Remember the Death of the Hero
Remember the Death of the Hero
While Lucy was coming to terms with her own feelings, Daniel was spending a leisurely hour at a cocktail bar, guided there by his client, Ref.
"I thought you had completely lost your mind back then, I swear!"
Ref, seated at the bar table, spoke without hiding his excitement.
"When I saw you holding no pair and shouting all-in, it suddenly hit me. Is this crazy bastard messing around with my money? But that was just my worry talking. To think that trash hand would turn into a royal straight flush in the blink of an eye!"
Ahaha! Ref burst into laughter, tears welling up in the corners of his eyes.
"The finishing touch was watching that con artist bastard freeze up, completely unable to refute a thing. Dumbass bastard. It felt so damn cathartic. You know that feeling when a decade's worth of indigestion suddenly clears right up?"
Ref pulled a handkerchief from his breast pocket and wiped away the tears that had formed from laughing.
"Haah. Truly, living in this shithole, there wasn't a single fun thing to do. But thanks to you, I finally had a good laugh after a long time. At first I wondered what kind of lunatic you were, but I think I made the right choice entrusting the job to you."
Daniel, who had been listening to the story from the seat next to Ref, gave a faint smile.
"I'm glad you're satisfied."
Ref, who had been watching Daniel with a meaningful gaze, narrowed his eyes slyly.
"...But it's strange. There's no way I wouldn't know a player as skilled as you. You, you don't seem like a Tentarbahém native. Am I right?"
"Your guess is correct. I'm an outsider."
"As I thought. In this place, people with fair skin like you are either nobles or outsiders. Nobles usually have no manners, but since you actually have them, I figured you were an outsider."
Daniel thought Ref would now ask where he came from and began thinking of a fake hometown and excuse, but Ref didn't seem particularly interested in that.
"Then, can you tell me a bit about your past?"
Because what Ref was curious about wasn't Daniel's identity, but his past.
"I quite enjoy hearing about outsiders' pasts. When I listen to their various stories, it almost feels like I'm traveling myself. So, what I mean is, what on earth made you come to a shithole like this?"
Truth be told, it was because his diplomatic vessel en route to his post as ambassador to Bellanos was torpedoed and sunk, but there was no way he could say that out loud.
Yet remaining silent seemed like it would draw suspicion, so Daniel decided to speak of the fundamental cause that brought him here.
"I can't go into detail, but if I were to give a fragmentary reason, you could say I ran away because the women of my homeland were frightening."
"Women?"
Like a Casanova caught cheating? Ref's eyes sparkled with intrigue, and Daniel spoke with self-mockery.
"There were three women. A woman who wanted to kill me, a woman who wanted to use me, and a woman who seemed a bit insane, worshipping me blindly. I felt suffocated and simply couldn't go on living."
Three? Startled, Ref's eyes widened.
"...You really were a bad guy, weren't you?"
What did he mean by that? Daniel, blinking vacantly, asked back.
"A bad guy? Did you even listen to what I said? They were trying to kill or use me."
"Are you an idiot? What woman in the world tries to kill or use a man she's not even interested in? Basically, she's interested in you, so she expresses her affection in that way."
"No..."
He thought Ref was misunderstanding something and started to explain the situation in detail, but then stopped.
He had no confidence in convincing a tomboyish young lady who had clearly learned about romance from romance novels.
As Daniel clicked his tongue, the bartender approached and handed him a cocktail.
"Apologies for the wait. Here is your Bloody Mary."
The cocktail in the slender glass was an intense red.
Perhaps because it was a cocktail made with a tomato base, the color was very deep.
Staring quietly at the cocktail he had been handed, Daniel naturally thought of Lucy.
Of the adjutant with eyes even redder and more beautiful than this cocktail.
'She must have heard by now that the ship was sunk...'
What kind of reaction would Lucy show upon hearing that news?
'She'd probably be happy, wouldn't she?'
Since her assassination target was dead, she wouldn't be sad.
Unless she felt guilt, of course.
'And besides...'
If it was truly the Allied Nations who sank the ship, that meant Lucy had also known in advance.
'There's no way they would've proceeded without informing Lucy. If so...'
Had her telling him they would eat stollen together at Christmas been just an act too?
Thinking that, for some reason, a bitter smile crept onto his face.
Ref, watching Daniel beside him, felt his heart thump.
Because the way Daniel gazed at the cocktail with a wistful smile made him look exactly like someone longing for an old lover.
'What kind of story does he have?'
For Ref, whose only pleasure was hearing the stories of outsiders, Daniel's current appearance was more than enough to arouse his curiosity.
"Hey, was it Rivelard?"
Being called by his alias, Daniel nodded naturally.
"That's right."
"Good. You've piqued my interest, so why don't you come to my mansion? I'd like to treat you to a meal. And while I'm at it, hear more of your story."
"I appreciate the offer, but it's alright."
It was an immediate answer.
"It's my iron rule not to cultivate personal relationships with clients. So, if at all possible, after we leave this place, I'd prefer we return to being strangers..."
"Didn't you say you needed money?"
At the word money, Daniel fell silent.
Certainly, to launder his identity and open a bakery, the money he currently had was nowhere near enough.
Ref, having noticed Daniel's poor financial state, smiled playfully.
"If you accept my invitation, I could give you far more money than you just received. And it's not like I'm asking you to go right now. I'll formally invite you in a few days, so come then. Isn't it a deal with no losses and only gains? Are you still going to refuse?"
"Of course..."
Hesitating for a moment, Daniel looked at Ref.
"I'll accept your invitation."
It was too much money to refuse.
*
The following morning.
Southern Empire, Glory's Holy Flame Cathedral.
"Did you hear the news? They say a diplomatic vessel was sunk."
"Could it be the Allied Nations' doing? No matter that there's a war on, civilians..."
The believers gathered in the main worship hall murmured about the recent ship sinking incident.
Frien, seated in the very front row of the worship hall, was listening to the believers' voices with one ear and letting them slip out the other.
No, to be precise, she was not in a mental state capable of paying attention to the believers' voices.
'Why?'
Why, of all the countless people, did Daniel Steiner have to die?
'Why?'
Why had God not protected Daniel Steiner?
'Why?'
Why had God even stolen from her the opportunity to martyr herself in Daniel Steiner's place?
Frien's eyes, ceaselessly questioning herself, were empty.
Moreover, her light-brown hair, which usually held a lustrous sheen, had become rough and disheveled.
It was the result of constantly tormenting herself, neither eating nor sleeping, ever since she heard the news that the ship Daniel Steiner was on had been sunk.
'Why?'
While Frien was once again asking herself a question, her father Velaf, who was also the senior pastor, ascended to the pulpit.
He tapped the microphone a couple of times and then looked around at the massive crowd gathered in the cathedral.
"Ahh. Brothers and sisters. On behalf of God, I thank you for gracing us with your presence to seek peace of mind in these difficult and trying times. Furthermore, I wish to offer my gratitude to my daughter, who graduated early from the military academy and has brought glory to the name of Glory's Holy Flame Cathedral."
Her father's benevolent voice echoed through every corner of the cathedral, but Frien paid it no mind.
Her head was filled with nothing but thoughts of Daniel Steiner's death.
"Praying for a decisive victory for the Empire, and before we begin the worship service in earnest, there will be an address from my daughter. Frien?"
Frien did not look up.
Velaf, finding this perplexing, cleared his throat and spoke again.
"Frien Remilliart!"
Startled by the scolding voice, Frien raised her head and looked at her father.
Velaf looked down at Frien with disapproving eyes, then gestured for her to come up.
Only then did Frien recall why she was here.
Military academy graduates received a short leave before their unit assignments.
Frien, an early graduate, was no exception and had returned to her hometown on leave.
Velaf, seeing Frien there, had requested she give an address before the service.
It was to raise the family's prestige and exalt the church's dignity.
"Yes..."
Drawn by her father's ambition, Frien rose from her seat and walked forward.
As she walked up the stairs to the pulpit, Velaf stepped aside.
Standing before the pulpit, Frien discovered an address script placed on the lectern.
It was a script written by Velaf, not Frien.
Reading the contents of the script, left there as if telling her to read it verbatim, Frien let out a hollow laugh.
Because the script was filled with countless phrases like, 'I was born with black mana and lived a life no different from a devil's.'
At the end of the sentences, a lengthy sermon was written about repenting and being saved through the church's teachings.
'Don't make me laugh.'
Frien had been saved by Daniel Steiner, not by the church's teachings.
The foundation of the faith Frien held was not the church's teachings, but Daniel Steiner himself.
Biting her lips tightly in anger, Frien picked up the script and tossed it aside.
As the script fluttered to the floor, Velaf and the congregation alike looked surprised.
Frien, taking in the sight of those believers, slowly opened her mouth.
"...As I lived my life, I felt countless absurdities."
Her voice, extending through the microphone, reached the rear of the cathedral.
"It was because I received all manner of criticism and mistreatment simply for being born with black mana. The clergy, known to be the most merciful, also considered me lowly."
"What...!"
A flustered Velaf tried to chase Frien away, but Frien glared fiercely at her father approaching her.
When Velaf flinched, overwhelmed by her intimidating aura, Frien raised her head and looked straight ahead.
"But Lieutenant Daniel was different! He did not distance himself from me because my mana was black! Rather, he kept me close and told me my ability was a blessing!"
Strength gradually began to fill Frien's voice.
"That is not all! Dear believers, do you remember Acts 10:34? That the grace of God is equally given to all nations and races! In that regard, Lieutenant Daniel spread God's teachings beyond the borders by abolishing racial discrimination in Nordia!"
Frien raised a hand and grabbed the lectern.
"Also, in the northern war, where countless casualties could have occurred, Lieutenant Daniel brought the war with the kingdom to an early end through negotiation. Think of the countless lives saved because of that!"
Frien closed her eyes and wept sorrowfully.
"Ahh. He was a saint. To me, and to all people, he was no different from a saint. Yet the children of Satan took the life of that innocent man. Who could that be?"
Among the congregation listening to the story, a few shouted.
— The Allied Nations!
Hearing that, Frien slowly opened her eyes.
"Yes. If not the Allied Nations, there exist no demons who would attack our saint! Then what must we do? Should we merely stand by and watch the demons who took our saint?"
Frien shook her head.
"No! He who condones the demon is himself no different from a demon! We must spread word of the demon's atrocities far and wide and ensure that Daniel Steiner's death, the hero's death, is not in vain! For that must be God's will!"
Nodding heads and voices of agreement flowed out from all over.
"God does not give us trials we cannot bear. If so...!"
Frien tightened her grip on the lectern and raised her voice.
"It is time to act as Lieutenant Daniel spoke! I shall dare to speak to you believers on God's behalf. The saint's death signifies one thing! That is...!"
A fierce anger began to fill Frien's previously empty eyes.
"A holy war!"
The resonant power of the word 'holy war' made the believers stand up one by one.
Already simmering with rage against the Allied Nations, Frien's words served as the spark for action.
"Brothers and sisters! Children of God! We will never forget the death of Daniel Steiner! So rise up! We will surely rise and fight as one!"
Frien's passionate speech before the giant cross seemed sacred to the believers.
Thanks to that, cheers rang out from all around, joined by applause.
A few among them of more radical temperament let out shouts bordering on screams.
— To the holy war!
— Rain down God's mace upon the Allied Nations' demons!
In the space where faith and fury intertwined, Frien brought both hands together and prayed devoutly.
'Though Lieutenant Daniel has left this world...'
I will surely carry on his will.