Don't Do This (9)
Roughly two weeks had slipped by. The Archmage found himself looking back and wondering exactly when so much time had managed to pass.
Buried under an avalanche of work day after day, the stretch of days had simply vanished, leaving him with even less sense that any of it was real.
The price had been worth it, though. Law and order inside the city had finally stabilized, fresh personnel had arrived, and a little breathing room had opened up. The Inquisitor was even free enough now to leave the city walls and clear out the demons beyond.
That did not mean they had abandoned internal security. The moment they had the margin for it, they had executed Bipurit’s remaining followers one after another—men they had been forced to leave alone earlier simply for lack of hands.
One by one the tasks had thinned out. When word came that a second wave of reinforcements was on the way, the Archmage had allowed himself a genuine sigh of relief—Finally, a chance to catch my breath!—only for another bolt of news to strike him like lightning.
“This place is still nowhere near safe enough for the lord of a city to visit…”
Piuon, Lord of Zakrati, had come to the newly liberated Ayu Hin.
“I will not claim that relations between Ayu Hin and Zakrati have always been warm, yet I hardly think they have been so poor that we could not extend a hand in a situation like this.”
At least she had not demanded full ceremonial protocol. The Archmage knew her reputation differed from that of ordinary nobles, but the years he had lived made him wary of leaning too heavily on reputation alone.
Especially since, only hours earlier…
“A human who carries a Great Demon? Better to kill him than keep him alive, I would have thought. Why did you make that choice?”
“A vessel for a Great Demon? If you are going to kill him anyway, can you hand over the corpse?”
“Purification… so you left it alone because that was impossible. Even the Church’s seals failed, did they?”
“A sealing sphere that stops him from going berserk? Interesting! Send me his physical data and I will make one right away!”
He had just finished dealing with Great Sages whose public renown and private temperaments ran to opposite extremes. The fact that he had managed to wring even partial cooperation from them was the sole consolation of the entire ordeal.
“If you are fretting over hospitality, there is no need. I intend to leave the moment my business is concluded.”
Piuon continued without pause. Behind the place she had stepped aside stood not only the captain of her personal guard but also the pirates who had been ferrying goods back and forth between the Hidden Port and Ayu Hin: Baramson, Outlaw, and Blue Moon. Every one of them kept their eyes lowered and their hands neatly folded, looking almost bashful.
“The first matter is this.”
At her word the pirates and guards moved in perfect unison, and the covers were pulled from the goods they had labored so hard to haul this far. Food, clothing, medicine—everything Ayu Hin needed most. Citizens who had drifted over out of curiosity at the news that another city’s lord was visiting began to cheer.
“Th-this is…”
Jaekyung, who had been brought back first aboard the pirate ships the moment Ayu Hin was retaken—someone had to calm and lead the people—was so moved that tears welled in his eyes. Of course he had expected something the moment Piuon arrived laden with cargo, yet expectation and the sight of the real thing were never quite the same.
“Very little of this came from my own purse. Most of it was gathered, little by little, by the citizens of my city once they heard the circumstances.”
“I had heard Zakrati itself was not in good condition. How could you spare all of this…?”
“We are not so hard-pressed as this place. And forty years ago, did we not receive more help than anyone else? Everyone still remembers. So do not feel too burdened.”
She waved a hand as she added, “Other cities—even Kanaves across the sea—have heard the news and are sending supplies. Even if it is not enough, hold on a little longer.”
“…We will. We must.”
“I left the rest at that port of yours; stacking it all on the beach felt a bit much. Move it whenever you have the hands.”
“We can only be grateful for the help.”
“Thank your own people more than me, and the pirates who opened that port. Their harbor has become a key stronghold.”
For the record, there was no grand strategic reason the Hidden Port had become so vital. It simply had plenty of labor from the refugees, terrain that kept demons out, and a location right in the middle of the island. That, and the fact that it was the only liberated port they still possessed. Of course, right after the Hero’s party left, a traitor’s presence had plunged the place into crisis again. If the main force had not arrived in the nick of time, even that harbor would have been unusable.
“More to the point, I heard the Magic Tower has uncovered information about this zombie outbreak.”
One purpose of her visit disposed of, Piuon moved straight to the next. The real reason she had come in person rather than simply sending the supplies almost certainly lay here.
The Archmage’s hand slowly stroked his staff.
“Forgive me for interrupting, but this is likely to take some time if we speak of it here. Shall we move elsewhere?”
He had intended to tell her anyway. She had simply raced here in her haste; there was no reason to withhold the information.
“I am late with my greetings. It is good to see you again, Great Sage.”
Only now recognizing the Archmage’s presence, Piuon offered a light bow and then nodded.
“In that case… I have been wanting to see Bipurit’s corpse with my own eyes. Might we walk that way while we talk?”
“Of course.”
Bipurit’s remains had been put on public display so that everyone could see them. The spot was hardly ideal for conversation, yet it still beat standing here in the open.
“I will guide you.”
“I appreciate the courtesy.”
The Archmage set off, and Piuon followed with a portion of her escort. Only a portion, because the privateer captains had taken one look at the situation and discreetly slipped away. Jaekyung, after a moment’s hesitation, stayed behind to organize the newly arrived supplies. He had already been briefed on the matter, and both he and the Archmage still had far too much work for them to entertain a guest together.
“So I am told you discovered why the zombies were spawning so quickly.”
Surrounded by guards—Baramson and the other privateer captains among them, which was faintly ridiculous—the Archmage and Piuon began to walk. Both of them ignored, with nerves of steel, the constant stares of passers-by. The only sign either of them noticed was that their voices dropped a fraction.
“Yes. The bastards dragged some of their records all the way here.”
They had brought the documents and then died before anyone could dispose of them—fortunate, in a way. More precisely, the Demon Knight had gone berserk and slaughtered them all, but still.
“The shortened infection time appears to be rooted in the terror left by the incident forty years ago.”
“…Rooted in terror.”
“Sometimes knowing is more dangerous than not knowing.”
The reverse of the old saying that ignorance is courage had been the true culprit this time. The enemy had exploited the psychology of people who knew enough to be terrified, deepening the curse through that negative emotion.
“In short, it is the materialization of anxiety. The greater the fear, the stronger the curse’s effect.”
“Which is why the time it took for infection to take hold varied so wildly from person to person.”
“Exactly.”
Those who had lived through the original disaster were one thing. The generation that had only heard the stories from their parents split into two camps: those who had been practically brainwashed into terror, and those who still could not quite believe it and therefore dismissed it. The former had fallen far faster; the latter had lasted longer. For once, the latter group had been the lucky ones.
“…Something possible only in our region, then.”
“It will not be of much use to you, but yes. Nothing like this could happen elsewhere. Individual villages or cities may fear zombies, but nowhere else does an entire province share that dread.”
“Tch.”
At the Archmage’s calm explanation, Piuon’s brows drew together. The escorts eavesdropping nearby wore equally sour expressions, though none of them interrupted.
“I understand. From now on… we must prepare countermeasures while also urging people not to live in fear.”
“A sound decision.”
They would never erase the dread of zombies entirely, yet simply refusing to encourage it would still help. Acknowledging that, the Archmage gradually came to a halt.
Near the ruined castle, what had once been Bipurit hung in pieces, each scrap of flesh skewered on a stake. The stakes stood in a neat row like some grotesque fence ornament.
“This is it.”
“…This?”
“You may find it hard to believe, but we have a witness.”
A bandit who had miraculously survived—though after hearing the man’s story one had to wonder whether “miracle” was the right word—had told them everything: how the Demon Knight had fallen into the trap, what had happened after he woke, how the bandit himself had lived, how Bipurit had died. Some still doubted that that thing truly was Bipurit, yet most people were now certain.
“I can have him brought if you wish.”
“No need. I did not come entirely uninformed.”
Piuon said she had already heard the tale from the pirates; the appearance was simply more grotesque than she had imagined. That was all.
“…If it was the man I knew, he would have ended up exactly like this.”
She took in every diced, displayed scrap of the corpse. Her deep brown eyes revealed almost no emotion.
“More importantly, the time has come to pay out the ten million gal. Where is the person I promised the money to?”
The Archmage blinked. This was the first he had heard of any such arrangement.
“Ah, of course the Great Sage would not know. I commissioned the adventurer known as the Demon Knight to kill Bipurit—to make absolutely certain the man did not escape.”
Oh no. The Archmage felt a cold sweat prickle across a body that did not even possess sweat glands.
The truth about the Demon Knight was known only to the Magic Tower, the Church, and the power-holders of Ayu Hin. Spreading it any farther would do no one any good.
“He is…”
Yet if the Demon Knight continued to remain unconscious as he was now, then…
“…under quarantine after falling victim to a curse. It would be best to postpone any meeting.”
No—there was no way he would never wake. The Archmage deflected the question while privately wondering whether he himself now relied on the Demon Knight even more than the Inquisitor did. Strictly speaking, nothing he had said was a lie. The Demon Knight had been cursed, and he was sealed in quarantine. The Archmage had simply omitted the decisive detail: the demon sealed inside the man’s own body.
“I see. Nothing to be done, then. In that case, where is his companion—the one in the green hood?”
“Ah… he is…”
Fortunately this was a question he could answer. Unfortunately he did not actually know the answer.
“Probably wandering the streets somewhere…?”
The Archmage’s voice trailed off.
“…What the hell are you people doing?”
At that very moment the man the lord and the Archmage were looking for found both of his arms suddenly seized.
“You come bursting out of nowhere and grab my arms—why?”
With every last one of Bipurit’s pirates now executed, Deathbringer had little left to do. He had been strolling the city in relative peace—a sharp contrast to the Archmage and Inquisitor, who were still drowning in work. Searching for any remaining cultists was more tedious than productive, and right now he was not even doing that.
“Just do us a favor for a second.”
“Haha, don’t take it so hard.”
There was, of course, a price for idleness. Just as Deathbringer had nearly reached his destination, Baramson and Outlaw had grabbed him. Blue Moon stood a few paces off with an insolent tilt to his stance.
“Why are you even here? Shouldn’t you be running supplies back and forth?”
“The lord asked us to spare her one day. What were we supposed to do?”
“We ran ourselves ragged trying not to bump into her, then ran straight into her at the port. Ahaha. So here we are—caught.”
“What are you even talking about?”
Deathbringer had already heard the gossip that the lord of Zakrati had arrived. He had felt no particular desire to go gawk. He had never imagined these pirates would be part of her retinue. His eyes narrowed.
“Then shouldn’t you still be with the lord?”
“We watched for our chance and slipped away. You can’t refuse the lord, but hanging around the guard all day is damn uncomfortable.”
“Unbelievable.”
“So where were you headed?”
He shot Outlaw a sideways glance, still half-baffled that pirates of all people were tiptoeing around a city lord. Then he blinked at the question. The place he was going was not open to outsiders. Even if it had been, he would not have taken them.
“…Well… uh…”
Only a few dozen steps from his destination, he hemmed and hawed. Maybe his thoughts were too tangled; the easy words that usually came to him refused to form.
“What, is something wrong?”
Baramson caught the hesitation with uncanny accuracy.
“Nothing’s wrong.”
“That so?”
Still, he could not tell them. How was he supposed to explain that the Demon Knight had been swallowed by the demon inside him, that he had barely managed to stop the rampage himself, and that he was still sealed because he remained too dangerous?
“Hey, you know where the Demon Knight is? I’ve got something to say to him.”
“Yeah, same here. Tell us.”
Blue Moon and Outlaw offered no help at all. Beneath the deep hood, Deathbringer’s face stiffened. There was nothing to invent. The moment they asked around, any lie would collapse.
“…Well, the sir is…”
“Don’t block the road.”
Even if the truth came out later, it still beat saying it with his own mouth. Just as Deathbringer opened his lips with that thought, a new voice cut in.
“Someone from the Church?”
“Ah, Father!”
“…It’s been a while. What happened to your hair?”
It was the Inquisitor. She had gone outside the city to purify the corrupted lands and deal with demons, and had apparently just returned.
“Got cut off during a fight.”
“That so?”
Of all the times she could have come back. That thick-skulled girl was never any help. Deathbringer fretted inwardly at the stubborn woman who had barged in at the worst possible moment, terrified that Baramson would simply ask her about the Demon Knight and she would blurt out the truth.
“If you came to see the Demon Knight, just go in already. Stop blocking the path.”
…Exactly like that!
“What?”
“……?”
“You little—”
I’m going to lose my mind. Deathbringer pressed a hand to his forehead. The three pirates looked blank at the sudden mention of the Demon Knight; the priestess, as usual, had zero grasp of the situation and simply stared.
“What… are you talking about? Came to see the Demon Knight?”
“…Weren’t you taking these three to see him?”
“Why would you say that out loud?! The Archmage said we were keeping it secret!”
“I-I thought you already told them since you were bringing them along…!”
“Wait, secret? The Great Sage?”
“Uh… looks like we’ve got a problem here.”
“What the hell is going on?”
It was over. Once they had heard this much, there was no chance they would back off. Deathbringer scrubbed his face dry and looked at the people pressing him. Damn it. The only silver lining was that none of the three seemed especially loose-lipped.
“…Follow me.”
With a sigh he turned on his heel. The pirates, realizing something was seriously off, followed with grim faces. The thick-skulled girl who had finally noticed her mistake brought up the rear, looking anxious.
“S-sorry…”
“Save it for Sir Knight, not me.”
“…Did something happen to the Demon Knight?”
“…Yeah. But it’ll be easier to understand once you see and hear it yourself.”
Deathbringer stepped into the space that had been walled off with earthen barriers to keep prying eyes out. At least the watchers had left a proper door so they could come and go easily.
“What exactly are you trying to show us—”
The moment the door opened, the three pirates’ faces went rigid. Baramson in particular looked nothing like his usual self.
“…That’s the Demon Knight?”
“Yeah.”
“Why… why is he…!”
“Demon worshipers managed to get the Demon Knight swallowed by the demon inside him. In the rampage he couldn’t tell friend from foe and even fought us for a while. So he’s sealed.”
There was no reason to hide it from those faces. Deathbringer explained the situation in a flat tone. They did not look as if they fully understood.
“This can’t be real.”
“It’s already happened.”
They themselves had denied it hardest of all, yet reality had not changed. All that remained was acceptance.
“Even if he was swallowed by a demon, to treat him like this…!”
“Hard to even say thank you like this.”
“Was he that strong? Enough that you had to do this?”
Unlike Baramson, who had grown close enough to the Demon Knight to place absolute trust in him, Outlaw—who had built less of a bond—asked the question. Immediately he seemed to regret the words (what he had already witnessed should have been answer enough), but Deathbringer’s mouth was already open.
“You didn’t see the castle with its entire center gone?”
“What?”
“Sir Knight did that.”
“I saw it, but that was him?”
“Ha. The temple must have gone crazy.”
“That’s why he looks like this.”
“…He did that? How?”
Unlike Blue Moon and Outlaw, Baramson still could not wrap his head around it. Deathbringer had no intention of forcing the point. Simply speaking the facts aloud was already more than heavy enough for him.
“This can’t be… that man, taken by a demon…”
“…Wait.”
Then, for the first time since they entered, the one person who had remained silent finally spoke.
“What is it?”
She not only spoke—she stepped forward. A mage who had been standing watch in the corner rose to stop her, but the red-haired thick-skull was faster.
“Demon Knight… are you awake?”
She halted at a distance so close her foot nearly brushed the magic circle and whispered.
Clink-rattle.
At a moment far too perfectly timed to be coincidence, the chains that bound the man trembled.