During the Eight Year War, the Emperor always memorized the list of fallen soldiers even though he was busy. It would have been enough to simply provide appropriate compensation to the bereaved families, but he took the time he didn't have and pondered over the list of their fallen soldiers and the faces of those that had been killed.
"That's because they wouldn't have died if it weren't for me."
It was avoidable. The Eight Year War was a war fought solely by his choice.
The position of a monarch was a position where the lives of countless people came and went with a choice.
Eduardo did not want to easily forget those who had become victims of his selfish choices just because they were dead.
If the head of a country did not take responsibility for what happened based on his or her own choices, who else would take responsibility?
Responsibility for the consequences of his choices. This was something that every person had to shoulder before becoming a monarch.
"Whether it's an enemy or an ally, aren't they all a victim of the choices I made?"
Then, they came to him in the form of dreams and hallucinations. It was a happy thing for him.
Elpidius could not easily continue speaking.
In the end, after a long time had passed, there was only one thing he could say.
"...You are foolish."
It was something he should not have dared say to the Emperor, but Eduardo just laughed.
Unlike usual, helpless laughter spread throughout the large room.
"I know. This, too, is a disease."
The Emperor muttered as he faced the people glaring at him from a corner of the room.
"I don't have an appetite, so I'll skip dinner tonight. Eat together with Alethea."
He has to entertain them.
After Elpidius, who hesitated, left, the Emperor, left alone, engraved the familiar faces of those approaching him in his mind and slowly closed his eyes.
He was hallucinating, but even with his eyes closed, he could clearly see them approaching still. No worries. Because they can't harm him directly anyway. That's enough.
Even though he vividly felt the hallucinations strangling his throat, he just laughed as if it was ridiculous.
There were too many things he was carrying to just collapse over these things.
***
After that, three days passed.
Three days cannot be considered short. Who knows whether Cruel might have found a capable alchemist in the meantime.
Actually, finding an alchemist is not that easy. 99 out of a hundred alchemists were from the south, but most of the Empire's territory was in the north.
Besides the 99, the teacher of the remaining one was from the South, so they had to go to the South to find an alchemist . However, Remember, a talented butler, did not complain at all in response to my unreasonable request to find the nearest alchemist, and managed to find one even though they were very reclusive.
Considering this, three days was an incredibly short time, but there was no way to know where Cruel was and what he was doing...
"...But Sir Lien."
"Yes, my lord."
"The back of my head is tingling..."
"It's my mood."
It's okay to go on a hike that isn't even in the middle of the mountain to find a village halfway up the mountain. It's hard, but it's bearable.
But I can't seem to shake off this stare stuck in the back of my head.
"I'm fine."
"I'm not okay. How dare I cause a situation by not even remembering the back of my master. It shouldn't happen. I'll keep it in my mind this time and make sure something like this never happens again."
"I said it's fine..."
"And please speak comfortably. The Count is my master."
You changed your mind just now, right? I looked at her with a sullen expression and then turned my head.
'Speak comfortably.'
She was noble. Unlike me, who held only an honorary position, she was a noble from a high-ranking family that could be inherited. Although she was not the head of the family, that did not mean that the power in the family disappears, so despite the master-servant relationship, it was more convenient for me to just show mutual respect.
So, let's compromise by speaking formally.
"I'm comfortable this way... Oh, there!"
"It's a village. I heard it was small, but I never thought it would be this small."
I nodded as I could see the size of the village at a glance.
Yes, that level was enough for an alchemist or shaman[1] to survive. Shamans were usually secluded beings. In that sense, that small town seemed very suitable for such a shaman to live in.
Remember said he couldn't guarantee whether there would really be a shaman, but...
"Let's go quickly."
"Yes."
After all, it was inevitable to have expectations. Lien and I hurried to the village entrance.
And.
"What the fuck?"
"..."
"Oh, did I say that with my mouth? I'm sorry, brother. I was so shocked that I blurted it out."
Coincidentally, I ran into Cruel.
Could a coincidence like this even happen? At this point, I was starting to wonder if he was stalking me.
But before I had such irrational suspicions, there was a solid reason to explain this encounter, so I kept my mouth shut and narrowed my brows.
'He came to find a shaman.'
According to what Remember said, all the shamans except here, even the closest ones, lived far South, so if he had any information, he would have had no choice but to come here as well.
But I couldn't help feeling uneasy.
So I closed my mouth with a frown and glared at him, but for some reason, his eyes got bigger and bigger. It seemed like I could hear the wind blowing from somewhere... No, just for a moment. The sound is getting closer?
–Whoa!
My vision wavered. For a moment, my mind was blown.
***
"Get the hell out of this town!!"
"Oh, calm down, grandma! Look at what they're wearing! They're high-ranking people! Hey, someone stop grandma!"
"The disaster, the disaster has come! We must drive them out! No, we must kill them!!"
"Master! Are you okay... Ah, the blood..."
"...Ha."
Deon, who had been motionless with his head down after getting hit in the head with a rock, raised his head with a short smile.
He laughed.
Lien, who had been staring blankly at the raised corner of his mouth, noticed his eyes and took a step back. Those were the eyes from back then. Those eyes that were shining with madness during the attack.
"My lord..."
"..."
Deon looked down at his palm after wiping up the area where he had been hit along with his hair.
Blood soaked. Even now, he could feel the warm liquid flowing down his temple, so the wound must be quite serious.
The bright red eyes, which shone even more horrifyingly because of the blood shed, slowly rolled towards the old woman who was making a fuss. The old woman was so strong that even though the men were clinging to her, she did not let go of the stone she was holding.
Deon, who was watching, roughly shook the blood off his hands and walked slowly.
As drops of blood splattered onto the dirt floor, the gazes that inadvertently turned toward him froze, engulfed in anxiety and fear. Lien couldn't take her eyes off him.
His head was messed up with blood. His eyes shone with a slight spark of madness.
Even so, the faces of those who were weighed down by the strangeness they felt in the thick and damp atmosphere began to quickly grow wary of him when they saw where his steps were heading.
It was the same for Lien.
"My lord...!"
"I won't kill her."
Anyone could see that it looked like he was trying to kill the old woman, but there was no way to doubt the lord's words. Lien stopped in place at the resolute words.
She tried to ignore the gazes of the villagers asking her to do something.
Since the lord had confirmed it, blocking him any further meant doubting him, and it was unacceptable for a knight to doubt the lord.
Besides, she already made two mistakes.
One was the failure to protect her lord. The other thing was that she failed to immediately draw her sword and respond when he was hit by a stone.
What right did she have to stop him after that?
'I was too focused on the confrontation between my lord and his brother.'
The discord between the superior and his family rattled her nerves in a different way.
As a result, external threats were overlooked.
Who would have thought that there would be someone in this rural village in the mountain valley who would pose a threat to the lord?
'...No, this is an excuse.'
The previous excuse became useless in that Lien was unable to raise her sword the moment he was hit by a stone.
'Even if the other person is an old woman, I should not have hesitated...'
While Lien clenched her fists and broke out in a cold sweat, Deon walked slowly and stood in front of the old woman, slightly bending his waist and making eye contact with the old woman.
The act of bending down and making eye contact would have been enough to be seen as consideration, but for some reason it only seemed like a mockery, so Lien tilted her head for a moment and soon found out why.
The conversation started in an uneasy manner after the wide open eyes and creepy red eyes stared at each other without moving. In that conversation—
"Hey, old woman."
"A disaster!"
"So, you call me a disaster?"
Deon grinned as he faced the old woman glaring at him.
The sight of him laughing and bleeding from his head was so bizarre that everyone held their breath.
Amidst the subtle tension, a playful voice soon followed.
"No. I'm closer to a 'sin' than a 'disaster'. Aren't I?"
"This person...!!"
***
I looked blankly at the grandmother who was yelling something and making a fuss. You have a lot of energy for your age.
Meanwhile, my head hurt like it was going to break again. Not a metaphor, really.
Now that I thought about it, I was hit by a rock. And this old lady shouted at me. I was a disaster and must be killed.
A disaster. It's a disaster...
'Well.'
If I were to be honest, I think I would be closer to a sin than a disaster.
I turned my head and looked for Cruel. He was watching me from a little distance with complicated, incomprehensible eyes.
As our eyes met, he naturally looked beyond me and approached me. No, to be more precise, to the grandmother and the men who were making a fuss.
"I came to look for a shaman."
An extremely cold voice came out.
Well, I didn't expect to see him worried about me getting hurt in the first place. I took the handkerchief Lien offered me and put it on my injured head and watched the situation.
"Actually, this old lady is a witch doctor... but she recently became senile..."
"Let go of me! I have to kill that guy!!"
"...So there are no more shamans in this village?"
"No, just her..."
Before he knew it, his eyes caught sight of a younger woman, who stepped forward grabbed the grandmother, and was gently persuading her.
"Grandma, calm down."
"Ran, kill that guy. You saw it too, right?"
"Of course I saw it. But no. My grandmother always said, you shouldn't treat people poorly because of something that hasn't happened yet."
Stand tall. The old woman's struggle stopped.
The old woman, whose eyes were blank as if she had been hit on the head, muttered absently as if she had just gained enlightenment.
"...Yes, I did."
The old woman turned her head and looked at me.
I was weighed down by the weight of the stare and tried to back away, but my weak reaction was canceled out by the old woman holding my shoulder tightly.
It hurt! I had clearly seen her fighting off the numerous people trying to hold her back, so she was indeed a very strong old woman.
"You."
"Yes, yes?"
"You should never hate anything."
"...Yes?"
"Never. Do you understand?"
Earlier, she was making a fuss, saying that she should throw stones and kill m, but now she was holding my shoulder and gently coaxing and advising me. Is this what you call senility? You have to have seen a senile person to know that.
...No matter how senile she was, an unfair thing is an unfair thing. . There's Cruel and Lien here, so why only me...!
'Ahh! This old lady is really strong!'
She was gripping my arm where the arrow hit me!!
When there was no answer, the hand holding my shoulder tightened.
After nodding hastily at the grip strength that couldn't be ignored, the old woman's hand dropped as if she was satisfied.
I massaged my throbbing shoulder and said gruffly: "I came here because I needed a shaman, but this old lady is a shaman?"
I can't do anything like this old lady who not only tried to kill me but almost broke my shoulder.
You told me not to hate anything, right? Honestly, there's no way that's possible for a human being. Let's start with the person I am now.
"..."
After taking one look at Cruel, I turned my head... Anyway, we need another shaman. Do we have no choice but to go down to the South? How long will it take?
"Let me follow you."
[1] So, the original text only says shaman. Prior to this, I've been changing every time the text says "shaman" to "alchemist." But the character we meet here is more of a shaman than an alchemist, so I decided to have the terms here be a bit more flexible. Hope it's not confusing.