Ep.7 - Khalid (1)
Ep.7 - Khalid (1)
***
The place we headed to was a small inn where merchants and adventurers mingled and rested for the day.
The inn was shabby but tidy,
crude but cozy.
True to a place built for crowds, it was arranged so everyone could pile into a single room,
and it felt like the kind of lodging you'd stay at during a school retreat back in the day.
About the only differences were the lack of a TV, no electric lights, and wood instead of concrete.
Also, a peculiar scent hung in the air.
Round objects—clearly air fresheners at a glance—were boldly placed here and there around the room, releasing a fragrance halfway between grass and earth.
"They could've just set out a potted plant or something... instead they ground it up and stuffed it into every corner."
"It's not a bad smell, is it?"
"It's ordinary, I guess..."
The scent was restrained to the extreme, yet so vivid and intense that if you closed your eyes, you would feel as though you were inside a forest.
They said that after tidying the room, special measures were taken to erase the odors of previous guests. The exotic fragrance unsettled me a bit, but judging by the other noonas' reactions, it struck them as completely ordinary and tiresome.
"Why the hell do flowers like that even exist? They're not weeds, they're not pretty, and they've got no scent."
Riko grumbled as if blaming the flower. No, it was less like blaming the flower and more like she was channeling its silent plea, seeking an answer from God.
Looking at the actual potted plant set in one corner of the room, it merely clung to two shabby, pale purple petals.
Small, and pathetic.
"This isn't really the time to be talking about flowers."
I cut off Riko's words without thinking.
Part of me was in a hurry to hear Helen's story, but I think I also spoke up because I felt sorry for the flower.
My hand, reaching out from a pang of sympathy, was already touching the flower.
I felt the petal. It wasn't soft or smooth; it was rough and stiff, growing almost like a blade of grass.
"Even a small blossom has its meaning."
Helen approached me slowly and began to speak.
As the other noonas unpacked their belongings, I fiddled with the flower petals and listened to her story.
"A flower that has bloomed is beautiful by that small will alone. Some may not find its scent to their liking, some may not find its color to their liking... The hearts looking upon the flower will each differ, but who can bring harsh words against a flower that has bloomed?"
"We're not here to listen to flower talk. Let's get to the main point—you need to start by telling us how you know about Delin's ability."
Neva cut off Helen's floral musings and tossed off her armor piece by piece.
The armor disguised by Chichi's magic hit the floor with dull thuds, revealing Neva's pale bare skin and the pitch-black clothing hidden beneath.
"Goddammit, what the hell are you?"
Her inner thoughts burst out just as abruptly. She had no composure left. That's why she immediately grabbed my arm, pulling me away from Helen as she spoke.
"...Flowers don't thrive on just water and sunlight. Flowers need kindness, you see. If you apply force like that, they'll be crushed..."
"Save it and talk. What the fuck are you, anyway?"
The other noonas, having set down their luggage, gathered around one by one.
"She's right. You need to tell us. We can't travel with someone as suspicious as you."
"I concur! My mother always said never to trust people who only speak in riddles!"
Helen swept her gaze over all of us, one by one.
Me, perched on the bed,
the noonas who had come over to settle around me,
and Eva-ssi, standing at a distance, listening as if on guard.
"Hmm..."
Having scanned us all that way, she pulled out a small, creaky wooden chair and quietly sat down.
"If my small knowledge and secrets can be of help to you all, then telling you would be for the best. Where would be a good place to start..."
She clutched a bottle that had been hanging at her waist and took several gulps.
The strong smell of liquor reached me from across the room, but she guzzled it as if it were water.
The alcohol moistening her throat slid down her gullet,
and my own throat stung, as if I were hallucinating that I was the one drinking it.
"Hah... Very well. First, let's talk about the Gods who are inseparable from our lives. Ah, and before that..."
Wink.
She looked at me, closed one eye in a wink, and gave a deep smile.
"Since I don't want to miss this future, please do help me enjoy the present."
All of us except Eva caught her intent.
"...It should be fine to do it. Since we've come inside Khalid."
"I agree."
"I agree as well."
"Do what? Am I the only one in the dark again? What on earth are you talking about?"
Leaving out Kaede, who was always clueless anyway, since all three of them were in favor, I called out Save.
Yeah.
And honestly, it's not just because the noonas said so.
I keep getting this feeling... that it would be good to listen to Helen.
A small intuition.
Just an intuition, but a sensation too vivid to dismiss as mere intuition.
"Save."
[Save point set!]
Our future is confirmed.
Now that we've pushed through quite a few obstacles, we greet a new future in this very spot.
And, before greeting that future, we began to hear the story of a somewhat ominous sister... no, an archbishop.
She was beautiful but ominous,
ominous but cozy,
cozy but somehow unnerving...
A woman like that.
--------------------------
In the beginning,
Gods began to be born.
First, two Gods were born, and they regarded each other as sisters and sang.
Next, four Gods were born, and they too regarded each other as sisters, and sang together with the two Gods born before them.
Next, six Gods were born, and they too regarded each other as sisters, and sang together with all the Gods.
The reason for their birth was unknown, yet each bore their own duty from the moment they were born.
The two Gods born first created the order of the world.
One, love and reconciliation,
One, mercy and forgiveness.
"...Aren't they all pretty much the same?"
"I thought you might say that. They're completely different. Completely..."
"No, Delin. You're from the Holy Kingdom. Why do you keep veering off in weird directions..."
"Th—, that's not it! I was just saying something I'd always thought about. Yeah..."
The God of Blood and Combat, Alleta,
and the God of Light and Mercy, Penola, roamed the world, scattering each other's hearts.
They shaped life and breathed into it.
And so everything began.
"We call the story stemming from this great branch the God-Song. All of us receive the blessing of Lady Penola, but the beings of the Demon Continent receive the blessing of Lady Alleta."
"But if one wishes to become a knight, do they not also offer prayers to Lady Alleta?"
"We simply divide our prayers; the Ladies themselves do not discriminate against beings. That is why humans can offer prayers to Lady Alleta, and demons can offer prayers to Lady Penola."
"But isn't that just a custom or something? Blessings and all, nobody's seen the real thing. I know that it's actually other Gods who give real blessings. The magic used by sisters like you isn't an ability granted by Penola or whatnot in the end, but assistance from the God of Healing or whatever."
"Correct. The Gods who are the sisters of those two Ladies bestow profound blessings. However, you must understand. The two all-encompassing Gods are incomparably benevolent. Because they cherish all, they do not concentrate their power in one place. Instead, the Gods who are sisters to the two Ladies give their own power to fragile beings and cherish them."
The somewhat difficult stories continued.
It seemed that Gods truly existed in this world.
I mean, in a world where prayers can reattach a severed arm, it would be stranger to say Gods didn't exist.
"S—, so. So what? Please continue."
"First, you must know that what the Gods desire is harmony. Both Lady Penola and Lady Alleta."
"Then why does an entity like the Demon King emerge?"
"Why do humans fight?"
"Why must we head to the Demon Continent?"
Helen slowly approached me and asked.
"Uh..."
I racked my brain for a moment to answer.
I'd read a lot of things like Greek and Roman mythology when I was young,
why did those Gods fight back then...
"Je... jealousy, cheating, so...?"
Helen beamed.
Her smile was benevolent.
Unlike her bewitching mouth, the darkness in her two deep-set eyes was considerably unnerving, but even those dark circles somehow accentuated her smile.
"That's the correct answer. How excellent."
"Coincidentally, the world does not turn on just those four things. Love, reconciliation, mercy, forgiveness—they cannot embrace all living, breathing things."
"The era of the old Gods wanes, and now an era has arrived where new Gods look down upon all life and sing. From here on out... it's a story you all know, right?"
Huh.
A story I know...?
But I don't know it?
"It's the story of the Great War."
Neva said.
At the words 'Great War', the other noonas nodded as well.
"G—, Great War... Aha. That thing..."
I think I might have heard about it somewhere before...
"Then I'll cut the talk short here. However, what we must know is this: the one who showed me the dream was Lady Penola, and the fact that Lady Penola showed me that dream means..."
"It means that if we don't resolve this, we all die. Without a single exception. Every last one of us."
Ah.
Fuck.
Don't I just have to go back home...?
Why is it suddenly getting so serious.
"You mean she played [favorites], going so far as to side with the humans and order us to handle the Demon Continent's affairs?"
"You're quite precise. It's just as Chichi-ssi said."
Isn't this a dead end?
It's a goddamn dead end!
"Why on earth did she choose us?"
"Because no one else but us can resolve it."
M—, my head hurts...
"Wait. You still haven't answered my question. How do you know about Delin's ability?"
"Young Delin's ability and my own piety seemed to resonate. I kept seeing strange images, and I merely spoke based on those."
I'm dizzy...
"I don't care about any of that crap! Just send me back to Raftel right now!"
"Eva, please stop it and listen to your eonni... I told you it's dangerous if you go over there."
"Be quiet! Eonni, don't even talk to me. Got it?! If you talk to me again, I seriously won't leave you alone!"
Hah...
"There she goes again. Double the goddamn nonsense."
"Those two really are a bit strange."
"Young Delin."
"...?"
"Seems like we'll have to put off the story a little since everyone's fighting, don't you think?"
Helen came up in front of me and whispered quietly.
"Let's meet separately later. There's something I need to tell you."
A sweet scent drifted from her words.
Even though a bitter smell of alcohol wafted behind that sweetness,
"..."
I nodded.