[Roan, are you really going to sleep here?]

  Flying across the sunset, Kinis chattered. Her reddish, purple coloured skin had become slightly darker.

  [It is somewhat romantic sleeping on the ground but……]

  Kinis clicked her fingers on the sky, and suddenly

  Hwaruk!

  A purple flame appeared on her fingertips. Making the flame bigger and smaller freely, she moved it around the air. She appeared to be enjoying it very much but it was an extremely surprising scene as she was a spirit of water freely manipulating fire.

  Roan broke into a grin from that scene.

  “You now became a spirit that can’t be stopped with both fire and water.”


  [This is all thanks to you.]

  She replied with a pout. Kinis was no longer a normal spirit of water, and was the only spirit that could control both fire and water. Although she had been confused at the beginning, now she had accepted it and was in fact satisfied by it.

  [Because I am me.]

  Kinis flew high up into the skies with a bright smile, and Roan gave a similar smile as he gazed at that scene

  ‘Good.’


  Seeing her bright appearance also made him feel good. And besides, it was possible to have an outlook at a new possibility through Kinis.

  ‘Reid and Biate, the powers of fire and water could be added to one.’


  A not-so-easy level, but if he could achieve it, then he would reach an unprecedented level that no other humans had ever laid their eyes upon.

  ‘I’ll try it at least.’


  Kinis had been able to do it, so it should be possible for him as well and such confidence had filled him up.

  Then

  [Roan! You felt it as well?]

  Kinis gave a frown, and Roan replied instead with a nod. His five senses turned sharper.

  ‘Someone’s approaching.’


  And it wasn’t just one or two.

  ‘At least 10.’


  His sharp, sensitive ears even picked up the sound of steel rustling past steel – it was the sound of armours moving around.

  [I’ll be returning then.]

  Making an expression that showed her disinterest in troublesome things, she waved her hand. Roan gave a bitter smile and nodded.

  Shrk.

  As soon as she disappeared, a group of men appeared from behind the dark hills in the distance.

  ‘Mhmm.’


  Roan’s two eyes flickered with light. The members of the group appeared quite strange while the young white-skinned man in the lead appeared impressive. The clothes on his body appeared baggy and it seemed that it was because he was extremely skinny.

  Behind him were an old man entering his later years, an old lady, a young man and two young women following his lead. They all wore brown-coloured, clean uniforms and lastly, there was the group of 5 men in armours appearing from further behind.

  ‘A variety of them in the mix.’


  There was no common aspect within them. No, perhaps the fact that all of them were wearing brown uniforms could be called a common feature. Even the armoured men had brown dyes added to the ends of their headpiece and breastplate.

  “There was someone here before us.”


  The young man in the lead found Roan and lowered his head as he placed his left hand on his right chest. Following that, the men following from behind all greeted in the same posture. It seemed like a posture without any special meaning, but Roan who had observed that was extremely surprised inwardly.

  ‘These people……’


  A meeting that he hadn’t been expecting.

  ‘Are believers of the Tallian Church.’


  The greetings done by these people was the unique greeting method of the Tallian Church, and besides, brown was also a symbolic colour that represented the Tallian Church. Roan made a wide smile and lowered his head.

  “I have also just arrived.”


  He stabbed at the firewood. Currently, Roan was resting at a place surrounded by large trees and rocks that helped one avoid the rains and the storms. It was a fantastic place for a rest or some sleep.

  ‘From here to the closest village takes more than half a day.’


  It was also a very small village at that and was, therefore, the reason why Roan chose to sleep outside without pushing himself too much. Perhaps that was also why this mixed crowd including the young man had found this area for comfort.

  Indeed,

  “If it doesn’t trouble you, can we rest here for a bit before setting off?”


  Giving off a soft smile, the young man asked very politely. Roan gave a bright smile and a nod.

  “Of course.”


  As soon as his words ended, the young man and the group in brown clothes immediately gathered around the firewood with only the men in armours observing the surroundings from afar. An awkward air surrounded the space around the fire.

  Then,

  Gulp.

  An embarrassing sound was picked up by the ears. Roan who had been getting warmed up by the fire made a surprised expression and faced the young man and his group. He could see their eyes facing him.

  Their eyes were stuck on Roan…… no more precisely, on Roan’s feet. Following their gazes, he lowered his eyes onto the ground near his feet.

  “Ah……”


  A low murmur escaped. Next to his feet were various kinds of food that he had taken out from his bag.

  ‘They seem to be hungry.’


  Roan pushed the food forward.

  “Meeting like this a kind of fate, so why don’t we eat together?”


  “Ah……”


  The youth gave an awkward smile and couldn’t casually respond, while the others all looked at the young man for his decision.

  ‘Indeed, he is the leader of this group.’


  Roan deepened his smile further and suggested one more time.

  “I’m a wandering merchant so I usually carry a lot of food. There’s more than this so you do not need to be reserved.”


  “Is that so?”


  The young man carefully asked back and nodded his head.

  “Thank you very much for the food.”


  He still had an extremely polite voice, and attitude.

  “Yes, eat as much as you want.”


  Roan gave a big nod and picked up a large piece of bread himself to eat. To tell them that they didn’t need to hold back, he showed an example as he started biting large bits from it.

  The young man nodded slightly to the surrounding members, who then carefully carried their hands over to the food before eating. Among them, the old man and the old lady slightly bowed at Roan before taking some food and giving it over to the ones in armours.

  While that was happening, Roan wore a big smile for them to see.

  ‘I’m sure they’re all hungry but……’


  There was no-one guzzling the food. They all took off bits from the food and carefully chewed on them showing lots of care for each piece.

  Then,

  “We were in so much of a hurry and didn’t even introduce ourselves yet. My name is……”


  Once again giving a soft smile, the young man covered his right chest with his left hand.

  “Latio.”


  And,

  “Ah……”


  A low whisper escaped unconsciously from Roan. The young man, Latio smiled a little while tilting his head.

  “Is there anything wrong?”


  “N, no. Something just went down the wrong pipe.”


  With a bright smile, Roan waved his hand.

  “My name is Roel – a wandering merchant.”


  His two eyes sparkled brightly as they pointed straight at Latio’s face.

  ‘Latio, Latio of the Tallian Church……’


  A name he couldn’t forget – but a name he didn’t care too much for as of yet. No, rather, it was a name that he thought wouldn’t matter yet during this time.

  ‘Why are you here?’


  Currently, he should’ve been in the Aimas Union.

  ‘You are supposed to become the leader of the Tallian Church at Aimas Union……’


  No, it wasn’t a problem of becoming a leader. After becoming the leader of the Tallian Church, he focused his all into expanding the religion, and that wasn’t the end.

  ‘As a result, he went up onto the seat of a pope after expanding the Tallian Church.’


  Instead of the corrupted Devesis Church, they cared for the people’s lives, and until he suddenly died during his youth, he was revered greatly to the point of being called the Child of Tallian.

  ‘If you are here……’


  Roan gulped.

  ‘Then what will happen to the future?’


  His eyes sunk deep.

  ***

  “We have broken through the siege!”


  “We have broken through!”


  The knights with rugged expressions shouted greatly from their throats. Exhaustion was written all over their faces but their eyes sparkled brightly in a clear light.

  “We run straight like this.”


  A low voice was carried by the wind. The young man kicking the horse forward at the lead was Manus Pershion with his originally silver armour covered in black blood marks.

  Dudududududu!

  Loud echoes of horse hooves followed from behind. There were less than a hundred knights and soldiers following Manus from behind.

  However,

  “Prince!”


  “Let us go with you!”


  “We have broken through as well!”


  “We will follow you to the end!”


  Wherever he went, groups of soldiers and knights flocked together. They all wore rugged expressions and some had lost their arms or legs. However, despite their tragic situations, none of their spirits had been broken and their clear eyes faced directly at Manus. A strong will that they would follow behind Manus till their lives came to an end could be felt.

  Still facing forward, Manus shouted in a large voice.

  “Everyone, I’m sorry!”


  The voice clearly entered everyone’s ears. Viscount Ander Splus shook his head with a resentful expression.

  “You do not have to apologise! It is not your fault, Prince!”


  A burst of emotions followed and Romils Hotten nodded his head.

  “That is right! It is not your fault. The enemies were too vicious, cruel and shameless.”


  He made a fist and spewed his anger out.

  Manus bit his lips.

  ‘Brother Reitas……’


  As soon as Manus had arrived at the territory of Viscount Splus, he had prepared for a retaliation army. Half of the nobles had gone over to Reitas Pershion but the force supporting Manus was still nothing to scoff at.

  In particular, the citizens’ support was amazing. Manus, as well as his subjects, had the confidence to suppress Reitas’ rebellion.

  However, when Reitas himself took control of over thirty thousand soldiers and attacked Viscount Splus, everything had changed.

  Mere 4 days. In merely 4 days, the fifty thousand-strong army under Manus had been completely defeated.

  The reason was simple.

  Reitas had made the soldiers he had drafted from the citizens to be at the front. In addition, he made them advance without armours nor headpiece, with hoes and ploughs in their hands.

  Looking at the soldiers, no, the citizens attacking without any preparations, Manus had no other choice but to order a full retreat and just couldn’t attack them. Just like that, Manus and the nobles under him had repeated losses after another, and after 4 days, the Viscount Splus territory had been taken away.

  The reason why Reias had been certain of his victory against Manus, was because he had fully understood Manus’ weak and kind personality.

  ‘Was I not fit to be a king in the first place……’


  Manus had learned a lot from this incident.

  ‘I ordered for a retreat because I couldn’t attack the citizens. However, because of that, the ones following me had lost their lives instead.’


  It was stupid. The place of a monarch wasn’t something that could be protected with kind words and virtuous decisions. Sometimes, to protect the kingdom and the people, they had to be able to give cruel, cold-hearted commands.

  Unfortunately, Manus lacked these things.

  “Kuuk!”


  “Kuk!”


  Suddenly, screams were heard.

  “The enemy pursuit has reached us!”


  Romils shouted in an urgent voice and Manus bit down hard on his lips.

  ‘If I were to be caught instead, then everyone else would live……’


  When his thoughts reached that point,

  “Don’t think of useless stuff.”


  Ander, who had been nearby, spoke with a rigid expression. He too had understood Manus’ personality quite well and knew that he was someone that would sacrifice himself for others.

  “Sir Reitas is different from Prince. Even if you surrender, there’s no way that he would let us, who had been following the Prince till the end, go.”


  His voice was calm.

  “Stay alive – stay alive till the end. If you give up here, then everything will be over.”


  Manus replied with a bitter smile.

  “But the Pershion Kingdom has already gone into Brother Reitas’ hands. There’s no longer a place to escape to.”


  He looked at the faces of various nobles nearby.

  “You all look for your ways to survive. I’ll go meet Brother Reitas……”


  “Never!”


  Romils, as well as other nobles, bellowed with reddened faces.

  “We will follow the Prince to our last breath!”


  “If Prince is to go to hell, then we will follow you to hell!”


  They were ones that had stayed behind through all the life and death situations, and all of them had superb loyalties. Manus couldn’t continue his words and had an overwhelmed expression until Ander opened his mouth with a low but strong voice.

  “Just as Prince has said, there is no longer a place to run to within the kingdom.”


  Their faces turned dark in response, but Ander didn’t stop.

  “Let’s leave the country.”


  Kung.

  All of them had expressions that appeared as if someone had smacked them on the back of their heads. In the midst of that, Manus asked with a calm expression.

  “Leave?”


  “Yes.”


  Ander replied with a short nod. The knights, nobles and the soldiers all looked towards Ander, as he faced towards South West.

  “Let’s go over to the Amaranth Kingdom.”


  In that instant, Manus’ two eyes trembled a little.

  ‘The Amaranth Kingdom…… Roan Lancephil……’


  Did he have to receive Roan’s help once again…… he had no face, but,

  ‘If it’s for them……’


  Turning his head, Manus gazed at the rugged and tragic appearances of his subordinates. They had been forced into the death’s grasps due to his insufficient ability and stubbornness. Manus slowly nodded his head.

  “Very well.”


  Strength entered his voice.

  “We will go to the Amaranth Kingdom.”


  He stared directly at the eyes of various officials.

  “This won’t be an easy road. Will you still follow?”


  As soon as he finished,

  Dududududu!

  Along with the sounds of hooves, Romils as well as other nobles surpassed him and took the front.

  “We will……”


  A hot voice.

  “Open the way to the Amaranth Kingdom!”


  The escape with their lives on the line had begun. Kicking the horse forward, Manus followed, with his heart feeling like it was being squeezed tight.

  ‘If we survive this, and arrive at the Amaranth Kingdom safely……’


  He held tight onto the reins.

  ‘I will definitely repay this debt.’


  Dudududu!

  The sounds of horse hooves resonated the earth further, as Manus, the nobles, knights, soldiers and citizens following him all faced towards one direction.

  Their destination was the Amaranth Kingdom.

  End.

  Translator: Lunargrasp

  Proofreader: Deathwing