IV
The Walls of the Holy City of Elsphere
“Well, that figures...” grumbled Senior Thousand-Wing Johann Strider as he stared absently down at the wilderness that lay to the west of the city. He had been left in charge of the city’s defenses.
The news that the undead had suddenly appeared in that wilderness and were marching on Elsphere was largely responsible for worsening Johann’s already-gloomy mood.
“We saw neither hide nor hair of them until yesterday. Where in the world did they come from?” Johann had good reason to be perplexed. Besides strengthening the guard in the holy city, he had also ordered Senior Hundred-Wing Zephyr Ballschmiede, the head of the owls, to cast a wide security net. This had, of course, included the area of wilderness that now had his attention. It was unthinkable that the owls, who understood the threat of the undead better than anyone, could have missed it.
“We are fighting the dead. You can’t expect to use logic with them, so there’s no point worrying about it.”
“Well, yes, but...” Johann paused. “Wait, what are you doing here anyway?” He turned to look suspiciously at Jean Alexia of the Twelve Angels who stood casually at this side.
“Blessed Wing Lara ordered me to defend the holy city—what else?” Jean replied, sounding indignant. “You were there at the war council, Senior Thousand-Wing.”
“Uh-huh. Say, you’re oddly cheerful, given the circumstances.”
They currently knew there were seven thousand undead marching upon them. If that number were to change at all, it would only go up. With all the misfortune that had befallen them, Johann couldn’t understand facing down the revolting ranks of the dead and being cheerful.
“M-Me? Cheerful? Don’t be silly,” said Jean, not meeting his eyes.
“Oh? Because to me you look like someone who’s gotten rid of a yearslong pain in the neck.”
“I-It’s not because Senior Thousand-Wing Amelia is away or anything like that.”
That was all that Johann needed to hear. “It is far too easy to read you.”
“I told you, you’ve got it wrong!” Jean repeated her denials several times more, wiping away sweat that beaded on her forehead as she did so.
Johann returned his gaze to the awful scene before them and quietly folded his arms.
No one’s going to be laughing if they come home to find the holy city overrun by the dead. You could sacrifice your life to atone, and it wouldn’t even begin to cover it. And worst of all— Angelica’s bright and sunny smile appeared in his mind’s eye, and he physically cringed.
“My lady love would never forgive me,” he muttered. Jean abruptly stopped repeating excuses and looked at him with moist eyes.
“Even at a time like this, you’re thinking about a woman...”
Johann put his arm around her neck and grinned. “Menfolk can’t get by without women. In this world of lies and fabrications, that’s the one truth you can count on.”
Jean looked totally uncomprehending. “And what does that mean?”
Johann glanced at the cross spear in Jean’s hand and said, “I mean that polishing your martial skills isn’t everything. An understanding of a woman’s heart is just as important. In other words, if you’re afraid of dear Amelia, it’s only because you don’t know anything about her.”
“I’ve served at her side for almost two years now. I obviously know some things...” Jean’s voice got smaller and smaller as she tried to deny it.
“People are instinctively wary of things that no one understands. And a lack of understanding leads to fear. Did you know, for example, that Amelia makes a hobby of collecting pretty clothes?”
Jean’s eyes snapped wide open. There was a pause, then her face turned surly. “No, stop it, that’s not even a tiny bit funny.” Apparently, she thought he was joking. Johann deliberately let the silence draw out. “Wait. You are joking, right?”
“What do I have to gain by joking?”
“But no, come on, not Senior Thousand-Wing Amelia, of all people...”
“You don’t think it sounds like her?”
Jean said nothing for a long moment, then nodded reluctantly.
“Well, it’s the truth. Without even meaning to, you now know something about the woman who was a mystery to you. How does it feel?”
“I don’t know...” Jean said. “It’s so unexpected I don’t think I can put my feelings into words.”
“The point is, if you make an effort to get close to her, even dear Amelia can come to seem endearing.”
Jean glanced around nervously, then shivered. “I can’t see that ever happening. Though I see why you find her endearing now.” When Johann didn’t reply, she added, “Lord Johann?”
“Right, I’m going out for a bit,” he said. “Hold down the fort for me.” No sooner had he started walking than he heard footsteps coming after him. With a cold flick of his hand, he wordlessly signaled for her not to follow him.
“But—”
“It’s no good having both of us away from the city. Don’t forget the duty of the Twelve Angels.”
“Yes, ser,” Jean replied at length. “I will protect the city.”
“I’m counting on you,” Johann said, then he stopped, remembering something. “Oh, right. Don’t go dropping what I just told you into conversation with Amelia. She’d probably kill you.”
“Huh...?!” Jean froze as though she’d been turned to stone. Johann left her there and headed down the stairs. By the time he reached the heavily barred outer gate, Zephyr and another five owls stood around him like a guard.
“I don’t remember calling for you,” he said.
“It is the order of the seraph.”
Johann shrugged, then looked around at the owls. They were dressed like common folk, but anyone who knew what to look for could sense that these people did not make an honest living.
“You’re being dramatic again.”
“This is not a joking matter.” Zephyr’s expression was deadly serious.
The others with him were some of the most skilled warriors among the owls. They were known as the Five Ring Band. Johann left the holy city with them, urging his horse westward toward the wilderness. It wasn’t long, however, before a problem arose. As they approached the wilderness, their horses slackened their pace and wouldn’t stop whinnying. At last, they stopped and refused to take another step. Sweat drenched their flanks even though they had not yet covered half the distance to the wilderness.
They scare the horses this badly...? Johann didn’t hesitate; he dismounted, then ordered the Five Ring Band, who were trying to force their horses to stay put, to dismount.
“We’ll run from here,” he said.
“Yes, ser!” The released horses shot off back the way they had come, and, in mere moments, they were out of sight.
They ran on for a little over two hours.
“—like the face of hell itself down there.” Johann and the others were standing at the edge of a cliff that looked out over the army of the undead. It was redolent with a stench worse than any battlefield Johann had known.
What sort of screwed-up magecraft lets you revive the dead? he wondered. With the thought of the abnormal magecraft, a certain girl appeared in his mind’s eye. No, surely not...
While the Five Ring Band kept close watch on their surroundings, Zephyr said, “Human reason doesn’t get through to the undead. It makes dealing with them extremely frustrating.”
“By which you mean simply burning them isn’t going to faze them, I suppose?”
Zephyr lowered his head. “With all due respect, ser.”
He was right. Johann’s magecraft was focused on fire, which made it effective against humans and animals, but not necessarily against the undead. If they were as the reports suggested, they wouldn’t stop walking even if their whole bodies were on fire.
“Then I’ll just have to keep going until no scrap of flesh remains,” Johann replied. He gripped his left wrist with his right hand, then concentrated his mana in his Blazelight mage circle. It began to flicker. Then a surge of crimson light shot up into the sky.
My Seraph... he thought. If he wanted to stay at her side, he had to prove himself worthy of her trust. Johann’s greatest fear was that Sofitia, his ruler in all things, would look at him with disappointment in her eyes. Anything but that.
He cast flame magecraft’s highest-level spell: Blazing Host of Heaven.
A vast mage circle floated above the marching undead. This was magecraft of the same class as the Blazelight Vortex, but it consumed an order of magnitude more mana. Because of this, Johann had deliberately sealed it off—it was his last resort.
“So long as I’m still standing, you putrid wretches will never set foot in the holy city!” He made sure of his target, then released the power sealed in the mage circle. At once, a huge pillar of light shot out from its center. The circle expanded, instantly reducing every walking corpse it touched to black ash. The dust was carried up on the wind that howled within the circle, then scattered without a trace.
The Blazelight mage circle shone with a fierce glow, as though reveling in Johann’s supremacy.
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