“Tgurneu,” said Marmanna, “when the compensation you’re offering is the life of someone else, you also need their consent.”
“Oh? Then what do we do?”
“Through the Spirit of Words, I’ll now ascertain the desires of your followers. I’ll ask them if they’re willing to give their lives on your command.” Marmanna closed her eyes and fell silent for a while. Then she opened them and said, “All your followers have declared they would die if you ordered it. The contract is valid.” Tgurneu’s body glowed. The first agreement had been made.
“Tgurneu so swears: If Mora should kill a Brave of the Six Flowers, I will make the parasite in Shenira’s chest die. May I die if I break this oath. But if Mora commits suicide, then this contract will become null and void.”
“Do you agree to this contract, Mora?” asked Marmanna.
“I agree to the contract,” Mora complied, and yet another deal was made.
“Tgurneu so swears: Until twenty-two days past the revival of the Evil God, no fiends will cause harm to Shenira. May I die if I break this oath. However, if Mora perishes before twenty-two days past the revival of the Evil God, this will become null and void.”
“…I agree.”
Tgurneu’s body shone. Now all contracts were concluded. The discussion was over. Mora needed to kill Tgurneu within twenty-two days of the Evil God’s revival. If she could not do so by then, she would be forced to murder one of the Braves of the Six Flowers. If she could do neither, then Shenira would die.
“Now then, I’m going back to the Howling Vilelands. Good-bye, and may we meet again.” Tgurneu stood and walked to the door of the old bastion. Mora instantly kicked away her chair, stood, and swung a punch at the fiend. “Whoa, there.” Tgurneu caught what would normally have been a fatal blow. Before she could unleash a second strike, her target turned around and jumped out the window. Mora tried to give chase, but the fiend immediately faded into the black of night and disappeared.
“This is totally crazy, Mora. Are you seriously going to kill one of the Braves of the Six Flowers?”
“Hardly. I’ll kill that fiend and save my daughter. That is all.” Gazing into the darkness of might, Mora thought, I suppose I could say that negotiations ended well. She had been able to secure Shenira’s safety. If she could just defeat Tgurneu, she could go without killing any of the Braves. As a bonus, she’d even managed to prevent Tgurneu from ever lying to her. But was this truly a good idea? she wondered. She had the feeling her foe had further tricks planned for her.
As Mora climbed the mountain with Fremy, she mulled over Tgurneu’s words. She was sure it had meant she had only two more days to save Shenira. But how could that be? That day, Tgurneu had agreed that the deadline was twenty-two days after the Evil God’s revival, and it had only been thirteen. There should still be nine days. An oath sworn before the Saint of Words could not be redacted, no matter what. Even if Marmanna had been conspiring with Tgurneu, that would not change the contract. There were still nine days. That was a sure thing.
“That fiend…” Tgurneu had sworn to Mora that it would die if it lied to her. It should be utterly incapable of attempting to deceive her. So what did it mean by only two more days? And how should she kill Tgurneu?
Chapter 3
At the Bud of Eternity
The Ravine of Spitten Blood was situated on the eastern edge of the Howling Vilelands. To the west, there was a small mountain—scraggy, steep, and dotted with numerous caves and cliffs. It had no particular name.
At the entrance to a cave halfway up the slope bloomed a strange flower. The six-petaled blossom was small enough to fit in the palm of one’s hand. At first glance, it looked like just a normal flower, but there was none like it in the natural world. The bud looked as if it was opening, or closing, but never quite one or the other. Halfway between open and closed, this flower had been blooming for a thousand years. This was what the Saint of the Single Flower had once used as her weapon.
One thousand years ago, the Saint of the Single Flower and the Evil God had been locked in a mortal struggle. The Saint had exhausted her strength on this very mountain. Wounded all over and at the peak of exhaustion, she finally collapsed. The Saint of the Single Flower had not been almighty and invincible. She had been a human, and when wounded, she would suffer pain, and when exhausted, she would fall.
Before the Saint of the Single Flower had collapsed, she had thrust her weapon, her flower, into the earth, erecting a barrier to keep away the Evil God and its fiends as she healed her wounds over the course of three days before setting forth once more to do battle. Even once the struggle was over, her barrier remained in the earth and prevented any fiends from drawing near ever since.
This was the origin of the barrier known as the Bud of Eternity.
Mora and Fremy headed for the safe area halfway up the mountain. The circular barrier extended for a radius of about fifty meters around the cave, generating a repulsive force that would repel any fiends or the Evil God if they approached.
“Can you enter it, Fremy?” Mora asked when they entered.
Fremy was able to step into the barrier with no incident. “Looks like it’s okay. I think it’s because I have the Crest of the Six Flowers now. Before, I couldn’t even come near it.”
“That’s some comfort. ’Twould be terrible if you were forced to stay out here all alone.” Mora approached the rest of the group. The first to catch her eye was Chamo. The girl was leaning against a boulder near the
