Chapter 146 - The End and the Beginning (1)

Nothing can refuse to bow its head before time.

No matter how beautiful a flower may be, it will one day wither, and no matter how strong a sword may be, it will one day rust.

And the same was true of the sun that had risen into the sky.

The reddening light of sunset was casting long shadows over Brigantes, the capital of the Empire.

The shadows, wavering and stretching with the steadily sinking sun, finally reached even the most glorious building in all of Brigantes.

The center of the Empire.

Even the Imperial Palace.

DONG. DOOONG. DONG.

At the sudden peal of bells, everyone in the city stopped what they were doing and turned their heads.

The bells had begun to ring when they were not supposed to ring.

As people wondered what was happening, they soon saw a black flag slowly beginning to rise above the Imperial Palace.

The sun was setting.

The sun that had hung in the highest place in the Empire.

At last, from the end of the fallen sunset, pitch-black night was beginning.

* * *

When he opened his eyes, it was to an unfamiliar ceiling.

"Guess they changed the wallpaper."

Opening his eyes with a languid voice, Vlad blankly began counting the patterns embedded in the ceiling.

But the more he counted, the blurrier his vision became.

It seemed a single night's rest had not been enough to dispel all the fatigue he had accumulated.

"... Maybe I'll sleep a little longer."

Though he said maybe, Vlad was already filled with the intention to sleep more, and he began wriggling like a grub as he burrowed under the blanket.

It had been nearly a year since he had been exiled from Soara.

During that time, Vlad had had places to lay his body, but nowhere he could toss and turn in comfort, so he decided to laze around for the first time in ages.

"This is nice."

Just for today, he really would sleep himself senseless.

The fatigue piled up inside him was far too sticky, and the home he had returned to after so long was warm.

Autumn had hardly begun, yet the cold air already circling the tip of his nose was tying Vlad's blanket tightly around him.

"Hey."

"..."

"Hey. Hey."

"... Don't touch me."

But despite Vlad's firm resolve, there was a hand shaking him without the slightest hesitation.

A small but relentless hand.

The hand that had been cautiously shaking his shoulder had somehow grown bold, reaching up and mussing Vlad's hair.

"I told you not to touch my hair."

"I told you not to tuch my hair."

"... Hey."

The street did not get much sunlight, but the red hair visible through the lifted blanket was more than enough to brighten Vlad's eyes.

"Just... let me sleep a little more. Just until lunch."

"It is lunch now."

Zemina's eyes, curved into crescents, were already pointing toward the window.

Afternoon sunlight shone through the drawn curtains.

For Vlad, who had always woken to the dim light of dawn, it was an unfamiliar sight.

"If you're going to sleep more, at least eat lunch first. Marcella got up at dawn to prepare ingredients because you were coming."

Zemina's hand, which had been mussing his hair, grabbed Vlad by the collar and began slowly pulling.

As his upper body rose, Zemina's face drew closer and closer, bright and fresh.

"You. Did you put on makeup?"

"Heh."

He had only asked because he could not see the freckles that usually covered the bridge of her nose, but Zemina began to smile triumphantly, as if to say he had only noticed now.

"How is it? Not bad, right?"

"At this point, it's a crime."

It was probably because he was not fully awake yet.

Or perhaps because the room was dark.

That was how different the Zemina before Vlad's eyes now looked from the one he had known.

"Hurry up and come out. Lunch is almost ready."

"..."

The door slowly closed with a creak.

Vlad stared for a long time at Zemina's back through the gap.

"She's gotten cheeky."

The freckle-covered Zemina Vlad had expected was not there.

Nor was the pitiful girl who had wrung out rags with bony hands.

The one standing before Vlad now was only Zemina of Rose's Smiles, who had somehow stood up on her own.

"Can a little makeup really change someone that much?"

An unidentified fragrance began to drift in the place Zemina had left.

Vlad vaguely thought it was the scent of powder, but in truth, the makeup Zemina had put on was very, very light.

* * *

"Did you sleep well, Vlad?"

"Yes. Did you sleep well too, Marcella?"

"How could I sleep? Thanks to you."

At Marcella's playful words, Vlad looked at her.

Her two eyes were swollen and puffy, not matching her delicate face.

Yesterday, when he had returned, it had been Marcella rather than Zemina who had hugged Vlad and sobbed her eyes out.

"As I get older, it's harder to keep my emotions in check. I guess it's about time I retired too."

"You're still in your prime."

The instincts of a former street hustler were shouting.

This was the moment to tell her no.

"Am I?"

As if that had indeed been the right answer, the plate was piled high with chunks of meat.

It would have been very nice if that kind of tact had activated with Alicia.

"..."

As he ate the food Marcella had offered him, Vlad quietly began looking around.

Yesterday, when he had just returned, everything had been too busy, too chaotic, and too overwhelming.

Because of that, he had not been able to give her what he needed to give.

"Marcella."

"Hm?"

"Here."

After confirming there was no one on the fourth floor, Vlad carefully handed Marcella a small pouch.

"What is this?"

"... I don't know if it'll be enough."

Vlad was surely not the only one who had been caught by the blue moonlight that day.

In a way, the person who had lost the most that night was Marcella, so for her sake as well, this much proof was necessary.

"What is this? A ring?"

"It's Godin's."

Beyond the spoon moving indifferently, a name far too great rang out.

"Godin?"

Perhaps startled by Vlad's words, Marcella's fingertips began to tremble as she opened the pouch.

Or perhaps she was afraid.

The blue moonlight still seeped through every corner of Rose's Smiles, and to Marcella, it was no different from a nightmare.

"I wasn't the one who killed him, but he died anyway."

Inside the pouch Vlad had handed over was a ring.

To be precise, it was a signet ring used to seal letters, and engraved in relief upon it was the eagle pattern, Gaidar's symbol.

"That's yours, Marcella."

"... I see."

Because he had been the loser and not the victor, he had not been able to bring back anything whole.

Even so, it was something that could have been a fine trophy, but Vlad had decided to hand Godin's ring over to Marcella.

After receiving the ring from Vlad, Marcella stared at it for a long time.

What passed countless times through her black eyes was probably memories of someone, and the pain from back then.

"Take that!"

"Kff!"

But Marcella did not want the ring.

Seeing the ring suddenly thrown onto the brazier, Vlad ended up spitting out the water he had been holding in his mouth.

"Marcella?"

"What is it made of? It burns well for a ring."

On the brazier, Godin's ring was beginning to melt red-hot.

But unlike the flustered Vlad, Marcella's face was already filled only with her usual smile.

"Sometimes when I look at men, they seem more sentimental than women."

"Excuse me?"

What could heal wounds was probably not revenge, but time.

Marcella knew that well, and that was why she had thrown Godin's ring onto the brazier.

Because this ring was not something that healed wounds, but only a medium that made her keep remembering them.

"I'm proud that you brought it thinking of me, but I don't need things like this anymore."

Vlad had to move forward.

And so, for Vlad's sake, Marcella threw away the ring of the past and simply brought out today's cooking.

"You don't need it anymore either, do you?"

"... No."

Picking up his fork, Vlad looked at Marcella, who acted as if nothing had happened, and began to smile faintly.

As expected, the Rose of Soara had not yet withered, and there were still things to learn from her life.

In the pot warmed by the burning ring was Marcella's cooking, which he had not seen in a long time.

Mashed potatoes, grilled sausages, and even black pudding made from cow's blood.

They were all dishes Jorge had liked.

* * *

"Did you have a good lunch?"

"You should have come and eaten with us."

As Vlad came down to the first floor to go outside, Haven stuck close to his side.

The captain's hat on his head had been changed into something stylish, but the cane he leaned on was still as shabby as ever.

"Since you bought a new hat, you should have changed the cane too."

"This? Why would I change this?"

As if asking what nonsense that was, Haven lifted the cane and began polishing it exaggeratedly.

Perhaps because he had used it for so long, the gleaming cane shone enough to reflect light.

"I've actually benefited a lot from this. When I say you made it for me, even those rough sea bastards listen well."

"Really?"

The rising star of the North.

Vlad of Soara.

The brightest of Bayezid's young knights, who had failed to stand out for so long, and the man who had pierced through the West that had provoked them like a thorn in their side.

The Vlad of now was the one who took responsibility for both pride in a hometown boy and reassurance for the next generation.

"And these days, people have started adding the word elf after your name too. Do you really know elves?"

"Move. I have to go to church."

Embarrassed for no reason by Haven's words, Vlad hurriedly began leaving Rose's Smiles.

Perhaps because he had lazed around, the sunset was already settling through Soara's back alleys.

Soara's sunset, which he was seeing again after so long.

To ordinary people, the setting sun marked the end of the day, but to the people of the back alleys, it was like the sun that rose on their day.

"Since when did you go to church?"

"Since today."

The reason he had not gone to church until now had not been a decision made of his own will.

He had been unable to go because they would not accept him.

God was a glorious being, but the road that led to Him was far too long for the people of the back alleys.

"... Why is she so busy?"

Just as Vlad was about to step outside, he quietly turned his head and looked at Rose's Smiles.

The boy's nest had not changed greatly, yet somehow seemed different.

Within that nest, he could see Zemina moving without rest.

"Kids really do grow up fast, don't they?"

"She's the same age as me."

"That's what I mean."

Seen from afar, there was no trace of the shabby old Zemina from before.

It felt unfamiliar, but seeing her looking more at ease than he had expected, Vlad decided to step outside.

"Is the boat all right?"

"Maybe because she's small, but there haven't been any problems."

"No, not Zemina."

"Yeah. Zemina."

Vlad and Haven began snickering, each speaking of a different Zemina.

Seeing Vlad finally look a little like himself, Haven straightened the captain's hat on his head.

"By the way, if you're going to church, take me with you."

"Since when did you go to church?"

"Actually, it doesn't matter even if you don't take me."

"Hm?"

Following Haven's nod, Vlad moved his gaze toward a small and shabby corner of the back alleys.

A street where the sun did not reach.

There were things cautiously lighting themselves from within the dark night.

"The last bishop forbade pedophilia, but do you know what the new bishop forbade?"

"... What?"

As dusk slowly fell, darkness began to seep into the back alleys.

From there, the things that had carefully crawled out were looking at Vlad.

"Discrimination."

They were children.

The children of the back alleys, who had hidden from the light until now, were gradually watching Vlad's reaction as they followed behind him.

"They're all going to church now. It's a place anyone can enter now."

As Vlad headed toward the church, he could soon make out the procession of children lined up behind him.

All of them were hungry and exhausted, but even so, the steps of the children heading toward church were nothing if not light.

"He says you never know when another guy like Vlad of Soara might pop out from here."

"..."

Children with potential could exist anywhere.

Because Vlad of Soara had proved it.

And so Priest Andreas, who had watched that sight from the closest place of all, had not hesitated to lower the threshold of the church.

"You said you were going to church. Aren't you going?"

"... I am."

A new night was beginning between the back alleys after sunset.

Tiny stars were rising amid the darkness spreading through the back alleys.

The place those stars were heading was the Church of Soara.

Today, those children would probably be able to receive a warm dinner from a faithful priest, just as Vlad had on that winter day.