The Price of Lies
That night.
Urutun Village.
"What? Is that true?"
"Yeah… Even I never thought it would go this far."
Huff… huff….
Clutching the sword wound in his side, Hadley slumped against the tree that stood in the middle of the village, barely staying upright.
"What's going on?"
"Sounds like Hadley got attacked."
"What? By who?"
In truth, the color had already drained from his face; he looked deathly pale. Leave him like this, and the aftereffects alone would be severe enough to haunt him for a long time.
Thud-thud-thud!
"Over here! Hurry!"
"Where is the patient!"
Priests dispatched from the Holy Kingdom were already racing toward Hadley, ready to treat him.
And to the people crowded around him, Hadley forced out a single bitter line.
"I never imagined a man named Juhan… would be a cultist spy."
"…What?"
"That's impossible. How could we have failed to sense it?"
"Juhan—wasn't he the man who carried the Guardian's mark?"
Hadley was busy spreading the rumor among the Holy Kingdom personnel stationed in the village: that Juhan was an agent of the cult.
"I barely managed to escape. I was buying time to get out of the trap they'd set… and then, out of nowhere, he stabbed me from behind."
"Heavens."
"…How could that be."
As expected, the people gathering around took every word of Hadley's story at face value.
After all, Hadley was a Holy Knight, just like them.
He might have been a little rough around the edges, a little reluctant to mingle with the others—but when it came to his faith, no one questioned him.
"……."
Among those watching him, one man wore a far graver expression than the rest.
"…Hadley. Is that the truth?"
"Cough, cough! Yes… I've no reason to lie."
"……."
Holy Knight Radro.
He was staring at Hadley with a face torn between disbelief and the certainty that this could not be allowed to stand.
"…Hadley."
Even so, the reason Radro could find nothing to say was simple.
"Cough—why… why call for me?"
The man before him was a fellow Holy Knight. Juhan, by contrast, was an outsider through and through.
It wasn't that Radro refused to believe him. Only…
"…I have no excuse."
"I-it's fine. Don't worry about it, Radro…."
"……."
Because the person who had brought Juhan into the village in the first place was none other than Radro himself.
Hadley would have been well within his rights to tear into him over it—to demand why, after all his objections, Radro had so carelessly let that man in and caused this disaster.
But Hadley wasn't blaming him. He was simply catching his breath, as if to say it was all right, as if to tell him not to trouble himself over it.
Grind.
"…Unforgivable."
Perhaps it was the sight of Hadley like that. Radro clenched his teeth hard enough to ache with the sheer injustice of it.
Tremble, tremble….
At some point his fists had curled so tightly that raw, uncontainable rage was leaking from them.
"I will settle this properly later. Hadley—let me apologize once more."
"…Don't worry about me. More importantly… cough!"
Hadley's words all but ordered them to chase down the man who had attacked him and fled.
Then he went on.
"Come to think of it… I'm fairly sure I sensed Executor Antara's presence as well…."
"Executor Antara?"
"Yes. Cough."
Before he escaped, Hadley claimed, he had felt the Executor's presence nearby.
Shock rippled through everyone who heard it.
"If the Executor was in the area…."
"There's nothing more to discuss. We don't even need to step in."
"He's probably already handled it and on his way back."
Even so, Radro's expression didn't change. If anything, he looked ready to hunt Juhan down alone.
Idiot.
Watching him, Hadley sneered inwardly—thinking just how easy the man was to deceive.
That same dawn.
After receiving treatment from the priests, Hadley was resting in a temporary lodging.
Executor Antara seemed a little late, but Hadley wasn't particularly concerned. What could possibly have happened to an Executor of all people?
All that remained for him was to convalesce under the priests' care, then return to the Holy Kingdom.
The only real inconvenience was the wound he had inflicted on himself—the alibi that "Juhan" had done it.
"…Tch. I stabbed too deep."
He had clearly gone further than necessary. Maybe he should have just cut himself lightly and claimed he'd fled. The thought kept nagging at him.
Well… still. With this, I've got that damned fool completely in my pocket.
The gains more than made up for it, so he kept his complaints to himself.
Radro.
Even within the Holy Kingdom, upright Holy Knights like him were rare—a promising talent with a genuinely good heart.
Putting a debt of this size on a man like that was more than worth the trouble.
I want out of this godforsaken little backwater already.
Toss.
Turn.
Hadley shifted on the cot, trying to find a better position. To forget the pain, he decided the sooner he slept the better, and started to close his eyes.
Vmmm——
"……."
If not for the sudden, unidentifiable presence that brushed against his senses.
He sat bolt upright.
"This is…."
Before he knew it, Hadley was on his feet, staring in the direction the energy was coming from.
It was far too familiar.
The power that was his true foundation beneath the shell of a Holy Knight—everything he was, in a sense.
No.
What he was feeling now might even have been something higher than that.
…Is someone calling me? Someone from the cult?
The thought rose unbidden. He glanced carefully around.
A quiet sweep.
"……."
No one nearby.
The wound still hadn't closed, but it wasn't so bad that he couldn't force himself to move if he had to.
Vmmm—
The energy came again, clearer this time.
It almost felt like it was urging him on—come, hurry.
Rustle.
Hadley rose from the bed and stepped outside the tent.
Getting out shouldn't be a problem.
Aside from a few soldiers on patrol, he couldn't sense any Holy Knights in the vicinity.
If he checked quickly and returned, no one would ever know he had left.
Thud-thud-thud.
Vaulting the village fence with ease, Hadley broke into a run toward the source of the energy.
It didn't feel far.
At this pace, maybe five minutes?
And indeed, the presence was drawing steadily closer.
He kept moving until at last he reached the place he had been aiming for.
A soft push of branches.
Once he brushed aside the leaves blocking his view, he would finally see who—or what—had been calling him.
…Who the hell is it?
With that question still in his mind, Hadley cleared the obstacle with his hand.
And in that instant, he found himself face-to-face with someone he had never expected to see there.
"Oh, you're here?"
"……."
Even seeing it with his own two eyes, he could hardly believe it. He had been certain the man was dead. There shouldn't have been any chance of survival.
"I was starting to think you weren't coming."
Beneath the tree, standing as if he had been waiting the whole time, was a man.
That man was Juhan.
The very man Hadley had lured into a trap, the one he had set up to meet his end at the Executor's hands.
And yet, somehow, the bastard looked fine. No—if anything, he seemed livelier than before, almost in a good mood. It was enough to make Hadley wonder if he was seeing things.
"…How are you still alive?"
Hadley's voice had gone cold and flat.
A shrug.
"……."
Juhan just lifted one shoulder, as if to say he had no idea either, and left it at that.
Grip.
Before he quite realized it, Hadley's hand had found the sword at his hip.
…If I half-ass this, I die. Full power from the start.
The thought was sound enough.
However it had happened, this Juhan had survived the Executor and was standing right in front of him.
Whether he had fled or fought and won, he was clearly no ordinary opponent.
Had the skill he showed earlier all been an act?
Turning the idea over, Hadley began to draw up his power.
Saaaaa———
"……."
Crack.
Crunch.
Hadley's form began to twist, growing more grotesque by the second.
In the blink of an eye he had transformed into something so hideous it could no longer be called human.
"Whoa."
Looking at him, Juhan only wrinkled his nose in open disgust.
Fool. So confident in your own strength, are you?
Hadley sneered at the sight.
Before revealing his true form, maybe not—but once he did, even he could have escaped an Executor without much trouble.
Knowing Antara's temperament, the man would never have let Juhan live. Which meant Juhan must have run.
"That arrogance will lead you to your death."
"Oh…."
"I won't ask how you released that energy. You must have used an artifact stolen from someone in the cult."
"Is that so?"
"I'll simply take it back myself."
The idea that Juhan might belong to the same cult had never once crossed Hadley's mind. Even now, he couldn't sense anything remotely like his own power coming from the man.
Whatever energy had called to him had to be coming from some object Juhan carried.
Crack-crack.
In that moment Hadley's back split open, and crimson spines erupted from it all at once.
Rrrumble——
A flood of red energy burst outward like an explosion.
"Hmm."
Shing.
Juhan, for his part, drew his sword as if he intended to face Hadley after all, murmuring something under his breath.
As far as Hadley could tell, it was something like, Wonder if this'll be enough….
Not that Hadley had any attention to spare for it.
Snap!
"…So you do have one decent move."
Juhan's blade was beginning to shine with a steadily brighter light. A terrifying amount of energy was gathering along it—enough that even Hadley, standing some distance away, could feel it clearly.
If that attack landed cleanly, a fatal wound would be hard to avoid.
"……."
Hadley watched carefully.
Then—
Bam!
He kicked hard off the ground and charged straight at Juhan, eyes locked on the tip of the other man's sword.
The moment Juhan swung that charged blade, he planned to dodge.
It looked like a full-out rush, but in truth it wasn't. He was baiting the attack.
"Ugh!"
Just as Hadley expected, Juhan moved to unleash the massive energy he had condensed, swinging in time with Hadley's charge.
Whoosh!
"You idiot!"
Flash!
Hadley gave a short, scornful laugh and slipped past the strike with ease.
What a fool. What good was packing that much power if you couldn't even control it properly?
KRAAAAAA———!
True enough, Juhan's slash missed Hadley entirely and carved through the helpless forest instead.
BOOM——!
CRASH——!
The energy must have been even greater than it looked. With a tremendous roar, an entire stretch of woodland was upended, as if the whole forest had been startled awake.
Anyone who had just poured out that much power would never be able to react cleanly to a counterattack.
"Die!"
Hadley's blade drove straight at Juhan.
Thrust—
And just as he had calculated, Juhan took the strike without any real counter, allowing the sword to pierce him through.
"…Cough."
Hadley's blade had already run through Juhan's stomach and was twisting his insides.
One more turn of the sword, and the man would die without even managing to resist.
"You pathetic bastard…."
Crunch.
But something was wrong. Hadley only realized it then.
A twitch!
"Hm?"
Why… won't the sword…
The blade buried in Juhan's gut refused to move—literally locked in place, as if the man himself were holding it there.
Looking at Hadley's frozen expression, Juhan finally spoke.
"Hadley."
"W-what is this—"
"You going to be all right?"
"You son of a—"
The question—you going to be all right?—had Hadley ready to snarl back that it was nonsense, when—
"You'd better run while you can."
"What?"
"Looking like that, there's no way I could talk them down."
"……."
Only then did Hadley understand what the man meant.
From the start, Juhan could have killed him—and simply hadn't.
"Y-you fucking…."
With his enhanced senses, the distant noise and footsteps were already clear.
"This way!"
"Hurry!"
"There's a high chance of combat! Everyone, prepare yourselves!"
As the voices drew closer, Hadley's face twisted of its own accord.
"Not that you can run now anyway."
Grin.
Juhan was looking at him as if the whole situation was deeply entertaining—the perfect opposite of Hadley's own expression.