24 Hearts

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The twenty-fourth fragment, Carpe Diem

The missing adventurer was none other than the Flying Fighter, Ea. He didn’t know what the hell she was doing with Kain for, but it must be something complicated if it included her. Judah feigned a smile, glaring straight at Ea’s red eyes.

“Me, a rat? Is that the way to talk to someone who helped you?”

“Even if you didn’t show up, we wouldn’t need the help.”

“Ha, that’s funny.”

He helped them, and it was not for nothing to say shit about it. Judah lifted his right foot to weight on the tree behind him, then, with all his might, pushed Ea away from him.

“Huh! How dare you!”

Ea sneered, back groaning at the force upon her. She spurred her heels on the ground for support as she brandished another spear. Seeing the path of his opponent’s sword coming for his neck, Judah ducked and retreated to Ea’s side in a blink of an eye.

She missed and chopped down the tree behind him instead, her blade swinging out of her grasp. Ea hissed at the broken bark, retrieved her astray sword, then turned around. But the feeling of a cool, sharp blade had already met with the back of her neck.

“……!”

The feeling of its cold mercy made her halt, but her neck grazed the blade further, and a trickle of blood seeped down her nape. She squinted at the buzzing sensation. Glancing down at the blade pointed at her neck, she looked annoyed rather than concerned.

“Hah, that’s pretty good. You better end this quickly, little boy.”

“Where does your confidence even come from?” Judah laughed sarcastically.

He knew how difficult it was to maintain a good affiliation with the Flying Fighter. Given this, he didn’t feel the need to end it on a good note.

“If you don’t, you’ll die. Would you like to test me?”

Ea tried to move, daring to hold his sword, but Judah stopped her quickly. The blade, aimed at her neck, dug into her skin a little more.

“Stop. Don’t move. If you move a little more, you’ll be watching your neck and body move separately.”

“Oh? I’m scared. If you can, go ahead and try it. You can do it, right, young hero?”

Ea taunted Judah, replying with the same sarcasm the boy had before. Facing her made him remember a repressed memory, back when he worked at Yeongjuseong a couple of years ago. And he felt, perhaps, the reason for her hostility was due to an inferiority complex.

With an urge to use the power of his new fragment, he took the opportunity to use hypnosis on her…. but failed. He needed to follow its conditions.

Once this was the case, then she would have no choice but to follow his every word.

“As expected, you can’t do anything.”

She was wrong, and he snapped. Judah’s name was called—just at the perfect time when he was about to end Ea’s life by thrusting the blade into her neck with a confident smile plastered onto his face.

“Judah! No!”

Riel charged at them with the unknown priest behind her that barely caught up with her pace, possibly due to old age. The distance between both parties wasn’t that vast, and the former made it there on time. In a swift move, Judah pointed a dagger at the father’s neck. He side-eyed Riel, with signs of restlessness on his face, and the blood of goblins on his clothing served as a hint. He wanted to dry it, but it was hard to do while both of them were going for each other’s throats with such murderous intent. As their tension dragged on, Kain went up to them as he killed the remaining goblins.

“Judah, please. Put the sword away.”

Joining Riel, Kain demanded Judah to stop.

“Your friends are asking you to stop and let me go. Do you have any intentions listening to them?” Ea teased.

“Ea, stop.” Kain took no favors for Ea, glancing at her.

She only shrugged, yet winced when her cut brushed.

“Okay, I’ll let you go. But I’ll ask one question. Did you ever meet the Blue Lancer around here?”

“The Blue Lancer…? I don’t know. I’ve been here for 12 months. But I know about your quest last year. I heard you’ve been roaming around the Eastern Forest, but since you’re here, I’m guessing you didn’t get what you wanted.”

The edges of Ea’s mouth curled up as if their predicament was merely amusement. By now, Judah had grown used to her snarky remarks.

He didn’t know, but he hoped that Ea being in Kain’s party was purely coincidental, which meant that, thankfully, Jeanne was alone in the ruins. If so, Judah had to up and leave as soon as possible.

“Is that good enough? Great. You know, if we ever meet after my quest, take no doubts that I’ll put an end to your life. So why don’t you get rid of this puny sword of yours right now? Or can I take it in the sense that you truly wish to take it with me right now?”

Judah retreated his sword, and with no fear, Ea pushed the tip of his blade with her fingers. The rest watched for any sudden attacks, but Kain took a step between them, blocking anybody who tried to dare. Judah walked off to retrieve the dagger he used to save Riel.

“Judah!”

“Uh, what?”

He thought Kain would talk first, but it was Riel who came up to him. She greeted him with a radiant smile, holding her staff firmly in both hands.

“Thank you very much! Thanks to you, I managed to live.”

“You don’t have to be grateful. Even if I didn’t help, you had the Flying Fighter to help you.”

Judah replied, glancing at the spear stuck in the goblin’s body. Looking back at it, Ea’s attack would have missed if Judah didn’t strike the monster first. And if Judah attacked Riel rather than saving her, then both of them were dead meat. As well, if Ea weren’t distracted with Riel, Judah wouldn’t have noticed her surprise attack.

‘I almost died three days after starting this quest…’

He wiped the blood off the dagger and shoved it into his belt.

“By the way, what brought you here?” Riel asked.

“I’m only here because I’m looking for someone.”

“Who? Is it the Blue Lancer you mentioned?”

“Yes, do you know her?”

Riel groaned and shook her head. A brief silence followed.

“…Be careful next time. I saw it happen by accident, so I helped you. You would have been hurt.”

It was possible that it could’ve ended with no one getting hurt. Judah believed that Riel wasn’t at fault but rather Ea’s when she left her post, giving the enemies a free opening. When Judah glanced back at the Flying Fighter, her wounds were already being tended to by the priest. When Judah and Ea’s eyes met, she looked very eager to jump at his throat right away. Judah averted his gaze to avoid another possible argument that could lead to god knows what.

“Judah, if you’re off to look for that person, won’t it be better if you went with us? It would be a lot safer than going alone. Kain would love your company, too.”

“And someone will hate it if I were here.”

“Oh, that’s right. Ea…”

Riel looked apologetic. Just a moment ago, she watched them draw their weapons out to murder each other. The tension still lingered, and her invitation was probably too early. Judah chuckled at how concerned Riel was, then reached out to straighten her crooked hat.

“Thanks for the offer, but I’m thinking of going alone. You don’t have to worry.”

“That would be dangerous… Do you know where the person you’re looking for is?”

“Well, I think it’s within the vicinity. If she’s not around, then I’ll keep looking.”

He was thinking of waiting in the ruins and going back to the castle if Jeanne didn’t show up. Seeing that she hadn’t met the crow to battle, she wouldn’t have died yet, and if nothing special came up, she would come back to the inn where she stayed. Judah’s steadfast reply was enough to ease Riel’s worries.

“Oh, yeah. Then I can’t help it.”

Judah nodded. The longer he stood there, the more their silence grew much too uncomfortable, so he hurried his farewell.

“I’ll be going, then.” He waved her goodbye like they were merely parting ways after a day in the village.

On the way, he gave one last look at Kain and watched as he waved at him. Judah waved back and disappeared into the bushes.

+ + +

Riel sighed as she watched his silhouette disappear into the woods.

“Oh, he’s gone. I’m sorry.”

Riel turned to the cold voice she heard. Ea rose to her side, pulling out the spear stuck in the goblin’s body. She looked at its blades nonchalantly.

“Ah, Ms. Ea. Is your wound alright?”

“Yes, it’s not a serious injury. There’s no need to be worried about it.”

She needed not to worry further; the priest’s healing magic treated Ea’s wound much sooner. Riel couldn’t help but chuckle at how Ea’s voice softened. Unlike the cold voice she heard a while ago, it was a lot better to hear Ea speak softly. Riel bowed her head.

“This is a bit late, but thanks for your help.”

“It was only natural. If it weren’t for that young hero in the first place, it wouldn’t have happened.”

Ea was the one who should’ve killed it in the first place, and her honesty made Riel, although terrified, realize how lucky she was that Judah had been there. Ea’s averted eyes managed to gaze back at Riel, who managed to muster her usual gentle smile. For a moment, she rolled her eyes before looking back longingly at Ea. It seemed that she felt Riel’s eyes on her as she wiped off the goblin’s blood from her blade.

“Is there something you’d like to say?”

“Would it be alright to ask you a question?”

“What is it? Tell me.”

Riel hesitated at first but mustered up the courage to speak, “Why do you hate Judah?”

Ea tilted her head. The question wasn’t particularly difficult, but Ea didn’t know how to formulate her answer. And maybe, that’s why she hated him. A menacing laugh slipped from her lips.

“Do I need a reason to dislike him? I just do. I dislike him so much that I want to kill him.”

Ea simply stated that there was nothing else but pure hatred. Riel couldn’t say anything to Ea’s answer, as it was something that was beyond her comprehension.

“It looks like you can’t understand.”

“Yeah…”

“There’s nothing to think about. You were born and raised here in Serenia, am I right?”

Riel nodded.

“Do you know why the black and white wolves hate each other and fight?”

“No. I’m not sure about that.”

“You can say it’s the same as that. I don’t know. I guess it’s just natural for me to hate him?”

“…”

Ea passed by the speechless Riel and made her way to Kain. He was pulling out gemstones from the corpses of goblins that attacked them a while ago. He was known to be good at breaking their hearts using only the tip of his sword and pulling out the hidden gemstones.

“That was childish of you, back there.”

Ea recalled the previous week with Kain. It had been two years ago since Lord Peerchen brushed her off, and it was comforting to see the Blue Lancer receiving the same treatment, but she wasn’t able to forget the insults he did.

Afterward, she wandered through the Western Forest for two years to find the fragment, but blindly seeking for it made her feel like she was wasting her time looking for it.

Ea gave it some thought before visiting the honorary nobleman of Baekje and the Wielder of the Sword, Kaseun Sabnak, and asked for help. But unfortunately, Kaseun Sabnak didn’t have any information either. Once again, she had wasted her time and returned to her empire, empty-handed.

She thought she had to bring something, anything, with her before she returned, so Ea asked Kaseun Sabnak to train her, and in return, she accompanied Kain to the Western Forest. She didn’t like the idea of having to carry Kain, who felt very much inexperienced, but she was a person who was willing to give as much as she received.

But then, she had nothing to teach him. Kain was already a jewel completely crafted by Kaseun. Even before the third holy king chose him, Gabriel, he was already given a paladin’s qualification, omitting the whole process. He was truly a boy with a bright future.

But of course, she had her own responsibilities. All she had to do was to take Kain with her with the experience of going through the Western Forest for two years and teach him about the area’s geography.

Being a guardian of the boy who was to come of age this year had been a daunting task, but she couldn’t help it… And today, the thought of taking a short break from their guardianship sparked in her mind.

“Kain.”

“Yeah?”

Kain, busy removing the gemstone from the goblin’s heart, turned his head to her. Most importantly, the paladin, who valued intelligence and maturity, seemed to be breaking the image she had of him when he held the magic stone in his hand, a symbol of money. Every time Ea saw this, she felt an unexplainable discomfort. She sighed as she looked at Kain’s gauntlets covered with goblin blood.

“Do you know the way back?”

“Yes, I have to know… We come here every time.” Kain nodded with a strange expression.

“Head back, the lot of you. Back to your mansion, even.”

“But… Didn’t we decide to explore more today?”

“I changed my mind. Does it matter? I have time tomorrow and the day after.”

“If we go back together, what about you?”

Ea offered a smile but an empty one. There was beauty in it, but deep within was something much deeper. As she faced him, she turned her head away. She looked back in the direction where Judah disappeared into.

“Me? I’m letting you lead the way. I don’t want to help you unless your life’s at stake. So go by yourself for once. How are you supposed to learn if you keep depending on me all the time?”

Kain had no choice but to nod.