"Tesetan?"

Bale stared at the man in shock.

His hair was disheveled, as if he had not fully woken up, his expression lazy and his gait unhurried.

But his broad shoulders and solid build radiated a sharp, tense atmosphere, and in his cold eyes lurked a strange, piercing force.

Without realizing it, Bale tensed.

"A monster is a monster, huh?"

The aura emanating from Tesetan was truly enormous.

It felt as if his presence alone suppressed everything around him—no, even the entire inn.

"Damn it, overslept."

Tesetan muttered with a yawn.

He lazily surveyed the first floor and suddenly stopped his gaze in one place.

In front of the counter.

Where Nordix, Bale, and Basto were standing.

Tesetan narrowed his eyes and muttered:

"What is it, Rudy. You said there were no guests and that’s why you were raising the price, but business seems to be going well?"

The innkeeper immediately waved his hands.

"Not at all! It’s just a small seasonal rush right now. By the way, can the payment be deducted from the advance you made earlier?"

Tesetan, who had been silent, nodded indifferently.

As if he did not care at all.

But when he slowly turned, his gaze suddenly stopped in one place.

On Basto’s shoulder.

Where Tie’s head was under the black cloth.

Tesetan frowned slightly, looking at the small bulge beneath the fabric.

"That is......."

At that moment—

"Commander! The ship has arrived! Ah, they say it’s already here!"

A red-haired woman suddenly burst into the inn.

The curiosity that had flickered on Tesetan’s face vanished.

He made a sound as if his head had started to ache, turned around, and, passing Basto and the others at an unhurried pace, slammed the door behind him.

For several seconds there was silence, and Bale muttered:

"That’s right, isn’t it? The commander of Trevaga."

Basto and Nordix nodded.

"Yes."

The commander of the great mercenary squad Trevaga, Tesetan.

The demon who summons blood, the slayer of monsters, the phantom, the destroyer.......

There was no one in the Empire who did not know those terrifying epithets.

"Truly, an impressive aura."

"No kidding. I heard he uses some kind of strange sword style?"

"Ah, I heard that too. What was it... aristocratic and at the same time vulgar style? What does that even mean? Maybe that guy just blurted something out to make it sound impressive?"

Rudy, the innkeeper, who had been listening to their conversation, laughed.

"Ha-ha-ha! Those are the rumors about the commander of Trevaga?"

All eyes turned to him.

"Well, you can’t say they’re completely wrong. For Tesetan, such words might well stick."

Basto frowned.

"Do you know anything else about him?"

But Rudy only waved his hands.

"Oh, even if I do, I can’t answer. I can’t lose a regular customer."

As if wanting to ease the atmosphere, he clapped his hands and looked at them.

"But first of all—what shall we do about the rooms......."

At that very moment, Tie, who had just woken up, stuck her head out from under the cloth.

The innkeeper’s eyes widened.

Tie’s pupils also expanded slightly, but—

"W-what, Basto! Since we came, you should have woken me up!" 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Instantly assessing the situation, the child put on an arrogant expression and poked Basto in the shoulder.

And as soon as she climbed down to the floor, she straightened up and looked directly at Rudy.

"Ahem! Two nights. On credit."

At such a confident request, Rudy was stunned.

Tie held out her still warm, brand-new mercenary badge.

"I, commander of Agavert, King of the Dead, will pay triple later."

Completely unaware of the straight mark on her forehead from the cloth.

After listening to Basto’s explanation, Rudy nevertheless gave Agavert a room.

When he heard that Tie had summoned a skeleton at the gate, he was clearly astonished.

"Hm-hm~"

Tie hummed to herself, remembering how Rudy’s jaw had dropped.

The room turned out to be clean and spacious.

Two beds stood against the walls, and the sheets were white and smooth.

"You can lie around and sleep as much as you want, Tie."

Tie nodded happily.

"Yes!"

The bed Basto gave up to Tie stood closer to the window.

Tie climbed onto it and looked outside.

Beyond the people bustling across the square stretched the endless sea.

"Pearlcity......."

They had walked along sandy roads for so long, and here suddenly spread a dazzling sea.

Father’s native world surprised Tie every day and every moment.

She remembered the dream she had seen while riding on Basto’s back.

"Tie, it seems business is going well?"

For some reason in the dream Father had been playing a role-playing game with her.

Father was the guest, and Tie was apparently the innkeeper?

She felt that she had vaguely seen Father’s face.

"Tie, wait here a little. Bale and I need to settle something on the first floor."

Basto said, setting down their things.

They were going to go down to the inn’s basement dining room and gather some information about Tie’s parents.

Tie swung her backpack from her back to her chest and replied brightly:

"Yees! Tie will sit quietly in the room!"

Basto smiled and patted her head a couple of times.

When he left, Tie checked whether the door was tightly closed and climbed back onto the bed.

Since the bed stood right against the wall, she easily sat on the windowsill.

"A man is a ship! A woman is a port~"

Involuntarily she hummed a song that Lady 203 often sang,

"Ah?"

Her lips suddenly pressed together.

On the street leading to the inn, crowds of people bustled about.

And among those moving toward the port, the back of one person seemed familiar to her.

"Ah, ahh......?!"

Tie abruptly stood up, bracing herself on the window.

There could be no mistake.

People in gray robes hurrying toward the port.

And at the very front—that man.

Sliding off the bed, Tie rushed to the door.

She grabbed the handle in haste, turned it, and ran toward the nearest staircase she saw.

It was the staircase to the inn’s back exit that she had noticed on the way up.

Outside, Tie felt her head spinning as she tried to find the way.

"Blue roof, blue roof......!"

Here.

He went this way.

Dodging passersby, she turned the corner, and the road split before her.

Tie’s eyes darted helplessly.

And at that moment, at the very end of the right street, she {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} saw a man climbing the pier steps.

"Father!"

Tie cried out involuntarily.

Even from behind, he looked very much like Father.

Without noticing how her hands were trembling, Tie kept running.

But because of the crowd on the pier, it was almost impossible to move forward.

"Excuse me, excuse me......!"

Avoiding a large grandfather.

Going around a young lady loaded with groceries.

She ran with all her strength, but whenever it seemed the distance had shortened, the man ended up even farther away.

In the end, while she circled around the dense crowd, the man climbed onto a large ship.

"Father! Father—!!!"

In despair, Tie even forgot to pretend to be the King of the Dead and shouted at the top of her lungs.

But the long ship’s horn drowned out her cry,

"Hey, what are you doing?!"

And she crashed full force into someone’s bag and was knocked backward.

Her nose throbbed, but Tie, like a roly-poly toy, immediately sprang back up.

Staggering, she still made it to the very edge of the pier.

However, the ship the man had boarded was already mercilessly leaving the harbor.

"Fatherrr......!"

Tears burst out on their own.

She stomped her feet and looked down, but there was only the dark sea swaying below.

A wall covered in shells, dead seaweed rocking on the water.......

Tie clenched her fists tightly and shouted with all her strength:

"Father, Father—!!"

And at that moment.

As if her desperate cry had reached its target?

For a brief instant, the man turned his head toward Tie.

Tie froze in shock, and their eyes met.

And soon she understood.

"......It’s Father."

It was not just someone who looked like Father.

It was truly Father.

But the Father she had searched for so long,

the Father she had missed more than anyone in the world,

"......."

Only looked at Tie briefly and, as if feeling no interest whatsoever, turned his gaze away.