[Huh? Why does that guy know about the old Captain?]
Jigor, who had been sitting on my shoulder, chirped and muttered. Samuel continued speaking without giving Jigor a glance.
"You are present in every glorious ancient sanctuary of the past. That is why I believe without doubt that you are God's proxy."
Why would I be in ancient sanctuaries? Was I really the captain of these Durahans or something?
No, even if I granted that a hundred times over and assumed it was true, why do I, the person in question, have no memory of it? Why does information about me keep popping up from other people's memories?
Information about me that I don't know. My expression furrowed involuntarily at the unpleasant feeling.
"I don't know what kind of nonsense that is, but it's definitely nonsense so I'll think of it as nonsense."
I tried to turn away, not wanting to hear any more, but Samuel urgently grabbed me.
"Please wait a moment."
I shook off his hand trying to grab my arm and glared at him.
"As I said repeatedly, I didn't receive any divine revelation or anything. Resurrection? I don't know why I was resurrected, but it's not for some grand reason you're thinking of. So your dream has no meaning or connection to me."
"The oracle proves your resurrection."
"Ha, an oracle!"
If it weren't for that damned oracle, I could have left much more quietly than now!
"'Evil runs rampant and sends down the resurrected one, so face it resolutely?'"
As I spoke the oracle I had unintentionally memorized, wanting to forget but unable to, Samuel hesitated. I sneered at him and spoke coldly.
"Whatever this evil is, I'll gladly let it run rampant. I will absolutely never face it resolutely, so tell it to get lost."
Fortunately, Samuel didn't argue back saying things like 'How can the resurrected one say such things?' He only asked again in a subdued voice.
"Then how should I explain your appearance in my dream?"
"Why ask me? The person who had the dream should figure it out."
"I have no other way to explain it except as God's will."
"If every dream in the world is God's will, then is my dream of Maxel also God's will?"
Perhaps stung by my mockery, Samuel's face contorted. However, I didn't particularly want to soothe his feelings.
I was already confused enough just by the existence of the Durahans. I didn't want to hear stories about someone from a very distant past that I couldn't even remember. Especially the absurd claim that he was actually me.
"Who knows. Maybe you didn't like me standing here calling myself the resurrected one, so you fashioned the appearance you wanted to see even in your dream."
When I added those mocking words, surprisingly, Samuel's crumpled expression smoothed out a bit.
"I see."
He gazed at me with a somewhat relaxed face after being lost in thought for a moment.
"It seems it was the appearance I wanted to see."
"What?"
"Thank you. Thanks to you, it was helpful."
No, what exactly?
Leaving me immersed in absurdity, Samuel alone concluded the conversation. Then he suggested returning as if nothing had happened.
And so the conversation with Samuel ended with one person's unilateral understanding and conclusion.
'What is this.'
It was fortunate that he readily accepted my words not to interpret the dream with me in it as divine revelation, but somehow it felt like he understood it in a strange direction, which was a bit worrying.
But what could I do. I just didn't want to hear any more about that resurrected one and oracle.
Returning to the campsite with only an uneasy feeling for nothing, I holed up in my tent. I thought if I lay down, sleep might come, but my mind was complicated so I remained wide awake.
"Jigor."
[Yes, Captain!]
"Has all your memory returned?"
[Not all of it... just bits and pieces.]
Rolling to my side, I saw a small owl sitting beside my head.
'Was I really the Durahans' captain?'
I had cursed the old captain so much all this time, but was I actually spitting on my own face... Wow, I really hate that.
"What kind of person was the old captain you remember?"
[The Captain is very cool. But also compassionate, and someone everyone can't help but respect.]
"Is that so?"
[The Captain saved us.]
"Saved you?"
[Yes. When the Captain destroyed the stone statues, the power controlling us disappeared. The Captain gave us freedom.]
He said the power inhabiting the stone statues was an authority. Zenon and Samuel each claimed it was magical power and divine power.
If they gained freedom by destroying the stone statues, is authority a binding power?
Since the discovered formula was said to be a protection spell, it might be similar to a封锁 magic circle protecting the monastery.
[We were happy. Because the Captain acknowledged us. He declared that our lives were worthy of respect. Of course, not everyone believed in the Captain.]
"Everyone? Who else..."
Muttering unconsciously, I suddenly recalled the origin of the twelve sinners.
"Thirty-two prophets."
Twelve betrayed God, but the remaining twenty did not.
"Jigor, were you a prophet?"
It was a question I should have asked long ago. I had avoided it, thinking it wasn't true, not really wanting to know, but that was no longer possible so I had to ask now.
Jigor didn't answer immediately. Instead, he tilted his head and fell into deep thought. He seemed to be looking for an appropriate answer.
[We were sometimes pieces on a game board, sometimes prey with bells around our necks. We had to follow as the threads of fate manipulated us.]
"What does that mean?"
[I don't really know either, Captain. Because you're the one who saved us. The Captain has never called us prophets.]
It feels like I'm getting more confused the more information I get. These guys seem to be the twelve sinners mentioned in the temple, but why don't they know when I ask if they were prophets?
Is it because they haven't fully regained their memories yet?
"Do you not remember exactly who you were?"
[That's... I'm sorry, Captain...]
The black owl drooped his head dejectedly. Seeing that, I felt like I had become a heinous criminal.
A headless Durahan might not remember some things. I guess I pushed him too hard. I could ask another Durahan, not just Jigor.
"You'll probably remember more later. Just bear with it even if it's frustrating."
[I'm okay, Captain. I don't remember, but I met you! You said you would give us rest, and we believe. By your side, we will find rest.]
"But I have no intention of finding your heads."
[It's okay!]
Whatever I say, he says it's okay. Is anything not okay?
Listening to Jigor's blind answers, a sliver of conscience I didn't even know I had pricked painfully.
"If you do find rest, what will you do?"
[Rest is rest.]
"So after you find that rest..."
I was about to ask casually when I suddenly closed my lips.
Falling silent for a moment at a thought that flashed through my mind, I sat up to face Jigor.
"Is the rest you're hoping for death?"
'May the soul entering eternal sleep find rest through God's guidance.'
That is a phrase never omitted when priests read funeral prayers.
"If you find your lost heads, can you die?"
[Captain.]
Jigor called me but couldn't continue speaking. Facing the black eyes gazing up at me, inexplicable irritation surged up.
Is the reason he follows me so devotedly, calling me Captain, really to die?
"If that's the case, I will even less find your heads for you."
The words that burst from my mouth sounded cold even to me. Jigor looked up at me, then hopped up and approached me.
[It's okay, Captain. If that's your choice, we will follow.]
Jigor, sitting quietly with folded wings, shouted bravely with an unwavering voice.
[We are the fearsome Twelve Knights of the Round Table who protect the Captain!]
The words saying he would follow without any resentment made me even more angry, though I didn't know the reason.
I just felt frustrated and chewed on my innocent lips for a long while.
* * *
'We are wanderers of endless life.'
'Beings who hold the breath God bestowed.'
'We desire rest.'
'Please have mercy, glorious end!'
'The time has come to realize the last authority left unfinished.'
'Oh Goddess, pity our endless boredom! Grant us the grace of oblivion!'
My eyes flew open.
I stared blankly at the dark tent ceiling, then slowly raised my body. Grabbing my throbbing head, I looked around—darkness surrounded by silence. It was a quiet night with not even an owl's hoot to be heard.
'Someone definitely whispered in my ear.'
It wasn't exact, but some words I remembered clearly. For instance...
"The last authority left unfinished."
Those voices seemed to be demanding something. Rest, oblivion, end.
'But who?'
Feeling my ear somehow ticklish, I rubbed it and stealthily checked my wrist. Seeing the bracelet gems sparkling, it seemed all the Durahans were safely inside.
So the whispering just now wasn't from the Durahans.
"......Was it just a simple dream."
I stroked the innocent bracelets and lay down again to seek sleep. But perhaps because I had startled awake, sleep wouldn't come.
Lying there staring at the ceiling, I eventually raised my body. My body, not having rested enough, felt heavy, but at this rate I'd be greeting morning with open eyes.
Coming outside the tent, the cold night air penetrated my clothes. Crossing my arms and hunching my body as much as possible, I looked around the tent. There was nothing unusual.
It really was just a dream, apparently. I had been recalling the conversation with the Durahans until just before falling asleep, so I must have had a strange dream from that influence.
I'll get some more fresh air and try to go back in and sleep. Just as I thought that, I heard a voice calling me from somewhere.
"Lord Aneli."
The soft call came from the dark tree shade. As I glared into the darkness with wary eyes, someone slowly revealed themselves.
"Xenon?"