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What greeted Rohan and Arpel as they moved to the source of the noise were only the desolate remnants of battle. Though not as severe as the place they had just left, the rough sword marks remaining suggested an intense fight had taken place.
Torn earth, broken trees, and bloodstains of unknown origin.
Rohan silently observed the bloodstains coloring the ground, trying to steady his breath. As if hoping the owner of this blood wasn’t who he thought it was.
Yet he couldn’t ignore the familiar holy power spread throughout the forest, centered on where they stood. That power belonged to Leriana and Casia, which he had seen and felt many times before. Unpleasant thoughts filled his mind.
“Arpel. This holy power…”
Rohan stammered with a trembling voice. Arpel didn’t bother to answer him. He just silently grasped Rohan’s hand.
The two had headed here after hearing the noise that erupted during the battle, arriving quickly. But the situation had already been resolved. Those who had fought had vanished without a trace, including Leriana and Casia.
What reason could there be for such a hasty disappearance? They considered various possibilities, but half of them tended towards unfavorable outcomes. That’s why Arpel could understand the anxiety flowing through their joined hands.
“It’s too early to jump to conclusions.”
They might be pursuing the enemy, you know. Arpel whispered softly.
They couldn’t just dwell on negative possibilities. He also didn’t want to see Rohan discouraged by uncertain assumptions. So he offered this small comfort.
Perhaps he was also instilling hope for himself. After all, he too didn’t want anything bad to happen to Leriana and Casia, with whom he had spent a long time. Arpel didn’t yet realize that his feelings towards them resembled the ‘concern’ he felt for Rohan.
“…Yes, you’re right, Arpel.”
Fortunately, Rohan seemed to regain his spirits at those words. Since the chaotic battle had ended not long ago, there were quite a few traces they could find here. If they followed these, they might be able to catch up without much difficulty.
“It seems they didn’t completely erase their tracks, so we should be able to follow them. As for the others…”
“The mercenary guild probably noticed the commotion too, so it should be fine if we go ahead first. The temple… probably the same. If you’re really worried, let’s leave a trace for them separately.”
Arpel briefly recalled the temple that had shown no response despite their request for support. The chances of them responding to this commotion seemed low, but… for now, tracking down the missing Leriana and Casia was more important than investigating the temple’s unusual situation.
After leaving a sign that they were pursuing the two, Rohan took the lead and delved deeper into the forest. Footprints left on the soft soil indicated the direction they should go. As he followed behind, pushing aside dense vegetation, Rohan, who had been unable to hide his subtle anxiety, suddenly spoke up.
“Arpel, you know.”
Earlier…
Their eyes met as he glanced back. The golden eyes shining dimly in the darkness held an unusually complex light today. Worry about the situation at hand, and… Arpel tilted his head, pausing in his assessment of Rohan’s emotions.
He could read the same anxiety and unease as before from him. The only difference was that the object of those emotions was none other than himself. Questions arose about the unpredictable reason. Why suddenly like this? Was he feeling unwell? Though he thought he had checked thoroughly, could he have been injured in the earlier battle?
As various doubts unconsciously grew larger.
“No, it’s nothing. Let’s talk later, us.”
Rohan cut off those thoughts in an instant. Arpel was momentarily at a loss for words. Leaving only the words to talk later, he turned his back and focused only on moving forward. Given the situation, it was impossible to stop him. Part of him wanted to grab his clothes and beg to know what was wrong.
Suppressing such feelings only led to more worries. He examined him visually several times, concerned about his condition, but there didn’t seem to be any problems. Then… suddenly his thoughts reached in a different direction.
‘Ah, is it that.’
Just before coming here, Arpel had told Rohan, who suggested they should return to the village to check the situation, that ‘Leriana is in danger.’
Rohan had questioned this but obediently followed. And as Arpel had said, they confirmed that Leriana and Casia had been attacked and disappeared. At that moment, along with worry for the two, Rohan harbored a small doubt.
The reason Arpel had guessed Leriana was in danger wasn’t grand. It was because he suddenly remembered the contents of the ‘novel’ that he hadn’t been paying much attention to due to how differently things had developed. In that moment of sudden recollection, Arpel realized he felt a sense of dissonance with the current situation.
The ‘mercenary disappearance case’ they were currently investigating had never been mentioned in the novel. It might not have happened originally, or it might have happened but wasn’t covered in detail. Only the author who wrote the novel would know the truth.
But one event similar to the current situation does occur.
The Salvation Church sought a solution to Rohan’s continued attacks. They tried hiring skilled individuals for large sums to guard their branches, but repeatedly failed. Rohan’s uncanny ability to attack the branches rendered all those efforts useless.
At that time, Rohan was traveling with Leriana, and their combination was theoretically perfect. One wielded overwhelming attacks, while the other possessed excellent healing abilities capable of recovering from any wound.
So they thought: let’s separate them. This plan targeted the relatively weaker Leriana, and they executed a diversion to draw Rohan’s attention away from her. They placed a strong enemy to blind Rohan’s eyes and then kidnapped Leriana, who had retreated to the rear.
Of course, this incident was neatly resolved when Rohan later successfully rescued Leriana. Known as the Saint Kidnapping Incident. He remembers that both temples were in an uproar and their relationship deteriorated quite a bit because of this.
‘…It’s similar.’
The problem is that this is quite similar to the current situation. Centering on the fundamental case of missing mercenaries, targeting the two who separated to investigate it simultaneously. Moreover, Leriana and Casia even erased their traces after the battle.
He thought that perhaps all of this might have been aimed at their division from the beginning. Isn’t the development too well-matched to be a coincidence?
At that moment, Arpel’s expression hardened coldly. If his memory was correct, a rather troublesome fellow was involved in the novel’s incident. If the current situation had the same purpose as the novel… the probability of ‘that guy’ being involved in this was high.
“…This.”
The traces they were following continued, seeming to break off but never quite doing so. He wondered if this too might be a lure, but they couldn’t stop pursuing. Rohan steadfastly followed the remaining traces, and thus… they encountered the current situation.
Arpel, who had been staring intently at Rohan’s back, also took in the horrific scene unfolding before his eyes.
Blood spattered everywhere – on the ground, bushes, trees, the pungent smell of blood assaulting their noses, corpses strewn about… It was a scene of one-sided massacre. There was no other way to describe it.
Their eyes were not hindered by the darkness, so they could see everything in stark detail.
Rohan, who had been staring around in shock, moved a beat late. Urgency settled on his face. He didn’t even think to check the scattered corpses. At the end of the blood-soaked path, a half-collapsed abandoned house kept flickering in his eyes.
With each step, a splashing sound was heard. The blood-soaked soil had become completely wet beyond mere dampness. Following Rohan’s guiding hand, Arpel carefully checked their surroundings in his stead.
“……”
So, it was natural that the silver mercenary badge rolling on the ground caught his eye. The faces he belatedly confirmed were also familiar. Faces strikingly similar to the pictures in the documents Dein had shown were there.
Slam. Before he could mention this fact, Rohan flung open the door of the abandoned house. Arpel’s gaze naturally turned there. His slowly scanning eyes came to an abrupt stop at one spot.
A black figure slumped on the dirty floor, a pool of blood not just flowing but accumulated around it… and an all too familiar face.
“Casia!”
Immediately recognizing the identity of the person, Rohan hurriedly approached her. Arpel promptly examined her body. He could clearly feel the holy power circulating in her body. Although its speed was noticeably slower than usual, her life didn’t seem to be in immediate danger.
Rohan seemed to notice this fact as well, quickly calming down and continuing to speak.
“…We should perform first aid for now. Arpel, please stand guard just in case-“
The sentence meant to end with “please” couldn’t be completed. Something could be felt approaching from outside. Arpel, who had sprung up, tried to check outside but failed due to Rohan grabbing his collar.
“Rohan.”
A low call followed. You know too, don’t you. Calm eyes looked at him as if to soothe him, and a hand rose to pat his shoulder as if trying to provide stability.
The numerous presences approaching are not enemies. The holy power rising from them was telling them so. Yet Rohan couldn’t let go of Arpel’s hand.
He too knew that those approaching from outside were not their enemies. Even though he knew… why was he anxious? His unsettlingly beating heart kept bothering him.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
