Chapter 57
She couldn't imagine Yuriene not hating the Demon of the Demon Sword. The dream she had a few days ago came to mind. A corpse, smiling as it spoke. A corpse that mocked her, asking if she dared to love it.
Emotions flooded, surging over the wall of reason. The wave reached her fingertips. The hand resting on Amethyst trembled. She drew the sword in a half-crazed state.
The moment she pointed it at Yuriene, she realized another problem.
The tip of the blade, aimed straight, was at Yuriene's chest. A pale man stood beyond the cold metal. She held an object made to cut people, and she was pointing it at him.
A sword. A pale man. Spreading red blood. Death. In front of the fountain, a mountain of corpses, the man she killed, eyes that couldn't close. Nightmarish memories flashed in her mind.
Her heart pounded in terror, as if having a seizure. Her breathing quickened. The color drained from her face in an instant. The tip of the blade trembled uncontrollably. Tears welled up in her eyes, blurring Yuriene's figure beyond the blade.
[Hey, what's wrong with you?]
The Demon Sword Bardelgiosa. Murderous intent. Malice. Things that stained and controlled her body. As soon as she heard the Demon Sword's voice, she felt a sticky sensation, as if murderous intent was coiling around her fingertips. She saw a vision of herself turning black.
Cadet Ekinesia Roaz shuddered and threw the sword she was holding to the ground. She clutched at her mouth, which felt like it was about to scream. And she stepped back.
"Ekinesia?"
Yuriene, noticing that she was acting strangely, approached her in confusion. Eki retreated as he approached. Then he stopped coming closer. With a face as pale as hers, he couldn't bring himself to approach further, and he carefully examined her.
"Ekinesia."
A soothing, mournful voice. She didn't have the presence of mind to read what was contained in that call. Eki shook her head frantically. She retreated further. Yuriene gritted his teeth. Just as he was about to say something.
Eki and Yuriene turned their heads at the same time. In the darkness below the valley, red lights, like the eyes of fierce beasts, rose one by one. Uproarious shouts, rough footsteps, and amidst the noise, a savage command rose like a flag.
"Witch! Bring the witch!"
Yuriene lowered his body and approached the valley. Eki picked up Amethyst again, which she had thrown away herself. At the same time, she quickly wiped away the tears that had welled up.
Her heart was still pounding madly, and there was still a tremor in the hand holding the sword, but her face had regained its composure.
If she were the kind of person who couldn't move when she needed to because she was overwhelmed by emotions, Ekinesia would have been devoured by the Demon Sword long ago, let alone getting a second chance by turning back time.
She quickly composed herself. She regulated her breathing and approached the valley, holding Amethyst.
The atmosphere below was close to mass hysteria. A dozen people held up torches. A small child was sprawled out among the large adults.
A noose made of rough rope was around the child's neck, pulling it like a leash. Long, unkempt gray hair, tangled like animal fur, swayed weakly. An old man behind kicked the child and shouted.
"You damn bitch! My son died because of you!"
"What did you do to our village!"
"Little witch! Did you eat your mother too?"
"Get the oil, oil! We have to burn the witch to kill her completely!"
A man who seemed to be the ringleader shook a torch with an excited tone. The faces, sparsely revealed under the reddish light, were all distorted like demons.
Some of the people carried wooden barrels and poured oil all over the shabby shelter. The ringleader grabbed the child by the scruff of the neck and lifted her up.
Yuriene, having confirmed all of that and grasped the situation, gripped the Holy Sword Rangiosa. He said in a quick tone.
"Ekinesia, that child is likely the Elgiosa Owner. I will stop the people, so may I ask you to take care of the child?"
"Yes, Lord."
Eki replied briefly. He didn't look back at her. Even after seeing her wavering a moment ago, he didn't check on her condition. As if, now that she had answered that she would do it, there was no need to doubt.
He stepped on protruding rocks and trees and jumped down into the valley. It was almost like falling.
Eki also followed him down. An ivory dress fluttered in the darkness.
In the meantime, the ringleader threw the child inside the oil-soaked shelter. He closed the door and dragged wooden barrels and rocks in front of the door to prevent the child from coming out. It seemed they were trying to burn the child to death along with the shelter.
[Feels good! It's so intense.]
The Demon Sword said, humming. Malice and murderous intent that Bardelgiosa would like must be overflowing in the valley. Eki frowned. The tremor in her hand completely disappeared, and her heart began to beat for another reason.
Even if that child wasn't a Giosa Owner, she had no intention of watching a young child burn to death before her eyes. She became impatient.
Yuriene reached the bottom first. One man was bringing a torch close to the shelter to set it on fire. Yuriene threw Rangiosa without looking back. The Holy Sword accurately cut through the upper part of the torch the man was holding and stuck into the ground.
"Ugh!"
The man, holding the remaining stub of the torch, was terrified and sat down. The eyes of the people, surprised by the white sword that suddenly flew in, turned to the direction from which the sword had come.
"Wh, what?"
"Where did the sword suddenly come from..."
When Yuriene appeared in the darkness wearing a white uniform, they looked as if they had seen a ghost. The ignorant people didn't recognize the Azure Knights' uniform or crest, but they could tell from his appearance alone that he was no ordinary person. An uneasy voice floated among them.
"Wh, who..."
Yuriene approached them. It was not a hurried pace. That relaxed attitude became a heavy pressure, pressing down on the surroundings.
Icy eyes, as if frost would fall, swept through the people. Everyone who met his gaze was startled and lowered their heads or avoided his eyes.
He was alone, and there were more than ten villagers, so it would have been worth trying to show off, but the people naturally stepped aside to let him pass. An icy silence descended over the blazing madness.
He slowly crossed through them and picked up Rangiosa, which was stuck in the ground. Then, with his back to the shelter, he looked down at the ringleader, who was sitting down.
The ringleader was a middle-aged man who looked to be in his forties. Yuriene was not pointing his sword at him, but was simply letting it hang down, but the man had the expression as if a knife had been placed on the back of his neck. Yuriene asked in a dry tone.
"Which village are you residents of?"
"Wh, wh, who are you?"
"I am the captain of the royal guard. I asked which village you belong to."
"Azure...?"
It didn't take long for the bewildered question to become a commotion, and then shock. Even if they were ignorant enough not to recognize the Azure Crest, everyone knew what kind of place the Azure Knights were. Ignoring the murmuring people, Yuriene stared at the ringleader and said quietly.
"Don't make me ask three times."
The gaze looking down was heavy. The ringleader swallowed hard and barely answered.
"W, we are from, Go, Gote Village. It's north of here..."
While Yuriene was dealing with the villagers, Eki was breaking the window of the shelter. It was difficult to open the door blocked by rocks and wooden barrels without using sword energy, so breaking the window was faster. The Amethyst striking the wooden shutter was soaked with oil.
She quickly cleared away the broken shutter and jumped inside. The inside was complete darkness. The light from the torches outside, shining through the window she had broken, flickered faintly. Eki checked the inside with that light.
The child was huddled in a corner, covering her head with both hands. The curled-up body was small.
She deliberately didn't suppress her presence and approached the child. Each time her heel clicked, the child's shoulders twitched. A noose made of rope was still around her slender neck.
Eki was not skilled at dealing with young children. She was used to the childish Demon Sword, but it wasn't an actual child.
Still, she knew that she shouldn't just drag out a terrified child who had almost been burned to death. If she forcibly took her out, the child, already trembling with fear, would be shocked.
Yuriene was outside, so there was no chance of a fire starting. She decided to reassure the child first. She crouched down in front of the child. The hem of her dress touched the floor and became dirty with the pooled oil, but she didn't care. She made her voice as soft as possible.
"It's okay. I won't hurt you."
The child trembled and moved as if she wanted to dig into the wall. She scratched at the wall with her hands. Bloodstains remained where she scratched. She seemed to be out of her mind with fear. She didn't even know if she understood what she was saying.
Eki hesitated for a moment and then reached out her hand very slowly. A hand wearing a lace glove touched the child's dirty, scarred foot. The child's toes curled up with a flinch.
Huddled in the corner of the wall, there was nowhere else to retreat, nowhere to hide her feet. The child's whole body trembled. A moan, as if holding back tears, leaked out.
"I came to save you."
She said in a whisper, covering the child's foot with her hand. She covered the parched bare feet as if a bird's wings were cradling an egg. Her body temperature was transmitted through the thin gloves. In that state, she said carefully.
"My name is Ekinesia Roaz, you can call me Eki. You can just call me older sister. What's your name?"
At those words, the child lifted her head slightly, which she had been burying. A large gray eye was visible between the arms that had been covering her head as if taking a defensive posture.
'Gray hair, gray eyes... It's a Sol.'
The Sol, a nationless people wandering all over the continent. They were a nomadic people who wandered without a fixed residence and lived by fortune-telling, performing arts, music, and selling miscellaneous goods.
Outsiders who could not form a group were easily rejected and not protected. They were also easy targets for discrimination and crime.
She roughly knew what had happened. Something bad must have happened in that village, and this Sol child was blamed as the culprit.
She would have to investigate the details to know for sure, but the context was obvious. Calling a child, who must have never hated anyone to be able to use the Elgiosa, a witch was outrageous.
"Will you tell me your name?"
Eki asked again, meeting the child's eyes.
