The Wandering Priest in Dark Fantasy

[Translator - Peptobismal]

[Proofreader - Max]

Chapter 51: The Missing Children (1)

Two weeks had passed since the group set out on their journey.

They entered the Lonely Ridge at the edge of the north.

Clip-clop!

Hamel and Lena rode slowly at the rear of the group.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Lena, who had initially struggled to keep up with the journey, was now able to conduct magic lectures on horseback.

As promised, she was explaining dragon language to Hamel.

"Priest, do you know the difference between signifier and signified?"

"I don't know."

Hamel shook his head, and Lena took out a coin from her pocket and asked,

"Do you know what this is?"

"It's a coin."

"That's correct. But it's also incorrect."

"...?"

Hamel tilted his head in confusion.

Lena rolled the coin between her fingers and said,

"If you show this to someone who doesn't know about currency and ask them, you'll get a different answer. They might say it's copper or a circle."

"I see."

Hamel slowly nodded.

Even if they were looking at the same object, it would be interpreted differently depending on the observer.

"Here, this coin is the signifier, and your answer is the signified."

Lena tossed the coin to Hamel.

As Hamel caught it, Lena nodded and continued,

"Language is the same. The word 'sun' means nothing by itself. But people agreed to call the bright light in the sky the 'sun'."

Hamel raised his head, shielding his eyes with his hand.

He saw the sun shining down on them.

It was dazzling and warm.

Lena watched Hamel quietly and then asked,

"For you, the sun might be something dazzling and warm that's hard to look at directly, but someone else might think of the sunrise or sunset when they hear the word 'sun'."

"I understand."

Hamel nodded.

The 'signifier' was the surface.

The material aspect that could be perceived and conveyed to others.

It could be a sound or a written symbol.

On the other hand, the 'signified' was the essential concept that the signifier carries.

It held countless meanings depending on the observer.

In other words, it implied the observer's subjective and arbitrary interpretation.

Hamel explained his understanding to Lena.

Lena's eyes widened slightly, and she replied,

"I'm surprised. If the professors had heard that, they would have hired you as a teaching assistant on the spot."

She clapped her hands calmly.

Then she continued,

"But you've missed something. If, as you explained, the signified is just the surface and everyone interprets it differently, then it can't function as language."

"..."

Now that she mentioned it, he realized she was right.

If that were the case, conversation itself would be impossible.

When Hamel didn't answer, Lena pointed at the coin in his hand and said,

"The sun is round. This is the same in any country, for any person. That's why people draw a circle when asked to draw the sun."

In ancient hieroglyphs,

On the flags symbolizing families,

In the doodles of a five-year-old child,

And even in the works of artists, the sun is drawn as a circle.

"That is the commonality and a kind of convention that the signified holds. Therefore, the signified is subjective, but it also has a universal quality. Do you understand?"

"...It's a bit difficult."

Hamel groaned softly.

He understood it intellectually, but he had no idea how to apply this theory to dragon language.

"There's no need to rush. This is just the foundation of linguistics."

Lena cleared her throat as she continued.

She seemed quite tired, having spoken so much, which was rare for her.

Hamel tossed a water bag to Lena.

Lena hesitated for a moment, then bowed her head and took a sip.

"Thank you. Ah."

She returned the water bag and tilted her head, as if suddenly remembering something.

"Come to think of it, didn't you say you had something to ask me?"

After rescuing Lena and the children from the Ancient Tree Forest, Hamel had wanted to ask Lena something.

Lena tilted her head, seemingly recalling it.

Hamel also remembered and fell into thought for a moment.

Then he spoke hesitantly,

"Yes, that's right, but... could I ask you next time?"

"Yes? Yes, of course."

Just as Lena nodded in puzzlement,

"Hamel, there's a cabin ahead. And... no, see for yourself."

Daniel, who had been riding at the front, approached Hamel, his red plume swaying.

Hearing this, Hamel spotted a cabin a little way off the road, near the forest.

It was the first private house he had seen since entering Dekkan in the northern part of the Empire.

It wasn't particularly surprising, but Hamel easily understood what Daniel wanted to say.

Because a thin man was sitting in front of the cabin, sobbing sorrowfully.

***

"What's wrong?"

Hamel and his party stopped their horses in front of the man and asked.

The man, startled by the sudden appearance of the group, widened his eyes for a moment and then just gaped.

Hamel showed him the symbol of an exorcist.

"I'm a priest of the order. Is there anything I can help you with?"

"A-a priest?"

The man, pale as a corpse, jumped to his feet.

His eyes were bloodshot and swollen from crying.

As Hamel nodded, the man clasped his hands together, tears welling up again.

"Oh, Priest, please help me. My wife and children left yesterday morning and haven't returned."

"...Your wife and children?"

Hamel asked, his expression hardening.

In this era, there weren't many good implications when a woman and children didn't return for over a day.

They were either in a situation where they couldn't return,

Or...

'They're dead.'

Unfortunately, in most cases, it was the latter.

Whether it was by the hands of demons or humans.

Hamel had experienced the same situation countless times.

"Priest, it must be demons. There are rumors that a witch lives in that forest. I shouldn't have let my wife and children go..."

The thin man buried his face in his bony hands and wept.

Hamel dismounted and applied holy water to his eyes.

"Let me take a look."

Hamel examined the outside of the house and then stepped inside.

But there was nothing particularly strange.

"...There's no lingering demonic energy."

There wasn't enough evidence to suggest it was the work of demons.

If it was a human matter, unfortunately, there was no reason for Hamel to intervene.

Hamel had his own priority: tracking down David.

"It's just one more day to the lord's castle."

Ono muttered under his breath, sounding dissatisfied.

He seemed to think there was no reason to waste time here.

Hamel looked at Daniel and Lena.

"You decide."

As if they had planned it, both of them left the decision to Hamel.

Hamel hesitated for a moment, but his deliberation was brief.

Hamel had made an oath in the name of Ehurshica, the God of order and death.

That he would not turn away those suffering from evil.

Exorcists often limited the definition of evil to demons, but Hamel was different.

If he could help someone, he would help as much as he could.

Hadn't he resolved to do so just recently?

"I'll help and then go."

At Hamel's firm answer, there were mixed reactions.

"I thought you would."

"Damn it, I knew it."

Daniel smiled faintly, and Ono shook his head as if exasperated.

The man watching them quickly bowed to Hamel.

"Thank you, thank you!"

The man repeatedly thanked Hamel as if he had been saved.

But then he swayed and stumbled as if he were about to faint.

Hamel quickly supported the man and sat him down at the table.

The man's body was light, as if he had nothing but gruel left in his stomach.

"You need to eat something."

Hamel quickly examined the table.

There was a basket on the table with ripe fruit.

As he tried to hand it to the man, the man shook his head vigorously.

"No, I've been saving this to eat with my family when they return."

"But... Alright. I'll be back soon."

Hamel hesitated, then nodded and stood up.

Seeing the man's desperation, he wanted to find his family quickly.

Hamel mounted his horse and hurried towards the forest.

As he entered the shade of the trees, a chilling coldness grazed his cheek.

An unknown anxiety gripped him, and Hamel urged his horse forward.

***

Spring had not yet fully arrived in the north, so the path into the mountains was still covered in snow.

Concerned about the horse losing its footing, the group decided to dismount and continue on foot.

As they were walking, Hamel, who was leading the way, suddenly raised his hand.

"Let's stop."

The group stopped in their tracks.

There were tracks.

Bird footprints were scattered across the snow.

Only on the path.

Hamel, sensing something, started to brush away the snow covering the ground.

Soon, he found a frozen piece of bread.

"This is..."

"A piece of bread. It seems we're on the right track."

Daniel nodded and looked around.

The bread was undoubtedly a sign of human presence.

And the bird tracks continued along the path.

This meant that someone had deliberately walked along the path and dropped pieces of bread.

"What does it mean?"

"Well, unless it's an idiot who wants to share bread with birds when his family is starving, it must be a sign."

"Is that so?"

Hamel nodded at Ono's blunt reply.

A sign that someone wanted them to be found.

Or perhaps a trail left in case they got lost.

Because the trail led away from the path and deep into the forest.

"Let's follow it."

Hamel started to follow the trail.

Soon, the trail disappeared.

It wasn't surprising, as there were patches of ground without snow.

Hamel gave up on obtaining visual information.

Then all that remained was smell and sound.

Hamel slowly inhaled.

The smell of damp earth and trees.

Unfortunately, there were no other distinct smells.

But Hamel didn't stop.

He continued to distinguish the various scents mixed in the air.

Quite some time passed, and his nose started to sting from the cold air.

Ono shook his head and said,

"Shouldn't we give up and just search the surroundings..."

"Just a moment."

Hamel interrupted Ono.

The direction of the wind had changed.

An unfamiliar scent was mixed in with the familiar smells.

It was definitely the smell of burning firewood.

"I found it. This way."

Hamel started walking, following the scent.

Ono muttered, looking at Hamel as if he were a monster,

"Is that a hunting dog or a priest?"

"I guess not all exorcists are like that."

"He's clearly the weird one. It's true that there are many eccentrics among exorcists, but..."

Ono, with a disgusted expression at Daniel's question, started to follow Hamel.

Soon,

As if to prove Hamel right, an old mansion appeared in the distance.

"There's a house in a place like this?"

"..."

Just as Ono frowned at the suspicious sight,

—Creak

The door of the mansion opened, and an old woman appeared.

[Translator - Peptobismal]

[Proofreader - Max]