The Song of Sword and Magic - Chapter 69

Chapter 69: The Holy Water

[Translator — Asuka]

[Proofreader — Karane]

Seeing that Stan and Rae remained silent, Basorem continued, “Of the five of us, only Clamence is single as we’re all married. Even though we didn’t see the corpses of our wives, reality told us that they wouldn’t stand a chance to survive. Despite that, we still wouldn’t give up any hope, which is why we stay in Sara.” He then clapped Clamence’s shoulder. “I told this guy to leave with the others, but he insisted on staying with us.”

In a bashful manner, Clamence hung his head low. He appeared to be very young as his skin was smooth. Rae even suspected that he was younger than Niss. “I was an orphan. If Basorem didn’t take me into the knight group, I would have died of hunger. That’s why I’ll never leave him.”

Rae straightened up and said seriously, “I’d suggest that all of you should leave Sara as soon as possible. There’s a reason for the lumps on your bodies. If you stayed here, you would end up like Horus.” She paused for a moment. “It’s been two months since the tragedy, so I’m sure you’ve realized that all of you won’t be able to see your wives again. I’m sorry for breaking this harsh truth to you.”

Basorem and Clamence traded glances. There was a sense of fear behind Clamence’s gaze as he was terrified of the transformation of Horus’s body. “How did you know that?” Basorem turned to Rae and asked.

“In fact, we’ve come all the way to this place to solve this problem. The answer is on Mount Dagger.” Rae replied slowly. “We have to complete this task quickly and leave this place. Otherwise, we’ll become like all of you as well.”

Basorem fell into his thoughts. He wasn’t certain if Rae was speaking the truth, but the lumps on their bodies made him realize that he had no choice but to trust her. “Alright. There’s still some distance between Talheim and this place, and the road won’t be safe. Let us escort you there. Only when you arrive safely can we leave Sara without feeling guilty.”

Rae and Stan exchanged glances. They weren’t willing to drag this battered warrior into this matter, but they also knew that Saras were all obstinate people, so he wouldn’t change his mind easily.

***

A moment later, Rae moved a little and replied, “Alright, but please protect yourselves at all times. Don’t ever sacrifice yourselves to save us.”

Basorem put on a smile without giving her any promise. “It’s decided then. When are we going?”

“Tomorrow. If the snowstorm will stop.” Rae suddenly thought of something important. “I still have one more question.”

Basorem burst into laughter. “You have many questions.”

Rae put on a solemn expression instead of laughing with him. “How was the water inside the trap able to kill the fiend? All of us couldn’t kill it, but as soon as it fell into the trap, it was engulfed in the water.”

“You do have some excellent observational skills.” Basorem took out a metal bottle from his bag and opened the cap before dripping a little of the liquid on his palm. “We poured a bottle of this liquid into the trap.”

Rae and Stan examined the blue liquid on his palm, but they had no clue what it was. “What is this?”

“The holy water. Before the Dark Tide attacked Sara, the archmage, who was the adviser to the king, managed to produce the holy water all of a sudden.” Seeing how shocked they were, he shook his head helplessly. “However, he only managed to make a small amount of it, so it wasn’t enough to fend off the Dark Tide. We collected a total of three bottles of holy water from the deserters. Now, we only have two bottles left.”

Rae got to her feet calmly and paced around. “If this is really holy water, it could be the reason the Dark Tide wanted to destroy Sara.” She stopped in her tracks and gazed at them. “They would never allow this kind of life-threatening liquid to exist in this world, so before the Saras could mass-produce it, they had to launch a strike on Sara and destroy all the holy water as well as the formula.”

“Manfred didn’t leave behind any formula. After the demise of Usgart, he disappeared with the king as well. No one knows where they are.” Seeing Rae’s doubtful gaze, Basorem realized that he had unknowingly revealed a secret. “Manfred is a great sage from the Magician’s Tower who has been trying to help our king, Uller, to fend off the Dark Tide. Only a small number of high-level officers are aware of this secret. I had no right to know this, but I was fortunate to be assigned the duty of escorting Manfred to patrol the Northern Border, which was in the North of Talheim. That’s how I got to know this.”

“The Magician’s Tower? Why are they so powerful?” Stan was starting to be annoyed by the name.

After giving it a thought, Rae was still clueless. “Manfred, right? Hopefully, we’ll meet up with our companions soon. Niss might know more about him.”

***

“Alright, let’s eat something first.” Basorem scooped up the sweet potatoes from the pot. “We haven’t had any meat for a long time. It’s hard to catch any animals in the winter. Even if there were any, we wouldn’t dare to eat them as their skin had festered. If we stayed here any longer, we’d end up like them.”

“That’s right. After reaching Talheim, all of you should leave immediately.” Rae took out her utensils from her bag as well as a tea pot and some tea leaves. “Let’s boil some tea. I’m sure you haven’t had it for a long time as well.”

Stan took out some meat jerkies from his bag and threw them into the pot. “We still have some meat. Let’s eat together.”

Clamence stared fixedly at the meat jerkies and licked his lips. After Basorem gave him a push, he smiled bashfully. “Sorry. I really haven’t had any meat for a long time.”

Rae and Stan smiled gently at him as they grew more respectful of these warriors.

“By the way, Stan, are you a Sara citizen as well?” Basorem was thankful that Stan was willing to share his food.

Stan stopped what he was doing and hesitated for a moment. After that, he tore apart the last meat jerky and threw it into the pot. “No, I’m a Doylan.” Upon finishing his words, he stared at the pot in silence.

In an instant, the atmosphere turned awkward. A moment later, Basorem broke the silence. “It would be useless even if Doyle sent us any help. Your country might be destroyed as well because no one could defeat a dragon.”

Stan straightened up and replied, “Whether or not we could defeat the dragon is one thing, but sending help is another—” Before he could finish his words, Rae pinned him down on the shoulder.

“Didn’t you say I don’t look like a Sara citizen? Do you want me to prove it now?” Rae shot Stan a look and changed the topic.

“There’s no need for that as your accent says it all.” Basorem replied with a smile. “Furthermore, it’s apparent to me that you come from Skurd.”

“How did you know that?” Rae widened her eyes in shock and stared at him.

“It’s because I grew up in Skurd as well. You didn’t expect that, right? Maybe we had come across each other when we were younger.” Basorem smiled in an awkward way, but Rae didn’t notice it.

“Then did you know a boy called Rory or Rocky?” Rae straightened up with an embarrassed expression. “Sorry, I don’t remember his name.”

“I’m sorry, but I’ve never heard of this name. Maybe he was from another group.” Basorem hung his head low and gazed at his dagger.

Rae let out a breath in disappointment and hunched her back.

***

Just then, the other two warriors returned to the fire pit. After putting down the snow lotus flowers, Enderman caught a whiff of the aroma and said in surprise, “Are these meat? Basorem, please tell me we’re going to have meat today!”

Basorem and Clamence guffawed upon hearing that. “That’s right. They’re provided by our friends over there. You should thank them.”

Enderman placed his hand on his chest and nodded at them. It was a military salute of the Saras. “Thanks. May all the glory be with Uller.”

Tyrin performed a military salute to them as well and took a seat on the ground before saying disdainfully, “Uller? Where was he when Usgart was attacked? There’s no news about him until now. To him, we’re just some worthless soldiers.”

“Tyrin!” After Basorem chided him, he immediately fell silent. “Alright, let’s eat now. I’m starving. This is an ample meal for us.”

All of them started guzzling down the food. In such a hostile environment, they knew that every dinner could well be their last meal.

***