Lucia sometimes dreamed.
You might think there’s nothing special about dreaming, but Lucia’s dreams were different from others.
Dreams that saw the future.
And dreams that sa wpast lives.
‘Hero, please name our child!’
‘I can’t see. Please, hold my hand just once!’
‘Hero, we must set out before sunset. Hey! What are you doing? Quickly, don’t let the peasants be left behind!’
‘Lord, I ask for your blessing for the less fortunate today as well.’
‘Please let me live one more day. I have a wife with a broken leg and a child blind in one eye. I cannot die.’
Lucia was dreaming about her past life.A fortress city on the verge of collapse, somewhere unknown.
Unlike now, 500 years ago, many cities were constantly under siege, and most were in a state where it wouldn’t be surprising if they fell at any moment.
That’s why Kyrie couldn’t remember where this place was, but she remembered all the names of the children she had named.
‘You are Himmal, to be strong. Selas, to live healthily. Plana, to eat well and be full.’
From the moment Kyrie’s name became known as a hero, she had the task of naming newborns. Whenever there were requests from citizens and wanderers, Kyrie would study the common language and look through dictionaries to name the children.
Yes,
The scenes she saw in her dreams were moments she had seen countless times in her past life, but they weren’t terrible nightmares.
After naming all the children, she waved her hand with a smiling face to the people who came to see her off outside the castle walls.
‘Eh, I told you not to do that. You never listen.’
‘…Still. It’s pitiful.’
‘If you keep naming people like that, those who don’t receive a name from you will eventually feel a great regret. And if it’s only regret, that’s lucky. They might even harbor feelings of resentment towards those who received your name.’
‘Yura, sometimes you’re too pessimistic. You speak like an old man who has seen everything…’
“Shut up, Anzhei. Do you want to die?”
“Hey, Yura might be a bit pessimistic, but she’s not entirely wrong. When you’re desperate, you become sensitive and edgy.”
“Yeah, well said, Seira. That’s what I wanted to say.”
“Right! How about pretending to be a blind swordsman? At least then, people wouldn’t shout for a handshake.”
“…Stop with the nonsense. Anyway, what I want to say is, let’s work hard today too.”
“Haha, smoothly changing the subject.”
“…Having many comrades means having many complaints. I’ll have to abandon Anzhei in the next city.”
Whenever she acted foolishly, Yura scolded Kyrie like a mother.
At the beginning of their journey, Yura’s criticism and scolding were scary, but by that time, Kyrie was already a grown adult, so Yura’s scolding didn’t work on her.
Looking back on it, she realized she was just a big child, but at that time, she arrogantly thought otherwise.
When Seira, Anzhei, and Binella joined, Yura didn’t push her opinions unconditionally.
That was because Seira and Kyrie often followed Yura’s words, but Anzhei, the spearman, and Binella, the dwarf, would not hesitate to express opinions opposing Yura’s.
Especially when criticizing Kyrie’s actions or assigning meal duties, as Yura’s cooking was notoriously terrible…
“Lucia, you’ll freeze to death if you sleep there.”
“…”
Lucia blinked at the voice coming from beside her head. In her vision, a blonde demon was hanging upside down.
As she got up, the accumulated snow fell to the ground. Lucia casually brushed off the snow and stood up.
“…I must have dozed off.”
“You know that’s not possible, right?”
“What do you mean not possible? When you’re tired from traveling, you can lie down and rest.”
“…But you’ve been wandering near the castle for days now.”
“…”
When Lucia clenched her fist instead of answering, Encia sighed deeply and helped brush the snow off her.
“…I was thinking of going in soon.”
“Not that way. The other way.”
Encia stopped Lucia, who had started walking.
“Don’t tell me… you’re not lost, are you?”
“No.”
“Then why were you going the wrong way?”
“…What did I say this trip was about?”
“Hmm, a journey to find yourself?”
“Right, a journey to find oneself requires deep contemplation.”
Click—The sound of a sword being drawn and sheathed again. The dark shadow split in the snowstorm. Dawn Castle was near the demon realm, so there were always dangerous monsters lurking around.
Encia did not help with that action at all. It was because Lucia had firmly told her not to help from the start.
Brushing off the frozen monster blood, Lucia looked back at Encia.
“So, what did Yuma say?”
“After reading the letter… she didn’t say anything.”
“…Really? Are you sure?”
Lucia asked again, looking incredulous, but Encia just glared and grabbed Lucia’s hand firmly.
“It means she wants you to face the head of the family directly.”
Not only did she grab her, but she also dragged Lucia along. Judging by her reaction, the young lady wasn’t lost after all.
She had deliberately wandered around the castle, waiting for Encia to return after delivering the letter.
‘…No matter how I think about it, the next head of the family should be the young master.’
Sighing, Encia added one more thing to make the stubborn young lady move on her own.
“The head of the family has just arrived.”
“…”
Finally, Lucia’s reluctant steps moved.
Lucia inscribed her tracks on the white plains.
The end of the solo journey was approaching. It was her first time traveling alone, and even in her past lives, people were always around her, leaving her little opportunity to be alone.
‘I hope this ends with just a conversation.’
Fiddling with the hilt of her sword, Lucia wished that this journey would be her last.
The main gate of Dawn Castle had been open long before Lucia arrived. Yuma and her guardians bowed deeply when they saw the red hair from afar.
“It’s been a while, Miss.”
“Yes, it has been.”
Lucia didn’t look into Yuma’s eyes, only staring at her broken horn.
“You did read the letter, right?”
“Of course. It was the first letter you ever sent me, and the content moved me so much that I memorized every word.”
Yuma smiled gently, her red eyes curving into crescents. However, Lucia pouted and spoke in a blunt tone.
“Then, don’t you have anything to say?”
“No, I don’t.”
Looking up, Yuma quietly shook her head. Lucia had expected Yuma to be at least a bit shocked or even scared by the letter, but her calm reaction threw off Lucia’s carefully laid plans.
“No matter what the letter says, you are still you, Miss.”
“…I don’t understand you at all.”
Lucia sighed and looked around at their surroundings. The demons in human skin showed no interest in the conversation between Lucia and Yuma, maintaining expressionless faces.
Except for Encia standing behind her, they all stood upright without even blinking.
How was it that even after all these years, the desolate landscape remained the same?
“The head of the family is waiting. Please come inside.”
Yuma spoke with excitement, thanks to the rare visit.
‘…It’s a lucky day.’
This time, really… in this generation, it could truly end. Unusually, Yuma’s mind was filled with great joy and hope.
In the reception room they arrived at, a man with red hair was sitting.
Glen Prient.
His golden eyes looked at the two.
“You said you have something to talk about.”
“…Yes.”
Lucia answered as she sat down. Up close, Glen’s face looked more gaunt than before. Was it the passage of time? Or maybe he had suffered a significant injury.
She could smell a faint scent of blood. Lucia judged that Glen was currently injured.
‘If it comes to a fight, I can win. Don’t be scared.’
Lucia bit her lip, conscious of Sirius at her waist. And as she made up her mind, her mouth opened naturally.
“Do you know what I’m here to talk about today?”
“I haven’t heard anything from Yuma.”
“You have the power of prophecy, don’t you?”
“I told you before. The power of prophecy is not omnipotent. And…”
The Sword of the Stars, Rigel.
Glen was conscious of the sword on his back.
“I’m expending more energy to fend off the apostles as my death approaches.”
“…Death?”
“It means you returned just in time.”
Glen gestured for Yuma to step back. However, Yuma did not obey Glen’s order.
Glen’s face twisted.
In the last future he saw, Glen and Lucia were facing each other with drawn swords.
He couldn’t see beyond that future.
There was only one reason why he couldn’t see any further.
Glen’s death.
Glen exhaled, driving out the stabbing pain, and continued speaking.
“I thought you should at least hear the truth. As a father, I haven’t done much for you, and I wanted to relieve my frustration before I go to the afterlife.”
“I don’t know what you intend to say, but don’t even think about drawing your sword.”
Lucia spoke with an icy expression like never before.
“I don’t believe in prophecies. So this is not the place where you’ll die.”
“…Are you scared?”
“No.”
Lucia denied it with a serious face.
“You are… not my match.”
“…Arrogant.”
“I understand why you might think that. But this isn’t arrogance, it’s certainty.”
Lucia no longer showed respect to Glen. Both Glen and Yuma tensed up at her change in attitude.
Lucia shifted her gaze from Glen to the ceiling. It was a relaxed, almost defenseless action, yet Glen couldn’t find even a speck of a gap in the small girl.
Lucia took a deep breath to put an end to her long-standing concerns.
“I am Kyrie.”
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