Ch.188White Scales (5)

Breaking through the sturdy iron bars, a world greeting the morning.

We stood bearing the light-filled dawn.

The building once called the apple tree no longer carried its infamy.

Only the crackling embers and the ashes beneath them remained.

In the tomorrow that erases today, a peaceful day lives and breathes.

The story flows on.

“Finally graduating. From that insufferable nightmare.”

“Yeah… how should I put it, it doesn’t quite feel real.”

“You were sobbing just a moment ago, and now you say such things?”

“…Shut up.”

“My~ There’s no need to be embarrassed.”

“You’d be better off cutting down on unnecessary chatter.”

“I’d like to think it’s part of my charm.”

“Sigh…”

Irene sighs as if exhausted.

Having achieved her long-sought revenge, she truly sobbed her heart out last night.

Throughout all our time together, and even considering scenes from the original work.

It was the first time she’d experienced such an emotional outburst.

-Ugh, Master… everyone, thank you…

Perhaps it was due to the fever that had plagued her.

Her usual chic demeanor disappeared, and she literally shed tears in streams.

For a moment, I almost wondered if Lezia had possessed her body.

Thanks to that, even she seemed embarrassed after calming down.

I didn’t miss the opportunity to tease her.

“If you want, you can cry anytime?”

“…Are you going to keep teasing me like that?”

“Well, chances to tease Miss Irene are rare. Lately you’ve become so accustomed to it that you don’t react at all when I joke around. If only you were a bit more responsive…”

“Hmm, is that so?”

Poke, poke-

Irene pokes my chest.

Her slender index finger lingers for a moment, then lightly traces a circle over my shirt.

The movement of her finger, as if tickling, was truly bewitching.

The fox’s lips were already curled into a mischievous smile.

“So you like the responsive type? You.”

“……”

Certainly.

I was no longer the one being teased.

Rather, the situation had reversed completely.

Truly an ungrateful fox.

“I’m worried you might try to devour your master next.”

“Be careful. You never know when I might bare my fangs.”

“I should pray it won’t hurt.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be gentle.”

“How impure.”

“Do you dislike that?”

“I wonder.”

Conversation flowing softly between us.

That’s how we passed through the collapsed dawn and stepped into the brilliant morning.

Afterward, the aftermath of the incident proceeded swiftly.

The businessman met his end, and his subordinate forces were facing elimination.

Since the Emperor’s side had helped this time as well, there was no need to worry about any backlash.

We simply waited for the approaching tomorrow.

“Don’t forget.”

“Hmm?”

“Thank you, always.”

“No need for such words between us.”

“Meeting you was one of the few miracles in my life.”

“How embarrassing. I cherish you deeply as well, Miss Irene.”

“You surround yourself with women all the time, and you think I’ll be happy with just a few words like that?”

That was somewhat unfair.

As I tried to refute, the girl’s index finger blocked my lips.

Her once pale cheeks were now slightly flushed with color.

Irene whispers in a faint voice.

“Yes, that’s right.”

That moment was incomparably innocent.

Like baby’s breath flowers on a spring day, brushing past like a fleeting moment.

“I’m extremely happy.”

Following that, a bright smile.

The fox embodies pure white.

Had she finally decided to abandon her chic concept?

Until now, it would have been difficult to even imagine the girl’s bright, radiant smile.

As if proving her own light-filled morning.

I was momentarily entranced.

“So… I’ll always be by your side.”

No matter what happens.

The small pledge carries not even a hint of trembling.

It simply dyes everything quietly, serenely, like the dawn.

We were passing through such an epilogue, holding each other’s hands.

The warmth was vivid in our interlocked fingers.

***

The businessman subjugation battle.

A week had already passed since then.

The season was undeniably heading toward spring.

More broadly, beyond spring, the calendar was looking toward summer’s verdant foliage.

Night and morning repeated in the world.

And so, on one such flowing day.

“So, where are we going?”

“You’ll know soon.”

The fox was led somewhere by the snake.

The destination they reached, even utilizing spatial movement.

Beyond the empire, in a remote corner of the continent.

It was a very quiet rural landscape.

“We’ve arrived.”

The boy whispered softly.

However, his voice didn’t reach the girl.

Irene was standing in a daze.

“……”

Even after several years, the girl remembered this place.

No, it would be stranger not to remember.

It was the village where foxes had lived together, where she had spent her entire childhood.

She had returned to her hometown.

Chirp chirp-

Only the chirping of birds sounded nearby.

No one remained in the ruined landscape.

Perhaps because human footsteps hadn’t touched it for a long time.

The remains of what were once buildings were evident, and flowers and weeds grew abundantly on the ground.

Though somewhat weathered by time, this place clearly confirmed old memories.

The fox had stepped on her homeland.

After a very long time.

“……”

“How about looking around?”

Irene moved as if entranced.

Her hazy eyes soon became clear.

Despite being broken ruins, memories overlapped above them.

By now, the colors of the past were bleeding into the girl’s vision.

In her ears, only the song of the trampled undergrowth.

Rustle, rustle-

“……”

The streets she often wandered as a child.

The site where a small ranch once stood.

The land where crops were cultivated.

The location where the village hall certainly stood, and beside it, the stream that still hadn’t dried up.

Finally, the small hut where she and her master had lived together.

Though gone, these were scenes that existed for Irene.

About a childhood that always breathed.

“…Ah.”

All those landscapes were miracles to the girl.

All those recollections were lingering attachments for the fox.

She thought she could never return, thought she had no right to return.

The traces of the past that remained as if it were natural felt like a letter.

Emotions churned inside her.

“It’s too early to be surprised.”

The boy speaks.

And then leads the girl to an open space located behind the village.

What lies beyond the quiet landscape is…

“…A cemetery.”

It was a cemetery of modest size.

Perhaps about a hundred graves.

Familiar names appeared on those memorial stones.

The uncle who managed the ranch, the aunt who farmed, the village chief, children who were once little…

Names she had forgotten while living, names she had no choice but to forget, were written one by one.

As she stared blankly at the scene, the snake approached gently and added an explanation.

His tone carried a slight regret.

“Unfortunately, we couldn’t find the remains of everyone.”

There were limitations.

Some people didn’t die in the village and were scattered here and there.

In reality, only about half of the villagers filled the cemetery.

Nevertheless, Irene couldn’t help but ask.

“How on earth…?”

“The members are quite capable. I asked those who specialize in search magic. It took some time… but finally I’m able to show you this. I’m only sorry I couldn’t provide something better.”

“Since when have you been doing this…?”

“Since the day we first met.”

“……”

The answer came as if it were natural.

The fox couldn’t open her mouth.

She could only lower her gaze.

Before Irene stood a single gravestone.

The most familiar name was engraved on its surface.

[A swordsman who longed for the night sky, and a master who left behind stars]

[Rakius, rests here]

Rakius.

It was her master’s name, which she was revisiting after several years.

Her slender fingers clenched into a tight fist.

A faint past echoes.

-Irene.

Irene felt like she might cry.

However, she swallowed hard.

She had resolved not to break easily or cry readily from now on.

But the girl who had finally reached the stars looks at those who once became her sky.

To those who accepted her into the world.

“Master…”

Irene bit her lip tightly.

Carefully unfolding her sincerity.

Breaking free from the burden that had hardened in her heart, she brings out the small self that had been hiding behind it.

Not just to her master, but to the person who had raised her since she was an orphaned child.

To the adult who taught her life, not just the sword.

The girl calls him for the first time.

“…Dad.”

Someday, I wanted to call you with such words.

I always evaded it, claiming embarrassment.

Only now could I open my heavy lips.

Even though you’re no longer here.

“I promise.”

To the person she respected.

Words she wanted to leave as a daughter.

“I’ll… definitely be happy.”

So, set aside your worries about me,

The fox murmurs through blurring vision.

There were many more things she wanted to say, but she couldn’t bring them to her lips.

If she let even a little slip, it felt like her heart would pour out completely.

Irene simply wears the dewdrops gathered at her eyes and a faint smile.

That alone made for a beautifully shining scene.

“Please rest in peace.”

The final phrase pronounced with difficulty.

The fox prays wholeheartedly.

At the end of a long and thorny path, she would finally find happiness.

She would become a daughter and disciple who wouldn’t shame him.

A line of moisture finally traces down her cheek.

“……”

The snake was watching the fox.

Remaining quietly by her side, wearing an affectionate smile.

***

Meanwhile.

At the cult’s gathering, Baob.

Those covered in blood-red robes were having a brief meeting.

The agenda was about the consecutive downfalls of their allied forces.

The shadow sitting at the head seat opens his mouth.

“Yes… Following Vanity, Greed has fallen as well.”

“Now we have nowhere else to retreat.”

The aide speaks calmly.

The shadow at the head seat examines the empty seats beside him.

“So many have died.”

The Seven Apostles of the Demon God.

The Puppeteer (Marionnette).

The Tomb Keeper (gardien d’une tombe).

Last time, the Painter (peintre).

In just one year, three apostles had been eliminated.

The situation was clearly not going well.

However, the shadow only smiles.

“Do not worry.”

A meaningful voice.

That bizarre resonance spreads stealthily.

“Soon He will descend upon the world, so the apostles must prepare.”

The round table stained with blood.

The apostles all rise from their seats.

The air dyed crimson indicates that the advent of calamity is not far off.

The shadow prays toward the inverted cross with a bloody smile.

Truly cursed evil.

“For the new world, and the death of ■■■■.”

Flickering sin.

Evil was preparing for the final war.