Chapter 698
It was Anna and Louis who came to a place they couldn’t find.
As the Gradias Empire disappeared, their relationship ended.
The deposed Bertus is wanted, but the case of Anna and Louis is different.
All information regarding the immortals and related persons was buried beneath the surface. That is why Louis and Anna are not wanted.
But it seemed that they both disappeared from the world.
The promise between Anna and Bertus was to kill Christina.
Nothing was said about what happened after that.
Bertus wanted to die, but he couldn’t.
And after Anna and Louis disappeared, they went beyond time to find Bertus and Tana, who were now hiding in the backcountry.
But I can’t be too happy about that reunion.
Just as a long period of time changed Bertus and Tana, it is unknown how a long period of time changed Anna and Louis.
And I don’t know how I came to this remote area.
That’s why Tana and Bertus were both nervous and keeping their distance.
Neither Anna nor Louis approached hastily as if they knew how wary they were.
However, Anna’s expression was calm.
No anger, no hatred, no sadness.
I couldn’t understand his intentions at all.
“I won’t talk too long. I’ve been gathering the scattered Shanafel and Gradias Imperial Wizards until now.”
Chanafell and the Imperial Wizards.
The emperor ordered them to disband just before the empire disappeared.
After the final battle at Diane, their fate depended on them.
None of them joined the demon king’s new empire.
You can’t even join in the first place. Since the responsibility of the imperial family is also their responsibility, the Demon King was in a position where he could not carry them.
The greatest power of the Gradias Imperial family was, of course, a group that had to be liquidated along with the old empire.
That’s why Shanafell and the Imperial Wizards were scattered after the Battle of Diane.
Some would find their own way and live somewhere, hiding their past.
Just like Bertus and Tana live the life of a fugitive.
Some of them have entrusted themselves to the new empire now that a lot of time has passed.
And some of them entrusted themselves to the Anti-Demon King’s Human Dominion.
Scattered remnants of the past go their separate ways.
However, most of Shanafell and the wizards of the Imperial Magic Order disappeared.
Anna says that she is now uniting the scattered Imperial Magicians and Chanafell.
“Why are you doing that?”
At Bertus’ wary words, Anna looked at Bertus silently.
“I will form a society.”
“what… … ?”
“Like the Black Order or the Cantus Magna. try to make something like that no… … . It has already been made.”
Bertus could only open his eyes wide.
After the empire disappeared, Anna rather gathered the scattered Shanafel and the Imperial Magicians.
Anna reassembled the group that the emperor had disbanded.
And it has already become an organization worthy of being called an association.
“That… … . why do you make what are you going to do?”
“well.”
Anna looks at the snowy field on a snowy night.
“These are the people who were scattered because they couldn’t be incorporated into the new empire.”
“People who have too many things to do to live in hiding are scattered and holding their breath. Humanity itself… … . No, because it hurts people.”
“It is pointless that some of them are just waiting to die in the Dominion with no hope or future.”
“Because there must be more things we can do together than things we can do apart.”
“I got it for now.”
“There must be many things we can do.”
“It might be possible to annihilate monsters out of reach of people.”
“Like the Black Order did, we can do in the shadows what the new Empire can’t do.”
“But in most situations, I’ll be a bystander when it’s not necessary for everyone.”
“In our generation, there is a high possibility that we will only create this society and pass on our work to the next generation.”
“It’s best if we don’t have to do anything.”
“Maybe, somewhere, at some moment.”
“Because we might need it. I brought people together.”
“That’s it.”
“I don’t want to hear anyone say that this is right.”
“I thought this was the best I could do.”
“Just as you did your best, so do we.”
Strong individuals are stronger when they are united than when they are scattered.
That’s why there is no specific use of power yet, but the power of those people is too precious to live in a scattered place.
Anna gathered them.
The Black Order is gone.
However, a new Black Order was created.
The knights and wizards of the lost empire become a secret society for the new empire.
Talking about what to do is meaningless.
Just like Bertus ran away.
Anna just did something.
Although Bertus was embarrassed, he did not feel anger.
The moment the empire disappeared, the Emperor’s authority over Shanafel and the Imperial Wizards also disappeared.
It is their choice that they gathered to Anna.
Now I’m just curious.
“So, why did I come?”
What is the reason for coming to find the expelled emperor who chose the life of a fugitive?
What do you want from someone who gave up everything?
Although he couldn’t read Anna’s expression, Bertus seemed to know what to say.
“The cause is not enough.”
“… … Justification?”
“Yes, justification.”
Anna speaks quietly.
“Most of the scattered people are still following you. Most of the loyalists of a country that doesn’t already exist, who think that quietly living under your new empire is to follow your will.”
“Some of those people agreed to join us, but many more refused because they thought it was against your will to form a group like this.”
“We’ve got whereabouts, but there are a lot of people who aren’t willing to join us.”
It was as expected.
“If I’m with you guys, I can unite them all, right?”
“Yeah, and Sir Tana is here too.”
A new association was created.
But Anna de Guerna has no justification or qualifications.
There are those who agree, but there are more who refuse to join, believing that Bertus’ last order was silence.
Emperor of the lost empire.
And the emperor’s knight.
When the two join, all those who hesitate to join can be absorbed at once.
When Shanafell and the Imperial Magicians are reunited, they become a tremendous force.
Even now, it should have already been called an association and possess the level of strength it deserves, but if Bertus joined, it would be easy for a person with both justification and qualifications to bring the scattered people together just by being in the association.
Because being a mediocre wizard in a ruined country to gather the loyalists of a ruined country and being the emperor of a ruined country must be on a different level.
“And, I don’t think I’m suited for this job. Same goes for Louie.”
Anna created a new power.
But I don’t consider it my own.
“I don’t just want cooperation. You are not needed simply for a cause.”
“… … .”
“You take care of all of this.”
At those words, Bertus stared at Anna with a hard expression.
“The leader of that society… … . want to be?”
“huh. We trust your judgment.”
“… … .”
“A lot went wrong, but I think you did your best in your own way. And that it wasn’t the worst choice, the current world proves it.”
“… … .”
“Lead us.”
Anna wasn’t trying to wield an alliance.
They made an association and came to offer it to the emperor of the ruined country.
Because you might need it someday.
I gathered people who were a waste to live buried, and found someone who could do something more than live buried.
That’s the role Anna thought of herself.
to gather scattered people.
I came to ask Bertus for the next job.
And he wanted to remain as one of the members.
Bertus silently gazed at Tana’s face involuntarily.
Is it because of the cold or is it because of fear?
It was a pale complexion.
“… … .”
With such an uneasy expression on her face, Tana said cautiously.
He gripped Bertus’ fingertips very weakly.
No conversation took place.
However, the trembling of the fingertips tells a lot.
The desperate expression on his face also says a lot.
Seeing Tana’s expression, Bertus laughed faintly.
“Anna… … . I have no intention of blaming you. I don’t even deserve it anymore.”
“… … .”
“You fulfilled my last request. Thank you for that alone.”
last minute.
kill your friend
Bertus made a cruel request, and Anna granted it.
It wasn’t a deal.
Because Bertus had nothing to give.
“But it is. Just running away was already cowardly and pitiful enough.”
The only request Tana made as she threw herself away.
It was a request to live.
It is cowardly to try to find one’s own honor in death.
But why are you really cowardly and can’t make a really pitiful choice?
It is the life of a fugitive who began to live because he could not push the words away.
But the choice was not forced.
In the end, Bertus made his own choice.
made himself a coward.
“You can’t wear another crown you made for yourself, since you abandoned it and ran away.”
“It’s cowardly and pitiful, apart from that… … .”
“It’s just nasty.”
“From the moment I abandoned all my responsibilities and ran away, I had no rights whatsoever.”
“So no matter who in the world comes and gives me any rights and powers, I have no intention of receiving them, and I cannot.”
“Because the moment you left and left, it was already over.”
Abandoned responsibility.
And he chose the life of a fugitive.
So there can be no right in my life anymore.
that’s fair
That was Bertus’ decision to run away.
“So I have no responsibilities, no rights, and no intention of seeking any honor.”
“Surviving.”
“Other than that, I have no intention of doing anything.”
Bertus squeezed the hand that Tana was holding lightly.
Tana trembled in surprise when Bertus squeezed her hand hard.
“I’m sorry, Anna.”
“I have no intention of saying that it is right or wrong, and I do not want to take any rights or responsibility for it.”
“It was made by you against my will.”
“Then, its rightful owner should be you, not me.”
Is it criticism that you should leave something made with your own hands to someone else’s?
Or, I don’t know if it means that even what you did is your own achievement, so the honor and responsibility should be yours too.
Just, Bertus had no intention of wearing another crown dedicated to him.
You made the crown that didn’t exist, so wear it yourself.
At those words, not only Anna but also Louis were silent.
“I thought you would say that.”
neither criticize nor attack.
Anna nodded quietly, as if she somehow knew the end of this conversation before.
“But are you satisfied with this?”
Anna points to the quiet village where it snows quietly and asks.
Silent and unappealing.
A small village in the backcountry that is just cold.
only this much.
Is this your rest?
“Not too much.”
“… … .”
Bertus answered briefly.
“Let’s go back, Louie.”
“… … okay.”
Louis Ankton silently lowered his head towards Bertus and Tana.
Anna turns around without a word.
That was the end of the reunion.
* * *
Anna de Guerna became the owner of the new society.
It must have been Anna’s plan to create that society and entrust command to Bertus.
But Bertus did not accept it.
Anna must have known that it was pointless to force it on Bertus, who had no will.
So he quietly returned.
That’s why Anna will have to think about it from now on.
What to do with the new association.
how to lead them
While somehow resolving and dissolving internal noise and disagreement.
You have to lead them in some way.
The guests who stopped by the village for no reason to come, looking for strangers, quietly returned.
There was no commotion, but Bertus and Tana’s expressions hardened.
Anna and Louie went back.
However, someone has already found out the location of the two.
So there’s no way others won’t find out. It is unknown what the other members of the organization will say to Anna and Louis, who return with this result.
The two quietly went away for now, but they might come back later.
And then there is no guarantee that you will be persuaded by words like now.
“You should leave.”
“… … Yes, maybe.”
At Bertus’ words, Tana nodded with a sad expression.
In order not to damage this village, we must leave.
In the life of a fugitive, there is no such thing as a place where you can stay for the rest of your life.
I only stayed for a short time, but I can’t be complacent.
After all, this remote area is also a place that can be reached by someone.
So now I have to go on a long road that I don’t know where I’m going.
The only good thing is that the guests who came today were not hostile.
For the kindness that this village has shown these two so far, the only reward would be to disappear as quickly and quietly as possible so that they do not suffer damage.
On the way back from the outskirts of town.
In the snowy streets, there was a huge shadow waiting for Tana and Bertus.
“… … Chief.”
The village chief was waiting for the two of them, who said he would help them if they asked for help.
“So, who was the guest?”
The village chief asks with a grin as always.
“Old friend… … no see.”
“A friend. It’s good.”
The village chief chuckles.
The loud laughter of the village head echoed faintly in the snowy village, and the noisy voices of people could be heard from the distant hall where the party was in full swing.
The village chief spoke quietly from a place overlooking the village with his hands behind his back.
“Do you have a story?”
Bertus was speechless at the village chief’s sudden question.
It was a question that had not been asked by anyone in the village, let alone the village chief, during the time that had not been short.
“… … If you don’t have it, you can’t.”
“Yes, I guess.”
How can there be no story for those who had to come beyond this civilization?
And even though he has come beyond civilization, there are guests looking for him, how can there be no other story?
The village chief put his hand on Bertus’ shoulder.
The village chief’s thick arm rested on her shoulder, and Tana watched with a slightly uneasy expression.
“then.”
“… … ?”
“Then, in this village, there is no story?”
Those who fled beyond civilization must inevitably have a story.
Beyond civilization, there is no way that the village that exists in the polar region does not have a story.
“Just as you didn’t ask, we didn’t ask either.”
Bertus and Tana knew this was a strange town, but they didn’t ask.
Even the villagers didn’t ask them.
“We don’t know who you guys are.”
“… … .”
“But it is.”
The village chief pointed to the village while holding Bertus on the shoulder.
“You don’t have to know who the other person is to be a neighbor, right?”
Bertus and Tana don’t know what this village is.
However, in order to repay the kindness and goodwill of the villagers, he tries to leave the village to avoid harm.
Because they consider them neighbors.
We don’t know each other, but we became neighbors.
There is a story.
You don’t have to know each other’s story to accept and understand each other.
The moment when Tana crossed the snowy mountain range and arrived here, carrying the fainting Bertus on her back.
People accepted Tana and Bertus as neighbors without wondering why.
I understood Tana’s urgency and earnestness.
“The reason this village can exist is because we know the obvious fact that the colder it is, the closer we have to live.”
Because it is cold, people can only survive if they stay close to each other.
This is such a community.
“No matter how small this village is, no matter how scarce food is, no matter how harsh the weather is… … .”
The village chief laughs.
“Can’t you have a good-looking young fellow and an old woman whose eyes are suspiciously pretty?”
“… … !”
– Ha ha ha ha ha ha!
The village chief laughed at the world leaving him, Bertus and Tana’s complexions turned white.
Where the hell is this?
who is this
Who is the mayor?
I don’t know anything.
at last.
Just as the village chief hadn’t asked anything so far, Bertus didn’t ask anything either.
the mayor says
“So, you don’t have to leave.”
Bertus and Tana felt as if those words had been promised God’s protection.
“… … yes. Chief.”
So, I just answered like that.
* * *
Tana and Bertus returned home.
Anna and Louie came to visit.
And, I came to know that the place where I stayed was an unknown village.
“Here… … . What kind of place would it be?”
Until now, both of them had been curious, but now this space is starting to feel like some kind of mystery.
“I don’t know.”
The village chief didn’t tell me not to leave.
He said he didn’t have to leave.
Words without any guarantee that he would do anything no matter what happened, reassured not only Bertus but even Tana.
The village chief promised that he would embrace them in the future as he had embraced them until now.
An opportunity presented itself, and Bertus declined.
You will never know if that was right or wrong.
I decided to live the life of a fugitive, and was promised someone’s protection.
So, some village in this nameless snowfield.
Life here must have been left to Bertus and Tana.
“Who am I… … . Did you know?”
“that… … . I do not know.”
The village chief already knew that Tana was much older than she seemed.
Are other villagers like that too?
If the villagers had known and teased it like that, it must have been of really poor quality.
Tana was embarrassed and felt unfair, so she was clenching her teeth.
The two decided to stay in this village.
To be honest, I would be lying if I said my heart wasn’t shaken.
Is there another chance
An unexpected place.
Just imagining sitting in a seat someone else has built has been able to design what can be done in decades.
If you can and should still do something, you can think of anything.
but.
All of those imaginations collapsed at once.
Tana’s anxious, trembling fingertips.
As soon as it touches her hand very lightly, everything disappears.
A certain desperate will not to do that was all conveyed with that trembling.
that was no longer my place.
What can no longer be mine.
All delusions about him were cleared away.
I left everything and left.
However, there is still something left.
There was some kind of resting place where I ran away and arrived.
And I didn’t get there alone.
There is no reason to delusion or dream of something new.
I chose the life of a fugitive, and someone was always with me on the way to escape.
So, rather than putting a new crown on your head, you should cherish what remains.
It is enough just to spend the remaining time with the person who remains.
Like I said to Anna.
Didn’t you answer that it was excessive when asked if you were satisfied with this?
too much
The emperor who lost everything.
A person who remains by the side of the emperor who has become nothing.
with someone who deserves it.
in an undeserved place.
Under the protection of some undeserved being.
How can I not feel excessive beyond satisfaction?
Is it a sin that such excesses are allowed?
You don’t have to dream of something and hurt the world any more.
“Tana.”
“… … yes?”
As Bertus approaches, Tana’s eyes turn to bewilderment.
Because it’s something I’ve never seen before.
“we… … .”
“… … .”
Everyone knows just by that hesitant approach.
what are you going to do
what do you want
It seems to know.
“Oh no… … . Uh, how dare I… … .”
“… … Why not?”
“that… … . Bertus is more like me… … . much younger… … . such a division… … .”
Tana’s complexion turned blue and she was giggling. Bertus narrowed his brows.
“… … Does that make sense?”
“… … yes?”
“If you want to live here for the rest of your life, you have to pretend to be a couple for the rest of your life.”
“ah.”
In fact, it is not possible to say that it was not so strange.
“Are you talking about having an affair in this small town?”
“That’s not… … . It’s not… … .”
Bertus sat quietly in front of Tana.
“You asked me to live.”
“… … yes.”
I heard that request.
So I came here.
“Then, can I ask you a favor too?”
“Yes… … ?”
“You’re sick of hearing that kind of talk over and over again.”
when do you make
when will it be
Just those words are enough to convey what you want to ask for.
“… … It’s not that it doesn’t work.”
How many years have you been together?
Of course, Bertus knows that Tana is healthy in many ways.
“that… … ! that! Be, become… … . No, that, that impossible… … . Oh no… … . but… … . but not! I’ve seen Bertus since he was a baby! That, how can I… … !”
“That thing, I don’t know anymore.”
“Uh, uh… … . You can’t do this… … . It’s not possible… … . please… … .”
Tana was almost on the verge of crying.
I can push it or not push it.
He just turns blue and starts crying.
if pushed.
I’m not going to leave this village, so I can’t force them to be faithful while pretending to be a fake married couple for the rest of my life.
saying I love you.
I love you so much that the words themselves are unnecessary to each other.
Is there any reason why you shouldn’t?
The reason Tana had only acted so far was because she wanted to protect a certain conscience of hers, and because Bertus respected it.
However, Bertus no longer had any intention of respecting Tana.
Then, in fact, it’s all over.
“I don’t know, just stay still.”
“That, that… … . that is… … !”
After that, like she had just shouted in the hall, red-faced.
everyday.
loads.
whopping.
It was a mess.
