Chapter 11: Testimony
After Ruri’s group returned to the castle, they headed to Arman to give their report. Arman listened, a quizzical expression drawn over his face.
“A village of the raised dead?” he repeated. He didn’t look the slightest bit convinced that what he was hearing was true. Then again, his reaction was only natural. Ruri and the others were half-skeptical themselves. No, actually, if they were to split hairs, they were definitely more skeptical than not.
“Yes, from what we were told. Have you heard anything of it, Sire?” asked Ruri.
“No, I haven’t,” replied Arman. “I do remember something from a few years ago about an epidemic wiping out a village close to the foot of the mountain, but no new reports since then.”
“Noah-kun, the child arrested in the Nation of the Dragon King, said something about his leader bringing the dead back to life, so I think there might be a connection. Could we possibly go and check?”
“Hold on, hold on. Slow down there. You expect me to send you to a place where the Church of God’s Light might be connected?”
“But, I’m concerned over this ‘resurrecting the dead’ business,” Ruri continued. She was positive it was a downright lie since the spirits refuted the possibility, but she wanted to find out exactly why those rumors sprang up in the first place.
“Have you forgotten you were almost killed?! Don’t just casually prioritize fulfilling your curiosity! And in the event an epidemic really did wipe out the villagers, what happens if you contract the same illness? I wouldn’t be able to so much as look Jade in the eyes if something happened to you because you went on some trip to satisfy your interests.”
“Of course I haven’t forgotten,” Ruri replied, “but right now, my rage is far outweighing my fear. My rage directed toward the people who tried to kill me by deceiving an innocent child—the Church of God’s Light. I want to apprehend them, and fast. And I want to help in that as much as possible. It would also be my way of revenge against the Church of God’s Light.”
“It’s not that I don’t understand how you feel, but...”
“If the Church of God’s Light is at the heart of these rumors, then it’s even more reason for me to go. Besides, I’ll have Kotaro and the other supreme-level spirits by my side at all times. I’ll be safe from infection as well. With Kotaro’s barrier in place, I’ll be able to investigate in complete safety.”
“Well, that is true...” Arman conceded, trailing off. Even from his perspective, there was no way he couldn’t investigate this matter now that it had come to light.
As king, he needed to dispatch his soldiers to the village, but Ruri had a good point—if she went, then she would greatly boost the overall safety and the investigation itself. With the spirits around, she could employ their powers and make searching easier. However, Arman was at odds with himself. He couldn’t possibly ask Ruri, the person the Nation of the Dragon King entrusted to him, to do something so dangerous.
“Also, Chi is all set on going, so I think I will be going in spite of your word, Beast King. Seeing as how we don’t know what Chi is liable to do if sent on his own, you need someone capable of stopping him to go.”
Arman looked down at Chi standing below. Seeing the sparkles in his eyes, pleading to let them set off already, it was hard to say no. Even if he did, Chi would most likely pressure him into giving permission anyway. There was no way the Beast King, ruler of a nation devout in their faith for the spirits, could ever refuse. Not even Ruri had a way to contain Chi from going through with this.
Racking his brain, Arman heaved a deep sigh of resignation. “Fine, fine. But I can’t just send you all out there by yourselves. I’ll get a party of soldiers ready, so you can set off tomorrow. That is my final say. I can’t have you going somewhere full of potential danger with little protection. We don’t even know how many members the Church of God’s Light has, after all.”
“Yes, very well. Right, Chi?” prompted Ruri.
“Sure! I was actually hopin’ to head out right now, but waitin’ a night won’t kill me.”
“...I swear, I know Celestine is a handful, but this girl is her own set of problems. Why are Beloveds always so active like this? Are none of them reserved?” Arman said to himself.
Ruri couldn’t take that comment lying down. Chi and the other spirits were the ones trying to act. She herself wasn’t really trying to actively do anything—at least, in Ruri’s own opinion.
◆ ◆ ◆ ◆
The next morning, the soldiers stood at attention in a row, ready to set off. Arman was also there, along with Celestine.
“Celestine-san?” Ruri questioned, wondering why she was here.
“Would you mind if she came along with you?” Arman asked.
“No, I wouldn’t mind, but it might be dangerous,” Ruri replied.
“You’re one to talk. Listen, I’d appreciate it if you could. She won’t take no for an answer. I’ll increase the number of soldiers to compensate.”
Arman was the one requesting that Ruri take Celestine along for the ride, but he didn’t seem too keen on the idea. It was probably because Celestine made some sort of request to make this happen.
“If you say it’s all right, then I have no objections. But why the sudden desire to come with me?” Ruri asked.
Celestine replied, “I want to assist however I can to apprehend the Church of God’s Light. I will put all of my efforts into helping with their arrest, so I implore you to bring me along.”
“Well, she’s resented being cooped up in the castle because it’s too dangerous for her to go outside too. I already told her not to do anything unreasonable, so I would be grateful if you take her along, as a little distraction.”
Their safety was practically guaranteed since Kotaro and the other spirits would be there, so Ruri didn’t mind Celestine joining in, but she worried this would turn into a troublesome affair, nonetheless. After all, Celestine was smitten with Jade. Ruri couldn’t gauge from her attitude how much animosity she held out of mistakenly assuming that Ruri was Jade’s mate. She really wasn’t too keen on the idea of traveling alongside her, but she couldn’t refuse Arman’s earnest request. Taking her along was the only option.
After everything was settled, the group went on their way. Their first destination was one of the several villages at the foot of Mt. Ulawoon.
The rumors were all said to come from villages at the foot of the mountain, but since it was unclear which of these villages they came from—outside of the village that was wiped out—their plan was to pick one and ask every resident there. Ruri thought it would be a speedy process considering how small the village was, but that was when they ran into a snag. Being an insular village, their wariness toward outsiders was so strong that none of them could even approach any of the villagers, much less ask them questions. Their hostility was especially apparent when they saw Ruri and the dragonkin dressed in apparel of the Nation of the Dragon King.
Given the circumstances, Celestine ended up bearing the brunt of the work. It seemed that even in this insular and overly cautious village, the Beloved of the Nation of the Beast King garnered worship and praise, like some sort of messenger of the gods. The villagers spoke without reservation as soon as Celestine questioned them. Respect and adoration was clear in their eyes, so Ruri thought she could manage since she was a Beloved as well. But when she tried to interject herself into the conversation, the villagers would slam the door to their hearts right in her face.
(But I’m a Beloved too!) Ruri thought, a little disheartened.
However, this difference in treatment was obviously due to her outsider appearance. She regretted not changing into local attire before coming. With Celestine solely leading the investigation, Ruri felt she was steadily becoming useless by the second.
They visited one village and then another, but they weren’t gaining the insights they’d hoped for. It seemed that since they were all so closed off from outside contact, they didn’t even have any information about neighboring villages. In fact, they didn’t even know that a whole village of people had died a few years ago around these parts.
Given that they hadn’t found even a single clue, they had no other choice but to go around ruling out each village one by one. They traveled around to several villages before they finally found one with some information.
“Wait, you know?!” Ruri exclaimed. After several trips, they were starting to write the whole thing off as a false rumor, but they found their first witness—a person willing to give a testimony. Ruri couldn’t help but interject in the middle of Celestine’s conversation with them. However, she quickly regained her senses and pulled back.
Celestine then urged the villager to continue speaking. “Please, tell us more.”
“A short while back, an outsider came to this village. He was neither a merchant nor a traveler. He said he was doing missionary work for his religion called the Church of God’s Light and was zealously trying to recruit people into his faith. He said that his group’s leader possessed the ability to revive the dead, but no one believed him. Since no one gave him the time of day, he up and vanished. However, right after he did, a beast attacked a child in the village and the child ended up dying. Their parents sank into depression over it. Simply dreadful.”
Apparently, there were magic beasts around the area, and while it was a shame it happened to a child, beast attacks weren’t uncommon.
“That was when the child’s parents remembered the person’s claims about resurrecting the dead, so they set off in search of him. Everyone tried to stop them, saying it was clearly a hoax. However, neither listened. Granted, I can completely understand how they must’ve felt.”
“And then?” Celestine prompted.
“A few days passed and they brought a group of people back with them to the village—among which was a well-dressed older man. They proceeded to do something or other at their house, but the villagers were too wary to even step close. However, before long—shockingly—the supposedly dead child emerged from the house.”
“He really came back to life?” Ruri asked.
Breathing heavily from his nose, the villager forgot about their wariness toward Ruri, and in excitement confirmed, “Indeed he did! I was shocked out of my wits! Everyone in the village was flabbergasted. We all celebrated on that day.”
“Was the child really dead?” asked Ruri. “It wasn’t a chance of mistaken identity? Or maybe he wasn’t actually dead to begin with?”
“No, no. The child’s death was confirmed by everyone in the village. The child who stepped out from the house was indeed one and the same. I’ve known the child ever since they were born, so there’s no way I’d mistake them. There he was—standing and walking. Although, he did go right back inside since they said he was still of ailing health.”
Ruri turned toward Joshua and Ewan. Both of them looked rather puzzled. None of them expected to hear a witness confirm the ridiculous tale of people coming back from the dead. This person didn’t seem to be lying nor did they have a reason to. However, their statement only led to more questions. After all, Kotaro definitively said that the dead couldn’t be resurrected.
“Where is the family of this child?” asked Joshua, deciding it best to meet them in person.
“Aah, well, you see...” the villager said as if struggling to find the words—and not because he was wary of Joshua.
“What’s wrong?” Joshua prompted.
“I’m afraid the family isn’t here.”
“They’re not? Then where are they?”
“Well, after their child was brought back to life, they left the village with the people from the Church of God’s Light. In exchange for resurrecting their child, they said they would serve the God of said church.”
“Do you not know where they went, then?”
“No, I can’t say I do.”
Ruri and her group went around asking other villagers, but none of them knew where the family went. Just when they thought they had a clue, it dissipated right before their very eyes. They probably weren’t going to gain anything else from this village. Afterward, they found out about similar phenomena happening in several other villages around Mt. Ulawoon. But in each case, the revived person and their family ended up relocating with the Church of God’s Light, shutting down any chances of meeting them.
“I have to wonder, did they really resurrect them...?” Ruri questioned, doubtful it was true. However, the existence of witnesses changed everything. Magic existed in this world, so perhaps revival wasn’t out of the realm of possibility.
Kotaro immediately refuted the idea, almost as if he read her mind. “Resurrecting the dead is impossible. Once a living being dies, the body and soul are cut free from one another. No means can tether them back together. Not even spirits. There must be some sort of trick behind it all.”
“That’s right.” Rin added. She flapped over to Kotaro’s head and perched on it. “According to the one villager, they were only able to see the child for a few moments. We won’t be able to know the truth unless we meet them in person.”
“Meeting them would be nice,” Ruri agreed, “but that family is with the Church of God’s Light, right? And we don’t have any idea where the church might’ve gone...”
“So, the Church of God’s Light’s goal is to gain believers? They did go to the house of the kid who assaulted Ewan to offer them a place in their church in exchange for reviving the husband, after all,” Joshua muttered as he pondered to himself. “So, what’s the plan now?”
Ruri looked at Joshua and everyone else. What were they to do? They had found no solid evidence, and they had traveled to nearly all the villages in the vicinity.
That was when someone spoke up amidst the deadlock. “I want to go see the village that’s supposed to be wiped out,” said Chi.
That was the destination he talked about wanting to see ever since the start. They had been putting it off for a while now, but it was the only place left. After hearing all this talk about people being brought back to life, there was no way that village wasn’t related to the Church of God’s Light.
“Well, we’ve visited all the other villages. Maybe it’s time we head over there?” Ruri suggested.
With no other leads on the Church of God’s Light, they had no other choice but to investigate wherever else they could. And since all of the inhabitants of that village were supposedly raised from the dead, it was possible that people were still staying there.
Ruri and her group then headed straight toward that rumored village—the village with a populace brought back to the land of the living.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login