“Hehe, thanks, Meryll! You’re a lifesaver. Friends really are the best.”
The person smiling warmly in gratitude was a young woman with beautiful blonde hair.
Dressed in a nun’s clothes, likely due to the church courtyard setting, her smile when paired with her extraordinary beauty was just like that of a painting.
Or at least it would be, if she weren’t nuzzling her cheek against a pouch full of coins.
Meryl, the large woman seated across the table, sighed.
She had beautiful long orange hair that flowed behind her, but her large frame and rugged features made it easy to mistake her for a man.
Meryl was the same age as her and has been friends with her for a long time already. About 10 years by now, but when she saw her like that, she couldn’t help but make an exasperated look and shake her head, saying, “This hopeless beauty.”
All the while glancing sideways at the big but unremarkable courtyard, worried that someone might see her rubbing her cheeks against the coin pouch.
Outside could be seen children engaged in a game that was something like sparring and tag. Were they playing or were they training, she couldn’t tell.
They seemed to know what was happening here, but they didn’t appear concerned.
Did that mean that they supported such behavior? Or were they simply so used to it they didn’t care anymore?
Meryl wondered about it for a while, but eventually she decided that this wasn’t her responsibility.
Be that as it may, she still found herself leaning forward, resting her chin on one hand, and sighing.
This darned friend of hers probably won’t care, but she still wanted to vent. After all–
“You do realize you sent me a message that read: ’emergency,’ only for me to rush over and find that you just ran out of money for traveling, right?”
Though she had suspected as much, Meryl still couldn’t help but feel that such an attitude was unacceptable.
“When you’re traveling with a bunch of kids that eat like horses! Running out of travel funds is a serious problem!
I could’ve sworn I budgeted properly, though. I wonder where it all disappeared to?”
The friend snapped her fingers then touched at her lips as though she truly had no idea.
She looked cute on the surface, but Meryl knew that she was just playing dumb. As her friend of over 10 years, she couldn’t be bothered to react.
“Where it went? Obviously, there. Right there.”
The sister feigned ignorance, but all she got was a dubious stare from Meryl as she pointed at the cluster of cheap silver trinkets fastened around the friend’s waist.
The slightest movements on the part of the friend would cause those trinkets to clink. That was how many she had on her.
“Blowing that much on junk, no wonder you’re short on funds, you moron.”
“They were dirt-cheap!”
“You trying to make a mountain with dust?”
“Ah, that’s the saying supposedly left by an other worlder, right? But if you ask me, the expensive and gaudy goods are piles of junk themselves.”
“…”
Something so obvious didn’t need to be a saying, but it still stung when she said it with such a big smile.
This friend of hers probably got saddled with some annoying but low-priority task from her superiors, one of those jobs you couldn’t easily turn down, but given the circumstance, she let it slide.
“Speaking of otherworlders, are you still dragging that boy around?”
She’d asked that partly to change the topic, but honestly, the fact that she was still lugging him around was a bigger surprise than the money.
“Boy?” Her friend asked, and the both of them turned in a particular direction.
At the end of their gaze was a black-haired boy that looked about to be ten, though he claimed to be thirteen already.
There was nothing in front of him, but he tripped anyway and fell face flat.
He quickly lifted his head to reveal a face smudged with dirt and an embarrassed grin.
The children around looked exasperated, but none of them were surprised. They just helped him up like it was nothing.
“Who else do you think I’m talking about? He’s the only otherworlder nearby, no? How long are you planning on keeping him with you?
It’s been almost a month already. You should just leave him somewhere safe before it becomes too hard to say goodbye.”
“Yeah, but communication is still pretty rough.
We can talk slowly for now, but that’s about it.”
“I see. Since he doesn’t have the magic or the talent to use translation magic, you’re teaching him Falandian from scratch, huh?”
“Yeah. You know I’ve always wondered why translation magic only works one way. Wouldn’t it be great if it could turn the Falandian language into other languages too?”
“Well, there’s no way to understand all the languages across all the worlds, and otherworlders are a rare case to begin with.
It’s more practical to just detect their intent and convert that into our language rather than the other way around.”
Also, the same spell structure could be reused to interpret the speech of people with strong dialects or young kids still learning to talk, or so she explained, but the sister wasn’t satisfied.
“How textbook–Boring!”
“I didn’t say it to entertain you. Also, don’t dodge the topic.”
Meryl has always been told she had an intense stare. That intense stare was now pointed at the sister as though she fully intended to interrogate her.
“The others are one thing. You picked them out, and you trained them too. They’re talented. They’re capable. So, they’re fine. But that boy? He’s got nothing.”
No magic.
No strength.
No agility.
No aptitude.
No talent.
No experience.
“What were you thinking bringing a child like that into your group when you’re already being closely watched as is? I get that you don’t trust this place–the church–but surely you have one or two people you can entrust him to.”
Given the circumstances of the boy’s discovery, Meryl actually thought he was lucky. But she wasn’t fool enough to believe that such luck would last. If the boy’s safety was priority, then this wasn’t the way to go about it.
“………”
How this friend of her, this nun, took those words was unclear.
She just lowered her eyes, looked once at the boy and the other children around him, then she turned back to Meryl.
But instead of responding directly, she just started talking about something unrelated.
“We visited a town. It was so-so, somewhat large.”
“Huh?”
“I asked him and a few of the other kids to run some errands.”
“Don’t change the topic.”
“They did their shopping, but it was their first time there, so they got lost in a side alley some ways away from the town center.”
“…”
Meryl frowned. No one liked to be ignored. But she knew that there was no stopping this woman once she’s started, so she just let her be. Besides, it didn’t seem to be unrelated.
“While they were wandering around, the sun began to set, and that’s when they came across it–A group of men beating up a lone man. The kids tried to help, but that boy–He stopped them.”
“What’s wrong with that? They’re still kids.”
Meryl wasn’t being sarcastic. She actually thought better of the boy after hearing that.
The way she saw it, only those confident in their skills should cry justice in a moment like that. Taking on several grown met wasn’t an easy feat.
But what her friend said next made her pause.
“Then he started shouting them. Yelling. From the top of his lungs. It was horribly pronounced. He just kept yelling over and over again, “There’s fire! There’s fire!”
“Hah?”
“The funny thing is that it just so happened that that town had recently been hit by a string of arson cases. So, when the townspeople heard that, they rushed out of their homes right away. ‘Where’s the fire?’ ‘Is our house okay?’
The attackers, suddenly surrounded by a crowd and with their faces seen, panicked.
Whether it was pure chance or retaliatory frustration, they pushed the kids aside and ran.”
“Huh. That’s… clever.”
He didn’t fight or run. Instead, he created a scene and rallied the public to save the victim and drive off the thugs.
Meryl didn’t think the boy could be sharp enough to come up with a plan like that.
She found herself glancing in his direction, and there he was–completely lost while studying magic with the others.
He was bad at learning in general, not just language, a clueless little boy.
“Hehe, thanks to that, some of the items I asked them to buy was ruined in the commotion, including a zog fruit.
Anyway, with so many people present, there was no shortage of testimonies, and the thugs were arrested.”
“Zog fruit? That’s for seasoning soups right?” Meryl asked.
The sister grinned smugly.
“When cooking with it, sure. But when crushed, it gives off this horrible stench.
Once it sticks to you, it won’t wash out for half a month no matter how hard you try.
It just happened to be in the bag they were carrying.”
“Ah, I see.
So the witnesses and that stench did the trick.
Those thugs have horrible luck.”
“Yeah. The kid that got shoved down ended up reeking too, but thanks to that, everyone could testify to the guards, ‘the perpetrators stinks just like that!’”
“Ugh…”
“In the end, the culprits turned out to be the spoiled son of a wealthy local and his buddies.
Zog fruit was something only the poor and the travelers used. Everyone else avoided it because it stank.
So trying to claim the smell came from somewhere else wouldn’t work.
Turns out they really were the arsonists too, and they were beating up on that poor guy because he saw them starting the fire.”
The nun chuckled. “It’s quite the achievement, isn’t it?”
But Meryl’s face just hardened. Sure, the boy might’ve shown some quick thinking, but most of it was luck. Or at least, that should be the case, yet her guts told her otherwise.
“There was another incident.
We haggled with a traveling merchant and had to escort his covered wagon to the next town. But our luck was bad, and we found ourselves surrounded by a group of bandits.
Having to fight off so many enemies while protecting everyone plus the wagon was a bit much even for me.
The bandits didn’t want to fight either, though. They probably didn’t want to mess with people from the church, so they offered to let us go as long as we gave up the cargo and the money.”
It was a common scenario.
Larger bandit groups often found it safer and more efficient to just threaten their targets rather than risk a fight.
Even if they could win, the defenders would resist with everything they had, so it would cost them more than they’d like.
No one wanted to be the one to die first, though groups with a strong leader could make them willing to put down their life, but bandit leaders couldn’t actually afford to be reckless with their subordinates’ lives.
So this kind of threat wasn’t unusual, and what usually followed was also predictable.
“Let me guess, the merchant objected?”
“Yep.”
For small-time merchants, their wagon and cargo were their livelihood.
Even if they lived, they would be dead without their goods.
The guards, on the other hand, would just move on to the next job.
So, the bandits’ goal was to drive a wedge between the merchant and his guards. This one fell right into the trap.
“The merchant was shouting for us to do something, but when I said it was impossible, he turned around and tried to sell us out to the bandits.
We’d been chatting earlier, and he already knew we weren’t on any official mission or job, so he must’ve thought if he handled it right, the Church wouldn’t find out.
That scumbag even had the nerve to flirt with me earlier, making creepy faces at me–and I let that slide!”
“…”
Meryl felt bad–For the merchant.j
As a merchant, a man, and a human being, his judgment had failed on every possible level.
“So, I figured I’d start by turning that guy into meat paste, but then, the covered wagon caught in flames.”
“What? That doesn’t make any sense. How did that happen!?”
Any sympathy Meryl had instantly vanished with that nonsensical twist.
She looked genuinely confused, but the nun didn’t tease her, she just nodded but didn’t explain right away.
“It was chaos. Flames everywhere. Horses scared.
Thanks to that we were able to turn the tables on both the bandits and the merchant.
But what really gave me a fright was after the chaos calmed down.
That boy had been sleeping inside the covered wagon during the attack.
But by the time we realized it, the whole thing had already burned down.
I thought for sure he’d died, but then out of nowhere, he just casually strolls from behind some debris. I was speechless.”
“Why was he even there in the first place?”
“He said, ‘When the fire started, I panicked and ran out.
Everyone was so busy they didn’t notice me.’
But yeah, he’s full of shit.”
“You got anything to back up that confidence of yours?”
“I was suspicious, so I checked the wreckage.
One of the cargo items was an oil jar. It had burned up already, but inside it was a fire stone.”
Firestones were considered essential tools for any traveler.
As the name suggested, they would ignite when gripped, drawing a small amount of magic power from the user to remain lit for a short period of time.
They were much less taxing to use than fire magic and were usable even by people with no fire affinity, so they were commonly used for starting fires while traveling.
But it was precisely because of that that no merchant would be so clumsy as to leave a fire stone near oil, let alone inside an oil jar.
The fire wasn’t an accident.
“Also, it might’ve been a cheap canopy with a wooden wagon, but the fire still spread way too quickly.
Some of the burnt wooden fragments smelled faintly of oil.
The layout of what little remained also didn’t match my memory of the original cargo.”
“I get it, so he looks harmless, but he’s actually rather extreme.”
“Exactly.
He ‘fessed up when I pushed him later.
He said, ‘Things were looking bad, so I all the flammable stuff I could get my hands on then tossed the fire stone into the oil jar.
I figured the sudden fire would confuse the bandits and give us the upper hand.’”
“Wait, then how did he get out of there?”
“Apparently, the wagon had a floor hatch used for relieving oneself during travel.
After tossing in the firestone, he squeezed through and hid underneath.
Then, once everyone else was distracted, he slipped away and stayed hidden until the fight was over.
He got some slight burns but nothing serious.”
“You did scold him, right?
I mean, sure, it worked out in the end, but if anything went wrong, he could’ve been seriously injured.
Or killed. That was way too reckless.”
If he’d taken too long getting under the wagon.
If the chaos didn’t unfold as expected.
If the fire spread faster than he thought.
If he’d run into one of the bandits during his escape.
Any one of these if could’ve ended with more than just some minor burns.
“Of course I did.
But he just looked at me curiously and said, ‘Healing a sword wound is trivial for you guys, right? Since you’re always helping me, I figured I should at least try to do something in return.’”
“That boy has a screw loose.”
The boy treated even serious injury – or death – as a foreseeable outcome and only saw it as fair trade in the worst case.
The nun laughed exaggeratedly, but there was a rare tinge of a grimace in her smile that suggests that the boy’s attitude had gotten under her skin more than she let on.
“There’s another one.”
“There’s more?”
“This is the last obvious one.
We came across a caravan under attack by a pack of starving beasts.
Naturally, we left him somewhere hidden and jumped in to help.
But there was a little child in the caravan who got spooked and ran off.
None of us – not even the caravan guards – could be help.
All we could do was stop the parent from chasing after the child.
But wouldn’t you know it, the kid ran straight into another beast that had been circling us from afar.
The child tripped, and I thought, ‘Welp, he’s a goner.’”
“The boy did something again, didn’t he?”
“He must’ve been watching from his hiding spot.
Coincidentally or fortunately, the child had run in his direction.
So, he was able to notice the kid quicker than anyone and was able to run out to help. He didn’t hesitate at all.”
“…”
Normally, Meryl would’ve condemned it as sheer recklessness.
But given everything so far, and the fact that the boy was still alive, she became genuinely curious instead what he would do next.
Maybe that showed on her face because the sister shook her head.
“Hehe, this time, there was nothing out of the ordinary.
He just threw some pebbles at the beasts that approached.
About half of them hit. Didn’t hurt them at all. But they got mad anyway. It was mealtime for them after all, and they turned their attention to him instead.”
“So, he ran away from them?”
“Nope. He just stood there.”
“…Huh?”
“He didn’t run, didn’t panic, didn’t move even a single muscle.
I’m pretty sure I made the same face you’re making now.
Later, I asked him why, and he said:
‘If I moved, I wouldn’t make it in time, and I’d just put everyone else in danger.’”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
Meryl scowled in confusion, but the nun simply smiled.
To anyone else, it might seem warm, but to Meryl, who knew her well, it was a predatory smile, like that of a cat eyeing its prey.
“Jake made it just in time.
He was already cutting down a few beasts when the boy threw those rocks and just happened to open a path to that area.
Based on their positions at the time, if the boy had tried to run away from the caravan, no one could’ve helped him.
But if he ran toward it, he’d only have drawn more beasts to the caravan.”
“So instead, he just stood there and did nothing, completely betting everything on Jake being in the perfect spot? Are you seriously telling me this?”
Meryl’s tone and expression screamed disbelief, but the sister only smiled and nodded.
And yet it was such an absurd plan that worked.
The beasts that charged at the boy were taken down in a flash by Jake, who came from the side.
The child was rescued and brought back, and the remaining beasts, now outnumbered, were quickly wiped out.
Jake yelled at the boy for being reckless, but the boy only smiled and said, “You’re amazing! and “I knew you’d come!”
“…”
Meryl stared off into the distance for a moment, took a deep breath and swallowed the words she was about to say. But, in the end, she still said her piece.
“I was wrong. That kid doesn’t have any screws left.”
“Ahaaha! Meryl-chan, what a mean thing to say!”
The nun just laughed but didn’t deny her thoughts, so she probably thought the same.
“Quick-witted, gutsy… This isn’t something merely on that level.
That kid acts like his own life doesn’t matter at all!
Alright, fine. Hand him over to me!
I’ll whip that mindset out of him with hellish training!”
“Aha! You’re so sweet, Meryl. Even though your brain is all muscle.
But, nah. With him, it’s even worse.”
“Huh?”
“He actually does think his life is somewhat important.”
The nun said that with such a dazzling smile that Meryl found herself looking at the sky.
The nun often smiled, but the meaning always varied.
Meryl recognized this one. She was pissed.
The fact that the boy had gotten this woman to show that face, Meryl had to admit it, she was actually impressed.
“That bad, huh.”
But even more than surprise, what she felt was unease.
“Yeah.”
In the end, which was worse?
A person who didn’t understand the value of their own life and treated it carelessly, or someone who did understand its value but still used it like a disposable tool?
“I heard there was nothing unusual about his birth or upbringing?”
“That’s right. That’s why it’s so shocking.
For a kid like that to just naturally grow up like this. The mystery of life, huh?”
“To me, that sounds more like a design flaw in humanity.”
“Want me to refer you to a good ear doctor?”
“I’ll go if you agree to see a head doctor first.”
Their eyes clashed with sparks flying.
Meryl’s sharp piercing glare versus the sister’s deceptively sweet weaponized smile.
To any observer, the air between them would feel frosty.
But to the two of them, it was just banter.
“Hmph.”
“Meryl?”
Then Meryl looked away and spoke without looking back.
“I get what you’re trying to say.
So you want to keep protecting him yourself because of what kind of kid he is.”
“Y-Yeah, that’s right.
If no one who understands him is nearby, he could get himself into real trouble–”
“—Or rather, you don’t want to miss it if he does. Because it’d be too entertaining, huh?”
“…”
Meryl cut her off and immediately threw that accusation at her face.
The nun finally let her expression falter, and her eyes darted away.
She whistled silently, as though to say, ‘I wonder who you’re talking about. Surely, it can’t be me.’
“You know, you really should do something about that habit of yours even when you know it’s not fooling anyone. It’s annoying.”
Meryl shot her down, and the nun instantly dropped the act.
“Ugh! Come on, we’ve known each other since birth, just play along a little!”
“That’s an exaggeration! We may have been stuck together since our trainee days, but—”
“Haha, those were the days, weren’t they? It’s been eighteen years already. Come to think of it, I bumped into one of our old instructors recently, and they said something along the lines of, ‘Of all the people, who would’ve thought it would be the two of you to be chosen as Divine Armament bearers.’ Hah! Serve’s them right.”
The nun laughed with derision, while Meryl stared off into the distance with a sigh.
Back in those days, this woman was still pretending to be normal.
“…Yeah, we were top of the class in grades, but also the top of the problem list.
The shameless beauty who did whatever you pleased, and the big rebellious brute who never followed orders.
From the instructors’ point of view, it must be hell to watch their biggest headaches go on to become major figures. More ulcer-inducing than joyful, I’d bet.”
Maybe that’s why Meryl couldn’t help but feel a little sympathy for all those who had once directed their negativity at them.
“Haha, poor souls. Some people just have no eye for talent.
Still, it is kind of hilarious how we ended up with the Spear and the Shield. It’s so fitting it’s cliché.”
“So that’s why you were giggling at the ceremony.”
Meryl nodded with exasperation now that the years-old mystery was solved.
The sister, for some reason, puffed her chest up proudly as if that were an achievement.
Meryl gave her a look of disbelief only to suddenly look solemn.
“Alright. I played along with your chatter like you wanted. Now spill the real reason.”
“Wha—?! Meryl-chan pulling off a psychological feint? That’s some high-level stuff!”
“Cut the act. I’ve just been forced to memorize your dumb personality and your tactics!
Don’t think I haven’t noticed how you always try to drown the topic in unrelated stories!”
Meryl said as she roared out her frustrations.
The nun responded with a dramatically shocked face – “You knew!?” – But it was such a poor performance that Meryl didn’t even dare humor it.
For all her goofiness, this nun had a strange sense of integrity and was oddly soft when it came to her friends.
She was the type to go along even with a half-joking demand just because it came from someone close.
“In the end, you’re just fascinated by someone who’s a copy of yourself.”
Meryl knew.
Though those boy’s actions weren’t exactly what the nun would’ve done, but the flavor, the recklessness, the bizarre logic, all of it bore an eerie resemblance to the past deeds of this woman seated in front of her.
“Oh dear, so you figured it out after all?”
“Don’t play coy. You wanted me to figure it out, that’s why you told me all that.
The only difference is that when push comes to shove, you can brute force your way through.
That kid knows he’s powerless, but he still does the same thing. He’s crazy.”
“Yeah, it surprised me too. In a sense, he might actually be worse than me.”
The nun smiled softly despite her words.
Only Meryl, who knew her deeply, could see the slight tinge of confusion and envy buried beneath that warm expression.
“You know, that’s why I started wondering.
That maybe that boy is how I would’ve been if I were just a normal human.”
The cryptic, enigmatic statement prompted Meryl to glance around, but no one was close enough to overhear.
Even if someone had, how many in this world would understand what she meant?
But Meryl was precisely one of those few, and she understood what she was trying to say.
“So you want to see that potential realized?
Even if it means putting him and the other kids in danger?”
“Haha, well…
If push comes to shove. I mean danger is everywhere anyway, right?”
“That’s a cop-out.”
“I also thought, it’d be good for the other kids.
To see that there are those who don’t have power but can still bare their fangs.
To understand that there are fools out there who, despite being weak and dumb, still strive for the best possible outcome.”
Please know such a being exists.
Please remember that that kind of possibility exists.
Her eyes seemed to say that as she looked fondly at the children.
Was it melancholy? Was it reflection? Meryl couldn’t tell.
But then–
“But of course, the biggest reason is that it’s interesting!”
With that one line and a blinding smile, all the tension that had built up inside Meryl evaporated in a blast of exasperation.
She clenched her jaw, holding back her irritation, and she declared with absolute certainty:
“You. Are definitely, absolutely, not going to die a normal death!”
But the sister only smiled brighter, raised both fists, and she declared with gleeful enthusiasm:
“Hah! That’s fine by me!
When I die, it’ll be in the arms of a man, crying out, ‘Don’t die!’ It’ll be a beautiful, romantic end. That’s how a beauty should die!”
What kind of logic is that?
Meryl has long been accustomed to her friend’s ridiculousness, but she still couldn’t stop the sharp pain weighing on her head, and she found herself touching a finger on her temple.
“Hah… Says the maiden without a single man to name in her life.”
“Ghk?!”
Meryl’s counter fatal.
The nun practically coughed out blood from the damage.
No matter, she bounced back immediately, glaring with fire in her eyes.
“Those are fighting words, Meryl!
Word has it that you raised your own student into a ‘Bow’ then locked him down!
In the other world, apparently, they refer to that as the Hikaru Genji strategy!”
“I have no idea what that means, but I can tell you it’s pissing me off.
If you’re itching for a fight, I’m more than happy to play along.”
Even without understanding the term, Meryl felt the jab and narrowed her already sharp eyes without an ounce of restraint.
The sister gave a smug snort, and the gong sounded.
“Heh. You really think you can beat me, the strongest Spear-wielder?”
“Oh, I’m looking forward to seeing how far you can go against my invincible Shield.”
“Big words. Let’s see if I can punch a hole in that oversized body of yours.
Don’t worry, I’ll take care of your Bow-boy when you’re gone.”
“Like hell you will! I’ll launch you into orbit before you can flap those lips any more.
I’ll raise those kids right without your nonsense dragging them down.”
Their sharp-edged words cracked the air between them like a whip.
If anyone had been watching, they’d have seen the veins bulging on their forehead.
Then it began.
“Hmph!”
Their punches flew at exactly the same moment, each a ruthless right straight aimed for the face.
Despite the impact, neither stopped. They broke into a full-on brawl, fists flying.
Meryl’s massive frame moved with surprising speed, landing blow after blow.
The sister, petite in comparison, delivered fists that packed incredible weight.
The table between them was instantly reduced to splinters.
Even the kids finally noticed and began to panic, but the flurry of fists and kicks was so intense that they could do nothing but run in circles, shouting in confusion.
“Looks fun,” someone muttered in a language no one else could understand.
In the end, their “usual scuffle” continued until someone hit them with a splash of water magic.
Moments later, Meryl received an emergency summons and had to leave abruptly, barely able to say goodbye.
She wouldn’t realize until over a month later that this was their “last memory.”
Ordinary flowers bloomed across the earth.
There was white, yellow, even pink, but they were all flowers you could find anywhere.
They were so commonplace that most people didn’t even know their names unless they were scholars.
But gathered in a field, blossoming en masse, they formed a sight powerful enough to stir the heart.
At the center of the field stood a single striking anomaly – a long, flat memorial stone.
“…You idiot. Why do you have to be such a pain all the time?”
Towering over the marker, Meryl muttered a curse.
She wanted to smash the bottle of alcohol she’d brought—but instead, she offered it quietly.
Not for that idiot’s sake.
She told herself it was for the children who died without ever tasting good liquor.
That woman must have sensed, in some vague way, that she would die soon.
The more Meryl learned about her final days over the last two years, the more convinced she became.
Her journey to this place had been filled with strange encounters and reunions–old friends, acquaintances, people from her past.
It was as if she had been saying goodbye. Introducing people the children could rely on after she was gone.
The money Meryl had given her?
It was later found to have been donated – under Meryl’s own name – to an orphanage in the next town.
She hadn’t been out of funds after all.
She just used that lie to summon Meryl for one last visit.
“Tch… How infuriating.
You got me right at the end. It’s a complete loss on my part. Bet you were smug about it, huh?”
Snorting in frustration, Meryl muttered her complaints aloud, trying to keep her emotions from boiling over.
Did she really think of Meryl as a “friend worth seeing one last time”?
Part of her was happy at the thought.
But the fact that she hadn’t realized it in the moment left her angry at herself.
“Boss!”
A voice called out from behind.
She turned to see a young man approaching with a cocky grin on his face.
For a second, he reminded her of a friendly puppy – but she dismissed the thought almost immediately. It didn’t quite fit.
“Leaving me behind? That’s just cold. You said we’d go together.”
“I called you from the gate. If you want to be considerate, do a better job.”
“Ahaha… What could you be talking about, I wonder.”
Meryl’s curt reply wiped the dissatisfaction off the young man’s face, replacing it with a sheepish grimace as he tried to play dumb.
Former disciple, now fellow soldier – he had tried to give her space for a solitary visit to the grave, despite it being totally out of character.
“…Thanks,” she muttered under her breath. She turned her eyes back to the memorial.
The young man followed her gaze and stood beside her, offering a moment of silent prayer.
As he prayed for the dead, Meryl observed the monument again with unease.
Given her position in the church, she had seen her share of grave markers—but this one was made from stone more exquisite than what even royalty might get.
On its polished face, an inscription was beautifully carved:
“──Inscribed upon this stone are the names of the innocents who died in the hands of an evil monster,
and the heroic few who fought against it──”
Countless names were engraved.
Most belonged to villagers Meryl had never known.
But at the very top was the name of that idiot woman, and names of those children she had raised.
Except–
“It’s not here… You’d think they could’ve at least put his name on it. Even if it were a lie.”
She already had a pretty good idea why one name was missing.
“Boss?”
“Nothing.
More importantly – this request from His Eminence Gwen – you really planning to take it too?”
She knew that he already knew the details, but she still asked to be sure.
This mission was far too uncertain to take lightly.
“Of course! Wherever you go, that’s where I go, Boss!”
His reply was light, exaggerated, theatrical.
Meryl knew him well enough to recognize the sincerity beneath the act, so she simply replied quietly, saying, “Is that so?”
That was enough to make him beam.
“Still, I can’t believe it turned out like this.
Honestly, I just hoped someone would’ve offered them a prayer or two.
But to find this whole flower field and a memorial this grand.”
“When the innkeeper first told me, I thought it was a joke,” he said.
Meryl said nothing. She just agreed quietly.
According to what they’d heard, the village had been wiped out, but just one month later, this entire scene had appeared.
Even after hearing of the deaths, Meryl and her companion couldn’t visit until now because of all their missions and oligations.
Ironically, it was only by accepting this new assignment that they were finally able to stop here.
They hadn’t expected a real memorial, at most, they were only expecting a some token keepsake, but instead, they were greeted by this – a serene place where the dead could truly rest.
Meryl found herself laughing at that. Not because she was amused, but because she couldn’t believe it, and at the same time, because she was relieved to see someone cared.
“I did some digging after that,” the young man said. “This place?
Apparently even the local lord – and the king himself – can’t touch it.
Soldiers come by regularly just to check for anything unusual.
But no one knows who built it, or how it got so protected.”
“…They really went all out, huh.”
“And these names–Lily, Selene, Ro…
You think it’s a coincidence?”
He was referring to some of the children’s names. Names he had heard recently elsewhere.
It had sparked a concern in him, but Meryl simply shook her head.
After all, it was just a theory for now.
“Who knows.
But this job is perfect for finding that out,” Meryl said.
“If the sole survivor is still alive, then they might know something,” the young man said.
“…Not the sole one,” she muttered.
“Huh?”
“Let’s get going. We’ve wasted enough time here.
It would be a pain if the Saint we’re supposed to escort starts off hating us.”
“Ah, wait for me, Boss!”
Was she covering up a slip of the tongue, or did she really need to hurry?
She herself wasn’t sure, but regardless, she walked away from the memorial, and her companion scrambled to catch up.
Then she remembered.
“…Come to think of it, that idiot also couldn’t lie to save her life.”
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