Volume 2 - CH 6.4

The bridge was shaking. And burning.

Kazuya glanced down.

He couldn’t see the bottom of the night-shrouded abyss; he only knew that it was dark and deep. The roar of a muddy stream echoed far below.

Everyone else was trembling with terror, while Kazuya alone remained calm as he crossed the bridge. He looked over his shoulder and saw the fear-stricken faces of Inspector Blois and Mildred. Kazuya found it puzzling at first, but then it hit him.

I get it now! I’ve grown accustomed to this, because I frequently climbed the stairs up the library. I was scared at first, too, until I got used to it.

As they made it halfway through the bridge, a roar sounded from up ahead. Victorique shuddered and clung to Kazuya, who sensed her small body trembling from within layers of frills. He held her close to shield her.

He lifted his head, and saw the sharp tip of a metal coming from the front.

It was Harminia, brandishing her spear. She was charging straight at them, wailing. The drawbridge, on the verge of burning down, shook violently with the maid’s movement.

Harminia was going straight for Kazuya… no, for Victorique.

The inspector, Derek, and Mildred slipped past them.

The tip of the spear was an ominous black. At the other end of the weapon was Harminia, laughing like a madman. Her head wobbled from side to side; it looked like it could fall to the bottom of the ravine at any second. Kazuya backed away, still shielding Victorique behind him. The burning bridge swayed precariously. Flames raging on the ropes licked Kazuya’s cheek.

The tip of the spear grazed Kazuya’s right arm. It was hot. He glanced at his arm and saw that his thin, long sleeve had been cut. Blood was seeping out from the wound. He looked over his shoulder. Victorique’s eyes were shut tight.

Kazuya suddenly realized how scary it was to run with your eyes closed. He had told her to close her eyes and follow him, but without being able to see what was going on around her, it was terrifying to even walk, let alone run.

But she did as she was told, closed her eyes, gripped Kazuya’s hand, and followed him.

Did she perhaps have faith in his ability?

If so, it was a first for Kazuya. No one but Victorique had put their trust on him like this before. His father and older brothers had high expectations of him, and his mother and older sisters adored him, but no one had ever believed in his abilities and entrusted him with something important.

I have to keep Victorique safe no matter what.

Harminia swung her spear, and Kazuya dodged each time, all the while protecting Victorique.

Sergius’ ominous voice played in his mind.

What was the fortune again?

“Years from now… a gale strong enough to shake the world will blow.”

“The gale will separate you.”

“No matter how strong your feelings are, you are no match for the wind.”

“Your hearts will never be apart.”

Kazuya swallowed.

It’s just fortune-telling. It won’t come true. There’s no way someone who’s lived in this medieval village their whole life would know anything about a wind that could shake the whole world. But what if…

He held Harminia’s gaze.

If he’s right, then it’s not yet time for me and Victorique to part. We’re going home safe and sound. Back to St. Marguerite Academy. To our home.

The spear lunged at them both. Kazuya pushed Victorique aside and took a few steps back, and the spear slipped right in the middle of the two. Realizing that they had been separated, Kazuya’s breath seized. Harminia noticed it as well.

Harminia grinned. Her eyes were bloodshot. “I’ll start with you… You’re dying first!” She raised the spear toward Kazuya.

The bridge blazed.

Anticipating Kazuya’s escape, Harminia thrust the spear as hard as she could toward Kazuya’s left side, a safer spot with weaker flames.

Kazuya, however, moved in the opposite direction—to the right. He had left Victorique alone on that side. Harminia looked at Kazuya curiously. Her face seemed to ask, “What are you doing over there?”

Harminia lost her balance. Her spear had struck an empty space. She had put too much force in her strike with the intention of killing Kazuya. She stumbled and fell from the bridge, down into the abyss.

An unforgettable, chilling cry faded into the darkness below, swallowed up by the void.

It was too dark to see, but Kazuya knew that down there was the bottom of the ravine, where a muddy river streamed past. His hair stood on end.

Snap.

The bridge was starting to fall. Walls of flame roared on both sides, leaving only a small path in the middle to pass through.

Kazuya snapped back to his senses and started running, pulling Victorique’s hand.

With about ten steps remaining, Kazuya held Victorique close and pushed through. Only one more step.

He felt relieved. He managed to take Victorique to safety. With his own power.

Suddenly, Kazuya’s body lurched. At first, he thought it was because of relief. But no—the bridge had tilted.

The bridge finally collapsed, bright, orange embers drifting down into the abyss.

One last step.

Victorique was the first to reach solid ground. Kazuya followed after.

But his body reeled along with the bridge. Victorique spun and let out a yelp. Her face disappeared from his field of vision, and the night sky—a sky full of stars—filled his view.

It was beautiful.

The next instant, his body started falling.

Down the ravine.

The stars quickly receded. Kazuya saw the cliff, Victorique shouting from the top, Inspector Blois peering down at Kazuya in shock, Mildred and Ambrose screaming. On the other side, there was a beautiful, but ancient village frozen in time, with a cathedral and stone arches built during the Middle Ages. Flames were smoldering still.

Kazuya saw the pendant—a gold coin on a chain—that Victorique had shown him at the inn, hanging down her neck. It peeked out of the layers of frills, coming toward him.

As he fell, that one moment seemed to stretch for a long, long time. He observed Victorique’s pendant rather calmly. Wait, what’s Ambrose doing on that side? He tried to voice his question, but he couldn’t get the words out. His body shifted, and he started plummeting into the darkness.

Everything seemed to be moving away from him.

He suddenly missed his family.

Memories flashed through his mind—the color of the sky in his hometown, the raging sea when he crossed the ocean by ship, the first time he entered his dorm room at St. Marguerite Academy. And that spring day when Ms. Cecile asked him to climb up the labyrinthine stairs of the Grand Library for the first time.

For a moment, a mixture of frustration, pride, and regret gnawed at him.

His mind cast back to the country of his birth.

Why he left…

Dad, my brothers… I’m sorry.

I couldn’t be the son and brother you wanted me to be. So I ran away. I didn’t really come to this country to study. I just couldn’t stay at home. When I was around you guys, I felt so pathetic. I just didn’t want to feel worthless any more. Sorry. It’s not that I hate you. In fact, I have so much respect for you guys.

Inside Kazuya’s heart was a set of labyrinthine stairs, where he wandered around, lost.

I don’t know what to do. I’ve come to hate myself. I was lost and in pain, so I ran away. I’m an utterly worthless man. Victorique was right. I’m a mediocre egghead. Just an average man. Insignificant. So even if I die here…