Immortal's Ascending Path-Episode 24
The Witch's Sacrament
There's a unique smell before it rains.
Roberta was riding her horse across the wide field when she suddenly looked up at the sky. The sky was clear with only a few clouds, but the wind carried the scent of wet soil. Intuition told her that it would rain soon.
"It's going to rain."
At the same time, Ulrich said the same thing next to her.
"Look, the rain clouds are coming. We need to pick up the pace."
Roberta, along with Fritz, turned around. Rain clouds were gathering in the distance. Like dipping an ink brush into the edge of a water bowl, the sky was turning black. The speed was fast. It would soon reach the three of them.
This wasn't Ditmarsken, and it was summer. Getting rained on wouldn't be life-threatening. But that didn't mean they could go soaking wet, so they spurred their horses.
Fortunately, a hill was nearby. The trees were lush, making it suitable for sheltering from the rain. As the group reached the hill, the clouds also arrived overhead. The rain poured down with a whooshing sound.
"It doesn't look like it will rain for long."
"Hmm."
Roberta shook her wet hair and looked at the edge of the clouds. Even though the rain clouds were thick, the blue sky was visible in the distance. It was a brief, passing rain. She sighed briefly and leaned against a tree.
Fritz, not caring whether he got rained on or not, left the shade of the tree and stroked the horses. The horses seemed frightened by the heavy rain, but they calmed down as he stroked them, muttering, "Calm down, calm down."
"······."
She shifted her gaze to Ulrich. He stood leaning against an old tree, arms crossed, silently watching the plains. He was a person who didn't easily show his emotions, so she couldn't tell if he was really looking at the scenery or lost in thought.
"young master, where are you going next?"
Roberta looked up at him for a moment and asked.
The final destination for the three was Icelandburg. Their goal was to attend the royal wedding held in the capital of the Osnober Kingdom.
However, she couldn't guess the route. The village of Ruman, where they had spent a day before, was an example. For him, this journey wasn't just a journey to Icelandburg.
"I plan to stop by Meier."
Fritz, who was stroking the horse's head, was startled and turned his head.
"To our family's place?"
"That's what I'm thinking right now."
Meier refers to the Count Meier family.
Ulrich had said before that his wife, Hilde, couldn't have children, so she adopted several. Among them, Hohenlohe was the eldest, and the Meier family was his direct descendant.
"I thought I should show my face at least once if I leave Yeongji."
However, Fritz's reaction was lukewarm.
"If you insist on going, you'll have to go a long way around······."
He trailed off, looking at Ulrich. He didn't seem to welcome the idea of going to his family home. Rather, he seemed to be subtly opposing it.
'Is there a bad memory?'
Roberta tilted her head.
If not, why would he react like that?
Could there be a conflict she doesn't know about as to why he came to Ditmarsken? Thinking about it, it was strange. Fritz was the fourth son, but Bernhardt was the eldest, wasn't he? Usually, the eldest son inherits the family, but for some reason, he became the butler of the Duke of Ditmarsken.
She watched Ulrich's reaction, but he was the same as usual. He calmly waited for the rain to weaken, and as expected, the rain stopped quickly.
The sky that the rain clouds had swept through was nothing but blue. Thanks to that, the sun poured its rays onto the wet fields without obstruction.
Roberta fanned herself a few times, feeling the stickiness of the humid summer air rather than coolness, and got up from her seat and mounted her saddle.
#
The city of Tenoff was a city belonging to a certain Yeongji located between the County of Goetten and the County of Meier. It was a vague size to be classified as a city, but still, a city was a city, and it was a settlement with a relatively bustling population.
Roberta, who passed through the eastern gate, got off her horse and felt a chaotic atmosphere for the first time in a long time. Near the market, the voices of hawkers, bargaining, and arguing were loud.
When she was a regular Priest at the Nua Grand Temple, she had told Diocesan Alonso that she didn't like this atmosphere. It was the same now. She still didn't like the atmosphere of the crowd chattering in a scattered manner.
But, was it because she had spent a year in the north, or was it because she had experienced solitude in a land without people? For a moment, this atmosphere felt familiar.
'Alonso said this is a sign of getting old.'
She chuckled inwardly and asked Ulrich.
"You're not staying and moving on right away, right?"
Ulrich, who was walking in front, said yes.
"It's not even noon yet, so there's no need to stay. I'm just thinking of having a light meal and leaving."
"Can I take a look around the market before that?"
She said that it seemed like the market was open.
"Do so. But don't take too much time. We need to arrive at the next base before nightfall so we don't have to camp out, so we need to leave before noon."
Roberta finished her meal at the restaurant attached to the inn and headed to the market with Fritz. Ulrich said he would stay at the inn to write a letter.
Tenoff was a small city, so the market was just a space with several stalls set up. Roberta was planning to look for some travel supplies, including dried food.
"Is there anything you need, Fritz?"
Fritz shook his hand at her question.
"No. I'm fine. Just think of me as a porter."
"A porter? You're underestimating yourself too much."
Fritz smiled awkwardly.
"I'm, well, it's my first time traveling··· so there's nothing I can do."
"That's natural. Everyone has a first time."
She smiled and stroked Fritz's head. For her, the boy was like a younger brother with a slight age difference, so she understood his feelings.
Sixteen is not a young age. It's an age when you have to do your part. Especially in a remote area like Ditmarsken, you are forced to do your part at an even younger age.
But Fritz was originally a young master, wasn't he? Even though he had been living in Ditmarsken as a lord's servant for several years, he was born and raised in the County of Meier. He was a successful nobleman's young master who became a servant.
"When I was your age, I was busy running errands for the adults. Well, it's only been less than 10 years, though."
"Priest-nim?"
He sounded incredulous. She smiled inwardly, thinking that she must have become an adult. It was only a few years ago that she was busy chasing after Alonso.
"Watch what I and Ulrich are doing now and learn. And try to follow along one by one whenever you get the chance."
"Yes···."
Fritz hesitated and nodded. However, even though he understood, there was an atmosphere that he was trying to say something else but swallowed it. She read it but didn't pry.
He must have his own circumstances. If it was a situation that could be resolved by telling her, he would tell her, and if not, what would she ask? She strolled through the market, chatting about light topics.
"This damn thing, stay still!"
And then, there was a commotion.
The two stopped talking and turned their heads. On one side of the market, a horse raised its two feet high and cried. Next to it was a man who seemed to be the owner of the horse, and he was angry while pulling the reins.
"I told you to stay still!"
Following the reins, the horse's face turned helplessly. It was because of its small size. The young one, almost like a foal, struggled while crying sadly. Each time, the owner didn't calmly calm it down but wielded a whip.
Seeing the sight of whipping the young horse's back, Fritz frowned and turned his face away. He was clearly a person who didn't know how to handle horses.
What can you gain by treating it so roughly? Fritz muttered to himself and sighed. Even if compassion boiled, there was nothing the boy could do.
A horse is property. You can't interfere with someone else's property. All Fritz could do was avoid the unpleasant sight and leave.
"Let's go somewhere else. Roberta Priest-nim."
However, she didn't try to leave.
"Priest-nim?"
"Just a moment."
She frowned as she looked at the young horse.
"······."
Roberta felt something that Fritz didn't.
At first glance, the moment she saw the young horse, she felt a sense of incongruity. It was a feeling that she couldn't clearly express as "what is it?" It was a short and light feeling that she would have dismissed as a mistake if she were someone else.
Roberta didn't just dismiss it. She paid close attention and examined the appearance of the young horse. Then she felt the flow of mana.
All living things have mana flowing through them. The flow of mana is usually difficult to feel. Because such a small amount of mana flows gently, you can't feel it even if you step away from the object. Usually.
For example, even if a person has a fever, you can't feel the heat unless you touch their body.
But the flow of mana was felt from the young horse. It could be felt even though it was more than a few dozen steps away. As she approached step by step, it became clearer.
'It's not a mistake.'
She smiled so that her inner thoughts wouldn't be revealed and said to the horse owner.
"Are you okay? The horse is quite fierce."
"Ah, Priest-nim. I've shown you an unpleasant sight. It's unusually fierce for a young one."
The horse owner nervously slapped the horse's cheek. The horse cried out again, but swallowed its tears when the owner pretended to slap it again.
Roberta struggled to smooth out her expression, which was about to be distorted by the owner's actions. And she approached the young horse with the excuse that it might be acting up because it was sick somewhere.
The horse, which was in a state of extreme fear, became even more frightened and stepped back when she reached out her hand. But when the owner pulled the reins, it couldn't escape anymore. In the meantime, Roberta placed her hand on the horse's head.
'The amount and flow of mana are not normal.'
Roberta felt the mana flowing through the horse's body through her fingertips. The flow was definitely strange. Unlike the horses she had ridden so far, the amount of mana was considerable, and the flow was also intense.
It wasn't a natural amount and flow of mana. It was the same as when she infused mana into a sword to sharpen the blade, when mana artificially entered and caused a change inside.
"Fritz, bring Ulrich. I need your confirmation."
"Yes."
After Fritz left, she asked the owner.
"Is this a horse you raised yourself?"
"No. I caught it wandering in the mountains a while ago."
"Then you don't know who the owner is."
"Yes, I've asked around here and there, but···."
The owner said that he wasn't a person who had properly raised a horse. He didn't have the capacity to raise it either. All he was thinking about was finding the original owner and receiving a reward or disposing of it at a reasonable price.
The young horse listened to the conversation between the two and let out a small cry to Roberta. It wasn't the sad cry it had made to the owner. It was a bizarre cry, opening and closing its mouth like a person.
On top of that, it scratched the floor with its hooves. Since it was on a relatively well-maintained road, no marks were left, but the young horse made an incomprehensible gesture and drew Roberta's attention.
Mana was mana, but it was a horse that showed strange behavior.
'Could it be.'
When her guess became clear, Ulrich arrived.
He didn't ask Roberta for an explanation. Even though the story he heard from Fritz wouldn't be much, he just approached the young horse and stroked its long head.
"You were lucky."
What did he mean by lucky? Ulrich handed gold coins to the horse owner. The owner, who was standing blankly, opened his mouth wide when a bunch of gold coins were placed in his hand. And he quickly put the gold coins in his pocket, afraid that they would be taken back, and left as if running away.
After handing over the gold coins, Ulrich didn't care whether he left or not. While stroking the young horse trembling with fear, he gave a soft smile.
"There's nothing to worry about. Child. I know the situation you're in."
Then the young horse nodded its head and cried sadly.
"young master, is this what I think it is······."
"Yes, this child is originally a person."