Chapter 6
My last secret was known when we were right beneath the hole leading to the surface.
Until then it somehow went unnoticed. While proceeding in the pa.s.sageway I stumbled many times and would grab onto Conrad"s clothes, I would only say that it"s because I didn"t eat anything for five days that I couldn"t walk properly. Even though he sympathetically offered to carry me I said I don"t want to lose my muscles like this, Conrad reluctantly gave in.
I didn"t think that I would be to hide it till the end of the journey but the truth is it was unexpectedly early. The moment I try to ride a horse and fall in the sand while getting on it would be a laughable scene, that"s what I expected.
It was just past noon and the sunlight was still bright, it was reaching up to the bottom of the hole lightening it up. It was so bright, I couldn"t see anything, not even shadows. Everything was pure white.
I can hear Hazel Graves" high-spirited voice from far above.
"Are you done with your business? If so then hurry up and climb up by yourself. You are as fast as it would take me to write down my whole life"s story!"
"Please give me some time."
I finally replied in a loud voice. There must be a rope hung down from the surface somewhere in this flood of light but it’s so dazzling bright that there"s no way for me to search for it. It felt as if its white darkness.
"All right I"ll climb! All right I"ll climb! .... umm... I wonder if I"ll be able to climb on my own."
"I won"t let you do such a reckless thing. Hold on to me. I"ve already secured the rope. Yuuri, give me your hand..."
It was at that time.
Seeing the sunlight after a long time was dazzling, I couldn"t even make out the shadows. Also, the sunlight was warm so I couldn"t tell his position by his body temperature or movements. On top of that since the place was dorm-shaped the sound echoed, I couldn"t tell his position even by his voice.
All the elements were working against me, I had stretched my hand in the opposite direction.
"I"m here, your majesty."
"Oh! That side."
I failed for the second time.
"Wait, it couldn"t be..."
I can"t hide it like this any longer. I admit defeat and cover up my eyes with my left hand. Relieving me from the painful white, I could finally see a gentle shadow coming towards me.
"I can"t see. It"s been like that for around two days I think. I don"t know exactly from when."
"You can"t see?"
"That"s right, like this I can"t see anything other than the faint colours of light."
"... Is it because... of the darkness?"
"Even I thought the same but"
It is said that you can diagnose the symptoms by touching, Conrad held my cheeks with his hands and stroked near my eyes with his thumb. When I closed my eyes, he gently pressed my eyelids.
"Do you think it"s because your eyes can"t get used to the light since you were in the darkness for a long time... really?"
"Unfortunately, that"s true. Even with the torches, even with the light seeping through the hole in the ceiling, I can"t see much. I can only guess by the lights and shadows. But I"m used to it now. Because there was someone who taught me how to find the sun."
Conrad most probably didn"t hear the last part, not to mention he lamented like a calamity had befallen himself. It"s rare to see him drop his guard like that.
"What are you saying! Why didn"t you tell me earlier?"
"It"s a question of priorities."
"Priorities...don"t say such things"
But it"s true. Humans can confirm something having experienced it firsthand. And it was the same in this case. I only realized the feelings inside me when I told Conrad about it. I"m only lying if I say it"s not a big deal. But if I think of it as "On a scale of ten, how much painful is it ?" then my vision problems would be either six or seven out of ten. Compared to the other two issues at hand, it’s not that important.
That"s why I tried to hide it.
"If I put it in the order of importance, it would be third. We need to be careful about Saralegui"s involvement with the boxes, and even about Yozak... even that is important, its painful that he"s gone. My eyes can"t see... it"s worse, but that"s my problem. Because of that the world won"t be in danger or someone won"t have to lose their life, nothing tragic will happen. That"s why I thought its fine even if no one realized it but looks like it was not possible after all."
I couldn"t suppress the embarra.s.sing smile on my lips.
"I didn"t want to worry you over little things."
"... I already told you it"s my duty."
While talking, I became used to standing in the light.
The dazzling white had turned slightly yellowish, it changed to a milky colour.
"Please don"t make such a sad face. Even if I can"t see I can tell what face you"re making. It"s not anyone"s fault, its only my personal problem."
If I look at the heavens, I can see the sky which I told in my dreams.
If I turn towards someone I can tell if they are there.
"And if I think about it, its not like I"ve completely lost my eye-sight. When I was underground even I was a upset, I panicked since it was dark and I couldn"t see anything, I could barely distinguish between light and shadow... you could say that all of a sudden my vision became really bad."
"Lights and shadows... how much can you see?"
"hmm... for example the sky is the colour of water barely white. And if there is a pure white circle, then that is the sun. Conrad looks like..."
If I reach for his hair, I can"t clearly distinguish it as brown but...
"Because it becoming dark, it looks like a faint gray. Its like a proper human figure drawn in the sand on the seash.o.r.e with the foot. I"m sorry if you feel bad."
Without thinking I blurted it out and hastily apologized. No one would be happy to be told that they look like they have been drawn by foot.
"You can only see human figures."
"Don"t worry, I don"t have cat ears or something. When I was in that pa.s.sage-way, I couldn"t see anything since there was no light or shadow. But it"s different now. If there is something in front of my eyes I can tell, I can tell that you are right here Conrad. The sun really is amazing!"
I raised both my hands to the heavens. My whole body was covered by sunlight. I wanted to shake off the five days of soot wrapped around my body.
"Thanks to the sun it feels like being surrounded by milk. The pitch black darkness has changed to white darkness."
"White darkness..."
He had an unkind expression, for while Conrad made an unkind expression, he fell silent for a while. After that he reluctantly asked me.
"But how did you end up like this. Did you somehow damage your eyeball or optic nerves? For example, did some insect enter your eyes or were you hit by stones or mud."
"hmmm... I can"t remember anything like that. But if something happened while I was fast asleep then, maybe I rolled over in my sleep and hit my head somewhere... my eye-sight might return if I"m hit with the same force again."
"Isn"t that memory loss."
"Maybe its a change in personality. It could be something else altogether."
The light gray human form slightly moved up and down. He heaved his shoulders and let out a not so serious sigh.
"Its alright, its alright. I will..."
"Stop"
Wait! Without letting him finish his sentence I placed my palm near his face. As usual he was going to say some cool dialogue refres.h.i.+ngly that would make your whole body itchy.
"You don"t need to say it Conrad. Your eyes are your own, I have these two eyes... right now. They"re right here, aren"t there?"
"Yes. Its my favorite black."
"That"s right, its more than enough. By the way we are making the guys on top wait for quite some time. Isn"t Hazel considerably shot tempered?"
Right at that time someone was looking into the hole. When they came close to the light source the colour of their shadow darkened.
"Hurry, climb up alone."
"huh"
The voice in my memory echoed.
"Alone, by myself?"
"This voice is coming from the people above right. Did they bring an interpreter? That will be of great help to rescue Jason and Freddy, its a good thing to have many people who have mutual understanding... Conrad?"
When I realized the surrounding atmosphere had changed, without realizing I started whispering.
"Did something happen?"
"Shhh! Your majesty, please step back a little. This is very strange, why would they need to call out to us... that too they said to climb up alone."
Conrad pulled me behind again and shadowed me so that they wouldn"t be able to see me from above. Come to think of it, earlier Hazel said the same thing.
"Hurry and climb up alone."
"Hazel and the others know that there are two of us. There must be some reason why she"s emphasizing on "alone"".
"Did Saralegui do something sly again?"
"That"s not possible, because I have tied him up properly."
"But what if Shou s.h.i.+maron"s reinforcements or search party come to rescue him..."
"They won"t be able to find him so easily."
Just by his nonchalant way of speaking, I realized. Bag... you stuffed Sara in a bag, didn"t you Conrad. But after that "Exploring the amusing underground pa.s.sage tour with dark Saralegui" I just cannot bring myself to side with him. Its best if he stays stuffed inside that bag for now.
"This is very strange. I"ll go on ahead and see the situation. Your majesty, please stay put here, do you get it, no matter what do not come a place which is visible from above."
After thinking a little he continued.
"Of course please don"t even think of climbing up unnecessarily. Please don"t do anything reckless till your eyesight recovers. Going to the veranda or kitchen is also forbidden."
"All right... wait, you"re gradually becoming like my mother."
With my vision like a pigment"s thin thermography, if I jump in middle of disaster stricken party, instead of being of any help I"ll end up dragging them down. I"ll just wait here quietly. I"ll crouch here and wait stooping down so that no one can find me.
But harsh roars and cliches which sound intimidating no matter how you listen to them are being exchanged on the ground which I watched quietly from behind. Words said like this are universal, you can understand them just by the feel.
I heard about it later but at that time the situation on the surface was like this.
When Conrad climbed the rope and looked from the hole, Hazel and the others and the closed bag were in a hold-up state, what"s more they were surrounded by all sides, looks like there were men riding horses with a projectile weapon in their hands.
The attackers who fought for the supremacy and continued their struggle near the royal tomb were equestrian people. Indistinguishable from the sand in the desert they wore a yellowish gray cape and a hood of the same colour which covered everything up to their eyes that you couldn"t even read their expressions. They positioned the crossbow like projectile weapons at chin level, ten people aimed at Hazel and the others while the remaining ten targeted Conrad.
Thanks to Conrad hiding in the hole like a prairie dog, before they could fire the pseudo-crossbow like weapons pointed at Hazel and the others, they immediately changed to plan B as soon as he tried to draw back his head,
Plan B, the rabbit that was pretending to be bitten. In other words, waiting for an opportunity while pretending to obey them.
He showed no intentions of resisting them, came out of the hole and joined the captives.
I, who knew nothing, was waiting like a good boy for them to tell me its ok to climb up. While I was waiting for their reply, exchange of unruly words had already begun on the ground.
After much of Seisakoku language, I could hear Conrad"s reply.
"That was me!"
As soon as they interpret, I can hear Seisakoku language again. This time in a calm voice he replied.
"I"m alone."
Just by this conversation I couldn"t affirm what Conrad was being asked. There is a possibility that the question was "Is this hat German?" or "Are you married?" However if you speculate from the tone of the people using Seisakoku language, the contents don"t seem so friendly.
Those guys suspect whether there still might be some allies in the underground or not.
Although their suspicions are right, there"s only a high school boy underground who can"t even fight.
What should I do? While only listening to half their conversation I was lost.
Should I appear in front of them like a man or should I just stay put in the shadows like Conrad asked me to. I don"t think the situation will improve by me going to the surface. But what will I do if in the worst case scenario my comrades blame me for not showing up?
While I was worrying about it the situation on the scene changed drastically.
Guessing only by the sound, people and horses, looks like both their numbers have increased suddenly. Are they the companions of the attackers, or are they the comrades of Hazel who continue the gra.s.s-root activities in the desert, or has a third force stormed in to create even more chaos.
Screams and angry voices echoing one after the other, they eventually merged. A sharp sound of something cutting through the air, the sound of heavy weapons clas.h.i.+ng against each other, the sound of hooves stamping on the sand. The neigh of the horses. There"s no doubt, unlike the leisurely atmosphere up till a while ago, its changing into a harsh battlefield above.
Along with a dull sound, something came down on the ground right in front of my eyes. From what I heard it seemed heavy and soft, for my mental health I went to confirm.
But thanks to him coming down and the rope swinging, I confirmed the path necessary to cross in order to reach the surface. A person is coming down with the help of that rope.
"Co..."
I shut my mouth and took a step back to where the sunlight couldn"t reach. A triangular distorted shadow was hanging in the air, from one hand he stretched an elongated shadow. He most probably drew out his sword. His hem flutters when the wind blows. Maybe its the cloak that covers his whole body.
No, its not Conrad, he wasn"t wearing these clothes.
I need to hide. Although I indented to follow my the orders given by my brain, I was a little late. Looks like the man who came down has spotted me. Stepping on pebbles he"s coming this side.
My vision is getting pitch black as I run to the darkness that thins out the light coming from the ground and lean against a stone-wall.
Give up! Get out before I to come and find you! My breathing is becoming shallow and rapid, a cold sweat flows down my spine. My pulse raced like an alarm.
I don"t have a weapon, even my eyesight hasn"t recovered. If I"m attacked by the enemy in such a situation I can barely resist. Of course, even under normal circ.u.mstances I"m no match for a soldier. Escaping is just a matter of whether you"re fast or not.
However my prayer was in vain, the man who had come down step foot even in the darkness. The last of the sunlight sparkled on the weapon held in his right hand.
A small star appeared to be afloat for a moment and then disappeared.
The opponent was gradually closing on the distance as I tried to conceal my breadth. I can hear him breathing close by. Still five more steps to go, four steps, three...
"...tsk!"
Jumping over the remaining two steps the enemy suddenly took a swing at me. It was a do or die situation, I threw my body to the right and rolled on the dry cold ground. Sparks flew from the stone wall that had the remnants of my body temperature from being hit by a heavy weapon.
This is no joke, is he trying to kill me, does he intend to kill me!? Me who is neither a warrior nor a soldier but a high school student? A mere soldier is trying to injure me...
Its that feeling again. The frustrating feeling that my throat, my mouth belong to someone else"s body as well at the same time.
"...Despite being a mere soldier, you dare to try and harm me...?"
The second attack cut through the air. I twisted my body and while avoiding even the wind caused by the sword I turned towards my a.s.sailants back in half a step. I gave him a blow on the spine with my elbow. If he is half or one step away, whether he can see it or not, I can attack him. Its only a question of whether I manage to land a direct hit him or not. Our situation is the same, even he shouldn"t be able to see clearly. But if the enemy is a skilled soldier who is accustomed to using swords then even in the dark he should be able to fight picking up signs from his opponent. However he has only one weak point.
The enemy doesn"t know the position of the wall.
Although my opponent didn"t have a prey to swing at, he had a splendid sword. If the blade hits my flesh, it will pierce and cut right through but if it hits a rock, it will have some impact on the wielder and cause damage. By chance if it breaks and rolls down it will no longer be of any use. If I pick it up, I can use it against the enemy.
My opponent"s blade swooped from the bottom, grazed my right side and hit the rock. It broke and split into two parts while emitting a loud noise which didn"t seem to be that of a metal. The part with the hilt was in the hands of the enemy, while the other half with the sharp edge came spinning at high speed, hit my toes and stopped there.
Why did my body naturally carry out a move that I have never even learnt before, how did such a counter attack method come to my mind all of a sudden, I myself did not find it strange. However more faster than thinking with my brain, I stepped on the edge of the blade and with the tip of my shoe raised it slightly.
The cold piece of metal was within my hand"s reach.
I couldn"t afford to worry about my palm. The same goes for my enemy. He is coming at me to swing with the broken sword which doesn’t have a tip. Even I gripped the bare blade and quickly gave a horizontal swipe. The meal which was originally one sword, hurt two men at the same time.
A hot stimulus ran through my right shoulder and there undoubtedly was some reaction in my left hand.
My opponent"s body suddenly kneeled over. The air which was filled with the smell of rusty iron surged towards me.
However finding the scent I certainly remember within it puzzled me. It wasn"t only the blood.
"Wolf...?"
"Yu"
The body that had collapsed in my arms slowly turned.
"Wolfram!?"
"...Yuuri"
My sleeves and palms were completely drenched in some warm liquid. Wolfram"s heaviness profoundly weighed down on my shoulders. While embracing him, I kneeled down on the ground miserably.
"I couldn"t see, really, I didn"t know!"
"Even me. I heard an unfamiliar voice... its not your... fault"
"Wolf!"
Everyone tells me that it"s not my fault.
But in reality, everything is my fault.