Chapter 4: Erica’s Footsteps
Around the same time Celia and Aria were returning to the Galarc Kingdom, Rio and Sora were visiting the Holy Democratic Republic of Erica. They were moving separately to Aishia, who had remained at the Galarc Castle to watch over Miharu and the others. There were two main goals associated with their journey:
The first was to investigate the events of the Divine War.
Miharu’s supposed past life, Lina of the Seven Wise Gods, had used her power of future sight to foresee what would happen in this era and helped the former Dragon King reincarnate as Rio. However, there was no way of knowing what would happen for sure. That was why they had decided to travel to the lands mentioned in the legends of the Divine War.
The second goal was the reason why they were here in the Holy Democratic Republic of Erica: to hold a quiet burial for Saint Erica, the hero who had released her transcendent powers in battle against Rio and passed away.
Humans are extremely foolish and ugly creatures. That’s why I don’t regret what I’ve done. I still think those fools should die. But there are kind people out there. Foolishly kind people. You must be one of them. So I have a favor to ask of you, kind one. Whether you listen is up to you.
Rio recalled Erica’s final words before she passed.
There’s a remote village in the nation that I established, fifty kilometers east of the capital. The worst village with the worst people living in it. But deep in the mountains past the village, there’s a waterfall, where his grave is... If possible... I’d like to be...
Honestly, the explanation had been rather lacking, but it seemed like Erica’s wish was to be buried beside her late fiancé.
She had waged war on the Galarc Kingdom and caused all that trouble. He was under no obligation to fulfill her wish.
Was the reason why Rio was granting her wish in spite of that simply because he was a soft soul? Or did he feel sympathy for her as someone who also hated the world and sought vengeance?
So this is the capital.
Either way, Rio arrived at the capital of the Holy Democratic Republic of Erica. It was apparently called Ericaburg.
She said it was fifty kilometers east of here. We could head straight over, but...
Rio looked down upon the capital from where he flew in the air using spirit arts. He was curious how the country was doing after losing their leader.
“Since we’re here already, we might as well look around the city a bit,” he suggested.
“Okay!” Of course, Sora had no reason to refuse. The two of them descended to the ground to check out the city.
◇ ◇ ◇
The fastest way of finding out the state of the nation was to probe around its leaders. And so, Rio and Sora used spirit arts to turn invisible before spying on the highest decision-making body of the country, the congress.
There was a congress meeting being held just as they entered the hall, but... To put it simply, dark clouds loomed over the future of the Holy Democratic Republic of Erica.
“Next is the statement of protest from the kingdom of Galarc. How will we respond to their demands for compensation in exchange for their prisoners? We need to reach a conclusion on this today.”
The prime minister of the nation, a man named Andrei, was running the meeting. He was still a young man, slightly older than Rio, but deep exhaustion could be seen in his expression.
“There’s nothing to be done.”
“You can’t get blood from a stone.”
“But what about the prisoners? Do we abandon them?”
“I’m not saying that. We could attempt to negotiate for their return...”
“Ha! What do we have to negotiate with?”
“If money is impossible, then something else... Like food...”
“Food?! You want to hand another nation our food when we don’t have enough for ourselves for next year?! You must be kidding me! I am against it!”
Some people expressed their uncertainty at the idea of offering food instead of cash compensation.
In the first place, the agriculture and land development of the Holy Democratic Republic of Erica had been conducted by Erica and her Divine Arms. Now that she was gone, all their plans had fallen apart.
“Why did we even wage war on a distant nation like Galarc in the first place?”
“That’s because it’s our great cause to defeat all evil royalty and nobility...”
“But that didn’t mean we had to pick a fight with another country over it.”
“...”
Because Erica had become a transcendent one like Rio, everyone had forgotten her. Their passion and how they’d reached the decision to invade Galarc had all been erased from their memory, which was why they all fell silent when asked why they had done such a thing.
“I understand everyone’s opinions. However, we need to reach a decision soon. Do we save our comrades who were taken prisoner, or do we abandon them?” Andrei redirected the discussion.
“We are trying to reach a decision.”
The congress members evaded their gaze awkwardly.
“What you’re doing is repeating the same questions. You’ll eagerly debate with others, but you’re avoiding the topic of whether we abandon our comrades or not. That’s what it seems to me, at least.”
They probably wanted to avoid the responsibility of making a decision. They would make statements that could lead to a decision, but they would never state their actual decision. The congress was formed of sophists like that. No constructive discussions could be held like this.
“Isn’t that a given?! The prisoners’ fate will be decided by our hands! You’ll have to bear the responsibility too, you know?!”
“Of course. That’s why we need to discuss this without running away. The envoy from the Galarc Kingdom won’t wait forever...”
“Why don’t we just take that envoy hostage and offer them in exchange for our people?”
Someone spoke up the moment someone suggested that. “A-Are you out of your mind?! You’ll truly enrage the Galarc Kingdom if you do that!”
“The cowardice!”
Angry yells filled the room.
The meeting was a mess. The congress that was once a picture of solidarity under Erica’s leadership was now a jumble of individual opinions. Most of the nobles of the former kingdom had been executed or exiled when the nation was established, so the lack of experience amongst the congress members was fatal.
Honestly, it was unbearable to watch. Only a few minutes had passed before Rio decided to leave the room.
Let’s go, Sora.
Rio patted Sora on the shoulder and spoke to her telepathically. The two left the capital and rose into the sky with spirit arts. They then started making their way to the village Erica used to reside in,
◇ ◇ ◇
Around half an hour after they left Ericaburg, Rio spotted a village right at the fifty-kilometer mark east of the capital. He paused midflight and looked around at the surrounding terrain.
There’s a mountain, a waterfall, and a village at the bottom.
The information Erica had provided was fragmented, so he couldn’t tell for sure, but based on the distance from the capital, this was very likely to be the spot.
“It might be over there. Let’s descend by the waterfall,” Rio said to Sora.
“Dragon King, over there...”
“Yeah, that must be it.”
There was a man-made structure that appeared to be a grave marker. The two made their way over to it. The grave was a large, flat stone with a simple square design.
It’s clearly a gravestone. This is...
Was it carved by hand? There were letters engraved in the stone.
“What does it say?” Sora asked, staring closely at the letters.
Rio read the name engraved on the stone. “Teshigahara Akira, I think.”
“You can read it? That’s amazing!”
“It just happens to be a language I recognize.”
The name was carved in English letters. There was nothing else written on it. He didn’t even know what the Japanese letters for the name would be.
Rio touched the ground and sent his magic essence flowing into the soil. He checked the shape of what was buried by feeling along the surface with his fingertips.
There are bones buried here. There’s no trace of the grave being disturbed, so this must be Erica’s fiancé.
Once Rio realized that, he lifted his hand off the ground. He could proceed to bury Erica like this, but...
“Let’s go to the village first.”
There was something he wanted to look into first. Rio decided to visit the village where Erica had lived with her fiancé.
◇ ◇ ◇
The village at the foot of the mountains was quiet. When Rio and Sora stepped inside, they attracted the gazes of all the villagers.
As a transcendent one, it should have been difficult for Rio to leave an impression on people, but it seemed these villagers were particularly wary. They were clearly an insular village that didn’t want to have anything to do with outsiders.
Despite that, Rio spoke to the villagers and asked for directions to the village chief’s house. Once he got there, he knocked on the wooden door, which slowly creaked open after a while.
A middle-aged man greeted him. “Who might you be?” The man scanned Rio from head to toe.
“Just a passing traveler. I’d like to ask you something about this village, if you have a moment. I can offer an appropriate reward if you provide me with the information I’m seeking,” Rio said, showing him a small pouch of bronze and silver coins. The reward seemed to be effective as the look in the man’s eyes changed.
“Are you a noble?” he asked, eyeing Rio’s well-made clothes.
“Well, I was once. But my status doesn’t matter right now.”
Rio was once an honorary knight. This wasn’t a lie, and he was willing to reveal it if it helped the village chief open up.
“Please come in.” The man welcomed Rio and Sora inside.
“If you don’t mind me asking, are you the village chief?”
“That I am. Ah, help yourself to a seat.”
“Thanks.”
Rio and Sora sat at the dining table he gestured at.
“So what did you wish to ask?” The village chief cut straight to the point, uninterested in any small talk.
“Did a man called Teshigahara Akira move into this village a year ago?” Rio asked.
“Ah...” The village chief didn’t answer immediately. There was an intense look of surprise in his eyes, followed by awkwardness, then guilt.
“There was, wasn’t there?” Rio guessed from his reaction.
After a moment of fierce conflict, the village chief nodded awkwardly. “Well... Yes.”
“Did anything notable happen to that man? Something that would lead to his death, to be specific.”
“U-Umm, may I ask how you’re related to him?”
Whatever happened must have been quite serious: the village chief was extremely shaken as he asked after Rio and Erica’s fiancé’s relationship.
“I have no direct relation to him. We’re complete strangers to each other. However, I was briefly acquainted with his fiancée. She’s passed away now, but I was looking into her past and wanted to know more about the man she was engaged to.” Rio explained his reason for probing around honestly.
“I see...” The village chief seemed reassured to hear Rio had no direct relation to the man, as he regained some composure at that answer. Perhaps he feared retaliation.
“Can you tell me what happened in this village? I merely wish to know the truth, I don’t plan on doing anything about it. If you can tell me the entire truth without hiding anything, I will be happy to leave this entire pouch here.”
Rio took the pouch of bronze and silver coins from his coat and placed it on the table before the village chief.
“Oh...!”
After a long pause, the heavily conflicted village chief reached for the pouch. He then began to retell the events of the past.
◇ ◇ ◇
Some time ago, a well-dressed man with black hair moved into the village. The man did all the unpleasant jobs no one wanted to do in order to earn the villagers’ trust. He was intelligent, and could do jobs the villagers were incapable of doing themselves.
Little by little, the man began to find his place in the village.
However, the villagers weren’t too happy with the way he flaunted his knowledge, or the way he showed off his valuable possessions while the rest of the village struggled to make ends meet. One day, the man was selected to join a group of villagers heading to the city to trade their produce. This was when the terrible incident that shook the entire village happened.
Because the man had shown off his valuables in the city, he caught the eye of a noble. This caused the noble to march into their village.
Then, to everyone’s surprise, it was discovered that the man’s possessions were stolen items. The noble had come to their village to retrieve them.
Enraged, the villagers denounced the man. The noble wanted to settle things peacefully, but the man showed no remorse and refused to return the stolen items. Out of the stolen items, the man was particularly attached to a ring with an expensive-looking gemstone. He lied, saying it was an engagement ring, and firmly refused to return it to the noble. But when it was eventually taken from him, the man retaliated with extraordinary strength. The noble, who had wished to settle things peacefully, had no choice but to order the knights he’d brought with him to kill the man.
Out of appreciation for the villagers, who were cooperative throughout the entire process, the noble granted them an exemption from village taxes, and the incident was resolved.
Or so they thought. Another shocking incident was right on the horizon.
On their way back to the city, right outside the village, every last member of the noble’s party was murdered. In addition, a young couple and their baby were also murdered within the village.
But who was the killer? The village fell into a great panic. Of course it would; a noble had been murdered near the village, so the first to be suspected were the villagers. The entire village could be executed as a result. The kingdom even placed them all under arrest.
Fortunately, there were traces of magic discovered at the scene. This, in addition to the presence of multiple knights in the noble’s party that could enhance their physical abilities, helped clear the charges against the villagers. It was determined no mere villager could have done it.
But the mystery of who killed them remained to this day. Was it a strong monster or beast? Many possibilities were suggested, but no one ever spotted anything in the area around the village. That remained true to this day.
Which was why...
Were the villager couple and noble cursed by the man’s grudge against them?
That was what the villagers began to believe. After all, everyone who had been murdered had done something for the man to resent them. The noble went without saying, and the couple had testified against the man despite being heavily indebted to him for his aid during the birth of their child. It was perfectly reasonable for them to be cursed. On top of that...
What if the man had cursed the other villagers too?
Fear spread throughout the village. This was spurred on by the bizarre and supernatural phenomena that began after the man died.
Earthquakes that were unheard of in the Strahl region, harvests being completely ruined, cattle being found dead out of the blue... The villagers began to fear the wrath of the man’s curse. Some even started suspecting other villagers.
The supernatural phenomena had ceased recently, but everyone was still on edge, fearing the moment they returned.
This was how distrust spread throughout the village, ruining their relationship with even the neighboring villages.
◇ ◇ ◇
This was the general synopsis the village chief gave, but...
Erica had become a transcendent one just before her death, causing the rules of god to erase her from people’s memories and fill in the holes left with false ones. There were a number of sentences where it made more sense to assume Erica was the subject, and not her fiancé.
In addition, Rio had no idea whether the village chief was even speaking the truth. As the village chief was speaking from his own perspective, it was highly possible that events had been twisted to make himself sound better.
According to the village chief, Erica’s fiancé had been a criminal with a terrible personality. But even that was questionable.
However, the truth could still be glimpsed from his story.
The man’s valuable items were definitely not stolen. He moved straight into this village after being transferred here from Japan, so there was no way he could have stolen the possessions of a noble.
They were most likely the items he was transferred here with from Japan. Rio saw through the truth of the village chief’s story, certain that Erica’s fiancé had been killed based on a false accusation.
Whether it was because they feared nobility, or because they had been tempted by the promise of tax exemptions, the villagers hadn’t tried to save Erica’s fiancé. As a result, Erica’s fiancé had been falsely deemed a liar by the villagers and killed by the noble.
On top of that...
The noble’s party was killed outside the village, on the trip back. Does that mean she wasn’t there when her fiancé was killed?
Erica didn’t seem like the type to stand by and watch as her fiancé was killed before her eyes. That’s why it seemed like she wasn’t present when he was killed.
No, he said the man showed extraordinary strength when he struggled. Was Erica the one who attacked? And did she get killed as a result?
Rio reconsidered his theory. He couldn’t imagine Erica losing to mere knights, even if they were physically enhanced with magic or if she wasn’t as strong as when she faced him.
But Erica was originally a normal woman, born and raised in Japan. She wouldn’t have had any experience in killing. Someone like her wouldn’t be able to kill someone just because they suddenly gained the power of the heroes.
Even if she was dragged into combat against her will, she would have felt fear and reservation. The noble had had multiple knights on his side, and she would have been outnumbered. It would be reasonable to assume she had been killed by then. Rio knew firsthand that Erica was capable of resurrecting after being fatally wounded.
Either way—
It was definitely her who killed the knights and villager couple.
Rio was sure Erica had been the one to exact vengeance on the noble’s party and villager family. What he wasn’t sure of was why she hadn’t touched the other villagers. Perhaps they hadn’t been as involved in the incident, or perhaps she had wanted to make them suffer without killing them...
She fought in a suicidal way, knowing she would resurrect. Maybe this was the incident that made her realize how difficult it was for heroes to die.
The secret to the power of the heroes was the upper high rank spirit sealed and “assimilated” within them. Through a special contract called a spirit bond, the contract holder and spirit were literally unified into one being.
By assimilating with upper high rank spirits, heroes became nonhuman existences to some degree, capable of using powers far beyond a regular human. The manifestation of the Divine Arms was one such power.
However, heroes couldn’t completely assimilate with their sealed spirit. Complete assimilation would cause the sealed upper high rank spirit to rise to the surface and take control of the physical body. That’s why there was sorcery in the Divine Arms system to limit the amount of assimilation with the hero.
But for some reason, Erica had been able to surpass that limit. Renji had also fought to an impressive degree in Rodania, but he was yet to reach Erica’s level. It was unclear how Erica had removed that limit until now, but...
Could the condition to draw more of the hero’s power out be...to die?
A chill ran down Rio’s spine. Erica’s regenerative ability, which allowed her to resurrect, had been a power granted by assimilation. In which case, it was possible that the assimilation limit was raised by receiving fatal wounds and resurrecting over and over again.
After learning of what happened in this village, Rio started to understand what had prompted Erica’s suicidal style of fighting.
However, there was no way of testing his theory. Testing would require a hero to mortally wound or kill themselves over and over. It was insanity to ask someone to test that.
It was only possible for Erica because she had been spurred on so manically by revenge. It was unclear whether Erica herself had been aware of this secret when she chose her fighting style, or whether she’d just been attacking without a thought.
Either way, it was a depressing story.
I never understood why she hated the world so much, but...
After learning what had happened in her past, Rio finally started to understand what had made Erica who she had been.
Normally, Rio wouldn’t meddle in the affairs of others without thinking. He always tried to maintain his distance from people. The fact he had gone out of his way to visit this village and ask about Erica’s past was because he felt empathy for her, as someone who had also once sought vengeance.
Now that he had put the pieces of the puzzle together, that empathy was even stronger. An unpleasant emotion rose within him, making him frown in spite of himself.
Meanwhile, the village chief was just wrapping up his rant about how terrible of a personality Erica’s fiancé had had.
“Thank you for listening to all this, young man. It feels like a load has been lifted from my chest,” he said, sighing deeply as though to expel his guilt. The expression on his face was relieved, as though he had been forgiven after giving his confession.
“...” Rio’s expression soured. The village chief had to be making such a face because he felt some sort of guilt towards Erica’s fiancé. He was feeling relieved after confessing his sins to Rio.
But...was that something that could be forgiven?
“Do you or the other villagers have something to feel guilty about?” Rio asked with a fake look of hesitancy.
“Huh? Wh... Why do you ask?” The village chief was taken aback for a long moment. A look of guilt belatedly spread across his face once again.
“It sounded to me like you felt guilty about something regarding the dead man, and that weight was lifted off your chest,” Rio said, guessing at the village chief’s thoughts.
“N-No, of course not. I...” The village chief denied the accusation in a panic and awkwardly averted his eyes. It was a reaction that all but confirmed his guilt. However, Rio had no intention of dragging out his question either.
“I see. That’s good, then,” he said, wrapping up the conversation and moving to stand up.
“Wh-What...”
“Hmm?”
“What’s good about that?” the village chief asked, stopping Rio from standing.
Rio hesitated a little before choosing his words. “You can’t apologize to the dead, after all. It’d be painful to live with a guilt that cannot be resolved. You’d have to repent for the rest of your life.”
“...” Shocked, the village chief’s eyes widened. While he was frozen, Rio continued.
“It’s one thing if the victim wants an apology. But there are many times where an apology only makes the perpetrator feel better. For mistakes that can’t be forgiven with an apology, it may just be better to live in regret without ever apologizing.”
The village chief remained silent, but his face was rather pale.
“Which is why I said it was good you have nothing to feel guilty about. I’m sorry, it may have been a strange way to put it. I will be going now. Thank you for telling me your story,” Rio said, finally standing up properly this time. He signaled to Sora with a look, and the two of them briskly headed towards the door.
“Ah!” the village chief cried, reaching for Rio’s back. But Rio either didn’t notice him, or pretended not to notice him, as he opened the door and left without stopping.
The village chief stared at the pouch on the table with a bitter expression.
◇ ◇ ◇
After leaving the village chief’s house, Rio immediately departed from the village and returned to Erica’s fiancé’s grave. Sora and Rio both seemed to have felt something after hearing the village chief’s story, as they both spoke very little.
Rio looked down at the gravestone in silence.
A strong negative emotion from the murder of her fiancé. That is what changed her into Saint Erica. If she hadn’t wandered into this world, she wouldn’t have lost her fiancé. That thought is what made her hate the people living here. That’s why she wanted to ruin this world.
In his opinion, her vengeance had been twisted and irrational. Besides, the world she’d been trying to bring disaster to was home to people close to him, so either way, he’d had no choice but to fight and kill her.
However, Rio was able to relate to Erica’s fury, because he was someone who had lived with a burning thirst for revenge as well. There was no way he could claim that her rage had been mistaken.
That’s why he felt overwhelmingly helpless at how there had been no other choice but to fight to the death like they had done. He would have been much happier not knowing Erica’s past...
But now that he knew of her past, there was something he was able to do.
“Dissolvo.”
Rio decided to hold a respectful burial for Erica. He took out a chisel out of the Time-Space Cache and began to carve Erica’s name into the gravestone beside her fiancé’s name.
Sakuraba...Erika...
Rio could remember Erica’s Japanese name, but he didn’t know the kanji it was written with. It was fortunate that her fiancé’s name was carved in romaji. Perhaps she had done so on purpose, so that her name could be carved alongside his upon her death.
Nah, that couldn’t be. I’m overthinking things...
Either way, the person who had carved her fiancé’s name in romaji was now dead. Rio kept Erica’s full name in his mind as he carefully carved it into the gravestone. Once he was done with that...
“Dissolvo.”
Rio dug up the dirt of the grave and took Erica’s frozen corpse out of the Time-Space Cache. He carefully lowered her into the grave and covered her with dirt, completing the burial. But just before he finished burying her, he caught a glimpse of her peaceful expression, which seemed to leave a deep impression on him.
Rio paused in his work and stared at Erica’s face. But the dead could not speak. Rio shook his head and completed the burial for good this time. He then stared down at the gravestone marking where Erica and her fiancé rested together for a while.
“Dragon King...”
Beside him, Sora peered into his face worriedly. The height difference between them was like that between an adult and a child, so she had to look up a fair bit, though...
“Sorry. I was lost in my thoughts.” Rio smiled gently and patted Sora on the head, making her squirm ticklishly and grin. But she seemed to think it wasn’t the appropriate time and place for that.
“Y-You know, Dragon King!” she shouted.
“Know what?” Rio asked softly, tilting his head.
“Rina said that the Six Wise Gods were sick of how ugly and foolish humans were. Sora hated the Wise Gods, but their way of thinking makes a little more sense now...” Sora said, explaining how she felt after hearing what happened in the village.
“Right...” Rio had also experienced the negative sides of humanity in the past. That’s why he was able to relate to what Sora was saying, and he nodded with an even more conflicted look than before. But it seemed that it wasn’t Sora’s intention to make him look like that.
“Th-That’s not what Sora wants to say! Sora just wants the Dragon King to cheer up. Don’t worry about the nasty people in the world...” Wishing she could cheer him up more persuasively, Sora verbalized her thoughts with frustration.
“Thank you, Sora. I know. It’s wrong to look at a single side of humans and decide that the rest of humanity is hopeless. Humans aren’t just their bad side. That’s why...”
Rio took a small breath. “That’s why we’ll put this behind us and continue our journey,” he said firmly, looking towards the future.
“Okay!” Sora nodded eagerly.
I will come again someday.
Now that the world had forgotten Erica, only an extreme few people could pay respects to her grave. Rio glanced at the gravestone one more time and bowed before turning his back on the grave in preparation to take off into the sky. But just before he activated his spirit arts...
“Thank you.”
“Huh...?” Rio turned around, thinking he had heard Erica’s voice. But no one was there.
“Is something the matter, Dragon King?”
“No... It’s nothing. Let’s go. Next stop: the land where the Divine War began.”
In order to accomplish the original goal of their journey, Rio and Sora took off towards the skies stretching west of the Strahl region.
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