"..."
Raon gazed at Rimmer for a long time before raising his right hand. He used Glacier, sprinkling Silver Frost from his palm. The frost spread gently like fine snow, softly enveloping Rimmer's body as it rotated. It was a measure to prevent the body from decaying while also protecting the skin from frostbite.
-That's enough.
Wrath waved his hand as if telling Raon to stop.
-That should be sufficient to prevent decay and frostbite.
He nodded, acknowledging that Raon had controlled his power well.
"Is it done?"
Burren furrowed his brows as he looked at the frost surrounding Rimmer.
"Yes. It should be fine for a while."
Raon let out a brief sigh. He had made sure it would be maintained even if he fell asleep, so there shouldn't be any problems during the journey to Azure Wind. However, having used cold energy while injured and completely drained, his head was now throbbing with pain.
"Um, well..."
Burren scratched the back of his head, looking at Raon as if he had something to say.
"What is it?"
"Ah, no, I didn't expect you to wail like that. I wanted to ask if you're okay..."
He smacked his lips, saying he hadn't expected himself to break down like that. His speech was awkward, as if he was truly flustered.
"I'm sorry. It was inappropriate for a Division Leader, wasn't it?"
Raon lowered his head and wiped his tear-stained cheeks.
"I'm not trying to criticize you. I'm just worried, knowing your personality."
Burren shook his head, saying that he wasn't trying to be confrontational.
"If anything, it was good that you cried."
Martha approached and pointed at the Light Wind division. The swordsmen had let their emotions flow as freely as Raon had, and were still sniffling and shedding tears.
"Thanks to you, they were able to openly express their sorrow."
She muttered that it was fortunate, as bottling up such emotions could lead to illness.
"Looks like you did the same."
Raon smiled faintly as he looked at Martha's reddened eyes and nose, as if she had been drinking.
"What? You got a problem with me crying? Did you think I was incapable of tears?"
Martha bit her lip, as if displeased.
"Miss Rakshasa cried as much as Raon did..."
Runaan approached Martha's side and shook her head.
"Hey! You cried even harder..."
"And I also..."
She was still pouting sadly, tears falling from her eyes.
"Haa..."
Martha looked at the sniffling Runaan with her head bowed, then sighed and hugged her. It was the first time anyone had seen those two embracing each other so amicably.
-...
Wrath furrowed his blue eyes as he looked at Rimmer, who seemed to be smiling faintly as if asleep.
'What are you thinking?'
Raon glanced at Wrath and twitched his hand.
-I was contemplating my own patheticness.
Wrath slowly raised his gaze, frowning.
-I didn't expect to feel such helplessness again, unable to do anything.
From his words, it seemed that something similar had happened in the past.
-It's true that I disliked that lazy, carefree Pointy Ears, but I didn't want to let him die like this.
Wrath bit his lip as if frustrated. He was usually quick to tears, but the fact that he wasn't crying at all suggested he was truly angry.
'Thank you.'
Raon let out a short breath and patted Wrath's head.
'It would have been nice if you and Master could have met...'
He had always wanted to see Wrath, who was always angry, and Rimmer, who would smoothly brush things off, arguing with each other. Now that it could never happen, his heart ached. He felt like crying again.
"Um, Young Master..."
Yua looked at Rimmer with teary eyes before grabbing Raon's sleeve.
"Z-Zieghart has many treasures, right? If there's something like an elixir that can revive the dead, couldn't we bring the Vice Leader back to life?"
Her eyes, still bearing the innocence of youth, were filled with hope.
"Ah, I'm sure Lord Dorian would have something like that!"
Yua's hands trembled as if begging for something to be done. She had seemed to summon Astral Energy when stabbing Sif, but now she didn't seem to be thinking about such things at all.
"I'm sorry..."
Dorian shook his head while kneeling, as if he had become a sinner.
"T-Then, in Zieghart..."
"That's not what he means."
Raon shook his head as he met Yua's eyes.
"An elixir is something that can save someone on the brink of death, but it can't bring back someone who's already dead."
He didn't know if Zieghart had an elixir or similar Elixir, but even if such a treasure existed, it couldn't revive Rimmer who was already dead.
"I see..."
Yua's large eyes began to well up with tears again, as if sadness was overtaking her once more.
"So we'll never see the Vice Leader again..."
She began to cry, letting out a wail.
"I'm sorry."
Raon wiped away his own tears that had started to fall again, then hugged Yua and patted her back. The girl sobbed even more sorrowfully before collapsing as if fainting.
"I'll carry her..."
Burren let out a long sigh, as if he couldn't bear to watch anymore, and picked up Yua.
"By the way, you said you met the Division Leader in the mental world earlier, right?"
He slightly lowered his chin as he carried Yua on his back.
"What did he say?"
"I'm curious too..."
"Tell us..."
Not just Burren, Martha, and Runaan, but other swordsmen also approached Raon, seemingly curious.
"He didn't say anything special in the mental world. He just pointed out my shortcomings."
Raon told everyone about what had happened with Rimmer.
"It seems the only message he left for us was 'Be happy.'"
Rimmer hadn't made any requests or given any orders. He didn't repeat his usual insistence that Raon become the head of house of Zieghart, nor did he tell him to stay close to Glenn. He simply left the last words to be happy. It was so different from how he had always been that Raon's heart ached as if it were being torn apart.
"Seems like he had no regrets."
Martha chuckled, saying it was just like Rimmer.
"That man is amazing till the end. How did he enter the Division Leader's Mental Image?"
Krein blinked, saying it was both typical of Rimmer and yet surprising.
"It must have been thanks to the Blade of Requiem."
Raon caressed the Blade of Requiem at his waist. Before he had fainted, he had seen the sword gleaming green, and it seemed that the souls remaining in the sword had guided Rimmer's soul to help him.
'Thank you.'
He didn't know if Rimmer's soul was still in the Blade of Requiem now, but he was just grateful that it had allowed him to meet his master one last time.
"I'm sorry. Truly..."
Dorian knelt down and started banging his head on the ground.
"If only I had been a little stronger, I could have protected everyone..."
He kept hitting his head until it bled, saying he had become a burden.
"You heard Master's last words too."
Raon held Dorian's head, shaking his own.
"What he wanted was for everyone in the Light Wind division to be happy. He had no resentment or regrets towards you."
As he said this, he gripped Dorian's shoulders, just as Rimmer had done for him.
"Ugh..."
Dorian clutched his head and shed tears once again.
"More importantly, what did Sif say to you and the Vice Leader?"
Raon asked Dorian. He was curious about the conversation Sif had had, especially since Sif had mentioned at the end that he wasn't alone.
"Ah..."
Dorian wiped his tears that were flowing like a faucet and let out a sigh.
"There are important things. First, Sif stole Lady Alice's power because of Zieghart's blood."
"Blood?"
"Yes. He said that Angel blood flows in Zieghart's veins. He used a curse engraved in the cavity to absorb the Angel blood..."
He recounted all the conversations that Rimmer and Sif had, starting with the story of the Angels.
"Angels..."
Burren's eyes trembled as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing. His strong pride in Zieghart seemed to make the shock even greater.
"No wonder! No matter how much we trained, our Sword Domain wouldn't open!"
Martha accepted it more calmly than expected, furrowing her brow at the thought of a Sword Domain only they could use.
"Yeah. It's unfair..."
Runaan also pouted, as if regretting the time spent training for a Sword Domain.
'Angels?'
-Angels?
Raon and Wrath looked at each other with gaping mouths.
'You didn't know?'
-Why would I know!
'It's weird that you don't know! You said Angels were your enemies, so why don't you know!
-How would I know when I haven't drunk your blood!
Wrath and Raon squinted at each other, wondering why neither of them knew.
-I thought something was strange! There was a reason you could withstand my power from the beginning! It was because of that damned Angel blood!
Wrath gritted his teeth, saying he now understood Raon's wickedness. (E/N: 500 chapters of insulting Raon as an Angel and then bam!)
'So are you going to leave now?'
Raon asked, tapping Wrath's head.
'You said you couldn't associate with Angels.'
-Leave? I'll stick to you till the end and take your body! The thought of making a body with Angel blood mine makes my mouth water!
Wrath gritted his teeth, saying he couldn't back down now.
'Is that so.'
Raon smiled faintly as he looked at the growling Wrath. He would have felt truly empty if Wrath had left, but knowing he would stay made his heart feel a bit warmer.
-Don't smile! It's not for you, it's for my own sake!
'Alright. Thank you.'
-Don't thank me!
Wrath shook his head vigorously, insisting it wasn't for Raon's sake at all.
'But...'
Raon narrowed his eyes as he looked at Sif's shattered corpse.
'How was he planning to steal grandfather's power?'
Roenn was always by Glenn's side, and even if he wasn't, it would be impossible for someone of Sif's skill to ambush Glenn. Even Alice's defeat today was because her physical and mental strength had been completely drained. It was hard to imagine how Sif planned to ambush and stab Glenn.
'Is there another way?'
He thought that Sif or Derus Robert might have had a way to stab Glenn.
'What a waste... No.'
Raon let out a thin breath and shook his head.
'Killing him was absolutely the right thing to do.'
It was best to kill Sif here, as he could have run away after spilling everything.
'Still, it might be good to consider the possibilities.'
Even if Sif alone might not have known, if Derus was behind him, they might have really thought of a way to steal Glenn's power. It seemed wise to consider various possibilities.
"What should we do with this sword?"
Krein asked, pointing at the Cursed Blacksword that Sif had been holding.
"..."
Raon let out a heavy sigh as he looked at the Cursed Blacksword and Alice, who was being carried on Krein's back.
'Aunt will need that sword to recover her strength. However...'
I'm not sure if she'll be able to stand up. Alice was ambushed by her son and collapsed, and she watched that son kill Rimmer. On top of that, her son was ultimately killed by her nephew. Even if she wakes up, she won't be in her right mind. No matter how strong-willed Alice is, it seemed inevitable that she would break down.
"...We should probably take it with us."
"I'll take it."
Martha nodded and grasped Sif's Cursed Blacksword with a hand infused with aura.
"Then let's head back."
Raon looked at the collapsed dungeon and the pool of blood Sif had left behind before turning away. Carrying Rimmer on his back, he walked through the dense forest leading to the harbor.
"Honestly, I still don't understand."
Martha bit her lip as she looked at Rimmer.
"Why did he make his last words 'be happy'?"
She bit her lip, wondering if he couldn't have said something else.
"That's probably all he wanted to say to everyone in the Light Wind division. The Vice Leader was surprisingly considerate."
Burren shook his head as he walked carefully, trying not to wake Yua.
"I once saw the Vice Leader's notebook during our trainee days. It had all of our strengths and weaknesses written down in detail."
Raon smiled slightly as he spoke about the time he first saw Rimmer again.
"Of course, even then he spent half the day lazing around on the podium."
"I thought he was some kind of crazy guy. It was annoying to see him just sitting there, fiddling with his fingers."
Krein snorted, saying he was truly a strange master.
-That's why I didn't like him either! A leader should lead by example!
Wrath also grumbled as if he could communicate with everyone.
"Remember when the Owen Kingdom delegation came? He made us fight with the Owen Knight candidates, and when we won, he got really angry and cried because Duke Tartan ran away without buying drinks?"
Burren clicked his tongue, saying he couldn't have been more pathetic.
"I can't forget the sight of him being kicked out of the gambling den like a beggar, yelling for money to buy food."
Martha shook her head, saying it was the first time she'd seen someone look so pathetic.
"He often suggested team dinners and then dumped the bill on Raon..."
Runaan sighed, saying it was ugly behavior.
"But during the Blood Demon incident, he couldn't have been more reliable."
Raon smiled faintly, feeling Rimmer's remaining warmth.
"That's right. When he cut down that Ogre with a single strike, he was honestly pretty cool."
Burren nodded as if impressed.
"When you were kidnapped by Eden, he didn't sleep and kept moving."
Martha smiled softly, saying that when his disciples were in danger, he transformed into the wisest and bravest master.
"He always looked cool when he was feeling the Wind..."
Runaan clasped her hands in front of her chest, saying that when Rimmer was serious, he was as amazing as Raon.
"The Vice Leader's teachings only show their effects later. Come to think of it, I never got to thank him..."
Dorian bit his lip hard, as if regretting it.
"Let's not talk about depressing things. Let's talk about the trouble he caused. I remember when he came to the great training ground demanding we pay his bar tab!"
"I remember catching him eating grass roots in the mountains because he had no money for food!"
The Light Wind division laughed as they reminisced about their times with Rimmer. Although it took quite a long time to reach the harbor, the conversation never stopped, continuing until the end. It was as if everyone was entertaining Rimmer so he wouldn't be bored. By the time Raon and the Light Wind division arrived at the harbor, evening had already fallen.
"No, how could this..."
Lawaine couldn't continue speaking at the unexpected sight, his jaw trembling.
"Later..."
Raon exhaled a breath tinged with the scent of blood as he handed Rimmer over to him.
"I'll explain later."
Perhaps because he thought it was finally over, his vision blurred and the world split in two.
* * *
Rimmer appears. As always, he wore a refreshing Wind around him and had a mischievous boy's smile. Wrath flew to Rimmer's side in the form of cotton candy, his hair standing on end. He seemed angry, as if something displeased him.
Rimmer yawned and spoke leisurely, while Wrath turned into red cotton candy and flailed his arms.
Sheryl and Alice approached as if they couldn't bear to watch, trying to stop the two. Glenn and Roenn were chuckling at the sight. Sia had somehow awakened and was enjoying delicious food, while Edgar was stuck right beside her, chattering endlessly. Sylvia smacked Edgar's back, telling him to leave the child alone.
This is a dream. Not the mental world, but his own desire. The reality he wanted but couldn't see had become a dream unfolding before him. Crack! As he realized it was a dream, the lively world shattered as if struck by a Spatial Sword, and everything faded to black.
"Ah..."
As he opened his eyes, he saw the cabin door, as if he had been sleeping on his side. Feeling the stillness devoid of any Wind, an unbearable sadness washed over him.
'But...'
Was the pillow always this soft? Thinking it strange, he reached out his hand, but instead of fabric, he felt the touch of human skin. As he turned his eyes, he saw someone's thigh. Hurriedly sitting up, he found Merlin, without her mask, looking at him.
"It's okay to cry if you're sad."
Unlike her usual self, Merlin nodded with eyes that mirrored his own, as if looking into a mirror.