648 Episode Three: The Great Sinner of Hope Town

In his nightmares, he was desperately fleeing.

A horrible monster is coming after him with a loud voice. It was a black monster as if darkness had solidified, and its eyes were burning like flames.

In that fierce glance he clearly recognised.

I just can't remember whose it belonged to.

Was he more afraid than anything, Father?

I was as afraid as that, would it be the son of my father's sister?

Or would it be that shady aristocratic little boy?

Or would he be the younger brother of a little ugly big man?

With such suspicion in his belly, he was fleeing through the darkness.

So, when I finally woke up from the nightmare - there was a raw awaiting me full of bitterness that was not significantly different from the nightmare.

◇

"... oh, you're finally awake"

An unfamiliar voice was echoing over my head.

But my whole body is suffering from severe pain, and I can't help responding to that. There was no force in his arms or legs, and his whole body burned. It was hot as if anyone was.

"If you can't move, the wound will open. You want some water?

When I wondered if the man's voice was approaching, something cold was being appreciated in his mouth.

It was apparently a metal cup, with cold water pouring into my mouth. Most of it spilled beside his face, but he drank it like a mumble.

"I thought I'd give my soul back like this, but it's probably the one. … well, it might have been easier to return your soul honestly"

The man's voice felt like he was pushing and killing some emotion so hard.

But he doesn't have room for such a thing.

"What the hell is this place...? Who are you...?

"What's your name? I was supposed to have a job as a lookout without even knowing your name."

A man has looked at me, stating it that way.

He is a soldier, wearing a crude leather helmet. He didn't seem to eat that old yet, and to him he seemed about his son's age.

"I... no, I... it's called Zuro-Sung..."

"Zoolosung? That's a lot, that's a strange name. You have strangely shallow black skin, but are you an eastern bloodmuscle?

"No... I am a people by the woods... a people by the woods..."

Answering that way, a different pain ran through my chest.

When you think about your hometown, there's always pain in Zulo-Sung's chest. Now he was a great sinner, unacceptable to name the people of the woods.

"Forestside people. I remember hearing that somewhere. Was he a freelance resident of Genos?"

"No... the forest side of Morga is the territory of Genos... the forest side people should have been considered the people of Genos..."

"Hmm. Well, whatever. Unless you redeem your sins, neither your hometown nor your bloodstream will make sense."

Zuro-Sung was more aware of such things than anyone else.

The soldier's man pulls his body and disappears out of sight. Zuro-Sung couldn't even follow it with his eyes, as it was difficult to move his neck.

"Hey... tell me... what the hell is wrong with me...?

"You don't remember anything? You... worked in a mine, and you were struck by a tremor."

With those words, Zulo-Sung finally got to remember everything.

Running away from the dark pits, the appearance of people and the sad whispering voices that they give rise to, are often brought back to the back of the brain. It was just a nightmare.

"I hear you helped a lot of people in that mess, with your own lives in reverse. That's why he wasn't sent back to prison, and he was so generously nursed."

"Really... did those guys help...?

So, the man's voice broke off.

Then the voice sounds like you pushed your emotions to death.

"With all those earthquakes, not all humans can help. But dozens of human beings would have been saved because you stood up.... Why did you think of putting your body up for others?

"Why...? Do you need a reason to save a person in distress...?

"On that occasion, there was only a great sinner and a soldier on the lookout. Were some of the great sinners, important fellows?

"My companions... no companions... I have been cut off from all my compatriots..."

In my chest, it stings and hurts.

The soldier's man is sniffing "hum" out of sight.

"Damn, he's a crazy one. You, underneath a huge rock bed, had your skin and flesh torn apart on top of all the bones that had been broken. The best possible hand is untied, but the wound won't last long."

"Well... that's it for my life..."

On Zulo-Sung's cheek, tears were transmitted.

But chest pain is lighter than it was earlier.

"Then I guess that's what Mother Forest thinks... because that's all I've worked for..."

"... you wanted your soul back? A hard sentence is a more painful punishment than death."

Zuro-Sung asked me to answer, "No..."

"I wanted to go home... I feel more bitter than anything about it... but I guess this is what Mother Forest thinks..."

"If you don't want to die, how could you be so impotent? If it hadn't been for the others, you'd have gotten away faster than anyone else."

A soldier's voice mixed with something like anger.

I just feel like I'm really hiding a different emotion from that. While I thought it odd in a corner of my mind, Zulo-Sung made me try to "no..." again.

"It just doesn't make sense to live... I must be proud of myself as a forest folk... and if I can't do that, there's no point in celebrating and living..."

"Hmm! So if I screw myself, it doesn't make any sense?

"I don't want to die... but if I were a forest folk, everyone would have done the same... so I couldn't have done that either..."

From Zuro-Sung's eyes, tears were spilling without stopping.

I couldn't tell for what reason it was a tear that was shed - a thoughtless tear that I couldn't return to my hometown, a tear that delighted me to behave like a forest folk even slightly.

Zulo-Sung was a person who had never lived correctly at one time.

Born as a successor to the chieftaincy muscle, he could only fear the presence of his father, who had obeyed its wrong teachings with promise. No matter how much suffering the family and the divided humans suffered, they could not save it. And after the terrible father was prevented from moving by the devil - as if to retaliate against his miserable half-life until then, he let it go corrupt.

But what was truly miserable was the raw after its depravity. Zuro-Sung today had chewed that fact up with thoughtlessness.

When his father, who was mighty and incomparable, fell ill, Zulo-Sung should have changed his mind.

We should have reclaimed our pride as folks by the woods by breaking down the code that was pushed by our father. It was because it could not be done that Zulo-Sung was thus to be chased home.

Zulo-Sung couldn't save anyone. Beautiful companions, as many as five children, elderly families living in the same house, and those in the division who have suffered with them - without saving anyone else, Zulo-Sung chose a tranquil path. That was Zulo-Sung's sin.

Frightened by the eyes of the families of the north and the blood of the long-standing enemy Luu, Zulo-Sung did all he could to corrupt. Without a giva hunting job, he devoured the grace of the forest and monopolized the prize copper coin. That was his father's wrong teaching, but it was Zuro-Sung who accepted it. In the ten years since his father's fall, Zulo-Sung was the one who had forced Sung's blood family into the wrong fate.

(Father Zazz chewed through Gene's hunter's throat and ran away... if I had broken Father Zazz's teachings, I might have had the same eyes... still, I should have)

Because of its inability to do so, Zulo-Sung is thus a great sinner.

However, Zulo-Sung was satisfied with this situation.

I was finally able to find the right path because I had never been able to behave correctly. Zuro-Sung thought so. He bears the great sin of the Sung family all by himself, exposing himself to a punishment more painful than death. At last, Zulo-Sung was able to gain the kind of comfort that had been unleashed from all the curses.

(Something like this may just satisfy me on my own...... maybe I'm just turning away from my former sins by hurting myself...... but still, I thought this was the only, right way to go)

The more painful the sentence of hard labour was, the more Zulo-Sung's heart was saved. If we survive so much suffering, will we also be allowed to return to our homeland? I could also believe that. Even if, after ten years, my hometown compatriots welcomed themselves with cold eyes, it would have been satisfying if they had spent their last time by the woods and been able to return their souls to their mother's woods. It was only to fulfill that wish that Zulo-Sung had endured the pain of the past year.

(The rest of the struggle was about nine years... I wanted to play the struggle, even though I grabbed the stone...)

Apparently, however, the fate of Zulo-Sung had been so far.

I have left it in my hometown, my family - no, Zulo-Sung was to continue to weep as I put my thoughts in the shadow of those who were once family members.

(Oura, Yamir, Diga, Dodd, Mida, Zwei... do you live right as folks by the woods...? To my father Zazz, Tay-Sung... could your souls be held in the arms of Mother Forest...?

In the bitterness of burning his whole body, Zulo-Sung thought so.

But of course, no one could answer that question.

◇

Then, a short, long day passed.

Zuro-Sung, who is just lying in a dark room, also doesn't know how much time that was. While conscious, he is suffering from general pain, and while asleep, he is threatened by nightmares. Every day was that repetition. However, given the number of times it seemed that the diet and medication were delivered to the fixed daily carving limits, I was wondering if a long day had passed.

"As for your treatment, I am standing before the Inquisitor of the King's capital. You can't treat a great sinner with generosity forever."

The soldier on the lookout said so.

"If a messenger from Wang Du arrives, you will surely be sent back to prison. They don't give you any decent medicine, and you feel maggots scratching your wound, and you're going to suffer and die."

"Oh well... that would be the thought of the Mother Forest..."

When Zulo-Sung replied that way, the soldier came all the way closer to his face.

In its eyes, there is some kind of light that comes to mind.

"What is it, you? Whatever they ask, look enlightened... isn't it horrible to give your soul back?

"It's not horrible... I'm just careless..."

"Then try to look a little careless. Aren't you sorry to see this coming to an end?

"Regret is, I don't... I'm just careless..."

The soldier's face pulled him to grief.

This soldier can be disturbing at times. The reason for this was not known to Zulo-Sung.

"Zoolosung, are you... still thinking somewhere in your mind that you might be able to help? Or do you think that if you were out of jail like this, your fellow villains would come and help you?

The soldier said so in a cracked voice.

"This is a dormitory where wounded soldiers are resting. There are as many soldiers on the lookout, so no villain can save you."

"There is no such thing as trying to save me... the man who went the wrong way with me has already returned his soul... or is captured as a sinner... well, even if he doesn't, there is no such thing as saving me..."

"So what do you say, hometown buddies? From what I've heard from the people around us, the people by the woods have a bond of hard blood."

"Unless I redeem this sin, there is no way that the people of the woods will try to save me... the people of the woods will weigh the edge of blood, but also the law and the code..."

"Hmm. So, let's see. They're a lot more flirtatious."

"If it's for a code, it kills love... but if you keep the code, you don't have to kill love... that's why the people by the woods weigh the code..."

Talking to this soldier was not painful for Zulo-Sung. Though the body was painful just to speak, when I put my mood into words, it seemed to take shape more clearly.

But today he seemed to be more of a thought of face than usual.

Its eyes are staring at Zuro-Sung like it is, and its blood is drawn from its face. The hissing of the helmet created a dark shadow, which also looked oddly ominous.

"So you are… completely prepared, Zoolosung."

"Readiness is...? If you are talking about giving your soul back, thoughtless but not afraid..."

"Well," the soldier put his hand on the knife on his hips.

"So... if you want, I'll let you have your soul back"

"Why, you...? Did you hold a grudge against me...?

"How can I resent you when I've never seen you face to face before on this occasion? I..."

And the soldier pulled his face distorted.

"... you saved my brother."

"Take my brother...? Was your brother a big sinner or a soldier on the lookout...?

"Is my brother guilty or something? My brother was a soldier, and he was responsible for monitoring the pits where you worked."

The fingertips of the man who grabbed the sword pattern were shaking slightly. The eye bears the light that came to mind.

"My brother broke a few abrasives and is still resting in another room. But if you hadn't put your saving hand up, you would have buried it alive. That's what my brother himself said."

"Well... so why should I be killed by you...?

"It's at least a thank you for saving my brother. If you are sent back to prison, you will die after suffering. I'm going to save you from such a ruthless fate."

Zuro-Sung came as a heartfelt surprise.

"Well... but you don't have to imitate that... no matter what kind of pain you suffer, it's a servitude of the Mother Forest..."

"You don't know anything. How good do you think they use drugs to soften your pain? If you are forbidden to give that medicine, your whole body will rot away in further pain and fever."

"Was such a precious drug given to me... I guess that's what I do so much..."

Zulo-Sung managed to make her grin on her face, which was tight with lacerations.

"Still, you don't have to sin for me or anything else... and neither do I, no matter how painful I choose to die myself... how about you, live the right way for my brother..."

The soldier dropped his shoulder disappointingly.

"... really, is that all right?

"It's okay... now, it's okay..."

That's when the tone of being knocked on the door sounded.

Feels like it's too early for diet and medicine chopping. The soldier's man was also looking back at the sidelines.

"What can I do for you? Has it finally been decided to treat this sinner?

There was no response, just signs of the door being opened.

Occasionally, a soldier's man salutes with a blue face.

"Was it the captain? This is rude."

"I don't mind. It was an emergency, too."

Zulo-Sung, who was slightly able to move his neck, was to find two human figures there. One was a magnificent man wrapped in leather armor and the other was a young man wrapped in a red dyed coat.

"This is the Messenger's Palace sent by the Inquisitor of the King's Capital. Now that your treatment of Zulo-Sung has been prescribed, I have come to convey it."

When the magnificent man stated so, the messenger young man praised him with a stern face.

After seeing what was done, the captain's man looks back at the soldier's man.

"That Zulo-Sung was to be kept in this quarters until the wounds healed. I order you to continue your watch assignment."

"Kee, until the wound heals? But I heard that it would take at least a year for this person's wounds to heal..."

"During that period, like the other wounded soldiers, we were to nurse here. When he can walk on his own feet, he'll need shackles... well, he'll need them for a few more months."

The captain's man twisted the face of the soldier who stood still.

"They say the Marquis Genos family will bear the cost of the treatment. Since the Inquisitor of the King's capital has acknowledged it, he has no authority to speak to us. Encourage the mission."

"Yes! I understand!

"So, did the apostle tell this Zulo-Sung?

The young man of the Apostle nodded one and advanced before Zulo-Sung.

"Treating the Great Sinner generously is an unusual procedure. If we trample on our temper, we will be punished with a heavier punishment than a prison sentence."

"Ha... but why, give me the warmth...?

"I don't need to know that better. Also, it's a big contraindication to bring a story outside to a major sinner in prison..."

and the messenger's young man narrowed his eyes slightly.

It's a look that doesn't even look like you're laughing a lot.

"... was allowed to tell only one thing, as the inquisitor's ordained amnesty. Those who were once your family, they all live a healthy life."

…………

"If you want to go back to your hometown, heal that wound and put away a hard sentence. … these are the words from the Inquisitor"

That is all I said, and the young man of the messenger turned himself away.

The captain's man also follows it silently.

The soldier man has watched Zulo-Sung as he shook his head.

"I didn't expect the Inquisitor of Wang Du to give such a warmth... I was in danger and almost made a terrible mistake"

…………

"Oh, cry as much as you like. You must be relieved too."

Zulo-Sung was in tears.

But I wasn't happy with our good fortune. Such a mood had been driven aside by the words of the apostle.

(Everyone lives healthy... Diga, Dodd, Mida, Zwei, Yamir and Oura... were they all breathing disaster...?

What separated them from their former families was the place where Cycleus and Silhouel were held captive as great sinners.

Indeed, at that time they each seemed to regain their pride as folks by the woods. He turned away the sweet words of the spiteful nobles and acted diligently to live righteously as a people by the woods.

(If I hadn't seen that look, I might not have been able to consolidate my readiness either... it was you guys who saved me...)

Thinking of it that way, Zulo-Sung couldn't stop crying.

The soldier's man sits in a chair and peeks into Zulo-Sung's face.

"One more year, you're going to make me stick my face together. Don't bother me, Zoolosung."

On the face of the soldier stating it that way, there was a gentle grin that Zulo-Sung saw for the first time.

Zuro-Sung also tried to smile back, but it still seemed to take a while to do so.