Chapter 48
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Chapter 48
Life on the run with Belzeon was surprisingly pleasant.
He had prepared with meticulous thoroughness.
Compared to Chesa, who had hastily stuffed only Hata into a single bag, his preparedness was as different as heaven and earth.
The hired carriage brought Belzeon to an abandoned house.
He changed into fresh clothes hidden there, from head to toe.
Chesa also received Belzeon's assistance in completely changing her attire.
Even the bag containing Hata.
Though dressed in shabby commoner's clothing, her noble features were unmistakable, so she took care to drape herself in a worn hooded robe.
After that, they caught another hired carriage and headed toward the Central Square.
An unexpected choice—not away from the Capital, but deeper into its heart.
"The Count will certainly pursue us swiftly. Moving slowly instead will only confuse them further."
A boy and an infant of similar build to Chesa and Belzeon were being driven out of the Capital in a hired carriage with deliberate haste.
The plan was to lure pursuit in that direction while the real Chesa and Belzeon hid temporarily in the Capital's center.
"Besides, if we push too hard, it will exhaust you."
Though added as an afterthought, it was easy enough to discern that Belzeon had weighted this consideration heavily.
Belzeon walked through the Central Square with quick strides.
The Capital's square, bathed in morning sunlight, was vast and sprawling.
Crimson banners bearing the sun emblem—the symbol of the Palen Empire—fluttered throughout, while beyond the open expanse, the magnificent Imperial Palace rose into view by deliberate design.
It was a place engineered with meticulous calculation to inspire awe in both imperial citizens and foreign visitors alike toward the Palen Imperial Court.
As Chesa gazed around, Belzeon asked quietly.
"Would you like to look around?"
Chesa, hidden within his robe with only her face visible, shook her head.
The two-year-old from the Orphanage would be seeing the Capital's square for the first time, but the fairy Lichesia had visited countless times.
'That Tea House behind that building is quite excellent.'
Chesa smacked her lips silently in anticipation.
As they crossed the square, they naturally passed by the notice board.
At the center of the large board, in the most visible spot, were multiple wanted posters for the fairy Lichesia.
Reading the descriptions on the poster—"vicious," "extremely dangerous," "exceptionally beautiful"—Chesa's eyes narrowed.
'Why did they draw me so hideously!'
The illustration couldn't hold a candle to the real thing.
She wanted to find the artist who painted that portrait and give them a good smack on the head.
Meanwhile, the wanted poster also bore a warning printed in large red letters.
[Any person who damages or removes this wanted poster shall face severe punishment.]
Because the fairy Lichesia was so famous, there were those who collected these wanted posters by tearing them down.
In the Underworld, no one bothered collecting them, so posters were abundant there, yet strangely, outsiders made more of a fuss.
'I suppose that's because Underworld residents see me in person so often.'
Belzeon also glanced briefly at the wanted poster.
But he said nothing.
Instead, his attention turned elsewhere.
"Extra! Extra!"
It was the Newspaper Boy calling out.
"A massive explosion in the Capital at dawn today! The shocking news that Count Basilian's Residence has collapsed!"
Thanks to the sensational article, newspapers were selling like hotcakes.
Belzeon naturally slipped between the crowd, handed over a coin, and bought a newspaper.
Chesa, wrapped in his robe, opened her mouth while clinging to the hem of his garment.
"Um, Young Master."
"Call me brother instead."
"Oh, yes."
Since we had no relation now, I was going to call him Young Master.
But while fleeing, if a baby called him Young Master, it would stand out far too much.
During our escape, calling him brother would be the right choice.
As I nodded repeatedly, Belzeon spoke casually in passing.
"You can keep calling me that if you wish."
"...?"
"It's not as if only true siblings can call someone brother, is it?"
He tossed it out as if it were nothing, then attended to Chesa with his cold voice.
"Why did you call me?"
"Can the puppy stick her head out too?"
"...Do as you please."
With permission granted, Hata thrust her head out right beneath Chesa's face.
As a result, a two-tier tower was formed with the baby and puppy.
"...."
For a moment, it seemed a faint smile crossed Belzeon's lips.
It vanished so quickly that I couldn't confirm it properly.
The place Belzeon arrived at was an Old Inn.
Before he opened the door and entered, Chesa and Hata hid themselves back inside his robe.
After paying the Innkeeper for lodging and stepping into the room, they finally became free.
Though he didn't show it, Belzeon seemed quite tense as well.
He placed Chesa and Hata on the bed, then sat in a chair and exhaled slowly.
In that long, drawn-out breath was unmistakable relief.
"We'll stay here tonight, and begin moving tomorrow."
Even then, he didn't forget to kindly explain the plans ahead to Chesa.
From that point on, they spent time in a leisurely manner, hardly like fugitives.
While Belzeon was out for a brief time, Chesa conducted a simple search around the inn with Hata to see if there were any suspicious individuals.
And they ate a late breakfast that doubled as lunch with the food Belzeon had brought.
A chunk of bread, water, and a small piece of cheese.
Watching Chesa tear into dry bread without jam, Belzeon's expression darkened for some reason.
"...Are you alright? If it's difficult to eat, I'll go find something else."
"Huh? It's delicious!"
I was eating just fine when he suddenly grew melancholic for no apparent reason.
Chesa tried to console him in her own way.
"I eat things like this all the time. It's nothing new."
Since I came from the Orphanage as a child, it wasn't exactly a lie.
But Belzeon's expression only darkened further at my response.
Every word I spoke seemed to deepen his gloom, so I simply abandoned further conversation and finished the remaining bread with Hata.
After the meal, Belzeon went out again, returning only after sunset with dinner provisions.
Dinner was a steaming stew.
While Chesa and Hata lay sprawled across the bed, thoroughly satisfied and drowsy,
Belzeon withdrew his sword and began to maintain it.
'Interesting.'
Chesa observed him with fascination.
This was the first time I'd seen him wield a sword.
I'd only ever seen him holding a quill pen before.
His swordsmanship and movements were remarkably skilled.
He appeared to be quite an accomplished swordsman.
Belzeon's sword was extraordinarily distinctive.
The deep navy-blue blade matched the color of Belzeon's hair.
'I didn't know navy-blue metal suitable for swords even existed.'
Now that I thought about it, Kieran's sword was equally unusual.
Its blade was the same jet-black color as Kieran's hair.
'Were these swords specially forged for House Basilian?'
Perhaps noticing my curiosity,
Belzeon, who had been holding the blade up to the lamplight, spoke matter-of-factly.
"Every heir who succeeds to the title of Count Basilian forges a Mystic Blade."
A Mystic Blade?
I'd never heard of such a thing.
"For a hundred days, the blade drinks the master's blood. For another hundred days, it drinks the blood of a hundred different living creatures. Finally, for a hundred days more, it drinks the blood of the monsters dwelling in the Black Forest."
After three hundred days of feeding it blood without fail, the blade is finally buried in the soil of the Black Forest for ten days.
Then the blade's color transforms, and the Mystic Blade is born.
"You haven't ventured into the depths of the Black Forest, so you wouldn't know."
I had recently visited the Black Forest and even seen the treasure Kieran had hidden there.
But I kept silent and listened intently to Belzeon's explanation.
"To possess a Mystic Blade means inheriting the obligation to eliminate the monsters that dwell there."
Belzeon sheathed his sword once more.
"So don't take an interest in such things. You're too young to understand now, but later you'll be grateful that you escaped House Basilian."
He wrapped cloth around the scabbard to conceal it, his declaration cold and final.
"House Basilian is cursed."
I doubt I'll think much of it even then.
But Chesa chose not to voice such thoughts aloud.
Instead, I hurried to ask the question that had been nagging at me since earlier.
"What would it take to destroy the Black Forest?"
Belzeon smiled faintly.
He found it amusing—a childlike thought.
"It's a task beyond the reach of human power."
I pondered this silently.
'Then what about fairy power?'
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