Gerhart ignored Lenny’s scream. He walked up to the deranged, injured, burn-scarred man and whipped him across the face with the end of his bow.
Lenny’s head snapped to the side, and blood and teeth splattered on the ground. Whether it was because Lenny was already incredibly weakened by the fire or due to Gerhart’s rage, the blow was more than powerful enough to silence Lenny as he lost consciousness and slumped awkwardly on the ground due to the arrow nailing his hand in place.
Gerhart yanked the arrow out of Lenny’s hand and stabbed it in his shoulder, both to hold the arrow for him and prevent Lenny from using the arm.
Gerhart’s usual calm, irritated-at-Ritzy self knew that he should grab the arrows and Lenny’s dagger since they would be good to have. But he couldn’t be bothered. After making sure that Lenny couldn’t move and pose a threat even after he woke up, Gerhart grabbed him by the ankle and dragged him toward the village center face-down.
During the short walk, Gerhart looked back once to see Lenny’s face leaving a bloody trail because his burned skin couldn’t endure the rough dirt and gravel. But Gerhart couldn’t even gain a semblance of satisfaction from Lenny’s suffering since Talia’s fate was still uncertain. Even with two potions, Gerhart wasn’t sure a pierced heart could recover.
“G-Gerry! Help!”
Ritzy’s desperate cry startled Gerhart, and he locked his gaze on the tears streaming down Ritzy’s cheeks.
“S-she- Talia isn’t waking up!”
Gerhart dropped Lenny’s leg and dashed over to Ritzy and Talia. He knelt on the other side of Talia and inspected her body. He found a broken arrow, slick with blood, and two empty potions next to her, and he could tell that Ritzy had done a good job pulling out the arrow.
While Gerhart inspected Talia’s chest and back, where the wounds had been, Ritzy grabbed Talia’s face and shook it to try and wake her up.
“C’mon, Talia! I know you’re exaggerating! There’s no need to fake it anymore! Talia! TaTa!”
“...”
“You’re really going for it, huh? TaTa? You won’t even wake up when I use your nickname. Do you really like seeing me cry that much?”
“...”
Ritzy slapped Talia’s cheek.
“If you don’t wake up soon, I’m really going to get angry, you know?”
Ritzy wiped his tears with the sleeve so that he could see. But new tears kept coming and blurring his vision. He smacked her other cheek and watched as Talia’s head flopped lazily to the side.
“Talia! This isn’t funny anymore!”
Ritzy glared at Talia’s lifeless and slowly cooling face as his tears, hot like lava, spilled out of his eyes and dripped on the ground next to Talia.
“Talia!”
Ritzy smacked her again, but there was still no reaction. Her skin barely even showed signs of being hit. It was evidence that her heart had stopped beating and pumping blood. It was evidence Ritzy refused to accept.
“C’mon, wake up! You’re not dead!”
Ritzy smacked Talia.
“I know you’re not dead! I know you’re not….”
Ritzy pinched and pulled on the cheek he had just smacked.
“Talia! What happened to your promise?!”
Ritzy’s tears didn’t stop flowing.
“You said you would never die! You said you would be right there next to me when I take over the world! Did you lie to me?! Talia!”
Ritzy shouted at Talia. But her face was still as if it had been carved in stone. The only movement came from Ritzy’s hands pulling and patting it.
“Even if you lied, I didn’t! Since you’re dead now, your body is mine! I’m going to make an ugly skeleton out of it. You’re going to regret it if you don’t wake up now, Talia!”
Ritzy felt his eyes sting and his head buzz. His heart had already gone numb from all the aching. His tears had slowed to a trickle, but they were still painful as they crawled their way down his face.
Talia still didn’t move. And Ritzy didn’t bother actualizing his threat.
“Hey, Talia? If you’re a good girl and wake up now, I might consider letting you borrow my bone club, you know?”
Ritzy pinched and held Talia’s nose shut.
“But only if you’re good and stop sleeping right now.”
Ritzy pinched harder.
“Right now, Talia! Right now!”
Talia didn’t wake up.
Ritzy sniffled.
“Do you want it? Is that it? Do you want my bone?”
Talia didn’t respond.
“If you do, all you have to do is wake up and say so. I’ll give it to you, Talia. I’ll give you my bone club if you wake up. And look, Gery’s here, so if we make a pact, I can’t go back on my word.”
Ritzy’s pleading didn’t affect Talia, and she lay unmoving on the ground.
“Ritzy.”
Ritzy ignored Gerhart calling his name and cradled Talia’s face in his hands as he tried to stare her awake. After a while, he began patting her cheeks again. If it didn’t work the first time, it was sure to work the second time.
“Ritzy.”
“...”
Gerhart sighed. He didn’t like it any more than Ritzy. And it felt like his heart was boiling with rage toward Lenny. But he had to remain calm. He had to.
“Ritzy!”
Gerhart raised his voice slightly to get Ritzy’s attention.
“No!”
“Rit–”
“No! I know what you’re going to say! Talia is not dead! I know it!”
Ritzy’s teary cry cut into Gerhart’s chest.
“I know how you feel, Ritzy. Trust me. I feel the same. But we can’t get caught here. We have to accept it. Talia’s dead.”
“No! She isn’t!”
“She is! And you have to accept it. There’s nothing we can do now! But we have to get moving!”
“And leave Talia behind?!”
“Ye–”
“No! I would rather die!”
“And that’s exactly what’s going to happen! Lenny caught up to us while injured and burned! As soon as the knights get ready, they’ll catch up to us in no time!”
“No! I’m not leaving Talia behind!”
“Ritzy! She would have wanted us to survive, no matter what!”
“And how do you know that?! Did you hear her final words?! Were you by her side when she died?! Maybe if you had been here, she would still be alive!”
Ritzy’s words were like a branding iron as they crashed into Gerhart. Gerhart knew Ritzy didn’t mean it, not really. And that it wasn’t true. If he hadn’t stopped Lenny, Lenny would have tried to shoot them all.
But no matter how many times he repeated those words inside his mind, Gerhart’s guilt didn’t ease up. He realized it as soon as he put his hand on Talia. She was dead.
And when he realized that, Gerhart’s only thought was that things would have been different if he stayed. Maybe he could have hit Lenny from a distance. If he had been quicker to react, he could have maybe even protected Talia and shot Lenny before he could take cover.
Countless scenarios of how things could have been different flashed through Gerhart’s mind as soon as the cold, steely anger that powered him as he hunted Lenny faded. But he knew what would happen if he let himself be swallowed by the swamp of negativity and held on to his rationality.
Stolen story; please report.
But Gerhart couldn’t resist glaring at Ritzy as they took a break from shouting at each other for a few moments. Ritzy panted with tear-streaked cheeks, and Gerhart took several deep breaths to remain calm.
“There are a million things we could have done differently that could have prevented Talia from dying. But that’s irrelevant. Talia is dead, and we’re still wanted by Baron Michmond.”
“We’re not leaving Talia behind.”
Ritzy looked at Talia’s face and avoided Gerhart’s stern gaze.
As Gerhart thought about how to convince Ritzy, Ritzy spoke.
“We’re saving her.”
“...”
“The saints in Katmandar can resurrect people. We’ll bring Talia to them.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Ritzy. We could never afford that.”
“I’ll get the money.”
“Even if we could afford that, we’d never make it in time. Even the Saints of Katmandar can’t resurrect someone if they’ve been dead too long.”
“I don’t care. We will get there in time. I’ll make sure of it.”
“Ritzy. It won’t work. Katmandar has a no-tolerance policy on necromancers. They’ll refuse to resurrect Talia just because she’s been close to you.”
“I’ll force them.”
“Those fanatics are even more stubborn than you, Ritzy. They would kill themselves if they can’t kill you.”
“I’ll find an elixir, then.”
“Within a few days? How? The sooner you accept reality, Ritzy, the sooner we can get out of here and survive.”
“I don’t care. I won’t give up on Talia, you heartless bastard.”
Ritzy glared at Gerhart. And once again, Gerhart forced himself to remain calm since he knew Ritzy was just emotional and lashing out from the pain he was in. But it felt unfair. Why could Ritzy act like a brat, but he had to stay composed and rational?
“I’ll go to Arrymandia. If the Saints won’t do it, I’ll have the gods resurrect her.”
Gerhart sighed and shook his head.
“Ritzy. How are you going to cross the sea that not even the Dark One could cross? And if you by some miracle arrive at Arrymandia, how are you going to talk or convince the gods?”
“I don’t care. I am better than the Dark One. And if the gods won’t listen, I will make them. I will save Talia.”
Gerharrt felt his heart ache as he looked at Ritzy with despairing eyes.
“Ritzy…! Please! That’s insane!”
“I don’t care if I sound insane! Or if I even am insane. I would rather be crazy than give up on saving Talia before even trying!”
Ritzy’s look made it all too obvious that he was blaming Gerhart for how he had already given up.
“I am not giving up! But we have to prioritize! Either we bring Talia’s dead body with us in a vain, desperate, futile attempt at bringing her back to life. Or we survive.”
Gerhart pleaded with Ritzy in an attempt to make him listen to reason.
“Ritzy, those are our two options. We die with Talia, or we live and honor Talia’s memory!”
“You already know my answer, Gerhart. I am not leaving Talia. Not now, not ever.”
“Even if it means I leave?”
Gerhart didn’t mean his words, and they slipped out before he noticed. But Ritzy didn’t know that, and they stunned him into silence.
“...go ahead, traitor.”
“...Ritzy, I didn’t mean that.”
“...”
“I would never leave you.”
“You sure? You’ve been trying to leave Talia behind for a while now.”
“Because she is dead! And I want you and I to be alive! Both of us still have things we want to do and stuff to experience. What better way to honor Talia could there be than fulfilling your dream of surpassing the Dark One?”
“...what’s the point if Talia isn’t there with me?”
Ritzy’s voice was barely more than a whisper. But in the silence of the dead village, it was clear as day to Gerhart’s ears.
“So, you’re giving up?”
“...”
“Can you imagine what Talia would say to you if she heard you gave up because she died a little earlier than the two of us?”
“No.”
Ritzy’s obstinate word was nothing more than a bluff. He knew better than anyone that Talia would mock, tease, and bully him relentlessly if she heard he gave up on his dream on account of a single death. But she couldn’t do that. She couldn’t say anything. She was dead.
Ritzy and Gerhart sank into a stubborn silence again.
“I’ll do it.”
Ritzy’s voice grew firmer with each word.
“...”
“I’ll save her. I’ll bring her back.”
Gerhart thought for a second before he understood what Ritzy meant.
“No.”
He didn’t have to think before giving his answer to Ritzy’s words.
“‘No’?!”
“No. I won’t let you.”
“You can’t be serious, Gerhart! What do you mean you won’t let me? Do you even miss Talia?”
“Of course I do. If it were possible, I would do everything in my power to save her. But it’s not.”
“Yes, it is! I can do it!”
“No. You’re a necromancer. Necromancers don’t resurrect people. They reanimate them. Would you really tarnish Talia by turning her into a zombie or some other kind of undead? Do you really think Talia could live like that?!”
“So?! As long as she is herself and with us, I don’t mind! Neither would she!”
“But can you guarantee that?”
“Guarantee what?”
“That she would be herself?”
“...what’s that supposed to mean?”
Ritzy glared at Gerhart with narrowed eyes.
“Exactly that. Are you good enough at necromancy to guarantee that she doesn’t turn into a mindless zombie or ghoul or something? Even if you have the know-how, can you guarantee success? What if she transforms into a head?”
“...”
“Ritzy, look at all your attempts at summoning. How many times have you succeeded?!”
Ritzy couldn’t meet Gerhart’s eyes.
“Technically speaking…–”
“No! Not ‘Technically speaking.’ How many times have you succeeded, Ritzy?”
“...”
Ritzy couldn’t answer. He knew better than anyone that none of his attempts could be considered a pure success. Sure, he had summoned something every time, which was an incredible feat. And he had summoned something useful on three occasions if he counted Mognog.
“How about me? Aren’t I a success?”
Mognog, who had stayed out of Ritzy’s and Gerhart’s argument so far, couldn’t stay silent any longer. He didn’t know Ritzy, Talia, or Gerhart at all, really. Ritzy was the one who had summoned and bound him to the world of the living. That was it. But during the two’s argument, he had learned a lot. But most importantly, he had learned that they cared for each other, dead or alive, more than words could express. But he could also tell that they were nearing an end.
If Ritzy and Gerhart didn’t calm down or settle things in a way that left both of them satisfied, it wasn’t impossible that it would be the end of their relationship.
Even if he was only an unconcerned bystander, Mognog couldn’t sit there and not do anything when it didn’t look like they would solve it on their own. The only problem came with how he should interfere. He couldn’t just interrupt them and tell them to stop. Mognog had already noticed Ritzy’s willingness to terminate their contract when he disturbed him during the arrow pulling earlier.
Fortunately, he was given an opportunity to divert the topic by redirecting their discussion to him instead of what to do with Talia. It was only a stopgap measure, but maybe they could calm down and figure something out while talking about the skeleton skull.
Gerahart and Ritzy looked at Mognog as if they had forgotten he was there, which was understandable. Eventually, Gerhart, who had managed to put a lid on his emotions again, glanced at Ritzy.
“Are you going to tell him, or should I?”
Ritzy’s eyes were still brimming with conflicting emotions of sorrow, anger, stubbornness, and resolve.
“Mognog. You aren’t a success.”
“Ouch, kiddo. Did your parents never teach you how to be nice?”
“We’re orphans.”
“...My bad. Anyways. Why am I not a success?”
Mognog forcefully steered away from the awkwardness that arose from his accidentally trampling on a landmine. It couldn’t have been any more obvious, but thankfully, neither Ritzy nor Gerhart wanted to dwell on Mognog’s misstep.
“In short, battlefield summoning makes use of the lingering fight in the corpses of dead warriors or soldiers to summon a combat-specialized undead. Since I sacrificed a bunch of goblins who died while fighting for their lives, I should have summoned some kind of warrior related to goblins, either a goblin good at fighting or a warrior of any species closely related to goblins, like hobgoblins or something. It could also have been a warrior who practically only killed goblins during their lifetime to the point their soul was drenched in the aura of dead goblins.”
Despite the situation and Talia’s corpse lying on the ground in front of him, Ritzy’s enthusiasm for necromancy took over, and he explained in detail to Mognog. But he wasn’t quite finished yet.
“But regardless of the situation, since it was a battlefield summoning, I should have summoned an undead that’s useful on the battlefield. And unless you’re hiding a body inside that skull of yours, or you can use magic, summoning you wasn’t a success, Mognog.”
“...I see. I am sorry to disappoint you, kiddo. But I am not hiding anything. And I have never touched magic other than when I’ve killed mages.”
Mognog was a little downcast as he heard Ritzy’s explanation and at the fact that he wasn’t useful to his summoner. However, he reminded himself of why he had spoken and interfered in the two youngster’s argument and cheered himself up. Maybe returning to the world of the living after so long had made him sentimental.
“Okay. So your necromancy? might not be the most reliable, kiddo. Can you see why Gerhart was it? Why he doesn’t want you to use it on Talia?”
“...yes.”
“And Gerhart, can you understand why Ritzy doesn’t want to leave Talia behind?”
“Of course, I understand. But that doesn’t matter! We can’t stay here!”
“No, you can’t. That’s true. But there’s no reason to make a rash decision and do something you’re going to regret. That goes for both of you.”
Neither Ritzy nor Gerhart had an answer to Mognog’s sound reasoning and seemingly reliable wisdom.
“You know, back when I was alive, there was one thing my comrades and I did every time we were in a pinch. And it saved us almost every time. There was one exception, as you can see.”
Mognog joked a little to try and lighten the mood and ease some of the tension. But it didn’t seem to work that well.
“Ahem. In any case, what we would do when we got in trouble was to calm down. That’s the first step. And then, once we’re calm enough to think rationally, we go over and exhaust every last option available to us.”
Mognog stopped the two youngsters from speaking by doing so first.
“And now I am not talking about either leaving Talia behind or not. We went over our belongings, down to the last piece of lint, and combed through our surroundings with enough scrutiny to count the number of grass stalks if we happened to be in a grassy place.”
Mognog continued.
“So, gather all your belongings, look through the huts, see if there’s anything inside, and bring it here. It doesn’t matter if it seems useful or not. We’ll check through everything together and see if there’s something we can do that doesn’t leave you guys dead or with regrets, okay?”
Ritzy and Gerhart nodded.
Gerahrt still wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible, and Ritzy still wanted to save Talia as quickly as possible. But both of them knew Mognog was right. Even if only to be alone with their thoughts for a little while, both of them stood up to carry out Mognog’s orders.
But they only took a couple of steps before Mognog called out.
“Oh, but before you do anything else, deal with that motherfucker crawling like a braindead, shit-eating worm over there.”