While I wondered what to do because I absolutely did not want to get engaged with such exploitive quests like the maid one again, I noticed a new quest was issued, this time to... Investigate a report of possible deaths and purify the dead?
My oh my, it's almost as if the guild made this quest specifically for me, the goddess must guided their path and given them guidance to reward me for my endeavors.
In that case, I should make haste and leave right away. I left the city through the northern gate and then moved through the riverbank. I was glad the instructions were simple to follow, though it did bother me that they were a bit too unclear in the exact distances I had to travel... Though I suppose one would not accurately measure how much they walked under normal circumstances, so this couldn't be helped.
Luckily, my destination wasn't too far, so I quickly reached the white piece of cloth that was tied around a tree... However, the directions ended here, and I could not smell any blood nearby, possibly because of the smell of muddy soil that comes from the river. I'm impressed the person that did the preliminary investigation was able to track it from this location...
It would be no good to give up here though, so I closed my eyes and prayed. Prayed to my goddess, to lead me towards those poor spirits that need to be purified, that deserve a peaceful afterlife, yet might be stuck in this world due to their regrets...
I sensed it. The goddess gave me her blessing and showed me the path. I could sense the direction that they were in... The primary investigation was right, there was a grave nearby.
I walked towards them, it would be no good to rush, one should not startle the already scared dead... I took a deep breath and remembered how I did it in the past, it felt like so long ago, how I purified the dead back in my home world... Could I still do it now? In a place that I don't even know how the afterlife works?
... I have to do it, the goddess gave me her powers in order to help those poor souls. Failure is not an option.
I arrived at the site. It was clear that there was something buried beneath me, the soil was far too soft and clearly rearranged in a hurry... Most importantly however, I could see them, the souls. Right in front of me, 6 souls flying around and attacking one another... They seemed to be split in two groups of 3, each of them carrying nothing but a sword and their clothes, they fought against each other, continuously, without mercy, stabbing, beheading, dismembering... Only for the defeated soul to raise once again and go back to the battle.
And beyond that, they were... Crying. With each strike, tears fell from their eyes, with each blow, unspeakable sadness emanated from their souls... And it kept escalating, a spiral of regret that got worse and worse with each death... They would soon become vengeful spirits at this rhythm.
I couldn't allow that, those poor men deserved better than this. I closed my eyes and offered a silent prayer to the goddess one more time, then, opened my eyes once more, with the light of the goddess within them. I knew what I had to do, and so, I started dancing.
One step at a time, I did not need to hurry, time was plentiful, one graceful movement after the other, offering a prayer for each of them and wishing for them to realize their own mortality, and how they were no longer burdened by the sins of the living.
For those people... They were not aware of their death, to seek pardon, one must first understand their own sins... And to understand them, one must first understand themselves.
And so I danced, I danced for them, I prayed for them, moved throughout the small makeshift graveyard, letting them hear my unspoken prayers, making my wishes reach their souls which no longer belonged to this world.
Slowly, they realized it. One at a time, they stopped fighting... They noticed, any reason they had to fight, had long lost its meaning, for only the living have any reason to spill blood... The dead do not need to fight, the dead just need... To rest.
Tears fell from their eyes, they sat down and covered their eyes with their hands, unable to accept the reality... Yet the reality would not change even if they did not accept them. They had a choice to make, they could remain here, forever wallowing for their sins, for their dreams unfulfilled, for their goals that are now unreachable... Or they could move. To a better place, to a place that they could rest, to where they could no longer be burdened by all that have always afflicted them... For so long they have fought, but now... It was time for peace.
They hugged each other, cried to their hearts content, let their feelings flow, let their worries wash away from their souls, let their regrets disappear, together with the transiency of the living... And then they left. Towards a better place, a place they could rest.
I breathed a sigh of relief, it's certainly been quite some time since I did a purification, and it was my first time doing it on my own, I was glad nothing went wrong this once.
However, it was not over yet, while their souls were no longer here, their bodies deserved better than this... Though I was afraid it would be impossible for me to move their bodies to the graveyard on my own. What to do then?
It was at about this time, that a young woman came out from behind a nearby rock and approached me, I was confused for a moment, but she quickly clarified who she was, and what had happened to those poor men... In summary, she, Laila, was cursed by a witch a few years back, a curse that made all men that came close to her to fall in love with her, and to die for that love... She did not explain why the witch gave her this curse, but she did tell me that those 6 dead spirits were her closest friends that have been with her for life. And that killed one another in an attempt to earn her love.
It was a pitiful story, I wished I could help her, but it took no more than a few seconds trying, to realize her curse was beyond what I could help her with... Whoever inflicted this, had a deep grudge towards her, far bigger than what I could cure while so far from my goddess.
I apologized, though Laila did not feel like I needed to... For she was happy, that at least the people she loved could now rest in peace... We could not give them a proper burial, but we could at least give them a proper grave.
We worked together to carve an unique tombstone for each of them, and left a prayer and a few flowers for each, as a reminder of whom they were before the curse, as the men that she cared for the most, and the biggest friends that have ever roamed this land... We prayed for them, for a peaceful afterlife, and for a safe travel, towards the place that they may now rest.
And after that, we left towards the city. Once there, we separated as I returned to the guild, and she went to the home of their families, to deliver the news... Apparently she has been away from the city ever since their demise, for she was unable to forgive herself for their death... Perhaps now she'll be able to rest too, I can only pray for her safety from now on.
