“I will lend you a retainer I value.”
Ashitaka Saburo motioned, and a knight who had been standing by stepped forward and knelt before Hamel.
“I will serve you to the best of my ability.”
“Yes.” Hamel nodded. Saburo smiled with satisfaction and said, “I will have him help you find traces of Azidahaka.”
“Thank you.” Hamel expressed his gratitude and asked a few more questions: what happened to the heresy inquisitor investigators who had been dispatched here, and whether there was anything notable to tell about Azidahaka.
Saburo made an awkward face at those questions. “I’m sorry, but I really don’t know much.” He fiddled with his chin beard and, as if making an excuse, added, “All who handled intelligence were taken out. That was even before these events began.”
“That means even before Azidahaka showed up……”
“Right. That’s one of the reasons I think the Order is behind this.”
According to his explanation, those suspected of orchestrating the incidents had eliminated Ashitaka’s intelligence network at once, blinding and deafening them before acting. It had been an organized, meticulous operation.
Ashitaka Saburo, instead, asked with a curious look, “Judging by you asking about their whereabouts, those investigators still haven’t returned, have they?”
“Yes.”
“How strange. Then perhaps they……” Saburo slightly furrowed his brow.
Hamel pressed his lips together. The same thought had crossed his mind. Could the stakes that killed the old gods of other great families be the work of the missing heresy inquisitors?
It was a suspicion worth considering.
At that moment, the strange atmosphere was broken.
“Lord of the House!”
Someone hurried in calling for Saburo. Though the gathering had been combined with a meal, Saburo frowned at the breach of etiquette.
“What is it?”
“Um……”
The man who looked like a messenger glanced at Hamel and his companions, then approached Saburo’s side and lowered his voice. “Fa… estate… amb….”
Hamel guessed the missing words from the faint phrase. House, estate, and amb—attack? He hadn’t heard everything, but the expression on Saburo’s face confirmed his guess.
“I must go and see to it.”
“Yes. Then we’ll take our leave as well.” When Saburo rose from his seat, Hamel also stood.
“Is there anything we can do to help?” Hamel asked the messenger, sensing urgency.
“No.” Saburo refused sharply, his expression hardening. “This is a family matter. Do not concern yourselves.”
“Yes.” Hamel did not press further and nodded. At his reaction, Saburo’s face softened somewhat. “First, go to the village destroyed by Azidahaka. My men will guide you properly.”
“Thank you.” After Hamel’s thanks, Saburo nodded and hurried outside. All the house members followed him out like a receding tide. Only the knight assigned by the house lord and Hamel’s party remained.
“We will be moving now as well.”
“All right.” The party rose and began to prepare.
Leo Benedictus, who had been quiet the whole time, approached Hamel. “I have a request.”
“What is it?”
“I have my suspicions about Ashitaka Saburo. If you permit, I’d like to follow him.”
Hamel thought for a moment, then agreed. From the start, neither Leo Benedictus nor Ashitaka Saburo could be fully trusted. Hamel intended to investigate the stakes that had supposedly killed the old gods, and with the heresy inquisitors under suspicion, moving with Leo was safer.
“Do so.” With Hamel’s consent, Leo smiled faintly and nodded, then turned away and added as emphasis, “Then, Lord Hamel, I’ll say it again: please do not put too much trust in the Ashitaka family.”
“……”
Having left those words, Leo departed without hesitation.
The surprised party and the Ashitaka knight approached Hamel. “Where did he go……?”
“He said an urgent matter came up and he had to return.”
“Huh? What do you mean……?” The knight was briefly flustered, and Hamel spread out a map.
“More importantly, where are we heading?” he asked.
“Uh? Ah, that is…… here. There is a village here that was annihilated by Azidahaka.” The knight pointed to a village near the western edge. It would take about a week to reach from here.
Hamel was silent for a moment. “Then where are the great houses you mentioned earlier—the ones whose old gods have lost their power?”
“They are here, here, and here.” The knight pointed to several places on the map.
Hamel pointed to the nearest of them. “This place?”
“This is the domain governed by the Albre family.”
“What is the state of this place?”
“I don’t know the details either……” The knight looked embarrassed, then forced his expression into composure. “Rather, let me tell you about where we’re going. It’s not as far as you might think……”
“That’s fine.”
“……Yes?”
“Because this is where we’re going.” Hamel pressed a point on the map. It was the Albre family’s domain.
The Albre family’s domain lay about half a day’s travel from Ashitaka. Despite the retainer’s repeated requests to reconsider, Hamel pressed on for several reasons: he wanted objective information as quickly as possible, and he did not want to be led entirely by the Ashitaka family’s intentions. No one could be trusted yet.
“We’re almost there,” the retainer driving the horses said, and within minutes a village rose in the distance: the Albre domain.
On the surface, the village showed no obvious problems.
“Didn’t I tell you? There’s nothing here.” The Ashitaka retainer said as if to prove his point.
Indeed, at a casual glance everything looked normal—neighbors chatted and laughed, and people bowed and greeted Hamel’s party without obvious suspicion.
“……It’s peaceful,” Lena murmured, surprised. Everyone else nodded and looked around. Only Hamel tilted his head in puzzlement.
‘That’s strange.’
Hamel dismounted and addressed an old man passing by. “May I ask you something?”
“Yes, yes. My lord.”
“Where are the people of the Albre family?”
The old man’s face hardened as if a crack had appeared. It wasn’t just him.
─Click
They turned and looked at the party.
“……Insane.” Ono ran his fingers over the gooseflesh on his skin.
The peaceful village instantly felt like a scene from a horror story; the dissonance was severe. Daniel glanced around and agreed with Hamel’s question. “Now that you mention it, there’s not a single soldier in sight. Nor the Albre family’s banners.”
“Now that you say that……” The house knight finally seemed to notice and looked around nervously, though his demeanor felt slightly off, as if he were acting.
‘There’s no way they don’t know.’ Even without their intelligence organization, Albre was only half a day’s travel from Ashitaka’s domain. It made no sense they wouldn’t know the situation.
The old man answered bluntly, “If it’s them, they’re in the forest.”
“……In the forest?”
“Yes. Just as they wished.” He offered no further explanation and closed his mouth as if he’d said all he would.
Hamel changed tack and asked the question that had been bothering him. “What happened to the god you worshipped?”
The old man stared at Hamel, then slowly replied, “Believe in the true god.”
Hamel paused. The vanished lord and family, and the old man’s words, hinted at a new god—Azidahaka. Considering the west’s situation, the answer came easily.
“We’ll head into the forest.”
The retainer, who had been holding back, snapped, “Lord Hamel. You can’t act so recklessly.”
“Recklessly?”
“This is the West, after all. It seems you are intervening in western affairs more than necessary.”
“As you say, this is the West. So is the entire West Ashitaka’s land?”
“……That’s……” The retainer’s face showed a man who’d never expected his logic to be challenged.
“No. The West is imperial territory. Ashitaka is only a part of it. Why should I need to ask your permission?” Hamel’s remark was an unassailable truth. The retainer fell silent and followed behind.
The villagers watched Hamel’s party leave with fixed, unreadable expressions.
Not long after entering the forest, Hamel found a familiar object.
“Is that it?”
A stake imbued with sorcery lay half-buried in the loam—exactly like those in Roswell Forest. Ono identified it without difficulty. “The cloth wrapping bears the Order’s sacred script. I can sense a flicker of sanctity.”
“If that’s the case, then this incident is indeed……” The party murmured, suspecting the missing heresy inquisitors.
“Let’s keep going for now.” Hamel pressed on. So far, everything matched his expectations; they needed new information.
How much deeper into the forest had they gone?
Suddenly the stench intensified. The mud underfoot turned foul, the trees draped in cobwebs and mold, and mushrooms larger than umbrellas blotting out the light.
“Ugh……” Ono pinched his nose; every step became more laborious.
─Thud
“I found it.”
“……?”
The party passed Hamel, then froze, staring beyond him. It was a sight none could easily look away from: an old god—surely the one worshipped by the Albre family—but now grotesque and nauseating.
The colossal toad-shaped deity lay dead, its entrails spilled, and all over its back human faces protruded—faces soaked in agony, faces twisted with joy, faces sunk in despair—one after another, merged into the toad.
“……Were they eaten?”
“That’s possible.” The old god had been corrupted by the stake and was not right in its mind. Conversely, the Albre people might have offered themselves in some sacrificial attempt to revive their god. Whatever the truth, the scene was undeniably horrific.
Hamel stepped closer. The toad’s fatal wound was in its belly, not from the stake’s corruption. What killed the old god? Or, rather, why was it killed?
He drew his sword and cut the toad’s belly a little further. Innards gushed out; the contents splattered onto his boots, but he did not flinch. He rummaged through the entrails for a long time.
“No matter how I search, it’s not there.” Hamel tilted his head and muttered.
“……Not there—what do you mean?” Ono asked, grimacing.
Hamel brushed his gloves of entrails and continued, “I mean the old god’s heart.”
