The light of day was starting to shine on the group outside of the fort. There were several mounds of dirt, carefully made by Eleanor herself, as she stood in front of the row of make-shift graves with her eyes closed, head slightly lowered, and her hands together in a prayer. She was trying to send the souls of the dead women to the side of the Goddess… Though, that Goddess was no longer in this world, and the only God was me.
I couldn’t see their souls—nor the souls of anything for that matter—as the Soul wasn’t part of my Realm, but from what I knew, the souls of people might linger for a while depending on how intertwined their emotions were with their magic while they were living. However, in most cases, souls simply dissipate, like the heat on ashes once the fire is gone.
What Eleanor was doing was commendable, since if any of those women ever had any desire to be avenged—or just free—then this was more than enough to appease them. As for the men’s bodies that remained inside the fort… They might come back as walking dead if left alone, fueled only by a desire for death, which is why the ogre burned their corpses once they were done.
And speaking of the ogre, both the ogre and goblin were quietly standing at the back, close to the woods. A long distance away from them was Dom, who was also doing the same as he watched Eleanor’s back with an expressionless face that carried a hint of regret as he leaned on his spear.
Once Eleanor was done, she opened her eyes and contemplated the graves for a while. She said nothing more, turned around and approached the group of people. Dom finally got closer, carrying a certain look of suspicion to the ogre and goblin.
“I think we can go now…” Eleanor said, somewhat crestfallen.
“Are ya’ sure it’s okay for us to go with them?” Dom asked, his eyes set on both the goblin and the ogre; the grip on his weapon tight. “We might just be walking into the same situation you were in with those guys, and this time, there’s no one that’s going to warn us…” Dom followed and then glanced at Eleanor. “You trust too easily.”
“I, uh…” was all that Eleanor could say as she tightened her lips and looked at the ground.
Dom’s assessment was right. Ever since I’ve been paying attention to her, she’s been falling prey to people’s apparent good intentions; from the Duke’s Daughter that just wanted to mock her, to the knights that claimed they were from the Prince, the elf that led her here—who we found dead, along with the rest of the men in the base, killed by either the ogre or the goblin before we met them—and finally me, some dark cat-like being that has been following her around since she set foot in here.
It would be in Eleanor’s best interest to get rid of everyone—myself included—and continue going on her own.
“Bah!” Dom loudly said, noticing the downcast expression on Eleanor, and causing her to look at him with surprise, “I guess that if they hadn’t showed up, we would be dead anyway. If they wanted to kill us, they should’ve done it while we were surrounded in that basement.”
“That true,” the ogre said with a nod.
“Ahhh! How wondrous, and marvelous, and joyous it is to have our grandiose covenant be born from the light of trust, justice, and righteousness! Indeed, quite! Let us part, then, to the next destination, for our fate awaits at the edge of the world, where freedom might yet find us, and we shall grace the sweet fruit of knowledge and recognition!” the goblin loudly said, spreading his arms wide while looking at the sky.
“What’s with this thing?” Dom, asked with a hardly subtle look of disgust directed at the goblin.
“Goblins speak too much,” the ogre said, shaking his head.
“Ah, I forgot to ask,” Eleanor said with a wry smile that went from the goblin to the ogre. “Who are you?”
“Grool,” Grool said, facing Eleanor.
“And this one is, and has been, but might not continue to be, known as, therefore, Julianus Regidus Magnis D’ Mirabile Regnatus Fortis Vo’Primis In Ferratus,” Julianus… et al… proudly said, puffing his chest out and spreading his arms wide as if he was welcoming a king.
“U-um…” was all that Eleanor could say as a wry smile formed on her face.
“Jul,” Grool said, pointing a finger.
Jul—as Grool named—turned around to look at Grool with an expression of great offense. “H-how can this be?! To have someone such as this one be reduced in such a way; in such a mocking way; in such a depreciating way; in such a—”
“Name too long. Jul good,” Grool interrupted, raising a hand and signaling to Jul to stop talking.
The goblin looked at Grool with his mouth agape; he couldn’t believe what had just happened. However, the ogre simply ignored him and turned his face in my direction. So far, a lot of beings were seemingly ignorant of my presence—a likely result from my own design, since I wanted something quiet and nimble—so, I moved to the side, and closer to Eleanor, trying to see if the ogre would notice, and sure enough, the ogre's face moved with my own movements.
“Strange cat,” he said, pointing his fatty index finger at me.
“Oh?” Eleanor exclaimed, after which she looked in the direction that Grool was pointing. “Ah, this is Kyun. He’s my friend.”
Friend… Quite an unusual thing to hear a mortal say about me. Unnecessary, since I didn’t consider her a friend. She was nothing more than the human I chose to follow for the explorations into this Void Dungeon. If she were to die, it would be frustrating, but nothing more. I would simply follow one of these other beings or go on my own.
As I considered those things, Jul turned to look at me as well. He tilted his head from side to side, and then nodded. “Ah… This one feared that he would be the only one that could see the most beautiful, and most glossy darkness of the world’s creations looking at its creations with the depths of unknown crimson puddles, swaying from side to side at the forefront of a shadowy night, and three rivers of darkness that point in the direction of great achievements.”
“The hell is it saying…” Dom asked to himself in a whisper.
However, both Jul and Grool ignored him and turned to look at Eleanor. Jul carried a wide smile, and Grool nodded in seeming satisfaction before speaking, “You blessed.”
“Blessed?” Eleanor asked back with a sad smile. “I… this place has been nothing more than pain and suffering… I haven’t even been able to properly sleep…” saying that she shook her head. “I’m cursed.”
Despite Eleanor’s dejected expression, Grool chose to chuckle instead, before pointing a finger at me. “He blessing.” Then pointed his finger at Eleanor. “You fight. You no let him down.”
I couldn’t help but raise my eyebrows in surprise. Somehow, this ogre could see more from me than even Eleanor could despite spending most of my time with her. And judging from the enthusiastic way that Jul was nodding, it seemed like he could also notice the same thing. Dom carried the same look of suspicion from before while throwing glances at both me and the couple that was happily talking about it. Eleanor, on the other hand, didn’t appear to be wholly convinced as she simply forced a smile.
“I think that he’s special too… and I’m happy that he’s coming with me,” she said, nodding along but refusing to say all the other things that she was likely thinking.
“Well, none of that matters,” Dom interjected, pulling the spear out of the ground and getting closer to Eleanor while trying his best to keep his distance from both Jul and Grool. “What matters now is what we’re going to do next. What’s your plan? Should we take the fort for ourselves instead, and try to live there for as long as we can?”
Eleanor showed a face of displeasure at the suggestion, but Grool seemed to consider it as he placed a hand on his chin and looked down, while Jul simply looked up to him, waiting for an answer.
“No,” Grool answered after a moment. “We take supplies. We move.”
“Okay… if you say so…” Dom replied, turning to the fort and giving a glance at Eleanor. “Time to move then.”
Eleanor turned to the fort with a near glare, but still followed after Dom, and I behind her, just like Grool and Jul.
