Chapter 79 “Bereavement”

Rick Pov

　...What is this?

　I've seen the joke of a scene many times in the recent past.

　Darzain. The kidnapping of Sania. Massive attacks in the city.

　I was aware that there was a huge crack in my routine.

But once we defeated Darzain and got Sania back, everything would be back to normal.

I would go to the academy with Gervas and Lefea and receive instruction from instructor Shelifa.

　At night, I help out at Angie's store with Sania.

Eventually, I'll become a holy knight and marry someone and have a warm family....　

　"Hey Rick. I don't know what to say, but it's time to face reality. I'm sure Refia is crying because you're ignoring her...probably."

Before I knew it, I raised my eyes, which had been downcast, and my eyes met Refia's.

　I looked at her eyes, which were not reflecting anything.

When I looked further away, I saw Refia's body at Gervas's feet.

　For some reason, she was headless.

　Slowly reality seeps into my head.

　"Re, leh-fu...what...so?"

　The days I spent with her come back to my mind.

　The first day we met, the words we exchanged, the time we shared.

　"Ah...ah...ah...ah! Aaaaah!"

　The fact that I can now speak my own voice slips out of my head and a meaningless scream erupts from my mouth.

　I felt my rattle and my routine crumble.

　Then I glared at Gervas.

　"Geeerrrr Vaaaas!!!! You! You!!!!"

I glared at him with hatred.

　Gervas sees this and laughs coolly.

　"You've got a nice look on your face, don't you?"

　He puts the big sword back on his back and walks over to me and sits down so that we are eye to eye.

　"Do you hate me?"

Of course I do!

　"Do you want to kill me?"

　I'll kill you!

　"Then come to the big church at the academy and I'll deal with you there."

　Gervas stood up and made a face as if remembering something, "Oh."

　"I'm not sure if Angie's store will be alright now that the city is in such a mess."

　I widen my eyes when I hear that.

　"Oh..."

I'm about to say something when I get a shock to the back of my head.

My consciousness becomes distant.

　"I'll be waiting for you, so come, okay?"

　I heard Gervas's voice and my consciousness was interrupted.

When I regained consciousness, there were no black robes around me, only Refia's corpse was left behind.

I closed her eyes, placed her head on my chest, and then, though I felt bad about it, stripped off the jacket of the corpse nearby and hung it over her head.

This is all I can do now, but I vowed to myself that I would mourn her when it was over, and I ran.

I couldn't forgive Gervas, but I had to save Angie first.

　I ran toward Kaiko-tei.

　The town looked so strange that I couldn't believe I was in a familiar place.

　Residents are killing each other for some reason, and a large number of black robes appear from somewhere.

　Houses on fire. It was as if I had wandered into a nightmare.　

　I ignore the surrounding scene and head straight for my destination.

　Fortunately, it's not far from here, so I manage to get there...

　"Oh no..."

　Broken windows. A broken door.

　I enter the shop with a dazed look on my face. The inside of the store had been ransacked, and there was not a shadow to be seen.

And Angie-san was stuck to the wall of the store with daggers, like a specimen of an insect.

　"Oh...Miss Angie!"

　I ran up to her and noticed .........

A lot of blood was dripping from her slack-jawed face.

　Fearfully, I lifted my face .......

　I looked at it and vomited.

　I vomited until there was nothing left to vomit, then I cried for a while... and sat up weakly.

　Why...why...why did this happen...?

　That's all I could think about for a while.

For a while, I was stunned next to Angie, who I laid on the floor, unable to do anything,......, but I slowly stood up. I felt a dusky blackness welling up from my chest.

...Oh, I hate it....

　I hate Darzain. I hate Gervas.

　I hate everything that took away my daily life.

　And....

　...I have to go...

　Sania.

　My last remaining daily life. I can't let her go...

　I - Heidi - am currently walking alone in the ruins.

　I had planned to sneak in, but since the holy knight who was guarding the entrance and exit was not present, I decided to go straight in.

　I knew the way to go when I went in the other day, so I went deep into the ruins at once.

My target was the unexplored section.

　If my guess is correct, ...... should be neither unexplored nor unexploited.

　But it's still strange.

　I don't see the knights who should be guarding the place from a while ago.

There really is no one here.

　No sign of anyone.

In the end, I arrived at my destination without meeting anyone.

　A passageway blocked by an additional door. The last time I was here, it was still unexplored and off-limits...

　I put my hand on the door. I thought it might be locked, but the door opened without any problem.

I proceeded down the back passageway, but found nothing.

　However...there were some places that had been touched by human hands and there were some marks where something had been removed, so it was hard to believe that the site had not been explored before.

After walking for a while, I found a staircase and headed down.

　The place where we went down was quite different from the place above.

　There were many narrow passages, and at the end of them were small doors made of the same material as the walls.

　And....

　...the smell of life.

　Humans, being living creatures, smell. And in a sealed underground space like this, it is noticeable.

　I suppose they are using magic and tools to cope with it, but there is a limit.

　According to my estimation, at least a dozen people were living here.

　When I opened one of the doors, I found a simple bed and the remains of a meal.

　I opened several other doors, but they were all in a similar state and there was no one inside.

　It was too much for me to go through all the rooms, so I decided to leave at a reasonable place and go to the back.

　As I went deeper in, a bad smell caught my nose.

　Blood. It's quite common for the smell to reach this far.

　When I got out into the open, I involuntarily clamped my mouth shut.

　What I found there was literally a pile of dead bodies.

　From their clothes and equipment, I guessed that they were the knights and holy knights who were guarding this place.

　The bodies were badly damaged, and there were even signs that they had been relentlessly beaten.

　And above all...the expressions on their faces.

The faces of the corpses as far as I can see are still etched with emotions such as anger and despair.

　I don't know what their intentions were in doing this, but at least they couldn't have done this in a sane state.

I feel a surge of fear as I catch a glimpse of Darzain's madness, but I suppress it with anger.

　There is nothing more I can learn by looking at the bodies, so I head further in.

I proceeded downward, but by all appearances it did not appear to be unexplored and under investigation.

I proceeded, paying attention to traps just in case, but there were none.

I wondered how long it had been since I entered the ruins... I was feeling impatient inside when I arrived at the deepest part of the site.

　It was a vast space, originally empty, but now overflowing with horrendous things.

　Bottled human body parts. A bed covered in blood.

　A corpse that looked like it had been spliced together from other people's parts.

　Unintelligible figures on the walls and floor. A magic circle...is that what it is?

　On a shelf with a large number of papers.

　I picked them up and skimmed through them, but the contents made me feel sick.

　At first, it started with research materials on the magic circle for summoning demons, then the abilities of the summoned demons, how to select a catalyst....

　The contents of the book became more and more extreme as it progressed.

　The experiments to transplant a part of a demon removed from the demon to a human so that it can use its abilities, etc... Finally, I couldn't bear to look at it and put the bundle of papers back on the shelf.

　Look to the back of the space.

　There was something that would have been there originally.

　A pedestal. Perhaps the rumored holy sword was stuck in it.

　So the sword was found after the search was over.

And they were using it as a cover for Darzain, forbidding outsiders to enter on the grounds that the search had not yet been completed?

In other words, Darzain and Gnosis were collaborating behind the scenes.

　But why?

　I muttered unintentionally.

　Then why were the knights who were supposed to be in a cooperative relationship dying up there?

　And it's strange that no one is here at this supposed base of operations.

　The possible reason is....

　Because they have no use for this place anymore. I involuntarily look up.

　At least if they didn't run away, there must be a big movement.

　I checked all the abandoned items just to be sure, then turned on my heel and went back the way I came.

　I might as well hurry.

　I'm gonna kill you.

　I - Rick - was running as fast as I could down a familiar... but changed road.

　Dead bodies and blood on the road. There are fires everywhere.

　I ignore everything in sight and just look ahead.

　I see black robes, but they only glance in my direction and do nothing.

　It seems that knights and holy knights are fighting, and I hear the sounds of sword fights and magic being used.

　...Why?

　As I run, I think about how I'm going to kill Gervas.

I vowed that at the very least, I would make him regret killing Refia.

　But I also think about Gervas's behavior.

　Why didn't I notice it?

　Now that I think about it, there was something strange about his behavior.

--The black robes came on my side, too.

　That was when Sania was kidnapped.

I didn't pay attention to it at the time, but it was as if it knew that the black robe had appeared at the place where I and Refia were chasing her at that time.

It's also odd that he reacted immediately when I mentioned Roe's name.

He just said it was a rumor and didn't seem to know about Roe personally.

　The more I think about it, the more I find his behavior strange.

　I wanted to tear myself to pieces and wonder why I hadn't noticed, but that would have to wait until later.

　I went through the gate and entered the church grounds.

　My goal is to enter a large church that only believers and related people are allowed to enter.

　I open the double doors and enter.

　"Hey, you're late."

　Gervas, who was sitting on the couch, raised his hand lightly in his usual tone.