Hero’s Downfall Report

14 – Report on the Fall of Purity (Part 1)

“(…) Even scholars who claim to pursue knowledge often confuse ‘history’ and ‘historiography’ with ordinary people. This error is not temporary but stems from deep-rooted prejudice. They believe that ‘the essence of historiography is to list the events of the past without emotion.’ They consider it to be the essence of historiography to polish and preserve history. They preserve the external appearance of the beast called history but remove the coppery smell and decaying flesh, the eyeballs, and the blood. This creates a ‘preserved history’ that is flawless, ideal, and magnificent, with no odor or flowing impurities.

From this perspective, historians are nothing more than painters who meticulously polish the medals and trophies of the past.

However, I think differently. Historiography should be seen as a part of ‘scholarship.’

What is scholarship? It means meaningful knowledge to all of us living on this land today. Meaningful knowledge does not simply refer to common knowledge that is essential for survival, like baking an extra bread for today.

The aim of historiography goes deeper than that. It is about perspective and definition. It is a study of identity that asks how we view ourselves and the world from what perspective, and how we define things.

Some creatures are so large that you can only see the whole picture after riding a horse and galloping away for a long time. And some forests are so deep and dark that you have to break through the twilight, fog, and wolf packs and climb up the snow-covered mountain to finally see the clear whole.

Time is vast, and the present is too close. We can only talk about what we have been through after riding the raft of ‘age’ and floating along the river of time.

However, even so, it does not mean that ‘what you see from a distance is right, and what you see up close is wrong.’ That would be an excessive simplification.

However, there are some things. No, there are things that can only be talked about after time has passed.

The true records of those who were called the Seven Heroes in the world are just like that.

We remembered them as heroes. We praised them. We put our hopes in them, and the Empire willingly shared the glory of the Imperial Court with them.

The seven heroes, who came from different regions, different social statuses, and even those who were not part of the Empire, showed us the dream of unity and solidarity, a dream that could drive away even the most vicious demons when the Empire and the entire world became one.

But ah, we also forgot.

We forgot that they were human too. We forgot that next to the adults, there were martyrs, and next to miracles, there were lambs that had to shed blood. Blinded by glory, we did not know how much blood was on our hands and how many tears we trampled upon.

But we had to drift for more time to realize that. (…)

– Excerpt from the Preface of ‘Report on the Fall of the Heroes (draft)’ (Written by Anna Commodus, Head of the Imperial Academy) “

* * * * *

A few days after Cain and Lily left the capital. They are still riding in the mail carriage.

A mail carriage is literally a means of transportation for delivering mail. Mail doesn’t feel like muscle pain.

That statement means, even though the postal carriage considered the safety of the mail, it didn’t think about the convenience of people from the design stage. Even if it was a carriage modified for the confidential missions of the security agency.

Therefore, it was an incredibly exhausting journey. It was the kind of pain that felt like a continuous series of jabs just by sitting or lying still. Lily and Cain had become accustomed to such journeys, but if they were ordinary people, they would have been battered by now.

Fortunately, they used only the Imperial Central Road.

The Imperial Central Road is an important road comparable to a major artery or vein for a human. Mostly installed in the middle of expansive plains, it is constantly patrolled by Imperial army surveillance outposts and mounted guards.

If they passed through the lands of nobles such as the Marquisate and the Duke’s territory, they might legally be extorted by highwaymen knights. It would be something like, “We’ll safely escort you, so hand over half of what you have.” At least, such unpleasant incidents were unlikely to happen on the Imperial Central Road.

Cain and Lily continued southward through the Imperial capital. Whenever they needed rest, they entrusted the carriage to the post office and found an inn. Although there were free accommodations for postmen at the post office, the doors creaked open and shut every two hours, making it impossible to sleep deeply.

“How would you like the room? Two single rooms or one double room?”

Whenever the innkeeper asked, Lily lowered her head deeply, and Cain spoke with a tone indicating that Lily didn’t want to finish her sentence.

“Two…”

“One double room!”

he declared confidently. When the innkeeper looked at them with a puzzled expression, Cain had already placed the purse loudly on the table. That was the end of it. Who would listen to anyone else when a self-employed person paid? Thanks to that, Cain could leisurely grasp Anna’s instructions and discreet methods of contact in the single room.

As expected, Anna’s letter was written with special ink that revealed its contents only when brought close to heat. Therefore, alone time was absolutely necessary.

The problem was the next day. It was three nights ago. As per regulations, Lily saw her in the inn yard holding a candle and burning documents.

“By any chance.”

“What.”

“Is it a love letter?”

“Yeah.”

The next day, Lily didn’t say a word. Instead, she glared at Cain with a fierce expression. And in the inn they stayed two nights ago, there were no single rooms available.

Lily, this time, tried to shout for a double room with an expression that said, “This time for sure,” but Cain signaled as if saying, “Don’t even dream.”

“Let’s stay in a dormitory together,” he said, paying the money. Thanks to him, they had to spend the night with a crazy band that aimed to unite the whole world under the spirit of Lutro and crossed imperial borders, mixed with northern heretics.

But drinking more beer than appetizers and singing to their heart’s content made it all irrelevant. Even the people from the neighboring room, who came to complain, ended up eating meat and drinking with one heart and one mind.

It was fun, but Cain and Lily boarded the carriage with swollen faces.

The coachman and the horse had changed since then. It was fortunate. If it had been the coachman from the day before, he would have slyly laughed and guessed, “Looks like you had a wild night.”

Cain bought a map.

It was only one more day to the Otranto Blockade Monastery. They would leave the postal carriage in the nearest city, Maripfurt, borrow a horse, and it would take about half a day to get there.

Tired, but sleep was impossible. No matter how safe the road, one cannot let down their guard. Right now, Lily, with her puffy face, was more terrifying than an unknown bandit.

So, Cain took out a book he had read several times. It was a story about seven heroes. Of course, he couldn’t concentrate at all. Because Lily was staring at him with a sulky face.

“If you have nothing to see, read the book. Or go sightseeing outside.”

“I’ve read all the books, and sightseeing is boring.”

“Now you’re not even sneaking glances.”

“I want to see something beautiful and wonderful too. Is it wrong to be a little greedy?”

“If that’s the problem, it’d be better to look in the mirror.”

“I don’t have a mirror…”

Lily’s face turned bright red as she answered absentmindedly. Cain chuckled.

“Why are you so curious?”

“Was it a real love letter?”

“Is that so important?”

“Yes.”

Lily seemed genuinely serious. Cain cleared his throat.

“…It wasn’t a love letter. It was a mission directive. I just read it thoroughly and then burned it.”

Lily narrowed her eyes.

“Hmph. Liar. I can’t trust you.”

“What else is new?”

“Then why were you so insistent on keeping it to yourself? Were you planning to write a reply to your secret lover? Or were you secretly reading another person’s correspondence?”

Cain felt like he had been hit with a hammer. Lily had been acting strange since the incident at the Academy. Could it be a delayed adolescence?

“No… it’s obvious, isn’t it? Even though we’re agents who work together, do we really need to share a room? Especially between a man and a woman?”

Lily snapped her head around. She looked like a stubborn child.

“Do I look like a woman to you?”

Childish. If he said no, she would probably say, “Then can we sleep together tonight?” If he said yes, who knows what would happen.

After carefully setting up the trap, he pulled his head back from behind the pillar like a mischievous child. In the end, Cain put the book down.

“Do you know the story of the Seven Heroes?”

He predicted that she wouldn’t let it go, and he knew she would change the subject. But Lily was caught off guard by the topic change, which was even more out of context than she expected.

“I know. Isn’t it a story that even ordinary people in the Empire know? Ten years ago, in the wasteland between the Eastern Merchant Union and the Empire, where they were at war with each other, a demon king appeared, and the Seven Heroes defeated the demon king.”

The reality is more complicated, but what Lily said is what an ordinary person in the Empire would know.

“And?”

“Well, it was said that the identities of the Seven Heroes were all different. Their backgrounds were different, their ages, their experiences, and there were even people who were not from the Empire. But they all came together with one heart and defeated the demon king. Recently, it has become a popular story among the Empire’s citizens.”

“Two of the Seven Heroes were attacked by someone. They’re alive, but they’re literally just alive. They suffered greatly. We’re on our way to find out who, why, and how they did such a thing.”

“Who was attacked?”

“The first is Arius, the apostle of abstinence and the abbot of the monastery. He is said to be alive, but we don’t know where the Pope has hidden him. So we are on our way to meet the second, who was attacked, Bishop William of Purity. After returning the carriage in Marienburg and packing our things, we will switch to horses and go to the fortified monastery of Otrento. The Pope said he is involved in this incident as well. It’s not exactly good news.”

Lily agreed as well.

Even though the Crimson Knights seem to have little interest in secular power, religious matters are a different story. Moreover, the Crimson Knights have a deeper connection with the Pope than with the Emperor. The armed conflict between the Holy Grail Knights and the Crimson Knights is still famous.

“Who, why on earth would they go and attack the heroes from 10 years ago? What could be the reason? And how could they do it? And it’s not just one person who was attacked.”

“Then…?”

“While I don’t know about Arius, Bishop William and his entourage had over 50 people. And more than 30 of them were well-armed and trained soldiers. I saw a sketch of how it happened. They were like beasts trampled under the carriage wheels.”

Lily’s expression became serious.

“You said they were ‘like beasts trampled under the carriage wheels’?”

“Yes.”

“Um… In the sketch, were there any signs of being stabbed, cut, or pierced? Anything like that?”

Cain looked at Lily in surprise. He himself had been so shocked by the grotesqueness of the sketch that he hadn’t even thought of those things.

On the contrary, the question Lily asked Cain should have been the obvious ones that came to mind in Anna’s place. But then again, both Anna and Cain had been angry.

“I don’t remember the details. To be honest, it was quite shocking. But there was nothing like that. At least not that I saw.”

“Then it must have been blunt force.”

Lily immediately replied. It seemed that being the second daughter of a renowned swordsmanship family had its merits. Stuttering and astonished, Cain told Lily about the situation of the victims.

Bishop William, 30 spear soldiers from the Mercy Knights, 17 including servants and employees, two diocesan priests, one monk, and two nuns were all found alive, literally crushed. However, the condition of the bishop was even more severe.

“…It’s a rather horrifying story. Bishop William’s rib was sticking out of his body. Could that be from a blunt weapon?”

“There is a high probability,” Lily recalled.

“When you fall off a horse during martial training, it rarely happens. It’s a case where a broken rib tears through the flesh. However, if it tears the lung, it becomes a fatal event. Even if you manage to survive somehow, if the lung doesn’t function properly, the body gradually stiffens. It’s like being trapped in a living body. But…”

“But?”

“It’s strange. Even if it’s Hero William and 30 spear soldiers, there’s no reason to attack. Not to mention servants, employees, priests, monks, and nuns. Attacking with just a hammer, and even letting them all live, is…”

Lily’s eyes filled with confusion.

“Lily, what do you think? What on earth is this? What do you think drove this person, whether human or beast, to do such a thing?”

“I don’t know.”

But Lily, seemingly caught in something, slightly bit her lip. Cain remembered Lily’s answer and reaction in his heart.

Speculating before seeing something is risky, but in this case, it was more of a hypothesis than a prejudice. A hypothesis that could be tested for right or wrong. Instead of just watching without knowing anything, if you decide to see at least something, you can uncover more than you think.

And a day and a half later, at the Otranto Blockade Monastery, Cain and Lily verified the hypothesis.

It was a brutal proof.