East Road Quest

Chapter 33: Poe’s Misfortune

The village of Poe was awash in red. The ground, the walls, the pillars—all red.

It was eerily deserted.

Poe crossed the central road of the village. The occasional passerby gazed at her with curiosity, finding her appearance and speech out of the ordinary.

‘I’ve really made it to Poe.’

Fear outweighed any sense of achievement or excitement she might have felt.

‘Next is the Red Desert. Can I really venture into the desert so unprepared?’

The thought was frightening, especially now that she stood before the vast expanse of red sand.

At the edge of the village stood a cathedral. Instinctively, Poe steered her horse toward it.

It was an old cathedral, with a star-cross barely clinging to its facade. Dismounting, Poe pushed open the cathedral door. It creaked loudly, the hinges seemingly broken, and resisted opening.

Inside, the floor was covered in dust and sand, as if it hadn’t been cleaned for months. Few chairs remained intact.

Poe knelt before the statue of the saint, beginning to pray. Then, she heard footsteps behind her.

Through the door she had struggled to open, an old woman slowly entered. She was small in stature, but Poe rose, wary.

“Is someone there?” the old woman asked from fifteen paces away.

“Yes, I’m here,” Poe replied.

“My eyesight is poor… may I come closer?”

“I’ll come to you.”

Poe walked towards the old woman, who also took a few steps forward, feeling her way around the broken chairs and pillars as if blind.

“You didn’t tie up your horse outside, is that alright?”

“Should I have? It’s a gentle creature; I didn’t think it would run away.”

“By the look of the saddle and bridle, it seems like a warhorse… Ah, my husband is a horse trader, so even with my poor eyesight, I recognize such things.”

The old woman finally recognized Poe when she was just two steps away.

“Oh my, I didn’t realize you were such a young woman.”

Poe, noticing the cataracts and wrinkles in the woman’s eyes, asked, “Grandmother, can you not see well?”

“That’s right. Could you guide me to the statue of the saint? I have something I need to pray for today.”

Poe placed the old woman’s hand on her forearm and led her slowly forward.

“Didn’t you come with your husband?”

“He’s exhausted from yesterday’s work and is fast asleep. In his youth, he could ride for three days and nights and still be ready to go out the next day. But now, even half a day in the desert wears him out. But what brings a young woman like you to such a remote village?”

“I’m heading to the Red Desert.”

“Alone?”

The old woman asked, surprised.

“Have you been there before?”

“No, it’s my first time. I’ve only heard stories about the desert.”

“My goodness, you’re going to the desert alone for the first time? What urgent matter drives you to take such a risk?”

“I have a priest who is like a father to me. He always said if something bad happened to him, I should seek out another priest. This other priest is someone I trust like a brother. And now, he’s gone to the Red Desert.”

“So, this young priest told you to come to the Red Desert alone?”

“Not exactly. It might just be my own misconception.”

The old woman sat on the chair closest to the statue of the saint, with Poe’s support.

“As I get older, I find it hard to understand when things are explained too briefly.”

“I’m sorry. It’s a long story.”

“If it’s alright with you, I’d like to hear it in detail. Maybe I can help… My eyesight may be poor, but I’ve lived near the desert all my life and can tell you many stories. However, if it’s a secret, you don’t have to say anything. A young woman traveling alone usually has her reasons.”

Poe sat beside the old woman.

“It’s a secret, but I’m worried that telling you might put you in danger. I fear my misfortune might be contagious.”

“What do you mean by contagious misfortune?”

As Poe hesitated to answer, the old woman urged her on.

“At my age and with these eyes, how much more misfortune can I experience? Tell me.”

Poe began her tale.

“I came from the convent in Rome.”

“Were you a nun?”

The old woman was surprised again.

“No, not exactly. I was a student training to become a nun.”

“I thought nuns rarely left their convents.”

“That’s usually true, but in my case, it is. I’ve lived there all my life and didn’t even know the way out of Rome, let alone to Poe.”

“How did you manage to come all this way?”

“I had help from a child named Marti…

Poe, feeling suffocated by her recent misfortunes and pains, didn’t calculate what should remain hidden or what could be shared. She poured out everything.

A few beggars she met in Rome helped her and Marti secure a ride on a carriage leaving for Poe. The carriage owner agreed to take Poe for a single silver coin.

After a brief farewell to Marti, Poe left Rome.

Aside from a suspicious glance from a Roman guard as she passed through the city gate, nothing happened. Until then, Poe thought she could easily reach Poe.

The carriage owner, a man named Cisco, would occasionally chuckle at Poe.

‘Why do you laugh every time you see me?’

‘I’m just a person who laughs a lot without reason.’

It was a bit scary, but he didn’t do anything particularly suspicious.

Cisco explained the route to Poe and the time it would take, reassuring her that in his years of doing this job, he had never encountered any danger. But not half a day out of the city, they were ambushed by bandits.

The bandits pulled Cisco and Poe out without a word. Then, as if on cue, a Roman patrol appeared.

During the sudden skirmish, Poe hid under the carriage. The clash of weapons and screams lasted for a while.

After the noise ceased, Poe cautiously emerged from her hiding place.

The carriage owner, the bandits, the Roman guards—all were dead. Poe was scared but checked for survivors. Only one man, stabbed in the side, was still alive beside the carriage.

Poe removed the knife and wrapped the wound with healing light. At first, the man looked at her in shock, then fear.

‘I’m one of the Roman guards sent to capture you.’

It seemed there was an order for the city guards to detain any clergy attempting to leave Rome. Of course, Poe, in her plain clothes, looked more like a carriage owner’s wife or daughter and had done nothing to arouse suspicion as a cleric. However, one of the soldiers had seen Poe’s blue hair, and he happened to know the rumor of a blue-haired nun at the Athena Convent. They had followed to confirm this but ran into the bandits instead.

Because of Poe, the guards, the carriage owner, and the bandits were all dead.

As Poe stood up after finishing the healing, the soldier she had healed held a knife to her throat.

‘Are you a saint or a witch?’

“If I am the cause of all this misfortune, perhaps I am a witch without knowing it,” she mused.

The soldier, after a long hesitation with his sword at Poe’s throat, simply left.

“I will not report this incident to my superiors. I have no desire to be known as the one who let a witch escape, nor do I wish to be the one who killed a saint. So, you too should keep silent about this matter.”

Left alone, Poe found herself at a loss for where to go. Thus, she had no choice but to continue on the path she was already on.

It was strange. Poe thought she would tire quickly, yet, despite walking all day, she surprisingly didn’t feel much fatigue.

As evening approached, she stumbled upon a farmhouse. Hoping to get some water, she approached, but then she heard a woman’s scream. Following the sound, she found a small shed where a woman lay on the ground.

She was in labor!

In her urgency, Poe helped the woman deliver the baby. She had occasionally seen Mother Julia perform deliveries, but this was her first time doing it herself. Nevertheless, Poe managed to deliver the child successfully.

The reason the woman was alone in the shed, enduring labor pains, was that her husband had been injured trying to dodge a horse that had suddenly charged into the field. The horse was one of Rome’s guard mounts that had escaped all the way here.

The husband had gone to the village chief’s house far away to treat his sprained leg. In his absence, the woman, while trying to corral the runaway horse into the shed, had fallen due to the violent wind, and the shock had induced her labor…

Her husband returned in the evening.

Poe confessed with self-reproach.

“It’s all my fault that the horse came this far.”

Expecting to be chased away immediately, Poe was instead offered a meal and a place to sleep for the night by the couple.

The woman, holding the newborn, even showed tears.

“It’s the child we couldn’t have for ten years.”

The next day, they gave Poe the horse. It was a military mount, too wild to be used for farming.

Poe, who had no confidence in reaching Duor on foot, accepted the horse despite thinking she shouldn’t.

“So, miss, you rode Rome’s military horse and drifted into this village?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Poe replied gloomily.

“Did you say your name is Poe? You tell a strange tale.”

“Strange, you say?”

“Indeed strange! Anyone would think it a peculiar story.”

“Is that so?”

The old woman shook her head and asked.

“But from this story alone, I don’t understand why you want to go to the Red Desert?”

“Since I was young, I’ve lived listening to many stories from Father Archion, who I regard as a father. One of them was about an angel trapped beneath a pagan temple in the Red Desert. He told me if anything happened to him, I should follow Father Jade, whom I consider my brother, and if something happened to him as well, I should seek out that angel.”

Poe felt foolish even as she spoke.

“Recently, some bad things have happened. Father Jade won’t know I’m following, so he wouldn’t wait and must have already gone to the pagan temple. If he heard the same story, he would take the same route.”

Poe wanted to cry again, but as always, no tears came.

“So, knowing the danger, realizing our paths might not cross, and without certainty whether he really went to the temple or not, I set out on this journey. I know how reckless I am being…”

“By any chance, is the brother-like priest you speak of named Jade?” the old woman inquired, and Poe halted her words. She then reflected on whether she had ever made the mistake of mentioning his name even once before.

“How did you know that?”

The old woman opened her mouth as if to speak, then said,

“My goodness. It’s too plausible to be a lie, yet too unbelievable to be true. I have something to tell you as well.”

The old woman took Poe’s hand. Poe held her wrinkled hand tightly and listened.

She began with the part where a young man came to buy a horse and left after offering a prayer, and how his horse returned with the saddlebags, prompting her husband, Rendel, to go looking for him and return, having heard the name Jade.

“Father Jade said he was going to find the angel?”

Poe asked.

“That’s what my husband said.”

“Was that last night? Then I’m only a day behind. I can catch up if I leave now! I must hurry.”

For the first time since starting her journey, Poe felt hope.

“Why not wait until my husband wakes up and go together?”

“No, I can’t. Misfortune follows me.”

“That’s a strange thing to say. I don’t know about thieves, but the farm couple had a child because of you…”

“If I hadn’t been there, the thieves and guards wouldn’t have met, and if that hadn’t happened, the military horse wouldn’t have invaded the farm.”

“I have nothing to say to that… But how will you find the temple?”

“I don’t know.”

The old woman rummaged inside her clothes and, as if by magic, pulled out an old piece of parchment.

“This is a map of the desert. Our villagers carry it like a talisman.”

“I can’t accept such a precious gift.”

“Take it.”

The old woman pressed the parchment into Poe’s hand and smiled with eyes oozing pus.

“Since Father Jade’s arrival, I’ve wanted to live longer. I want to live to do something meaningful, and I’m grateful that such an opportunity has come so soon.”

The old woman gripped Poe’s hand tightly and continued.

“I wanted to pray to the statue of the saint today, but I’m glad someone came to pray. Now, listen to the prayer Father Jade taught me.”

The old woman closed her eyes, now crusted with white, and prayed.

“I fervently pray for this child’s safety in the desert. If I have any good fortune, I give it to this child. If there is danger for this child, let it come to me instead. I pray in the name of God. If my voice is too soft and you can’t hear me, please, angel, pass on my words.” After the prayer, the old woman opened her eyes and smiled.

Poe exclaimed in surprise.

“You shouldn’t pray like that. I’m not worthy of such fortune.”

“I don’t know. Whether Poe is worthy or not. If you’re not, the angel will know and make sure the prayer doesn’t reach you. I just hope Poe is a good child, and if so, that you live long.”

Poe had learned many doctrines and interpretations of the Bible, but she had never learned how to counter such logic. So, she had no choice but to accept it.

“I won’t pray the same since I’ve already received such a prayer. Instead, I can help with your eyes, so they don’t hurt.”

Poe knelt in front of where the old woman sat.

“It’s alright. I’m used to the pain now.”

The old woman shook her head, but Poe, undeterred, reached for the eyes oozing pus. She covered the old woman’s eyes with the palms of her hands. The damp pus touched her palms. Poe closed her eyes and said to the old woman,

“Hold my wrist.”

The old woman, not understanding, weakly grasped her wrist as instructed.

“If it hurts, squeeze my wrist tightly.”

“How can I squeeze…”

Before the old woman could finish her question, a bright light burst from Poe’s hands. At the same time, the old woman let out a pained scream. It was a desperate cry, not loud due to her weakness. She held Poe’s wrist, but without strength, she couldn’t hold on for long.

The light vanished from Saph’s body. She gasped for breath and removed her hand from the old woman’s eyes.

Staggering back a couple of steps, Saph collapsed onto her backside. The old woman, who had been sitting in the chair, slowly crumbled to the side.

After a moment, the old woman groaned and opened her eyes. Blinking several times, she rubbed her eyes.

“Good heavens. What is this… some sort of miracle…? To see everything so clearly…”

She soon turned her gaze to Saph.

Saph asked, “Can you see my face?”

“It’s faint… a bit blurry, but…”

The old woman exhaled more heavily than when she was in pain, surprised.

Saph stood up and stepped back a few more paces.

“Can you still see me from this distance?”

“Yes, I can.”

Saph retreated further.

“I can see… I can still see…”

Even when Saph had moved six steps away, near the statue of the holy woman, the old woman continued to affirm she could see her.

Saph approached again. The old woman was crying instead of groaning. Saph wanted to cry with her, but she couldn’t.

“Just hearing your voice, I imagined the most beautiful woman in the world, but you are even more beautiful.”

The old woman gently embraced Saph.

“Thank you. I’m so grateful…”

“It’s nothing. This is all I could do for you.”

Saph was still out of breath, finding it difficult to speak properly. Healing the eyes had been more taxing than half-walking.

“Your eyes had a broken part inside, which I’ve reconnected. However, I couldn’t clear the haziness in your vision. I’m sorry.”

The old woman didn’t understand, and Saph couldn’t explain further.

♦

Saph stood in front of the horse. It belonged to the Rome guard, but from the first glance, it had behaved as if it had been her lifelong companion.

“I’m sorry. From now on, we’ll be crossing the desert. It will be tough, but please bear with me.”

After speaking to the horse, Saph gently embraced its neck. Then, she jumped up, swinging one leg over to the other side of the saddle and sat down. Only then did she place her feet in the stirrups.

The old woman, watching from the side, was startled by Saph’s actions and asked, “What was that?”

“What do you mean?”

“In all my life, I’ve never seen anyone mount a horse like that.”

“Is it wrong?”

“It’s not that it’s wrong… You’ve only lived in the monastery? Not from the army? Have you ridden a horse many times?”

“It’s my first time.”

“That horse?”

“No, riding a horse in general. I don’t know how to do it properly. It just seemed comfortable to mount this way…”

The old woman shook her head in disbelief.

“I’ll have a lot to tell my husband when I get home.”

Saph didn’t grip the reins tightly. She held them lightly and signaled with her thighs where she wanted to go, and the horse moved accordingly. She thought it was because the horse was well-trained by the military.

“But I never asked for your name, ma’am.”

“Call me Julie.”

“That’s close to our Mother Superior’s name. Well then, goodbye, Julie.”

“It’s been years since anyone called me by my name.”

Julie shyly waved goodbye to the departing Saph and continued waving until she was almost out of sight. Saph could hardly see her, and though Julie’s sight had been restored, she would have disappeared from view long ago, yet she kept waving.

As soon as Saph entered the desert, she unfolded the map Julie had given her. To her, the map looked almost like a cipher.

‘Can I really find a temple I’ve never seen just by looking at this?’

Saph couldn’t tell which way was up on the map and accidentally let it slip from her grasp. Just then, a gust of wind blew. The map vanished from sight in the blink of an eye.

It happened so quickly that she couldn’t even think to chase after it.

Saph stared blankly at the red sands of the desert.

“She gave it to me…”

For a brief moment, the hope that had blossomed from meeting Julie vanished.

Saph stroked the horse’s neck.

“You know the way, don’t you? I guess not. It’s your first time in the desert too.”

Saph had no choice but to move forward. Everything in her sight remained a stark red.