Year 141_Keireki Era_Spring/08
"Nasda, Thomas, Vilgram. You will stay here for two nights and wait for my return. If I do not return within those two nights, head back to the town. Report that I went into the mansion alone and did not return."
"What? … No, but—"
Thomas and Nasda both had a faint suspicion.
This mission was not a simple exploration task.
Ginesis was one of the top combatants in the Luluciette Adventurers' Guild.
Although he could handle exploration through experience, it was not his area of expertise.
Likewise, Nasda and Thomas lacked any skills relevant to scouting.
From the beginning, they had sensed there was no real intention of exploration.
That’s why they were filled with unease.
However, the directive given to them was to wait and return.
Abandoning a mission midway is problematic. This was explicitly stated in the prior mission contract.
If done intentionally, it could lead to punishment.
Ginesis understood this, which is why he had kept it hidden up to this point.
To avoid implicating them as much as possible in his actions, while coldly pursuing his own goal.
This was the only option he could take.
"Boss, are you leaving us behind because we're weak?"
"Sure, we had a contract, but even without that, a favor is still a favor. We’ll make sure not to get in your way, so—"
"… Wait here. Didn’t I say before that I’d come back after saving your comrades?"
He did not yell but reinforced his words firmly.
The plea, "Don’t throw your lives away meaninglessly," was understandable.
And it conveyed how dangerous this mission truly was.
Nasda and Thomas reluctantly lowered their packs.
"Boss, we bought the ingredients for curry. We ate it the day before heading back to Luluciette, remember?"
"We’ll make curry and wait for you."
Despite being threatened earlier, the two showed mercy toward Ginesis.
Acknowledging the gravity of their actions, yet choosing not to show it.
They understood that threatening others for one's own purposes was unacceptable.
The thin-faced man gave a small nod and said with a smile, "Make it mild."
He thought, perhaps this one request might be forgivable.
The two began setting up camp.
Ginesis headed further into the depths of the forest.
Vilgram stood in the gap between them.
Ginesis' departing figure seemed especially forlorn.
As long as the curse persisted, a short life was unavoidable, and there was no time to form bonds with companions to lift it.
Days filled with coercion to move forward, even at the cost of alienating others.
That is what one might call solitude.
Perhaps I felt empathy for it.
Even I, resurrecting into a new body after death without retaining anything, shared the same loneliness as that figure.
I can not save him.
Just as no one can save me.
Even so, it didn’t mean there was nothing I could do.
If I did for someone else what I wished for myself, maybe one day it would be rewarded.
… Well, such actions are ultimately self-satisfying.
One must also be prepared for the possibility of an unpleasant outcome.
Ginesis, the Black Blade.
He was said to be among the strongest in the Luluciette Adventurers' Guild.
His specialty, the Formless Blade, was similar to the techniques used by cathedral knights.
By using a sword as a focal point, he could instantly create an intangible blade.
It was rumored he could even cut down fully armored knights.
Though such tales might have been exaggerated by Roam’s drinking stories.
However, the rumors surrounding him were mostly dark.
He was known to accept quests and complete them solo, leaving his companions to wait elsewhere.
This led to suspicions from the guild that he was embezzling rewards from missions.
Yet, he remained neither banished nor dishonored, and was generally seen as quiet and unreadable.
Seeing him raise his voice like earlier was a first.
However, in the world of adventurers, such incidents were not rare.
The issue lay in who had intervened—Vilgram.
I… Felicity, an adventurer, though older and more experienced than him, had taken a liking to him.
Once a bandit, he had saved his benefactor, Iserina, and later Kagnat.
While I was glad the medicine I had gifted proved useful, I also worried about his disregard for himself.
He was someone who would sacrifice himself for others.
A trait I had seen in many people at my former haunt. All of whom had died young.
The gallantry shown by this younger man was one of the reasons I aspired to be an adventurer.
I, too, desired such resolve.
When I was a Hound of the Cathedral, I lived a life of coercion, forced to fight and survive. It was unbearable.
I yearned for a steadfast will to save others by my own choice.
But the boy who possessed what I sought was heading into certain danger.
The Adventurers’ Guild had clear rules.
One of them prohibited following another party’s mission without permission.
This rule was established because, in the past, people had interfered with missions, either stealing credit or causing harm.
Breaking this rule led to severe punishment.
But, if Vilgram were in my place, would he hesitate to act out of fear of the consequences?
Is gallantry something that fears sacrifice when it’s for someone you care about?
Before I knew it, I was fully equipped and outside the city.
The Wandering Manor was a widely discussed topic. The rumors, mostly trivial—hidden treasures or a beautiful lady awaiting her master—were common fare.
But over time, the rumors gained substance, eventually pinpointing its location.
That was why the mission was issued, though only a few knew the manor’s exact whereabouts.
I was one of them.
And so, I could pursue him.
Not even half a day had passed. I could still catch up.
I believe this is for the best.
The curse passed down from my ancestors.
To lift it, I could not involve others in this fight.
There was no justice in this battle, nor in myself.
The ancestor who was beheaded had been a pawn of a ducal family.
At the time, the Boy King was beloved, and no one dared to dirty their hands, so he wielded his blade for money and power.
In the end, he was killed by a loyal maid, and his lineage was cursed.
A fitting fate for one who succumbed to greed.
The curse that persisted in his descendants would end with me.
For that purpose, I had threatened and used Nasda and Thomas.
I would likely meet the same fate as my ancestor. Such is the nature of retribution.
I already knew how to enter the Wandering Manor.
By following a specific sequence of steps, the appearing and disappearing manor could be fixed in place.
And I succeeded.
For that, I must thank Nichirin.
The scout, rumored to have come from the eastern demon country, had proven to be more skilled than the rumors suggested.
I entered through the front door.
I had no confidence in stealth. So I proceeded boldly, with a battlefield mindset.
The interior seemed frozen in time.
There wasn’t a speck of dust.
Yet, there was no sign of life either.
"Wow, it’s so dark… I’m glad I borrowed a full set of lanterns from Nasda. There we go… All right, it’s brighter now."
"… Why are you here, Vilgram?"
Ah, no doubt about it.
I realized I had just let out the biggest sigh of my life.
What do you think about this chapter?
