GRP Chapter 22

"Ha, not just anyone gets this treatment. Really showing generosity today."

"Want to play the hunting game? Drop you and see who catches you first."

"Only mess up once in ten tries. That one time was because we'd been drinking, so now it's fine, probably."

"The dropped kid didn't even die. Their memory got a bit worse after, but they became cheerful and positive."

Insane, insane people. They'd truly lost their minds, no doubt. Mariaeks shook her head desperately with all her might to avoid death.

"True enough... now's not the time. Got too excited about a new recruit."

"Kid's having trouble even saying 'I don't like it' or 'stop' to seniors. Quite principled, huh?"

"I like this one. Kid's going places."

The women laughed. Kekeke. Mariaeks tore her plan to explore the castle into shreds. She'd rather be in the room with Garthe. That these dangerous individuals roamed about without any restraint. How terrifying...!

Fierce wind continuously swept past her ears. Before long, the castle walls came into view. Above them stood giant siege weapons in rows, and humans in armor moved about busily maintaining ironclad vigilance.

The women landed lightly atop the walls. Finally freed from Ryaia's armpit, Mariaeks leaned half against the battlements, calming her trembling legs. Meanwhile, an elderly-looking man came running over breathlessly.

"Paldoa, you've arrived!"

"Yep."

"When the bell rings, here you are playing around."

"Ah, well, they weren't attacking first...."

"Combat is all about the first punch. Always looking for shortcuts...."

Following their gazes, Mariaeks also looked beyond the walls. A massive, pure white yak god stood freezing the surrounding ground while staring at the citadel. Even the women who'd been joking with the man soon hardened their expressions. She could understand the surrounding tension and the women's disturbance. Though full-scale battle hadn't occurred, the god felt threatening just standing still, holding such power.

"When did it attack?"

"About fifteen minutes ago."

"It's just been standing there the whole time?"

"Yes."

"Better not provoke it needlessly. We could take it if we had to, but we're poorly matched against it, so fewer casualties if we hold until the Anir arrives. Tell the others too. Don't go showing off first."

The yak opened its mouth while looking up at the walls, and the sound of a roaring blizzard spread. A god's voice, not a beast's. It clearly meant to say something, but the problem was no one could understand.

"Agh, god above! Even a northern dialect would be fine—just speak a language we understand!"

Some gods knew human language or conveyed meaning itself. But most gods spoke in mysterious voices resembling nature's sounds. Ordinary humans couldn't understand, though occasionally those who heard gods' voices were born. Taking on the grave duty of communicating with gods, they were called shamans, priests, or clergy.

But this was a sparsely populated fortress. The chance someone who understood the yak god's voice would luckily appear was infinitely low. When the yak spoke again, ice crystals forming around its two long horns began dropping from the air. Thunk, thunk. Human warriors thinking the god would attack sharpened their vigilance again.

But only Mariaeks could sense what the god meant to say. Emotion like roughly clawing her chest flowed in. It was grieving. Mariaeks clutched her chest, which began surging with another's emotion, and looked at the women standing on the battlements. Their earlier playfulness completely gone, vivid wariness dwelt sharply in their eyes. They seemed not to understand the god's intent at all.

"Paldoa."

When she called the name she'd heard, all three women turned toward Mariaeks simultaneously. Only then did she realize they were all named Paldoa.

"Kid... rushing us. We understand you want to rush out right now and cut off its head, but wait first."

"That's the problem with new recruits. Too bloodthirsty."

She couldn't understand what they meant by understanding. As the Paldoa sisters said things like "It's that age when you love blood and war. Cute, so cute," her frustration deepened. Mariaeks pushed back the hood that had covered even her eyes. Silver hair scattering on the wind sparkled in various colors depending on the angle. The Paldoa sisters' eyes widened.

"Looking for a child."

"...A child?"

Ryaia belatedly answered Mariaeks's words.

"Saying to return the child in the fortress."

"You understand that dog-shit revelation? Were you a shaman, new recruit?"

She didn't know what a shaman was, but that wasn't what mattered now. Since hearing the god's words, she couldn't shake the urgent feeling. Because the god's heart had been transmitted wholly. Her chest felt stuffy and kept throbbing painfully.

"It might end without fighting."

Ryaia just looked down at Mariaeks without answering, arms crossed. After a moment, she shrugged and spoke.

"Think that god will rampage while we look for the child?"

Mariaeks looked beyond the walls again. Between fur hanging long over the face, eyes pooled with sorrow showed. No hostility could be found.

"No."

"Good. That's what I thought."

Ryaia leaped up and landed firmly on the opposite battlement overlooking the fortress interior.

"Oze! Oze!"

Following her, Mariaeks also moved positions. Below the walls, a black form squeezed between giant figures showed. Oze waved his hand gently upward.

"Yeah, hey, Oze. Nice to see you too. Anyway, there's supposedly a god's child in our fortress? Find it!"

Oze drew a circle with his arm. Soon divine power began spreading from him. Like a lake after a leaf falls, subtle ripples of sound arose around him. Sound ordinary humans couldn't hear. Only Mariaeks, the Paldoa sisters, and a few warriors squinted at the sound waves ringing sharply through their heads. After a while, the waves subsided. The search had ended.

"Where is it?"

Oze crossed his arms and raised them.

"It's not there?"

This time, a circle. Mariaeks glanced at Ryaia. If questioned whether it was wrong information, she'd been ready to make excuses quickly. Making such worries futile, Ryaia only stared at distant space. Her crossed fingers moved rhythmically. Tap tap tap.

"One is an omniscient god, one is omniscient Oze...."

Stop. Her finger movement ceased. Ryaia's gaze turned utterly cold.

"Those vermin-like things...."

Murderous intent rippled and spread. Cold gathered over her nape, and Mariaeks hastily pulled her cloak tight.

"Oze!"

At Ryaia's angry voice, Oze tilted his head.

"Change the search target! Not something living but something dead! Target is a four-legged beast with horns. Search thoroughly even dismembered parts!"

The wall top instantly filled with heavy silence. Mariaeks also now realized the reason for that desperate sorrow. That the god knew too—the child wasn't simply lost.

She tried to open her mouth quickly to release the emotion tightly blocking her chest, but only soundless white breath spread in the air.

Meanwhile, the situation was handled quickly. The moment Oze raised a circle above his head, Ryaia who'd glided down kidnapped him in the same manner as Mariaeks.

Soon Ryaia appeared alone holding the corpse of a baby yak god smaller than Mariaeks. Blood dripped from its white belly split lengthwise. Ryaia's eyes blazed, unable to hide emotion.

"Why can't things ever be easy?"

The Paldoa sisters scratched their heads with serious expressions.

"Ryaia, the moment we return this, it's all-out war with them."

"If it comes to it, we'll have to take the corpse hostage."

"What suffering over such petty things!"

The surroundings grew busy. The quiet, still space filled with sharp sounds of weapons and people's cold murderous intent. Everyone began preparing for full combat.

The god spoke again. At the fiercer blizzard sound than before, people's vigilance deepened further. The Paldoa sisters looked at Mariaeks simultaneously. An expression asking what she was doing not interpreting.

"Return the dead child. It will just leave."

"Leave?"

Even Ryaia, who'd trusted Mariaeks's newly seen ability, couldn't hide her dubious look this time.

Despite others' dissuasion, Ryaia stubbornly crossed the walls. The commotion atop the walls subsided when she set down the bleeding young god's corpse right before the god's nose. Though many people filled the space, not even a breath could be heard.

Ryaia slowly backed away. Contrary to people's expectation that it would rampage madly, the yak god didn't even move for a long while. After time passed, the god lowered its head and licked the child. Very carefully, very lovingly, until the hardening blood disappeared. Soon the god briefly rubbed its face against the child's face.

The god that raised its head again looked at Mariaeks's eyes and spoke. Then turned away, leaving the corpse.

The wall's vigilance only crumbled after the yak disappeared from sight, and even then only after Oze's senses swept through once more to be sure. Ryaia, who'd only been staring in the direction the yak god disappeared, finally flew up to the wall top.

"Interpret!"

When had her name become "interpret"? At the urgent question, Mariaeks recalled the sound of eyes and wind that had passed through her earlier.

"White flame...."

"Flame?"

Mariaeks clenched her hand tightly into a fist and looked toward that distant place where the god had vanished.

Tell this land's master. Burn the child with white flame that brightens the night.