Chapter 73

Chapter 73

***

Waves rolled flatly onto the sandy beach. And when they receded, the fine sand was left smooth.

Watching that quietly, it felt as if the dregs of his mind were swept away with them, leaving his thoughts neatly organized.

Rickart raised his head. Then, he saw water filling the world to the brim. It was his first time seeing the sea in his life. He had heard of it, but this was his first time seeing it.

Rickart lost his mind for a moment, looking at the endlessly spreading horizon. What on earth is this majesty? Who other than God could create such harmony?

Shock and awe arose simultaneously. He couldn't believe it. It was much more shocking than seeing a vampire in person.

The sea breeze blew and stroked Rickart's hair roughly. His hair tangled wildly, but he had no time to pay attention to it.

It was not a suitable season to watch the sea, but it didn't matter. Even if the wind was cold, compared to the northern winter wind that seemed to tear off flesh, it was warm.

Cold, but not freezing. As if his chest was opened wide, it was just cool.

In the blue sky, light clouds floated like down. The sun's gaze was not intense, just comfortable.

And the sound of the waves really resembled the sound of wind blowing in a field.

Swaaaa......

"Unbelievable......"

Ice, watching the sea together at a place a little away from Rickart, said. He was also seeing the sea for the first time.

The two young swordsmen looked at the sea for quite a while. How far does it stretch? If you reach the end, do you fall off?

"This must be the end of the world."

Ice said.

"No. Somewhere beyond that, heaven might exist. Not in the sky."

Rickart said. It was a bit more realistic than a utopia floating in the sky. The idea that there is an island somewhere no one knows, an ideal place, touched him more.

Rickart stepped softly on the smooth, wet sand. Footprints were stamped as if in snow. And thin waves rolled in and swept the soles of his feet.

He scooped up some sea water and tasted it. My god! It's really salty!

Since the salt they generally ate was mostly rock salt, Rickart thought all salt was mined from mountains. But all this endless water is salt water.

He really couldn't believe it. Salt was an expensive food ingredient, so his concept of economics seemed to be wildly twisted.

He looked at the sea again. No matter how much he looked, he never tired of it. And the thought occurred to him that his other friends must see the sea at least once.

And at the refreshing scenery, Rickart felt a surge of high spirits. So he shouted toward the sea.

"Waaaaaah!"

At Rickart's erratic behavior, Ice looked back, laughing. And he also shouted loudly.

"Waaaaaah! Hahahaha!"

Laughter burst out naturally.

Since it had come to this, Rickart threw off his equipment and jumped into the sea.

The splashing sound, the coldness that seemed to constrict the heart, bursting laughter, and a sense of liberation.

Ice also threw his body into the sea. And the two of them played, splashing water like children.

From ancient times, dipping one's body in salt water had a sacred meaning. That is, God had prepared salvation for all humans.

However, the cleanup was bound to be troublesome. As time passed, they made a bonfire and dried their bodies; since it was already chilly autumn, if they weren't careful, it was perfect weather to catch pneumonia.

Rickart and Ice hung their wet clothes near the fire and shivered.

Still, if one were alone, it would have been pathetic, but since they did the stupid act together, laughter just came out.

"After becoming a Sword Master, what will you do?"

Rickart, who usually didn't dig into what a friend hid, felt he could ask lightly now for some reason.

"Well, I don't know."

"If you become a Sword Master, do you have to return to the Order?"

"Probably......"

"Shame. I wish we could all be together forever."

"Me too. But if I don't do the work I have to do, my younger sister's death will be in vain."

"Can you tell me about your younger sister?"

Ice didn't answer immediately and looked at the bonfire for a moment. The flickering flame was not fierce, but affectionate.

"She was a child who laughed often. But because of that, she committed a sin, received punishment, and died. I had to spit on my younger sister's corpse. So, only devotion to God can save my younger sister."

Rickart couldn't understand, but out of consideration for Ice, he didn't dare to criticize his religion.

But perhaps Ice might have a bigger heart for his younger sister than religion itself.

He seemed to be suffering from having ignored his younger sister's death, and spitting on her corpse instead of retrieving it.

Telling him to just forget it since it's in the past; the pain was embedded too deeply. And saying so might be a huge insult to Ice.

Moreover, he seemed to feel guilt over whether he was allowed to be happy when his younger sister had died so miserably.

Suffering unable to escape. Ice was struggling, locked in a prison without bars.

"......Laughing becoming a sin. When there is this much salt water."

"Indeed. It would have been good if my younger sister also saw the sea."

"Did she not see it first?"

"Mm?"

"Somewhere in that far sea, surely there must be an island for pitiful souls. Without pain or suffering. And she would be waiting for you. If you meet again someday, she would welcome you with a laugh."

Ice looked at Rickart quietly, then just smiled quietly. On the pitch-black sea, innumerable stars were twinkling. Indeed, when there are so many beautiful things like that.

The quiet sound of waves and the sound of the burning bonfire; stars twinkled in the sky.

The next morning, Rickart and Ice shook the salt off their dry clothes and put them on. Equipped again, they went down to the south following the seaside.

Starting at dawn, they arrived at Harlen around mid-morning.

Just as they saw the sea for the first time yesterday, Rickart and Ice came to experience a 'big city' for the first time.

Ehrenberg was a small city with a population of around a thousand, and Linefurt was a little bigger at least, but that also was nothing compared to Harlen.

It was hard to estimate just how wide Harlen was, and the population seemed to easily exceed ten thousand. The harbor was also tremendously huge, the ships were big, and the market overflowed with all sorts of exotic goods.

He thought Stormhearts was the countryside, but it seemed the whole northern part was just a rural corner.

Rickart went to a fishmonger in the market first and asked the way. He was about to get dizzy from the fishy smell coming from the pile of fish on the stall, but he didn't frown.

"Let me ask you something. Do you know where the Rose Circus is here?"

"......Well, I don't know the exact name, and to see acrobatics, you have to go inside the city."

"Is that so. Can you tell me roughly where?"

"First find the Great Temple, then try going to the south. Once there, ask people again and you will know."

"Understood. Thank you."

Rickart handed him a copper coin and turned back from the fishmonger.

Finding Harlen's Great Temple was not difficult. Because it was one of the most important buildings in this city, and the building was big, so it was seen well from afar.

The front of the Great Temple was a square, and in the center, an execution ground stained with bloodstains was there, but since they didn't do public executions anymore, it was a place where the city's children ran and played.

Walking a bit to the south from there, ships passing in the waterway were seen, and houses were narrow and long but attached closely. A slightly foul smell rose from the waterway, but it wasn't severe.

Rickart caught a passerby here again and asked.

"Excuse me, where can I go to see the Rose Circus?"

"Mm? A traveler?"

"Yes, well, right."

"Then it will be difficult to see the performance. You need an invitation to enter. The place is next to the Catacombs entrance. If you turn right from that road over there and go straight, it will come out."

Catacombs meant an underground cemetery that had existed since ancient times. It varied by city, but some were tangled like a maze, so there were underground cemeteries wide enough to lose one's way if wrong.

"Understood. Thank you."

"You're welcome. Have a pleasant trip."

The passerby said, laughing brightly. Unlike the blunt and harsh northern part, people here felt composed somehow.

Rickart and Ice walked as the passerby directed. Walking continuously, a Catacombs entrance blocked with bars appeared, and a very big building was seen next to it.

As expected, a signboard was attached to the building wall with the name 'Rose Garden' engraved on it.

"Here seems right. Then let's find an inn first."

"Yeah."

Since they identified the place, now it was time to take a seat and make a plan.

Rickart and Ice took accommodation at a place not far from the Rose Garden, and after resolving their meal with smoked herring, they walked around the alleyways to learn the surrounding geography.

"That Catacombs is suspicious somehow, right?"

Walking in an alleyway where sunlight didn't enter well, Rickart asked.

"Almost certain, wouldn't it be?"

"They seem not to be active openly. If not, it's a perfect place to be suspected."

"But how do we receive an invitation? Shall we infiltrate secretly at night?"

"They are a race of the night. Making trouble at night seems like abandoning our advantage."

"Mm......"

"First let's observe. No need to be urgent. We might have to deal with a High Vampire. Let's be prudent."

"Want to try visiting the Thieves Guild?"

The Thieves Guild was in any city. Just as where there is light, there is shade. If it's them, they might know some information regarding vampires.

But Rickart shook his head.

"Let's watch that too for now. It doesn't seem very good to reveal our identity."

Even an overwhelming beast starts by hiding its body and watching quietly when hunting a small beast. Rickart was also not the style to rely only on his swordsmanship and run wild.

Like that, the first day, they looked around the accommodation surroundings and checked the location of the castle gate, opening and closing times, etc.

After that, they returned to the accommodation and examined the Rose Garden through the window at night.

Indeed, as night came, normal people all slept, but lights came on in the building from then, and people started gathering one by two. There were people arriving in carriages, perhaps rich.

By the way, all the people were wearing long black cloaks that covered almost their entire bodies, white gloves, and neat hats. It was very formal attire.

Rickart and Ice just watched that scene quietly. Soon, whether people all entered, the door closed.

After quite a while, people came out again, laughing happily as if they had seen a fun performance. People coming riding carriages rode carriages again and returned, and the rest just walked back.

"Eight people are missing."

"Uh?"

"The number of people is different when entering and when coming out. Eight people are missing."

Once in a while, he was surprised at Rickart's ability, but Ice felt Rickart was great anew. Counting all that and comparing when entering and coming out.

Moreover, seeing as it was night, it wasn't even easy to see.

"But people were laughing though."

Ice said. Wait, people were laughing too happily for something to have happened inside.

"For a vampire of that level, wouldn't it be easy to kill a few people without anyone knowing?"

"Hmm...... Certainly, somewhat suspicious indeed."

"But our request is strictly killing the vampire named Armand. Let's not forget that."

"Yeah."

Ice nodded.

Rickart and Ice just walked around the surroundings the next day too. By the way, the Catacombs entrance was not only in one place, but actually in several places.

Among them, there was a place where the entrance was not blocked, either; vagrants were lighting fire around there and living in pitched tents.

They looked very vulnerable to a vampire's attack, but there seemed to be no big hindrance in living. Moreover, for vagrants, their faces and appearances were on the clean side.

This night too, Rickart and Ice examined the Rose Garden from the inn window. People gathered to see the performance, and when going out, the number decreased again. Today, five people.

They spent the next day similarly too, and made their own plans, such as whether to try entering the Catacombs once or attacking a performance audience member at night and snatching an invitation.

By the way, after people all entered the performance hall, one gentleman came out and took off his hat and bowed politely, looking exactly at the place where Rickart was. As if he knew all along that they were watching.

And wearing his hat again, he entered the building. The door closed.

Rickart and Ice simultaneously opened their eyes wide and looked at each other.

Rickart grinned.

"Hehe, caught. How did he know?"

"His sense is immensely fast."

He seemed to notice even though they didn't take any action worthy of suspicion at all meanwhile. The inn and performance hall were not that close either. Naturally, they didn't watch with the lights on in the room either.

The next day, the inn owner delivered an invitation received from the Rose Circus to Rickart and Ice. It felt like a challenge letter.

Rickart was prudent when prudent, but bold again when bold. He thought it was rather good.

With the calculation to see his face or something, they visited a tailor immediately and matched formal clothes, then waited for night to come.

Time passed, and the sun hid its appearance gradually. At the time when the race of the night wakes up, Rickart and Ice, wearing white gloves, suits, and long black cloaks, headed to the Rose Garden, taking just one dagger each.

Now the stars in the night sky seemed to giggle unpleasantly rather than look beautiful.