On the hill of Deomar, there was a man walking alone.
Unlike his fine attire, the man held cleaning tools in his hands.
Vlad, who noticed that the sunset had gotten longer as the day had gotten shorter, stood in the middle of the hill and put down the cleaning tools.
"Today, I haven't come to see you."
-----?
The white snake had been wagging its tail toward Vlad, but Vlad didn't come here to see him today.
He had come to tend to the family graves of the Hainal family situated in the middle of the hill.
"It seems Lady Alicia has been quite busy."
Although it was the graves of another family, Vlad couldn't help but feel sad when he saw the tombstones covered in moss.
But there was hardly any time to spare.
It was a time when the living beings were too busy trying to survive while thinking about the dead.
"I should clean them before I leave."
Among the tools casually set aside, Vlad retrieved a bundle of wet straw and began wiping the tombstones with a rough cloth.
Though there might be too many tombstones for someone else, there wasn't a single one for him. Silently, Vlad pushed away the moss.
"...At least I survived without any serious injuries."
It had been a fierce battle, and he was grateful to have survived.
Some would express their gratitude to God or ancestors, but Vlad had no suitable object for such thanks.
Unlike those before him, his mother, who was buried without a single tombstone, was fading from Vlad's memory.
"Thank you for taking care of me."
But fading as it might be, it would not disappear.
The tombstones belonged to someone else, but Vlad began to chant towards the distant sky using the tombstones before him as his conduit.
"Huu."
Cleaning Alicia's parents' graves.
And then their parents'.
As Vlad continued to clean one by one, silently uttering a word in his heart each time, he eventually came face to face with the oldest tombstone.
'It's this person.'
Among the worn-out letters, the name of the oldest Hainal was written.
He is the person who passed down the yellow amber stone to Alicia and the first head of the family who planted the tree that now houses the white snake.
'······.'
Vlad didn't realize it at first, but now he could.
The first head of the Hainal family must have had some connection to the voice.
There was clearly something in common between the first head of the Hainal family, who planted a tree with a spirit, and the voice who visited and protected the spirits, and at the top of that common thing was the name Sword Master.
"What are you doing here, Sir Vlad?"
"······Ah."
Lost in thought about the word Swordmaster, Vlad suddenly turned his head at the unexpected voice.
"Lady Alicia."
"You seem to be more diligent than I am."
There she was, smiling with her hair held by the wind.
Is it because he just came to his senses?
Her water-colored hair flutters with the vivid glow of the sunset. Vlad felt a slight dizziness as he observed the suddenly intensified colors.
"Knights shouldn't let their guard down. Were you daydreaming too much?"
"Yes, there's no excuse."
It was surely a joke, but Vlad couldn't bring himself to smile.
Alicia's words were true, and it was true that he hadn't sensed her presence.
But perhaps if Alicia had approached from the front instead of behind, he would have noticed.
His eyes, lost in thoughts of the Swordmaster, were inadvertently revealing his inner world.
"Hmmm."
Confirming that Vlad had finished everything and had no graves to tend to, Alicia, as if resigned, sat down beside Vlad and began to gaze quietly down the hill.
"You did it again. Just like last time."
Vlad, feeling out of place standing alone, naturally sat down beside her and joined her in looking down at Deomar.
"Thank you."
"······Thank you."
It was just a simple exchange of words, but it carried many emotions within.
From protecting her as an illegitimate heir to guarding Deomar from the usurper of the west, Vlad had become a knight in the process and finally achieved his goal of facing the moon.
Without each other, both Vlad of Shoara and Alicia of Hainal would not have existed.
"I'd really like to come back to this city someday."
That's why Vlad's words were sincere now.
Vlad was born in Shoara, but Knight Vlad had essentially begun here.
"You're always welcome."
Alicia, who was hugging her knees, smiled at Vlad's words and quietly looked at Vlad's face being colored by the sunset.
She wanted to look at his face a little longer before he left tomorrow.
They were two people who simply wanted to quietly observe each other without saying anything, and it didn't feel awkward at all because there was a fleeting breeze passing by.
The white snake on the hill, watching over them, lifted its head toward the sky as if to let a warm breeze blow just for now.
※※※※
"It was nice meeting you."
"Likewise. Vlad, human knight."
Autumn rain was falling.
The rain, imbued with a cold not found in the welcoming rains of spring or the refreshing rains of summer, was still pelting down on the shoulders of the men gathered in front of Deomar.
"We'll have a chance to see each other again someday. After all, I was thinking of investigating the North anyway."
Baradis's gaze pierced through the falling raindrops, aiming at Noir standing beside Vlad.
The son of the grassland, a black horse.
Noir, undoubtedly with some unicorn blood in him, would surely be a presence worth investigating from the elves' perspective.
"Don't worry too much about the prophecy I conveyed. Like an amulet, keep it in your heart, and one day, you'll intuitively understand its meaning."
"Understood."
Upon hearing Baradis's words, Vlad absentmindedly touched the picture of the priestess in his possession.
A yellow bird, himself, and the ominous black hues enveloping them.
Although it clearly bore a warning message, the priestess who delivered the picture had mentioned that there was more significance beyond that.
Perhaps it was scattered among faded memories, like a dream he had last night.
"Preparations are complete!"
Listening to the words coming from afar, Vlad turned his head with a small smile.
Though Vlad was leaving, the elves would remain in Deomar.
For them, the human world was akin to an unfamiliar sea, and they would anchor themselves temporarily in the island they had finally found—Deomar.
"We're ready to go. Lord Josef."
"······Good. Let's depart."
Josef's complexion inside the carriage was pale.
His chronic cough was sensitive to temperature, and on a day like today, he needed to be especially careful.
"Understood."
Vlad nodded in agreement with Josef's permission.
This time, the responsibility for leading the returning procession falls squarely on Vlad of Shoara.
Although Vlad is inexperienced, Josef has entrusted him with commanding the returning procession, and Vlad has now repaid his faith with the current scene.
Attention!
Someone's voice echoes along with Vlad's gesture. And the waterlogged flags of the Bayezid begin to line up in front of Deomar's walls.
Although they are exhausted and wounded, they are now winners.
Therefore, even if they were tattered flags, it would be worthy of being raised.
"······."
Alicia realizes that the blue eyes beneath the walls are looking at her.
Although Vlad's gaze now indicates that it is time, he remains silent out of inevitable regret.
"······Thank you to all of you who came to save Deomar from the crisis."
But now it's time to leave and bid farewell.
Alicia's voice trembles slightly as she speaks the farewell with her own lips.
"We will never forget the peace you've established with your blood."
Soldiers who arrived in summer but depart in autumn.
Alicia was raising her voice with all her might for those who had just fought the fiercest battle against the West.
Alicia is doing her best to make her gratitude a source of pride for them.
"Deomar will always welcome you back."
But her final words are solely for one person.
Though Alicia's eyes had scanned everyone, they now focus entirely on Vlad beneath the flags.
Her eyes convey that he's always welcome back, no matter when he returns.
The war is over.
Now it's time to go back.
Although the soldiers were standing like defeated soldiers under the autumn rain, each of them had a small smile on their face.
※※※※
"Zemina! Zemina!"
At the edge of the city, where the sun hadn't yet risen.
Since it wasn't yet evening, the voice of someone echoed loudly with the unprepared Rose's Smiles.
"······this kid does not do what he is told to do."
Zemina, who had been raising her head for a while with a small pin in her mouth, frowned when she heard a loud ringing sound coming from below.
Unlike the previous apprentice, this new boy she hired didn't sit well with Zemina.
Bang-! Bang-!
"Zemina! Are you there?"
A voice that mercilessly knocks on the lady's room as if it doesn't care about manners.
Ned, Otar's younger brother, was knocking insistently on Zemina's door.
"What?"
"······You're in there. Why?"
But unlike his urgent tone a moment ago, Ned now couldn't help but flinch a bit upon seeing Zemina just opening the door.
"What's with all the commotion? If it's not important, stop bothering me."
It wasn't just because of her fierce gaze.
Though her makeup wasn't finished yet, the mere sight of her freckles covered by a few strands of hair was enough to captivate any boy's gaze.
Her red hair, adorned with colorful pins, and her slender neck were more than enough to attract attention.
"Oh! This isn't it!"
After staring at Zemina for a while, Ned began to recall his purpose for coming here as he brought his palms together.
"The priests are all rushing out of the church gates right now!"
"So what?"
Zemina, particularly cynical about the church, perhaps due to her experiences at the convent, showed even more disdain toward the church.
"They say even the bishop went out. That newly appointed one!"
"······Even the bishop?"
However, even if she didn't harbor any positive feelings toward the church, she had to recognize the ominous signs.
The current Zemina was now the one leading Rose's Smiles.
"Why are they doing that? If you've found out even that, then you must know what's causing all this commotion now, right?"
As Zemina's large pupils narrowed slightly, Ned found himself involuntarily swallowing his saliva.
No matter how much one's surroundings shape them, Zemina's former self as a kitchen maid was nowhere to be seen at this moment.
It felt as if it were just the small Marcella standing there.
"They'll be arriving soon······. They say the soldiers who went to Deomar are coming back, and everyone's gone out to greet them."
"······What?"
However, on Zemina's face now, one could see traces of her old self, a sight not seen in a long time.
"The soldiers who went to Deomar have returned."
From Ned's words, she could sense the presence of the person she had been waiting for so eagerly.
"Is it Vlad too?"
"Probably?"
Suddenly, the gleam in Ned's eyes began to twinkle with anticipation.
A pair of earrings hanging by Zemina's ear sent out a cluster of light.
Those earrings were a gift from Knight Vlad to Lady Zemina before he left Shoara.
※※※※
"Why are they all coming out like this?"
"Because they're not priests of the Vatican."
Cheers began to echo throughout the procession as they saw the sight of Shoara in front of them.
It is understandable that the soldiers are excited as they have returned from a long deployment, but Vlad is currently in charge of commanding this procession.
He couldn't help but cast a cautious glance at the priests who filled the front of the gate, rather than feeling joy.
"Do Northern Orthodox priests come out like this?"
"It's not necessarily always like this."
Josef, who had become slightly paler since leaving Deomar, still had a faint smile on his face.
Although Vlad was cautious, Josef knew well why they were coming out like this.
"If it seems suspicious, go ahead and check it out. Isn't that your mission?"
"Understood."
Vlad, suspicious of the visions of the priests he had never seen before, walked towards Shoara alone.
It was his homeland, which he hadn't seen for a long time due to his exile.
However, the current Vlad was not a shabby outcast hated by the church, but a commander leading Bayezid's army.
-Who is that?
-He looks too young.
-It's Vlad! Vlad of Shoara!
The soldiers in front of the gate began to buzz as they saw Vlad approaching slowly.
The flag he carried indicated his position, and that's why they recognized him.
"······No."
Vlad reached the base of the city wall alone.
However, unlike his guarded self, there was a priest standing there with open arms, as if welcoming him.
"Now you've finally returned. Vlad of Shoara. Did you get hurt anywhere?"
Priest Andrea now wears a red robe of bishop instead of a white robe.
He greeted Vlad with a face full of smiles as he welcomed the name Vlad had given him.
"Priest!"
"Haha! You've grown taller too!"
Vlad, who finally recognized Andrea, rushed over and hugged him.
Andrea's embrace, comforting the weary Vlad who had walked a long way, was as warm and soft as the white bread Vlad had tasted for the first time in his life.
As the priest and the boy embraced each other, finding solace, today's twilight was fading.
The blue moon, which had touched but not surpassed, was rising again into the night sky.
The boy, who had once fallen with the girl's tears, had returned today with the blue moonlight.
[T/L: You can read ahead chapters and support me here: https://ko-fi.com/revengerscans ]