Caleck hastily rode his horse towards Kate, who was frantically searching the surroundings with a pale face.
“You, why are you here looking for a kid… Ririn?”
“My Lord! Well, actually...”
Neigh!
The horse reared up and neighed loudly.
‘That child, she was here? Not at the mansion?’
Caleck spurred his horse into a mad dash.
His hand gripping the reins was clenched tight.
‘Why?’
Wasn’t she safely at the mansion?
Then he realized.
He was the one who hadn’t confirmed her safety.
His hair and clothes, which had been neat even when he was slaying magical beasts, were now disheveled and messy. The voices of Ruska and the other knights shouting were faintly distant.
‘And to think, they lost track of her.’
It was only then that he took in his surroundings.
Buildings in ruins, dead magical beasts with their tongues hanging out. The faces of people filled with terror. Among the soldiers, there were a few with minor injuries.
“Ririn was in Lady Elisa’s carriage. She suddenly said she wasn’t feeling well, so we were about to return to the mansion together, but she disappeared…!”
He quickly instructed the surrounding knights to search for the child. He whipped the reins hard again.
Crack!
A voice shouting 'Dad!' made his head spin.
A cabin. A path. A small vegetable garden. A smiling face. Small hands. A child...
A dreamlike scene seemed to emerge and then vanish. But something blocked it, and the vision wouldn't fully form.
Crack!
His thoughts abruptly shifted.
The face of his dead nanny flashed through his mind.
‘She might have died.’
Like the nanny.
So pointlessly.
Past trauma resurfaced, and his thoughts spiraled downwards.
He'd forgotten that life always has a cruel way of stabbing you in the back when you least expect it.
“Your Excellency! Stop!”
Crash.
Just then, a nearby building collapsed with a deafening roar. It came crashing down right on top of Elisa's speeding carriage.
Caleck’s horse instinctively stopped, and Ruska rushed over in a hurry.
“Lady Elisa!”
In that moment of stunned silence, a strange energy pulsed. Caleck's head snapped around.
‘This is….’
“Your Excellency! L-look over there. A barrier around Lady Elisa’s carriage… What kind of mage created such a barrier! No, a priest?”
“……”
Trees had sprung up, wrapping themselves around the carriage.
They were so strong that they didn't even budge under the onslaught of rocks and debris.
Bang!
With the sound of the carriage door being kicked open, Elisa crawled out, coughing.
“See to Mother.”
“Your Excellency! Where are you going!”
Caleck jumped off his horse and ran somewhere.
For once, he was grateful for the instincts ingrained in his body.
‘This mana.’
The pure mana that had exploded momentarily. He knew this energy.
Following the trail of magic, he reached the end of the alley.
In the inky blackness, something squirmed. He ran into the alley without hesitation.
“You…!”
A small figure slumped against the wall, half-conscious.
At first, he didn’t think it was Ririn. Because her hair was too short.
Her usually distractingly long hair was gone, replaced by short hair that barely reached her chin.
At that moment, he met a pair of clear green eyes. Caleck rushed over in an instant and hugged the child tightly.
“Ririn!”
The tips of her hair smoldered with a strange light, the power within them fading away.
"Just a dream..."
A faint voice was heard.
“Ririn, what in the world is going on!”
Just then, blood trickled from her nose.
Caleck picked up Ririn and hurriedly moved his body. His large, strong hands trembled uncontrollably.
Afraid she would die.
“Daddy is a fool…”
Because of his lost memories, he was terrified of losing something precious again, forever.
The coldness of her small body terrified him.
My past, which I can no longer clearly remember...
“Will you come with me?”
When the man said that, I was huddled in the corner of a dark laboratory.
“I didn’t expect there to be a place like this here.”
The man surveyed the room, his voice cold. Then, he silently crushed the parchment covered in magical formulas under his foot.
“The word 'hero' is a mockery. To dare do such a thing...”
I looked up at the black shadow in front of me. The man stared at the green mana flickering at my fingertips.
The man was the first to move.
“…I’ll ask you one more time. Will you come with me?”
I blinked slowly.
A cold, chilling aura flowed from the large adult body. An aura that resembled death.
But even so, I crawled towards him and took his outstretched hand because he didn't shout.
Because he didn’t break or throw anything.
I instinctively knew that a stillness and peace, like death itself, clung to him.
“……”
I tightly gripped his thick index finger. His calloused fingertip twitched as if touching something utterly foreign.
But it was only for a moment. Soon, a warm warmth enveloped my whole body.
