Night Watch I: Eliza, Ward of Andrew

*Yui’s POV*

I took a seat at the Commons next to Suzuka and Moa, but started to regret my decision when I realized what they were talking about. Sounded like more ghost stories again! They could be so immature!

I made my best effort to ignore them, but eventually I couldn’t help myself. Moa was using that really dramatic tone of voice, and I got sucked in. “…called the Man of the Moors.”

I interrupted, curious. “Why the Man of the Moors, and not the Man on the Moors? Or the Man that you see while on the Moors?”

Moa looked irritated. “That’s hardly the point! The point is how tragic-“

Suzuka piped up. “-It’s so sad! I can’t believe how horrible it is that-“

Again, I was a skeptic. “-How can it be tragic? How does anyone know this ‘man’ exists if he kills everybody he sees? It just doesn’t make sense! And I really don’t see how killing people would even help him!”

Moa rolled her eyes at me. “You missed the beginning!”

I couldn’t help myself. “Alright, try me. From the beginning. I bet it still won’t make any sense.”

Moa pointed her fork at me for emphasis as she spoke. “A long, long time ago, there was a very powerful Queen. She was also incredibly beautiful. Like, the kind of pretty where you get basically anything you want, right?”

I nodded, to show I was paying attention, as I ate my soup. “Well, because she was a mighty Queen, of course, she had a lot of enemies. She was worried about them, so she decided to try and be clever.”

My interest was piqued a little, but I tried not to show it. “See, there was a man in love with the queen. I mean, totally, like, obsessed, you know, that kind of thing. So, the Queen told the man, that if he killed all her enemies, and brought her back their skulls, she would marry him.”

I crinkled my nose. This story wasn’t really very imaginative after all… “So, the man goes, and starts killing the queen’s enemies, one by one. And even though he was really strong, it still took years. But when he was sure he had finally got the last one, he returned to the queen’s castle with a whole trunk full of skulls…”

I couldn’t help myself, I had started to wonder what the deuce had happened. Presumably, something went wrong. “... But when he arrived, he found that the Queen had been assassinated! He had only killed the Queen’s far-off enemies, and completely forgotten about those who conspired against her, right in her own Court!”

Bummer, I thought. All that slaying for nothing! “So, he loses his mind, and vows never to trust another person again! In vengeance, he killed everyone that was in the Court, for allowing it to happen, including the new King and Queen, who had been his beloved’s sister and brother-in-law.”

I waited. Surely there was more? I looked up to see that Moa had paused to drink some juice. “But the man was heartbroken, and no amount of revenge could slake his blood thirst! He started killing every person he saw! The man was hoping that, if he collected enough skulls, it might persuade his love to come back to him. They were a tribute to how devoted he was to his fallen Queen, and how sorry he was for failing her.”

Moa nodded knowingly. “To this day, the Man of the Moors roams the uplands, collecting the skulls and life energy of all who cross his path. He’ll never stop, not until his Queen is returned to him. And so, he leaves trails of blood wherever he goes, and travelers disappear-“

I lost my patience. “-Points for delivery, but that doesn’t answer my question. How does anyone even know this story, especially if he killed everyone? I mean, everybody this guy meets, dies.”

Suzuka looked at me. “Maybe he spares kids, or hot chicks?”

Moa shook her head airily. “Nah, that’s too wishy-washy. Like, then what’s the age cutoff for being a kid? Or how hot to you have to be?”

Suzuka got defensive. “I’m sure it’s just subjective. Maybe depending on how he feels right then-“

I groaned. “-Isn’t he always going to be miserable, if he’s an immortal, evil ghost that wants a vengeance that he’ll never get?”

Suzuka was not to be dismissed. “Misery is relative. Besides, maybe he just spares girls that remind him of his dead girlfriend?”

I nodded, gesturing with my spoon. That was a solid point. Maybe, on days the Man was less miserable than usual, he’d spare extremely hot chicks that looked like his Queen. A theory about as rational as the rest of the story, I figured.

Notes

a quick little story from some students still in Training.