Shadow Oath

Chapter 50: The Volcano

Jedric focused solely on one thought while Olga was dragged out by Ikahm, and Demion and Terrdin discussed what to do with the two bags Olga had left behind.

‘I’ve never seen Olga so terrified.’

Even when she opposed her father in war, she wasn’t this scared.

Not when she foretold that the South would retaliate after this raid.

Not when Maraka insisted on executing Hagra, to which she retorted as if entertaining a child’s tantrum, "Go ahead, try."

Many believed that the “vengeance of the South” Hagra mentioned back then referred to this war.

Even when Jedric’s mother, Ehodin’s wife, lashed out in fury or threatened to throw her into an actual fire, Olga calmly closed her eyes and accepted it.

‘And now, that same woman trembles and cowers before Demion? How is that possible?’

There were only two possibilities.

Either Olga wasn’t actually scared but pretending to be, as it was too exaggerated to be real fear.

Or...

Was there a terror that only Demion could evoke in Olga?

Demion, interrogating Olga, was acting differently than usual.

Gone was his cheerful smile offering drinks to the enemy chieftain, and absent was the considerate grin he gave his fiancée.

He displayed only the demeanor of a conqueror.

But could that alone explain her fear? Ikahm seemed far scarier by comparison.

‘Demion isn’t like that. Anyone can see it. Olga must have realized it too. So why was she so afraid?’

Everything felt fake.

Even the tremor that interrupted Terrdin and Demion’s discussion felt staged.

“What’s that sound?” Demion asked.

“The heavens are roaring! And the ground too! Is this the same trumpet sound that echoed through the skies recently?”

Charlon asked in a trembling voice.

She, too, was unlike her usual self.

When she first appeared and during her initial visit to this village, she had been bold and fearless.

But since hearing Olga’s prophecy, her demeanor had changed.

It worsened after she had nightmares.

‘Good grief, I can’t believe I dreamt of such a thing...’

Jedric couldn’t bring himself to share the details of his dream with the others.

He spoke honestly about the second half of the dream.

He told them he wandered the wilderness after parting ways with Demion and Charlon, walked there for a long time, and submerged himself in a red pond.

He omitted the length and tedium of the journey but didn’t lie.

But the dream’s beginning? That, he couldn’t share.

Before parting, Jedric and Charlon exchanged a kiss.

An ecstatic and prolonged kiss.

So long that even married couples might not have held a kiss for that duration.

It felt as if they were standing, but perhaps they were lying down.

They might have been dressed or undressed—it was unclear.

But Demion wasn’t there.

He had been present, seething with jealousy, yet at some point, he disappeared.

Stuga wasn’t there either.

Or rather, Jedric hadn’t noticed him.

Even if Stuga had been present, Jedric wouldn’t have recognized it.

“No, this isn’t the trumpet sound from ‘that time.’”

Terrdin, still attentive to the vibrating noise, glanced at Jedric.

“It’s the volcano, isn’t it?”

When everyone turned to him, Jedric explained.

“About a week’s journey northeast from here lies a desolate land unfit for human habitation.

People call it the Shadow of Tanu, a place where no one can survive for more than ten days.”

Despite himself, Jedric glanced at Stuga when he mentioned Tanu.

‘He’s bound to be more sensitive about this than anyone, yet I can’t help but think about it too.’

He made an effort to appear indifferent as he elaborated.

“There’s a volcano there called Haktus.

It erupts occasionally, rendering the surrounding area a death zone.

But eruptions themselves aren’t unusual.

When I was young, the explosions were so loud twice a day that everyone in the village prepared to flee.

In the end, nothing happened…”

Even as he spoke, Jedric began to worry.

‘Why now? There haven’t been eruptions recently… This feels too deliberate…’

Charlon voiced the concern Jedric hesitated to express.

“Hagra Olga was about to mention this earlier, wasn’t she?”

Charlon, bold as ever, perhaps said what she shouldn’t have.

“She said the ground would rumble, and the mountain of fire would exhale…”

Demion murmured.

Terrdin immediately objected.

“Do not heed the words of a soothsayer, Prince.”

“How can I ignore them, General?”

“Volcanoes in the North erupt frequently. It’s a coincidence. Isn’t that right, Jedric?”

Before Jedric could answer, Demion interjected.

“Coincidence?

Are you saying it’s a coincidence that the mountain began rumbling mere minutes after she mentioned it?

What about the heavenly trumpet from before? Was that a coincidence too?”

“That’s…”

Terrdin started but then stopped himself.

He couldn’t say it.

The heavens roared, and Adian Mantum died.

Hak Maraka’s prophecy about Mantum’s death was wrong, and Hagra Olga’s was accurate.

Olga predicted the volcano eruption while divining their mission.

How could all this be mere coincidence?

Yet when Terrdin spoke again, his tone was firm.

"When two coincidences overlap, people proclaim them as divine revelations. When I marched through the Duchy of Born..."

Terrdin bowed his head to Charlon in advance to apologize, then continued speaking.

"...the soothsayers there predicted our defeat. They claimed a disease falling from the sky would kill our soldiers, and a curse rising from the ground would force our retreat. And those events did occur. Rain spread a plague, and an unexpected wildfire forced us to move our troops."

Charlon nodded as if to confirm the story.

"I was young at the time, but I remember it vividly. Even my father said it was a sign that the gods were on our side."

"All the soldiers were terrified that the curse would kill us. Morale plummeted, while Born's soldiers grew emboldened. At that moment, I ordered an advance instead. You already know the result. Don’t waver, Prince."

"You are right, General. But the problem is, the people here won’t think that way. You fought a war with Born, but I am here to rule this place."

Demion spoke calmly.

Though his face looked fatigued, he became more composed the more tired he seemed.

"Even if I declare that I don’t believe in the superstitions of this land, as long as the people cling to them, I’ll merely be seen as a heretic who denies Geran’s faith.

The Archbishop might be pleased, but I won’t become the ruler of this place that way.

I’ll remain an eternal invader."

As their conversation continued, the noise outside grew louder.

"What’s going on out there?"

Demion asked.

"It’s the sound of a village trial being announced."

Jedric replied.

"A trial... Is it a trial for Hak Maraka? Why would they hold it at this hour?"

Demion questioned.

"We hold trials by combat when the volcano erupts."

Jedric answered, though he felt uneasy as he spoke.

It was as if he had intentionally caused the eruption and set a trap for Demion.

"Trials by combat? You settle trials through duels?"

"Yes."

"Didn’t you say yesterday that verdicts are determined by presenting evidence and witnesses, followed by a vote?"

"You understood correctly.

But if Haktus or Akamantum’s volcano erupts, it changes everything.

It means an unjust verdict was reached and the trial must be redone—through combat."

Demion listened silently before pointing to himself.

"Does this trial have anything to do with me?"

‘That’s exactly what I’m worried about.’

Jedric felt conflicted about how to explain.

At that moment, a royal knight burst through the banquet hall doors.

"Prince, you must come out immediately."

When Jedric and the others stepped outside, the situation was already unfolding.

Hak Maraka was kneeling in the center of the square.

Even for a felon, he should have been given clothing, but he was completely naked.

Perhaps this was his preference, as he always stripped himself naked during rituals.

Villagers had gathered around the square.

Even those who had been absent yesterday were now crowding the scene.

The men were shouting.

The mountain of Haktus roared.

Akamantum is furious.

The verdict was wrong.

Execute Maraka!

Maraka is innocent!

No, he is guilty!

Jedric relayed the shouts to Demion and explained the situation.

"To clarify, this is not how a village trial typically starts.

Normally, the accused stands in the center to plead their innocence, while the opposition presents their case for guilt.

The villagers then deliberate and render a verdict—it’s a calm process."

"Then what’s with this frenzy?"

Demion asked.

"When Haktus erupts, people believe Akamantum has delivered a divine message.

Everyone starts behaving like this, seizing the opportunity to voice arguments favorable to them.

Sometimes they even bring up cases that were settled years ago.

Most of the people shouting now probably don’t even know what Maraka’s crime is."

Jedric, worried that the prince might misunderstand, offered additional clarification.

"When I was young, there was a man who lost his land in a formal trial to someone from another tribe.

A week later, Haktus erupted, and he claimed Akamantum was angered by the verdict.

People accepted his claim, and he challenged the other man to a duel."

"And did he win back his land?"

"No. He fought and was killed."

"So this isn’t your usual way of conducting trials?"

"We do have rational trial processes, but when Haktus erupts, we abandon reason."

The truly strange thing was Ikahm.

He still hadn’t imprisoned Olga and was keeping her beside him.

She was sitting on the ground, while he stood in the square shouting.

"Akamantum is furious!"

Ikahm was a warrior who loved aggression, excitement, and emotional disputes, but he wasn’t typically one to incite others like this.

‘Ikahm is acting out of character too.’

Jedric felt as though everything around him had changed.

‘It all feels fake.’