1 year.
About that amount of time has passed since the day that the end of evil was announced and the victory message rang out across the continent.
The ancient species disappeared from that day.
The heroes who went to the deepest went back to their respective lives with indescribable glory on their backs.
Elia’s prestige was also increasing day by day.
And then Vera died.
Woo woo-.
The holy sword cried.
Vera looked up at it.
The white Elia reflected outside the window.
It was a landscape that resembled René, so it was only cruel.
Tub-.
Someone’s footsteps sounded.
neat and heavy
From https://noblemtl.com
One, be careful.
Through it Vera realized who the approacher was.
“… Come in.”
A middle-aged Norn with an impressive straw-colored hair comes in behind the door.
his head fell down.
“what happened.”
“There is an envoy from the Empire. He said he would like to invite the Crown Prince to his wedding ceremony.”
Norn’s shriveled head could not be lifted.
As if he had said something very apologetic, he just seemed to have calmed down.
Vera looked at it for a moment, then nodded.
“… Say you want to participate.”
“Yes.”
After answering Norn, he turned around.
When you grab the doorknob and open it, the heavy air in this office is over.
After the war ended, he was able to turn away from Vera, who was deteriorating day by day.
However, it was also not easy for Norn.
“… His Holiness.”
“Yes.”
Norn turned his head.
What is reflected in his vision is a shabby young man standing in the middle of a dark office and looking at him.
The eyes, which had always been sharpened, were losing their shine.
The shoulders, which were proudly stretched out, were drooping.
His hair, with no one to scold him any longer, was long enough to reach his shoulders.
Norn thought.
That’s like being alive but dead.
Norn’s teeth were bitten.
Then he slowly opened up and let out a breath.
“… Sorry for not being of any help.”
Norn knew the subject.
A year ago, on the day of the decisive battle, there was nothing he could do.
Vera was not responsible for his downfall.
However, the first thing that comes to mind when seeing how the truth is so terrifying, and the appearance of the person who has been serving it since childhood, was also a feeling of guilt.
“… Have a look.”
There was nothing to say, and a hoarse voice rang out.
Norn bowed his head again and left the room.
Kick-.
The door is closed.
The office was engulfed in darkness again.
Vera leaned back in his chair, staring blankly at the closed door.
Woo woo-.
The holy sword cried.
“noisy.”
Vera said, closing his eyes.
“Aren’t you alive? I want it, don’t you live here? So, don’t do it if you think you’re going to get hurt.”
Woo woo-.
“I told you to be quiet. If you say more, I will throw you in the furnace.”
The cry of the holy sword stopped.
Vera struggled to fall asleep in a world that had now become silent.
‘The urgent task was taken care of.’
It will be relaxing for a while.
It will soon be evening, and all the noisy things will fall asleep, and then you will be able to dream again.
“I swear.”
Vera murmured, placing his hand on his chest.
“I will live tomorrow. I will do my duty to protect this land, and I will not skip meals. If you don’t follow this, you’ll lose your eyes and how to use your hands… .”
A golden divinity wrapped around Vera’s body.
Then it faded away
“… In return, I will have a sweet dream today.”
Power resided in the heart.
Vera then relaxed his body and caught his breath.
This year, Vera had not missed a single day.
There is a face I miss so much, and it was a routine that I continued because I felt that I had to see that face even for a day.
‘It’s a curse.’
This was a curse.
A terrible curse that forces you to continue your life even when you have no means to live any longer.
The smile that Ren had seen at that last moment became a wolf and held his life.
[I will live for me.]
Vera, who wanted to be a faithful knight, was still alive to keep the last order she had engraved.
Woo woo-.
The holy sword wept low.
*
The Empire had a festive atmosphere reminiscent of the founding country.
It was none other than the wedding ceremony of the prince.
That’s what created this atmosphere.
“Sir Vera!”
somewhere in the royal family.
Albrecht saw him getting off the white carriage and cried out.
As he approached, he stopped walking.
Vera spoke.
“… Long time no see.”
Vera, different from what he knew, was before his eyes.
If it wasn’t for the white robes he was wearing, he would have been a credible vagrant from the gutter that had now disappeared.
Albrecht felt his eyes dizzy.
He didn’t know what to say, so he harbored an undesirable hesitation.
The two eyes met.
Seeing Albrecht’s lips twitching hesitantly, Vera walked past him without a word.
All he had in Vera’s mind was that this day would soon be over, so he could go to sleep.
*
The wedding ceremony of Imperial Prince Maximilian.
After the salutation, Vera walked through the streets of the Empire wearing a shabby robe.
It was because the sun was still stuck in the middle of his head, so he needed something to pass the time.
It was not a step towards nowhere.
It’s just a step that takes you wherever you go.
That meant that what Vera was at the end of was a memory place with someone.
Woo woo-.
The holy sword cried.
Vera’s eyes widened as he looked up at it.
In front of him is a huge building that breaks and pours sunlight.
It was the Imperial Library of the Empire.
– Then shall we read outside too?
Vera’s body trembled at the sudden sound of a voice passing through his head.
My eyes stretched out without me knowing, and I turned to the bench at the end of the library garden, far away from me.
Awkward-.
Vera’s fists clenched.
“… You’ve come to someplace.”
He did so and left the library.
*
Ironically, all the places Vera later stopped by were the same places he had come with Renee.
The restaurant where we ate together, the square where we listened to music, the night market where we shared street food, or the hall where we held an auction.
Vera’s expression faded more and more.
I don’t even know why I’m heading to those places, I don’t know why these footsteps keep chasing their tracks.
Not knowing why he didn’t stop even though his heart was pounding right now, Vera made a face that looked like he was about to cry.
Woo-.
The holy sword wept briefly.
“Shut up.”
Vera replied nervously.
In the meantime, the steps were quickly heading towards a certain place.
“I resent that woman so much. The things that left me here so that I couldn’t die, the things that I can’t forget on such a topic, the things that appear in my head every moment and ramble on me. All of that is disappointing.”
Eyes are directed to the front.
His thumping steps were so harsh that those who passed by Vera considered him to be the remnant of the gutter cartel.
“I am so resentful of that woman who torments me so much.”
The heat contained in the words uttered in a chewing tone was so hot and thrilling.
Vera continued his self-defeating behavior of deceiving me with my words.
“You have seen it all the time, so you know. This moment of my life is so painful. My light no longer illuminates anything. My heart is no longer burning with anything.”
The footsteps led to the end of the empire.
Emotions in the guise of anger led Vera to such an extent that he encouraged his words.
“I… .”
The place we finally arrived at is a private district with a small light.
The 13th District Gutter of the Empire.
Vera sat down in the place that had been called by that name, in the midst of an unforgettable swamp.
“… I want to ask.”
I swept the floor with my hands.
In the place where the pitch-black swamp had disappeared, what was left was the dirt floor, and boiling tears were wet on it.
“I want to ask why it had to be like this and why you made such a choice.”
called resentment.
In so much pain that there was nowhere to vomit it, Vera gave the name to her feelings for her.
“If it had to disappear, it would have been me right, but I want to ask why you disappeared.”
Even then, his anger did not go away, so he named it hate.
However, even that was not enough.
“I am in so much pain. Nile, who was so greedy, no longer wanted anything more. No, I couldn’t hope for it.”
I realized that I couldn’t get what I really wanted until I looked and hoped so much, and I became afraid of what I wanted.
“I didn’t want it, so I went away.”
The body was getting stronger day by day, but the mind was drying up.
Awkward-.
Vera’s hand gripped the pile of dirt.
Due to the upper body leaning forward, the forehead touched the floor.
“I… .”
Woo-.
The holy sword cried.
The sword, who had always been by his side, gave an answer to my master who had fallen down.
Good bye-.
The upper body was tilted and something fell down.
The cross that Vera always wore around his neck.
And it was the ring hanging with it.
Vera’s eyes widened.
Woo woo-.
The Holy Sword cried again.
“I… .”
Strength entered the hand holding the pile of dirt.
What became muddy with tears crumbled and turned into lumps.
His stomach was wet with tears again.
tock.
tock.
The soil held back the tears that had fallen.
I held it and held it again and pressed it heavily.
Even then, it did not stop, and he began to vomit out the moisture he could not hold any longer.
“… I don’t think I can survive without asking.”
Vera’s teeth sharpened.
“I don’t think I can live any longer without asking me why.”
His expression turned ugly.
My body trembled with the power added to my body.
Whoops-.
The promise engraved in his soul burned.
“For me, for the life I will live, I need to know that.”
At that moment, Vera let out a hot breath.
The last tears that were barely hanging on fell down.
The corners of his lips were pushed up.
“So, I have to go.”
It was a smile that could be said to be that of a madman, staring straight at the ground and smiling.
However, it was the smile of the person who found the way to go.
The gray eyes, which had lost their heat due to burning, once again embraced the light.
“Is that what you wanted?”
Woo woo-.
The holy sword cried.
Vera grabbed his trembling hand and began to stand up.
“… Then help me.”
Woo woo-.
The Holy Sword cried again.
Vera finally raised his head.
I looked at the sky I had never looked at in all these years.
“for me.”
burned up the promise.
“For my life, to hope once again.”
The one thing I still wish for, I want to hold onto it.
“… Let’s go pick it up.”
Vera looked up at the sky.
*
From https://noblemtl.com
Orgus stopped walking.
Deaf-!
space is warped.
All the roads began to diverge.
From the moment of creation until now, Orgus began to assume a form he had never seen before.
[…] You came.]
From https://noblemtl.com
Orgus felt it.
The time has come for this long, long twist to end.