Chapter 130 - Suspicious Movements (5)
7
If one had to describe what Laura had been, she was someone so precious that water never touched her hands. She was born into this world through a magic experiment, but after she received the name of Aunsaurus, she was treated like a queen. Aside from learning magic and carrying out her missions, she hadn’t even needed to lift a finger to dress herself. Others would do it for her.
Now she was in a situation where she had to wash her dishes and clothes. Unexpectedly, she found the mundae everyday work to be refreshing. She enjoyed doing these tasks throughout her travels. However, there was one thing she couldn’t let go.
“What happened?”
Azell held up a piece of cloth that was twisted and dried up. It used to be a women"s apparel. It was Laura’s clothes.
Amongst the party, Laura had the most clothes. She bought clothes from every town they visited, and she squirelled them away in her pack. Since she didn’t ask others to carry her pack, no one complained. They were traveling a long distance at a ridiculous pace, so it was stupid to increase one’s luggage. However, if she wasn’t slowing them down, wasn’t it up to her to decide on what she wanted to do?
Laura had grown up pampered, so she was fixated with being clean. Even when they camped outside, she always went out and found water. She used magic to clean herself, and she changed into a different clothes daily. Leticia was also a woman, yet she was on the opposite side of the spectrum as Laura. Leticia had lived a very rough life, so she held the same view of cleanliness as men. Moreover, travelers were intrinsically more tolerant against not being clean compared to normal people.
‘Well, she does seem to be more feminine….’
Laura changed clothes everyday, so she did laundry more than anyone else. However, she didn’t have the time to dry her laundry unless they were at an inn. This was why she had used magic to dry it fast… She had made a rare mistake, and now she wouldn’t able to wear these particular clothes.
He had wondered why she hadn’t come back from the creek. He had found sitting next next to the clothes as she hugged her knees.
Her expression didn’t show it, but it looked as if she was conflicted about something. He discreetly sat next to her, and he queried her.
“Are you sick? Did you get hurt during the battle?”
“…no.”
Laura, who hadn’t shown any reaction to his presence, answered him. There was a sigh mixed in with her words.
Then another awkward silence descended. After Azell waited for a brief moment, he glanced at her as he spoke.
“If you don’t want to talk about it, you don’t have to. I don’t plan on interrogating you.”
“…….”
Laura didn’t respond to him. Azell shrugged his shoulders slightly before he stood up. Azell turned around, and when he took couple steps, he heard Laura’s whispered words.
“…it was a situation where I had to kill him.”
Azell walked back, and he sat back down next to her again. Laura continued to speak. She tilted her head, so she could place her head on one of her knees.
“How I would be treated by them…. I knew from the beginning what it will be like. I used to be one of them.”
Despite everything, she had firmed her resolve to follow Azell. The Dragon Demon king worshippers were fanatics, and they demanded complete faith in their G.o.d. If one showed even a little sign of faltering from their faith, a violent punishment would be applied to the traitor. Someone who tried to save you yesterday would try to kill you with a vengeance.
However, she realized some of what she imagined was matched in reality, but the parts that didn’t match was very different. She had imagined the consequences of her actions as a way to harden her resolve. However, the shock she felt when she confronted reality was huge.
The magician, who had died at Laura’s hands, spoke with a voice full of venom. He had cursed her.
‘You b.i.t.c.h! You will forever burn in the fire of h.e.l.l! We will use whatever method to kill someone, who betrayed their comrades and our faith! This is a promise! Your body and soul will be punished! You will be in so much pain that you will wish you were dead!’
…if it was them, they would be able to follow through on such a threat. They had a method of giving pain that was so severe that it was as if one was in h.e.l.l. Moreover, one couldn’t seek release from the pain through death.
However, she wasn’t afraid of that. Fear was not what made her upset.
Laura asked him a question.
“I’m sure you have heard a lot of curses thrown at you by your enemies.”
“Yes.”
“What did you do each time?”
“I didn’t pay attention to it. If I let myself become occupied with such words, it’ll be endless.”
“I think I was like that in the past. It was bit different, but still…….”
When she had carried out a mission as a Dragon Demon king worshipper, she hadn’t had such thoughts. She followed orders to produce results. That was the only way she could raise her worth, so she had lived only for this. She had been obsessed with not failing that she hadn’t even thought about her opponents. She hadn’t suffered under this feeling of responsibility she was feeling right now.
This was why she hadn’t cared if her opponents hated her or cursed her. When she was killing her enemies on a mission, her enemies had been inorganic objects to her.
Now she was facing enemies, who had once been her allies….
She could no longer maintain her previous frame of mind.
“I killed him. I had no choice but to kill. I had to kill, but… I can’t seem to forget him. I’ve never paid attention to my opponent’s appearance or what kind of voice he had….”
“Mmm. Basically…. This is the first time you’ve viewed an enemy as a person.”
“….”
At Azell’s words, Laura suddenly stopped her rambling. Her eyes widened a little as she looked at Azell.
Azell queried.
“Am I wrong?”
“Your words…. I think you are right.”
As a high ranked magician, Laura’s intelligence was incredibly high. However, she was clumsy with her emotions. She was almost childlike in that way. After hearing Azell’s words, she understood why she was upset.
When she was an officer within the Plain of Darkness, the Dragon Demon king worshippers were a weapon she wielded. Her allies had been tools that was used by her. She never put much importance to them. She didn’t even try to remember each of their names or faces.
However, she didn’t think she could ever forget the magician she had killed this time around.
Azell spoke.
“Your situation is unique. It was inevitable since you lived under the same roof as them..”
“I lived under the same roof?”
“You don’t know that idiom? I guess I can see how you might not know it.”
In truth, Azell didn’t know if the same idiom was being used in this era. At times, the people of this era used idioms that existed during the Dragon Demon war, and it was a refreshing experience for him. Then there were words and phrase that were new to him. Occasionally, a phrase left behind by someone he knew was quoted, and the feeling he felt was indescribable.
Anyways, he let such feeling flow off him as he spoke.
“You were part of a group that pursued the same goal, and they had become a form of family to you… Humans group together. If they aren’t in a hostile relationship where killing is necessary, they gather in groups for the sake of profit. If some chooses to move to a different group, they are treated as traitors, and it caused them stress. The fact that you are upset is natural.”
Azell had a similar experience before. It wasn’t as extreme as what Laura was feeling right now, but he had to go through the process of coming to terms that people he hated and deserved to be killed were still people. It had been a shock to his system. At first, he saw enemies as just people he had to kill. However, as time pa.s.sed, he realized the people he killed had family and friends. He discovered that they were people, who enjoyed the mundane task of life….
‘For me, it was the Dragon Demons.’
When Azell was very young, he experienced his first kill by killing a bandit. That human deserved to die, so he didn’t experience any surprise like finding his humanity.
However, Dragon Demons were different. He had considered all of them to be enemies, but some Dragon Demons had become his allies. He had thought they were monsters that were completely different from humans. However, he discovered that they were very human in many ways. When he realized this fact, the shock he felt was indescribable.
As Azell thought about the old days, Laura asked him a question.
“What can I do?”
“Unfortunately, this isn’t a problem with a ready made remedy that’ll make you feel better. There are many problems in this world, and there are some like this one where you can’t do much about it.”
“I see…….”
Laura let out a sigh. Of course, she knew all of this. She had chosen her path in life, so she had to take responsibility for it.
She suddenly spoke.
“Do you remember the time when I told you about the elder I spoke to?”
“The nameless Dragon Demon, who managed to live through the Dragon Demon war?”
“Yes.”
“What about that b.a.s.t.a.r.d?”
“…….”
Laura looked over Azell. Of course, from Azell’s perspective, the elder was merely a foe he would have to kill on sight. There was no reason for him to show respect to the elder. However, Laura couldn’t help but feel displeasure at his words. The elder was one of the few beings that had consoled her heart.
A rare expression appeared on her constantly expressionless face, so Azell noticed what she was feeling. Azell let out a bitter laugh as he spoke.
“I understand you are irritated, but…. Even if Dragon Demon king Atein revives, I’ll still call him a b.a.s.t.a.r.d. I don’t plan on using an honorifics.”
“I know. Now that I think about it, you will have to fight the elder in the future.”
“I think so. However, according to your account, he was decrepit from old age. Will he be able to fight me?”
Laura hadn’t gone into details about the elder. However, Azell had put two and two together to surmise that the Dragon Demon was old and infirm. He sounded like an outstanding magician, but he wouldn’t have been able to free himself from the effects of his body.
‘No. By the look of what they had done recently, maybe he will try to come back as an Undead? As a magician, his ability would be retained in its entirety. He’ll be a powerful foe. He would lose his Dragon Demon magic, but a Dragon weapon can somewhat fix that deficiency of an Undead…..’
Azell worried about such real-life worries when Laura shook her head from side to side.
“No.”
“Huh?”
“Whenever I met him, he was always in his seat, and he didn’t move. However, it wasn’t because he was decrepit. I’m sure he is old, but it isn’t as if he can’t move. He is choosing not to move.”
“So he is pretending to be decrepit?”
“Yes.”
“Is there a reason why he went through all the trouble of trying to trick you? Ah, from what I heard up until now, the older generation within the Plain of Darkness seems to really hate giving information to the younger generation…..”
“No, that isn’t it…. I have a hunch that it is part of a magical rite.”
“Is it a magic ritual that restricts movements? Mmm. Maybe, it is a method that forcefully suppresses his aging process.”
“It is a possibility, but Azell...”
“What?”
“You really are like a magician. I wouldn’t have thought a non-magician could come up with such a possibility….”
“Well, it is the fault of having a friend, who likes to give lectures.”
Azell let out a bitter laugh. Carlos really liked talking about magic with Azell. This was why he had a lot of miscellaneous knowledge about magic even if he was only a Spirit Order pract.i.tioner.
Moreover, the knowledge he had gained was very useful in the Dragon Demon war. In certain situations, he knew what the enemy magicians could do. He was able to discern what they were going to do.
Azell spoke.
“Let’s put that aside... What is up with that elder of yours?”
“He said these words to me. He said I will use my own will to find the worth of my own life, and I would have to brace myself to fight the whole world in the process.”
“…….”
“I believe that person somehow foresaw that I would someday make this choice.”
Whenever Laura met the elder, she always had that thought. He was unusually sympathetic towards her, and he didn’t try to indoctrinate her with fanatical views. He lived a very quiet life compared to the other survivors of the Dragon Demon war residing in the Plain of Darkness.
She had betrayed the Dragon Demon king worshippers now, and if there was one person she wanted to meet again, it was him. Now that she was out of the organization, she had more questions about him now.
Who was he?
Moreover, what was the purpose of hiding his ident.i.ty?