58 – Report on the Fall of Humility (6)
Arianne’s body lost all strength. She flopped down in her chair as if she was falling. But her eyes and face were still hard, and the corners of her mouth were twisted up.
“How dare you make fun of whose death you are now…” No. Previously. What right do you have to arrest me? Me? How dare you, me? “Don’t you know who I am?”
Arianne’s breathing became heavy. She gasped with her mouth open, perhaps because of the heat coming from deep inside her body. Her thin, white skin was already turning red.
But Cain still looked down at Arianne, spreading out the bottom of her right hand.
“You don’t know me, but I know you. Hero of the Empire. Samaritan. Liar. Criminal. And there’s one more.”
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Every time she said one of her titles, her thumbs folded one by one. Her little finger was outstretched.
“No one knows that you are Lady Arianne of Humility. Everyone in the world knows that Samaritan is a person. The reason I called him a liar was because of the smell of this grass. Asas grass is a poisonous plant that causes hallucinations.
Causing hallucinations is not a sedative effect, but rather an awakening effect. And yet, Shajar al-Durga prescribed this medicine for his daughter who had trouble sleeping? “Even though it’s not a medicine that makes you sleep, but an herb that wakes you up?”
“That’s fun. “But just because my mother prescribed the wrong medicine doesn’t make me a murderer, does it?”
Contrary to her leisurely words, Arianne kept leaning her body back and turning her head. Somehow she seemed to be trying to smell the burning grass.
“You said it with your own mouth. When she heard that her mother had come back to life, she said, ‘No, that can’t be happening.’ She said. They don’t usually say that. She is surprised and happy and asks if it is true, but you are sure that her mother is dead. Even if that’s not possible. Why can’t she bring her mother back to life?”
“So. Because of that one reaction, you’re going to accuse me of being a murderer? Do not be ridiculous. There is no evidence, no witnesses. “You won’t be able to prove it.”
“Proof is difficult.” Cain admitted obediently. She then raised her little finger.
“But I can keep you away from that grass. At least detention is possible.”
“You… !”
Unable to endure it, Arianne jumped up and strangled Cain. But there was no strength in her hands at all. Cain folded her little fingers.
“This is your final identity. Addict. “When the drug wears off, you act like a crazy person, but when you smell the grass, you come to your senses. If that’s not an addict, then what is it?”
“You don’t understand. “You don’t know!” Arianne violently shook Cain’s body, but she seemed as vain as a butterfly trying to shake a tree.
“You… You don’t know what I see every night. You don’t know what kind of scenery I live in. You probably didn’t even bother to know. Just like you left my mother and my people here and turned away!”
Maria’s hand twitched. She was ready to pull out the knife in her sleeve if the situation occurred to her. Lily also placed her hand on the hilt of her sword and looked around her. There was no suspicious movement on her part.
Cain was silent for a moment, and then she looked into Arianne’s blurry eyes. Her eyes were as hazy and scattered, unfocused as a moon halo.
“No. I came here to find out. I don’t know what kind of life you lead, what you see every night, or why the hero of the Empire became a drug addict. But I also know something. “Your old colleagues are falling apart.”
Arianne dropped her arm as if there was a snap. She must have been so shocked that her eyes came back into focus. Her face went from pure white to bluish.
“Arius the Temperance was enjoying entertainment on a pleasure boat off the eastern coast and became one with the boat. William, the knight of chastity, indulged in lewd and debauchery until every bone in his body was broken and his tongue was torn out, then he was crushed, turned into a monster, and flew into the northeast wasteland.
You probably know whose land the northeastern wasteland belongs to. It was a place you had also stepped foot in before. Five out of seven remain, and the Empire and the Pope seek to protect and protect the rest. So if you want to live, you had better listen to me. Otherwise, a knight with a sheath will appear from the shadows.”
Arianne fell to her floor. He twisted her body violently, pounding her chest and making her gasp for air. A quick, loud sound spread out.
Cain sat on top of Arianne. With her left hand she held her neck, and with her right she clamped her mouth shut. Arianne couldn’t even moan. Her tears well up and her body convulses as if it will break apart.
“What are you doing now!” Maria, unable to bear it any longer, tried to pull Cain away. Lily grabbed her arm.
“I’m hyperventilating! You have to hold your breath! Otherwise, it becomes more dangerous!”
Arianne’s body calmed down little by little. She was shaking spasmodically here and there, but she didn’t shake her whole body like before.
Her tears flowed endlessly, but her hands rhythmically tapped Cain’s arms. Cain slowly removed her hand. Breathing has stabilized.
“Get out of the way.”
Cain stood up. Arianne, who tried to stand up, stumbled and fell to her floor. She placed one of her arms on the floor, as if that was enough to make her out of breath.
“The scabbard… “A knight?”
“Okay. “I saw it.” Cain got down on one knee with her. She tried to make eye contact with Arianne.
“I don’t know exactly what the principle is. However, she clearly saw what was being put on the body of the apprentice knight who had experienced unfortunate events. After using that body like that, she took the human body and flew to the wasteland on an animal she had collected.”
“Hmm… hehehe… “
Arianne burst into laughter as if someone had let go of her strings. She sobbed, then she laughed again.
“The devil… We killed the devil with our own hands. He killed them, cut them into pieces, and buried them in the ground. There is no such thing as a knight in a scabbard. There is no such thing. “There’s no way something like that exists.”
While sobbing, Arianne confessed her short confession. It wasn’t like she was telling the truth, it was more like a plea for people to believe her.
“You. You… What is it? Are you a religious person? Or is it the Knights Templar?”
“I am an imperial civil servant. “I can’t tell you my affiliation or name.”
“Then, you must have seen it too. What do you see in the shadows? What are your fears? “If you really saw it, you could tell it to me.”
Cain leaned her body forward. She whispered just enough for Arianne to hear.
“My fiancee whom I killed with my own hands.”
“hehehehe… “Arianne tilted her head back and pointed a finger at Cain.
“Murderer… You’re a murderer… “The dead woman, your dead love, sticks to your retina and doesn’t disappear, does it?”
I heard Lily let out her soft scream. Cain didn’t look back. She answered, biting her lip slightly.
“Yes.”
“What about the people behind you? “And those women?”
Cain decided not to answer. Maria and Lily had to be protected. There is no need to tell the story of your performance.
“There is no obligation to tell. Aren’t I enough? So tell me. What happened. Why did you kill your mother? What is your predicament? If there is anything I can help you with, I will be happy to help. If there is something I want, I will try my best.
But to do that, I need to know what you saw, heard, and thought. By any chance, have you had any contact with others since then? “Have you ever exchanged letters with William the Pure?”
“Don’t even mention that filthy bastard’s name in her mouth!”
Arianne’s body heated up with rage.
“A bastard who was always horny. A bastard who had to hug a different woman every night to relieve his anger. Arius of Temperance? That bastard was always too much. Everything was too much! What you eat, what you wear, and what you do!
Contact? I came. I came. She sent me a letter asking how she knew. I tore it to shreds as soon as I saw it! That bastard, that bastard, even if you searched like that, he was still cumming! After looking for a different woman every day, I always go back to that poor, pretty child..!”
Arianne covered her mouth.
“Who are you talking about?”
Cain grabbed Arianne’s silk clothes. He twisted her clothes, squeezing her neck and breasts.
“Tell me. Who are you talking about? “Who is that?”
Arianne closed her eyes and cried. She turned her head and lamented.
“… Just… just… She was a child all along… An innocent servant boy from the countryside who is a porter and takes care of various equipment… Although she was said to be an adult, she was so naive that she was like a child.
She is a nameless woman who was not even one of the seven heroes. So many children who participated in the Great Crusade with only passion. It’s just, she was one of those kids… “Even though she eventually died.”
Cain let go of her hand. Lying on her floor, Arianne looked up at Cain.
She seemed to be angry at the humiliation, and she also seemed to laugh empty-handedly, and she seemed like someone who was helplessly holding the doorknob and turning it in front of a closed door.
Arianne sobbed and whispered.
“… Tonight.”
“What?”
“Tonight, come to my room. Only you. I can’t say it in words, I can’t say it in words. I am not sober. That’s right… Even I can’t trust my own words and thoughts anymore. So, what can I do? Just showing you… “
“It’s difficult. Those women… “
“No.” Arianne shook her head.
“Those women can’t do that. Because I have to endure the smell of grass. Since you seem to be holding up relatively well, I’m asking you to come. If you really want to keep those girls, get them away from that grass. Send me to a place with clean air. This kind of grass… I wish it weren’t there… “
The Lady of Humility let out a long, long sigh. Her eyes were filled with fatigue. The noise outside grew louder.
“Now. Please go. “I want to rest.”
The back of Arianne’s hand hit her floor weakly. Cain stood up. She turned to Maria, who was holding back her anger, and Lily, who was embarrassed.
* * * * *
The area west of Emmaus had good accommodation facilities. But solitary confinement was difficult to find.
It was customary for large-scale caravans to rent an entire establishment to avoid confusion, so there was no reason to create a single room. Unable to go outside the city, the caravans wept and extended their accommodation contracts by eating mustard.
For that reason, Cain and his party looked for a villa in the city center.
Fortunately, there were many villas in Emmaus. It was a place where high-ranking officials of the empire or high-ranking officials of Western paganism made purchases under the name of imperial citizens. Among them, Cain chose a particularly quiet and very expensive-looking mansion.
It was a quaint old mansion with a large garden. It didn’t seem difficult to avoid the surveillance of the central fortress here.
Perhaps because it was so expensive, the only people there were employees and butlers, but they served Cain and his group politely and warmly. They didn’t complain too much about one man and two women renting a four-person room.
As soon as the door closed, Mary’s palm flew into Cain’s cheek.
Party!
“Are you crazy?”
Instead of answering her question, Cain touched her other cheek. Maria waved her hand without hesitation.
“Stop it!”
Lily hurriedly ran over to stop Maria and pushed Cain behind her. But Maria still fumed.
“Lily. I can’t just get over this. I can’t just get over this. Hey. Do you know that you almost ruined everything? If there was such a thing, at least you should have told me, right? “If you go out there alone, what will become of us?”
“You asked me what my priority was, and I answered work. “My job was to gather information.”
“I didn’t mean it was okay to be reckless like this!” Maria rushed at Cain with the intention of knocking him down. Because Lily was struggling and groaning, Maria was unable to run any further.
“I’m not saying you can make fools of the people next to you, and I’m not saying you should risk everything on unclear grounds! What if that woman had just pulled it out there? “If she had insisted on not talking any bullsh*t, she would have said we were done there!”
Cain just looked down at her land in silence. Maria took a step back. It wasn’t because the anger subsided, but because Lily was so active in blocking it.
“You too, say something! Do you think this is right? If you’re just pushing it out of curiosity, that’s not even certainty! “You’re crazy!”
“… To be honest, it’s sudden for me too. But I don’t think he did it for no reason. Surely, there must have been a reason. So.”
Lily looked towards Cain.
“I wish you could tell me. Maria and I also want to understand. Why did you do that? Why did you act so hastily? Was it so urgent that you couldn’t even give us even a moment to discuss it?”
“… People. “It was because of the people.” Cain lifted her head. There was deep fatigue under her eyes.
“Twenty thousand Samaritans live in the eastern district alone. Among them, one of the springs was closed. No one knows how well the other one will function.
If people pile up like this in the city, either the western or eastern part will cross the border to get water. And if it goes over, something will definitely happen.
There, Asas grass… That grass was being burned all over the eastern district. And the one who introduced the grass was most likely Shahzah al-Dur.”
Maria was astonished. What Cain said was completely unacceptable.
“You… “You know what you’re talking about, right?”
“If we assume the worst, that’s the case. My daughter is out of her mind. Shahzah al-Dur died with a happy face. Drugs are spreading among the Samaritans, and drinking water has also been reduced.
The mayor is blatantly discriminating between the West and the East, and the central city is watching everyone. Don’t you know, Maria? What happens if you trap a bunch of rats in a jar, close the lid, and leave them alone?
This place has been like a warehouse with firewood piled up for a very long time. “If a single fire spreads here, the southwestern part of the empire will be completely distorted.”
I remembered what Mary herself had said to Cain. This place is different from Masada. It means that something big that cannot be compared to that place may happen. Cain sat down on the edge of the luxurious bed.
“Arianne asked me to come to her room tonight.”
“Yes?”
Lily’s suffocating voice. Maria’s sharp question.
“So. I’m going? “Leave us behind?”
“I will go into the room alone, but that doesn’t mean I will leave you behind. If you go with me… “
Before Maria pounced, Lily opened her palm. Before she could complain, she moved closer to Cain.
“Can we talk for a moment? It only takes a moment. Wee.”