Chapter 73

Chapter 73: Chapter 73

Waves rolled flat across the sandy beach. When they receded, they left the fine sand smooth and even.

As Rickart quietly gazed down at it, he felt as though the residue in his heart were being swept away with the water, leaving his mind clean and orderly.

Rickart raised his head. Before him was an expanse of water that seemed to fill the world to its very edge. It was the first time he had ever seen the sea. He had heard of it, but he had never laid eyes on it before.

Rickart stared in awe at the horizon stretching endlessly before him. What could possibly account for such magnificence? Who but a god could have fashioned such harmony?

He was shocked and awestruck at once. It was unbelievable. Seeing the sea was far more astonishing than seeing a vampire with his own eyes.

The sea breeze blew in and tousled Rickart’s hair roughly. It became hopelessly tangled, but he had no attention to spare for it.

It was not the ideal season for visiting the sea, but that did not matter. The wind might have been cold, but compared to the northern winter winds that felt as though they could tear the flesh from his bones, it was practically warm.

It was cold, yet it did not feel cold. It opened his chest and made him feel wonderfully refreshed.

Wispy clouds floated like down across the blue sky. The sun’s gaze was not harsh, but soothing.

And the sound of the waves truly resembled the sound of wind blowing across a field.

Whoooosh...

"Unbelievable..."

Ice, who was watching the sea a short distance away from Rickart, spoke. It was also his first time seeing the ocean.

The two young swordsmen stared at the sea for a long time. How far did it stretch? If they reached its end, would they fall off the edge?

"So this is the end of the world."

Ice spoke.

"No. Maybe heaven lies somewhere beyond it. Not in the sky."

Rickart spoke. That seemed more realistic to him than some ideal realm floating in the heavens. It was easier to imagine an island in some unknown place, with paradise upon it.

Rickart gently stepped onto the smooth, wet sand. His footprint sank into it as though it were snow. Then a thin wave rolled in and washed over the sole of his foot.

He scooped up a little seawater and tasted it. Good heavens! It truly was salty!

Most of the salt people ordinarily consumed was rock salt, so Rickart had believed that all salt was mined from mountains. Yet this endless body of water was entirely made of salt water.

It was truly unbelievable. Salt was an expensive ingredient, so the sight seemed to distort even his sense of economics.

He looked back at the sea. No matter how long he stared, he did not think he would ever tire of it. He also found himself wishing that all his other friends could see the sea at least once.

The wonderfully refreshing view sent a surge of boldness through Rickart. He shouted toward the sea.

"Waaaaaaaaah!"

Ice turned toward him with a laugh at Rickart’s strange behavior. Then he, too, shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Waaaaaaaaah! Hahahahaha!"

Laughter burst from them naturally.

Since he had already gone that far, Rickart threw off his equipment and plunged into the seawater.

The splashing, the heart-clenching cold, the laughter bursting from his lips, and the feeling of liberation.

Ice threw himself into the sea as well, and the two of them splashed around like little children.

Since ancient times, immersing oneself in salt water had held sacred meaning. In other words, God had prepared salvation for all mankind.

Even so, dealing with the aftermath was inevitably miserable. Some time later, they lit a campfire and dried themselves, but with the autumn air already chilly, one wrong move could easily leave them with pneumonia.

Rickart and Ice hung their wet clothes beside the fire and shivered violently.

Had either of them done something so foolish alone, it would have been pathetic. But after behaving like idiots together, they could only laugh.

"What are you going to do after you become a Sword Master?"

Rickart ordinarily did not pry into things his friends wished to keep hidden, but for some reason, he felt he could ask the question casually now.

"I don’t know."

"Will you have to return to the Order once you become a Sword Master?"

"Most likely..."

"That’s a shame. I wish all of us could stay together forever."

"So do I. But if I fail to do what I must, my younger brother’s death will have been in vain."

"Can you tell me about your brother?"

Ice did not answer immediately. He stared at the campfire for a while. The wavering flames were not fierce, but gentle.

"He was a child who smiled often. But because of that, he committed a sin. He was punished and died. I had to spit on my brother’s corpse. So only my devotion to God can save him."

Rickart could not understand, but out of consideration for Ice, he did not criticize his religion.

Perhaps, however, Ice’s feelings for his brother mattered more to him than the religion itself.

He seemed tormented by the fact that he had stood by and watched his brother die, and that, rather than recovering his body, he had spat on the corpse.

The pain had sunk far too deeply into him for anyone to tell him that it was all in the past and he should simply forget it. Saying such a thing might even be a grave insult to Ice.

He also seemed burdened by the guilt of wondering whether he had any right to be happy when his brother had died so miserably.

It was anguish from which he could not escape. Ice was trapped in a prison without bars, struggling helplessly within it.

"...To think that smiling could be a sin, when there’s this much salt water in the world."

"Indeed. I wish my brother could have seen the sea too."

"Maybe he saw it before we did."

"Hm?"

"There must be an island somewhere across that distant sea for unfortunate souls. A place without pain or suffering. He’ll be waiting there for you. When you meet again someday, he’ll greet you with a smile."

Ice gazed silently at Rickart, then simply smiled. Countless stars sparkled above the dark sea. Yes, when the world held so many beautiful things...

The waves murmured quietly, the campfire crackled, and the stars twinkled overhead.

The following morning, Rickart and Ice brushed the salt from their dried clothes and put them on. After equipping themselves again, they headed south along the beach.

Having departed at dawn, they reached Haklen around midmorning.

Just as they had seen the ocean for the first time the day before, Rickart and Ice now experienced a major city for the first time.

Ernberg was merely a small city with a population of around a thousand, and the largest city they had previously seen was Rheinfort. Even that could not compare to Haklen.

It was difficult to estimate just how vast Haklen was, and its population seemed to exceed ten thousand by a comfortable margin. Its harbor was enormous, its ships were huge, and its markets overflowed with all manner of exotic goods.

Rickart had thought Stormherz was the countryside, but apparently the entire North was a backwater.

Rickart first approached a fishmonger in the market to ask for directions. The fishy stench from the piles of fish stacked on the stall was enough to make his head spin, but he did not grimace.

"May I ask you something? Do you know where the Rose Circus is?"

"...Can’t say I know the name, but if you want to see a performance, you’ll have to go deeper into the city."

"I see. Could you tell me roughly where to go?"

"Find the Great Temple first, then head south. Ask someone there, and they should be able to tell you."

"Understood. Thank you."

Rickart handed him a copper coin and turned away from the fishmonger.

Finding Haklen’s Great Temple was not difficult. It was one of the most important buildings in the city, and it was large enough to be seen from a distance.

A plaza stood before the Great Temple, with a bloodstained execution platform at its center. Since no public execution was being held at the moment, however, it had become a place where the city’s children ran around and played.

After walking south from there for a while, they saw boats traveling along canals. The houses were narrow, long, and tightly packed together. The canals gave off a slightly foul smell, but it was not unbearable.

Rickart stopped another passerby and asked again.

"Excuse me. Where can I find the Rose Circus?"

"Hm? Are you travelers?"

"Yes, more or less."

"Then you’ll probably have trouble seeing the performance. You need an invitation to enter. The place is beside the entrance to the catacombs. Turn right down that road and keep going. You should find it."

The catacombs were underground communal burial grounds that had existed since ancient times. Their size varied from city to city, but some were vast subterranean cemeteries, tangled like mazes, where a person could easily lose their way.

"Understood. Thank you."

"You’re welcome. Have a pleasant journey."

The passerby spoke with a bright smile. Unlike the taciturn and austere people of the North, the people here seemed to possess a certain ease.

Rickart and Ice followed the passerby’s directions. After walking for some time, they came upon an entrance to the catacombs sealed with iron bars. Beside it stood an enormous building.

Sure enough, a signboard was mounted on the building’s wall, bearing the words "The Garden of Roses."

"This looks like the place. Let’s find an inn first."

Now that they had identified the location, it was time to establish themselves and formulate a plan.

Rickart and Ice secured lodgings not far from the Garden of Roses. They unpacked, ate a meal of smoked herring, and then wandered through the alleys to familiarize themselves with the surrounding area.

"The catacombs are suspicious, don’t you think?"

Rickart asked as they walked through an alley that received little sunlight.

"Almost certainly."

"They must not operate openly. Otherwise, this would be far too suspicious a location."

"But how are we supposed to get an invitation? Should we sneak in at night?"

"They’re creatures of the night. Acting at night would mean giving up our advantage."

"Hmm..."

"Let’s observe for now. There’s no need to rush. We may have to face a high-ranking vampire. We should be cautious."

"Should we visit the Thieves’ Guild?"

Every city had a Thieves’ Guild, just as every light cast a shadow. They might know something about the vampires.

Rickart shook his head.

"Let’s wait and see about that too. I don’t think revealing our identities would do us any good."

Even an overwhelmingly powerful predator began its hunt for a small animal by concealing itself and quietly watching. Rickart was not the sort to swagger around merely because he trusted in his swordsmanship.

They spent their first day surveying the area around their lodgings. They checked the locations of the city gates and learned when they opened and closed.

Afterward, they returned to the inn and watched the Garden of Roses through their window that night.

Sure enough, the building remained dark until ordinary people had gone to sleep. Then its lights came on, and people began arriving one by one. Some appeared wealthy enough to come by carriage.

Every one of them wore a long black cloak that concealed nearly their entire body, along with white gloves and a neat hat. Their attire was exceedingly formal.

Rickart and Ice merely watched in silence. Eventually, once everyone appeared to have entered, the doors closed.

Much later, the guests emerged again. Perhaps they had enjoyed the performance, for they were laughing merrily. Those who had arrived by carriage climbed back into their carriages and departed, while the rest simply walked away.

"Eight people are missing."

"What?"

Ice nodded.

Rickart and Ice spent the following day merely wandering around the area again. They discovered that there was not just one entrance to the catacombs, but several.

"The number of people who went in and the number who came out were different. Eight people disappeared."

Ice was occasionally astonished by Rickart’s abilities, but once again he found Rickart remarkable. To think he had counted every person and compared the number entering with the number leaving.

And it had been nighttime, when visibility was poor.

"But the people were smiling."

Ice spoke. If something had happened inside, the guests had looked far too cheerful when they emerged.

"For a vampire, making a few people disappear without anyone noticing would probably be easy, wouldn’t it?"

"...True. It certainly is suspicious."

"But our assignment is only to kill the vampire named Armant. Let’s not forget that."

Some of the catacomb entrances had not been sealed. Vagrants lived around them, with fires burning and tents pitched nearby.

They appeared extremely vulnerable to a vampire attack, but they did not seem to have encountered any trouble living there. Moreover, for vagrants, their faces and clothing were remarkably clean.

That night, Rickart and Ice once again observed the Garden of Roses through their inn window. People gathered to watch the performance, but once again, fewer emerged than had entered. This time, five were missing.

They spent the next day in much the same fashion, devising various plans. They considered entering the catacombs or ambushing a guest at night and stealing their invitation.

But after everyone had entered the performance hall, a gentleman emerged from the building. Looking directly toward Rickart’s location, he removed his hat and offered a courteous bow, as though he knew perfectly well that they had been watching.

Then he put his hat back on and reentered the building. The door closed behind him.

Rickart and Ice both widened their eyes and looked at each other.

Rickart grinned.

"Hehe, we’ve aught. How did he know?"

"He’s incredibly percbeen ceptive."

They seemed to have been noticed despite never doing anything that might arouse suspicion. The inn was not particularly close to the performance hall, either. Naturally, they had not watched with the lights on in their room.

The following day, the innkeeper delivered an invitation from the Rose Circus to Rickart and Ice. It felt almost like a formal challenge.

Rickart was cautious when caution was called for, but he could also be bold when the occasion demanded it. If anything, he thought this turn of events was fortunate.

Determined to see what they were dealing with face-to-face, they immediately visited a tailor and had formal outfits prepared. Then they waited for nightfall.

As time passed, the sun gradually disappeared. At the hour when the creatures of the night awakened, Rickart and Ice donned white gloves, formal suits, and long black cloaks. Carrying only a single dagger each, they headed toward the Garden of Roses.

The stars in the night sky now seemed less beautiful than they did eerily amused, as though they were snickering at them.