The Land That Lost All Hope
After getting through the night with a light nap on the barren land devoid of hope, we decided to descend into the hole.
"Before that, Minel. There's something I need to tell you."
"What is it?"
"Don't help Ceres."
"……."
I'd been thinking Minel was in a dangerous state ever since yesterday's incident.
"You're definitely Ceres's knight. But right now, you're a member of our party. Don't forget that."
Minel's mindset as a knight wasn't wrong. She prioritized protecting her charge above all else. But she never considered the repercussions her actions might bring.
"Think about it yourself. In this situation, helping Ceres won't just hurt you—it'll drag down our party, and even hers."
"I know… But I can't help worrying about her."
Haa… Just how the hell did Ceres brainwash Minel to warp her like this?
I couldn't deny that Minel cared for Ceres. It was the result of the bond they'd built over time. But when that trust only applied one way, it created an utterly irrational situation.
"Why are you doing this? Even if you go way back with Ceres, do you really need to sacrifice yourself to help her?"
"…Yes. That's the oath the lady and I swore."
"Oath?"
The only oaths I knew of were the ones between mages. Equal stakes, an absolute promise sealed as a mark on the heart with lingering mana residue.
"You can't even handle mana."
"…? What are you talking about? Oaths don't require mana, do they?"
"No, that's bullshit."
Oaths were common among mages because knights rarely awakened mana compared to them, and even if they did, they often lacked enough to bind each other. It was practically impossible.
"Did you maybe use some special magic tool for the oath?"
"No. When I was twelve, the lady taught me the method, and we swore it right there. I would always be her sword and shield, protecting her before anyone else, and she would always stay by my side."
"……."
My head spun.
Ceres could pull off an oath at twelve. As a prodigy, she'd have had plenty of mana even then, and the Reinhardt family library would have the rituals.
But… would an immature knight like Minel back then have had enough mana for it?
"Minel, turn around for a second."
"Huh? What's up?"
A god with a knowledge-themed name had guessed my thoughts and denied it… but personally, I ranked innocent kids as the purest, most wicked beings.
Mana flowed from my hand into Minel's body. Past her back… to her heart. There, a faint layer of mana coated it.
…Good grief. What a waste of a smart brain.
Ceres had no such traces. I'd checked her multiple times back when the Reinhardt family was half-wiped out, at her request, for curses or tracking spells.
But Minel's heart bore a faint remnant of an oath.
Probably. And the "magic" Ceres found wasn't a true oath—it was an engraving spell, a sub-type for slaves. Not mutual like oaths, but one-sided, with master and servant predefined.
Effects: No betrayal, prioritize the master, no suicide. Perfect chains for a slave.
"Come to think of it, the Reinhardt family created that engraving spell in the future."
Breaking an oath—no, an engraving—was simple. As an unfinished spell, no fancy dispel was needed. Just disrupt Ceres's mana with my destruction-attuned power…
"Huh?"
Minel froze stiff.
Now I understood her warped values. I'd rarely infused mana directly into her before. I'd used holy power for healing a few times, but that was different. It was odd she hadn't noticed.
"How's it feel? Clear-headed now?"
"…What the hell did you do?"
"What? Just shattered your illusions. Peeled off that engraving on your heart. But Minel, you've carried Ceres's engraving for eight whole years."
Through her crucial second growth phase, she'd lived like a slave, never doubting she was Ceres's knight.
"…Lian."
"Yeah?"
"Did the lady do this to me out of malice?"
…Minel's face looked like the world's end. A familiar look. Like mine in the mirror after that first betrayal and regression.
"Probably… not."
No matter how much she'd betrayed me, Ceres wasn't rotten enough to enslave someone who'd trusted her purely since childhood.
The spell was likely a half-baked beta version, midway between oath and engraving. Ceres, fresh from learning oaths, probably slapped a similar circle on Minel without thinking.
"…Grit."
Minel ground her teeth, clenching her fist until blood welled.
"I feel betrayed."
"Yeah."
For Minel, who'd trusted Ceres almost dependently, realizing her feelings were manipulated was devastating. A normal person would've grabbed a sword and gone for Ceres's throat by now.
"I trusted the lady, but she bound me."
"Yeah…"
Minel's eyes trembled like aspen leaves, unlike her usual steadiness.
"I can't forgive that girl… no, Ceres Reinhardt."
Her eyes died black. The knight's pure gaze couldn't even spark revenge—it was just dead fish eyes.
"Even my knightly path was forged by her."
Minel's path was protection. Solely guarding Ceres—that single-minded vow had shaped it.
"My actions, thoughts, feelings, beliefs—all manipulated by Ceres Reinhardt."
Minel stated it flatly. No tremor in her voice, no anger. Just the plain truth.
"Lian… What should I do?"
Her hands shook violently, unlike her dead eyes.
"I hate Ceres. But memories scream I must protect her. I want to kill her. But I can't. Why? Just run her through with this sword and be done."
Eight years of forged emotions had devoured her true ones. Her personality, character, feelings—built under the engraving. Now freed, the gulf between them was beyond imagination.
"Kill her. Can't kill her. These thoughts loop endlessly."
"…Sorry."
I poured mana into her head as I spoke.
"[Lian, what are you doing?] It's… a bit too cruel, isn't it?"
The true knight lost her truth. The pure hero lost her purity. The girl craving love became a grotesque monster.
Couldn't these three just live ordinary, happy lives? Minel as Ceres's close friend. Me as a hero, married to my love, future bright. Nero as a human finding love, not a monster.
Why did the gods gift us this tragedy?
"Hey, you gods."
One question: Is fate always this cruel?
On the land that lost all hope, one knight lost everything like hope itself. Pride, emotions, hope, beliefs, friends. Nothing spared for Minel.
All that remained for this knight was confusion, sorrow… and betrayal.
It fit the theme of this hopeless place all too perfectly.
Damn it all.