memory ; an ambush

[toxicate]

from here, original here
cw; manipulation, poisoning


They galloped for about 3 hours after leaving the capital.
It was around noon when they arrived at the foot of the mountain known locally as Mt. Doma.
Thick clouds hung in the sky with the Sun’s halo dimmed through them. Perhaps because of this, there was a dense fog around them such that they could barely see five steps ahead of themselves.
When Thegrea dismounted so did Rorowa and the others, and at last, it started to rain. A thin layer of rain gently caressed their cheeks, making the fog denser.
They advanced up the mountain with Thegrea at the lead, followed by the unwell Rorowa, Radylina, and finally Mordalion.
It was a gentle slope, but rocks twice their size were scattered here and there with the thick grass growing between them making it difficult to find footing.
Thistles, climbing twisted-lilies, bladder cherries──Rorowa thought that they were Autumn wildflowers, but the leaves were twisted, and the flowers had the rich colour of poison, so different from their usual appearances.
It was likely that this ‘place’ was causing the plants to mutate.
But why?
As Rorowa was concentrating on the flowers, he felt a slight dizziness and stumbled.

He thought that it might have been because he had tripped in the grass, but “……no, that’s not it,” he said as he shook his head.

This loss of balance that he felt was similar to when he was thrown from the flying boat, did not seem to be from tripping.
It was as if the space itself was shaking──a sense of discomfort like being thrust into a distorted, expanding bubble.

“That’s right,” Thegrea look back at Rorowa, having remembered something.

“As this area was where a fierce battle took place 14 years ago, it is prone to spacetime distortions. Please be careful.”

It was admittedly difficult to nod in understanding to an explanation which was just that.

“……What might happen?”

“I’m not an expert in otherworldly phenomena, so I can’t say for sure but……apparently ‘you get sent away’.”

“Where?”

“Sometime somewhere. They call the phenomena, “Bubbles of Causality”. The Cardinals and the Otherworldly Phenomena Research Institute have yet to fully analyse the laws behind it.”

“Umm, so in other words……”

Rorowa timidly pressed her for a conclusion to which she nodded.

“Yep. You don’t know where or when you’ll be sent, so please be careful.”

“How do you be careful of them?”

It was Radylina who asked the question.
However, Thegrea simply gave an ambiguous smile, and the corners of Rorowa and Radylina’s mouths twitched.

“Of course, I came with you to prevent any accidents from happening. It’s unlikely that a “Bubble of Causality” will occur on a patrol like this.”

“In that case it’s fine……”

Having said that, Radylina’s tone sounded uncharacteristically anxious.
Thegrea’s gaze turned towards Rorowa’s chest.

“How are you doing, Rorowa?”

Rorowa lightly stroked his chest.

“I feel a bit better……or maybe not……”

“What a straightforward answer.”

Retorted Radylina from behind.
Perhaps it was because this was an old battlefield or it was that spacetime was wavering, but there seemed to be a bizarre magical power in the air in this place.
Coupled with the stifling fog, it was gooey and murky.
It was at the very least not cheerful.
Not wanting to let himself, Thegrea and the others think that it was a waste of time coming here, he put on an air of ‘I seem to be better’, despite it feeling like the pain in his chest was getting stronger.
But, if it was getting stronger, then maybe there was clue to healing him here……
There was no other solution but to find hope here.

“Then, let’s go on patrol. Stay close please.”

Thegrea pointed forwards with the tip of her sword. The fog was so thick that they would easily get separated if they let their guard down.

“Rorowa, Radylina and I shall go right. And you.”

Thegrea glanced at Mordalion, who had arrived behind them.

“You go left. Well then.”

With an unusual coldness, she dismissed him as if to cut him off.
Mordalion hurried after Thegrea as she quickly moved to the right.

“Isn’t going on patrol your job?”

“Think of it as paying for your meal.”

“…………”

The breakfast thief went silent as Thegrea gave him no leeway.

“Besides, isn’t this your order’s unfinished work.”

“Well……I suppose it is.” Mordalion slovenly scratched at his head, strands of shiny hair spilling out from between his fingers. “Jobs that need physical strength aren’t part of my work though……”

The mumbling Mordalion was left behind as the three others continued onwards.
Thegrea’s warhorse as well as Nigra and Albu came along with them. One would have expected Nigra to follow Mordalion, but it seemed that they preferred being with Albu.
Rather than 3 to 1, it was actually 6 to 1.
Rorowa did think it was pitiful, but after a moment of hesitation, he prioritised his own safety.
Their surroundings were dense with fog, so even with Rorowa having good eyesight, he had to try his best to follow after Thegrea’s back, with the woman seemingly able to sense the spacetime distortions.

“──Over there.”

With that said, she led the group to a space with a spacetime distortion and swung her sword down.
When the rainbow stone fitted into the handle shone as the blade bisected the empty space, it certainly felt like they were going through a warped bubble.
Feeling the pain in his chest receding at the same time, Rorowa put out a question.

“What happened here?”

While keeping her eyes on their surroundings, Thegrea began to speak.

──It was 14 years ago.
Demon beasts wielding tremendous power suddenly appeared at Mt. Doma in Southern Keter Sanctuary.
Called the Ubiquitous Ogres, these underlings of the Void were sealed away by heroes in the past.
The “Dimensional Doors” that these demon beasts were sealed behind were constantly on the verge of breaking apart, and where it finally broke open was Mt. Doma.
All the strongmen who challenged them lost their lives, and not even their corpses were recoverable.
And so, the ones tasked with subjugating them were the deputy leaders of the Royal Paladin’s Second Knight Order and the Shadow Paladin’s Fourth Knight Order, Girard and Obscudeid.
These dimensional demon beasts were successfully defeated, with a crystal of tremendous power being found in their remains.
Despite it having been cut in half during the subjugation, a large amount of magical power remained, and it was placed in the duo’s swords in substitute for a “relic”.
In both of their swords──in other words, their Blaster Armaments.
They were born from the “β Project“ in an attempt to revive the power of ancient heroes, and used relics with special powers as their cores.
Although both swords already had sufficient materials, the Shadow Paladin’s Arsenal Division determined that the materials extracted from the dimensional demon beasts were much better.
As a result, their swords further evolved. This achievement played a big part in their advancement from deputy leader to the position of leader──

“Therefore, the blades are twin swords, so to speak. Though the true value of the sword is dependent on the skill of the wielder, the swords themselves will never surpass each other──for eternity.”

Thegrea slowly turned around.
Perhaps it was due to the thick fog or the distortions in spacetime, but her face became hazy and difficult to see, hiding her expression.

“But there is a way. I’m sure it was the sword’s guidance that led you to the territory capital, Rorowa.”

The red of her mouth was visible through the fog, faintly smiling.
White teeth poked out between her red lips.

“Rorowa, let us travel the path of light together.”

Thegrea raised her greatsword above her head.
The rainbow embedded into the hilt, burned vividly as if it had a mind of its own, emitting a dazzling light.
It was as if it were a──

“Fire Regalis……”

It had different colour and appearance from the ones he had seen in Thuri and Lyrical Monasterio, but there was no mistaking its overwhelming power.
Dazzled by its vividness, Rorowa was unable to react immediately.
Eventually, the blade’s tip reached the zenith.
The thick, dark clouds parted, and ray of sunlight fell straight below.
Softer than a petal, thinner than a needle, Thegrea’s hair ornament fluttered.
It was so out-of-place in its lightness and liveliness, with a breathtakingly vibrant pink──
In that moment.
Like a bubble swelling then popping, a shriek came from somewhere other than here.

“──Run!”

It was the voice of the “World’s Greatest Villain”.
Rorowa stepped to the side as if he had been slapped on the check, and the greatsword pierced the empty space where he had been.

“……!”

A slash intended to take Rorowa’s life.

“Ah.”

Thegrea’s words were so light in spite of the attempted lethal blow. She followed up with a strike aimed at Rorowa’s heart.
He could not avoid it──
There was a loud clang, like that of a cracked bell, and a flash of light filled his field of vision.
Mordalion stood between them, shielding Rorowa. His rapier curved about, parrying Thegrea’s slashes.
The deflected slashes gorged out craters from the earth, sending dirt flying.
Damp clods of earth fell like a rain of tar.
Now keeping her distance, Thegrea’s cheek was stained black and her smile was gone.

“So you were here──since when?”

“The very beginning.”

“……Such neglect of duty is far from admirable.”

“I’m fine with taking overtime today. ──Nigra, Albu, go!”

In response to Mordalion’s yells, Nigra bit into the back of Rorowa’s collar and threw him onto the saddle.

“……!”

As Rorowa clung to the horse’s body in a frenzy, Nigra ran into the fog.
He could see a red outline in the fog. Albu had picked up Radylina and Momokke, and was running parallel to Nigra.
Rorowa could hear Radylina crying out as she tried to figure out what was going on.

“──Ara ara, now this is troubling.”

Seeing two shadows disappear into the fog, Thegrea pointed her sword at Mordalion.
The man held a rapier as long as his body. It had strange, twisted shape with a dark purple mucus dripping from the blade.
He swung his sword, as if he were flicking blood off it, and the lush Autumn grass melted away.

“Could you please not get in my way?”

“Why did you attack them? I’ve already checked their identities, there are no problems with them. Radylina and Momokke are Dragritters, and that Bioroid Rorowa is a ‘World Tree Bioroid’ who awoke in the Chakrabarthi Divine Era.”

“Of course I know that. He wouldn’t have that power otherwise.”

“This makes even less sense then. The power of the World Trees is a blessing of life. His power is a miracle created by this planet; we cannot allow harm to befall him.”

“──Harm.”

The misplaced accusation made her shoulders shake involuntarily.

“If you are a personification of the blessing of life, then is becoming a sword of justice not the right thing to do?”

“I see.”

Seemingly convinced, Mordalion tapped his temple.

“It seems like you too have been affected up there.”

“……which one of us?”

Before she finished speaking, Thegrea kicked off the ground.
She slashed through Mordalion’s torso, but rather than the man, it was a large rock that became split in two, sent flying through the air.
Instead of nimbly dodging, it more like he disappeared, as if blown away by the wind. It was a bizarre feeling, like dealing with a flickering mirage.
When she turned around, she saw the man standing there looking at her as if he was blending in with the fog. His gardenia-coloured eyes had no trace of killing intent, he seemed to be calmly observing Thegrea’s state.

“The fact that you seem completely sane makes this so much more annoying.”

“You won’t get away this time!”

She closed the gap in a jump, making two, three blows in quick succession──but she was not fast enough.
Mordalion simply disappeared into the fog, unable to be detected.
Did he run away?
Her prediction was soon proven wrong when his elusive voice came from somewhere.

“Now there’s that crazy strength. My arms are delicate, unlike yours.”

“And will your head become more delicate once it flies off your neck?”

“I’m already having problems with how delicate it is now. I dropped an ice cream and became depressed for three days.”

He should have been hiding nearby, but for some reason she could not sense the man’s presence anywhere.
She could not even tell if the voice that entered her ears was calling out from in front of her or was whispering beside her.
His figure, his voice, his motives, all hidden within the misty darkness.
Aah, so this is the Leader of the Shadow Paladin’s Fourth Knight Order──she clenched her teeth hard.
The Fourth Knight Order was a unit that conducted domestic intelligence, a mysterious group that even Thegrea, a member of the regular army, did not know the full particulars about.
After Obscudeid, Mordalion, who had been the deputy leader, assumed the position of leader, and organisation became what it is today.
Since Obscudeid fled the country with a general purpose-type Blaster Armament in his possession, Mordalion only had one instead of the two which each order should have.
However, no information about its abilities had reached her ears.
Compared to the militant Obscudeid, Mordalion had a slender figure so she could only imagine that he had a different fighting style.
In the end, they were people who lurked in the dead of night, stabbing from behind3. As long as she confronted him head-on, Thegrea would probably have the upper hand.
But now that the fog was obscuring his figure, would she even notice if he was close enough for her to feel his breath?
A chill ran down her spine, as if a knife had brushed her nape.
To be tormented and beheaded by this man──

“As if I’d dance to your tune!”

Holding her sword above her head, Thegrea launched a slashed above herself.
The slash of light rushed ahead, clearing the fog. But there was no response, and the momentary visibility was soon covered by the fog.
That was when some helpful advice was sent her way.

“Maybe your intuition is off because of your bad daily behaviour? Why not make a start by picking up rubbish?”

“In that case, I’ve already being doing that.”

“Humu, how admirable.”

There was no killing intent in his voice, he spoke like he was just making small talk.
In this poor visibility Mordalion had the advantage with the situation turning in his favour.
So why was he not attacking?
Was he trying to buy time for Rorowa and the others to escape?
But that would have been a decision of the weak. He rendered Thegrea incapable of fighting then there would be no need to buy time.
Was it as his slender physique suggested, and Mordalion’s strength was far inferior to Thegrea’s? Or was he simply appointed to the position of leader because of his reconnaissance ability?
If that was the case then it would explain his lack of attack being that he feared being counter-attacked.

“He’s Mordalion. ……my deputy leader. He’s certainly capable, but.”

Even so, the memories she had ruminated upon countless times did not allow her to dismiss Mordalion as a weakling.

“──In that case, I’ll just crush him with everything I’ve got.”

Even if he mocked her ‘intuition’, it was fine as long as she had more moves than him4. The key to exterminating mice was to strike at every nook and cranny.
Trampling the knee-high Autumn grass, she ran in all directions as she unleashed countless slashes.

“You missed. Try aiming a little to the right.”
“Good one. That one spooked me a bit.”
“Completely off. Aim properly.”

The fog parted, the ground was gouged out, and huge boulders crumbled and fell. Soaked by the fog and raindrops, Thegrea’s emerald green ornamental cloth had turned dark and clung to her.
The ground was muddy, and Thegrea’s strength was sapped away with each step she took but she paid no heed to that.
No matter how much she ran around, she could not hear Mordalion’s death throes.

“Let’s stop playing around and get straight to the point.”

Began the man with an unpleasant coldness.
Looking through the corners of her eyes in irritation, Thegrea’s continued to search for his presence.

“‘Unknown’──There is an entity which we refer to as such. It’s quite pathetic that we don’t know anything about it so we had the give it that name.”

“Pretty sad that you call yourselves the Intelligence Unit.”

“Come on, don’t say that. Our opponent is a long-lived species who has been around long before we were born. In an age without a Divinity, when the world was engulfed in countless mayhem and despair, it was in the shadows like a puppet master pulling the strings. It’s identity and purpose are unknown. However, it is definitely something that stirs up desires and causes disasters──We of the Shadow Paladin’s Fourth Knight Order shall never allow its evil influence to lurk within our nation.”

Like buried flame, anger ran through Mordalion’s words.

“Your desires are being manipulated. Reveal their identity.”

“I’m being manipulated? Of course not.”

Her red lips held a hint of a smile.

“This is merely my heart’s desire.”

Thegrea’s overwhelming righteousness did not forgive any sin. Evil was evil after all.
This was a wish Thegrea had honed for 11 years.
The man let out a heavy sigh.

“A good conman wouldn’t even let you know you’re being conned……I suppose that makes this useless. It can’t be helped if I can’t get anything out of this. So, was this just a waste of time?”

“You gave up pretty quickly.”

She had never seen or heard of the ‘Unknown’, but for him to so suddenly pull back from the topic made her uneasy.

“I’m pretty good at torture, but it seems like it’d be a pain to try to get you to talk. There’s nothing better than time well spent. I know, since it’s been such a long time since we last met, why don’t we talk about the good old times?”

“……Enough with the jokes.”

The words she spat out did not seem to reach Mordalion’s ears.

“It’s been 11 years now. Since then, I have heard a lot about your exploits. Elven knights with outstanding physical strength are rare, so I suppose it probably wasn’t hard for people to start talking.”

“You actually feel sympathy for your own kind?”

“A bit I suppose. Well, the same amount of sympathy the people of the Dark States have to their local Gallows Bowl Team.”

Now that Mordalion had lost his will to fight, it was a good time for her to settle things.
Thegrea launched a series of attacks to the right, but there was no response, with only ‘talk of the past’ coming out.

“You could have joined the Cloud Knights. Did you choose the ground so you could enter the same Second Knight Order as Girard?”

“……So what if I did?”

“You’re a damn serious gal.”

Mordalion let out a sigh-like moan.

“I’m not that kind of serious person, so being with the Fourth Knight Order is just right with me since I can take breaks. I can ‘infiltrate’ a trendy café to have some ice cream, or I can choose a beach resort for my ‘undercover’ investigation and have a vacation.”

There was no way for her to know how serious he was about what he was saying, but Thegrea thought that he probably meant it all.

“And if I happen to pick up a World Tree Bioroid there, then it all ends well. I really admire your dedication to your work. Isn’t a leader supposed to do things on the sidelines? You became leader willingly, didn’t you? What a weirdo.”

“Your lack of responsibility is beyond words. I can only imagine how hard the members of your Order must have had to work. They have my condolences.”

As if something had struck him through the heart, Mordalion let out a deep sigh.

“I’ve been doing this for 11 years, but I still don’t know how to get along with my subordinates. Monitoring Ravens are quick to tell on me to Awnfar, and then Onux and Serendis……”

There was a moment of thoughtful silence, and eventually he continued in a dejected voice.

“They’re talking bad about me behind my back.”

“That’s definitely your fault.”

“You think so?”

Perhaps he was aware of it as his voice became further downcast.

“This is a good opportunity, if there are any tricks to being a leader, I’d love to learn them from you.”

“I don’t do anything special. Simply walking the path of light and showing yourself is all you need. It is something I learnt from my master long ago.”

“Then it’s impossible for me,” said Mordalion, giving up without even a moment of consideration.

“I have to question the sanity of the Shadow Paladin in selecting you as a leader. I don’t understand why they would do that.”

“It was simple.” In a statement of fact, he bluntly brushed it aside. “I was the strongest.”

“Don’t get so cocky leading your weak soldiers!” Thegrea’s scream rang out.

A presence fainter than a grain of sand seeped through the fog, as if torn apart by its own sharpness.
──Over there.
With conviction, Thegrea raised her greatsword to the sky.
The master she had admired and loved, Girard. The responsibility of bearing the sword she inherited from him always led Thegrea to the path of justice.
The unrivalled, well-honed technique was swung down to cut Mordalion in half──

The greatsword slipped weakly from her hand.

“……!”

Her sword pierced the mud.

Then, a feeling of exhaustion struck Thegrea, as if the ground had dropped out from below her, and she collapsed to the ground.

“Wha……?!”

She tried to stand up, but her legs would not work, and she could only scratch the mud with her feet. Unable to support her upper body, she held her hands up and noticed an abnormal twitch in her fingertips.
What was happening?
Then, Mordalion appeared from the other side of the fog, crouched down in front of Thegrea and met her gaze.

“That took quite a while. Even an elephant would be put to sleep by this stuff. Now my mouth’s numb from all that useless talking.”

“Poison……!”

The man was so close that she could almost feel his breath on her, yet her hands could not grip her sword.
All she could do was spit out words from her trembling lips.

“……since when?”

When Mordalion was let into their barracks, as a precaution, Thegrea did not consume any food or water other than that which had been prepared beforehand.
She had not been attacked either, so there should not have been an opportunity to poison her.
In response to her question, Mordalion pondered for a bit, “Ah, that’s right,” then seemingly recalled something.

“I believe it is customary to give thanks for delicious food, so I’ll tell you as thanks for the cake.”

Mordalion picked up a twig which had been lying on the ground and scratched a picture into the ground.
A triangle, a square and a circle.
Thegrea thought about what she was looking at for a bit then realised that it was a terrible drawing of a cake.

“There’s something I’ve always thought was weird. When we talk about ‘poisoning’ someone, people often imagine a liquid or powder being mixed in. I wonder what created that image.”

A skull was drawn on top of the cake, then he scribbled it out.

“Poison isn’t only hidden in food, it can also be in beauty. A large flower, a spinning wheel needle, a hair ornament, a golden ring, ballet shoes……their brilliance easily covers up the presence of poison and threatens lives.”

The twig then drew a long dress with balloon sleeves.
What Thegrea had worn to the wedding the previous night──
Mordalion glanced at the wet ornamental cloth that clung to Thegrea’s feet.

“That green is quite beautiful, right? One of our new recruits compounded it, and it’s great that it’s become so popular. I don’t have the sense for those kinds of things.”

“……you planned on committing indiscriminate murders?”

Solau had said that this emerald green was currently popular in Ketergia. Countless women were about to fall victim to the mass killings of its poisonous fangs.
Mordalion shook his head in a slight panic.

“No no, don’t get me wrong. It’s completely harmless if you wear it, lick it, or boil it as it is. It only becomes a deadly poison when it reacts with certain ingredients──there being a lot of fog today really helped things out.”

Thegrea grinded her teeth.
She had fallen right into his trap.

“You’d better be careful not to spill any ‘wine’ at evening parties from now on.”

Erasing his drawing with the twig, Mordalion stood up, and turned his back on Thegrea.

“……you’re not going to kill me?”

Mordalion shrugged at the groaning question. “If I wanted to kill you, things would have been much easier.”

As if he were pruning flowers, Mordalion showed his fingers up and down like scissors over his shoulder.

“……why aren’t you killing me?”

“I have no reason to.”

“……reason?”

Thegrea’s lips curled into a gruesome smile.

“Are you saying there was a reason why that man killed Lord Girard?”

Mordalion disappeared into the fog without an answer.
This time, his presence completely disappeared, leaving only Thegrea, unable to move.

“Why did Lord Girard have to be killed by his friend?”

There was no way she could have gotten an answer──even though she knew this, Thegrea’s throat quivered.

“Why did that man have to kill his friend!”

The inside of the fog was only filled with silence.