Episode 14

“Zeke. Deep in thought?”

“…What are they doing?”

“Thanks to you, the place feels like a funeral. …What now?”

“Nothing changes. That woman has to handle it.”

“It may be rude to say, but even if she has talent, in that state I doubt she can.”

Even to Luke, who didn’t know the full story, Ciel looked desolate, as if she had given up and was just waiting for the end.

“If that’s what you think, go take care of her.”

“I don’t like saying this… but I’m not good with her.”

Zeke blinked at Luke’s words—unexpected from the model student in word and deed.

“Surprised? …I have feelings too. I can think poorly of people.”

Since he was small, he had watched that great, sturdy back. He admired that solid figure. He felt pride in the knight beloved by many.

“I’m a commoner without much schooling, so I don’t really understand her. She’s probably in the middle of things I can’t even imagine.”

He had thought tomorrow would come as a matter of course and the sun would set without incident—repeating that, little by little becoming an adult. And someday he would be a knight. —But reality was different.

“I’m sure there’s some tangled, painful, sorrowful reason.”

There were plenty who lived without hardship. Bloodline, pedigree, history, and environment—everything prepared from birth, living as told without much question.

He didn’t think that was evil. That, too, was a way to live.

“But I’m not kind enough to pat her shoulder and say ‘that must’ve been hard.’”

At first he’d thought it just a cold. But his condition worsened bit by bit until he couldn’t even get out of bed.

He was afraid. His body felt heavy as lead, and if he forced it to move, the pain could make him faint.

“Noble or commoner doesn’t matter. Everyone carries their own circumstances. Everyone lives in their own world.”

What terrified him most wasn’t dying. It was losing his dream of becoming a knight.

Someday he’d move like before—if he did his rehab, he wouldn’t have to give up his dream. He believed that, but fear never left him.

“How you live is up to you, and not everyone is strong. Giving up, compromising, changing—there should be many choices.”

If you die, everything ends. You can’t even hold on to the will not to give up.

So when the illness was cured, he was truly happy. The doctors said the fact he lived at all was a miracle; with no aftereffects, it was fitting to call it a work of the gods.

But nearly a year in bed was far too long. Even if daily life posed no problem, taking a job that relied on the body like a knight would be hard. —Though for Luke, that did not become a shackle.

Anything was fine—no problem—so long as he lived, he wouldn’t have to give up his dream.

“It’s selfish and ugly ego, I know. Even so, I can’t forgive her. She looks… like she’s given up on living.”

“You can’t so easily understand another’s feelings. …You never know what they’re plotting inside.”

“Heh, very you, Zeke. …Maybe so, but I still think she’s reached a state of resignation.”

He wasn’t thinking something convenient like “if you don’t give up, keep trying, and keep dreaming, everything will come true.” Harsh reality often blocked the way—that was normal.

“There are only a few who can make everything go their way. But there also aren’t many who give up on everything. I won’t say ‘do all you possibly can,’ but you should act as much as you can.”

Maybe giving something up and taking the practical choice was part of becoming an adult.

To Luke’s eyes, Ciel had abandoned even that.

“I don’t yet see that she has a reason good enough to give up. No matter how hard her position is… at least she could ask someone for help.”

“Worthless. I can’t understand it at all. She won’t even voice the easy platitudes a child could say. Does someone like that even have the value to live? Isn’t she exactly the kind who should vanish quickly—for the sake of your ‘world’?”

“I don’t think so. Because you… saved me.”

“…Don’t get the wrong idea. It only happened to suit me.”

“Right. You’re a noble, arrogant, greedy, foul-mouthed, rough, villain.”

“…”

“I never know when you’ll end up in a cell… but the fact that you saved me won’t change—now or ever. Never.”

“…”

He would never forget the first sight upon waking: Brink—his father. That must never happen again.

“I won’t die, and I won’t give up. It’s a life you and Father gave me. …And I think she’s probably waiting—for someone.”

“Hmph… You’re unusually talkative today.”

“Because you were sniffling and moping, unlike usual.”

“Shut it. Sounds like your eyes have gone bad now. …When that woman masters divine arts, first thing, she can fix your craziness.”

“Now that you’re fired up, what do we actually do?”

“You’re still on that. …There’s only so much we can do.”

“You have a guess about the root of this mess, don’t you?”

“I can’t be certain. We’ll have to comb the town.”

He shared the traits of divine arts with Luke, explained that what was happening in Apion might be due to a curse, and told him that unless they addressed the curse’s source, healing the victims with divine arts would just lead to a repeat.

“A curse, huh. I see. So that’s why you didn’t prioritize treatment. …But I heard the Maria Church people were here at first—how didn’t they notice?”

“A bishop-class cleric can’t handle this. And if they’re fixated on ‘epidemic,’ it’s no wonder they missed it.”

In fact, no one had noticed. Only by sensing a subtle wrongness and focusing on it had he confirmed traces of a curse.

“Explaining ‘curse’ to that lot won’t change much. Especially that woman—being right there and feeling nothing.”

“Fair. If she understands that without divine arts many will die and still doesn’t change, then even if we say ‘it’s a curse’… it won’t matter.”

“Hmph. Troublesome and grossly inefficient.”

If there were people versed in church work or in sorcery, mobilizing them might yield results. But arranging that now would take time, and Zeke had no authority. Even if they asked Ciel, with a gag order in place, freelancing wouldn’t be allowed.

“No reinforcements, then.”

“Not when we don’t know the curse’s reach. The rescuers could become the rescued—‘the mummy-catcher becomes a mummy.’ If we add incompetents, they’ll just get in the way.”

“So basically… we have to do something with only the people here, in town, who can still move.”

Even now, victims were increasing. Waiting for reinforcements that might never come would never solve it.

“Even if we force townsfolk to work, I doubt they’ll help.”

“True. …Even to search blindly, we need baseline info. For now, let’s head back to headquarters.”