The Monster Lady and the Paladin

Her words were enough to change the mood completely. For a moment, people just stood there, dumbfounded. Even the strong grip that was holding her arm was released, and a low murmur spread.

“The sewers? Is that true?”

“No way. How could something so big come through the sewer…”

“Isn’t it just a matter of breaking it when it comes up? I thought I heard something break earlier.”

“Nonsense.”

It was the owner’s gravelly voice that quieted the room, as he strode up to his wife’s side and spoke.

“The sewers of Asseldorf run deep into the ground and meet the Asher River downstream to the south. Those Bahamut must have come from Bayern in the east, so how did they get into the sewers?”

Veronica paused and fell silent at the unexpected statement. She had assumed they were from Bayern.

But if the sewers connected to the south…

She was at a loss for words at the questioning stares. 

She didn’t know, and it was only a hunch, almost an instinct, that they came from the sewers.

“You can’t leave without any certainty. It’s crazy to go out in this situation. They said that there was an area where the expansion was incomplete, and that’s probably where it was breached.”

Veronica read their responses in the steadfast faces unmasked by the beard and in the shoulders of the mistress who leaned against him. The others’ reactions were similar. 

None of them were willing to leave the safety of the building without knowing what it was like outside.  

But she had already done enough. Veronica nodded her head.

“I understand. Then let’s each do what we want. Thank you for your kindness.”

In fact, the sewer talk was a proposal and a trick. 

She needed an opportunity to leave. As the man who grabbed her arm loosened his grip, people’s attention shifted elsewhere.

Veronica quickly seized the opportunity and unlocked the door without hesitation. As soon as she heard the sound of wood against wood, she kicked the door wide open. 

After that, everything happened in an instant.

There were unintelligible screams from behind and the feeling of her sword and luggage in both hands. Leon, covered in blood, turned around as if he had been waiting, and gripped the door tightly to keep it from slamming shut.

Veronica ran out of the inn, limping as she was.

A sturdy black warhorse was waiting as if it had just been brought from the stable. Leon loaded the luggage Veronica brought onto the horse and effortlessly leaped onto the horse, extending his arm to pull her up onto the saddle.

It all happened in a flash. She felt like she was being dragged by the scruff of her neck, even though she was moving on her own feet.

Before the horse’s front legs kicked the ground, Veronica turned her head and saw the gap between the closing door. 

The frightened people didn’t chase them outside the door. The face of the innkeeper with whom they had a peaceful conversation that morning disappeared into the darkness, her features seized with horror, pale from seeing the bloody scene outside.

There was no longer any worry or concern there.

She held the reins tightly as the horse slammed its hooves onto the ground.

Hot liquid splashed into her face, bringing a sickening sense of reality.

It wasn’t until Veronica looked straight ahead that she realized Leon had swung his sword. He held the reins in one hand and the longsword in the other, mowing down the Bahamut rushing in from the front and the side. 

The gleam of his sword was dazzling.

He was truly a Messenger of God. The Divine Judgment.

With a shudder, the horse kicked the ground hard and galloped through the center of the street. Due to its speed, the Bahamuts stuck to the horse’s sides without any hesitation. 

It felt like being a mammal that had fallen into a flesh-eating ant colony.

The most horrifying section was the spacious plaza.

Headless corpses were piled up around the fountain in the center. As Veronica wondered why so many people had gathered there, the story she heard that morning flashed through her mind—how the refugees from Bayern were arriving one after another. 

They were supposed to gather in the square.

As she tried to look back, Leon warned her. 

“If you fall, I’m not going to pick you up.”

Taking a deep breath, she quickly corrected her posture. The rapidly flowing scenery made her dizzy.

Stop. 

Stop thinking. 

Forget about the people of Bayern. 

Think only about yourself now. 

I will survive. 

I will be fine. 

If I can just escape the city like this…

“They built a f*cking tomb, not a wall.”

Leon sneered, looking at the high walls that were getting closer and closer.

The wall they had built to protect themselves had become a prison that made it difficult to escape. 

Veronica shuddered. 

Why can’t the frog run away when the water boils? Why can’t it realize that it’s hot enough to kill them?

But what felt more terrifying than this tragic situation was the Bahamuts’ intelligence. They think, too. 

They must have known that the wall was meant to block them, but they had dug their way through the nearby river.

How smart were Bahamuts? Were they as smart as animals like dogs or crows? Or as smart as humans? Or even more?

The gradually approaching city gate was already wide open. The gates must have been opened by the guards, who realized the wall was not impenetrable, to allow the inhabitants to flee.

Veronica tried to focus on the white archway. She ran like a racehorse, trying not to look at the guards and residents dying right next to her, but it didn’t take long for her eyes to fill with horror.

“The gate…it’s closing.”

Creak, creak. 

The drawbridge was rising. Slowly but surely.

“Why? Did they all go insane and want to die together? Or did they completely lose their minds…?”

Her shouts stopped as Leon interrupted it.

“It’s not humans.”

Veronica gritted her teeth. The bridge over the (1)moat was slowly closing.

They won’t be able to cross it. What about afterwards? 

If they get trapped in this dead end, even if he was Leon Berg, it’ll be hard for them to survive. 

No. 

Even if he does survive, Veronica won’t be able to survive with him.

The moment she thought that, Veronica was seized by overwhelming fear.

He might abandon her and leave. Even if only one person gets off the horse, the speed would increase.

It was a ridiculous idea, but in her desperation, Veronica was unable to think rationally. It would have been better if she had no knowledge of Bahamut’s terror.

At least she wouldn’t be trembling all over like this.

I want to live. I want to live like crazy.

I don’t want it to end. 

I’m scared. 

To stop thinking.

That black void. Not knowing what’s waiting.

She realized anew how faithless she was. 

If she truly believed in God, she wouldn’t fear the end. 

The truth is, she was afraid of death because she doesn’t believe in God. 

For humans who stood alone in the face of adversity, all that’s left was loneliness.

“Hold on tight. We’re going to run with all our might from now on.”

At that moment, Leon leaned his upper body and spurred the horse. The warmth that wrapped around her back was hot.

The horse stepped on the door that had already begun to rise into the air, struggling up the slippery incline. And then…

Veronica closed her eyes tightly. 

For a moment, it felt like her body was floating, followed by a thud and a hard landing.

She opened her eyes, wincing in pain, and her vision cleared to reveal a snowy field.

They were running, on and on.  

The black steed ran wild, like a mule unleashed after decades of being chained.

She had survived.

As soon as she realized it, she turned around. The massive city walls, which cost an unimaginable amount of money to surround the entire city, were receding into the distance. 

Then there was a ‘thud,’ and the door closed all the way.

“All of them… the ones left in there… all of them…”

Veronica’s lips parted as she swallowed hard.

“They’re going to die, aren’t they?”

She thought of the kind couple with whom she had a peaceful conversation, the innkeeper who looked sorry to hear that she was from Bayern, and the owner who guessed her situation and told her where the refugees were gathering. 

They had shown her kindness and generosity for no reason other than that she was the same age as their daughter. 

But she…

“It’s my fault. I actually knew. I had a strange feeling from the first day I arrived, but strange smells are not illusions or hallucinations, so I thought it didn’t matter if I didn’t say anything. It happened because of me.”

Veronica continued to mutter self-recriminations, her words carried away by the wind.

It wasn’t as if she’d grown attached to the people she’d just met; she was too weak to maintain such a line. Whether she was able to save them or not, she was quick to give up at the slightest rebuke and sought to live.

Even the proposal, which seemed to be for the sake of others, was calculated. She was an ordinary human being who had her conscience and sympathy only when it was necessary for her own survival.

Veronica pitied those who would die in hiding behind locked doors. She pitied the despair from which they could not escape.

However, if asked if she would go back and rescue them, she would say no. 

She couldn’t help it, even if the terror she had seen in their last moments haunt her like a nightmare for the rest of her life.

Did they think of their daughter at the moment of their death? Or did they just think it was scary before it all ended?

“What you said then doesn’t change anything. Your escape now is nothing more than you obeying my orders.”

Leon’s calm voice cut through the endless stream of self-blame. 

At that moment, she realized why Leon had given her conditions to obey him unconditionally. 

This man wanted to absolve her from everything that would happen in the future. 

He was offering her a pardon, taking all the blame upon himself. 

Because everything was Leon’s judgment.

She stared straight ahead, dazed. 

Sensing her trembling, Leon gathered the reins in one hand, pulling her waist tightly. She wasn’t supposed to like it, but she didn’t hate it for some reason. 

There was a strange sense of security towards the only warmth in the cold.

 

[Collection of Footnotes]

1) “Moat” 

–  A pit dug to prevent enemy invasion.