Chapter 15: An Uncomfortable Truth

Chapter 15:
An Uncomfortable Truth

 

FLUM COULD HEAR a bird’s call off in the distance.

Her eyelids opened to reveal a familiar wooden ceiling. The light coming in through the gap in the curtain was so bright she had to bring her hand up to block it.

“It’s morning…I think.”

Her throat was dry.

She propped herself up on an elbow, ran a hand through her unkempt hair, and looked around the room.

There was a dresser, a desk, another bed… All of the furniture was exactly where it should be. She was in her own bedroom.

“I…think I came home yesterday and just fell into bed…”

That was the extent of Flum’s memory after returning home. But they’d returned home just after sunrise, and now it was morning. Which could only mean…

“Did I sleep for an entire day?”

That was definitely a lot longer than she intended to sleep, but she clearly used up a lot of her energy reserves after an entire night running around and fighting well into the morning. Even with all her endurance-boosting equipment, her body had limits.

She felt sore all over from having spent so much time in bed.

“Aaaaaaaahh.” Flum let out a massive yawn and stretched as she stared blankly around the room. She still wasn’t entirely awake.

She shook her head to make herself focus, only for her eyes to stop on one particular point right next to her. There lay Milkit, dressed in her pajamas, sleeping fitfully at Flum’s side. Her perfectly pale skin practically shone in the morning sun.

On a second look, she noticed Milkit’s bed was empty.

Perhaps she’d just been lonely, or maybe she was worried about Flum and didn’t want to be apart.

In any case, for some reason or another, Milkit crawled into Flum’s bed while she was sleeping.

“Gah, she’s so cute even when she’s asleep…”

A silly grin came to Flum’s lips as she reached to stroke Milkit’s cheek and run a hand through her hair.

The fact that she was wearing pajamas at least told her Milkit had been awake long enough to change and get ready for bed after they returned home, unlike herself.

Whatever became of Gadhio, Eterna…and Ink?

Flum knew she could probably find the answer if she just got out of bed and went downstairs, but she shook her head. She’d wait until she had a chance to wake up a bit more.

She continued to run her hand through Milkit’s hair and across her cheek, then gently tickled at her ears.

It wasn’t like she was interfering with her sleep or anything. Judging by the height of the sun outside, it was already well past time to wake up anyway. She might as well wake her up.

“Nnmm… Mashteer…”

“Oh, are you awake?”

Milkit’s eyes were still closed. Flum giggled to herself.

“Or did I suddenly appear in your dreams?”

“Master…don’t go…”

Those words pulled at Flum’s heartstrings. She felt hot all over all of a sudden. Considering everything Milkit went through, she could understand the sense of anxiety she must be feeling.

“You can’t just play with my heart like that. That’s not fair, y’know…” Flum countered by prodding Milkit’s soft cheek with her finger and tracing patterns on it.

Milkit’s eyes fluttered upon to look up at Flum. “Master?”

Flum beamed down at the younger girl. “G’mornin’, Milkit.”

Milkit didn’t have to try to make Flum feel special. Just being there, the sound of her voice, seeing her there in front of her was enough.

“Ah, good morning, Master.”

The mere sight of Flum was enough to bring a warm smile to Milkit’s face.

The two had long since evolved past the relationship of a mere master and slave, that much they knew.

“You surprised me, appearing in my bed all of a sudden like that.”

“I’m sorry, Master. You wouldn’t wake up, and I began to worry that you never would.”

“Sorry to make you worry, Milkit. I guess I was pretty exhausted.”

“I’m sure you were. You had a pretty tough time.”

“So did you.”

“I was just captured, is all. You did quite a lot, Master, and it’s only thanks to you that Ink and I made it home okay.”

“I never could have done it alone.”

“Maybe so, but even Eterna and Gadhio mentioned that your presence was vital.”

Flum was filled with a mix of embarrassment and happiness at receiving praise from her companions on the great journey.

There was nothing better than for someone as useless and pointless as herself to earn praise from the people she admired.

“Oh, speaking of which, did Ink wake up? Is she doing okay?”

“Yes, she’s resting in Eterna’s room now. The most difficult time has passed, but it will take at least six months until she’s totally in the clear.”

“Six months? Wow, that’s quite a while. I guess that’s really not too bad, considering we put a completely different person’s heart inside her.”

Eterna probably hadn’t mentioned that earlier to avoid dampening everyone’s mood.

“We should probably stay away until her wounds have fully healed, at least. Eterna mentioned something about a risk of…infection, I think she said.”

“Aww, I really want to see her, but I’m just glad that she’s still alive. That’s enough for me.”

As long as she knew that, she could wait patiently.

Now that she knew Ink was doing well, Flum finally got out of bed together with Milkit, and the two got dressed for the day.

Her clothes were absolutely trashed during the previous night’s battles; Flum had to completely change out of everything. However, due to all the fights she’d been in lately, her wardrobe had grown quite small. She’d need to buy more clothes, and soon.

She just grabbed the first thing she found in the closet before sitting down in front of the mirror to do her hair.

Milkit wrapped her face and dressed herself. She watched Flum intently, looking concerned.

“What is it?”

Milkit was even more dressed up than usual today; she wore a traditional navy maid uniform with a white apron. It suited her perfectly.

“Well, there’s something I need to give you, Master.” Milkit grabbed something from a dresser drawer. She stood still for a moment, her eyes shut with indecision.

Flum watched Milkit in the mirror, uncertain of what she wanted to give her. Finally, she turned to face Milkit directly.

Milkit held the item to her chest for a few more moments before making up her mind and turning to Flum.

“H-here it is.” She held a hairpin with a light blue, semi-transparent flower on the end. It sparkled magnificently under the light shining through the window.

“Oh, my! It’s so pretty, Milkit. Is this…is this a present for me?”

“Y-yes. I know it hardly compares to the wonderful gifts you’ve given me, but…well, I planned on giving it to you earlier, but you were so hurt about losing Sara that I thought it wasn’t the right timing. It’s a bit late, I know, but…”

“Aww, I’m happy to receive anything at all from you, Milkit.”

“Thank you, Master. I made it myself as a small token of my appreciation.”

“You made this?? Wow! You’re amazing!”

Milkit’s cheeks flushed.

This was the first present Flum had ever received from Milkit, and that made it a treasure in its own right. But being handmade, too? That made it an heirloom right then and there.

It seemed almost like a shame to even wear it. But, on the other hand, she felt that she absolutely had to as a sign of appreciation for Milkit’s hard work.

“Thank you, Milkit! I love, just absolutely love it! I’m never going to let it out of my sight.”

“It’s really nothing special…”

“No, really, it is! Do you mind if I use it now?”

“Of course not!”

Flum lifted up her bangs and slid the hairpin in to hold them in place. After gazing at her new hairstyle in the mirror for a moment, she grinned brightly. Milkit beamed at the sight of her master proudly displaying her handmade hairpin. Their eyes met in the mirror, causing them to blush.

 

***

 

Flum and Milkit found Gadhio, dressed in a simple housecoat, sitting downstairs and looking out the window.

This was the first time Flum had seen him out of his armor.

He struck an impressive pose just sitting there gazing out the window, like the scene was taken straight out of a painting.

“Good morning, Gadhio.”

“Ah, Flum… Milkit.”

Milkit hurriedly bowed her head upon being addressed. Despite the time they spent together the day before, she still wasn’t quite used to his overpowering presence.

“I’m impressed that you’re up after just a day of rest, burning through all the prana you did.”

“Is a whole day of sleeping actually fast?”

Hearing her concerns confirmed was a bit of a shock. She’d need to be more careful with her energy use going forward.

“So is this how you usually dress, Gadhio?”

“Aah, right. You’ve never seen me like this.”

None of his massive black armor, which currently sat in another room of the house, was even Epic class, as far as she could tell. For someone of his skill and rank, it would almost be a given that he would be sporting Epic gear, but there was something about the black armor that he preferred.

While Flum and Gadhio sat at the table together and got caught up, Milkit jogged into the kitchen to begin preparing breakfast.

“I know it’s a bit late to mention this, but I was honestly surprised to see you show up to come save me.”

“Same here. I hadn’t expected to find you out there slinging around a broadsword in a pitched battle, Flum. With the mark of a slave on your cheek, no less. Whatever happened to you after leaving the party?”

Even though he was smiling, there was still something slightly scary about Gadhio’s expression. He must have been able to infer something from the mark.

“Well, starting from the very beginning…” Flum went on to give him a brief overview of everything that happened to her: how Jean sold her as a slave, how she met Milkit and gained her fighting abilities thanks to the cursed sword, and about her encounter hunting for medicinal herbs in Anichidey.

Gadhio listened intently, nodding along the whole while.

Finally, Flum reached the end of her saga.

“And that brings us to where we are now.”

Gadhio crossed his arms in thought. “So it was Jean, huh? I always knew he was petty and selfish, but I never figured he’d do something like that. He sounds unwell.”

“I don’t think I’d ever really forgive him, but I guess things did kind of turn out all right for me.”

“Because you met her?” Gadhio shot a glance in Milkit’s direction as she hustled to prepare breakfast.

“Among other things.”

“Other things? Such as?”

“I’ve come to realize that the reason I was put in the party to take down the Demon Lord at the hands of the church, and by extension, by Origin. I suspect they had something prepared for us if I arrived at the Demon Lord’s castle as planned.”

“So Jean’s egomania spoiled the church’s plot?”

“I hate to say it, but it sure looks that way.”

Though that didn’t mean Flum had any intention of forgiving him. If they ever met again, she’d beat seven shades of it out of him.

“Speaking of which, I guess you were also investigating the church?”

“Aah, yes. Shortly before I left the party, I began to sense there was something going on behind the scenes. I reached out to an acquaintance to gain access to the main cathedral.”

“That’s pretty impressive.”

“I guess you could say it was a bit much.”

It must have been an ordeal for a brave and proven warrior like Gadhio to laugh at his own plan like that.

“But you know, that was the fastest way to find out what I wanted to know. In the end, I learned about the history of the Spiral Children and what the church was hiding about them.”

“So that’s why the eyes were chasing you.”

“It must’ve been from when I uncovered the information about the Children.”

“Is the church keeping the stories about the human-demon war under wraps?”

“That, and some things about the demon attacks that happened eight and ten years ago.”

“Those were the attacks on Maria and Sara’s hometowns.”

This reminded Flum that she hadn’t asked Gadhio yet about Sara’s whereabouts. She desperately wanted to, but she didn’t want to interrupt his story.

“I assume you’re referring to Sara Anvilen? In which case, yes. I don’t know about her situation, but I know Maria despises demons with her heart and soul.”

“But if the church was involved…does that mean the demons are innocent?”

“The whole situation was just too convenient for the church. In both cases, the only ones who lived were young children with impressive healing abilities.”

“So the church knights were behind it?”

“Obviously there’s no record of an attack, but I don’t think it would be beneath them.”

“So they just faked the whole thing.”

“That’s one possibility. But Maria was eight years old at the time; she would’ve been able to differentiate humans from demons.”

“That’s true. So maybe the demons really were behind it?”

“Or the humans disguised themselves as demons. Regardless of who was the real culprit, I’m certain the church was involved somehow.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Maria and Sara weren’t the only survivors.”

“There were others?”

This was the first Flum had heard of that. In fact, Sara and even Gadhio himself said they were the only survivors.

“The remaining survivors were all pregnant. Across the two incidents, five pregnant women were taken in by the church.”

“Pregnant women…?”

“Have you figured it out? The attacks were eight and ten years ago. Which means that the children from these pregnant women would be eight and ten years old.”

Children…who were currently eight and ten years old. That left only one option.

“The Spiral Children?”

“Bingo. The church attacked the villages and took pregnant women to use in their experiments, along with the magically inclined children..”

“Was that their goal the whole time, then?”

“Not exactly. Both of the places that were attacked were condemned for heresy by the church.”

“So they could achieve three different goals in one fell swoop.”

There was still one major sticking point in all this for Flum.

“But why blame it on the demons, then? Couldn’t they have just said a giant monster laid waste to the villages or something?”

Large monsters destroying entire villages was hardly common, but it wasn’t rare either.

Were they just trying to build up the people’s hatred for the demons by pinning the blame on them? Anti-demon rhetoric wasn’t hard to come by in the church.

“I dug up a little on that during my visit.”

Flum couldn’t help but wonder just how deep he went to get his hands on such detailed records. Whatever he found, it was probably so secret that he would have been killed on sight had he been discovered.

As she listened to his story, Flum was once again impressed by just how immensely talented he was, to say nothing of Eterna and her ability to step in and save Ink’s life. She hardly felt worthy of the title of “hero.”

“Around fifty years or so ago, the previous king became an ardent follower of the church of Origin. Right around that time, we started to see stories of all these evil acts carried out by demons appear in the capital and its surrounds.”

“Stories? You mean like fairy tales and plays? Why would they do something like that?”

“I don’t know why, but in any case, the image of demons being equated with all that was evil spread among the populace for the next twenty years, which ultimately resulted in the human-demon war. In fact, the current king may be plotting a second war as we speak.”

“So that’s why they made the demons the scapegoats for those attacks. But wouldn’t that mean the human-demon war was some plot cooked up by the church as well? I remember being taught that it was the demons who attacked us first.”

“You’d be correct.”

Flum’s cheek twitched slightly at this. “I guess it’s pretty easy to twist history to your will then, isn’t it?”

“The church couldn’t do it on their own. The kingdom helps to manipulate information for them. It’s far from easy but certainly not impossible. Ultimately, the humans were in the wrong, and the demons were right. What’s worse, we lost and came running back home. Alas, that story didn’t fit their narrative, so obviously the people in power wanted to wipe it from history.”

She suddenly recalled what Neigass, one of the Demon Chiefs, told her back in the cave outside Anichidey.

When referring to the human-demon war, she specifically mentioned that humans invaded their lands. Assuming that was true, then her statement that demons never killed any humans may very well also be true.

It was almost mind-blowing to consider that the demons were more trustworthy than the church.

She let out a sigh.

“There’s something else that they were hiding about the war as well.”

“There’s more?”

“Oh, there’s so much more. But with regard to the human-demon war, I learned that the demons placed one condition on humans after their loss. Do you know what that was?”

“I know it wasn’t land…so money or resources, maybe?”

“In most normal wars that would be the answer. But that wasn’t the case with the demons. All they asked was that neither side ever raise arms against the other again. Essentially, they wanted a peace treaty.”

The gap between the war-like demons she was raised to believe in and the people suing for nothing but peace was so great that Flum almost felt as if the world were spinning.

The humans really were the villains then, weren’t they? That was the only explanation the facts supported. They brought war against a neighboring nation, refused to accept they were wrong even after losing, and then went so far as to hide the truth.

“Is that treaty still in effect?”

“It should be.”

“So that means Cyrill…well, not just her, but the whole party was violating that treaty?”

It was the obvious question.

Gadhio let out a cynical laugh. “The rest of this is just my own thoughts, so I can’t say for sure whether or not there’s any truth behind it or not.”

“That’s fine by me. I want to hear what you think.”

“The party was made up of civilians—hence why we were able to just give up on the journey at will.”

“That’s true.”

They all came from different backgrounds and social classes, with little that actually tied them all together. Gadhio and Linus were both S-Rank adventurers, Jean was a renowned genius, and Eterna was a magician they’d turned up in the sticks.

“Which means they were likely plotting to set us up as a private organization operating out of a sense of righteous indignation. The kingdom would bear no blame for the actions of a band of random civilians.”

“That’s…that’s stupid!”

“Obviously the demons weren’t so easily fooled, either. However, the government continued to insist that they had nothing to do with this group of people and that it wasn’t in violation of their promise to the demons. I believe this is what gave rise to the creation of the Demon Chiefs. They were created as a sort of counter to the hero party.”

Flum was at a complete loss for words.

That would mean that the humans were entirely to blame for the demons’ recent attacks. In fact, the demons were still being incredibly kind, between the mercy they’d shown in their skirmishes with humanity and their restraint in not wiping the kingdom from the map.

What’s more, what the demons lacked in sheer population, they more than made up for it in their impressive strength. Were they so inclined, they could easily lay waste to the kingdom.

Yet they chose not to. In fact, they avoided killing or even harming any humans.

Even in the face of the fact that the humans had dispatched a party to slay the Demon Lord, they still only fought back to the minimum extent possible. All the while, humanity took advantage of their goodwill and set their own plots into motion.

It was absolutely wretched.

“Why do they hate the demons so much?”

“The simplest explanation is that they just want their land, though that doesn’t really fly considering the risk involved. The real question is, what happened fifty years ago that turned the previous king to Origin’s teachings and his campaign against demonkind, and why is the current king sustaining that? The only way we’ll ever get answers to these questions is by cutting the church open and looking inside.”

So this was all the church’s scheme the whole time. If they wanted to know the truth, Flum would have to risk not only the past and future of her own kingdom, but her own life itself in order to dig deep into this mystery.

Even with Eterna and Gadhio at her side, the challenge was immense, but she couldn’t just stand idly by and not do everything in her power to blow this conspiracy out into the open.

“There’s no sense in thinking too hard about it at the moment. For now, all we can do is gather what information about the church we can.”

“It’s all so frustrating.”

“Hold on to that feeling. Let it drive you forward.”

Just as the conversation was winding down, Milkit started setting the table. She set up four places at the table, with Ink’s food put aside for her in the kitchen.

“Well, why don’t we leave it there for now and get down to breakfast?”

“Wait, there’s still one thing I forgot to ask you about!”

“What’s that?”

Now that Gadhio’s story was tentatively finished, Flum finally had a chance to ask something that’d been nagging at her the whole time.

“Where’s Sara?”

“Aah…that girl?” Gadhio scowled slightly.

It was a strange response, especially considering that he said she was fine earlier. A feeling of uncertainty began to well up inside her heart.

“Is she with someone?”

“Yes.”

“An acquaintance of yours?”

“Not exactly, no. Though I have spoken with them before.”

He was being uncharacteristically vague about all this. Who could Sara be with that he’d be so hesitant to discuss it with her? Flum decided to press one more time.

“No matter what’s happened to Sara, I promise you that I’ll be able to come to terms with it. Please, Gadhio, just tell me what you know.”

“She’s fine, really. She’s not hurt or sick, and she’s in safe keeping. The thing is, the person she’s with is…”

“Who?”

Gadhio crossed his arms and paused. After a moment of silence, he finally let out a sigh.

“Neigass, the Demon Chief.”

It was the last name Flum ever expected to hear.

“Whaaaaat?!”

Milkit immediately tensed up at Flum’s unexpected outburst, and the plate in her hand dropped with a loud clatter, sending a lone sausage rolling across the table.