A carriage was making its way through a lush meadow, passing by green grass that shone under the sunlight and swayed with the passing breeze.
The carriage swayed lightly as it traveled down an exposed dirt path that showed signs of frequent use.
“Ahh… What a great view! Its like an ocean of grass out there, shimmering waves and all! And this breeze is so nice!”
An out-of-place voice suddenly called out, breaking the tranquil peace that had settled over the idyllic scenery.
The voice belonged to a beautiful man sitting inside the carriage. He had an arm resting along the windowsill as he looked out across the passing landscape.
His attitude seemed patronizing, but the liveliness in his voice indicated he was truly enjoying the view from the window.
This young man, with his beautiful face and bright voice, was sure to leave a good impression on any who met him.
“Nature sure is great! I never thought of myself as an expert on the matter, but I don’t think you need to have an eye for it to be able to understand the splendor of all this! I mean, just look: here’s a grassy meadow, there’s a towering mountain, over there’s a valley that goes even deeper. How lovely it is, this canvas that has been worked on for centuries. Wouldn’t you agree, Rolf?”
But his companion, the hapless recipient of the man’s endless deluge of words, seemed quite tired of these antics.
The young man paid no attention to the exasperation as he held out his arms in an exaggerated display and continued speaking.
His companion, a man with a shaved head and deep wrinkles across his face, seemed to be pondering a response.
The young man had called his companion Rolf; that must have been his name.
A corner of his mouth twisted in discontent at the sudden question.
“No, this one does not…”
“That so? Too bad. Well, I guess everyone’s got their likes and dislikes, y’know, ’cause humans have like all kinds of personalities. It’s all part of the chaos and all that. Oh yeah, I kinda forced you to come along all of a sudden, huh? Sorry ’bout that. Was it a lot of work?”
But the young man interrupted Rolf’s reluctant reply with another endless stream.
While it seemed like the young man was directing his words to his mulish companion, a closer look revealed that was not the case.
The silent Rolf seemed to ignore the young man’s incessant jabber, but as the one-sided conversation continued, Rolf felt compelled to respond anyway, feeling it would have been rude to continue without speaking.
“No; a request from a High Priest is no trouble whatsoever.”
“Hah, thought so! You’re such a hard-worker. Me, I think it’s better to take things easier, but it’s not like I dislike the serious-types. I mean, I’m like the complete opposite of you, so it feels pretty good to get to go around with someone who’s different.”
“…It is an honor, High Priest Viktor.”
It was unclear how serious Rolf’s words were, but he nonetheless bowed deeply upon hearing the young man’s praise.
The two were members of the Gods of the Moon; the young man, Viktor Ludrand, was headed to Zelfoir, intending to kill Mylene. His companion was Rolf Balzar, a deacon of the Gods of the Moon.
From the conversation they held, the hierarchy between them was clear.
It was a one-sided flow of noise from Viktor after all, but if their positions were reversed, it was likely there wouldn’t have been any conversation at all.
“But yeah, no need to be so stiff. You gotta be more flexible. Y’know, I really like that kinda thing too, when the environment’s a little unpredictable and keeps changing. Funny thing though, me saying all this; did you know I used to be the exact opposite? Haha, funny, right? Y’never know what might happen or how people might change in life!”
“Sure…”
A curt reply answered him, but Viktor didn’t seem to mind.
After all, the two were aware this ‘conversation’ between them was just an exchange of empty words.
And that was especially true for the cheerful and beautiful Viktor; from a glance, nobody would ever suspect he was also a cultist, but…
“Woah, is that a checkpoint? Wouldn’t’ve expected any less from Zelfoir. Y’know they’ve got kids from all sorts of families in there? No surprise they’re pretty strict on security. Heh, and just look at us, all suspicious; they’d take one look at us and refuse to let us through, y’know? They’re probably gonna bring up some law or some rule or whatever that stops us. Man, they’re really out to break my heart here!”
Viktor was so clearly different from Pelmann, and yet there was no mistaking that he, too, was a member of the Gods of the Moon.
He put on a show of exaggerated lament, but his face told a different story, with a deranged grin twisting his mouth awry and a cloudy, murky malice in his eyes.
As this was going on, their carriage arrived at the checkpoint gates.
Like Viktor predicted, they were not allowed to pass through so freely; soldiers wielding spears blocked the path.
Their carriage driver pulled the reins taut, and the trained horses came to a stop.
A guard exchanged words with the driver before moving onto the two within the carriage.
“Well met, gentlemen. Please present your travel permits.”
He was doing his job; the fluidity of his movement and voice made it clear he was used to doing this.
After taking a moment to size up the guard, Viktor flashed a friendly smile and replied.
“You’re doing a great job, mister guard, but I’m quite sorry to say that we haven’t got one.”
“You… do not have one? In that case, I’m afraid I cannot let you pass.”
The guard smoothly returned an answer; the flippant attitude of this unexpected prankster had not fazed him, and he responded without even raising his own voice.
Seeing the serious sentinel of a man, Viktor snickered with contempt.
“Aw man, I thought as much… Oh, but wait, hang on! I think you might just remember if I show this…”
Still wearing his easy grin, Viktor held out a balled fist.
The guard stared closely at the outstretched hand.
Viktor slowly opened his hand, and… revealed nothing had been inside.
“…What is this supposed to be? There is nothing there.”
“Oh no no, not from there. Come closer, let me show you…”
The guard answered him without thinking, to which Viktor urged him closer, as though he were persuading a child.
Suddenly, a blinding flash of light burst from the palm of Viktor’s hand.
“What the..!”
The guard flinched, closing his eyes and shielding his face with his hand on reflex. The intense light lasted only a short moment.
But after the light receded, the guard seemed to relax and stopped moving.
There were no signs of physical harm, and he should have been reproaching Viktor for this strange behavior. However…
The guard stood about in a daze; a closer look would show that his eyes were wide open but vacant.
“Hey, what was that light just now?”
Another guard, having noticed the flash, came over to investigate.
Already suspicious from seeing the light, the guard arrived to find his colleague motionless. He instantly tightened his grip on his weapon and leveled the spear at the carriage.
But that was when something began to happen.
“Aaaaa… AAAHHH!!”
“Agh, what the?! What are you… Gah!!”
The glassy-eyed, unmoving guard let out a strange cry and turned on his fellow.
His spear shot forward with great force, piercing right through the breastplate and out the back of his concerned coworker.
It had happened so suddenly that the hapless guard died with shock still on his face.
“Wh-what’s going on?!”
“AAAAHHH! GAAAHHHH!”
Having heard the strangled cries, others began rushing over… but they were just more targets for the frenzied guard to target.
“Hey, calm down! What are you..?!”
It should be known that the guards at this checkpoint were well-trained and dutifully diligent. It was easy enough to block the wild swings and thrusts of their coworker, but…
“Wh-what’s with this strength… Ugh!”
“H-how is one person this s-strong..! Gah!”
…none could oppose his inhuman strength. In short order, he fatally stabbed a second guard and crushed the skull of a third.
By now, the checkpoint was abuzz with panicked activity: some guards came forward to try and stop their berserk colleague, others fled upon seeing that monstrous strength, and more still become silent corpses. Chaos rained all around, as if to fill the area like it was a cup to hold drink.
Meanwhile, a single carriage ignored it all and silently continued on its way through the checkpoint.
“Ahahaha! Wow, that sure got messy! But it was worth it: sudden tragedy is so much more entertaining than some regular ol’ comedy!”
As the noise of the chaos behind them faded in the growing distance, Viktor applauded while laughing.
His laughter stopped after going on for a while, and the young man cleared his throat before speaking.
“So? What’d you think? I’d say he remembered pretty well — remembered his instincts, that is.”
Viktor clapped his hands again, twice, signaling his finish.
It was as though he were a storyteller concluding a reading.
“Your magic is as fearsome as ever, High Priest.”
Rolf cautiously said; he wore a smile on his face, but it seemed he had begun to sweat.
“Oh, no, no, it’s not that great, y’know? I gotta be up closer to use it, and it has a hard time getting through magical defenses. Then again, it’s just a little something I did as a hobby, so…”
Hearing earnest praise from Rolf — a man of subdued emotions — caused Viktor to give a modest but satisfied smile in response.
“A man goes mad, stabs two of his fellows to death with his spear and crushes the head of another. Seeing this, the remaining guards abandon their duties and flee in a panic. What’d ya think? Not too shabby for impromptu improv, right?”
“Indeed. It was chaos in its purest form, from senseless massacre.
“Oh? And here I thought you were more uptight, but you get me, huh? Haha, it’s things like this that make joining up with you guys worth it.”
Viktor seemed exceptionally elated to have his ‘hobby’ recognized.
Trying to keep his grin from growing wider, Viktor suddenly turned to stare out the window again.
“Y’see, I just love beautiful things. That story you guys tell? The one about bringing destruction to each and every person in this world? Truly wonder, truly beautiful. I tried being a playwright once, ’cause I thought that was how I make something beautiful myself. But it wasn’t any good; it didn’t take long for me to realize plays were meaningless, soulless because all it is is reading some prewritten lines off a script!”
At some point, Viktor had turned back to look at his subordinate, but it was clear from his unfocused eyes that the young man was looking past and seeing something much farther away.
What seemed like a distorted light seemed to gleam from Viktor’s eyes.
“Which is why the story that is a person’s life is so wonderful! There’s no knowing if something happens until it does happen, and then you’re always wondering happens next and what things will look like by the end! I mean, all I do is roll the dice, but it’s not like I’ll know what numbers they’ll land on. The chaos that comes out of not knowing the result? That’s what makes a beautiful story!”
Viktor cleared his throat once again as he thought back on the chaotic scene he had just created and left behind.
But that hadn’t lasted very long. Still, Viktor, with a loving smile on his face, looked to the sky, as though longing for some unknown, faraway place…
“…Ahh, I can’t wait. The Hound’s supposed to be real sight for sore eyes, right? The best actress for a tragedy has gotta be someone beautiful, don’tcha think?”
…In his mind was the girl whose life he was tasked with taking.
“I’m getting the honor of performing on the world’s greatest stage, the last of its kind! It’s just too bad I’m only the opening act this time. Kukuku, well, that’s good enough for me. For a world of chaos… Ahh, that’s the kinda thing I like!”
Thus the playwright forged ahead, heading for what he believed to be the ultimate stage.
The carriage continued its journey to Zelfoir.
Headcanon TL 
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