Thiendavis – For The Perfect Salvation

Chapter 29. Zion Laurel's Rights

Evie Ariate had given Zion a variety of first-time experiences.

Threats, defeats, humiliation.

Things like that.

And if there was another she'd add, it was hearing something like.

"I'll protect you!"

It was the first time for him.

Yet, if asked whether this new experience made his monotonous life any more pleasant, the answer was no.

To whom did she dare offer protection, he wondered.

Today, Evie Ariate had unexpectedly shown up with the most innocent of expressions and said:

-"I bought this house. But don't worry, as I said before, I know the importance of daily life. So I'll protect your daily life, count."

―"First, please don't obstruct my path anymore. Second, please help me lift the curse."

―"If you fulfill these two requests, I will protect you, count."

If her intention was to unsettle Zion, Evie had brilliantly achieved her purpose.

It wasn't just her words; Evie's triumphant demeanor also got on his nerves.

Apparently, Evie Ariate believed that the suspension of the tower's disciplinary action was her complete victory.

However, despite feeling defeated, Zion did not concede this as her victory.

The reason was that half the reason he stopped Evie's punishment was due to his personal circumstances, the other half was indeed to protect her.

Zion's statement had cornered Evie, but it was something that time would easily dissolve.

The curse, however, was different.

If it were exposed, everything about Evie would be laid bare, permanently damaging the peaceful life she desired so much in Thienda.

That was why Zion had bargained with the Tower Lord, offering a fragment of Amanecer to nullify Evie's punishment.

Even this was quite a humiliation for him, but Evie Ariate, blissfully ignorant of it, had the audacity to approach him, leaving him simply dumbfounded and resentful.

'...... Or, perhaps she calculated it all along.'

The sudden suspicion made Zion more disgruntled.

It was a very plausible possibility.

Evie Ariate had seamlessly adapted to the conservative, and frankly corrupt, society of Thienda.

Grinding his teeth, Zion mulled over Evie's proposal.

Objectively speaking, her proposal wasn't bad.

It didn't concede too much nor overextend; it was smartly conciliatory.

Yet, neither Zion nor Evie seemed willing to make a compelling offer to the other.

Just as Evie had no intention to accept his proposal, Zion had no mind to accept hers.

Zion wasn't the type to engage in deals willingly.

Unlike the nobility who claimed authority merely for being born in Thienda, Zion had, over the past seven years, saved Thiendavis from a mad dragon many times.

Everything alive owed its life to Zion Laurel that many times, and so Zion was confident in everything.

He gained the right to prioritize his own will, the right not to be grateful for anything, and the right not to be equal with others.

These were the only good things he'd earned from a cursed fate of having to fight Amanecer for the rest of his life.

Yet, there was a single flaw with this right.

The debt the man had left, the debt owed to Evie Ariate, was the sole blot that shackled Zion's ankles and simultaneously another reason why he couldn't accept Evie's proposal.

'Should I try to barter with a piece of Amanecer again?'

A few scales of Amanecer were still left in the sanctuary.

What if he handed them over to the Tower Lord and demanded Evie's disqualification as a saintess candidate?

The nobles of Thienda might spout nonsense again, but who cares, when he was already notorious as an obsessive monster.

Although the nobles' gaze was of no consequence, it would be irritating if the greedy Lohika Sedro caught on.

And so Zion even contemplated the idea of confining Evie Ariate.

If only he bought a house as elaborate as a jewelry box and kept her there until the saintess selection ceremony was over....

"Teacher!"

Zion was having dangerous thoughts when a familiar voice called out from behind.

Following the voice, he turned around and saw a small girl with short hair, running up the hill with a large basket.

She was Zion's pupil, swept up in the toxic fog the previous new moon.

Seeing his student, Zion exhaled a sigh and pulled himself up from where he was leaning against the railing.

He immensely disliked having his solitude interrupted, but there were occasional exceptions for his students.

"I was on my way to see you, teacher. Mom asked me to bring you this."

The girl held out the basket she was carrying to Zion.

Inside were some cheap cheese and fruit.

It seemed to be a show of thanks for when Zion had carved a path through the fog and brought them to safety on the last new moon.

Zion accepted the basket and slung it over his arm.

He split an apple inside in half, biting into one half and pushing the other into his pupil's mouth.

The apples, harvested last winter, were already past their season, half-withered and mealy.

The kind of cheap fruit that one might feed to horses at the Tardes hall, but Zion chewed on the tart flesh with familiarity.

Naturally, his student took the spot beside him, munching on the apple without realizing they were sitting at a distance even the deputy commander of the border or Duke Laurel could not freely enter.

"What are you doing here, teacher?"

"Nothing."

"I know about that. Adults doing nothing are just loafers."

A student who treated the teacher like a loafer; clearly, he had taught her poorly.

But instead of saying anything, Zion handed his student the cheese from the basket, as she had already finished half the apple.

"Teacher, I have a worry."

"Not interested."

"There's someone I want to marry, but there are too many hurdles to overcome."

Despite the cold response from her austere teacher, the student continued on persistently.

Zion let out a long sigh.

The student planning to speak of a lifelong union was only nine years old.

It was an open secret that this little girl, in the single digits of age, had decided to marry her teacher.

Zion thought she had finally decided to put her plan into action and pondered how to effectively shatter her futile dreams.

Just as he was pondering these things, the girl spoke with the utmost seriousness.

"How should I marry the Nuna saintess?"

This traitor.

With an apple in his mouth, Zion stared at his treacherous student.

Yet the girl, with no attachment to her previous love, mumbled about how to reach Thienda, if girls could marry each other, and so on.

She even shared why she had determined to marry, enthusiastically explaining.

The Nuna saintess is pretty and kind.

She saved their family.

"And she's honest!"

Zion listened with one ear to his students's praise of Evie Ariate and let it out the other, but at that last remark, he scoffed coldly.

In what way was she honest?

Zion felt inclined to teach his student that Evie Ariate was a person enmeshed in duplicity.

Then, remembering a conversation between this girl and Evie Ariate, he stifled his laughter.

―"Do you like our teacher too, sister?"

―"No, I really dislike your teacher."

At the time, he had brushed it off absurdly, but thinking back, it must have been a genuine sentiment from Evie.

Somehow, Zion felt disgruntled.

Of course, given past events, it was understandable Evie disliked him.

Moreover, unlike Evie, who appeared suddenly to disrupt her otherwise unremarkable course, Zion had been mindful of her presence for years.

So, that firm expression of disdain was genuinely Evie's true feelings, yet Zion was secretly bothered.

Thus, he turned his gaze back to the swaying rye fields, as he had before his disciple showed up.

The village nestling against the rye fields was serene.

Beyond the fields laid orchards, and beyond them, wide pastures where sheep grazed in groups leisurely.

Although it was a remote village on the outskirts of Vis, it was a good place with all the essentials, just as it was a village chosen for Evie Ariate.

It had already been almost two years since Zion moved here following their traces.

He hadn't planned on staying so long when he first came, but somehow it naturally became a home.

Now, he was contemplating ending his time in this place.

Evie Ariate's intrusion had created numerous hassles, and more than anything, he wasn't the sort to have his weakness caught and be complacent about it.

Oblivious to her teacher's internal struggles, the child hanging on the railing cried out towards the village.

"Ah, a whale flag!"

At the entrance of the village, a large flag was fluttering.

It was the flag of the Bayen army stationed in the village.

This was another reason Zion believed it was time to move on.

The Bayen military had dispatched an investigative team to look into the unusual curse that had occurred in this village on the last new moon.

It wasn't a recent development, yet they hadn't even glanced this way until attention from Thienda sprung out due to Evie Ariate.

"They say we might have to move our village."

The child lowered her chin onto the railing, speaking in a gloomy voice.

"They said the large curse happened because our village hid livestock in the mountain. So they're planning to clear out the village to prevent any more issues."

With worry in her voice, Zion swallowed another sigh.

Of course, those incompetent ones chose the easy way out.

With no ability to discern the cause and no will to prepare for the next new moon, they simply intended to empty the village to erase the problem.

It seemed all the more reason to leave this village for good.

Zion, swallowing his exasperation, resolved firmly in his mind.

As feared, Evie Ariate, merely by existing, had spectacularly destroyed Zion's routine.

Yet, he had no intention of holding her accountable.

Because Zion Laurel possessed the right to prioritize his own will, the right not to be thankful for anything, and the right not to be equal with others.

In other words, he had the right to separate from everything, and the right not to be connected to others.

Zion was someone who desired that state, and forming attachments to such a village contradicted that desire.

Therefore, he decided to be content with having a reason to leave.

Admittedly, he needed to mock Evie Ariate's claim of protecting him before that, though.

"If we move, where will we go? Will everyone in the village separate?"

"It's unlikely that we'll part ways."

Zion answered his student casually.

It was sincere, not a random comfort.

The wealthier ones might move to another village, but those in the same situation as them would be driven together to more desolate lands.

If they do this, they will have to endure all sorts of hardships while clearing out land together, so they won't part at least.

As Zion spoke in a detached manner, the child repeated expectantly.

"Then what about you, teacher? You're going with us, right?"

That wasn't a question but rather a verification.

The child wore a face that naturally believed the teacher would accompany them.

Confronted by such pure eyes, for once, Zion found himself at a loss for words.

He would normally respond without hesitation, but for some reason, opening his mouth was uneasy.

Consequently, Zion bit into the remaining apple in his hand, evading his student's question for the first time.