The Divine Hunter

Chapter 508: Red Flames

[TL: Asuka]

[PR: Ash]

An office stood on the second floor of Mayena’s penitentiary, the light of its dim lamp shining on a bald man with a beard as thick as the fur of a boar. Ritt—deputy of security affairs of Mayena—leaned against the steel window, looking down at the pedestrians on the street. In a mere five minutes, he saw a few citizens spitting in the direction of the encampment outside the fortress, their eyes filled with disgust and contempt.

He could understand them. The refugees were like parasites sucking all the nutrients from Mayena, bringing the already malnourished city down with them. Things got worse after Ainz’s disappearance. Food shortage was rife, or to be precise, the shortage of cheap food was rife.

Foltest paid a lot of compensation after the war, and yet with the influx of refugees, Mayena’s treasury was running out of coins. The lord was panicking. He was enraged, and yet he had no avenue to vent that fury. Ritt was worried he might be out of a job at this rate. He had a family to feed. Fortunately, he found the ‘culprit’ of the kidnapping to appease the lord.

Ritt slammed his hand on the wooden table beneath him. In two days, I’ll parade the merchant and the witcher around, then I’ll sentence them to death. That’ll calm the lord down. That’ll answer the people’s questions as to who stole their food. But that’s just a stopgap measure. Without more coins coming in, Mayena is headed for damnation.

***

Sounds of footsteps and metal clanging came from the corridor, and a fully-armored soldier knocked on the office’s door. “Sir, someone wishes to have an audience with you.”

“Working hours. I will not see anyone but the ambassador, though he’s missing, isn’t he?”

“It’s the encampment’s doctor. She has with her Mateo, the servant of Ainz,” said the soldier, adamant. It was thanks to Visenna that his knee was still intact, and he wanted to help her. “She claims to have new clues about the ambassador’s disappearance.”

“She knows where he is?” Ritt rubbed his head, his face quivering, and he suddenly got into a dilemma. Druids were not bound by any law. Should they commit a crime, all they had to do was scurry off into a random patch of woods, and no one could catch them. Not to mention this particular druid was respected by the people of Mayena and the refugees. She had lent her helping hand to all those in need, after all. I can’t cross her. “Very well. I’d like to see what she can bring to the table.”

***

Ominous clouds trudged across the sky, and the sunlight that shone into the room was cut off. Roaring thunder blasted across the skies, and blinding lightning bolts arced through the air like winding snakes. The first drop of rain fell.

Roy looked away. Mateo, Visenna, and he were sitting on the pew leaning on the wall. Hanging behind them was a portrait depicting the ever-burning flames of the Eternal Fire.

The bald deputy slowly paced around his desk, staring at his guests. “Milady, and… you two. The truth is indisputable. One week ago, Yurga, a merchant from Rivia, conspired with his bodyguard, a witcher named Geralt, to kidnap the ambassador and kill him in the woods. And they burned his body. There are many eyewitnesses who saw them leaving the city together, and they came back looking panicked and hurried. They must be the killers. No other explanation can be accepted,” said the deputy. “To confirm, we are at an agreement about this story, yes? And that’s the narrative on which our negotiations will be resting.”

“Ritt, the innocent must not be punished for crimes they did not do.” The druid looked at the deputy with determination, and she spoke firmly. “We have a witness who can debunk your story.”

“That is correct.” Mateo stood up. He had changed into a fresh set of clothes. He looked gaunter than he was, and his cheeks were sickly red. The poor man was down with a fever. “I served Ainz for ten years. One week ago, I went for negotiations with him, and I saw everything that happened. I swear I’m telling the truth.” He held his hand up, the look in his eyes genuine and fervent. “Yurga never abducted or killed the ambassador, and the witcher wasn’t in the woods at the moment of his death. There was no possible way for him to harm my employer. Ainz was killed by something else. He—”

“Silence! Know your place, Mateo!” Ritt grabbed Mateo by the collar, glaring at the servant almost ferally, and he held Mateo up in the air. “You dare besmirch the name of the gods with slander? Are you not fearful of their retribution?” The deputy was spewing drool all over Mateo’s face. “Don’t forget that you’re a fugitive. You’re Yurga and that white-haired bastard’s accomplice. Your word carries no weight.”

“Patience,” said Visenna, her voice laden with the magic to soothe hearts. Like a breeze, her words cooled down the deputy, and he let go of the suffocating Mateo.

Roy’s eyes glinted. Huh, that’s a lot more subtle than Axii, that’s for sure.

“Let the witness finish his testimonial, Ritt.”

“Then speak.”

Mateo clutched his chest and heaved a sigh. “Ainz and Yurga’s negotiations broke down.”

Ritt harrumphed. That gives the merchant a reason to kill the ambassador.

“That was the first time Ainz saw someone rejecting the temptation.” Mateo nodded, respect filling his eyes. “Ainz realized war was brewing, and he thought consumables would be profitable. It was at the same time he started the trade of expired food products, and that too made him a lot of coins.” Mateo started retching, much to everyone’s shock.

Visenna held his shoulders and pulled his eyelids back, revealing wriggling blood vessels underneath.

“Any proof?” Ritt asked, not caring whether Mateo was fine or not. “You can’t accuse an honorary ambassador of that level of crime with no evidence.”

“Ainz had a habit of recording all his transactions. Every single one of them, every single day. He’s done that for more than ten years,” Mateo warbled. “There must be clues hidden in his ledgers. Search his estate, and you will find it.” The servant gurgled and hacked, veins throbbing along his neck, and his face was red as blood.

Then he heaved a sigh of relief. “I’m done.” His contorted face eased up.

Roy stopped casting Axii.

“The crimes of Ainz were many, and so the red light incinerated him.” A hundred thoughts swam through Ritt’s mind, and then he found a contradicting point. “You were his accomplice, and you confessed to the oppression of the refugees, so why are you fine?”

“Didn’t you notice? I too was affected. The red light is within me, torturing my soul, yet my sins are not severe enough for it to burn me up. I have a feeling the gods are giving me a second chance. A chance to atone for my sins, so I came to you today.” Mateo peered at the deputy, his eyes filled with devotion and determination to atone for his sins. Even Ritt was moved by it.

Over his years of presiding over the affairs of security, only one kind of person would have that kind of look: death row inmates during the last moments of their lives. The look in their eyes spoke of nothing but repentance.

And he trusted Mateo.

“Gods above, hear my confession!” Mateo broke free of Roy and Visenna’s grasp, and he went on his knees, staring at the rug on the wall with the portrait of Eternal Fire embroidered on it. He put his hands together in a prayer and prayed loudly like he was having an episode of fits. “I shall take your lesson to heart. I confess my sins, and I acknowledge their weight. I shall repent, and so, deliver me from this suffering. Prithee, grant me mercy!”

He was hoarse, loud, and almost hysterical. “Grant me release! Deliver me from the flames and agony!”

“You have saved yourself, mate. You have achieved salvation.” Roy took a deep breath and patted his shoulder. “If the gods above can hear you—”

“But there’s still so much pain in me. So much heat. Wait for me, Ririn.” His eyes turned red, and he rasped quietly, “I’ll marry you once I get back, I swear.” Tears streamed down his cheek. Crimson tears. Tears as red as the flames.

And then a wave of incinerating heat undulated around the room. Visenna, Ritt, and Roy took a step back, looking grim. A moment later, slivers of crimson flames slithered out of the eyes and mouth of the fallen Mateo. Like vipers, they swam down his body, enveloping him in a cocoon of flames.

It was but a split second, but the red flames were already dancing around, casting eerie shadows onto the wall. Before anyone could do anything, the top half of Mateo’s body was turned to a ball of crimson gas, leaving only the lower half of his body burning quietly as it fell to the floor with a thud. Just as Yurga had told Roy, the flames could burn, but it would not produce smoke.

“T-That’s the fire?” Ritt looked flabbergasted, and he leaned against the wall, shivering in fear.

Visenna pointed at the fire and shot out a serrated stream of light. Streams of water rained down on Mateo, but they couldn’t put out the flames. “The fire is showing no mercy. This is not something a god would do.”

If it infects its victim, it will not stop until it burns the flesh of the possessed. It’s a constant hazard. Realization hit the witcher, and his face contorted. The Elder Blood was screaming out to him, and he cursed in silence. You’re not taking anyone away again, bastard. “I don’t care what you are, but you’re not killing Mateo.”

Ritt was still quaking with fear, and Visenna was focused on her spell, while Roy pointed a finger ahead. A ball of light illuminated his fingertip, and it quickly ballooned, covering the room and its inhabitants. The Elder Blood writhed and boiled, unleashing the power of time upon the room.

Flesh and blood returned to the fallen corpse, reforming his chest, neck, head, and even clothes, bringing him back to life. The crimson flames disappeared, and a breath of life came back to Mateo. His eyes were bright, and he was muttering under his breath.

Once again, his hysterical confession rang in the air. It was the same scene that happened twenty seconds ago. “Ainz had a habit of recording all his transactions. Every single one of them, every single day. He’s done that for more than ten years. There must be clues hidden in his ledgers. Search his estate, and you will find it.”

Oblivious to the reversal of time, Ritt and Visenna were listening in silence, forgetting the scene where Mateo was burned away. Their memories had disappeared along with the reversed time.

Roy quickly cast Axii on Mateo, cutting him off. The servant closed his eyes and fell with a thud, snoring.

“What is the meaning of this, witcher?” Ritt questioned.

Roy did not answer. Twenty seconds later, Mateo was still asleep, the red flames silent. Roy wiped the sweat off his forehead and heaved a sigh of relief. “Don’t you see? He’s in a bad state. If he had kept talking, we’d have a mess to settle. Let him rest.” Roy smiled at Visenna and Ritt. “I’ll handle things from now on. I’ve known what I needed to, and it’s thanks to him. Deputy, I’ll deal with your problem if you’ll clear the names of Geralt, Yurga, and Mateo.”