“Why are you listening like I’m talking about someone else?”

Ren kept grumbling.

He would probably never know.

How deeply those fair little parting words, offered equally to every Hero, pierced into Luman.

How much he would be shaken by such casually branded kindness.

Even though Luman was already thoroughly hooked on him, he still felt himself being dragged helplessly deeper and deeper toward Ren.

But the frightening part was this:

He liked every second of it.

Snip. Snip.

Beneath the strands of hair being cut away and scattered to the wind, a question flew toward the thing Luman had been trying desperately to forget.

“Who is Verdi? Is he okay?”

***

The morning he had desperately hoped would not come finally arrived.

In the end, Temar—whom Luman had insisted cared more about Ren now than the kingdom or any duty in the world—never came to see him.

Instead, the one knocking on his door early in the morning was Geloman.

“......Geloman?”

Ren, who had spent the entire night awake and now had dark circles beneath his eyes, blinked in confusion.

Geloman’s massive armored chest blocked the doorway like a wall. Ren had to crane his head all the way back just to barely see his face.

As Ren lifted his gaze along the armor engraved with faint patterns, Geloman’s face suddenly appeared right in front of him. The man had bent all the way down at the waist.

“What is it?”

Ren asked blankly.

“Ren. I came because there’s something I need to tell you.”

Geloman’s blue eyes looked straight at him. Calm eyes, quiet as the sea. Even though yesterday’s events had shaken him too, none of it seemed to have left a mark on Geloman.

“While you remain in the royal castle......”

Ren swallowed hard.

Is he going to warn me about dangerous people?

Planning to compare the information, Ren mentally reviewed the names and appearances Riperoman had told him.

But what came out of Geloman’s mouth was something completely different.

“Practice diligently.”

“......What?”

Ren stared at him blankly and repeated it back. Geloman’s tone, which had begun flat and commanding like an order to a subordinate, softened abruptly and ended awkwardly instead. Maybe it was because of that sudden shift, or maybe Ren thought he had simply heard wrong.

“You want me to do what?”

“Practice. Haven’t you neglected it lately? Once you set down a sword, it becomes difficult to pick it up again.”

“That’s what you came all the way here to say......?”

“......? Was there supposed to be something else?”

“.......”

“Ah. I already spoke to the person who’ll train you. His name was......”

“That’s enough!”

Ren suddenly shouted.

After yelling by himself, he startled himself and shrank back, cautiously watching Geloman’s reaction. But Geloman only looked confused.

“Did I make some sort of mistake?”

Blinking slowly, Geloman asked in complete seriousness. He genuinely looked like he was reviewing his own actions to figure out what he had done wrong. His calm, unspectacular attitude left Ren blank for a moment before he shook his head.

“It’s not that...... It’s just, someone leaving for war saying only that kind of thing......”

Ren’s voice gradually shrank away.

“......?” 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

“I mean!! If someone’s heading off to war......”

“Speak slowly.”

Geloman nodded.

Flustered, Ren shut his mouth. Geloman silently watched him, clearly waiting. His eyes were so vividly blue that Ren almost thought of the blue flames he had once seen in the forest.

‘Why am I acting like this? It’s not like I’ve even known Geloman that long!’

Even when Ren showed no sign of speaking, Geloman quietly waited.

The turmoil in Ren’s chest gradually settled, and eventually he muttered in a strangely deflated voice,

“You don’t need to say things like that. Just say you’ll come back safely. That you won’t get hurt......”

“Ah. I didn’t know.”

As if carefully reviewing Ren’s words, Geloman slowly nodded. His ash-gray hair shifted with the movement.

“I’ll return safely. Without getting hurt.”

His heavy voice settled into Ren’s chest.

It felt strange hearing Geloman repeat exactly what Ren had told him to say. Ren froze, then lowered his suddenly reddened face. Because he had ducked his head, he failed to see Geloman’s eyes narrow like a cat’s as they glittered with quiet amusement.

After Geloman left, Ren was alone in the room once more.

Blankly turning Geloman’s words over in his mind, Ren thought they had sounded very nice.

The promise to return without getting hurt soothed him almost like magic.

But as the sun climbed higher and higher, driving away the darkness and brightening the world, the peace in his chest tightened painfully again. Everything left behind at dawn felt powerless beneath the sunlight, as though it could only pool at his feet.

WAAAAAAAH--!!

The enormous roar of voices crashed over the castle like waves, loud enough to split his ears.

The crowds shouted the Heroes’ names one after another. Ren pricked up his ears and listened.

May Saint Leviantehnuk bless them!

It was Ragniel’s voice.

Without realizing it, Ren had already walked to the balcony and grabbed the curtain covering the window.

“I used to run outside and watch until the very end.”

Maybe because he now knew there were times when not looking hurt less, hiding behind the curtain felt easier.

Temar will be fine. He’s strong. Though this endless waiting still feels awful.

I’ll just write lots of letters.

Through the narrow gap in the tightly shut curtains, Ren could see clouds of dust rising. The heavy thud he had heard moments earlier must have been the soldiers kneeling.

At the same time, beyond the curtain, Ren sensed something strangely familiar.

Yellow and blue, deep brown close to red—a mass of light rippling across the sky like a rainbow.

In the end, unable to bear it anymore, Ren pulled back the curtain and stepped onto the balcony.

Far away, he could see figures pressing their hands to their chests as though making an oath.

Through blurred vision, Ren somehow thought their eyes had met his.

***

Giselle rubbed between his brows as he looked down at the person lying in bed.

Verdi.

His wounds remained exactly as they had been when he was carried in yesterday. The “Hero’s miracle” still showed no sign of appearing, and Verdi’s thin thread of life was being sustained only through magic. Even that provided little help. At this rate, he would die.

A death at a time like this would be very bad.

“Verdi. If you collapse like this, what exactly am I supposed to do?”

The words carried rare frustration. Giselle’s voice, always gentle with Ragniel, sounded cold as ice water now.

The skin beneath his dark navy hair, usually beautifully tanned, had gone pale.

“I can’t simply let the one person I can still reason with disappear. Verdi, if you don’t want to suffer, it would be best for you to regain your strength soon.”

Speaking calmly, almost like pronouncing a sentence, Giselle stood.

Even then, he stared down at Verdi for a long moment before finally leaving the room.

The chamber, draped on all sides with dark blue-black cloth, sank back into darkness. The patterns embroidered into the fabric gave off faint light as they continued wrapping themselves around Verdi.

The wide hem of Giselle’s tunic dragged along the corridor floor. As he walked slowly, an attendant hurried toward him.

“Lord Giselle!”

“Did the departure ceremony conclude safely?”

Giselle smiled faintly. Now that he had stepped outside, the entire castle seemed to shake with echoes. The citizens’ cheers still had not died down. Not far away, the presences of the three Heroes were gradually fading into the distance.

“Yes. Um......”

“Did the king send you? To ask after Verdi’s condition?”

“Yes, His Majesty is deeply worried......”

The attendant rambled nervously, almost like he was making excuses. Ragniel had been sending attendants nearly every few minutes to ask after Verdi’s state. In a situation like this, should Giselle praise him for completing the departure ceremony without incident, or advise him to stop showing such excessive concern for Verdi?

As always, Giselle chose the former.

“Tell him Verdi is fine. And that no one should enter because he needs rest.”

Adding that, Giselle turned toward the castle walls. Without a single footstep sounding, only the soft drag of fabric against carpet echoed behind him.

***

“Beautiful weather today.”

Luman looked up at the sky as he spoke.

There was not a trace of worry on his easygoing face. To anyone who knew nothing, it would have looked less like a military campaign and more like he was leaving for a picnic.

Two flat expressions turned toward him—Geloman and Temar. Following Luman’s gaze, they briefly looked up at the bright, cloudless sky before staring at Luman’s absurdly shortened hair.

Amid the heavy sounds of horseshoes and military boots, Luman’s light voice carried easily like the wind to the ranks behind them.

At Luman’s casual words, the soldiers’ tense expressions loosened slightly.

“Hm? What’s with those looks? Don’t tell me my hair’s just too handsome?”

Luman grinned while pretending to slick back hair that was now too short to even grab. His white teeth flashed brightly beneath his thin lips.

“You seem strangely cheerful.”

Geloman snorted softly with laughter. Even his own usually impassive face seemed faintly cracked by a foolish little smile.

“Of course! I feel incredibly refreshed. Let’s hurry up, win this thing, and come back.”

Luman swung an arm around Temar’s shoulders and dragged him closer.

“Hm? Temar. Are you listening? We just need to win quickly and come back. Ren isn’t going anywhere.”

“......Right. Of course.”

Temar murmured like the wind itself, then glanced back behind them.