Elyscia was carrying a couple of corpses on both her shoulders, heading towards the large hole they were still digging. The undead soldiers were the ones doing all the digging, using the tools they found in the village. Next to the hole were several corpses lined up neatly on the ground.
Elyscia gently placed each of the corpses down, treating them with dignity. She was acquainted with these two, they had spoken before when she was at the village once. They were decent people. Perhaps they were treating her kindly because she was a knight, still, they treated her kindly. They deserve respect, at least in death. Elyscia was intending on doing just that.
It was then that Avelyn came along and casually dropped a corpse to the ground, without a shred of care. Seeing that, Elyscia felt displeased and annoyed, and she directed the girl with a stern gaze.
“Stop that, Avelyn.”
Avelyn turned a blank look at her. “Stop what?”
Elyscia was quite taken aback by her oblivious behavior. “Treat the bodies gently.”
Avelyn scowled, as if she heard something ridiculous. “Seriously? They’re dead bodies.”
“Even so, they were good people once.”
“Why is this important?! It doesn’t matter now what happens to them. So annoying.”
Elyscia clenched her fists. “Would you want your body to be treated the same way?”
She dramatically looked around, then to her body. “Oh wait, let me think. Oh yeah, it doesn’t matter! I’m technically dead already, and yet here I am! So this is my corpse.” She placed her hands on her own body.
“Ever since you have transformed, you have become more condescending.”
“So what? My feelings have never been clearer.”
“What?”
She closed her eyes. “The moment of my death, I recalled everything.” She placed a hand on her face. “Every moment of my life appeared before my eyes. And I remembered everything that’s been done to me. And everything became so clear.” She opened her eyes, full of resentment. “Those villagers, those fucking dead soldiers, they’ve been annoying! They treat me like some kind of joke! I hate them, I hate them! And my family, the capital, screw them all! They’ll pay for how they treated me!”
Elyscia’s eyes widened as she stood there frozen, she had never seen this girl behave this way. All her feelings laid bare. So much hate in her eyes.
“I am grateful for the mistress returning me to life. I can make those who wronged me pay. They’re the reasons I suffered, pulled away from my ambitions!”
“And you would subject these dead villagers to your resentments? Why?”
“They were annoying.” She looked down at the corpses with a scornful glare. “They annoyed me. I heard them talk behind my back, how they mocked me. Saying I’m spoiled, overreacting over the smallest things, dramatic. How am I spoiled when I do everything the family demands…?”
“You judged them all too quickly. Just because of one mockery.”
“You don’t understand me…” She glared at her.
“I have known them, I have met them many times… I know them to some extent. They don’t deserve to be treated terribly in death.”
They deserve even a tiny amount of respect. For all the help they have done to her. And she just couldn’t find it in herself to treat them without care. And she couldn’t understand why Avelyn had to be so spiteful to a group of villagers who merely lived simple lives. She didn’t have to be so worked up about some words.
“I don’t care about them.”
“Do you not care about losing your heart?”
“...” She was silent for a moment. “I have no heart to give to those I hate.”
“That is a miserable way to live, Avelyn.”
“Don’t care. Get off my back already.”
It would seem there was no way to change Avelyn’s mind. Still, for these villagers, Elyscia couldn’t bear them being treated rudely.
“No matter, I order you to treat the corpses gently.”
“What?! What do you mean by order?”
“Have you forgotten? I am still your superior. We may have changed into this, but our hierarchy still stands.”
“...” Her face contorted, showing irritation.
“Treat your superior officer appropriately, Avelyn.”
“Screw you! You’re on a power trip!”
“Oh, I’m the one who’s having a power trip? Why don’t you try taking a day to reflect on yourself?”
“You’re so annoying!” Avelyn placed a hand on her sword.
“You can’t be serious?” Elyscia grasped the hilt of her own sword.
To think this girl would want to have a fight over this? How much could someone change in the face of death? Was it because of all the realizations? In a way, it sort of reminded her how Syndra was acting, keen on taking her revenge on the heroes. Although, at least Syndra was more conserved than this one here.
“I’m damn serious.”
It was then the other knight arrived. “Stop it,” Gavin said. “This is no time to fight amongst ourselves.”
Elyscia immediately parted her hand from her sword.
Gavin gently placed the old woman’s corpse, it was the old woman whom Elyscia always talked to. Once he was done, he directed a stern look at Avelyn.
“She’s right, Avelyn. She’s still your superior. Treat her as such.”
Avelyn crossed her arms with a scoff.
“I must say, Avelyn,” Gavin continued. “You have resentment, yes, but you must remain composed. You are a knight, not some hoodlum. Carry yourself with dignity. Ultimately, do not let your emotions jeopardize our master’s orders. She is most important.”
“Y-Yes. I understand…” Avelyn averted her face, wearing a soft expression.
“Now come on, get back to work. There are still a few more corpses we have to get.”
And so they continued to collect the rest of the corpses. Elyscia felt the heavy silence that now filled the village. Once, this was a place filled with various noises. Chattering, quarreling, laughing, children playing and complaining. A place full of life. And when death arrived, emptiness followed.
And Elyscia felt genuinely sad. Still, her emotions were irrelevant compared to the needs of the mistress. From what she had observed, something was troubling the master. She seemed scared and suffering.
She absorbed the people’s soul. It would seem the mistress needed it. But Elyscia could not comprehend why when the mistress looked incredibly powerful enough.
Sometime later, they had collected all the corpses that were in the village. And at the same time, the hole was deep and big enough. It was time to place the corpses in the large grave.
The first Elyscia picked and carried was the corpse of a little girl.
“Betty…” she whispered before going down the hole. She gently placed down the little girl on the ground and caressed her cheek. “I’m sorry…” She closed her eyes for a moment, pain in her heart.
She gathered her strength and stood up, walking away from the little girl that once adored her. Gradually, they put the corpses one by one into the hole, lined up neatly to each other. It took a while, but once they were done, they stood at the edge of the hole.
“I’m surprised the mistress ordered for their burial,” Avelyn said.
“... Not really a good idea to just leave the corpses up in the open,” Gavin answered.
There could be more than that…
Elyscia could sense it.
“Are you going to be okay, Elyscia?” Gavin suddenly asked.
Elyscia slowly nodded. “Yes.”
“Alright…” He then nodded at the undead soldiers, and they started covering the hole.
“... The mistress took their souls, didn’t she?” Elyscia asked.
“Yes,” Gavin answered. “It must be necessary for her.”
“Once their souls are absorbed… Where do they go?”
There was no one that answered immediately.
Gavin looked up at the sky. “The souls go to the heavens… But in this case… I suppose no one knows.”
“If they are needed for the mistress’s sake,” Avelyn said. “Then it’s okay, whatever it may truly be.”
I suppose she’s right.
“What about our souls?” Elyscia looked at her own hand.
“We still have it,” Gavin said.
Indeed, they still have it. But it was now owned by the mistress. It was a strange experience when she returned from the dead. Suddenly, she was filled with unwavering loyalty to the master. Love for her, respect. All the loyalty she had to her former allegiance was gone.
It was weird. There were no voices that compelled her to do anything. It was her own very being, her own will. Almost like her life as a true human being was a different person entirely. Perhaps that was how it was… This new life was a new one. A new beginning. What she was once didn’t matter. All that mattered was the present… And the mistress.
“What happens if we die…?” Elyscia muttered quietly.
But Gavin heard her words. “I suppose we return to the master.”
“... I see.”
That wouldn’t be too bad.
And then the hole was now fully covered.
I’m living a new life now.
Time to bury the past.
They returned to the mistress. And there she was, sitting on a bench all alone, a solemn look on her face.
“Mistress, we have buried the dead villagers,” Gavin reported.
“Okay…”
“... What do we do now?”
The mistress slowly turned her eyes towards them. “We go for the closest hero. Tomorrow, we depart.”
“As you wish, Mistress.”
To that city, huh…?