Catastrophe (2)
Even during the meal, even on the way back, not a word passed between them. Back in the attic room, Adelaide pressed her back against the opposite wall. The remains found in the forest, Royal Guard, multiple. The words from the notice clung to her mind like burrs. Ailin had said she was definitely alive. That she'd attached a shadow, hadn't touched her. But every time she recalled it, something in her chest sank. Too heavy to call doubt, too light to call conviction.
“……Master.”
“……Sleep.”
“You're not asleep.”
“Trying to.”
“……I see.”
“You sleep too.”
“……Yeah.”
And that was the end of the day's conversation.
……I need to confirm it.
Before she knew it, another dawn had arrived, and Adelaide opened her eyes. The view beyond the window was shrouded in darkness—perfect for secretive actions. Glancing sideways, Ailin lay on her side, back turned. Her breathing was even. Perhaps worn out from days of hauling luggage, it was deeper than usual.
Adelaide rose silently. She felt the shadow coiled around her body even in sleep—an unbreakable shackle that Ailin never released. I know its range. After arriving in Istius, she'd intuitively mapped the distance it reacted to. She'd tested it multiple times, slipping to the bathroom while Ailin slept. It stretched roughly to the knight order's branch nearby.
She focused on her footsteps. Days in this attic had taught her which floorboards creaked, which stayed silent. I endured for this moment.
The door let out a faint creak, but Ailin's breathing didn't change. Descending the stairs, she braced a hand against the cold wall. Outside the inn, a dark alley welcomed her. A few drunks slumped against walls here and there. She knew the route. Mapping key locations was a habit ingrained since becoming a knight. Even on her first day entering Istius, she'd done it while infiltrating via secret passages, eyes darting ceaselessly: warehouses without pass checks, patrol routes, wells, and—the knight order branch.
She followed the path her body remembered. Through back alleys to a wide avenue, until the building at its end came into view. The kingdom's emblem above the main gate glowed faintly in lantern light. Her heartbeat thundered inexplicably. Was she tense after all?
Can't go inside. Unofficially, she was the missing person. Revealing her identity would expose Ailin too. She didn't want that.
Beside the branch stood a small tavern. A spot where off-duty low-ranking knights and soldiers nursed beers at dawn. No sign, just a door and a lantern. As vice-captain, she'd never have imagined it. A Royal Guard member drinking here?
……Royal Guard vice-captain. Why did the title feel so distant now?
Adelaide eased the door open and slipped into a corner seat. She ordered the cheapest beer.
“Cheapest one.”
“……One copper.”
“Here.”
She lifted the mug to her lips but didn't swallow. Wiping foam with her tongue, she tuned into the surrounding chatter.
“Maria's nagging about reports again.”
“Higher-ups are pissed.”
“'Cause of the Guard thing?”
“Yeah, most bodies ID'd.”
“Already?”
“Just the vice-captain's missing. Reason: disappearance.”
“All from the forest, deep in.”
“Clustered in a corner, like. Search team's guess: fleeing when they got hit.”
“Fleeing?”
“Yeah. Ways they died were brutal.”
The knight tilting his mug lowered his voice. But Adelaide caught the rest.
“Some with bones snapped…… even traces of stabbing each other.”
Her grip tightened on the mug. Foam spilled over her knuckles. Stabbing each other.
“Each other? Guard on Guard? Insane?”
“Right? Analysis says infighting, or maybe controlled by something.”
“Controlled…… Never heard of magic like that. Against the Royal Guard, even.”
“Vice-captain was a Swordmaster. Wiped 'em out.”
“Not wiped if no body—”
“That's weirder, right? Subordinates all dead, but vice-captain gone.”
“Maybe fled.”
“Her? Leaving her men? No way.”
“……Yeah, doesn't add up.”
“IDs mostly done anyway. Reports heading to capital HQ.”
The talk drifted elsewhere: higher-up gripes, more night patrols. But nothing reached Adelaide's ears anymore.
Memories surfaced. The day she'd made the deal with Ailin. Under the condition she'd stay, her subordinates had run. Into the forest, surely to survive, to call for aid.
And Ailin didn't pursue them. When she'd come to, there was no room to care. The torture…… kept going. All senses drowned in that…… bizarre act.
But if it was all over by then? After her subordinates fled, after she'd blacked out—there'd been time left. With Ailin's power, shadows could've tracked their path. Caught up, killed them, looted their gear. Bodies with snapped bones. Traces of mutual stabbing, infighting or control.
Control. With that endless shadow power.
Control. Control.
Alive, mana-twisted bodies forcing swords into each other—
Control. Control. Control.
Stop.
Her hands trembled. ……No way.
She'd said a shadow was attached. Snap fingers, head explodes. Obey, and live. Adelaide had endured everything on that word. Every humiliation. Kneeling on shattered pride. For her subordinates' lives. If she held out here, they wouldn't die.
Things shoved into her mouth. Her precious parts toyed with by toes. Paraded before villagers as a criminal. Even bound to the pyre, she hadn't drawn her sword. Couldn't strike civilians.
And—her subordinates lived.
All of it built on that one promise.
……But bodies found in the forest. Multiple remains, Royal Guard, IDs confirmed.
She bowed her head, forehead to hand. Don't think. Not certain yet.
Notice alone lacks info. Could be another order.
Believe Ailin. She'd done so far.
But puzzle pieces slotted themselves in her mind. She couldn't stop.
Jerky, coins, a few daggers. Where from? She'd assumed stolen from travelers or villagers. No, hadn't thought at all. No time.
Jerky was march rations, knight favorite. Daggers…… not street stall junk.
……Daggers. The bundle in the attic corner. Never touched, Ailin's luggage.
Need to check. What's inside.
Decision made, she left the tavern. Air bit cold. Her steps quickened, slowed, quickened. Speed from urgency to confirm now. Slowness from terror of truth.
If Ailin lied, subordinates dead, forest remains hers. Then what of all she'd endured?
……Don't think.
The inn appeared. Down easier than up? Return steps far heavier than outbound.
Before the attic door, Adelaide caught her breath. Hand on knob, then forehead to wall.
“……”
Opening it, Ailin lay as before, back turned, breathing steady—never stirred.
She closed the door softly, knelt before the bundle in the corner. Fingers on the knot. Loose with a tug.
But—couldn't.
Just…… opening would reveal it. And if true, what of her?
Ailin's soft breaths tickled her ears.
……Postpone till tomorrow. When Ailin's out. Not now…… not now.
Adelaide pulled hands to knees, head down.
“……They have to be alive.”
The whisper from her lips weighed brutally heavy. Back to wall, eyes closed. Sleep impossible.
Subordinates' faces filled her vision. They couldn't be dead. Ailin promised.
Promise…… was it even that?
Blackmail from the start. She'd chosen to call it a promise. No other choice.
……Really no choice?
Adelaide squeezed eyes shut. Mind too noisy.
“Alive.”
Once more. Lips only, no sound.
They have to be alive—that faint mutter. I hadn't slept. Just happened to notice her leave. Guessed what she'd heard. Could've followed, interrogated.
Didn't.
Why not.
Thus morning came. I stirred, pretending to wake.
“……Awake?”
“Yeah.”
Adelaide's dark circles were darker than usual. Mine too, probably.
“Let's eat.”
“……Sure.”
Where'd you go last night? What'd you hear? What do you know now? Didn't ask.
Scared what face I'd make based on her reaction.