Run, Old Hound! Run!
The scenery blurred past in a rush.
“Dad, can’t you come home a little earlier today?”
“…I don’t want to hear it.”
“I… I really have something I need to tell you.”
The conversation he’d shared with his daughter right before leaving that morning flashed through his mind.
“Hahaha, what are you doing! Instead of running to save your family!”
The mocking voice of that old bastard Leonhardt echoed in his ears.
Grind.
Suppressed rage leaked through his tightly clenched teeth.
May nothing have happened.
May he not be too late.
…May he still be able to protect them.
Matthew ran and ran without stopping.
The air in Seattle was thick and stale. Those highborn who had spent their entire lives in the capital might not notice it, but in Seattle, where people constantly streamed in and out from dawn till dusk, that noisy murkiness never truly faded.
If you followed the Sands River that cut through the heart of the city for more than half a day, then traced one of the smaller streams that branched off, you would find a quiet little village.
A river sparkling under the sunlight. Beside it, a lovely stretch of low-lying fields.
In those fields, modest flowers of every kind appropriate to the season always bloomed in quiet clusters.
It wasn’t exactly hidden, nor was it kept secret, yet this place rarely saw the footsteps of capital folk.
And so, in this secluded village of Bloom, far more luxurious than an assassin who needed to hide his identity should ever possess, there stood a house.
If you took the long way around the village paths and continued onward toward the nearby mountains, you would find it.
The house where he had dared to live for twenty years as a husband.
The space that held his daughter Veronica’s entire life.
The place where he could live as the rural youth named Matthew, not as Belcard.
The space that had always stood alone, waiting to comfort him.
Whoosh.
Flames erupted.
Crimson fire licked its tongues in the middle of a bright crimson day.
The ground was covered in military boot prints.
Noise filled every direction.
Shouts and the clash of cold steel echoed around the once-peaceful village.
“Aaaagh! Why! Why are you doing this!”
The villagers he had lived alongside for years were being dragged away.
“Where is Belcard?” “I-I don’t know! I’ve never heard of such a person!”
A Holy Knight of the Luna Church.
Judging by the star on his chest, he was First Rank.
The knight sliced clean through the neck of the man who trembled and answered with a blade pressed to his throat.
“A heretic.”
Roll, roll, roll. He casually kicked the tumbling head.
“H-hiiiieeeek! Please spare me! I-I believe in Lady Luna!” “Then that faith had better come with useful information.”
Matthew squeezed his eyes shut and turned away from the falling heads, one by one, as he stepped into the burning house.
Every house might look the same in a crisis, but Victoria was clever. She was strong. She wouldn’t have gone down without a fight.
So she must have left some kind of trace….
Thud.
“Who’s there?”
A faint trace of holy power brushed against his senses.
The closet door creaked open slightly.
“Dad.” “Victoria!!”
Victoria lay collapsed, coughing up thick clots of dark blood from the stab wound in her side, while Jensen stood beside her with a deathly pale face.
Matthew ground his teeth.
“Hold on, Victoria. We’re escaping right now.” “Father-in-law. I’m barely maintaining an illusion barrier with my holy power. The moment we step outside, we’ll be discovered immediately.” “Then what the hell do you want me to do! My daughter didn’t grow up as weak as you! I’m glad you protected her side, but enough with the ‘father-in-law’ nonsense—go find your own way to survive!”
As Matthew prepared to move while supporting the half-conscious Victoria, Jensen spoke in a low voice.
“I will act as bait.”
He pulled out the lunar emblem from his chest.
The symbol of a Third Rank priest.
“If you tell me the escape route, I’ll lead them in the opposite direction.”
Boiling with rage, Matthew grabbed Jensen by the collar and slammed him against the wall.
“Who the hell are you to get involved? I don’t trust any of you Luna bastards. Stop pretending to be noble and run when you get the chance.” “….”
At that moment, Victoria, who had been barely standing by clinging to his left arm, opened her hazy eyes and murmured as if in a dream.
“He’s not just anyone. He’s Lilly’s father.” “What?”
Was the hand clutching her stomach trying to stop the bleeding… or was it protecting something inside?
“Don’t torment him. He’s my family.” “….”
Watching Victoria slump completely, Jensen gently removed Matthew’s hand from his collar.
“Please protect your family. I…”
He guided Matthew’s frozen hands to support Victoria instead.
Eyes that had already accepted death.
“I will protect my family.”
And just like that, the man who had only just become his son-in-law left them.
The pursuit was relentless.
It was hardly a suitable environment for a pregnant woman, yet they had no choice but to keep moving.
They crossed mountains. They forded rivers.
They could not stay in any village for more than a single day.
And the heavier Victoria’s body grew, the slower their fleeing steps inevitably became.
One day, while staying at a shabby inn in Zachsen, premature labor began.
“A priest! We need to call a priest!”
The old midwife with her deeply wrinkled face shook her head inside the inn room.
“That… priest…” “Are you going to let both mother and child die? At this rate, they’ll both perish!”
Matthew clenched his teeth and dashed into the street.
Late at night.
The temple in this remote border town had no interest in the pleas of some shabby commoner.
The guards shoved him back hard with the shafts of their spears.
“Get lost already. The priests are all in the middle of worship right now.” “B-but…” “This bastard still doesn’t get it.”
At the threat of the spear tip being turned toward his face, Matthew spun around and ran down the street once more.
He sprinted madly through the streets, asking if anyone knew a priest.
As he watched people shake their heads, the old midwife’s words rang in his ears.
‘Two hours. You must return within two hours.’
He didn’t understand why Jensen’s faint smile came to mind at this moment.
Matthew suddenly stopped dead in the middle of the street.
A face that was blurry but unmistakable.
The bespectacled man who had served Leonhardt.
Shylock… was that his name?
The guild was no longer safe.
That was why Matthew had avoided all contact as much as possible, but now Victoria’s life was on the line.
“Shylock.”
He spoke from the shadows with a blade pressed to the man’s throat.
“W-who are you?” “If you don’t want to die, call a priest you’re connected to.” “Hiiik!”
Things moved quickly after that.
As Leonhardt’s confidant, it was only natural that he had ties to the Luna Church.
The man easily brought a priest, and the door opened for Matthew, who had been waiting in agonizing suspense.
“It seems we can only save one of them.” “T-then the mother…” “Would you like to speak with the mother first?”
Passing the priest who stepped aside, Matthew entered the room and saw Victoria with a deathly pale face.
Her skin was dry and rough, perhaps from the hardships of the past seven months.
“Victoria… Don’t worry about anything. Your father will definitely…!” “They told me I have to choose one, right? They said the same to me.” “Victoria.” “Dad, please choose our Lilly.” “No, that’s not right, Victoria. We can always have another child…” “Dad, this is Jensen’s only child.” “….”
That day, when Victoria regained consciousness, she wept bitterly.
She despised herself for not even remembering the back of the man who had left her.
She cursed the life that continued on the sacrifice of the one she loved.
What had allowed that life to continue… was the child in her womb.
“Dad, I felt so sorry for Mom. She married that man’s bloodline without any love, just because of some oath. I pitied her.” “Lilly.” “I felt sorry for you too, Dad. You hate blood more than anyone, yet you cover your hands in it every day. You’re such a talkative old man, yet you kill yourself every day just to stay out of sight.” “It was all for you.” “Was it?”
Victoria smiled faintly.
“But I didn’t want to live like that. I wanted to be free. I wanted to love. I wanted to throw away the past and the oaths and live a life I could truly love. But…”
Her smiling face as she looked up at him seemed unbearably sad.
“I failed, didn’t I?” “….” “So, Dad—the coolest dad in the world.”
When she struggled to lift her broken body to speak, Matthew hurriedly lowered his head.
Victoria whispered into his ear.
“Won’t you let our Lilly live freely?” “….”
The moment he covered his contorted face with his large hands, left his daughter’s death behind, and stepped out of the room, Matthew’s convictions shattered.
His faith collapsed.
One hour. Two hours.
Enough time for Luna’s touch to claim a soul and Sola’s warmth to bless a new life.
When the vitality finally faded and the sound of a baby’s cry echoed from within the room, Shylock approached.
“So you chose the child.”
His lips curled up in a grotesque smile.
“Belcard.” “What?” “Did you really think I wouldn’t know?”
He pulled out a document from his chest and unfolded it.
“Your identity has already spread everywhere.” “….” “And yet you showed up with your very pregnant daughter. How could I not recognize you?”
Creep… creep…
The candlelit hallway began to be painted black.
In a scene where light was vanishing as if black ink had been spilled, Matthew asked quietly.
“You know everything about me and still dare to act so boldly? I could kill you right this instant.” “I’ve arranged it so that if I don’t make contact every hour, a letter containing your location will be sent.” “I don’t care.” “Even with such a young granddaughter? Ah, but then again, you might actually do it.”
His mouth twitched as if he could barely hold back his laughter.
“However. Lilly… was that the name? Pfft. You will only be able to take the child’s corpse with you.”
The hand that had been slowly crushing Shylock’s throat suddenly stopped.