The One Who Guides Wind and Flame (8)

I returned to the Barm people's settlement with the Child of Flame and the horses as spoils of war, only to be greeted by cheers and cries of resentment.

Of course, the resentment was not directed at me, but at the Child of Flame, whose name I still did not know.

There were voices praising me as a hero, and voices shouting that the Child of Flame should be killed.

Both were nothing more than noise to me.

After all, what value could there be in the words of people who called for his death while fearing the Child of Flame's power and keeping their distance instead of coming any closer?

Well, considering that he was the one who had annihilated the tribe's elite, it was only natural for them to hate and fear him.

But keeping their distance did not mean they were beyond the reach of the Child of Flame's power.

As hatred was directed at him, the Child of Flame instinctively tried to use his ignition ability, so I grabbed his hair and gave it a sharp tug.

His gaze turned aside and upward, and a flower of flame bloomed with a pop in midair.

They screamed, but the Barm people did not flee any farther. I wondered whether they understood that I would stop him, or whether it was simply the last of their pride.

Even so, seeing it up close made me think what a useful ability it was.

Personally, I found Martena's Healing more useful than her other ability, while her telekinesis seemed more threatening; but in terms of sheer killing power, the Child of Flame's ignition ability was superior.

Especially since he had achieved this without receiving any ability development from the Church, it was easy to understand why the Daria people treated him as someone special.

At long range, perhaps, but as he was now, he could not catch me off guard and use his ability at close range.

The signs that it was activating were simply too obvious.

Just when I was thinking that it would be inconvenient to keep calling him the Child of Flame forever and was about to ask his name, something happened.

Tseren and the elders left the tent and came into the settlement's square.

"Welcome home, Messenger of the Wind. We thank the winds that blow across the grasslands for your safe return."

Her words were more than a little ceremonial, but unmistakable relief showed on Tseren's face.

Apparently, she had been terribly worried about me.

However, before I could reply to Tseren, the elders rudely interrupted us.

"Why? Why didn't you kill him?"

They said this while spouting such absurdity.

So I gave the elders, who seemed to have grown senile, a derisive snort.

"You're not that old, yet your memory is failing. You were the ones who told me to go alone if I had no intention of killing the enemy, and I was the one who said I'd go alone because I had no intention of killing the enemy. This is how it turned out. You understand, don't you?"

I kept a hand on the Child of Flame's neck so that he would neither say nor do anything unnecessary, and stared straight at the elders.

They visibly faltered.

Well, the difference in power between them and me was obvious.

To them, I must have looked like nothing but a monster.

And in truth, to ordinary humans, I was unfortunately a monster.

I had already lived for several hundred years and wielded power that no human could handle.

Even if, strictly speaking, I was borrowing the power of spirits, there was no way they could understand the distinction.

That may have been why they desperately put on a brave front, trying somehow to seize the initiative and rein me in.

"If you really insist, I'll release him and let you try killing him yourselves. Once the greatest threat, the Child of Flame, is gone, I have no reason to stay here, so I'll leave right away."

Even someone with the ignition ability, if surrounded by several warriors without a guard, might be able to kill a few of them in retaliation, but in the end he would be swarmed and cut down.

But even without the Child of Flame, the Daria tribe's warriors would remain completely unharmed. The Barm would be destroyed in retaliation—or, having lost the Child of Flame, the Daria people might demand the Child of Wind in his place.

It was an extremely straightforward line of reasoning.

The elders fell silent and looked away from me.

Of course, regardless of what they said, I had no intention of letting them kill the Child of Flame.

Because he was still only a thirteen-year-old boy, a child as far as I was concerned.

Though he had incurred the hatred of many, the adults of Daria, who had decided to use him in battle, bore the greater responsibility.

I had also promised Shuro, Tseren's younger brother, that I would protect them, so I had no intention of abandoning them.

Personally, I considered that promise almost as important as the wind spirit's request.

"We cannot bind the heart of the Messenger of the Wind. Do as you wish. If there is anything you need, tell us, and we will meet your request. The Barm people will never forget the debt we owe you for saving us."

Tseren nodded at my words, left the elders behind, stepped forward, and declared this to everyone.

As the Child of Wind and Barm's representative, once those words had been spoken before everyone, even the elders could not take them back.

What a perceptive, thoughtful, capable girl she was.

She had understood my feelings, acted in Barm's best interests, and decided to accept everything.

She must have been thinking about what to do even while I was trading words with the elders.

She truly was unlike a child, and that was precisely what made her interesting.

Though a heavy responsibility rested on those small shoulders, Tseren stood firm.

She wore the mask of her position and concealed her heart.

I would not make the mistake of underestimating her as a child; she fulfilled her role more admirably than any adult.

And yet, I wanted to glimpse the heart Tseren kept hidden beneath that mask.