Chapter 34 Falling leaves(2)

Editor: BaeBae

“Kato!”

Sina barged into Kato’s tent. Kato, who’d already been briefed by the scout, was busy packing and getting ready to leave.

The other Blue rose knights were the same.

Kato had recovered enough that he could move around. However his appearance was still eerie from all the puss and blood that soaked the bandage wrapped around him.

“What’s going on. Top knight.”

“Did you really give the instruction to commence the cleansing operation!”

Sina went right up to his face and screamed.

Kato’s skin was decaying from the moisty air around them and not receiving proper treatment.

Around his body here and there, bits of shards containing Taltere’s mana were rooted which was disrupting the healing process.

An awful smell hit her nose. His outer appearance covered in bandages was nothing compared to the state of his inner body.

With a growling voice Kato spoke.

“The authority lies with me. Top knight. Your role is simply to fulfill your duty given to you. You have no one to blame. Your refusal led me to revert to my second plan. As a matter of fact, you should be thankful that you didn’t have to get your hand dirty.”

“It wasn’t a refusal! I only suggested a rational alternative method instead!”

“Logic fitting for someone that failed against a heretic.”

“Didn’t you also agree, going with purification would make pursuing him more difficult! Not only would our search speed slow down but gain unnecessary backlash from the natives living in the area!”

“We found him quickly enough through my way.”

Kato gave a long smile with his torn lips.

“Set fire here and there, and the rabbit is bound to come out. Or it could come out in order to stop the flame from spreading further. Anyways, he came out of his hole and instructed the villagers to spread the word that he’s there. Saying he’ll be waiting there.”

Sina was left speechless. Kato’s analysis was correct if you wanted to be result based. Fighting dirty was a viable tactic afterall.

But that was only true if you were only looking at the results.

Kato finished packing and headed out of his tent. Sina hurriedly followed suit.

“So what? Result justifies everything else? Then what about all the people slaughtered at Tantil? Are you saying it’s alright to commit slaughters in order to catch a slaughterer?”

“You’re still too young and lack the belief. I don’t want to drag this on longer. It’s not a good look to have two commanders arguing in front of the knights.”

Like he said, the knights around them were looking on with a nervous look.

She was dealing with an inquisitor.

He was someone who had the authority to sentence anyone a heretic and interrogate without consequence.

This included top knights and leaders of search groups. Sina knew her position was at the bottom of a cliff compared to his.

“Save your emotions for someone else. Top knight.”

Kato lifted his hands in front of Sina.

“You believe I’m acting on pure emotions. But no, I’m acting rational as I ever could be. I’m alive but rotting away, I cannot sleep with the pain from all the puss. The wounds that the bastard gave me keeps me awake.”

Kato placed his hands on Sina’s shoulders. His eyes burned with madness.

“And the truth is, if that bastard doesn’t die, the entire people must bear the burden.”

Stupidity at its highest!

Sina wanted to spit on Kato’s face and curse. However, all she could do was suppress her anger.

Kato noticed the anger in her eyes was not leaving. He quietly retrieved his hands and turned around.

“I guess there’s no other choice. If you don’t want to join, you can leave for Tantil. There your knighthood will be stripped and you’ll wait for trial. Your value was that you were the only one who’d seen him, but now that I have as well, my team will join up with White crow knights and finish the job without you.”

“If Juan….”

Sina spat out some words at Kato’s back.

“If Juan can’t be captured, what are you going to do? If he gets away……again?”Kato thought about it for a while then continued the conversation.

“We’ll set even a bigger village on fire. One that he can’t escape and run away from.”

That was the last straw. Sina made a decision. She drew out her sword and stuck it through Kato’s back in a swift motion.

Before Kato could turn around, Sina’s sword went right through and came out of his chest. His eyeballs widened.

“Kughhk……..!”

Sina pulled out her blade, tossing Kato onto the ground.

Kato’s blood sprayed over her body. A seasoned vertern knight, Sina did not make the mistake of not stabbing his vulnerable area.

Kato who’d been stabbed through the heart with a single strike stopped moving.

Breathing deeply, Sina looked at Kato’s dead figure. It was the first time she’d stabbed a person from behind. Nevermind an inquisitor.

Sina slowly lifted her head and looked at her surroundings. The few knights, looking on in shock came into her view.

One person dropped their belongings on the ground. It was so eerie quiet that the fallen pack made a ringing sound in their ears.

Then, Commander Hasell stepped forward.

“Inquisitor Kato fought valiantly against the apostate. But in the end he was martyred in a remote area as his wound deteriorated.”

“His death will forever be honored by the church.”

Even after Hasell’s proclamation, the eerie silence continued.

With a distorted expression, Hasell shouted.

“What are you lot doing! Move! It’s time to avenge our inquisitor!”

At Hasell’s words, the confused knights resumed their packing.

Seeing a frozen atmosphere start to move again, Sina found it hard to believe everyone simply ignored what happened just now.

She had never seen Hasell belate orders to his knights like now.

One of the knights gave a salute to Sina as he passed by.

There wasn’t a single person that had their attention on the dead Kato, covered in mud.

Her legs wobbled at realising everyone partly agreed what she did was right. The approaching Ausrey came by and held her from falling.

“……..Thanks. Ausrey.”

“You made fools of us all.”

Hasell spoke to Sina with grimace. Sina simply bowed her head.

“I owe you a debt. Commander Hasell.”

“No. Everyone is indebted to you. It was something everyone desired to do but was too scared to do. Me included.”

“I didn’t mean it like that commander….”

“Don’t worry, I just wanted to speak my mind. Considering my retirement is fast approaching, I will take this secret to the grave. I know your perception of me isn’t the best, but even you would have had times where your actions didn’t reflect your heart.”

Sina’s face slightly reddened.

“One thing I’m sure about is that this will be my last assignment. When I retire, I think we all know who’s going to lead the Blue rose knights in my place.”

“Commander, I’m still not ready….”

“I never said its you. Lets leave it at that for now and get rid of this corpse first. This body will certainly cause problems for us if found….. so quicken up.”

“Yes, yes, of course.”

Sina and Ausrey threw Kato’s body down the cliff. The corpse rolled down the slope, smashing into rocks on the way down.

Most of the bandage had been ripped off but in that state, no one would likely recognise who it is.

Kato’s already injured face was swollen up with cuts and bruises.

“Chase group leader Sina. Complete your assignment. Now that the inquisitor is dead, the authority is now solely with you.”

“I will……”

Sina looked towards the north, at the central roadway through the Laus mountains.

“I’ll go after Juan.”

Hasell had a surprised expression.“Had an inkling you’d refuse and return back to the capital.”

“I was given a task. It’s not like I don’t know where he is. And closer we head towards the capital, there will be more Katos I’ll encounter. I’m scared what would happen if Juan’s fiery nature collides with those timebombs.”

“Right. Do what you think is best. Lets hope you made the right choice. As the White crow knights have already participated in this incident, I’ll message them for their assistance. That bastard won’t be able to do much if we combine forces of two orders.”

Sina nodded. Soon following, the Blue rose knights finished packing and set off on their horses.

As she rode hard, splitting through the rain, she thought of Juan.

‘Revealing yourself to stop the village slaughters.’

A skinny boy that slaughtered a group of soldiers and craved blood.

“You came out and announced your location. Why?”

The boy that ridiculed her skills after dueling her in the middle of a night.

‘Would it be wishful thinking, that he didn’t want innocent people to die.’

The boy that self proclaimed himself as the emperor in the middle of a fire.

‘Maybe he’s calling me, telling me to come.’

The boy was calling for his enemies.

*****

Holding his breath, a Laus mountain scout had his bow pointed towards the village square. A whisky morning fog made things blurry but they saw a silhouette clearly rise.

In this moment, the scout’s finger pulled back the string instinctively.

The arrow flew and pierced the silhouette. The silhouette slowly toppled to the ground.

But even before he could celebrate his kill, something had cut across his throat.

Not a scream was heard. As he tried crawling away desperately, he heard his comrade’s scream.

‘He’ll kill us all. Every single one of us.’

Juan stepped on the crawling scout’s neck, breaking it. Then grabbing the horn, he pulled it across the village square, dumping it in the middle of nowhere.

Fresh blood flowed and drenched the town’s square.

The entire square had corpses laid out in a pattern.

As if the floor was being dyed.

There was a realisation to be earned within every experience. Although it wasn’t one that Juan should replicate, he decided to use it here once, but never again.

Messages from those who fled from the village flowed into the Laus scout force’s ears before it got to the Blue rose and White crow knights.

A small contingent tried an ambush at first, but failed. A considerable amount of bodies were strewn dead across the plaza.

Juan hoped more would have come but it looked as if this was it.

The scouts that he’d just killed seemed like the third and final team to arrive.

Through the fog and rain, scout archers couldn’t maximize their talents. And plus, Juan was proficient in close combat.

‘They’ll likely join up with Blue rose or the White crow knights.’

Juan had no intentions of escaping his village so he was happy to wait inside their surroundings.

Juan sat on the edge of a stacked pile of corpses in the middle of the square. He felt the pouring rain fall down and soak his body.

A long time had already passed since Anya had left the village.

The only people arriving were surprised travellers who didn’t know about the situation and turned back. Them and Laus scouts.

The sound of rain falling was the only sound heard at the village. By now, the thunderous rain had calmed and only a light drizzle was faintly dropping.

Juan stretched his grey cloak.

The dim figured cloak thinly spread itself across the town plaza floor.

And through the cloak, Juan started to slowly reclaim the mana that he’d thrown into the sky.

It was a wet and shady energy, but the grey cloak absorbed it like cotton.

“Welcome.”

Juan whispered quietly.

I wish my enemies would arrive soon. I want to fight. The chance to break the silence in this village. Rip apart flesh. Break bones.

And in the end after I’ve killed everyone, I want to hear the silence of death.

Inside the flames, I want to share my hatred toward them.

Tell them I’m still thirsty after drinking all their blood.

Juan was anxiously waiting for his enemies.