Hero’s Downfall Report

118 – Bad Relationship (1)

Even withered flowers attract flies, but the wasteland around Pfalzburg cannot even catch the attention of dark clouds.

The passing clouds occasionally shed one or two drops of rain, like rain on a beggar, but it is not enough to quench the thirst that is as old as time.

A flat plain with rare rivers and lakes. The wind scratches the earth and steals even a drop of dew. Without even a decent mountain range, the land is helplessly drying up.

This is why the ‘Crown Fortress’ is called the mystery or mystery of the empire. On the outside, it is a stone castle built with great care, but it is even more impressive when you realize that it is located in a wasteland where no one has ever lived, and that it was built long before the empire even appeared.

In fact, the name ‘Crown Fortress’ is not the real name. It was built around a bare rocky mountain and looked like a crown resting on a severed head, so the nickname was solidified, but its real name has never been revealed.

Is it just a name? There are no records left as to who built it, why, and for what purpose. No one knows how workers were hired to build a castle in a place where no one lived and where water was scarce.

This is true just by looking at the stones that make up the fortress. The ratio of width, length, and height forms a golden ratio, making it a rectangular parallelepiped, and the surface has been polished with so much care that it is still extremely smooth. The joints of the stone are so elaborate that not a single blade of grass can grow.

Even scholars point out that this stone is not from a rocky mountain, but was processed from the black forest. The shape, pattern, and composition of the stone are not from this region.

Because of this, some in the Empire and the Church believe that the Crown Fortress was built for ceremonial purposes rather than practical purposes. The basis for this is that the construction style of the fortress is similar to the architectural style of the ‘Tree of Life Church’ found throughout the empire.

However, it is the majority opinion that this method of meticulously polishing each stone and stacking them up in an elaborate manner was the general trend of architecture at the time, and cannot be considered an original method unique to the Tree of Life Church, so it is difficult to uncover the origin of the ‘Crown Fortress’. The work seems far off…

-The secret story behind the consecration process of the Monastery of St. George in China, about the long-running bad relationship between Elector Reinhardt and her religious order, written by Professor Osland Koch, Department of Literary Arts, Imperial Southern Academy.

* * * * *

The attendants looked on pitifully, but Cain persevered and put down the weight. When the dull thumping sound subsided, the instructor smiled and opened the lid of the water bottle on his luggage.

“I passed. “You have filled the required amount.”

Cain didn’t seem very impressed, and the instructor, who was embarrassed, added an afterthought.

“This time too. “What on earth are you doing?”

The monks quickly bowed their heads and retreated. The instructor looked at Cain with a soft smile again. She was quite fond of this ‘mercenary’ of unknown origin. Rather than her rational curiosity, it was closer to human attraction.

“I wish my trainees could follow at least half as well as you. Seriously. “I’m just saying this just in case.”

“Yes.”

“Aren’t you thinking about joining the Knights? What… You may have experienced many things while working as a mercenary, but in a place called the Knights Templar, you sometimes have to do tough things. And after watching you for five days, you seem like a pretty trustworthy person.”

She probably didn’t mean to be funny, but Cain smiled bitterly and shook her head.

“Thank you so much for your kind words.”

“Ehe. “I’m not saying this out of courtesy.” The instructor crossed her arms.

“You might ask me what I know so much after only five days, but I produce over 100 trainees a year. After five years as an instructor, I have learned how to judge at least 500 people. And if the Heretic Questioner hired him, it seems like he’s a pretty neat person, right?”

Of course, this neatness refers to gossip and reputation rather than appearance. ‘I’m really grateful for the positive comments, but… ‘Cain repeated what he had just said.

“The reason I’m here is because I haven’t received the full payment, and it’s not because I have any particular intention for the Knights. “I may join one day, but I don’t think right now.”

As he said that and carried the empty bag next to him, the instructor took a step back.

Of course, Cain said, ‘Unlike priests, Templars can marry as many times as they want and can receive wages without any worries. If you’re tired of mercenary life, it’s a good idea to think about it. ‘If you have experience, you can start at a fairly high level, not at the bottom.’ She had to listen to the promotional message again.

But that is only for a moment. Cain, carrying his luggage, walked back to the main gate of the monastery. As she walked up and down the street, familiar-looking attendants glared at Cain with tired faces, but she didn’t care one bit.

To be exact, it would be correct to say that I had no time to worry about it.

* * * * *

St. George’s Monastery was originally a building called ‘Crown Fortress’. No one knows the exact year it was built, but it is certain that it was built before the establishment of the empire.

The problem is that this place does not function properly as a fortress. It’s not because it’s old. The stone wall is still strong, and even a decent siege weapon would not be able to break through it. The real problem is supply.

In the monastery, there was not even a well or a crevice in the rock through which a stream of water flowed. So, to get water, you had to walk down the rocky mountain where the monastery was located and scoop up water from the riverbank below.

It was a small fortress, but it was the best as a training facility for knights’ trainees. There is no special physical training here. Instead, they only set a limit on the amount of water that practitioners must carry per day and punish them if they do not meet the quota.

When Cain, Maria, and the horse thieves arrived here, the first ones to spot them were the monks with the death of death.

The horse thieves put the sacks containing Count Wördem and the Black Fire Church priest on the ground and ran away. It was literally a run away without looking back. Mary was on the verge of fainting, but she proved everything by snapping her fingers and lighting a sacred fire.

The count and two priests were immediately imprisoned. Mary uttered the words, ‘After receiving a revelation while praying, I went to the Black Forest and found there her man, who had all her joints pulled out, and two priests who had fainted.’ Then she fainted.

The knights at the monastery were not great men either, but as soon as they arrived, a man with his limbs pulled out and claiming to be Count Wördem and two heretical priests with a black fire brand on them claimed to have ‘received a revelation.’ I couldn’t help but feel confused in front of the heretic questioner who had fainted.

Because of that, Cain had to move around quite busy.

Cain introduced himself as a ‘sword-wielding mercenary hired by Inquisitor Maria’, and when asked how he found these people, he replied, ‘I was just following Maria and found them on the street.’ The horse ran away. Regarding the thief, he replied, ‘I asked him to give me some extra money and ask him to move some cargo, and he readily agreed.’

The knights, who had decided that Cain did not know anything, tried to hear her answer from Maria. It would have been an extremely common sense response.

The problem is that it has been almost five days since we came here, and Maria has never woken up. She responds to external stimuli by muttering and waving her hands, but is unable to prolong her speech or move her body actively.

“Her strength was so low.” This is the diagnosis from a doctor called from Palatinate. “Oh my god. There is nothing strange about your body. These are typical symptoms of exhaustion, anemia, dizziness, and overwork. This needs to be put to rest. There is no solution other than that. It has to be absolutely stable.”

When the doctor said that, the knights couldn’t say anything. Moreover, since the opponent was a ‘Heresy Questioner’, he could not be hasty in dealing with him.

The next choice for the knights was those who had been captured. A man who claimed to be ‘Count Wördem’ with all the joints on his body ripped out, and two heretic priests clearly branded with black fire.

But they also knew nothing. ‘The self-proclaimed Count Wördem’ only repeated, ‘When I came to my senses, my body looked like this.’ He remained silent as to why he came to the Black Forest.

The heretic priests, too, did not respond to anything else, but nodded to the statement, ‘When I came to my senses, I was tied up and brought here in a sack.’

“Is it really a miracle?”

In the end, the knights started whispering like that. To the members, this incident seemed like ‘a miraculous event in which two heretic priests were punished for performing an evil ritual of removing all the joints of a healthy person, and were caught by the Inquisitor who received a revelation.’

What is surprising is the actions of Abbot St. George.

Belisarius, the leader of the training group and the abbot, concentrated on the healing and recovery of Mary and the ‘self-proclaimed count’, and did not do anything such as call Cain aside to talk to him or dispatch a messenger to the outside world. However, he did not drive Cain out.

“Since you are here on official business, I will treat you like a guest. All you have to do is follow the internal rules of the monastery at a common sense level. “You made a contract with Inquisitor Maria, not with us.”

That was all it said.

“I also need to receive the balance from my employer, the Heretic Questioner, so I will stay here until I recover.”

Cain answered briefly.

For the first day or two, Cain focused only on recovery. However, when the circumstances surrounding him became suspicious, Cain decided that it wouldn’t be a bad idea to be liked by people.

Because of this, Cain volunteered to be defeated. The training instructor accepted without much expectation. “If it gets tiresome or difficult, you can quit at any time.”

Cain silently picked up the water carrier and carried water up and down the rocky mountain in silence.

The practitioners looked at him with mocking eyes at first, then looked at him with admiration, then looked at him with reverence, and finally with eyes of astonishment. And now he is looking at Cain with pleading eyes.

A mercenary who carries water ‘lightly’ without thinking about it, carries more water than a ‘ascetic’ who has to undergo mandatory training.

“If you continue like this, we will increase your quota by 1.5 Times! “Don’t you feel anything when you look at that mercenary?”

As the instructor’s scolding increased, the feeling of sorrow grew day by day. Because of this, Cain was placed in the strange position of being respected by the superiors of the Knights Templar and slightly hated by the subordinates.

Of course, if they had looked into Cain’s inner thoughts, none of them would have said such a thing.

* * * * *

Even though I finished my quota, the sun was still high in the sky. Cain sighed deeply and simply washed her body.

It is a simple way to wash your face by going to the shower, pouring water into a bowl and pouring it over your body, but in this place where water is precious, it is not only rude but also bordering on blasphemy. However, no one dared say anything to Cain, an outsider who brought more water than anyone else.

After changing into her neat clothes, Cain headed to the ward. As always, her nurses were looking after Maria. As Cain approached her, her nurses bowed their heads and made room for her. With a smile on her lips.

‘On the first day, Maria spoke strangely.’

Cain was very disappointed. As soon as she was brought to her ward, she heard Maria say, “Please make room for me. There is something I must say to that man… “He sobbed softly, saying, ‘The nurses misunderstood the relationship between the two people.

Of course, with just the two of them, Maria’s tone of voice suddenly changed.

“If you look back, I will kill you.”

Cain turned and sat behind her. Maria covered herself with her blanket and took off her equipment one by one. Her daggers, wrist knives, throwing daggers, and leather harness fell to the floor with a clatter.

“Now that’s done, turn around.”

Maria was snuggled up in the blanket, and the floor was full of her gear. Cain stuffed her equipment into her luggage. She divided her bags into hers and Maria’s and she managed to fill them.

The problem is that among them was Maria’s leather strap.

“Maria. This…”

“… There’s no need to put that on my body. As long as it doesn’t break, it’s okay. And.”

Mary sent a sign of her hand to Cain. Maria was already close to losing her mind then, but held on with her superhuman patience.

“Never hand it over.”

“To whom?”

“Never. Never. Never. Don’t hand it over… “

Maria fainted after those words. Cain called the nurses right away. And Maria, it’s been five days and she still hasn’t come back.

As if he remembered, Cain pulled open her door. Luckily she didn’t have any nurses eavesdropping like last time, but she didn’t let her guard down. Because it might hide somewhere in the hallway and come out.

But when it became clear that no one was there, Cain shook Mary’s body. Maria just trembled and did not wake up.

“There is no one.”

Cain whispered, and only then did Maria open her eyes. The alluring smile is a bonus.

“Ah… “You’re here.”

Mary stretched out her hand to grab Cain’s arm. Cain took a step behind her. Maria giggled and laughed.

“That’s strange. Do you still hate me that much?”

Cain gritted his teeth. She was trying to control her anger.

“With the face of Mary… “Don’t say that.”

Cain looked at the woman in front of her. Mary’s body is still there, but her spirit is not. Her spirit is deep asleep somewhere in her body.

Instead, the woman who entered her soul…

“Ha. It’s a joke. It’s a joke. “Do we not even have time to look past the dead man’s pranks?”

Mary’s mother. She is Elizabeth.