by CHIROLU
This young man possessed the same name. The same exact name as that man, who she would never be able to meet again. What a wonderful thing.
“This is my final prophecy: You will see the girl soon.”
She wanted them to be happy. It had only been for a short time, but she herself had certainly been happy.
She wished her daughters would be happy, and felt truly blessed to be able to devote herself to that purpose.
The power drained from her body and she became unable to hold herself up, but the young man caught her before she hit the ground. Feeling the strength of his arms, she was a little surprised, but a smile also crossed her face.
His appearance and the colors about him, and even his race, were all utterly different. And that man’s arms hadn’t been so strong. But even so, she still somehow understood. Her daughter had fallen for a man similar to the one she herself had chosen.
A kind person.
This youth was a good man, just like that man, who had been kinder than anyone else.
That girl would surely be fine now. And so would her other daughter.
Ever since they were born, those girls hadn’t been alone. They would surely be able to walk a path in which they shared their heavy burdens and suffering, and support one another. And surely, the fact that they hadn’t been born alone had been the greatest blessing for those girls.
So—
I suppose it is fine now...
She had tried. She’d really, truly tried her hardest.
Ever since that person who would listen to her complaints was gone, she had endured a great deal. Ever since that man who would call her by her name had gone, she was only ever called by the title of “Purple Lady Oracle.”
Because she wanted to protect the daughters he had left behind, and to fulfill her promise to him, she had tried her hardest.
I hope you’ll praise me...
And so, just like when she was little, she felt arms hug her tight, and heard a gentle voice say, “You really tried hard, Mov.”
Even if the voice she had heard was just an illusion, she felt she had been rewarded for everything.
“Thank you... Smaragdi...”
And with that, her consciousness completely faded away into light.
†
As he hugged her tight, Latina called out, “Dale?” in a flustered voice.
“Ah... I made you recall some painful memories. Sorry.”
Realizing that those words of apology were meant to comfort her, a gentle smile crossed Latina’s face. She cuddled up against Dale like a kitten.
“That time back when I was a child had just been too frightening and painful, so I hadn’t even been able to remember,” Latina said while bringing her fingers together, as if in prayer. To her, Dale’s embrace was the place that she felt the most at ease in the world. When she was young she had felt like she’d been denied by the entire world, but he had surrounded her with great love like this and made her feel relieved.
That hadn’t changed, even now.
That she didn’t doubt the deep love her parents had for her, and she knew now that she was loved, all because this place where she felt safe had remained firmly there for her.
As Latina would always say, she truly felt that meeting Dale at that time and being saved was the greatest bit of fortune in her life. She felt blessed, thinking that it was precisely because Dale had given her a love that was a little different than what her parents had given her, but was no weaker, that the current her existed.
And so, a smile remained on her face.
“I understand fully now. My parents really did care about me. They really did wish for me... for Chrysos and me, to be happy...”
Even now, Latina didn’t fully understand the nature of the prophecy that she would bring about a disaster. She knew that prophecy was the reason she was exiled from their her old home as a criminal.
Even so, she thought...
“I’m happy. Right now, I’m really happy, so... I’m able to properly remember my parents now. I’m able to realize I was happy back then now, too.”
It was precisely because that happiness had been so precious to her that it had hurt so much to lose it. It had been too painful to even remember. But as she was now, Latina could accept even those memories.
That passage of time caused bitter memories to fade, but it also caused those memories you didn’t want to forget to fade.
“I’m glad I could remember... so that I didn’t forget.”
Her parents existed within those happy memories. She didn’t want to forget that. And she also wanted to give her all to being happy from now on.
That was how she would respond to the wishes of her parents, who wanted their children to be happier more than themselves. While Latina thought such things, Dale gently stroked her hair.
Sensing that Dale, who she wanted to understand her thoughts more than anyone else, had affirmed her feelings, Latina stayed leaned up against him as she closed her eyes with a gentle expression on her face.
The Event on New Year’s Eve, and a Chance Meeting in a Dream
It began with the approach of the new year, the first since Latina had come to Kreuz. In not only Laband where Kreuz lay, but also many other places, the eve of the new year was called the “Holy Night.”
On the Holy Night, families and those close to them would hold a feast and welcome the new year inside their homes, recounting tales of the year that had just passed.
It was said that those who endeavored to do good throughout the year were also visited by an Ahmar apostle clad in red sheets and granted a blessing.
Each house placed a charm provided by the temple on their door, to prevent bad things from coming inside. Originally they were simple charms, rings made of plants, but over the years they had grown more richly ornamented, and now they had the brilliant coloration of the year end festivities about them.
Furthermore, there was one more story surrounding the Holy Night.
“You mustn’t go outside on the Holy Night. On that night alone, magical beings appear even in town.”
“Magical beings will show up in Kreuz, too?!” the young Latina responded, looking surprised upon hearing that from Dale.
“Did they not show up back where you came from? Well, they hardly showed up back in my home village out in the country... In towns like this, though, the Holy Night is the one and only time that undead monsters will appear.”
“Undead?”
“That’s right. Undead in black clothes come after bad children who go out to play at night, and those who won’t listen to their parents... Hey, Latina, you don’t have to get so scared!”
As Dale had continued to talk, Latina’s face had gone completely pale and she was left sobbing, unable to even talk.
To Dale, children being told that “if you aren’t a good kid, the apostle won’t come and you’ll be taken away by magical beings” was an utterly cliché story. He hadn’t imagined that it would scare her this greatly.
Of course, Latina was this scared thanks to her childhood trauma. The memory of the incident in which her mother had tossed her into a graveyard remained all too fresh.
“It’s alright! It’s true that magical beings appear, but they won’t enter houses that have charms on them, so on the Holy Night, you’ll be fine just as long as you make sure to get home early!”
“Magical beings won’t come to where Latina is?”
“If they went out of their way to come after even a good kid like you, then all the kids in Kreuz would be wiped out!”
Dale had chosen his words poorly.
In her old home, she had been declared the greatest of criminals by those around her. And so, she now grew more and more pale.
“Everyone in Kreuz’ll be attacked?!”
“They won’t!”
As a result, despite Dale’s intentions, Latina had come to think of the Holy Night as something terrifying.
The monsters that appeared solely on the Holy Ni
ght were called Hell Black Santas, and were known to surround the living while chanting mysterious curses like “Drop d34d yu b4st4rds with 4 lyfe” and “H8 y4, j3rks w/liv3s.”
They were truly mysterious curses.
It was said that they were originally just harmless ghosts, nothing but residual thoughts, but had been changed by encountering a being called the “king” that existed somewhere in this world, giving them a new sense of values.
It was thought that they only appeared once annually because they let their grudges build up over the course of the year. They used that power to infringe upon towns. Though with that said, the damages caused by these magical beings were limited to causing children trauma and making them cry, and getting in the way of secret rendezvous between lovers. It was truly dull mischief when compared to the power they possessed.
They didn’t directly cause any significant damage. Therefore, no towns directed significant effort towards eliminating them. And by the way, even if one succeeded in wiping them out, the same sort of outbreak would occur again years later.
Taking all of that into consideration, the elites in charge of town decided it was far more logical to simply have everyone place charms on their houses and wait inside for the night.
Even though Latina hated undead monsters more than anyone, the following year she ended up surrounded by Hell Black Santas. The cause was a plan constructed by her friends for a “grand adventure.”
They intended to slip out of their homes and get a look at the magical beings.
At times, children wanted to rebel against what the adults told them they couldn’t do, in order to have a modest adventure. Furthermore, the kids felt an irresistible allure to the idea of magical beings, which they had only heard of in stories. It wasn’t as if they were heading off out of town to some unknown place. They just were going to take a peek at what things were like out in town. It surely wasn’t as dangerous as the adults had said.
If any adults overheard, they would surely put a stop to a plan so filled with holes, but the children didn’t realize any of that. And that was also something that most adults had experienced when they were children.
The damage ultimately was limited to the crying of children. With that said, it should be clear that each year there were kids who ended up sobbing.
When Latina heard her friends discussing the matter in school, she tried to stop them.
She was a good kid who listened to what Dale and Kenneth told her, hardly ever playing pranks or acting belligerent. And above all else, she was scared of ghosts. So, she faced her friends and said, “We shouldn’t. It’s dangerous, not being in our houses.”
“Are you scared of monsters, Latina?” Chloe asked in concern, seeing that her friend had gone pale. That caused Latina to feel a little bit relieved. Her best friend would never pressure her. Surely with this, they’d rethink things.
“You don’t need to push yourself, Latina.”
“Wah?”
Her friend’s reaction wasn’t quite what Latina had expected. After Chloe gave Latina a brilliant smile that was just like her, she turned to face their other friends.
“Well then, Latina won’t be coming along this time, so it’ll just be us!”
“Wah!”
She hadn’t managed to stop them. The gears in Latina’s head spun wildly, trying to think of what to do. Her friends would head out and explore town even without her accompanying them. The thought of her friends running into magical beings in some place unknown to her and facing danger... The very idea made it feel like all the blood in her veins had turned to ice.
“Latina will go too!” she yelled out before she even realized it.
“Will you be alright, Latina?”
“Latina doesn’t know if she’ll be fine or not... but she’s going too!”
As a magic user, Latina was more capable of protecting herself than her friends. Rather than let her friends face danger all on the own, she’d prefer to be able to act as a shield for them if push came to shove. That was the conclusion she had reached.
And as a result of that decision...
By nature, the Hell Black Santas wandered around town. That meant that depending on the circumstances, it was possible they wouldn’t encounter them.
At first, they indeed didn’t run into any Hell Black Santas. But while wandering aimlessly about town, they turned a certain corner and unexpectedly encountered their first one. Trying to run away in their surprise was the proper reaction, but before they realized it, the number of them squirming about had increased. Amongst the adults it was said that by the time you saw one thirty would gather, but the children had no way of knowing that.
They were blocked off from the lighter areas and were steadily driven down gloomier alleys. It was impossible to read the expression of those undead monsters, but they somehow seemed to be greatly enjoying chasing after these terrified children.
In actuality, children who made such good reactions were a favorite “dish” for the Santas. It could be said that was what they lived for, even though they were dead.
That was why the Santas had gathered en masse, but it would be cruel to tell the children that.
The children, now scared and hiding while trying to come up with a plan, had never expected to run into this many magical beings.
“What’ll we do?!” Marcel shrieked, only for Rudy to instantly cover his mouth.
“Not so loud! They’ll find us!” Rudy said, looking pale himself. Beside him, Anthony sat silently, thinking frantically.
Latina held her best friend Chloe’s hand tightly. While sobbing and trembling, she looked straight at Chloe.
“Latina will buy time... you all run away.”
“Latina?”
“Latina has never used purification magic, but she knows enough to keep them from going after everyone, so please run to the Ocelot while she does so,” she said with a look of determination on her face, then took off before her friends could stop her.
“Oh light of heaven, grant this request. Grant peace to these lost souls. Oh light of heaven, grant this request. Grant peace to these confused, unrestful souls.”
What Latina was chanting wasn’t proper purification magic. The magic her young self could manage was limited to healing magic, protective wall magic, temperature change magic, and one type of attack magic.
What Latina chanted was a majestic song for the repose of souls that her mother had performed occasionally during ceremonies back in the great temple. Latina and her twin sister had secretly peeked in on it, and their mother had just looked so impressive that they mimicked her together over and over until they had it completely memorized.
Latina desperately raised her voice as she continued to chant.
The Hell Black Santas stopped in their tracks. It lacked the power needed to forcefully purify them, but her words were in the devil language, the same one used for casting magic. With a trace of mana added, it had enough power to keep those incorporeal beings at a distance.
“Acry1ng l17713 g1rlso mo3!”
“Y3sth47 l0l1t4, d0n0t 70ucH”
The Santas’ voices sounded more like shouts of joy than curses, but in her panic Latina didn’t notice that.
After seeing Latina like that, Chloe bit her lip, turned around, and then ran in the other direction.
“Chloe?! We’re leaving Latina behind?!”
“We’ve got to go get help, for Latina’s sake too! And every second counts!” Chloe said, running at full speed.
Just like Latina had said, there would be plenty of folks who deal with undead monsters at the Dancing Ocelot. She didn’t want to have people angry at her, but at this point, she had no other choice. With that thought in her mind, Chloe desperately ran.
Latina was also giving her all for that best friend of hers. For a magical being hater like Latina, being surrounded by undead monsters was so terrifying an experience that words couldn’t even express it. Just facing off against them was enough to make her legs quake
, and she didn’t seem to be able to move properly.
Even so, she tried to ignore that, to not think about it. If she did, her tongue would grow stiff and she would lose the ability to keep chanting. Latina was desperately encouraging herself to keep trying, but quite regrettably for her...
She was a beautiful young girl courageously raising her voice with tears in her eyes. Her adorable face warped with terror, holding back her trembling while resolutely chanting on.
Her trying so terribly hard had only gathered her more of a crowd.
However, her efforts were rewarded.
“Are you the ones who made Latina cry...? You’re the ones who made my little girl sob...?”
That low voice sounded like it had come from the depths of hell, but as soon as she heard it come from behind, that was the signal that everything was over. That voice was full of bloodlust and anger, but Latina didn’t fear it at all, instead breaking down in tears of relief.
“Dale!”
“Latina... You all don’t think you’ll get off lightly for this, do you...?”
His hands were gentle as he stroked Latina and held her tight to calm the crying girl, but his tone and expression were enough overpower even those undead monsters.
He was completely enraged.
While facing the overwhelmed Hell Black Santas, who somehow looked prepared to flee, Dale had the appearance of an envoy of hell.
The fundamental method of dealing with undead monsters was to use magic. Furthermore, it was limited to magic of the Holy and Dark attributes. It wasn’t as if there were no methods based on divine protection, but those weren’t the normal means.
The Holy element magic guided the opponent, purifying them by showing them the way. In other words, it accomplished its goals by saving lost souls, the complete opposite approach to the Dark magic method.
As the Dark attribute also employed necromancy, its method of exorcising the undead was akin to using power to beat them to a bloody pulp.
Dale’s only attribute for dealing with the undead was already Dark to start with, but even if he could use Holy magic too, he would have taken the same approach.