91. Darius and Darius

At first, the chief flatly refused, saying how could they possibly kill people. But with the shaman’s daily whispers, not only the chief but all the Mountain People were wavering.

The unknown calamities continued, and perhaps if they offered people, the god might truly be pleased.

Those who faithfully believed in the shaman now were said to secretly offer their own blood.

‘Even if not their lives, perhaps blood would……’

So he considered closing his eyes and offering people as the shaman wanted, but that man was the problem.

〈This is a false ceremony. No god rejoices in receiving meaningless blood.〉

A man who came up from below the mountain range, a spirit mage with black hair.

〈Be careful of that shaman. The death of the previous shaman is suspicious from the start. She says he gave his life for the god, but no one witnessed it.〉

Though the Mountain People, who lived in this chosen land, looked down on those from below the mountain, they couldn’t easily dismiss this man. He possessed the power of nature that the Mountain People considered sacred.

A man who introduced himself as Inkheart, a contractor of the Wind Spirit King.

‘The shaman says if it’s difficult to offer our own Mountain People, we could buy and offer people from below the mountain, while Inkheart argues that all lives are equal……’

The situation worsened daily, and now even the people began to split into two factions and fight.

“Chief!”

“What is it?”

“Sacrifices have appeared at the altar!”

“What? Didn’t I tell you to leave that matter alone for now? I said I haven’t decided yet.”

“No, it’s not that. The sacrifices appeared on the altar by themselves! Surely the god, understanding your difficulty, has sent down sacrifices for us!”

The chief couldn’t believe his ears. What on earth was this about?

“Now even that man can’t say anything! After all, these are sacrifices directly sent by the god!”

“That’s right! If the god hadn’t given these people as sacrifices, how could they have suddenly appeared in the sacred temple, and right on the altar?”

“So it must be the will of the god!”

“There’s no need to hesitate! Let’s immediately offer a ceremony to the god who has been watching over us with these sacrifices!”

* * *

“Aaaaah, I don’t believe in gods! I even tricked the temple to get here! If you accept someone like me as a sacrifice, the god will be angry!”

With no time to adapt to the sudden time slip, as soon as people saw me and Arshama, they exclaimed, “Sacrifices!” Their eyes gleamed as they began to bind us with ropes.

“Hahaha, it seems they’re not in the mood to listen to us at all?”

“Don’t laugh so comfortably! Unless you have some solution!”

“I guess the temple was angry. It thought it was getting blood, but when it received spirits instead, it got angry.”

“Is this the time to say such things? If you’re a guide, shouldn’t you be finding a way out of this situation?”

Amid the confusion, a calm voice pierced through.

“Stop.”

Swoosh. A wind seemed to blow from somewhere, cutting the tightly bound ropes and lightening the weight on her wrists.

They say even if the sky falls, there will be a hole to escape through!

“Chief, human sacrifice can never be the solution. The death of innocent lives will only deepen your karma.”

Thank goodness there’s still justice in the world and someone with a straight mind to speak such words!

“Inkheart, it’s you again. Look, I’ve been saying what wrong have innocent lives done to be sacrificed. But these people aren’t innocent lives. They’re people the god has sent down to our temple for us to perform a ceremony. Are you now trying to stop us from using what our god has given us?”

“Ah, what god! I’m not a person sent by the god, and I don’t even believe in gods!”

Once freed from the ropes, I ran without hesitation from the altar to the person mediating this situation.

Not knowing what shock awaited me when I saw his face.

“Darius?”

Black hair, equally black eyes. Handsome features that once seen, wouldn’t be easily forgotten.

The man who embraced me without surprise as I suddenly rushed to him exuded a familiar atmosphere.

That solemn atmosphere full of responsibility unique to a great lord who protects many people.

“Darius.”

Darius came to protect me. Though I didn’t know how he got here, it seemed as always that he had come to find me.

I smiled brightly and embraced him.

“……How do you know my name? Well, never mind. What’s your name?”

But Darius’s reaction was a bit strange.

“It’s Anette. Your wife.”

“Good, let’s go with that setting for now.”

That setting?

Darius treated me like a stranger and then shouted to the people.

“If even one innocent person’s blood is spilled, I cannot help the Mountain People.”

“They are not innocent!”

“She is not a sacrifice of the Mountain People. I haven’t heard that she converted. Her name is Anette, my……”

Glance, Darius looked at me briefly.

“Fiancée.”

Fiancée?

My mouth fell open. At the same time, I noticed something floating around Darius.

“Sylphid?”

「Hmm, that one’s a spirit mage.」

Sylphid replied with an interested tone. As if evaluating someone he was seeing for the first time.

Then perhaps…… this person is?

A thousand years ago, when the snow-covered white mountain range was a jungle. I’d heard that the first Grand Duke of Inkheart, who would later become the founder of the Inkheart ducal family, was at this time just a single spirit mage.

The founder of the first Inkheart who contracted with the Wind Spirit King.

‘Since he’s from a thousand years ago, I didn’t know what he looked like, only the fact that the founder of Inkheart was here at this time.’

Would a real portrait have been passed down until now? At most, it would be an imaginary portrait!

‘They look so alike.’

Glancing repeatedly. Looking at the first Inkheart once, then clenching my fist once.

‘The Inkheart genes are really strong! No, if I look very carefully, they are different? First of all, this Darius is older! They both have magic swords at their waists, but the first Darius also handles spirits, and Sylphid is pretending not to know me…… sigh.’

It’s sad. Since it’s a thousand years ago, it’s long before Sylphid contracted with me, and it’s right that Sylphid’s contractor now is the first Inkheart!

But how can you not know me! I’m the disciple you crave with every breath in the future!

Fortunately, the crisis of being placed on the altar and nearly dying as a sacrifice right after dimensional travel ended with the appearance of the first Inkheart.

The first Inkheart seemed to be a figure difficult to ignore here, despite different religious views.

Inkheart emphasized that “this woman is also a spirit mage” when arguing that I should be saved, and perhaps because the Mountain People, as devout as they were, also respected spirit mages as representatives of nature, they eventually agreed with his argument.

Once Arshama and I saw a way to survive, we stuck right behind Inkheart and escaped from the altar, finally catching our breath when we reached Inkheart’s lodging.

“Did you come here after hearing rumors that I was in this area? Because you admire Sylphid as a spirit mage?”

Having saved us, Darius scolded me with a strict attitude once the situation became safe.

“Go back. As you’ve experienced, this is not a place where a young spirit mage should rashly visit to build reputation. People are suffering from unknown diseases, and due to that anxiety, who knows what major incident might occur. The reason I’m here is because I can protect myself……”

As expected of Darius’s ancestor, he was listing all sorts of worries and nagging, making me think that blood truly doesn’t lie, and I was enduring it to somehow stick to this house.

“Spirit mage!”

Before he could finish speaking, an urgent voice calling for the first Inkheart came from inside the house.