The Graves They Left Behind
……
Aegina’s hand, which had been clearing away the soil, stopped. Even though the familiar stench had already warned her of tragedy seconds earlier, when the faded bloodstains that seemed to belong to the parents and the child’s corpse—now little more than bones—came into view, she froze in shock.
She stared down at the child’s remains for a long time. Rowell watched her with sorrowful eyes, and I had to turn my head away, unable to bear the sight.
That small movement let me notice several patches of ground where the grass grew unnaturally. A bitter, unpleasant anger rose in my chest, and a smile crept onto my face instead.
This was their main hideout. After an attack, there was no reason to drag corpses all the way back here just to bury them. The fact that they had buried the bodies near their own camp meant the victims had died here, not at the raid sites—and that the bandits had simply dumped them nearby because they couldn’t be bothered to go farther.
So the people buried around here were probably hostages, or victims forced to carry loot until the very end, or women. The bandits had used them as they pleased, then killed them the moment they became worthless and buried them wherever it was convenient.
The wolves reacted to my anger, their breathing growing rough. The bandits flinched at the sight, but what they should have feared wasn’t the wolves.
Eventually, Aegina lifted her head. She was no longer the woman we knew. Her face was expressionless, and her eyes had turned colder than I had ever seen them. That alone would have terrified anyone who knew her usual self. But for those of us who had seen her during the Great War, it was far more than mere fear.
“Aegina, wait—!”
Before Rowell could finish, she launched herself at the bandits. He rushed after her, but he was too late. She already had the bandit leader by the back of the neck and had slammed him face-first into the ground.
“Ghk—! Gah—! Kkhh—!”
He thrashed desperately, but it was useless. Aegina’s grip was iron, and in that position there was nothing he could do.
“…What did you do to them?”
“P-please! Please spare us!”
The bandits at the back huddled together like frightened children, but none of us had any attention to spare for them.
“Aegina, calm down.”
Rowell tried to approach and soothe her, but she didn’t seem to hear his voice at all.
“Tell me! What did you do?!”
She looked ready to snap the man’s neck at any moment.
“Hii—! Hiiiik—!”
Terror had robbed him of speech. It wasn’t guilt that silenced him, just the fact that his mind had gone blank. In a way, that was fortunate. If he had answered properly, his neck would have broken on the spot.
“Aegina.”
Rowell gently embraced her from behind and laid his hand over the arm that held the bandit’s neck. Only then did she begin to regain her composure. Her expressionless face trembled slightly, and tears began to stream down her cheeks.
“The baby… the baby…!”
“I know. I know exactly how you feel.”
Rowell comforted her, and she finally released the man, burying her face in Rowell’s chest. Her shoulders shook as pitiful sobs escaped her, accompanied only by the bandit leader’s ragged breathing.
She had known the bandits would have blood on their hands. But it was simply bad luck that she had recognized the cloth sticking out of the soil.
A child’s corpse, of all things. Few people could remain unmoved by a child’s death, but for Aegina the weight was different.
As always, Rowell and Aegina were a truly loving couple. They cherished each other, and their love was far nobler and more beautiful than anything ordinary people could hope to share. Yet they still had no children of their own.
It had nothing to do with their relationship. It was the price they had paid for saving the world during the Great War.
The moment Rowell drove the holy sword Grandias into the goddess Nyx’s neck to seal her away once more, she cast an unbreakable curse with her final will. Even Grandias, which could repel any curse, could not protect against this one—because the curse had not been aimed at Rowell.
It had been aimed at Aegina. As a result, she could no longer conceive.
At the time, we hadn’t been too worried. Just as Rowell had become the wielder of Grandias and we had received the blessings of the great gods in Asgard, we believed the other celestial gods would lift the curse.
That belief had been naïve. A curse cast by a god could only be undone by the god who cast it or by a higher being of the same divine lineage.
In other words, only Nyx herself or a Demon God above her could break it. The celestial gods had no power to interfere.
Afterward, Aegina had been deeply depressed for a long time. She never said it aloud, but the fact that she and Rowell had refused the throne of the kingdom was probably influenced by this as well.
A kingdom without an heir would eventually fall into chaos. Standing before her worried family and countless citizens must have been unbearable. If Rowell ever needed to take a second wife—whether he wanted to or not—Aegina would have had no choice but to accept it.
And now, right in front of her, lay the corpse of a child.
“From now on, you’ll follow us like mice. Not a single sound.”
When I spoke, the bandits nodded frantically.
After that, our journey became deathly quiet. Aegina had calmed down somewhat, but she remained silent, simply leaning against Rowell as they rode the same horse. Rowell devoted all his attention to gently comforting her.
The horse she had been riding now carried our baggage instead. The bandits, surrounded by wolves and barely daring to breathe, followed behind us.
“Grr…”
The wolves occasionally let out dissatisfied growls, and each time the bandits pressed closer together without making a sound.
I couldn’t stand it. Until just moments ago, the mood had been genuinely pleasant. For the first time in a long while, our journey had felt light—fun, even—and now it had come to this.
This atmosphere wouldn’t change anytime soon. No matter how much Rowell tried to console her, no matter how bright and positive Aegina usually was.
……
I couldn’t vent the irritation rising in my chest. The wolves responded to it, licking their lips as they stared at the bandits’ necks. How nice it would be if slaughtering every last one of them could fix this mood.
If these damn bastards hadn’t been lying in ambush in the first place—or at least if they had recognized us and kept their heads down—none of this would have happened.
…Or if I hadn’t suggested going to their hideout.
“Damn it.”
Whether they sensed the killing intent in the wolves’ breaths or not, the bandits huddled together like sheep and kept walking. At least there was one small mercy: a fairly large village surrounded by a fence was visible in the distance. If I didn’t get these bastards out of my sight soon, I wasn’t sure I could keep them alive.
“W-who goes there?”
When we reached the village, a considerable number of guards were waiting for us. They had grown tense at the sight of the group of men approaching with a pack of enormous wolves, yet their helmets, weapons, and disciplined bearing looked quite respectable.
“Relax. We ran into bandits on the hill over there and brought them in. Here—this is proof, along with the stolen goods they’ve been hoarding.”
I was about to show them the crystal containing the travel seal and open the box loaded on the horse when one of the guards suddenly shouted.
“C-Captain! That man is Will Carson!”
“What?”
The captain rushed forward in surprise. Though he looked slightly intimidated by the massive red wolf, he still mustered the courage to approach the bandits. When he confirmed the leader’s face, he stared at us in disbelief.
“T-this man is a notorious criminal in these parts. We’ve tried to catch this gang several times and failed every time…!”
The captain’s eyes, struggling to form words, held not only shock but also a dark, vengeful hatred. Then—
“And these wolves… Could it be that you are Sir Anak, the Summoner of Deception?”
……
Honestly, I was more surprised by the sudden mention of my name than anyone. It wasn’t strange, though. Even Aegina, who had kept her head down until now, lifted it slightly at the unexpected reaction.
Could Elena and her companions’ good deeds already be having this much effect?
……?
But the direction of his gaze was odd. The captain wasn’t looking at me—he was looking at Rowell.
Ah. So it was the rumor about the handsome version.
“Over there are the Hero of Light, Rowell, and Princess Aegina of the Ayman Kingdom. I’m Anak.”
Just as I thought. The realization helped me regain some composure—until the gasps came not from the captain or the guards, but from behind us.
“Th-the Summoner of Deception…?”
It was a very low voice. No matter how shocked they were, the bandits should have remembered they needed to stay silent. They had simply been quiet for too long and failed to control their volume.
“Grr!”
At the wolves’ growls, the bandits immediately shut their mouths and lowered their heads again.
“A-ah! Lord Rowell and Lady Aegina—and Lord Anak as well!”
The captain realized his mistake and flushed, but the embarrassment was quickly swallowed by awe and excitement.
“Go inform the mayor at once!”
One of the guards ran into the village, while the others began saluting us one by one without being told.
“…We brought them here so they could be dealt with according to local law.”
Aegina dismounted slowly as she spoke. Her voice, still heavy with grief, sounded different from usual, yet it carried a charm that could move even the most innocent young men.
“We also found bodies buried near their hideout. If possible, we’d like their families to be found.”
At her words, the captain and several guards’ eyes trembled, and moisture gathered at the corners of their eyes.
“Y-yes, understood. We’ll need to interrogate them first, but we’ll make sure those poor souls are returned to their families.”
Aegina answered with a weary smile. Moved by the compassion and sorrow in that smile, the captain dropped to one knee and bowed.
“The families will surely express their gratitude for Your Highness’s and the two lords’ kindness.”