Chapter 330
Chapter 330
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 330
Chapter Title: Side Story: Those Left Behind
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-Đeng—.
A heavy toll echoed from the church bell tower. Under the reign of Empress Karvelier, Paltenoia had remarkably swiftly regained its clear air quality. Yet on this day, dark clouds heavy with rain hung low over the city.
-Đeng—.
That day, the bells rang nine times every hour, even at midnight. Traditionally, the toll for an emperor's passing was ten rings, so Empress Karvelier was showing honors equivalent to those for the highest state guest's funeral rites.
Imperial nobles and empire soldiers paraded the palace grounds in full dress uniforms. It was etiquette ill-suited for the immediate aftermath of complete victory in war and the firm submission of the preemptive lords. Nevertheless, the empress enforced noble mourning attire for at least a week, and few opposed it.
And here, among the non-nobles, there was one more man dressed in mourning garb.
“Brother Zephys.”
“Sister Kirhas. It's been a long, long time.”
“Yes, Brother.”
The Karvelier mansion, where Rene Philipp had resided before ascending the throne, was now used as the embassy for the Beastkin Tiger Clan Alliance. Kirhas, who had come to the capital Paltenoia at the emperor's invitation, was receiving a visitor that morning at an early hour.
It was Zephys. He hesitated, reaching out a hand only to miss several times before letting it drop still. He couldn't even fathom embracing the woman before him easily.
Kirhas looked up at Zephys with eyes still faintly wet.
“It's rather early, Brother Zephys.”
“He said your brother left something behind. I couldn't delay any longer.”
“……Yes, Brother.”
Kirhas bit her lip hard and bowed her head for a moment. A sniffle escaped her. She composed herself with effort and took a small booklet from an ornate chest.
Red wax sealed the booklet's cover. It was a crest all too familiar. Fernandez's—the Cerned baron's family crest.
Zephys carefully accepted the booklet and stroked it briefly. [Unauthorized Operation Proposal: Tomb Raid]. At those blunt words, Zephys unwittingly let out a chuckle.
-Crunch.
And as quickly as the smile spread, his eyes reddened. A Demonica's grip strength could crush rock barehanded, so Zephys nearly tore the report to shreds right then. He barely loosened his hold and stepped back.
“I've shown an unsightly side. Forgive me. You'll have it worse.”
“I'm fine.”
Her face looked anything but, yet Kirhas slowly shook her head. Deep down, Zephys admired her. She had always seemed so young, like a brat peeking out from behind Fernandez's sleeve when they first met.
For someone she followed so devotedly like Fernandez to leave not even a single word at the moment of his death must have been deeply wounding. He'd even anticipated his own end, leaving no such report.
Zephys nodded curtly and rose from his seat. If this was Fernandez's final operation report, the document held value beyond mere paper. By principle, a saint's last belongings would be sanctified as relics.
Even setting principle aside, the author was Fernandez. Considering all he'd done and planned to do, the final words of a saint who foresaw his death would be worth more than gold.
This document needed to reach the Papal Court faster than any other report. Though no longer a priest himself, this was a duty as a man.
“Brother Zephys. I know it's beyond propriety, but may I ask one favor?”
“Speak.”
“That item…… I, I just couldn't bring myself to open it alone…… Could you open it in front of me……?”
Kirhas stammered in a voice thick with tears. She couldn't bear to open this booklet that might hold Fernandez's final words alone. No, she didn't want to let anyone else open it.
If opening it revealed any hint of 'Fernandez's death,' she feared she'd collapse under the weight. Kirhas still didn't believe he was dead. She didn't want to.
But it was a report. Left by her lord, meant for dispatch to the Papal Court. So it had to be sent there.
“Sister Kirhas.”
“I know I lack Papal Court secret clearance. But I have the right to hear his final words.”
“I have no authority to open or share this document. As you know, I'm no longer a priest.”
“I'm no longer a Torchman either. I've decided to laicize since that day. I joined the Church for his sake in the first place. There's no reason to stay anymore.”
It would have been blasphemy warranting charges if Zephys were still a priest. But seeing her resolute eyes, he sat back down.
“With the devotion you've shown the world thus far, the Lord will avert His gaze just this once.”
Zephys quickly made the sign of the cross and pulled his hood over his head. An old custom: to hide in shadow when committing irreverence before the Lord. He slowly peeled the wax seal from the report's cover and unfolded the document.
* * *
[Unauthorized Operation Proposal: Tomb Raid]
Operation Area: Zakxi Mines, Leville Mountains, Dian Province, Imperial East
Operation Summary: Search for and excavate ancient ruins via secret passage from the right inner wall at the entrance to Shaft 14 inside the mine.
Operation Details:
1) Confirmed existence of ancient dwarf ruins, [Daraf Azim], within the mine.
2) Multilateral investigations confirm the ruins seal a powerful ancient entity.
3) Compiling ancient records from the War in Heaven era and elf royal annals identifies the entity as a demon.
4) A dimensional gate form of the sealed space housing an entity comparable to a great demon remains inside the ruins.
5) With positions and statuses of Mumto, Sadarkelia, Urkasia, and Yekaset pinpointed, the sealed entity is inferred to be the ancient great demon, [Crimson Archduke].
6) Desire to inspect/strengthen seal or attempt direct source removal.
Requested Operation Support:
1) 30 Enmagicka grade 3 or higher capable of at least double-casting.
2) 20 Demonica grade 3 or higher.
3) 40 Maladica under suicide-equivalent restrictions.
4) 10 wraith priests and the Ravirata Dynasty relic [Crimson Rod] for its use.
5) Darian Shyrake, post-30 years.
6) 40 Heretica as armed forces commanders to prevent secondary damage expansion by resealing externally.
7) Five innocent civilians of varied races and ages.
8) One half-elf able to wield [White Mane Spear] from the Gaimern Dynasty relic vault.
Projected Operation Losses:
1) Total death of Enmagicka personnel.
2) Total death of Demonica personnel.
3) Total death of Maladica personnel.
4) Total death of wraith priests.
5) Upon operation failure, permanent loss of large-scale area from Imperial East Dian Province to Eastern Kingdom Alliance.
Post-Operation Failure Protocol:
1) Offer Church Grade 1 relic [Key Sword] as sacrifice to unseal heavenly gates.
2) Secure the last movements of the Great Archangel.
3) Upon Great Archangel securing success, papal prayer rite. Demand 'Heaven-Reversal' from the Corridor of the Heavenly Pantheon.
Operation Drafter: Demonica Fernandez Cerned.
We shall burn demons, heretics, witches.
* * *
Zephys slowly closed the report. Attachments followed: various documents, operation maps, timelines, and summaries.
“Did Brother Fernandez ever mention Great Archangels or…… 'Heaven-Reversal' in life?”
“I'm not sure. What this could possibly mean…….”
“His Holiness might know something. At least, it doesn't seem made for us.”
Zephys closed the report, dense with incomprehensible directives, and gazed at its cover.
When do people leave wills? When they wish to convey unfinished words to heirs and loved ones, even if just in writing. But this, this report……
He said in passing.
“No regrets, Brother.”
“……Pardon?”
“No, nothing. Whenever it may be, I hope we meet again. Thank you for your time.”
Zephys nodded and rose, leaving without looking back. Closing the door, he whispered down the empty corridor.
“You who shone brightest among us, taken hence; make him a star of the world.”
-Đeng—!
* * *
Ten days to clear, bury, and burn the corpses filling the plain. That was the time spent scouring the entire battlefield at the behest of the emperor, kings, great chieftains, Serpent Queen, and dragon—for even a single body, a single clue.
As exhaustion from grueling marches and battle fatigue bred murmurs among the soldiers, the search finally ended. No clues found on the plain. Only traces of the horrific, wretched battle.
“Today too? Nothing again?”
“Lindbrum. It's time to give up.”
“Give up……? Freya. I never gave up five hundred years ago either.”
Abel shot Freya a sharp glare and rose again. The plain strewn with corpses and bloodstains was now thick with weeds, as if it had never been. The land's vicious vitality at work.
Abel and Freya had combed the entire region since war's end, turning it upside down. Finding no clues was tragic in itself. It forced denial of death acknowledged.
Officially, Fernandez's status was 'missing.' Never 'fallen.' At least, that's what Abel believed.
“If a wolf swallowed him, wouldn't something from his guts turn up? Freya. Let's search once more. He could be out there somewhere, shivering in the cold, waiting for my help. I can't abandon him.”
Abel bowed her head, trembling as she spoke. Freya inwardly hoped otherwise. The whole area had been razed once by elf flagship barrage, piled with corpses, then burned again.
For him to survive until now, with weeds sprouting atop that, would mean unimaginable torment. Detecting no life was secondary; even a one-in-a-thousand chance of him clinging to faint breath meant he'd endured hellish agony, wishing for death.
But she couldn't tell Abel that. Telling a woman hoping he's alive that survival would be worse than hell lacked compassion.
“Yes. Let's do that. One more search.”
Abel walked wordlessly into the grassland. Beyond the tents, moon and stars overflowed the ink-black night sky. She trudged to the plain's center, paused to gaze heavenward, then suddenly collapsed.
“Lindbrum!!”
Had she found something? Freya rushed to Abel in alarm. But she halted short. In the direction of Abel's last gaze, amid the night's myriad stars, a blue star gleamed.
Abelesas' seat. From before the War in Heaven, the constellation made for her when, possessed by ancient dragon madness, she'd razed dwarf cities with a single breath.
And her words once: When Fernandez finished his journey and reclaimed peace, she'd make a place for him under her constellation. Watching her shy smile, Freya had thought it a foolish confession.
So now, she could say nothing to Abel crumbling to the ground, clutching and sobbing amid the weeds.
“Why not…… why not take me instead. Take…… take me instead. I'm used to it. I'm used to leaving first…… Fernandez. Being left behind is so unfamiliar, so frightening…….”
Abel sobbed, clutching a charred, crumbling old rosary.
* * *
Though Abel confirmed Fernandez's final belongings, the relics he carried were not recovered. The Church officially records the saint's passing and beatifies Fernandez.
The Canonization Council unanimously proclaims the day of Saint Fernandez's passing as a feast day. He is canonized as the patron saint of the Great Wilderness.