Because There Is No Home to Return To
Because There Is No Home to Return To
While Hamtal confronted Bilof alongside his subordinates, Daniel enjoyed a pleasant time with the children at the monastery.
He baked hand-kneaded, fermented bread in the oven and shared it with the children, and for the first time in a while, he returned to his childhood innocence, playing tag inside the monastery.
After playing with the children, he had tea with the abbot, Hieronim, and reminisced about childhood memories.
Having savored this pastoral peace, Daniel prepared to leave the next morning.
He would have liked to stay a few more days, but he couldn't take a long leave during wartime, so it couldn't be helped.
After bidding farewell to Hieronim and the children, Daniel boarded a military vehicle.
Arriving at the train station, Daniel spotted a familiar back view the moment he stepped out of the car.
A man wearing a black coat and a fedora was buying a ticket at the ticket booth.
'That's...'
Recognizing that it was Hamtal, Daniel ordered his soldiers to stand by for a moment and approached him.
"Thank you. Have a nice day."
After receiving his ticket, Hamtal gave a slight nod to the ticket clerk and turned around.
In the process, his eyes met Daniel's, and Hamtal stiffened, surprised, before removing his fedora.
"Isn't it Major General Daniel Steiner? To meet you again is quite something."
It was an almost perfect act, with no hint of anything out of place, but it didn't fool Daniel.
Because now he knew that Hamtal was secretly up to something.
There was a high probability that even this meeting had been deliberately arranged by Hamtal.
But there was no need to let it show, so Daniel smiled naturally.
"It truly is a coincidental meeting."
"They say that when coincidences overlap, it becomes fate. Perhaps Major General Daniel Steiner and I are bound by a string of fate. More importantly, now that we've met like this, could we talk for a moment?"
"There's no reason we can't, I suppose."
Having received permission, Hamtal bowed his head in thanks and put his fedora back on.
"Let's talk as we go. The train will be arriving soon."
So saying, Hamtal stepped into the station.
As Daniel fell in beside him, Hamtal quietly murmured.
"General. Have you heard the rumors? There's been some unsettling gossip going around lately."
"...Rumors?"
"Recently, in a city near Pianmari Village, two people were said to have been killed by an armed group. I heard they were intelligence agents from the Republic. Do you happen to know anything about it?"
The armed group here meant Hamtal's organization.
Worried that someone might be eavesdropping, Hamtal was reporting entirely under the guise of a third party.
If he cared only about appearances, it would have been proper not to report it at all, but this time, because the Republic was involved, he broached the topic indirectly, aware of the incident's importance.
"Republic intelligence agents, huh."
Reading Hamtal's intent, Daniel shrugged, as though he'd just heard an unverified rumor.
"It's the first I've heard of it. Were they planning some kind of scheme?"
"According to the rumor, I gather they had a plan to attack you, Major General Daniel Steiner."
"...Me, you say?"
Hamtal nodded.
"Due to the unfortunate accident, it seems that heinous plan can no longer be achieved. However, I believe it is too soon to let our guard down."
"May I ask why?"
"If what I know is correct, aren't you heading to the Filoena Highlands soon, General? The Republic bastards will surely learn of this as well, and they'll undoubtedly attempt sabotage operations."
He wasn't wrong.
The Filoena Highlands were one of the areas the Republic would risk life and limb to occupy, so they would surely be preparing all sorts of traps.
Having entered the station platform with Hamtal, Daniel replied nonchalantly.
"I shall take what you've told me as advice and remember it. In any case, you must have quite a few difficulties in business these days. Is there any way I might be of help to you?"
"Help, is it."
In the distance, a train could be seen approaching along the tracks.
As he watched, Hamtal felt anew the greatness of the Empire he lived in.
For in the Kingdom, it was impossible for a person of color to ride a first-class train.
The one who could make this great Empire even greater was right beside him.
After all, not only had Daniel abolished racial discrimination in Nordia, but he was also a man who had told him that a black leader might lead the country in the distant future.
"Help, well..."
Hamtal smiled leisurely.
"I am already receiving more than I deserve."
*
Meanwhile, Frien, who had taken leave as well, was in a room within her home.
However, whether it could truly be called a 'home' and a 'room' was a question that required deliberation.
What is a home? Excluding its dictionary definition, it was a place where one could feel the warmth of family and a space where one could rest comfortably in heart.
By that definition, Frien had no home.
Because in the place she had thought of as her home all her life, no warmth of family could be found.
Furthermore, it was a place where she could not even rest.
That was because, for the sole reason that she was born with black mana, Frien was treated as an invisible person by her family.
The only time Frien ever received any attention from her family was when she was being criticized by her father, Velaf, and called a devil's child.
Frien also had no room.
Fundamentally, a room must be a place that protects an individual's privacy and upholds human dignity.
However, Frien's room in the attic could not be locked, so her privacy could not be protected, and the fact that she had to sleep in a cramped space while enduring the cold that seeped in meant her dignity could not be upheld.
It was a place where she was treated as less than human, in every sense, but Frien did not dislike it so much.
Because the more she recalled her wretched and terrible past, the more she could realize how happy the life she now enjoyed was.
Tok-tok—
Her reverie was broken.
Frien, who had been packing her bags to return to the Imperial Capital, raised her head and looked at the shabby door.
Before Frien could even answer, the door opened and Velaf, the head pastor of the Grand Church, entered.
"...Father?"
Meeting Frien's eyes, Velaf felt an unknown fear, yet he finally opened his mouth.
"I should have come to see you sooner, but work has been busy lately. I heard from the believers. That during your leave, you went around healing people."
"You heard correctly. There's no point in letting my abilities go to waste, so if there are people in need..."
"Are you taking pleasure in being revered as a saintess?"
At Velaf's sharp voice, silence fell.
"...A saintess?"
To Frien's question, Velaf let out a groan, then looked down at her and spoke.
"Not only in the Capital, but even here, word of your achievements is spreading. That you healed countless soldiers on a battlefield where bullets rained down."
"And so? Is that a problem?"
"Do you really think it won't be a problem? To borrow the words of a soldier who saw you then, 'A halo of angels, wrought in dark colors, coalesced behind the Saintess's head.'"
Velaf clenched his fist tightly.
"Ordinary people ignorant of theology might not know, but I do. That it is the halo of a fallen one. You must be aware that it never ends well."
A low sigh escaped.
"Frien. It is not too late even now. Do not follow Major General Daniel out to the battlefield. Stay here. Now that the halo has manifested, I cannot guarantee what will happen to you."
Velaf's words contained sincerity, but they did not reach Frien.
Laughing quietly, Frien finished packing her things and closed her bag.
"Are you trying to act like a father now, after all this time? Or are you taking pity on me?"
Frien rose from her seat and picked up her bag.
"For me to listen to you now, Father, far too much irreversible time has already passed."
"You don't seem to understand. This is not something I'm saying for my sake."
"No. You have always lied for your own sake, Father. The me of the past might not have known, but you cannot deceive me as I am now."
Velaf's face stiffened momentarily.
He had sensed that he could not persuade Frien.
"Are you truly saying you will face danger for that man, Daniel Steiner?"
"To me, he holds that much value. Of course, a father who cannot utter a single warm word would not understand. If anything, Father, you should perhaps be thanking Major General Daniel."
Frien's lips moved slightly with a serene look in her eyes.
"What would have happened if I had developed my abilities to this point without ever meeting Major General Daniel?"
Looking into Frien's vacant eyes, Velaf broke out in a cold sweat.
For the current Frien, who had accumulated combat experience and could instantly heal wounds, controlling a village or so as she pleased would not even be a difficult task.
It meant it was possible for her to make all those who had pointed fingers at her live in horrific agony.
"So do not stop me. Do not even try to persuade me."
Frien slowly closed her eyes and opened them again.
Below her eyes, once again filled with life, a faint smile formed.
"By your own words, Father, I am a devil. Are devils not inherently beings faithful to their desires?"
Having implied in a roundabout way that she would follow Daniel Steiner no matter what, Frien bowed her head deeply toward Velaf.
And then she slowly stepped forward.
It was the moment she was about to pass by Velaf.
"In the end, your mind may collapse. Because everyone has met a similar end. Despite that, are you saying you will use your abilities for Daniel Steiner?"
It was a question that required no deliberation.
"Yes. That is..."
Frien, picturing Daniel in her mind, smiled a slender smile.
"...the only way to repay the grace I have received."