Chapter 4. Wrath (5)
It was an accusation document. The magistrate who had written the accusation on Eckart’s behalf handed it over with a reluctant expression.
“For now, I’ll add what you’ve told me to the list. Originally there were quite a few accusers for this case, but they were all just absurd rumors, and since you’ve found out even the location, technically you’re the informant in this case. Do you understand what that means?”
It was something said with the intention of placing responsibility on Eckart if things went wrong, but he didn’t care at all. Having completed all the procedures, Eckart simply waited for night to come. As it grew dark again, the guards gathered one by one. Standing before them, Eckart held up the new accusation document and said.
“Today we go from here. We’ll attack immediately before they notice.”
“Oh. The angel of the back alleys? Are we really going to catch that male prostitute?”
“I was curious about that too! How did you find that out?”
“That’s not important. What’s more important is how we’re going to catch him.”
After assigning each person their duties on who would block which alleys around the building, Eckart led the guards to that place. The guards moved stealthily, going to their assigned positions to block the alleys. Eckart, along with adjutant Lef and several guards, surrounded the building.
After signaling to the guards, Eckart immediately kicked down the door. Unable to withstand the strong force, the latch was pulled out and the door opened with a clatter.
The room was littered with broken glass fragments. Crunch. The bodies of glass fragments under his feet broke further, making a chilling sound.
In the darkness-filled room, faint warmth remained. Wind blew through the broken window cracks, making the curtains flutter. The curtains, made of solid fabric with delicate gold thread embroidery, were clearly luxurious to anyone who saw them. The room brightened slightly by the pale moon. Inside the room lay a bed that hadn’t been moved and a single shoe that had lost its owner.
Whether it was for indoor wear, it had low heels and only the front part was pointed and closed, with embroidered fabric overlaid on leather making it splendid. Even the indoor shoes were luxuriously decorated with silver thread, showing that the owner of this room was certainly a person of considerable wealth.
There was a hand picking up the shoe. A regretful voice was added as well.
“Seems like they dropped their shoe while fleeing in haste. It would have been nice if they’d left the other one too. A shoe without its pair can’t fetch its proper price.”
Several people laughed at this.
“If you quickly find the owner and strip off the other shoe too, wouldn’t that work?”
“Why just the shoe? The clothes and accessories too, all must be stripped off. If they spent this much money on just one shoe, how much more splendid must the rest be? Selling them would bring in good money.”
“That’s too greedy. If you do that, the owner of this shoe will have to stand naked in court.”
“What’s wrong with being naked? They’re prostitutes who’ll undress anywhere for money anyway. Since they dared to make us waste our time, giving them that much punishment is something God would overlook.”
“True, that’s right. They escaped like little mice. To have had time to move their belongings, they must have been quite leisurely.”
They were laughing as if amused, but anger was underlying their voices. It was because their target had escaped. Someone who had come down the stairs reported whether the other rooms were any different.
“All rooms are completely empty! We checked under the beds too, but there’s nothing!”
“Captain, what should we do?”
Eckart quietly stared into the room. His sunken eyes were darker than the night sky. Eventually his mouth opened.
“Everyone go outside and investigate. Adjutant, you follow me. They probably couldn’t have gone far. Let’s look around the vicinity.”
“If the captain says so, I won’t stop you, but…”
The adjutant, Lef, couldn’t shake off his displeased expression for some reason. Always frowning, the deep wrinkles between his eyebrows made him look even more fierce.
“If they had already moved all their belongings before we came, doesn’t that mean they noticed long ago? That means word leaked…”
Lef looked around at those standing nearby. The officials, all wearing uniforms with swords at their waists, looked at him with anxious faces.
“There’s no point in searching when the rat is listening, wouldn’t you say, that’s what I mean.”
The air froze so coldly that even breathing became cautious. Everyone held their breath waiting for their captain’s words. He spoke in a voice as sharp and resolute as a sword blade.
“These are comrades who fought wars together with us. They could have stabbed us in the back at any time, and now you’re doubting their loyalty?”
“…No. That’s not what I meant… Now is the time to suspect every situation. Anyway, word definitely leaked somehow.”
Lef, who had been shrugging his shoulders, took out his frustration on the others for no reason.
“What are you all doing? Did you forget the captain’s order to investigate the surroundings? The longer time passes, the harder it becomes to find witnesses. Move quickly!”
“Yes!”
At Lef’s command, everyone scattered. Lef pocketed the shoe the guards had left behind while muttering.
“Geez, hard to see their faces. At this rate, we might not catch them.”
“Everything will be according to God’s will.”
“Well… that’s true. Anyway, if it continues like this, I’m itching to catch more. Captain, let’s hurry and look around.”
Eckart, who was about to go down the stairs, discovered something and cast his gaze there. A bronze statue lying in one corner was made in the image of God. A sinner who commits crimes violating scripture yet believes in God and offers prayers. This was probably a sight easily seen anywhere in this country.
There was no one who wasn’t a believer, and no one who wasn’t a sinner. Even he himself repeated days of committing sins every night and seeking forgiveness every morning…
Eckart turned his head without being able to shake off all his complexity. A premonition passed that tonight would be particularly long.
And at that time, Ronen was looking out the window from inside a swaying carriage.
The streets were bright due to people busily coming and going with torches and lanterns in their hands. The rain-soaked ground was densely packed with wheel tracks from how many carriages had passed through.
“Move quickly!”
“Ah! I left behind…”
“There’s no time to pack such things! Don’t you understand yet? Can’t you grasp the situation? They’ve come right to our doorstep! We have to flee as far as possible!”
Prostitutes who weren’t wealthy enough to rent carriages were moving with hurried steps, clutching armfuls of belongings. The faces of women whose entire bodies were blackened with grime from not being able to wash properly were rigidly hardened. Ronen couldn’t take his eyes off them as they passed by.
The end of the street was particularly bright. Only the fluttering hem of skirts of women running toward somewhere could be dimly seen. Originally it was a city that was noisy regardless of day or night, but today that feeling was different. Because everyone had expressions frozen with fear.
The attendant drew the curtains that Ronen had opened, blocking the outside view.
“Where are we going?”
Ronen asked, but the attendant didn’t answer. As always, he seemed to have been ordered not to make eye contact and not to tell him anything.
With eyes filled with frustration, he glanced at the curtained window. Following the rattling movement of the carriage, the curtains swayed, revealing gaps that appeared and disappeared repeatedly. It was night and dark outside, so there was almost nothing he could see in those brief moments, but he could distinguish the bustling movement of torches.
Besides the sound of wheels rolling and hooves clashing, outside commotion could also be heard faintly. Women’s screams, men’s shouts… He could be certain that something was seriously amiss.
According to what he’d heard through Osian, guards were stirring up brothel districts and dragging away prostitutes. That scope seemed broader than expected, as even prostitutes living quite far away appeared to be hastily taking to the road.
The carriage carrying Ronen had been running since afternoon without any thought of stopping even after the sun set, so they were probably quite far from where they originally were, yet everyone was hurrying their steps as if the guards had arrived right at their doorstep. The roads were nearly blocked by fleeing prostitutes.
Ronen’s gaze wouldn’t leave the window. Only the torches embroidering the dark night streets flowed by chaotically.
Only when night deepened did the carriage finally slow down. Outside was unusually quiet. It seemed like a secluded place where not only passersby but even buildings appeared empty.
The gatekeepers who had been in the luggage carriage that departed first supported Ronen as if holding him up. In their haste to leave, he had dropped a shoe, so one of Ronen’s feet was bare. When he stepped on the damply wet ground, it squelched and stuck to him. His toes were cold as if they would freeze.
No lights were lit along the roadside, so pitch-black darkness had descended. Only the lamp in Osian’s hand, who led the way, was the sole source of light, barely illuminating the surroundings. Whether it wasn’t well-maintained, the ground was uneven. Even though he was trying not to let his sole touch much, stones pierced and bushes scratched him.
Even though they had entered somewhere in an alley, it was utterly quiet. Whether it was a building that had been empty for a long time, the place they entered wasn’t much different. When Osian diligently lit candles in candlesticks and placed them everywhere, spider-webbed ceilings and thoroughly dirty glass windows came into view.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
