Reunion (3)

Arczel IV kept his promise.

Not only did he place Rubina in the orphanage attached to the central cathedral, but he also appointed Ceres as her guardian and even wrote his own name next to hers.

A child with Ceres, an elder of the Celestine Church’s Kapatia branch, and the Pope himself, who could be called the very symbol of the Celestine Church, as guardians.

At least within this church territory, there could be no one who could treat Rubina carelessly.

It showed.

Good clothes, good food, and heartfelt care.

Rubina was doing well in an environment incomparably better than when she was traveling with Yona’s group—and even more so compared to the village where she had lived with her sister before.

You could tell by the pure and bright smile typical of children.

Yona was walking through the meadow holding Rubina’s hand.

Behind the church territory’s main building was a wide meadow, and the walking path that stretched through the tall grasses reaching Rubina’s waist was truly pleasant to walk on.

Even when the cold winter wind blew, it wasn’t cold. From Rubina’s thick clothing to the thick shawl that Ceres had brought for Yona, there was no need to shiver in the wind.

The wind was racing across the meadow. Though formless and invisible, the wind that clearly existed shook the meadow, leaving its marks with every step. The fresh scent of grass rose from every shaking bush, and Rubina’s laughter in between served as a pleasant accompaniment.

She had returned because she promised to return, but because she didn’t think that promise would be kept, it was all the more welcome.

Yona, reflected fully in Rubina’s black eyes, never left them. Those eyes, always turned towards Yona, held nothing but pure joy of reunion, not resentment. The hand that gripped Yona’s tightly was the same. It held on as if Yona might leave again, gripping so hard that Yona’s hand turned white.

Yona raised her head and looked around. Everywhere her eyes landed were bushes that still retained some green, and the meadow filled with those bushes. It was a beautiful meadow that belied the winter weather.

It was a peaceful scenery she had never seen even in Evian. A place where life was thriving everywhere she went, and so cozy it was hard to believe it was winter.

Even though she believed in the Celestial Deity and took pride in being a clergy member herself, such a place had seemed so far away to Yona. Even now, that feeling hadn’t changed, but for some reason, Yona found it very difficult to be certain that she could be in such a place.

“Shall we sit for a moment?”

Yona and Rubina sat on a bench that happened to appear. Until then, Rubina had been busy recounting interesting things that had happened while staying at the orphanage, happy things, sad things—for example, how she was so happy when Yona appeared and hugged her in a dream, but was sad when she woke up to find it was just a dream. Rubina sat close to Yona’s side.

Yona nodded along to Rubina’s words while quietly scanning the meadow. It was such a nice scenery, pleasant to look at.

Then suddenly, Rubina’s voice grew quieter and her words became intermittent. When Yona looked to the side, she saw Rubina dozing off next to her.

‘She must be tired.’

Rubina hadn’t stopped talking for hours since Yona entered this church territory.

Whatever she had to say, Rubina had been chattering away to Yona about her stories, so it’s understandable that she’d be tired.

Yona laid Rubina down using her thigh as a pillow, smiling fondly as she stroked Rubina’s hair.

Seeing Rubina curl up from the cold now that she had fallen asleep, Yona pulled down her shawl to cover Rubina, and Rubina snuggled into the shawl warmed by Yona’s body heat, starting to breathe evenly.

‘It’s peaceful.’

It had been a really long time since she’d had such a peaceful moment. Yona thought this as she blankly stared at the meadow. The bushes swaying with each gust of wind looked like waves, each one unique.

Yona smiled slightly as she brushed back the hair that had fallen over Rubina’s forehead. She thought it was really fortunate that Rubina was doing well and living peacefully.

It must have been possible because she was a clergy member. Although she was called a healer, she was still a clergy member, and because she took pride in that one thing and acted without shame, this must have been possible.

There were quite a few twists and turns in between, but at least for Rubina, she was able to live this comfortably because of that.

That’s what Yona thought.

“So let’s talk. I understand your reason for wanting to erase the tattoos, but that left arm is a bit strange, isn’t it?”

Ceres looked at Yona while rubbing her face dry. More precisely, not at Yona but at her left arm, the trace of Berbaria.

Yona showed her left arm but coughed awkwardly, clearing her throat in embarrassment.

It was a bit late, but Ceres had accepted Yona’s visit. And in response to her request to erase the tattoos, she had Yona take off her clothes, which is what was happening now.

“Why has it spread? And the right side has gotten worse?”

This time, it was Yona who rubbed her face dry at Ceres’ question.

She had no idea where to start explaining this. If she were to go back, after her last visit to the church territory, when she went to the mage community, where Berbaria took residence in her body—that would be the true explanation, but.

This was the Infula Church Territory and the headquarters of the Celestine Church, how could such words come out easily?

“Um, it’s… the trace of… Berbaria. You said you still haven’t found him, right?”

“That’s right.”

Yona swallowed hard as Ceres stared at her with wide eyes.

Is it okay to say this?

“Well, um. Berbaria… is residing in me. That’s probably why you couldn’t find him…”

“…What?”

Ceres’ already wide eyes grew even wider as she looked at Yona.

It was something that could have been fully anticipated, and something that couldn’t be helped, so Yona sighed.

“So, what happened was—”

“—So, that’s… I see.”

“Oh my.”

Now it was Ceres’ turn to rub her face dry. At the end of the unusually long face-rubbing, after a long silence during which Yona started to look at Ceres nervously, Ceres finally slowly opened her mouth.

“So, um, well. So Alec and Kaiyak know about this too?”

“Y-Yes.”

“…Anyone else?”

Strictly speaking, the Lizardmen of Lizard Den probably know too. Other than that, there shouldn’t be anyone else who knows.

Yona thought hard but couldn’t think of anyone else. She hadn’t told Alebiang about this either, but honestly, Ceres was a more trustworthy person than Alebiang.

“No one else. You’re the first person I’m telling this to besides those two, Regent.”

“Hah… my goodness, what should we do about this?”

Yona closed her mouth, watching Ceres who was sighing deeply. She wondered if she should say more or not, but if she wanted to erase the tattoos from Ceres, she couldn’t not talk about it.

“Then, what about that tattoo on your right breast? It wasn’t spread there originally, was it?”

“Ah, that’s also… in Lizard Den…”

Yona explained as much as she could about what happened in Lizard Den. How she effortlessly entered a barrier that humans couldn’t enter, the fight with the mermaid there, and then the enhanced mermaid’s attack the next day and Berbaria’s meal, and so on.

As the explanation continued, Ceres’ expression grew increasingly bizarre.

“So you purified that too?”

“I had to… Once I saw it, how could I pretend I didn’t?”

“You’re okay with having pictures drawn on your body?”

“Well, that’s because I trust you, Regent…”

“Oh my, this is really…”

Ceres grabbed a water glass as if her throat was dry and drank it all at once. When she put the cup down with a thud, Yona, who had been hesitantly watching, refilled the cup with water.

“I don’t know whether to say you’re acting like a proper clergy member or if you’re just being foolish. Is it because you’re a clergy member? Or is it really something else?”

“It’s because I’m a clergy member. No matter what, if I wasn’t part of the Celestine Church, I wouldn’t have made it this far… And there’s what Teacher Eije taught me, so. Well, no matter what, I think any clergy member would have done the same as me in that situation.”

“Usually, a clergy member would be martyred there, not accept a demon…”

Is that so.

Yona closed her mouth at that. But she didn’t want to die. Besides, it wasn’t just her dying, he said he’d kill Kaiyak and Alec too.

“Well, it’s understandable coming from you, Yona. It’s not just anyone, but when he said he’d kill Alec, how could you make a normal judgment?”

“It’s, it’s not like that.”

“What? There’s still no progress? Wow, that’s even stranger. No baby yet?”

“It’s not like that…”

“Ugh… Anyway, I understand. But that Berbaria thing. The fact that you entered the church territory with something like that is really a big deal. How are you suppressing that demonic energy?”

Yona couldn’t answer that question either. Even to Yona, it was inexplicable why this wasn’t showing. She knew that not just demons, but even demonic beasts would cause an uproar throughout the church territory the moment they invaded. The cathedral knights are all gathered here in the church territory, powerful warriors, and they would immediately move out to eliminate any demonic beasts.

“Oh my… this is really, really serious. It’s not an ordinary situation at all. I don’t think we can erase that here. After you’re done with your business in the church territory, let’s look at it again somewhere private. I don’t know if we can erase it or not, but it’s better than not doing anything.”

“Business?”

Yona’s business was Ceres, but from Ceres’ words, it seemed she had business here too.

Wasn’t meeting Yona her business? From what Alebiang said, it seemed like meeting Yona was the purpose.

“Ah, I’m currently waiting for the hero’s party. They should arrive in a few days.”

“The, the hero?”

That name she hadn’t heard in a long time.

She had heard it from Alebiang too, but that was about them going to Kapatia Port.

This was the first time she’d heard about them coming here.

“Yes, they’re coming to the church territory.”

Ceres smiled brightly.