Chapter 4. Wrath (13)
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Due to the cloudy weather all day, it felt like night was continuing endlessly.
Eckart, who had been walking through the murky gray streets, raised his head to look up at the sky. If only it would rain. If only rainwater so cold it was bitter, cold enough to steal away all body heat, would fall. Then perhaps this stuffiness might be washed away a little.
In his hand was a fairly thick list, crumpled up. Just a moment ago, Eckart had stopped by the court to receive a new list. And then he couldn’t hide his trembling gaze. Because he saw familiar names.
He couldn’t believe it at all. For the first time, he raised his voice in protest. He argued that how could these people be on the list, that they were not sinners.
But the magistrate was resolute.
“Your words… do you mean that those who fought in wars are not sinners and should not be punished? There’s nothing anywhere in scripture that says indulgences are granted to those who went to war.”
“However…”
“Moreover, quite a lot of people have come forward with accusations. Not just one or two. With such clear evidence that they committed sins, are you now taking the side of sinners? What’s different between these people and the sinners you’ve imprisoned so far?”
At the magistrate’s words, Eckart couldn’t give any answer.
“If you really can’t do it, then move to another city or something. There are plenty of sinners overflowing in other places anyway.”
In front of Eckart, who stood frozen, unable to hide his bewilderment, a thick bundle of papers was placed. Since Duran wasn’t the only corrupt city, lists of famous brothel districts in other cities and prostitutes who had fled there also existed.
Eckart slowly reached out and grasped the list.
“If I were to move to another city… those on this list would be…”
“We’d have to entrust them to someone else. Your subordinate guards or… if not that, we’d have to report this situation to the Papal Court and ask them to make up for the shortage by having security forces take on dual duties or recruiting more guards.”
It meant the situation wouldn’t change even if Eckart refused. Eckart’s pale blue eyes sank heavily. With one hand holding the list of prostitutes from other cities and the other holding the list of those who had once been his colleagues, his face was devastated.
In the end, Eckart made a difficult decision.
“…I’ll take it on.”
He wanted to protect their honor at least. And… he wanted to buy them time to escape. If he took charge, he could delay telling the other guards about this fact even a little.
Since they had committed sins, they deserved punishment. Even if they were comrades who had once fought together. Knowing this, he still wanted to postpone it even one more day. It was the last consideration he could offer as a comrade who had once fought risking their lives with the same beliefs.
“Then we’ll have to send others for the prostitutes on that list.”
Thus the list with the knights’ names was pitifully crumpled in Eckart’s hand.
Among them was Ardwino’s name as well. An endless sense of guilt washed over him. He couldn’t understand why they had become unforgivable sinners overnight, why exactly he was being given such trials.
It was more difficult than the days on the battlefield when he had to swing his sword for days without sleep. At least war was an equal situation. They too wore armor and swung swords. They raised shields. They overflowed with the will, strength, and circumstances to resist with all their might.
Before death, everyone was equal, and everyone there fought with all their might to live, or to save lives.
No matter how much the earth was stained with blood, no matter how many lives were lost, since it was about upholding their beliefs, it was neither sad nor pitiful at all. He simply prayed for the blessing of those who died upholding their beliefs, whether allies or enemies.
But what about now?
This current situation of unilaterally driving them and ultimately taking their lives was too merciless. It reeked of blood more than the battlefield.
Eckart looked down at his own hands. They seemed to be thick with blood. What had soaked into his skin and couldn’t be washed away was surely sin.
Now he was told to put the comrades he had fought alongside on the execution platform with his own hands. Nothing could be more cruel than this.
“You seem to have many worries.”
Startled by the sudden voice, Eckart raised his head. An old woman was looking up at him, though he didn’t know how long she’d been there. Between her wrinkled, heavily drooping eyelids, pupils with a clear energy shining brightly captured Eckart.
“A straight and hard sword will eventually break. No matter how skilled a blacksmith tempers it day and night, it cannot last forever. Though invisible, it gets scratched and chipped, and someday there comes a day when it cannot overcome its own strength.”
“…What are you trying to say?”
“Eh. Why pay attention to the words of an old person whose mind comes and goes? It’s just meaningless talk.”
The old woman laughed heartily. Not only her face but even her hands were covered with wrinkles, reminiscent of dried tree bark.
He could have dismissed it as meaningless talk as the old woman said and passed by, but Eckart couldn’t do so. He didn’t know why. Whether it was because of those straight, clear eyes, or simply because he was too exhausted and wanted to grasp at straws…
“If it’s alright, would you like to take a walk with this old woman?”
So even at the old woman’s unexpected proposal, Eckart couldn’t immediately refuse and hesitated.
He wasn’t leisurely enough to enjoy a walk with a strange old person, and besides, a walk in this situation was certainly bewildering.
Right now in the square, people were dying. The streets where everyone had left were desolate, and he himself was the very person who had made this place hell.
If the old woman had eyes, she couldn’t help but know. The meaning of the uniform Eckart was wearing now. Since she had ears, she must have heard the rumors too. About the guards who dragged people away indiscriminately when night fell and pushed them before death.
Eckart’s eyes narrowed slightly. Perhaps noticing his discomfort, the old woman added.
“Of course, if you refuse, there’s nothing to be done…”
The old woman cast lonely glances at various parts of the empty street and muttered weakly.
“Being left alone like this feels so empty and lonely. When I used to walk around even just in front here, people would somehow follow one by one, worried that this old woman might lose her way, and keep me company…”
Eckart, who had also looked around at the surroundings where not even a sign of human presence could be felt, let alone conversation partners, answered in a heavily sunken voice.
“…If I’m acceptable to you, I’ll walk with you.”
“Of course you’re acceptable.”
The old woman’s face brightened. It was such a kind expression. Seeing that good-natured smile, Eckart’s face also brightened faintly.
The two strolled through streets where the only thing was the coolly penetrating wind. The sky was still dark and the scenery that seemed drained of color was only gloomy, but the old woman’s voice, immersed in sentiment, was quite warm.
“The place where I live is that house under the bridge over there. I wasn’t originally from this neighborhood, but oh my, people kept looking for me from here and there, so I kept coming and going and ended up settling down. That was already 30 years ago. Just for a moment, just this once, just today – and I’ve lived here for over 30 years.”
Eckart quietly listened to the old woman’s story. Perhaps simply having a conversation partner was enough, as the old woman unfolded one by one her worn, old, wrinkled memories.
“Lady Yuz lived in that house over there. I still vividly remember delivering her baby myself… The baby took exactly two days to come out, so the lady, exhausted beyond measure, collapsed limply. As I was wiping her sweat saying she’d had a hard time and trying to put the baby in her arms, she suddenly twisted her whole body and screamed. Surprisingly, there was another baby inside! Can you imagine how surprised and flustered I was? I thought the baby was too small compared to her swollen belly, but it turned out there were two…”
“And then? Were the baby and mother safe?”
“It almost became a disaster. If we’d been even a little later, we might have lost the second baby in the womb. But that tiny thing held onto life so tenaciously and wouldn’t let go… Breathing with difficulty and crying heartbreakingly, it had the loudest cry of all the babies I’d delivered. Even Lady Yuz, who had definitely lost consciousness, was startled awake by that crying.”
“That’s fortunate.”
“Fortunate indeed. Contrary to my worries about them being too small, they grew bigger day by day, and how precious they were… Those children with freckles dotting their cheeks and red hair who used to follow this old woman around became flower-like young ladies in no time, learning about love, learning about pain, learning about the world.”
The old woman’s eyes deepened. Her gaze, filled with affection and longing, swept over the city. She seemed to be sketching the children who were no longer there.
“They were flowers that hadn’t even fully bloomed yet, so what was so urgent that they were called away so quickly…”
At the old woman’s muttering, Eckart pressed his lips tightly shut. Though he had momentarily forgotten, this street he was walking on was also one of the streets the guards had been stirring up.
When Eckart’s complexion darkened, the old woman lightly patted his back.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
