The Monster Lady and the Holy Knight - Chapter 29

In the black darkness, a red candle flickered violently. It was a mere dot at first, then grew to the size of a thumb, then a handspan, becoming clearer.

“…Ah.”

Veronica, lying on her side, reached out toward the flame, but her hand fell weakly to the floor.

She couldn’t tell how much time had passed. It felt like she had lost the end of a thread after playing excitedly. Her whole body had dried up like winter grass under a never-ending high fever.

Why hadn’t she gone mad and died already when she didn’t even possess holy power?

The floor, spinning beneath her, felt like a wall. In the room made of black stone walls, she was all alone.

The torturers in the black corridor hadn’t laid a finger on her. Few people could withstand the violent aura that radiated from her. One of the holy knights had thrown her into a small cell and locked the door.

There was no cruel torture. But the assimilation was torture in itself. Every time she lost her mind, she would see visions of devouring humans or giving birth to monsters.

Like white maggots wriggling out of food waste in back alleys, Bahamut would rise.

Veronica wished it would end quickly. She wished her brain would burst from enduring this thirst and dryness.

But she survived tenaciously, even though her heart ached as if it were burning. She remained submerged in a pain that never ended.

“Get up. The commander wishes to see you.”

She regained consciousness when someone roughly pulled her up by the arm. Her hands were chained to the wall like a cross, and even though her body sagged, she couldn’t fall.

The commander…? Are they talking about Mecklenburg?

“So, it’s true that you’re still alive.”

A man stepped heavily into the cell, carefully observing the groggy Veronica. When the light revealed the same iron-blooded face she remembered, Veronica frowned and raised her chin defiantly. She bit her teeth hard to stay focused. If he touched her again, she was ready to bite him.

His face resembled Leon’s, but it was far more rigid, like someone who had never cracked a joke in his life. Would Leon’s face look like that, cold and humorless, when he reached that age?

There was no proof that they were father and son, but her thoughts wandered aimlessly.

Mecklenburg spoke then, “I hear you’ve been seeing visions regularly.”

“……”

“I want to know what you’ve seen since entering this room.”

The demand was straightforward. However, Veronica remained silent. For one thing, she hadn’t seen any visions that would be of use to anyone, and the thought of what he had done to her ignited her natural rebelliousness.

“Do you not want to speak?”

“……”

“How unwise. Delaying the inevitable is the habit of the lazy.”

When the silence persisted, Mecklenburg signaled to the knight who had pulled her up. His expression was that of a great noble generously tossing a coin to a city beggar.

The knight, who had been standing at attention, strode forward. Veronica looked at him in puzzlement, but only for a moment. In the next instant, with a sharp crack and a blow strong enough to cut through the air, her head snapped to the side, leaving her dizzy with pain.

“Tell us about the visions you’ve seen. Don’t bother pretending to be mad; it won’t work. I’ve interrogated enough heretics to know. The ones with a glint of focus in their eyes are always scheming.”

The knight who had hit her sneered threateningly. His eyes, visible through his helmet, were as sharp as a blade.

She had been struck. He would hit her again if she didn’t speak. Veronica shivered, not from pain, but from memories. The countless sounds of repentance she had heard when she first descended into the dungeon. The cries of people begging for forgiveness, praying until their hands were raw. Pleading, screaming, groaning.

Her mouth filled with the taste of blood, and her cheek throbbed. Even though the knight had held back, his gauntlet still scratched her tender skin, drawing blood. Tears welled up in Veronica’s eyes as she finally parted her heavy lips.

“What do you really want from me? If I tell you about the visions, will you let me go? No, you won’t. Leon left me here because he said it was safe. He never intended for me to be treated like this. When he returns, he won’t stand for it.”

Of course, Veronica knew the basics of the hierarchy. She knew that Leon wouldn’t be furious with the Pope or the knight commander on her behalf.

But her gaze remained fixed on the knight who had struck her. In truth, when Leon’s name was mentioned, the knight’s hand, which had been poised to strike again, faltered slightly. That was when Mecklenburg stepped forward.

“Do you remember the prophecy you gave?” he asked, before continuing without waiting for her response. “You said Bahamut would take the small sword, and Kart would fall. That many would die miserably, and the God without a face would no longer care for mankind. That was the prophecy you dared to utter before God’s priest.”

Prophecy? What was he talking about?

Veronica swore by God that she had no memory of uttering such ominous words. And what did he mean by Kart falling? This land was the prophesied paradise, and prophecies never clashed or contradicted each other.

“Only three people heard it, but it was undoubtedly a prophecy. Anyone who lived during the age of oracles twenty years ago would recognize it.”

Veronica was bewildered. She stared blankly up at him. Mecklenburg scrutinized her, as if trying to see whether she had some other scheme in mind, before speaking again.

“There are two swords in the world called God’s swords. Hennessis and Apocalypse. Coincidentally, one of them is currently out on a mission in Blasen. It should have returned by now, but there’s been no word.”

Her foggy thoughts suddenly cleared at that last sentence.

Leon Berg.

The small sword will be taken.

Her heart sank. Leon was not the type to let his sword be taken by Bahamut while he was still alive. Which meant…

“Is Leon—no, is Sir Berg safe?”

Her voice cracked as she hurriedly spoke. Seeing her lose her composure after staying calm despite being struck, Mecklenburg’s expression shifted slightly.

“What did your visions tell you?”

“My visions aren’t anything special. It’s just the same—people being eaten, monsters giving birth. They’re not as useful as you think.”

Not as useful as you’d expect. The images she had seen so far only carried information by sheer luck. For some reason, Veronica’s voice trembled with emotion as she trailed off.

“Did you see any traces of a holy knight among the humans they devoured?”

“I’ve never seen any. Not even armor. There were far too many human corpses, but there wasn’t any armor.”

If she had to describe it, the tattered clothes seemed mostly like those of refugees. A mix of different garments, symbols, and flags. Outsiders who had come to Kart seeking paradise.

Just as she bit her lip and lowered her head, a voice interrupted.

“Commander, Sir Philip Wittelsbach has returned to Kart leading the detachment that went to Bayern.”

At the mention of her hometown, Veronica instinctively lifted her head. Had a detachment been sent to Bayern as well? Leon had never mentioned anything like that.

“Tell him to report to me immediately before meeting His Holiness. Make sure the knights, except for the vice-commander, get proper rest.”

Without even looking at his subordinate, Mecklenburg issued the orders, then stared at Veronica for a long moment before turning away. He seemed to have concluded that there was no more information to be gained.

It was an accurate judgment, which made it all the more miserable. As Veronica stared at his broad back, she impulsively spoke.

“Even after hearing such a prophecy, you’re not sending anyone?”

His steps faltered. Veronica had forgotten that he was a great noble, someone she shouldn’t have addressed so directly.

“If what I said really is a prophecy, don’t you think you should go save him before something happens? He’s not the kind of person who wouldn’t return without a word.”

Mecklenburg turned his head. For the first time, Veronica noticed a subtle change in his expression. And she was certain. Leon was born of the Grand Duke Mecklenburg.

“You still don’t know that boy, do you?”

Wearing an expression identical to Leon’s, the man smirked as he continued leisurely, “He might run away without a word, but he won’t die easily. If it comes to that, he’ll devour his comrades to make it back alive.”

His voice was filled with bitter shame over the dishonor Leon had brought upon himself. As Veronica stood there speechless, Mecklenburg left the room. The knights unbound her wrists from the wall just before they exited.

***

Lying on the floor, it was as if the visitors had never been there. The only thing that had changed was that now, in her swirling thoughts, she worried about Leon.

Cactus. Veronica silently mouthed the word, moving her tongue and lips. Though she had never left Bayern until recently, she knew a lot about the plants of the southern desert.

Spiny and sharp, a green life form that could grow large even with scarce water.

Looking at it, Veronica once thought that humans were like cacti.

People who grow up in harsh environments learn to adapt and thrive with just a little love. To survive. To live somehow.

Veronica had always liked people who were kind to her. Her first love was when she was ten—a boy who had found a four-leaf clover for her. He was shorter and far more timid than she, but she had quickly fallen head over heels. It was blind devotion. Veronica was the type of person who would immediately embrace someone the moment they extended a hand.

She liked the feeling of being completely enveloped, of being held close. People who never feel fulfilled spend their entire lives trying to fill that emptiness. When she said she wanted someone to love her, she had claimed she didn’t know why, but the truth was, she did.

In the darkness, she had been blinded by the burning flame, unable to see anything else.

Leon was the flame that had bloomed in her darkness.

How long had she been like that? Suddenly, she heard the door creak. Struggling to lift her eyelids, she saw the legs of someone in white armor.