By Zephyria =======
Silver gave Wolf a sharp smack on the head.
「If you want to whine and cry, do it later! Go get that birch broom next to the altar stone.」
After placing the offering on the altar, Silver and Wolf swept the surrounding area with the birch broom. They gathered the feathers and bones together and sprinkled soil over the bloodstains. Wolf would have been horrified if he knew, but this wasn’t actually cleaning. It was a ritual to soothe the spirits of the live sacrifices who had died in merciless screams.
Once the ritual was finished, Silver snapped off a birch twig and lit it on fire. The people of Stohl believe that the smoke rising from birch branches possesses the power of purification. Silver pointed the birch twig toward Wolf and spoke solemnly.
“O thou possessed by an evil spirit, kneel.”
「Uh, in the Atania language…」
「Kneel. Shut up.」
At those words, Wolf knelt awkwardly and looked up. He looked like a puppy that had been scolded by its owner for stealing egg soup. Silver waved the birch twig vigorously, scattering the smoke. Wolf coughed and rubbed his eyes. Only after the smoke had blurred everything to the point of disorientation did Silver lower the branch.
「Stay still.」
Leaving Wolf enveloped in fluffy white smoke, Silver headed toward the altar. He blew out the fire on the twig and stabbed the offering’s throat with a dagger. He soaked the birch twig in the blood from the offering and wrote a Nilveron symbol on the altar. Stohl has no unique script, but the ‘Nilveron’ symbols used in sacrifices have existed since ancient times. The thirty-six sacred symbols each hold various meanings, such as prophecy, healing, and curses.
What Silver wrote with the offering’s blood was the twenty-fifth symbol, which signifies ‘purification.’ Since it was currently morning, he also wrote the second symbol, which denotes ‘light.’
“Goddess of Light, Nielvar, please accept our offering. Purify the evil spirit possessing the foolish boy, Wolf!”
He circled the altar stone seven times while chanting the purification spell. Finally, he buried the blood-stained birch twig and the offering in the ground. With that, everything was finished. The process was relatively simple, but it was a ritual he had approached with more focus than ever before.
Silver took a deep breath and closed his eyes. A suffocating tension surged through him. He hadn’t looked back at Wolf throughout the entire ritual. Now, by looking at Wolf, he would know if the evil spirit had been purified. If Wolf looked normal, it meant Nielvar had exerted her power.
Silver turned around slowly. The moment he opened his eyes, he gasped. Wolf’s face, as he looked up while kneeling, was flashing and shimmering as if drenched in dazzling sunlight! He looked incredibly handsome!
I’m screwed. Fuck.
「How is it, Silver? Can you still… see the evil spirit?」
Wolf asked in a cowed voice. Silver quickly turned away.
「It’s not bad. It’s a bit more… transparent than before.」
「That… means the evil spirit didn’t leave after all! Is it really okay for me to stay like this? What if I forget my own name this afternoon…」
Wolf protested vehemently and sprang to his feet. Silver clicked his tongue and kicked the dirt.
「Your soul won’t be sold to the evil spirit that quickly. I think the Goddess didn’t grant my plea because it’s daytime. Sacrifices are usually more effective when performed at night. Let’s do it secretly one more time tonight. If it fails again, I’ll just have to do it every morning and evening from tomorrow.」
At those words, Wolf’s eyes dimmed as he looked down. He looked as if he were carrying thousands of oxen on his shoulders. Silver cleared his throat awkwardly.
「Let’s plan our strategy. If we’re unlucky, we might not be able to drive the evil spirit out until the very end. As soon as the Prince meets his mother, you make sure to stay holed up in their barracks or room. Even an Ice Armor Warrior won’t be able to pry into that place recklessly. I’ll coax the Ice Armor Warrior and get it to leave for somewhere else.」
「That’s…」
Wolf, whose voice trailed off, stopped walking. His amber eyes looked directly at Silver.
「Silver. You, too, run away to Atania with the Prince and me.」
「That again?」
「Listen to me. That’s better than living as a slave under the man who killed my mother.」
「You’re overstepping your bounds right now.」
「Friends are allowed to overstep their bounds.」
「I don’t think of you as a friend.」
「Think of me as one. You even performed an exorcism ritual to save me.」
Silver froze. Wolf’s words were undeniably accurate.
Right. Why did I do a good deed for this guy again?
There was only one reason. The evil spirit, Glamaugh, had manipulated his mind. It was as if a mouse had fearlessly nibbled on cheese in front of a cat. Silver lost his reason and started pointing his finger wildly at Wolf.
「Stay away from me, you’re bad luck! Because of you, even I’m being controlled by the evil spirit! The exorcism ritual was also the evil spirit making me do it—!」
「Uh, Silver? I don’t think that’s it. There’s no way an evil spirit would make you perform a ritual to kick it out.」
「That…」
Silver paused. Wolf waved both hands with an awkward expression.
「In this case, it only makes sense if you’ve accepted me as a friend without realizing it… right? Other than that…」
Silver couldn’t say anything. The guy wasn’t wrong. But the real reason I did a good deed for him again was…
…
…
No. That’s not it.
It really wasn’t. The moment he thought, ‘Could it be, as expected, that I harbor forbidden feelings for the Attendant?’, he felt a sudden surge of nausea. If so, was it because of friendship, as the Attendant claimed? Well, if it’s just that…
Previously, he would have leaped up and denied even ‘friendship.’ However, after experiencing the unbearable trials of ‘evil spirit mind control’ and ‘forbidden feelings,’ ‘friendship’ felt relatively very favorable, mundane, rational, safe, and comfortable. Yes, friendship is fine. Friendship is much better.
Silver inwardly breathed a sigh of relief and spoke with a feigned roughness.
「Fine! I’ll just assume I accepted you as a friend without knowing! Satisfied, you damn Wolf!」
「Silver, you called me by my name?!」
Wolf’s eyes widened. Silver walked away briskly.
「You hate it? Want me to call you Attendant again?」
「No, no! Call me Wolf. It’s definitely right for friends to call each other by name.」
「Just so you know, I helped you because we’re friends. I don’t particularly like you, so keep that in mind.」
「Being friends is enough! But you know, Silver… how should I put it, you have… flexibility? You seem like someone who hates socializing and has no friends, but unexpectedly, you get along well with people, and your attitude shifts quickly…」
「More bullshit. You must be mistaken about something; I have plenty of friends.」
「Plenty of what?」
Wolf asked back, his brow twitching. However, Silver’s words were not a lie.
「They’re all dead or hibernating right now, but there are plenty once the weather warms up. I like ladybugs the most.」
At Silver’s explanation, Wolf furrowed his brow and then went, “Ah!”
「That! That’s it! I heard children in Stohl have insect friends…」
「Only children? Plenty of adults do too. Even Ice Armor Warriors carry crickets or earthworms as friends. Human relationships in Stohl are so brutal that it’s common for adults to prefer insect or animal friends.」
「As expected… Stohl is fascinating! If a son, daughter, or husband raised an insect, Atanian mothers would be furious, but the people of Stohl…」
Wolf clenched his fists in excitement. Silver let out a short laugh and kept walking.
「What you just said perfectly explains why I don’t want to go to Atania. Atania has a disgusting amount of useless rules. For example, people of low status aren’t allowed to wear blue clothes.」
「That’s…」
For the first time, Wolf’s voice became small. Silver spat on the ground.
「Did you think I knew nothing? I’ve met many Atanian women while following the Ice Armor Warrior around. They were all cursing Atania left and right.」
「Why?」
「How should I know? They said Atania has as many rules for eating as there are locusts in a swarm. Women are forbidden from wearing pants. Short hair is also forbidden. It takes nobles ten days to make a single piece of clothing. Do you know how funny it was to see you bathing the Prince? In Stohl, unless they’re infants, people wash themselves. The tribal chief, the king, it’s all the same. Those Atanian bastards look down on us, pretending to be civilized, but they’ve got nothing special…」
Silver, who had been rambling without much thought, shut his mouth. Wolf was leaning in close, listening intently.
「Are you a spy or something, you punk? Stealing military secrets?」
「Huh? Ah! That’s…」
Wolf’s face turned red, and he hurriedly backed away.
34 – Hell Execution Order