Capítulo 40: Retribution for Past Deeds
Nila and the attacker silently glared each other down, or at least it looked like it, since I could not see the eyes of that person under the shade of their hat. Their face was also covered with a bandana, fully enclosing their identity. Nila words made me seek out the tiniest bit of memory I had about this word, "Harvester". I certainly remembered it being mentioned, but could quite put where exactly.
Then, the attacker slowly lowered her bandana and removed the hat from her head, revealing crimson wavy hair that I already saw before. She was that touchy weirdo all the way back from Wiskoschia. It seemed like the smile never departed her face ever since we got separated, however now, it felt more wicked. And her eyes were all this time directed not at Nila, but rather at me. But then they swiftly shifted to Nila and the woman nodded.
"It was rather hard to find you, I was nearly certain that you managed to escape already. Tell me, did you choose the wrong path through the barrier on purpose?"
I looked at Nila, who hummed in a troubled voice. Knowing her, she must have got lost on the straight road through the barrier and ended up exiting in the forest, instead of the trampled path of the monster realm. It almost made me thankful that her blunder practically removed the trouble of dealing with this strange woman, but alas, our encounter must have been fated. She managed to find us.
A glow came out of Nila's staff as a few stars formed at its tip, "Better leave us alone if you do not want to get hurt. You won't get anything from my demise anyway, as we are in the monster realm."
The woman laughed at Nila's threat, but instead of retreating, made a casual step forward, "I am fully aware of that myself. In the monster realm your body would just dissipate, making it impossible to harvest you…" The woman turned to me, her smile dropped slightly, "I am here for another reason. It is amusing to find the slayer of the first harvester, but I have no interest in fighting you, Nila the whirlwind. I led you here to hunt down this young man. Or should I call you Simon?"
Nila raised her brow at my another alias that she had never heard about, meanwhile my face grimaced in horror. Upon her mention of my name that I used to deceive the Crawley family, I also remembered their talk regarding my stay at their place. Michael Crawley was considering with his butler whether they should have given me over to the guards of Wülgenville, but before that, they discussed harvesters. So, was this woman the harvester those two were talking about?
While I was contemplating all this new information, Nila once again glanced at that woman and asked, "You want to slay him in the monster realm? Do you realise what you are implying?"
"What the hell are you two talking about?" I finally whispered, it was clear that the woman was trying to kill me for what I did to the Crawley family, but I was still in the dark about what the connection of the monster realm to this case. The woman chuckled at my impatience and set the record straight, "So not only you are a bloodthirsty maniac, but also pathetically dumb, huh. But I suppose, I never introduced myself. My name is Manuela Crawley. Now tell me, is it not natural to make it so that the killer of my husband and daughter never reaches the spirit realm?"
Nila tensed up a little, her staff was pointed downwards, this was not a good sign. So the woman before us was the wife of Michael and mother of Elen, two people whose throats I sliced. My crime truly came in full circle, it was never forgotten and as such the divine retribution was awaiting me. But I could not give up so easily!
"Do not give me this crap! Those bastards sold me to the guards of Wülgenville, if they just let me go I would have never killed them!"
Suddenly, Manuela's smile dropped, and she looked at me with a bloodthirsty glint in her eyes, "Sold you out? The people who gave you the roof, fed you and tend to your wounds?Unforgivable…"
She dashed forward and tried to pierce me with her rapier, once again, she was aiming at my head. But Nila protected me with her barrier and Manuela made a few steps backwards and pointed her short wand at her, "What do you think you are doing, elf? I already told you that I won't hunt you here, yet you keep protecting this pathetic criminal. Why?"
Nila cast another attacking spell, but instead of Sham arrow, it was the beam of light, Betelgeuse. Despite how powerful it was, Manuela managed to block it and while the light of the spell was dissipating, she attacked Nila with her rapier from the blind spot, wounding her shoulder as she dodged. Nila did not give in, however, as her balance was a little distorted, she cast 2 gusts of wind that both set her up straight and pushed Manuela away from her, then she whispered, "Ain Betelgeuse". Several beams escaped her staff, chasing down Manuela, who began circling around us in an unpredictable manner. This duel was chaotic, and I could barely keep track of their movements. All I could do was stand in the middle of the battlefield and pointed my dagger at places where Manuela's crimson hair swayed for an instant before she ran to another position.
"Dusk, run! I will cover you."
As soon as I heard Nila's command, I clicked my tongue, but obediently followed through, since there was no place for someone like me in this situation. I was a mere distraction for her. Naturally, Manuela tried to strike me down on my way out of the woods, but she failed a few times, due to Nila's efforts to protect me. Once I was gone, Manuela tried to chase after me, but was stopped by Nila's barrier, Tureis Naos.
"You are quite skilled in magic, but you are still just a warrior. It will take you a while before you manage to break this barrier." whispered the elven woman and pointed her staff at Manuela once again, the woman no longer tried to attack her, but instead frowned at her opponent and asked, "Why are you going to such lengths to protect that man? He killed innocent people, burned down their houses, the whole Schöltum region was on its ears because of him!"
Nila lowered her eyes for a moment, but then they rose back, as it was too dangerous to let Manuela out of her sight. Then, she answered in a doubtful, but still unshakable voice, "Because I believe that there is good in every person."
Manuela was slightly taken aback by her reason, but then she scoffed, "Good? In him? I am not an angel myself, but that man is the worst trash there is."
"Dusk is still just a teen, it does not mean that his crimes do not count, though. In the end, he had stolen from me as well, and was always rude and impatient. He had done a lot of wrong, but I believe that guidance and repentance is what he needs the most, not punishment. Killing him in the monster realm, where his soul will disintegrate with the body, is a bit too extreme."
Upon hearing her last statement, Manuela shook her head, "It is not certain whether this outcome will be true or not. Souls are full of mystery after all, but I want to believe that it is true, because he really does deserve it. You would agree with me if you saw the results of his crimes."
"Maybe I would be of another opinion if I witnessed his evil deeds with my own eyes, but throughout our time together, his bad sides were slightly equalised with the good he did for me and people we met on our way." Nila's hand squeezed her staff while she showed a painful smile, "In the end, I had been in his own shoes. If there was not a man who accepted and guided such a battle maniac as myself, then I would not be here today. It would be hypocritical of me to only judge his actions without trying to teach the right way."
"And you believe you can teach him the good way?" Manuela tightened the grip on her sword as she asked this, to which Nila pointed her staff a little higher, ready to fight back, "Who knows? I believe it would not hurt to try."
Then, a few flashes of light sparkled in the woods of the monster realm. Their battle was so fierce that no monster was bold enough to intervene, they all escaped to their burrows or elsewhere, just like Dusk, who ran back to the field where they had come from.
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