episode_0032

“Huh?”

“The way you recognized me, I mean. I heard that beastfolk are usually indifferent to other races.”

“…That’s not wrong. Foxes are the worst.”

“Oh?”

The man naturally struck up a conversation.

Irene frowned slightly, then replied with a reluctant voice.

“I learned about you through my Teacher-nim.”

“Teacher, you say?”

“My sword master, that is. They took care of me like a parent since I was young, and they were a fervent supporter of yours.”

“Hearing that makes me inexplicably shy. Hahaha!”

“It was tiresome.”

The girl remembered it vividly.

A wheat field rippling with the gentle breeze. The earth swept out in golden waves, as if proving its bounty.

In that nostalgic scene stood a white-haired elder.

-Did I not tell you, Irene?

-A sword must always contain the right light.

-Like the Red Sword Saint, you must become someone who breaks easily but does not waver, and falls easily but does not lie down.

-Go, find your star.

Back then, she just thought it was nagging and dismissed it.

“Because it was a name I heard every time I was lectured.”

“That’s truly regrettable.”

“But now that I have the subject of those lectures right next to me… it’s strange, and fascinating too.”

“Mhm, mhm!”

The Sword Saint nodded as if he understood.

The conversation was choppy, with short exchanges.

Irene, who had been silent for a moment, soon brought up the most unbelievable question.

It was a direct hit, thrown head-on.

“I distinctly heard you died two years ago.”

“……”

“What happened?”

“……”

Was he not going to tell her?

The Sword Saint fell silent.

Erasing even the jovial atmosphere that had just permeated the air, a chilling silence enveloped their surroundings.

The air grew cold in an instant.

‘Did I make a mistake?’

Judging by his reaction, it didn’t seem like a pleasant topic.

Would it have been better to ask indirectly?

As the nervous girl broke out in a cold sweat, a low chuckle was heard shortly after.

“Pfft… Haha!”

“……?”

“My apologies! You seemed so tense, so I just played a little prank!”

The cold caution dissipated.

The Sword Saint was laughing as if nothing had happened. He looked exactly like a middle-aged man.

Should she call him friendly?

Or unsettling?

He leaned back in his chair, continuing the conversation naturally.

“Actually, there’s not much to tell.”

“……”

“I simply believed too blindly in the name of justice, and paid a small price for it.”

Despite his playful tone, it was a rather poignant statement.

A fleeting emotion flickered in his cloudy pupils.

Yet, his lips spoke calmly.

“Originally, it was my fate to die. Meaninglessly, just as recorded in history.”

The fall of a brilliant star.

But even in that despair, someone extended a hand.

“The Commander-nim took me in.”

“That sinister person…?”

“It was truly a miracle. Since then, I’ve been living my life devotedly loyal to them.”

The Sword Saint subtly curved the corner of his lips.

Playfulness still lingered, as before, but it was by no means a light smile.

It was a weathered expression, one only an adult could wear.

“It’s the same for the others. Every single one of them owes their life to the Commander-nim.”

“All those people…?”

The members who served the boy like fanatics.

Their faith, which had seemed so unsettling, appeared to have its own reasons.

“Poor orphans, wrongly accused death row inmates, damned beggars… and finally, even fallen stars.”

Though their lives were no better than trash on the streets.

“They did not turn their backs on us.”

The world abandoned them.

Hearts shattered, wills withered, and hope lost its meaning.

It was then, as they were dying.

A golden serpent found them.

“This is the reason for our faith.”

“……”

“Especially the child holding the Vice-Commander position. It’s understandable why they’re so fixated on the Commander-nim.”

“Perhaps what happened to them was…”

“I’m not the person involved, so it’s difficult for me to say.”

“Is that so?”

“Anyway.”

The man casually wrapped up the conversation.

The Sword Saint shed his serious demeanor and offered a few final words.

“To form a relationship means ‘taming’.”

Those were words the Commander-nim used to say habitually.

Untamed things have no unique color of their own.

Only those who are tamed by something can face a meaningful landscape.

The golden light spreading in ecstasy.

“I pray that such a moment will come for you too.”

“……”

Relationship, and taming.

She had certainly heard those words before, but they were still sentences whose meaning she couldn’t grasp.

It felt as if she was caught on an unresolved question.

No suitable answer came to mind.

The fox remained stiff for a while.

She eventually just nodded quietly.

***

A day that had passed in a blur.

It would soon be evening, so she had to return to make it back to the dormitory on time.

The fox was bidding her younger siblings a brief farewell.

“Unnie… are you leaving already?”

“Can’t you just stay here with us? The teachers are all so kind…”

“Hmph…”

The children whimpered with regret.

Irene, wearing a complicated smile, comforted the young foxes.

“It’s because I have something I need to do.”

“Do you really have to go…?”

“I made a promise. Didn’t Unnie tell you last time that you shouldn’t carelessly break promises made with friends?”

“Yes…”

The answer came back, dejected.

Of course, the children didn’t truly intend to throw a tantrum or cling on.

Because they knew how devoted the girl was to protecting them.

It was a childhood that had matured too early.

Having lived oppressed for so long, perhaps it was what the world had forced upon them.

To forget their childhood in their childhood.

To become adults, worn down before their time.

“…I’ll come back when vacation starts.”

The girl smiled bitterly.

As she turned her back, the boy next to her interjected.

His eyes were sly, mere slits.

“Oh my, oh my~ Splendid foxes don’t get sad over trivial things like this, you know?”

A hand deftly rummaging through a pocket.

Following that, countless chocolates and candies spilled out in a stream from the small space. As if he were performing magic.

The boy handed each child a handful.

Adding a slight wink.

“This is a gift from me.”

“Sniffle, thank you…”

“Mhm… Thank you.”

“Hehe, no problem at all.”

The boy grinned.

Indeed, he handled children skillfully. His uniquely lighthearted way of speaking lifted the mood.

Perhaps it was a consideration for Irene?

‘What on earth.’

The fox gazed at the serpent with complicated eyes.

Internally, the voice she had heard moments ago, and a recurring question, replayed.

‘Why… is he doing so much for me?’

Looking back, it had been like this from the very beginning.

He had rescued her from that hellish cage and safely protected her siblings.

Though he acted in an unsettling way every time.

He had never once done anything bad to her.

On the contrary, he seemed to treat her with care.

‘It’s strange.’

Humans are a despicable species.

They exploit others’ goodwill, deceive, and ultimately take everything away.

She had paid too high a price while realizing this fact.

-I’m sorry, Irene.

-I wanted to protect you forever.

The day she ultimately lost her Teacher-nim.

The girl swore.

That she would never trust humans again.

That no matter what sly flattery they offered, she would scoff and mock them.

But.

“It’s time to go back, Irene-yang.”

“…Mm.”

“Don’t be too sad. Even if it’s not vacation, you can come visit whenever you want to see them.”

“……”

She didn’t know what to do.

Even though she sharply pushed him away, seeing his bright slit eyes approach her every time.

Her solid wall seemed to be shaking.

Such weighty goodwill was something she had never experienced before.

Was it because of the memories of the past two years, where she had desperately clung to survival?

She even felt as if she had become weak.

Irene made an effort to shake off her distracting thoughts, then calmly spoke.

“…I’ll trust your members to take good care of the children.”

“Of course. Actually, I wanted to send them to the orphanage operated by Astra… but as you know, it’s still a time when we need to be careful with our eyes.”

“An orphanage? You run something like that too?”

“It’s a small scale.”

“Still, that’s surprising…”

The fox’s quiet reply.

The boy seemed to stiffen for a moment, then calmly replied.

“It’s just that… I didn’t want the children to be alone.”

The corner of the serpent’s lips quietly lifted.

“Lonely memories from childhood… they leave scars that last a lifetime.”

His voice resonated calmly.

He was clearly smiling as usual, but the boy’s expression seemed somewhat sad.

As if hinting at a distant past.

“……?”

“Alright, alright~ Shall we stop with the idle chatter here?”

As the fox tilted her head, confused by the unfamiliar atmosphere.

The serpent walked ahead, towards the exit.

His golden back, greeting passing members, exchanging jokes, and promising to meet again.

“……”

Irene, who had been standing blankly, started walking again.

Following the lingering afterimage of the serpent.

***

Meanwhile.

In a building whose exact location was unknown.

In a space where only darkness and silence existed, several cloaked figures were gathered.

They exuded an aura of danger even at a glance, staring at each other across a round table.

“Soon.”

The cloaked figure at the center mumbled.

They didn’t specify what, but their companions quietly nodded.

“We’ve been keeping a low profile for a while… but now it’s time to set down roots again.”

At the center of the jet-black round table was a golden symbol.

A design reminiscent of an inverted tree.

There was only one group that wore such wicked attire.

The continent’s largest black magic organization, Baob.

The heretics, who had been dormant for the past few years, were stirring once again.

“Precisely two years ago today. We killed the ‘Red Sword Saint,’ who had bothered us so much.”

Though there was some bloodshed, it was a satisfactory outcome.

Now there would be no powerful individuals left on the continent to control them; this time, they would truly carry out His will.

“Coincidentally, they say high-quality students have entered Gallimard Academy.”

A summoner who wields dragons.

The Empire’s First Princess, hailed as an unparalleled genius.

The twin siblings of the Benity family.

And even the top student of the Snakers family, who appeared like a comet.

“All of them will make good sacrifices to Him.”

-CRASH!!

Behind the cloaked figure was a massive iron cage.

Something enormous, trapped inside, was thrashing wildly. A grotesque construct, plastered with human flesh.

It screamed as if thirsting for slaughter.

-SCREEECH!!

It was a noise that seemed to rip eardrums, but the cloaked figures didn’t even flinch.

Instead, they burst into insane laughter.

“Everyone, prepare.”

Their eyes gleamed with desire.

In their vision, the landscape of the continent, already covered in blood and flames, flickered.

A shiver of pleasure ran down their spines, making their shoulders tremble.

“For it is time for us to step into the world once more.”

Set down your roots, wicked trees.

“All for the source of all things, our master… the Demon God, Him.”

“For Him.”

In a space filled only with darkness and silence.

Danger was thus setting down its roots.