MTM 30

As night fell, Harto finished the dinner Zed had brought and went out to the terrace. The streets of Belnok, which had been crowded with people during the day, were now quiet. Only a lamplighter carrying a ladder went around lighting the street lamps, and pairs of holy knights who guarded the city walked along the road.

The city at night was peaceful. It wasn’t bustling like Norbel Market, but Harto realized again that people lived here too, since candles glowed in windows scattered across distant buildings.

“I think it’s been a long time since I felt like this…”

As the cold wind blew, a trace of loneliness appeared on Harto’s face. It was because memories of his past life came to mind.

Even though he decided to change his name and adapt to this place, that didn’t mean he no longer missed his old world. When he lived alone in the cabin, all he ever did was recall the past or sleep. Even while moving tirelessly to find food for survival, the memories of his former life always followed him.

Sad memories, happy memories, and those filled with regret… they didn’t come in order. They just appeared and vanished like passing wind.

But after meeting Zed, he had stopped recalling them. Just being with Zed brought enough new things to fill his days.

Harto smiled as he remembered what had happened on their way to Belnok.

“Hmm, when will Zed come back…?”

He missed him. A little earlier, after they ate together, Zed had said he would go get the continental bulletin, and Harto decided to wait. If he had known it would take this long, he would have gone with him. His injured foot had healed completely, and his stomach was full.

While wiggling his toes, Harto raised his gaze to the Bellancia Cathedral, which rose high toward the moon in the night sky. It was where the remains of countless priests rested, and where the protagonist offered his holy power.

The scene of Ares Carseon revealing his holy power before the priests and the high priest was vividly written in the novel.

[Dozens of priests and even the high priest in the center of the sanctuary watched Ares in silence. He raised his joined hands and closed his eyes. Then, pure white light began to rise from his fingertips. Soon, rays of light spread out like the wings of an angel.

“Oh, my god…!”

The high priest, who was starting in awe, knelt before Ares. Ares placed his hand on the high priest’s head and gave him a sacred blessing.]

‘Huh? He placed his hand on his head…?’

Harto recalled the scene and suddenly froze. It reminded him of Zed. Zed had also said that to see someone’s memory, he needed to place his hand on their head.

“Eh, no way… I must be imagining things…”

He probably just mixed up the story in his mind.

But when he thought about it again, the protagonist had often shared his holy power with his companions because he couldn’t bear it alone.

How did he share it exactly…?

Knock. Knock.

While he was trying to recall that part, someone knocked on the door.

“Zed?”

Thinking it was Zed, Harto ran to the door happily, but then stopped. If it were Zed, he would have called his name before knocking.

“Who… is it?”

Harto asked cautiously.

“Oh! You’re still awake! Good, I came to fix the door!”

The cheerful voice belonged to the innkeeper. It seemed the repairman Zed had asked for had arrived. Harto unlocked the door and opened it.

Clack.

“Fairy boy!”

Apparently, the innkeeper really meant to keep calling him that. As soon as he saw Harto, he greeted him loudly and opened the door wide. The repairman was yawning behind him.

“Uh… please come in.”

Harto suggested it since it was chilly outside, but the innkeeper declined.

“It’s not right for me to walk into a guest’s room. We’ll fix the door and leave quickly, so don’t mind us.”

“Alright…”

Harto nodded, grateful for his consideration, and stepped back a few paces. The innkeeper watched him with a pleased smile, but then his eyes suddenly widened as they fell on Harto’s feet.

“No! How’s your injured foot?”

“Uh… it’s… it’s fine now.”

“You’re saying it’s fine already? You couldn’t even walk properly earlier.”

“It wasn’t a sprain or anything… hahaha…”

Harto decided to brush it off vaguely, knowing that the medicine Zed used had an effect no different from magic in this world.

“Hmm. I guess it wasn’t as bad as I thought. I was actually planning to find some herbs that are good for wounds. It would be terrible if a scar stayed on our fairy’s pretty foot.”

Embarrassed by the word ‘fairy,’ Harto only awkwardly laughed. Meanwhile, the repairman replaced the keyhole with a dull clanking sound.

“Um…”

Harto felt awkward just standing there, and he also had something he was curious about, so he spoke to the innkeeper.

“Ah, just call me Jackson. Some people call me Captain Jackson too, but that’s because I was a ship captain when I was young… ha… if I start that story now, we’ll be talking all night, so I’ll save it for next time. So, what’s your name, fairy boy?”

“Ah. I’m Harto.”

He watched nervously, afraid Jackson might recognize the name and bring up Hartiros, but instead, Jackson said it was a nice name that suited him.

“Ah, and my companion’s name is Zed.”

“Zed? He actually told me earlier, when he was leaving. He said that if the repairman came while his companion was asleep, not to start the work.”

It seemed Zed had asked Jackson to take care of it. Harto felt his heart tremble at the thoughtfulness.

“Anyway, what were you curious about, fairy boy? You looked like you wanted to ask me something.”

“Ah, that’s…”

Harto recalled when Jackson had asked where they came from, then asked,

“I wanted to know if you’ve heard anything about Ares Carseon.”

He thought no one in Belnok could be unaware of Ares Carseon, so Jackson would probably know about his situation too. Their meeting might still be far off, but Harto wanted to know how he was doing.

“Oh… so you know the name of the seventh prince of the Regnovar Empire? Well, of course, he was famous. Every time he came to Belnok to offer his holy power, the whole city would get excited. But that’s all in the past now…”

“The past?”

Harto’s eyes widened. Why was that in the past? As far as he knew, Ares Carseon had visited Belnok often to offer his overflowing holy power.

“Hmm? Don’t tell me… you’ve been living outside the capital all this time? I guess you really are a fairy, no interest in what’s happening in the world. Ares Carseon’s been missing for three years now.”

“M-missing…?”

The shocking words hit Harto like lightning. He was speechless.

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

“Wherever I go, they’re all watchers…”

Zed muttered as he hid in a dark alley. The moment he left the inn, he saw holy knights patrolling the streets. Occasionally, priests also walked through their assigned sectors to keep watch. It was called patrol, but in truth, it was surveillance. To him, there was no difference between them and watchers.

‘It wasn’t this bad 3 years ago…’

Maybe that was because, three years ago, he was Ares Carseon. When he visited the Bellancia Cathedral to offer his holy power, the only thing he saw was cheering crowds. Of course, back then he had been so ignorant that he might not have understood it at all.

He had been that foolish, that blind. A coward who ran away before the people who praised him as great for a divine power he couldn’t even control.

“…I’m Zed Shaden now.”

Ares Carseon no longer existed. Zed muttered the words bitterly.

“Who’s there?!”

Then something happened. A holy knight who had stepped out of his patrol area sensed movement and shouted.

Tap, tap. Footsteps came closer. Zed hid deeper in the darkness and clenched his fist.