"Can you describe again how you felt during the period after you were attacked by the suicide attacks by the Nightcrawlers from Severtan and fell into a coma? If I understand correctly, you were trapped in your own nightmare at that time?"
The healer who had previously treated Kevin at the Arestle Frontline Military Camp and Field Medical Clinic sat beside Kevin's bed and asked the Night Blade member how he felt when he was unconscious after being affected by erosion.
The healer took off the medical supplies such as masks and hoods that were used to ensure hygiene during treatment, revealing a lady with brown hair that was not too long and had heavy dark circles under her eyes. She looked very tired.
"You don't mind if I smoke this..." As she said that, the healer lady took out a cigar-like thing from her pocket and waved it in front of Kevin.
"Well, it's okay, Ms. Jenny, give me some time to recall it. To be honest, this is not a good memory."
Kevin, who was lying on the hospital bed with a bandage on his shoulder, waved his hand to indicate it was okay, and then fell into memories.
The memory of dreams often becomes extremely blurry after waking up, but for these members of the Night Blade who have clear ideas, sorting out a rough summary is nothing.
"Sorry...huh" Dr. Jenny snapped her fingers, lit the cigarette-like thing in her hand with the flames from her nails, put it into her mouth and took a deep breath.
A faint white smoke rose up, not the slightly pungent smell of cigarettes, but the fresh and refreshing smell brought by the mixture of some herbs.
"Comfortable." After taking a puff of the cigarette she used to refresh herself, the fatigue that had been hanging on Jenny's face was much lessened.
Taking a breath, Jenny looked at Kevin who was deep in thought. The other hand that was not holding the cigarette unconsciously tapped the table next to him, making a rhythmic sound.
"Well... this kind of herbal smoke with a slight hypnotic effect and this kind of rhythmic music that can help patients relax their minds cannot affect the existence of the Night Blades, who have much firmer minds than ordinary people."
"So, what exactly is that kind of erosion? Even if it is dealt with by the "Prayer Communication Network", it can still build a nightmare cage that can trap their will. If this thing is used on a large scale by Seventan in war, what will happen? It’s a very troublesome problem.”
Jenny thought silently in her heart. He created an environment in Kevin's ward that was particularly relaxing, whether it was the dim lights, the smell of the special cigarettes she smoked, and the Rhythmic percussion rhythms, all the same.
Even she herself, the doctor lady who looks very tired, has dark circles on her face, and looks a little sleepy, is a part of this relaxing environment.
But Kevin, a member of the Night Blade, was not affected by this environment. At this moment, he was just thinking seriously about what he saw and remembered in his dreams, and did not even make any response to the external environment. A little feedback.
The mental resistance of members of the Night Blade, which is one step higher than that of ordinary people, has been fully demonstrated at this moment.
"Well, I have almost recalled it. I feel that the nightmare created by this erosion captured my deepest fear and my unwillingness to face the memories, and then reproduced the scene at that time, trapping me inside. .”
Kevin recovered from the state of slightly closing his eyes, and his body trembled slightly under Jenny's gaze. It could be seen that he must have felt uncomfortable recalling that experience.
"The most terrifying memory, the most unwilling to face?" Jenny asked.
"Well, this is also the reason why I joined the Night Blade. I was not a resident of the royal city before. I was the child of an ordinary resident in a small town not far from the royal city."
"That year, a pastor from the Plague Sect passed by here and took a liking to my playmate next door, asking him to become a believer in the "Plague Origin"."
"Plague is not a good thing in the eyes of ordinary residents in our town. When plague comes, it will kill people, livestock, or crops. How can anyone be willing to believe in the "God of Plague"? What does he do? The name is too hard to pronounce, so just call him the God of Plague."
There was nothing special in Kevin's words. It could be seen that he had told others about this experience many times.
But if only this could wash away the shadow of this experience on Kevin, this memory would not become a nightmare cage that trapped Kevin's will.
"Of course my playmate's parents didn't agree, and my playmate didn't want it either. Then, this pastor of the Plague Sect who was passing by should be regarded as a priest competing against high-level official mages. He was interested in me. I don’t understand the “plague carrier” qualities of this playmate..."
"It was night, and my parents heard loud things falling and screaming outside. They went out to check, and I went to look too. They saw two bodies whose skin and flesh turned into pus, which kept melting, but still remained. A "corpse that can continue to move?" ", those are my playmate's parents."
"And my playmate, who was being held in the hands of that Plague Sect guy, was pouring something into his mouth. It was some green-looking viscous liquid, and it was also moving, a bit like Sly. Mu, but it has a more unpleasant smell than slime. Anyway, it is something that the priest of the plague sect calls "divine grace"."
At this point, the words paused for a moment, and Kevin whispered "divine grace" twice, with a hint of disdain on his face.
"Anyway, that's it. I looked at my playmate who I had a close relationship with and said, "He's rotten." At that time, he was probably attracted by the movement of my parents and I opening the door. He kept melting and looked over at the same time. , I can never forget that desperate look, it was a nightmare I often dreamed about at night when I was a child."
"Rotten? Sorry, I shouldn't have asked."
Jenny listened to Kevin's memories without any emotional waves. The plain and simple narration, without emotional embellishment, gave people a clearer glimpse of the scene back then. This made Jenny couldn't help but ask, and then realized When it comes to the inappropriateness of my own words.
"Yeah, it's rotten. My playmate's whole body melted into a green sticky stuff similar to those "divine favors". I can still see his skull floating inside. He's probably not dead yet. But if it turns into that kind of thing, I think it would be better to die."
Kevin didn't mind Jenny's polite inquiry and continued to talk about the nightmare that belonged to him. His tone was still very calm, but Jenny could see the slight trembling in his body. Kevin was born while suppressing his own memories. Those bad emotions...
"The pastor of the Plague Sect stuffed my companion into his body. His body was very similar to "Divine Grace" and could be deformed at will. Then he turned to look at my parents and me. We were completely frightened at the time. shocked."
"The pastor smiled, sprinkled two drops of "divine grace" on my parents, and then... pointed at me..."
When he said this, Kevin's words finally showed some emotional fluctuations, anger, unwillingness, and a great sense of depression. He was still suppressing his emotions.
Although she had anticipated what would happen next, Jenny still couldn't help but clenched her fists.
"..." Kevin paused for a long time while he was organizing his words to calm down.
"Ah, those two things that I couldn't tell were my parents or monsters chased me for a long time. In that street, no one could hear my scream. I called my parents' names loudly and begged them. A wake-up call, for the plague has spread and most of the townspeople died in their sleep that night.”
"Silfast" whispered softly. Listening to Kevin's story, Jenny suddenly remembered a name. There was such a small town in the books and materials in her memory about learning medical treatment, a town "devoured by the plague".
"I ran away for a long time. Maybe it was the priest's bad taste. I was not infected by the plague that killed almost all the townspeople. I was just chased by the two tireless monsters transformed by my parents. It seemed that Endless dark streets of deathly silence, running until exhausted.”
"Hey, that night of running left me with too many things, fear, and cowardice. I think even the inner potential I awakened later is related to this past. I hope someone can die for me. That doppelganger, so that I can escape."
Kevin suddenly smiled somewhat self-deprecatingly, as if he was laughing at the "cowardly" inner potential he had awakened.
"I was blocked at the end of an alley. I called out my parents' names loudly, crying and begging them not to kill me in fear. There was no response. They were just two monsters. I was still young at that time, so how could I understand. "
"I watched in despair as the monster approached, raised my hand, and prepared to melt me with the corrosive body fluid. I was so frightened that I didn't dare to do anything. I just watched, watching as the monster was about to kill me. .”
"But as you can see, I'm not dead yet. Well, at the last moment, a long sword swept across and cut off the two monsters. Fortunately, although it was too late to save the entire town, Hilfast was The town is quite close to the royal city, the Night Blade action team arrived, and a team leader rescued me."
"He is my teacher and the opportunity for me to become a member of Night Blade."
As Kevin spoke, the emotions that had stirred up before slowly subsided during the narration, and he resumed his calm speaking style.
"The nightmare that trapped me this time was this memory. The content of the nightmare was that I was finally exhausted and stuck in a blind corner, but this time there was no sudden appearance of the blade of night, only the infinitely pressing monster. , and the powerless me.”
"As for how I broke free, I don't remember very clearly here. I just didn't just cry in despair. I wanted to live, I wanted to avenge my parents, and I wanted to change."
"So, I picked up a long sword from the side that didn't know why it was there, shouted at the top of my lungs, slashed it out, and then woke up."
Kevin spread his hands and indicated that was all, "I don't know why I could wake up. That nightmare was really real. I could hardly tell the difference. I don't even have any memory beyond that point in time."
"The only difference is that I have become braver. But think carefully about the weak long sword in my hand at that time. What use was it to those two monsters that required apprentice knights to deal with."
Kevin smiled bitterly.
"It may not make sense, but I still admire those brave men who, in desperate moments, don't collapse and cry, but roar and wave their weapons."
Jenny said.
"Really, that experience was an opportunity for me to join the Night Blade. One reason is that I lost my parents and was brought up by my teacher, a member of the Night Blade. In addition, no matter what, I don't want anyone to I had a similar experience.”
Jenny put away the board in her hand that was used to record the contents of the nightmare caused by the erosion.
"Thank you for sharing, it's very helpful in my study of these erosions."
"There is also the matter of the prayer communication network..."
Jenny’s tone was hesitant.
"You mean to tell Blackburn, a subordinate of the royal family, about the prayer communication network? It's nothing. This thing can't be hidden, haha. It's not that I don't understand what the "darkness of the sky" means to the royal family, isn't it to us? Does the Blade of Night create a restriction?"
"Being able to turn us into fools in advance before mental pollution completely pollutes our will also means that only mental pollution can easily deal with us. This is just an insurance for the royal family, but for us it is Necessary, so we can accept it.”
"My teacher was able to survive mental pollution only because of the "Darkness of the Sky" seal. He should still be at the border sanatorium now. Although it is unlikely that he will regain his consciousness, there are special cases, and they are all in Your men, right, Ms. Jenny.”
"Huh?" Jenny was stunned, not only because she didn't expect that Mr. Kevin actually knew that she patted him on the shoulder because of the "Prayer Communication Network", but also because she didn't expect that he actually knew that she came to the frontline medical center from a border sanatorium. of.
"Haha, doctor, do you know that your title in our Night Blade is the goddess of life? The only few old Night Blade members who can recover after going to the border sanatorium are your handiwork. Let me tell you. To be honest, everyone admires you very much, which is why I am happy to share my past.”
"Is that so?" Jenny was a little startled. The inquiry that was originally intended to be led by her turned into something similar to small talk at this moment.
"Well, everything you have done for our Night Blade comrades who went to the border sanatorium due to mental pollution makes me feel sincere respect."
"The prayer communication network is something that is hard for the royal family to tolerate. It frees the Edge of Night from its dependence on the "Darkness of the Sky" seal and loses a way to check and balance the power of the Edge of Night. .”
"I guess they will definitely do something. Target the church of the generous god Lady Night? Target the creator of the prayer communication network? Or something else? This thing cannot be hidden."
Kevin said casually, his understanding was much more thorough than Jenny expected.
"Who is the creator of this prayer communication network?" Jenny was really curious about what kind of amazing and talented person this prayer communication network that can definitely be called a miracle against mental pollution was.
"I don't know? But it doesn't matter. No matter who he is, our Night Blade will never let such a great being suffer injustice, whether he is a royal family or not."
Kevin's tone was firm and decisive.
"Will you be disappointed in this kingdom..." Jenny suddenly asked.
"Because of the royal family, are there any other deadly nobles? No, after so many years, I have already figured out what kind of people they are. The reason why I, or we, the Night Blades, are fighting for is not them in the first place. .”
"But, um, bread for tomorrow, gold coins for the day after tomorrow, these very simple things, of course, and good people like you, Dr. Jenny."
Kevin said with a smile, his smiling tone full of seriousness.
…
Outside the viscount's ruined mansion, Shugeyin was explaining matters to some members of the Night Blade and negotiating with several representatives of the noble investigation team.
At this time, a carriage came from a distance. Shugeyin looked back and saw the royal emblem engraved on it, so he turned his head and didn't care.
The carriage was very fast. It stopped quickly after reaching the street. A middle-aged royal civil servant stepped out of the carriage. After looking around, he confirmed his target. He sat on the street with Edward and waited for Shugen to deal with the matter. Wang Yu.
The civil servant trotted up to Wang Yu and politely called Wang Yu, who had already noticed his approach.
"Hello, Your Excellency Wang Yu."
"Um...Hello." Wang Yu responded politely.
"I would like to ask if the "Prayer Communication Network" recently used in Blade of the Night is related to His Excellency Wang Yu, the Archbishop of the Lady of the Night." Still polite, but with undisguised aggression in his words.
Wang Yu's expression was calm, not at all disturbed by being called out as the archbishop's partially confidential identity.
"It doesn't matter. It should be researched by other believers themselves." Wang Yu denied it casually without any guilt.
"Really? By the way, Your Excellency Serin, the great astrologer of the royal family, would like to meet and pay you a visit. He may visit you in a few days."
The civil servant looked at Wang Yu's expression carefully, as if he wanted to see something from Wang Yu's expression, but Wang Yu's facial muscles could not move, and he could not tell anything. He could only tell the purpose of his visit.
"That great astrologer? Welcome." Wang Yu's tone was surprising and natural.
"Okay, then I'll go back and tell Ms. Serling that you accept her visit." The civil servant didn't say anything else, got on the carriage, and quickly left here, pulled by the pure-blooded horse.
"Tsk, I knew it would happen sooner or later." Wang Yu clicked his tongue and looked at the direction the carriage was leaving, somewhat speechless.
