Chapter 40
The monsters pouring out of the rift seemed endless. They behaved as though destruction alone was their purpose, so they had no choice but to keep defeating them to prevent the monsters from crossing the border.
In the tiresome war where victory remained nowhere in sight, Urhel left Leopold a year ago.
For someone whose mission had originally been to eradicate heretics hidden throughout the continent, it was unusual for her to remain in one place for such a long time.
Even until the moment she left, Urhel resented the fact that Leopold’s life remained intact.
However, on the other hand, she began to feel confused about how she should regard him now.
‘Inquisitor! It’s dangerous! Sir Leopold is fighting, so…….’
‘The Great Mother is watching over me, yet you tell me to hide behind an evil power?’
There was a monster floating in the air, shooting blade-like winds in all directions. When the front lines repeatedly retreated while suffering casualties because even approaching it was difficult, Leopold alone threw himself into the battle.
And Urhel clearly sensed a suspicious aura emanating from him. Despite the objections of those around her, she had no choice but to join the battle.
Urhel recklessly charged forward and smashed apart one corner of the monster, but in return, she received a wound that ran across her neck.
Had Leopold not grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her away, her head would have been severed.
That day, Leopold had definitely saved Urhel’s life.
‘You bastard-! What are you doing!’
‘Ah, I save you and you still complain? Stop making a fuss and just stop the bleeding.’
Leopold pushed Urhel’s body backward, abruptly took off his shirt, pulled it over her head, and tied the shirt strings around her neck.
With her vision blocked, Urhel felt his presence quickly move away. And when she tore the shirt apart in fury and regained her sight, she saw him piercing the monster’s core.
Even amid the shrill scream that pierced her mind, Leopold tore the monster apart limb from limb with a horrifyingly expressionless face.
From his back, Urhel noticed that the bandages wrapped around his upper body were not damaged in the slightest, and she shuddered.
And in order to deny the shudder she had felt, she tried even harder to associate that tremendous power and brutality with an evil being.
But he gradually became an unparalleled monster slayer, and paradoxically, because of that, he became a hero to humans.
As time passed, the fact that the number of lives he saved continued to increase only confused Urhel.
‘Do you enjoy fighting? Well, I suppose I do. But that’s just a momentary thrill. In the end, the real reason I fight is for after all of this is over…….’
According to the beliefs Urhel had upheld, he was still the seed of wickedness, but the original sin belonged not to him, but to his parents.
Then could he truly cut away the wrong umbilical cord and atone?
‘It’s to see one worried face.’
Whether he was someone who enjoyed fighting itself, Urhel decided to watch what would become of Leopold after hearing his answer to the question.
‘If you happen to find a blue bird while traveling around, tell me where it is.’
‘Ha, why should I?’
‘Consider it payment for the life I didn’t receive in return. Isn’t that cheap enough?’
When Urhel was leaving, Leopold lightly tapped the scar remaining on her neck and made what was hardly a request.
Urhel ground her teeth, but without giving him any particular response, she left him and continued on her journey.
And…….
“A bird?”
Urhel narrowed her eyes when she spotted a shadow crossing the blue sky. Without thinking, she followed the bird’s shadow on the ground with her horse.
A moment later, the bird perched on a distant tree branch and preened its feathers. Its size and appearance, with its extremely blue feathers, were just as Leopold had described.
Urhel, having found the bird that had been wandering around looking for its owner, hesitated. Should she tell him about this? That annoying bastard?
Her face twisted grimly as she struggled with the decision.
***
“Your name is Jenia?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
“Really? Then, Priest Jenia. Is your hair pink?”
“No.”
“I feel like I saw it briefly, but are you really not?”
“That’s right.”
A peculiar exchange continued inside Leopold’s tent. Eliza was inwardly startled, but she denied it as confidently as possible.
Although the red dye had faded, giving her hair a pinkish tint, there was no need to deliberately let information about herself slip.
“Then what color is it?”
“Just an ordinary color.”
“What color is that?”
“An ordinary color.”
“Ha. Priest, you really aren’t good with words.”
“Yes.”
Eliza pressed her lips tightly together. She was extremely uncomfortable, as though she were sitting on a bed of thorns.
She had more than sufficiently confirmed that he was safe, so she wanted to escape as quickly as possible, but he had been calling for Eliza for days on end.
Even though he was not injured anywhere in particular, he sat her down in the middle of his tent and bombarded her with questions as though interrogating her.
“I have a lot I’m curious about when it comes to you, Priest.”
“It seems so.”
“You don’t even wonder why?”
“No.”
Eliza tried not to think about him any further or attach any meaning to it.
There was no need for her to form any further relationship with him. Somehow, she had to get rid of whatever fleeting curiosity he was showing and return to Ruvake to finish what she had been preparing.
‘Yes, for example, a true Saintess.’
During the short time she spent serving, she had encountered many terrible wounds. The victims of this war would not even amount to the tip of the iceberg.
Therefore, the female protagonist needed to awaken quickly. Her ability was purification. With that power, the Saintess would annihilate the monsters and eventually find a way to seal the rift…….
‘I wonder where she is by now. It’s frustrating that the original story didn’t depict her whereabouts before she reached the capital.’
Eliza imagined the appearance of the female protagonist as it had been described in the original story.
A disposition so broad-minded and bright that one might say it had been bestowed by a god. A light and graceful voice like a spring breeze, and that outstanding appearance.
She would definitely suit this child well. While thinking that, Eliza almost looked up at Leopold without realizing it.
Then she nearly met his eyes, so she hurriedly lowered her head again.
“Have you finished thinking?”
“…….”
“I don’t know what you trust when you let your mind wander in front of me. I could just strip off that robe right now.”
Eliza grabbed the edge of the hat covering her head and pressed it down firmly. A suppressed chuckle escaped from above her head.
“You should know that I’m showing you a great deal of consideration.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
When she gave a half-hearted reply, Leopold chuckled as though he found something amusing. Eliza wondered impatiently when he would finally let her go today.
‘Isn’t he busy at all? Even though he’s a commander.’
As if responding precisely to her thoughts, a visitor arrived. Leopold’s direct subordinate had by now grown accustomed to seeing Eliza sitting blankly here, so he paid her no attention.
“Salute! There is a report of new enemies discovered in the three o’clock direction to the east. Their numbers are estimated to be around twenty, and they are currently being scouted.”
“Really? That’s good timing. I was starting to feel restless.”
Leopold stretched his body, rolling his shoulders as he moved his stiff muscles.
He had unexpectedly been resting for several days, and this battlefield needed his strength.
Eliza thought surely not, but Leopold declared without even looking back at her.
“I’ll go on the reconnaissance mission. Prepare.”
Once again, it was time to throw himself into battle.
***
Leopold had already spent five years moving from battlefield to battlefield, fighting countless battles.
Eliza knew that fact more painfully than anyone. She had never forgotten for even a moment that he was always fighting.
But since this was the first time she had been so close to him and received news of him in real time, she could not control her anxiety.
“What is this?”
As Leopold entered his tent, he narrowed his eyes and looked at the pure white robe.
Eliza abruptly stood up and quietly lowered her head before asking,
“Are you not injured anywhere?”
“Were you waiting for me? Me?”
“You said I was your personal priest…….”
Since it was the first time she had come to him before he called for her, a peculiar glint appeared in Leopold’s eyes.
As he approached one step at a time, Eliza bit down on her lips. The rotten stench of monster blood and the smell of dust lingered around him.
“Were you worried that I might have been injured?”
“…….”
“I don’t think that’s a difficult question.”
Eliza wanted to raise her head and examine him, but she could not. She was too close to him.
Leopold gazed intently at the figure before him whose face remained concealed.
“You only seem to worry about me when I get hurt and collapse. Do I have to deliberately get myself injured just to receive that precious concern?”
“What does that-!”
“I’m joking.”
Tilting his head back, he laughed pleasantly, his voice resonating. At the refreshing sound of his laughter, Eliza was momentarily stunned.
