Chapter 135 — The Story Hidden From You (6)
After resting, Roan cast a blessing on himself and Ker, then began to run.
The demon beast snorted once or twice at the unfamiliar sensation, but perhaps finding Roan's touch pleasant, it quietly accepted the blessing.
For a while, they ran through an unchanging landscape of sand, dirt, and shrubs.
Even after passing Birektum, they took several breaks.
The party continued heading east.
If not for the Emperor, no one would have wanted to guide them toward that ominous land.
After noon, the sun moved behind them, casting shadows before them.
Roan planned to head as far east as the knights would allow before sunset and spend the evening within Birektum Castle.
And the further east they went, the more Roan understood why the knights and the local people were reluctant to go near the Corrupted Land.
"...Wait."
The running demon beasts stopped at the Emperor's gesture.
A faint,
sudden malice constricted their breath.
A scar-faced knight observed Roan's frowning expression and asked,
"Are you feeling unwell?"
But Roan couldn't give a proper answer.
Deciding he couldn't slow their pace indefinitely, Roan ordered the party to set off again.
"It's nothing. We move."
On the back of the running Ker, Roan remained deep in thought, his brow still slightly furrowed.
It was a sensation one would normally feel from someone's killing intent.
It was an evil will, felt from someone hostile to him...
Why had he suddenly felt it while they were running?
Perhaps it was someone nearby?
As he looked around at the knights, Roan suddenly had another thought.
'...No way.'
The 'Blessing of the Stars' Roan habitually cast had an effective duration of about five or six hours.
It seemed that the moment the blessing he'd cast that morning finally ran out, the evil energy that had filled the air, which only Roan hadn't noticed, came rushing in.
'In a place like this... they're living?'
Roan bit his lip quietly.
Originally, most of the East Yellow Territory was wasteland and desert.
Most people lived near the mountains, rivers, and lakes that formed the western border of the East Yellow Territory,
and the remaining thirty percent of the population were said to roam near oases and wells, forming small villages or living a nomadic life.
But it was said that the Corrupted Land had grown stronger over the past few decades. Showing its power by gradually expanding the desert, the Corrupted Land had swallowed up the eastern cities and villages one by one.
Birektum, several tens of kilometers from Raju, was originally a trading city where goods from all over the East Yellow Territory gathered.
Hence, its name meant 'Plaza of Plants and Trees'.
But the Birektum Roan had seen earlier was a desolate city covered in sand and dust.
Because the cities to the east, as well as the ones to the north that had diligently transported goods to Birektum, had almost all disappeared.
Those wandering the desert likely hadn't chosen it because the Corrupted Land's energy was tolerable; it was just that settling elsewhere was even harder.
For some reason, Roan recalled abandoned animals wandering nearby farms after a Japanese nuclear power plant accident he'd seen in an internet article.
They didn't know how to survive anywhere else.
'So the blessing... was a way to counter this?'
Roan silently cast the blessing on himself and the demon beast once more from atop the running Ker.
The demon beast's red eyes widened, and then it suddenly sped up as if excited.
"Your Majesty! Going ahead suddenly is dangerous!"
One of the knights cried out in a fluster, and Roan raised a hand in apology, calming his Ker and returning it to its original position.
Once the blessing was cast, breathing clearly became easier again.
Roan finally felt he had a vague understanding of why casting a blessing on crystals or the land was a way to protect it.
'『It's a place like this that especially needs priests.』'
Roan's expression darkened.
According to Helen, to cultivate holy power and learn divine magic, one needed to be close to the Order.
She said the Goddess had declared both humans and demonkind to be her children, but to awaken that power, one initially needed to make contact with the Order.
That contact could be through scripture or statues of the Goddess.
That was why many priests and holy knights came from the Order's orphanages.
But in the demon world, there was no atmosphere of believing in the Church of Laurecia. If anything, there was hatred.
There was no opportunity to encounter the Goddess's traces anywhere.
'『Couldn't we request a branch from the Order?』'
Of course, they wouldn't easily agree.
The Order had long deemed the Demon King and the demon nation of Evirgio as the enemies of the Goddess.
Moreover, they had recently lost the elite of their holy knight order, which existed to protect their power.
There was no way they'd look upon us favorably.
Even if they wanted to accept our proposal, they'd find it difficult to reach out rashly.
No matter how gracious the Order of the Goddess might be, it took more than just mercy to embrace a former enemy.
Roan now knew well that this wouldn't be easily achieved unless there was political or material benefit, given that they were the enemy of the great Kingdom of Merde, home to the archdiocese.
"Damn."
Roan's head shot up.
He was startled because he hadn't been the one to spit out that curse.
It was a curse from someone behind him, who no longer bothered to hide their irritated expression.
The leader of the knights hurriedly approached Roan.
"Your Majesty, our apologies."
Looking around, Roan saw every knight surrounding him wore a grim expression.
Had it been a few minutes earlier, he would have been bewildered, but Roan finally understood.
They were being affected by the malice that thickened as they neared the Corrupted Land.
"From around here..."
"Is it because of the Corrupted Land?"
The knight looked at Roan with brief surprise before bowing his head deeply.
"Yes, it is."
Roan hesitated for a moment.
Could he cast the 'Blessing of the Stars' on them?
Just then.
A sudden gust of sand-laden wind engulfed the party.
"Wha—!"
"Your Majesty, lower your head!"
The hoods they'd received upon leaving Raju were meant for covering their faces in sandstorms. Roan pulled his low, just as the knights did.
Seeing the Emperor secure his hood, the knight commander also pulled his down and waited for the wind to pass.
A few were already coughing through the sand.
Though the wind was brief, lasting only a few dozen seconds, the knights' faces grew even more troubled as they braced against it.
Seeing this, Roan quietly willed forth the blessing.
He had never cast a blessing on so many people at once, but it would be similar to casting it on the land.
He recited the incantation strongly in his mind.
Blessing of the Stars.
That instant.
The party began to stir.
The demon beasts shook their heads, and the knights astride them began to look around.
The commander, seeing Roan's quiet smile, asked in a low voice,
"Was it... Your Majesty...?"
"Mm. It was magic."
"Thank you."
He had been coughing dryly until moments ago, but now he seemed fine.
The party, now blessed, moved faster than before.
By the time the ground heat peaked, which felt hot even for a desert winter, they stopped.
Roan and the knights came to a halt.
"This is as far as we go, Your Majesty."
That was the farthest an outsider could travel east.
Roan looked quietly east.
He glanced back at the knights behind him before dismounting from Ker. When they moved to follow, Roan stopped them.
"Enough. I will spend a moment alone. Rest."
The knights hesitated.
They seemed torn between the duty of a knight to obey the Emperor's orders and the anxiety of leaving their Emperor alone in such a dangerous place.
But when the scar-faced commander who had been beside the Emperor stepped back, the others also began to dismount one by one.
Roan left the reins with one of them and walked a little way.
There was no place to hide,
but he meant to put enough distance that they couldn't hear him.
How far had he walked?
When the knights were just barely within the edge of his Detection,
when he had reached a distance where even their voices couldn't be heard,
Roan grasped the hilt of his sword.
"Fiora."
Unexpectedly, a reply came instantly.
— ...Why did you come to such an ominous place? I can't sleep.
"...You sleep?"
— It's a joke.
"...."
Roan glanced down at the hilt for a moment, then turned his gaze back to the horizon.
"I'm sorry about last time."
— Honestly, I was really surprised. Aren't you approaching the level of a sage? To reject a beauty like me. You're impressive. Me, someone who's even defeated sages before.
"Because nothing is more precious than life."
— Didn't I say so? I can't harm Roan.
"Voluntarily."
At his quiet reply, Fiora merely gave a soft laugh.
— ...Hehe.
"Still, I want to believe in you, Fiora."
— ...
Perhaps it was unexpected, for Fiora listened without a word.
"So I did some investigating about you. But it wasn't easy."
— It wouldn't be.
Fiora spoke with a self-deprecating tone.
— Because I'm an unpleasant sword to record. Even if one documented having played around with a sword, no one would believe it, and it'd just be embarrassing.
"...."
This time, Roan couldn't find the right words to say.
After staying silent for a while, Roan finally spoke, remembering what he had originally wanted to ask.
"I read an odd story. About a yokai that shared your name."
— A yokai...?
"It said they sealed a demon together with the Goddess's expedition."
— A yokai... I suppose they did.
Her voice was low and trembling.
Suddenly, he thought he might have touched on something he shouldn't have. But as she said, Fiora couldn't harm him anyway.
He steeled himself against the urge to retreat.
"Since records get distorted over time."
He couldn't let it show, but he was considerably surprised.
She'd been with the Goddess?
Then just how old a sword was she?
"Did you really... see the Goddess?"
— Goddess...? You don't mean Laurecia?
She seemed a bit flustered.
— All this time, when people spoke of the Goddess, they meant Laurecia? ...Now they call her the Goddess. Ah... So that much time has passed...
It was a sigh that seemed to border on blasphemy. As Roan's eyes widened, Fiora spoke again.
— Did you bring me here on purpose as well? This unpleasant presence... it's that guy's energy from back then.
Roan shook his head.
"I didn't believe that story was true. What we know is that somewhere beyond here, a sealed demon is said to be asleep."
— We called it 'Greed'.
Roan flinched.
"...We...?"
— Yes.
Fiora's voice was cold, though it held a note of longing.
— The holy ones and the strong ones. The fairies of two regions, and the ruler of the sky. We gathered to defeat 'Greed'. Otherwise, all the creatures of the continent were at risk of being devoured by it.
"Did you really... seal this 'Greed'? Beyond this land?"
At that, Fiora burst into mocking laughter.
— Ahahaha, our intentions were good, but I think we ultimately failed.
Roan's eyes shot open.
Failed...?
Was this why the East Yellow Territory was dying under the influence of the Corrupted Land?
Fiora spoke quietly.
— You know, Roan. How many people ultimately end up living with greed in their hearts. It's impossible to seal that guy perfectly.
At her next words, Roan's hand trembled finely.
— And so I was forgotten and became a yokai.