Chapter 046
Adolf sat blankly, not bothering to fix his ruined makeup.
Susan's complexion, too, grew darker in response. She felt anxious, not knowing the circumstances. If she asked, the kind-hearted Madam would explain it all with kind gestures and words, but now she just didn't want to.
Susan knew that Adolf only appeared clownish on the surface. He hid his gentle face behind garish makeup. Sometimes, she found that pitiful. Now, he openly wore a sorrowful expression. It frustrated her that she couldn't offer a single word of comfort.
"Auntie, what about uncle? Is Uncle Zima okay? Hm?"
Susan earnestly watched the little girl's small lips. Not knowing what else to do, she sought help from Adolf with a pleading glance, but he remained unchanged.
So, for now, she decided to comfort her by holding her. Susan pulled the girl towards herself.
Just then, she met Ran's eyes as he descended the stairs.
'Ah?'
Susan, who could neither hear nor speak, could read others' emotions well from their faces.
Ran looked exhausted. He seemed as dark as half-burnt firewood. But within him remained a clear ember that could reignite at any time.
Step.
To prove it, Ran gave a faint smile. It looked almost forced.
It was an expression that young man wore often, one full of stories.
Susan was in a precarious position. For demons in times like these, even finding a place to cling to was difficult. Thanks to Adolf's consideration, she could live here like it was her own home. Adolf only asked her to do chores like cleaning and laundry, nothing else.
Providing a pitiful young man with a lap pillow had not been part of the arrangement for very long.
'What on earth happened?'
She'd awoken at dawn to the urgent pounding on the shop door. When she went out, she found Ran there, cradling a bleeding man and a demon girl in his arms.
"I'm sorry. I made you like this."
Ran approached Emma first, kneeling to make eye contact with the girl.
Emma stared at Ran while nestled in Susan's embrace.
She knew that the man before her was the same person as the one behind the beak mask.
'But why is he apologizing?'
She couldn't ask outright.
Long ago, her father, who had left home, suddenly returned one day, accompanied by a man named Jack.
He killed her parents.
The madman lied that the Emperor's army had burst in and committed the horrible act. Emma pretended to believe him obediently—she was afraid.
She ended up spending quite some time with the murderer who killed her parents.
Every night, she bit her wrists so her sobs wouldn't escape. The bruises never faded. When the murderer asked why she was hurt, she lied and said she fell, only to get slapped suddenly. Even so, he would soon return, crying and apologizing.
It was this man who finally ended those hellish days with his own hands.
"Your eyes are golden."
Perhaps it was just something to say.
Emma stared at Ran's pupils, thinking they shone like gold dust. Had they always glimmered like this? The thought slipped out unintentionally.
"Cyrano? No, hm."
Adolf held his words mid-sentence. He hadn't had much confusion living as Adolf for so long.
After meeting the Lisicha high priest once, he never saw the clergy twice.
Ran seemed to pick up on it. Without giving any sign, he slowly stood and approached Adolf.
"Please, take care of the bishop."
Ran placed two thick bundles on the table.
Adolf had much he wanted to talk about with Ran. There were questions he had to ask. But he decided not to.
There were several swords hanging from Ran's waist.
They originally belonged to Zima.
That answered everything.
"What do you plan to do now?"
"I have to survive. Me, and that child too."
When he broke the barrier with God's power, Ran had observed the situation in the Imperial Capital.
He had overheard the conversation between Zima and the Emperor.
He had confronted the heart of the conspiracy. It had already been a long time since contact with Quersa had been lost.
Ran knew exactly what he had to do in this situation.
"I will escape Gerinhild."
Rel. He had to go there.
After confronting the true 'vessel' there, Ran had decided to follow his instincts.
Zima's parting words had left a deep impression.
Adolf shook his head.
"The Holy Church must have already taken measures. The guards at each gate will certainly be stricter."
"It won't be easy."
"Are you planning to take that child with you?"
"Of course."
Adolf recalled Ran's back as he saw it in the church the night before.
The back of someone who had not given up.
It was the same even now. He was full of conviction.
"I'll help you, brother."
The revelation from God had been wrong.
Yet Adolf felt relief. He did not ask himself why he felt such a thing.
* * *
Around noon, ominous rumors began to spread from the inner areas of Gerinhild.
'A heretical inquisitor who invaded the Imperial Capital has assassinated the crown prince.'
Most people dismissed it as absurd nonsense.
None were unaware that Nelga, the gatekeeper of the capital, was an exceptional mage. Not only would breaking through a gate held by such a person be impossible, but assassinating the crown prince on top of that was simply inconceivable.
If the rumor was true, the entire empire would be thrown into chaos.
But as people saw key members from the capital guards and the palace guard entering the Special Unit headquarters non-stop, their suspicions grew.
The rumor spread rapidly.
People from the outer walls also heard the news. The story became more and more distorted with every retelling.
"While Nelga dozed off for a moment, a rat slipped into the capital. The crown prince found out and flew into a rage, which led to this mess."
An emergency order had just been issued at Gate 8 of the outer wall and at North Gate 2 as well.
Two guards assigned to checkpoint duty chatted idly at the gate.
"Nah, no way. The kind-hearted prince would never do such a thing."
"You speak as if you know him personally."
"Hey, cut it out! If people eating palace grain talk like you, what should the rest say? Tsk tsk."
"Still, with all this fuss, it does feel like something's going on."
The guard absentmindedly looked up. The massive city wall always amazed him. The legend that God himself built it for humankind using divine power was famous.
Of course, these days, people avoided talking about that legend.
His gaze naturally shifted downward.
He frowned.
"Ugh, damn it! Ptui!"
"What is it?"
"That. Why the hell did they hang those things here?"
The guard spit phlegm on the ground and pointed with his finger.
Hanging from a long rope from the watchtower were two corpses. Against the gray stone wall, their grotesque forms were all too visible. Occasionally, a breeze set their bodies swaying miserably.
"They couldn't hang them at the inner gate."
"I just mean, why out of the eight gates did they pick this one?"
"Because it's closest to the Special Unit, of course."
Soon, the gates would be opened and the drawbridge lowered.
More guards were brought in. Even from above, there was a commotion. Crossbowmen were posted along the wall connected to the watchtower.
'Intense...'
Due to the emergency, entry and exit were handled separately at each pair of four city gates.
Today, north Gate 2 only controlled people leaving the city.
The head guard gathered his men. He unfurled a rolled-up parchment.
A young man's face was drawn on it.
"Former Special Unit member. Name: Ran. Early twenties, tall. If sighted, do not engage recklessly. Report his location. He must be captured alive."
The assembled guards flicked their eyes to check the face.
"Yes, sir!"
"Don't let rumors distract you from your duty. If, by any chance, he escapes Gerinhild alive, we'll all be stripping off our uniforms."
The head guard left the scene, hiding his anxiety. He had spoken around the subject, but everyone sensed the tense mood.
'If losing the job was all there was to worry about, we'd be lucky.'
The rumor was becoming accepted as fact. The knowledgeable officers were staying quiet and careful.
Kugugu―
The massive gate opened. A moat as wide and deep as a river was exposed. The wide drawbridge slowly came down over it.
"Please cooperate with inspection procedures."
Inspections were stricter than usual. Some nobles complained, but when they saw the bodies hanging over the gate, they fell silent.
The atmosphere was eerie.
"You there! Who are you?"
A guard monitoring the waiting line shouted out.
A man in priestly garb was standing outside the line, staring up at the hanging corpses.
The guard approached and, seeing the man up close, recognized him.
"Priest Rashid? What brings you here?"
The man known as Lisicha in Quersa, Adolf in the backstreets, and Rashid at the outer church mumbled quietly.
"How pitiful."
The priest's gaze did not waver. The guard frowned at him.
"Go home. Things are unsettled enough as it is—don't stir things up."
"Brother, who are they?"
"Supposedly inquisitors, or something? Anyway, everyone is on edge about the Special Unit right now. If you make yourself so conspicuous, even as a priest, who knows what trouble you might get into."
The guard was a devout member of the Holy Church—with just enough scorn for a demon-born priest mixed into his tone.
"They struggled in the shadows, fighting to make the Lord's light shine even brighter."
"I don't know what you're getting at, but take it easy."
The priest never looked at the guard.
Step, step.
He drew closer, looking up at the bodies in detail.
They were barely in their twenties—young men.
Suddenly the priest knelt, pressing his hands together devoutly. His eyes slid shut.
Clack!
A metallic sound rang out everywhere. The crossbowmen atop the wall aimed at him.
"What are you doing! Drag him out of there!"
The head guard shouted as he approached, grinding his teeth.
"Hey, priest Rashid. Don't you know that your prayers for the dead could end up making the living into dead, too?"
But the priest ignored him and focused on his prayer. The mumbling grew louder.
The head guard nervously scratched the back of his neck and gestured to his men.
Two guards each grabbed one of the priest's arms and forced him up.
"How dare you!"
At last, the priest rebuked them.
"I am a son of the Lord, a shepherd who serves near Him—how dare you treat me with such cruelty!"
"Has he lost his mind?"
They could feel the stares of those waiting in line. Among them were nobles with deep faith. Even if he was a demon, a priest was still a priest.
The head guard bit his lip.
Clip clop, clip clop—a horse's hoofbeats gently tapped the ground behind him, then passed by.
"Let's try and help each other, yeah? Do you think we wanted to hang those bodies out here? Orders from above, that's all."
But cajoling and comforting did no good. The priest soon shouted,
"Do not disturb the rest of the holy martyrs—! The Lord sees the sins you commit!"
In the confusion, Ran had made his way to the front of the procession.
'Corbinian, Eden.'
Adolf was offering a eulogy for the fallen brothers in his stead.
Ran bowed his head in silent prayer, reflecting on the knots of fate between him and them.
Peco, Corbinian, Eden, and Zima.
He had thought they were fleeting encounters.
Whatever their reasons and aims, his life now rested atop their deaths.
"Hey! Can't you hear?"
Ran stared at Corbinian's blank eyes.
"Take off your robe. If you refuse again, you'll be arrested."
Ran quietly took off his robe, casting his gaze downward. The guard who made eye contact with him flinched for a moment.
'No way?!'
He hadn't survived on the job for nothing. Even if he wasn't as sharp as the Special Unit, he prided himself on reading people.
He glanced between the face on the parchment and the one mounted on the horse.
"Ran?! It's Ran—Ran!"
The voice, quiet and hesitant at first, soon grew louder and spread like ripples on water. Soon, murmurs exploded through the crowd.
Ran's cloak split, and something shot out in a straight line from inside.
"Ghk!"
The hilt of a sword smashed the guard's front teeth. He fell to the ground, clutching his mouth.
Neigh!
Ran yanked the reins hard. The horse reared and dashed ahead like an arrow.
"What are you waiting for! Get him!!"
The head guard shouted, head reeling. Even so, the priest didn't stop praying.
'Was the priest trying to create a distraction at the checkpoint?'
Thanks to the priest's commotion, the guards were momentarily disorganized.
But it was too late to realize it now. The fugitive was already crossing the drawbridge. Guards, felled as they tried to stop him, groaned everywhere. Arrows thudded uselessly into the space where the horse had been.
The head guard, mind blank, shouted,
"R-raise the bridge! Raise the bridge, now!!"
The head guard ran to the drawbridge's entrance, staring after Ran's retreating horse. Even amid the chaos, the pounding of angry hooves rang clear.
"The Lord Himself has descended to punish us fools—!"
The center of the drawbridge was splitting apart. Ran didn't stop. He charged up the rapidly steepening slope.
Those watching from behind stared in awe. The horse seemed to launch into the sky. The billowing cloak looked like a pair of black wings.
Leaving behind Adolf's prayerful cries, Ran soared with all his might.
-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】