Between Glory and Faith (2)
"The truth is, aside from Brother Karl, I've never told anyone I wanted to become the baron."
Clara's room.
My younger sister and I sat side by side on the bed.
There was no avoiding a conversation about the right of succession. After all, the same girl who had once declared she would become the baron had, over dinner, claimed she had no such intention.
"Until recently I did want to be the baron, but now… I'm still thinking it over."
"Cain might not know, but you know I'm not real family. Can you really hand over the full authority of the house to a complete stranger?"
"Don't say something so hurtful. I already think of you as family. If you hadn't been here and Brother had taken his own life, can you imagine how devastated our parents would have been?"
"…I…"
I was only deceiving everyone for my own convenience. It wasn't that I felt guilt over it — but neither did I take it so lightly that I could toss the words out without a second thought.
Clara nodded, as if she understood the words I had swallowed.
"There wasn't really any other choice, was there?"
"…Clara. I've been thinking this for a while, but aren't you accepting me a little too easily? It's convenient for me, sure, but…"
"It's convenient for me too. I hate complicated things."
"…At times like this, you're every bit a Manfred."
"Anyway, back to the succession. Last time, when we ran into the Undead King's thralls, you created a monster, Brother. By altering the Curse of Illusion."
I had used the Curse of Obsession as well, not just the Curse of Illusion — but I hadn't explained that in any detail. I could hardly go around announcing that my body was loaded with more than one or two curses.
"When I saw that monster and was seized by terror, I thought to myself… I really didn't know a single thing about you, Brother."
"Didn't know?"
"There was something Brother Karl feared most. That no one might ever understand him. And he was right."
"…"
"I honestly had no idea what kind of horror you were suffering through. I only vaguely thought it must be hard. I saw it for just a moment and locked myself in the carriage, unable to do anything. And you've been seeing things like that every single moment?"
I nodded.
In truth, I had seen illusions far more powerful than the creatures I manifested into physical form.
"Trying to reach out to you with some half-baked resolve, without even properly understanding that pain… it made me feel pretty pathetic."
"You don't have to think that far. Karl was genuinely happy when he heard about your dream."
It wasn't a lie. The joy Karl had felt then still reached me, indirectly, through his memories.
"That… is a little comforting. Anyway, I want to sort out my thoughts for now."
"…Sorry to push, but how long should I wait? Father seems to want me to decide sooner rather than later, and you'll be at the Academy for a while."
"Heh heh. Until my mind changes, you'll just have to buy yourself some time."
"Haa… Fine. Nothing I can do about it. I'll get going."
Normally, siblings fought each other for the right to inherit. Ours was a household where everyone was desperately trying not to become the heir.
I sighed and stood up from the bed — and Clara threw her arms around me from behind.
"You really do love Karl, don't you?"
"Of course. But this is also my goodbye to you. We won't be seeing each other for a while."
"…"
"You've been dragged into a situation you don't understand either, separated from the people who matter to you. It must be hard on your heart."
"No, I…"
"Can you tell me your real name?"
Telling her my name wouldn't have been difficult.
"…Somehow I feel like I shouldn't."
"Why not?"
"For as long as I'm here, I think I have to be called Karl."
"What if Brother's soul suddenly comes back and you never get another chance to say it?"
The possibility that my soul might leave and Karl's return. I had said those words myself, but in truth I considered the odds extremely low. I felt no sense whatsoever that Karl was sleeping somewhere inside me.
But I couldn't say that to a child who loved Karl this much.
"Even if no one remembers me, it doesn't matter."
"Don't say things like that…"
"…Karl will probably remember. Just as I inherited Karl's memories, Karl will inherit mine. So when he comes back, ask him about me."
"…All right."
When I returned to my room, Dorothy was already in the bed.
She no longer snuck in at dawn. She simply slept here from the start. For reasons I couldn't quite place, whenever Clara — who was otherwise completely smitten with Dorothy — saw her doing this, her expression would harden with dislike.
"…Dorothy. Go sleep in your own room."
"No."
"…Are you going to follow your master's orders or not?"
"Night is. Dangerous. Alone."
"I told you it's fine here."
"…Master. Don't want. To be with me?"
Dorothy let her wolf ears droop flat against her head and looked up at me with an expression that seemed ready to burst into tears at any second.
Faced with that look, Clara would have handed over the entire family estate. It didn't work on me.
"Yeah. This is a single bed, so it's cramped. Could you scoot over a bit?"
"Uugh…"
Dorothy seemed aware of how cute she was, and every so often she tried to use it. When you keep a pet, you can't give in to that kind of temptation. Dorothy wasn't a pet, exactly — but close enough.
That said, she wasn't about to quietly climb out of the bed either. And I had no way of overpowering this little beast by force. I wasn't about to settle into an uncomfortable night's sleep with a body that still wasn't fully healthy, so in the end, I lay down beside Dorothy once again.
"Dorothy. I learned how to alter the Curse of the Mad Bear from Lady Agnes."
"That. Bear person?"
"That's right. It's similar to the Curse of the Lycanthrope, so you should be able to alter yours too."
"If I alter it. What's good?"
"You'll be able to control when you turn into a wolf. You won't transform just because you're hungry, and you won't be stuck unable to transform just because you're full. And even when you do turn into a wolf, you won't become an idiot."
"Ooooh…"
Aside from when Clara read her fairy tales, I had never seen Dorothy's eyes go that wide. But the moment she heard my next words, her expression soured.
"You won't need the Curse of the Puppet anymore, so I'll release it."
"…Are you. Trying to throw me away?"
"Throw you away… You never belonged to anyone in the first place."
"No. I am. Master's. Don't throw me away. Please."
Dorothy pleaded with me, looking for all the world like an abandoned puppy. I believed that bondage would only poison her. Whatever other steps lay along the path, the fate waiting at the end of an unreleased Curse of the Puppet was that of the Star Chaser — the worst mage-hunter in all of Luke's Biography.
That didn't mean I intended to cast Dorothy out. For a child raised like an animal from such a young age, freedom wouldn't feel like liberation. And I still needed her. She was currently sharing the burden of my extreme life-force consumption through her Heretical Offering trait. At the very least, I needed her until that problem was solved.
I held out the fang threaded with Dorothy's hair.
"I just want to give you more choices for the future. That's all."
"…"
"I won't throw this fang away. As long as I have it, I'm your master, right?"
"…Yes."
The wolf girl closed her eyes with a relieved little smile.
Morning came.
I stood before the main keep's gate, waiting for the escort assigned by the Lumenic Church to lead the Heresy Inquisition's Special Task Force. Dorothy was, of course, glued to my side, and Brenden along with several other retainers had come out to guard me.
"Take care of yourself, old man! Had a blast!"
"Come visit again, missy! We'll be waitin'!"
Brenden and Agnes. Different genders, different builds — but identical ways of speaking. The two of them seemed to get along remarkably well.
"Thank you… Thank you… Thank you… Thank you… Thank you…"
"You can stop thanking me now."
"You might forget… I have nothing to give you, what do I do… Thank you… Thank you…"
Alexander kept murmuring his gratitude without end. With the Curse of the Hermit thinning his presence, people forgetting him must have been an everyday occurrence. In fact, if I didn't write it down somewhere, I might well forget the thanks I was hearing from him right now.
"Young master!"
One of the baron's men came running toward me.
"What is it?"
"People from the Lumenic Church have arrived at the outer gate!"
"The outer wall gate? Then just let them through to the main keep."
"Well… there are too many of them. At least a hundred. And they're armed. Without the baron's permission, we can't just—"
"…A hundred?"
Veronica, captain of the Special Task Force, muttered as though she hadn't expected this either. I had thought yesterday would be the last time I heard her voice. Even she must not have imagined that more than a hundred people would show up just to escort them.
I turned to Priest Thomas. He had come along as well, to receive the Church's party.
"Father Thomas. Did you know this many were coming? I was expecting maybe one carriage."
"I wasn't told how many would arrive, but I also assumed it would be one or two priests. Had I known, I would of course have informed you."
Thomas looked thoroughly flustered as well. I issued orders to those around me.
"For now, report this to Father. Brenden, we're heading to the gate. And you, Special Task Force…"
"…Agnes. Alexander. …We're going too."
Passing through the residential district of the territory, we reached the outer wall gate — and found exactly the scene the baron's man had described.
More than a hundred troops. Holy Knights, the main fighting force of the Lumenic Church. Every one of them was mounted, and the quality of their arms far outstripped that of the baron's retainers. Far too threatening to simply wave through.
"…Why is he here…"
Beyond the barred gate, I saw a face I recognized. Veronica must have been startled by the same handsome young man.
Sylvester — the young vice-captain of the Holy Knights. The previous generation's Hero from Luke's Biography, who would one day slay the Undead King and fall in battle.
"Might you be Young Master Karl of House Manfred?"
Sylvester called out upon seeing me. When I nodded, he approached the carriage at the center of the Holy Knights' formation.
A carriage drawn by white horses with manes of pure gold. Sylvester opened the door, and a woman stepped down.
Another face I knew.
Hair that gleamed like gold, eyes as blue as the sky. Dressed in garments adorned with white feathers, she looked almost like an angel.
"O~hoho! Hello, everyone! I am the Saintess of the Lumenic Church! Feel free to prostrate yourselves and worship me!"
Even as a young girl, her manner of speech was so eccentric that anyone hearing it for the first time would instinctively grimace.
There was no mistaking her.
Emilia — the Saintess who would go on to play a major role in Luke's Biography.