698 – 8. Last Words (72)
Silver hair falls on a snowy field stained with blood.
Pure white snowflakes catch the sunlight. In the rushing north wind, the view becomes blurry and loses its vanishing point.
The only color that appears above the pure white landscape is light pink.
The woman’s eyes revealed a clear presence like a queen among her maids.
“Were you distressed?”
A low voice resonates with warmth.
It was a tone of compassion and love, as warm as a bonfire in the cold.
Is it because the question was also conveyed to the poor struggling soul?
The priest’s lips, which had only been spitting out questions like groans, became soft again.
“Who are you?”
“Were you sad and unfair?”
A half-question comes back as another half-question.
He gasped and tried to open his eyes, but Leoric’s eyes had already lost focus. Only then would you not even be able to secure a proper view.
Still, he must have seen it.
The gaze of a woman clad in mysterious silver, looking down at him with sad eyes.
It was as if an angel was waiting for a sick person who was about to die.
“Oh, Lord…” ….”
Against the priest’s faint exclamation, the woman’s question overlaps.
“Were you sick and tired?”
“Well, I…” ….”
The stuttering voice becomes more and more trembling.
“Do you blame the Lord?”
“…… Yes yes!”
While crying, Leoric finally let out his old resentment.
It was a denial.
“I complained against you… How dare this little lamb! “How can you take everything away from me!”
A cry so full of vitality that it is hard to believe that this person was dying helplessly.
On the contrary, it also meant that his end was that much closer. Because everyone wants to squeeze out the last of their strength right before their life ends.
“Well, if only the food warehouse hadn’t burned down that day…” ….”
The saint just listened in silence to the sobbing man’s complaints.
“Well, if that were the case…” If that were the case, Ariella wouldn’t have died! “What’s wrong with that good boy!”
Tears are flowing down cheeks distorted by burns. The cold of the North will soon cover the tear stains with white frost.
“If I have to take you… You should have taken me with you. Your ugly servant! “Isn’t that what you dedicated your life to?!”
Suddenly I remembered a story I heard before.
Leoric was sent into battle with the elves as a military priest, but he got lost and met an elf girl.
The elf girl cured him and later followed him like her father. Then, when the food warehouse caught fire and Leoric became critically ill, he handed over all the insufficient food to Leoric and said that he starved to death.
He was also a person who experienced loss.
He was probably in unbearable pain. So he decided to take revenge, started a cult, and attacked humanity.
By breaking my belief that I should repay the dagger with bread.
“Lord, why have you put me in the abyss of suffering…” … !”
“Do you regret it?”
It was a straightforward question.
Leoric’s empty eyes deepen slightly. The sighs of someone ruminating on the past were mixed with the breath that seemed to be about to break.
“Because I believe in the Lord?”
“Well, is…” ….”
“Meeting Ariella?”
“Well, that can’t be possible…” ….”
“What did you teach Ariella?”
“Temple, vs… Decision, nose… ….”
“The Lord is truly cruel.”
That was the conclusion the saint reached at the end of the following questions and answers.
The words he threw out without even hesitation were so close to blasphemy that not only I but also Leoric forgot what he was going to say for a moment.
“Sometimes you force us into pain and trials for no reason. How can we, mere creatures, guess what that means? “I can’t help but feel resentful.”
“Okay, if that’s the case…” ….”
“But the Lord does not give only trials.”
With that, the woman kneeling at her sick man’s bedside put her hands together and gently closed her eyelids.
“After a turbid current flows, dirt piles up, and just as sprouts sprout from the accumulated dirt, wasn’t your faith rewarded? “Not to the Lord, but to an elf girl.”
Huh, huh.
Leoric’s gaze became even more blank as he traced the past. He’s probably reminiscing about his days with Ariella.
That was the moment when a miracle occurred.
Pure white light settles down with a warm warmth. The blood-soaked snow on the snowy field began to melt.
“Thanks to you, Ariella has learned to repay the enemy with bread. “In the face of life’s pressing problems, she demonstrated a noble spirit of prioritizing others rather than herself.”
“Well, that thing…” ….”
“Didn’t you learn anything from Ariela?”
Ah, I said.
With a faint exclamation, light turns back time for Leoric. The skin that had already melted and looked ugly returns to its proper place, and the distorted eyelids and nose bones return to their former appearance.
Nevertheless, his blurred pupils never regained their light. Perhaps it was because even death could not be reversed, but Leoric remained silent for a while.
He just had a faint smile on his face.
“No, on the contrary, I learned it. But…… “
But the warm smile lasts only a moment.
Soon the corners of his mouth twist in sadness. It was a sign of extreme regret.
“Ariella is dead, and instead of following Ariela’s teachings… Ah… What did I do…… !”
Twisting his body, Leoric was in pain. It may be caused by the mind, not the body.
“Huh, it was a wasted life…” My faith was not rewarded. No… I ruined it! Ah, Ariella… Until the end…… !”
“No. “It’s not like that.”
Starting from those words, the light covering the saint and Leoric becomes stronger.
The hideous skeleton stood upright, and Leoric, who had been moaning deeply, became even with his breathing. It was then that the man’s eyes, as he was about to die, turned towards the saint with doubt.
The woman declared with an unwavering voice.
“Your life was not meaningless. “Someone must have learned from you.”
“But who on earth…” ….”
“Isn’t that right?”
Right after that.
The light that burst out with a bang blew away the snowstorm that was covering the area. The snowfield melts, revealing the moist insides, and sprouts beginning to sprout emerge to build a bridge between the two people.
Now there is no veil separating me and Leoric.
At some point, the priest’s blurry eyes were looking at me. There was no longer any brilliance, so it was impossible to read its true meaning.
I thought he seemed somewhat desperate. So he had no choice but to close his eyes tightly.
“…… Yes.”
Just one word.
At that brief syllable that did not even contain any certainty, Leoric’s expression began to brighten. As if I had been saved.
“Ah, ah… Well, I’m glad…. Ariella’s death… Because it’s not meaningless… ….”
Panting, the priest’s eyes turned to the woman again.
“Come on, sister.”
“Yes.”
“I’m so sleepy… I guess it’s been so hard so far. Now stop… ….”
The saint nodded her head without saying a word. One of her hands, which had been offering her prayers, quietly covers Leoric’s forehead.
It was the last prayer a lamb lost on the ground would receive in her life.
“For a man born of a woman, her life is short and full of worries… ….”
No agreement was needed. They were both servants of the Heavenly God, and as soon as the saint touched her lips, Leoric also immediately began reciting the verse.
“That, is…” Grows like a flower… Withering, like a shadow… Passing by, not remaining……..”
“Have you regard such a person as this? “Will you bring me before you to judge me?”
“Who wants something clean…” . Slime… In the middle… Will I be able to pay it? “There is not one.”
That was the end.
What stopped the saintess, who was trying to withdraw her hand without saying a word, was the sound of a low word.
“Ariella, I guess she’s in heaven… ….”
Letting out his breath helplessly, Leoric said that. His increasingly faint voice announced his end.
“I, I’m going to hell… ….”
“No.”
Outspoken denial.
Once again, Leoric’s breath caught, and the saint added her assurance without hesitation.
“You will go to heaven.”
“Uh, how…?” A sinner like me…….”
“Now, look at the sky.”
It was right after that.
Leoric’s pupils, which were slowly looking into the sky, dilated, and soon clear water began to form in his eyes.
“It looks like Ariella came to meet her.”
“Oh, oh…….”
Only then was Leoric able to laugh with all his heart.
With a bright smile, without even the slightest wrinkle.
“Lord, thank you… You… ….”
Grurrruk, thud.
His last words ended with falling tears.
Soon, silence.
I watched Leoric face his end in silence for a while. The end of a man with a very happy expression.
After a long silence, one question remained.
“Is Ariella really here to meet you?”
At that moment, the saintess’s hand, which was slowly raising her body, went towards my waist. She took out her canteen that was hanging there, and then suddenly said something.
“Is this your business?”
“…… ?”
It was the exact opposite of the atmosphere that had been exuding just before. While I was frozen and unable to react in any way, the saint opened the canteen without hesitation and began to drink its contents.
Gurgling.
You couldn’t tell by looking at it, but if you were a martial arts person like me who had reached the level, you could tell with your developed sense of smell.
It is alcohol.
It didn’t take long to realize that fact. It’s just that a little more space was needed to accept it.
What is it?
From Noble mtl dot com
Wasn’t she the woman who had watched Leoric’s final days in a holy manner just a moment ago? So who on earth is this woman with her perverse attitude and pouring alcohol down her esophagus?
There were limits to cognitive dissonance.
“Wow, that’s good…” “It’s been so hard to act like a saint after such a long time.”
Wow!
The impression I had of being a silver saint is collapsing. My wife was a bit conniving for a saint, but this woman was on a different level.
Should we call it ‘poor’?
It was at a level where her qualifications as a saint were truly questionable. She sent Leoric away with such a benevolent expression, and as soon as she did so, she took a drink.
I burst out crying and lashing out at the indescribable feeling of betrayal.