"You don't know anything, do you, Hymirin. ”

In this world, there are many beings that are older than the White Church.

"Where's the commander!" the wind and snow drifted by, and the moment he came back to his senses, Licardo and Asceo beside him realized that Haymirning was no longer there.

When the cult leader performed some kind of ancient magic at the cost of his own body being torn apart, he summoned something. Like the words of the people, there is something far beyond the imagination of human beings.

This is actually an illusion that is very easy to decode.

In the midst of this ethereal blizzard, the knights had to shout loudly at a very close distance to hear each other's voices, and how she could recognize from a distance that someone was starting to approach here. Moreover, it is paradoxical to think that a mere woman is alone in the midst of such a storm and snow that makes it difficult for even the indomitable warriors to move forward.

But she saw the weakness of the human heart.

He saw Hermenin's confusion and vacillation.

When he was still a teenager, he regarded her as his guiding light, a scarce beauty in life.

One of her words made him who he is today.

It was an attack on the weakness, because it was the very thing that his heart longed for, and he ignored the fact that everything was wrong, the sudden reticence of the knights behind him, and the immutability in the blizzard.

By the time I reacted, I had lost too far.

In the whole world, except for the dim moonlight, only he and the blizzard existed.

"How...... Instinctively——, Hymirinen raised his shield and sword, but looked around in a daze, unable to discern anything from the unchanging scene.

The howling wind began to creep in through the gap between his neck and helmet, preventing him from opening his eyes.

"You don't know anything, do you, Hamirin. In an instant, her voice rang out in her ears, and Hymirin's scalp tingled, but she turned back sharply, but she still couldn't see anything.

Regardless of how his judgment was affected by exhaustion and eagerness, he began to realize that something was wrong.

"What are you!, why are you pretending to be her!" he cried out, but even the sound was drowned out by the blizzard's "whirring-" sound.

"I am what you desire, and what you fear. He said in Sania's voice.

"I am a whisper in my ear, a fanatical chant. Then it changed to the tone of the crown prince of Hermes.

"It's something you've always been familiar with, something you've never seen before. This time the voice changed to another woman, and although Hamirinen had not heard it before, he felt that it was warm and gave him infinite strength.

"Is it a demon? He clenched the sword in his hand, and his fingers were cold, not knowing whether it was because of the weather or because of his heart.

There are many records of these fellows in the holy texts of the Church, and they are very capable of demagoguery, and the most effective way to deal with them is obviously a firm heart.

"Hallowed be thy name, and may we all have a two-edged sword in our hands. He shouted out the incantation of prayer, and for a moment he did feel his mind clear.

The voice was gone, and Hymirning looked around warily for a considerable amount of time, letting out a long sigh of relief when he realized that the being did seem to have been expelled by his own firm prayers.

"You really believe it—" "Ah——!!hhhhhhh

"Hehehehehehe—" He laughed in Sania's voice, "You're such an interesting person, Hymirin. ”

"Damn, demon, come out and face me!" he roared loudly as he swung his sword forward, and after slashing twice in a row, there was a real hit in the "——!".

"No—this—" Crown Prince Hermes, whose left half of his body had been split open, widened his gray-blue eyes in disbelief and held out his hand to Hymirin, "Child, you....... Do you still refuse to forgive me—"

"No, no, no, no!!" "Hehehehehe-" The voice mocked him in mid-air, and he frantically swung the sword in his hand, but could not touch anything.

"Tell you a good thing, Hamirin. The voice turned cold for a moment.

"No one was expecting your birth. ”

"You're a mistake. ”

"......." he clenched his sword, but his wavering heart was transmitted to the tip of the sword, causing it to tremble slightly.

"A young and frivolous mortal, even though he is now a great man whom is respected. But that wasn't the case in the past. The voice flickered left and right, and Hymirnin kept facing the place where the sound was coming from, ready to attack at the right time, but his wavering became more and more evident with his words.

"I guess I think it's a no-brainer. ”

"How is it possible for a teenager who has been neglected by his father to grow up and become an excellent and reliable person without being stained by the mud? No, this is impossible. The great man gave a lot for the people and the church? No, he wasn't like that. He was young and frivolous, and he was proud of his identity. ”

"It was a mistake from the start. The voice changed to Crown Prince Hermes again, with some vicissitudes of life and emotion. "Shut up!" Hermenin roared loudly to hide the wavering in her heart.

"Friendship, they said yes. ”

"Pure friendship comes from young people who have just been made crown prince for less than a year, and who have been snubbed by their own father and have a proud heart. and one. ”

"Outstanding, the first bishop in the history of Suomir. ”

"How ridiculous and ridiculous. The voice changed to that of the third woman, but it was no longer gentle, with a full coldness and gnashing of teeth.

It wasn't what she wanted. She is supposed to serve the gods, and she is religious, so she will naturally keep her chastity for this. The voice changed to Sanya's voice again—or at least what Hamirnin thought it should be, Sanya's: "But she is not qualified to choose, she is only the bishop of Suomir, a small country." And he is the crown prince of the neighbor of the empire. ”

And they call it. He spoke, replacing it with the voice of the crown prince of Hermes, only sounding younger and full of flirtatiousness: "Friendship, hahahahaha-"

"You are a mistake, a big mistake that should be covered up. ”

He realized this and began to try to make amends, but it was too late. ”

"She's dead. The voice changed to the same female voice that had warmed Hermening, but it was cold and emotionless. He suddenly realized whose voice it was.

"Mother...... Dear?" Hamirin's voice trembled slightly, and the shield and sword in his hand were difficult to grasp.

"Because of dystocia. ”

"Because of you. The voice gritted again, and it was clearly directed at him.

"The empire covered up all the facts, and did not hesitate to use killing tactics to purge the vast majority of people in the know, just to help him save face when he was just listed as the crown prince. ”

"It's a scandal, a scandal that shouldn't be known to outsiders. ”

So they began to hire writers and troubadours, and they continued to promote the purity of their friendship. ”

"History is written by the victors, and under the overwhelming propaganda power of the Empire, the truth is quickly overshadowed by lies. ”

"Countless people have believed the lies of the Imperials, perhaps acting, perhaps out of guilt in their hearts?" he continued, explaining in Sania's voice, "He has indeed changed, at least on the surface, and has become a great man to be admired. ”

But the people of Suomir have not forgotten. ”

"The faithful who wept and wept to lose their beloved bishop, the very few who fled from the knife of the executioners of the Empire. ”

"Didn't forget. ”

"You know it now, Hamirin. The voice sounded in his ears again, and Hymirinen got goosebumps, but she froze in place, unable to move.

"Hahaha-hahaha-" the voice laughed wildly.

"This is, vengeance...... "The shield fell to the ground, and his knees went limp, and his face was sluggish in the blizzard.

"Yes—what you think is a cultist, what you think is a cultist who intends to murder the beloved crown prince, your dear father. It's just a bunch of grief-stricken avengers. ”

"This is their justice, Hamirin, what you consider a damned so-called cultist, the so-called cultist whom you did not hesitate to kill when you slew it. ”

"They were born to avenge your mother. ”

"Hahahahaha-" Rampant laughter echoed endlessly in the air, but Hamirnin had already put down the shield and sword in his hand, and his legs and feet were weak and he couldn't even stand up.

"Which side are you on, Hymirin. The voice sounded in his ears again, and Hamirinn shuddered, but could not utter a word.

"Is this what you expect from her, the knight you are looking forward to?" the voice sounded again, and suddenly in front of Hamirin, Sania with a lamp and dressed in bishop's attire appeared.

"Sani-" He knelt on the ground and held out her hand forward, "No-" Her face was filled with fear illuminated by the firelight, "Don't come near me, you monster!" she screamed, then turned her head and rushed into the blizzard, never to return, and Hamirnine froze in place, not even having the strength to get up and chase out.

"You're on the wrong side, Hamilin. ”

"You think you are fighting for justice and protecting the people, but you are fighting against each other, and the people you brutally killed are the ones who are really seeking justice for your biological mother. ”

Is this the person she was looking forward to? ”

"Who the hell are you...... Who ......." Hamirin's voice trembled, and there was barely much sanity left.

"Me?"

"The power needed to take revenge on the unattainable crown prince is not something that divided believers can have. But even the most devout prayer to your hypocritical gods will be of no avail. ”

And so they were. ”

"A different person to pray for. The voice kept changing, and at this moment it changed to the voice of the former head of the Silver Guard Knights, who had retired: "You kid can understand, when people are in despair, they always want to achieve their goals at all costs. ”

"They went forward to fulfill this long-cherished wish. Seek justice for the bishop who died in humiliation. ”

For this reason, even if they do not hesitate to embark on the one-way road to hell, these people have this level of enlightenment. ”

"And you, Hamirin. ”

"Pushed forward by life, you don't know where to go, and the hidden past is just a lie. ”

"What kind of consciousness do you have?"

"I-I—" He was speechless.

"He knows all this, do you understand?" the voice sounded in his ears again, like a whisper in his sleep, and it invaded his mind lightly.

He knew that these men had come to kill him because of the sins he had committed. And he sent you to fight these people. ”

"Without saying a word to you. "Ahh——!!!h

"Ahh!!h

"Bang bang bang-"

"Bang bang bang-"

The snow was splashing, and Hymiring was smashing until he was out of breath and slumped to the ground.

"Ha-ah-ah-ah-ah-" He gulped in the air, like a fish in a pond that had dried up, lying in the scorching sun trying in vain to get oxygen.

"Isn't that the answer you've been looking for?" his voice paused for a long time, and only when his breathing finally calmed down did he say in the voice of the former regiment leader, "You kid also doubted it." Why can the other party sacrifice so desperately, and whether he is the wrong party. ”

"Stop--stop--" The intense oxygen consumption made his eyelids heavier and heavier, and he couldn't even refute it.

"You don't know where you're going, you just move forward according to the words of others. You're hesitating, you don't know where you're going, are you?"

But there's one simple answer to all this. A mother's gentle voice rang out, and in the midst of the snow and ice, Hamiring felt more and more like indulging in it: "Child. ”

"There's only one way you should go. ”

"Hold your sword, my dear. ”

"Grab your sword, then. ”

"Piercing" the gentle mother's voice is seductive.

"His heart. ”

"Whew————" He took a deep breath, trembling all over, his eyes glazed and something began to eat away at his mind, but in the moment when the being thought it was finally going to be achieved—

"Sensing the fluctuation of mana, I thought they had made something high-level, and the result was just an inconspicuous nightmare. ”

A cold female voice came from afar, followed by lightning and thunder in the midst of the blizzard.

Unable to move for the most part, Hymirning turned his head with difficulty, and then his gray-blue eyes were filled with some kind of light.

The wind and snow automatically parted in front of her, and the short silver hair of the person who came became longer in an instant, and then some kind of rune lit up on her body, and the purple-blue electric light began to crackle and flash on the surface of her body, and finally turned into a swimming snake around the silver-gray spear in her hand.

"How-would-" The voice that had been bewitching Hamirning had lost all pretense and had turned into something that echoed and was indistinguishable from a man.

"Wait a minute, young man. She looked at Hamirning with pure golden eyes, and then waved her spear lightly.

Forward.

Took a step.

"Bang !!!!"

In an instant, the night sky was as bright as day.

The scattered electric light shattered the blizzard, and something of uncertain shape in it also struggled and fell into nothingness in the face of the thunder.

The shattered pieces of charred black dirt of the "Click———— fell back to the ground, and in an instant it turned from night to day, and after the lightning disappeared, Hamirin's eyes briefly went blind.

He couldn't see anything, but the feeling of being out of breath finally disappeared in this moment: "Ha-ha-ah-" He gulped in the air, and only as his senses gradually recovered that he realized that his mouth and nose were filled with blood at some point.

"Iluna" (ancient language: light)" The cold voice sounded again, and then a soft white light lit up in front of Hamirin. He blinked and struggled to get used to it, and finally he could see what was in front of him.

"You ......." in front of her was naturally the silver-haired woman who called herself a mercenary, and she had nothing special at the moment except for the spear in her hand that was glowing. But Hamirnin still can't forget the scene when her eyes were shining with lightning just now.

"Well, I know, I have a lot to explain to you. Erica shrugged.

"First of all. ”

"Have you ever heard of the Guardians of the World?" she said word by word to Hamirin, and her tone was not at all joking.

"N-no. Haimirin, who had not yet recovered from the shock, was a little sluggish.

"Well, how do you start talking about this? Erica touched her chin and poked her spear into the snow for lighting.

"Magic is actually forbidden for humans to have, you know?"

"Ahh

"It's human nature to be curious, but there are things in this world that shouldn't be explored. Magic is one of them. Erika continued, and Hymirin, who had received too much information during the night, still hadn't been able to calm down, but she didn't seem to care about it, and just continued: "This power is far beyond human understanding. It is true that the elves have better magical abilities than humans, but they know self-control, while humans do not. ”

"The blind pursuit of power often leads to the wrong path, and it is the result of celestial changes and many magical disasters. ”

"Ignorance is well-being. Humans have always thought of this as an excuse for other races to be stingy in sharing their knowledge, but it is true. ”

"The elves have spent many years keeping humans from coming into contact with magic. But all this was doomed from the start. Because human curiosity cannot be erased, no matter how deep it is hidden, there will always be people who want to find it. ”

"This fits right with the idea of something ...... 'something'. Erica's eyes turned cold as she said this, and her tone became much lower.

"Magic is not given to humans by God. She looked down at Hermilin, her eyes reflecting white light, as if she were an objective being in a higher plane.

"We still don't know what to do with this, and the only thing we can do is restrain humanity from upsetting the balance. What we do to avoid is what you are experiencing today. ”

"If you play with magic, you will release more things than humans can imagine. Even if it is only a subordinate, these ancient abilities are not covered by the common sense of ordinary people. In front of them, the sword of humanity is immature and weak, and shallow reason can be easily torn apart when it comes into contact. ”

"You're better, at least you look like a frightened hamster, but your sanity is still there and you haven't become an idiot. ”

"Maybe one day you can fight alongside us. Erica shrugged.

"You...... Hemirin, who had finally begun to come back to his senses, still had a blank look on his face, but he had at least reacted to the other man's words.

"That's why it's called the Guardian of the World. Erica turned and seemed to leave. "When," she grasped the metal shaft of her spear, and then she seemed to remember it suddenly, "Ah, the more commonly known name." ”

"Druid. ”

"Do you have an idea?" she said, and it was only then that Hermenin finally came to her senses and began to blink her sour eyes, and he began to feel the blur of the scene in front of him because of the tears oozing from his eyes: "Wait, wait—what is that guy—"

"Demon, it's just a low-level nightmare, though. Erica's figure was clearly moving away from the light.

"And what it says—"

"It's all true. ”

"—" Hamirin's movements stopped.

"Their abilities are far beyond human understanding, so there is no such thing as a secret in front of demons. ”

"Does it creep you to know that they really read people's hearts?"

"Demons do not lie, because they understand that only the truth can be fanatically believed. When it comes to manipulating people's minds, no politician can beat these guys. Her voice faded away, and Hamirnin continued to blink as she struggled to adjust to the darkness.

"I'll let you digest it yourself, young knight. That's a good thing for you, if you're still fighting with half-baked consciousness. ”

"Sooner or later, you will die of your own indecision. ”

"When you calm down, come to the mercenary union in Heinzswerm to find me. Goodbye, then—" The voice disappeared into the darkness, and a weary Hermenin blinked, and when he finally came to his senses, a cacophony appeared in front of him.

"Commander!" cried Asio, who was holding a torch.

"Where have you gone, you've been gone all day!ahem-ahem-" Licardo gasped and coughed again.

"A whole ...... God?" Hamirinn was stunned, his eyes quickly adjusting to the glow of the torches.

"God is above, what's going on here, have you done anything angry and resentful?" The firelight chilled the crater on the ground, and the scorched marks and powerful impact made Hymirnine confirm again and again that what had just happened was not an illusion.

"What the hell—" "Don't touch!" Asseo approached some kind of sticky wreckage on the ground, and subconsciously tried to pick it with his sword, but the moment Hamirnine opened his mouth to stop him, he had already touched it with the tip of his sword.

"——!! the fuck!" "What the fuck is going on!" The liquid flowing from the black translucent wreckage that had been poked open by the tip of the sword directly corroded the snow and mud around it, and the tip of the sword that Asseo picked up was also rusted in an instant, and the whole sword turned into a round head and blunt tip because of his curiosity.

"Heavenly ....... What the hell is this?" Rao is Licardo, who has always been unserious, and he only has a sluggish face at this time.

"Did you kill this?" the knights looked at their own regimental commander, who looked like they had gone through a big battle, and Hymirnin stood up with his shield on his shoulder, and shook his head helplessly: "Is it possible!"

"That's?"

"Just because I was saved by a passing immortal, I still don't know the situation. Confused, he prevaricated indiscriminately before returning to the topic he had just raised:

"What's the whole day?

"Who knows! I shouldn't have asked you that!" Licardo looked annoyed, "You disappeared in the blink of an eye during the retreat last night. On a one-way street with only one direction, who knows exactly where you're going. We had no choice but to move on, and we were met by a lost group of allies. Gedo has already been handed over to that side to take care of. We followed our allies to a nearby village on the hour, and then we came back to you, killing the monster along the way. ”

"By the way, speaking of which—" Licardo snapped his fingers suddenly.

"There's a guy there who says he knows you. ”

————

————

After a long journey, it was already the next morning, when I returned to the small village that had served as a temporary station.

Almost as soon as he entered the village, he saw her.

Dressed in white church clothes, he is holding a book and explaining knowledge to the young children in the village.

The devil's omniscience makes people feel a little trembling.

But only for this moment, he was somewhat glad for this fact.

At least she really exists.

In harmony with that illusion, she was real, in this place.

The dark-haired girl stroked one side of her hair, then finished the last paragraph and closed the textbook.

The moment he casually raised his head, he made eye contact with him who was standing in the direction of the entrance not far away.

"Ahh

"Long time no see. She took the book in her arms and smiled at him.

"Haimirin. ”

"Sage—" Someone in the distance suddenly called out the title in Lamani.

"Miss Sage—" The two of them turned back together, and then a teenager came running up to her with a tattered notebook and questioned her.