Volume 4, Chapter 79: The Saint Woman’s Hardships
Volume 4, Chapter 79: The Saint Woman’s Hardships
Saint Matia felt an excruciating pain at the depths of her brain.
She was convinced that neither she nor any other physician could treat this agony with their hands.
「…Miss Caria. Can you please stop pretending to be a burglar in night who tries to kill a witness for seeing their petty crime?」
The person who stood in front of Matia was the cause of her excruciating pain. Matia sighed at this occurrence. Then, the silver-haired woman slowly opened her mouth.
Why was this girl trying to harm the Saint woman?
「I do whatever I please. If I want, I’ll strangle you right now. You may call this a selfish act, but you are the selfish one for bringing us into this sort of situation.」
The silver light emitted from Caria’s eyes shined brightly in the room engulfed by the darkness of the night.
She was more talkative than usual. She spoke what she felt, and those feelings weren’t lies. She wasn’t driven by momentum, but by anger. The smooth silvery hair that divided into two ponytails bounced upwards. Caria looked at Matia from upside down, like a lion trying to subjugate its prey.
「And he’s mine to strangle, you know. I have that right. Yet, you pushed him into the hands of the enemy. I wonder if you cooked up this situation. Perhaps, all of us fell prey to your schemes.」
For a moment, Matia’s eyelids moved and she narrowed her eyes. It was certainly a fact that Caria was trying to strangle her. However, this was not the first time where her life was at risk. Yes, not the first time where the answer of a question could be crucial. It could determine her fate. However, this time was rather troublesome because she didn’t see these problems coming. She never thought that her plan would fail so dramatically.
Even so, she couldn’t afford to lose everything now. There was no way that she would risk it. What happened wasn’t due to Matia’s schemes. She never anticipated such an event. Matia wanted to move her exhausted mouth in order to persuade Caria.
It was true that the people of the Heraldic Order formed an alliance with the elves of Ghazalia. History really proved that account.
The Heraldic people paid tribute to the elves who had lived a long life and accumulated significant wisdom. The elves never showed disrespect, prejudice nor hatred against the Heraldic people. They welcomed the Heraldic people, who mingled with them, with utmost respect and open arms.
Above all, the elves and the heraldic people held hands together, and at some point in the past, they worked together for important quests that happened during the old age.
Of course, that was the old past.
It seemed that the current Fin did not share the same sympathy as the previous great Fin, who was friends with the Heraldic Order. The majority of elves no longer looked back on the past.
Therefore, those who communed with the Heraldic people secretly and still respected their wisdom were called Ancient Elves.
Right now, Saint Matia and the others were sheltered in one of those Ancient Elves’ houses.
「Don’t be hasty. All we have to do is wait now. I am sure that the Gharast soldiers won’t kill us if they find us in here. It’s pointless for us to confront the nation of Ghazalia without any proper tactics.」
「Is that so? I see. I understand what you’re saying. But that’s the idea of the weak.」
Caria leaned forward, and her long sword around her waist quivered slightly. Was that the emotions of someone whose eyes were angry and arrogant?
Matia poured some saliva into her throat involuntarily.
“What does that mean? This woman, Caria, was trying to emphasize her power somehow. However, she never came to these lengths before. She never showed arrogance to me. At least, she never did when Lugis was present.” Matia thought.
The pain in Matia’s head got worse. It felt as if the agony erupted from the inside of her veins. As if pain consumed all over her body. Such foolish thoughts passed through Matia’s mind.
「Besides, it seems that you are only apprehensive about my presence here, but you mustn’t forget that I’m not the only one here. That Sorceress may have more grudges than I have.」
After saying that, Caria looked at the passage leading to the entrance.
Matia turned her eyes in the same direction as Caria. For a short moment, Caria’s entangled and suppressed presence lightened up. Matia alleviated the pain that spread from her brain to her forehead. Even if it was for just a minute.
Like Caria, it seemed that the Sorceress’ mood was undeniably dark.
Matia kept thinking. “Filaret La Volgograd. She doesn’t try to jump at me like Caria. However, she was still waiting at the front door. Maybe, she was waiting for him to come here.”
This woman stood in front of main door. She was waiting without returning to the room. Her wait was tiresome and endless.
In fact, there was a beautiful black circle under her eyes. That circle wasn’t only due to a lack of sleep. She had been waiting, like a loyal servant.
Matia told her to stop hanging by the door. If she wanted to help Lugis, then she’d have to be in a perfect shape. Getting little sleep and waiting endlessly by the door would harm her health.
Nonetheless, she finally opened her mouth and…
「But I won’t see Lugis arriving if I turn my back to the door.」
After she said those words, she headed for the door again.
The clearness and wisdom of her persona seemed to have disappeared somewhere else. She just waited for that man to appear. To Matia, this behavior was both swamped by strangeness and awe.
Caria, the woman who didn’t know how to stop the surge of her emotions, and Filaret, the woman who didn’t know how to stop before falling ill. Both of these women became the source of worries. Both of them collided with each other in Matia’s excruciating brain.
「No matter what, just wait a little bit longer. Elves are not simple monoliths. I’m trying to think of a way to scrape away that “rock” of theirs. If we make a bad movement now, then we’ll lose our necks to the elves’ hands.」
Matia tried once again to appease Caria’s ferocious approach. But, she couldn’t know if her words were effective or not.
Matia herself never expected that she would be in a situation like this. She perfectly knew that Caria and Filaret were acting this way because of their familiarity with Lugis.
Even so, this was a huge mess. The whole situation wasn’t favorable. They could die at any moment, or they could be captured at any moment. Besides, women whose emotions were in the brink of an explosion surrounded Matia. Yes, a huge mess, and she couldn’t take her eyes off them and go away.
Thanks to that, Matia was also sleeping badly for the last few days. Of course, she wasn’t just worried about them, or what they could do. Most of her worries consisted from the supposed ally of the elves, the Gharast Kingdom, and from the trap, which she fell for. She bet her life on this failed alliance. After all, the existence of the Heraldic Order depended on her.
Actually, for Matia, it was obvious that Caria and Filaret were two forces to be reckoned with. On the other hand, she wasn’t entirely sure that these two women were needed for the core of the Heraldic Order. They were undeniably strong, but they were never part of her cause. Rather, Matia could describe them as an avant-garde* to her faith. Meaning that even though they weren’t absolutely necessary for her cause, they could still help her with their strength.
For Matia, they were important pieces of the chess board that made her conquer Garoua Maria. However, when thinking about it now, Matia thought that bringing these two on this quest was both the right and wrong decision at the same time.
“Either way, I can’t lose them here and now,” Matia thought. “In order to do this, Lugis, the main reason of their existence, must be recaptured.” Naturally, the choices available for this were narrow and difficult to achieve.
Matia thought deeply. “Ah, I’m really angry now”. Unexpectedly, Matia distorted her eyelids and narrowed her eyes.
Matia wondered if that man Lugis was suffering the same hardships as hers. “Back then, when we were in the carriage ride, did he want to hear my apology? Or did he want to hear my appreciation?” Matia’s head was full of confusing thoughts.
No, most probably not. Maria thought that Lugis was a clumsy man. He wouldn’t want those things from her, would he? Or was he really a meticulous man? Matia tried to understand the mind of that man.
“Yes, I will tell Caria something to approve of. I will give Filaret something to cheer up.” However, Matia didn’t have any words. She didn’t have anything give to those two women. Nothing to appease their worries. Nothing at all.
Suddenly, Matia sighed heavily. “What on earth am I upset about? Only reason and perception can judge everything and everyone. That’s the only path for success. I shouldn’t be disturbed by useless feelings.”
Then, suddenly, a loud noise was heard when the silver-haired Caria tried to leave the room. The noise came from the door. Apparently, someone knocked on the door.
First, a big knock, and then, two smaller knocks afterwards.
The one who knocked was probably the elf who stood by their side and hid them in its house.
「Lady Saint. I bring good news. The Tower has finally made the first movement. The time has come for the bedrock to crack.」
The six eyes in the room opened widely upon hearing the low-pitched voice of the elf, which echoed from the core of their minds to the blood running through their veins.