It was at night with a starry sky. The brilliant Moon stripped the stars of their shine, in the sight of the Full-Moon they paled. There were two carriages, from one the flickered in candlelight, the other was darkness. In the lightened carriage surrounded a group a Swordsman who told his life story.
"… I didn't intend to harm His Highness. As a Eunuch I can't have children, and I didn't want my legacy to end in my hands. I… "
Igor raised his hand with a frown, "You wanted His Highness to become a Butcher?"
"No-"
The teacher didn't let the Swordsman speak, "Wait, shouldn't one be more concerned about that legacy. You wanted His Highness became a lowly Depraved Butcher?"
"No! I-"
This time, it was Petro who butt in, "Wouldn't it be interesting to have a Prince butchering his subject?"
"NO! I-"
The Archer's eyes glowed azure, as he meddled in, "I don't think, he planned for anything like this."
"Yeah! I-"
The Tanker chimed in too, "Who knows? Didn't he turn mad once already? Why can't he be mad now?"
"…"
Libertas gazed at the broken Swordsman. He sat there with his head hung low, not even daring to retaliate against an accusation. Wasn't he himself in such a situation before? How did he feel? Weak. Powerless. Fragile. He fought but lost in a war of attrition. He did seek help, but in the end, no help was granted? Can he see others be pushed into despair because of him?
The answer should be granted, but Libertas hesitated. His eyes glowed red. Should he worry about others if he couldn't even care about himself? Is it worth saving a degenerated one? Wasn't he forced to butcher by him? Why should Libertas care about him after all he had done him? He was the victim, the swordsman was the despicable culprit, the evil. Evils shall be judged.
By now, Libertas open mouth turned into a forced grin, on the verge of laughing. The red glow deepened. The evils shall be punished. He was delighted at the sight of the broken Swordsman, but he froze in the next moment.
The Swordsman has his sword's blade directed at his throat. His hands shivered, he gazed weakly at Libertas' feet. His voice forlorn, "Your Highness, I am sorry. It seems everything was my fault. I just wanted to teach you a bit about butchering, I didn't intend to harm you."
He sighed and clenched his fists, "To tell the truth, I did notice your deviation, but I didn't mind it. I thought it was normal after one killed an animal. Then, as the deviation turned worse, I panicked, I didn't know what to do. All I could do was teach you what my father once preached to me, but you were always in a daze. I truly tried my best, but in the end, I will be the same as my father, a Depraved Butcher."
The Swordsman cried, tears flowed down his cheeks, and blood seeped out of his skin. Libertas starred, he bit his lips. Why does that evil feel sorry? Ain't he the evil? Shouldn't the evil feel no regret? Fuck! Why did the evil want to teach him? Why did that evil try his best? How could an evil look like this?
Libertas yearned one day to shout all his jumbled feelings out, but not today. For now, he rushed at the Swordsman, as blood flowed from his lips. The sword was slapped away, and the Swordsman was thrust against the floor. On top of him sat Libertas. Streams of tears seeped from his eyes.
Libertas clenched his fist and hit the Swordsman's chest. He didn't care if it was painful, or not, all he cared now was to vent his emotion. One punch after another fell. He hit and hit until he felt tired and drained. The Swordsman gawked at Libertas, whose eyes faded in their red glowing. The moment the red glow entirely faded away, Libertas fell asleep in the Swordsman's embrace.
The Swordsman embraced the asleep Highness in his arm, patted his back and muttered, "Did you… forgive me?" before he collapsed too.
The next day, the sun blazed high in the sky. A river gurgled, the fishes inside swam away from the horses drinking water near the shores. Near the horses was a fire with some fishes over it. A mouth-watering fragrance spread from the fishes over the crackling fire.
In a carriage laid Libertas. He wrinkled his nose, soft snoring resounded. Then the snoring subsided, and Libertas slowly opened his eyes.
"Where I am?"
He looked around, gradually the memories of the last night came back. First, the memories of how he cried. A blush emerged on Libertas' face. Next, he bit his lips, and the blush vanished, the different thoughts he has yesternight, overwhelmed him.
"Was that really me?"
He shook his head and sighed, "What did I become?"
Libertas' legs were close to his chest, as he wrapped his arms around it. The head laid feeble on the legs.
Knock.
Knock.
Libertas looked up. There, on the entrance of the carriage stood the Swordsman, his fingers near a plank. From the fish, in his other hand, spread a mouth-watering fragrance, but Libertas didn't feel tempted.
The Swordsman smiled mildly, "Are you Hungry?"
Though Libertas shook his head, his belly grumbled in protest.
The Swordsman chuckled and shoved the fish over, "Here, come eat."
Libertas took the fish, as the Swordsman sat beside him down. For a while, Libertas stared at the fish with squeezed eyes, as if the fish his archenemy was. Then he bit careful in the fish, it was clearly clumsily. He had never eaten like this before, besides that, fish wasn't his favourite food.
The Swordsman leaned back, gazing at the roof like it was the starry sky from yesternight. His eyes turned misty, "Child, I am sorry for what happened. This should be not an excuse, but I am a degenerated, a Depraved… Butcher… "
He let out a sigh, the gaze turned from the roof to the floor, "I butchered freely, without caring a bit. I regretted it, even now. There wasn't a single day I didn't repent. However, this all didn't change my depravity. I didn't kill freely any longer, but I let myself down. I drank booze and visited brothels every day. I lost all my money and was forced to do Quests."
The Swordsman raised his head to look at Libertas, who was silently munching on the fish. He patted Libertas' head, "On such a Quest, I met him. He was innocent and gullible, similar to you. You reminded me of him. I taught him butchering too, but unlike you, he didn't deviate. He brought me out of the hole I was in. Nevertheless, in the end,… "
A tear rolled from the Swordsman's closed eyes. His hand was cramped and shivered. He shook his head and gazed at the roof again, "It doesn't matter any more. Libertas, I have come to ask you if I can continue teaching you?"
Libertas didn't look at the Swordsman, as he didn't look at him. Libertas continued to stare at the half-eaten fish. The butchered Orc and this fish, aren't they more and less the same? Why didn't he almost puke at the sight of this fish, as he did with the Orc? What was there different? Was he already used to such sights?
No! If he thought back to the bloody Orc, he felt nauseous. They just felt different. He couldn't describe why or how, but this was how he earnestly felt. Wasn't he a hypocrite? He treated them differently, merely because of their race. Despicable!
Libertas hesitated, "I-"
"Your Highness, you are finally awake!"
The Teacher shouted elated after he walked into the carriage. Then his eyes squinted, "So, why were you here? Would you mind leaving? His Highness needs to rest, and didn't need the disturbance from you!"
The Teacher grabbed the Swordsman and pushed him out. He winked a moment at His Highness before he disappeared from his view too. After a while, the Teacher popped out again. This time with two fishes, one in each hand. The Teacher shoved one of the fishes to Libertas.
"Your Highness, please eat. You must be hungry after waking up."
Libertas glanced at the new fish, then at his bloated stomach. He sighed and held the new fish stiffly.
After the Teacher sat down, he told, "Your Highness, after finishing eating, let's continue your study without that pesky peasant, is that alright?"
Libertas presented the fish on the stick the Swordsman had given. The Teacher's eyes widened in surprise, "Ah, Your Highness, you must know eating too fast isn't good for your health. Your Highness shouldn't eat too fast, even if you are eager to learn!"
Libertas shrugged his shoulders and stretched himself, "Let's go."
Libertas walked out of the carriage. His face numb, the eyes indifferent. From the distance, he seemed cold, but it was all just a front to protect himself.