Chapter 73

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Chapter 73

April 18th, 1629.

Echinacea Loaz became a cadet. The moment she enrolled, Yurien de Harden Kirie stamped his seal on the official order. Once the announcement went out, I couldn't focus on anything. I spent the entire day pacing anxiously.

[What's making you so uneasy?]

"I don't know how she'll react."

[Hmm. Well, that Demonic Sword Owner probably can't even be certain whether you remember or not.]

"What?"

Yurien de Harden Kirie's restless pacing came to an abrupt halt. Langiosa asked, sounding somewhat flustered.

[Hmm? You didn't know?]

"I... naturally ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍‍‌‌‌‍‌‍​‌‌‍⁠​‌‍‍‌‌⁠​‍‌‌​⁠‌‍​⁠‌‍​‌‌‍⁠‍‌⁠​⁠⁠‍​‍​⁠‍‍assumed she would know. She awakened Bardegiosa, didn't she? The Demonic Sword must have told her about you..."

[Bardegiosa doesn't know that I'm a sword that's always awake. We've never even had a conversation. The Gioshas surprisingly don't know much about each other. How often do you think Gioshas meet while their consciousness is fully awakened?]

"..."

[I'm always awake, so I know the other Gioshas fairly well... but Bardegiosa has only awakened twice. She couldn't possibly know about me.]

Yurien de Harden Kirie pressed his hand to his forehead, his face draining of color. He hadn't considered this. He'd naturally assumed she knew that he remembered.

"Then... she doesn't know whether I remember or not?"

[That's right. Think about it—if she knew about you, would she appear before you so willingly? The person she killed?]

Those words rang true. He'd thought he might become a trigger for her nightmares. But she had come to where he was. She could have avoided him easily, yet she appeared before him of her own accord.

So he'd judged it would be fine. That's why he'd decided to appoint her as his squire.

[That past she worked so hard to erase. If she learns that you remember that erased time, she might disappear and never show her face before you again.]

The Holy Sword's casual words struck him with considerable force. If she knew he remembered, avoiding him would be the natural response. She hadn't come to Agenka because it was fine—she'd come because she didn't know.

For Yurien de Harden Kirie, who possessed the Eyes of Truth, recognizing Echinacea Loaz was inevitable. So he'd never imagined that even if she remembered him, she wouldn't recognize him—that she'd come to Agenka thinking he wouldn't know her. Just as Nicole Sizton hadn't recognized the demonized Echinacea Loaz, without the Eyes of Truth, he wouldn't have recognized her so easily either.

'Was appointing her as squire itself a mistake?'

Yurien de Harden Kirie stared blankly at his desk. The squire appointment had already been announced. It was too late to take it back now. She must have already heard.

Because he'd believed she'd come to Agenka knowing everything, he'd never considered the possibility that she might flee. He'd hoped that through the squire appointment, she'd realize he had no intention of being hostile toward her, that she'd feel reassured, that their relationship might change, that they might grow closer.

But if she'd only come to Agenka because she had no choice—because she had reasons to become a cadet—and had no intention of appearing before him, if she felt reassured thinking he didn't know...

'...A person who remembers the past I barely managed to erase. She might find it unbearable if she learns. She really might run away. Why didn't I think of this?'

She was Genesis—a realm beyond Master rank. If she deliberately hid from him, he might never find her again. That was unbearable. To be unable to watch over someone who'd finally come within reach.

If I'd known this would happen, I wouldn't have appointed her as squire. It's as good as revealing that I remember her. I should have approached more slowly, more carefully. Even knowing the depth of her wounds, I was hasty. Regretting it now was pointless—the milk was already spilled.

Even now, he couldn't bring himself to consider the option of not approaching her.

'No, no... it might still be fine. I don't know yet how she'll respond.'

First, I had to meet her directly. I wanted to find her immediately. But I wasn't sure if seeking her out right now was wise. In her already unstable state, if I went to her right after the appointment, wouldn't I just agitate her further?

My thoughts were a tangled mess. All the plans I'd built on the premise that she knew everything had fallen apart. Yurien de Harden Kirie paced anxiously through the Squad Leader's Office before stopping at the window. The office was on quite a high floor. The entire Changtian Knights Order Headquarters spread out below.

A flash of pink caught his eye. Yurien de Harden Kirie immediately activated the Eyes of Truth. A brilliantly luminous soul became distinctly visible. Echinacea Loaz was heading toward the Castle Gate.

Agenka had an outer wall encircling the entire city, and an inner wall positioned slightly north of the center. Originally there had been only the inner wall, but as the city developed and expanded, a new outer wall was constructed. The Changtian Knights Order Headquarters, the Grand Temple, the Military Academy, and other major institutions were all located inside the inner wall. Usually, when people in Agenka referred to "Azenka Castle" or "inside the castle," they meant the interior of the inner wall.

She was heading outside that inner wall.

An inexplicable dread flooded through me. Had she heard about the squire appointment and realized I remember? Was she trying to leave right now? Would I never see her again? Yurien de Harden Kirie gripped his hood and burst from the Squad Leader's Office at full speed.

[Huh? Why suddenly—?]

The Holy Sword asked in confusion, but I ignored it. I threw the hood over my head as I ran. Taking the stairs would be too slow, so I leaped from a window in the corridor midway down. I ran like a madman, chasing after her.

He caught up with her before long. The moment Yurien de Harden Kirie caught sight of Echinacea Loaz's silhouette, he stopped and steadied his breathing. Any closer and she would notice him. She didn't seem to be actively scanning her surroundings, but her senses were undoubtedly sharper than his.

Yurien de Harden Kirie slipped among the crowds filling the street and followed her cautiously. She walked slowly in attire and with a demeanor that suggested no thought of escape. At first, she wandered aimlessly as if without destination, but at some point she began walking toward a specific location—the Central Plaza.

[You... I think you're doing something rather improper right now. Tailing a woman in secret. Even if your intentions aren't impure, this kind of behavior...]

The Holy Sword grumbled with considerable displeasure. Since it hadn't warned him of wrongdoing, Yurien de Harden Kirie ignored Langiosa's words. In the meantime, Echinacea Loaz had arrived at the Central Plaza. She stood before the Fountain, cutting through the throngs of people filling the square.

Before the Fountain where she had greeted him in the autumn of 1632—erased from existence. The place where he and she had met for the last time. The place where his previous life had ended.

She gazed up at the angel statue of the Fountain. From behind, he could not discern her expression. Even with his spirit eyes open, he saw only the quiet, burning light. Yurien de Harden Kirie closed his useless spirit eyes and watched her with his bare eyes. The hair cascading beneath her flower-adorned hat with its short netting swayed slightly.

What thoughts occupied her as she gazed upon that Fountain? What expression did she wear? He could not bear not knowing. Would she be weeping like the soul he had last seen? Would she be blaming herself despite it not being her fault? His feet moved of their own accord, drawing incrementally closer.

At some moment, she turned her head. Their eyes met.

A pale face framed by undulating pink hair. Clear violet eyes. The woman he was seeing properly for the first time was more beautiful than the vague memories that lingered. No, it wasn't merely that her appearance was lovely—there was something about her that made it impossible to look away.

He approached as if enchanted, then stopped in alarm at having drawn too close. She looked up at him. Her height barely reached his chin. Beneath her slender neck lay delicate shoulders. A frail frame that seemed impossible to believe could contain such a powerful soul.

So different from when he had first seen her at the banquet. Different from when he had witnessed her body stained by the Demonic Sword and her burning soul. Different from when he had watched her take the preliminary examination at the Training Grounds from afar, her soul become the sun. Completely different from what ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍‍‌‌‌‍‌‍​‌‌‍⁠​‌‍‍‌‌⁠​‍‌‌​⁠‌‍​⁠‌‍​‌‌‍⁠‍‌⁠​⁠⁠‍​‍​⁠‍‍he had seen in Langiosa's memories. Not tainted by anything else, not viewed through anything else—this was the first time he had faced her as she truly was with his own eyes from such proximity. She stood before him, alive and breathing.

Had she endured all that time with such a frail body and achieved a miracle? A woman who had grown up as nothing more than an ordinary count's daughter.

He was struck anew with shock. And then came the realization that followed.

Ah, she was a woman, after all.

Only now did he fully comprehend it. The point he had yearned to reach while desiring to draw near, to approach, to be by her side, yet had never quite attained.

Her eyes gazing up at him through the netting were transparent. If she removed the netting, they would be even clearer and more distinct. He knew that when those eyes held resolve, they were dazzlingly intense. What enveloped that intensity was infinitely delicate. Skin that appeared soft enough to melt. The line of her neck and shoulders, revealed pale between the cascading strands of her hair.

Her shoulders rose and fell slightly with each breath. Her parted lips trembled faintly. They were red and moist. Her tongue was barely visible inside her mouth.

Something he had not thought of while watching her until now. Something he may have unconsciously considered but had not consciously recognized. Yurien de Harden Kirie felt desire for another person for the first time in his life. A chilling sensation that coursed through his entire body in an instant.

Startled by that raw desire, he tried to suppress it. It did not work well. So Yurien de Harden Kirie thought again of who she was. The woman standing before him.

"...Echinacea Loaz."

The young lady of Count ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍‍‌‌‌‍‌‍​‌‌‍⁠​‌‍‍‌‌⁠​‍‌‌​⁠‌‍​⁠‌‍​‌‌‍⁠‍‌⁠​⁠⁠‍​‍​⁠‍‍Loaz. The Demonic Sword Demon. A swordswoman who had achieved Zenith, the realm of the great blade. The woman who had fallen into the abyss because of him. A soul that had kindled a spark into a sun. The one who had wrought a miracle. She who had killed him and brought him back to life. The most outstanding, the strongest, the most precarious, and the most captivating being he had ever encountered.

But regardless of how he regarded her, her official status at present was merely that of a military cadet.

"Cadet."

He added the title belatedly. Echinacea Loaz blinked as if startled. Seeing her appear flustered, Yurien de Harden Kirie hesitated. How should he speak? Did she truly not know that he had memories of her? He tried the pronunciation several times in his mouth before finally managing to ask the question.

"Do you know me?"

Echinacea Loaz flinched, then lowered her eyes and covered her mouth with her hand. She avoided his gaze as she replied.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not sure who you are. Do you know me?"

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