Heresy, Part I

Betta and I walked along the empty streets, her lamp the only source of light and her shadow looming over me as I followed from behind. Soon enough, the building walls around us ran out—the cobbled ground swapped for an earth path. She led me all the way to the lake at the outskirts.

With her teeth, Betta opened the bottle and started pouring the expensive crimson liquid in the water. After emptying most of it, she made a toast and drank the rest.

"Ugh, this crap's nasty. I think the old man was only pretending to like it to mess with me."

"I didn't find it that bad."

"No surprise, you like rotten fruit too."

"Raisins aren't rotten fruit."

"People who drink say the same about liquor. Doesn't make it any less true." You're literally one of them.

We returned to silence for a short while. Betta stood still in front of me, staring at what little light her lamp reflected on the water.

"You curious why I suddenly decided to come to this town?"

"I can somewhat guess."

She scratched the back of her head. "There's something else, other than this place being Jacks' hometown." I actually didn't know that. "You remember how he often liked to share his wiseman advice and stuff?"

"Yeah, I can recite a bunch of his lectures from memory."

She nodded. "I'd normally beat up anyone trying to get preachy on me, but Jacks was… he made it work, I don't know how." With a spin, she turned to face me. "Anyway, point is I… well, I'm sorry."

"Eh?"

"I apologize—but don't let it get to your head."

"Umm… sure, but for what? Well, I mean, I can think of several things, but which one in particular?"

"Ugh, fine, you got a point. See, I've been avoiding you for a while, don't know if you noticed, given you're denser than a bowl of rice paste."

I'd say you were avoiding everyone and not just me, but alright. Also, I'm not dense. No more than you and Oscar at least.

"Thing is," she continued. "I blamed you for Jacks dying."

Oh.

So this was going in that direction.

"Then, after I gave a spin on Jack's preachy advice I… well, I realized it wasn't your fault."

No, no, it was totally my fault, Betta. You've got nothing to apologize for in this regard.

"So, one last time, sorry for blaming you unfairly, though I can't promise I won't do it again in the future. Erm, anyway, if it ever happens let me know so I can stop, alright?"

"Sure, don't worry about it. It's all good." I should've stayed in my room.

She extended me a handshake, and I took it, her grip almost crushing me.

Undeserved apologies were heavy.

ᗢ᠃ ⚘ ˚ ⚘᠂ ⚘ ˚ 𖦹 ˚ ⚘ ᠂ ⚘ ˚ ⚘᠃ ♡

Four months after the Cursed King's defeat.

Deep into Jade Forest where no sane person would venture, I found a small cave formation. It looked usable enough, so I opened my bag and out came a round ball as big as my head, six chubby legs sprouting from it. Prince then started scurrying around the place.

"Sure, have fun exploring. Just don't go—stop!" I tramped my foot in front of Prince, preventing him from approaching the exit. "No. You don't go outside. Do you understand?"

He did, apparently. Prince turned around and went back to roaming the cave. Deeper in, there were several additional rooms and some small crevices he could fit in if he wanted, but I'd made sure there was no other way out.

As the little sod kept himself occupied, I unpacked my things, including an axe and some basic carpentry tools. My idea was to build a wooden door, or at least something solid enough to cover the entrance. I'd use magic for some parts, but the overall applications my Blessing had in such tasks was limited.

The council and my companions all believed I'd gone on a journey on my own, but I did promise to come back in less than three months, so I needed to make sure Prince was ready to be left alone by then.

After that, I'd just check on him once a week or so, since this place wasn't too far from the capital. The real complications would come once the next Paladin of Temperance was found and our vacation ended.

It could take half a year until they're found and brought here, perhaps more. But as soon as the team was complete the council would want to send us out right away, be it to hunt some powerful greater Cursed or just to raise morale around the world by visiting the major cities.

I needed to figure out what I'd do with Prince when that time came. Would I be able to leave him alone for that long? Or would I need to reveal his existence before then? Was it possible to tame him to the point I could guarantee he wouldn't hurt anyone? Would he have grown so strong I'd be unable to stop him if he went rogue?

Forget all that. Focus on the present—on what you can do right now.

ᗢ᠃ ⚘ ˚ ⚘᠂ ⚘ ˚ 𖦹 ˚ ⚘ ᠂ ⚘ ˚ ⚘᠃ ♡

Six and a half months after the Cursed King's defeat.

With every subsequent molt she looked less like her mother—or any actual Cursed for that matter. I'd begun calling her Princess after the last molt, which was the fourth so far. How did she ever go from a flattened ball with six legs to this?

If anyone saw her in the dark, unable to make out the features of her exoskeleton, they'd confuse her for a five- or six-year old girl. She'd lost her two extra legs by the second molt, and instead had only four limbs now. Her hands had sprouted fingers—three long pointers and a thumb.

How?

Was she growing to imitate me—well, a female version of me?

What are these creatures we call Cursed Kings, truly?

…

Every morning I went to the river for fish, then an extra five or so kilometers further downstream to pick plums from some trees that grew there.

When I neared the cave, I saw smoke coming out of it—through the set of wooden planks I used to cover the entrance. My breath hitched, I dashed as fast as I could, knocked down the door and found Princess… burning fish on a stick next to a campfire.

"W-what? What are you doing?"

She extended the crisp-black fish towards me, forming an expression I'd learned to recognize as a smile.

I stared like I'd been offered a sack of money by a talking bird.

Did you just…

She'd gone outside, caught her own fish, gathered timber and somehow made a fire all on her own!?

I lazily accepted her gift, and placed down the sack with the fish and plums I'd brought. She attacked the fruits like they'd run away. She also liked fish, but it always came second to fresh fruit.

After devouring a few units with her multi-parted jaws, Princess paused for a second, then looked at me.

"Something the matter? I'm eating the fish you made for me. It's good, it's good."

With one of the sticks lying around, she pierced a plum and got it close to the fire.

"Umm… sure, that can work. But don't roast it for too long."

At this point, little of what she did could surprise me.

She was just…

Fascinating.

Her preference for fruits gave me hope, as did the fact that I hadn't seen her as much as hurt a fly. She did often play with lizards and critters, but never roughly, and after I taught her to set the creatures free instead of keeping them captive, she'd followed my instructions every time from then on.

I regret there was a time when I almost killed you.

And I'm so glad I didn't.