~Chapter 56~
I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
Above my head, a huge burst of fire—or was it lightning?—erupted in the sky.
It felt like divine punishment raining down, and I scrambled up to protect Nero.
But I couldn’t stay on my feet because of the shaking ground, and fell again.
“Who dares to interfere with my execution?!”
“Seems you don’t even know whose land you’re trespassing on.”
“Some northern backwater…!”
I shielded myself from falling dirt and looked up, struggling to make sense of what I saw.
It all happened so fast that I could barely take it in: three figures were clashing violently in the chaos.
Blinding white and black lights crashed against each other with terrifying force.
‘It’s like what I saw then…’
It was the same strange power the Duke had used in the training yard.
I had no idea what was going on. I had a hunch one side was the Duke, but the other two were a complete mystery.
But I didn’t care about any of that right now. I just needed to grab Nero and get out of here.
“Come here, Nero! Good boy, come here—!”
“Kyaaa!”
Lightning flashed again, and I finally caught sight of Nero hiding in the shadows.
He looked just as scared by this chaos as I was.
His back was arched, fur bristling, and he glared fiercely up at the explosions overhead.
“You must have been so frightened. It’s okay. Come here, Mama will hold you.”
“Kyaaao!”
“Ow! Don’t scratch—ow!” As I tried to scoop him up, his claws raked across my hand.
Nero’s wild struggling suddenly stopped.
‘His eyes…’
Was I imagining it? Maybe it was just the lightning, but for a moment his eyes seemed different.
Nero looked from my face to the scratch on my hand, and then froze, almost as if he was about to cry—like a person who realized they made a mistake.
I pulled his stiff little body close and held him tight.
I could feel his muscles trembling with tension.
“But now what do I do…”
By some miracle, I’d found Nero, who had run away.
But I was still in the middle of hell on earth.
At least this disaster was man-made, not a natural one, but either way it was a nightmare for someone small and defenseless like me.
I was still wondering if I could even run when—
“Get down, Ellie!!”
It was the Duke’s voice.
I hugged Nero and reflexively curled up.
The figure I guessed was the Duke drew up a huge force—a crushing pressure that felt like the sun itself was dropping out of the sky.
BOOM!
A deafening roar shook the earth, and then… nothing but silence, so heavy I almost couldn’t breathe.
It seemed like forever passed. When I finally came to, I felt a heavy warmth settle over my shoulders.
“Why are you in a place like this?”
“…Your Grace.”
The Duke threw off his cloak and wrapped it around me, fastening it tightly to keep out the cold wind.
I hadn’t even noticed, but snow had started to fall.
I was about to ask him what was going on when he quickly stood up and blocked my view.
Someone was climbing out from beneath the collapsed cliff.
“Wow, what a mess.”
“…”
“I know we’re just church envoys, but did you really have to turn us into rags?”
“You shouldn’t have made trouble in my territory, then.”
Apparently, besides the two who’d fought the Duke, there was another intruder.
I didn’t really understand what was going on, but the Duke—who could wield that overwhelming power—was on my side for now, so I didn’t feel too worried.
I squeezed Nero tighter and peeked around the Duke’s back.
‘Is that the leader of the intruders?’
Across the dim mountain road stood a tall man with a commanding presence.
I squinted, trying to make out his face.
And then—
“Well, well, who do we have here? It’s been a while, Elicia.”
It was impossible. This was just… unbelievable.
How could this be?
“This isn’t really how I imagined our reunion, but—well, it doesn’t matter. Let me introduce myself again.”
The man grinned and spun his scythe through the air. With a flash of light, the weapon disappeared as if it was never there.
“Brother Vincent, Inquisition Director, dispatched from the Sacred Office in Argenbach. But, as always, please feel free to call me whatever you like.”
The face revealed by the lightning was unmistakable. It was a priest I once knew—so timid and gentle, so sincere and human.
Edwin felt like he was dreaming.
Sitting together in the carriage, side by side, she’d make a few offhand comments about current events, and he would answer just as casually.
It reminded him of a day so far in the past that it should have faded, and yet he clung to the memory desperately.
But that peaceful moment didn’t last long.
‘So they really plan to cross the mountains.’
There was no way they didn’t know this was Lombard territory—and the way they were throwing their power around yanked him back to reality.
It reminded him of the original sin.
He didn’t deserve to sit here, laughing with her. He, of all people, didn’t deserve it.
“I’m afraid we’ll have to part ways here. I just remembered something I left at the barracks.”
“Pardon? Can’t you send a servant for it?”
“It’s something important—I need to do it myself.”
He ordered his escort to have the physicians check Elicia’s wrist once she reached the castle, then mounted his horse.
There are secret roads all over Lombard that aren’t on any map.
Even with the main road blocked by the landslide, there were still ways to get where trouble was brewing.
The fastest route was through Caldrick Village and up into the mountains.
“Your Grace, are you sure you’ll be alright alone?”
“You’d only get in the way.”
At the Caldrick Gate, Edwin let his tired horse rest for a moment.
The inquisitors from Argenbach were recklessly unleashing their power, stirring up the monsters beyond the northern wall.
The air felt as unstable as gunpowder ready to explode.
“Post elite knights along the northern wall in case things get worse.”
“Yes, sir!”
“If the fighting intensifies, close off the roads—don’t let any civilians in or out, no matter what.”
Edwin knew very well what kind of people the inquisitors from Argenbach were.
He’d met them as both student and knight—sometimes escaping, sometimes getting tangled up.
It had never ended well.
“My lord!”
Just then, a knight ran up from the western gate’s watchtower.
A messenger hawk circled overhead.
“Urgent news from the castle! The lady has disappeared!”
“…What?”
“It seems she slipped out the servants’ back door, looking for her missing cat. We searched the whole inner wall, but she’s nowhere to be found…”
Edwin snatched the scroll.
The handwriting was Bertolt’s, and though brief, it was clear:
‘Elicia is in danger.’
Nero coming and going from the castle was nothing unusual.
He was a cat in body, but two souls coexisted inside him—sometimes the demon Morcatus would take control.
The inquisitors were stirring up trouble here in the Caldrick Mountains—coincidentally, the very place where she and Nero had grown up.
If anyone knew these hidden paths, it was her.
“Are you leaving already, my lord?!”
“I’ve heard enough.”
His horse lifted its head, not quite ready to go, but quickly braced itself at its master’s command.
It was one of Lombard’s finest horses.
Edwin mounted quickly and spurred it forward.
‘Please, let me not be too late.’
His grip on the reins tightened, veins bulging on the back of his hand.
He’d only lost his left arm in that very first life, and yet he could still hear the empty sleeve flapping in his ears.
