Chapter 265 – The Future Problem and the Current Farewell

Chapter 265

The Future Problem and the Current Farewell

Date : Day 20 of Firstthaw 1024 Aethellgard Concord Year.

The door clicked shut.

For a moment, nobody moved. The footsteps faded down the hallway, and with them went that soft, lazy giggle, until the manor was quiet again.

Then the air in the room changed.

The awkward, suffocating weight that had pressed on everyone's shoulders since Hyoren opened his eyes lifted all at once. It was like a window had finally been thrown open in a room that had been shut for days.

Oria stopped staring out the window. She turned around, dropped her shoulders, and let out a long sigh of relief, as if she had been holding it in the whole time.

"Hoo…"

The stiffness slowly drained out of Arianna's posture. She settled back into her chair, and the journal in her lap finally went still under her fingers.

Even Jackey felt it. His tabby cat ears, which had been twitching in every direction, slowly came back up, and he scratched the back of his head with a puzzled look.

But two people in the room didn't relax at all.

Elise's face was hard to read. Her lips were pressed into a thin line and her emerald eyes stayed fixed on the door. Yet her hand had found Hyoren's at some point, and it was still clutching it. Tightly.

Ina, on the other hand, couldn't hide anything.

She shot up from the bed. Her whole body trembled as she jabbed a finger at the door the three church members had just walked through.

"Nyaaah!"

Her lips peeled back and her small fangs flashed.

"How dare she… How dare she!!!"

Her tail stood straight up behind her, every hair bristling until it looked twice its usual size. Her ears were pinned flat against her brown hair, and her amber eyes burned.

She took a breath. Then the words came out low and venomous.

"That… bitch…"

Elise slowly turned her head toward her.

"Ina… That was too much."

Her voice was calm—too calm. The words came out measured and even, but her face told a completely different story. A muscle twitched at her jaw, and her slender eyebrows were drawn tight. She was just as angry. She was simply better at holding it in.

Ina spun to face her.

"You're not angry, Elise?!"

Elise didn't answer right away. Her free hand curled into a fist on her lap and tightened until her knuckles turned almost white.

Then she let out a long breath through her nose.

"Of course I'm angry. If she weren't the Light Saint… I might have drawn my weapon already and attacked her."

She closed her eyes briefly. When she opened them again, some of the fire had dimmed.

"But she did ease Hyoren's suffering. And for that… I'm truly grateful."

Ina opened her mouth to argue.

Nothing came out. She closed it. Opened it again. Her fists clenched and unclenched at her sides, and her tail lashed back and forth.

"Grrrrr… You're right… But… But…!"

Hyoren looked between the two women, completely lost.

He had seen Elise angry before. He had seen Ina sulk and pout plenty of times. But this was something else entirely. Elise was gripping his hand as if someone might snatch him away, and Ina looked ready to chase a woman down the hallway and claw at her. And the target of all that hostility was a woman he had met only minutes ago.

He shifted a little against the pillows.

"Elise. Ina. What happened? I know the Light Saint showed some interest in me, but… we only just met, didn't we?"

The two women exchanged a glance.

It was a short, silent conversation. Elise's eyes asked something. Ina's lips pressed together. Neither of them seemed sure whether to tell him, or where to even start.

Oria spoke first.

She crossed her arms and leaned back against the windowsill. Her sapphire eyes were half-lidded and dry.

"Those two are jealous. Good grief… That scandalous saint is truly bold. Very bold."

Jackey nodded so hard his ears flopped.

"Even I was surprised, Big Bro!"

Arianna's fingers traced the edge of the journal's cover. She looked a little uncomfortable, like a noble lady forced to speak about something improper in polite company.

"But that is… simply how Lady Sophia normally behaves…"

Oria raised an eyebrow at her.

"Normally? Hoo… Then the Church has my sympathy."

Hyoren's confusion only deepened.

Jealous…? Bold…? Normal behavior..? 

None of it explained anything. If anything, it made it worse.

He reached out slowly. His arm still felt heavy, and his muscles moved as if through mud, but his hand found Elise's fingers. The other drifted toward Ina's sleeve.

"Elise. Ina. Please. What happened?"

Ina looked down at his hand on her sleeve.

The fury in her face wavered. Her ears slowly lifted from her head, and with a frustrated huff she sat back down on the edge of the bed, right beside him.

"…Fine. We'll tell you."

Elise nodded once. She took a breath, gathering her thoughts.

"It was early this morning. Just after dawn. The three of them came to the manor. Archbishop Sherine, Bishop Robert… and her."

Ina's tail thumped against the blanket.

"Sherine said the Light Saint wanted to meet you. She said Lady Sophia had come to help you."

Elise's grip tightened slightly on Hyoren's hand.

"Of course we were happy. We had been watching you suffer for almost two days, Hyoren. Nothing we tried worked. So when they said the Light Saint could help…"

She trailed off and shook her head.

"We let them in without a second thought."

Ina's eyes narrowed. Her voice dropped, as if each word tasted bitter.

"But the moment they walked into your room… that whore jumped straight onto your bed!"

Hyoren blinked.

"…What?"

Ina's hands flew up into the air.

"She hugged you, Hyoren! And then she rubbed herself all over you! While you were unconscious! While you were thrashing and groaning in pain!"

Hyoren's mouth fell slightly open.

Jackey covered his face with both hands and peeked out from between his fingers, his cheeks turning pink at the memory.

"It's true, Big Bro… It was… whoa…"

Arianna cleared her throat delicately and turned her gaze to the ceiling, as if the beams were suddenly very interesting.

Elise's voice was flat, but her jaw was tight.

"Ina and I almost attacked her right there. If Archbishop Sherine and Bishop Robert hadn't stepped in between us…"

She didn't finish the sentence. She didn't need to.

Ina nodded fiercely.

"I already had my claws out!"

Oria let out a dry snort from the windowsill.

"And Elise's hand was already on her storage bag, trying to get her weapon. I saw it. For a moment, I truly thought we would have a second battle right here in this room."

Elise's cheeks colored faintly. She didn't deny it.

"Afterwards… Sherine and Bishop Robert watched her the whole time. And she cast Luminara's Absolution on you. Three times. Over three hours."

Hyoren slowly took that in.

Three hours. Three casts of a Healing Magic spell from the Light Saint herself. The warm light in the darkness that had smoothed the edges of the nightmare and dulled the pain—that had been her, again and again, for hours.

He opened his mouth to say something grateful.

Ina wasn't finished.

"But after the third cast, she wobbled! And she fell right onto you again!"

Her fangs flashed.

"And then… she licked your cheek!"

Hyoren's free hand rose on its own toward his cheek. Slowly, still sluggish, but it got there. He touched the skin as if he could somehow feel it.

"She… licked…"

His fingers lingered on the spot. Then, almost without meaning to, he rubbed at it with the back of his hand—slowly, sluggishly, but firmly, as if he could scrub away something that had dried there hours ago.

Jackey nodded again, eyes wide.

"Like a cat, Big Bro! Even I don't do that!"

Oria pinched the bridge of her nose and let out a long sigh.

"Please don't remind me..."

Arianna had gone a little red. Her fingers had stopped moving on her journal.

"Even back at the academy, Lady Sophia was… well. But even so, I didn't expect her to be this… direct.”

Elise's grip on Hyoren's hand had become almost painful. Her voice dropped even lower.

"And if Ina and I hadn't dragged her off you right then… she would have stolen a kiss from you too."

Ina crossed her arms tightly over her chest, her tail lashing hard.

"She was already leaning in! Her lips were right there!"

She jabbed a finger at a spot just above his face, as if she could still see it.

"Right there, Hyoren!"

Elise let out a quiet breath.

"After that, Sherine and Bishop Robert dragged her to the corner and made her sit. Sherine was so embarrassed she could barely look at us."

Ina's ears slowly went back down.

"And then… you woke up."

Silence settled over the room.

Hyoren stared at the ceiling.

He had woken up to faces he loved, relief, tears, and a strange woman in a scandalous robe smiling at him from the corner. He had thought that was the strange part. Apparently, the strangest things had all happened before he even opened his eyes.

He slowly lowered his hand from his cheek. A tired, disbelieving laugh slipped out of him.

But beneath it, something cold crawled down his spine.

He had been lying there helpless. Trapped in that nightmare, screaming without a sound while his bones were crushed and rebuilt. And while he couldn't move, couldn't see, couldn't even know what was happening—she had climbed onto him. Put her hands on him. Her mouth.

His stomach turned.

Disgusting…

He kept his face calm. Elise and Ina were already angry enough for all of them, and he had no intention of pouring oil on that fire. So he let none of it show, beyond a faint tightness at the corner of his mouth.

But the chill stayed.

That Light Saint… is going to be a far bigger headache than I thought…

He remembered the way Sherine had stood at the door. Her bowed head. The apology she had given before leaving, and the shame in her voice.

No wonder Sherine was so apologetic…

He looked at Elise, still gripping his hand as if he might disappear. Then at Ina, sitting beside him with her arms crossed, her tail still lashing, her face full of indignant fury on his behalf.

***

Hyoren looked at the two women beside him.

Elise was still gripping his hand. Ina's tail was still lashing against the blanket in short, angry flicks. Neither of them had relaxed even a little since the story ended.

He let out a soft breath and gave Elise's fingers a slow squeeze. It was weak, but it was the best his body could manage.

"Elise. Ina. You two don't need to worry."

He looked at one, then the other.

"I won't fall for that Whore Saint's seduction. I already have you two."

For a moment, neither of them answered.

Then Elise's shoulders slowly came down. The tight line of her jaw loosened, and the hard look in her emerald eyes melted into something softer. Beside her, Ina's tail stopped lashing. It drooped, then curled loosely onto the blanket again, the bristling fur slowly settling flat.

Without a word, the two of them leaned in and hugged him.

Elise wrapped her arm around his shoulder from the left. Ina pressed her face against his chest from the right, her ears tickling his chin. They held him carefully, mindful of his sore body—but they held him tight.

Hyoren hugged them back as best he could. His arms were still heavy and slow, but he managed to rest one hand on Elise's back and the other on Ina's head.

Across the room, Jackey grinned and gave a small thumbs-up. Oria rolled her eyes toward the ceiling, though the corner of her mouth twitched.

After a while, Hyoren spoke again, his voice light.

"Besides, she'll go back to her duties as Light Saint eventually. She came here with the reinforcements from Harvengald, didn't she? And because of the Divine Message from Luminara?"

Elise slowly pulled back, though her hand stayed on his shoulder.

"Yeah. She arrived in Akela last night with the reinforcement convoy from Harvengald. The knights and adventurers spread out to hunt down the remaining goblins, while she and the other church members went to heal the injured."

Ina sat up too and wiped the corner of her eye with her sleeve. Her ears twitched.

"Officially, she came to help Akela. We never knew she'd received a Divine Message… not until this morning."

Hyoren nodded slowly.

"That explains it. Then I think she'll only stay a few days. Maybe a few weeks, while Akela recovers."

The room seemed to agree. Elise let out a quiet breath, and Ina gave a small nod.

But the relief was short-lived.

Arianna closed the journal on her lap and set it on the table beside her sofa. Her light blue eyes were serious.

"Leader. I'm afraid you need to worry more than that."

Everyone turned toward her.

She folded her hands on her lap, carefully choosing her words.

"Lady Sophia rarely sets her sights on one particular man. But when she does… she becomes relentless. Very relentless."

She paused, and a faint flush rose to her cheeks.

"She enjoys the hunt as much as she enjoys the… deed."

Elise and Ina winced at the same time.

Hyoren's eyebrows drew together.

"What do you mean, Arianna?"

He hesitated, then shifted against the pillows to face her better.

"Or rather… could you tell us more about her? Back then at the castle, you only told us a little."

Arianna nodded gracefully.

"As I said before, she never picks her targets. She simply… please forgive my language… she simply loves to fuck. That is what she told me herself, when I asked."

Jackey snorted and immediately slapped a hand over his mouth. Oria shot him a look.

Arianna continued as if she hadn't noticed.

"So she does it with any man, regardless of his background. The poor, the rich, the homeless, beggars, adventurers… nobles from low rank to high rank…."

She lifted one finger.

"But there was one time she set her eyes on someone she should never have touched. One of Duchess Valor's male concubines."

Oria's sapphire eyes widened slightly. She uncrossed her arms.

"Hoo… Duchess Valor? You can't be serious."

Arianna gave her a small, grim nod.

"I'm afraid I am, Lady Oria. The Valor Dukedom is a rare matriarchy. Its ruler is always a woman. And the current Duchess Valor is famous for collecting husbands and concubines."

She paused for a moment.

"One of them was studying at Aethellium Arcanum Academy at the time. He was quite handsome, and kind to many people. So Lady Sophia tried to have him."

Ina's ears flattened again.

Arianna's voice stayed calm, but her fingers tightened on her lap.

"He rejected her advances for a while. But in the end, he succumbed to her charm. And that… very nearly started a civil war."

Silence fell over the room.

Jackey's mouth hung open. Even he understood those words. Oria pinched the bridge of her nose and let out a long, tired sigh.

"Good grief. Over one man…"

Arianna looked back at Hyoren. Her light blue eyes held his.

"Lady Sophia usually gets what she wants, Leader. By any means necessary. Her seduction. Her status as Saint. Her status as the sister of Count Harvengald. Or simply her own charm."

She took a slow breath before continuing.

"And her behavior now is very similar to that time. I'm afraid she will keep chasing you, Leader. Especially now that she has a mandate from Luminara Herself."

The mention of Luminara made Hyoren frown.

He thought back to the warm light in the darkness. 

"But the message only told her to help me overcome my backlash… didn't it? I think?"

Arianna slowly shook her head.

"We don't know the true message, Leader. Only she does. And she was very particular about calling you 'My Hero.'"

She glanced toward the door the three church members had left through.

"It was as if she planned to stay with you for a long time…"

Everyone grimaced—Elise and Ina most of all.

Elise's hand slid off Hyoren's shoulder and closed into a fist on the blanket. Ina's tail went stiff again. Jackey scratched the back of his head and looked between them uncertainly, and Oria went back to staring out the window.

The suffocating air had returned.

Hyoren looked at Ina.

She had gone quiet. Not angry this time. Her ears were drooping low, her eyes were fixed on her own hands in her lap, and her tail lay limp on the blanket. Something in her expression had changed when Arianna said "any man".

He gently moved his hand to hers.

"Ina… are you alright?"

Ina flinched slightly at his touch.

She forced a small smile, but it didn't reach her amber eyes.

"Well… she just reminded me of my old self. And… I feel ashamed of that."

The room went still.

Arianna's eyes widened slightly, as if she had only now realized what her story might sound like to Ina. She opened her mouth, then closed it again and looked down.

Elise was the first to move. She leaned across Hyoren and took Ina's other hand in both of hers.

"Ina. You're different from her."

Her voice was firm.

"You were never shameless. You still chose the men you pursued. And you knew when to back off."

Hyoren tightened his hand around Ina's fingers.

"And it was because you wanted a family. Not just… 'a good fuck.'"

Ina's lips trembled.

Her amber eyes welled up, and she sniffled loudly. She looked at Hyoren, then at Elise, and her ears slowly began to rise again.

"…Thank you. Both of you."

She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and let out a small, wet laugh.

"I really… I really have the best people around me."

Jackey puffed up his chest from across the room.

"Of course you do, Big Sis! You've got us!"

Ina laughed again, this time a little more brightly, and her tail gave a small sway.

Elise let go of Ina's hand slowly and sat back, her brow furrowed in thought.

"I wonder, though… Did her behavior come from some kind of trauma? Or is she simply… like that?"

She shook her head, her silver hair swaying.

"It's so unbecoming for a Saint to act that way."

Ina nodded slowly, her ears tilting forward.

"Yeah… I was wondering that too. Something must have happened to make her like that… right?"

Arianna thought for a moment, tapping one finger against her knee.

"I don't know much about her life before the academy. But one of my seniors said she had always been like that, ever since she enrolled."

Oria let out a quiet "hmph" from the window.

"So it's either something buried very deep… or nothing at all. And I'm not sure which is worse."

The room fell silent again.

Hyoren let out a long breath. He looked at each of them in turn, at the worry on their faces, and gave them a reassuring smile.

"Well… once again, please don't worry. I'll try to avoid her. And I'll try to always be with someone, so she won't get another chance to… attack me."

He scratched his cheek awkwardly.

"She'll give up sooner or later… I think? And once her business here is done, and there's somewhere else that needs her Saint power, she'll have to leave. Right?"

Elise nodded.

"That's right."

Ina nodded too, still sniffling a little.

"Mm."

Arianna inclined her head.

"That would be the most reasonable outcome, Leader."

Oria shrugged.

"Let's hope so. For your sake."

Then Jackey suddenly spoke up.

He raised a hand like a student with a brilliant idea, his tabby cat ears perked high.

"But isn't it true we've always wanted a healer, Big Bro? Because your Healing Light couldn't be used during battle? And that saint is the best healer ever, right? Let her join Freedom Party! HAHA!"

Everyone stared at him.

Jackey grinned, completely unfazed.

"If the problem is that she loves to fuck… Before I was with Arianna, I loved to fuck too! Haha!"

Arianna's face went as red as her hair.

"J-Jackey!"

Ina buried her face in her hands. Elise snorted so hard she had to cover her mouth. Oria tilted her head back and laughed out loud at the ceiling.

"Shoo, shoo! My brain is delicate, Jackey! Don't put that image in it!"

Laughter filled the room. Even Hyoren couldn't hold it back. It hurt his ribs a little, but he laughed anyway, his shoulders shaking against the pillows.

When it finally died down, he wiped the corner of his eye and smiled at the Cat-clan Beastkin.

"Well… it's not that simple, Jackey."

His smile softened, but his voice became steady.

"I won't let anyone join if it risks fracturing our family."

Jackey tilted his head, his ears twitching in confusion.

"Hmm… I don't really understand."

Then he grinned and nodded firmly.

"But if Big Bro says so, then it must be true!"

The room burst into laughter once more.

Arianna, her cheeks still pink, gave Jackey's arm a light, scolding tap. He just grinned back at her.

As the laughter faded, Hyoren took a slow breath. His gaze drifted toward the window. The morning light was bright and clear, but it felt far away.

"The Light Saint might be a problem. But it's a problem we shouldn't think too much about for now. It'll probably resolve itself sooner or later."

He paused, and the smile slowly left his face.

"For now… I want to focus on something else."

Nobody asked what he meant.

They all already knew.

Elise lowered her gaze to her lap. Her voice was barely above a whisper.

"The funeral…"

The weight returned to the room—heavier this time. The laughter from a moment ago faded into silence, and no one tried to break it.

***

Not long after, Oria pushed herself off the windowsill.

She stretched her arms above her head until her shoulders gave a small pop, then let them drop with a long sigh. Her sapphire eyes swept over the room—Hyoren sitting up in bed, Elise and Ina on either side of him, Jackey lounging in his chair, Arianna with her journal back on her lap.

"Hoo… Well. It looks like everyone in Freedom Party is alive and kicking now."

She picked up the small bag she had left by the wall and slung it over her shoulder.

"Then I don't have any reason to stay any longer. My shop has been closed for days. If I don't open it soon, my customers will forget I exist."

Hyoren straightened as much as his body allowed.

"Oria. Thank you. Really. For staying with us through all of this."

Ina rose from the edge of the bed. Her ears were up, and her amber eyes were sincere.

"Thank you, Oria. I… I don't know what I would've done without you here these past two days."

Elise nodded beside her, her hand resting lightly on Hyoren's shoulder.

"You have our thanks too, Oria."

Jackey raised a fist.

"Thanks, Oria! You're the best!"

Arianna inclined her head gracefully.

"We are deeply in your debt, Lady Oria."

Oria froze halfway to the door.

For a moment she just stood there. A faint pink crept up her neck to her ears, and she turned her face away from them, staring very hard at the doorframe.

"Good grief… Stop that. All of you."

She waved a hand vaguely in their direction without looking back.

"I didn't do anything special. I just sat here and made sure nobody did anything stupid. That's all. Shoo, shoo!"

Before anyone could say another word, she yanked the door open and slipped through it.

Her quick footsteps clattered down the hallway, then down the stairs. A moment later, the front door of the manor opened and shut with a hurried thud.

The room was quiet for a heartbeat.

Then Ina giggled, covering her mouth with her hand.

"She ran away."

Hyoren chuckled, shaking his head slowly against the pillows.

"She really did."

***

After that, the hours slowly bled away.

There was nothing urgent left to do. No goblins pounding at the wall. No orders to give. Freedom Party simply stayed home and let their bodies remember how to rest. They were alive, but they were still recovering, each in their own way.

Jackey made it his personal mission to make Arianna eat.

Arianna had always been slender. But after using Vitallium Exchange, she had become even thinner. Her cheekbones were sharper than before, and her wrists looked almost fragile beneath the sleeves of her dress. Jackey had noticed. And Jackey, it turned out, had very firm opinions about food.

He set another plate down in front of her in the dining room. Bread, cheese, thick slices of cured meat, and a bowl of Lena's soup still steaming.

"Eat, Arianna! You need meat! Meat makes you strong!"

Arianna looked at the plate, then at him, with the long-suffering expression of a noble lady who had already been fed twice in the past hour.

"Jackey… I have already eaten a great deal. I am not a bottomless pit like you."

Jackey crossed his arms and planted his feet. His tail swished stubbornly behind him.

"Nope. Not enough. You're too skinny. You'll blow away if the wind hits you. Eat."

Arianna held his gaze for a long moment.

Then, with a quiet sigh, she picked up her spoon and took a small, dignified sip of the soup. Her cheeks were faintly pink.

"Only because you insist."

Jackey grinned triumphantly and dropped into the chair beside her to supervise.

Hyoren mostly sat.

His body still moved as if he were walking through water. He could lift his arms and turn his head now, but every motion was slow and heavy, and his muscles complained whenever he tried to rush. So he sat on the sofa in the living room, and Elise and Ina took turns tending to him.

Elise brought him a cushion for his back and a blanket for his knees. Ina brought him water, then tea, then water again. When he reached for the cup himself, Ina pushed his hand down and held it to his lips instead.

"Ina, I can hold a cup."

Ina narrowed her amber eyes at him, her ears flicking.

"You almost dropped it last time."

Elise didn't even look up from the pillow she was fluffing.

"She's right. You did."

Hyoren opened his mouth to argue. Then he closed it again and let Ina hold the cup.

Lena and Vina did everything they could.

Every time Hyoren looked up, one of them seemed to be passing through the living room with something in her hands. A plate of small biscuits. A fresh pot of tea. Sliced fruit arranged neatly on a tray. Bowls of soup for anyone who looked even slightly hungry. Their fox tails swayed quietly behind them as they moved, and neither of them ever seemed to stop.

Lena set yet another cup of tea on the low table beside Hyoren and bowed slightly.

"Please drink while it's warm, Master Hyoren."

Hyoren smiled up at her.

"Thank you, Lena. You and Vina should rest too, you know."

Lena only smiled back. Her fox ears tilted gently.

"We will, Master Hyoren. After everyone is well."

Vina popped up behind her mother, a plate of biscuits balanced on one hand and her fox tail swishing.

"Un! So you have to get well fast, Hyoren! Then Mother can finally sit down! Hehe."

Lena gave her daughter a light tap on the head, and Vina only giggled and set the biscuits beside the tea.

Hours passed like that—slow, quiet, and warm.

By the time the manor's clock struck fifteen, Hyoren could finally walk normally again.

Not quickly. Every step still had to be deliberate, and when he tried to turn too fast his legs reminded him with a dull ache. But he could stand up without help. He could cross the room on his own. And that was more than he had been able to do that morning.

It was time to get ready.

***

Not long after, Freedom Party gathered on the porch of the manor.

All five of them were dressed mostly in black.

Hyoren wore a plain black coat over a dark shirt, simple and unadorned. Elise wore a long black dress with a high collar, her silver hair tied back neatly. The only color on her was the small emerald of Sylvana's Lavalier resting at her throat. Ina wore a modest black dress that fell below her knees, and her brown hair was tucked behind her ears. Jackey had squeezed himself into a black jacket that was clearly a little too tight across the shoulders. He kept tugging at the collar. Arianna wore an elegant black gown with a dark veil pinned in her crimson hair, and against all that black her pale face looked even thinner.

Hyoren looked down at his own sleeves and chuckled inwardly.

Even in Kresneger… people wear black to funerals.

Of all the customs that could have crossed between worlds, this was the one that matched. Somehow, that small familiarity made the strangeness of this world feel a little less distant.

Elise noticed the faint smile on his face and tilted her head.

"What is it, Hyoren?"

Hyoren rubbed the back of his neck.

"Nothing much. I was just wondering… why black? For funerals, I mean."

Elise smoothed the front of her dress before answering.

"It's the custom. Black is Noctynara's color. She rules over souls. So when someone dies, she's the one who guides their soul."

Ina nodded beside her, her voice soft.

"We wear black to honor her. And to ask her to guide them gently."

Hyoren glanced at Arianna.

She met his gaze and gave a small nod. Her light blue eyes were calm, but a little sad.

He understood. Even though Noctynara's image had been twisted by the Voided Covenant and the heretics who abused her name, even though most people no longer separated the Goddess from those who stained it—this tradition had survived. When it came to the dead, people still turned to her.

Hyoren nodded slowly.

"I see. That's… a good custom."

Behind them, the front door opened. Lena and Vina stood in the doorway. Lena bowed deeply.

"Please take care, Master Hyoren. Everyone."

Beside her, Vina wasn't bouncing for once. Her fox ears were lowered.

"Come home safe, okay, Hyoren? Everyone…"

Hyoren gave them both a small smile and a nod.

Then he turned and looked at each of his companions in turn. Elise. Ina. Jackey. Arianna. They were all waiting for him.

He took a slow breath.

"Let's go."

Together, Freedom Party stepped down from the porch and left the manor behind.

***

The walk to the cathedral was unhurried.

Nobody suggested hurrying, and nobody needed to. Most of Freedom Party was still recovering. Arianna walked carefully, one hand lightly on Jackey's arm, her steps smaller than usual. Jackey kept his pace slow to match hers without complaint, which was a small miracle in itself.

And Hyoren was the slowest of them all.

He could walk now, but that was all he could do. Every step had to be placed deliberately, and whenever the road sloped even slightly, his thighs reminded him of the two days he had spent being torn apart and stitched back together. Elise walked on his left and Ina on his right. Neither of them held onto him—he had insisted on walking by himself—but both stayed close enough to catch him if he stumbled.

They left Wyvern Street behind and passed through the Adventurer's District.

It was quieter than Hyoren had ever seen it. The taverns were open, but there was no shouting spilling from the doorways. Many of the people walking the streets wore black, like them, and most were heading the same way.

By the time they crossed into the Administrative District, the sky had begun to change.

Kresneger's dual suns were dipping toward the west. Silver Luna and golden Sol sank side by side—Sol already larger than when it had first returned at the start of Firstthaw, growing a little more each day as spring went on. The white stone of the buildings caught their mingled light and glowed a soft amber.

Hyoren looked up at it.

"The funeral's at dusk?"

Elise followed his gaze to the sinking suns.

"It's always held at dusk. Dusk is when the day turns into night. It's the moment the twin goddesses meet."

Ina's tail swayed slowly behind her, and her voice was soft.

"Luminara shines the suns. She stands for the living. And Noctynara rules the night and the souls. She's the one who guides the departed."

Elise nodded, tucking a strand of silver hair behind her pointed ear.

"So at dusk, Luminara hands them over to Noctynara. That's what people believe. The living say goodbye in the light, and the dead leave with the night."

Hyoren was quiet for a few steps.

Day handing the dead over to night…

It was a beautiful way to think about it. Kinder, somehow, than anything he remembered from Earth.

"That's… a gentle custom."

Ina gave him a small, sad smile.

"Mm. It is."

After that, no one spoke.

Freedom Party walked on in silence through the quiet streets of the Administrative District. Their footsteps echoed softly against the white stone, and the people around them in black moved the same way, slowly, all toward the same place.

Ahead, the spires of Luminara's cathedral rose above the rooftops, glowing gold in the light of the dual suns.

Hyoren kept his eyes on them as he walked.

Somewhere beneath those spires, the people who had fought beside him were waiting. The fledglings who had run into the horde with trembling hands. The veterans who had held the line until they couldn't anymore. And Ronald—who had faced the horde without hesitation, and who would never come home to Martha's table again.

Soon the suns would set.

And when they did, Luminara would let them go, and Noctynara would take them by the hand and guide them into the night.

All that was left for the living was to say goodbye.

Hyoren took a slow breath. With Elise and Ina at his sides, and Jackey and Arianna behind him, he kept walking toward the cathedral as the light began to fade—toward the farewell that was waiting for them.