Cleaning Up (1)
Once the situation had been more or less brought under control, the finishing touches fell to Vigrind.
Having announced the Heavenly God Realm Chant over her own body with the holy power she had built up in the meantime, Vigrind maintained the barrier around herself as she made her rounds under Ludwig's protection.
Yona had wondered what the point of it all was — until she saw the risen dead who had, against their will, drifted into that domain start scorching away pitch-black with strange, strangled shrieks, one after another. Ah, she thought. So that's what it's for.
Meanwhile, Ceres had been checking on the condition of the Holy Knights: three dead, four lightly wounded.
"All things considered, it's a relief the damage wasn't worse. What's your assessment, Commander Lewis?"
At her words, Lewis nodded, visor still lowered.
To her, knights were nothing but numbers on a page, after all. She was a mage and the senior elder of the Carpatia branch of the Heavenly God Church, and no one had expected her to hold any particular view on the value of life — but even so, with his own subordinates dead and wounded under his command, Lewis could hardly bring himself to agree out loud.
"I will return the wounded to Carpithia."
"Do that."
Lewis turned away, visor still down. They had not recovered the bodies of the fallen — only their equipment. Killed by the undead, they had become undead themselves, and when he had last seen them they had been swaying about in that very armor, so reclaiming it had posed no difficulty.
His heart was heavy.
He had sworn long ago that he would end his life on the battlefield — on the battlefield against the demons — but watching his men die before his eyes like this...
He didn't know anymore.
What meaning did it truly have?
"You fought admirably today."
Someone clapped a hand on Lewis's shoulder. He turned to find Ludwig standing before him, his face rigid, the traces of his own nervousness plain to see.
"...The Heavenly God will treasure the souls of your comrades."
Comfort that Ceres had never offered him. Lewis slowly pushed his visor up. With each inch it rose, The field of vision it had shielded came into view. — and Ludwig's face slowly came into focus in Lewis's sight.
"You truly gave everything in battle today. I am certain your fallen brothers have been received into the Heavenly God's embrace, resting in peace."
Lewis hesitated, unsure how to answer. Ludwig had always seemed so frivolous to him — and he had spoken to him bluntly enough because of it. But when the man spoke like this, what was there to say? And with that expression on his face, it became harder still.
"...You fought like a true Hero today, Your Holiness. We were the ones who fell short — we could not stand behind you as we should have."
"No. Today was the day I realized how lacking I am myself. Especially when I look at that holy knight over there."
Ludwig's and Lewis's gazes turned together. Where their eyes landed stood a holy knight in silver armor, boasting a frame nearly the equal of Kayak's own.
Because salvation had come at the exact moment Yona had thought she was truly going to die, that holy knight had left a deep impression on her. The silver armor was impressive too — and honestly, to Yona, who still clung to some shred of her manhood, the knight was someone she could wholeheartedly admire.
"Thank you for saving us, Sir Knight."
Yona bowed her head deeply on behalf of the whole party.
The holy knights who had arrived in that knight's wake had been nothing short of extraordinary. Even the ten Holy Knights of Carpithia had shown remarkable mettle, walling off the staggering horde of undead — but the twenty-four holy knights who had pushed in from the opposite side later had, quite literally, ground the risen dead to paste like a great rolling crusher.
And not a single one of them had died. Not one had even been wounded.
The most astonishing performance among them belonged, without question, to this massive knight: every time the knight swung shield or morningstar, bone and flesh burst apart and scattered on the wind like flower petals.
Scarlet stared at Yona for a long while as she offered her thanks. Yona was just beginning to wonder at the silence when the answer finally came.
"I am called Scarlet. As for this battle... it was the Holy Knights of Carpithia who held the line with their valor. Because they stood fast, we were able to descend as the hammer of the Heavenly God with ease — the greater credit is theirs."
Scarlet answered in a booming voice. The deep baritone carried a strangely soothing weight, and hearing it, Yona suddenly felt a odd flicker of dissonance.
That voice really echoes...? What is that? Is it because they're talking from inside the helmet?
Whatever. It didn't matter.
Kayak, meanwhile, had apparently recovered and was doing fine.
"Thanks to you, I survived again. Honestly, with a showing like that, I'd say I've earned a shot at Gold Rank myself."
"Well, well. Your tongue's still flapping, lizard, so I suppose you'll live."
Yona scolded him, slapping her palm against his mouth in a rapid drumroll — though to Kayak it was hardly more than a tickle. He grinned and took every slap she dished out, then turned to thank Alec as well.
"Alec, you worked hard. Thank you for protecting us. You do Evian guards proud, I'll say that."
"Aw, I didn't do anything."
"Now, about that. I was watching, even in the state I was in."
Kayak beckoned Alec over with a wave of his hand. As Alec shuffled close, Kayak murmured low, near his ear.
"That holy knight over there. Their shieldwork is no joke. When we head to Infula, go learn the Holy Knights' shield arts. You can't stay a pure Guard forever, can you? If you want to keep that thunderstorm of a woman firmly in hand, you ought to pick up a few flashy techniques of your own, no?"
At that, Alec let out a low groan. It was something he'd been agonizing over all along.
Shield arts looked, at a glance, like pure defense — but at Alec's level, his shieldwork had grown quite refined. And having weathered several more crises over the course of this journey, he had developed further still; honestly, by now he figured he could set his sights on a promotion trial for Silver Rank.
But that wasn't the whole of it, was it?
If he meant to travel with Yona from here on, defense alone wouldn't be enough.
...A few more impressive techniques, huh.
The undead had dropped like flies every time that knight swung the shield. So adept at striking with it that you couldn't tell whether it was a shield or a bludgeon at all. True offense and defense as one.
- Someone famous where I used to live once said something like that.
- Said what?
- That a nation's strength lies not in its defense, but in its offense.
- What's that supposed to mean?
- It means if you only defend, sooner or later you get looted — so you kill them first, before that happens.
Just like Yona had once said. Granted, Yona's head was a bit strange, but she was still a woman, after all. Surely she'd prefer a comrade who could fight as well as defend over one who did nothing but hold the line every day.
Alec's worries began to deepen. And they deepened further still when he noticed Yona staring at the holy knight. In Alec's eyes, that gaze clearly held admiration — which made it all the worse.
Lewis, the commander of the Holy Knights, directed his men in escorting the wounded back to Carpithia Port. The escort duty fell to the knight order from Infula — and among them, the singularly massive holy knight, Scarlet, rode along in the carriage itself.
Watching Scarlet keep a perfectly rigid posture even seated on the bench — without removing so much as the helmet, without even raising the visor — Yona began to feel a little daunted.
...If I go back to being a man and become a holy knight... am I going to have to live like that too?
She couldn't stop the thought from surfacing every time she looked at Scarlet. There did remain the question of whether her holy power would even persist if she returned to being a man — but she chose to believe it would. If it vanished, she'd have no way to make a living.
And if it did persist... would she have to keep living as a Healer?
That was a bit bleak, too. In that case, becoming a holy knight certainly sounded cooler — but looking at that figure, being a holy knight seemed a little questionable as well.
Leaving her to those thoughts, a single map lay spread across a table — around which sat Ceres, Ludwig, and Scarlet, gathered to discuss the investigation into the cause of the calamity that had struck Semek.
"The odds of a necromancer are exceedingly low."
Scarlet declared flatly. Ludwig's and Ceres's eyes snapped toward the knight at once.
"Consider it. A necromancer has no reason to target Semek in particular. Corpse-bearing ground is not unique to Semek. Wherever people live, the dead are sure to follow, and there are graveyards of far greater size. To deliberately court the wrath of the Heavenly God Church by touching Semek of all places — no mere necromancer would attempt it."
"Hmm, I agree. Scarlet is certainly right that the scale is far too large for a necromancer's work. Not to mention the risk involved."
Ceres touched a hand to her lips as she listened to Scarlet and Ludwig. Just as the two of them began to wonder about the oddly pleased look on her face, Ceres called out.
"Yona dear, would you come over here a moment?"
"Huh?"
Yona, who had been playing clapping games with Rubina, patted the girl's head at Ceres's summons and came over to the table. Ceres broke into a bright smile at her expression — which clearly showed she hadn't caught a word of what had been discussed.
"Yona dear, how are you feeling right now?"
"Feeling? Um... fine, I guess. Why?"
"Perhaps a bit... excited? Or, ah... in heat, as it were? Nothing like that?"
"I-i-i-i-i-in HEAT?!"
Yona's face flushed scarlet in an instant.
"N-n-n-n-nothing like that!"
"Really? Hmm, then I suppose not. Very well. So, Sir Scarlet — what do you believe lies behind this incident?"
Scarlet fell into thought for a moment. Then the knight raised a gauntleted hand, extending only the index and middle fingers while curling the rest.
"Two possibilities."
"Two?"
"The first is the vampire — he who walks the eternal night. It, too, is counted among the greater demons."
"And the other?"
Scarlet folded down the middle finger. Waving the single remaining index finger slowly back and forth, the knight continued.
"A lich. The rotting king of mages. This case is by far the trickier, for it is as good as possessing two lives. Shattering the body does not end it — rather—"
And at that very moment, Yona butted in.
"You have to destroy the life vessel, the phylactery, right? Isn't that it? Am I right?"
Knowledge from her old world. Vampires called he-who-walks-the-eternal-night or the No Life King were a dime a dozen, and while liches were common too, their defining trait was that very life vessel.
So — she'd wanted to show off.
But the atmosphere did not unfold the way Yona had imagined. No How could you possibly know that, Miss Yona? No Whoa, Miss Yona, incredible! Nothing of the sort came back. Instead, the gazes of all three — Ceres, Ludwig, and even Scarlet — bored straight into her.
"...I-is that wrong? Or... never mind..."
"Miss Yona."
Scarlet rose slowly from the seat. Standing to full height — a stature to match Kayak's, and broader still in that armor — the knight loomed over Yona, and an oppression beyond words pressed down upon her.
"How is it... that you know of such a thing."
The air around them was turning cold. Yona's golden eyes began to waver wildly.
"And while we are at it — that tattoo on your right arm. You will explain that as well. In great detail."
A cold sweat broke out across Yona's back, soaking it through.