Chapter 215: Never A Dull Moment (2)
The square after the coronation.
Shiron sat heavily on an empty bench. In his arms was a thick bread bag, procured from the most popr bakery in Rien these days. The bag was not a dull brown but a sophisticated item adorned with shy initials.
“I told you, you don’t have to buy this kind of stuff!”
Even though she said that, the sound of Latera’s gulping could be heard clearly as she sat beside him. With her childlike figure, her feet didn’t reach the ground, swinging energetically, reflecting her excitement.
“Hmm? Yum! It’s so delicious!”
A donut filled generously with strawberry jam, ham, and cheese, and then fried whole. The sweet and salty harmony hidden in the crispy fried coating resonated on her small, plump tongue.
Latera admired the small paradise created in her mouth, holding a donut in each hand and alternately taking bites.
“Your expression is somewhat outdated.”
“…What?”“Never mind. As long as you enjoy eating it.”
Shiron turned his eyes from Latera to the imperial pce. It had been an hour since Siriel had gone into the pce after telling him to go ahead.
Whether he had much to say to Victor, who proceeded without permission, or the situation wasn’t favorable, Siriel’s business was taking longer than expected.
But even so, Shiron didn’t make the cold-hearted move of going back first. Although he was told he could return first, isn’t she his precious fiancée? Though it pained him to drag Latera into the cold night wind, contrary to Shiron’s thoughts, Latera refused to go back to the mansion.
“…Waiting for someone with business to finish is also a good deed. Especially if that person is your fiancée, leaving them behind might have earned you demerits from the Lord.”
“Wipe the powder off your mouth before you talk.”
“…That’s not something you should say to ady.”
Latera licked the powder off her fingers and wiped her mouth.
“Anyway, I think you made the right choice, Sir. Thanks to that, I got to eat this delicious food, and also…”
Latera continued as she picked up a new donut.
“You were very flustered at the coronation earlier.”
“…”
“Although you didn’t show it, your confusion was clear enough that I could tell just by holding your hand.”
‘It’s like she can see my thoughts…’
Shiron rxed the fingers he was about to flick at her forehead. At his subtle hand movement, Latera stuck out her tongue.
“With Kyrie and the trainingtely, you haven’t had time to reflect on your thoughts, right?”
Latera quickly swallowed a donut filled with sweet white cream.
“How about sharing your concerns with me? A problem shared is a problem halved, and we can share plenty of opinions.”
“Sorry, but I also have my limits.”
“…The book I read recently said that a man with many secrets is attractive, but the more I think about it, it seems like a lie. It was funny when I read it, but experiencing it firsthand is just troublesome.”
“Do you read things like that?”
Shiron crumpled the empty bag and aimed at the trash can. Though it looked difficult due to the erratic wind, it went in without any problem thanks to his high uracy.
“…Did I ever tell you I can see the future?”
“Are you talking about the prophecy of Prient?”
“…Yes.”
The stars in the sky, the ether lights gently illuminating the street—it was an atmosphere conducive to revealing hidden worries. As a guardian angel, Latera wiggled closer to lighten the warrior’s burden.
“Do you believe in fate?”
“…Isn’t that too cheesy from the start?”
“Hey, do you want me to tell you or not?”
“I’ll keep my mouth shut.”
Latera puffed her cheeks andughed yfully. Clearing his throat, Shiron regained the mood.
“The Empire’s first sword was originally supposed to be Lucia.”
“Oh…”
“But what is this? Lucia left, saying something a rebellious teenager might say, and went on a journey. In the meantime, Siriel inherited the title.”
“But it’s just a title, isn’t it? Whether Lucia or Siriel gets it, it doesn’t matter, right?”
Latera spoke nonchntly, but Shiron’s heart, which she looked into, seemed full of worries.
“It may not be likely, but… what I wanted was to be the Empire’s first sword.”
“Didn’t you just say that Lucia was destined to be it? If so, you’re saying you deliberately altered the future…”
“Of course, how much effort did I put in for this day?”
Shiron sighed deeply. He had nned to take on external activities gradually after bing the Empire’s first sword before stepping up as a warrior. Unfortunately, this n didn’t seed.
However, he didn’t be depressed. Rescuing Latera was a significant achievement, but there were always such deviations. Knowing he wasn’t perfect, he quickly gathered his thoughts.
That didn’t mean he had no worries at all.
“I’ve never been sure of the prophecy. Everything got twisted before I even held the holy sword.”
“Pardon?”
Shiron didn’t look at the surprised Latera. His mind was already filled with Yura’s existence, which had changed much history even before his possession.
“At some point, I realized the prophecy was useless. So, what should I do next? Of course, I have to do my best to make things flow in the direction I want.”
Before knowing Yura came here, Shiron had tried many things.
He had tried to give the holy sword to Lucia beforehand and recently saved Yoru, who had fallen off a cliff, healing her and encouraging her to rehabilitate quickly.
“I didn’t tell Lucia, ‘Hey, you’re a hero, why are you loafing around?’ for the same reason.”
“If you did that… Lucia might have tried to hang herself.”
“…There’s that, but from what I’ve experienced, Lucia is more scared than I thought.”
asionally, Lucia would get scared prematurely.
When dealing with the 7th apostle this time, she could have overwhelmed them, but at some point, Lucia’s sword tip wavered, forcing Shiron to improvise his n.
“It’s not like she’s deliberately messing with me, but it’s not easy. It’s like someone is intentionally interfering…”
Just as he felt lighter after sharing his concerns,
Rumble—
A heavy sound reached his ears.
People in the square didn’t hear it. Only Shiron, with his keen hearing, and Latera, who shared his emotions, turned their heads towards the source of the vibration.
Hoisting Latera like a bundle, Shiron hurried in that direction. His sprint was fast. The scenery around him blurred, and screams began to ring in his ears.
Screams—
Groans—
Where he hurriedly ran, there was chaos with a mix of a dust storm and screams.
Shiron used wind magic to clear the dust. With a big sweep of his arm, the dust gathered into a single ce and turned into a rock.
“…Oh.”
What was revealed were the remnants of a copsed building. It must have been a ratherrge building, as the rubble alone formed a small hill.
But what made Shiron sigh was not the scale of the ident.
[Death to the Empire]
[Glory to the oppressed]
Red letters.
A crude slogan conveying its clear message was the only thing left intact amidst the copsed rubble. However, now was not the time for personal sentiment.
Groan—
A groan teetering on the brink of death.
There was no time to leisurely survey the scene. Rolling up his sleeves, Shiron began to hurriedly clear away the debris.
Heavy concrete chunks were lifted one by one, and people trapped underneath were pulled out in clusters.
It was a powerful yet delicate use of telekinesis.
The fruits of his persistent magic training were shown in this real-life situation. But verifying his skills in such a ce didn’t feel good.
Latera didn’t turn a blind eye to Shiron’s umting karma. She, too, was not idle, helping to move the injured and squeezing out her holy power.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
While they were rescuing people, a sharp whistle sound btedly rang out, and uniformed individuals came running in a line. These were the officers who had responded to the call.
Groan -
“Are you all right?”
A voice heard many times before. ck hair entered Shiron’s peripheral vision, but he didn’t turn his eyes towards it, focusing instead on the rescue activities.<hr>
Her shoulders felt light.
Her steps were full of energy as she moved forward.
Perhaps because she had shared some of his secrets, Lucia’s steps toward Rien felt lighter than before.
Not that she was skipping around, but she walked straight, looking much better than when she had been burdened with heavy worries and buried in the snow.
“Why is ourdy in such a good mood?”
Following closely behind the leading Lucia was Encia. From Mount Makal, where the Dawn Castle was located, Encia had closely attended to Lucia even though she could have gone back to the mansion first.
“Was your self-discovery journey sessful?”
“…Not sessful, but not bad.”
Lucia adjusted therge backpack on her shoulders as she spoke.
“I resolved some old emotions, though the ending was a bit clumsy. At least I managed to say proper goodbyes.”
“Ah… huh?”
Encia tilted her head with a puzzled expression. It’s unfortunate for her, but currently, only Yuma and Glen knew that Lucia was Kyrie.
Revealing that fact wouldn’t help at all and might even provoke new dangers. Lucia humbly decided to heed Yuma’s advice.
“By the way, why has it been so noisy since the border? Is something going on?”
Looking around, Lucia noticed that the bustling activity had increasedpared to before she left.
“I don’t know? Could it be a festival? The air is filled with the smell of burnt oil and vomit.”
“Hmm…”
“Look, skewers discarded by the roadside. It looks like roast pig, but that’s not something you normally eat.”
Encia was chattering about the signs of a festival…
Then suddenly fell silent.
The malice and confusion permeating the people’s hearts. The faint smell of blood. Though they were dozens of kilometers away, Encia could easily sense him thanks to her demonic nature.
“Mydy…”
“I know.”
Lucia soon realized something was off. Walking along the road, she suddenly saw a procession of carriages decorated with white flowers.
Something Shiron had told her recently came to mind: in this country, white flowers signified death.
“Shh.”
It wasn’t a festival but a funeral.
Lucia sped her hands together and bowed her head towards the passing procession.
Clip-clop, clip-clop.
As she did so, a carriage passed by. Lucia did not see Victor’s enraged face.
She had to go see Shiron quickly.