C137: Roteng Fire (1)
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The sunset light was scattered through a gap among the thin clouds in the sky. Red and warm light slanted, leaving a long shadow next to Rudger.
The grass bugs cried loudly with the sound of the grass swaying in the wind as the artist stared at Rudger as if to see something even though he couldn’t see.
“Since you’ve come all the way here, you know a lot after all.”
It was the painter who opened his mouth first in a long silence. He got up from his seat with his painting tools in one hand.
“Let’s go down. It’s going to take some time, so let’s go on the way. Oh, come to think of it, we didn’t introduce ourselves.”
“Rudger Chelici.”
“My name is Pierre. I’m a normal angry person.”
After a light statement, the two slowly walked down to the ruins below the hill. Hans stepped back tactfully and widened the distance so that the two could communicate easily.
Pierre, who was leading the way down the hill, swept the grass up to his waist with his fingertips.
“It’s now a deserted ruin, but Roteng used to be a very beautiful place.”
“They say it was a beautiful village like in the picture. I’ve heard it a lot.”
“It was like that in reality. But everything disappeared because of the big fire that day.”
Pierre had a bitter smile around his mouth. His invisible eyes seemed to be looking at the scenery at that time.
“As Mr. Rudger said, I am a wizard. No. I was a wizard, to be exact. My aristocratic teacher gave me up because I had talent, but I couldn’t adapt. I’m a timid person who likes to draw, both in the past and now.”
Rudger listened to his story in silence.
“I was too sentimental, unlike a magician, and my brain was not working well, so I was scolded a lot by my teacher. They even broke my brush. At first, I held it in, but as it continued, I couldn’t stand it so I ran away at night. I liked drawing more than using magic.”
‘I want to draw a picture.’
Pierre, who ran away and wandered with that thought, arrived at a village that was beautiful and peaceful called Roteng.
“I thought it was a great place and that I could really paint here. But what can a blue child who doesn’t know the world suddenly settle down in the village do? It was hard to get used to the village. At that time……she helped me.”
“Her?”
The two, who came down the hill, arrived at the mouth of the ruins.
Pierre took out his brush instead of answering. He moved his hand holding the brush before expressing as to why he suddenly took out the brush.
As if painting, in the air a surprising thing happened.
Pierre’s brush was colored and a line was drawn in the air. It was similar to the implementation of the magic formula to manifest magic, but Rudger immediately saw that it was clearly different.
Pierre’s brush strokes quickly filled the surroundings with color. Red, blue, green and yellow all sorts of colorful lights spread around.
Before he knew it, the sun disappeared over the hill in the west and the darkness sank like a night fog over the ruins filled with silence.
Only Pierre’s painting shone clearly in it.
Rudger watched it in silence. The magic of Pierre’s paint in the air drew a line or spread widely, and eventually drew a landscape around it.
In time, what Rudger saw was not the ruins of the middle of the night, but the beautiful village in broad daylight. He could see the carriage moving around and people leading their lives.
‘Is it magic using paintings?’
Painting magic was a new form of magic that he had never seen before. People in the landscape began to move even before he was surprised by it as if they were alive.
The world of painting showed the scene of those days and Pierre began to walk as Rudger followed him quietly.
“Roteng is a place with a lot of wanderers. It is also a place frequented by people who have no connection or who travel but as they settled down a village was formed where even the wind rests. That’s Roteng. There was one thing to be proud of in such a village.”
Pierre, who was walking slowly in the center of the painting world, stopped and Rudger stopped by his side, too.
At the center of the painting world was a woman who caught his eye. She was a beautiful woman with long black hair. He could only see her back, but he could easily see that her beauty was out of the ordinary.
Her appearance at first glance seemed strangely familiar and unfamiliar. It may be because her face was shaded around her eyes and was not properly visible.
“I can’t see her.”
“I couldn’t paint her beauty intact with my humble drawing skills.”
There was a limit to what he could show with painting magic. When he heard that painting magic was not perfect, Rudger had no choice but to agree.
“She was a girl who seemed to have come out of a fairy tale. She was always kind to everyone without losing her bright smile. Everyone in the village loved her. In addition, spirits liked her, perhaps because of her excellent nature-friendliness.”
Whenever the dark-haired woman walked down the street, people smiled, said hello, and waved and whenever that happened, she waved her hands and greeted me.
Small natural spirits floated around the woman, and the singing birds sat on her shoulders and picked their feathers. The figure was like a fairy tale, so Rudger was caught in the moment even though it was a moment.
‘It’s warm, it feels like I’m back in my childhood.’
“It was also her that helped me who couldn’t adapt to this village. She was beautiful like a jewel and showed a warmer smile than the sunshine. Esmeralda.”
‘She’s….’
There was a constant smile in the village. That’s how peaceful it was.
Warm and peaceful.
Looking at the scene, Rudger also thought he wanted to live here but the peace didn’t last that long.
One day, an aristocratic wizard happened to visit Roteng Village, and everything changed. The watercolor-like landscape quickly distorted and changed the appearance of the painting world.
The wizard who led his men was a handsome blond man. He whispered all kinds of sweet words to Esmeralda.
– I fell in love at first sight. I want you to be with me.
It was easy for Rudger to see that it was not pure love. What the aristocratic man wanted was not a woman named Esmeralda itself. He wanted her spirit’s friendly ability to be added to his own lineage.
Those who search for talented women and force them to have their offspring.
It was still common for aristocrats to deliberately marry talented women for better blood.
“But she, who was naive, believed the words of that aristocrat. She was so pure that she couldn’t doubt the words of others who hid their true feelings.”
Before he knew it, he saw Esmeralda, who fell asleep with expectations and the villagers worried about her.
If Esmeralda is bound up with someone, it must be a blessing. However, if the other person had a purpose, not a sincere love for her, he had to prevent it even if he was hated by Esmeralda.
Everyone was helped by her. Her warmth and innocence had to be saved. She could not be dragged by a wicked aristocrat and made to live in misery for the rest of her life.
“But no one dared to come forward and stop it. I didn’t exactly have the courage to do that. That’s right, because the other person was a noble.”
“Yes, the old Kingdom of Durman was that kind of place.”
Rudger nodded as if he understood.
Now society still has a hierarchical system, but in the past it was much worse, especially the Kingdom of Durman.
Rudger recalled a familiar word in his previous life.
‘Ancien Régime.’
It means the old system, and it means a society in which the long-standing feudal system gradually accumulated and generally rotted.
The Kingdom of Durman was a stark example. In an excessive confrontation between aristocrats and royalty the lower classes were exploited by them and the people that couldn’t stand it starved to death.
At that time, the common people’s opposition to nobles was almost equivalent to treason. It was usual to exterminate a family even if one person did something wrong, and in severe cases, all the people in the vicinity were hanged.
“Did the people abandoned her?”
Did the abandoned woman ended up taking revenge on the village?
But Pierre didn’t answer. The world of painting was already running toward a set ending, so he didn’t feel the need to reflect on the tragedy of the day with his own mouth.
“If you look, you’ll know.”
Pierre stood in his seat as if he had swallowed the pain. The landscape changed and it changed to the day when the nobleman decided to take Esmeralda.
The atmosphere of Roteng, which was beautiful, was darkened. The village, which had a cozy and subtle light even at night, was heavy and dull as if he had guessed its future. It was not just an illusion that even the air touching the skin feels cold.
The nobleman came to pick up Esmeralda as promised while leading the soldiers of his family.
– Come with me, Esmeralda.
-I’m…
The sound of conversation between the two was heard over the blurred landscape.
Even Esmeralda, who was naive, was hesitant because she felt something strange. But now that she came this far, she couldn’t resist, so Esmeralda tried to hold the man’s hand.
– No, you can’t!
Then a boy in the village stepped forward and shouted.
– Lady! Don’t believe him! He’s a seducer! Every word of love for you is a lie!
– How dare you! Who do you think this person is?
The soldier holding the spear threatened the boy. But it wasn’t just the boy who stepped up.
– No matter how noble you are, you can’t take her!
– Get out of my town right now!
– Lady! You can’t go with him!
A friendly bakery grandfather, a woman who had a grocery store, a farmer, etc. All the villagers defended Esmeralda and protested against the nobles and their soldiers.
If it was a fairytale, the aristocrat would have stepped down here grinding his teeth. However, the world that this painting magic shows was not such a hopeful story of good and evil.
It was hopelessly dark and horrible.
– Are you trying to fight me?
The appearance of whispering love to Esmeralda was gone, and the face of the aristocrat was distorted like a devil. When he raised his hand, the soldiers lined up behind him moved.
-The people here insulted the aristocracy. It’s an act of revolt against the kingdom! Sweep them all out!
The soldiers moved as if they were familiar with the order. That’s how the massacre in Roteng village began. It’s not that the villagers didn’t resist, but the gap with the opponent was too wide.
The opponent was a trained and elite army of a noble family. There were a few, but there were knights and wizards.
On the other hand, the villagers are all retired mercenaries and wandering adventurers.
They couldn’t have been an opponent in the first place.
A man stabbed by a soldier’s spear collapsed with a scream as the red paint smudged.
The soldiers’ torches burned the houses as yellow and orange spread like an explosion. The flames were scattered and a person who could not escape from the inside burned to death.
Black paint was smeared on the ground as hell was laid out on the people.
“Don’t tell me, it’s…….”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Pierre nodded as if he knew what Rudger was trying to say.
“This is the truth of the Roteng Great Fire, which is unknown to the world.”
The Roteng Great Fire was not just a natural disaster.
It was a man-made disaster and the Kingdom of Durman has hidden the ugly truth until now.
– Please stop! Please! The villagers are innocent. I’ll follow you. Please…….
At the center of the horrific massacre Esmeralda shed tears.
She begged the nobleman to quit. He shouted, “I will follow you, so stop killing anymore,” to stop the meaningless slaughter. However, the aristocrat whispered love to her in a cold voice.
– It’s too late. See with those two eyes what happens to those who rebel against the aristocracy.
The man who whispered love words was gone and only a monster with ugly desires remained.
When she saw who he really was Esmeralda fell on her knees while her empty eyes watched the dying people.
-No.
Life is dying out in a house that is falling apart. The flames scattered in all directions and soon melted away. That spark was someone’s life. It was somebody’s scream.
-No.
Esmeralda, who had been weeping incessantly, bowed her head as if she was about to collapse.
The noble man licked his tongue as he saw it.
-Is she broken? No, maybe this is better. It’s easier to handle a doll.
He had no intention of hiding his true feelings now.
-I can’t do this because I’m dizzy from the smell of garbage burning. I’ll leave first, so you stay and leave no rat behind.
-Yes.
-Leave her alone and bring her to me when the situation is over.
-All right.
The nobleman left the burning village behind and left with his immediate escort. There was no guilt about committing the massacre on that face.
-It’s almost over.
-Yeah, the guys who were waiting outside killed everyone that tried to run away.
-Tsk. So why are you resisting the aristocracy and causing trouble? Let’s take the girl first. She’s going to be a concubine of a young master.
The remaining soldiers approached Esmeralda and reached out to her according to the order given but at that moment a fire suddenly began to burn around her.
The lumps of fire, which rose one by one like a goblin fire, revolved around her as if protecting Esmeralda.
-What is this?
-Is this a spirit?
Judging that they were the lowest spirits without proper power, the soldiers tried to push them away with the spear.
That negligence caused death.
The flames that spread through the spear engulfed the soldiers. The soldiers tried to shout something at the fire on their body, but even that scream was engulfed in the flames.
In a flash, two soldiers were ashes and disappeared.
The flame, which was a spirit, grew in size using the body as fuel.
It was now too alien to be called a spirit.
The flame responded to Esmeralda’s despair. Flames rose from all over the burning village as they sucked the red paint on the floor.
Rudger had no choice but to watch the scene.
Was it the original wish of the dead?
The flames that absorbed the black and red paint on the floor began to converge around Esmeralda.
-What, what the hell! What have you done? Answer me, girl!
The soldiers who saw the scene were horrified beyond description.
Esmeralda slowly raised his bowed head. Her eyes, blank and empty, turned beyond the soldiers to the place where the aristocrat, who had completely left the village, disappeared.
-I hate you.
What came out of his lips were the deafening curse words.
Eventually, the flame that clumped behind Esmeralda conceived a presence. The giant, whose whole body soared with hot flames, rose.
A fat, ugly, curvy body with a magma-infested face that was distorted by anger.
Rudger remembered that spirit. It is the spirit that attacked the banquet hall at that time.
-I hate everything about you.
The soldiers panicked up the spear. Esmeralda, who was watching the chaotic scene, mumbled prayerfully, holding her hands together.
“So please. <Quasimodo>”
The souls of the dead, the little spirits, Esmeralda’s despair and hatred were intertwined in one place and an artificially created incarnation of revenge was born.
– Burn them all.
Quasimodo opened his mouth wide and spewed out flames.
A new life born of death brought about death again.
