A Dream-Haunted Morning
“Thank you! Thanks to you, we managed to resolve it safely once again.”
“—.”
“Really? But I only moved exactly as you instructed.”
“—?”
It was happening again.
That same dream, repeating once more.
“Hehe, no matter how humbly you speak every time, you’re always the one who reaches out first.”
Was that hand truly extended toward me from the beginning?
The thought brought only pain.
Every time this dream surfaced, it felt as though an endless sorrow would swallow me whole.
“Oh, now that I think about it, I still haven’t asked your name.”
“—@#$.”
Flickering black noise. It revealed itself again.
The figure remained standing before me.
Or… was it truly looking at me?
“…”
As always, I reached out toward the void where the person’s face should have been.
I wanted to end this dream.
It would not finish unless I did this.
Despite the form that seemed to carry a scream, the warmth that touched me was impossibly gentle.
Yet once again, just as before, my hand—
“—May blessings be with you.”
“!!!?”
A clear morning.
Crisp, almost painfully bright.
Warm sunlight filtered into the small room, stirring the pale white curtains with the fresh air of dawn.
Harsh against that gentle atmosphere came the sound of ragged breathing and quiet sobs.
I listened.
The sobs were my own.
In the mirror on one side of the room, a figure was reflected.
I shifted my gaze.
There I was, clutching my chest and pouring out grief as if I had missed something precious by the narrowest margin.
Strange.
What exactly had I lost?
Greeting the vivid blue morning was only Asera’s desperate, piercing question.
“Velpi, have you ever thought about it?”
“Thought about what?”
“The idea that this world is all inside a crystal ball created by someone.”
“I’ve never imagined anything like that.”
“Maybe even the things we do are just roles set by some god-like being.”
“Why are you bringing this up right now?”
“What if even this current situation isn’t actually my own will?”
“…Lien. I’m really sorry to say this, but stop talking nonsense and hand it over. Right now.”
Velpi huffed angrily and yanked hard on Lien’s cloak.
In Lien’s hands was a steaming apple pie that looked freshly baked.
“J-just one…! One slice would be fine, wouldn’t it?!”
“I woke up at dawn to make this for Asera! Why are you trying to eat it?!”
“The sun might rise in the west, but Asera’s late today, isn’t she?! Weren’t you always giving her snacks because she came early??”
“That’s not true at all! Even if you stayed up all night at the counter, I still wouldn’t give you any!!”
“That’s so mean! If you’d at least lied and said maybe, I would’ve given up! I’m really going to eat it! Mmmph—!”
“Ahh—?! Spit it out right now!!!!”
—Creak.
The guild’s front door opened at that exact moment, accompanied by the sound of footsteps.
There was only one person whose steps could sound so refreshingly clear.
The two women turned toward the entrance as if on cue and greeted the silver-blue knight.
“Ah! Asera! Lien keeps trying to—!”
“Ashera, good morrrningh! (Asera, good morning!)”
“—.”
Silence fell like a blanket.
No one spoke first. Both mouths closed at once.
The noisy pair who had been filling the guild with their bickering froze instantly, unable to utter another word.
Their eyes had landed on Asera.
“A… Asera…”
Velpi’s voice broke the quiet.
Lien, whose gaze had gone unfocused, swallowed hard, gently set down the hand of the girl clinging to her, and strode forward with heavy steps.
Lien had always loved a certain kind of light.
The brilliant glow that used to sparkle constantly in her sunset-red eyes.
But that light had now fallen.
“Asera. What happened?”
“…Good morning, Lien.”
“I asked what happened.”
Her hand rose slowly, brushing through the disheveled silver-white hair.
Normally it would have fluttered flawlessly in the clear morning air.
Her fingertips slid down to cup Asera’s pale cheek, then gently wiped away the reddened, tear-stained eyes.
That part could be fixed.
She could always tidy herself again, just as she had always been the one who brought light.
But the pitch-black darkness that had sunk deep into those eyes—there was nothing she could do about that.
“Tell me, Asera.”
“…I’m sorry. I’m sorry. It’s hard to explain…”
Lien’s anger flared immediately.
“Who the hell was it?! That dispatch commander?! Or did those Abelleo scum open their filthy mouths in front of you again?!”
Velpi flinched in fear.
The girl never ignored Lien. After all, she was a fully recognized A-rank knight of the Allied Kingdom.
Seeing the respected Asera every day was her joy, but watching Lien—who had brought energy to her once-boring receptionist life—was something she always looked forward to as well.
She had been completely charmed by that lovable warmth.
At some point she had begun calling the kind-hearted Lien “Sister” and following her lead.
“Lien… Sister…”
But the Lien before her now was different. The refreshing spring flower she usually resembled had vanished.
Only the heavy, burning flicker of rage remained, dragging the air down.
“If you won’t tell me, I’ll search the entire city myself and—”
Asera gently pulled Lien into her arms.
She was grateful.
She was simply thankful that someone would burn with anger on her behalf.
The turbulent light in Lien’s eyes gradually calmed in that warmth.
“Thank you. I’m really okay.”
“B-but…!”
“Instead… I have one favor to ask.”
Asera looked at both of them in turn and slowly opened her lips.
Her expression was heartbreakingly fragile.
“Today’s mission… could I take a short break…?”
If one word could describe Sia Del, it would be white.
At noon the entire city reflected light and sparkled even more brilliantly.
Clack. Clack—.
After climbing the high stone steps of the plaza and resting a hand on the railing, the pure-white city filled her vision at once.
The emerald river that flowed around the city.
The great white bridge and towering arches that drew a massive arc above it.
Sia Del.
The capital of light and city of water for the Allied Kingdom.
This vast metropolis proved with every inch of its being that it belonged to the most prosperous nation on the continent.
“…How was the festival last time?”
“Don’t even ask… it was complete chaos…”
“Did you hear…? The moment the disease spread, Her Majesty discovered a cure…”
“…Ah! Mom, look at that…!”
Asera stopped at the top of the steep hill.
The faces of the people walking down the slope below her all looked peaceful.
“Are they… happy?”
The murmur slipped from her lips and scattered.
Why were such words coming from her?
Was it because of this inexplicable sense of loss?
The morning had been nothing like her usual ones.
Asera still could not shake free of that dream.
The endless tears had nearly kept her from even leaving the house.
Yet the only reason she had dragged herself to the guild, leaning against walls as if she might collapse, was one simple fact.
She absolutely hated the idea of making Lien worry.
‘Today’s mission… could I take a short break…?’
And so Asera had requested a day off—for the first time since she began walking the path of a knight.
Of course, even knights were allowed rest.
She had simply been chased by an indescribable anxiety every time she stopped, so she had thrown herself into work every single day.
Lien, who understood that feeling better than anyone, had looked even more concerned at her words.
Even so, Asera’s answer had been:
‘I’m sorry. I want to be alone.’
Lien had tried to press further.
But after judging that Asera’s exhausted appearance made further questions difficult, she had clenched her teeth, turned sharply, and walked away.
‘Later. Tell me everything.’
‘…Yes.’
Lien had disappeared somewhere.
“…Ugh.”
Belated regret. She had been far too harsh with Lien.
It was behavior she would never have shown on any normal day.
Then again, had anything about today been normal?
“—@#$.”
The dream.
That dream had slipped into her sleep every night since the beginning of her journey as a knight.
At first she had been on edge, wondering if it was an ill omen.
But nothing ever came of it. It had been a long time since she stopped paying it any mind.
The same scene repeating endlessly.
Herself, always expressing gratitude.
Then, suddenly, the black flicker that spoke.
‘—May blessings be with you.’
“…What on earth was that?”
Only one thing lingered in her mind: the longing that had surged the moment those words were spoken.
That single phrase from the dream had sent shivers through her and refused to let her reddened eyes dry.
Why?
Why did she feel such deep emotion toward a being whose face and name she did not even know?
Yet there had been one recent event that stirred similar feelings.
“…Olpia Village.”
Someone she had met purely by chance, yet who weighed heavily on her mind.
Whenever she thought of him, a distant ache pushed all other thoughts aside.
It had already been more than ten days since her visit to that village.
If she could, she would have gone back immediately. The unresolved frustration had even kept her up at night.
But circumstances had not allowed it.
Time had been spent treating Lien’s injuries.
They had turned out far more serious than expected.
Because of that unidentified creature, they had been forced to travel to multiple places to file reports.
Even a summons from the queen had taken her to the royal palace.
And then came the news that a member of the Creation Society had appeared.
Most knights had been pulled toward that incident, and for several days she had worked without rest to fill the gaps they left behind.
“It feels… like something is blocking me…”
Exactly that. Not even the smallest gap of time had opened for her to go meet him.
In the end, only impatience remained.
What if he had disappeared somewhere in the meantime?
What if she forgot this important feeling?
What if it had all been her own delusion and she was simply acting like a fool?
Yet the reason she could not move alone was simple.
Knights were strictly forbidden from leaving Sia Del without permission.
Doing so might shake the path she walked with Lien.
She regretted it.
Regretted letting go of that hand so much that it gnawed away at her entire daily life.
“I didn’t even learn that person’s name…”
Was the name what mattered?
Looking back, he had been a man whose face she had barely seen.
Why did she feel this way toward such a person—
“…?”
A passing sense of déjà vu.
She knew neither his face nor his name.
A similar situation she had felt many times before.
The dream.
She knew. It wasn’t that.
—The flickering black illusion.
Slowly, Asera’s pupils widened.
Her breath caught as overflowing thoughts rushed in all at once.
‘Is it similar to the figure from the dream? But…’
She knew nothing about that man.
Asera had only ever traveled with Lien.
Because she avoided meeting others, the people she knew could be counted on one hand.
She had only visited that village once.
Yet the way it overlapped so eerily with the being from her dream, and the profound longing she could not contain.
It could not possibly be the depth of emotion one should feel for a complete stranger.
Besides, that man had carried emotion in his eyes until the very last moment.
Why?
“…Huh?”
Very faintly.
And with extreme caution.
A memory tapped at the edge of Asera’s mind.
The final words he had left as he departed.
The words he had spoken were almost exactly the same as the ones she had heard in the dream today—
—Crash!
“!”
The loud sound of someone falling behind her snapped her awake.
The noise had come from the steep stairs. An elderly woman had collapsed along with a pile of miscellaneous items.
It was one of the few people Asera knew.
The old woman from the clinic who always treated her and Lien’s injuries as if they were her own.
“Grandmother Solve…?”
“Oh dear… ouch, goodness me. Is that you, Asera? What are you doing here at this hour?”
Capital Sia Del.