Anti-Hero warfare weapons.

A summons from the king.

There was no doubt the state of the realm was changing.

It wouldn’t be only about restoring order in the border regions. Something bigger was clearly waiting for Temar. And whatever that mission was, it would be the kind that could take his life at any time.

Temar couldn’t help thinking about it.

Was it really right to take Ren to the capital?

He had insisted on bringing him because he was worried, but the more he thought about it, the more it felt like a bad decision. Even once they reached the capital, they wouldn’t be able to stay together. There was a high chance that Temar, the Hero, would be sent out in the name of suppressing the “unrest in the borderlands.” Bringing fragile Ren—who could barely endure even this journey—into the middle of a battlefield was truly absurd.

Maybe it really would have been better to leave him behind in the safe little shack.

Why had he brought him?

Temar reproached himself and asked himself that over and over, but in truth, he already knew the answer.

It was because of the fear inside him.

The horrors of the battlefield. The wound that had left a deep mark across his back. The Hero’s miracle he had experienced in war, and that sensation of life hanging by a thread. If even one thing had gone wrong, Temar would have had his head cut off on enemy soil. He could die at any time, and the goodbye he left behind at home might become his last with Ren. It could happen any time. So even if it was only a short journey, he had wanted to be with him. That thought had ruled Temar completely.

He... had lacked the courage.

He no longer had it in him to turn his back on Ren—the Ren who had stumbled and fallen through the snow, hands and feet freezing solid, just to catch one last glimpse of his brother’s back, just to follow ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) even the traces of his footprints. He couldn’t bear to look straight at that weakness in himself, because it made him feel like a pitiful excuse for a Hero.

That was why he had brought Ren along.

It had all been his own stubbornness. His own selfish insistence.

As he faced the truth he had hidden behind the excuse of doing this “for Ren’s sake,” Temar felt dazed.

This wasn’t the honorable Hero Ren wanted him to be.

Temar swallowed down the thoughts flaring up inside him.

Think about the mission.

For a long time, he struggled to calm the turmoil in his heart.

***

Even after day broke, the snow was still falling.

Jepeto liked snow very much, so he felt fresh and cheerful, but the Hero’s party didn’t seem to feel the same. Their pale faces, reflected in the snow, looked strangely sunken, almost like ghosts. The sleet hadn’t stopped either, and in the end it had piled up thickly like this. By morning, the flakes had grown heavier. The mountain road, blanketed in dim white snow, looked mysterious and beautiful. The snow glittered clean and white, reflecting the early sunlight.

“Ren.”

“...Yeah.”

Ren, blinking blankly, answered a beat late.

“Where’s my brother?”

His green eyes hurriedly swept the area. Temar was nowhere in sight.

“He went to scout. He’ll be back soon.”

Ren let out the breath he’d sucked in too fast. “There he is,” Luman said, patting his shoulder. Sure enough, Temar was coming back toward them through the trees.

Rustle.

A branch bent sharply under the weight of the snow, then sprang back up. Snow that had piled thick on top of it dropped to the ground with a soft thud. Between the falling flakes, the snow shaken loose scattered white through the air.

“Everything all right?”

“Yeah.”

Temar answered shortly and looked away. He didn’t so much as glance in Ren’s direction, and Ren was no different. Normally he would have run over to Temar, or called out, “Brother!” Instead, he didn’t move at all. He just stared at the back of Temar’s head with his mouth clamped shut.

For a second, Luman wondered if the two of them had fought without him noticing, but that couldn’t be it. He had stayed awake all night by Ren’s side. His thigh still felt strangely aware of the weight of Ren’s head where it had rested.

“We’ll reach the village today.”

At Luman’s words, Temar nodded.

“Ren. Come here.”

“.......”

Normally Ren would’ve shot back with, “Why?” Instead, he walked over to Luman without a word. Temar stood there stiffly, watching the two of them.

“...?”

Luman laid his palm against Ren’s cheek, now even more bluish-purple than the night before. A cluster of light flowed from his fingertips, moving across Ren’s cheek as though stroking it, then vanished together with the bruise. Straightening back up, Luman went to gather feed for the horses. Ren rubbed at his cheek and stared at him.

“Um... aren’t we having breakfast?”

It was still too early to really call it morning. The world was only bright because of all the snow that had fallen through the night. Blue mist and dawn air pressed into the skin in fine, icy layers.

“It’s cold, so I was thinking maybe a simple stew... though there’s a village just down this road. Let’s eat there.”

The second the word stew crossed his lips, Ren’s expression soured, and Luman smoothly changed course.

Jepeto, who had spoken less because he was hungry than because the silence felt awkward, instantly regretted it. The mood seemed even more awkward now.

“Well then, shall we get moving?”

After feeding the horses, Luman patted one on the rump. The horse let out a sharp whinny and swished its tail energetically. Its glossy mane, the kind that made it obvious at a glance it was a fine horse, flew in the snowy wind.

Ren and Jepeto rode in the carriage, and Luman climbed up to the driver’s seat. With a small flick of his hand, a cluster of light—closer to white than yellow—appeared and took hold of the reins.

The time for Luman to leave was drawing near.

Once they finished descending the mountain road, a long stretch of village came into view in the distance.

Calling it a village was almost embarrassing with how small it was, but more important than that was the fact that once they passed through it, a fairly large town called Tempesto would appear. After that, the road was well paved, and the capital would be a straight shot. Even hurrying to make up for lost time, it would still take another week or two.

Mindful of the way people were watching, Luman dismissed the light that had been guiding the two horses, and Temar climbed down from his own mount. Then he took hold of the two horses the lady had given them and led them by hand. The horse Temar had ridden followed along behind them on its own even without anyone holding the reins.

“Hello! Looking for an inn!!”

The moment they entered the village, a short little boy popped out in front of them and blocked their way.

“Yeah, we’re looking for one. Which place is the cleanest and nicest?”

“That’d be the Blue Dragon Inn, no question! I’ll show you there!!”

The boy’s bright voice seemed to shake the gloom right out of the snowy road. Sunlight had finally burst through, licking away at the snow. The thick flakes disappeared by midday. The snow melted as fast as it fell, never even getting the chance to freeze. What had piled up white on the ground was trampled underfoot and turned the street dirty. The sky was still the same pale gray as dawn, but the ground below was a blotchy mess of gray slush.

“The Blue Dragon Inn’s got a big stable too!”

The boy spread both arms wide as he explained. The freckles all over his cheeks were cute.

“I see.”

Luman answered him gently.

He had always been good at responding, but not usually warm. Luman brushed back the hair that had fallen loose in the wind.

The boy’s mouth loosened into a grin, clearly pleased by Luman’s kindness.

“We’re almost there!”

“Should we get out?”

At the sound of the boy’s voice, Jepeto poked his head out the carriage window.

Temar stepped past him and looked at Ren inside.

“No. You should get out in front of the inn.”

“Yes, sir!”

Jepeto quickly shut the carriage window again.

The boy kept craning his neck, curious about the passengers inside, so Luman spoke to him and drew his attention away.

Small as it was, the village seemed to get a fair number of outsiders because it sat along the road to the capital. It was tiny, but lively and open. The eyes turned toward Luman and Temar’s party weren’t unfriendly. If anything, most of them held curiosity and clear interest—drawn by Temar’s broad frame and noble features, and by Luman’s striking looks.

“Buy some apples!”

“Accessories from the capital! Ahem.”

Luman smiled naturally back at the people staring at him.

Puffed up with pride at having brought such impressive-looking customers, the boy marched ahead with his chest stuck out, and the swagger in his little steps was almost funny.

“Who are they?!”

“Guests!”

“Wow, he’s crazy handsome....”

“There are tons of men that good-looking in the capital!”

“You think he’s married?”

“He’d look good with the fruit seller’s daughter—”

“Hey! Quit standing around gossiping about the guests and get lost!”

Maybe the resemblance wasn’t only in age. Maybe the boy’s speech habits were a little like Ren’s too.

But there was no shadow on the boy’s face.

Luman’s gaze lingered on him.

“We’re here!”

The boy’s bold claim that this was the best inn in town turned out not to be an exaggeration.

For such a small village, it was a large, respectable building. The door was thick, and even the flag bearing the symbol that marked it as both inn and dining hall looked clean.

Blue Dragon Inn

The sign, painted in rough strokes, was still intact too. Which meant there was no one around likely to rip it down—a sign that the village had fairly decent security.

A tiny village with no real guards to speak of, with outsiders passing through, and still this safe.

“That dragon looks cool.”

“Right!? My grandpa painted it!”

“Your grandpa?”

“Yep! My grandma and grandpa made a bet, and Grandma won! So she named the place, and Grandpa painted the dragon next to the sign—”

“You little brat!”

“Aaagh!”

An old woman came stomping out, swinging her cane with force. The boy dodged the first swat easily enough, but he couldn’t avoid the second one and got smacked cleanly. Tears welled in his eyes at once.

“Give me the horses. I’ll take them.”

The boy rubbed his aching head and forced his eyes wide open. Poor thing—tears were already rolling down his face anyway. Luman climbed down from the driver’s seat with a smile.

“I’ll come with you. It’ll be hard alone.”

“Th-thank you!”

Luman knocked on the carriage door.

“Let’s get down.”

In the meantime, Temar had handed the reins of the docile horse to the boy and started untying the horses secured to the carriage.

The carriage door opened. Jepeto got down first, then Ren climbed out. The step was high enough that Jepeto reached out a hand to help, but Ren acted like he hadn’t seen it and hopped down on his own.

The boy craned his neck again, curious about the hooded figure in the robe.

For all her shouting about how they ought to hurry and bring the guests in, the old woman didn’t actually seem that interested in them. She ran her eyes over the group, then threw the door wide open and went inside first.

“Well, I’m going to get the horses settled, so you two go on in.”

“Yes! Ren, shall we?”

“.......”

Jepeto scratched his cheek awkwardly.

Luman stared hard at Ren as he walked into the inn.

That gloomy mood’s lasting a while.

What memory had the snow stirred up to make him like this?

A quiet Ren who wasn’t snapping or grumbling!

“This way!! Come on over here!”

“Yes.”

“Uh, please just talk comfortably like you did before!! You’re way older than me!”

The boy kept chattering at him with easy familiarity. At the phrase way older than me, Luman let out a short laugh. He nodded as if to say all right, then opened his mouth on a sudden impulse.

“How old are you?”

“Fifteen!”

“Oh.”

Maybe about Ren’s age?

The boy moved quickly, bringing feed and water after tying up the horses. Then, so nobody could steal it, he wrapped the carriage all over with chains and fixed it securely to one of the inn’s posts.

“There aren’t any thieves, but... just in case!”

Still apparently uneasy, the boy muttered to himself, then fetched a black cloth and covered the whole outside of the carriage.

Watching him tie rope over the covering with firm, efficient hands, Luman spoke.

“How old is Ren?”

“.......”

“What, are you seriously not even going to tell me your little brother’s age—”

He was about to tease him for it, playful and mocking—

when he saw Temar’s face go rigid.

“You don’t actually know?”

Luman’s incredulous voice rang through the stable.

A cold wind blew.

***

The inn was full of warmth.

Lunch had long since passed, so there weren’t many people around. A few travelers, already heavily drunk in broad daylight, were sleeping with their faces planted on the tables. But judging by the intermittent thuds overhead, there seemed to be quite a lot of guests staying upstairs.

When people came in, a gust of cold air came in with them, and for a moment everyone in the inn looked toward the entrance before their attention scattered again.

Jepeto was reasonably good-looking himself, but not in a way that really pulled focus. And the slim boy beside him was wrapped so tightly in his robe that there wasn’t much to attract attention there either. The robe did look expensive, though.

Still. It was just a robe.

“Sit over here!”

The old woman who’d been beating the boy half to death with her cane had a much more respectable manner with customers. Her voice still sounded a little like a bark, but Ren, who had people picking fights with him back in the village every other day, wasn’t about to be scared by that.

Carefully looking around with quiet curiosity, Ren perched gingerly on a wooden chair at her direction.

The eyes visible beneath the deep hood had more life in them now than before.

Relieved, Jepeto spoke up.

“This place is very clean. It’s wonderful!”

“Ahem. Well....” 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Ren gave a little clearing of the throat and finally opened his mouth!

Oh, thank God. Beneath the hood pulled low over his face, those green eyes were shining with curiosity.

Up until now, Jepeto had seen only different shades of Ren being upset—angry, grumbling, sulking after getting scolded by Hero Temar. Internally, he was beside himself with joy. This felt almost like... getting a stray cat to let you pet it once. Ah, maybe not quite that. Maybe not petting exactly. More like... getting close without it running away?

While Jepeto got carried off in his own thoughts, and Ren—his gloom a little lifted—kept glancing around the inn from under his hood while half-covering his face with one hand—

Thump!

Five heavy mugs landed on the table.

The drink inside sloshed right to the brim, nearly spilling over, and yet somehow not a single drop splashed out.