The Witch's Prophecy
It seemed that Kumar had sensed him too. Ion had not been weak by comparison. Having confirmed this, he swung his sword more aggressively. Kumar blocked the rapidly swung blade without much trouble.
Clang!
After blocking the sword, Kumar swung his two-handed axe upward in a wide arc. While blocking the forcefully descending axe, Ion twisted his blade slightly and slashed upward along the axe blade.
Kkiik!
With a sound like metal scraping, the sword slipped past the axe blade and aimed at Kumar’s fingers gripping the axe haft. “Chwik! You bastard!”
Just before his fingers were sliced off, Kumar dropped the axe and swung his two fists.
Puff puff!
In an instant, Kumar’s fists struck Ion’s forearm and side. “Grrrk!”
It felt like hitting a lump of iron. The shock alone pushed him backward. Kumar kept pushing forward with his body, snatched up the fallen axe, and hurled it ahead. Ion swung his sword to swat away the flying axe.
Bang!
The pushing-forward Kumar seized Ion’s gauntlet with his bare hand and pressed down. The barely two days since the gauntlet had been smoothed out was about to crumple, and he could not swing the sword. Ion let go of the sword and gripped Kumar’s hand in a contest of strength.
Crack!
Ion, a human, and Kumar, an orc, were locked in hand-to-hand struggle, yet Ion did not budge. Kumar was more surprised that Ion, unlike a simple suppression, refused to yield even though he gritted his teeth and held on. “Chwik! You! Strong human! If I kill you, I will become an even greater warrior!”
Seeing he could not crush him with raw power, Kumar shoved Ion back. The pushed-back Ion grabbed the sword from the floor and stomped it into the ground. Kumar, also gripping an axe, charged at him.
Kiaaang!
The axe and sword collided, but this time they aimed not at raw force but at each other’s openings. The two had similar strength. It came down to who could land a proper strike in the opening.
Kaga ga gang!
From the ready stance, the exchange happened in an instant. Kumar, swinging the large and heavy axe like a sword at blinding speed, was no simple orc who relied only on brute force. He could no longer cleave with the axe haft as before. For the brief moment Kumar swung the axe and blocked the sword, Ion observed his movements. Large in build yet concise in motion, he left no visible gaps, yet gaps surely existed. While swinging their blades and watching for openings, Ion spotted the axe descending from above and grinned. ‘Now!’
Instead of blocking the descending axe, he twisted his body slightly sideways. The axe came down and slammed powerfully into the ground. Boom!
At the same time, he thrust strength into his thigh and leaped from the floor. He stepped on the axe haft and leaped again, then drove his knee into Kumar’s face. Crack!
The protruding upper canine flew off, and Kumar staggered backward. Trying to maintain balance, Kumar planted his rear foot to resist. Ion dropped to the ground as if sitting, then straightened his body and stabbed the sword forward. Kwah-ack!
The sword that had pierced the knee and split Kumar’s red cheekbone protruded all the way to the top of his head. “Ghk! Grrk!”
His eyes wide with disbelief, Kumar’s gaze widened. “Ch, chwik! Baharit’s Kumar! I fought a strong warrior! The dead Kumar who died while fighting… shall return to the hall of warriors!”
After speaking, Kumar spat blood and his body crumbled. As Kumar fell, the strongest power yet entered Ion’s body. “Ugh…!”
The entire body tensed as if every muscle was cramping, and the joints popped in and out, producing a cracking sound throughout the frame. It felt a hundred times stronger than the childhood growth pains that had once made his limbs ache for no reason. Clenching his lower lip, he endured. The pain was unbearable, but it lasted only briefly before vanishing. Once the tension in his body eased, he felt a slight emptiness. It was not that power was leaving, but that he had become stronger; he did not know how to move. He shook his limbs to loosen them, then swung the sword. Whoosh!
Power surged through the blade. With the added strength, speed increased further. Moreover, the joints that swung the sword felt smoother. The smoother joints allowed faster and more complete transmission of power into the sword. There was one more change. The map’s mark had grown smaller. Seeing the green dot for Lotte and Ian shrink, Ion realized the displayed distance had expanded. Not exactly precise, but if the previous map had been a ten-meter radius centered on the arrowhead, now it was roughly double. ‘That can be checked again later.’
He dragged Kumar’s corpse to the edge of the road and mounted Ian. This was the road toward the mercenary band of Kval. Fortunately, he could cross into the Basque Kingdom in a stronger state. With Kumar gone, he hoped the orc village would be a little late in attacking the Reinen Estate. Even a strong warrior’s absence would not decide the outcome of an attack, but it would still have some effect. ‘Even if it can’t be helped.’
Crossing the border, they reached the Mecheoni Estate three days later in the afternoon. Though the border had no markers, upon entering the Basque Kingdom the atmosphere differed slightly from the lands of the Badfeld Kingdom. At least the people seemed a little more cheerful. Entering the inn for a meal, the patrons inside were lively and laughing. “Hahaha! So, you see…” “Oho! Is that so?” “Drink! Today I’m buying!”
The water was different, so the beer in the inn tasted slightly off. What was more unusual was that the stew contained a lot of meat and the bread was quite thin. Looking at the other tables, they were eating wide, thin bread wrapped around meat; they mostly roasted skewers of meat rather than the stew’s chunks. Ion ordered skewers to try them and found the taste excellent. It was how the locals ate, and it was the tastiest way. While eating happily and drinking beer, a sound caught his ear amid the restaurant’s noise. “By the way, the neighboring estate was attacked by orcs.” “Isn’t that the old story? Who got kidnapped?”
Two men who looked like merchants carrying backpacks and selling goods were talking, and it sounded like the story of the Reinen Estate Ion had left. “No, he was rescued. Someone broke into the orc village and saved him, but the orcs, feeling resentment, attacked the estate because of it.”
Clearly they were talking about the Reinen Estate. Though the border divided the kingdoms, the closest estate to this Mecheoni place was the Reinen Estate of the Badfeld Kingdom. Merchants carrying packs and trading goods would naturally be interested. “Really? What happened then?” “They eventually traded. Well, the orcs provoked it for food.” “At the very beginning, wasn’t the idiot who attacked and got captured?” “He became the real idiot. It seems he suffered a lot while captured.” “Ah, really? That’s a shame.”
Martin’s condition had been poor, and apparently that was how it ended. “Still, I heard the knight who rescued the hostage performed amazingly.” “Huh? Was there such a knight in that estate?” “No, he was a free knight. He only rescued one person and then left on his own.”
Ion almost choked on his beer as he listened. So he glanced over and saw many people listening with interest to the two men’s conversation. The noisy restaurant had grown quieter because of it. “Oh! Really? Did you hear where he went?” “I don’t know.” “Then tell us how amazing he is!” “Haha, my throat is a bit dry.” “I’ll buy you a drink, so speak!” “Haha! That’s the thing…”
Ion listened to the rest of his own story, which kept growing more exaggerated. When he swung the sword once, the story included that it sliced off the necks of four orcs and that the orcs were trembling. Other people joined in, and Ion added flesh to the unknown tale he was hearing, but he found it embarrassing to listen, so he climbed to his room. At any rate, the conflict between the Reinen Estate and the orcs had apparently ended, which was fortunate. Kumar’s absence as a strong warrior must have had some influence. Ion fell asleep with a relaxed heart.
The next day, leaving the Mecheoni Estate, they met the night on the road heading northwest to the Whirote Estate. He made a bonfire beneath a tree to shield from the wind and ate dinner. Ion spread his cloak on the ground, removed his gauntlet and shoulder armor, and lay down. Lotte, who had gnawed on a bone from a village visited midway that day, fell asleep with the bone still in her mouth. It seemed the day had ended like this, but while sleeping, Lotte lifted her head and stared into the darkness. “Who’s there?”
Lotte, who had only raised her head, stood up and continued looking in one direction. A small light appeared. A yellow dot on the map showed it was really about twenty meters away. A woman appeared, gripping the hem of a long woman’s tunic with one hand and holding an oil lamp in the other. It was the kind of lamp made from animal fat; it was hard to extinguish when used outside, so it was common. The scent and soot from the burning wick were its drawbacks. Her face was hidden because she wore the hood of a long hooded cloak, but it was definitely a woman. The problem was not that she was a woman, but that she walked alone without a weapon in a remote place, which was strange. The woman approaching Ion’s bonfire stopped. “Excuse me, sir knight.” “Speak.” “May I rest briefly beside the bonfire?” “Do.” “Thank you.”
The woman sat beside the bonfire and extinguished the flame of the oil lamp. Then she removed her hood. She was a beautiful twenty-year-old woman with golden-blonde hair and blue eyes. Ion, who had never seen her before, felt strangely familiar. And oddly, Lotte tilted her head and sniffed the air. Lotte, who either guarded against or ignored unfamiliar people, kept paying attention to this woman. The woman smiled and stroked Lotte. “A red wolf that doesn’t follow people well is unusual. She must be treating you well.” “Her name is Lotte. I’m not the one treating her well; this kid’s smart.” “Yes, the name suits her.”
The more he said it, the stranger it felt as if he had seen her somewhere before. Ion tilted his head in thought when the woman saw the black cord ring on his finger, the decryption ring, and laughed. “You’re wearing the ring well. Lucky.” Ion drew his sword and pressed it to the woman’s neck. “Who are you?” The woman smiled bashfully and answered, “My name is Rina Schmitz.” “What did you say…?” “Has it changed a bit?” “I sliced the head of Rina Schmitz with my own hands and delivered it to the scribe of the Yakubi Estate. If the head on the dead body wasn’t one that grew back, you aren’t Rina.” The woman claiming to be Rina showed no fear even with the sword in front of her. She raised her hand and snapped her fingers. Ttak!
The ‘…!’ Ion had been about to ask what she was doing could not open his mouth. “Wait just a moment. I’ll show you something and release you right away.” Ion’s body would not move, but his eyes could. The eyes followed the movements of the standing woman. She grabbed her head with both hands and lifted it. The head and body were separated. The woman’s mouth opened while in that state. “The head does not regrow, but I can swap it.” Rina reattached her head, sat back down, and snapped her fingers again. Ttak!
Ion’s body moved naturally as if it had never stopped. He sheathed the sword he had been aiming at Rina. “…Then was Rina Schmitz truly the witch she was rumored to be?” “I was not a witch until the moment I died. Until then I was a normal herbalist. But after death I became a witch.” “That’s something I can’t know.” And he did not really want to know. He had killed people in battle and seen horrific scenes, but seeing someone live and detach and reattach their head was the first time. He did not want to know more. “Yes. There are complicated circumstances.” “Is a human a witch? I’ve never seen a human detach and reattach their head.” “Think of it as a human on the boundary between human and non-human.” “Then why did you come to find me? Did you come to get the ring?” “No. That was given as payment, so it belongs to Sir Ion. I came simply to tell you a story.” “What kind of story?” Rina answered calmly. “You also know that there is a danger of chasing Sir Ion.” “Danger? Are you talking about the Kval mercenary band?” “That is exactly the danger you are heading toward now. If you overcome this trial well, there will be something to gain.” “A prophecy? Or a mark?” “Rational deduction.” “Deduction. For someone who doesn’t know, it’s a story easy to mistake for a prophecy.” Whether prophecy or mark, he was curious what he could obtain after finishing his business with the Kval mercenary band. “It doesn’t matter. I don’t make money with such things. There is more to say.” “Speak.” “You will continue wandering. That is the price of the fate that changed.” “My fate changed?”
He had died, met someone, and regressed. Dying and regressing, of course his fate had changed. “You don’t have to be curious; you will learn in time.” The “in time” was obvious, but he wished she had said more. At that moment Rina snapped her fingers again. Ttak! Ion stopped again and Rina stood. “I’ll go first. I’ll see you again later.” She stood, approached swiftly, and kissed Ion’s lips. ‘…!’
Shocked, Ion closed his eyes then opened them. It was morning, not night. ‘Was it a dream?’ Whether he had dreamed a strange dream or not was confusing, but seeing the extinguished oil lamp beside the bonfire confirmed it was not. Answering the unknown would require more thought. Ion put the lamp in his bag, relit the bonfire, and ate breakfast. He spent a hazy day as if he had dreamed, and in the afternoon of the next day they arrived at the Whirote Estate.