novelraw Chapter 45 : The Shrine Maiden of the Wasteland (1)
Chapter 45 : The Shrine Maiden of the Wasteland (1)
Chapter 45: The Shrine Maiden of the Wasteland (1)
The next day, Messen was thrown into chaos.
Cavalry bearing Remtana's banners crossed the bridge and occupied the village. Leading the soldiers was a middle-aged man dressed in an immaculate coat. The village chief’s face turned white upon recognizing the man’s identity, and he began groveling immediately.
"Y-Your Excellency, the Chief Advisor? What brings you all the way out here...?”
“I heard an illegal armed gang is running wild in Messen, so I came to check the situation myself. We already know about your little arrangement with them, so you'd better tell me straight where their headquarters is, village chief."
"Pardon? W-well, that’s...”
The chief stammered and fidgeted, but he had no choice except to lead the Chief Advisor to the vigilante headquarters. The Consul's soldiers took combat positions, ready for whatever might happen. Finding the door barred, they smashed through a window and stormed inside.
But what greeted them wasn't vigilantes prepared to fight to the death.
"Hmm?"
"Mmph, mmph, mmph!"
Inside were men tied up tight, sporting limbs. And then there was the bizarre corpse, riddled with holes.
The Chief Advisor untied the men and interrogated them. They readily admitted they were vigilantes and that the corpse had been their leader. But they had no idea who had done this to them or how. They'd been knocked unconscious from behind in the dead of night, and when they came to, everyone was in this state.
Of course, nobody admitted they got beaten up while on their way to kidnap someone... but the Advisor just clicked his tongue, looking like he already knew the truth.
"What should we do, sir? Should we investigate who did this to the vigilante Captain and these men?"
"...No. We're only here to carry out the Consul's orders. Chain these bastards up and find the rest of their gang. We're leaving the moment we're done, so make it quick."
The Chief Advisor and the Consul's troops shackled the village chief, the so-called vigilantes, and everyone else involved, then paraded them through the center of the village for all to see. Travelers who'd been victimized by them didn't hold back; they hurled curses and threw stones without hesitation. The prisoners limped along on broken legs, desperately twisting their bodies to dodge the rocks.
But the locals reacted differently. These criminals might be total strangers to the travelers, but to the villagers, they were someone's neighbor, brother, son, or father.
As the procession continued, a middle-aged woman rushed out and prostrated herself flat before the Chief Advisor.
"Please, Your Excellency! My boy isn’t bad at heart! The taxes were just too high! He only did it to make some money, to try and save the village! Please, just this once, have mercy!”
"...Didn't we actually lower taxes after Twin Gorge opened up and stabilized revenue collection in the southern territories? So why didn’t you tell your son to stop playing bandit before now?”
"That's, well, that..."
She couldn’t exactly admit that the dirty money he brought home was too good to pass up. The woman started babbling incoherent nonsense that didn't add up. The Chief Advisor's expression grew harder as he looked down at her.
"The Consul ordered me to handle this situation with the local circumstances in mind. Your son will be able to come back after he receives a proper punishment, so don’t worry too much.”
"I-Is that really true?"
"Yes. Now stop blocking the road and move aside. If you keep interfering, your son's sentence will only get heavier."
The woman quickly backed away. Then she waved pitifully at her son. He forced his lips into a weak smile as if to tell her not to worry. Ironically, he happened to be one of the men who'd caused a scene at the inn, stolen the horses, and stabbed them to death.
Two people watched this scene from the back of the gathered crowd.
A massive barbarian and a middle-aged man with a wide-brimmed hat pulled low.
The Chief Advisor's eyes met theirs, but he quickly looked away without acknowledging them.
Kadim looked down at Enrico and asked quietly, "Will those bastards really be able to come back here after their punishment?"
"Of course. Although everything below the neck won't be making the trip.”
"..."
A cold-blooded answer.
Enrico's face held the stern expression befitting a leader who governed an entire region.
Running an illegal armed militia, seizing public facilities, stealing and destroying government property, and plotting to kidnap a Consul.
There was only one punishment that fit those crimes and that is beheading.
***
They'd managed to deal with the vigilantes quietly without revealing the Consul's identity. They had even secured fresh horses, secretly delivered by the Chief Advisor. Under normal circumstances, the Consul's party should have left Messen immediately to continue their journey.
But they couldn't.
"Ugh... I'm sorry... for my body to fail me at a time like this...”
"..."
Having worked with barely any sleep and unable to rest properly even in the village, Enrico had finally collapsed. It was impossible to ride for two days straight with a patient suffering from fever and severe fatigue. In the end, the Consul's party had to stay in Messen for several more days.
At first, Kadim thought about just returning the pay and leaving by himself. But he quickly changed his mind. Since someone had already tried to target the Consul, it felt wrong to just abandon him here. Besides, he still had a debt to collect from the man.
‘Can't let him die before I get to look at the Mage Tower's records.’
And so, Kadim went looking for ways to kill time.
Messen wasn’t exactly a fun town. The food was mediocre everywhere, and the alcohol tasted terrible. The barbarian had no interest in hobbies like gambling or whoring. Plus, the whole village was on edge after the vigilante incident, so not many shops were even open.
In the end, there was really only one thing to do.
"Argh! Ack!”
Beating the shit out of Duncan and teaching him to fight.
"Always watch your distance. Your enemy’s reach, be it their weapon or their arms; the space between you two; the length of your stride; your own reach. Keep those in mind as you move. And if you’re inside the enemy’s range, pick one of two choices as fast as you can. Either you stab them, or get out.”
“Argh! Ack!”
"It’s good to have a weapon the enemy doesn’t expect. If the enemy swings their sword fair and square, throw a hidden rock in their face. Just because the enemy fights fair doesn't mean you have to. A dirty win is always better than a clean loss.”
“Argh! Ack!”
After several days of getting beaten black and blue, it was harder to find a spot on Duncan’s body that wasn’t bruised than one that was. Still, nothing was broken or injured badly enough that he couldn't move. That was all thanks to Kadim perfectly controlling his power and aim.
Whether because he liked his instructor or simply hated getting hit, Duncan's skills were improving faster than expected. Now he could dodge two or three attacks out of a hundred. Of course, his counterattacks still didn't come close to touching a hair on Kadim’s head.
Kadim's assessment of Duncan's potential had shifted.
‘Less terrible than I thought.’
He didn’t have much talent, but he had guts. At this rate, it might be worth trying to grow that ‘potential’ Kadim had seen before.
"Huff, huff, ugh, ngh..."
"Good work. Let's call it here for today."
But just as they were about to head back to the village, Kadim spotted someone over Duncan's shoulder.
Kadim focused his vision.
Blackish-brown hair with a reddish tinge from the sunset, boldly upturned eyes with yellow gleaming pupils, a loose tunic with tight leather pants that caught his eye.
She is not someone he knew, but a familiar face.
The woman walked up slowly until she was right in front of him then spoke.
"Nice to meet you! I'm Illenia, a scholar from Galentana University, but I am also an archaeologist. Just like you're both an excellent warrior and an Atalan."
"..."
“Historical encounters are always woven with the warp of necessity and the weft of coincidence. I believe our meeting is no different. A brave Atalan warrior and a ruin-hunting archaeologist! Just think of the endless possibilities...”
Kadim and Duncan stared at the woman speechlessly.
She was talking so confidently that for a second, they wondered if they had actually asked who she was. Kadim got a weird feeling of déjà vu. He’d met someone before who started yapping out of nowhere like this.
‘...That leper I met in the forest with the Hydra.’
Someone whose mind wasn't quite right.
Kadim didn’t need to be a genius to figure that this woman's head wasn't screwed on straight either. And dealing with people like this was guaranteed to drag him into annoying shit.
Kadim started walking away, fast.
The woman panicked.
She clearly hadn't expected that reaction after building up the hype. Dropping the mysterious act, she scrambled to chase after his heels.
"W-Wait! Where are you going?! At least hear what I have to say! I came to say thank you!"
"..."
"Those damn vigilantes! I knew they were up to no good! They had a bad rep and were bothering everyone, so I actually lured them out on purpose to teach them a lesson somewhere quiet! But thanks to you, I didn't have to lift a finger...”
"..."
"Hey! Wait, just wait! Five minutes, three minutes is fine! Geez, why do you walk so fast...?”
No matter how much she shouted, Kadim had no intention of listening. He walked as fast as most people ran, so he was leaving her in the dust.
Finally, she yelled out her last resort.
"Come back right now and I'll give you 1,000 Ludens! Listen to me and it's 100 Ludens per minute! Answer my questions too and it's 500 Ludens each!"
Considering a decent inn costs about 100 Ludens a night, that was a crazy amount of money. Thinking Kadim would turn around and come scurrying back like a puppy, she stopped and put her hands on her hips confidently.
But she'd overlooked something.
The barbarian had over 500,000 Ludens on him.
"Huh? Hey?"
Kadim's sense of money had perfectly adjusted to the current era. A few hundred or thousand Luden was chump change to him now. He didn't even pretend to hear her and kept walking.
Instead, the reaction she'd been hoping for came from somewhere else.
"...Um, miss. I'd be willing to listen for half that... Hehe..."
"..."
Duncan smiled cheerfully with his black and blue face, causing the woman to stare blankly at the goateed merchant.
***
A beer and some braised chicken with eggplant landed on the table, even though he hadn't ordered them.
Kadim stared at the innkeeper. The owner shrugged and pointed his chin at the corner of the room.
"No need to pay. The lady over there says it's on her."
He glanced over and saw Illenia waving her hand with a big smile, making Kadim scowl immediately.
Damn it.
He'd wondered why she kept lingering around.
Kadim pushed the plate and glass aside and stood up. He saw Illenia jump up and scramble toward him.
He was planning to ignore whatever she had to say and just go to his room. But what she said next stopped him dead in his tracks.
"Hey! Do you know anything about the Shrine Maiden of the Wasteland?"
"..."
"Right, you're an Atalan, so you must know. The priestesses of Atala who glimpsed fate in the sandstorms, blessed warriors with blood tattoos, and performed miracles with sorcery! They vanished from the world like dust one day..."
Kadim thought for a second, then sat back down. Illenia let out a deep sigh of relief and took a seat with him.
"...The Shrine Maiden of the Wasteland disappeared?"
"Yes, you must have noticed? While Atalan warriors like yourself are not too difficult to find, one cannot see hide nor hair of the Shrine Maiden.”
"What are you talking about? Just because they aren't here doesn't mean they aren't across the mountains.”
"Nope, impossible. I went there myself.”
"...What?"
"I went to the wasteland. I wandered around for years, but I never saw a single Shrine Maiden. Well, if they're hiding so outsiders can't find them, I guess there's nothing I can say but..."
Kadim's furrowed brow deepened even more.
Setting aside the fact that it was a barren place where even a drop of water was hard to find, the wasteland was an extremely dangerous land adjacent to the Demon Scape. There was a reason Atalans were born warriors. He couldn't believe a woman like her had wandered a place like that for years without getting killed.
Illenia gave a strange smile and changed the subject.
"Well, anyway, what I'm researching as an archaeology student is precisely about the Shrine Maiden of the Wastelandes. Specifically, the last Shrine Maiden who disappeared hundreds of years ago, and the mysterious ruins they left scattered across the continent!"
"..."
"I found one of the entrances to those ruins nearby, that's why I came here on purpose. I haven't figured out how to enter the ruins yet, but if I can just get inside, I might be able to uncover why they disappeared. So, what do you think? Getting interested now?"
Illenia's yellow eyes sparkled.
Kadim, on the other hand, didn't look interested at all, even though he stayed in his seat.
But if someone who'd spent a long time with Kadim had been there, they would have known. That he was reminiscing across close yet distant years, about a certain blind Shrine Maiden he'd left without even saying a proper goodbye.
The silence stretched on.
Illenia glanced at the barbarian's empty eyes, then leaned in a little closer.
"I already know you're a warrior with excellent skills. You took care of that entire vigilante group by yourself, didn't you? Other people might not realize it, but I've already figured it all out."
"...So, what do you want from me?"
“I need an escort to the entrance of the ruins. And if we can get inside, I need protection in there too. Who knows what might pop out, so we need to be fully prepared."
"..."
"Oh, and of course I'll pay you well, so don't worry! Here’s a down payment to start.”
Illenia plopped down a jingling coin purse.
It’s unknown whether she wasn’t worried about becoming a target for thieves, or what she'd do if he just took the money and ran off; she'd been careless in many ways since he first met her.
Kadim pocketed the coin purse.
The Consul was still bedridden anyway. He didn't need the money, but this didn't seem like a bad pastime to spend a day on.
Besides, he needed to figure out how this woman survived the wasteland and how she knew he was the one who killed the vigilantes.
Kadim stared at Illenia. Her jewel-like eyes shone clear and bright, as if she had nothing to hide.