novelraw Chapter 55 : Archbishop (1)
Chapter 55 : Archbishop (1)
Chapter 55: Archbishop (1)
Rowen, whose body was the only one uninjured, rummaged through the wreckage and brought back something simple to eat.
Nike chewed the grains that had survived the fire. His gaunt eyes narrowed. There was not a single part of his body that was sound. The fact that he was alive felt like a miracle.
It was hard to guess how much his lifespan had shortened from this fight. He did not fear losing his life, but he feared dying before he achieved his goal.
Vigo spoke in a very weary voice.
“Rowen, listen well. I do not have much time left now.”
“…What? No. Master, why would you suddenly say something like that.”
Rowen’s braided hair hung limp. She was more exhausted in spirit than in body. Hearing her master speak so weakly made her feel as if she would collapse at any moment.
“I am just stating a fact.”
“…”
Vigo organized his thoughts, then opened his mouth.
“When I die, you will be responsible for Nike. You must protect him. From everything. The Order of the Silver Blades is not an exception.”
Rowen shook her head vehemently.
“That makes no sense. How could I…”
“I am entrusting him to you because it is you. I taught you. You are my successor.”
Rowen could not hold back and raised her voice. Her eyes grew red.
“I—! I… look at me. What was I in this fight? I did nothing but get protected by you and by Nike. I did nothing at all. I am… a useless burden.”
Rowen lowered her head. Tears dripped onto the ground. Vigo stared at her in silence.
“You are the normal one, Rowen.”
“…”
“And you are the same as I was thirty years ago when I had just become a hunter and met Sin.”
Rowen sniffled and lifted her head. Vigo was smiling kindly.
“Right before I died back then, my master told me the same thing. That our deaths that day would not be because of my incompetence.”
“…”
As he spoke, Vigo looked somehow relieved.
“That day when Sin took all my comrades, I made a vow. I would become strong enough to overcome even a natural disaster. Back then I was weaker than you are now.”
Tch. Vigo spat out the rice he had been chewing. It tasted only of char, and there was sand mixed into it.
“It even took a few of my teeth… That devil…”
“Master… I…”
“Do you want to become strong? Rowen, you said you wanted to kill the witch who killed your younger brother and your parents.”
“…Yes. And I want to protect everyone.”
“Use today’s helplessness as the fuel for your growth. Make it your milestone and drive yourself forward. That is how I became strong.”
Rowen looked down at the ground. Tracks of a weak person’s tears covered it. Even now tears kept running down.
‘Right. If I am going to sit here and cry like this, I should instead turn these tears into sweat…’
Rowen nodded as if she had made up her mind. The murky turmoil in her heart settled.
“Do not compare yourself now with me now. I have trained with blood and sweat since before you were even born, so I am stronger right now. If you were stronger than me now, would that not be unreasonable? I would die feeling wronged.”
“I do not have talent like you, Master…”
“No. You have more talent than I did in the past, and you have a long future ahead. I mean this. Heh heh... I am jealous of your youth.”
“…”
Vigo knew the inferiority and impatience that lay dormant in Rowen. Realizing that today’s events could shatter her inside, he offered sincere counsel.
Because he had lived such a past himself, he could advise better than anyone.
Feeling a little awkward, Vigo rubbed his neck with his tattered arm and turned his head.
“And… that bastard was never a proper point of comparison in the first place. That monster is the very embodiment of unfairness.”
The person he pointed at was Nike. After facing the legendary Witch of the Sword, Nike was snoring peacefully. He looked ready to sleep for days.
“Strictly speaking, he is not even human. He is closer to a witch. Just think of him as a transcendent hound.”
“A transcendent hound?”
Rowen let out a short laugh. The phrase sounded strange, yet nothing fit better.
“Right. Taming a transcendent hound to be a hunting dog is your job. You must handle him well and fulfill our mission.”
The two looked at each other and smiled. The stiffness in Rowen’s face loosened. It was a warm joke.
“I… probably will not see the end of the witches. But in your generation it should be possible. There really is not much left.”
Rowen stared at sleeping Nike. After hundreds of years of tiresome fighting, the war that had never progressed had finally begun to change.
Those changes had come within less than a year since Nike had stepped into the world.
Vigo leaned his back and laughed in hollow disbelief.
“What has started now is something even I cannot see through. Only the conversation he shared with the Witch of the Sword…”
The Descent Rite of the Ascendant.
The gathering of the shards.
Nike’s curse.
“It is certain that a disaster beyond imagination is approaching.”
“That… seems likely.”
“Whether we like it or not, the end of this fight is drawing near. When that time comes, you must help Nike and defeat the witch. Protect Nike. Control Nike. A vast storm is coming, so take the helm and be the captain.”
Gulp.
Rowen swallowed. Things she could never have imagined were striding closer. It felt unreal.
‘Master keeps talking on the premise that he is going to die…’
Rowen fixed trembling eyes on her master. He looked so much weaker than before, and worry filled his face.
It did not seem to be only the witch that troubled him. Rowen asked stiffly.
“Master… what exactly are you worried about?”
Vigo looked up at the star-filled dark night sky and answered.
“...It’s just, I am afraid that even after living fifty years I still do not know anything.”
* * *
Only after three days did Nike open his eyes.
He had not recovered enough to move.
It seemed he could not recover at all.
The curse’s influence was powerful.
In the end, they could only depart after Rowen procured a carriage. They left Banyaksenir a week later.
‘There is no one alive.’
In Banyaksenir, where the axle had been severed and tilted and where the burned remains were only ash, there was no living thing that moved.
Everything had vanished after the descent of the legendary Great Witch.
For all that had happened, the three hunters’ mission had been an overwhelming success in the end.
They had gained the prophecy of what was to come.
No one had died.
They had turned a giant chapter of the Golden Dawn Society to scorched earth.
Even after undergoing an experience beyond recognition, it was time to return to daily life.
“Let us head back.”
“Yes.”
“Meat!”
* * *
Even after they returned to Vilnogos, Nike remained bedridden.
He had used his magic power to the extreme and had received the witch’s curse, so his body was not whole.
Thanks to Morgana’s emergency measures, his life was not in danger for the moment. Even so, he still could not move.
His body rotted little by little with every hour, and the curse did mental harm. All of Nike’s magic power was being spent to block the curse, so he had no strength left to move.
Until Morgana found a way, Nike could not leave his sickbed.
Many people came to visit Nike.
Instructors from the training center and members of the Order who had gotten to know him came when they heard news of him.
“Well now, who do we have here! Is this not Nike, the rising star of the Order of the Silver Blades~”
“Even as Vigo’s successor, you would be a perfect fit.”
“Hahaha! You are our pride. You remember that I taught you weapon arts, right? What, you don’t? You rascal…”
“Your future is very bright. Mmm. You remind me of my younger days huh?”
Good rumors about Nike spread, and people he did not even know by sight began to come.
“So you are Nike. You are handsome.”
“Cute…”
“Wanna go on a date with noona right here? Do you want a kiss?”
“Kya! I heard you were a fearsome hunter, but you are just a complete baby. What is your name?”
“Do you have a girlfriend?”
Perhaps because of the witchly nature in him, every woman who saw Nike fell for him. His foolish antics came off as cute to the opposite sex, and his constant talk about meat had a frank and innocent charm.
Many women asked him to make time for them, and some even asked to spend the night.
Every time that happened, Rowen had to step in sternly to stop it.
“Nike. I heard what happened. They say you were amazing.”
Lou Gehrig, who had come to visit, spoke lazily. He wore an eye patch after injuring one eye.
“Hah? Talking about it would only hurt my mouth.”
“Oh, then I won’t listen.”
“…I want to hear it.”
Hestia said this beside them with a blank face. Her right arm was cracked, and a bandage wrapped it.
Nike’s fellow trainees managed to find time and gather after quite a while. None of the three looked normal.
This was how it always was when you became a hunter. People died easily and got hurt. Most seniors said the real miracle was when no one died.
Hestia felt secretly glad that all three were safe. The others were no different.
Only, they had become a little more grown up after their first real battle.
“Tia. Do you want to hear it?”
Nike puckered his lips with a smug look. His whole body was wrapped in bandages, but his mouth worked fine.
Seeing him like that, Hestia lost her mood and shook her head.
“…Not anymore.”
“Hah~?”
Nike grumbled, stopping mid bite of meat. The sight was so ridiculous that Lou Gehrig and Hestia laughed.
“Tell it, tell it.”
“…Fine. I will listen.”
Nike beamed and launched into a tale of his exploits. His explanation was lacking and choppy, but his fellow trainees understood him easily.
Nike chattered away, delighted. The others smiled and nodded. The remaining two also talked about what they had done during the mission.
Lou Gehrig had met a new master and cleared out three monster dens in the Winster region.
Hestia had carried out a secret mission with Maximilian. She could not reveal the details, but she boasted that she had fought and defeated a fourth-rank witch. Thanks to that, Maximilian had suffered such a serious injury that he would need several months of rest.
“Whew. Even so, it does not compare with Nike’s performance.”
“…Yes. Nike is amazing.”
“It is basic!”
The three chatted happily. The matching rings they wore as fellow trainees still shone. Their loyalty and affection had grown deeper.
“My my, who is this? Are you Nike?”
While the three were talking in the ward, a sensual black-haired beauty approached. She was another hunter who had recognized Nike.
“Hah? Who are you? You are interfering!”
“Mmm. A rude little boy huh. I am your senior. Call me Renata.”
“Big-chested meat.”
“My.”
Renata covered her mouth and laughed. The way he spoke without thinking was a twist that contrasted with his adorable looks.
“You are even cuter than I heard.”
Renata leaned in closer to Nike’s face. The more closely she looked, the more he resembled a statue. She could see why the women in the Order had made such a fuss.
“So, kid. What are you doing this evening?”
Renata pushed her ample chest closer. The scent of an adult’s flesh teased Nike’s nose.
Nike answered plainly.
“Evening? I will eat?”
“Then you want to eat with noona? I’ll buy you meat.”
“Oh. Sounds good! Will it be expensive meat?”
“Of cour—”
“Nike. I told you I would nurse you this evening, didn’t I?”
Hestia cut into Nike and Renata’s conversation. Without changing her expression at all, Hestia fixed her gaze on Nike. Renata might as well not have existed.
Smiling as if amused, Renata curled her lips and pressed her chest even closer to Nike, urging him with a soft “Hmm.”
“I didn’t get to eat yet. Nike, hurry and tear off some meat and feed me.”
Hestia opened her mouth. She lifted her thin brows as if demanding he feed her. She emphasized her injured arm as well.
‘Is this perhaps…’
Sensing the strange current flowing between Renata and Hestia, Lou Gehrig swallowed. Every moment felt lethal.
“Unfortunate. So you’ve already got a cute partner.”
Renata raised the white flag first. Trading stares with a much younger girl was childish.
Looking at the pretty girl’s face, she knew this was not someone she could press down with her chest alone. The girl’s force of will was so strong she could have been believed to be a witch.
“See you next time, okay? Nike.”
“The meat promise. I will remember!”
“Ahaha. Good. Come find me anytime.”
Renata poked Nike’s cheek, then left. Every man in the ward stared at the sway of her hips as she walked away.
“What are you doing? I am hungry.”
“Ah? Eh… got it.”
Hestia still had her mouth open. Nike tilted his head, then reached toward her plate and tore off a piece of meat. His arm trembled since he could not move properly.
When Nike held the meat out with effort, Hestia took it into her mouth along with his fingers.
Nike felt Hestia’s slippery tongue against his fingers. He flinched in puzzled surprise.
“…It’s good.”
Hestia smiled ever so slightly. Somehow the expression felt dangerous. It was hard to tell whether she was angry or satisfied.
In the end, unable to stand the suffocating mood, Lou Gehrig changed the subject.
“B-By the way, did you hear? The Hall of the City God sent an archbishop to treat Nike…”