hadn't seen the state of the place with my own eyes, the fact that the cultists were active there told me indirectly just how dire the situation was.
"As you know, Vaktins is practically a non-existent city at this point. Temporary settlements were built to house the refugees, but because rebuilding the city will take a considerable amount of time, an evacuation order to other cities has been issued."
The Queen nodded, picking up where Bishop Andre left off. "Since it was a temporary settlement, the sanitary conditions were far from ideal. The recovery rate of the sick was too slow, and above all, if an epidemic were to break out there, we couldn't guarantee the survival of even the healthy residents."
"Yes. Your Majesty's judgment was undoubtedly correct. However, I hear some of the local residents could not accept the dissolution order." Bishop Andre brought his fingertips together and spoke calmly.
"They are people with a strong attachment to their land. Many made their living from fishing, so relocating to other regions must have been difficult. We need to proceed with the recovery as quickly as possible, but those Doomsday Cultists are getting in the way," the Queen sighed as she spoke. Though she maintained a calm face, her mind must be more complicated than anyone else's right now.
"We could ignore them and push them out, but doing so would damage public sentiment beyond repair. That is why the Holy Kingdom's assistance is so welcome this time."
"Not at all. We are rather pleased to have finally caught the tail of the heretics we have been tracking." The bishop shook his head and clenched his fist. "Heresy... The Doomsday Cultists are incredibly adept at exploiting the cracks in people's hearts. The gaps that open up in a person's mind. A cracking, crumbling heart that shatters into pieces. The cultists fill those gaps, one by one, with darkness."
A faint trace of anger seeped into Bishop Andre's voice.
"Approximately three thousand."
The number that left his mouth made everyone freeze.
"That is the number of people in Vaktins we estimate the Doomsday Cultists have seized and brainwashed. Even at this very moment, the number of heretics continues to grow."
"What does the Holy Kingdom wish to do with them?"
"Arrest the ringleaders and hold a joint trial with the Kairos Kingdom. Though executing them on the spot would be even better." Bishop Andre's eyes flashed. "As for the remaining three thousand people... we will unconditionally defer to Your Majesty's disposition regarding them."
"I have already contacted the governor of Vaktins. I wish for this matter to be resolved as quietly as possible, so that rumors do not spread to other regions."
"Yes. It shall be done." After concluding his conversation with the Queen, the bishop turned to us. "We won't need a large force. We will conceal the presence of the Heretic Inquisitors, state that we have come from the Kairos Kingdom for an investigation, and begin our inquiry."
The bishop's voice was ice-cold.
"Heavenly retribution to those who betray the light of God."
Seeing Marianne out of her nun's habit felt somewhat strange. She wore the attire of a female knight, clutching the Holy Spear. Bishop Andre was an even greater spectacle; he wore the garb of a Kairos court noble, complete with glasses. His cover story was that he was a newly appointed internal affairs officer.
"Are you aware, Sir Hero, that the core of Doomsday worship is human sacrifice?" The bishop spoke with a cold, mocking smile. "The leaders of Doomsday worship, the servants of the Evil God, never sacrifice people by force. They guide and brainwash the believers into offering their own bodies. By using humans as sacrifices, they connect with the Evil God, receive a portion of its power, and prove their faith."
Bishop Andre adjusted his glasses.
"In the end, having the ordinary believers repent would be the best solution, but..."
Who knows if that's possible. The bishop muttered as he looked ahead.
When we reached Vaktins, a cold autumn rain was pouring down. I stared at the streets of Vaktins, which had completely devolved into post-war ruins, my eyes trembling.
Right next to me, the collapsed spire of a church was thrust into the ground like a spearhead.
"Elroy." Georg called my name. He, too, was looking around with a stiff expression. But soon, deciding that comforting me was more important, he placed a hand on my shoulder and lowered his voice. "Now is not the time to dwell on the past. The mistake back then lies with all of us, except you. You don't need to carry any guilt for what happened."
"..."
I didn't answer Georg, simply taking in the scenery. A place I should have protected. But failed to.
I wanted to ask the original owner of this body. How did you feel back then? When you accepted the fate of protecting this world, only to fail and have to succumb in the end, what were you thinking?
There were few words I could recall from the original novel. Come to think of it, the original Elroy was always filled with regret and anger.
"It's horrible," I muttered.
Georg let out a heavy sigh and nodded. "Back then, if I had..."
"Stop. I was weak, and I failed to protect it. I don't want to make meaningless assumptions." I dismissed it with a shake of my head. Even if we talked about the battle with the Kraken, the wounds the residents here suffered would not heal.
Suddenly, I noticed Isis and Aryen walking side by side nearby. Isis avoided making eye contact with me entirely. Aryen only stared at me silently from time to time, making no move to come over and speak.
"...Let's go." I turned my gaze away from them.
Before long, we arrived at a two-story building where the governor of Vaktins was waiting. It was the only relatively intact building among the surrounding ruins, but its first floor was no different from the debris outside.
"Welcome, Bishop. And..." The governor spotted me, his brow furrowing slightly. "...Sir Hero."