Chapter 75. Carrier Falcon

The village lined with date palms centered around the oasis was much larger upon arrival than it had appeared from a distance. Though I had only read about or heard of it, I was inwardly surprised by the sight of a thriving village settled right in the middle of the desert.

Even as I witnessed it with my own eyes, it was hard to believe. How could people establish and live in a village in the middle of a desert where undead lay dormant?

Having securely tied Sylphid in the stable, I approached Mihail. Perhaps because the inn where we would be staying tonight was right in front of the oasis, he stood there with his arms crossed by the water’s edge.

“Why don’t the undead appear near the oasis?”

“It’s because there’s groundwater flowing beneath.”

Mihail answered, as if questioning why I would ask such a simple piece of common knowledge. However, to my meager understanding, his explanation didn’t really answer my question.

“Do the undead dislike groundwater?”

“Not exactly, but because the water acts as holy water. Evil energy cannot linger here, so even if there are corpses below, they cannot be reborn as undead.”

“Ah.”

With the explanation at my level, I understood immediately.

I watched the holy knights filling their water containers at the oasis for a while, then took out a small portable water bottle I had brought. Squatting by the water’s edge, I filled the bottle.

“I should have come as a tourist. The oasis village is so beautiful.”

I said, lost in appreciation, as I looked at the village being dyed by the sunset. Standing amidst this artistic scenery, anyone would forget their hardships and be swept away by the view.

The desert sunset was that beautiful.

“Idle talk. Tourist…”

“……”

Did I just make a slip of the tongue?

The sunset was so pretty that I let my guard down. Saying such things would only lead him to conclude that he could work me harder.

Ah, seriously.

I make slips of the tongue whenever I get the chance!

I closed my eyes tightly, blaming myself from a moment ago.

Then, a low chuckle came from beside me. I glanced over and turned my head to see Mihail laughing as if he found it amusing.

Ah.

This wasn’t good.

At his eerie laughter, I instinctively shrank my neck. He threatened with a smile.

“Be careful not to mention such things in front of the Guardian of the North. Oh, and to that bastard Johann, too.”

I didn’t know why Claude was elevated as the ‘Guardian of the North’ while Johann was demoted to ‘that bastard,’ but I nodded anyway.

“I’ll never, ever mention the ‘tour’ in tourist.”

“Good. That’s the spirit.”

Mihail showed a devilish, wicked smile.

It’s hard to believe someone like him is the commander of the Holy Knight Order…

Even after several years, I couldn’t believe it.

Anyway, I looked at the sun setting beyond the golden hills in the distance. But before long, I had to tear my gaze away from the sky and look at Mihail.

He had taken my hand.

“Light.”

I didn’t know when it had become so natural, but Mihail, who had been obsessing over my hand, gradually increased the frequency until he was confidently making such demands of me. Daily, at that.

I habitually offered him my hand, whispering.

“With pure light.”

A faint light of purification blossomed from my hand.

Even I found it to be a light that warmed the heart. Mihail, gazing at it with eyes full of rapture, brought my hand to his cheek.

The warmth of his skin touched my palm. I felt as if my heart had moved to my palm, but I showed no sign of it.

Feigning indifference, I gazed at the sunset. But the more I did, the more Mihail’s obsession deepened.

“Ugh…!”

A strange sound escaped my lips without me realizing.

I couldn’t help it.

Mihail had licked my palm like a cat.

“Can’t you stop doing that?”

I asked, retracting my arm. I wanted to hide my hand, which seemed to have turned red, but Mihail’s grip didn’t allow it.

He looked at me with a calm face. His eyes clearly conveyed his thoughts.

Why should he stop?

Well…

“It’s nothing.”

I quickly turned my head away.

Is it just me who’s weird?

It feels like my lower belly is ticklish and my hand is tingling, leaving me with a strange feeling.

But Mihail merely appeared to worship my ability for its beauty. So I couldn’t say anything more.

Opening my mouth would put me in a position where I’d have to explain in detail the corrupt feelings I was experiencing.

Sigh.

I’ll just endure it.

Hurry up and finish.

I leaned on the red sunset to hide my blushing face. Though I sensed Mihail occasionally glancing at my profile, I pretended not to notice.

I’m the only trash here.

I’m the only one having indecent thoughts.

Ah, God…

Why have you sent your servant to such a lunatic?

I sought God inwardly, just as Mihail occasionally whispered his prayers.

Naturally, there was no response.

“Light.”

He demanded once more.

Perhaps my ability faltered due to my dizzy state of mind. I struggled to push away impure thoughts and summoned the light of purification.

“With pure light.”

I wondered how long he’d keep asking for light, light today.

I looked up at the sky and quietly swallowed a sigh.

Flap, flap.

It was then that a carrier falcon flew across the occasionally clouded clear sky.

“Oh?”

At my short exclamation, Mihail’s gaze turned upward. Soon, he stopped playing with my palm and finally let go.

Phew.

I inwardly sighed with relief at the sly torment ending earlier than usual. Yet, on the other hand, I felt unsettled.

Why did that falcon fly here?

Why is a falcon sent from the North here…?

“That bastard Claude.”

A chilling voice slipped from Mihail’s lips.

Startled, I took a step back from him.

The clever carrier falcon from the North flew straight toward Mihail.

Mihail, seemingly quite angry, slowly pushed his tongue against the inside of his cheek as he untied the note from the bird’s leg.

With a rustling sound, the paper unfolded, and I, unable to contain my curiosity, approached him once more.

“What does it say?”

“……”

Mihail didn’t answer.

So I craned my neck to read the note myself.

[Return her.]

That bastard?

* * *

The use of carrier falcons began when the three madmen started their childish antics. That is, when they decided to take turns using me but then tried to monopolize me by indefinitely extending the duration of subjugations or expeditions.

It started with Johann.

That bastard sent a very clever carrier falcon that managed to find the subjugation team even through the treacherous Grodes Mountains.

I still can’t forget the message I read back then.

[To the Guardian of the North.

The longest recorded duration for the Grodes Mountains subjugation is six months. By the time you receive this letter, you will have exceeded six months.

Any further subjugation will be considered unnecessary overuse of the purifier, and I will exclude Hilton from the deployment site.

Convey to Seraphina to return to the base location.

Johann Jean Cedric Marseus.]

So…

Doesn’t this mean I participated in the subjugation that broke the record for the longest duration?

At the time, I was extremely pissed off.

However, faced with Claude’s fierce demeanor, I couldn’t say anything. I merely expressed my opinion in a timid voice.

<No wonder it felt so hard… Six months seems too much. I feel like I’m going to faint from exhaustion…>

Fortunately, my softly mumbled words were accepted.

Well.

I don’t know if it was my words that had an effect or if it was Johann’s threatening letter that did.

Anyway, from then on, whenever someone intentionally tried to keep me for a long time, they started sending carrier falcons to each other.

At some point, the carrier falcons became warning letters threatening to exclude someone from the deployment site. Of course, they usually included at least a minimal reason.

Claude, that guy, has no manners.

What’s with just ‘Return her’?

“Do we have to leave immediately?”

I cautiously asked while looking up at the night sky outside the window. Mihail, who was lying on the floor with his hands supporting his head, chuckled.

“Do you want to become food for the undead?”

“Can’t I just purify them? What’s the problem?”

“Night is when evil energy grows stronger. That won’t do.”

“Well…”

If you put it that way…

I sighed softly, burying my head deeper into the pillow. Just thinking about setting off again on that long journey tomorrow made me sigh.

Sylphid would probably enjoy running.

What terrible events might await us this time in the Grodes Mountains?

I recalled one by one the nightmare-like memories that flashed through my mind like a revolving lantern.

During a landslide, I got separated from the knight order, panicked when skeletons appeared, overused my purification ability, and fainted. I went to the water’s edge to wash my gear, only to be startled and faint again by a sudden attack from a death mermaid emerging from the lake.

The cold touch of the death mermaid’s arm wrapped around my neck was something my skin still vividly remembered. It truly felt like embracing a corpse—a creepy sensation.

The northern knights said I seemed to have terribly bad luck…

Anyway, I faced death several times.

‘I’ll die in the Battle of Agulena. The Battle of Agulena.’

Whenever the fear of death gnawed at me, I repeated the point in the original story when Seraphina died like a mantra.

‘Agulena, Agulena, Agulena…’

Even after doing this, the trembling rarely subsided. But I had to do it to at least be able to breathe.

Maybe it’s because it’s night, just as Mihail said.

It seemed that the evil energy was growing stronger, leading me to have negative thoughts.

“…Oh?”

At that moment, Mihail, who was lying on the floor, reached out and took my hand. It felt like he was ‘giving’ me his hand rather than just ‘taking’ it.

I turned my head in surprise. Mihail was gazing at the night sky beyond the window.

After a moment, he turned his head toward me and spoke briefly.

“Light.”