-2 Side Story 4: The Mysterious Visitor

"You must be the man recommended by Cahill."

A strong man opened the door to his house, letting in the man who knocked on it.

The guest entered the room and extended his hand to the owner of the house in a friendly manner. "Good evening. May god bless you."

"I am Philip." The strong man shook the guest's hand. "I am from this village."

"May god bless you."

The guest had a gray hood over his head. He was dressed in a simple gray cloak. Under the gray cloak was a strap over his shoulder. Tied onto it were all kinds of tiny trinkets that Philip did not know, and could not tell their function. He wore a pair of salamander leather boots that were suitable for a person journeying on the road. A long object wrapped in a cloth was bound tightly to his back, which Philip guessed was probably a weapon.

"You can call me Eass." The guest pulled down his hood, revealing a face that could be considered very young no matter how a person looked at him. His brown eyes, however, were numb and appeared to have experienced all that life had to offer. They looked like the eyes belonging to a person who had seen too many things in life. 

"Are you the village chief?" the guest asked.

Philip shook his head. "I am only a villager, but my people trust me, so they entrusted this matter to me."

Eass nodded.

"It is a considerable distance from Grand Towering City to this place. It is late, and you must be hungry." Philip served him a plate of food, but Eass only waved his hand and turned down his act of good will.

"I am fasting," he said lightly, "I only need water."

Eass put the long object on his back down on the table, and took the gray cloak off.

'This must be a battle-seasoned warrior,' Philip thought. 'Just look at his arm muscles and movements... But why would Cahill recommend a warrior? Wouldn't it be more suitable to ask a wizard to solve a matter like this?'

"So," Philip said as he carried a bundle of firewood and moved to add some wood at the fireplace before he turned around and handed a glass to his guest. "Are you also Cahill's friend? Did you meet him when he was traveling the world?"

"No, I do not know Cahill well… but I know his brother, Silvi Yarrow." Eass took the glass and lifted the canteen on the table. He poured himself a glass of water as he observed the decorations in the house with considerable interest: bows and arrows, steel-jaw traps, all kinds of hunting weapons, and the spoils of war. His eyes showed that he was distracted.

"Silvi Yarrow?" Philip frowned. "I have heard about him before from Cahill. His older brother is very… rebellious, right?"

Eass pulled a faint smile and put down the glass. He took the bow off the wall and tested its strength. "Yes, indeed. His rebelliousness is one of a kind… The Yarrow Family has had a hard time because of him."

Philip took a seat and watched Eass fiddle with his bow. Eass seemed to be deep in thought. 

"Do you hunt?" he asked the guest.

"Yes," Eass replied smilingly. "You can tell?"

"The way you draw the bow is not like that of an archer," Philip said as he furrowed his eyebrows. "It's the standard drawing technique for a hunter."

"I used to be a hunter, and I made a living in the birch tree forest in the Northland Province." Eass sighed and hung the bow back on the wall. "It was a long time ago."

Philip raised his eyebrows. "You must have been a good hunter."

"It is all in the past." Eass shuddered. "Let's get down to business."

Philip's face grew serious.

"So," Eass took a seat and said soberly, "Why did you not seek help from the local suzerains? There must be a wizard advisor from Soul Tower in their castle."

"Suzerains? Those cold-blooded bureaucrats?" Philip chuckled. "It is too remote here, too far away from the Empire's rule. To them, we are nothing but barbarians living in the mountains. Why should they care if we were dead or alive?"

Eass shook his head and snorted lightly. "How can the descendants of the Iron Blood King and Mede be some mountain barbarians?"

"Ha. The Iron Blood King? Let's not start with how he is from almost a thousand years ago," Philip said in disdain, "Quiso Lampard is also the descendant of the deceased King Takmukh of the North. Look at how he ended up after he merely protested with his family against the local tax collector of the Empire!"

"And the Republic Rebel Army in Thornland Province are also descendants of six of the nine families who founded the country! Would the emperor and dukes look at them differently because of this?"

"You sure know a lot." Eass took a sip of water. He continued smiling. "It sounds like, while you may live in a remote place, you are not as out of the loop as you make yourself out to be."

"I served in the army in the city more than ten years ago. Although I have gained a lot of experience from it"—Philip shook his head—"it was a horrible experience."

Philip seemed to have recalled something, and he immediately lifted his head. "Oh, right. I heard from traveling merchants that since ten years ago, after the old emperor was beheaded by the Black Knight, the Empire has been in a state of total chaos and there are battles everywhere?"

"Chaos? Ten years ago?" Eass tapped the glass and said while smiling, "It should be more than twenty years ago… We've changed two rulers, and both could only sit on the Pegasus Throne, and lament about the dukes' repeated disrespect towards them and their constant overstepping of boundaries, while watching them go on their expeditions.

"Chaos? Even before the Black Knight and his Dark Night Army entered the Capital of Triumph, the Empire was already in that state."

Philip hummed and said, "Look, this is how a tyrant who goes against the will of the people will end up."

Eass only smiled faintly and did not say a word.

"What a pity that an Empire almost two hundred years old would be in such a state now." Philip shrugged. "But I suppose it will not collapse in the near future…"

The two men were silent for a while.

"How bad is the situation compared to the situation you wrote in the letter?" Eass asked suddenly out of the blue.

Philip clenched his fists. The strong man let out a sigh. 

"Very bad," he said sadly. "Half a year ago, half the people started to fear light... It was even worse three months ago when some people could not even bear to touch silverware, it was even painful for them.

"Other than this, our sense of taste has begun to fade. When we put food into our mouths, it feels tasteless. And our condition is still worsening." Philip's face was extremely serious. "I found that some of my people started to eat flesh that has fresh blood in it…"

Eass frowned. "The urge to eat raw meat?" He began to contemplate over it. "It sounds familiar…"

"Any clues?" Philip's eyebrows moved. "Cahill said you have a wealth of knowledge about the world, and your skills are extraordinary…"

However, Eass raised his hand gently to stop him from continuing to speak. "I cannot be too sure. I will have to see it for myself before I can make a judgment. But these symptoms remind me of the case about the trembling dead bodies a hundred years ago."

Philip was stunned. "What is this 'trembling dead bodies'?"

"It is about a baron who lost his lover…" Eass paused before he immediately shook his head. "The Alchemy Tower received a joint warning from the Empire and Bright God Church because of this, even the Ascetic Tower was… In short, it was a disaster, and you would not want to know the details."

When Philip heard the organizations, who usually remained aloof and indifferent to the affairs of the world, he was stupefied.

"What you mean is… but our village is in the middle of nowhere. Other than adventurers like Cahill, traveling merchants hardly come by, and much less wizards…" Philip recalled with doubtfulness.

"I will send a letter each to Alchemy Tower and Soul Tower," Eass muttered. "I will ask for the records of such symptoms. Of course, I will have to examine the patients' conditions."

'He has connections to the two towers who are hostile to each other? This means that he is very close to the wizards…' Philip's eyes brightened.

The strong man nodded. He stood up and walked towards the door. "I will go and notify the villagers. You will be able to visit them tomorrow."

Eass nodded.

"Philip!" As he was about to leave, Eass suddenly turned around. "You and your villagers are the descendants of Mede, aren't you?"

Philip had his hand on the doorknob. He was astonished. "Yes, our elders said so. The Iron Blood King was our ancestor, and Mede was his wife…"

'Something is amiss. Why did he mention the Iron Blood King's wife so many times? Why does he even refer to her directly by name? The Iron Blood King is the one who's more famous, right?'

"I was thinking, could your symptoms be linked to the curse?" Eass muttered. "You know, the curse that was placed on Mede's bloodline when humans fought against the orcs a long time ago?"

Philip looked confused. "THE curse? I have not heard of it… Moreover, what has the Iron Blood King's wife got to do with this curse?"

He shook his head while feeling bewildered. "Bloodline… We have lived here for more than a thousand years, what kind of curse on a bloodline could last so long?"

"Is that so?" Eass smiled and nodded. "Maybe I've been overthinking things."

Philip shook his head and went outside. Eass sat by the table alone. He suddenly extended his hand and pressed down on the long object that was covered with a cloth on the table. 

"This is not something that anyone can touch." Eass smiled and said to a boy who appeared from under the table, "Are you Philip's son?"

The boy nodded, feeling annoyed. He loosened his grip on the cloth and crawled out from under table.

"Are you from the Empire?" The boy patted the dust on his clothes and revealed a curious face towards the guest. "That very, very big Empire?"

Eass grinned. "You can say so."

The boys' eyes brightened up. "Then you must know the Black Knight! That man who killed the emperor!"

Eass frowned. "Yes."

"Then, can you talk about him?" With limitless hope, the boy held on to the edge of the table and asked, "Ensa came back from the city and said he was the most terrifying knight! The ten strongest knights in the Empire were killed by him!"

Eass laughed out loud.

"He could not have killed the ten knights who were conferred their titles by the emperor; they are practically the strongest of the humans." Eass shook his head. A sad look appeared on his face. "But he did defeat six of them."

"Wow!" The boy's eyes sparkled brightly. "So, is he the strongest knight?"

"I do not think so." Eass looked up. There was nostalgia and dejection on his face. "At least, when the third knight fought him, the outcome was not finalized. Though the first knight was killed by him, if we compare their power, the first knight was most probably stronger."

Eass fell silent, and his gaze was profound. The boy looked at the ceiling and imagined what Eass said for a while before he pulled a long face.

"But he died, didn't he?" the boy asked sorrowfully. "The Black Knight died."

Eass froze for a moment. "Yes..." He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "He is dead. He died a long, long time ago."

The boy sniffed and looked down with a sulk.

Eass raised his eyebrows. "What now? Are you not happy?"

The boy shook his head sadly. "The Black Knight is dead. Now, I can't look for him and fight against him."

Eass could not help but laugh. He shook his head in resignation. "You're an ambitious boy, alright. What's your name?" 

"My name?" The boy looked up and smiled at his guest, revealing eight teeth in the process. "Listen! I am the descendant of the Iron Blood King! The son of Philip and Leisha. I will first defeat my older brother, then my father, then all my opponents in the world...

"I shall become the world's strongest man!" 

The boy stuck out his thumb and pointed at himself confidently and proudly.

"I… am Laurie Corleone!"