83.
If only I could hear his voice just one more time.
But he never opened his mouth again.
If only I could see his face just one more time, truly, how good that would be.
But he turned away without a trace of lingering attachment, as though ending a game he had grown bored of.
I pushed off the floor and hurled myself forward.
The wind thrown off by the sweeping sword strike was close enough to brush my cheek.
Even so, I didn’t want to let him go.
Then I was kicked in the abdomen.
I rolled sideways for a long while and slammed into the iron bars.
“Kgh, cough!”
I couldn’t breathe.
Involuntary tears blurred my vision.
Like this? I was going to lose him this emptily?
He had been right in front of me.
He had been before my very eyes.
I forced my strengthless body to its feet.
But I fell again just as I was.
This time, it seemed the sword hilt had slammed down on my back.
The masked man who had so easily knocked me down tapped my ankle with the tip of his sword.
His manner was as though he were gauging where to break or cut me.
A chill ran down my spine.
Beyond my hazy vision, I could see him moving farther away.
It’s all right. I heard it.
It’s all right. I saw it.
With my own two ears, with my own two eyes.
Remember. Don’t forget. Never forget. That voice, that accent, even the corners of his lips curving gently—everything, all of it.
Remember.
I had to remember.
“…….”
My breathing returned.
I lifted my head and glared at the masked man.
His movements were no ordinary movements. He knew how to conceal his presence skillfully, and judging from what had just happened, he was “his” irreplaceable right hand.
Unlike the others, the fact that he was wrapped up tightly from head to toe was strange in itself.
Hiding his identity meant…….
That there was a chance someone outside might recognize him.
“You. I’ve remembered you.”
“…….”
Perhaps my provocation worked; the masked man tilted his chin slightly, then twisted the wrist of the hand holding his sword.
With a grating scrape against the floor, the blade rose sharply, and the flat of the sword flashed as it reflected the light.
It was chilling.
I felt as if I could sense every fine hair on the nape of my neck.
But I stared at the masked man without blinking once.
“…….”
“…….”
However, the masked man simply turned and disappeared.
He had chosen to leave not the slightest clue behind.
When I had checked before, there had been only two entrances leading into the cavern.
But both that man earlier and the masked man had gone beyond the altar, behind the sarcophagus, and vanished.
Clutching my stomach, I struggled to rise.
My stomach hurt terribly.
When I climbed back up toward the sarcophagus, I saw someone lying unconscious with a hood pulled over his head.
He was probably the man that bastard had “controlled” while pretending to be him.
When I pushed back the hood, as expected, he was an old man advanced in years.
‘Where is there supposed to be an entrance here?’
As I felt around the sarcophagus with my hands, something seemed to rise in my throat.
I forced it down and looked around.
Just then, with a boom, the entire altar shook.
I pressed my ear to the floor of the altar.
Then I felt my way toward where the vibration had come from.
Beneath the altar behind the sarcophagus, a heap of stones had spilled out along with thick clouds of dust.
It seemed the entrance had collapsed, making the stairs beyond completely impossible to enter.
I began taking the stones out one by one and clearing them away, then slowly stopped.
It was already too late to chase after him.
Even if I called others, it would be difficult to pass through the collapsed entrance.
Besides, I didn’t know how much of what I said they would believe…….
And for now, there was no way to know where the passage led.
The reason he had stayed until now was because a secret passage unknown to the reinforcements had been prepared.
He truly hadn’t cared whether any of the ordinary believers were caught or killed.
‘Among the people left here, there won’t be anyone who knows his identity.’
I threw away the stone I had been holding.
Suddenly my vision blurred, and my head spun.
My legs gave out, and I collapsed where I was.
Then, compulsively, I recalled again and again what I had just seen.
I thought like someone terrified that I might forget.
The arc of the corners of his lips curling upward.
The sharp line of his jaw.
The dimple in his cheek.
And…….
The scar that had definitely been on the inner side of his nape.
It had looked something like the shape of an arrowhead.
“…….”
Silently, I rubbed at my eyes with the back of my hand.
That was when it happened.
I sensed someone lightly jumping down in front of me.
At the shadow falling over my eyes, I slowly lifted my head.
He looked blurred.
It was Isitan.
Crouching on one knee before me, he reached out his hand.
I felt his touch glide over my cheeks, soaked with tears.
It was hot.
“…….”
“…….”
After wiping away my tears like that, he looked into my eyes for a moment, then rose and turned without a word.
Then he drew the sword at his waist and steadied his breath.
I could feel his entire body tightening with force.
The instant his body, taut in a flash, swung the sword explosively, one side of the altar was gouged out.
It collapsed as though it had been clawed apart.
I was safe, sitting behind him, but shards of stone flew in every direction.
He swung his sword again.
The altar was savagely gouged, and the heap of stones shattered and rolled away.
Bang, kwaang!
Thunderous crashes continued to ring out, making me wonder whether sounds like that could really come from swinging a sword.
Only after half the altar sank and collapsed before anything could be done,
the entrance that had caved in was half exposed.
The duke threw his sword to the floor.
I could see that it was cracked all over, the blade completely chipped, no longer able to serve its purpose.
Without hesitation, the duke pushed himself into the gap where nothing could be seen but pitch-black darkness.
Before I knew it, I had jerked my upper body upright.
Fine cracks ran through the surrounding ground. Since he had forced the entrance open, surely…….
As though he sensed me, he lifted his head and looked back.
“…….”
“…….”
He grinned. Then he lightly leapt down through the gap.
‘He smiled…….’
I stared blankly at the pitch-black hole.
‘I didn’t say anything. And yet…….’
I swept up with my palm what was flowing down my chin.
‘Why…….’
As though he had heard it.
‘Help me.’
“What about His Excellency the Duke?”
The aide, who appeared belatedly while reeking strongly of blood, frowned and looked around.
Then the aide found me straight ahead and closed his mouth.
Though he looked somewhat reluctant, he took off his outer coat, roughly shook the blood from it, and draped it over my shoulders.
“Seeing you like this, I suppose His Excellency hasn’t arrived yet. I heard a blast from this direction loud enough to make a man’s heart stop, so naturally I thought….”
The aide stopped speaking.
“Sir Batar.”
It was because I had grabbed his sleeve.
“The duke went in there.”
“What?”
I was certain he would scold me, but after glancing at me, he turned without showing much reaction.
“Wait here for a moment, and stop crying.”
“…….”
“Even if I have to be stubborn about it later, I’ll ask that you be taken off dangerous missions like this….”
“…….”
“Damn it.”
The aide looked back at me once more, then called over several nearby knights.
From what they said, it seemed the situation outside had been quite a melee as well.
As if they had anticipated the duke’s surprise attack, the heretics’ forces had appeared at the rear and surrounded them.
Naturally, the duke’s side had the upper hand, but it seemed it had taken time for all their forces to enter the hollow.
I remembered wondering briefly when I had seen Prien a little earlier, but not the duke.
Then, at the very end, the duke had entrusted the command hierarchy to his aide and entered the hollow alone, causing them to lose track of his position.
Flutter.
As if it had been waiting, the black hawk landed on the collapsed structure beyond the aide’s shoulder.
“Ah, right. When His Excellency saw that hawk return to him, his eyes went wild and he suddenly left his post….”
At the sound of the aide clearing his throat, the knight who had been lamenting blinked in confusion and shut his mouth.
Then he glanced at me.
“Sir, surely His Excellency didn’t do that because of that woman…?”
“Enough nonsense. Just guard her properly so not a single hair on her head is harmed!”
“Pardon?”
“And if any unexpected situation arises, follow the baron’s orders.”
After giving several more orders, the aide stepped onto the pile of stones and jumped down through the hole.
Under the knights’ piercing gazes, I walked toward where the hawk was perched.
Seeing it up close, it really was huge.
And I was certain.
‘It looks like it’s grown even bigger since I last saw it.’
It was the hawk I had raised.
The one I had trained as a messenger to cross the front lines.
‘Has it been completely tamed by the duke now?’
“You mustn’t touch that hawk carelessly!”
The instant one of the knights shouted, the hawk suddenly spread both wings wide and let out a shrill cry.
It looked so ferocious that the knight, who had seemed ready to keep scolding me for quite some time, hurriedly turned his head away and pretended not to notice.
At that, the hawk folded its wings as if it had never made a fuss and quietly preened its feathers with its beak.
‘It’s good to see you alive again.’
Rumble.
Just then, the ground trembled dangerously.
My expression immediately hardened.
Down there, still….