224. Confession, cenotaph, return home
#224
The Black Man left Aurora Skal, leaving behind silence and questions. People who had finally become speechless were talking about him.
“Woof! Uweeeek!”
“What a strange friend. “If you were so strong, why didn’t you do anything back then?”
“Say, exploding your head alive…”
The woman who had died by accident and the goatee man still had their eyes brightly open. The sight was so horrific that people could hardly touch the corpse even in the bloody smell that made their heads hurt. Only after Ronan and his party recovered the body did the full-scale cleanup begin.
“good. If you hit three, you throw. One, two, three!”
“Sigh!”
With Didican’s slogan, the three people let go of their hands at the same time. A sack tied with chains was thrown into the sea at night.
with a plop! The sack, which created a small splash, disappeared from sight within a few seconds. Adeshan asked with concern in his voice.
“It won’t come to mind, right?”
“You don’t have to worry about that. “It’s because it contains a lot of ore that disrupts magic tracking.”
Didican hesitated. After discussion, they decided to throw the bodies of the two gangsters into the sea at night.
It was the man in black who killed the two, but Drahavier was a man who would not have cared much about who killed his subordinates. No matter how well the body was recovered and the circumstances explained, everyone would be held responsible, so in many ways it was best to pretend not to know. Didican said.
“great job. “You don’t have to help me, but I really appreciate it.”
“···.”
Ronan didn’t answer. His mind was always filled with thoughts about the black man. He was strong, but he couldn’t figure out who he was.
‘What are you really doing?’
Looking at what it was doing, it seemed very likely that it was a dragon. However, at the time of his first encounter, he was unable to understand the phenomenon whose intense presence he was the only one who noticed.
In fact, Adeshan and Didikan still mistook his species for humans. Since I couldn’t feel any sparkling mana, I didn’t think he was a member of the church. Didican, who had been waiting, asked again.
“Ronan?”
“···okay. “You worked hard too.”
Ronan, who belatedly looked back at Didican, nodded. It seemed like a problem she probably needed to think about a little more deeply. The comment that she was interested was also on her mind.
“Umm…Dra Habiera.”
Didican was looking at the night sea with a worried expression. Although he had made the best choice, he seemed to be afraid of de la Javier’s retaliation. Ronan said, patting his back.
“Relax your expression. “I will tell Navardose.”
“…Are you sure you have a connection to the Mother of Fire?”
“That’s a secret.”
Ronan grinned instead of confirming. If things didn’t seem to work out, it would be resolved somehow, even if you reported it to the emperor or used Dawn’s authority. He’s a criminal anyway, so what?
Time on the sea passed quickly. The polar lights, which had been burning with fierce force, were slowly fading away. The central hall I returned to after getting some fresh air was neatly cleaned up.
It was barely dawning when Katan called them. The bustling scene of her workshop had not changed from when I first met her.
The blue fire was still raging, and the craftsmen were still doing their job. Katan’s eyes widened when he heard what happened in the hall.
“What, the green fangs come and do something crazy? “Did something like that happen?”
“…The sound must have been quite loud?”
“I usually can’t hear anything when I concentrate. I’ll have to take a look. “For now, I’ve sharpened all the swords.”
It was an incredible amount of concentration. Catan held out La Mancha, whom he had finished trimming. Ronan took his sword and pulled the hilt. Slurp-! The elegant sword body still appeared.
“···There is not as dramatic a change as I thought.”
Ronan, who was examining the sword closely, opened his mouth. The color of polar light was visible along the thin blade, but it was faint enough to be attributed to my mood. Katan flicked his index finger left and right and clicked his tongue.
“Tsk, tsk, it will be different when we actually go into battle. “You lack faith.”
“I hope so.”
“You’ll be so surprised that you’ll wonder if this is my weapon? Here, take yours too, Miss.”
“Ah, thank you.”
Adeshan accepted the whip and crossbow. As expected with La Mancha, there was no significant change in appearance alone. Catan, who had been teasing her, held out a bundle of arrows to her.
“Now, this too.”
“This···?”
“I just made it the way I felt like it. I like pretty girls. “There isn’t much, so it would be better to use it when appropriate.”
Katan said it was a crossbow specially made for Adeshan. The surface of the arrowhead illuminated by polar light sparkled in mysterious colors. Adeshan, holding the crossbow, bowed and greeted.
“thank you. “I will use it sparingly.”
“How can they be so polite? If your boyfriend is bothering you, tell him. “This sister will scold you.”
“······yes.”
Adeshan, who hesitated, nodded. Ronan ultimately failed to notice her positive meaning. Katan sent them off, saying that he would send the remaining equipment as soon as it was completed.
“Then goodbye, heroes. “I’ll come again when I stop by in the north.”
“I am indebted to you.”
Ronan and Adeshan took to the runway again. Everyone I met while passing by expressed their gratitude.
As most of them gave out gifts one by one, their already large backpacks became even more bulky. Didican, who guided the two people to the runway, asked to shake hands.
“There were a lot of things going on, but it was fun. “It seems like it’s always noisy when I’m with you.”
“I know. Next time, try making some cool inventions.”
“Haha, I’m already making something. “My sister-in-law is also healthy.”
“Tongue, you are my sister-in-law. that···!”
Adeshan’s face lit up. Didican ran back to the blacksmith shop. The excuse was that there was a mountain of work to do.
“You’re gone.”
“···huh.”
The runway where Didican left fell into silence. The two people, the soft Griffon, and the sound of the waves lapping were all that remained.
Ronan and Adeshan leaned against the griffon side by side and looked at the sky. No one urged us to leave. The sky was slowly brightening, with starlight like afterimages embroidered on it.
‘ah.’
Adeshan realized late that Didikan’s early departure was to give them alone time. She, who had been crossing her hands and feet for no reason, opened her mouth first.
“…Thank you for earlier. “For blocking the candlestick.”
“It was something I had to do. “You can’t hurt your pretty face.”
“Ah, ahaha…”
Adeshan scratched her cheek after hearing that she was pretty. No matter how many times I heard these words, I couldn’t seem to get used to them. After a short conversation, silence came again.
Well, I guess I should say it now, right? Ronan was about to talk about the relationship between the two that he had been thinking about all along.
“Ronan.”
“yes?”
“i like you. many.”
Ronan’s eyes widened. It seemed like he wasn’t the only one measuring the timing. As she turned her head, she saw Ade Shan’s face staring at her.
“me too.”
Ronan answered. At the same time, he grabbed Adeshan’s face with both hands and kissed her. The feeling of his two lips touching and squishing together wasn’t bad. Before long, his mouth dropped.
“I like it a lot too.”
“Tell me one more time.”
“I said I like it.”
In our narrowed field of vision, we could only see each other. The two people’s faces were getting closer again. A girl’s voice echoed in their heads.
[Hmm… I can’t believe I saw something like this as soon as I woke up. I’m thrilled.]
“Aaaah!”
“Plague, what is it?”
My field of vision widened again. The two people hastily put their faces back and looked around like criminals. The runway was empty. Ronan frowned at the voice that gave her a sense of déjà vu.
“···Rin?”
I remembered. It was clearly the voice of the Holy Sword Rin. It was the first she had heard since her trip to Farzan.
Have you regained your strength? Ronan shook La Mancha as if waking up a sleeping person.
“Hey, are you awake?”
-Pyyok.
But no answer came back. The Gryphon, which had been sitting still, flapped. The sullen expression on his face seemed to urge him to leave now that he had seen everything.
‘Damn it, what happened?’
I couldn’t understand the English text. Adeshan, who did not know about Lin, was looking at Ronan with bewildered eyes.
An awkward silence fell between the two. Ronan, who was scratching the back of his head, opened her mouth.
“Let’s go first.”
“Yes, yes.”
It was unfortunate, but there was nothing we could do as the atmosphere was broken. As soon as the two people got on board, the Griffon took off and turned south. In a brightening world, Aurora Scal, which was getting smaller, finally became a small white dot and disappeared from sight.
****
“Instructor, we are here.”
“hmm. “It arrived sooner than expected.”
The wooden door opened. Nabirose found the two people and put down his drink. She was sitting in front of the inn’s fireplace, drinking warm mead.
“It didn’t take long because the weather was nice. The gryphon was parked outside. Ugh, I’m hungry.”
“Here, please give me some water and two bowls of reindeer stew.”
Adeshan ordered water and food. They arrived in Warsaw, Margrave, just before daybreak. After taking a good rest in Aurora Skal, the Gryphon flew to its destination without stopping even once.
“Eh?”
Ronan approached Nabirose and raised his eyebrows. A fluffy arctic fox was sitting across from her. When she entered the inn, she was invisible due to the angle. The two people’s eyes widened.
“Professor Secret?”
“It was a lot of hard work. “You guys.”
It was our first reunion since we parted ways from Rundalian. He came up to the table, held Ronan’s hand and shook it. Ronan asked.
“When did you come?”
“It’s this morning. “He did something really unbelievable.”
He was speaking in a voice that almost sounded like he was crying. He is a good, if cynical, person, but he seemed quite moved.
“The curse of Tukan Plateau is almost gone. “It will take some time to detoxify the hatred that has built up, but I am still hearing laughter little by little.”
Secret told him about what happened during Ronan’s absence. Although it was a short time, there were many changes.
Barca’s curse disappeared, and the conflicts between beasts and humans that occurred everywhere also subsided. The concept of peace, forgotten for a long time, was once again coming to the surface.
Marya’s Caravel ship just turned into the islands last night. Jaifa was doing his best to clean up his younger brother’s poop.
“Barca must have been operating in secret for a very long time. However, thanks to Zaipa’s influence, public sentiment is quickly returning.”
“That’s a good thing. “What about Jager?”
“There was a funeral three days ago. “It’s the first time I’ve seen so many beastmen gathered since the Night of the Fangs.”
Jager’s funeral was held on a grand scale. Jaifa did not bother to reveal the fact that he was Barca’s puppet. It was a reward for the courage he showed at the end of his life.
The Shinsuin Union was not immediately disbanded. Zaifa, who had temporarily taken over as head, was helping them restore the messed up north.
In the end, Zaifa’s goal was to turn them into a force to confront Nebula Clazie. Nabi Rose emptied the glass in one go and opened her mouth.
“It would be nice not to think nonsense. “At that point, I really have no choice but to kill you.”
“It’ll probably be okay.”
Ronan said with confidence. He remembered Jaifa’s voice thanking him. Jaipa, who came back after finishing work, would become a more reliable ally than anyone else. Secret said.
“I plan to stay in the North a little longer. There might be a curse that hasn’t been lifted yet. But don’t go back in the fall.”
“autumn? Oh right. “Usually it’s summer now.”
After being in the north for over a month, I lost my sense of the seasons. The four people who were talking about various things stood up. Now it was time to return to the system. Suddenly, Adeshan tapped Nabirose’s shoulder.
“Hey instructor, can I go somewhere with Ronan for a moment?”
“Does not matter. “Just make sure the carriage arrives on time.”
“thank you.”
Adeshan smiled brightly. Ronan tilted his head at her unexpected action.
“What, where are you going?”
“I want to show you something. “It really only takes a moment.”
“What?”
She walked out of the inn, holding Ronan’s hand. Secret, who was watching the two people, smiled in satisfaction.
“Hehe, youth. “It must have been a very arduous schedule.”
“The more barren the environment, the more love blooms. “You don’t know how long I waited to see that.”
Nabi Rose laughed. You could tell the progress of their relationship just by looking at the airflow that flowed between them. I liked it even more because they were now of similar height.
After leaving the inn, Ronan and Adeshan slowly walked towards the north of the city. The blue sky was so beautiful that it almost seemed like it was falling.
Perhaps because it was a city that served as a fortress, most of the buildings were made of solid stone. Adeshan suddenly stopped on the side of the road and picked a few wild flowers blooming next to the mailbox.
“Why flowers?”
“Everyone liked it. “I heard you like the strength of flowers that bloom anywhere… so take a few of them too.”
“Hmm?”
Ronan, who suddenly took the flower, shrugged his eyebrows. As they continued walking, they stopped at the top of a hill.
Because the altitude was quite high, I could see the panoramic view of Barça and the unexplored land beyond the castle walls at a glance. A cenotaph to commemorate the fallen stood tall there. Adeshan, who was looking at the memorial stone, opened his mouth.
“mom. I’m here. “Are you okay too?”
“This···.”
The rock jutting into the sky was light gray like her eyes. The high and spacious surface was filled with the names of soldiers who died during the Night of the Fangs.
“You can only see it from a distance. “My mom and brothers are all listed on the top row.”
Adeshan extended his index finger and pointed near the top of the memorial stone. Ronan twisted his lips. He couldn’t think of anything to say.
“Don’t be so serious. “I just came to say hello.”
“···I’ll try my best.”
“I’m a little embarrassed, but it’s my first time dating… My mom and brothers told me to bring my lover back when I was alive…”
Adeshan bowed his head. The ears sticking out from her hair were as red as hot iron. Ronan nodded slowly.
“Good for you. “It’s my first time too.”
“What, really?”
“yes. “Shame on you.”
“lie. “You’re doing it to reassure me.”
“I wish it was a lie too… okay. Don’t make that face. Anyway, being the first is important.”
Ronan comforted her as she opened her eyes. I felt like I needed to be more careful with my tongue in front of this person from now on. They placed the wild flowers they had picked in advance in front of the memorial stone.
“If it continues like this, won’t it soon be blown away by the wind?”
“are you okay. “If you stay still, you won’t be able to sprout.”
“Yes, of course.”
Ronan nodded. That was right. He couldn’t move forward if he stayed stagnant forever. The two people, holding hands, stood in front of the memorial stone for a long time.
They returned home around noon. As time passed and latitudes decreased, the earth regained its seasons, and people’s clothing became increasingly lighter. The three arrived at Phileon Academy two days before the end of summer vacation.
“It’s been a while.”
Ronan took a deep breath. The warm smell of grass seeped into her lungs. The song of cicadas was echoing in the still green campus.
