The Child and the Adult (3)
"Urnil?"
Akasa’s lips parted. It was barely a whisper.
It meant he hadn't seen it. Usually, Urnil kept a constant watch over Akasa’s surroundings, but right now, his focus was entirely on the watch as Akasa cleaned up the mess, creating a blind spot. Akasa thought the timing was exceptionally poor.
"So, you are carrying a weapon."
The man, Hisoral, changed his gaze as he looked at the staff in Akasa’s hand. It was because what Akasa held was clearly not a sword, which would have looked dangerous at a glance.
"A staff?"
"Haa!"
Akasa let out a shout, as if bursting, and swung the staff. A powerful downward strike aimed at the adult. Hisoral easily dodged the staff by taking a single step back. Akasa did not stop. Even though it had been a short time, this was a staff he had swung thousands of times. A fierce momentum, not at all like that of a child, was imbued in the staff.
As Akasa followed up with a thrust that seemed to spring forth, Hisoral raised his arm with surprised eyes, parrying the staff and spinning his body. Standing to the side of the staff, whose trajectory had been slightly altered, Hisoral tried to grab it. At that moment, Akasa pulled his body back with the staff at an astonishing speed.
Immediately after, Akasa wore a look of dismay. He had retreated further into the roots of the tree. However, Akasa did not notice that his opponent was also surprised.
In reality, Hisoral was extremely shocked.
'How does a young child possess this much power and speed?'
It was unbelievable that such a threatening attack, which would have felled an ordinary adult in one blow, had come from a child's hands.
"That…."
A glint appeared in Hisoral’s eyes as he examined the staff and Akasa. There was sand flowing strangely around Akasa’s wrist.
"You possess an artifact."
Akasa did not answer and bolted. Although it wasn't very wide on either side, there was a gap to slip past this uninvited guest. Akasa moved the staff to his left and threw his body to Hisoral’s left.
At that moment, Urnil helped.
A stream of Essence surged through his body, bolstering Akasa’s leg strength. Surprised by the unexpected speed, Hisoral’s hand quickly chased after Akasa’s form. However, Akasa swung the staff he had moved to the left with great force in the opposite direction, striking Hisoral’s hand away.
"Ugh!"
Hisoral grimaced, a sharp pain radiating through him as he stumbled. Taking advantage of that opening, Akasa slipped out from under the roots.
Akasa ran as if he were flying. He fled far enough that the Red-Bark Tree was hidden among the other trees. He was so out of breath he felt like he might collapse, but Akasa did not stop running. It was because he didn't feel he had truly shaken off his opponent. However, Akasa had no choice but to stop.
"Wait a moment!"
It was because Hisoral suddenly jumped out from beside him and shouted. Akasa couldn't even guess which path he had taken to catch up.
"Uwaaaaah!"
Akasa swung his staff heavily toward Hisoral. But unlike before, this time Hisoral drew a weapon. A short sword, drawn in a flash, blocked the staff with a clear, ringing sound. Hisoral even grabbed the end of the staff as he blocked it.
At the same time, before Akasa could even move, Hisoral closed the distance and used the staff in a strange way to knock Akasa down. Akasa curled his body to roll and avoid the impact. He didn't know how it happened, but he knew he had been brought down by his own staff. It made him wonder if the opponent was the true master of this weapon, not him.
"That’s enough."
Akasa snapped his head up. The staff was pointed right at his nose. As his heart pounded uncontrollably, Akasa’s hand twitched.
'Should I draw it? The sword? Even if I draw it, can I win?'
While Akasa was gripped by suffocating tension, the opponent carefully returned the staff and said:
"Child. If it’s alright with you, could we talk?"
The tension suddenly evaporated.
"Please, come in."
Akasa led the strange outsider to another hideout. This place, where leafy vines hung beneath a rock, was a secret spot Akasa had found while wandering. Originally, the damp area below was filled with all sorts of insects, but after Urnil used his Essence to clear them out, it had become Akasa’s private sanctuary. The problem was that it wasn't very far from the Red-Bark Tree.
"Did you build this place?"
"...Yes."
Akasa sat facing Hisoral, careful not to let any unnecessary words slip out. The space under the rock was narrow, but it was high enough for Hisoral to sit. Hisoral waited quietly after sitting down. Eventually, it was Akasa who spoke first.
"You said you wanted to talk."
"Yes. There is something I wish to ask."
"Before that, if you answer my question, I will talk too."
Hisoral looked at Akasa with an even more curious expression.
'It’s hard to believe this is the attitude of someone who was just subdued.'
Hisoral nodded readily.
"Who are you, mister?"
"My name is Hisoral Mut. I was a Martial Priest of the Wind Temple."
At the mention of a priest, Akasa’s heart sank. Then Urnil spoke.
Akasa, having barely calmed his heart, said—after Urnil had taught him what he needed to ask:
"You said you 'were' a priest? You speak as if you aren't one now."
"Hmm. It’s embarrassing to say, but I voluntarily laid down my religious status."
"Laid down your status?"
"Would you understand if I said I was excommunicated?"
Akasa nodded with a surprised face. An excommunicated practitioner. He had heard from Urnil that most of those cast out by the temple were either impossible to integrate or possessed violent temperaments. But the person in front of him didn't look like that at all.
"...You don't look like that kind of person."
"Hmm. You don't think I look bad? Thank you."
Hisoral smiled broadly, seemingly pleased by those words. Akasa couldn't help but ask.
"But why were you excommunicated?"
"It wasn't that I was forced, I did it myself. I killed a person."
Akasa’s body shuddered. Hisoral opened his palms as if to say he shouldn't be wary.
"Calm down. I will explain the reason."
Hisoral explained the background of how he came to kill a man. It was because serial murders had occurred in the territory where the temple he had protected for a long time was located, yet the lord had incompetently neglected them. And Hisoral said that among the victims was a young servant he had been looking after.
"So you killed the lord."
"Yes."
"But even so, killing a person recklessly is..."
"A sin."
Hisoral admitted it calmly. Akasa was taken aback by that boldness. To Akasa, the adult confessing to murder before his eyes didn't look like a sinner, but rather like an executioner leading a prisoner to death.
"I have no intention of justifying my sin. Wrong is wrong, but what that lord did was nothing but long-term negligence. If someone doesn't research proper measures to stop the murder of their subjects and takes no responsibility, that is tantamount to aiding and abetting murder. I could not leave such a person be."
Akasa thought at least half of it was personal revenge. But the principle of action for killing the lord, even at the cost of being excommunicated, felt too light.
"On purpose...?"
The words slipped out. Urnil spoke in his head.
Akasa, having heard Urnil’s words, looked at Hisoral with a surprised expression.
"You killed the lord on purpose, didn't you?"
It was a confirmation. It was a guess by a god, but Akasa really wanted to hear the answer directly.
Hisoral looked at Akasa with a shocked face. This was clearly not the insight a young child could show. In reality, Akasa had only used words that others wouldn't notice to convey the conversation between Urnil and Akasa. But because of that, to Hisoral, it looked like the child’s deep insight.
"Child, who on earth are you..."
"Asdin."
Hisoral stopped speaking at Akasa’s words.
"My name is Asdin."
A pseudonym he had once used for the Sun Ferryman. Akasa gave that name once again. There was no particular reason. He just liked the name.
After looking at Akasa for a moment, Hisoral said:
"...Yes, Asdin. Thank you for telling me your name. But now, I would like to ask something. Would that be alright?"
Akasa nodded and added:
"If it’s a question I can answer."
It was a sharp answer. Hisoral smiled and said:
"I understand why you suddenly attacked me and tried to run away. It’s this kind of area, after all. However, I am curious how a child like you ended up in a place like this."
Hisoral pointed with his finger.
"That silver hair. Black eyes. Sun-tanned body. No matter how I look at it, those are typical features of a Cellabrisian. But as far as I know, I’ve heard that Cellabrisians never abandon their children."
"My parents could have been exiled people."
"A hypothetical, I see. Your discernment might be innate, but your vocabulary is clearly that of someone who has been educated. I don't think someone with the kind of thinking that would get them exiled from Cellabris could have educated you like that. That sword, and your staff-wielding skills."
Hisoral shook his head and asked:
"What is going on? This old man has nowhere to go anyway. But at least I have the capacity to help one child."
"You’re going to help me? You?"
Akasa let out a hollow laugh. He couldn't even ask the Sun Ferryman for help. But the person in front of him was a priest who had even been excommunicated from his temple. How could such a person help him?
Akasa felt the heart and sorrow exploding within him surging like an active volcano. He wanted to go back. He wanted to run around the palace as always, and bury himself in a bed filled with leather and soft bird feathers in the cool night breeze. He missed his father’s warm touch.
But that was beyond being remote; it was an impossible wish.
Hisoral had no way of knowing Akasa’s inner thoughts.
"If you want to help me. Then go ahead."
It was the pouting of a child who had lost everything to an adult. But Hisoral nodded as if it were only natural.
"Of course. What can I help you with?"
"Do you know why I ran away when I saw you?"
"That’s because you mistook me for an Exile, didn't you?"
"That’s right. But if you were just a simple Exile, you probably wouldn't have been able to react like you did. I definitely could have taken you down."
Akasa said with conviction. Naturally, that conviction was given by the god who had left the royal family and protected only him. There was no room for doubt.
"In that case, there is another reason you ran away from me?"
"There is a serial killer near here. I witnessed the murder scene from afar, and although I wasn't caught, I ran away too hastily. So I was on my way back to my hideout by taking a detour to erase my tracks. But then you appeared."
"...So that was the reason."
Hisoral, having received the answer, asked in an impatient tone:
"So, what does the killer you met look like? Do you happen to remember his appearance?"
Akasa nodded heavily. It was still vivid in his eyes. Gray hair. A physique where his narrow shoulders didn't stand out. A gentle-looking impression.
When he told him all of that, Hisoral suddenly hugged Akasa tightly.
"Uh, uh?"
"You ran away well. You survived well. This old man, no matter what happens, will protect you at all costs. With my life..."
Those were the words of an adult who had lost his young servant and could not forget the child’s bright laughter. Feeling his chest and eyes grow heavy, unknown tears flowed from Akasa’s eyes.