Chapter 75 - To the Empire

The next morning, Renée sat in Dovan’s drawing room, deep in discussion. They were deciding where Dovan would settle once he left the mountains.

His original request had been for protection from the alliance until he completed his Masterpiece. Still, having come this far, Renée felt it was only right to help him through to the end. She racked her brain alongside the others, her face drawn with frustration as an answer refused to come.

They could not simply leave without a plan. Dovan had difficulty walking, after all, and young Aisha was the only one who stayed by his side. How could leaving these mountains and settling elsewhere be easy for the two of them?

It had to be somewhere that would not reject them, and somewhere the alliance could not enter at will.

After pondering for a long while, Renée suddenly let out an “Ah!” as an idea flashed through her mind.

“What about the Holy Empire?”

“Hmm? The Holy Empire?”

“Yes! You aren’t a priest, so you wouldn’t be able to live inside the citadel, but you could move into one of the nearby villages. And if you were in the Holy Empire, we could help you whenever you needed...”

Thinking she had found a wonderfully straightforward solution, Renée turned to Bera.

“What do you think, Bera?”

“It is an excellent idea. Outsiders certainly cannot bring troops into lands under the Holy Empire’s influence as they please. There could be no better place to escape the alliance.”

“Right?”

Renée’s smile grew brighter at his agreement.

“If that suits you, Dovan, we’ll take you to the Holy Empire. We haven’t decided on our next destination anyway.”

Dovan’s face brightened for a moment at her words, then took on a sheepish look.

“That is very kind of you... but would it really be all right? I heard you set out to travel around the continent. Wouldn’t that mean retracing your steps?”

“That’s all right. Hmm...”

The revelation had set no deadline, so going back the way they had come would not be a problem. Renée had been about to assure him of that, but as she spoke, she began to feel sorry for Bera, Norn, and Hella, who would have to bear the trouble of such a detour. She asked for their opinions again.

“Um... would everyone be all right with that?”

Bera considered her question for a moment.

The Holy Empire was a little over two weeks away by carriage. Returning there, finding Dovan a place to live, and then traveling to another region would easily take more than a month. The time itself was no issue, but it would certainly be inconvenient.

Was there a better way?

As he pondered that, Bera remembered Mari, whom they had met in the Great Forest, and offered Renée a suggestion.

“Then what about going to the Empire? Traveling there and asking Lady Mari for help seems a sound option as well.”

“Ah!” Renée exclaimed.

“That’s right. Lady Mari!”

“Yes. Her business in the Great Forest should be more or less finished by now, so she must either be on her way to the Empire or have already arrived.”

She had certainly said she would go to the Empire and spend time with her family once Aedrin was settled. It would be her first reunion with them in ten years, so her visit would hardly be a short one. If they went to the Empire now, they would have a good chance of finding her.

“What do you think, Dovan?”

“I’m deeply grateful. You’ve shown me such consideration that I hardly know how to repay you...”

“You have already repaid me more than generously.”

Bera stroked the hilt of the Holy Sword at his waist as he spoke.

He had been given nothing less than a Masterpiece. Wouldn’t he be a beast if he could not do even this much in return?

Of course, he would not have asked for anything else even without the gift, but to demand further recompense after receiving a Masterpiece would be shameless.

A small smile touched his lips at the passing thought, and he added,

“Please do not worry. I am merely doing what I ought to do.”

Watching Bera’s open smile, Dovan felt both grateful and embarrassed. He replied in a teasing tone for no particular reason.

“But you’re the only one I’ve rewarded so generously, aren’t you? The others haven’t received anything.”

Bera’s fingertips twitched.

It was not that he failed to recognize the joke. He simply felt a needless pang of guilt because the words themselves were true.

Dovan laughed at his reaction. Norn and Hella, standing behind them, laughed as well.

Only Renée, worried that Bera’s feelings might have been hurt, spoke with a flustered look.

“I-it’s all right! We didn’t do it expecting a reward!”

And so, in a thoroughly peaceful atmosphere, they decided to travel to the Empire.

* * *

That afternoon, Renée went out to the backyard and idly passed the time in the sunshine.

Norn and Hella had gone to help Dovan pack up the smithy. Beside her were Bera and Aisha, who had stepped outside for a short break.

As Renée savored a sense of peace at the thought that their business here had finally ended well, Aisha spoke.

“Lady Renée.”

“Hmm?”

“What’s the Empire like?”

Curiosity colored her voice. It was only natural for Aisha, a war orphan who had wandered the streets until Dovan took her in, to wonder.

Renée chuckled at her eagerness and stroked her head as she answered.

“Well, I’ve never been there either, so I don’t know much. But if I tell you what I do know... it’s the most prosperous place on the continent, isn’t it? And we’re going to its biggest city, the capital.”

“Ooh...” Aisha breathed in wonder.

As Renée continued stroking her head, she felt Aisha’s ears prick up beneath her fingertips. She went on to recite what she had learned about the imperial capital in the Holy Empire.

“I understand its markets are enormous, since it’s in the center of the continent. They have everything from specialties from all over the continent to relics that turn up from time to time...”

Renée thought how fortunate it was that she had studied. Feeling that the things she had learned in the Holy Empire over the past three years had not been for nothing, she continued talking animatedly for some time before asking Bera a question.

“Come to think of it, do you know anything about the Empire, Bera?”

For some reason, she felt he would know more than she did, and asked in the hope that he could add to her explanation.

Bera answered,

“... Yes. I grew up in the imperial capital.”

Renée gave a slight start. Aisha turned her gaze toward Bera.

Taking in their reactions, he continued.

“The markets certainly do thrive there, but if I were to name a particularly unusual custom, I would choose the black-market auctions.”

It was Aisha who responded.

“What’s a black market?”

“A market for illicit deals. A place where people secretly trade goods they aren’t allowed to sell.”

“Huh? Then don’t they get arrested?”

“No. The bastards who are supposed to arrest them are its most enthusiastic customers.”

He could say that with certainty because he had run it himself in his previous life.

What more was there to say? The most frequent visitors to the black-market auction houses were the Empire’s nobles. It would be fair to call that sordid ugliness a product of the wealth they had accumulated over generations.

From simple drug deals to living beings and forbidden knowledge such as ancient banned books, they traded in it all. No longer satisfied by ordinary stimulation, the nobles frequented the auction houses more avidly than anyone to gratify their inner desires. That was why the imperial capital’s black market had survived for hundreds of years.

“Then aren’t they bad people?”

“Most of them.”

There were exceptions, of course, but so few that he could count them on his fingers.

As memories of the past stirred these thoughts, Bera turned to Aisha and said,

“But... shouldn’t you be getting back now? I understand there is still a great deal to do.”

In other words, stop slacking off and get going.

Aisha pouted and rose from her seat.

“I was going to go even if you hadn’t said anything! See you later, Lady Renée.”

“Oh, yes...”

Renée waved, and Aisha walked away. Once she was certain Aisha’s footsteps had faded completely, she spoke to Bera.

“Um... Bera.”

“Yes, Saintess?”

“Hmm...”

What should she say?

Renée knew very well that Bera did not want to reveal his past. That was why she had never gone out of her way to pry, and why she was surprised that he had brought it up himself.

The thought that her question might have forced him to speak weighed needlessly on her heart.

Seeing her like that, Bera realized she was worrying because of him and offered reassurance.

“You have done nothing to put me under pressure, Saintess.”

“... Oh.”

“It is simply a matter of my own attitude. Please put your mind at ease.”

Yes. In the end, it was a matter of attitude.

He had spoken because he felt he needed to accept that the past he had tried to turn away from, thinking it ugly, was also part of him. If his past was shameful, he had to face it squarely so that he would never make the same mistakes again.

Of course, he did not yet intend to tell her he came from the gutter. Rather than shame or humiliation, his reason was that he did not want Renée to pity him.

He had lived a life that did not deserve pity. He wanted to reveal it once he could stand a little prouder before himself. With that feeling in mind, Bera added,

“I apologize for never telling you about my home before. If there is anything you are curious about, I will tell you as much as I can.”

Sensing the calm in his tone, Renée nodded slightly, a small smile on her lips.

“Later, then. I can’t think of anything right now, so I’ll ask when something comes to mind.”

“Yes, please do.”

A thought suddenly occurred to her: Bera had been changing steadily ever since they left the Holy Empire.

He had always spoken of pursuing the light, almost as a habit, and he kept proving that those words were no lie.

‘And I...’

What had changed about her? How was she different from before they left the Holy Empire?

Suddenly, Renée felt ashamed. For some reason, she seemed small to herself—still unable even to say clearly what she wanted to do, merely chasing after love.

Then she felt a longing.

She wanted to become someone who could keep pace with Bera as he moved forward, someone worthy of him.

It was the same longing Bera had once felt as he looked at Renée. Now she was experiencing something just like it.