Secrets Of The Peaceful World

The forest held its breath.

Something moved in between the skeletal trunks, spreading decay where its foot sets.  

Golden eyes pierced through the dark. They were searching for something – No, they were searching for someone, the boy who didn't have a home, no place where he belonged.

The creature tilted its head, looking around for a bit, before the black mist set in.

“Hey, Dain! How long till we reach the capital?” Lyra's question was louder than the galloping of the horses.

“I think we're about to reach there, I think we'll be able to see it in a few minutes. Look! There it is.” Dain's words were reassuring, making it almost impossible to believe he was scared, which was only visible on his face, that had become pale not too long ago, his feet were trembling, so were his hands.

“Everyone, look! Those… those are footprints right?!” Touma noticed something on the trail they had long left behind, the one that led to the cave.

“Where? There's nothing there.” Alaric didn't seem like he was lying. But there were footprints, ones that emitted a black smoke.

“Touma, are you really seeing them?”

“Yes, of course! I'm not lying. They were on the trail that led to the cave.”

“If that's the case, then she must be leaving them behind. But why can't we see it?”

“That's because her footprints are only visible to one who has been marked. I remember grandpa telling me this when I was a kid. She does this to instill fear in her prey, by showing them that she’s always after them.”

“That's kinda scary, isn't it? Sir Alaric.”

“Yeah. I also remember being told something similar by someone. But who cares about that now, we have to stop her nevertheless. Look, we're already in the city.”

The city was still peaceful. Just like it was when Touma woke up there, the only difference was – knights were stationed everywhere. The security was tight. It was a good idea to tell them to prepare beforehand.

“Let's go to the Library. I want answers to my questions.” 

“Go on then, Dain and I will join you later. We have some business to take care of. Touma, take this. This will make the librarian cooperative. Also, leave this horse here, a guard will take it to someplace safe.” 

Dain and Alaric left. Touma and Lyra got off Sora, and departed for the library. Sora was tied with other horses. 

“You know what Lyra? I always wanted to have a peaceful life, a life in which I help troubled people. But the circumstances were never in its favour.”

“What? Why are you suddenly saying something like this? Do you know? My grandpa told me that tough times pass too, and when they do – only happiness awaits.”

Lyra's words were reassuring, the ones that put Touma at ease. “Thanks for that!” He said.

“No problem. Anyways, look! We're here, this is the library.”

They were standing before it. The Library rose like a monument from forgotten ages, its towers were stacked with glass windows that shined under the bright sunlight. It looked more like a palace than a library.

The huge doors opened in the library, a few people were sitting there reading one thing or the other. Touma and Lyra went inside. 

Inside the library, Lyra's gaze fell on a frail looking man, holding a book in his hand. She signalled Touma “Is he the one?”

The duo approached the man, “What do you want?” He was unfriendly, that was sure for now.

“Are you the librarian?” Touma didn't hesitate.

“No, I'm the sweeper.” He was sarcastic, “What do you think?! How can you be so dumb to ask a question about such an obvious thing.” 

Touma left a huge sigh. “It seems he was right. Here take this.” Touma handed him the thing Alaric had given to him. 

“Follow me.” He said, before he began walking swiftly. The man led them to one of the backrooms of the library, the door that led to it creaked loudly, which made the fact that the room had not been used in a long time clear.

The room was big, with two normally seeming doors. The first one opened into the library, from which they entered. It wasn't clear where the second one led to.

The man spoke up – finally. “Don't worry about that door, it opens to the outside. It's like a backdoor of the library.”

“Can we even sit here?” Lyra indicated towards the dust resting on everything inside the room.

“This room hasn't been opened for some years, so the dust is bound to be there. I know it isn't clean, but so are your clothes. So what's the issue?” The man made sense, every word that left his mouth showed confidence. 

“Lyra, I think he's right.” Touma sat down, Lyra followed. “So tell us everything. You know what I mean.”

“Tell me your names before that. I'll go first.

I'm Rauen, the librarian who's been managing this library for twelve years.”

“I'm Touma Kisaragi.”

“Lyra.”

“So, Alaric sent you here, right?”

“Yes. He said you'll be able to explain everything about this situation.”

“Okay. But before that, you… Lyra, right? Can you please leave us alone for a moment.”

Lyra nodded. The door clacked behind as she made her exit. Silence loomed in the air inside the room. 

“So, shall we begin, Mr… Rauen?”

“No need for formalities, just Rauen is fine. 

Anyways, before I start, tell me why you are not aware of this world? You don't need to be afraid, it will be between us.”

“Will you keep it a secret? If yes, I'll tell you everything.”

“Go on. I'm not gonna snitch.”

Touma began explaining everything, from where it all began, without leaving a single thing. Rauen listened intently as he continued.

In the city, Alaric and Dain went to assemble the forces. 

“Hey, Dain! Don't you think that kid is strange? I mean, he's kind… but something about him seems wrong to me.”

“Yes, I think so too sir. He seems as if he's putting up a front. He looks barely seventeen, but his eyes… they're devoid of hope.”

“That's what I find strange too. Just what could he have gone through to become like this. He's hopeless. And then there's us – who, even in such a situation, are still hopeful.”

“I think that's a different matter for us. I mean, we people have already accepted it, so we don't try to do anything to defy it.”

“Hmm. Anyways, enough talk. Let's get down to work, we need to meet up with them at the library soon.”

“Got it! Let's take care of this, Sir Alaric! We'll manage somehow.”

“I hope so.” Alaric turned his face upwards, as if he was lost in thought. Perhaps he was thinking about something, or someone. Both were silent, the rhythm of their footsteps broke the silence like a ticking clock.

Touma sat still in the dusty room of the library, he had told everything to Rauen. He looked shocked at first, but it didn't seem like he doubted Touma's situation.

“That's pretty harsh, what happened to you. That explains your recklessness. But now that I know your situation, I can tell you the answers that you seek.”

“Please do. Explain everything to me.”

“You see, this world– Sereneth is… not what you think it is. It seems peaceful, almost like a paradise – and that… is the last thing you want to believe.”

“What?!”

“It all started ten years ago. Back when I was still in my teen years. The worst time of my life.”

“Why?”

“My family abandoned me. They thought I was a child of the devil. They feared me, and in the end– left me to rot on the streets when I was still learning to write.”

“That's horrible. How can they do this to their own child?”

“It all changed soon. The moment the world changed ten years ago, they were the first ones to die – and for the last time in my life, I felt joy.”

“What exactly happened ten years ago?”

“The world began to change, something happened back then. It was the reason the world turned to this.”

“What was that something?”

“No one knows about it. But it resulted in only one thing, making the world a place not suitable for life.”

“What do you mean by that?!”

“This world, Sereneth, is… slowly dying. It's going in the direction of its demise. We all tried to stop it.

We did everything in our power, but the results were the same – failure.”

“W–what?!” Touma's eyes widened, his arms trembled, Rauen’s words sent chills to his body. “If that's the case, why didn't… why didn't anyone… say anything? Why did all of them… have that look on their faces?” His shaky voice showed how nervous he was.

“It's because… they've given up. Everyone has. They've all lost hopes, the moment our last attempt failed three years ago. The day Fernleigh Grove became what we today call… the Mistvale Clearing.”

“Huh? Mistvale Clearing? Alaric said the same thing when he went to search for Dain that day?” 

“Makes sense for him to go there. You see, Dain's home was in Fernleigh Grove, it was the last place that was affected by this dying world. That was the day half of the Knights of the Kingdom died in their final attempt to defy fate, many things happened that day– many bonds turned to dust.”

“What bonds? And why did they stop after that?”

“Everyone realized that day that their efforts were in vain. All of them lost hope after seeing their comrades, civilians and many more people die the most horrible death.

Even the most excellent and the strongest knight lost hope that day, turning his back on the kingdom in the end. He realized that saving the world is impossible, and disappeared– only to appear four months later, as an evil force.”

“What?!” Touma's voice choked in his throat, he didn't want to believe it, but everything in front of him said otherwise. “Are you talking about him?” He asked Rauen, in hopes that he might be wrong.

“Yes, you must've heard about him, Malrik Veythar.”

Touma's eyes widened, only one memory flashed before him – the encounter with Malrik. He felt fear creeping up to him.

“He was the strongest knight ever.” Rauen continued after a pause. “Everyone believed him to be the warrior that won't lose to anyone. But that belief was broken the day he descended on Fernleigh Grove.”

“Who… did?” Touma gulped as the words left his mouth.

“The calamity, Cenoth. He wasn't even at full power that time. But the chaos that he caused, still isn't talked about among people.”

“So, was that the day Malrik left the knights and formed that cult?”

“Not exactly. But yes, it all happened due to that incident. He only appeared alone first, gaining followers as he carried out his misdeeds.”

“But why did he do that? He also said that he needs to do the ritual, to summon Cenoth, why?”

“Isn't it obvious? He wants to end it all. The people gave up on saving the world, even he did. There's no saving us, so everyone decided that day to not care about it at all. They started ignoring this fact, and simply… accepted their fates.”

“Isn't that wrong? Why would they give up when they can still save themselves?”

“Why, you ask? Don't you know it better than anyone else. What did YOU do in your previous life, didn't you also give up? In that alley too, and now as well – you are hopeless too, your eyes show everything.”

“...” Touma was speechless, what Rauen just said was accurate. He didn't have anything to say in his defence.

“That's the case with us too. We accepted our fate, there's no saving us. We are bound to die sooner or later.”

“There must be a way to save you all.”

“There's none, we've checked every corner of the world, but it all was in vain.”

“Did you check there? The Mistvale Clearing, I mean.”

“Don't even think about it. Why do you think Alaric was afraid of Dain going in there? It's the place with the highest density of hollowborn. Dead bodies don't rot there; they simply lie there scattered in the still fog. No one dares to even go there, a group went there once. You can guess what happened to them.”

“That's pretty grim. But you still have to try, I have a gut feeling that the answers lie there. We need to go there.”

Creak! The door opened. It was Lyra, “Can I come in now?” She asked in a polite manner. “Yes. You can.” A reply came instantly.

“Anyways kid, listen to me. If you want, you can go there, but nobody's gonna support you with that, even this girl won't.”

“What are you talking about?” Lyra was confused with the pace of this discussion.

“This boy here, Touma, thinks that he needs to go to Mistvale Clearing to find a way to save us.” Rauen seemed worried and annoyed at the same time.

“Are you crazy?! What do you think The Mistvale Clearing is? You absolutely can't go in there.”

“Why?! You people haven't even checked that place. You cannot think that there's nowhere you can find your answers when you haven't even checked everywhere.”

“Go on then. Go on and see who accompanies you except for the brat of a man, Dain. I won't object if you manage to convince Ala–.”

A sudden knock on the second door interrupted Rauen mid-sentence.

“It must be them.” Lyra went to open the door.

“Go on and see if you can convince him.” Rauen seemed confident.

“Come inside.” Lyra opened the door, leading the room to light up a bit more.

“Is the boy here?” A familiar feminine voice came from outside the door.

A chair suddenly fell on the ground. It was Touma.

“What happened? Why are you trembling?”

The air thickened. A shadow fell across the doorway, stopping right before Touma's feet. 

“Wh– what are you… what are you doing here?!!” Touma shouted, facing the door.

“Why? Aren't you going to save my child?” The voice suddenly went from feminine to hoarse – to guttural rasp.

It reeked of rotting flesh mixed with blood. The sky was cloudy, but it felt wrong. 

Lyra gagged, clutching her mouth as the stench hit her. Her legs were trembling, but her eyes fixed on the figure in the doorway.

Nothing made sense, she was supposed to arrive a day later.

But she was there, standing at the doorway – The Weeping Widow, Veyra, with a child hanging in her hands.